Dolgyrm had held his tongue, hoping Padrym would have agreed to enter with the rest of the group, despite his earlier objection. The mage fell in line with the others, heading straight into the den of the rats...
Nodding the rat man puts down his rodent friend and looks at you very carefully before pantomiming you to be quiet and follow quickly. He then drops to all fours and sets off at pace into the mine. The only way for you to keep up is to hustle and pay most attention to the way ahead and little mind to what you are passing. Ruined buildings, houses and shopfronts pass on both sides as the rat leads you immediately to the right of the entrance and along the transept's outer wall.
At times the rat man pauses for a few moments, rears onto hind legs to sniff the air before continuing onwards. At the periphery of your eyes and path you see rats both normal and oversize shadowing the group as you travel. Some stationary and watching and others following or crossing your passage. A faint background chitter of communication fills the air as well.
Turns are taken on the path, but your movement never halts - instead continuing deep into the transept and along one side. Then the wererat leads you into a building and crouches by one side, manipulating the wall. A well built dwarven tunnel then noiselessly forms out of the rock. The rat man then beckons you to move into the tunnel before it does. The building appears to have once been a bank of some kind judging by the runes that are still legible... but has fallen into the same disrepair as other structures within.
Judging by the maps and what you know, you are a hundred yards or so short of the marked tunnel that would have led to the Upper Armories.
Feigr has to hustle to keep up with the rat, but tries to watch the surroundings as the group zips past. He pays particular attention to the rats, trying to get a general idea of their numbers. When the rat leads the way into the tunnel, he follows.
Padrym is clearly not happy about allowing the rat to follow but will move into the tunnel.
Probably doesn't want us to see how to close the tunnel.
Female: Then watch.
The young dwarven warrior will observe the rat as it closes the entrance behind them.
"I need a quick break," Dolgyrm huffs and puffs stopping in the old bank. He is still quick enough to use a minor spell to look for magic in the runes and around the interior of the building as he passes through.
Feigr turns to the rat-man before entering the tunnel. "I'm sorry, but I thought you were leading us. Why are we now going first?"
The rat man puts a finger to his lips at Feigr's question and Dolgrym's arcane words before pointing at the tunnel with some urgency.
Dolgrym detects no magic, any workings must be predominately mechanical.
Padrym cannot get a good look at exactly what the rat man is manipulating - but you are able to note where in the building the panels in question are - which would assist if there were need to try and open the passage alone.
Feigr does not sense any reason not to trust the rat man's urgings. The urgency was brought on more from the noise than the fact that you are questioning him.
Love walks off at Kephri's statement that the rat-men could be trusted. Used yes but never ever trusted. Bloody paladins...He returns to the group once his anger is spent but is too distracted to notice much at all.
Love does not hustle. Especially when he sees the full escort. Walking into a trap is one thing, running into it is another.
Love looks at our 'guide' one eyebrow raised and his hand on his silver dagger. When he speaks his voice is pitched low so as not to carry.
"You want us to go in there...before you do. You want us to enter a passage where you control the way back to home and hearth. This is not going to happen. Do you understand? Not .. going.. to happen. If you want us to trust you then it is time for you to risk some blood." Love pauses. "You go first."
The rat man looks at Love and hisses, before pausing a few moments as though in thought. Swiftly it then turns it's back and manipulates another couple of runes on the wall. Again no grinding sound is heard, but the opened portal begins to shut. Wordlessly and without any notice of Love or Feigr, the rat man then ducks through the portal and into the tunnel.
Love and Feigr are then left in the ruined bank... with a decision to make - either follow quickly, or have the passage closed to them and be isolated.
Cynara, Padrym, Dolgrym and Khepri can either swiftly move back out of the tunnel - or follow the rat man deeper within.
Feigr grumbles, [smaller]"Bout time. Hey, what's he screwing around with Love?" As soon as the rat heads into the tunnel, Feigr follows.
Khepri will move forward and follow, confident of the choices made so far.
"In for a penny...."
Love follows Feigr into the dark.
Padrym follows the ratman and paladin, ready for anything (he hopes).
The rat man retakes his quick pace at the head of the group, leaving you to hurry after. The passage that he leads you down is clearly hewn by dwarvish hands, well made and unlike most of the rest of Zolurket - surprisingly dust free and in a good state of repair. The tunnel makes a wide arc at a slight incline... and a couple of times the rat man makes an abrupt halt to work a seemingly blank section of wall. He studies a few moments before rapping a succession of points on the stone... which prove to be buttons of some kind.
Each time he stopped, you noticed some well concealed tubes within the walls. Love recognizes the tell tales of first an arrow trap, followed by what looked to be a gas trap... and this time he manages to get a good look at exactly what the rat man did to render the traps idle.
It is not long before you come upon the end of the tunnel. Your guide stops thirty feet shy of an arch. He evokes a ratlike chitter from his mouth which is answered by a second from outside the tunnel. You see an oversized rat poke it's nose round the side of the exit and almost squint accusingly at you.
Mangy turns around and hisses again at Love and Feigr "Bearded two-legs are foolish... loud sounds you make where many can hear... lucky that none hear. If you come, do not be foolish again." Baring his teeth for a moment, the rat man then strides out the exit and into the building beyond.
Feigr mutters, "Next time you might want to explain a little better what you need us to do and why before we start." He shakes his head and continues to follow the rat man as he moves ahead.
Outside the exit you find a landscape of contrast. To the left is an area almost pristine and untouched except by the ravages of time alone... while to the right is a squalid mess of nests and accumulated filth of living. The scent hits your nostrils with tangible force, and the area teems with a variety of rats both small and large. The rat man beckons you to follow him into the midst of the nesting and squalor.
