They are indeed tiny. XD Rats are among the larger animals you might see in a swarm.
Will:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Golden dust settled over one of the swarms - and stayed there, but it didn't seem to be causing their vision much harm. That might have been because they had so much to go around. Shalluk and Zelani's attacks tore into the two swarms a moment later, and while the swarms were hurt, that did not stop them from rushing forward in a squeaking mass.
Swarm Damage (Everyone):1d6 ⇒ 6 Fort DC 12 vs Disease (Shalluk):1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18 Fort DC 12 vs Disease (Zelani):1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Her mind considered what Rixa said...disease did fit the "Lord"'s apparent philosophy. She considered as she looked around, maybe something here had encouraged them...or something above had sent them...or maybe it was just this place's twisted nature after all...
Then incorporeal spirit managed to avoid the attacking rats. Shalluk was less fortunate and more...swarmed by horrifying rats. Swearing a blistering oath in Aklo, he opened up with both crossbows, hoping to discourage the rats.
To Hit 1:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19 Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
To Hit 2:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
It's my birthday, so everyone gets 2,100 GP. You may take it (and spend existing money) in item(s) instead of coins if you prefer.
Also, generally speaking, you cannot crit a swarm. It has no weak points that can be hit for extra damage. Closest thing is AOE attacks to hit a lot of it at once. XD
Also, don't forget about the Concentration checks for casting in a swarm. o wo
With your combined attacks, the swarms finally dispersed, and the remaining rats vanished into cracks and through pipes to leave the room open... for now.
As far as you could tell, nothing in particular had set them off other than your presence. Walking meatbags were food, after all.
Shuddering at the lingering sensation of scrabbling claws and sharp teeth, Shalluk holstered his weapons long enough brush down his robes and his clothes with gloved hands. It was going to be a long time before rats squeeks did not haunt Shalluk's dreams, but then, there was a lot that made his sleep difficult these days.
But a lot of people would sleep permanently if the Ghoul attacks continued. Standing up a little straighter, Shalluk moved to the most North Eastern door and checked it before trying the handle.
Perception + Sense Magic, Sense Life, Sense Density and Detect Undead:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
In a cupboard near the oven sits a very fine silver dinner set, with an exceptionally large silver salver and a dozen crystal decanters. The set as a whole is worth 1,000 gp. Your check also reveals a small clay urn hidden in a nook behind a loose brick on the chimney. The urn is stuffed with some dried pine cones and three small violet garnets worth 100 gp each.
Through the northeast door, two bunks stand in this room, relatively free
of dust and mold. A single chair lies on its side between them. A search reveals nothing of interest or value, and there don't seem to be any other exits.
Tensing at the oddness of the room - nothing in this place should be this clean - Shalluk scanned the area. He also checked the silverwear. This place might be making him paranoid again, but it was better to be paranoid than dead. A lesson learned long ago...but if those plates had been important to whatever was in this place, like the scarf and the piano...
Perception + Sense Magic, Life and Density, Detect Undead:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Zelani walked around the suspiciously clean room which felt odd compared the rest of what had been seen so far. The druid looked over the violent garlands, debating the risks of taking anything from this...likely [i]his[/b] place would bring...while the burglar in Zelani cast her eyes over the shining dining set with interest and suspicions of a trap as she headed back to the door they had all came through...
Rixa scans the found loot for evil, doing her best to ignore the nauseating all-pervasive aura permeating the house, then follows the others as they continue their search of the basement.
The things you've seen appear exactly as you've uncovered so far. The aura of evil seems a little less all-pervasive in the room with the bunks, as if it was vaguely aware of the chamber's presence but just didn't bother with it much. The plates had no reaction at all, regardless of the effect used to scan them - not like the scarf and piano, then.
Although the paranoia is probably a good plan in this place. 8D
Well, it was nice to know at least everything in the place wasn't cursed. Gathering up the plates and carefully stashing them, Shalluk moved to the south east door, checking once more before opening it.
Perception + Sense Magic, Life and Density and Detect Undead:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
The southeast door takes you through a hallway that eventually turns nort. The door to the next room is locked and made of iron, and while patches of rust mar its face, it remains quite stout. A key would probably be faster than trying to break it down.
Zelani looked mildly amused at the idea that dealing with rusty locks was her speciality...but she did enjoy a challenge.
"I would suggest looking for a key in case this doesn't work..." she said gently as she pulled out her tools, her brown eyes focused as her hands gently went to work in a clearly familiar manner.
After some fiddling, Zelani managed to pop the locks open.
This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although it now lies in ruin. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, each containing a dead diseased rat. To the east, two stained-glass windows loon). The northern window depicts a thin man with gaunt features drinking a foul-looking brew of green fluid, while the southern one shows the same man but in an advanced state of decay, as if he had been dead for several weeks. His arms raised and head thrown back in triumph, his rotting body turns to smoke and spirals into a seven-sided box.
Zelani nodded her thanks to Shalluk before putting away her tools. Pushing the door open, Zelani glanced around in growing confusion. She was unsure what she had expected in a locked room in such a horrid place...but this had not been it. Between the poor rats, the badly treated books, and the strange images...with that seven sided box...Zelani started looking for traps and other things that might be a danger.
