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The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions
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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 426782" data-attributes="member: 2323"><p><strong>[PLAIN][Realms #181] A Better Ratrap[/PLAIN]</strong></p><p></p><p>The Archer studied the trapdoor in the ceiling a moment longer before turning to head back to the others. As he did so, however, the arrows in his quiver scraped along the curved wall of the tunnel. It wasn't much sound, but the two enormous rats nearest him immediately stopped their fighting and trained their glittering eyes in his direction. He froze in the shadows. It was clearly of little use.</p><p></p><p>With a shriek that was louder and more piercing than any rat's cry should have been, the two rodents came splashing toward him.</p><p></p><p>Despite his hunter's instincts, Finian was unprepared for the sudden charge. Before he could even draw an arrow, they were upon him. He raised his bow and managed to fend off two rats; their snapping jaws clamped down savagely on the weapon. They were too close for him to draw his sword, and his hand went instead to the dagger at his waist. He stabbed outward with it and was rewarded with a dying squeal from one of the creatures as the blade sank hilt-deep into its left shoulder.</p><p></p><p>The Archer let go of the dagger and the dead vermin fell into the water. Before he could turn his attention to the other rat, however, he heard a thunking sound and it reeled backward, transfixed by a bolt from Ledare's repeating crossbow. It was dead before it could let out a squeak of pain.</p><p></p><p>Finian glanced back and saw that the others were advancing on his position. Ledare was in the lead with her hand crossbow drawn. Behind her loomed Draelond followed by Omrixx, Kirnoth and finally Ruze.</p><p></p><p>The Archer smiled and turned back to the junction chamber. The grin rapidly fell off his face. The three rats that had been sleeping atop the noisome nest in the far corner were awake. One of them crouched at the foot of the ladder and one of them was creeping down toward the water. The third, a large specimen with tawny blond fur, reared up on its haunches and stared down at Finian with its nose twitching.</p><p></p><p>"I don't believe it!" the rat said in the common tongue. "You! Coming here?"</p><p></p><p>It started to titter then and as it did so, it began to change. Its forepaws began to lengthen and grow more massive, while its torso shrunk and flattened borne aloft by two humanoid legs. Only its head remained unchanged and the wererat, Rudivan, bared his sharp rat's teeth at the half-elf.</p><p></p><p>"You're an even bigger fool than I thought!" he taunted. In response, Finian nocked an arrow and drew back. "You can't hurt me with that, fool!" the sneering rat man told him and Finian answered with a single word.</p><p></p><p>"Silver," he said and let the arrow fly.</p><p></p><p>It struck Rudivan in the left shoulder and embedded there, eliciting a squeal of pain and horror from the skaven. He immediately ducked down behind the partial cover of the nest so that Finian second arrow lodged amidst the tangle of bone. His grin restored, Finian drew another arrow, stepped off the narrow ledge and began to walk up the wall of the junction chamber using his Slippers of Spider Climbing.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As soon as Finian stepped out of her line of sight, Ledare squeezed off another shot with her hand crossbow. The rat that she was aiming for ducked into the water an instant before the bolt struck and the shaft clattered uselessly against the stone wall.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Having been warned that only silver and magic was of any use against the rat men, Draelond trudged grimly forward with Ravager ready in his big right hand.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Kirnoth glanced at Omrixx and Ruze before starting toward the melee. "Let's get moving," he said to them as he pushed up the sleeves of his jacket. "We came here for a battle and I'd say we've found it!"</p><p></p><p>Omrixx put a staying hand on the mage's arm. "Wait," the half-elf said. "We should conserve our magic!"</p><p></p><p>"Since when are you one to be cautious?" Kirnoth replied</p><p></p><p>"No one's been hurt on our side as yet," Ruze interjected, his hand resting on the ursine pommel of one of the scimitars he now wore at his waist. "Let's see if the day may be won without sorcerous aid."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>From his position half way up the wall, Finian drew back on his bow and released. The silver-tipped shaft cut a bloody groove in Rudivan's furry chest. The wererat cried out again in pain and let loose with a loud series of chittering squeaks. He was trying desperately to pull Finian's first arrow out of his shoulder, but was so far only succeeding in making it bleed more.</p><p></p><p>Finian hit him with another arrow, but this one did little more than punch a hole through one of Rudivan's large ears.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>*We should go!* Gordigan spoke into Kirnoth's mind. *We should go now!*</p><p></p><p>"What is it?" the mage asked his cowardly familiar.