Seeing that the rats are already at the wall and occupied, Quillary will swoop down behind them and change back to half-elf form. "Excuse me," she says loudly. "Please desist in vandalizing our property."

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Jorin will pound back on the boards a couple times, trying to let whoever is on the other side know that he is there.  Is there anything else in the room that I could use to quickly reinforce the hole block?

Jorin tries putting a pot, then one of the kitchen cutting boards, over the spot where the noises are coming from. But nothing seems to fit.

(Not really. Since you know Quillary is outside, Jorin would reasonably expect that stopping the invasion from the outside is probably the best way to stop a hole from being created.)

Hildigrim gives the document a quick look before handing it back, realizes he's going to have to make some assumptions, and steps back, sweeping his hand outward as an invitation. "Please enter. You'll have to excuse my caution. We have had some dealings with unsavories today. I'm afraid your summoning is part of that. It seems that a gentlemen down the street by the name of Emmek is a sore loser. He attempted to purchase this establishment and is mad that we acquired it instead. Truthfully, we had no knowledge of him or his plans to open a similar establishment on this street. If we had, would we have still opened The Road's End?" He gives a little shrug. "It's hard to say. But now, here we are being threatened by wererats and visited by the health inspector in the middle of the night. Tell me, Sir Egon, if we were using illusions to hide an infestation, by what means would you dispel said illusions? Are you a wizard?" Hildi grins and produces his wand. "I happen to have a little skill in the area." He gives his wand a swish, and a short melody plays in the room. "I don't know any spells to create illusions, however. Perhaps you can teach me one?" Catching Franny out of the corner of his eye, the halfling tut-tuts. "Here I am prattling on, and I haven't even offered you a drink. Franny, will you please fetch Sir Egon something to whet his whistle?" Turning back to the inspector, Hildi gives a little bow. "I shall serve as your docent. This, as you can see, is the taproom."

Is there another an exit other than the front door where the inspector is that Jorin could run through to meet up with Quillary?  If so, he definitely does that, both blades drawn.

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Is there another an exit other than the front door where the inspector is that Jorin could run through to meet up with Quillary?  If so, he definitely does that, both blades drawn.

(Mingofaust posted the mansion floor plans on the campaign page, about a third of the way down.

I'll say the scratching is just north of the fireplace in the SE corner, by that wall separating the kitchen and the pantry. There are external doors for both the kitchen and the pantry.)

Jorin will exit through the south door of the kitchen and wheel around the corner, teeth bared and blades ready, "Who goes there!"

(I am not going to have combat intiative. This is improvised storytelling.
I will ask for ability checks, but that is to guide how you describe things turning out. You tell me what happened.

If you roll a "failure", you can still have things turn out well, but you should emphasize the crazy things your character had to struggle through.
So you get to decide if you want a check where you might get a huge perfect result, or with a smaller mod to increase the chance of wacky failure.)

During Hildi's talk, there is a flicker of recognition when Emmek's name was mentioned, but quickly covered up with "The identity of the complainer must remain anonymous."
The halfling guides Egon through the dining area, trying to make things as smooth as possible.
Pascal whips up some hors d'oeuvres, while monitoring the conversation.

(Hildi should roll Persuasion. Or Sleight of Hand, if he is hiding dirty forks, dusty objects, etc. during the inspection.
Someone should roll Pascal, for either Performance or Intimidation, depending on how aggressively he is cooking. I've been watching the Great British Baking Show.)

Jorin bursts out the south kitchen door. As he rounds the corner, he sees the 4 hooded halfling-sized figures crouched by the boards, stopping in the middle of their attempts to hack their way in. Two are looking south at Jorin, the other two north at the hissing flying cat converting to Quillary, with a cloud of something around her.

(You can still fight if you want, but you have to describe it. Probably less "Conan the Barbarian" and more like a slapstick comedy.
If you decide the wererats get away, they can still leave evidence behind, like a cloak or the bag of rats.
Decide if you want Persuasion, Intimidation, Athletics, or whatever fits. If you can make History work for this somehow, that will be impressive.)

Do we have dirty forks lying about? Would Lif allow that? Let's roll for that first: 10 Wow. OK, since the DM mentioned it and it's a middle-of-the-road roll, I'll go with he's been a bit lax or distracted. So, let's roll for sleight of hand: 19. That's a nice roll. Since Pascal is in here with me, I'll roll for him. Let's do performance: 10. Oof. OK ... here goes it.

Hildigrim leads the inspector through the taproom, pointing out the many improvements the carpenters have made. Spotting a few neglected items around the room, he uses distractions to pick up and pocket said items and makes a mental note to try to have a conversation with Lif later about making sure things are spick and span at the end of each day.

They walk toward the pantry, and Hildi pauses and points out something the other direction as Jorin dashes out the back door. Continuing through the pantry, they walk by the rolled up blanket that Hildigrim had left from his nap. As they enter the kitchen, they encounter Pascal, who is almost frantically mixing and rolling and pounding and swearing. Hildigrim hides his look of surprise and waves his fingers in front of his nose. "Mmm. Smell that delicious aroma. What are you whipping up, Pascal?"

Pascal launches into a detailed and slightly overwhelming list of ingredients, which includes a few items Waterdhavians would never think of using. In the end, his exuberance sparks interest, despite the lingering question of whether it's safe to eat it.

"We'll leave him to finish. That concludes our tour of the commercial floor. The two upper floors are our private living quarters and are only accessible from an exterior staircase. There is something else I'd like to show you, if you'll accompany me outside."

