Duty Session 103: Obligatory Rat Cellar

    Rat. Rat never changes.

    Wherever there are cities to host rat infestations and adventurers to clear them out, there rat infestations will be. And so it is true in Breg Epona as it is anywhere else. The Hunter's Guild posting directs the adventurers to a textile merchant's shop, where a cleanly-dressed, elderly gnome merchant entreats the adventurers, "Please! The rats are destroying my stock! If you clear them out, maybe I can at least salvage something to sell to the crowd that came for the Peko races..." he hasn't got much else to say. A catgirl shop attendent looks on with concern and Sad Kitty Eyes. After all, if the shop goes under she loses her job too!

    Mizuki is a bit awkward interacting with the NPCs. She's not blithely treating them like, well, NPCs anymore, but she's also not sure just how much of people they really are. As the others arrive she's just nodding and giving general reassurances like "We'll take care of it." although as more adventurers show up she finds some more energy, "That's right! We'll take care of your rat problem, don't nyou two worry!"

    Clop. clop. clop. Goes the hoofs on the stone ground. Sway, sway, sway goes the imp like tail, and soon enough, Katherine Tanzer shows up to come help with the little quest.

Though when she hears about rats, she wrinkles her nose a little and goes to rest a hand on her hip listening to the poor Lander's woes. Once Mizuki declares she will help, the imp gives a polite little nod, before giving the poor Lander a proper curtsey, "We shall indeed assist on your request, my dear fellow. This little infestation with be done with in an instant." She gives a snap of her fingers, with a dark flash, before her imp like tail flicks.

    Her eyes then look over to Mizuki, as she goes to rest her chin on the tops of her fingers, while her other hand supports her elbow. She gives woman a once over. Looking her from her feet, all the way up to her eyes. A soft smile forms on those lips of hers, before she lowers her hand and then motions to the other woman, "I take it you will be in charge of our little... adventure, miss..?" She raises her brow, "What should I call you?"

"Did you just say 'nyou?'"

Prophylaxis, ordinary country doctor extraordinaire, arches a lavender brow at the would-be leader of the ratcatching brigade. "I'm beginning to worry, Mizuki-- you might have come down with a serious case of catulus. Very dangerous. You might injure yourself chasing a ball of yarn...!"

It's hard to be too serious about this whole 'rats in the cellar' business. Everyone knows that cellar rats are like, the first adventure that anyone gets sent to take care of. Either that or goblins in the tunnels outside of town, but rats tend to be a little less of a threat than gobs of any stripe.

But then, there's someone else here as well. An imp of some kind, it seems...! "I'd hazard that it'd be good if she was. Otherwise I'm /very/ misinformed." Prophylaxis offers her a little bit of a shrug, as if to say 'well, it is what it is.' Or maybe more precisely, 'aw, rats.'

    Merek of course would assist, because he needs to gather a few more of the cards for his project in building his place. The man wears the usual he often does, from the belted attire which he wears to the hood which is about his features. There's a beltcape along the waist, and in a hand he wields a sword. To anyone else it looks like a dark blade, a bit rusted, while mist that keeps sunlight from getting around it shifts about. There's a red gem which glows along the hilt.

    Mizuki gives Merek a brief nod in greeting and rolls her eyes at Prophy. "It's an act, I'm trying to get the Landers to see me as cute and lovable rather than a scary were fang." She turns to Katherine. "Well, I guess someone has to be, but it's not like this is the ALF. I'm not your sergeant." She extends a hand to shake. "I'm Mizuki, ninja, of the Odysseia Knights!" To emphasize that, with her other hand she equips a ninja outfit, a midnight purple gi with a bright red scarf.

    The party heads down the stairs... into darkness.

    Mizuki looks around like this isn't expected. "Huh. Usually at this point there's webs and spiders everywhere, or moss and rot has grown on the supplies, or rats come out from behind the crates..." she pushes a crate away from the wall. "Hngh! ...Nope. Maybe there's just nothing in this room...?" As a cat were fang she doesn't even notice the dark at first...

    Merek looks between the party members, most of which he's met before, and nods a bit. "We will do what we can," notes the man. He then lifts up a hand to cast one of the simplest fire spells which he knows. The spell takes shape while he speaks, "Lumen." That lightens up the place around him a bit, adding to any light that the party adds along.

