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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hunter" data-source="post: 1194483" data-attributes="member: 14845">The Southeastern section of the Temple, specifically the tower suffered great during the conflagration. Completely burned out it was, with the floor collapsing into the dungeon below. However it fell in such a way as to allow access to the surface via broken and burned timber and stone that created a kind of ramp leading up.  There on the floor of the dungeon leading up to the surface stands Hadzuel. Captain scout of the Black Fang kobold tribe. Short spear in hand with sling at waist, he pauses a moment. He is not used to not seeing himself as he walks. Not even his infravision can show him his arms or legs as he slowly begins to move up the debris that forms a sort of ramp up into the bottom floor of the southeast tower.  As he pauses to test the debris with his spear to see if its safe he thinks of the great honor that has been bestowed upon him.The wizard chose him, Hadzuel over all the others to grant him great power! Hadzuel is now invisible to all!!! Still a little unnerving,he feels encapsulated by a rush of power! To be invisible to his enemies is a great advantage to his retched way of life. As well as a bit scary. He intends however to use this advantage once he is done with the wizard’s task. Soon Hadzuel will rule. But first he must complete his mission.Making his way up the debris ramp, Hadzuel feels the cold night air blow through broken and burned out walls. Looking out through a crack in the wall he sees the desolation of the ruined Temple. He has been here before on his scouting patrols. A very desolate and dangerous area. One never knows what might creep up from outside to come seeking…exploring…hunting.Hadzuel knows that some animal or creature of some kind is out there. His intellect is exceptional(for a kobold) and he is also aware that invisibility will not completely hide him from a large predator. Still he is encouraged and invigorated by his new gained power! Soon Hadzuel will rule! First he must complete his mission! Making his way to the burned out room of the southeastern tower, he moves along the edge until he finds the stone stairway still intact to the second floor. Slowly but efficiently he climbs the staircase. Soon he finds a niche inside the crumbling tower with a complete view of the dungeon floor below.At this point Hadzuel makes a low gutteral sound with his throat signaling the others below.Soon they come. His scout brothers. Cautiously entering the dungeon floor just underneath the burned out southeastern tower. Pulling along with them they drag the last human prisoners from below. Bound and gagged, they are brought within the center of the chamber. Tethered by thick ropes onto large broken boulders their legs are then cut and hamstrung in a most cruel fashion by the kobold scouts. Left to bleed, the kobolds remove their gags before leaving. Moaning and lamenting there pain the humans lie there tied and bound, just out of reach of each other. Hadzuel gleefully watches their suffering. Watches and waits. This was the area last patrolled by the missing scouting party. If the wizard is right and it is an animal it shall return to this area. This area where feeding was…good. Hadzuel thinks of his orders to only observe. Observe and then report. The wizard being most methodical and calculating wants more information before making a decision on this matter. The fact that the wizard can see all does not enter Hadzuel’s mind as he watches the suffering humans. He was chosen for this task by the wizard. He must be testing Hadzuel. Watching him, even now as he sits within the crumbling tower. Hadzuel must not displease him. He must follow the wizard’s word to the letter. Then mayhap the master will be pleased and grant him further gifts. Hadzuel ponders this as the cold night air blows through the ruins and the moon light casts white and grey light onto the floor where the wounded humans lie. Nothing happens for a long, long time.Then in the early hours just before daybreak there is a stirring. From within the nooks and crannies, the cracks, crevices and rubble surrounding the prisoners is movement. Partly awakening as if by instinct one of the humans open his eyes to….. terror. The moon has long since gone down but through the eerie milky darkness he spies tiny eyes watching him from a distance. Many tiny eyes. Many red eyes. They watch. They watch and wait. Then they begin to gather. As they enter the room Hadzuel notes that these rats are of very large size. So large in fact it is hard to discern the much larger ones that seem to lead them. Hadzuel does however. His orders were to describe every detail he witnesses. Again the wizard tests him, Hadzuel thinks. He will not fail. He notices in fact that the much larger rats are huge! They equal him in size if not