While the others safeguard the traps, Talathel maintains a vigil. He busies himself looking for any additional tracks or clues to hostile movements.
Well done, laddie! Dis be good fortune! Rats be mak'n good barbeque!
Brand carefully passes his dagger along the crack edge of the door, pausing when he runs into some resistance... carefully increasing the pressure of the blade on whatever it has caught against, he saws through a cable, and leaps back--but the subsequent racket is entirely on the inside of the door.
Talathel sees evidence of many large rats in the area... potentially dangerously large rats. He also sees Bandanna's scampering trail as it heads deeper into the dungeon.
"The rats here have likely reached deadly proportions. They may be behind this door."
He braces his spear, 10ft from the door.
"I say we open it."
"I agree. We don't want to get in a fight further on, and have the noise attract them."
"Hm. Giant rats. The Dungeon of Graves is truly an intriguing place. Let us open it up, then."
Lolygert grins and nods agreement with the others "Rats....right. Stand ready, then!" he exclaims, then with his sword in one hand, pulls or pushes the door open so that he's standing before it's open possibilities....
Combat in the morning, friends. Yaaawwnn I'm beat.
Satisfied with his work disabling the device lodged in the door, Brand steps back as Lolly prepares to open the door. Drawing his twin blades, Brand let's out a chuckle, "Big rats, 'ey? Dey be roight propa' fer roastin', if'n ye season dem correctly."
Bedlam nods approvingly at Brand.
Now you be talk'n!
With Talathel positioned behind him and Bedlam and Brand by his side, Lolly swings the door open, and the Light on his breastplate reflects twenty baleful rat-retinae back at him. The back of the door is covered with dangerous-looking darts, as the disarmed trap had let loose a barrage of them. It would not have been pleasant to swing the door open with that trap armed, not a bit.
But before Bedlam's even fully processed the nature of the trap, he's in the action...
Grinning from beard-covered ear to beard-covered ear, the dwarf takes out a Tanglefoot bomb, tossing it 5' behind the front row of rats.
Two of the rats skitter out of the blast radius with minor damage, but one is now entangled and burned.
One dire rat launches herself across the room, trying to chomp on Lolly:
...it just misses the barbarian, and now the Rodent of Unusual Size is snarling at his feet.
Lolygert raises an eyebrow to the clutch of darts stuck in the door, the smiles as the rats appear and one bounces off of his breast plate.
"Seems you had the right of it! " he calls back over his shoulder as he grips his sword with both hands as chops down on the nearest rat...
The rat at Lolly's feet is quite dismembered.
Another rushes him from the darkness:
...but it can't reach our guy.
Talathel sees a gap as Lolly swings, and strikes through that with his own spear at the next attacking rat.
The close-quarters fighting causes Talathel to juust miss his small and nimble target, as Lolly bumps against the shaft of the branched spear as he recovers from his swing.
Tragershen slips a vial of acid out of his pouch, but does not hurl it. Instead, he uses it to cast a small glob of arcane acid at one of the rats in the room.
Acid Splash on one of the rats.
To hit, ranged touch attack
Damage
Tragershen's gob splatters harmlessly on the flagstones. Three rats rush forward en masse, but only two can bring their teeth to bear on Lolly:
Lolly gets nibbled by a dire rat. The wound itself isn't too bad, but the dark brownish stains on the rat's teeth make him feel a little nervous.
A tide of rats surges forward in the darkness, chittering in frustration and rage as the fat ol' rats in front of them block their chance to nibble nibble on Lolly's delicious ankles.
Aurora will cast some good ol' fashioned Bless on her allies.
Everyone feels Nethys' blessing focus their energies.
The slowest rat rumbles over to the rat traffic jam and squeaks angrily.
Deciding to not waste any precious resources on dinner, the sturdy dwarf attempts to brain damage a rat.
We be wasting time, while our loot be gitt'n further from us!
Talathel keeps his eyes on the corridor from which the rats are coming, but does reply to Bedlam's comment.
"Securing our flank and rear as we advance is no wasted time, and we do not know what may lie behind the rats."
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Bedlam picks the picked dire rat off his pick. The ever pragmatic dwarf places it in a sack that he secures to his belt.
