The Crimson Echo IC

[Inspectre]

"Tourists."

The one wererat sneers, tossing his head at the group in a way that clearly says "get rid of them."
The other wererat, clearly the subordinate of the two, sighs and gets to his feet, walking over to meet Silas.
While his back is turned, while his superior doesn't shank him in the back as Aliani predicts, the dirty rat fink does slip a pair of cards out of his sleeve and trade them in for part of his hand, no doubt bettering his odds of winning the next hand when his subordinate comes back.

"Alright, move along - you want Shiver, you go find it some other place. This is no place for your kind to be - like the boss said, get out of here or get shanked."

The wererat sneers, showing no fear of Silas's blade (after surreptitiously checking it to make sure it was regular steel rather than silver) as he bats it aside with his hand and comes nose-to-nose with the tiefling . . . or as close as the little guy could manage, given Silas was a head taller than he was. At that point Miz pushed past the pair to dart into the alcove in preparation for flanking, or at least keeping the other one out of the fight/prevent him from running away.

"Hey!"

The wererat shouts, his attention turning to Miz in the split second before Silas's knee flashes up at his groin.
But whether through preternatural speed or simply expecting Silas to make his move in that moment of distraction, the wererat manages to turn aside just enough to avoid the blow, and Silas's knee simply bangs against his thigh.

(OOC: I decided to interpret Silas's knee-to-groin action as a Dirty Trick, but he rolled a grand total of "10", which is not sufficient to beat the wererat's CMD, alas.)

"Oh, you're gonna get it now you motherless bastard!"

The wererat spits as he backs up a step to draw his own short sword off of his belt, and his skin ripples and sprouts fur as he shifts into his natural hybrid half-man, half-rat form. At the makeshift card table, the other wererat cracks his neck and stands up as well, pulling out his sword and shifting into his natural form as well, but rather than moving to join the fight he simply puts his lips together and whistles out a series of precise, high-pitched notes. That sound is returned with a cacophony of angry squeaks from further down the tunnel around the bend, as hundreds of rats nearby begin to gather together to answer their master's call.

"I wouldn't worry about finding a fix of Shiver you dumbasses, because you're all going to be food for the ratsies in a couple minutes!"

The leader of the pair snarls.

In response, and forewarned by Miz about the possibility of wererats here, Rhev darts forward, revealing the small vial he had been palming.

"Silas! I need to see your sword for a moment!"

The detective pops the cork out of the vial with his teeth, narrowly avoiding sloshing some of the silvery liquid onto his teeth before he dumps the entire vial's contents onto Silas's blade. The thick syrupy goo shimmers and shines as it oozes down the length of Silas's blade, turning it a slightly different shade of grey and causing the wererat facing him to grow pale as he clearly recognizes that particular shade as silver.

Spoiler: Wererat Actions

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Wererat #1 Shifts into Hybrid Form, Summons Rat Swarm, which will appear the battlefield next round, giving the party one round without it visible at all, and then the round after it will be visible but down the hallway. Plenty of time to get ready for them!

Wererat #2 Shifts into Hybrid Form, Draws short sword

Spoiler: Rhev Actions

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Rhev moves to behind Silas while producing a vial of Silversheen, which he dumps onto Silas's falchion as his Standard for the round.

Spoiler: Status

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Silas - Silversheened Falchion for 1 Hour

Battle Music!

Battle Map!

[PiccadillyPi]

Seeing the silver sheen of his blade, Silas gave Rhev a quick wink before turning his attention back to the creature before him with a knowing chuckle.

'Pity!'

As if to mimic an animal playing with his food, the bipedal tiger moved around the wererat (F5). While doing so, he also signaled Miz with his tail, using its prehensile nature to point her toward an open flanking position. After that he waited for the opportune moment to strike.

Spoiler: OOC

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5-foot step to F5.

Swift action to point at D3 with tail?

Ready attack vs Wererat for when Miz is in flanking position.

