A/N: Hellooooo Everyone! How're you all doing today? I'm doing great! Man I never expected to like this Role the Dice story this much! Man I am having so much fun rolling the dice for this story, nor did I expect to find a little cheat to rp as a dragon using the Dragonborn Character Race! Anyway, I am happy for those who decided to Follow and Favorite this story! It is really encouraging that this has happened, and I am looking forward to continuing. Just so you guys know, this is my first time actually DMing a Pure Dungeons and Dragons Story, so while I will be following the rules, I hope you guys will forgive me for flubbing a good number of the rules, because it has been years since I last acted as the Dungeon Master for a Game or a Story in general. So for those who get triggered by this blatant disregard, ignorance, or other such complicated word that shows I'm breaking the rules, I apologize ahead of time, I'll try to get better as we go!
Now I have begun to figure out what I intend to do for my dragon's three main attacks: Bite, Claws, and Tail. When I finally get my character the Dragon Hide Feat, then I shall be able to differentiate which is which. As you know I chose the Unarmed Fighting Style for my character, and for now, at least until I can get Dragon Hide, I will be having it that his Unarmed-Unarmed Attacks will be his tail, and his Armed-Unarmed attacks will be his claws, and they shall deal an extra 1d6 Thunder Damage, as I had set up in Session 0. Aside from that, giving him his draconic movement options, his visual abilities, and a few other things, he will still be played like a dragonborn. Other than that everything is currently hunky-dory, so anyway, I hope you're going to be excited for this chapter and all of the next chapter, cuz I honestly have a few things planned that I think you guys might like. Also, I will be breaking the Fourth Wall and making a ton of references to different media as we go along.
Anyway, I think that is enough out of me! Please be sure to Follow, Favorite, Review, and Share this story with anyone you know who likes Dungeons and Dragons content! Catch ya on the Flipside! NAT 20!
Session 1: I Smell a Ratman
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" The person before him asks, smiling at him.
"Who are you?" Drug asks, looking at the stranger before him, tensing a little just in case.
"I am the man who stumbled upon you when you crashed into those trees… Possibly due to stomach problems from what I can see…!" The Tiefling says, smiling, "My name is Damosarion Oscuros, but please, call me Damos!" The tiefling says, smiling at the Dragon, who seems to calm down a bit. "So what is a Dragon like you doing out here, should you be in the Underdark?"
"Well it's a bit of a long story…" Drugo explains, and goes to recite what he feels comfortable with about his backstory (A/N: Read Prologue for the details). The Tiefling holds his chin with a nod on his face, "So yes, I had crashed not too long ago thanks to my upset stomach forcing me down to the ground."
"I see… Well you were lucky I found you then, most people would try to enslave a Sapphire Dragon if given the chance!" Damos says, to which they both hear sizzling as the tiefling is cooking what appears to be a boar on a metal spit. "Hungry?"
"Well I did void my stomach, so yes, I am!" Drugo says, drooling a bit, to which the Tiefling carves off a section of the boar and passes it to the dragon on a plate, who heartily eats it up whilst Damos says a prayer.
"May this meal be blessed by Bel, so that it may sustain me in the battles to come, and to him I give thanks for allowing me to prove my might one more day! Amen!" Damos prays, and then digs in with a smile on his face. "MMM! Boar tastes so good this time of year!"
"It does taste good, despite not having any spices! Doesn't beat the taste of Giant Spider though!" The dragon says, smiling as he devours his share. "So question, are you alone?"
"Yes, I was actually on my way to the next town, though I'm wondering if it would be a good idea if a Sapphire Dragon like yourself were to join me there!" Damos says, looking at him.
"Especially considering my coloration…" he looks at the black scales that make up his body. "I'm not sure if I would be welcomed or not…" Drugo then sits up, using his hind legs and tail for balance, in which he then realizes that, unlike other dragons, his body is somewhat humanly proportioned, and, as an experiment… He attempts to stand up bipedally, with his tail acting as a balance… Only for the weight to cause pain in his hips and he falls back onto all fours. "Ow!"
