The Sign Report
General Summary
The Defiants settle in for the night at The Wandering Star - an upscale tavern in Brenbrooke for the night. As they sit on the first level, speaking amongst each other quietly. As they do, they hear a conversation between a gnome waitress named Celia Mockbushel and the tavern manager, a tiefling named Whiskey. Celia is making a bit of a scene, protesting about going into the cellar due to the size of the rats below. Whiskey laughs, joking that all rats must look incredibly large to such a small woman.
Rickee, feeling offended on the behalf of Celia, walks up to Whiskey and defensively asks, "how long has it been since you were last called a thief? For me, it's been ten days!" Whiskey seems unbothered by the confrontation, but as Marianne joins Whiskey, his tune somewhat changes. Oh, not because of Marianne, who for all her bluster and glares is unable to intimidate the man, but because of Rickee - who manages to against all odds convince the tiefling to let them into the cellar.
They descend into the cellar as Rishaa grabs Dimitri's arm and pulls him outside. Once they've left the warm glow of the tavern and are standing in the growing blueish dark, the yellow firelight from the tavern their only source of light, Rishaa admits the reason she pulled Dimitri away: she hopes that Dimitri's skill as a con artist can potentially save Rickee's soul. That Dimitri's clever mind and cleverer tongue can find the loophole they need to him get out of this.
Dimitri thinks about it, then suggests that perhaps removing the door that Rickee is supposed to open from the equation is the best way to accomplish this goal. Rishaa shakes her head. That would count as failing the task. Then Dimitri suggests tricking another god into also taking out a contract on Rickee's soul and starting a custody battle over who gets it - but Rishaa worries that that could end badly for Rickee if they decide to play a literal tug-of-war over his spirit.
Then Dimitri asks Rishaa about the god of undeath: Naran. Though neither of them know much about the god, they wonder if perhaps he could be a solution to their problems. But their conversation is cut short by a bitterly cold gust of wind
As the others descend into the cellar, where lantern light flickers off the wine racks. Rex moves his light to one side, and notices a large hole, about the size of a large serving platter, in one of the walls. It goes back too far to see the end - and since he is the only one small enough to fit (barely), he offers to explore it.
The other Defiants are hesitant at first, but they eventually acquiesce, tying a rope around his waist before allowing him to shimmy into the rat tunnel. The space is tight, and hard for even him to wriggle through. He manages to move his hand enough out in front of him to send dancing lights spiraling down the tunnel in front of them, eventually landing in and circling a small open chamber. As he comes through and lands on his feet, Rex looks around. The space is small, barely 15 feet across. Many small rat tunnels lead off from this central point, and they have started a collection of human items in one corner: clothes, a sleeping roll, and other soft materials that make a good nest.
He hears a noise and looks to his right, to a tunnel right at eye level. Inside is a large rat - about the same size as those described by Celia. It doesn't move, oddly. It doesn't attack or scurry in fear. Instead it simply watches... studying. Rex, feeling nervous, claps his hands together to create a thunderwave, which not only obliterates the first few feet of tunnels in every direction, but causes the rat to leap towards him. As it does, it's body twists and morphs into that of a humanoid, with dark, wiry fur and a long worm-like tail.... and a head of a screeching, red-eyed rat.
"What the fuck?!" Rex screams, backing up slightly.
The Defiants, hearing his spell and then his scream, gather up the rope and begin to haul him back. As they do, this rat-human hybrid lunges at Rex, attempting to bite into his shoulder. Thankfully, Rex taps a button on his wrist and an arcane shield pushes the wererat back away from him.
Rishaa pulls as hard as she can on the rope, and Rex shoots backwards through the tunnel, but only halfway, and now his arms are trapped within the tight space.
Rex scrambles to get his arm cannon ready, and when the wererat comes scrabbling towards him, he blasts it with a well placed fire bolt. As the creature shrieks, Rishaa pulls again with a grunt, and Rex slides the rest of the way out of the tunnel. As he gasps out a brief description of the creature that attacked him. Marianne and Rickee immediately move to knock down the wall, and Whiskey and Rishaa both shout out in alarm to stop Marianne's axe.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Rex glances back down the tunnel. It's quiet and dark. He makes the decision to crawl back through to check it out, to check and see where the rats went. With some trepidation, he wriggles back through, coming out to the pocket again. The bedding and lantern are gone, as are the rats. Rex looks around and makes a decision to follow one of the other tunnels to see where it leads... hopefully to the rats. He continues down one of the other tunnels until his rope suddenly pulls taut. He can't move any further while staying tethered to Rishaa. He again makes the decision to forge onwards, and unties the rope to follow the tunnel.
Feeling the rope go slack worries Rishaa at first, but she is reassured by Rickee that it is probably nothing to worry about. The Defiants decide to follow around the other side and see if they can find where Rex is going from the outside.
They don't have to wait for very long, as Rex sees the daylight in front of him, and soon tumbles out from a hole in Brenbrooke's exterior wall next to where the sewer lets out into the river. He looks around, and casts a thunderwave to let his party know where he is. They hear the incredibly loud blast and hurry to join him. The snow allows the Defiants to follow the tracks of the wererat into the woods, where they eventually find him and group of large rats - about the size of small dogs. He seems cornered and like he is going to attack. In fact, as Rishaa approaches slowly, he swipes out at Rishaa, but thankfully he misses both times. Rickee calls out to the wererat and suggests that the lycanthrope sit down and shut up.
