Duty Session 341: Obligatory Rat Maze

    Hifumi has gathered some people to help out his neighbors. Time to dig deeper into the rat problem. One of the neighboring shops has come to the Chef knowing he's an adventurer and that he can help out. The chef stands about outside his neighbors shop with Snapdragon resting on his shoulder and awaits bein gjoined by other adventurers.

Goldenblade is here to help, having heard the call go up for adventurers to aid in the rat menace. She's an experienced rat exterminator, and is also trying to complete all the quests in the region to raise her local rep. She has heard that raising rep is an important thing, though she could not say why. "Here I am," she says as she arrives. "Ready to burn some rats."

    Merek makes his way along with the party while he's back at the Yamato area for a while. The man takes the time to prepare his gear, while he nods a bit with following along.

"I'm gonna burn some rats, you bet!" Syx seems excited to get to really put what he's been training on to use. He's gonna puncn and kick rats until they're tiny little red smears all over the wall. And then he'll kick the smears!

"This tiem we're really going to get to the source of all this, maybe put a stop to it all together!"

    Hmm, a monster problem you say? One that requires someone who absolutely understands how monsters think and can handle them. Yes it is the perfect time to call in Setsuna. Setsuna probably wasn't really called in, more likely to be passing through and overheard the problem and invited himself. Here he was though, with his faithful body guard, the skeleton knight named Skull. Ready to exterimnate the problem....before Uta hires a new rat to be his superior.

Miho is here to help her friend Hifumi out. Well Miho considers him a friend given how often she heads to his place for food? She owed him one.

"Hey Hifumi heard you needed some help. I though I'd lend a hand before I head West. They need some help keeping people's gear glued together over there. Poor Gigan might go insane alone."

She notes before waiving to Golenblade.

"Hey and you bet that I am! By fire they will be purged."

She looks over to Syx for a moment.

"It be nice but big rats are like hydrogen in how commen they are."

Her tail flicks a bit and then she take note ot Setsuna.

"Hey."

Hifumi laughs "Well, if anything drops delicous anything let me know I'm always looking for more ingreedients." he says even as he hands out tasty rat bentos. He's always giving free lunches to people who go on quests with him. "Lets get on with it." he says with a smile heading down the stairs into the cellar after giving Miho a hug about the shoulders. He looks at the big crack in the wall "That isn't ominous or anything." he laughs and Snapdragon blows a little puff of fire.

    Setsuna would hat tip in Miho's direction, if Setsuna had a hat. He doesn't but he seems to have forgotten that as he still hat tips a non existant hat towards Miho, " Miho." It is the best greeting he can come up with for one who he usually pisses off. Turning to look at the skeleton and then closes his eyes and realizes something before he just sighs and tells his skeleton friend, " It is inevitable. " Turning back he follows the group down and sees the big crack in the wall, " That crack is so big, its like anything that fell into it would be erased from existence. It would take some serious toolsto seal that, like a screwdriver, that was super or something."

Goldenblade will take the bento from Hifumi, placing it in her inventory for later. She knows better than to declines Hifumi's excellent cooking, even if it's rat. "I wouldn't eat this from anyone else," she says. Eating rat, who would have guessed that'd be part of a heroic fantasy game? But here we are! She'll follow him into the breach, then!

SHe smiles to Miho and asks, "Someone needs help repairing their gear?" Setsuna draws a sympathetic smirk, but she knows his situation. Syx's enthusiasm gets a thumbs-up from Goldenblade. "That's right!"

Miho looks over to Hifumi for a moment "Look so long as we keep alert and don't get cocky we should be okay." She seem to be looking over to Miho for a moment to Setuna ashe seem to not be hostile to Setsuna today at least.

She pauses at the food she'll take it and eat it but she notes.

"I'm in the same boat, if this wasn't from you? I'd only even think about trying it if it was to keep alive. That said your some kind of a witch making this tate so good."

She digs in and seem to like it.

"A bit just a idea to have more smiths to keep the people over in the Land of Dragons in top shape."

