Sellswords of Punjar, Session 2: Rats' treasure horde

After another short rest the party decided to move on. The next room appeared to be a study of some sort, lit by two greasy fat flickering candles set on a large table converted into a work desk. The desk was crowded with scrolls, spilled inkpots, a grimy scale, and stacks of copper coins. On the floor was an over-turned desk-chair and a sack half-filled with more copper coins. A set of rickety stairs led up to a closed wooden door and beyond the desk on the far wall was a ratty, moth-eaten blanket pinned to the wall, covering a door-shaped hole. Aletha searched the desk and found Arthuro the fence's logbook detailing the comings and goings on pilfered goods. The last few entries caught her eye, but they were largely indecipherable due to the personalized shorthand the fence used. She decided to hang onto the list in any case.

Vismund investigated beyond the blanket and found a cramped and dirty sleeping nook. Roaches scurried away from the candle-light and under a simple cot covered with a matted quilt. An unlit lantern sat near one side of the bed, atop a rotting wooden crate. The walls were made of cracked plaster, yet one wall looked suspiciously newer than the others and the sounds of furitive scratching and squeaking could be heard behind it. Vismund found a sack of coins and a silver cloak pin in the shape of a wyvern hidden inside the bed-side crate and then moved to take a closer look at the suspicious wall. With some skilled prodding of his hammer, Vismund was able to locate a sliding section of wall, which he pushed to the side revealing a hidden storage area almost completely taken up by a massive chest of drawers. Before he could inspect the chest further a mass of fur and teeth came pouring out of the secret closet as a swarm of angry rats surrounded his feet and began clawing and climbing up his boots and legs.

Regnor hurried into the room only to be swarmed by the rats. He swung his great-axe down at the swarm, but they only seemed to melt away from the narrow edge of the blade. Vismund jumped up onto the cot in an attempt to get out of the rats' range. As his weight came down on the cot a razor sharp spearhead ripped upward through the bedding and narrowly missed his foot. Apparently the paranoid Arthuro had even trapped his bed. Vismund recovered from his near skewering and hurled an artificed hammer at the rats, which trailed a line of barbed wire formed of arcane energy which wrapped about the swam. The swarm screamed as one entity and tried to escape the barbs, but everywhere it turned found only pain. Burst attacks seemed to be much more effective than other kinds of attacks. Regnor took a hint and summoned forth another great gout of acid from his stomach to sprayed the rat swarm with, and they hissed and scream in redoubled pain, biting and scratching at the dragonborn in self-defense.

Mina, Jym and Aletha rushed into the room. Aletha placed her curse on the swarm and shot a bolt of dark crackling energy at it, but most of the rats escaped her eldritch blast. Mina fired a blinding barrage of crossbow bolts at the swarm, killing many and sending the rest running to disappear in cracks in the floor and walls.

Once they were sure the swarm was dispersed the group turned their attention to the chest of drawers. There were seven drawers in the chest. Each drawer had a symbol, code, or pictogram scratched or drawn on the front of them. A few of the codes matched those Aletha found in the logbook. Vismund looked more closely at these drawers and detected the presence of traps on them. Mina set to work with her new tools to disable the traps and unlock the drawers.

The first drawer was marked "O7" and was trapped with a poison needle. It contained a fine green cloth cloak folded into a neat bundle. Aletha used her knowledge of arcana to detect its magical aura and identified it as a cloak of resistance +1 which the group chose to give to the fighter.

The drawer marked "A3" was protected by a spear trap. It contained a wand fashioned of wood and iron and was carved into a dragon head on one end. Aletha detected magic, identified it as a +1 magic wand and claimed it for herself.

A drawer with the code "T11" was trapped with a scything blade. Curiously it did not contain the item listed on the logbook. Aletha lifted a dusty leather waterskin out of the compartment and sniffed at the half-drunk contents, which turned out to be the dregs of a potion of healing. She gave it to the fighter.

A drawer bearing a sword pictograph contained the broken haft of a ceremonial great-sword. Elvish runes could barely be made out on the remaining portion of the blade. Aletha examined them and determined it had come from the tomb of a forgotten fae-lord. Maybe she would be able to locate the tomb in the future and the restore the blade...

The next drawer was marked with the picture of a skull and contained a pair of sealed vials containing a smoky liquid. Vismund and Jym examined them and determined that they held the antitoxin to shadowstuff toxin, which was still plagued Mina. Vismund attempt to barter with Mina to trade one of the antitoxins for her cloak, but eventually softened and gave it to her.

The drawer marked with a dragon pictogram contained a sack of coins and four sheets of vellum bearing the Beggar-King's wax stamps used as bankers' notes for fencing particularly expensive goods. These items were shared amongst the whole group.

The last drawer bore the image of a crescent moon and contained a small wooden box containing seven needles, poisoned with stormclaw scorpion venom and sealed with wax. Mina took this and squirreled it away among her belongings.

After distributing their pilfered treasure and making sure the chest was emptied the party decided to continue their adventure and headed back into the study to examined the stairs...