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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5453960" data-attributes="member: 16069">And this from Rogar's diary at the end of Session 10-<session 10>“Mad Manticore Ale” - a pleasant light ale with a strong golden colour (Farkill assures me that this is how it got the name).  It’s sharp and hoppy without being overbearing and has a nice aftertaste.  It’s also very calming after you just spent 5 minutes in a basement fighting GHOULS!Let me go back a bit.  We arrived at Fallcrest in the mid-morning, having decided that we would be as careful as possible about letting on what happened at Gorizbadd, until we had found Dreus.  We were stopped at the front gates (which is quiet reasable as we where 7 people with about 11 weapons between us ####) and asked our business.  This is something we should have been prepared for and prepared an answer for, but we blundered through it okay.  On of the guards did recognise us and said that Farkill had been asking about us, so on to the Bluemoon Alehouse.  Farkill is overjoyed to see us (Rock seems happy but hardly says a word.  I think this is his way) and wants to hear our story, I suggest that we don’t discuss this in the common room and Farkill guides us to a side room.  Here we tell him the story of our actions after the drinking competition, although we leave out all mentions of Treona, Hoyt and using the Slaying Stone. Farkill is (to use his words) ‘Well Impressed’!  He was worried that we, in our intoxicated state, would wander out of the town and into adventures that we where not ready for, but he is oh so happy that we landed on our feet.  Also, he has a favour to ask, more to our stature  than his own.  I happily offer my assistance, and the rest follow.  In what comes next however, some of them change their tune.The favour is this:  check out the basement.  Huh.There is more to it than that, but Farkill reminds us that the town of Fallcrest is built upon the ruins of the town of Fallcrest.  Many of the basements here are older dwellings that the new buildings where built over; most of the time this safe and stable, but sometimes the old walls and door break and they open into places not seen for many years.  This turned out to be such a time.I crept down first, although it’s quickly clear that the only lights down here are what we bring our selves, so stealth isn’t an option.  I have no problem with this task or this place, having seen many places like this as a ratcatcher; however some of the others think the task is beneath us and that the place is too dirty to explore!  This, after we spent 2 days hiding from goblins in Gorizabadd!  After we dug through burnt libraries and where buried in mud.  I have to pretty much demand that we go on, and soon me and Maldor see things that will put all this petty bickering behind us:  I see a great pile (15’ across?) of decayed, skeletal bodies and Maldor sees 4 skeletons standing and moving of their own accord.It would be flippant to say that I relished the comming combat for stopping the petty complaining and chatter.  I guess I’m flippant then!  Until the Ghouls crawled out, I welcomed the combat, the danger, the focus.  I don’t quite know what this means for me.The skeletons fall within seconds, but there is movement from the room by me and both of the corridors around us.  Ghouls!  Ghouls!  As a ratter, the undead where something you had to be wary of, but Ghouls where the worst of the lot.Zombies?  Even a Dwarf can out run them.Skeletons?  Almost always they are guarding something or some place, even though they are fast, they won’t follow you for long.Ghouls?  Tireless, smart, lethal, resisliant and … cruel.  They will follow you for miles, they see perfectly in the dark and know all the best hiding spots in their domain.  If you try to fight them?  We where a group of organised, (slightly) experianced adventurers, with some magical weapons and armour.  Imagine what these things would do to one or two ratters?  Their touch drains your will to move and their bite (if they don’t get your throat) renders you unable to do anything!Anyway, we reacted well to the sudden escalation, pulling together with me, Resolute and Jeb at guarding the edges, Neb and Drake (mostly) safe in the middle and Maldor free to move and strike or blast.  And blasting is good, his silvery magic does a number on the Ghouls when it hits, as fitting of the servants of the Stern Lady, who hates the undead.Jeb and Resolute took a couple of nasty hits, but Drake’s magic helped them back into the fight.  I remeber Resolute saying “Thank you Drake.  I shall kill a ghoul to thank you!”, I don’t think Drake fully appreciated that.There also some zombies, lurching in after the ghouls, they seem to die off by accident.  The last Ghoul has even more supernatural toughness than the others, but it too falls.We stand for a moment, in the silence... then we check the dead and spread out to sweep the other rooms.  