After a few hours of traveling through dark and dusk you finally return to town just in time to make it in long before any rats come out. You do see common rats on your way in and wonder if they communicate with the bigger ones but you don't spend too much time thinking about it.

S'Sikaar and Daremo bid you a farwell once in the city limits still holding on to the prisoners from earlier. Daremo announces he will take them back to the town guard to turn them in.

Upon entering the tavern you are greeted once again by Orin who looks a bit weaker judging by the stance he takes near the bar. He gives you a small smile and then puts on a fire so that you have some light before getting warm inside.

No one is inside the tavern except for some common folk who quickly leave drunk long before they get caught out in the darkness of midnight.

Aeress barely had anything left in her pockets after her long series of misadventures, and as relieved as she was to be back, felt exhausted and crestfallen.

But before she did anything else she had to have an ale.  That was a lie she'd need at least five.  She drained the first one with astonishing quickness, it was gone in mere seconds.  The second last perhaps a third of a minute.  The third was staying around a bit, but it wouldn't be long for the world either.

She let out a long, slow, low moan.

As they reached the Tavern, Lirian was exhausted. She went to check Redmane, just to be sure it was well, and then to the main hall to eat something. Strangely enough, she then realized she hadn’t eaten anything since morning, living only on adrenaline, so to say.

While having something to eat she thought about the day. She then realized the backpack she was carrying was not hers, but taken from the cages’ room (OOC: see post #49 in “The Rescue?” thread), assumed from the dead mage, and she decided to see what was on it. Maybe something that could identify it (so telling his family about his demise), or anything useful if not…

Once her stomach was full, she invited Orin to sit with them (assuming he was not busy with other patrons). “How do you feel?” she asked him. “I’m afraid we’re not much closer to find a cure than we were past night, though we have some clues to follow, but at least we hope we have hindered those spreading the plague a little… Be sure we’ll keep on it”

"Orin, old chap!" Hunter exclaimed on seeing the blond, slender man. "We've had quite a battle, and gave a purple monster rat ogre a good thrashing, and found something that might be helpful in solving this disease. It's been quite an adventure.

"Some food might be in order; we're all about done in.

"Jenkins, barricade the door. Put a table and some chairs in front of it, so they'll make noise and take time getting in. Then have a look around this place, find any other entrances or exits. And say we retreat to the stairs, can we get out from upstairs or would we be trapped there? Have a look would you. And bring a mattress down here, I'll sleep here tonight."

"Yes Master. What are you going to do?"

"Oh, I'm going to take a nap. All this talking has exhausted me. Don't take too much noise." With saying that, he pulled the biggest softest chair into the darkest corner of the room and slouched down in it, feet up on a small stool, a spare vest draped over his eyes.

Jenkins dutifully began dragging a table over to the door.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:16, Sat 11 Nov 2023.

Aeress put her ale down long enough and spoke.  It wasn't a threat but she wasn't being flippant either.

"Stop that immediately.  While I appreciate what just happened to you, this is a tavern.  A business.  The tavernkeeper will not appreciate you boarding up the door of his public house and preventing his customers from entering.  Not to mention leaving, there are plenty of people here who will not be staying so long, they have responsibilities in the morning.

"Also your reasoning is flawed, what if there is a threat in here, do you not wish an unimpeded route of withdrawal?  Moreover these good people are not subject to your whims even if you have been abused.  Again I say stop that or I shall stop it."

Lirian looked at the argument among Aeress and Hunter.  As most arguments, both had their share of reason on it…

“Shouldn’t that be Orin’s decision?” she asked to both. “After all, it’s his business, and both of you have a point. On one side, we assume they have this place under surveillance, so, they knowing we’re here there’s danger, and I don’t believe many customers would appear after midnight. On the other side, Aeress is right that someone can come, be it to seek lodging or refuge if attacked by rats, and, as it’s said, “make it difficult for your enemy to get in, and you would be unable to get out”...”

She left the issue for Orin and turned to Quentin

“I guess you have your instruments to analyze the samples here” she said. “And I guess you’ll want to do it fresh, after having slept to begin with it. Have you any idea of how long can it take? Needless to say, if there's any way I can help you just have to ask.

And, by the way, I also guess we can trust your dogs for keeping watch, as we’re all tired and need some sleeping…”
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Sat 11 Nov 2023.

Quentin takes a seat to drink a glass of wine and eat something with a lot of meat and not a lot of vegetables. "Relax." he tells Aeress "No one is coming before sunrise, we just make sure everyone willing to leave had left." He bites, chews, swallows and takes a sip. Lirian eventually says that people might come after midnight, but Quentin very much doubts it. "Bad news, Orin, not sure if they are news, is that the average life expectancy is about a week, with rather tight a distribution, and average mortality is, like, one hundred percent." He bites, chews, swallows and takes a sip again, while Orin has some time to consider consequences. "Good news is we are alive and maybe a little bit wiser... well, call it three little bits in case it helps. So trust us, we are actually working on the problem." Quentin then bites, and chews again, apparently just working on a piece of meat. He then swallows. "I want you to take a good care about the live rat I brought in. Feed it and stuff. I might want to run some tests on it in due time, or just observe the life cycle. It is dangerous, so have that in mind." He then devotes some more attention to his dinner and, when he's done with the meat, proclaims: "I'll want an empty table and a lot of light. For me, it's going to be rather busy evening." He finishes the wine with one last gulp and goes to fetch his belongings.