    The imp looks at the hand offered and goes to give it a very gentle shake. The imps hands were very soft, not even an ounce of hard work could be found on them. "Charmed, miss Mizuki of the Odysseia Knights. I am Lady Magus Katherine Tanzer of the Outcasts. 'Tis a pleasure to work with such a fine woman as yourself."

Katherine gives a polite nod to Prophylaxis, then gives Merek's sword a little look over. "Nice sword. Looks about the right /length/ for you as well." There was dark, seductive smile there, before she moves along with the rest of the party.

    Once they get down in the cellar, she easily walks down the steps even with those hooves of hers. Katherine peers around in the darkness, as her lavender eyes glow easily enough in the dark.

Then with a hmph she says gently, "No wonder the fool has a rat problem." Then claps her hands together to generate a flame between her palms. She uses her finger nails to pull it apart, before flinging some of the fire for the torches along the wall. "Much better! Though what a dreary place."

"Do you mean 'Mewzuki, ninjnya?'" Prophylaxis says with an expression that can *only* be described as 'catface.' "We're going to need to get you a bell or something if you're going to play up the cute factor. Everyone knows a cat with a bell around its neck is ten times more adorable than one without!"

He laughs just a little bit. It sounds vaguely like someone going 'fufufufu,' because he is *exactly* the kind of person to laugh like that when he's being cheeky.

Oh. But it's dark in this cellar, isn't it? Prophylaxis takes a moment to think-- and then snaps his fingers. The sound resonates through the cool, stale air as a spark leaps from his fingertips... And promptly sets the air *around* him alight. "Indeed! No rat-infested cellar would be complete if it didn't smell at least a little bit of mildew and damp socks."

    Mizuki just has this sort of... blank look as Katherine introduces herself. Perhaps she's just not used to such formal greetings... although after a moment there's a flash of recognition, "I remember you, you came by the Scales's castle awhile ago!"

    Mewzuki? Ninjnya? "Too much." The suggestion of a bell gets a groan. "Ugggh, I'm a /ninja/, I need to move /silently/! Plus a bell means a collar, and I'm not a /pet/."

    Once Katherine starts lighting torches, Mizuki joins in, breathing little puffs of flame. Her player may not have any attraction to pyromancy over other powers, but she enjoys this avatar's natural talents!

    The way forward lit, the party moves forward into a hall... which is actually pretty short, partially collapsed, and terminates in a runed door.

    Mizuki is surprised again. "This is new too... before it was a long, trap-filled hallway, or little rats or spiders or something... Maybe it's different in Breg Epona?"

    The runes are obviously magical, and Mizuki places a hand against one, turning it on and off. "Hmm." She examines the runes for some indication of a pattern in hopes she won't have to brute force every combination...

    Merek looks then to Katherine, and blinks a bit at the introduction. The words don't seem to have as much an affect on him as a lot of people would. He would nod a bit, "Merek," he notes, while he gives the woman a look in thought, then it's back to what he was doing. Magic Knight, which means the man knows about the general cryptography, and he begins to decipher, "Ah, this should be that," he maneuvers a few of the pieces. Then a look to Prophylaxis, "You are doing well?" he asks, then back to Mizuki, "An easier mission, all the same a nice forward upon quest awards along with the Hunter's Guild." A look back to Katherine, "I'm no one of note," he admits. The man looks to the weapon, "I took it up on behalf of the King that owned it."

"Suit yourself! I was also going to suggest a set of cute paw gloves but maybe that's a bit too much too? Hmm, striking a balance between maintaining your dignity and humanity, and coming across as a harmless, helpful cat... It's rougher than I imagined! But know that I remain ever in support of your... purrsuit." Prophylaxis laughs despite himself, or maybe because he's just that kind of guy-- the kind for whom terrible puns just come as naturally as breathing...!

"More or less," Prophylaxis says to Merek as he remains lit up like a Christmas Tree bonfire on New Years' eve. "It's been pretty quiet since the bandit camp, honestly. But then again, that wasn't too long ago, was it? Ah--"

There... are weird runes on this here door. Prophylaxis squints at the bizarre script-- though he's not quite sure how much help it'll be. It's not like he knows how to read this stuff; he's a doctor, not a cryptologist--

Oh. Oh wait.

"These aren't runes at all!" Prophylaxis says with a huff. "This is just *really* bad handwriting!"

