"You've been down in this rathole so long you don't even remember how many days have passed. Driven by rumors and visions of Chern's exhumation, you plunged into this warren eager to exterminate the evil ratmen. Instead they scattered like rats under a bright light, and you've found yourself the victim of innumerable ambushes and traps."
"You were led astray into a deserted, yet dangerous, side area. Then the rats set up nasty, but clever, ambushes which you only narrowly overcame. Now you've stumbled upon a series of caverns with disturbing and disgusting murals of unspeakable degradation."
"Who is the rat in this maze? And what horror lies at the end of this labyrinth?"
Blasphemous pictures of rat men and humans copulating with undead on the walls of the room. They are also covered with runes and strange writing, which we cannot read, but which may have caused Goldpetal's strange behavior. He is still unconscious from being subdued.
Darmaon searches for secret doors, but can't find any. He does comment on the disgustingness of the murals. Chuck follows Paks, who is carrying the dagger, half carrying half dragging Goldpetal. Miriel follows. Telryn closes the door behind us and follows. Paks asks Chuck to track the bone dust. He notes that the whole room is covered in bone dust, probably from the low heaps of bone in the corners of the room. One passage seems clear of dust, and he examines it more closely - the other two passages have fresh footprints, but this one is relatively clean.
Paks picks one of the other two corridors at random. After she gets a short way down the hall, she sees that it opens up into a study. She steps in. There's a big bookshelf against one wall. In a corner, there's some straw bedding, and there's a big desk against another wall. It contains a bunch of papers and a skull with a candle in it. Paks steps over to the desk. Paks calls for Telryn and Darmaon. Darmaon searches for traps. Chuck lights a torch, staying back with Goldpetal.
Darmaon finds a mess of papers and scrolls, none of which he can read, as they're all in Slytherin. Telryn is very excited by the bookshelf; it contains books (all in Slytherin) such as "Principles of Bone Golem Construction," tomes on Necromancy, one simply titled "Spellbook," and many esoteric titles containing Slytherin words he's never seen before. He takes "Spellbook" and "Principles of Bone Golem Construction," then starts pulling all the books off to get a closer look at them.
Meanwhile, Paks breaks open the desk, rather easily. She finds more papers and a small box. As Telryn pulls the books off, it sounds as if something has fallen off the top of the shelf, but he can't see anything. He casts Detect Magic, and finds that "Spellbook" is clearly magic. He asks Darmaon to search more carefully in this area. Paks offers the box to Telryn. She then feels around on the floor and finds an invisible book. As Telryn turns to the desk, he finds that one of the scrolls on the desk is clearly magical. He pulls it open. He begins to chant. Paks grabs him, then tries to pull the scroll away from him, but he hangs onto it, and by the time she rips it from him, it's tool late. The torch goes out, and there is a loud noise as air is displaced by what he has summoned. There is an awful stench, and we see a giant three-headed toad. The noise awakens Goldpetal.
Telryn starts to retch from the smell and looks very weak. Darmaon leaps over the desk to stab the creature from behind with a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the desk gets in his way and he skids. Miriel casts a ray of Searing Light at it and hits it hard. Goldpetal casts Miasma on the toad; it seems to have no effect. Chuck throws a vial of Alchemists Fire at it, and a bit of it lights on fire. Miriel, Telryn, and Darmaon say "Ow" as some of it splashes on them. Some of the papers on the desk light on fire. One of the heads opens its mouth really wide and tries to swallow Telryn whole. It grabs him, and though he tries to struggle free, it swallows him. The monster burps out a cloud of noxious fumes. Paks barely stops herself from retching. The second head attacks Darmaon; a long tongue whips out and wraps around him. The final head goes for Miriel and tries to bite her twice, injuring her badly. Telryn pulls out his wand of Magic Missile and shoots all around him, burning a hole to the outside, and killing it. He crawls out.
Miriel rushes over to Telryn and casts Restoration on him. Paks tries to put the fire out on the desk. Paks lays hands on Miriel, then grabs a few of the less burned papers and sticks them in her bag. Miriel wants to rest, but Paks insists that we move on. As we head out, Telryn apologizes profusely for reading the scroll. After 10 feet, it opens up into a larger chamber. Chuck lights another torch.