"Trying to stand on two legs? Considering your weight, I don't think that is a good idea!" Damos says, snickering at the dragon for his attempt, to which Drugo's crystalline horns flare in annoyance at this. However, the two continue to eat the boar and keep conversing until they finish eating. Once the meal is done, they begin to make their way on the road, in which Drugo slowly grows more and more nervous as the town comes into view. The final approach is nerve wracking for the dragon, who notices the guards, walking towards them.
"Hold!" The guards say, "What is your business here in Long River?"
"We merely seek shelter for the night, sir!"
"And your dragon?"
"I mean this town no harm, sir! I was recently cast out from the Underdark by my own mother and clutch, so I seek only to make a name for myself!" Drugo explains, looking directly into the eyes of the guards, who look at each other… Then both look at the dragon more closely… And they notice the starburst patterns on the black dragon's body, and how they seem to be moving with the setting sun.
"Alright, but cause any trouble, dragon, and we shall be making armor out of your hide!" One of the guards threatens.
"Yes sir…" Drugo says, sighing in relief.
"As for you, Tiefling, we can see that you are a Cleric of War, but we shall let you inside, but the warning applies to you as well! You will be seeing your god sooner than expected if you cause any trouble!"
"I shall do my utmost to abide by the law!" Damos says, clearly annoyed, but complying. The two enter town, getting a good number of looks from the people around them, some giving leers to Damos, whilst others express confusion at Drugo, who seems a bit nervous. Thankfully, with Damos leading the way, they find their way towards what appears to be a Tavern of some sort, and there appears to be a decent crowd inside but… Pressing his ears to pick up on conversation, he begins to hear some interesting things as they find a table on the outer edge of the crowd.
"Did you hear? Old Sev's farm got hit!" A patron says.
"Him too? Geez, that's the third one this week!" another says at the same table. "What is going on these days? First old Mak's farm gets hit, then several others as well…! They not only eat our harvests, but the mess they leave behind is annoying!"
"And to think rats could get that big!" A third patron says. Upon taking a seat, they are met by a waitress, who looks at them.
"Hello, young masters, what might I get for you today?"
"We'll take whatever is special for today!" Damos says.
"Well that is just some beef stew, thanks to some situations that have been happening recently…" The Waitress says.
"It doesn't have anything to do with rats, does it?" Drugo asks.
"Yes, recently, we've been seeing a huge boom in the rat population, in which large packs of Giant Rats have been appearing and wreaking havoc on our farms. What's worse is that we don't know if this is the work of a Wererat commanding a pack of rats, or if it's just a bunch of normal giant rats, so we've been burning what hasn't been eaten by the rats to make sure that any Lycanthropia isn't contracted from eating it." The Waitress says.
"Is it possible that we could investigate the latest attack to ensure that we can determine if a wererat is involved?" Damos asks.
"Sure, I can sign you up along with the others who have offered to investigate."
"Others?" Drugo asks, to which the Waitress looks to another table nearby. At the table, Drugo can see that there is… A Genasi, a woman whose eyes and hair seem lighter than it should be, a Shifter, possibly a Longtooth if his instincts are right, and finally… Is that a Dhampir?
"Yes, let's move you over to them!" The waitress says, smiling as she leads the two over to the table. "Excuse me, I found two more who are willing to join you in your little extermination!"
"Good…" The woman with lightly colored hairs and eyes says. "Come on si-" She then stops as she sees Drugo… "Is that a wyrmling?" Everyone at the table looks at Drugo, shocked to see one of his kind here, but the one who was most excited was the Genasi Woman, who looks at the dragon.
"My god! This is amazing!" The Genasi woman says, looking at him, "I've never seen a Sapphire Dragon before, but this coloration, he's extra shiny!" That is when the Dhampir walks over and starts touching him as well.