He returns with a moderately-sized bag, which he handles with ease and care. You soon learn why: the bag contains a lot of delicate glassware, mostly, but not exclusively, empty. He sets some of it on the table and starts some process including distillation of something. It seems like it is going to take some time. "Okay, this should replenish those fire breath potions and produce some extra. Now to our finds." Quentin turns his attention to the vial that should reveal... well, us, or something. He checks to make sure it is safe to drink. No known poison, not some acid or something. He does not expect it to be, but why not take some care? Assuming it's safe, he takes a small sip and looks around. "Well, then, I see what I see. You can look for yourselves, but I'm not sure if we will or will not need the rest of the concoction." He is prepared to describe what he sees if people prefer not to deplete the potion. Then he takes the mysterious syringe and starts running more fancy tests. Right off the bat, he is not going to inject himself or anyone, but would like to still have enough for one piglet, baby rabbit, normal-sized rat or, failing that, a normal-sized mouse. Making sense of the sample that he is thus left with does take some skill...

Taking an edge: Power Points

I guess a successful alchemy roll might tell Quentin a bit of what contents there are, while a successful healing roll after that might tell him what effects those contents should have on a recipient.

23:43, Today: Quentin Fox rolled 4,3,4,2 using 1d8,1d6,1d8,1d6, rerolling max.  Alchemy and Healing on the contents of the syringe.
23:42, Today: Quentin Fox rolled 3,3,6,10 using 1d8,1d6,1d8,1d6, rerolling max.  Alchemy and Healing on the potion.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Sat 11 Nov 2023.

Jenkins ignored the tall woman biggun and kept dragging a table over to the door.

Faint snores came from the chair.

Piper took a seat atop the bar, not entirely sure what exactly was going on, but curious enough to wait and listen and see.

As Jenkins got the table almost into place there was a cacophonous yowl from outside before a mighty thump caused the door burst partway open, sending the table sliding back.  Through the partially open door a massive tomcat looking creature sauntered through.  The gray tabby was nearly the size of one of Quentin's dogs and looked about the tavern intently  before setting its eyes upon the bar and suddenly pouncing.

Piper jumped up with a shout of surprise but rather than jumping away she launched herself at the beast, intercepting it mid jump and clinging to its face and head as it alighted atop a barstool.  Piper pounded her small fists against it as she shouted, "Mosii you big dummy!  It's all your fault I got stuck in that cage!  Where did you go?  Run off after something dumb I bet, just leaving me napping like a fool!"

There was more pounding of fists and some choice words in Mouseling, but eventually Mosii curled up atop the barstool and Piper shifted herself to nestle rather comfortably into it's fur.

"So what exactly is going on with all these rats?"  Piper eventually asked, the brief bit of drama dismissed as if it hadn't even happened.

Jenkins leapt back in shock and fright, a shrill shout on her lips when the "attack" turned out to be friendly. She shook herself, visibly shaken, nervously peeked out the door, and then quietly closed it. The threw a chair haphazardly on top and disappeared out the back.

Getting inside, Kai dumped his backpack and weapons on a chair and table, before giving a stretch and feeling over where his wounds were, that are as if nothing happened thanks to the magic used on him.

"Good idea." Kai called out at the door being barricaded. "I am way too tired to be dealing with being attacked. Though if they came in another way, blocking our only exit may be a bad idea."

"What I do know is, food and drink certainly wouldn't go amiss."

Quentin comments as he continues his work: "Well, there are windows, especially second-floor windows, and there are stables. If they are to burn this whole place down, we'll probably escape into the streets. Not ideal, given what we might meet on the streets, so I would think about it later. Tonight we are probably stuck as we are."

Orin looks at a Hunter with a bit of questioning look. "I am assuming you have seen something?", he says to no one directly. "Let me get some stew in some bowls. I have some left over dinner this evening. Every please sit and rest."

The man brings out bowls of food and puts them around the table. He nearly leaps from his skin when he sees Piper. "A Mouseling? By the gods, these are strange times indeed. Such a rare heritage."

Outside the sounds of the world go silent. You don't hear much in the way of noise or anything else which is usually a good sign for you.

Aeress was in a bit of shock how casual all these people were with the place, but the proprietor didn't seem to care and Lirian was right, if the proprietor didn't care there was no argument to be had.

She shook her head.

"We have seen many things goodman."  Aeress responded, savoring her precious ale.  Then she remembered how she got there.

"The shopkeeper! I must go arrest him!  How many people has he done this to?"

"Shopkeeper, hm? Which one that is? And, more broadly, how did you people get there?"

Quentin is totally willing to tell what is going on with all these rats, but he first needs to finish what he's doing in #7i and get the results narrated by GM. He does not mind if Lirian tells things instead.

