I guess he'll just cast the spell
"Gaa! What's in the water??!!" The discombobulated Besmaran starts stabbing away at the fishy south of Kaul.
for
Kaul clubs the last fish as Corlisses finishes off the wounded one that flails in the water. Dingus sends a spinning cloud of fangs at the two gangsters as he descends. The final fish floats on the surface feebly nipping at anything that comes close.
Speaking of nips, shrieks of pain rise from overhead for a moment and then the squeaks retreat behind the whirring of the fangs.
In the murky bloody water, Kaul mugs a jigsaw grin at Corliss' question;
"Hur! I is mate... Bloody Ol' Kauly... Makin' friends with the locals! HUR!"
As the final swamp barracuda snaps, the brute batters it;
Kaul pounds the last fish into pate. The chamber above has a whirlwind of fangs but the two gang members are not in sight.
"We givin' chase or headin' back the way we came?" Corliss asks the others in a loud whisper. "Iff'n we be chasin', I'll need ya to go an' recover me rapier what I dropped when I faced off with the ratman, Dingus."
The walls of the pit are old rotten wood which is slick and crumbly but offers plenty of hand holds.
A sodden but happy Kaul drags himself out of the pit and offers Corliss a claw if needed.
Once on drier land he mugs a grin;
"Hur. That be the start... Let's get 'em ratters... Maybes they know more than they're lettin' on... "
The brute snaps his claw and chuckles;
"Maybes they can be o' use iffin' we can persuades them... Leastways afore we kill 'em."
Dingus floats up, and uses his anchoring rod to give them a final boost onto the upper level.
He then peers into the area he sent the munchy snakes to dine.
The smell of smoke and flicker of fire is detected down the passage that Dingus sent a lightning bolt. In the other direction, the cloud of fangs continues spinning in place like a hungry tornado. in the far corner past the fangs is a hole in the rough timber wall about two feet in diameter.
Kaul stands sniffing the smoke and admiring the mayhem wrought by the sorcerer;
"Hur. I likes 'em biter spells Ding. Nasty like. Lightin' too... that'll wake ye up in the mornin'... Hur-hur-hur..."
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Dingus gives a haughty look to Kaul and acknowledges his praise.
He then directs the swarm of fangs to proceed them through the hole.
He then directs the swarm of fangs to proceed them through the hole.
Dingus sends his whirling fang vortex at the small hole and it produces a 10-foot diameter cloud of sawdust.
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The swarm being a swarm, it has no problem squeezing through the hole. You hear further shreiks ahead.
Dingus hears the fang swarm buzzing in the hole as it stops once it is out of his sight. Corliss coughs as the smoke from the opposite end of the shipwreck seems to be getting worse. And then the buzzing ahead is counterpointed by a chittering from behind as a wave of fleeing rats come running right toward the crew!
The snake familiar pokes out his head from beneath Dingus' ensemble to taste the air. Mmmm. I smell rats. Then as a wall of rats erupts from the passage behind them, Richard ducks back beneath the fine clothing. Too many rats! Too many rats!
Keelhaul Kaul-
Dingus-
Corliss-
swarms of rats-
Corliss starts moving away from the incoming rats, trying to recall what sort of weapon is most appropriate for battling hordes of teeny creatures. In the end he decides on his silver mace, sheathing his newly-recovered rapier while hoping that Dingus's swarm can make short work of the rat swarm...without also messing with the crew!
As Corliss draws a bludgeon, Kaul follows suit moving to mash the mass o' ratters with his claw;
Twin Corlisses back away from the rats and toward the rattling hole near Dingus. Kaul remains on the barricade bracing for the tide of rats. They hit suddenly nipping and squealing in a disorienting wave causing Kaul to swing wildly.
Nibbled round the edges, Kaul shrugs off the rat packs worst and follows the twin Corliss' best he can...
"Feck this..."
Once Kaul is clear of the rats Dingus gleefully claps his hands and sends his fangoria to engage the rodents.
Kaul decides maybe he should let the spell do its work and retreats. Dingus claps and the vortex of viper fangs spins out of the hole flying between Corliss and Kaul to puree swarming rats! It is not enough to stop the swarm though and gore-covered rodents leap upon the Kaul who is in the rear.
Kaul gets nibbled and a little more nobbled this time... before dunking out as Ding's swarm of fangs does the business.
The Corlisses lead the way out of the crawl hole and into the cool white light of the winter afternoon. Dingus and Kaul follow to find themselves on an about 10-foot section of sloped deck about twenty feet above the marsh. A rope is tied to a broken section of railing and drops down to the swamp. The sound of chittering and scrabbling claws is heard from the hole behind them.
Kaul mugs a grin at his shipmates as mayhem ensues above them. Nodding toward the rope his grin becomes a jagged leer;
"Reckon there's sumthin' interestin' on the end o' the rope lads?"
Corliss shrugs at Kaul's words, sighs, and eyeballs the length of rope. "Should be able to make a short climb like this," he mutters quietly, perhaps trying to convince himself.
"Mayhaps I ought go last--guard 'gainst further rat incursions an' the like," the Besmaran whispers trying to make his poor climbing look instead like he reconsidered.
"Uh...an' heal us all a bit afore we goes lookin' fer a bit more trouble," Corliss adds before channeling energy to heal himself and the crew.
Corlisses give a healing burst mending most of Kaul's wounds. The burly thug easily coasts down the rope and manages to step away before Corliss Clownshoes slip and plummet into the marsh beside him. Fortunately, nothing appears wounded except his pride. Dingus calls the fangstorm toward him through the tunnel leading to a slurry of rat guts and fur dribbling from the end of the passage. Dingus steps off the ship to levitate above his companions.
In a sudden but inevitable betrayal, Jim runs his blade through his companion's heart killing him instantly!
Sorry, mate. Wrong place, wrong time. The Taldan casually cleans his blade and resheathes it before sloshing through the muck towards the rest of the motley crew.
Kaul, Corliss, and Dingus don't see the fleeing wererats at the moment but they hear someone sloshing through the muck around the other side of the wrecked ships.
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Dingus takes the opportunity to rises up and look on the other side of the ships.
Perception
Richard takes the opportunity to rise up like a periscope above Dingus's shoulders to look as well.
Dingus easily spots Jim coming around the corner of the ship. Richard's slightly higher perch and greater focus also reveals the ratmen fleeing inland several hundred feet away and in the opposite direction, toward sea, a small grounded boat a hundred yards or more past Jim. Richard spots a couple figures on the boat staring his way, likely due to the thick smoke pouring out of the burning wreckage ignited by the lightning strike.