"It's like he's a living statue made of Black Sapphire!" The Dhampir says, not touching him as enthusiastically, it's more like she is studying him, as if examining a piece of fine artwork. The Dragon, feeling their hands along his scales, begins to purr at their touch, the tips of his crystalline horns and tail spikes spinning rapidly, happy at the touch. The Genasi… With her deft hands, begins scratching Drugo's scales, the dragon purring more, in which the Dhampir does more, scratching under his chin… Drugo… Purrs loudly, enjoying every bit of it. Damos finds amusement in this big lizard acting like a kitten that is indulging in the attention of it's owners.
"Sooo cuuute!"
"Yes, more please!" Drugo says, purring, to which the girls look at him with shock. "Please… More…!"
"You can talk?" The Dhampir asks, looking stunned. "Interesting!"
"Amazing!" The Druid says, smiling. "Oh where are our manners!" She smiles as she looks at the group, "My name is Ember!"
"I am Fiona Bloodmoon…!" The Dhampir says, smirking.
"Longclaw…" The Shifter says, to which a little head pops it's head out from under his cloak.
"Annamina Van Helsing…" The woman with bright hair and eyes says.
"I am Damosarion Oscuros and this is…" Damos says, looking at the dragon.
"Drugo'Naigo…" Drugo says, the stars on his cheeks turning from white to bright red, whilst his floating crystalline horns shrink with embarrassment.
"That's an interesting name…" Annamina says, looking at the dragon.
"It's actually an insult…" Drugo says, "It means "Impure" and "Useless"."
"Well despite it's meaning, it's actually a fun name to say, it almost sounds like two different languages being said at the same time in one name!" Ember says, smiling at the dragon, who looks at her, having heard that line before, and in his mind, he remembers pure white skin, dark brunette hair that reminds him of chocolate, and green eyes that remind him of a patina forming on bronze. Unable to resist the nostalgia and longing, Drugo uses his tail to wipe the tear coming down his eye.
"Thank you… I really appreciate that!" The Dragon says, walking to the table and sitting down, only for the little creature to climb out of Longclaw's cloak, to which everyone sees it's a white drake with red wings, eyes, and spinal crests. "A Drake!"
"Yes, he is quite beautiful, isn't he?" Longclaw asks.
"He is indeed!" Drugo says, to which the little dragon, the size of a cat, walks over the table and jumps on top of Drugo's head, curling up and going to sleep, the bigger dragon purring. "Adorable!"
"So…" Damosarion says, taking his seat at the table, "We were told you would be helping us with dealing with the rat problem these people are facing?"
"Yes we are." Longclaw says, bringing out a map of the town, to which the waitress brings the group their meals whilst taking Damos and Drugo's orders. "The Rats, as we have seen, have, somehow, been surgically striking specific farms along the outer edge of town… As we pretty much just got here, we can't tell what is going on just yet, but we have been able to gather some information about the town."
"As I've been able to discover, this place, Long River, is built alongside a great river that flows from the South-Western Border of the Eastern Kingdom of Russia, and the North-Eastern Border of the Western Kingdom of Ukraine, it also acts as a point of intersection of West and East." Annamina explains, "Long River is along the Southern Edge of the River, but this town does have something of a bad reputation that is not entirely it's own fault."
"How so?" Drugo asks.
"Well…" Annamina says, trying to remember… "Based on what I can remember from my questioning earlier, it turns out Long River does have a reputation for having a string of bad luck with Lycanthropes over the centuries, even worse than my hometown…" She then looks at the map, "Specifically Wererats… As far as I have gathered, every few decades or so, a Wererat appears and starts causing trouble in the village, though it's motivations are unique for each ratman. However, Fiona did manage to pick up something earlier."
"I don't know if it is true or not, but a couple decades ago, there was an incident involving an Archdruid who had come into these lands to provide blessings and aid in the harvest, in exchange for being allowed to make a sacred grow of the forest north of the town. The agreement was struck and things had been going smoothly until the Archdruid fell in love with a beautiful woman from an aristocratic family." Fiona explains, "The two lay with each other, and the woman had been begot with child. The druid was willing to marry the noble woman, but the noble lord, who had claimed the druid had raped his daughter, had the man burned at the stake, whilst the mother of his child was forced to watch as her love was burned alive, and his sacred forest burned to ashes. In her grief and anger, she cursed her father's name and swore that her child would get revenge upon the people who betrayed her love, especially her father, the Lord of Long River."
