Session 14 - Sloop Group - Rats tale Report

General Summary

A couple of streets across from Mentzer Way the party found themselves outside number 10 Marshall Street in the Docks district.   There were few houses in the Docks District, most belonging to dock workers and associated tradesmen and women. Leucis Carter came to the door as the companions knocked at number 10, a little perturbed as the companions had interrupted his dinner, but was eager to be rid of the rats and welcomed them in.   As he led them to the cellar door he was clearly unnerved by the rats describing them as being the 'size of a small dog'. He carefully slid back the multiple bolts on the cellar door and stood behind the door as the companions headed down onto the darkness. Being so close to the docks and slightly below sea-level it felt damp down there. Barrels and crates stood all around and there was some evidence of sack of grain and flour being nibbled at. At the back of the cellar they found the source of the issue as several large, red-eyed rats slithered out of a hole in the wall and attacked. Dispatching the rats allowed the companions to explore the hole through which they emerged. A faint smell of salt water wafted up from the rough-walled passage beyond. Cssandra checked with the owner and he reluctantly allowed them to make the hole bigger so that they could find and destroy the rats nest. The stones were dislodged easily from the damp mortar and the party headed in. The passage sloped downwards slightly and the smell of sea water got stronger as they descended.   They emerged from the passage into a ruined and seemingly deserted old dock area, hollowed out of the bedrock. The detritus of past mercantile (and possibly more salubrious) activities was seen everywhere, a few crumbling buildings and walls still stood where once the noise of bustling activity must have rung through the area. The sounds of many rats nearby was unmistakable and the party soon found themselves under attack again from the hungry and desperate creatures. Defeating the ravenous critters, the party approached a structure that was a little more intact than others they had seen. A curtain had been put up across the doorway to the area and behind this they found an odd figure sitting by a smoky fire pit and seemingly talking to a brown rat perched on his shoulder.  

  The figure took a while to notice the visitors and looked slightly surprised when he did. Dressed in grubby robes and scraps of odd clothing of various hues and materials, he cut a rather sad and forlorn figure. The more unpleasant smells in the room were thankfully masked by meat cooking on spits over the fire and the figure greeted the companions warmly, inviting them to share a roasted rat with him. Malcer declined but Lady Cassandra, rather at odds with her noble upbringing, accepted the offer graciously, it WAS way past her dinner time at this point. He explained that he was once an adventurer but had found his way down here to live with the rats; his friends, dependants and main source of sustenance. Chittr'k'k a Rat 'god' had come to him in his dreams and after that he decided that the rats needed him. A table nearby was covered in charcoal drawings of a nightmarish image, a huge, rat-eared, red-eyed figure, assumed by the party to be a manifestation of Chittr',k'k. Donnar was quite evasive when questioned about Chittr'k'k and the giant rats that the party had encountered before, wanting to just be left alone with his rat friends. He told the party that the rats brought him news from all over the city, keeping him informed of major events in the city above. When questioned about the recent disappearances that the adventurers had been investigating, he remembered that the rats had mentioned 'The Maiden's Cross' to him in relation to the missing girls.     The adventurers left Donnar to his rat-filled reverie and continued on, in a nearby rubble filled area they encountered a new foe; strange, hairless dogs with webbed, grasping claws. The dog-like beasts attacked them to defend the meal they had captured but were easily dispatched. Their lair contained various random items of dull and rusty metal. Dinglepop had a nasty shock as he almost fell through a rotten wooden platform during the melee but he managed to dodge nimbly as the planks gave way.   The party took a moment to rest here. Looking out across the abandoned dock they saw a small, rowing boat sized exit from the cave which was blocked up by wood, broken furniture and reeds and clearly had not been used for some time. A rickety wooden pier stretched out over the dark water and through holes in the wood there appeared to be a level below. Otherwise, all was silent here save the gentle lapping of water and drips from the cavern roof.

Character(s) interacted with

Donnar Alden, a human Druid who now lives with rats and praises Chittr'k'k, a 'Rat God'