Since the bistro does not open yet, there wasn't concern about keeping the dining room clean. It has been used by your party, and by the construction crew finishing up. But given that Egon seems to be nit-picking, no need to give him any excuse to claim the bistro will be less than clean when it opens.

Pascal fingers the edge of a carving knife, like he is considering using it on Egon. But with Hildi giving him a look to take this seriously, he resumes food prep to try to impress the inspector / critic.

Egon: "Earlier, you asked how I would dispel any illusions. I don't do that. But the keen eye can see through them."
So far, Hildigrim's hands have been faster than Egon's "keen eye".

"You want to go upstairs, you say... We haven't seen the pantry cellar yet. That is a place likely to have rats... Rather than upstairs, let's go downstairs."
(Not sure if Hildigrim really wanted him upstairs. If he just wants Egon away from the action, the cellar and reverse psychology works.)

Jorin will attempt to intimidate the rat-bag holders (Intimidation:14) and swipe the bag of rates from them (Athletics: 29)

Edit:  Jorin rounds the corner and putting a boot into the chest of the halfling with the bag, sends the person sprawling as he snatches up the bag of rats.  He is about the bring the bag up and overhead to smash it into the street, but catches Quillary's eye and thinks better of it.  After all, the rats are just being rats, no fault of their out.  He instead, clobbers one of the other halflings solid in the gut with it and bellows, "If I catch you hearth-less fools here again, I'll bring the full wrath of the Bodt down upon you, it will be the smile of my axe that finds your guts rather than a bag of rats!"

Quillary smiles and her spores explode in a huge cloud, and when they clear there is an enormous, snarling brown bear where she was standing. It roars at the halflings, spittle flying.

OOC > she just needed to see which way we were playing this, and is taking Jorin’s lead.

"Oh, right," Hildigrim says, truly surprised. "I completely forgot about the cellar. I don't believe I've even been down there, so this will be a learning experience for the both of us." He leads the inspector to the trap door and opens it. After he says a quick incantation, three globes of light appear, circling his head. "I'll go down first to light the way." The halfling then begins his descent.

Outside, the Bodt and the bear are bashing the halfling gang. Although they are were-rats, not damaged by normal physical attacks, they can still be bruised and in pain from the blows. They were surprised to be discovered, and never recovered their wits while being knocked around. In a blind panic, they go scurrying to the SE away from the mansion (towards the sewer access of the Alley), followed by a bunch of rats that Jorin let out of the bag.

They leave behind the now-empty rat sack, and various tools (like picks and awls) they were using to make new rat holes. The damage to the house is slight, and can be repaired with Mending in the morning.

On the way to the cellar, Egon hears loud crashing noises outside. "What are those noises?" Hildigrim quickly replies, "Did you hear rats from the cellar?" That though makes Egon forget about what is going on outside, as he wants to inspect the cellar.

No luck finding rats. You do find some scorch-marks at various places on the floor, blackened silhouettes of rats, but they are a few weeks old, when you moved into the mansion (and Pascal was looking over the kitchen and pantry). The place was thoroughly cleaned out, with cracks repaired by the construction crew. As long as periodic checks are made, it will be tough for vermin to visit. (You may want to buy a cat, or have Root the awakened shrub do periodic patrols down here.)

Egon is clearly disappointed at the lack of rats or insects in the cellar, and makes notes in his journal. Egon and Hildi return to the dining area.

Quillary bear snuffles around after the wererats and rats have left. She eventually sits her Large bulk down, making contented bear noises. Quillary never likes to leave her wildshapes too quickly, she enjoys the sensations of being a new thing.

Jorin pets Quillary bear before heading back into the kitchen.

Quillary-bear leans into his hand, then gets up and shuffles after him, standing just outside the doorway, looking in, most of her bulk still outside.

A random petty thief decides tonight to try tonight to break into the mansion. He encounters a bear relaxing.
Despite Quillary giving a friendly grin, the chap gives a hysterical shriek and runs as fast as he can to the Alley exit, never to return.

Egon and Hildigrim have just started to discuss some minor details about the mansion, when Jorin returns.
Egon's nose wrinkles in disgust. "Tell me that he will not be serving the customers when you open this bistro. He smells like he has bathed in a latrine."

Jorin had cleaned thoroughly after returning from the trip underground, and no longer smells of aboleth slime.
A sniff now reveals that wrestling with the were-rats has transferred some of their sewer stink to him. And fresh wet spots on his clothes suggest the halflings were a wee bit frightened during the recent scuffle.

Jorin scoffs and jerks his thumb over his shoulder saying, "Just taking out the trash in the back." before heading upstairs to clean himself up a little bit.

Jorin's return inside tells Hildigrim that everything must have been cleaned up outside. The halfling smiles contentedly at the inspector. "Sir, is there anything else you would like to see before you go?"

Pascal steps out of the kitchen holding a tray of munchies.

"Impeccable timing, Chef." Turning back to the Egon, Hildi says, "We wouldn't want you to leave on an empty stomach."

Quillary is not so tone deaf as to not recognize what is going on. She pulls her bulk back outside and drops her wild shape, then uses the command word to transform her armor into something gloriously elven. She sweeps into the tavern through the front door. And that’s the extent of her plan. She just sort of stands there blinking at everyone, and eventually goes to sit like she could be a patron, taking one of the hors d'oeuvres with her.