"If that is the case, maybe there is something we could do?" Drugo asks, "I think we could possibly talk with the townsfolk to see if this story is true, if so, then we may be able to find a way to satisfy the Ratman's lust for vengeance, in exchange for leaving the town be."
"It's possible, but do you think the nobility beyond this town would sit idly by whilst one of their own was murdered?" Longclaw asks, "We have to think this through before we commit to anything!"
"Then let's eat, and start gathering information, then we will meet up back here before nightfall!" Damos says, to which everyone nods as they all eat their food. Strangely, they find something delicious in their food, but out of the group, Drugo, Ember, and Annamina feel a pep in their step and feel their tongues becoming more… how to describe it, argent? Unbeknownst to them, in the kitchen, a man smirks as he looks at the group who had been discussing this, his ears picking up on everything.
"Oi, Master!" The man says, turning to a dwarf who is minding the mead. "I've got a feeling that we shall soon be rid of the rats! So, the next round is on me, good sirs!" Every patron in the establishment smiles as the man pays his boss to buy everyone a round, much to the amusement and pride of the dwarf, who starts serving up drinks. Everyone is given some fine mead, in which the man brings the mercenaries a set of tankards filled with mead that has been enhanced with cherries and fireweed honey, though Drugo is given a bowl filled with the stuff. The group shrug their shoulders and crash their tankards together, drinking heartily, unfortunately, Drugo, Ember, and Longclaw immediately have their faces turn red. Ember and Longclaw immediately call for water… While Drugo just goes silent…
(A/N: The DC was 7… Ember and Longclaw rolled a 6… *Pales* Drugo rolled a Nat 1… Now I need to roll Severity… *Rolls* Oh… My… God… A 1! A FREAKING ONE!)
Drugo looks at the group in front of him, all the starbursts on his body turning red as the floating pieces of his horns and tail barbs widen and flare as he begins snarling at his team like that of a beast. He slowly crouches down and leaps at Damosarion, swinging his fist. However, Damos, noticing his comrade's state, blocks the oncoming attack, and then forces the dragon to the ground, before muttering a prayer. He channels divine magic into his fist and punches the spell into the head of the dragon, and the beast collapses. "What the!?" One of the patrons asks, "What happened here?"
"This dragon is still only a wyrmling… So he can't hold his liquor, and thus was acting belligerent." Damos explains, "I hit him with Protection from Poison, as liquor is a type of toxin, and I hit him hard enough to knock him out. He should be back to normal in say… An hour or two! So nothing to worry about people, just enjoy your drinks!" After things calm down, the patrons simply laugh the matter off, saying how Long River's Liquor is too much for even a mighty dragon to drink. As for Ember and Longclaw, after drinking heavy cups of water… They manage to cleanse themselves of the toxins. With this, the group separates to explore the town and get some information from some of the townsfolk.
Damos, Fiona, and Longclaw…
Damos, Fiona, and Longclaw make their way through the town square, wondering where they should go to ask for information, and fortunately, they manage to find a place that seems to be welcoming, a church! The Temple they enter is one to Obad-Hai, a God of Nature and Master of the Elements. The inside of the temple is one you would see from any church, only there are living trees, growing flowers and plants within the temple, and upon the wall is a mask made of acorns and oak leaves where the priests pray to the God. "Welcome…!" The Priest says, stepping forward, who smiles at the group of adventurers. "What brings you here, my children?"
"We seek information, Father…" Damos says, stepping forward, "We are investigating the Giant Rat problem that this town is facing, only difficulty is that we've run across a strange story that might end up making this investigation that much more difficult."
"Come sit with me, my children, and I shall answer what questions I can…!" The priest says, leading them to a chamber. Once inside the chamber, the priest locks the door and closes the curtains, "You've come to speak of the Archdruid's child, have you not?"
"You knew?" Longclaw asks.
