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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Chef BBQ" data-source="post: 1272194" data-attributes="member: 1844">Rats! (run of 11-25-03)11-25-03Kalina intends to spend the night in owl form watching the portal from the front.  The rest of the party prepare to take their normal watches.At sunset they hear a noise over the hill.  It sounds like a bird warbling, but Kalina doesn’t think it’s a natural animal.  Through the night they hear the faint howling of wolves, but none approach, and the night drags on peacefully.  The air is cool, and they all sleep well.  During the last watch Kalina hears the warbling again ululating through the early dawn.The man with the spider tattoo is conscious, but appears to have a headache.  Marja isn’t sure if that is from Borin’s pummeling or Caerwyn’s long and boring diatribe on the error of this man’s ways.  Borin finally interups and comes more to the point, “Where are the others of your order?”The man with the spider tattoo doesn’t pay any attention to Borin.  He’s been eyeing up Marja and Kira since the sun came up enough to see.  He winks at Marja.  She winks back, but also casts a charm spell.  He seems to warm up to her even more, but his curt manner never fades.  “Hey, Toots.  Whacha want ta know?  Whether I can make you howl?”Marja smiles and meets his gaze.  I don’t waste time on questions I can answer myself.  I was wondering if there are others like you doing similar tasks.”“Don’t know.  Can’t tell,” was the short reply, but he makes a crude gesture with his lips.  Borin kicks him hard, but he doesn’t flinch.  Kalina casts Salamar’s quiet contemplation, and Lucre detects magic.Marja ignores the gesture and smiles sweetly.  “Who sent you?’“Can’t tell you.”  Marja looks exasperated.  “Look, honey, you got a nice pair, but…”  The sentence is cut off by Borin’s fist hitting him across the jaw.  The man with the spider tattoo is unfazed.  “What’s the matter, Toots?  Jealous?”  Kel grabs Borin’s arm firmly and pushes himself between the two before the dwarf/elf can go into a rage.  “Are you aware of how much trouble you’re in?” he asks.“Blah, blah, titan worship.  Blah, blah, execution.  I think I can figure it out.”“You know a lady that I want to kill,” Borin glares.“Can’t tell you,” is the reply.  Lucre notices the spider tattoo glowing slightly.“You can’t tell, or you won’t tell?” Marja asks sweetly.  “Won’t tell and can’t.  Look, sweetcheeks, this game is boring.  Can’t you come up with another?” he winks again.  Borin knocks him out.“I think it’s the tattoo.  It controls him,” Lucre pipes up.“Can we remove it?” asks Marja.  Perhaps they could cut it off.  Caerwyn strongly objects to inflicting pain.  Terri points out that Kira kicked him in the nads, and he seems to feel no pain.  “Perhaps he has strong resolution from holy ferver,” Caerwyn points out.  ”Are you kidding?” Marja gapes.  “This creep has holy resolution?”“Perhaps he has holy nads,” Kel offers quietly.  Kalina slaps him on the back.  “Hey, you made a joke!”Still Caerwyn, the paladin who wants to carry this man off to certain execution, is insistant that there be no mutilation.  Alek Sebastian briefly offers to take the prisoners to a safe place, but the party quickly refuses to have him leave their care.  the prisoner comes to.Marja continues questioning and meets mostly with frustration, but does glean a few morsels.  A few people high up in the Dukedom are getting money to turn a blind eye:  Major Sir Trevor Lyons whom Terri heard of once for apparently leading a charge for battle in the wrong direction, and the Duke’s merchant cousin, Lionell Hassett.  The Duke himself is not receiving money, but that does not mean he isn’t aware of what’s going on.  The man with the spider tattoo knows Cossette and hates her, but even with Borin’s promise to hunt her down and kill her, he does not disclose any information on her location.With Caerwyn resolutely blocking anyone from physically removing the tattoo, Marja casts dispel magic.  The tattoo disappears, but does not stop working.Fang stares to the east and sniffs the air.  Absently, he gnaws on the man’s foot wounding him enough to send him back into unconsciousness.  The tattoo faintly grows more solid.From the east a rider crests the hill.  “This area is circumscribed and seized by the guards of Stonefell.”Alek is skeptical.  “I’ve yet to meet a man from Stonefell guard who can pronounce ‘circumscribe’ yet alone use it in a sentence.”“His horse is very nervous,” Kalina whispers.  The party slowly approaches.  “Who sent you?”  Calls out Captain Sebastian.“The King of Vesh!”“There is no king of Vesh.”“Yes, there is,” stammers the guard.  “I am his official.”Kalina detects magic.  He has an aura of transmutation and necromancy about him.  They move closer.  Marja casts ghost sound and spooks the horse.  It rears toppling the guard who deftly spins and lands on his feet.  He stands straight and shouts, “I am proper authority.  You must obey me.”Caerwyn approaches and asks to see his papers.  From behind the hill seven creatures leap up.  They are all wearing robes, some have bandages, all carry spears.  They surround Caerwyn and start screaming.  Caerwyn can see the holy symbol of Thulcas on their spears as one stabs him in the belly.  He can also see wormlike tails, animal legs and pointy snouts protruding from their robes.  “Rat Men!” he shouts as he dodges another blow.The party springs into attach mode.  Borin rages, Lucre attacks, Terri moves in to flank, Marja gets off a burst of magic missiles.Standing a few feet away from the heart of the battle Marja and Kalina look up at the sky suddenly feeling the heat of the forge beating down on them.  Their eyes catch sight of a flame strike, and they jump away from the heart of the burst, but both are burned.Again the spears stab hitting Borin, Terri and Caerwyn’s horse.  Caerwyn swings his sword, lopping off the head of the offending creature.  Borin swings his great axe straight through the body of one rat and into the next hearing the delicate sound of fragile bones snapping.Marja rises to her feet.  Her arms are covered with burns.  She chants the spell and feels the solid coolness of the ice knife form in her hand.  Just as she is about to hurl it toward the cleric/guard imposter, she catches sight of another rat man creeping behind her toward the prisoner.  She spins and releases the ice knife hurling it between the eyes of the creeping rat.  It falls dead in its tracks.“Why doesn’t she throw like that when she’s throwing near us?” asks Terri.The spell-caster rat chants, then moves and touches Borin.  Blisters erupt on his fair elven skin as he doubles over in pain.  Kalina transforms into hawk form and sends a wave of creeping cold down from the sky.  The rat men feel their sweat turn to ice.  Frost forms on their faces and whiskers.Kel charges at the spell caster with his lance, but at the final impact another creature jumps in front taking the full blow in the chest.  It coughs up blood.  Caerwyn is surrounded.  His horse kicks behind at one creature while he swings at another.  Still another hurls its spear at Caerwyn’s holy symbol.  He falls unconscious, but does not fall from the saddle.The next series of attacks from the rat men are weak.  They are clearly tiring as they bump into each other and fumble their attacks.  One nicks Terri and another swings at Kel, but leaves only a large scratch across his pristine armor.Borin cuts off the leg of the one closest to him.  Another ducks away and under the legs of Caerwyn’s horse only to straighten up and turning right into Terri’s waiting knife which slices its throat.Marja scans the grasses near her and spots another creature sneaking toward the prisoner.  Another ice knife sails through the air, but gives this one only a snout full of ice.  Marja shrugs.Lucre tumbles through the mellee and attacks the rat cleric.  He hits, but the cleric still manages to finish his incantation.  His hands turn rust colored.  “Rusting grasp,” yells Kalina.  “Kel, stay away!”  He lunges at Kell who manages to dodge, but those hands remain that terrible color.Kalina sweeps down and regenerates Caerwyn whose wounds stop bleeding and breathing becomes normal.  Kel again charges with his lance toward the cleric, but again a devoted defender steps in front.  Kel lops off its head spraying the area with blood.  Borin takes down another rat man and swings at the human cleric who deftly dodges the attack.Fang leaps in biting a rat man that falls to the ground.  As Fang steps away Caerwyn’s horse, D’Artangnon, rears bringing its front hooves down on top of the creature inflicting the final blow.Borin swings again slashing the cleric’s stomach open.  Inside he sees a small rat man hastily start to wriggle out of its human body.  As he pulls free, he hears Terri’s voice bellow from behind him as she shouts the word, “Doooooom!” and casts the spell.Marja’s full attention is turned to the rat man before her.  He’s moved slightly to stand next to her horse as another ice knife appears in her hand.  He laughs, “You’ll hit your horse if you miss.  I hear you do that a lot.”  The knife flies through the air and hits it full in the chest.  He stops laughing as his body pivots around.  He finally falls on his back, his chest caved in.Lucre can see that the spellcaster rat’s hands are still rust covered.  He moves in and strikes.  As it sinks to the ground a tiny voice calls out, “I am devoted to Thulcas…” but all that is left is a tiny rat body on the ground covered with frost.  Borin swings and cuts off its tail.  Lucre steps in and cuts the body in half.  Finally a kill.Marja sends magic missiles flying through the air toward the last standing rat man who falls dead.The tiny rat’s flesh catches of fire where the sunlight hits it.  “Could we have just pulled their robes off, do you think?” Terri asks chagrined.  “I need a get naked spell,” muses Marja.  Caerwyn pipes in, “You have one.  It’s called order another pitcher.”  Marja glares at him.  “You’re such a jerk.”  He doesn’t hear her because he has turned to collect one of the rat men’s heads to stow in a bag before it bursts into flames.They search the bodies and find a tail ring the size of a bracelet that glows with transmutation and necromancy, a potion of transmutation magic and a coin of abjuration.  They also find an interesting little box with four compartments and a glowing cinder.  As they turn it they realize that the cinder always rolls into the compartment toward the gate, a magic compass.  They pour cold water into the box, and the magic fades.“Well,” asks Borin, “how about some breakfast.”  They turn and head back to camp.</blockquote>

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