Rats, Rats, Ratties

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Rats, Rats, Ratties
GM: Phil
Season: Spring 792 WK

Party

• Kynn, E&E Female Erelheine
• Feyan, Earth Male Elf
• Dalran, E&E Male Human
• Blitzkrieg, Non-mage Male Human (Leader)
• Flamis, Fire Female Human
• Basalic, Earth Male Human Scribe

Time on adventure

01/01/92 to 07/01/92

Employer

Jack Hernley - envoy to Duke Cumberland

Mission

To remove a rat infestation from the Duke's castle

Plane

Matigon

Places Visted

Artrenz - Duke Cumberland's province

Phant - neighbouring province

Yiddish - next province past Phant

Major NPCs encountered

Duke Cumberland - a giant

Mary - Healer at village hospital

Bast - Cat breeder in Yiddish

Carl Veretty - a bandit

Rats: Matty, Catty, Datty, Bossy/Iatty, Gatty, Latty, Natty, Jatty

Mission

To remove a rat infestation from the Duke's castle

Original Scribe Notes

Media:Snsp9201.zip

Scribe Notes

31/12/91 There were two adventures that sounded really good. My personal favourite was one that was to descend into a gold mine to find the body of a miner and retrieve the nugget he had. Flamis wanted to go on one that involved ridding a castle of a rat problem. Sounded ho-hum until we were told that said rats were exceedingly large (reaching over five feet long) and had already disposed of the giant's cat. The giant wanted us to firstly retrieve his wedding ring and his salt cellar and secondly fetch a new cat. I'd rather be down a gold mine but Flamis was so excited at the thought of exterminating rats that I thought I'd better go along and keep an eye on her, just in case she decided to exterminate the rats by burning down the castle. The envoy from the giant was human sized but he explained that were two classes of objects in his plane, standard and giant sized (by a factor of twelve i.e. 1 inch to 1 foot). The plane was called Matignon and could be reached by a rune portal in a tree about 25 miles from Seagate in the direction of Brasta. The giant had been probing for help (he was a runemage) and had touched our plane by pure chance. The portal would remain in place for a month. Payment was going to be three of their gold coins. Seemed a pittance until it was realised that they were giant sized coins and each one was worth 20736sp each. One had already been forwarded as an advance. We were also told by the envoy, one Jack Hernley, that the giant, Duke Cumberbund, is the lord of their province, called Artrenz, ruling the smaller folk, that he lives alone in his castle, and that he breeds cows. Besides Flamis and myself our fellow adventurers were: Kynn - a 6'4" female Erelhein (a dark-skinned elvenkind), with long, dark, hair (when it wasn't jammed under a helm). She was wearing black dragonskin armour and had the reputation of being a very good Enchanter. She had also been awarded Bravest Adventurer, on her last outing, for attacking a Pact Mage as her Master was appearing. Feyan - 5'11" slim, handsome male elf, wearing browny/green robes with leather armour. Like me he was an Earth Mage but, unlike me, he was more into the ancient druidical practices of Earth magic, those involving destruction, while I followed the pacifistic policies. He was also very experienced. Dalran - a 6'6" human male who was grey all over and had glowing red eyes. It turned out, on a previous adventure, that he had been partially turned into a stone golem. The rest of the party were able to intercede before it went too far. Now his skin was partially stone and he could sharpen weapons on it. He was also an Enchanter. Blitzkreig - Human male, 6'1", thin, blond, with a pageboy haircut. He was dripping with weapons and was wearing heavy plate mail. A definite warrior non-mage. As for Flamis, she's cute, blonde, 5'6", always wears red, and I don't think she's ever going to grow up. Needless to say, she's a Fire Mage. She also likes banging away at bits of metal in the guild forge, and tinkering with locks and traps, and things like that. Finally, there's myself, Basalic. I'm 5'10", fairly well built, and I dress in earth colours, brown and green, as is typical for members of the Earth College. Flamis tells me I'm ruggedly handsome. I carry a sword, and sling a crossbow over my shoulder. After introductions we went our separate ways, in order to prepare for the New Year Festivities that night. I stocked up on mistletoe and various other herbs then went shopping for other sundry items, including two new crossbows, a large one and a small one. All up that little lot cost me 819sp. 01/01/92 It was rather late in the day when we finally departed, guided by Jack, but that was to be expected on New Years Day. Kynn offered us all Greater Enchantments at cost price, much cheaper than the guild. I went for the maximum, a rank sixteen that would last three months, as did everyone else. It cost 8500sp but it would be worth every penny. Then Flamis insisted we all come over to the Fire College so she could protect us against magical fire, warning that some of her spells are getting to be positively lethal. The ride to the portal was quite uneventful. I noticed that Feyan had a really unusual horse, a black beast with glowing red eyes. I later found out that it was, of all manner of equines, a beast out of dreams, a nightmare. Blitzkrieg had brought two horses for some unknown reason. One was his warhorse, a white creature called Frost. Finally we reached a farm, called Emmerdale, where Jack had paid the farmer to watch over the portal. Jack led us there. A patch of inky darkness gaped like a gigantic black knothole in the side of a oak tree. One by one, it swallowed us up as we entered another world. We found ourselves stepping out of another tree. To the west we could see a HUGE castle, while to the north was Jack's village. Surrounding the castle was an area of giant grass, literally as tall as an elephant's eye. Giant cows contentedly munched on blades as broad as my sword. The boundary