"I was the one who helped bring the child into the world and blessed him with the grace of Obad-hai not twenty years ago. The Archdruid that was viciously burned alive was my friend, and the Noble who burned him is not loved amongst the people here." The Priest says, "But where are my manners…! I am Father Dorian, a cleric of Obad-Hai, and the leader of an underground resistance against the accursed noble who rules this town."
"Why would you isolate us like this?" Longclaw asks, "We do not seek you any harm!"
"It is because I need your help…" The Cleric says, offering them seats. "The Noble who rules this town, Mathos Basilius, is a ruthless man who has, over the past two decades, been growing more and more unstable, and we do not know why. Whats more, when his daughter gave birth to our leader, the Lord of the Rats, he had her brutally tortured and publically executed for "betraying the noble blood and defiling herself with a disgusting lesser blood". The man used to be a good and wise ruler, but for some reason, over the past two decades, he has rapidly fallen into a spiral of madness, and his insanity has only been growing worse. He's now arresting people who disagree with him…"
Damosarion places a hand on his chin thinking, "Has there been any other things that have been strange recently, aside from this King of Rats causing havoc?"
"Well I have been noticing something odd recently… He seems to be placing new windmills in locations that are rather odd… We don't know why, but I've been to these places and I can only sense Fiendish Energy within those places." Father Dorian says, "My adventuring days are behind me, but I can mark the locations of these windmills so you can investigate the area." Longclaw nods and offers the map, so they can locate these windmills.
"Do you have anything of this man's clothing?"
"No, but I think I can do something better…!" Father Dorian says, bringing out a ring made of blackened steel with engravings on it… Damosarion takes the ring and examines it closely, and his eyes widen with horror as he concentrates, casting Detect Good and Evil, finding the aura of Fiendish, specifically Demonic, energy flowing off it. "Oh Great Obad-Hai!"
"This is Abyssal… The Language of the Demons! No offense to your god, but FUCK!" Damosarion says, "We've got a demon here! And based on what you've told us, we're all in trouble…!"
"Why is that?" Father Dorian asks, to which Damos takes lengths of string and connects the locations of the Windmills, and the Cleric gasps in shock. "My God, a basic Teleportation Circle!"
"Yes, fortunately, from what I can tell, the demon seems to be just getting started, and the Rat King has been delaying things, so we have some time…" That is when they hear some cackling, and they all turn to see an Imp pulling himself up from under one of the desks. Father Dorian is about to attack it when Damos stays the man's hand and offers his arm to the imp, which it begins chittering and jabbering in Infernal, to which Damos nods three times. "Alright!" He then quickly writes down a note, "Take this to the Genasi Woman, she will need this information!" The Imp yips and vanishes.
"An imp obeying a tiefling?" Father Dorian asks.
"All you need to know, Father, is that I am connected directly by blood to one of the Archdevils of Baator, but when it comes to Demons, we devils are more than willing to aid the common folk." Damos says, "You have my word that once this demon problem is taken care of, after my group and I resupply, we shall leave!" Damosarion kneels whilst placing his ringed hand over his heart, showing his deference, humility, and honesty to the older and more powerful cleric. Dorian looks at the devil before him, and, though conflicted, he nods in agreement.
Meanwhile, with Ember and Annamina…
Walking to the farms, Annamina and Ember take a look around the farms that have been hit, and, after looking at their copy of the map, for some reason, the attacks seem to happen at the storage houses near the windmills, which are all located near a cluster of farms each. "So each of these attacks have taken place at the farms closest to the Windmills…?" Ember asks, taking a look at the damage caused by the giant rats, and she begins to examine the earth.
"Apparently so… Though, for some reason, I feel rather uneasy about this place…" Annamina says, looking around as she keeps her hand on her crossbow. A raven croaks near them, and, getting an idea, Ember sits down in meditation, mumbling chants in Druidic as the Raven notices her, and in ten minutes, her eyes glow slightly as she gently stands up, holding her hand to the Raven, the bird flying down to her. "Ember?"