We see that it's another natural cavern, covered in disgusting pictures and runes. Paks calls out to Goldpetal not to read the runes. The cavern slopes down towards the center, where there is a five-foot-diameter cauldron, bubbling, though there is no fire. There is a metal bar suspended above it by a chain which goes down to a winch. In one corner is a big pile of bones. Paks has a very bad feeling, and stops everyone else from entering. She suggests that we skirt around the sides of the room, not reading any of the runes. We all agree, even Goldpetal.
She works her way around the room, then calls for the rest of us. We follow one by one. As he goes by, Telryn tries to peer in, and observes that the bar has manacles on it. The contents of the cauldron look like chicken soup. As Chuck goes through, he checks for tracks on the floor. Despite having agreed to not look at the runes, Goldpetal once again looks as he comes through. He stops and starts staring at the walls. Chuck walks in, puts his torch down, and whacks Goldpetal with his short sword, knocking him out, then picks up his torch and drags him out of the room.
We move into another natural cavern, with a 15 foot lip that drops off. There are stalactites and stalagmites all through the room. There is a rope coiled around a stalagmite near the lip of the drop. Paks asks for Chuck's rope of climbing and attaches it to another stalagmite. Paks climbs down easily, finding a great deal of trash on the ground around her. As she steps away from the rope, two giant scorpions rush at her.
Paks tries to retreat up the rope, calling for help. Darmaon steps forward and pulls out his bow and shoots at the scorpion in front, hitting it. Chuck drags Goldpetal back a bit, then steps forward and shoots at the scorpion, but the arrow glances off of it. Miriel casts Cause Fear on the scorpion, but it seems totally unaffected, and she steps back to tend to Goldpetal. Telryn runs away back to the other room. The scorpions move up to the edge and try to claw at us, but we're just out of reach.
Paks draws her bow and shoots at the wounded scorpion twice, missing both times. Darmaon shoots again, but misses. Chuck lines up to shoot the wounded one in the eye. Miriel pulls out her sling and nicks one of the scorpions with a sling bullet. A bunch of skeletons suddenly charge us from behind, three of them attacking Telryn; two hit him. He's paralyzed. One attacks Miriel, but trips over Goldpetal, waking him up. The one behind Miriel throws a spear at her, but misses. The scorpions keep trying to leap up, but can't reach.
Paks bullrushes a skeleton, but doesn't manage to push it. Darmaon tumbles through the melee to attack the skeletons, but they swing at him as he moves through. Two of them hit, knocking him unconscious. Goldpetal claws at the skeleton on top of him, but misses. Chuck shoots at the scorpion, but misses. He turns around and shoots three times at the nearest rat skeleton, hitting it. Miriel casts a Sound Burst at the skeletons, injuring five and stunning four. Two skeletons attack Telryn and hit him. The scorpions are increasingly frustrated.
Paks swings at the skeleton in front of her, hitting it, killing it and cleaving through to the next one, who unfortunately is prepared and tries to hit her, but his blow bounces off her shield. She swings at him, but misses. Darmaon bleeds. Goldpetal stands up and moves past the skeletons back into the previous room. He sniffs the cauldron. Chuck tumbles through the skeletons towards Telryn, attacking one of the non-stunned skeletons. As he tumbles past, one of the skeletons attacks him, but misses. He hits the skeleton. Miriel moves over to Darmaon and heals him. He's conscious again. We hear the scorpions still scrambling at the wall. The three skeletons by Telryn swing at Chuck, but miss. Two more attack Paks and Miriel, but miss.
Paks swings twice at the skeleton that attacked her, hitting it and killing it on the second blow. She steps forward and cleaves into the skeleton attacking Miriel, hitting it. The last skeleton attacks Paks, almost hitting her. Goldpetal backs up and tries to jump over the skeletons to Telryn, but falls short and splashes into the cauldron as he falls. Luckily he completes his fall outside the cauldron, but he is unconscious. The three skeletons swing at him, two of them hit. "Hoarfrost!" Chuck swings at the skeleton he hit before, hitting it. He draws his short sword. Miriel moves over to Telryn and heals him, but he doesn't move because he's still paralyzed. Darmaon stands up and attacks the skeleton Paks is fighting, hitting it with a sneak attack and killing it. Two skeletons swing at Chuck and one attacks Miriel. One hits each of them.
Paks swings at the one in front of her twice, but misses. He swings at her and hits. Chuck swings at the skeleton again, hitting with Hoarfrost and killing it. He swings at the next one, hitting it. He swings again with Hoarfrost, but misses. Miriel stabs twice at the skeleton next to her, but misses. Darmaon tries a sneak attack on that one, but misses. Telryn is still paralyzed. The skeleton by Chuck attacks him. The one by Miriel attacks Darmaon, but fumbles and trips over his spear. Miriel attacks him as he trips and hits.