between the giant area and the rest was very sharply defined. The sun was close to the zenith. Jack explained that each 'day' lasted a week by our time. Their village basically had six days to the solar one, and it was now late afternoon. It was near lunchtime for the giant, however. He went by the solar day. There is something more than a little strange about this place. Jack suggested that we proceed to the village so that is what we did. Upon arrival we were told that we were to be presented to the town as diplomatic envoys from Seagate to the Duke. The fact that he had a rat problem was to be kept secret. While we stayed in the inn, a town meeting in the square was being convened. About an hour later Jack conducted us to the meeting and introduced us all. After that Jack led us towards Duke Cumberbund's castle. I idly read the aura of the grass on the way there and determined that its true name was miniature grass. The generic true name of the giant grass was 'grass'. More puzzles. Flamis wondered aloud whether or not we had somehow been shrunk. After racing through the giant's garden, we reached the castle. It was more a keep actually, but three hundred high. There was a standard size door cut into the giant's door which we used to gain entry. By our standards the hallway was monstrous. A hundred feet high, seventy-two feet wide and five hundred feet long with stairs each step ten feet high at the other end. Shortly afterwards the Duke arrived. Jack unfolded a large megaphone and used it to introduce us. By speaking slowly, deeply, and loudly, I was able to greet him properly. He seemed to appreciate that. He suggested that we stay in the 'dollhouse'. Hey what? On a hunch I read the Duke's aura. Short lived sentient. Generic true name: human. This was getting really strange. Jack explained it was a normal sized house tucked in a recess on the middle floor (this place had three). The way we were to get us, and the horses, up the stairs, was some sort of trolley system using pulleys. From the gleam in her eye I soon figured that Flamis wanted to take the thing apart. It took quite a few trips before we were all up. It was possible to stable the horses on the ground floor of this house and we took up rooms on the floor above. One each. So much for Flamis and I sharing. Like the castle the 'dollhouse' had three floors. It was getting late by now so we settled down for a nights rest. Each of us stood a watch in case of a rat attack. Fortunately there were no giant rat holes in this area. Flamis got to speculating about why a structure the size of the giant castle didn't collapse under its own weight. Feyan suggested that the walls and floors might be made of Bound Earth and confirmed this from its aura. That meant that we Earth mages wouldn't be able to anything with it. No Tunnelling or Hands of Earth. And as for Feyan's Diamond Tipped Javelins, or Sinking Doom.... Not a chance. Somehow I'm almost relieved. .2. 02/01/91 Nothing unusual happened during the night. I was able to get in a couple of hours purification before breakfast. Kynn dished out some Enhance Armours all round. I also tried a spell to enhance my tracking abilities but it didn't work however I did feel mana impact as if I had successfully resisted a backfire. I also put a Speak to Animals on myself so I could talk to anything that we encountered and also to reassure Sod. He was rather nervous. First thing we decided to do was to visit the Duke and ask him to cast illusions of his wedding ring and salt cellar so Kynn could get a Locate on them. So we all rode up to his study on the top floor (there was quite a bit of argument about the way the floors should be numbered. I was going for 1,2,3 but some of the others, mainly Flamis, were arguing for Ground, 1, 2. Finally we settled on Bottom, Middle, Top). When we got there Feyan flew up, on his horse, to the table and put our request to the Duke. He agreed to do it and told us it would take two hours to fashion each runestick. In the meantime we went looking for more ratholes. We had already been told that all the doors were going to be left ajar so we could get around. Nothing was found in his study, or in the workroom next door. However, in the storage room we did find some rat droppings and I noticed that some of the sacks had been chewed at. No ratholes here though. The next room I wasn't sure what was used for. It mainly consisted of a large tube object on a pedestal in the centre of the room. Flamis excitedly identified the tube object as a telescope. That made this room an observatory. No ratholes here either, nor in an empty room next to it. The library had a large collection of books, or maybe that should be, a collection of large books. Anyway there were quite a few. Shelves lined nearly all the walls stretching from floor to ceiling. We couldn't see anything but there was a possibility of rat holes behind the books. There was an alcove in the corner of the room with a ladder leading up and down. Kynn made a sound like a rat so Dalran could use ventriloquism to imitate it rather loudly, in an attempt to attract one. A few minutes later a book dropped from one of the higher shelves and thumped to the floor, just missing Blitzkrieg. Feyan flew up to have a look. When he got back he said that there was a rathole up there and that he saw a rat, but it had run away when he tried to talk to it. The central corridor was also clean so we went down to the middle floor. The first room we checked was the master bedroom. Under the wardrobe we found rat droppings. Flamis generated a light on the end of her staff and poked it underneath. In its light, we could see a hole in the bottom of the wardrobe. So Blitzkrieg clambered up to have a look. Meanwhile Flamis wandered off to explore the area under the bed. I went with her in case she encountered trouble. By the time we got back Blitzkrieg had determined that one of the Duke's shoes had a shoelace missing and another