Duty Session 631: Obligatory Rat Maze

Goldenblade is known to focus much of her efforts on helping newbies, as her own newbie period was wildly confusing, and she had needed a lot of help to get through, and she tries to help others as much as she can. Of course newbies lately aren't so much new as new to the 'big leagues' of what is considered the advanced player content. It's not really endgame, but it's as far as most of the current playerbase has gotten. That said, there is some content that is higher level than others, and she has selected probably the least difficult mission she can find that's still around when she invited some new players who had just come up to the big leagues. But There's a lull in the game play and not a lot of activity, and so she's waiting by herself in a shop, having put the word out through adventurers to meet her here. The shopkeeper seems pretty pleased to have her there, at least, but she's got some unusual level of influence with Landers that's not really important right now.

It has been several years of Adventurers delving into the underground of various cities across Yamato, seeking to eliminate the rat infestations that have caused so many shopkeepers trouble. After all that time, something finally seems to have changed. The shopkeeper's dialogue has changed from the older mission, explaining that while repairing their cellars, they found a passageway into a deeper part of the underground. Since then, rats have been finding their way up through the previously sealed passage.

FOr all the religious pretense and 'gone native' that Nargalia has taken up, she was still new to being someone who didn't mope around in a town. Her first 'real quest,' has the Devourer Fang oozing in that disgusting purple puss as she enters the passageway indicated by the Landers who given the quest out.

Daiyu was hardly a 'newbie' as far as Adventurers go... but not being one native to Yamato there are many quests and duties that she has not actually participated in. This turns out to be one of them, so when someone mentions that she's taking people to check over it the fox woman shows up to assist. Of course manners must be observed so the first thing she does is bow politely to Goldenblade and Nargalia. "Good day to you both... and hopefully a very bad day for the vermin."

Goldenblade winces as she sees Nargalia arrive. She's a bit horrifying, really, but the city guards haven't attacked, and she inspects as a player. Goldenblade checks twice to be sure, which is maybe not the most politically correct thing, but Goldenblade's never been great at that. "Ahhhhhh," she says unsurely as the Devourer Were Fang arrives. "Er, welcome?" Daiyu, she's met before, though, and she looks relieved when she arrives also. "Looks like we're it for today," she says, and returns Daiyu's bow.

The party is shown to a spiral staircase, and Goldenblade, at least, is carrying a torch causing light to flicker across the ground. Bones crunch underfoot as we follow along. The floor is littered with bones. Some appear to be small, as if they were from many rats having met their ends here. Others seem to be larger, as if the creatures were some monstrous variety. As it is quite unusual for animals or monsters to leave this many drops behind, something must have killed a great many things here.

At first, there seems to be no exit, but distant sounds and scents might catch the ears and noses of those who are more perceptive. Others, however, may be left searching through the piles of bones, looking for any sign of where the rodents may be coming from. How to find the source of these rat swarms is now the goal.

Each step of the nearly nude, disease ridden woman is wet and when she lift her foot, the sucking sounds of hair can be heard as her pussy foot prints tell any who follow behind where the 'monster' has come from. What maight be a smile can be seen on her torn lips and her rotten teeth stand out in a disgusting yellow in the puss dribbling mouth. "I can track the pests if need be. The scents of monster is always pungent and leaves their traces." Her voice sounds a little gurgliy as she nods her head deeper into the maze. "We are just hunting rats?"

Daiyu doesn't have a torch, she just generates some soft glow from the top of her parasol for additional illumination. Once they are down the stairs she pauses, vulpine ears swatching about like furry radar dishes. Foxes are a natural predator of rodents and while she would not typically lower herself to such a meager hunt times like this those instincts come in useful against a potentially more dangerous variety. "I can hear movement farther in. Claws, scraping, scurrying about." She is being careful not to sniff too strongly, in the proximity of the Devourer were fang.

Goldenblade says to Nargalia, "That's what they tell us. But quests have a way of being more complicated than advertised, sometimes, so it pays to be wary."She nods as Daiyu, and Nargalia though it's less obvious, let the beast take over subtly, Goldenblade can only sift through the debris uselessly.

The group, that is Daiyu and Nargalia, are able to find a trap door built into the bottom of the chamber, leading off into darkness below, and Goldenblade will follow after it's cleared off. There is no choice but to jump, but a bone thrown down into the dark reveals that it isn't a particularly long fall, and as the group drops down, they soon discover that the dungeon seems to have come to another abrupt end.

