Green Leaf and Hariah were in town enjoying the usual coveted greasy slop at Gutworthy's, a pub known for it's filling grub the folk of Boswin love but don't want to admit. Coming into the trough were Sergeant Kesek and Cynfael, battle comrades from a mercenarial quest gone horribly awry. These four know each other well enough to converse from time to time and friendly nods were exchanged before a meal was shared. After a relaxing night in the the town amusement known as the Humble Hut, Tük'-Ja woke up smelling the beguiling Gutworthy's airborne grease, and also wandered in, noticing his odd friend assortment, and began sharing a dubious meal with the group.
After some jovial chatter with Gutworthy's owner, their influx of grease was interrupted by a screaming woman in the nearby market square: "My baby! It's taken my baby!"
A giant rat had grabbed her infant son in its teeth and scrambled down a nearby sewer opening. The group decided to help the poor woman, as Tük'-Ja remembered his encounter with a psychic crazy who told him to take the path less travelled right before entering Gutworthy's.
Decending into the mucky-muck, the party of five had an immediate choice: travel down the well-lit sewer tunnel, the not so well-lit tunnel. or the dim stank pool path. Remebering the crazy seer's advice of the road less traveled, they opted for the way of the latrine.
They soon entered a long, straight tunnel in which the ceiling and walls seemed to be crumbling. Taking little heed of the surroundings, they were ambushed by several large centipedes:
Meanwhile, when scouting up ahead, Cynfael the rogue found himself unexpectedly slimed by a dreaded gelatinous cube, it's transparent presence creeping up quietly behind him. The creature engulfed and attempted to digest him like a discarded Gutworthy's appetizer:
Cynfael managed to remove himself from the hungry gelatinous beast, and eventually the five overcame the threat. Tük'-Ja the eladrin wizard found a magic orb within the body of the splattered jelly cube.
Traveling further, they reached an intersection. There the phrase "GO BACK STOMPERS" was written out in some manner of unwholesome "paint." A crazed voice cackled from somewhere within the walls: "Who dares invade my kingdom? My subjects will gnaw your bones!"
Several dire rats tumbled out of the pipes and attacked. Seconds later, with a clanking sound, a strange device rose up from the floor at the end of the passage and a mechanical arm began tossing exploding firepots at random moving beings:
While the comrades should have avoided the flaming pots of pain, the rats distracted them from realizing the artifact only threw the flamers in one direction, and behind said artifact, there was no danger. Hariah, the half-elf paladin, fighting the vermin giganticus rodentia, was hit with two flaming pots and was taken down, still on fire. As he heals his comrades, this was a foreboding sign. Healing attempts were made by Green Leaf and Tük'-Ja, but Tük'-Ja was also rendered unconscious. Sergeant Kesek was able to evade the artifact's arcs of flame to get behind it, but glancing blows from the rear did little more than add noise to the unwelcomed get-together.
Eventually, they finally shut down the device, killed the vermin, and revived Hariah and Tük'-Ja. After a short rest they pressed on, only to find the lead members of the party sliding helplessly down a slick slope into a large chamber with a stinking pile of mucky-muck at its center. A huge bulk arose from beneath the pool of stank in the middle of the chamber. A tentacled otyugh attempted to pull Hariah into its eating orifice, while more centipedes, attracted by the battle, scuttled into the room.
Protected by the difficult terrain of the muck pile, the otyugh nearly overcame the group. Poor Hariah had quite a time before finally breaking free of the otyugh's grip. In the end, the foul beast went down.
Then the group had another run-in with tentacled sewer dwellers, smallish beasts which dropped from the ceiling and attempted to wrap their tendrils around their victims' necks:
The sewer tunnel dead-ended in the foundation of a building which had fallen into disuse. The large, underground vault was festooned with broken furniture, and dominated by a "throne" made of discarded crates and various animal and human teeth.
This was the "palace" of Loomis, the self-styled "Rat King." This human lunatic had been sending his rat minions to the surface to kidnap male children in hopes of identifying one to serve as his "heir." In fact, three babies were present, and Loomis intended to test their worthiness by dropping them into a water-filled cistern. His assumption was that a Rat Prince would be a good swimmer.
Sergeant Kesek the dragonborn warlord ordered Loomis to surrender the children, but the Rat King set his pets against them.
Initially, Kesek's fire-breathing resembled little more than a red pilot light, but the battle turned quickly in the comrades' favor. The rats and the rat swarm were taken out quickly, despite Cynfael having to throw rats off of his body for far too long. Loomis began drifting toward the back of the room with his dwindling rat companions, sometimes loading one into his ratapult, launching them at his foes. Green Leaf was hit in the head with one, but seemed to suffer no other ill effects.
Kesek guarded the unharmed babies while Loomis headed toward a small trap door in the floor. The comrades closed in, but Loomis threw a blackout bomb at the ground and fled through the trap door, vowing vengeance.
The party searched the Rat King's "nest" and discovered a nifty lightning-powered longsword which was claimed by the paladin. Returning the children to their parents, the heroes enjoyed a small, but gratefully-given reward, as well as the opportunity to hose down.
