Hearing, but not yet seeing, his approaching foe, Gregor grabs a strange bottle of some alcoholic beverage. He deftly stuffs a rag in it and lights it, preparing to toss it at his foes once they reach his sight.
"How about a drink for the rodents?"
[ooc]reflex DC 14 for half damage on the splash
Dr. Knuckles will hunch and hunker down so he's at a level to 'receive' his first patient.
"All right, I know you're upset but if you line up I can have you feeling right as rain."
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As Gregor readies to throw a bomb at the Ratlings, Aineyr begins to sing providing inspiration to everyone in the group.
Only Dr. McKnuckles can see that about 20 feet into the cave is a bend, and around that bend comes a roiling mass of fur and teeth followed by two ratlings. The swarms reach the mouth of the cave and step into the light with ratlings a few steps behind. Daniel causing one of the ratlings to hesitate for a second . Gregor heaves the explosive concoction at the ratlings
doing 4 damage to each of them.
Daniel, upon seeing the two ratlings, snorts and stomps his hooves menacingly to one of them. Wil, upon seeing the two swarms, guides Daniel until he is 5 ft away from them while pulling out an acid flask from the saddle.
"I see two rat swarms and two of those ratling thingies I think!" he shouts as he tosses the acid flask.
Daniel, seeing his success, decides to put a hoof up to his eye imitating wiping away a tear, further demoralizing that ratling.
Wil laughs as the ratling's shoulders slump again before readying his guisarme to trip anyone that triggers an AoO. "Atta boy Daniel," he says with a chuckle, "that rat thingy IS a big crybaby!"
As the ball of mice vomits out of the cave Wil's flask collides with the mass hitting all of them . The mass briefly forms into a middle finger shape as it continues tumbling out of the cave.
The same ratling that hesitated now shits a little, as he continues moving forward .
@Aineyr - Gregor did the identify a while ago, but never beat the DC enough to know weaknesses. The roll is Knowledge (Arcana).
@Gregor - That's right, I forgot. From a distance stand point, the rat swarm is a bit too far ahead of the ratlings, but you will hit both the ratlings
"Crap! Be careful! If one of them bites you, you'll turn yourself into one of them! Be sure to hit him with a cat or a puss... never mind..."
Aineyr takes his bow and shots the creature...
... striking and impaling its/his small furry balls, like a meat on a stick with the 'meat' exactly the same type we all imagine it is made of.
As Aineyr's arrow pierces Ratling 1's testicle you hear his squeak quickly increase several octaves reaching a sound that just happens to be the structural resonance frequency of his skull causing it to explode.
Watching the flaming ratling get shot in its bitty parts, Gregor smiles. Looking ahead to the rats swarms charging at them, he pulls a weathered sable fedora from his pack. Placing it on his heads, he grimly says, "Rats, I hate rats", then casts another one of his bombs at the approaching rat swarms.
The good doctor rolls his shoulders and then reaches out with one hand, snagging the ratling with little effort. He holds the ratling in a strong, yet almost cradling grip.
"Don' worry, little fella. I got a treatment that'll fix all your problems!" he declares, managing to wrangle the struggling ratling with little effort.
"Eep?" the ratling manages to get out before the Dr. begins his treatment...
Gregor's bomb explodes in the center of the giant rat ball immediately turning half of it to a tumbling ball of giblets...
while taking out a fair emount of the other half of the rat ball with it. The remainder of the ball continues on to furiously nibble on Gregor's toes as well as...
Dr. McKnuckles sausage-fingers.
+ DC 12 Fort Save against Disease
+ DC 12 Fort Save against Disease
The Ratling then proceeds to charge the most scrumptious target available running near enough to Wil for him to swing but completely avoiding the trip attempt in an acrobatic tumble that ends with the Ratling flipping off Wil with his tiny, eerily human hand...
but proceeding to miss Dr. McKnuckles entirely and biting his tongue before being wrapped up in a giant bear hug by the "primary care physician."
If there is a way, Will will move around the swarm and attack the last ratling. Otherwise, he'll just go through the rat swarm.
He drops the guisarme and pulls a sansetsukon as Daniel moves.
Wil sweeps the ratling's legs out from under him followed by a swift kick to the head. If still conscious, Daniel bite it to try and finish it off.
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Gregor dances, flails, and shakes, trying to knock the rats off him. Realizing he is still carrying the hoe he picked up back at the farm, he smiles and swings. "Time to do a little trimming, me thinks." He swings the hoe up and down, trying to crush as many of the rodents as possible.
Wil's swing connects with the ratling's head making a loud popping noise splattering Dr. McKnuckles in the face with brain matter. Daniel leans in to bite the ear, and finds his mouth empty, mostly because the ear is on the ground.