"Nah my gear's good to go." Not that Syx is really WEARING much gear in the first place. His vest and pants maybe, but there's no shoes, no gloves, no helmet, and no weapons in sight.

Hifumi chuckles "Tasty was in the item description so it was worth a try." he says with a shrug "And back when I started working with it it kind of was for survival. Now it's for buffs. I never would have thought I'd be cooking real food for buffs instead of just game items but hey I'll take it."

    Heading through the crack and down the ancient spiral staircase Hifumi leads the way. The floor when they enter is full of bones "Setsuna... I think this one is for you." he says with a grin. Even as he sets Snapdragon to hunting through the bones to find where the rats are getting in.

Goldenblade peers at Miho, but says, "We haven't come close to solving all the problems over here, though. I'm trying to drum up help for Westelande, and there's a ton of stuff still going on. Plus the Tower, which I've been so busy I haven't gotten to a level boss in months. There's so much over here, I'm as busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

She hrmphs as her boots crunch bones, and she looks around for the way out, peering left and right through the gloom. "There's got to be an exit, they're coming from somewhere, right?" she grumbles, but she is not the best secret passage finder by a longshot.

    Merek looks about the place, then will nod a bit with taking the time to relax and look along the floor. "Well, I think I am able to see something, though I'm not really sure it's a lot to do with," he will note.

So the party heads out to hunt the source of all rats, yes yes. The pit of bone get her attention as she looks about she's trying to find he way out where is it? She makes a bit of a face as she attempt to find a way out. Things go badly she slips on some bones, with a cry she loses her footing and end sup flat on her back.

    "I needed bones." IT is obvious that the necromancer is totally distracted by the bones. Taking his skeleton with him, they will often stop, Setsuna will pick up a bone and size it against a bone in the skeleton. Sometimes Setsuna will swap out the bone, some time he will toss the bone away. He has completely forgot why he is here.

Does Syx really look like a tracker? He's the muscle, pure and simple. He knows it, and everyone else should know it too. He does his best to look around, but frankly he works better when there's an enemy with a health bar for him to hit, "Hey does anyone know what rats look like?" He pauses for a second to wait for folks to look at him strange, "Kidding! I know what a rat is.."

    Hifumi looks around as Snapdragon pokes it's head out of a pile of bones near Merek. Hifumi walks over "Find it?" he asks the dragon, before the bones below him give way dropping him through the trap door and then burrying him under a pile of old monster and animal bones. One foot sticking out twitching. It seems that snap dragon has opened it and Hifumi has paid the price... as seems to happen.

    The cylindrical room has what look like runes carved in the walls, small key holes... and a lute. Yah it's one of those dungeon traps where the game designer just through everything in thinking 'this will be awesome' and instead people spend six hours trying to fit a fish into their ear in an implosible series of actions before the Vogons come to read them poetry.

    Setsuna sighs as he looks around the room they have ended up in, "Ok it's just a puzzle. Simple enough. I have solved plenty of these before." With that he steps up to try and solve the puzzle and it occurs to him that strategy guides and similar things have ruined him solving his own puzzles long ago. Now he just can't think through it all without hitting a wall and not being able to see the piece he misses.

    Merek will assist with the writing while he takes the time to look at it. He does find a few things, although he doesn't look like he will be able to add a lot, "Well, I know that that likely means we will go that way probably."

Goldenblade looks around the room we find ourselves in, and hrms. The game designers indeed thought ... oddly. Rather than trying to put a fish into her ear, though, she will attempt to lockpick one of the tiny key holes. She is not successful. She should, perhaps, have put the fish in her ear first.

Well it could be worst, right She's back on her feet with only her pride damaged at this.

They then come to another puzzel and she just stares for a jmoment as she looka round wiat was she here before? She's not sure but she will attempt to find any sort of hidden locks and does seem ot have some lockpicks on her. She's a smith they are fairly easy to make. Though knowing just how to use them? Ha it doesn' go so well and she breaks them much to her dismay.

"This is just ... one of those days."

