Theo looks up at the magic-using ratling.
The gentleman gives it an Evil eye.
Dervak lunges across the gap and grabs the Ratling.
"Now little rat-man, should I snap you in half?"
The old Ratling is clearly taken by surprise when he is grabbed, he wriggles in Dervaks grasp for only a moment before hissing at the Giant Rat which subsequently backs off. Giving the most non-threatening smile it can, the old rat speaks in near perfect common. "Heyyyyy. You lot aren't ghouls! My mistake, you can put ol'Ratch down now."
Theo smiles at the caught ratling.
My, my, and what now has the cat...err...orc brought in? Mmmm..
Dervak brings his face close to the ratling's, his tusks inches from the creature's eyes.
"Okay. Maybe I not break you in half just yet. I should, you shot me with acid. Innocent mistake? Hrmm.... not letting you go either.
What was that you said about ghouls?"
Dervak will move with the ratling so both of them are surrounded by the rest of the party.
The finely dressed gentleman approaches the caught ratling; a wide, stretched-out smile, making him appear wax-like, prominent.
Tipping his monstrously large hat in it's face, Theo hisses,
Now, we were not really out to get us? Hmmm, I rather liked the idea of, perhaps, you wanting to get us!
We likes answers! Gives them to us, yes!
Ghouls? Thinks N'Dateh and she keeps to the shadows, watching out while the others are focused on the Ratling.
Ghouls! Mara could remember quite a bit about the nature of the undead creatures, although she couldn't recall how she came to know so much. She had questions of her own to ask the ratling, but decided to wait, and hear what it said to Dervak and Theophilus first.
If he tried to bluff to you that the mist is harmless and has cute puppy's inside it then no amount of bluff would suffice. So essentially NPC's can lie about their intent and get away with it, but not about aspects of reality, only PCs can do that!
Ratch's pupils dilate as he is not let go and Theo gets sinister. Though his voice never wavers you can tell he's frightened. "Why the ghouls roaming the halls of course, You must have seen them, they tried coming in here a while ago but Ol'Ratch pushed em back."
Ghouls roaming the corridors? "Where did the ghouls come from?", Mara asked. "This is supposed to be a hospital of some sort!"
After listening to the creature's reply, she changed the subject: "Can you tell me what's down this tunnel?", she asked, pointing to the hole in the floor.
White teeth sparkling brightly, the gentleman places his hat back upin his head.
Well why didn't you say so! Friends of foes is friends to hold!
Theo bows before the held ratling. He begins retrieving tools from his pack.
To better measure you my good rat! An inch there; a stitch here. And what a magnificent rat you shall cut in a new hat!
"If I let you go, don't try to run. We've been fighting shapechangers and a moldy eye and a rag-man in the mist in dreams. And a bat-thing and more. We want to know what is going on.
I'll kill you too if I have to but I think you are not what has made this place go so wrong."
He doesn't let go just yet, and looks to his comrades for approval.
"Don't look at me." Oscar says, still pointing his arrow at the ratling. "I already have dubious grasps of friend and foe as it is."
He sighs, lowering his bow. "I guess I can try to not shoot him if he moves... or breathes... or speaks." he says glumly.
Dervak releases the ratling into the middle of the group.
"Okay, Ratch. Oscar is smart about books and figuring things out. Theophilus is smart like that too.
So you tell them what you know and maybe we can stop the bad things from happening."
Theo happily listens to his new client as he takes measurements.
I am seeing something big and flamboyant! Perhaps, a giant feather? Thinking orange to match your eyes a bit.
Recalling an unfortunate incident, Mara said to Ratch in a stage whisper, "I suggest not falling asleep right now — he might try to stuff you into a teapot!"
"Just a caved in tunnel too the warrens, hard rocks. Can't burrow through'em." Ratch sigh's a Dervak lets him down. Though as Theo advances with the measuring tools he scuttles up the bookcase with startling speed. "Look! Ol'Ratch is a smart'n too, probably smarter than your Theo or your Oscar combined! Ask Ratch and he will answer! Just no killin Ratch, You hear!"
Mara eyed the ratman with some suspicion. "OK, I'm asking," she said. "Do you know what makes the slime trail in the hall?"
Theo looks a bit crestfallen.
Perhaps, another time.
Noticing Theophilus' disappointment, Mara said to him, "Maybe, after we get out of this place, you could make a hat for me. If you want to."
Dervak looks annoyed with Ratch, but tries to placate the creature.
"Okay, yes, Ratch very smart. Not going to kill you. Unless you hit me with magic again. But answer Mara about the slime trail.
And do you know the rag-man? Or the ghost in the courtyard?"
He pauses a second, then grumbles "Please."
Looking up from repacking his crafting supplies, the gentleman stands up and gives Mara a grandiose bow.
Madame, it would be my absolute honor!
"Ratch... Why don't you tell us what happened here in the asylum." he says, putting the arrow away. "What kind of history does this place have? Any strange artifacts? Ancient beings? Idols to forgotten gods? Perhaps a portal to another realm?"
I find his statements of intelligence to be questionable, but it's not the time to argue it.
