Sellswords of Punjar, Session 4: Scions of Niramuth

The the darkened passage-way ended in a small natural cavern honeycombed with tiny holes apparently dug out by tiny persistent paws. At the far end of the chamber squatted a loathsome statue of an enormous rat flanked by a trio of iron braziers giving forth a dull flickering light. Piled between the rat's paws was a king's ransom of gold, silver, and jewels. The statue's eyes were a pair of scintillating crimson rubies. An arched doorway revealed another set of stairs spiraling up and out of sight. The distinctive smell of smoke and soot drifted down from the stairs.

Mina moved into the room and approached the stairs assuming the mysterious assailant had headed that way. She did not notice Drazen the drow thief hiding behind the statue, but he noticed her. Drazen got off another pair of crossbow shots at Mina, wounding her. The party quickly closed in on the thief and overpowered him.

The party then turned their attention to the statue. They pooled their knowledge and identified it as Niramuth, an ancient godling associated with rats and thieves. The godling and his followers were long ago cursed by a more powerful god who Niramuth had angered. Niramuth became an enormous rat and his followers were changed into normal rats, although still retaining their sly intelligence. Today the rat god is the patron of rat-catchers, were-rats, pick-pockets, cut-purses, cat-burglars, and assassins. Offerings to the rat god are often guarded by horrible curses to anyone who would dare to steal from him.

Undeterred by the legends and myths surrounding Niramuth, the party decided to investigate the pile of treasure. Aletha prodded a single coin away from the pile with a long pole. When nothing appeared to happen Vismund laughed at Aletha's caution and bent to pick up the coin. As soon as he took it in his hand he was struck with an overwhelming dread of anything small and furry. Just then the sound of thousands tiny scrabbling claws and chittering voices was heard as a wave of rats came pouring out of every hole in the cavern, quickly surrounding and engulfing the party. The group was forced to use their limited supply of area of effect powers to try to disperse the swarm as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, being surrounded meant they could not efficiently target the whole swarm. The fight drug on and on and threatened to bring down the group who had already taxed themselves to the limit and was low healing surges and out of daily powers. Vismund struggled with his new phobia of vermin, alternately running away from them, recoiling from their touch, and then charging back into the fight with almost a berserker like frenzy to destroy the hated beasts. Eventually the swarm was worn down and the remaining rats seeing the tide of battle turn against them melted away into their tunnels.

The party licked their wounds and gathered up the treasure, including another magical dagger +1 which was buried under the pile of coins and gems. They decided to rest and regain their strength before continuing on.