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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 622710" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #205] Demon Rats II[/PLAIN]"Ruze!" Finian cried. "Heal Draelond! We need his sword!""Fools!" the rats' weirdly modulated voice screeched and an aimless sense of despair clutched at the group's guts as unknown magic was invoked.Ruze looked first at the struggling wererat and then at the unmoving Draelond. His vision swam and he shook his head in order to get his senses under control. "My Queen, bathe me in your protective light!" he prayed, touching his right fist to his chest. Moonlight seemed to play across his skin.Ledare raised her crossbow and squeezed off a shot at the rat pile. The bolt flew into the mass and disappeared beneath the squirming rat bodies. It seemed to have no effect whatsoever and a sense of fearful impotence began to creep into the Janissary's heart.Finian took a step back and raised his head to the night sky. "Brogine! Emperor of Beasts!" he bellowed at the stars. "I call upon you to send me your aid!" His cry was echoed by a shriek from above and a hawk dove out of the sky toward the rats. It pulled up at the last moment and scratched outward with its claws, but missed."You, beastmaster!" the rats cooed, fixing Finian with dozens of tiny red eyes. The eyes began to fill the Archer's field of vision. "Free the wererat!" The half-elf felt the oily effects of evil magic wash over him and for an instant, the idea of cutting the bola thongs seemed like a perfectly fine one. His found himself half-turned with his sword ready to sever the bonds before he was able to shake off the power of the charm. The rats hissed when they saw him resist their influence. It didn't matter, however; the skaven had changed shape again. This time it became a large three foot long rat with silver fur and it wriggled free of the bola without any trouble."Touch Ledare with thy healing grace, oh Queen!" Ruze prayed and brushed his hand against the Janissary's back. She felt the power of divine healing sweep through her, undoing some of the hurt that the rats' magic had wrought. She was still a long way from good health, but her aches and pains subsided a bit. Grimly, she raised her hand crossbow and fired into the mass of rodents. Again her shot flew true, but again it seemed to have absolutely no effect.Finian brought his sword to bear on the retreating wererat. It had a good fifteen feet head start on him, but he closed it to five in a matter of seconds. He was close, but the unnatural creature had made it to the slope along the edge of Rherram's property and it slipped off into the high grass along the verge. The Archer had no desire to separate from the others, and he turned back in time to see the hawk he had summoned swoop down again from the dark sky. It dove in again at the rats and this time its claws sank into the body of one of the creatures comprising the squirming pile. As one, the rats swarmed upward, their tiny fangs ripping the hawk to shreds in an instant. The animal disappeared in a puff of smoke and feathers as its spirit returned to the ether from which the ranger had called it.Ruze knelt beside Draelond's unmoving body and laid a hand on either side of the man's bleeding head. "Let not this man go too early to Myrkul's hall," he said and channelled just enough of Shaharizod's power into his fallen companion to stop his bleeding.Ledare lined up another shot - this time at one of the rats along the edge of the main mass - and fired. The arrow struck home, piercing the rodent's side with a satisfying THWOK! But an instant later, the creature flexed its body and expelled the shaft without injury. "Dear gods," the Janissary muttered as fear once more gripped her heart. "Weapons don't hurt it."Finian came charging back in, his longsword flashing and Ledare stood up quickly and shouted, "Weapons don't hurt it!!" The Archer skidded to a stop a few feet from the mass of rats, looking very confused."Weapons don't hurt us," the rats said as they began to move away toward the slope at the side of Rherram's property.  The wriggling carpet of rodents moved passed Finian as they went and the Archer felt the slippery sensation of dark forces probing his mind. "Lead them away, beastmaster," the rats whispered as they passed. "Tell them you did not see which way the wererat went."That was a good idea, the Archer thought. Why should he endanger everyone by pointing out where the skaven went, anyway? It made perfect sense, really. Or at least it did for a few short moments before his own will reasserted itself and he shook off the charm effects for a second time."If we meet again, we will feast on your rotting corpse," the rats hissed as they swarmed off into the tall grass.Ruze stood and pointed one of his scimitars in the rats' direction. "My Queen, lend me your-" he began but Ledare stilled him with a hand on his shoulder."Let it go," she groaned. Her voice sounded very small and very tired. "We're in no shape to deal with such a thing. It will be our undoing."Finian trotted back toward them and his low-light vision picked out the scene of carnage inside the stable. One of the horses - and at this point, it was impossible to tell which one - had been killed. Its skeletonized carcass lay within, glistening redly in the moonlight. Its reins were still tethered to the center rail."Brogine, help us," the ranger said. "What are we dealing with?"</blockquote>

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