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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Justinian" data-source="post: 1344252" data-attributes="member: 6358">New PCs: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dexter, half-elf rogue. </li> </ul>-------------------------------------------------- Session 5a: The Rat That Walks Like a ManAfter Feliks had recovered, they headed back to the guildhall to look for some new contracts. While they were there, a man named Dexter asked if he could join them, as doing contracts alone had proved too difficult. He said that he had some talent with bow and blade, and the group decided that they could use someone like that. Riguallaun decided to leave at this point, since he had been having trouble contributing lately, and wanted to go back home. Feliks had the idea of moving their stored equipment from the inn to the guildhall, and they managed to fit it all into the space they were allotted.They looked for a contract that was both simple and close to town, and found a small village nearby that needed help with some rat swarms. Since most of them felt that they could handle a bunch of rats, they signed it and prepared to leave.As they returned to the inn, three people intercepted them on the road. Silently, they attacked. Popo and the enemy sorcerer exchanged lesser concussions and magic missiles, while the others surrounded the enemy fighter and shaman. Dexter hung back, shooting into the fight, and was able to spot the fourth enemy before he could sneak into the combat. In a short time, they had eliminated all of the opponents. As an afterthought, they stabilized the fighter, and took the bodies into a nearby warehouse to examine them.None of the bodies looked wholly human, and all were branded on the wrist with a different symbol. The fighter’s skin had a grayish cast, and he was unusually tough-skinned. They managed to charm him into talking, and questioned him at length. He informed them that he and his companions were part of a guild, based on their elemental heritage. The four of them, representing each of the elements, had been sent to capture the group. The information had included descriptions of each person, as well as both animals. He had no other information, and would not reveal who his leader was. They took him to the City Guard, and had him put in jail for assault. They also paid the Guard to board him for two more days, in order to give them more time to get out of town.They gathered their equipment, and left to fulfill their contract. After a little more than one day of traveling, they arrived at the small village that had requested help. They questioned the elder of the village, and he said that the attacks had gotten worse in the time since he had sent the contract.They set bait along the road, and oil-soaked brush to funnel the rat swarms into a killing zone. When the rats came, Feliks and Aoshi lit the brushfires, and Popo used his whistle to kill great numbers of the rats. It didn’t take long before the rats began to flee. After waiting for a short time, they began tracking the rats back into the forest. They soon came to a cave that was surrounded with thousands of rat tracks. Slowly, they went into the cave. At intervals, small swarms of rats attacked, but they were quickly driven off. Dexter fell into a pit trap at one point that was covered with a light framework of branches and leaves. The rats could cross it, but he could not. It almost seemed that they were luring him into the trap. Feliks took his torch and burned the covering of the pit, and they all descended to the bottom and continued along the cave. As Feliks climbed back out at the end, he found the last of the rats, covering the entire end of the cave. A strangely rat-like creature as tall as a man commanded the swarms to attack, and battle was joined again. The swarms were difficult to resist, and until Aoshi began using calm animal on them, it was hard to even get to the wererat leader. Eventually, Dexter managed to get out of the rat swarms and flanked the wererat with Feliks. It was over quickly, then, as Dexter’s precision hits meshed well with Feliks’s more powerful attacks. As they engaged the wererat in close combat, Dexter noticed that a small moonstone was embedded somehow in the flesh of his throat. When the wererat finally died, the gem exploded, tearing off the wererat’s head and injuring those around him slightly.The group was disturbed by this strange event, but found a significant pile of goods in the cave that the wererat had captured in his raids, and they happily packaged it all up to sell in Erendar. They returned to the city, informing the village elder along the way that the threat of rats was removed, and received payment for the contract.</blockquote>

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