"Hello there, dark one… I have a favor to ask of you… Have you noticed anything odd happening over the past day or so?"
"Rat King… Destroy Crops… Topple Sail Trees…" The Raven says to her, "DEMONS!" The raven flies off as Ember and Mina look around, seeing the chicken coop exploding as what appears to be these demonic bird-like creatures that appear out of the shattered building. They slowly approach the two women, with three of them charging forward, only for a roar to echo overhead, and everyone turns to see, descending from the clouds just in time is a welcome sight, a black dragon covered in starburst patterns Descending from above them and landing in front of the girls, and, drawing upon the reserve of strength within him, unleashes two bursts of his powerful breath weapon, destroying both chickens in that one attack.
Feeling Relief and confidence built within her at this display of power, Ember's body glows with flames as she transforms herself into a Tiger, utilizing the power of her Wild Shaping abilities. With this next movement, she holds herself steady as she sees one of the Abyssal Chickens charge at her. Readying her fangs for a fatal bite, she tenses her body and zeroes in on her target.
Mina looks at the chickens before her and decides to take aim with her hand crossbow, finding a chicken that is making it's way towards her in the front. She bites the tip of her thumb and wipes a small amount of blood onto the crosshairs of the crossbow with a smile, and with a quick pull of the trigger, one of the chickens is obliterated.
One of the six remaining Abyssal chickens charges up and jumps towards Ember, who smirks internally as she opens her mouth as wide as she can, biting down on the abyssal fowl. With one quick snap of her jaws, the chicken is taken out swiftly. Another jumps into the air and flies down onto Drugo, who looks up to see the bird, being reminded of the chickens he once took care of as a youngster, and how one jumped off the roof, flapping it's wings rapidly. The creature descends rapidly and manages to snap at the dragon's nose with it's razor sharp teeth, but misses it's talons raking at the dragon. Another Chicken jumps at the dragon as well, biting into his neck… and Also missing with it's talons… A third follows close behind… and lands a bite on his wing's elbow… But it's talons miss the wing membranes. The remaining two chickens jump at Mina, who is stunned to see the birds fly… The First… Manages to sink it's teeth into her armor, but doesn't cut through, while it's talons… Don't even pierce… For the Final Chicken… Second verse is the same as the first…
Back up the list… Drugo gets really annoyed with these chickens and swings his tail… Using it like a whip to bash the chicken on his wing to pieces. Ember jumps at Mina, sinking her teeth into one of the chickens on the woman… Biting it clean in half. Mina, on the other hand, aims her crossbow at the other annoying bird that is on her, and, knowing this is a bad idea, takes aim and fires… Burning this chicken away in holy light as it disintegrates. Back to the two remaining chickens, the first clinging onto Drugo's nose, the bird bites down harder and rakes the dragon with his talons, the big brute roaring in pain as he shakes his head violently. The other chicken, hearing his compatriot's efforts, goes for his own attacks, biting deeply into the dragon's flesh, whilst slashing with it's talons, Drugo roaring in pain as the injuries get worse. Drugo, having enough of this, swings his tail and kills one of the chickens with one blow, and Ember, noticing her comrade's pain, bites down on the Chicken on Drugo's nose, tearing it to pieces with one powerful bite.
With all the bodies of the chickens around them, Drugo collapses to the ground, groaning in pain as his wounds bleed. Hearing footsteps, guards rush over to the group, all of them shocked at the appearance of the chicken corpses lying on the ground, but all of them don't appear to be normal chickens. Mina has some bite marks and scratch marks on her, whilst Drugo is bleeding badly from his injuries. "What's going on here!?" The Captain of the Guard shouts.
"We were investigating the Rat Problem Long River is suffering from…" Mina says, "However, when we came to investigate this place, to try and find clues, we discovered these Abyssal Chickens running out of the chicken coop…" She looks at the guards, who examine the corpses whilst the Captain looks at them.
"And the Dragon? Why is he bleeding?"