Paks swings at the skeleton by her and hits it. She swings again, but misses. He swings at her and hits. Chuck swings at the skeleton next to him, hitting with his short sword and killing it. He steps over to hit the one near Miriel. Miriel spears the one in front of her twice. Telryn is still paralyzed. Darmaon attacks with both of his short swords, hitting and killing it.
Paks swings at the one in front of her and kills it. Miriel calls out that she is too worn out to cast anymore and someone should help Goldpetal. Paks goes over to heal Goldpetal. Chuck puts a bag over Goldpetal's head and leads him through the room, explaining to him that he's keeping him safe from the murals. Goldpetal tries to bite his way out of the sack. Once Chuck gets him out of the room, he steps behind him and pulls the sack off. Chuck apologizes again, but Goldpetal turns and gives him a good scratch anyway. Miriel asks to rest again. We find a sleeping room, which is covered in straw and rat bedding. Miriel sits down to rest while Darmaon and Goldpetal search and Paks guards the doorway. Goldpetal finds some rat man money; he is unimpressed. Darmaon finds a silver trinket.
Moving on, we find that the passage is sloping upwards, so Paks suggests turning around and going back to the forge. We find another three-way intersection. Paks looks down one corridor and sees an empty room. She asks Goldpetal to come up and track, but he says the ground is too hard-packed. Chuck says this is a heavily travelled area, with both rats and bone golems. In fact, there's one now! Coming up from below is a bone golem, carrying a heavy sack. Chuck moves forward to attack it.
Paks hurries forward to attack it as well, but misses. Chuck drops his torch, draws Hoarfrost (Hoarfrost!) and hits it. Miriel watches our backs. Telryn asks if they need help, but Paks and Chuck say they can do it, it just takes a long time. The bone golem keeps moving through us, single-mindedly. Paks, Chuck, and Darmaon all hit it, smashing it to pieces. Telryn immediately looks in the bag and finds it full of dirt. Chuck goes to look down the way the golem came. Paks guards the other direction. Miriel lies down. Telryn goes to Goldpetal. Darmaon also watches our backs. He sees a golem coming with an empty sack. He tells everyone, but they say to let it go.
Goldpetal turns back into an elf and asks Telryn if the creator of a golem can know when it is destroyed. Telryn thinks about it, and says he thinks it is unlikely. Chuck comes back and explains where we are, and that he has found a place for us to rest. We go down near the spiked pit and Chuck sets an alarm. Paks suggests that Chuck mark the golems going by so we know how many have passed.
Miriel lies down to sleep. Telryn opens the spellbook and we hear a huge bam. We are injured by the blast. Goldpetal is knocked unconscious again. As Telryn flips through the book, all the pages seem to be blank. Miriel grumbles at him and goes back to sleep. Chuck sees a golem come up the stairs, and he marks it, but it ignores him. Ten minutes later a golem comes down with an empty sack. It's not the same one. After ten minutes, a golem comes up the stairs. They keep moving past, at irregular intervals. After about an hour, Chuck hears the alarm in his head. As he's looking around, something grabs the sleepers by the ankles and starts pulling them. Dead eaters!
Two grapple Darmaon while one grapples Goldpetal. Another grabs Telryn around the chest, but he's so startled that the burst of adrenaline lets him break free. One grapples Miriel and bites her. One tries to grab Paks, but she shakes him off easily. Another tries to grab Chuck, but Chuck kicks him loose.
Darmaon attacks with both swords and hits twice, killing one. A dead eater attacks him and bites him. One attacks Telryn and misses. The one holding Goldpetal bites him. The one holding Miriel bites her. One attacks Paks, but misses her. One attacks Chuck, and bites him. Goldpetal changes into a panther. Paks swings her long sword at one and hits it, killing it and cleaving through to the one grappling Miriel, but misses. She swings again and hits it. Chuck draws Hoarfrost (Hoarfrost!) and hits the one next to him. Miriel tries to break free, but fails. Telryn grabs his wand and magic missiles the one that tried to grab him, repeatedly, killing it.
