Xander gives a nod, he thinks for a second, the smell of burning fire fills the area.

Maybe rats respond better to smell than sound

"I would really prefer not to sit up here for five minutes firing arrows on a pack of rats, so good luck."

The adventurers continue south.

Gnorlin and Xander are up front, behind illusory-Gnorlin (is he still here ?)
and the illusory-bonfire.

Gnorlin's bonfire is visual, with Xander's added smell, but emits no heat or light.

The narrow passageway opens into a chamber where there are many tiny holes near the bottom of the old stone walls,
where small undead rats scurry to and from.

The illusory-bonfire moves into the room, illusory-Gnorlin (?) and the adventurers behind it.

Although the illusory-bonfire is not a true bonfire, the small undead rats seem entranced by it.
They scurry from their holes and begin piling atop each other, soon converging into two distinct shapes.

Two undead rat swarms !
Entranced by your illusory-bonfire.

Map !
https://drive.google.com/file/...O80HZMojn-9cMB-/view
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:39, Sat 30 Mar 2019.

Cricket chirps a bit, looking at the rats curiously. Mmmm rats. Good eating. Cricket quietly makes the sound of sizzling meat while looking the swarms over, just so his group can hear him. But then again, someone said something about zombie rats, and zombies aren't good. At least, he assumes so. He doesn't really see the problem with them. They could make excellent menial laborers. Hmmm...maybe zombie rats could serve a purpose too. Used in larger societies to...hunt...bugs? Cricket shook his head and looked at the swarms again, pulling an small rod from his belt, and keeping his spear ready in his other hand. He had little to say, and simply imitated the sounds around him idly. Rats, breathing noises from his companions, the light clatter of gear. Gotta keep that mimic ability finely honed.

Matrim quietly says to his companions

"It might be best for you who can affect larger groups at once. I could wade into a swarm, but it would take me a while to get all of them with my hammer. Opinions?"

Taking a large sigh Gnorlin nods his head as he draws his daggers, "I agree, I feel wading in there may be our only option. If they were normal rats I could simply cause them to slumber, but zombies don't sleep."

---

Initiative for when we go...
06:46, Today: Gnorlin Parkputter rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

Crossbow Bolts: 21
Inspiration Dice 0 of 2
Spell Slots; LVL 1: 1 of 4
                 LVL 2: 0 of 2
This message was last edited by the player at 14:18, Sun 31 Mar 2019.

If they are entranced enough to the bonfire, maybe we can lure them back to that cliff?

Xander test this by having the illusuon of Gnorlin move past the rats.

09:29, Today: Xander rolled 18 using 1d20+3 ((15))

Xander moves illusory-Gnorlin past the undead rats,
towards the opposite side of the chamber.

A few undead rats leap and scratch at illusory-Gnorlin, before returning to one of the two undead rat swarms,
which remain in almost the same position, still entranced by the illusory bonfire.

"Now might be a good time to try that whole 'throw some lantern oil and set it ablaze' thing."

Gnorlin acts on a hunch and moves the fire to the far south-east corner.

Ok, I'm not really sure what I want these rats to do,
so I'll leave it up to the dice roller.

On a d6:
1-2 = rats swarm together into mega-zombie-rat-swarm (shaped like a rat) and attack pc's
3-4 = as above, but rat-swarm attacks illusions
5 = rat swarm disperses, rats swarm over adventurers, rats run back through the holes in the walls
6 = rat swarms disperse and rats run back through the holes in the walls

DM rolled 4 using 1d6.  rat actions.

Gnorlin moves the illusion of the bonfire towards the south-east corner of the chamber.

The undead rats swarm together into one large mass.
A mass of writhing undead rats, now one creature, shaped like a rat,
known as mega-zombie-rat-swarm.
It moves towards the illusion of the bonfire and thrashes about in a wild manner.

"Enough of this!" Gnorlin exclaims as he steps into the room and to the left (his left so that would be east) to allow the others to also enter. He hoists his crossbow and fires.