Tis true what you be saying, Talathel. Me be just tink'n dat we could just shut this door on dem...Harharhar!
"True, and that would likely work. But a canny enemy could use that against us later. Regardless, we are fighting them now."
O look, Bedlam picked the fastest rat, who now has no initiative, which means Lolly, Brand, Tragershen, and Talathel may act!
The dwarf turns his head and grins.
Well played, GM Parrot!
Seeing the infestation pushing forward at Lolly's feet, Brand slashes at the closest rodent from just beside the mighty warrior.
Words, now actions.
Talathel strikes.
Tragershen lobs a glob of acid at one of the swarming rats.
Acid splash
Damage
.rrrrr
.rr.rr
---d--
.BLB.
..TT.A
r=rat
.=empty
-=wall
d=door
Because Bedlam killed the only rat he could reach, the one in front of Lolly, he and Brand are now out of range of the rats. Brand, you can either: 5-ft into the open space, kill two rats, and take about five rat bites; or, you can ready a standard action for when the rats inevitably surge forward again, and I'll use your high roll to resolve that dead rat.
In a fit of reckless heroics, Brand ducks under Lolly's arms and slides up before him, plunging his blades into the two first rats, hoping to create a beachhead into the rodents' swarm. "Now lads, let's 'ave at dem! Lolly, Bedlam, heft yer blades an' get in 'ere!"
With the natural animosity of one Small hole-dwelling creature for another species that shares the same niche, Brand kills two rats, even as Tragershen's glob of acid puts the goopy entangled rat out of its misery.
Lolly rushes forward, ignoring the beasts' attempts to chomp his ankles, but, well, maybe his heart isn't in it--how can you really RAGE at a dire rat? He swings and misses.
.r.rr.
.rLbr.
---d--
...B...
..TT.A
r=rat
.=empty
-=wall
d=door
The chittering rats try to devour our friends, two going for Brand, two for Lolly.
Brand feels a sharp, annoying pain: there's an utterly filthy rat nibble nibble nibbling on his big toe. Its yellowed (beyond yellowed, its browned) incisors have unspeakable, visible gunk stuck between them, dangling shaggy gunk, and whatever it is, it's slapping against the wound with every nibble...
...Lolly fares better this time.
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Aurora moves up into the spot previously occupied by Brand, uttering another prayer and casting Guidance upon herself... for the usual Divine Vessel shenanigans, of course. It comes to mind that it might be a bit irreverent to beseech such boons to fight rats.
Bedlam places a hand to his mouth.
Ohhh, that looks bad, Brand "Rat Bane"!
The dwarf glances around, whispering,
Me once heard ov same ting 'appen to a miner. Screams to make the demons weep! Tis what me heard.
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The next rat tries to bite Brand:
...it fails.
The party gets its big turn now. Brand and Lolly are filling up the open spaces in the room, so you'll have to work around them unless the situation changes as people post their turns...
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Bedlam steps unto the doorway to better pick another choice morsel for dinner.
Carrying on without missing a beat, the dwarf continues saying,
Me also had ah uncle dat once was bitten by a rat. He was fun at da celebrations; we youn'uns did take tha foam from his mouth. Used to use it to shampoo da dogs.
Tragershen watches the flow of the battle, looking for a place where his small efforts can make a difference.
Tragershen will cast acid splash. If Lolly or Brand wound but don't kill one of the rats, he will target that wounded one. Otherwise, he'll pick one at random.
To hit (ranged touch attack)
Damage
Bedlam, frustrated with the long delay the dire rats have caused, suddenly rushes forth, dodging through the beasts as they lunge at his exposed shins... somehow he makes it all the way through. He picks the rat next to him, making room for someone else to follow.
Tragershen's acid takes out the slow, fat rat. Only three remain, and Bedlam's charge might give the others the courage to launch themselves forward. A whiff of victory is distinctly olfactible in the room...
..B.r.
.rLbr.
---d--
...B...
..TT.A
r=rat
.=empty
-=wall
d=door
Seeing no enemies near him, Talathel smoothly stows his spear and pulls out his longbow. His series of motions do not cease until an arrow is flying through the air, the doorway, and then at a rat.