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The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions
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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 426771" data-attributes="member: 2323"><p><strong>[PLAIN][Realms #180] Rat Catching[/PLAIN]</strong></p><p></p><p>They met in the hallway, disheveled from sleep but energized by the horror that they had each seen outside their window. "This has to be a sign of something bad!" Finian asserted and Kirnoth shook his head.</p><p></p><p>"Little escapes your keen perceptions, does it, Finian?" the wizard groaned and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes.</p><p></p><p>"He's right, Kirnoth," Ledare countered. "Whatever this means, it certainly can't be a good sign."</p><p></p><p>"I do not remember," the Archer went on. "Have we had any prophecies of it raining blood?"</p><p></p><p>"As I recall, there have been numerous references to blood," Ledare said after a moment's pondering. "But nothing specifically about blood raining from the sky."</p><p></p><p>"I'm betting this signals the birth and it's taking place in Othelwood," Kirnoth suggested. "We should head there immediately!"</p><p></p><p>Ledare shook her head. "I, for one, feel it necessary to stay and continue with the task of ridding the sewers of the skaven," she told the elf. "If I run off to Othelwood without first completing that assignment, I fear I will have to answer to the king."</p><p></p><p>"Even if it means missing our opportunity to stop this evil at the source?" Kirnoth went on.</p><p></p><p>"As much as I agree with you, that this blood must be a sign of the birth," the Janissary explained, "I can't just leave to pursue that unless I can make a connection in my mind between the two."</p><p></p><p>The mage sighed.</p><p></p><p>"For the little that I know about this situation," Draelond offered, "I agree with Ledare's point. Whatever we think about the blood-rain at this point is purely conjecture until someone can put hard and fast connections between it and the birth Mice spoke of."</p><p></p><p>"We need to act immediately, but I do not know what is best to do!" Finian growled and slammed his fist against the doorjamb. "It is very frustrating."</p><p></p><p>"I agree," Omrixx said. "But I'm in no shape to go anywhere until I've rested more and given my magic time to recharge."</p><p></p><p>The half-elf looked at Kirnoth to back him up and the elf nodded. "I require more rest as well," he told them. "I would be of limited use if we go anywhere tonight."</p><p></p><p>"Well, you two get back to bed then and the rest of us should meet now and put our heads together," Ledare suggested.</p><p></p><p>"The King's charge is to deal with the skaven," Draelond said. "And as Ledare mentioned earlier, now that we have more manpower, perhaps an organized plan of attack might get us somewhere."</p><p></p><p>"If we're going to go after the skaven," Kirnoth added. "Let's do it in the morning and stop letting them get in the way of other things we have to do."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So Kirnoth and Omrixx returned to bed and did their best to rest although it did not come easy.</p><p>The others gathered in the Library and went over the various clues and prophecies that they had collected over the last few moonsdances. They studied each intently, looking for any mention of a rain of blood. The closest they could find was a snippet of poetry:</p><p></p><p>"As with plague the world becomes stained,</p><p>Slaying the righteous of Light slowly waned,</p><p>Seek then to free Her, a goddess unchained."</p><p></p><p>"Plague isn't the same as blood," Ledare said after she read the passage aloud. "But blood-rain will certainly leave a stain on the world."</p><p></p><p>Finian yawned. "Maybe," he groaned. "But it seems like a stretch to me."</p><p></p><p>"It's the best connection that we've got at this point," the Janissary told him and he shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"Uh huh," Finian said, getting out of his chair stiffly, "Well, if Omrixx and Kirnoth are going to sleep for a few more hours, I'm going to get a bit more rest, too. I plan to use one of those healing potions in the morning, but I may as well make the most of my herbal remedies until then."</p><p></p><p>Ruze stood as well and nodded. "I believe that my time would best be spent in meditation," he told them. "I'll just fetch myself a snack from the kitchen and head up to my room."</p><p></p><p>Ledare looked at Draelond after the others had left. "You can go too," she told him. "I'm going to stay up and try to find a reference to the name: Zagaroth. Mice'talla'burra mentioned him as the Queen's own son in her letter to Kirnoth and I know that I've heard it or read it somewhere else recently."