Darmaon swings with both swords, hitting twice and killing the dead eater. The dead eaters holding Goldpetal and Miriel tries to bite them, but both miss. A dead eater claws Chuck. Goldpetal tries to break free, but fails. Paks swings at the dead eater holding Miriel, hitting it and killing it. She cleaves on to the one attacking Chuck and kills it. Chuck attacks the one attacking Darmaon, killing it.
Chuck and Darmaon decide to start taking out golems while the rest of us sleep. Chuck takes two pitons, ties a piece of rope across the corridor at knee level on either side of us. A golem walks up from below, trips on it, and falls over. Chuck hits it with both swords, repeatedly. It starts to stand up. Darmaon hears something coming from the other direction, and sees a group of three rat men coming down the corridor holding a table in front of them. The alarm goes off and we all wake up.
Telryn takes out a scroll, reads it, and touches Paks. She begins to fly, and flies over the rat men. She hits one, killing it, and cleaves into the next one, hitting it. Chuck swings at the bone golem again, smashing it to bits. He goes back the other way to see what is going on, lighting a torch and leaving the lighted dagger for Darmaon. Goldpetal gets up and heads for the rat men, but is stopped by the spiked pit and the table on the other side. He decides to pounce over the table. He leaps over and grapples the rat man, biting and clawing it. A rat man shoots Chuck in the back. The two rat men next to Goldpetal hit him, and knock him unconscious. The rat man under Goldpetal pushes him off and stands up. Darmaon waits with sword drawn.
Telryn casts Light on the table to light the area for Paks. Paks swings at the one Goldpetal attacked, killing it and cleaving through to the next one, but missing that one. She swings again, but misses. Chuck retreats out of the line of fire, grabs the lighted dagger, and tosses it a bit down the hall so he can see what's there. One rat man leaps over the table and runs away. Another tries to flee past Paks, who hits him hard. It leaps over the table and runs away. Chuck suddenly sees a globe flying past him; it shatters right between him and Darmaon. Bruning purple sand splashes out of it, lighting the whole area. Miriel waits for someone to need her. Darmaon calls out for Miriel, so she gets up and goes to him.
Telryn goes towards the pit and peeks around the corner to see what's going on. He sees the lighted table and Paks flying. Paks lands and casts Cure Light Wounds on Goldpetal. He stops bleeding, but remains unconscious. Chuck draws both swords and runs down the corridor towards the table. Two rat men shoot at him; one hits. Chuck stabs one of the rat men over the table. The rat man Chuck attacked drops his crossbow, draws his scimitar, and swings at him, but misses. The other two step back and fire their crossbows at him. Both miss. Two more rats appear and take two shots at Paks; one hits. Darmaon waits for Miriel, who heals him. He waits again with sword in hand.
Paks calls for Telryn to come fetch Goldpetal, then flies towards the rat men coming at him, hitting one. Chuck swings both swords over the table again, hitting with Hoarfrost and killing it. He ducks down behind the table. The other two rat men run away. The other two swing at Paks; one hits. Miriel goes back to the spot where we were resting and tries to sit, but Telryn tells her that Goldpetal is down and Paks has called for help, as he moves down the corridor to the lighted table.
Paks swings at the rat man in front of her, getting a critical hit on it and killing it, cleaving through to the other one. She steps forward to trap it. The rat man swings at her, but misses. Miriel heads down the corridor and skirts the pit, then climbs over the table with his help and takes a look at Goldpetal. Telryn waits to protect Miriel.
Paks swings twice, but misses. The rat man swings at her and misses. Miriel examines Goldpetal but can't do any more for him. She suggests to Telryn that they put the table over the pit to bridge it. Telryn climbs over the table and pours a healing potion into Goldpetal, who wakes up.
Paks swings at the rat man in front of her twice, killing it. We discuss what to do next, and finally decide to go to the stone room by the firepit to rest. Paks leads us through the closed door into the crypt, then through the secret door which is still propped open, then takes a right, goes down the staircase, opens the door, we're in the round room. Paks asks Darmaon and Chuck to re-enable the fire trap, and we cross into the room we want to rest in.
Miriel pulls out her sourdough starter and some flour and starts kneading it, then puts it in her cooking pan and covers it with a cloth to rise. Miriel asks Telryn how long his flaming spheres will last, but when he tells her six rounds per level, she says it'll be a while before she can use that for baking, so she'll use the firepit. She asks Chuck to wake her in two hours.