larger! Fear creeps up Hadzuel’s spine, his race’s instinctive urge to flee something bigger than he. For what if they smell him up here? Even invisible Hadzuel is no match for a  group of rats bigger than  him. There might only be 3 to 4 of the extremely large ones but that  would be more than enough to kill him. He grips his spear and quietly shakes. It takes him incredible willpower to hold his position and follow his master’s orders. But stay he does. Below the big leaders seem to be sniffing the air around the trapped humans. Almost as if they are unsure… While the humans begin to moan with terror, one of the large ones comes up to them. When he does this another large leader rat leaps upon the human from behind. Gripping his neck with his teeth. Suddenly there are screams and a rush of fur and tails. The feeding frenzy begins. It is a ghoulish spectacle.Hadzuel looks on, fear giving way to hunger, as his mouth begins to salivate.Spittle falling away only to  appear visibly below him, as if out of thin air. Soon the screams snuffle out as the rats pour over their victims devouring all. It is a grisly site. They eat well.Later that day….Hadzuel, only appearing before the wizard as a pair of sandy foot/claw prints and a voice reports all that he had witnessed to the last detail.The wizard merely listens and nods, now and then asking him to go back and repeat certain events. The wizard especially enjoyed the description of the feeding frenzy. Muttering to himself, he rises from his high backed chair and walks to a wall in his laboratory. Picking up a stick of charcoal, he goes over to a map of the ruined temple tacked against the wall. There crudely drawn, is the surface area of the recent ruins of the Temple. Split into a grid of 10 sections, all with notes pertaining to sectors and patrol groups, times, and descriptions of recent events/reports.There on the southeastern portion of the map marked as: sector 7 the wizard writes two rune glyphs. One is the symbol of the rat or rodent. The other is the symbol of lycanthropy.Can it be true? The wizard expected a rodent infestation. Even before the fire and carnage the Temple had its share of rats. This report however concurs with his examination of the earlier kobold bodies. Their deathblow bite radiuses would match that of a huge rat. It is possible that the Horned Priest bread extremely large rats. Larger than normal. Much larger than a large rat. However the actions of these huge rats sounded as if they were possibly controlling their smaller brethren. It sounded too much like a concerted effort. That would mean the possibility of the curse of lycanthropy infesting these ruins.  It may be that the wererats are very aware of the wizard, his laboratory, everything. The wizard does not know how long they have been in the Temple. They might have been here all this time. They might have even been working with/for the High Priest for all the wizard knows. Why then have they not made any attempts toward him other than snatching killing his scouts? Perhaps some of the missing kobold scouting party were not eaten but infected as a means to add to their numbers. It is possible.If so, then they may be waiting, bidding their time in order for the full moon to cycle once again so their infected kobolds (if they exist) will incubate until their time is ripe for their first change. Hmmmm two scouting parties were lost. That is over a dozen kobolds. The wizard’s brow furrows at the thought of that possibility. Hoping that he is wrong the wizard begins to plan.As he does so, he hears a voice from out of thin air say-‘Master?’The wizard-‘yes Hadzuel what is it?’Hadzuel-‘Did I serve thee well master? Was I…good ?’The wizard-‘Oh yes Hadzuel, you are an exceptional intellect for your breed. Now I have one more task for you to perform. I think you will find this task most rewarding.’Walking over to one of his shelves, the wizard pulls out a black and grey colored dagger in scabbard.Bringing it over to the laboratory work table he draws forth the blade. Muttering to himself-‘Now where did I put that brew…Ah yes here it is’ and he brings up a ceramic jar from one of his shelves and goes back to the work table. Taking the blade and running it under an open flame the wizard heats the daggers worn and jagged edge. Then, as it heats up, he takes the pungent smelling jelly like substance from the ceramic jar and smears it upon the daggers edge with a lab knife.The wizard-‘ Ahhh there that should be enough.’. Waiting for it to dry before placing back within its sheath, he gives the applied dagger and scabbard to the open air.The wizard-‘Now Hadzuel, for your reward I give you this dagger dipped in blade venom, take it.’ The dagger vanishes from view.Hadzuel-‘Yes master thank you great one!’The wizard-With a dark gleam in his eyes and fiendish grin-‘Now here’s what I want you to do…….’</blockquote>

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