"He managed to cull three of the chickens in his first attacks, and so the birds focused on him instead of the rest of us…" Ember says, looking over her friend, whose nose, wings, and shoulder is bleeding from his brutal injuries. Listening to the testimony of both of the ladies, whilst the dragon seems to be struggling to stay conscious from his injuries, and the man thinks carefully on it, but smirks as he reaches into his bag, and slowly brings a bottle and a rag. Drugo looks at the man, who kneels next to the dragon. "What are you doing?"
"Holy Water…" The Captain says, "I don't know much about demons, but just in case these things got any abyssal diseases or poisons in your friend, best to clean the wounds with this." Ember nods, to which the man wets the rag with the holy water and cleans the wounds, Drugo cooperating with the man, snarling from the pain, but does his best to endure the pain. Afterwards, the man gives the dragon some healing potions, whilst Ember heals his injuries with a purifying pale light that smells of peppermint. Whilst not back to full strength, Drugo feels much better than before, but then notices a little something and walks around the corner, and notices a tiny creature, which seems to hold a scroll in it's hand, placing it on a pile of hay before vanishing. With Mina and Ember walking with him, but missing the being, they find the scroll, and open it, their eyes going wide as they see it's a message.
Later...
Night falls as the group returns to the Tavern, and they are given food and drink, and they begin to explain everything that happened, Drugo begins to think on what is happening, and a fear fills his heart, one he hasn't felt since… "Drugo!" Ember says.
"Huh?" Drugo asks.
"You okay? You're rather quiet!"
"Well considering I nearly got torn apart, by chickens no less, I'm both terrified and ashamed! This is beyond embarrassing for me! I nearly got killed by dinner!" That is when the waitress brings in a whole roast chicken for Drugo, who would facepalm if he could.
"Oh the irony…" Longclaw says, snickering, "You nearly died by chickens, and now you're having chicken for dinner!"
"Not funny, you damned wolf!" Drugo says, indignantly, "Now I apologize for what you are about to see!" He then starts savagely attacking the chicken and eating every bit of it, even the bones with nothing but rage in his eyes. Everyone decides to ignore him as Damos reveals what they learned from Father Dorian, but speaks quietly in order to figure out a plan.
"Wait a minute, Drugo, how did you manage to get out of your stupor?"
"Well…" Drugo says, swallowing the last of his chicken, "The guy who bought us drinks actually gave me a bit of medicine to clear my hangover, and then told me where you guys were…" Drugo says, to which the man smiles and walks out the backdoor, in which the group rises from their seats, telling the waitress they will have their dinner when they come back in a few minutes, and the group walk around the back of the tavern as the man descends into the cellar, from the outside entrance, leaving it open behind him.
"He's wanting us to follow him…" Damos whispers, figuring it out. "Drugo, take the rear, I'll take point!" Everyone nods and decides to allow the order and following Damos is Longclaw, Fiona, Mina, and Ember, with Drugo taking up the rear. The group descends into the Cellar, in which everyone walks down the stairs, in which everyone finds torchlight in the big room at the bottom of the stairs, with the doors closing behind them, Drugo not reacting fast enough to see who it was who closed the doors behind them.
"I am glad you enjoyed the drinks I offered earlier…" The man says, smiling as he is sharpening a shortsword that has been silver plated. "And I'm glad you managed to find your friends, Drugo'Naigo…!"
"I am thankful you managed to get me back on my feet… But… Why?"
"Because I made a promise long ago to my mother to bring vengeance upon those who had burned my father alive… Unfortunately, when I returned, all but one of them were dead… Now only one remains…" The Man says, standing up as his bald headed and handsome Half-Elven face transforms into that of a humanoid rat. "Greetings weary travelers, I am Algernon Greenwood, the Rat King of Long River…" They then all see Giant Rats crawl out of the woodwork, transforming into Ratmen and Ratwomen, but they don't seem to be acting aggressively. "And I would like to hire you for a job… The Details? We're going to rid this place of the Demons that are beginning to infest this town!" Everyone looks shocked at this, but there is only one thing that Damos says with an overjoyed smile on his face.
"FINALLY!"