Gregor fails to connect with even a single rat in the swarm crawling all over him and Dr. McKnuckles.
The vial impacts in the center of the rat ball, acid spraying everywhere dissolving the remaining rats and injuring Daniel, Wil, Fisty, and Gregor slightly. There is a giant mound of slop that once was rats and ratling at Fisty's feet. A man comes out of the cave with a push broom and an Oscar Mayer uniform on. He starts to sweep up the remains, then pauses and looks at Fisty, "I'll be needin' all the parts sir, sorry about this!" and begins sweeping the brain matter off of Fisty's face. After he disappears back into the cave with all the slop you all hear
immediately followed by what kind of sounds kind of like a shotgun blast in the sky. A second later you're all pelted with 1200 gold pieces to split up among the five of you while a glowing +240xp floats in front of your face for a second.
The man with the Oscar Mayer uniform on was quite thorough except for a couple of ears oddly enough. The rest of the forest floor is pristine. You notice is it beginning to get a little darker as the sun starts to set.
Wil poses with one fist pumped in the air as Daniel lifts a hoof in similar fashion while winking at the camera as the music plays.
Fisty stands up straight and poses, making a peace sign by the side of his head. It does not look anything serious like he had been otherwise.
"Victory!"
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A frothy mug of ale appears in Gregor's hand and he chugs it down in one healthy gulp. "HAZAAAA!" He casually scoops up a handful of coins, knowing it to be precisely his share of the 1200 gp .
Looking to the others, he reaches into his pouch and pulls something small out. Opening his hand he reveals a burning stone in his palm, though his skin does not burn. He tosses it into the air above his shoulder, at which point it starts orbiting his shaggy head. "Shall we head in?"
Wil and Daniel follow after picking up his loot.
"So... I guess I'll have to find patients later." the doctor replies, wiping his hands on the front of his blood-spattered coat. "Should we look in the cave?"
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Gregor looks to his allies, smiles, "Once more into the darkness..." and he descends into the caves, seeking the source of the vile ratlings.
Heading into the darkness of the cave you find that it is not very large. Only about 50 feet in do you find a small cavern.
Wil peers expectantly into the cave.
Wil manages to notice in a tiny alcove on the side of the cavern there is some sticks and brush sticking out. He also notices some soft rustling sounds coming from the alcove, but otherwise the cave is empty short of tracks, refuse, and rat hair.
"Careful," says Wil pointing towards the alcove. "I think I hear something coming from there.
Wil readies his guisarme as he urges Daniel forward to investigate.
Daniel heads towards the alcove carefully and finds two creatures with tiny baby human hands and giant baby human heads as adorable as can be...with hideous rat-like bodies.
Wil fast dismounts...
Wil takes a move action to dismount off Daniel and approach the ratling babies.
"Awwww, how cute," he squeals as he reaches to pick one up.
+4 for handle animal (12) or +1 for wild empathy (9)
It coos and poops on your hand
"Hey... Baby ratlings." McKnuckles observes. "we could drop them off at the orphanage/animal shelter in town. You know, the one behind the shady chinese/mexican food place?"
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The baby ratling tries to suckle Wil's finger. Wil, you notice that it has tiny adorable buck teeth, and mid-suckle attempt it bites your finger hard.
"That's so cute," Wil exclaims as he wipes the poo onto the other ratling baby. "This one likes me."
Turning to Xav, Wil asks, "Can I keep him? Please Xav, can I keep him? I'll take good care of him and hug him and feed him and love him."
Wil hugs the little bugger.
Gregor shrugs, "What ye do with the babes is yer own decision, but the adventurer's life ain't no place for children. So, I'd suggest ye either retire, or find some lovely lass to raise them for ye." Gregor takes one last scan of the cave before preparing to depart.
|
"You can keep him...away from me! Ugliest grubs I've ever seen...and I once ate a cicada chrysalis because it was dark and I thought it was a nut!"
Xavante ponders the strange ways of anthropoids for a moment.
"Maybe the local Sewer-Worker's Guild takes foundlings?"
"You're right," Wil says with a sad face.
He casts create water and washes off the two ratlings before placing them in Daniels saddle bag.
"Let's head back and see if we can them a nice home."
Wil scans the cave again before mounting Daniel to leave.
All of you are quite certain there's nothing of importance in the cavern. You head out and reach the mouth of the cave and find that night has fallen. You're tired and hungry, and it's quite dark, but it's possible you could navigate your way through the woods back towards the town with enough light sources. Alternatively, you can spend the night in the cave.
Wil casts light on his guisarme and says, "I would prefer not to spend a night here if possible. I'm sure we can find our way back no problem. Especially if you all help me out.
You do indeed make it back to town without issue. There isn't anyone out and about. There's a few candles lit in an occasional home, but everythings pretty shut up for the night.