And as a doctor, he is *very* familiar with poor penmanship.

    Katherine laughs softly t Prophylaxis statement about cellars. "You think they would try to clean it up, but alas. Some dogs can not be taught new tricks." She says walking on with her little hip sway that she does.

Her eyes watch Mizuki light up her side and gives a gentle nod to her early statement, "Indeed. You folks talking that tower do so much good for those us who dare not even try. The Tower is, sadly not a place my talents would be any use at." She then looks over to Merek, "You don't say. How noble of you to hold it for a king."

Once they arrive at the problem, Katherine taps her claw gently against her lips as she studies the door and runes. Then with some focus, she extends out her hands to her side and attempts to use a bit of magic to entice the way to behave itself for them. Which seems to keep her focus as she does this.

    Mizuki grunts unhappily at the suggestion of paw gloves. "Nnngh." When he observes the difficulty of her position, she nods. "Now you're getting it." She smiles at the purrsuit wordplay. "That was at about the right level."

    Katherine praises the Scale Emblem Alliance. She scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. "Aww, thanks. It'd be nice if we really do find a way out for everyone... well, for those who want to leave, anyway..."

    The pulse of magic lights up some of the runes, making the pattern clearer to the others, who are able to quickly complete the sequence and open the door!

    Mizuki and Prophy are probably the first to hear the difference in rat sounds up ahead, thanks to those ears. Mizuki sighs. "At least this challenge is familiar. Racist rats. Forcing a path through them has worked every time, although blinding them so they can't tell eachother apart IS pretty funny if you can manage it..."

    Once they enter the room where the white-furred rats and the black-furred rats are tearing eachothers' throats out, she simply gestures at them. See? Racist rats. Then she draws her daggers and starts cutting a path through the room with blade and fire!

    Merek looks to those rats, before he would've assisted in healing the party. He might even try diplomacy. Instead, he lifts up the Shadow Eclipse, with dark mist beginning to shift from it, and charges forward with a little shout while he swings the blade into the rats, red shimmers flying around while he takes a moment to sweep into the creatures.
    The sword seems to be glowing with that red gem while it is used. He's not wading through them to get to the next place, he's taking all of them, and taking all the nice experience which is offered to him. When all of the team makes their way in their own way, he would nod a bit, looking to Katherine while he thinks about it, "Alright. I didn't mention at least one thing, I used to work for CC."

    Katherine smiles as the pathway opens, but then she frowns at all the blood, guts, and rat fighting. She shudders a little at the sight of them. "Augh! Nasty little creatures."

Then with a sweep of her hand, she forces a path clear using her dark magic to act like a barrier as she goes walking across the room. Ignoring the sound of 'squish' under her hooves as she does. "I do loath that after that cursed changed the world, these wings no longer function. Be so nice about now."

Then another squish and she just shudders again. "Nasty things..." She murmurs. Her attention though does go to Mizuki. Her eyes narrow slightly, but then she smiles gently as she says, "I am sure you will, but let us just keep making haste, yes?"

The Imp's attention turns to Merek, before she tilts her head, "CC? Is that some time of... shop perhaps? Oh! It was like a little cafe I bet! Sounds like it at least."

"Ah, but these are rats, not dogs. Everyone knows that rats are much less intelligent-- so you probably couldn't teach them much of anything unless you tried *really* hard at it!" Prophylaxis passes through the door and smirks the kind of smirk that indicates that he definitely caught the figure of speech, and is just having a laugh about it, given the circumstances.

But then...

There is... a war. A rat war. "Racist rats? Seriously?" The doctor breathes a long sigh. "I suppose it's too much to think we could just set them all on fire and let Rat God sort it out?"

Well. Whatever. That is, mercifully, what darkness-spells are for. Of course, these rats have rather sizable ears too. What are the chances that they'd be able to detect the adventurers' presence, even through such stealthy magic...?

Rather slim as it turns out; they're too busy murdering each other to pick up on the existence of a threat lurking right underneath their collective noses...!

    Merek used to work for CC? "Ah, right... you do IT or programming, right? I remember seeing you and Zorin on the first day trying to gather up techies to see if we could think our way out from the inside!" Then she looks awkward. "Ah, sorry I didn't help, but I guess it didn't get anywhere..." faced with that memory, it's a little hard to admit to Merek's face that she decided running off with Kite and Gwen would be more fun. Or maybe she's misremembered and confused him with someone else anyway?