At least, it appears that way, at first. They find themselves in a cylindrical chamber with no obvious exits. However, there are a number of strange things about the room. There are unusual gaps in the stone here and there, with nearby indentations that look almost like keyholes. There is strange writing scrawled on the walls that look as if it may be some sort of language, likely explaining something about the room.

Most unusually, however, is a lute that looks pristine where it lies against the wall. It is almost as if it was left there. A rat peeks out from behind the instrument, squeaks at their sudden presence, and then runs into a hole in the wall, vanishing somewhere into the tunnels below. "I suppose that means we're on the right path," Goldenblade says.

Farther in and farther down it would seem. And after dropping into the next chamber Daiyu takes a look around and frowns. Though it's more of a thoughtful frown than a troubled one. "This is some manner of locking mechanism... that seems much too complex for the rodents to have set up themselves." Not that it stops her from inspecting the gaps and key-like openings. "Despite the physical representation this may be more magical in nature."

THe Devourer Fang looks about the room and in a sudden flash of feral insight, things just seem to line up ans her dimmed fire red eyes look around at things rather quickly. "This way." Comes the gurgle voice that dribbles puss to the ground as she make no explanation and just wanders deeper.

Goldenblade will help out, working the keyhole indentations with her toolkit, but she's not having much luck. Some demonstration she's demonstrating. Still, she will smile as Daiyu works out what to do where she couldn't. It's good to have backup, and Nargalia is able to puzzle out some of the mysterious script, giving us clues of which locks to open and which may be traps, leading the way deeper.

The tunnels continue to weave beneath the surface of the city. Sometimes, the group finds themselves coming to places where the path ends in rubble or empty corridors, forcing them to backtrack through the maze-like tunnels.

Eventually, they find themselves skirting the edge of a large chamber where a massive looking creature slumbers. It is hard to tell who makes the wrong sort of sound, but one ear twitches in their direction and red eyes snap open, a massive rat head turning to face them.

As the monster stands, it licks at a muzzle filled with pointy teeth. Foam has formed at the edge of the creature's mouth. It's danger rating is unusually high for a creature found in this level of dungeon, as if it has somehow been affected by some sort of buff. With a mad scramble of paws, the massive rat starts to charge towards the party.

Fighting it seems like a bad idea, but the tunnel is small enough the party may be able to block it off so that the creature can't reach them, for the time being, or at least hold it off long enough to escape.

So far, so good... until it isn't. Their progress into the maze of tunnels comes to a conflict with a rat-like monster that looks to be higher threat levels than should exist in this dungeon. "I do not think we can take this creature with only the three of us." Even as Daiyu says that she collapses her parasol and stows it away, only to draw and open her dual tessen fans. They are her main weapons, but it's not a direct attack this time she's brought them out for. Instead she uses them in several wide sweeping motions, whipping bursts of debris through the air at the monster to force it to stay back long enough for her allies to take action. Goldenblade is known for her construction skills so hopefully she can put that to use.

One advantage to *being* a monster was your spirit connection to the Earth below your feet. "Go!" Attuning with the minor spirits around her, Nargalia demands that the walls around them block the path of the rat, and massive spikes of Earth shoot up from the ground blocking the monster's path

Goldenblade nods at what Daiyu says about not being able to take this monster. "Maybe with a raid level group..." She looks relieved as Daiyu forces the monster back for the critical time it takes for Nargalia to raise Earth into a wall to block the narrow passage. She will offer only the occasional suggestion on how to make the wall sturdier and harder to breach, which will make it more effective at keeping the rat back.

That dealt with, the tunnels seem to get darker as the party descends further into the depths beneath the city. Though it seems to only be an effect of dark moss and mold growing on the nearby rocks and the close confines of the passageways. It is a small enough space that some larger Adventurers might have a rough time squeezing through. Goldenblade is a bit below average, size wise, but there are so many women who have /very small/ avatars that she often feels huge.

It is at one of these passageways that they have to climb over an area that is nearly collapsed, finding themselves in a room that has not seen the light of day for many years. Inside, everything is lit by an unusual green glow.

A glow that seems to be coming from some abnormally large rats. Someone, or something has changed these creatures, turning them from common pests into monsters. They radiate magical energy and seem to immediately notice the Adventurers trespassing into their domain. With a series of squeaks, they launch their attack.

