"Yes!" Kadrin cried out lustfully as the hrde if vermin advanced on them. "YES!! No more skulking around!"

Swinging his hammer around to get the blood circulating to the muscles in his arm, the Scarred General prepared himself for the charge.

OOC: Kadrin will stand close with Arien to attack as they ready themselves for the oncoming charge. The Dwarf is also uninterested in catching the fire from Ody's spell.

As Maximus saw the number or Wererats formerly hiding under the Darkness spell start to charge towards them, he knew the party was in for a bit of a fight. But knowing the amount of magical power within the group and hearing the song sung by Finarsil he was not worried.

His axes of Hurling flying out towards the charging mass he caught then threw them again as long as it was safe. Once close enough for melee he changed tactics drawing both swords he readied himself to fight.

Arien had been prepared for ambush, but the knight had not expected the sheer numbers they were facing. The swarm of javelins looked impressive enough, but Arien knew well that save the luck of the gods, such implements were as much threat as so many gnats to his own person.

Still, though, the wererats massed to attack; while they so far seemed to be so much chaff to the scythe of the companions, they would certainly cause at lease some attrition. Best to finish these off as quickly as possible Arien mused.

"Casters!" he cried as he moved to a defensive position with the other frontline fighters. "Artillery would be appreciated!"

Flaming sword and enchanted shield in hand, Arien braced for the rush of the wererats.

Let them come.

Finarsil continued her Song as she fired Arrows at the onrushing Were Rats!

She also continued glancing at her Dark Reaver blade, ready to sound an alarm should her blade begin emanating a tell-tale Blue Glow as a warning of nearby Undead foes!

((OOC: The High Elf Bard continues firing Arrows (she gets one extra attack per round with the bow!) until any Were Rats are in Melee Range; whereupon, she will use Dark Reaver to eliminate her foes!))

As light swallowed the darkness an horde of squealing wererats hurdled toward them with hunger lighting their beady eyes. It seemed that an endless sea of the vermin swam towards them. The priestess hissed and readied herself to send forth a swarm of her own. Yet as she began to turn her mind on the task the chanting of another called to her.

Odyson, the animistic shaman, intoned to the wild divine and unleashed a torrent of flame down from the heavens.

"Let flame be joined by flame," Lun spoke in a cool voice that rang clear.

Her voice then rose in an incarnation of her own. From the mysteries she invoked the light of the sun and the heat of passion. She whispered their secrets and bound them into a golden sheet of flame. Heat and light flashed outward, rushing to meet the cavern walls.

((OOC: casts Wall of Fire from cavern wall to cavern wall. Attempting to separate the wererats from one another))

Although they are fast moving, the wererats have a lot of ground to cover. Sparrow and Finarsil keep up the barrage of arrows, swiftly taking down rat after rat as they go. Maximus hurls his axes at the wave as well, killing a monster and then catching the returning axes. (5 dead)

Arien and Kadrin move forward to attack the lead creatures and attack with gusto. These wererats are no match for the fighting skills of both warrior and spears cannot pierce their armour either. Four of the foes are dead before the others even move close to attack. (4 dead)

Jarenion attacks with a quick spell that brings hail and ice down upon the attacks. The beasts are battered but the hard lumps and many go down to the magical attack. (9 dead, 4 wounded)

Lun brings forth a Wall of Fire, 300 feet long across the path of the coming horde. Many of them have nowhere to dodge or flee and are consumed in the flames. Others jump back from the flames with fur burning or singed. (10 dead, 6 wounded)

Ody releases a Firestorm upon the remaining Wererats. Those that were wounded before are consumed by the flames and others are roasted by the fire. (7 dead, 10 wounded)

OOC - Is it getting hot in here? 35 of the charging WR dead (12 more dead from before), 20 wounded and 5 managed to avoid the hurt but will have to run around the wall of flames.

None of you were injured this round

It smells pretty bad in here now.

Roast Rat

Crispy Critters.?

Although the pungent odor of the charred Were Rats was by far not the worst smell to have ever assailed the nostrils of Finarsil the Flaming Raven, the High Elf Bard was grateful for the fire unleashed by her comrades that eliminated the numbers advantage of their evil foes!

Glancing once again at her Dark Reaver blade, ready to sound an alarm should her blade begin emanating a tell-tale Blue Glow as a warning of nearby Undead foes, she raised her bow to let loose another volley of arrows against any Were Rats that escaped death from the flames!

((OOC: The High Elf Bard continues firing Arrows (she gets one extra attack per round with the bow!) until any Were Rats are in Melee Range; whereupon, she will use Dark Reaver to eliminate her foes!))

"Hold off on spells we may need later. We can finish the few survivors off in close combat." Sparrow put away her bow and readied herself for close combat if needed but she was in no hurry to get involved.