The only thing we found of note was a silver and gold holy symbol of Pelor, Drake seemed happy with this and promised that it would make his magic stronger more real.I’m still unsure how much Farkill knew of this.  Why wouldn’t he be down here with us, if not some some reason.  A test?  He didn’t say anything afterwards.  An oddly specific doom or profercy?  Again, he would have said afterwards.  Something will always be beyond my ken, I guess.Anyway, Farkill listen to our recount of events, was blahsay about the skeletons and shocked at the ghouls.  Farkill offered us a week of bed and breakfast at the Blue Moon Alehouse, but you know Ghouls so we bargined him up to a week of bed and breakfast, 10 gold and a drink, each.  This is how I sampled the Mad Manticore Ale; very pleasent, both for flavour and having earned it.After this excitment, things went a lot slower.  We had to explore Fallcrest a bit and see if there are any signs of Dreus being here.  We decided to split the party a little (note to self: NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY!) and while me and Drake where discussing how to do this, Neb, Jeb and Maldor had already wandered off towards the wizards tower that, err, towered over the lower town from it’s lofty perch off the edge of the upper town.First up was the market.  We were looking for a place to sell the gemstones and nose-ring (selling an orcish nose-ring.  While I wasn’t expecting to fight ghouls under a tavern, there are some things that I could never predict) and had been told that Bith the Ratter was looking for me.We didn’t find a place to sell the items, but did find Bith.  Along with Bith, we found a challenge and a job!  Bith is a great ratter, but talks a bit above his station.  Turns out he’s been offered a fee to clear Cruthik Kruthick Kruthik out from the Tombwood, the Tombwood being an odd combination of graveyard and forest.I don’t know that much about ‘Kruthik’ apart from how they are ant-lizards or something and range in size between that of a dog and that of a cart.  Bith said the key was to find and destroy the creature’s lair, the rest will flee at that point.  But all this came later, before this was the test...Bith led us to large but plain house off the market.  The staff knew him and sent us all down into the cellar.  Bith stayed on the stairs and told me, Resolute and Drake to stand within the three linked rooms of the basement, told us that for the test, we had to stay in the seperate rooms.  Then he closed the door above and it was like magic, the silent cellar started rustleing and a moment after, rats (two-footers, mostly) crawled from their hidey-holes and attacked!But we have fought Wolves, Kobolds, Goblins, Orcs and even Ghouls.  Rats are no longer a real problem!  Resolute and Drake did take a good few bites though (I think I took one, maybe two). I was in the first room as it was the largest, that didn’t seem to effect the number of rats though.  My sling technique was a great help here; free of distractions I was able to accurately hit the rats gnawing on Drake and even on Resolute.  Drake was in the center room, so his magic could reach us both and if things went wrong, both me and Resolute could rush to his aid.  Resolute was in the last room just ‘cus someone had to be there.Thinking back, we should have done things a little diferent:  Drake in the middle room again, for his magic (and his choice of magic was off as well, his attacks lit up the rats to make them easier to hit... but that doesn’t matter when your attacks have already killed the foe.  Just two-footers afterall), but he should have moved over to be next to Resolute, so Resolute can defend Drake better.  Resolute should have been in the first room, so he and Drake would be closer to the stairs, I would have been fine at the back as I can outrun the others so well.Anyway, Bith was well happy with our performance and promised me that ‘me and my party’ had the job for the Tombwood.  I tried to correct him about how it’s not my party but he started talking about the job and Kruthiks.  We will meet up with him later after we have done things and rejoined Neb, Jeb and Maldor.Next up, we followed Drake to the ‘House of the Sun’, which was the local temple to the crazy... by which I mean it was meant to be to Pelor, but the current occupant was so crazy the whole ‘everburning god of the sun’ thing gets obscured.Grundlemar!  As mad as a Badger in a wedding dress.   I can’t recall the specifics ‘cus I was laughing too hard at the time but he was angry and erratically berating anyone and anything that came within his view.  He made a couple of spluttering lines at me (for laughing) before he saw Drake and his disapproving expression.  I’m proud of how Drake stood up for himself with no problems although he did get flustered when Grundlemar challenged Drake to a sermon-off!  4pm tomorrow, wouldn’t miss it for the world... (but... I worry for the boy, how can I help?  I can’t join him on the stage lectern and I don’t have the presence to work the crowd properly)</blockquote>

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