You can also hear coming from the left a hollow sound of metal striking stone with regular cadence.
Feigr continues to follow the rat man. In for a copper... His head swivels to see if he can determine the source of the metal on stone.
The noise echoes through the halls from the left side - within the well kept section of the mine.
Dolgrym tries to ignore the other sounds, and keeps following the rat man.
"This plan takes us to the nicest places."
Padrym follows along carefully, aware that this could be a very bad trap.
"Yes, lovely." Wonder what the devil is going on over there...oh well, mystery for another day. Feigr keeps after the rat-man.
You are led into the warren of nesting material and filthy dwellings and through for a few minutes. Curious and suspicious glances are thrown your way by the rat men, women and children that you pass. After a couple of minutes the warren opens into a slightly larger chamber that was once a storage room but now stripped of all original furnishings. The mangy one asks you "Wait here, rat speak gather others for council."
Khepri lets out a breath and smiles, "Well so far so good..."
Feigr stops in the chamber indicated by the rat-man. He murmurs, "Well assuming we made the right choice in coming, I'm sure we're going to get asked again about our intentions."
Love remains silent. His eyes note how the traps are bypassed and how the nest seems very contained.
His ears note the cadence of the hammering and he wonders if the rat men maintain a forge or if he is hearing some relic of lost Dwarven glory.
Left in the old storage room love begins to search, more out of habit than any hope that there is a hidden exit.
'Assuming the council doesn't try to eat our faces off, Love, please let Khepri and Cynara handle the talking. They are much better at that sort of thing than we are."
"C'mon Dolgrym, some of us have a little talent for this." says Feigr with a grin. "Whatever we discuss, let's remember our guidelines from Sangvit."
Love finds nothing hidden within the floor or crumbling walls of the storage room. The distant clang of metal on stone still echoes quietly through the nest, seemingly coming from all directions in the way that it echoes. You hear chittering and the occasional screech come from within the nest - and you remain alone as one minute stretches to two and then three.
While the party waits, Cynara closes her eyes and listens to the sounds of the nest, trying to pick out any changes in tenor that might presage something happening.
"A waiting game, to test our resolve. Stay strong."
Stay strong.
"No doubt, but I'll wager our lives are longer than theirs if they play out the game too long."
It doesn't take too much longer before the mangy fur speaker that brought you here slinks back into the room. It's arm is bloodied and crooked and it has been beaten about the face as well... the cause of which soon enters the chamber also. A much larger and more muscular rat man follows him clearly dominant and less friendly than the one that you know. Black fur less mangy and a more purposeful gait to his stride.
The mangy one slinks to one side and remains head down and subservient, while the black one spits in broken Common "Why do bearded two legs come to us... this one spoke for you, but I would hear." raising a hand towards the mangy one again and causing it to recoil.
Dolgrym looks around the others out of the corners of his eye. OK, this is not going to be as easy as I'd hoped.
Khepri's eyes narrow and he begins to get angry ,maybe I am not going to be the best one to speak after all
Trying to do his best to remain as calm as possible, Khepri asks, "What happened to him? He didn't look like that when he left us"
"We're led to believe you want an alliance."
This is about to get ugly.
"Be easy, Khepri," the mage mutters, hoping to avoid a ruckus. "He's fine. You can cure him later..."
Feigr glances at Khepri as he goes to aid the rat-man, then adds to Padrym's comment, "And we're seeking to learn more about the gnolls and dark ones."
Warded from attempting to assist the mangy one... at least not yet... the big one grimaces to bear it's teeth "He was not to bring any here... there was a 'chat'... he knows his place now. As to alliance, why should we do for you when you have not done for us? We of the rat have our home, you are the invaders here..."
Khepri looks unto the mangy one and wagers that he is indeed mostly intact. Those wounds he has would likely quickly heal without assistance.
Khepri will pause after assessing the wounds, I will not forget this
"I am Khepri, part of this group of dwarves and this elf. We belong to a much greater force of dwarves as he most likely has already told you." Khepri points to the injured were-rat.
"I am sure by now you understand why the dwarves are here and what it could mean to the current 'occupants' of this place. You also know that more dwarves will come as well as other humans and elves as time goes on."
"So what have we done for you? At the moment nothing at all. But that wasn't the right question to ask, the correct question is, 'What will this place be after the dwarves settle here and can there be a place for you'. Khepri gestures wide to indicate the were-rats
"The Dawnflower, my goddess, believes in temperance, patience, and to give those who deserve it the chance to do the right thing. So if the dwarves find allies in their ancient home, that will form a bond of trust and open opportunities for being allies here in this place for ages to come."
The big rat-man chuckles "Not first bearded two legs to come... Many have come... many have died." he states matter of factly. "We do not care a sh1t for your Dawnflower... the sun does not rise here. You ask our knowledge, ask our alliance... what are you willing to do for us?"
"How do you feel about the dog men and stalkers being your current neighbors pal? Because if you like 'em, we probably don't have much to talk about.
"We could probably be talked into trying to get rid of those dog men and dark stalkers, if some sort of agreement could be reached," the wizards nods, adding to Feigr's words.
The mangy one has remained still and submissive to the larger rat that grunts at the comments of the dwarves "We live here, shadows and dog men live there... we are safe, comfort in our nest. To fight, make blood, perhaps die... but there is something." stroking his whiskers in thought "There is something of mine, was lost in the hall of walking metal. If you bring that to me, then we can talk of what rat men can do for you..."