one showed evidence of scratching. There was no sign of ratholes in the wardrobe. The next room was the ensuite. Flamis refused to go in here as there was too much water. I decided to stay with her, just in case. A short while later there was an exclamation from inside. I hurried in with Flamis close behind. What they had found was a pivoting door that was set in flush with the wall as so to be nearly invisible. The door was made of Bound Earth, but the area around it was not. Flamis muttered something about the rats not being very good mechanicians. On the other side of the door was a rough hewn tunnel, about six foot tall. After a short distance it bent towards the stairs. We also discovered that the Bound Earth in the walls only extended a little way into the walls as the tunnel walls were not bound. We decided to leave exploring these tunnels to a later time, after we had completed our survey of the walls. The next room was the spare bedroom. It didn't take long before another non-bound area was spotted. It proved to be another of those pivot doors. Behind it was another tunnel which angled back towards the master bedroom. We surmised that this tunnel went towards the door in the ensuite. There was nothing in the bathroom or in another spare bedroom. The last room on the list was the storeroom. We already knew there was one rathole in here but there may be other signs. There was. Some rat droppings were discovered in one corner. We also noticed that the area around the rathole was unbound earth. Flamis and I stepped cautiously into the tunnel, with Dalran close behind. I kept close to one wall as so to preclude attacks from that side. Just then I stepped on something soft and yielding. I read its aura. Formally living, human. My first thought was that it was a corpse but subsequent examination showed it to be a bit of cast off skin. I supposed that the next thing we would find is giant toenail clippings. We advanced more cautiously. Soon we discovered that the tunnel opened up and went left and right. There seemed to be some sort of alcoves on each side. Dalran went to investigate one. Suddenly there was a loud SPROINNNGGG followed by a THUNK! Flamis and I hurried over to investigate. What we found was a grim and grisly sight. A large iron bar had landed on Dalran neatly bisecting him. As we shone the light around we discovered he had been caught in a giant rat trap. Oh great! And none of us was a high ranked Healer. The others soon arrived, attracted by the sounds and Flamis's shrieks. Some rather bad jokes at Dalran's expense followed. Finally Blitzkrieg and I took a half each and went back up to the Giant's study to see if he knew of anyone who could resurrect. Otherwise we'd have to take him back to the Guild. When we explained our problem the Duke suggested trying Mary at the hospital. Apparently she is able to work miracles. Blitzkrieg also asked him if there were any more traps scattered around the place. He replied that he had removed all the ones he had set as they were ineffectual but he would check to see if they were all present. When Blitzkrieg told him about the hole in the wardrobe he was definitely not pleased and stomped off to have a look. We headed off to the village. There were no incidents on the way out. I was speculating about the sight of Blitzkrieg attacking giant sized ants with his lance. He reckoned beetles would be more fun. That led to the subject of cockroaches. We finally concluded that they would be a menace. When we reached the village hospital Blitzkrieg explained our problem to the receptionist. She immediately went a slight shade of green and rushed off. Shortly a doctor arrived. He had a look at our patient and also went slightly green. He departed, looking for an orderly and a trolley. When they came back Dalran's body was put on it and wheeled away for Mary to look at. I was able to read the aura of the orderly and saw that he was a Short lived Sentient, Generic true name: Miniature Human. Another piece of the puzzle. Once we got back we resumed our survey of the bottom floor. As we examined the ballroom a rat scuttled past the hole we already knew about. Unfortunately it went too fast for me or anyone else to do anything about it. In the kitchen we spotted the pepper-pot on the table, and some discussion followed as to how the rats had got up there. Flamis found claw-marks all the way up a chair leg, and we guessed that the rats had climbed up the chair-leg, and leapt from the chair onto the table. Though what they had wanted the salt-cellar for we couldn't imagine. Nothing else was found in the ballroom, the dining room, or the cloakroom. After what happened to Dalran we decided we weren't going to explore any more holes without adequate precautions first. Kynn proposed that the floor naming should now be Bottom, Dalran, Top. Once we had completed the survey we went back up to the top floor to report to the Duke. He told us he had checked his traps and there were three missing. When we told him about areas not being bound earth he looked rather apprehensive as the binding added to the structural strength of the building and that he could fall through unbound areas. The runesticks were ready so he followed us down to the 'dollhouse'. The first one he triggered was the saltceller. Kynn concentrated on it for a minute or two. Then the ring appeared, a plain gold band with an inscription inside written in an unknown language. Again Kynn concentrated on it. Finally she told us that the ring was somewhere above us and the saltcellar was below us. Blitzkrieg asked where the ladders in the alcoves went up to. The Duke explained that they provided access to the battlements on the roof. He also handed us a couple of sticks (sticks to him, logs to us). They were runeportal sticks. Once activated we could use them for instant transportation. We decided to put one in one of the spare rooms in the "dolls house" and keep the other with us.

