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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6564972" data-attributes="member: 9546">The Trouble With Rat Women2 Abadius, 4715The following day, the young adventurers returned to Brinestump Marsh, following the crude map in hopes of finding some long-forgotten treasure in the old shipwrecks marked on it. As they made their way through the swamp, however, they were overcome by the distinct feeling that they were being watched. It was Boris who first spotted the figure in the undergrowth, stalking them. At first, it crawled along on all fours, but then it rose up on legs that bent like a dogs. It's skin was pale, and when its mouth opened, it revealed small appendages on either side that looked like small hands."It's him!" the goblin screeched. "The Soggy River Monster!"All of them had heard the legend, of course. Fisherman and farmers had told tales for the past three years of a creature that lurked in the swamp, preying on the unwary. No fewer than five disappearances had been attributed to it during that time. The creature lunged at them, but Mazael stepped forward to meet its rush head-on. The beast drew back when it saw the size of the group, obviously not anticipating victims that fought back. Koman and Haroldo joined Mazael, and though the monster fought like a demon possessed, the three warriors brought it down quickly, suffering a few small cuts and abrasions for their effort. Boris quickly sawed the creature's head from its body and held it aloft victoriously. "Momma Koya going to love this in stew tonight!"It wasn't much further until they came to an overgrown clearing. In the middle was the burned, scorched remains of a merchant vessel. It was little more than a shell, and the companions were disappointed to find it completely devoid of anything of value. As they searched the wreckage, however, they did come upon the ships nameplate: the Kaijitsu Star.The group backtracked to the Licktoad village, and set out to the southeast, following the trail left by whomever had attacked the goblins before them. After a short time, the path crossed a second, overgrown trail."I recognize this," Koman said. "It's called the Witch's Walk. Supposed to lead to Old Megus's shack.""The old swamp witch?" Yannus asked his brother. "I thought she was just a story to scare kids."Koman shrugged. "Who knows, but we're already out here, right? Might as well check it out."The others had no objections. They were all feeling fairly confident in themselves, what with their victory over the Licktoads, and their defeat of the Soggy River Monster. The trail was old, and long disused, but still easy to follow. A sagging one-story shack sat in a clearing at its end, its walls dingy with age and encrusted with lichen and fungus. A partially collapsed shed sat to one side, while small pouches, twisted knots of feathers, and dangling wind chimes made of bones hung from branches and the roof edge alike."We knock?" Boris asked apprehensively, eyeing the decrepit building warily."Don't look like nobody's home," Mazael scoffed as he kicked one big boot at the door. "After you," he grinned at the goblin.Boris shook his head emphatically. "No, Boris look for back door," he said as he skittered off around the back of the shack.The others followed the war priest into the house, with the exception of Koman. The stalker's nerves were on edge. Something didn't seem right. He decided to hang back and wait to see if Boris found anything.As Boris came around the back of the house, he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. What looked like a large rat scurried from under the shack, but as it turned and looked back, it's face looked distinctly...human."Crazy rat woman!" Boris shrieked as he chased after the creature. When he turned the far corner, he just saw it dart behind Koman and into the shed. "It run in shed!" Boris yelled, gesturing frantically. Come! Come!"He grabbed Koman's arm and dragged the stalker to the back of the shed, where they saw that the wall had mostly collapsed. As the two of them peered into the darkness, they saw four pairs of beady eyes staring back at them. With a shriek, four rats, the size of small dogs, leaped towards them. Boris shrieked as well as he jumped back in surprise, his hands fumbling at his belt, leaving Koman to face the oncoming vermin on his own. Two of the rats leaped at the stalker, sinking their sharp yellow fangs into his thigh and arm, and ripping away chunks of his flesh. Koman went pale as the blood gushed from his wounds, and he staggered away into the woods. By that time, Boris had managed to pull the skyrocket from his belt and ignite it. Still shrieking, he aimed it at the rats and let it fly. It exploded on impact as it struck the first one, setting all four of them alight, and sending them squealing in circles.Inside the house, the others heard the shouts and explosion coming from the shed, and they all but stumbled over each other rushing back outside. "There! There!" Boris screamed, hopping up and down and pointing to the roof of the shed. "Crazy rat woman!"The strange creature had indeed reappeared on the roof, though to Yannus' eyes it looked more like  a rat man. It gestured with its all-too-human hands, and out of thin air, a swarm of screeching, biting rats appeared, surrounding Haroldo and Mazael. The two of them began beating at the rats, trying desperately to fight clear, Haroldo retching violently as he struck this way and that. "Follow Boris!" Boris shouted as he clenched his knife between his teeth and began scaling the sagging