    To Katherine, she exposits, "Cyber Connect. The company that MADE all this technology." Mizuki gestures vaguely at the world around them.

    Between slaughtering and blinding their foes, the party is able to press on through the tunnels. Mizuki has to go back for Merek and finds him killing all the rats. "They're just rats, they're not worth that much EXP..." Still, she'll wait for him before rejoining the group. "Well. Next of is either the armored rat, one of the cutest monsters in here, or--"

    Just then, the group turns a corner and right ahead of them is a room with the floor littered in half-eaten rat corpses, and... something moving in the shadows at the far end of the room. Something furry. "Oh no, not this thing again!"

    Two glowing red eyes appear in the darkness. The furry shape stands up. It's a rat the size of a /car/! It opens its blood-soaked mouth and screeches a war cry, then charges!

    "Kill it, kill it, kill it!" Mizuki urges the group, breathing as big of a plume of fire as she can and scorching the beast before she takes off running around the room, trying to stay ahead of the (now-singed) beast!

    Merek walks along with the party while he takes a moment to place his sword along his back. He can't seem to unequip that, while he draws a bow which he begins to use to fire on that rat with, maneuvering along while he dodges the creature. The man seems to be assisting in ranged while the party would move into the fight. He does know a little about teamwork.

"Cyber Connect is-- Yeah, them. They're the reason we're all even caught up in this mess," Prophylaxis says with a solid huff. "Not that their technology isn't amazing. The potential applications of full-dive VR is astounding, but if getting all these people stuck inside another world was part of the plan, then I've got a hell of a bone to pick with whoever had *that* bright idea!"

Venting is going to get them nowhere, alas. And with the rats only worth a pittance of XP each, /and/ an itchy fireball finger, Prophylaxis seems eager to move on to where the inevitable boss monster is surely waiting for them.

It's a rat. A very big rat. A rat about as big as a small car. Prophylaxis isn't sure whether to be impressed, or just not-disappointed. "Ah," he says with a wisp of nostalgia tinting his tone, "Of course. It's the big cheese."

Mizuki demands its death. Prophylaxis shrugs and points a finger at the enormous beast. Its large size just means he can't miss-- and that there's so much more to burn. "Cool your jets, catgirl. Primal instincts or no, these things take time."

Time... to line up just the right shot. Prophylaxis is patient, he bides his time, waiting until the beast jumps at him with its mouth wide open...

His eyes flash. A tiny little mote of flame leaps from his fingertip like an ember from a bonfire. It sails into the rat's gaping maw...

And then *explodes* violently the moment it passes into the creature's throat.

    Katherine looks over to Prophylaxis, "No silly, I do not speak of the rats." She laughs gently and flicks her hair a bit. "I meant our employer and others like him. They all have this nasty tendency to make the same mistakes, so, you can't teach a dog a new trick." If he isn't careful she may tap her claw gently against his nose.

As Mizuki explains, Katherine seems to continue to have this distant look on her face. Either she really didn't understand or she was the best roleplay in the acting department. "I fear I do not understand. It is the gods who created this world, not some-- contraption. But adventurers can be silly with their terms and things!"

    Then comes the dire rat and Katherine tsks softly. "Well, that is quite the rat problem." She then places her hands together, slowly creating a ball of fire, before she warps it, and then attempts to magical send it directly at the Dire Rat, which fizzle out midway. "Not the time magic." She hisses with clenched sharp teeth at her hands.

Then quickly has to move aside from possible claws of the Dire Rat, which skim far to closely even for her liking. "Damn beast! I'll make a rug out of you!"

    "No, this isn't even the boss! I think." Mizuki chimes in. She rolls her eyes at Katherine's roleplaying. "You're an adventurer too, y'know."

     Prophy explodes the rat's face, and Merek peppers it with arrows. It... doesn't go down immediately, but the party does a good enough job of kiting it around the room and blasting it that noone takes much damage before it finally goes down, easy enough for Prophy to keep them healed.

    So, what will it be next? Mizuki admits she doesn't know if anyone asks. She's seen a rival merchant breeding rats in cages, and a wererat who summons dire rats to turn them into tasty tasty rat meat, and she's heard of an adventurer keeping the rats as pets, but she's also heard that the boss of this dungeon keeps changing.

