Dungeons and Dragons Day 26: Wererats and Bears
Being approached by a horde of strangers was very suspicious in any place. But given the nature of this dungeon and the recent upheaval in the world, and the party was prepared for a fight. Grez prepared to fight, but the others wanted to ask questions first.
Questions of who these people were got tossed around first. There was no response. The Monk’s hands twitched. And Artin slowly inched to the back. It was becoming increasingly clear that these were the bandits.
Finally Grez got fed up and asked a vital question of his own: “Where is the treasure in this place?”
“Like we would tell.” One of the Bandits finally answered in a raspy voice. “Stupid creature.” The Monk did not take the insult well. Not one to waste words, he entered a volley of nasty words between himself and this enemy.
“Leave that one for last.” Grez instructed. Thus the fight began in earnest and the entire party was eager to remove this threat from the world. Artin was still not able to fight and retreated to the back. The group was in for a minor surprise as the battle reached an intensity. These Bandits suddenly shifted into giant rats- Wererats to be specific. Naked Monk had no problem identifying those like himself.
As the Wereboar revealed his equally cursed form, the Bandit’s eyes shifted from arrogant to horrified. The party effortlessly slaughtered this enemy. After all the supernatural Fiends and Angels, a pack of Wererats was a very minor threat to the group.
As Grez had requested, the one upstart remained the only one to live. No the bandit was shivering unsure what fate was in store. “You gonna tell me where the treasure is now?” The Monk asked. The bandit’s foolish display of confidence was not the answer he wanted.
He punched the Bandit around. At first it was simply to vent anger, but as the rat continued to squeak. “Treasure?” Grez asked again and again. And every time that he got no answer, he smacked the rat around. Finally feeling frustrated by no answer, he kicked the remaining bandit into the wall.
“You will kill him if this continues.” Caic warned. No one else really cared. This was a bandit after all. Even Artin, who seemed to care a but more for living creatures thanks to be a Druid did not seem to mind the bloody mess that Grez was turning the Wererat into.
“Bottom!” The Bandit finally cried out once its legs and arms had been broken beyond repair. “Please stop.” The Rat cried.
“Ok.” Grez punched the Bandit through the chest with enough force that he exploded into a mist of blood. “You didn’t specify what to stop, so I chose your heart.” The party now knew where the treasure and thus, the book’s location, and continued on their way.
Caic and Sigvard exchanged concerned glances at each other but continued in step with Naked Monk, Hadron, and Artin who seemed to be indifferent to Grez’s actions. The labyrinth continued on and despite the map showing the exact setup of this place, it seemed like the corridors would last forever.
Statues had started appearing with increasing intensity. And the fact that the eyes had been scratched out from all of them had not gone without notice.
“Kranaak!” Sigvard hissed. Hadron pulled out his bag of tricks and managed to summon a bear. The party was ready for a fight and jumped at every shadow after their last couple experiences with Demons. But as they continued exploring, they found nothing at all.
The map marked that they were near the south room where the treasure was supposed to be. However, there was one room off to its own and the group was eager to find more treasure. Instead, they discovered mauled corpses and tracks. The summoned bear began growling, and the party prepared for a fight.
What they encountered was a bigger bear. In one massive attack, the smaller bear was slaughtered by the bigger one. This was a much larger and deadlier foe than the Bandits, but nonetheless, the group was ready. Though the creature had a tough hide, it still was not among the supernatural creatures that the party was getting accustomed to encountering.
The Dire Bear fell and still the party had found no treasure worthy of such a massive dungeon. Still, the alleged room that held the prize was near, and so they pressed on. The statues with the eyes cut out were on almost every inch of the walls now. And although the bear and bandits had posed little threat to the party, they still had wandered for quite a while in here and were starting to feel fatigue.
There was one other issue that needed to be discussed. The party had been so interested in the statues, that they had overlooked another strange occurrence in the dungeon. Were Rats, the bandits in all likelihood had been periodically pinned to the walls. Their corpses lined the walls, though not as numerous as the statues, it was still a notable decoration.
“I think we will find our answers in this room.” Artin pointed at the door that led to the location that the Wererat had indicated. The door was shut, but not trapped, and Grez gleefully cleared the object away before they got their first sight of their goal.
But just what they found was unlike anything they expected.