It was finally decided that we would explore the tunnels starting at the top and working down. Fayan offered to summon an Earth Elemental to assist us. I wasn't too keen on the idea as those things can easily get out of control, especially if their summoner is killed, but I'd feel safer with one on our side. It could go first and trigger the traps, without being harmed. Blitzkrieg agreed so Fayan went downstairs with Kynn, and outside to perform the summoning. Once they got back, accompanied by an elemental who Fayan introduced as Fred, (according to him, all earth elementals are named Fred), we proceeded upstairs to the top story storage room, where Kynn's locate spell indicated the ring was hidden. Once we got there she soon confirmed its position by triangulation, as being about thirty feet up inside the wall, straight ahead of us as we entered the door. We did a more careful check of the room, but discovered no unbound areas. The nearest rathole was in the library so that was where we went. The problem was, how were we were going to get up to the hole fifty feet up between the books? Fayan solved that by producing a rope ladder from his 'luggage'. The luggage was a sort of ambulatory chest, following Fayan around on more legs than a football team, and containing most everything on the guild list of potentially useful adventuring equipment. Fayan then flew up, on the Nightmare, in order to remove a couple of books that were covering the hole. Kynn was ferried up next to assist. Once they had the books clear, the rope ladder was fastened and the end dropped down. Flamis clambered up. I was not nearly so successful, and managed to slip while clambering onto the shelf. For some strange reason I found I was falling more slowly than I ought to have been. Something was definitely not quite right. As I picked myself up off the carpet, I was thinking I was thankful to be alive. Dying from falling off a bookshelf might have been enough to overshadow Dalran's certain nomination for Best Death. I then noticed that Flamis was jumping up and down, on the shelf. It seemed to me that it was taking her significantly longer to rise and fall than it should. Furthermore she seemed to be a prime candidate for the Seagate standing high jump record. Most odd. She excitedly prattled on about how that proved that the giant wasn't a giant, and that we really had been "smallered". That I hadn't fallen fifty feet, but merely four feet. Kynn decided to check this theory by jumping off the shelf and landed gracefully, on her feet, by the rest of the group. She then commented that maybe we should leave that sort of thing to the experts. My next attempt at getting up the ladder was considerably more successful. Soon the rest of us were clustered around the hole. Since it was going to be dark inside the tunnel, Flamis placed a Firelight spell on my sword. The rest of them could all see in the dark. I didn't want to use my Amulet of Witchsight unless I had to. While this was going on, Fred had been stationed inside the hole with instructions to stop any rats from getting at us. When we finally joined him, we discovered that the tunnel opened up into a wide T branch. We decided to head left. To forestall any rats coming at us from the other corridor, Fayan cast Hands of Earth in the other corridor. One of the Hands came up stunted. I suspected there wasn't quite enough unbound earth to complete the spell. The corridor was only wide enough for us to proceed in single file. Fred was sent first, followed by Blitzkrieg, then myself, Flamis, Fayan and Kynn brought up the rear. I spotted some loose stones on the ground so I slipped a handful into my specimen pouch. The corridor veered left, doubled back for a short distance, then continued on, parallel to the wall. Another ten feet along and it opened up. Fayan thought he saw a rat vanish down the tunnel ahead of us so we stopped. Fred was sent ahead to block the other hole while we searched the area. Once we were satisfied it was safe to proceed, we joined Fred at the other side. After a while a right hand side passage was discovered. Kynn stayed to keep watch while the rest of us proceeded on. We soon discovered that the tunnel curved to the right and abruptly terminated. Flamis spotted an unbound area in the wall at the dead end so Fayan instructed Fred to punch a hole in it. Fred did, literally, stirring the solid stone like dough. Beyond was another passage. Just then we heard a 'thump' from behind us so we sprinted back to where Kynn was. No sign of her, but there were some tracks heading back the way we came so that's where we went. We finally found Kynn and a rat which had been caught in one of the Hands of Earth. Definitely the better rat trap! Kynn was squeaking to it. She said the rat wanted us to let it go. I read its aura. Short lived animal. Last spell to impact, no answer. So they're not sentient, after all. Thank goodness. I then cast a Speak with Animals. Kynn was also able to detect whether or not the rat was lying so we were able to ascertain the following information. The rat's name was Matty. There were twenty-six other rats, with names like Hatty, Catty, Fatty, Batty, Patty, Ratty, Tatty and Scatty. There was also one called Bossy. They were the only creatures living in these tunnels which they had dug (Matty lied about that and I could detect nothing unusual about their teeth). Bossy was a smart rat and had a small group of elite rats known simply as 'da boys'. Matty reckoned he hadn't seen the ring but Kynn determined that he was lying about that too. We decided that Matty was going to take us to Bossy. For some reason Matty was rather afraid of going there. Fayan released Fred then put a Control Animal on Matty. He then dispelled his Hands, to let Matty free, and I replaced them with a fresh set. We followed Matty back the way we had gone. I had to cast another Speak with Animals because the first had faded because of casting the Hands. At the junction point we took the right hand branch which, shortly after, curved to the left. We passed a hole in the wall which we soon recognised as being the other side of the one Fred had punched through. A short distance on Matty stopped. There was a pit in front of us with spikes at the bottom. These rats are more cunning than we thought. And nastier. The corridor dead ended fifteen feet further on. As far as we could tell there was no way around the pit. We backtracked a bit and discovered a branch to the left. It soon swung right so we were again paralleling the wall. As we progressed, Matty detected another rat which he identified as Tatty. Kynn was also able to determine that the ring was in the same place as Bossy. This led Flamis to conclude, a bit later on, that Bossy was wearing it as a