</p><p></p><p>Draelond stifled back a yawn and said, "I'll help you. It may go quicker with two pairs of eyes."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Freeday, the 2nd of Wealsun, 1269 AE</p><p></p><p>In the morning, the light from Orin's Shield fell over Barnacus and the members of Grey Company were shocked to see no evidence of the blood-rain that they had all seen the night before. Not only were there no bloodstains on the roofs and walls of the city, but everything looked more-or-less dry. It was as if the rain had never fallen - bloody or otherwise.</p><p></p><p>Abernathy told them that he hadn't been awakened last night by any thunder or lightning and to the best of his knowledge, there was never any rain during Kakadiador. The Druids of Dridanis had an arrangement with the Fists of Cyr to keep the local weather pleasant during the three days of the festival. Whatever they had all seen the night before was, apparently, for their eyes alone.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>After Kirnoth and Omrixx had spent some time going over the spells in their respective books (which was taking longer and longer as their repertoire of incantations grew) and Finian had used one of the potions of Curing that Abernathy had brought back from the Argo Forest tower to bring himself back to within a hair's breadth of perfect health, they set off for the sewer entrance off Crescent Street.</p><p></p><p>They took a circuitous route in order to avoid the throngs of fair-goers amassed in the plaza around the arena. Even taking the long way around (up South Gate Road, then west onto Wizard's Walk, north through the Temple District and onto Livermore Avenue before finally arriving at the west end of Crescent Street) they met many folk on their way to the fair. Most gave the group no more than a second glance although a few wished Draelond luck in today's events. Rather than argue, the big man just smiled and nodded.</p><p></p><p>They reached the burned out house that concealed the entrance to the sewer temple just as a magically amplified voice was announcing the line-up for the second day of Kakadiador. With one last look at the bright sun of early morning they slipped inside and down into the cramped tunnels that ran beneath the street.</p><p></p><p>They navigated the tunnels without incident, encountering no opposition along the way. Evidently their efforts to smash the cult had yielded at least some success. Draelond had to slip out of his chain shirt and wriggle and squirm a great deal to navigate the narrow fissure that lead from the sewer to the catacombs beneath them, but with only that small bit of difficulty, they made it to the worked stone tunnels of the temple itself.</p><p></p><p>Aside from the usual sewer vermin, it too was empty and they traveled quickly through the silent labyrinth to the ladder that they hadn't explored. Nunzio's dried blood was still evident on the iron rungs set into the side of the cylindrical shaft and one by one, they made their way up it.</p><p></p><p>After not too far, there was a door set into the side of the shaft, and Finian (who was in the lead) noted that the trail of dried blood ended there. He pushed the door open stepped out into a normal sewer tunnel such as they had seen elsewhere in the city. Water flowed away to the right down a shallow trough in the center of the passage. There were flat walkways along either side of the trough that were crusted over with black moss and rat droppings but were otherwise fairly dry. To the left, was a junction room and shafts of light were filtering down through a grill in the ceiling of the chamber. There was a splashing sound coming from that direction.</p><p></p><p>The squeaking of rats was everywhere. The smell, while undeniably unpleasant, wasn't the typical sewer stench that permeated tunnels elsewhere. Rather, this was a horrible, charnel house odor as if they had just stepped into a slaughterhouse.</p><p></p><p>Finian covered his mouth and nose with his hand and padded toward the junction room. Three other tunnels let onto the room, one in each wall. All of them were letting in various amounts of noxious water so that a constant flow fed away from the chamber. Once he got closer, he could see why the place smelled like a slaughterhouse; the water that flowed out of the chamber was running red with blood. As he peered into the junction room, he had a momentary feeling of deja vu. Blood was falling from the grate in the ceiling like rain. But unlike the grim spectacle of the previous night, lumps of entrails and torrents of gristle and bone accompanied this rain.