The shaman was pleased to see that the team had done well to meet this attack. He gave a quick prayer of thanks to the children of mother earth for granting him their blessing to drive the flames over their foes. As the vermin shrieked and ran Ody watched carefully to see if any of remaining enemy fled. With the three tunnels leading out of the chamber surely there were traps but the fleeing rat-men would know the safe way out.

The screams of wererats consumed in the conflagration filled the cavern just as fully as the filthy smell of their charred flesh. Impassive elven eyes took in the macabre scene cooly as flame and steel killed the beasts. Despite their losses the rats continued their march forward with a hunger for blood glowing in their eyes. Lun gripped her black staff tightly and made ready. If any of the beasts closed upon her they would learn first hand of power held in that staff.

((OOC: Stands ready to attack))

Wererats fell like so much chaff before the blades, bows, and spells of the companions. For some reason, the old battle exhilaration that Arien so often felt seemed to elude the knight this time around. Normally, he would have worn a fierce grin, but he found himself oddly somber as their foes proved so ineffective.

"Hold off on spells we may need later. We can finish the few survivors off in close combat."

Arien heard one of his companions offer up this advice, and he concurred. "Agreed," he spoke, ignoring the stench of immolated wererat. "They seem to be little threat to us. There is little use wasting resources we will surely need later. Be vigilant, in case there are other foeas at the ready."

The knight advanced cautiously, taking care to avoid the area of effect of the spells. This encounter had the feel of a distraction, and he wanted to be ready for the real threat.

As Maximus watched the Wererats burn he could not help thinking this had been too easy. After all the first time they had run these halls monsters most vile and much stronger had been their foes. These half-creatures were nothing compared to those earlier enemies.

Throwing his axes once more to eliminate the last of them he listened as Sparrow gave good advice and Arien agreed.

"Hold off on spells we may need later. We can finish the few survivors off in close combat."

"Agreed, They seem to be little threat to us. There is little use wasting resources we will surely need later. Be vigilant, in case there are other foes at the ready."

"Perhaps that is what this is, a means for however now controls this place to make us use as much of our advantage as possible." Max chimed in.

With nothing more to do then wait for Arien to move them forward, Maximus reholstered his axes and once more drew his swords............

The last of the wererats dies on the end of Arien's sword. Although a tiring battle, the opponent was not up to the level of skill and prowess that the party had available. There was no satisfaction to this victory - it had been a slaughter.

There is nothing in the way of possessions on the dead and the cavern reeks now of burned flesh and rat dung. Time to move on.

Three entrances to a tomb. The bard remembers from the tales that the middle one was the one to the actual tomb before, where the other two were traps. Looking down the corridors, the two side entrances end shortly after 20-30 feet with stone walls and debris.

The corridor is long and the floor is pocketed with open pits, traps long ago sprung on invading robbers. The frescos on the walls are faded and almost indecipherable. There is a faded red pathway draw on the floor but like the frescos, it is barely there. About 40-50 feet down, on the west (right), is an opening where a (presumed) secret door once stood, now long gone.

The hallway is very cold and you can see down pass the former secret door there are skeletons of "men" seemingly frozen in chunks of ice. The skeleton bear no weapons or armour, they are just frozen there.

For all appearances, it looks like no one has been here for years.

Map coming

With the last of the were-rats felled, Sparrow put away her blades. The fight, such as it was, was probably the last easy one the group would face. Ahead a hallway filled with frozen skeletons loomed. Knowing she did not have the skill to tackle such, she simply waited for the others to work out who would go first. Her bow was ready just in case something decided to come crawling down the hallway.

Finarsil sheathed Dark Reaver and called forth her Ye' Cind Flute, placing it to her lips, while thoughtfully humming an olden High Elf tune to herself, as she moved to the head of the group, staring intently down the corridor that stretched out before the Party.

After a few moments of deep contemplation, drawing upon the tales stored within her memories of songs and stories of the tomb, she slowly addressed the group:

"According to the tales ... this corridor ... was filled ... with complex traps!

"There was no mention of frozen skeletons ... in the songs ... and stories ... of this tomb , but the pit traps ... were filled ... with gelatinous cubes ... and spikes ... that would slowly dissolve you ... into nothingness ... so watch your step ... if you plan to stay with us ... to help rescue Galen ... and the Triplets!

"The tales tell that the corridor ends ... with a green demon's face ... that had a sphere of annihilation ... in its mouth. It took the arm off the thief ... who checked for traps ... according to the Songs of Sadness!

"At the end of the corridor ... with a green demon's face ... there was a doorway filled with mist ... that teleported party members into another section of the tomb ... but without any of their equipment ... or clothing!

"This corridor we see ... with the broken door ... leads to a maze of short halls ... and small rooms ... with many secret doors!

"Knowing how Galen would act ... and think ... from our past adventures ... this is the route he and his party would take ... that we must follow!

"Your Call ... Arien!"