Attack: (1d20+10)[14]
Crit confirm: (1d20+10)[28]
(2d4+4)[7]

[Steveodore]

Miz catches Silas's intention and moves quickly to the other side of the wererat. While moving, she downs her bottled mutigen and undergoes her own metamorphosis.

Spoiler

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Miz drinks her mutigen and selects scent as her ability for it.

Edit: Forgot to mention, moving to D3

[Stelio Kontos]

Those three have the one fellow taken care of... can't let the other one get into it. What about the new gu... we'll have to risk it.

"You there! Stop! Halt! Pause! Stand still! Don't move a muscle! Freeze!" Aliani chanted in rhythm, waving his arms in turn at the unengaged wererat.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll try casting Hold Person on the dude at B2.

Reminder on stuff: this is the whole 'disguised spellcasting as a bard' thing; I don't know if Rhev has spellcraft, but I suspect he does, and he may be more than a little curious about this. DC is 27 to identify it as a clerical spell.

[Darvin]

Seeing the rat swarm forming, Dalen withdraws a vial from his pack. He carefully repositions himself and prepares to throw it when the moment is right.

Spoiler: OOC

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When the rat swarm is adjacent Wererat #2 Dalen will throw the alchemist's fire at it, catching Wererat #2 in the area of effect. Note that since the rat swarm is a swarm it doesn't threaten the spaces around it and thus this doesn't count as firing into melee even if allies are adjacent to it at the time.

Attack roll bonus is +3 against touch AC, damage is 1d6 damage to the primary target plus 1d6 the following turn (all damage increased by 50% due swarm vulnerability to splash weapons) and 1 splash damage to adjacent targets.

[Inspectre]

Seeing the sudden silver glint to his sword, the wererat shrinks back away from Silas with a shriek as the tiefling advances.
Rhev dashes forward to assist Silas in driving the lycanthrope thug-for-hire back, as even though his rapier could not effectively harm him, getting poked in the eyes with it was sure to be unpleasant nonetheless.
Sadly, even with Rhev's distraction and Miz moving in from the side and behind to hem the wererat in, it still manages to duck under Silas's swing, scurrying back on all fours.

(Very, very close! But sadly not even a +4 could salvage that 14 against these squirmy buggers!)

Aliani attempts to cast a spell on the other wererat to prevent him from joining in on the battle, but while the lycanthrope freezes for a moment, with a flex of his muscles he is moving again, and now it is the wererat's turn to deliver a flanking beatdown of their own, as they both leap at Miz from in front and behind. She's able to fend off the gnashing teeth and one of the blades, but the short sword of the one Silas had been swinging his sword at buries itself in her side, just a few inches shy of her kidney.

For a brief moment, Rhev stops and looks back at Aliani, catching his eye and watching him very carefully before he smiles slightly, nods, and turns back to the battle.

(OOC: Sadly, all the high DCs in the world can't save you from the DM's dice being hot and getting 2 nat 20s. Whelp, there goes my good luck for the month!)

Amidst all this chaos, the rat swarm arrives, a squirming mass of angry fur and chattering teeth. Dalen draws a flask of alchemist's fire and moves into position, ready to throw it when the rats get just a little bit closer.

(The rat swarm arrived this round, so it's "turn" was effectively entering the battlefield. Next round, however, it will likely double move 30' into the battle and start causing havoc. Which will trigger Dalen's readied action then, unless he has a better plan before that point.)

Spoiler: Wererat #1

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5' Steps to C3
Standard: Ready an action, when flanking Miz, attack
To-Hit: (1d20+7)[9]
Damage: (1d6+3)[9] plus (1d6)[6] Sneak Attack

Spoiler: Wererat #2

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5' Steps to E3
Full-Round Action: Attack with sword and Bite on Miz with flanking
Short Sword
To-Hit: (1d20+7)[24]
Damage: (1d6+3)[8] plus (1d6)[5] Sneak Attack

Bite: (1d20+2)[9]
Damage: (1d4+1)[5] plus (1d6)[4] Sneak Attack
Hit: TWO Fort Saves: Fort Save DC 14 & Fort Save DC 15

Miz takes 13 damage from a sneak attack short sword.

