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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 1719" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil - part 4 (session 7)After a thorough investigation of the broken tower, the group left the corpses behind and headed towards the shack. The splintered wood of the hovel jutted towards the sky like an accusing finger pointed to the heavens. From within the detritus of the shanty Milo could make out a stair well. "Looks like it's down into the earth again folks." Milo spoke over his shoulder. "You should be right at home Brigit.""Mebbe so, depends on what else 'as already made it its home." Brigit answered.The stairs led down to a small room with a hatch in the floor. Milo searched the area quickly and found no traps. "Jer, you think you could muscle this door open? Probably easier for you than Brigit." Milo asked the barbarian. Brigit bristled at the comment and shouldered her way past Jeremiah."Probably easier for you than Brigit." she imitated Milo. The halfling sniggered.With a single heave she wrenched open the hatch, nearly ripping it off the hinges. "I knew we could count on you Brigit." Milo said with a smug grin on his face as he patted the fuming dwarf's shoulder. "Kinda dark down there, I'll go down first and set up one of my sunrods."Milo pulled out a slender wand with a bulbous tip from his pack. He cracked the bottom of the wand against the floor of the shack and the bulb flared into light. Everyone shielded his or her eyes against the intense flare. The light died down to a sufferable level after a few moments, bright enough to illuminate the passage down, as well as the mildly annoyed glares directed at Milo. He pretended not to notice as he peered down the shaft. A ladder led into the darkness past the range of his sunrod. He fastened the wand to his pack and turned about, feet first into the shaft."Let's head down, this sunrod doesn't last forever." Milo called up to his friends.They climbed down the rickety ladder one at a time. Milo and Mazithra barely made a noise as they crawled down lightly. Brigit and Jeremiah rattled the wooden ladder in its casings as they clunked down in their heavy armor. Jeremiah looked a little embarrassed at the noise after he reached the bottom. Milo had time to plant his sunrod in-between some rocks in the small room while he was waiting for the others. The magically glowing wand washed over dusty rubble and long unused shelves. There didn't seem to be much in the room besides the empty shelving. Just as Jeremiah's boots hit the ground another sound filtered up to their ears. Squeaking noises surrounded them, seeming to come from every direction."A trap!" Jeremiah said.Before anyone else could comment a flood of huge rodents swarmed towards them from cracks in the walls and floor. At least a dozen of the large rats scurried into the small room, hedging the companions in."Not dire rats again!" Mazi whined before as she unsheathed Sylvanglade.Mazithra showed her distaste in more ways than one as she found a critical weakness in the leading rat's hide. The point of her sword sunk deep into the beast as it let loose a shrill squeak, it's last.Two of the diseased vermin scrabbled towards Milo. Their speed startled the halfling, he barely had time to jump back to avoid a nasty bite. The first rat's teeth snapped on air, inches from his arm. He wasn't as lucky with the second rodent. It's yellowed teeth bit into his leg as he hopped away, drawing a small amount of blood. A wave of sickness washed over Milo, but he fought it off, refusing to give in to the filth fever these vermin carried.Next to him Mazi fended off three of the rats, her sword keeping one at bay at a time. As she wielded the weapon at one, the other two would approach, nipping at her waist. She managed to ward off the closest but winced as the other two made it past her defenses. Milo watched as an almost imperceptible green hue crept up Mazi's skin and her face flushed. She would be feeling that bite for days to come if he didn't do something about it.His attention was brought back to the rats as Brigit brushed past him, her axe brandished high. She swung the deadly blade down at the rats, causing many to fall back. Two rats were too slow though, her heavy axe head swung clean through their chests as they reared up on hind legs. The rats stood nearly as tall as the dwarf for a moment before toppling back among their kin. The squeaking seemed to grow louder around them.Milo had finally notched a bolt to his crossbow and fired a shot past the vicious dwarf. The bolt skimmed the tough hide of one of the rats. He sighed in disappointment as it skittered to the ground, inflicting no damage whatsoever.Jeremiah practically stepped over Milo's head in his rush to get to the battle. His greatsword fought for room in the cramped quarters. Jer changed styles, forgoing his usual grand slashes, as he stabbed at the creatures again and again. One, two, then three of the feral rats keened their death squeal before Jeremiah was forced back by the rest of the swarm. His Windsword had no trouble dispatching the diseased rats.Meanwhile Mazi had recovered from her bite wounds and rallied at the rats the flooded the space left empty by their dead kin. She also abandoned her usual graceful style, adopting a no-nonsense approach to dispatching the rodents. Her sword cut short the life of one of the vermin as it sank half to the hilt through a rat's flank. She pulled her sword out and glared at the rest of the rats as if their attack was a personal insult she wished to address.Six of the beasts remained but only three were able to attack the companions at once. The rats surged towards Mazi, Brigit, and Jeremiah. Mazi was already weakened from the initial bites and was unable to mount a sufficient defense. She lashed out at the approaching rat with her boot and was rewarded with a slight wound on her calf. She favored her other leg for a moment as she stepped back. Jeremiah scored a similar wound as he kicked away another rat. The beast's head whipped about and caught the lightly protected calf of the barbarian. Jeremiah merely grunted and bashed the rat in the head with his hilt. The creature let go of his leg but was not stunned in the slightest by the powerful human's blow. Brigit's defenses fared considerably better. The rat had a