Session 12: Full Moon Frenzy

General Summary

The fire crackled in the manor house as the heroes took a much-needed rest. They awoke to the last of the rabbit stew bubbling on the hearth as Garrig discussed the plan one final time.   Realizing that our heroes had no experience fighting lycanthropes, Ramp brought over a bundle of weapons. Two short swords and a spear had been given a treatment, their edges and points now glinted silver in the firelight. “Unless the weapon is silver or magical, it will not affect the wererat” explained Garrig.   Keokan and Aatavi grabbed the swords and spear respectively while Shadow handed a magical dagger (lent by Xatasha) to Omori. Fearful of the coming action, Omori had decided to stay securely locked away with the horses.   As they finished their last bites Garrig once again pleaded with the heroes. “I have known these people all of my life. They are not bad people. Their minds have just become clouded with this curse. We wish to repel them, and to capture as many as we can. If it is possible, do not kill them… but if it comes down to it, do what you must to keep yourself alive.”   A harvest moon hung low in the sky, fat and orange. The soft sound of prayers wove through the courtyard. Some heroes waited atop the battlements near the ruined corner of the keep with arrows notched. Others took positions within, tensely waiting for sign of the coming attack. As the moon climbed higher, Aaura sent Flit high into the sky.   With the owl’s keen eyes, Flit saw hundreds of tiny rodents moving through the tall grasses towards the keep. Behind them, a number of larger figures stalked though the light of the full moon.   “They’re coming!”   At Garrig’s command flaming arrows loosed towards the ground at the keep’s edge, igniting deep trenches of oil. Flames burst upwards, brightening the corner and revealing dozens upon dozens of wererats. They hissed and scurried away from the flames, and scrambled towards the rubble strewn mound that led into the courtyard.   Silver tipped arrows and crossbow bolts rained down upon the coming horde, repelling some of the wererats, but it could not stop the surge of hunger and rage from reaching the battlements. As the wererats crested the top of the ruins, hundreds of rats erupted from below, nearly overwhelming the defenders.   As the fight raged atop the keep, Aatavi and Aaura spotted giant rats moving in from the ruined tower in the adjacent corner, already within the courtyard bounds. Fearing a breach in the walls, they rushed to stop the invaders, driving them back with spear and magic missiles.   Faelyn had taken position atop the shed in the courtyard and helped Yurdi load and fire the ballista. The great bolts were tipped with a pomander of sorts that contained a mix of silver powder and wolfsbane. As Faelyn flicked his finger to light a short fuse, Yurdi fired the bolt towards the breach in the walls. It exploded in a cloud of mist, choking the wererats and driving them back.   When Keokan, Aaura, and Aatavi drove the invaders back to the ruined tower, they discovered a narrow crack in the outer wall. Wasting no time, Keokan quickly pushed an old cart and plow in front of the breach, closing the gap and securing the wall.   Back atop the battlements the defenders had repelled the wererats for the time being. In the firelight below Garrig and company could still see dozens of frenzied wererats, and the full moon was still high in the sky, but for the moment the heroes had time to catch their breath.   Shadow tended to the wounded, while Keokan and Aatavi took advantageous spots for the next wave. With silver arrows running low, the defenders on the battlements steeled themselves for more close quarters combat. A drizzling rain began to fall and a chorus of hisses and snarls from outside betokened a return to the battle.   A large wave of wererats pressed forward, scaling the rubble, and pushing the defenders back. As more of the monsters joined the fray, the defenders gave ground, luring the rats further down the rubble slope.   The plan was to make a hasty retreat and activate a rockslide trap, bringing the wererats into the courtyard where they could be corralled further. Keokan stood next to rubble, where a long lever had been placed to activate the slide.   Unfortunately, as Jude made his way down the rubble he slipped, wedging his foot in the debris. Garrig moved quickly to his friend but had no luck dislodging his ankle. Seizing the moment, Aatavi nimbly climbed the embankment and tore Jude free, flinging him to safety. With another step he kicked Garrig off of the other side. As the hoard of wererats bore down on him Aatavi screamed to Keokan. “Now! Do it now!”   