</p><p></p><p>*That big old nasty rat man just called for help,* Gordigan responded fearfully. *And there's a lot of help down here.*</p><p></p><p>"How do you know what he said?" the elf replied.</p><p></p><p>*I told you I could speak the language of some animals a few times a day,* the duckbunny sighed. *You NEVER listen to me.*</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Do you see where it went?" Draelond asked Ledare as the two surveyed the foul water swirling around their shins.</p><p></p><p>"It's in here some-" she started to say when the rat thing sprang up behind them with a shriek. Its jaws snapped at Draelond ineffectually, but the warrior raised his sword expertly and dealt a heavy blow to the skaven's left forepaw. It squealed and fell back into the water.</p><p>Ledare fired her crossbow but missed.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Finian cried out as a hurled dagger sliced into his forehead. He had almost forgotten about the wererat guarding the ladder and for a moment, as blood trickled into his right eye, he was back in Strenchburg Junction, rescuing Grmnmral in a darkened alley.</p><p></p><p>Blinking his blood away, the Archer ignored the other skaven for the moment and fired again at Rudivan. His arrow tore away a bit of flesh and fur from the rat man's left arm. The limb, which was already slicked with blood from the first wound jerked from the impact and then fell against the nest, stilled for all time.</p><p></p><p>As he reached for a second arrow, he heard a voice above him. "You!" the voice hissed with all the malice and hatred that a single syllable can hold.</p><p></p><p>Finian looked up through the grate above and saw a disturbing sight. In the room above him, stood Nunzio, wearing a gore-soaked leather apron over his fat, naked torso. In his right hand he held an enormous, bloodstained meat cleaver and from his left a woman's head dangled by its hair.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Kirnoth hastily explained to Ruze and Omrixx what Gordigan had told him. "We may quickly be outnumbered," Ruze admitted and drew the matching scimitars from their sheaths. As he began trotting forward along the narrow path beside the river of sewer water, he added, "Wait here! I'll notify Ledare!"</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The skaven that Draelond's sword had injured tried to dart away to its left, but Ledare fired another crossbow bolt into the water beside its head and it darted right instead... directly into Ravager's path as the saw-toothed weapon came down. Draelond grunted as he drove the heavy blade through the lycanthrope's skull.</p><p></p><p>The brown water around them began to fill with clouds of blood.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Finian raised his bow and slammed an arrow into place with a single fluid motion. He had caught Nunzio flat-footed and he sighted up through the bloody grate. As he drew back on the pull, he heard a sickening CRACK-ACK as his bow, weakened as it had been at the start of the battle by the rats' chomping teeth, broke apart uselessly in his hands. He watched as the bits of wood fell into the water below.</p><p></p><p>Above him, he heard Nunzio laughing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jon Potter, post: 426782, member: 2323"] [b][PLAIN][Realms #181] A Better Ratrap[/PLAIN][/b] The Archer studied the trapdoor in the ceiling a moment longer before turning to head back to the others. As he did so, however, the arrows in his quiver scraped along the curved wall of the tunnel. It wasn't much sound, but the two enormous rats nearest him immediately stopped their fighting and trained their glittering eyes in his direction. He froze in the shadows. It was clearly of little use. With a shriek that was louder and more piercing than any rat's cry should have been, the two rodents came splashing toward him. Despite his hunter's instincts, Finian was unprepared for the sudden charge. Before he could even draw an arrow, they were upon him. He raised his bow and managed to fend off two rats; their snapping jaws clamped down savagely on the weapon. They were too close for him to draw his sword, and his hand went instead to the dagger at his waist. He stabbed outward with it and was rewarded with a dying squeal from one of the creatures as the blade sank hilt-deep into its left shoulder. The Archer let go of the dagger and the dead vermin fell into the water. Before he could turn his attention to the other rat, however, he heard a thunking sound and it reeled backward, transfixed by a bolt from Ledare's repeating crossbow. It was dead before it could let out a squeak of pain. Finian glanced back and saw that the others were advancing on his position. Ledare was in the lead with her hand crossbow drawn. Behind her loomed Draelond followed by Omrixx, Kirnoth and finally Ruze. The Archer smiled and turned back to the junction chamber. The grin rapidly fell off his face. The three rats that had been sleeping atop the noisome nest in the far corner were awake. One of them crouched at the foot of the ladder and one of them was creeping down toward the water. The third, a large specimen with tawny blond fur, reared up on its haunches and stared down at Finian with its nose twitching. "I don't believe it!" the rat said in the common tongue. "You! Coming here?" It started to titter then and as it did so, it began to change. Its forepaws