Rat King
The creature now known as the Rat King began as a large and unusually intelligent rat living beneath Trollskull Manor. In the party’s earliest days at the manor, Jonnie attempted to communicate with the rats in the cellar using Speak with Animals. Rather than cooperate, the rats turned hostile, mocking him and launching a violent attack. Jonnie retaliated, killing most of them. Only one escaped. That rat remembered.
Months later, the party was ambushed in the Ferret’s cellar by a mimic disguised as a vinegar barrel. Just before the attack, they found Echo's severed leg and spotted a large rat gnawing on it. The rat locked eyes with Jonnie, spit the leg to the ground, and hissed a single word: "Revenge." As the mimic erupted into violence, the rat vanished into the shadows, escaping through a tunnel that collapsed behind it. A furious shriek followed, vowing that the fight was not over.
The rat returned again in a shared nightmare seeded by a Nightmare Bulb. This time, he had grown into a twisted wererat-like monster, surrounded by rotting swarms of undead rats. In this vision, he confronted the party directly, snarling that they had killed his kin and his "monster," and declaring that he had made a new friend who had gifted him the Nightmare Bulb for the express purpose of stopping them. The battle was fierce and grotesque, culminating in Melvin ending the creature with a devastating sneak attack. The bulb consumed the rat’s body, leaving no trace behind.
Though the Rat King has not appeared since, the recurring nature of his vendetta and the dark forces behind him suggest that his story may not yet be over. His hatred of the party—particularly Jonnie—runs deep, and he has already proven that death is not always the end.