Lirian took Piper and raised her to the table so that they were more or less at the same height and she could eat something too, offering her anything that she could use to sit (a turned down empty bowl, or something like that). Then seeing Quentin was too busy for it, she began to tell all rescued prisoners what they knew about the rat problems, though she tried not to blame the rats themselves, afraid to offend the Mouseling.

Used to tell histories, and feeling her audience also needed some entertainment after so tiring a day, she tried to tell it in the most entertaining way, as if she was performing in the square or streets…

08:04, Today: Lirian rolled 2,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max. Perform while telling the situation, just for RPG

From now on. unless the GM tells otherwise, all other characters may act on the information in the threads Lirian has been on

After telling what she knew about the rats, and seeing Quentin was still busy with his experiments, Lirian took the backpack she had taken in the cages room (assumed being from the dead magician) and looked at its contents. There were some notes, mostly unrelated with the issue at hand, some personal belongings, but nothing that could help her to identify him.

“Well, whoever he could be, there’s no way I can notify his family about…” she thought.

Then something caught her attention. Wrapped on a cloth, there was a strange book. It had reinforced covers and a lock on it. It was locked, and there was no key among the belongings. All of this intrigued her.

She studied the lock deeply, trying to know how did it work…

9:04, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 1,7 using d6,d6, rerolling max.  Notice: studying the roll to have DMs to picking it. I guess a success that would give a +1…

After some minutes studying it, she removed a hair pin from her hair and tried to pick it to open the book (it won’t give any DM as a lock picking set would, just justifying doing it)

19:05, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 2,8 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+2)8.  Thievery: picking the lock. As she has no lockpicks, -2 DM making the rolls 0,6 If the previous roll gives the DM: 1,7. Success, unless there are DMs due to lock difficulty

Quentin injects the rat with a sample of a little bit of what is left in the injector saving just enough. The rat at first seems to fall over and start breathing hard. Seconds go by and the beasts breathing slows down to a crawl. Even longer goes by and suddenly the creature starts breathing rapidly, the size of it begins to grow at a pace that shows a bit of slowing but not much.

The sudden rat growth stop you from testing the potion itself. Everyone around the table watches at the rat gets bigger and bigger. It's fur seems to harder and more stiff.

Orin looks at the beast in horror, "What did you do to it?"

The rat looks up from the table with green glowing eyes and gives a sequel as it continues to get bigger and more rage filled.

OOC: Lirian we will deal with the book after this.

Seeing the rat growing, Lirian took her staff and set herslef on a guard state, lowering Piper to the ground again, and began to rook tables and chairs aside, leaving space just in case the rat freed itself and must be combated.

OOC: has she recovered any PP? (I'm not sure how long have they been in the Tavern relaxing, as I don't believe any have been recovered on the way, being a quick one)

OOC: No until you rest your PP is the same.

"I won't attack until you say or until it atacks" Lirian said to Quentin, not wantin to interfere on his experiment, but ready if needed to avoid the rat to do any damage.

She took a defensive stance, her staff on her hands, keeping at about 2 yards ot the growing monster

OOC: Lirian sets herself at range 1 (staff reach, but too far for a sweep to affect her) on hold. If the rat frees itself or if quentin orders it, she will act.

As soon as the rat starts to grow, Quentin makes sure of the following:
1. That the rat gets blind and remains knocked out (or gets knocked out again before the bonds burst; using two stabs of the scalpel and as many blows to the head as necessary).
2. That the bonds are updated and refreshed as it grows.

Quentin is very impressed by this disregard of conservation of mass, which quite thoroughy refutes his hypothesis that this is a chemical requiring food and time to work and hints at the stuff's very magical nature.

The next thing to learn would be the stability. And for that, he'll need this specimen alive and safe. Both ways. Though maiming a bit should be non-problematic.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:16, Wed 15 Nov 2023.

Quentin quickly knocks the creature out which eventually stops growing. It seems that whatever is in liquid left that was injected caused the creature to grow to the size of a dog, similar to the ones you fought earlier.

OOC: Common reason stands that the disease itself is not a magical disease, it's an after effect of whatever is being put into these creatures to mutate them. It also stands to reason that likely the big brute creature that nearly killed Kai was one that was highly experimented on.

"Okay, Orin, what I did to it seems to be what they do to them. This interesting for quite a number of reasons. First, they don't breed and raise these monster rats. They get them just like that, provided normal rats are plentful. Which means no huge need for food or space, but definite need for this wonder drug, which seems to me utterly magical. Which means I cannot study it much other than trying it out on dogs or what not, but not sure how much use would be that if they turn aggressive." Then a thought struck Quentin. "We'll get it bite something some time in the morning. I wonder if it'll be infectious or not. I was of the assumption that growth and infection were independent, but if the growth is all-magical, they don't have to be." Having the rat bound and stored, Quentin then turns to the potion. "Now this thing here..."

Seeing the rat incapacited, Lirian relaxed herself.

She sat down (though not turning her bakc to the rat and Quentin and keeping her staff and shortsword hadny, just in case) and offered Piper to return her to the tables to finish their supper, and she turned again to the book, raising her eyes to Quentin and his experiments from time to time just to be sure everything went OK.