Ky and the Sewer Monster

Ky and Oss travel into the sewers to root out a giant rat problem plaguing the marketplace. 


"Oss."
"Track."

Oss slinks forward and sniffs the fetid air. Ky follows close behind with a lit torch. Rat droppings and sewage lie in discarded piles as the two of you make your way further. You look around but see only shadows. The hair on Oss's head stiffens, and you instinctively clench your fist. Just then three giant rats spill into room, half chewed fruits and bread between their jaws. One rat begins to run away, as the other two bare their teeth and attack! 

• Fight and chase the fleeing rat.
  
• Fight and rest, then track the fleeing rat.
  

“Oss! Get!”

Oss charges forward to meet the two attacking rats. The sound of claws clattering across stone echoes off the sewer walls. As Oss meets the two rats, claws tearing into the side of one and teeth into the neck of another, Ky sees the third rat making its escape at the far end of the tunnel.

Clicking his boots (of Speed) together, Ky pounds his chest and feels the magic of his Quickrunner’s shirt course down into his legs. He breaks into a sprint, running clear past the battle between Oss and the other rats. One of the rats snips at Ky as he passes, but Ky’s leg slips away from the creature’s hungry jaws as he continues to run. Closing in, he attempts to grab the escaping rat!

You wrestle the rabid rat to the ground and pin it's thrashing legs. You pull back the vermin's neck and break it between your hands. You turn back to Oss, who limps toward you, covered in claw and bite marks. 

"Good Oss." 

You pat Oss and continue further into the sewers. Three giant rats is worrying, but you didn't see a nest. Ayv says beasts have nests, so you gotta find the nest. You continue forward, pausing at a fork in the sewer tunnels. 

• Follow the left path.
  
• Follow the right path.
  

Ky follows the left path, as god intended. If the rat was running this way, there’s gotta be something here. Maybe the nest. Or some food! Maybe this is the rats’ secret fish stash! Ky’s mind wanders to the piles and piles of delicious rat fish that could be just at the end of the tunnel, but he snaps back to reality as torchlight and a shadow appear around the corner instead!

“Oss! Down! Stay!”, Ky whispers.

Oss crouches low to the ground, his eyes trained on his master, who continues to move forward alone, edging slowly along the stone wall. As the light grows brighter at the end of the tunnel, Ky drops to the ground! He raises his hands, each forming a circle, to his eyes. As the figure emerges, Ky looks through his finger goggles and sees...

A cloaked figure rushes down the sewer toward Ky, torch in hand and fear in his eyes. His waterlogged boots slosh sewage onto your hidden body as the figure flees. As he nears Oss, the warcat leaps from it's cover and growls, terrifying the man, and forcing him to drop his torch and sprint into the darkness. You stand up and wipe muck from your brow as Oss strides confidently to your side. 

As you continue in the direction the figure came from you notice the smell of sewage has become unbearable, and you shield your nose with a bit of your tunic.

• Follow your nose. [Roll Fortitude]
  
• Turn back and catch the fleeing figure.
  

[8 Fort for Ky, 18 Fort for Oss] “Man must run from here because smell so bad”, Ky thinks as he continues down the dark tunnel. He pulls his robes up to cover his nose as he walks, but there is no escape from the smell. Soon, his eyes are watering, and he can barely see more than a few yards in front of him. Oss, however, keeps his gaze set firmly ahead.

That is, until a glint of light in a small side tunnel catches his sight. The glow of a rat’s eye! Oss bounds across the tunnel, through the moldy water, and pounces! He must protect his master...from a golden cup? Oss lands squarely in a pile of garbage with a clatter, and hearing the noise, Ky turns to see his companion face-first in a well-concealed bag of ornate dishes and cutlery. Walking over, Ky thinks back to the single time Ayv allowed him into the keep to dine with the prince, and wonders aloud:

“Why Prince Nick’s plates down here?”

You scoop up the bag of finery, discarding a broken plate from your overzealous companion. As you examine the bag the sickness overtakes you; the dishes are covered in last night's dinner. It takes you several moments to recover and you look to each side for Oss. 

"Oss." You shout in fear. "OSS!" You stumble back down the tunnel, searching for your friend. Your feet kick up sewage as you begin to run. Up ahead you hear sounds of struggle, and whimpering. 

You bound forward and find Oss engaged with a disgusting creature of slime and filth. The creature's prehensile sewage-ridden tentacle slams the ground next to Oss, coating the warcat's hide and plates in dark liquid. 

• Fight!
  
• Run!
  

His companion in danger, Ky rushes foward and, speaking a word (“Strength”) in Sylvan, activates the gauntlets his father gifted him, nature magic coursing into his fists and strengthening his blows. His boots propel him forward with lightning speed, and as he charges the disgusting monster standing over Oss, Ky narrowly dodges the barbed tentacle that slams into the water behind him.

Upon the beast, Ky attempts to punch the little bit of the creature’s body that isn’t mouth or sewage but finds his attack swatted away by a second tentacle. The creature turns from Oss, who has slumped to the ground by this point, and towers over Ky, bearing down on him with teeth and tentacles. Ky puts one arm up to brace for the attack and goes for the next hit with the other!

The fight is a blur of fists and slime. As you dodge another tentacle the creature spews forth a flood of bile that coats the wall behind you, steam rising from the impact as the bile dissolves the stone. As you move to flurry again, the creature seems to absorb your blows with ease. You realize the fight is turning sour and look for an escape.

Narrowly dodging another blow from the beast, you spot a weak spot in the wall behind it. With the right force, you could trip the beast into the wall and collapse it.

• Try to force the beast into the wall.
  
• Grab Oss and run!
  
• Slay the beast. [Attack 18+ Required, Failure = Minor Scar]
  

[Attack Roll 24, in Roll20 Chat]

Backed into a corner by the nauseous, flailing whirlwind of sewage-drenched tentacles, Ky begins to succumb to desperation, until a sound catches his ear. The labored breathing of his companion on the ground behind the beast. Oss.

Anger replaces fear, and with the creature's tentacles swinging down on him once again, the focus of Ky's training kicks in. As the tentacles slam down, Ky catches each in a hand and, with a quick pull, yanks the beast forward, bringing into a knee into its monstrous gut. Surprised but still hungry, the beast lunges forward. This will be the last bite!

But the monster tastes only air, as Ky vaults over the creature's back and, with a thundering kick, sends the creature staggering forward, until its skull cracks against the very stone wall Ky was pinned against only a moment before and it collapses to the ground.

This is no time for celebration, however, and Ky rushes to his companion. "Good Oss. Strong Oss," Ky says, bending over and petting the weak but conscious warcat. "You eat fish tonight." Oss meows approval, but Ky knows there is still another problem to deal with: the rats.

As Ky comforts Oss, beady eyes shine in the darkness. The sound of scurrying feet alerts the wounded boy, but then silence. Nothing. The rats watch from a distance, keeping away from the boy that killed the monster. 

You pull yourself up and begin searching for the rat nests. Oss follows limply behind you as you wander the dark tunnels. Eventually, you stumble upon a nest, filthy and unoccupied. You kick nests apart, destroying any homes of the remaining rats. Satisfied, you make your way to the surface to bathe in the river. 

"Rats gone. Monster dead." 

• Complete your adventure.
  
• Continue your adventure.
  

[Complete the adventure. Also as I leave the tunnel, I scoop up the bag of vomit-encrusted royal dishes and take them to the Keep, requesting to present them to the Duke himself]