</p><p></p><p>The gruesome waterfall sluiced through the grate and fell into the pool below. There, fighting over scraps of intestine and other organs, were two of the largest rats that Finian had ever seen. They squeaked and snapped evilly at each other as they fought over the choicest bits. He managed to tear his eyes away from the horrible creatures long enough to notice that three more enormous rats sprawled atop a noisome nest of bones and torn cloth off to the right. A metal ladder was set into the wall behind them, leading up to the ceiling and an open trapdoor that gaped there.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jon Potter, post: 426771, member: 2323"] [b][PLAIN][Realms #180] Rat Catching[/PLAIN][/b] They met in the hallway, disheveled from sleep but energized by the horror that they had each seen outside their window. "This has to be a sign of something bad!" Finian asserted and Kirnoth shook his head. "Little escapes your keen perceptions, does it, Finian?" the wizard groaned and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes. "He's right, Kirnoth," Ledare countered. "Whatever this means, it certainly can't be a good sign." "I do not remember," the Archer went on. "Have we had any prophecies of it raining blood?" "As I recall, there have been numerous references to blood," Ledare said after a moment's pondering. "But nothing specifically about blood raining from the sky." "I'm betting this signals the birth and it's taking place in Othelwood," Kirnoth suggested. "We should head there immediately!" Ledare shook her head. "I, for one, feel it necessary to stay and continue with the task of ridding the sewers of the skaven," she told the elf. "If I run off to Othelwood without first completing that assignment, I fear I will have to answer to the king." "Even if it means missing our opportunity to stop this evil at the source?" Kirnoth went on. "As much as I agree with you, that this blood must be a sign of the birth," the Janissary explained, "I can't just leave to pursue that unless I can make a connection in my mind between the two." The mage sighed. "For the little that I know about this situation," Draelond offered, "I agree with Ledare's point. Whatever we think about the blood-rain at this point is purely conjecture until someone can put hard and fast connections between it and the birth Mice spoke of." "We need to act immediately, but I do not know what is best to do!" Finian growled and slammed his fist against the doorjamb. "It is very frustrating." "I agree," Omrixx said. "But I'm in no shape to go anywhere until I've rested more and given my magic time to recharge." The half-elf looked at Kirnoth to back him up and the elf nodded. "I require more rest as well," he told them. "I would be of limited use if we go anywhere tonight." "Well, you two get back to bed then and the rest of us should meet now and put our heads together," Ledare suggested. "The King's charge is to deal with the skaven," Draelond said. "And as Ledare mentioned earlier, now that we have more manpower, perhaps an organized plan of attack might get us somewhere." "If we're going to go after the skaven," Kirnoth added. "Let's do it in the morning and stop letting them get in the way of other things we have to do." So Kirnoth and Omrixx returned to bed and did their best to rest although it did not come easy. The others gathered in the Library and went over the various clues and prophecies that they had collected over the last few moonsdances. They studied each intently, looking for any mention of a rain of blood. The closest they could find was a snippet of poetry: "As with plague the world becomes stained, Slaying the righteous of Light slowly waned, Seek then to free Her, a goddess unchained." "Plague isn't the same as blood," Ledare said after she read the passage aloud. "But blood-rain will certainly leave a stain on the world." Finian yawned. "Maybe," he groaned. "But it seems like a stretch to me." "It's the best connection that we've got at this point," the Janissary told him and he shrugged. "Uh huh," Finian said, getting out of his chair stiffly, "Well, if Omrixx and Kirnoth are going to sleep for a few more hours, I'm going to get a bit more rest, too. I plan to use one of those healing potions in the morning, but I may as well make the most of my herbal remedies until then." Ruze stood as well and nodded. "I believe that my time would best be spent in meditation," he told them. "I'll just fetch myself a snack from the kitchen and head up to my room." Ledare looked at Draelond after the others had left. "You can go too," she told him. "I'm going to stay up and try to find a reference to the name: Zagaroth. Mice'talla'burra mentioned him as the Queen's own son in her letter to Kirnoth and I know that I've heard it or read it somewhere else recently." Draelond stifled back a yawn and said, "I'll help you. It may go quicker with two pairs of eyes." Freeday, the 2nd of Wealsun, 1269 AE In the morning, the light from Orin's Shield fell over Barnacus and