crown. Soon the passage sloped down spiralling one turn before going straight again. Most of us were rangers of varying expertise, and so I'm not sure who first recognised the next section of tunnel as being a great site for a potential ambush. Kynn questioned Matty about it and he said that there were side passages with concealed entrances. Once any intruders were between the entrances they could be attacked from front and back. Fayan's reply to the threat was to put Walls of Stones down both sides of the tunnel to block the first set of entrances before we proceeded. As we continued there was a rumble. Suddenly, ahead of us, the roof of the tunnel collapsed, blocking the way ahead. We had no choice but to retreat. There would be only one way to get through. Park Matty back in the Hands of Earth and summon up another Elemental. However Fayan was running low on fatigue. I offered to give him a Strength of Stone to boost his fatigue level and ended up reducing the net fatigue of the party. It took me four attempts to get it right. Once that was done, Matty was put back in the Hands and Fayan summoned another Elemental. This one was also called Fred. "Fwred too..", quipped Flamis. "More like Fred Twenty-Seven," replied Fayan. Once we got back to the cave-in, Fayan sent the elemental through to scout around. We heard the sounds of squeaking, followed by several thumps. Then there was silence. Fayan announced that the elemental had somehow ceased to exist in an instant. Dissipated? We had no choice but to summon another one and have it dust down the barrier. Meanwhile we prepared for a possible counterattack. Blitzkreig and I crouched down with loaded crossbows. Kynn stood behind me with a loaded longbow while Flamis was behind Blitzkrieg preparing her favourite nuking-things spell. When the elemental cleared the barrier, there was not a rat in sight, not even a whisker. Trails of blood showed where the wounded had been dragged away. We investigated the side passages and found precisely nothing. The cave-in had revealed a passageway above so the elemental lifted Kynn up so she could have a look. The tunnel she was in ran parallel to ours and sloped downwards so we concluded that they met up further on. This was confirmed about twenty metres further on. We followed the blood trail. A little later on Kynn informed us that the salt cellar had been moved. Twenty or so metres on, we encountered a dead rat. Blitzkrieg asked me to confirm that. I did and it was indeed formerly living. No magic on it either. It definitely looked like it had been pounded by an earth elemental. The trail of blood continued on. Shortly the corridor dead ended but the trail curved to the left. Flamis determined that the wall there was unbound so Fred knocked a hole in it. We discovered the back end of a book. According to our calculations we were now in the study. The trail of blood went between the book and the wall so Blitzkrieg pushed the book out of the way and we progressed along the ledge. The trail turned right and headed towards the wall where another patch of unbound earth was seen. Fred knocked out a hole and we carried on down another tunnel. Shortly we discovered another dead rat. Again definitely dead, and with no residual magic. The tunnel continued down. Again it dead-ended but we discovered another of those concealed pivoting doors. We stepped out at floor level in the Duke's study. .4. We decided to return the way we had came, but first we dragged out the rat corpses for the Duke to dispose of. We also informed him of what we had found out so far. The Duke stomped off with the corpses. The trip back through the tunnels was without incident and soon we were back where Matty was parked in the Hands. He was still there. It took me three attempts to Counterspell them so we could get Matty out. At the same time Fayan put another Animal Control on. We made our way back to the dolls house. I attempted to interrogate Matty for more information, but he was unresponsive. As we approached Kynn noticed that the Locate arrow for the saltshaker was pointing towards the dollhouse. We soon found it stashed in the stables. Had the rats returned it? That wasn't it. We found Dalran upstairs in his room, looking none the worse for his mis-adventure. He told us he had found and returned the salt cellar. First off he had entered the hole on the ballroom level and explored many of the tunnel branches. He had then gone up and explored the hole that he had got killed in and found the salt cellar. In the process he had managed to find, and kill, three rats, one by burning it with grenados. One of them had been Batty who had asked him to surrender or they would feed him to the cat. Cat? The rats are friends with the cat? Dalran was looking the worse for wear so I gave him an Earth Mage Healing spell while Fayan dealt with the skin disease that Dalran had acquired as the result of a backfire. We then decided to rest up a bit. Fayan served up one of his herbal meals which are very restorative. Blitzkrieg wanted to go and have a look at the Duke's kitten so Flamis and I decided to go with him. We made our way to the master bedroom. Blitzkrieg used a grappling hook and rope to enable us to climb up to the surface of the bed. Curled up in the middle of the bed was the biggest kitten I had ever seen. According to its aura, it was two years old and the last magic to be used on it was rune mage healing. Blitzkrieg approached the kitten which immediately began purring and rubbing against him, nearly knocking him over. That guy definitely has a way with animals. I attempted to question the cat to see what it knew about the rats. It seemed to show fear when I mentioned rats and was rather concerned about the smell of rats on us. I told it we were rat hunters. Flamis was having fun scratching the kitten behind the ear with the end of her staff. After a while we decided to leave. Blitzkrieg lured the kitten away with his grappling line while Flamis and I slid down the bedcovers. We then raced off on our horses. To our consternation, on the way back we noticed that the kitten was following us. Fayan had put Matty rat in the stables with instructions not to move. Oops! While Blitzkrieg started delaying tactics, I shot off ahead to warn the others. I couldn't find them. All I could do was close the stable door. Whatever Blitzkrieg had done it hadn't worked too well. Moments later the kitten came bounding around the corner. It must have caught the trail. Then it came right up to the house and began rubbing against it and pawing at the stable door. I could feel the whole house shaking. Blitzkrieg rode up a short time later and quickly appraised the situation. Clearly the kitten wasn't going to be satisfied until it got hold of the rat. So