Syx spots the lute and, ignoring the rat that was near it, grabs it and starts busting out with his best version of Johnny B Goode. He's not even remotely helping the situation, though it's a surprisingly good rendition since it's on a lute.

    Hifumi tries to check on the lute, only to have Syx pick it up and start jamming out. This makes Hifumi step back, trip over Snapdragon, one hand goes out to catch his fall. His hand slaps a rune, his other hand bumps Miho causing her broken pick to twist in the lock causing a click, just as Syx hits the right note, causing a door to open just where Merek is pointing. Then Hifumi completes his fall by tripping Setsuna's knight, ending up smashed under the large undead. His foot twitches from under the armored figure.

    Once things get settled out the team heads down into the tunnel that was exosed until they find large catacomb full of rats. There are some giant claw marsk that say there may be some giant rat god of terribleness down here... or maybe there's a dragon or something.. but that wouldn't fit the rat theme really.

Goldenblade will attempt to sneak by the rats here, using her ninja-like skills, which she's trying to train up. This does not involve a brass band, though it would seem that a brass band might be quieter than her creeping across the way, and she's quickly swarmed. Luckily, she dashes out of the room pursued by a small swarm rather than fighting them in the room and attracting the whole room. So, she's only swarmed by, well, a swarm, and they bury her just outside the room. Too small to use a sword on, FIRE works like a champ, and setting herself on fire seems to get rid of the rats. But not before she's lost a chunk of HP. It is not her day, is it?

    Merek begins using the dark magic he knows to conceal him from the sight of the rats. Then he takes the time to sneak along with the party to the next area.

Though a comedy of errors the pary makes it she looks to be miffed but also happy about it.

"This is just one of thsoe dungeons right?"

Her tail is swishing as she goies on and they fin thir way into the new warren.

"What is this place..."

She stops her eye rings glowing a bit as she now takes a closer work at some of the scratches and will call out ot the party quietly that she's found a way to avoid the major paths the rats use and will direct them in which way to go.

Syx doesn't have any dark magic...But that doesn't stop him from trying again anyway, "Go forth, darkness!" He waves his hands at the wall, and nothing happens, "Come forth and do...Something!"

He sighs and bangs his head against the wall, "There's a shocking lack of rats in this rat dungeon."

    A calamitous accident helps them to move pass the puzzle that threatened to imprison them for all eternity. Setsuna seems to get through a lot of things like that now and days. Does the necromancer consider this is a sign of the problems with his life, nope it is just how things are. Eventually they reach the warren and stands there for a moment before he looks at Syx. " Sometimes you have to will it form the inside, less words more anime technique." With that said a dark aura made of shadows and possibly someones deeply repressed negative emotions emerge around Setsuna and the skeleton as they rush across to the other side of the room.

    Hifumi digs in his inventory and starts tossing bits of meat and vegies past the piles of debris. Walking along just distracting the hordes with food. Like he does with adventurers. He follows after and then slips into the small tunnel leading on. Crawling in places, his path lit by Snapdragon's flame breath.

    The party emerging into the green glowing room with the unusual rats full of magical radiance. "This looks less than good but hey Syx you've got rats to fight." he says with a bit of a chuckle.

Goldenblade has rats to fight, sure, but stabbing them doesn't actually inflict HP damage on them. She stabs them over and over and over, and is growing increasingly frustrated as they take no damage. "Sometimes I swear this game is broken," she grumbles.

This run is being quite memorable but it may be in the, this day went fubared. She's at least keeping decen spirits and sh pause at the rats looking at them. She stares she's done some enchanting workd bnefore with a lot of help maybe that can help. It goes badly she get a rat to the face and has to theow it off. Anotehr biutes her tail, no it's not going well for her today...

    Merek looks to the rats and considers that glow, while he begins to mix up the potion which he will then throw into the creatures while he weaves along with the party.

    Setsuna grins and looks at the unusally large rat, " Perfect." Looking at the otherss for a moment he says, " Anyone who is squeamish should aboslutely not watch this. " With that Setsuna grabs his skull knight and throws him at a large rat and then the knight blinks out of existence. There is a eerie calm for a moment before the skeleton burst from the rat, yes Setsuna blinked his skeleton into the rat. It worked better then Setsuna could have imagined.