wall of the shed. Haroldo, wiping his mouth, quickly grabbed the edge of the roof and hauled himself up, while below, Mazael and Yannus continued to bet off rats both large and small. Piotr added his own magical assistance, sending bolts of energy at the vermin, while Lucian darted among his allies, staunching their bleeding and closing their wounds as quickly as they appeared.Boris had the rat creature backed to one corner of the roof when Haroldo climbed up, but no sooner had the big man set foot on the rickety structure than it began to sag and creak ominously. A moment later, the entire shed collapsed, dumping all three of them to the ground below. As Haroldo struggled to extricate himself from the rubble, he came face-to-face with the rat creature, and as he locked eyes with it, he felt his heart seized by bone-chilling fear. He stumbled to his feet, turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the house. Boris, meanwhile, took advantage of the situation to leap at the creature's unprotected back, only to have it suddenly vanish from sight in a flash of light. "Wait!" Mazael shouted. "It's still here!"The war priest looked slowly right and left, then closed his eyes as he raised his weapon. With startling speed, he suddenly struck out to his right, and there was a sickening thud and a gout of blood. A moment later, the limp body of the rat creature reappeared on the ground.A thorough search of the shack revealed the ultimate fate of the swamp witch when her misshapen and malformed remains were discovered in her makeshift laboratory, a victim of her own dark alchemy. Piotr, after examining the remains of the rat creature, identified it as a ratling, and deduced that it must have been the witch's familiar. The group was rewarded for their efforts when they found a hidden cache of magic scrolls tucked away in the wall, as well as a detailed map of the entirety of Brinestump Marsh. The cave on this map was clearly marked with a warning sigil indicating danger. It was only as they prepared to leave the shack that the companions realized that Koman was still missing...They searched the surrounding swamp for hours, finding only a blood trail heading back in the general direction of Sandpoint. They hurried back through the marsh as quickly as they could, arriving back in town at sundown. Yannus rushed to the home that he and Koman had been sharing with their adoptive mother, Koya, and there he found his brother, bedridden and pale with the old priestess tending his wounds. Koya turned and looked at him disapprovingly as he entered. "I thought you were going to watch out for him," she said reprovingly. "You know he was never the strong one.""I'm sorry, Mother," the young cleric said, his eyes downcast. "It all happened so fast.""This is not a game you're playing," Koya said. "You were a soldier. You fought in battles. You know what life and death means. Your brother does not. His ideas of adventure are naive.""Yes, Mother," Yannus nodded. "I will be more careful in the future."At that moment, Boris burst in, waving the map they'd found about wildly.Look what Boris bring you, Mama Koya!" the goblin shouted. "Boris know you like pretty maps!""Always the good boy," Koya smiled approvingly as she patted Boris's cheek.Haroldo walked into the Rusty Dragon, and his eyes immediately fell upon Piotr chatting chummily with Ameiko at the bar. "Did you hear of our latest adventure?" he asked the Tian woman as he walked up and loomed over the sorcerer. "I saved the goblin and Mazael from certain death."Ameiko glanced sideways at Piotr and gave a little smirk."That's not quite the way I heard it," she chuckled.Haroldo's eyes grew dark. He decided he was starting to hate Piotr.On the other side of the bar, Lucian sat with Shalelu, filling her in on events fro that day, and of their encounter with the goblins the day before. When he'd finished his tale, he reached in his pack and pulled out a small bow, masterfully crafted."It belonged to Chief Gutwad," he said as he presented it to the elven ranger. Shalelu smiled in appreciation."You've done well for yourself," she said. "I've always said that there was more to you than meets the eye. I look for great things from you in the future."The following morning, with Koman fully recovered from his wounds, the companions decided to continue their exploration of Brinestump, starting with the second shipwreck. They found it easily enough, right where it was marked on both maps they'd discovered. It was only slightly in better condition than the previous wreck, it's hull split down the middle as it lay on its side, half sunken in the muck. As they began to explore, however, an odd rattling sound reached their ears from inside the ship's hold. Suddenly, four figures shuffled out of the gloom. They were dressed in odd, laminate armor, and they bore strange, curved short blades, rusted and pitted. It was only once they'd emerged fully into the sunlight that it became obvious that they were no longer among the living. There was no flesh remaining on their bones, and skulls grinned mindlessly from beneath flared helms. Though taken aback, the young heroes did not hesitate. A few short days before, they had been relative strangers to one another, but now they fought as one, their familiarity with each other's tactics showing through. In short order, they had hacked the skeletal warriors to pieces, and stood victorious once again. It was then that they noticed the nameplate of the wrecked hulk upon which they stood: the Kaijitsu Blossom...</blockquote>

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