Rats!

Chapter 2 of the Journeys of Gridley of Pelor

(Historical note: The reader may wonder why Gridley spends so much of his narrative discussing his early adventures. The answer is simply that Gridley recorded his adventures as he experianced them, right up to the very end. Well, not QUITE the very end, of course, Gridley was no Diviner, nor did he take notes in the heat of battle. Rather than editing his narrative to remove those portions of less historical interest, we have retained the whole in the hope that it will reveal more of the character of the cleric himself.)

Thistle carefully descended the rope into the darkness, followed by Baast. Hearing the sounds of fighting below, I slid rapidly down the rope to find my companions battling a pair of dire rats, which Baast quickly dispatched. I lit as torch as the rest of the party descended, and we began to wind our way down a switch-back path to the valley floor.

Part way down the path no less than seven dire rats charged out of holes to attack us. Thistle slew one as they approached, but the others closed. These rats were more determined, and most of the party were wounded. Yasir's song lifted our spirits, but Baast had a great deal of difficulty balancing on the path and could not bring her sword to bear. Marclar also had difficulty maintaining his balance to cast, but we eventually killed three more rats, and the rest fled. I healed most of the party's wounds, using all my spells, and we reached the bottom landing.

Lured into a false sense of security by the retreat of the rats, I fell into a pit trap at the bottom of the path, and found yet another dire rat waiting for me at the bottom. The might of Pelor guided my mace, but I was badly wounded and needed to use one of my few scrolls to heal myself.

The party, battered and all but spell less, rested the night on the lower platform. I awoke the next morning to find myself a victim of the rat's diseased bites, weaker and less nimble than usual, but over the worst of the disease. The others showed no immediate effects, although both Keiros and Baast's wounds seemed infected as well.

We entered the base of a tower that seemed to be the only structure still intact on the valley floor. Four recently killed goblins occupied the ground floor, stripped of all valuables. Baast spotted a secret door, and Thistle opened it to reveal three skeletons! Though I had never seen any of their foul kind before, I let my training light my way and called on the full power of the Sun. Pelor heard my call and the creatures had time for but a single attack each before I turned them to dust. We found a magic arrow and some coins among their remains.

Two doors led out of the tower. One led to a collapsed corridor with a stone door on one wall. This door had a dragon on it with the keyhole in the mouth. Choosing discretion over valor we examined the other tower door, finding that it led to a corridor with three doors. One had a scene of aquatic dragon-like creatures, one led to an empty room, the other led into what appeared to be an improvised shrine.

A fire pit occupied the center of the room, and a large cage stood against one wall, but my attention was drawn to a bench, on which a figure under a blanket moaned in pain. Unable to resist the appeal of one in pain I hurried forward, and drew away the blanket to reveal a kobold. The creature pleaded for its life, and Thistle and I assured it we meant no harm to it unless it threatened us.

Thistle questioned the kobold, who told us it was a dragon keeper, and that some orcs had stolen their dragon. She told the kobold we might be able to help find the beast, though we were not able to determine what color dragon it had been. The kobold led us deeper into the fortress, and other kobolds came to meet us, with weapons in their hands but no immediately attacking. We continued onward.