This time the plan came from Druidly: lure rats to the entrance one by one, put them to sleep with a spell, then finish them. The idea worked for precisely one rat; the rest fled deeper into the barrow.
A few steps farther in they found more rats. Druidly’s attempts at communication were wasted — the party suspected the rats did not understand Common. He cast a magical missile to strike a sleeping rat he found, killing it. Two rats down and so far no party wounds.
The remaining rats retreated, dragging their dead behind them. Bancroft shuddered to imagine what use the rats might have for carrion.
Druidly and Bancroft proceeded deeper, closing the entrance to the rats’ lair. While Druidly searched for something to plug the pipe trap on the statue, Bancroft braced the rat trap door with scorpion viscera.
After a brief pause to check for skeletons, Druidly pried the opals from the statue and set off the trap. A greenish cloud of poison gas spewed into the room while he frantically stuffed the gems into his bag and held his breath. Bancroft slipped north beyond the other secret door to wait out the gas while the others remained near the entrance.
When the gas dissipated the party collected their caltrops and returned to town.
They received about 50 gp apiece for the gems. Jaenelle used the money to bribe an innkeeper and then promptly indulged in a scandal that left the party shaking their heads.
The next day they returned to the rats’ barrow to consider the lair. Two large rats sat atop the nest while more lurked in ambush along the north and south walls. Druidly put the central rats to sleep, but they were awakened by rats inside the nest. Several party spells had already failed, so the sensible decision was to return to town and rethink strategy. Bancroft could hold the line in a narrow place and Druidly could put rats to sleep, but if they entered the nest they risked being surrounded and overwhelmed.
Burning the nest was an option but Druidly objected, worried there might be scrolls among the detritus. The party needed a way for Jaenelle and Irulan to thin the rats with missile weapons quickly enough to avoid being overrun.