hard time bypassing her shield as she fixed it firmly between herself and the attacker.Her shield stayed between them only long enough for the rat to attack. As soon as it dropped back down to all fours her axe came swinging from behind the metal barrier. The enchanted edge sliced through the rat's shallow brainpan, killing it instantly. She took advantage of the powerful blow by following through to the rat that had attacked Jeremiah. Her axe buried itself deep into its shoulder, breaking through the bones into the ribcage and severing the rodent's link with life.Jeremiah saw the opening and leaped past the expired rat, swinging his sword from the middle of the small room. Mazi ducked unnecessarily as the sword whistled by inches away from where she stood. The blade dipped as it approached the first of the rats and did not emerge again until it passed through three more rats. The creatures wailed as his massive sword ripped into them. They had no way to defend themselves from the cold hard steel of the Windsword. Milo fired another bolt at the last remaining rat, trying to thread the needle past Jeremiah and Brigit. His quarrel soared over the rat's head, splintering against the far wall.Mazi's eyes glinted as she advanced on the last rat. She sliced into the gibbering vermin with her sword, barely looking as if she expended any energy in the effort. "I hate these filthy rats. Every time we see one I'm getting bit on the leg. Ugh, I don't feel so well" Mazithra said after the last dire rat had fallen. "For how many there were I'd say we got off pretty easy." Milo said as he explored the small cellar. "Everyone but Brigit got bit, but only you seem to have been infected with that filth fever. How is your leg?'Mazi marveled at how Milo could carry on a conversation while his attention seemed focused solely on the ground at his feet. Before she could answer he let out a little shout of "Ahah!" and bent down to pull on the corner of a musty old mat.The old woven rug pulled up at the corner and revealed another door under its musty protection. Milo struggled with the large rug, trying to roll it the rest of the way off of the hatch. Jeremiah bent over to help the small halfling. Just as he reached out his hand to pull aside the mat he froze. He slowly extended his hand towards Milo instead, who was too distracted by his task to hear what bothered Jeremiah so."More rats." the large barbarian whispered. It was Milo's turn to freeze. He could hear the squeaking and the faint scrabbling of claw on stone. He groaned and turned to look at the others. Not one of them were in the mood to fight more of the vermin and from the sound of it there were even more this time. Mazithra was the first to head up the ladder, her wounded leg didn't slow her ascent at all. Brigit followed her up, then Jeremiah. Milo grabbed his sunrod and scampered up the rungs just as the first rat emerged from the cracks in the walls. If the vermin hadn't paused to sniff at its dead kin they may not have had the time to close the hatch after the nimble halfling shot up out of the passage. Jeremiah swung the heavy wooden door down on its hinges. They could hear as one of the rats fell from the ladder to the cellar floor as the hatch slammed into its resting-place. All four adventurers breathed a sigh of relief. Milo turned to confer with his friends. They could ignore the scrabbling of claws on the wooden hatch. It was obviously too heavy for the rats to lift. Mazithra however couldn't shake the idea that they could find other ways out, through the cracks in the floor of the shack."I'm sick of them. Stupid rats always spreading their disease. I say we camp for the night. I'm not feeling so well." Mazi said."While I'm not quite as frightened of the rats," Milo said, dodging a half-serious fist from Mazi, "I agree. We could all use a rest after the garrison and the rats. I can use my staff to heal Mazi of the fever before it gets serious too.""Alright, let's get clear O tha temple. I still don' like the looks O it. I swear there's somethin familiar about this place." Brigit said."Yes, I can't quite put my finger on it either Brigit. I feel it too though. It gives me the shivers." Mazi said as she held her shoulders."That or the filth fever, eh? You need to stop trying to make friends with the rats, Mazi." Milo said, again dodging a more serious punch from Mazi. He grinned back at her as Brigit and Jeremiah chuckled.They made their way out of the temple's clearing, choosing a wooded area surprisingly free of roots and brambles to settle down in for the night. As they unloaded their gear Milo pulled asked Brigit for the staff of healing she carried for him. He examined the staff, reading over the now familiar runes of the smooth wood. "What was the that activation word again? Ah! Here it is." He muttered to himself. He stood up, holding the staff before him. His head barely reached three quarters of the way up the wooden staff. "Come here, Mazi." He motioned to the elf with the staff. He looked comical standing with the large staff held out in front of him. "Ready?" he asked Mazithra. She nodded and Milo raised the staff as far off the ground as he could."Abercrombie!" Milo said in a booming voice."ah-FITCH" Mazi sneezed."Bless ya." Brigit answered the sneeze.Milo gave Mazi a queer look then shrugged. "How do you feel?""Pretty good. Really good actually. That's a nice little trick there, Milo." Mazi replied."Trick! That's some powerful magic! Completely abolishing all of the toxins in your elf body is no little thing!" Milo said, incensed. It was Mazi's turn to grin and dodge as Milo swung the staff most unceremoniously towards her.They finished setting up camp and settled down for the night after a brief cold dinner. Watch was set and each of them took turns staying up peering into the gloom that pervaded the woods near the temple. Random sounds seemed ominous in the dark, almost as if something were watching them, waiting, waiting, waiting.Milo woke the next morning relatively refreshed, despite the unease from the night before. They discussed the shack and the rat infested cellar and the ruined temple. Finally the group decided to investigate the temple before going any further. Bad feeling or no, the temple wasn't going anywhere with them traipsing about outside.</blockquote>

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