With a mighty heave, Keokan pressed the lever down. The rod groaned and snapped under the pressure but Keokan could feel something in the center of the ruined mound give way. With a thunderous crash the hill spilled into itself and scattered onto the grounds, dust and debris clouding the air. Through the haze the goliath moved to a nearby pole and affixed the long silver rod that Yurdi had placed on the ground before the battle started.   With the corner of the keep in ruins, its inner courtyard was more exposed than ever to the remaining wererats behind. As they advanced on the breach, Faelyn hopped into the ballista seat and took aim. Lighting the fuse on the pomander bolt, Faelyn pulled the trigger. With a dramatic thrum the bolt loosed and found its mark directly in the gaping hole in the wall. A perfect shot. An explosion of silver powder, twinkling motes in the moonlight, repelled the wererats who remained outside and forced them back.   In the din of battle; the screams of the lycanthropes, the chaos of explosions and the rockslide, Aatavi had risen to his feet. A haze hung in the air and clouded his vision but he could clearly see the post where he had planned to hang the second silver rod had been splintered by the rockslide.   He met Shadow at the sundered post, who desperately tried to fix something new into the ground as the wererats gained their footing. Suddenly Keokan was there as well, bending down and grasping the rod in his huge fist.   “Yurdi! Start the crank!” he bellowed.   Atop the shed, Yurdi and Faelyn began to crank the odd box that the gnome had attached to the rods. As they did so a jolt of electrical energy began to flow through the rods, and they crackled with energy.   The grip in the goliath’s hand grew even tighter as his every muscle contracted. His jaw clamped down hard and he braced himself with stone’s endurance. With the rods now electrified and the passage to the shed clear, Xatasha materialized in the courtyard.   The heroes watched as a thin black line seemed to tear the air and space behind the wererats. As it did so, the sound of odd echoing whispers grew louder and louder until the line widened into a large sphere of black, writhing snakes. The creatures hissed and snapped as the sphere slowly began to float towards the rats, pushing them towards the open shed.   Keokan’s body was tensed as it never had been before. The electrical current had him locked into place, his body frozen, his muscles at the snapping point. Just then he heard Aatavi’s voice at his side.   “Brother.”   Aatavi placed one of his hands on the goliath’s shoulder and held the other aloft, javelin pointed towards the sky. The current instantly moved through the Godspeaker, through the barbarian storm herald, and out the tip of the javelin of lightning. As Aatavi held it aloft, the bolt skipped from raindrop to raindrop, a fork of lightning from the ground to the sky.   With the dark mass of snakes slowly creeping towards them and the electrified rails at their side, the wererats began to scurry towards the open doors of the shed. As they did so they passed through a trio of illusory cows that Shadow had conjured. Although this caught their attention briefly, their fear and confusion continued to move them into the open doors. Inside two wan looking dairy cows groaned fearfully. As the rats entered they fell upon the cows in a terrible feeding frenzy. As the last of the wererats piled into the shed to greedily join the slaughter, the heroes slammed the doors behind them and bound the perimeter in silver for good measure.   Wounded and breathless, the heroes looked towards the courtyard. A few bodies lay on the slowly dampening courtyard grounds; villagers who had transformed back into humans when their life ended.   The shed quivered from the ravenous actions within but held fast. Piigon, the red moon, began its waxing crescent heralding the oncoming sunrise. As the sun broke on the horizon, the frenzied banging on the walls of the shed slowly subsided. Atop the battlements once more, Garrig saw a quartet of horsemen appear on the road leading to the keep. Through bleary eyes he recognized Eeline, the last member of the Serpents Six. With her were a priest and priestess in the tan and yellow vestments of Ban-Adia, and an armored knight wearing a cape of red and white.