Telryn settles down with the tome on bone golem construction. It's slow going, since it's in Slytherin, but he puzzles it out. After two hours, Chuck wakes Miriel, she makes two loaves of bread, and tells him to wake her again in an hour. When she wakes again, she casts Bread of Life on one of the loaves and Paks, Goldpetal, and Chuck eat pieces. We rest through the eight hours. Miriel casts Bread of Life again and keeps the pieces. Goldpetal casts Cure Light Wounds on Chuck twice. Paks heals herself, Goldpetal, and Miriel.
Darmaon and Chuck disable the fire trap again. Telryn casts Mage Armor on himself. Chuck casts Summon Nature's Ally into the center of the circular room. He summons a large dog; nothing happens, so he motions to Goldpetal and sends the dogs running across the room and up the stairs. It reaches the closed door. Chuck follows, up to the closed door. Goldpetal follows him and listens at the door, but doesn't hear anything. Paks sends the rest of the party back while Chuck opens the door. Chuck tries to open the door, but it won't budge. Paks comes up to try to help. They both struggle with the door for a while, and finally get it open. Chuck takes the two pitons it was spiked with.
We listen at the next door, but don't hear anything. Chuck pulls at it again, but can't get it open, even with Paks' help. Telryn casts Bull's Strength on Paks and Chuck. They work hard at it and finally get it open. We go through and find the bone wall. Chuck steps around it, trips over a wire, and six clay orbs are shot at him. He manages to dodge a bit, but five of them hit him. Chuck drops and rolls to put the fire out. We come to another door and Chuck and Paks try to open it, and it opens easily, and two crossbow bolts shoot at them. One hits Chuck. Paks heals him. Chuck checks for traps again and sees that there was a string tied to the door and attached to a crossbow. He admires the workmanship of the trap and then of the crossbow. Paks notes that all the arms we have seen here have been of very good quality.
They move on into the crypt. Chuck looks around, but doesn't see anything. Paks watches his back. Chuck tries to push the door open with his food, and two bolts shoot out and imbed themselves in the altar. The rest of us follow them down. Once again Chuck takes the lead, and we get back to where he had set the trip ropes, but they are gone. Miriel heals Chuck and Telryn. Paks heals Darmaon, Chuck, and herself. Miriel hands bread to Paks and Chuck. Paks tells Goldpetal to watch our rear.
Paks heads down, followed by Chuck. Darmaon moves forward to look for traps. The path slopes down very steeply. Telryn stops us suggests making Goldpetal invisible so he can scout. Telryn casts Invisibility on Goldpetal.
After waiting about 20 minutes, Goldpetal comes back, and lets off a
loud roar in Paks' ear. Paks swings in that general direction.
Goldpetal backs off and turns back into an elf. He describes what he
has seen.
Telryn suggests that he can do an area dispell to Dispell the darkness
and the bone wall. Paks leads the way. When we get close enough,
those with spells on them back away while Telryn casts the Dispell.
The darkness goes away, but the wall of bones is still there. We can
now see that the wall goes floor-to-ceiling. We look around - we're
in a steeply sloping dirt tunnel. Chuck listens at the wall, and he
hears a regular squeaking sound, and also a low buzz. Chuck moves
forward and takes the mace from Paks and bashes the wall. As he
prepares to swing again, an awful charnel smell comes up from the
ground. Darmaon retches, and we all feel weaker.
A mist appears around us and we all start coughing. We back up out of
the cloud. Chuck bashes the wall again. Suddenly, the ground starts
swarming with insects, which bite him. He hits the wall again. Paks
calls him to come back. Telryn fires off a lightning bolt down the
corridor, shattering the wall of bones, and crosses a huge natural
cavern which we see briefly. The floor seems to be swarming in bugs.
Telryn shows Darmaon how to use his wand of Burning Hands and Darmaon
leads the way across the cavern, firing off the wand as he goes.
Chuck hands him the glowing dagger. We see a huge cavern, with a
giant pit in the center. The whole area around the pit is swarming
with insects. We see a huge winch with a chain going down into the
pit. We see two bone golems pumping and we see a small stream of
water coming out. The walls of the pit are covered in bugs as well.
The noise of them is deafening. There's a faint cloud over the pit,
and the smell of corruption is almost overpowering.
As Paks and Miriel look at the room, they feel a great sense of dread,
while Goldpetal just feels a sense of great power.
Darmaon drinks a potion, then starts climbing up the walls. Telryn
moves forward, pulls out a scroll, and casts Stinking Cloud.