With a quick few hand gestures and a snap of her fingers, from out of nothing the Devourer Fang lets loose a volley of disease ridden projectiles as chunks of flesh fall from her body and shoot at the whorde of incoming rats.

"Excellent utilization of the elements present in the environment," Daiyu compliments her companions, though it may be directed a bit more to encourage their lesser experienced member, whereas she knows Goldenblade can handle herself. "Let us continue before it finds a way to dig through."

Down they go, deeper, darker, danker. Under passages and over rubble. And then, who would of guessed it, more rats. But these rats are different, being larger, armed, and glowing.

"Something has enchanced these vermin." Unphased as they rally up and charge she steps forward, closing one fan and tucking it away to free up that hand. If only to extend on finger and trace some arcane script in the air with a claw-like nail. "But anything done, can be undone. Unwoven, unraveled, and be gone!" Her gloves glow faintly as she does so, drawing on power crafted into them to enact one of her hexes and dispell whatever enchantment was augementing the rodents.

Goldenblade frowns at the giant rats. A thrust with her sword achieves no affect, and she grumbles, looking for some way to help. "Elements in the environment," she grumbles sourly. Nargalia's magical attack, on the other hand, /is/ quite effective on the magic rats, and it becomes wildly effective after Daiyu does what she does. Goldenblade is unclear on what that was, other than 'magic'. It doesn't help Goldenblade, alas.

Through another set of tunnels, the way underground opens into what would now be a familiar, circular room that seems to always designate a boss encounter.

Before they even see the boss monster, some Adventurers would start to feel the static in the air. Their hair stands on end, floating upwards slightly away from them. Then, there is a crackle as an arc of lightning shoots across the room, illuminating the chamber.

All around them, there are broken bits of metal rods, which may have once acted as a prison. However, now they lie broken, and what stands there is a strange, glowing yellow rat that seems to be giving off high powered electrical current. It zips about the room, aggressively targeting them almost immediately, lashing out with powerful air elemental attacks.

There is one thing that can be said about Godhands and that was how speedy and jumpy they tended to be without the use of clunky armor. "SHti!" Is spouted as puss is spit out of her mouth and Nargalia jumps this way and that to avoid things and remain unscathed outside of her prior Flesh Bolts.

The final confrontation is going to be an interesting one. You think you have it bad, with static in the air making your hair stand on end? How do you think the woman with four large furry tails feels?

But Raiju will have met his match this day. Sure the lightning rat was fast, zipping and zooming around the chamber. Throwing off electricity as erratic as it was.

But every time he gets close to the Hulijing and tries to zap her, she is no longer there and it's only dark afterimages getting shocked. And rather than strike, the foxwoman taunts the creature to keep trying to chase and electrocute, only to elude once more.

Daiyu is playing a longer game, strategically luring the creature into expending it's energy and tiring itself out.

Goldenblade wouldn't know what a pokemon was if you showed her, and her kids were far too old for it when it came out. But the pikachu-ish monster never the less pursues the party, and it's electrical attacks are everywhere. Luckily, the party is everywhere /else/. Daiyu and Nargalia are fast, but Goldenblade is greased lightning, and the monster expends its power to no avail.

The fight is not easy, Raiju, the monster, seems to enchant the entire area with a damage over time effect, slowly eating away at the party's health while the creature's quick motions make it challenging to get a definitive hit in on it.

However, they are able to do enough damage that it doesn't manage to reach the next level of rage mechanic. The little lightning rat begins to slow, some of the energy sputtering out as its health bar drops.

Eventually, it slows enough that they are able to do significant damage, driving it back. Each hit seems to shrink the creature until it shrinks to little more than a strangely colored, mundane rat. It hisses at them and darts into a crack in the wall, leaving them with the strange remnants of those lightning rods as their reward.

Goldenblade looks up, wipes her brow. "Well, success. How did you like that?" she asks Nargalia.

"The spirits of the land favored us." The religious 'native' says while spitting a significant amount of puss onto tone of the corpses of a beast before is disappears into nothingness. "And the gods found it in their favor to allow us this victory over adversity." As she rolls a pox marked shoulder. One of the larger boils pops and small amounts of puss run down her arm and drips onto the floor.

"But that was what I needed..."

"Indeed. That was an interesting encounter." Daiyu is going to just stand on the other side of Goldenblade. No offense towards Nargalia. But she's already tired from the dungeon and doesn't really want to risk getting oozed on as well. "Such a peculiar creature though. I almost feel like I have seen something similar." She shrugs eventually. Not important in the end.