    So it is that when they step into a big circular room with... trash piles and a kobold, Mizuki just says "Yup, this is new."

"They are mine." chitters the Kobold. "You throw away. I find. You go! Ours now!" He hisses, then makes a sound that seems to call out to the rats, the little creatures poking their heads out of all the tiny spaces, turning their beady gazes onto the intruders.

    Mizuki holds up her hands in a 'stop' gesture. "Woah. Woah! I don't care, you can have it!"

    Merek looks to the kobold while he seems to think about it, he smiles. "Greetings," then he calls to bring a whole shield about the team, divine in nature while it begins to shimmer along. The man nods a bit while he will begin to assist in defense, "Alright, I am going to shield you all while we fight," then he begins tanking the creatures while he swings that blade about to strike it, drawing attention.

"Ughhhh, you could have told me that before I got all *dramatic* about it!" Prophylaxis whines but not /really./ He seems more disappointed at the missed opportunity than actually put off by the fact. "Oh well, what can you do? Maybe hitting it with enough firepower will make it spit out roasted rat as loot?"

It does not. They should all be thankful for it.

"That's not what I--" Katherine apparently completely misses his sarcasm!? And for his trouble, Prophylaxis almost gets a boop on the snoot... from someone who says something that makes him squint. Without a sound, he <<inspects>> this mysterious Katherine character. Just... Just to be *sure.*

He might be a little bit paranoid after that incident with the sandworm. But hopefully it's just... All in his head?

"Really into Roleplaying, huh...?" The Good Doctor sighs and passes out the occasional round of curatives between rounds of combat, but soon...

They come to...

...A kobold.

"Oh my God," Prophylaxis recoils at the masses of refuse and swarms of chittering rats. "It's... It's /awful./ How does a cellar get so bad that a *kobold* decides to move in and set up shop!?"

He has more fire spells for this kind of thing. Sure it might not be *fireball* but still!

    Katherine doesn't really respond to the 'really into roleplay' or even Mizuki pointing out that she is an adventurer as well. Instead she continues on and then when they arrive at the Kobold, she gives the monster a little raise of the eyebrow.

"Darling," This time her fires do not fizzle out as both her palms ignite fire. "Do you not realize you are /very/ outmatched and should just run with that tail between your legs."

She smiles a demonic smile, which is not helped by the low lighting, her onyx horns, and the flame catching the side of her features. "After all, things are about to get a little /hot/ for you." Then blasts out flames from her hands.

    The kobold and rats are set on a fight, and Katherine and Prophy are happy to oblige them! Merek's shield makes the rat swarms' damage barely noticeable, and Mizuki makes some hand seals covering herself in magical ice armor that freezes the rats that try to nibble her! Forced to step up his game, the kobold fights with thrown junk and traps, the party narrowly escaping the embarassment of being caught in traps made of junk. Eventually all that fire has pushed the kobold's HP bar into the red, and it flees, along with the remaining rats. "Your fault! Dirty Landers. Filthy Adventurers!" It disappears into a pile of garbage and doesn't re-emerge.

    Mizuki rezzes a stick and whacks the pile of garbage the kobold disappeared into, shouting, "I didn't even want to fight you over this stuff, you know!" but there's no sound from within -- it seems it covers the entrance to deeper tunnels. She sighs. "Maybe Breg Epona should hire him to... I dunno, if he could just keep the rats under control who cares what he does with junk?"

    She checks out the treasure chest full of loot. It's... a plant. "Hmmh." Not very useful to her, but maybe she knows someone who could use it?

    Merek looks to the kobold while it flees, then he finds a quest award which he takes up. "Well, this will be useful for alchemy," he notes, then he places that into a pack which he wears upon the hip for inventory. "It's a plant that's useful when it comes to animals," the man notes.

    Katherine checks over the plant they got as loot and decides it is good enough along with the coin and experience. She may have to investigate it further once she gets out of this rat cellar. Though she does take in what Merek says and hrms softly.

"Well," She looks at the group. "It was a pleasure doing this task with you all. Now, if you excuse me," She goes to stride by those toward her way to the exit. "I need to go pay my respects to the inn."

Then looks over her shoulder, "Or if anything else, find a place I can take me a lovely, nice shower." Then wiggles her fingers as she continues off. "Till then my fellows!"