Goldpetal moves forward, directly in front of Telryn. The wolf rats
near Darmaon start climbing up the walls to attack him. Two bite him,
one fumbles, but manages to hang on to the wall. He hits the one that
fumbled with a sneak attack, killing it. Miriel casts Bless on
everyone; it seems more difficult than usual. Two rat men shoot at
Darmaon; one fumbles and misses, accidentally shooting one of the wolf
rats. One shoots Telryn. The priest moves over, really quickly, and
casts a wall of hornets near Goldpetal and Telryn. The invisible rat
man in the bone armor starts coughing. Paks casts Divine Favor on
herself. Chuck puts his boots in his back and drinks a vial of Spider
Climb.
Darmaon attacks a wolf rat with both short swords, hitting once.
Goldpetal moves through the wall of hornets. The wolf rats attack
Darmaon, but all miss him. Miriel waits for someone to need her. Two
rat men shoot at Darmaon, one hits, the other misses and hits a wolf
rat. The other rat man seems to be aiming at Telryn, but he doesn't
shoot. The priest gestures, and the insects around him grow giant.
He drinks a potion, and he's suddenly harder to see. The necromancer
is still coughing and retching. Paks flies over the wall of hornets.
The rat man with the crossbow shoots at her, but misses. Four ghoul
stirges swoop down from the ceiling. Miriel pulls out her symbol of
Madriel and attempts to turn the stirges. They blow up. Paks flies
over the pit, which looks really deep and dark. She gets to the other
side, behind the rat men. Chuck climbs up the wall and fires at the
priest, but misses.
Darmaon tries to drop on the injured wolf rat, with his sword pointed
at it. He falls onto it with his sword, driving it into the rat. The
rat falls off the wall, as does Darmaon. Darmaon manages to tumble
and land on his feet. Telryn activates his ring of deflection, then
does a Dispell Magic spell in the area of the shaman. Two of the
giant scorpions disappear, and the shaman is no longer blurred.
Goldpetal casts a Flame Strike at the necromancer. His armor
disintegrates. Goldpetal runs in the other direction after casting,
getting bitten by the insects. The wolf rat Darmaon dropped on stands
up and tries to bite him, but misses. The other one crawls down the
wall and tries to bite him, but fumbles. Darmaon swings at it and
hits it. Three rat men shoot at Paks; one hits. The shaman moves
towards Goldpetal and Paks, and thorns shoot out of his hands, hitting
almost everyone in front of him. The wall of hornets is dispersed.
The wolf rats are killed. The shaman moves forward into the stinking
cloud. The scorpion moves towards Goldpetal and tries to sting him.
The necromancer is still retching. Miriel waits for the priest to
come out of the cloud. Paks flies over and drops down near the
necromancer and swings at him, while hovering. She hits him hard.
Chuck shoots at the scorpion twice, but misses. He shoots one more
time and gets a critical hit, killing it.
Darmaon is bitten, then climbs back on the wall out of the range of
the insects. He shoots at one of the rat men, but misses. Telryn
magic missiles the necromancer. Goldpetal does another Flame Strike
on the necromancer, killing it. Some of the damage splashes over onto
Paks. One rat man shoots at Goldpetal, one shoots at Chuck; both hit.
One swings a scimitar at Paks and hits her. Another shoots at Paks,
but misses. The priest steps out of the fog cloud. Miriel tries a
Hold Person on him, but he resists it. His hand is glowing purple,
and he tries to touch Paks, but misses. Paks swings at the priest
with a smite, hitting him. She swings again, but misses. Chuck
shoots at the priest three times, hitting him twice.
Darmaon shoots at the priest, hitting it. Telryn fires off some magic
missiles at the priest. Goldpetal draws his bow and shoots a rat man,
killing it. A rat man shoots at Goldpetal, missing. Miriel waits
until someone needs help. The priest tries to touch Paks again, and
hits. Giant wounds appear all over her body. Miriel casts a Searing
Light on the priest, killing him. Chuck shoots one of the rat men,
killing it. He shoots another twice, but only grazes it. He climbs
along the wall behind Miriel. Darmaon moves down onto the cleared
area of floor. Darmaon shoots one of the rat men, hitting it. Telryn
magic missiles the remaining two rats, killing one. Goldpetal shoots
the last one. The last rat man charges at Paks, who swings at it,
killing it. The bone golems continue to pump, but the room is clear.