Battle Map!

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani let out a most unpleasant expletive when the wererat shrugged off his magic. Again? That he was concealing his magic was the furthest thing from his mind; that he was about to do so with one he'd never cast before... well, he'd have to improvise.

"Uhh... don't worry Miz, I'm right behind you! We share your pain, all of us do. Shared pain is no pain at all, it is experience. It is life." He uttered those words while gesticulating wildly, not that it added much to the effect, before placing one hand over his heart as he pointed at Miz.

Spoiler: OOC

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Casting shield other on Miz. It does provide a +1 deflection bonus to AC and a +1 resistance bonus on saves in addition to the main effect, if those will help.

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas waggled his blade at the wererats.

'Don't run too far now!'

Moving strategically, the dandy positioned himself to again flank the wererat he had just swung at. With nothing more to be said of the matter, he let silvered steel fly.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move to G4. Move to F3.

Attack: (1d20+10)[27]
Crit: (1d20+10)[11]
Damage: (2d4+4)[11]

Edit: Forgot silver has a -1 to damage. The roll result should be a 10 instead.

[Steveodore]

Miz yowls as the wererat blade sinks into her side. In a rage, she tears at the one distracted by Silas's silvered blade.

Spoiler

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Miz performs a full-round attack on Wererat 2 while Silas flanks him. (I'm assuming that's the order of things. If not then ready attack action for when Silas is in position, using bite roll.)

Claw attack 1: (1d20+9)[21]
(1d6+5)[11] Sneak attack: (2d6)[11]
Claw attack 2: (1d20+9)[11]
(1d6+5)[10] Sneak attack: (2d6)[3]
Bite attack 1: (1d20+9)[13]
(1d8+5)[9] Sneak attack: (2d6)[8]

Here are the Fortitude saves
Fort dc (14): (1d20+3)[13]
Fort dc (15): (1d20+3)[4]

Edit:forgot to account for Aliani's spell resistance which should save me from the first fort save at least. Can't do much about natural 1s though

[Inspectre]

(OOC: Fortunately, the wererat did not hit with its bite attack, thus Miz didn't need to make those Fort saves, so Miz will remain nothing more than an ordinary ratfolk, rather than a ratfolk wererat, which is way too much rat!)

Miz retaliates by slashing and biting at the wererat who stabbed her, ripping open a gaping wound in his chest despite the lycanthrope's fabled tough hide. The wererat staggers back with a curse . . . right into the path of Silas's next swing, which catches the wererat solidly in the back this time, nearly cleaving all the way through the wererat's flesh and spine before finally stopping at the back of its ribcage. Silas kicks the wererat off of his blade, having to struggle a bit to get his falchion free again. The other wererat's eyes seem to pop out of his head a bit at this sight, and he begins to beat a fighting retreat back to the door, slashing as Miz to keep her back while sliding backwards toward the door. Catching her as she was turning back to face him, the wererat's sword slices a shallow cut along her jawline, narrowly missing slitting her throat. Aliani winces as a similar cut slashes itself into being on his own face.

Aliani casts a spell to shield Miz from the wererat's fleeing blows, and Dalen moves up to hurl a flask of alchemist's fire at the oncoming tide of rats. The flask splatters across them perfectly, and the rats squeal and shriek as they burn, but more come crawling over the burnt bodies of their brethren, and swarm over Silas, biting the tiefling as the mass surges up around his legs.

Spoiler: Wererat #1

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Fighting defensively, Full Attack vs. Miz
Short Sword:
To-Hit: (1d20+1)[21] (-4 Defensively)
Damage: (1d6+3)[6]

Bite:
To-Hit: (1d20-4)[3] (-4 Defensively)
Damage: (1d4+1)[2]
5' Steps back to B2

(OOC: Nat 20s Miz, but does not confirm. Damage split between Miz and Aliani.)