Blitzkrieg instructed me to open the doors. When I did, the ensuing fight was shortlived and one sided, the rat being under a control spell. Soon the kitten wandered off, purring, with a rats tail dangling from its mouth. There wasn't much else left. Flamis claimed some whiskers to use for a ritual. Meanwhile I went in search of a shovel. The stables were in a mess. It took me nearly an hour or so, but I soon had the remains of Matty heaped up in a pile outside. Flamis incinerated it in a pillar of fire, while I went to have a hot bath. Very interesting. Hot and cold water on call just by turning a tap. While I was doing that, the kitten wandered back, but wandered away shortly after. Finally we were all set to carry on with the rat hunt. Kynn gave us Enhance Armours all around. We were just about to set off when the kitten poked his head around the corner. Kynn distracted it by throwing an apple past its nose. First off we went back to the library tunnel, intending to explore the tunnel to the right. But the rope ladder had gone. So we decided to do the hole in the middle floor storeroom. Dalran had already been in part of this area. It also seemed to be the one most likely to lead to the location of the ring which was currently straight above. Before we entered, Dalran used a Wizard Eye to map out the tunnels. He spotted two rats in the upper levels. They were both in deadends, however I suspected hidden entrances. Fayan conjured up another elemental and we progressed inwards, heading towards those rats. Up ahead, we knew was a large room where five tunnels met. The dead ends we were interested in ran from there. As we approached the room, Blitzkrieg and Kynn suddenly went on alert. I soon saw why. There was a rat up ahead. It was soon joined by two more which came out from behind a central pillar. One of the rats squeaked a warning as the elemental went around one way, while Kynn and Blitzkrieg went around the other way. Kynn stunned one rat while another one attempted to back away. I was currently working my way around the wall to get a good position to fire my crossbow when we suddenly spotted another seven rats turn up. They were led by a bigger rat, one of 'da boys' I reckoned. I spun around and fired at the big rat with my crossbow. However, before I had a chance to draw my sword, I was jumped on by a rat. That hurt, a lot. Meanwhile Fayan was firing Diamond Tipped Javelins at one behind him and killed it. The Earth Elemental splattered another one. Blitzkrieg later commented that must have been Splatty Rat. Fayan was still firing DTJ's. Suddenly some Hands of Earth shot up capturing three of the rats. Kynn was leaping about while attacking. It didn't take her long to kill another one. By now I was in deep trouble. Another rat was having a go at me as well and there wasn't much I could do about it. I fought them off as best I could but soon lapsed into unconsciousness. When I came around, my first emotion was surprise. I wasn't dead. As I felt my endurance returning, I realised someone had cast a Trollskin spell at me, which certainly saved my life. The battle was over but not without cost. I discovered to my horror that Flamis had been killed. Apparently a rat had sneaked up, and knocked her over from behind. There was a rat in the Hands and I checked its aura instead. So I did. Last magic to impact was Mutation. One of the corpses had it as well. And whatever this Mutating magic is, it doesn't have a College. I was also told that three of the rats, two of which had been in the Hands, had vanished. There's something rather strange going on here. At that moment however, I had a more pressing concern. Flamis. .5. All the corpses aura's read as "rat" so whatever the mutation was, it's not manufacturing new species. Maybe I should have made the question 'Nature of Mutation?'. According to the rat still in the Hand, the mutations were caused by a big roundish thing that was mostly made of metal. It's currently being held somewhere in the vicinity of Bossy rat. He also told us that the mutation had caused his skin to be made tougher. Another rat, one called Datty, was the one able to carve the tunnels in the bound earth. While the interrogation was going on Dalran was using a Wizard's Eye to explore the remainder of the tunnels. He finally found a hole into the middle floor storeroom. Blitzkrieg decided to leave the rat in the Hand with a message attached to it. It read 'Leave castle and return stolen stuff (or else)'. Meanwhile we were going to take Flamis to the hospital. So I picked her up and we progressed on. Someone had cut off the rat tails from the corpses so we took them along as well. Later on Dalran offered to help me with my burden which I accepted. We first stopped off to find the Duke. He was pleased when we told him we had located the saltshaker. We offered to deliver it but he told us to just leave it in the dollshouse and he'll retrieve it later. Apparently the roof lifts off. So much for locking up the house securely. He also gave us three of his silver coins to give to the hospital to boost his account. We went back to the dollshouse, had a short rest, then headed off to the village. I asked Kynn and Blitzkrieg what I should have done about those rats. Kynn suggested that I learn how to use a dagger because it is a good weapon to use in close. Blitzkrieg reckoned I should have gone for the sword first. Upon reflection I agree with them. Kynn's advice I shall definitely take as soon as we get back. Once we got to the hospital we delivered the coins and told the receptionist our latest problem. She said they would get right on to it, but the staff were rather fatigued. Fayan offered them some of his restorative potion to help them. Apparently this place specialises in healing as there is the occasional war with their neighbours. The giant intervened once by using a broom. When we were told that Flamis's resurrection should take about an hour, I decided to wait in the waiting room. The others decided to go to the inn across the street. I was just about to start pacing the waiting room when the receptionist returned with the news that Flamis was recovering. I rushed to her side. She was weak, but at least she was alive. Not surprisingly she was looking rather chastened. I gave her a really BIG hug then helped her across the street to join the others. I found the others tucking into dinner so I ordered a plowman's lunch for myself and something hot and spicy for Flamis. I figured she'd appreciate something like that after what she had been through. It was getting rather late by the time we got back to the dollshouse. Time for a good night's sleep. However Blitzkrieg wanted us to stand a watch each, all except Flamis. It worked out to one & one half hours each.