began to lengthen and grow more massive, while its torso shrunk and flattened borne aloft by two humanoid legs. Only its head remained unchanged and the wererat, Rudivan, bared his sharp rat's teeth at the half-elf. "You're an even bigger fool than I thought!" he taunted. In response, Finian nocked an arrow and drew back. "You can't hurt me with that, fool!" the sneering rat man told him and Finian answered with a single word. "Silver," he said and let the arrow fly. It struck Rudivan in the left shoulder and embedded there, eliciting a squeal of pain and horror from the skaven. He immediately ducked down behind the partial cover of the nest so that Finian second arrow lodged amidst the tangle of bone. His grin restored, Finian drew another arrow, stepped off the narrow ledge and began to walk up the wall of the junction chamber using his Slippers of Spider Climbing. As soon as Finian stepped out of her line of sight, Ledare squeezed off another shot with her hand crossbow. The rat that she was aiming for ducked into the water an instant before the bolt struck and the shaft clattered uselessly against the stone wall. Having been warned that only silver and magic was of any use against the rat men, Draelond trudged grimly forward with Ravager ready in his big right hand. Kirnoth glanced at Omrixx and Ruze before starting toward the melee. "Let's get moving," he said to them as he pushed up the sleeves of his jacket. "We came here for a battle and I'd say we've found it!" Omrixx put a staying hand on the mage's arm. "Wait," the half-elf said. "We should conserve our magic!" "Since when are you one to be cautious?" Kirnoth replied "No one's been hurt on our side as yet," Ruze interjected, his hand resting on the ursine pommel of one of the scimitars he now wore at his waist. "Let's see if the day may be won without sorcerous aid." From his position half way up the wall, Finian drew back on his bow and released. The silver-tipped shaft cut a bloody groove in Rudivan's furry chest. The wererat cried out again in pain and let loose with a loud series of chittering squeaks. He was trying desperately to pull Finian's first arrow out of his shoulder, but was so far only succeeding in making it bleed more. Finian hit him with another arrow, but this one did little more than punch a hole through one of Rudivan's large ears. *We should go!* Gordigan spoke into Kirnoth's mind. *We should go now!* "What is it?" the mage asked his cowardly familiar. *That big old nasty rat man just called for help,* Gordigan responded fearfully. *And there's a lot of help down here.* "How do you know what he said?" the elf replied. *I told you I could speak the language of some animals a few times a day,* the duckbunny sighed. *You NEVER listen to me.* "Do you see where it went?" Draelond asked Ledare as the two surveyed the foul water swirling around their shins. "It's in here some-" she started to say when the rat thing sprang up behind them with a shriek. Its jaws snapped at Draelond ineffectually, but the warrior raised his sword expertly and dealt a heavy blow to the skaven's left forepaw. It squealed and fell back into the water. Ledare fired her crossbow but missed. Finian cried out as a hurled dagger sliced into his forehead. He had almost forgotten about the wererat guarding the ladder and for a moment, as blood trickled into his right eye, he was back in Strenchburg Junction, rescuing Grmnmral in a darkened alley. Blinking his blood away, the Archer ignored the other skaven for the moment and fired again at Rudivan. His arrow tore away a bit of flesh and fur from the rat man's left arm. The limb, which was already slicked with blood from the first wound jerked from the impact and then fell against the nest, stilled for all time. As he reached for a second arrow, he heard a voice above him. "You!" the voice hissed with all the malice and hatred that a single syllable can hold. Finian looked up through the grate above and saw a disturbing sight. In the room above him, stood Nunzio, wearing a gore-soaked leather apron over his fat, naked torso. In his right hand he held an enormous, bloodstained meat cleaver and from his left a woman's head dangled by its hair. Kirnoth hastily explained to Ruze and Omrixx what Gordigan had told him. "We may quickly be outnumbered," Ruze admitted and drew the matching scimitars from their sheaths. As he began trotting forward along the narrow path beside the river of sewer water, he added, "Wait here! I'll notify Ledare!" The skaven that Draelond's sword had injured tried to dart away to its left, but Ledare fired another crossbow bolt into the water beside its head and it darted right instead... directly into Ravager's path as the saw-toothed weapon came down. Draelond grunted as he drove the heavy blade through the lycanthrope's skull. The brown water around them began to fill with clouds of blood. Finian raised his bow and slammed an arrow into place with a single fluid motion. He had caught Nunzio flat-footed and he sighted up through the bloody grate. As he drew back on the pull, he heard a sickening CRACK-ACK as his bow, weakened as it had been at the start of the battle by the rats' chomping teeth, broke apart uselessly in his hands. He watched as the bits of wood fell into the water below. Above him, he heard Nunzio laughing. [/QUOTE]
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