"Mhm, yes, slime trail was made by a the little nasties. Look a little like you all, but small and uglier, smell like death they do and leave that slime behind wherever they go. Ratch saw'em hole up in the room straight down the hall."
At Oscars questioning Ratch clams up a bit, getting shifty eyed and looking down at his hole. "Ratch... Ratch know a lot about whats going on! See, this fog was brought here from... HELL yeah! Hell too uh... too pull all the people an Ratlings down so that the DEMONS CAN EAT US! Only the last ones alive get to go back!" Ratch puts his hands up. [b]"But Ratch know better than to try an kill you lot now!"
"We need to be careful!", Mara warned the others. "From what I know about ghouls (although I don't remember how I came to know it), a scratch from their claws can temporarily paralyze you! If there are several of them, that could be extremely dangerous."
If that be the case, we best be being our best! And how long has Ratch been being here?
Dervak tries another approach.
"Okay, Ratch, thank you. We want to know more things if you can tell us. Maybe we make trade? What does Ratch want?"
N’Dateh seeps out of the shadows, feeling the surface of light as she crosses into it.
”Paralysing ghouls and slimy nasties, we have our work cut out. I’m not sure how to deal with the nasties, but the ghouls... The ghouls we need to either avoid, or fight with care: imagine if they’d manage to paralyse one of us, or two of us? The tide could turn faster than we wish, and who knows what they’d do to those we’d have to leave behind...”
”If we have to fight them, we must fight them smart. Avoid close combat as much as possible, and favour defensive stances...” she offers, though she wonders how best to turn those words into action.
The gentleman straightens his shoulders, a deck of harrow cards suddenly in his hands. Casually shuffling them, he smiles.
A game of cards it shall be!
"One more thing about ghouls," Mara added. "They aren't mindless beasts. Some of them can be reasoned with, although one should never forget their nature."
"If they can reason, they can lay traps." Oscar adds. "But that's neither here nor there. We should proceed, albeit with some caution."
"One more thing..." Ratch says in almost a whisper as the group chatters. "Ratch didn't want to believe it but... the Rag-man... y-you mean..." Ratch looks over his shoulder and does what you thought to be impossible, gets even shiftier. "You mean the Shredman, the Everyall, the Final dream... Ratch knows a lot about that one. People talked about him before and Ratch listened, some stuff gets written about him here and there. There used to be witches on this island loooong ago, he served them, but they did not control him. No, only HE controls him... The king in yellow." Ratch shudders.
"He killed a lot of people round here before all this happened. Heard the white ones talking about the crazies dying in their sleep, didn't want to believe but... Listen, don't go to sleep. Once you know of him, once you've seen him... it's over. Less you can face him as a group then, it's impossible."
"So he is very old. Maybe an elf? Maybe a ghost?
Yes, we should face him together in our dreams. I saw him twice in my dreams by myself and he killed me but I didn't use... If their lives were also on the line... Might be different.
Things are written about the Shredman? In the library? Okay Oscar you go read. I know Mara keeps saying she wants to rest."
"If we need rest then I suggest we go to the chapel," Oscar offers. "There is more safety in numbers. And soup. I can research in the morning."
Theo smiles.
I am not one to miss a chance at research. Also, I wouldn't mind reallocating some more punitive spelks for those ghouls.
Mara listened moved closer to listen to Ratch. "It does sound like we should read about the history of this place", she replied to Dervak and Oscar. "I agree that the chapel is the place to rest. It's still early, though; I'd like to look through the library for a while."
"Okay, reading time. I'll stand guard."
Dervak actually can read, but it isn't his favorite thing to do and he knows he might miss something important.
"Dervak, can you give me a hand putting this bookshelf back up?", she asked, indicating the one that had been pushed over. After it was set upright, she returned the fallen books to the shelf, trying to put them back into some sort of order. Once that was done, she spent some time trying to get a sense of the subjects covered in the library.
Brute force is Dervak's forte. He puts the bookshelf back up.
"I always loved books... Though I did not read too many." she comments, with an enigmatic smile.
"Keep your eyes out for any mention of a king in yellow, or a yellow king," Mara said to the others. "Ratch made it sound like he had some sort of hold over the Shredman."
Roll knowledge local, History or religion. Aiming for DC 20.
you get 10KP for one person beating the check +2 for every other person to do so.
for every point above twenty you roll you get +1KP.
Choose from these topics to spend KP on once the total is counted up.
KP30 (Briarstone asylum)
KP25 (Briarstone Isle)
KP20 (Briarstone Isle)
KP15 (Briarstone witch)
KP10 (Briarstone witch)
KP5 (Briarstone witch)
KP0 (Journal)
Mara started searching through the musty tomes.
Dervak isn't trained in those skills so is no help (and untrained he couldn't hit DC 20).
"Maybe we can take some of these back to the chapel and the people there, like Winter, can help research. Looks like there is a lot to read through.
Carrying books is something I can do."
N'Dateh smiles as the focus shifts so swiftly to scholarly pursuits. The smell of the old books sparks in her a fire she has trouble understanding. She feels a deep connection to her past as she smells and touches the old tomes.