03/01/92

I had just finished my watch, and had woken Blitzkrieg for his watch, the last one. Instead of going back to sleep I decided to start purifying. But not for long. I had just settled down when I heard a 'thump' from the front door. When I got there I found Kynn and Blitzkrieg staring at an arrow that had been embedded in the door with a note attached to it. Blitzkrieg wanted its aura analyzed to see if it was magically trapped but I couldn't detect anything of that nature. Kynn looked at it and discovered the same message written in Common, Elvish, Dwarvish and Orcish, all of which she understood. The note was signed Callisan with Bossy scrawled underneath. It basically said that they were willing to negotiate terms at a neutral point such as the giant's tabletop in two hours. They will return the ring and other stuff. Before we left for the meeting Kynn passed out another set of Enhance Armours all around. She also renewed the Greater Enhancement on Flamis. When that was completed, about an hour later, we all trooped downstairs to the dining hall. Flamis was rather disappointed that there wasn't a fire in the fireplace but she soon found one in the kitchen which she employed to redo her Protection from Magical Fire. She also cast Heat-proofing on Dalran, myself and herself. After a short while we heard a disturbance coming from the fireplace and watched as a rat rolled a silver coin before it with a note attached saying 'Peace'. Neither Fayan or I could detect any aura on the coin. While Kynn scrambled up the table leg, Fayan produced a ladder from his luggage. That got us as far as a chair. Once we got there, Kynn lowered a rope. Meanwhile Fayan and Flamis had flown up on Fayan's Nightmare. We found the remains of the giant's lunch on the table. Dalran then moved between the salt cellar and the pepper cellar, while Flamis clambered on top of the toast rack. She seemed to think it was the only appropriate spot for a fire mage. Just then the cat wandered in. Dalran started making loud barking sounds and using ventriloquism to throw them at the cat. The cat's fur fluffed up and it started scuttling sideways looking for the source of the sound. Eventually he managed to scare it out. In the nick of time too. Just after the cat beat a hasty retreat a grey object was observed by the fireplace. Blitzkrieg waved a silver and black pennant at it. The object was soon revealed to be a rather unhappy looking rat with a white flag tied to its tail. Two more emerged bearing what looked like a pole but had the aura of a rune stick. They put it by the door and somehow activated it causing a runewall to block the door. That should stop the cat coming back. As those rats climbed up the chair, two more emerged dragging a large sack. Blitzkrieg insisted that the sack be opened before it was brought up. Inside was the gold ring, a coin, and other bits and pieces. The ring had a visual illusion in it from the illusionist college on it at rank fifteen. No aura could be detected on the coin. As Fayan conducted his aura tests, he waved his hands a lot. One of the rats got so nervous that it backed off, right off the edge of the table. Once we were satisfied the rats put everything back in the sack and started dragging it up. Meanwhile other rats were dragging out more runesticks and dumping them in a corner. A rat started pushing the jam jar closer to the edge of the table. Once he finished, a hole in the wall appeared and a rat with a big crossbow shot a line to the table. The rats on the table tied it to the jar. Some sort of handheld trolley was hooked to the line which was grabbed by a rat. We noticed that its claws looked very dexterous. One by one, rats dropped down the line and landed on the table. A couple of them slammed into the jar. One of those rats we recognised as being the one we had left in the Hand of Earth. These rats looked like 'da boys'. Fayan checked the aura of one of them. Living animal, nature of magic - duplication. He also managed to cause another rat to fall off the table with his hand waving. Finally there were six normal rats and six of 'da boys' on the table as the last rat descended. Dalran had gone unseen and was now perched on top of the salt cellar. This rat was carrying a knapsack. He soon spotted Dalran. Kynn acted as Blitzkrieg's interpreter and struck a regal pose. Meanwhile I used my own Speak with Animals to listen in. From what I was able to determine, the rats were willing to move if something suitable could be found. The thing that had caused the mutations had been dropped by one of the Duke's colleagues. The rest of the coins they had would be deposited in the middle level storeroom. It was interesting to note that a small rat was acting was some sort of advisor to Bossy. Once the meeting was over, we discovered that we were trapped in the dining room. Bossy offered to get a rat to cut a hole in the wall but Fayan had a better idea and flew out the window on his nightmare. After a few minutes, during which the rats left, the Duke arrived and dispelled the wall. Before the rats left we arranged another meeting in the second story storeroom in a couple of hours. We discussed the matter with the Duke. He finally decided to order some rather large rocks that could be bound. The rats could live comfortably in there. He'd order them first thing in the morning. He also wanted maps of the tunnels and all the traps removed. To assist in negotiations he also offered to have Jack look after the kitten for a few days. Soon we were waiting in the storeroom as the rats filed in, leaving three giant silver pennies in the corner. It took a little bit of persuading but we finally got them to agree to do the map. I think we're going to have to check it very carefully. We're sure they're trying to hide something. .6. That night we slept with the same watches as last night but with the addition of Flamis to the roster. Nothing unusual happened. 