the members of Grey Company were shocked to see no evidence of the blood-rain that they had all seen the night before. Not only were there no bloodstains on the roofs and walls of the city, but everything looked more-or-less dry. It was as if the rain had never fallen - bloody or otherwise. Abernathy told them that he hadn't been awakened last night by any thunder or lightning and to the best of his knowledge, there was never any rain during Kakadiador. The Druids of Dridanis had an arrangement with the Fists of Cyr to keep the local weather pleasant during the three days of the festival. Whatever they had all seen the night before was, apparently, for their eyes alone. After Kirnoth and Omrixx had spent some time going over the spells in their respective books (which was taking longer and longer as their repertoire of incantations grew) and Finian had used one of the potions of Curing that Abernathy had brought back from the Argo Forest tower to bring himself back to within a hair's breadth of perfect health, they set off for the sewer entrance off Crescent Street. They took a circuitous route in order to avoid the throngs of fair-goers amassed in the plaza around the arena. Even taking the long way around (up South Gate Road, then west onto Wizard's Walk, north through the Temple District and onto Livermore Avenue before finally arriving at the west end of Crescent Street) they met many folk on their way to the fair. Most gave the group no more than a second glance although a few wished Draelond luck in today's events. Rather than argue, the big man just smiled and nodded. They reached the burned out house that concealed the entrance to the sewer temple just as a magically amplified voice was announcing the line-up for the second day of Kakadiador. With one last look at the bright sun of early morning they slipped inside and down into the cramped tunnels that ran beneath the street. They navigated the tunnels without incident, encountering no opposition along the way. Evidently their efforts to smash the cult had yielded at least some success. Draelond had to slip out of his chain shirt and wriggle and squirm a great deal to navigate the narrow fissure that lead from the sewer to the catacombs beneath them, but with only that small bit of difficulty, they made it to the worked stone tunnels of the temple itself. Aside from the usual sewer vermin, it too was empty and they traveled quickly through the silent labyrinth to the ladder that they hadn't explored. Nunzio's dried blood was still evident on the iron rungs set into the side of the cylindrical shaft and one by one, they made their way up it. After not too far, there was a door set into the side of the shaft, and Finian (who was in the lead) noted that the trail of dried blood ended there. He pushed the door open stepped out into a normal sewer tunnel such as they had seen elsewhere in the city. Water flowed away to the right down a shallow trough in the center of the passage. There were flat walkways along either side of the trough that were crusted over with black moss and rat droppings but were otherwise fairly dry. To the left, was a junction room and shafts of light were filtering down through a grill in the ceiling of the chamber. There was a splashing sound coming from that direction. The squeaking of rats was everywhere. The smell, while undeniably unpleasant, wasn't the typical sewer stench that permeated tunnels elsewhere. Rather, this was a horrible, charnel house odor as if they had just stepped into a slaughterhouse. Finian covered his mouth and nose with his hand and padded toward the junction room. Three other tunnels let onto the room, one in each wall. All of them were letting in various amounts of noxious water so that a constant flow fed away from the chamber. Once he got closer, he could see why the place smelled like a slaughterhouse; the water that flowed out of the chamber was running red with blood. As he peered into the junction room, he had a momentary feeling of deja vu. Blood was falling from the grate in the ceiling like rain. But unlike the grim spectacle of the previous night, lumps of entrails and torrents of gristle and bone accompanied this rain. The gruesome waterfall sluiced through the grate and fell into the pool below. There, fighting over scraps of intestine and other organs, were two of the largest rats that Finian had ever seen. They squeaked and snapped evilly at each other as they fought over the choicest bits. He managed to tear his eyes away from the horrible creatures long enough to notice that three more enormous rats sprawled atop a noisome nest of bones and torn cloth off to the right. A metal ladder was set into the wall behind them, leading up to the ceiling and an open trapdoor that gaped there. [/QUOTE]
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