Syx's plan is straight forward enough. This is what he's been waiting for all night, as he throws himself into the middle of the hostile rats. Burning with the flames of Ragnarok's fury, he unleashes strikes in every direction, aiming to maim and kill rats.

However he overestimated the number of them and how much aggro he would draw, and very soon is getting himself overwhelmed by rats, "Ack! Fuck!" He flails as he goes to the ground.

    Hifumi looks a the rats and the fighting going on, it doesn't really look like physical force is going to do the trick. However he has Snapdragon summoned. "Snapdragon! Flame 'em!" he points at the rats, then an especially enthusiastic hit from Syx sends a rat flying, bumping into the little flower drake, who coats Hifumi in a sticky fire breath. Hifumi runs around flailing and crying out, setting alight the rats that aren't being handled until he collapses low on HP, singed and blackened. Snapdragon landing looking sheepish as it's little petal tongue flicks out to lick a clean streak on the charred chef's cheek. "Anyone... says anything about how I cook rat... and I'll feed you to my Snakeroot." he says getting to his feet to stomp grumpily towards the exit.

    The team makes it down the tunnel until people's hair starts to float and little snaps and pops of static electricity fill the air. "This really can't be good." the chef announces as the lightning rat zaps across the room with a crackling cry of "Rai!"

    Merek looks to the rat, while he begins to bring up Earth to shield the people and fight with the creature with the grounding that it provides from electricity.

    Setsuna is definately feeling a bit cocky as he chases down the lightninng rat and what does he do. He decides to do the one thing that makes total sense he kicks the thing towards Syx, " SYX catch !"

If that lightning rat thinks it's fast, it's never seen Goldenblade's evasive technique, so fast it leaves patches of flame on the ground. She keeps pace with its every move, and seems even to be anticipating it a couple times. She hacks and slashes at it as they move, and it's no great warrior aside from that amazing speed. But speed is one competition that Goldenblade is not going to lose tonight.

Wehn Setsuna kicks the rat towards him, Syx turns and plants his feet. It's still a rat, after all. But Syx is fast, no matter how fast this rat thinks it is. You can't run with your feet off the ground.

Once the rat gets to him, Syx wraps his arms around it's waist, and then twists his own body, driving an arc backwards to give the rat a massive German suplex, with enough force to crack the stone below them.

miho knows this foe she's faced a Lightning Rat before, she already moving into action she has a darn goo idea of what to do. Her arms glow brightly as the tatoo on them both become visable even though her scales and clothing.

"I got this!"

She will move to shape the very metal bar and use them t ourn them on the rat itself as she get some of the rod back on line to draw fire from her friends.

"How many times do I have to teach you this lesson old rat!"

    Hifumi manages to start to call out to Snakeroot, the summon best able to help with this fight when Syx suplexes the rat, and true to form part of the celing colapses from the impact, dropping to leave the chef burried in a pile of debris, one foot twitching slightly as his earth elemental snake summon starts working to free him rather than fight the rat. Hopefuly once the rat boss is beaten someone will help poor little snakeroot in getting Hifumi out of yet another pile of rubble. The party however does have some loot and no one ended up respawning so all in all, successful mission.

    Setsuna is so happy to see the damn lightning rat is ddead and they seem to have a dead end. "Ok well that was fun, " With that Setsuna grabs his loot and heads on out back the way they came.

Miho sadly doesn't end up with any loot of note she gets some gold and that will have to do. she seem ready to ehad out and she looks to Hifumi for a moment. "So maybe after we get out we can get something else to eat I'm hungry after all that...Or I may go into a corner to curl up for a while I'm not sure which....I'll do."

    Hifumi does eventually get out of the pile of rubble. "Yah, I'll cook you something nice, as thanks. It's nice of you to help me out my neighbors... most people just see them as just another Lander or whatever but they're just people like you and me. So I need to make sure I help keep them safe." he says as snapdragon lands on his shoulder and snakeroot coils around his waist.