Spoiler: Rat Swarm

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Moves into Silas's square
Damage: (1d6)[2]
TWO Fort Saves: Both DC 13 (Distraction & Disease)
Burn Damage: (1d6)[2]

Damage
Miz & Aliani both take 3 from a wererat critical threat.
Silas takes 2 damage from the rat swarm, and must make 2 DC Fort Saves (Distraction & Disease)

Rat Swarm - 10 Fire Damage from Dalen's alchemist's fire (rolled a 5 and a 2 for it.)


Battle Map

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani wiped instinctively at his cheek as the blood was drawn. It didn't hurt, much, which meant Miz was likely just fine. Still, that one fellow was liable to escape, and the others had everything else well in hand. Perhaps he could at least make a small difference. Or, who was he kidding, at least provide a distraction. It might not know he wasn't very good at this.

He advanced on the wererat, a dagger coming into his hand as he hustled forward, and just like that, he planted and launched the knife at the wererat's head.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: to B4 (via C7-C4)
Draw dagger while moving
Attack: throw dagger (1d20+3)[8] attack, (1d4)[3] damage from a boring ordinary dagger.

[Darvin]

Wasting no time in eliminating the Rat Swarm, Dalen withdraws a second vial of Alchemist's Fire; he shouts a warning to Silas: "step back, I need a clear shot," he then steadies his aim to finish this job.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ready an action to throw alchemist's fire as soon as Silas steps back far enough that Dalen doesn't take a penalty for throwing into melee. I'm aware Silas' fire resistance means the alchemist's fire splash can't hurt him; this is about the accuracy penalty.

Attack Roll (1d20+3)[14]
Damage (1d6)[2] (plus 50% due to swarm vulnerability)

[Inspectre]

Wading out of the swarm of rats with several soft "ack, ack!" sounds, Silas hastily pushes past Rhev and Miz to dive around the barrel and nearly slam his shoulder into the closed door before skidding to a halt in front of it before the wererat can get there. The wererat jerks back in surprise at this foe appearing out of seemingly nowhere to block its escape route, and wildly flails at Silas before being forced to back away with a hiss by several swings of Silas's silvered falchion, one swing of which cuts a bloody arc across the wererat's chest.

"And where do we think that we're going, hmm?"

Silas chids with a waggling of his eyebrows, and then glances over at Miz, which is all the signal she needs. Clearly practiced at this sort of teamwork, Miz steps up behind the wererat and claws and bites at his unprotected back, but the wererat's armor and tough hide manage to deflect all of her attacks (her damage rolls were all pretty crappy too. )

To add insult to injury, Aliani steps up and throws his dagger at the wererat's head, which ends up just striking him in the chest, hilt-first to absolutely no effect.

Meanwhile, Dalen coats more of the swarm of rats in liquid fire, while Rhev digs around in his cloak until he produces a flask filled with a bubbling green substance which he also dumps over the swarm. The combined assault seems to do the trick, as the few remaining rats beat a hasty retreat back up the tunnel, climbing back over their charred and melted brethren to make their escape. Clearly taking his cue from his smaller brethren, the wererat feints at Miz and kicks out at Silas before rolling over the top of the barrel, sending coins and cards flying in all directions before making a dash down the tunnel, likewise shoving Rhev out of the way as he beats a hasty retreat, Miz's claws and Rhev's rapier doing little to dissuade him from this course of action.

"Sod this, I'm not being paid enough to die! Lamm's going to have all your heads for this!"

The wererat calls over his shoulder as he flees into the darkness.

(Rat swarm dies before it can eat Dalen thanks to an acid flask from Rhev. The wererat withdraws from its flanked position and then runs away, ignoring the damage from an AoO from Miz and Rhev as it double-moves past them down the hallway. Combat is over unless you really want to run the wererat down for some reason.)