---

ACTION: 06:53, Today: Gnorlin Parkputter rolled 15,9 using 1d20+4,1d8+2.  Crossbow to-hit/ Damage.

I also rolled this previously...

This message was last edited by the player at 12:55, Wed 03 Apr 2019.

Initiative: Matrim Rogthor rolled 9 using 1d20+2

Matrim will move into the room, making himself known to the rats, but does not approach. He will hold his action, so that when the rats get into melee range, he will attack two handed.

Gnorlin will hit with the crossbow, hurt the Mega-zombie-rat-swarm, and draw its attention towards the adventurers.

Xander can keep that 18 initiative he rolled earlier, and declare an action for round one of combat with the Mega-zombie-rat-swarm.

DM rolled 15 using 1d20+4.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm Initiative (DEX)

Initiative
Gnorlin 21 - crossbow
Xander 18
Mega-zombie-rat-swarm 15
Matrim 9

Matrim may as well make attack rolls now.

Xander will cast Faerie Fire, Dex save DC 13. If failed all attacks against super Mega-zombie-rat-swarm will be made with advantage.

Just going to hold off on the roll to see if I have advantage.

Round One

Initiative
Gnorlin 21
Xander 18
Mega-zombie-rat-swarm 15
Matrim 9

Gnorlin shoots and hits the rat-swarm, skewering multiple rats,
and drawing the rat-swarms attention towards himself.

Xander casts Faerie Fire !
DM rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm (DEX)
Each object in a 20-foot cube within range is outlined in blue, green, or violet light,
except for the rat-swarm who managed to contort its shape in a unique way to avoid the spell.

Gnorlin and Matrim have stepped into the room,
while Xander and the other adventurers are at the entrance.
The illusory-Gnorlin and illusory-bonfire stand idle in the room.

The rat-swarm shambles forwards to between Gnorlin and Matrim,
then pushes in against Gnorlin (entering Gnorlins 'space' if we were using a grid-map and miniatures),
and attacks Gnorlin with a multitude of tiny bites and scratches.
DM rolled 22 using 1d20+6.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm attack
DM rolled 12 using 3d6.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm damage

Gnorlin is shredded (but lives!),
by a multitude of tiny bites and scratches.

Matrim ...

Kvanlanir moved into action as the rats swelled and shifted, sending an arrow into the thick of them.

Init: 18
Action: Attack with Longbow
Result: Crit AC 27, for 10+7=17 Piercing + 3+2=5 (22 total)
Special: Pushing Maneuver, Str DC 14 vs being pushed 15 ft

11:37, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 7,2 using d8,d8.  Crit Damage.
11:36, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 3 using 1d8.  Pushing Longbow,  Dmg. Str 14 vs 15' Push.
11:36, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 27,10 using d20+7,d8+3.  Attack w/ Longbow.
11:36, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 18 using 1d20+3.  Initiative.

Gritting his teeth Gnorlin ignores the pain in his legs and counter attacks. Well.. he tries to ignore the pain as his attack is much less accurate than he hoped.

---

MOVE.. none
ACTION.. attack with daggers handed (hit AC 10 for 3 dam), Off-handed (miss for sure)


11:46, Today: Gnorlin Parkputter rolled 3,1 using 1d4+2,1d4.  dagger damage (Handed/ off-handed).
11:46, Today: Gnorlin Parkputter rolled 10,5 using 1d20+4,1d20+4.  Dagger to hit (handed/ off-handed).

[Private to GM: I'm fine if Gnorlin doesn't make it. I've really struggled finding my stride with this character. I have a replacement in mind that would provide very good healing potential for the party.. druid..Circle of dreams.. human variant with the healer war caster feat. Anyway don't alter dice but don't feel like you need to protect him either.]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Sat 06 Apr 2019.