04/01/92 I started off the morning with exercises, breakfast, then did a bit of weapon training with Blitzkrieg. After a while we wandered up to the storeroom to see how the rats were doing. They were still packing and the map was still in production, so there wasn't a lot we could do. So Blitzkrieg declared that we could have a day off. I wanted to scout around the outside of the castle, looking for entrances, but he reckoned it wasn't worth it. After all, they could always dig their way in, at least until Datty is disposed of. We went to find his Grace to ask him whether he wanted us to do anything about procuring another cat for him in the meantime. He told us he had arranged with a breeder to purchase a white, long-haired kitten. The breeder lives in a country to the north east, a place called Yiddish. It's about sixty miles away. The neighbouring country, between us and Yid is called Phant. It didn't seem far until we realised that it was sixty giant miles i.e. 720 of ours. It would take ages to get there. So Flamis suggested we fireflight there and runeportal back. After all we still had the pair the giant had made for us. The giant offered to produce another pair, in case the first pair didn't activate. We also asked him for a map. We all assumed it was another place of giants we were going to, until Duke Cumberbund told us the breeder was a human. A human breeding giant cats! This must be one brave dude. What's more, we would have to put a kink in our flight path because of a place called the Wild Wood. It was a forest of giant trees, a high mana zone, and very dangerous. Fayan was fascinated. An hour or so later we were ready to go. Blitzkrieg, Flamis, Dalran and myself were going. Flamis had calculated the trip was going to take seven stages and she would not have enough fatigue for the whole party. So Fayan and I were going to boost Flamis's fatigue with Strength of Stone spells. We went outside and the giant lit a fire. Flamis cast four Fireflights and soon we were away. The trip itself was relatively uneventful. Blitzkrieg suggested that we fly very high near the vicinity of the Wild Wood in case something in there decided to have a go at us. Nothing did. At the third landing point we managed to startle a flock of sheep and a small shepherd. We also noted rather a lot of military activity as we flew across Phant. Finally the city was in sight. Blitzkrieg advised it would not be advisable to fly over the city, but to divert and go around the far side. As we did so, I noticed someone with shadow-wings circling the castle. An aerial guard, I supposed. As we landed outside the city, a calvary troop pulled up. Blitzkrieg introduced us as emissaries from the Duke and asked to see someone about the kitten, and about setting up this end of the runeportal. So we followed the calvary inside the Palace and met the Chamberlain. The gentleman in question was dressed up like a story-book wizard, with stars and things on his white robes. An obvious Celestial. It transpired that he was indeed the head of the Celestial College here. After soon discussion it was decided to place the runestick in the courtyard near the castle wall. We were than taken to see Bast, the cat breeder. He was with the cats at the moment, supervising their training. The kitten that had been allocated for the Duke was currently asleep in the stables. From what I could tell it was very well looked after and happy. Flamis wanted to stroke it, but was told not to. By the time we had finished making the arrangements for the Duke to collect the kitten in a day or two, we were told that the rune portal was ready. A group of soldiers had just finished planting it. We touched it and ended up back in the giant's study. After we reported to the Duke, he informed us that the rats' block had been carved out and would be ready for placement the next day - his day. That puts it sometime in the next week. Fayan had dinner ready. I asked Kynn and Dalran what had happened while they had gone. Kynn said that she had found some standard sized books in the library which had been fascinating. Flamis looked very interested. So the two of us went book hunting. We finally found them on some small shelves by the top of the table. They were originals. The giant had been making copies his size. Some of the stuff I found was very interesting. It appeared that the giant folk had been the original inhabitants and the smaller people had arrived a few thousand years ago. They had mysteriously arrived near the coast and had rapidly spread throughout the land. In no time at all, at least to the giants' perspective, the entire area had been converted to support the little folk. Fortunately for them the giants were rather easy going. It was only this continent that had been affected. Other places were still giant land. There was even one area that no one lived on. I also discovered references to giant elves and giant dwarves as well as to small elves. Interesting. By the time we got back it was time to settle down for the 'night'. Same watches as before. Again nothing unusual happened. 05/01/92 It was getting dim in the castle as evening developed. The Duke was getting ready to go and get the cat. He offered to show us where the block was going so we all climbed into a wicker basket and he carried us out. It was the roughest trip I had ever been on. Worse than a stormtossed ship. The spot had been dug out and was located at the bottom of the giant's garden. There were some trees nearby. We were dropped back at the dollshouse. While I recovered from the basket trip Blitzkrieg went with the Duke to get the cat. When he got back we decided to inform the rats of developments and to suggest to them that they'd better make haste. Two of 'da boys' arrived, who turned out to be Gatty and Datty. I attempted to read their auras to determine what was the cause of their mutations but failed. I am beginning to think that they are blocking my attempts. They told us to meet them near the front door and offered to take us through the tunnels. We declined. When we got to the front door they were waiting beneath a pole with a white flag on it. There were also three mousetraps piled up in one corner. So we led them down the garden path and showed them the prepared site for the block. On the way back we heard a deep hooting call. A giant owl. It was getting dark by now and difficult to see. We froze still but the two rats made a break for the castle. The owl immediately swooped down. Flamis put up a pillar of fire to scare it off then followed that up with Dragon Flames. The fire enveloped the owl and several feathers were singed. Dalran also fired an energy bolt at it. Maybe their efforts seemed unnecessarily destructive, but they did have the desired effect. The owl flew off. We progressed onwards. There was no sign that either rat had been caught. Dalran picked up a rather large, scorched, owl feather. Someone reckoned it would be a real feather in his cap. There was probably enough feather there to make a whole cap out of it. Once we reached the front door we discovered the two rats and we followed them up to the middle level. They told us they would remove the strange object last as there would be problems getting it through the tunnels. Blitzkrieg seemed rather perturbed about this. .7. We went back to the dollshouse. The conversation turned to speculation on the quality of the steaks obtainable from the giant cows. We finally concluded that they would be tough. Too much fibre. Not much else was going on. There was a few hours spare before dinner so I went up to my room and wrote up recent events in the diary. Meanwhile Dalran was staring into a crystal and Flamis was staring into the fire in an attempt to see what the rats were up to. Dalran was having considerably more success. I suspect that the rats don't light fires for Flamis's ritual to work through.