The Call of Lon-Dia

OOC: is it possible for me to get past the rats to on of the ladders? Would I have to role from something?

Stone disengages with the rats and runs in the space between them, past where Jacob was and to the ladder that Natasha and Jacob climbed up. If he still has enough movement he will climb up the ladder.

You all make it to the upper pier and you notice the rats aren’t following. You escaped. 

Everyone let me know what you want to do and at the same time I need a Constitution saving throw from each of you. 

Constitution Save: 15

(Natasha quickly walks over to where Donnar is tied up, puts the heel of her foot right in his crown jewels, and starts questioning him.)

"A bunch of those rats just bit and scratched me, so I'm NOT in a good mood. I'm only going to ask this once: How do we stop those things down there from multiplying?!"

(She applies a little more pressure with her heel, not enough to hurt him, but more to intimidate.)

Intimidation Roll: 22

Con. Save: 12

Penelope will check on her rats.

Stone looks to his companions,

"Is everybody ok? I can perform some rudimentary healing if anybody is having trouble holding themselves together or afraid that they might pass out due to their injuries."

Con = 13

"I could use some help, if you don't mind. All those little shits had such sharp teeth, it's as if my armor was only decorative..."

Con: 18

OOC: Before I get to Natasha and Donnar’s conversation, Stone can do his healing.

Stone lays his hand on Jacob's shoulder and transfers 5 HP from his excess HP pool into Jacob.

Jacob groans a bit as the wounds patch up and his old frame creaks,

“Much obliged, friend. I think I’ll need to invest in some higher quality armor. What’s the word from Donnar? We’ll have to incinerate the entire dock to clear that hoard out at this pace.”

Penelope: You check over your Swarm of Rats and notice that it’s a little smaller than before. It’s in good shape for just being in such a vicious fight, but if it loses some more rats it won’t be as powerful. (OOC: The Swarm now has 17/24 HP, once it reaches 12, its attack will only be 1d6)

Natasha: Donnar is not overly intimidated by your foot placement, but he does perk up at the mention of the word “multiplying.”

His face suddenly looks worried. ”Did you just say you were bit by rats that multiply?” His flaky, scatter brained persona is replaced with a deadly serious tone. “That’s not good. Were any of the others bit?”

”I’m afraid you may have met...Susan.”

"Tell me about Susan, Donnar. How can she do that?"

Natasha: Donnar’s face twists in disgust. “That thing Creel calls Susan is an unnatural abomination against Chittr’k’k! It’s a Doppelrat and it’s the result of a clone spell gone awry. It comes and goes as it pleases and Creel is always feeding it, so it comes more than it goes. When agitated it quadruples itself, and then the clones quadruples themselves.” He looks at the bites that are visible on your skin. “But I guess you already know that part.”

”It may seem like Susan is unbeatable, but she does have limits. She can only quadruple herself four times before the exertion is too much. There can only be a maximum of twenty of her at a time and the clones only live for one minute. Once she is finished cloning herself, she can’t clone again for ten minutes.”

Donnar looks at you pleadingly. “Please kill this horrible perversion. If you do that you can keep the Staff your Dragonborn friend possesses. Cleansing the world of this monstrosity would be a far greater way to praise Chittr’k’k than any staff.” 

He looks again at the bites on your skin, opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it and says nothing.

Stone notices that Donnar was about to say more. He approaches Donnar in a threatening manner.

"What else were you gonna say, Donnar? Something about our bites? Talk quickly."

Stone's intimidation = 12

"Oh."

(Natasha's face lights up with understanding.)

"They only live for 1 minute? So, it's been longer than that now. If we go back down there they'll be dead. Hmm. How many times did they multiply, guys? If we go back down there we may be able to take 'Susan' out in a weakened state."

(Natasha rushes back to the ladder, goes down part of the way to scout what the situation is now.)

Perception: 15

Stone: Donnar is unfazed by your aggressive tone, but he sees the bites on you and you see a look of pity cross his face. “Anyone who is bit by a Doppelrat has the chance of contracting Doppeling Disease. It’s a hideous condition where every time the diseased creature sleeps, it grows and sloughs off a stillborn clone. The process incapacitates the victim for one hour and permanently weakens the creature. Eventually the poor victim withers away and dies.”

“Unfortunately, the only way to know if you have doppeling disease is to go to sleep and hope you don’t wake up next to a dead half baked version of yourself. Some people recover from it naturally, but others need to visit a cleric to have themselves treated.”

Natasha: You go down the ladder halfway and shine your torch out over the lower pier.  You see random rats scurry away from the bright light, except for one that is a little larger than the rest. This very familiar looking rat gets up on its hind legs and hisses at the brightness, but it’s all alone.

Stone swears under his breath as he turns back to the ladder.

"That doppelling miscreant must be put down before she causes more harm. Let's kill her."

Stone climbs down the ladder after Natasha and engages the large rat.

Stone's Initiative: 13

Ok, everyone else let me know what you’re doing and if you’re going back down to fight, give me an initiative roll.

Natasha's Initiative: 10