Round 1 - If they are within melee range:

To Hit: Matrim Rogthor rolled 12 using 1d20+4

Damage: Matrim Rogthor rolled 5 using 1d10+4

Round 2 - Matrim will move closer if the rat swarm is not in range

To Hit: Matrim Rogthor rolled 9 using 1d20+4

Damage: Matrim Rogthor rolled 8 using 1d10+4

Xander will stifle a curse. How did the agile buggers do that? Xander drops his dagger and draws old reliable. He fires.

  crit! 13 damage

01:09, Today: Xander rolled 25,11 using 1d20+5,1d8+3 ((20,8)).
01:12, Today: Xander rolled 2 using 1d8 ((2)). Crit damage

Initiative
Gnorlin 21
Kvanlanir 18
Xander 18
Mega-zombie-rat-swarm 15
Matrim 9

Round One, continued

Matrim swings his warhammer, but misses the rat-swarm.
The writhing mass of undead vermin twists its shape around,
making it a hard target.

Round Two

Gnorlin and Matrim have entered the room and are fighting the rat-swarm.
Xander is just inside the room, near the entrance.
Kvanlanir and the other adventurers are at the room entrance.
The illusory-Gnorlin has vanished, but the illusory-bonfire remains (i think).

Gnorlin grits his teeth and slashes at the rat-swarm with his daggers.
He slashes at just thin air as the rat-swarm twists here and there.

[Secret to Gnorlin Parkputter: We could co-ordinate to have Gnorlin spectacularly die in a soon-to-be fight with the big-bad-evil-guy. Your new character could be tied up in the corner.]

Kvanlanir moved into action as the rats swelled and shifted,
sending an arrow into the thick of them !
The arrow thud! squelch!  thud!  eek! squelch! thud! squelch! eek! goes through the rat-swarm skewering many rats on its way through the mass of undead vermin.
Bards for years to come will write tales of Kvanlanirs arrow that held more skewered undead rats than thought possible.

Xander fires his crossbow into the rat-swarm.
thud!  eek! squelch! as even more undead rats are skewered.

The piercing onslaught from Gnorlin, Kvanlanir and Xander has left the rat-swarm very hurt and weakened.
Many undead vermin have been skewered by arrow and bolt and litter the floor on the far side of the chamber.

Nevertheless, the weakened rat-swarm continues to bite-and-scratch at Gnorlin.
DM rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm attack
DM rolled 12 using 2d6.  Mega-zombie-rat-swarm damage
Gnorlin slashes here-and-there with his twin-daggers,
but he cannot fight off the rat-swarm engulfing him,
and is again shredded by many small undead scratches and bites.

The gnome is bleeding in a hundred places.
Blood pours from many wounds on Gnorlin,
as he slumps over in a growing pool of his own blood.
Blood Blood Blooooood ! ! !
Gnorlin is dying !

[Secret to Gnorlin Parkputter: ... or Gnorlin could die here unless healed !]

Illusory-bonfire vanishes !

Matrim again swings his warhammer,
and frustratingly again misses the rat-swarm.

Map !
https://drive.google.com/open?...-qjmdLX2yH42phHXJjuC

Gnorlin falls to the ground coughing blood.

[Private to GM: He could die here... work my new guy in when you can... Bandish Bay. thanks for understanding. Can he start at lvl 2?]

Seeing the pries go down, Kvanlanir sent another arrow flying. Not having access to healing magics was going to make things a bit more challenging. He had known the man for only a matter of days, personally, so the loss to him on a personal level was minimal, but the loss of the benefits would be felt.

Action: Precision Attack with Longbow
Result: Hit AC 15 for 8 Piercing damage

11:21, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 5 using 1d8.  Precision.
11:21, Today: Kvanlanir rolled 10,8 using d20+7,d8+3.  Attack w/ Longbow.

Xander stashes his crossbow and raises his wand. He rushes to where Gnorlin fell and gives a command in sylvan. A deep mist obscures Gnorlin and Xander.

move to Gnorlin, action use silent image to create mist to conceal Gnorlin and myself.