Glancing at the rats in the cage, Shalluk shuddered gently. He was quite unhappy with both rats and ghouls, and the idea of ghoul rats disturbed him more than he would like to admit. The fact they were, possibly, dead did not make him more comfortable. The dead rested uneasily here.
Shalluk scanned the area before entering with his magic, hoping to make sure it was safe.
Perception + Sense Life, Magic, Density and Detect Undead:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
The whole room is thick with energy - so much so that any milder readings are drowned out by the force of the aura. You do, however, get the sense that the books on the bench are more than just light reading material.
Mouth twisting in distaste, Shalluk put a crossbow bolt in each of the rat corpses. If they were still...alive? Undead? Whichever, the bolts were a mercy.
Once the creatures were dispatched, Shalluk turned his attention to the books. Maybe he would be lucky and be unable read whichever language they were written in...
"A whole lot of not good..." Zelani replied to Rixa as the druid continued looking around, warily glancing over as Shalluk went towards the soaked books...
As Shalluk touches the books, he freezes in place.
Shalluk Only:
The world around you has vanished, and everything appears as a series of stained-glass images. You see a man researching something, then gathering various ingredients - culminating in the man downing a potion and doubling over in agony as his body starts to rot away. As he does, you feel blinding shame at someone you love doing this, then burning rage about being stopped.
Yanking his hand back, Shalluk shouted in surprise and fear at his mind being overridden like that. Shaking his hand, he stared at it for a moment, flexing his fingers. Shuddering, Shalluk looked at the others. "The book contains...memories, see as though in a stained glass window. A man created a potion that turned him into something rotten and vile. Whoever's eyes I borrowed for that moment felt a great shame at his actions." He shook his hand again.
Zelani started forward towards Shalluk, pausing as he broke free and explained. "Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes going to his hand and then around the room in concern. "We should probably move on from this room..."
Well, there was another door in the room - and whatever mysteries lay upstairs, of course, since most of that area hadn't been explored. There was really no telling what information, valuables, or dangers were there.
Through the door is a ten-foot hallway and another door. Through THAT door is ANOTHER hallway and another door, and it's only after that you finally reach somewhere.
Piles of broken stone, dirt, and a few ruined pickaxes line the edges of this room. The floor in the middle of the room has been torn up to reveal an ancient set of stone spiral stairs, obviously of much older construction than the surrounding basement, winding deep into the bedrock below. A foul stink, like that of rotten meat, wafts up on a cold breeze from the darkness.
Zelani coughed slightly into the back of hand as the stench reached her. "The rest of the floor is likely more sensible...though there is, unfortunately, a fair chance that what we are looking for to deal with this is down there..." Zelani said with a tight voice, sighing as she looked around near the staircase...
In fairness, Rixa's in a location that, in its entirety, basically goes "Smite me!" to Paladins. XD Wanting to thoroughly deal with places like this is probably in her job description.
You don't see much else near the staircase itself, although it does appear that magic had once been worked on the area. Going by the entirely unnatural shaping of the stone, it seems the stairway had once been closed by a stoneworking spell, only to be reopened later - quite possibly in the recent past. It wasn't clear how recent it was, but someone had definitely wanted to get down there.
Can I use Smite against the entire house? That would be quite the attack, I feel. Still, she's turning out to be quite the warlike Shelynite. I wonder if she'll end up writing the Golarion version of The Art of War? "I will follow your lead, but you know where my heart lies." Rixa gazes into the darkness, her fiery halo spinning and throwing off drifting embers into the cursed air.
Shalluk shook his head. "I understand your wish to clear this place of its evil, but I do not feel that rushing is wise. There is clearly something other than the Ghoul here, a spirit or specter. I fear not dealing with the remnant will be a poor idea," Shalluk paused, considering. "And leaving servitors behind us to cut off our escape if we need to withdraw may be unwise."
Zelani nodded as she listened to the others. She backed up from the staircase towards the farther door as she covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve as she tried to resist gagging. "This whole house has evil to deal with. I'd like to check these room first, prevent any gruesome surprises from...this house coming up behind us..." Zelani said uneasily, motioning to the doors near her. Glancing back towards the staircase as she listened at the door for a moment before she tried to open it...
Two wine racks line the walls here, their shelves empty and dusty. Mounds of broken glass bottles clutter the floor. There are no other doors in this room.
It looked like someone had tried to drown their sorrows here. Shalluk glanced around, looking for anything in the wreckage, before heading for the nearby unopened Western door.
Perception + Sense Life, Magic, Density and Detect Undead:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Shalluk didn't note anything of interest in the chamber.
Through the west door, once a pantry, this room has become a filthy, reeking lair of what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of rats. Swaths of fur cling to everything, and mounds of rat droppings cover the floor. However, the rats themselves are absent except for a few that squeak and hide as you enter, and nothing moves to attack you. It seems to be the home of the rodents you already dispersed, and looking around, anything left here was long gone. You've explored the entirety of this floor - the remaining paths are the floors above and the stairs heading down.