With a thump, the wererat does just so. As he sits there, grotesque and mutated in appearance, Marianne kneels down so they are eye-to-eye, fur sprouting from her body as she shifts into her wolf form. She focuses in on her connection with the wild to speak with animals, and in grunts and squeaks, attempts to communicate with the wererat.
His name is Derek - and he has been living as a rat for a long time within the walls of the city, with the other rats as his companions/pets. He growls out, "we live on scraps. We do what we must."
Marianne nods, and reaches into her bag. She takes out two portions of daily rations and offers them to Derek. She also gives him five gold, and offers the basement of her own library in Tafeld if he needs a place to stay. As Derek watches her suspiciously, he reaches into his filthy rags and holds out an item to her: a bronze pentacle with an etching of a rat's head in its center. When Marianne shows confusion at the meaning of the item, the wererat becomes cagey, and refuses to discuss its meaning. All he will say is that while she is a sister to him, she needs to learn of it from her own kind, not him.
Not wanting to cause conflict with the wererat, Marianne accepts this answer. Derek and the other rats scurry away into the night, to places unknown.
Satisfied that the infestation is gone, the Defiants return to the Wandering Star. Rickee descends into the cellar once again, and begins to use mending to patch up the rat hole. As he does, the others begin to once again discuss Rickee's contract and how to deal with it. Rishaa points out that Rickee's contract doesn't ever say that Rickee's soul was returned to him. Just a body and mind. This revelation disturbs the others, and they begin to wonder how much of Rickee is Rickee. After some time discussing the other potential loopholes and ways to save their friend, Rex proposes the radical idea of transferring Rickee's consciousness to a warforged - a sentient automaton that are built in Northland. The others are still concerned about the possibility that that will not put him out of Asmodeus's reach, but the conversation is cut short as Rickee returns, notices what they're talking about, and turns around to head straight for the bar.
He hands his entire coin purse to Whiskey to buy out the entire bar, but Whiskey refuses, looking concerned. Rickee admits that he did something stupid, and now he's dying. Whiskey is sympathetic, and gives the other tiefling some wine, but doesn't take his money and most certainly does not give him all the alcohol in the tavern. He pats Rickee on the shoulder and sends him back to his friends, asking them to keep an eye on the distraught bard.
Eventually, a very drunk Rickee is put to bed by Dimitri, who utilizes some magic to help Rickee sleep. As the others fall asleep, Rishaa begins to dream.
She finds herself in her old courtroom, when she was a priestess of Maal. With her is an angel with metal-plated wings and a sword. She seems young - youthful, perhaps is the better word - and she introduces herself as Rahab, an angel of Maal.
Rahab expresses to Rishaa that she heard the prayer that the monk sent to Maal... and more importantly, she heard Maal's reply. She is angry and confused that her master would so callously toss aside Rishaa, and offers her assistance, as small as it may be, to the cause. To show her good will, Rahab will give Rishaa a glowing white gemstone. It functions similarly to a spell scroll - Rishaa just has to shatter the gemstone to use it. In this case, Rahab gifts her a gemstone of guiding bolt. As they talk, Rishaa asks more questions about what they should be wary of as the Defiants continue to look for a solution for Rickee's situation.
Rahab warns her of an immortal being , one who slays other immortal creatures to gain their power. While this being is not interested in Rishaa's type of divinity necessarily, Rahab worries that the sheer amount of power that Rishaa will someday command will tempt the being to seek her out to take the power for itself.
The dream begins to fade, and Rishaa wakes back up in her room with the glowing gemstone in her hand. The light wakes Marianne, and Rishaa tells her about Rahab. Marianne asks what purpose or goal Rahab could possibly have to offer her services. Rishaa suggests two possibilities: either the angel is doing it out of the kindness of her heart, or Maal actually did listen and sent Rahab to assist.... or maybe to interfere. There's really no telling at this point.
The two women sit and talk to one another until the winter sun rises... another brilliant day in Vespmar, and time to move along.
Rewards Granted
- white gemstone (spell scroll) of guiding bolt
Character(s) interacted with
- Derek, the wererat
- Whiskey, the tiefling bartender of The Wandering Star
- Celia Mockbushel, the gnome waitress of The Wandering Star
- Rahab, the angel of Maal
Rishaa Parbat
None Wood Half-Elf (Monastic Learning)
Monk 6
Monk 6
51 / 51 HP
STR
8
8
DEX
20
20
CON
16
16
INT
12
12
WIS
16
16
CHA
13
13
Rickee Trail
None Tiefling (Urchin)
Bard 5
Warlock 1
Bard 5
Warlock 1
33 / 33 HP
STR
9
9
DEX
16
16
CON
10
10
INT
12
12
WIS
15
15
CHA
18
18
Dimitri Markov
Zombie (Acolyte)
Wizard 5
Wizard 5
32 / 32 HP
STR
11
11
DEX
14
14
CON
15
15
INT
18
18
WIS
12
12
CHA
11
11
Rex Dynamio Xenetar
Chaotic Neutral Rock Gnome (Sage & Noble)
Artificer 6
Artificer 6
35 / 35 HP
STR
8
8
DEX
11
11
CON
16
16
INT
20
20
WIS
11
11
CHA
10
10
Marianne Snowden
Lawful Good Shifter (Sage)
Barbarian 6
Barbarian 6
71 / 71 HP
STR
19
19
DEX
18
18
CON
19
19
INT
18
18
WIS
16
16
CHA
9
9
Report Date
11 Nov 2022
Primary Location
Related Plots
Related Characters
