Te'rue Wererat Stories - 1
#1 of Te'rue Tales
A first person account of the history of a man turned wererat and of how his fellowship tried to help him find a cure. Tried being the keyword. Enjoy the drama and the humor of events as they unfold. (This is Part 1.)
The thumbnail is from the old 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, back when they made wererats look sexier than they should have. Compared to werewolves, these guys were hot.
**Te'rue Wererat Stories by Ratseye Winesewer September 13th, 2012
1.**
Where to begin. I guess it is better to explain where we were when the event happened. And in doing this, you will learn who I and my fellowship members are.
I was on one knee as I knelt in front of the old door using my lock picks to carefully turn the tumblers in the lock. At least I had been doing that before I switched tactics to removing the trap from the lock. "Poison trap. Someone really doesn't want us going in this way, guys."
The northerner wielding a massive spiked club grunted one time. "I don't see why we couldn't just storm the front gate." Yes, he was our human barbarian. Haw'zarr the Jackass, or so he claimed. "Why must we always do the sneaky thing?"
The elven beauty in red, gold, and orange robes replied, "If you fancy fighting through Lord Kelthorak's warrior assassins as fun, then be our guest, Haw'zarr." This lady was our most powerful wizard, Aeloanthea the Firefrosted Falcon. Battlemage of Fire, wot? "Personally, I do not wish to waste any spells simply in gaining access to the old city tunnels."
The half elven lady in green wearing a vine wreath in her braided hair rolled her eyes as she glanced at the man in the shining red and silver armor. "Can't you do something about them, love?" This woman was our cleric of Faiala the living goddess.
And the red human knight she spoke to was the party leader, Sir Argos Rhodes. "They are merely venting a little steam. But upon my oath to Torm-Katholos, we will win this day and bring the riches of the ill-gotten forth to our employer." Yep, a paladin. The joy killer of any adventuring party.
I simply chuckled as I finished up with the trap and lock. You guessed it; I'm a rogue. Unlike these other fancy gents and ladies, I don't have surnames, titles, nor warning sigils around my name. My working name is Te'rue. If you want to know more, get to know me first. And bring gold and a meal. I don't work these jobs cheaply. I used to be a hireling until Sir Rhodes offered me a place in the fellowship. Don't know why I accepted his offer. But that meal later certainly helped. Didn't like the bath following though. There is such a thing as being too clean.
I stood up and opened the door for the others. "We are in, my friends, and I use that term loosely. Gold is my only friend."
The barbarian had his club pointed toward the open doorway as he looked as pale as a sheet. "BUG!" And he then leaped to the attack and his club immediately struck the giant spider enough times to awaken the demon queen of the drow in the underdark. He then panted as he sheepishly looked at the others. "Sorry. I hate creepy crawly things."
The red knight sighed as he shook his head and patted the barbarian on the shoulder. "No more bug, big guy. Now let's go get rid of the kobolds and goblins."
After entering, I brought up the rear of the party. Being in the rear often gave me quite the view of the lovely backsides. Better those than looking at the barbarian's hide covered rump. If you have seen one barbarian backside, then you have seen them all. And this was one I did not want to see.
The first small patrol of creatures we encountered were some goblins with crude weapons and leather vests. They even had pet wolves with them and even though the cleric didn't want to hurt the animals, once they tried to bite her, she smacked them with her enchanted mace. Trust me... I know it is enchanted.
When we encountered the kobolds they didn't react the way we expected them to act. They were nervous but polite, surprisingly enough. In exchange for not killing them, they told us where all of the goblins were hold up at in the tunnels, where all the traps were laid out, and where all of the hidden treasures were stashed. But then came something we weren't expecting... the warning. One kobold told us to avoid the shrine of the grain mouse or we would be very sorry. We hadn't heard of this before and before we could ask more about it, the kobolds fled.
"What do you think that was about?" asked the half elven cleric as she glanced around the now empty kobold meeting place.
"What does it matter, Madame Pointy Ears?" I remarked with a smirk. "They basically told us about a new location with good treasure in it. I say we go have a look at least. It might be stolen."
The paladin led the way further into the tunnels. Although he had no intention of leading us to the shrine of the grain mouse, something told me that we might end up there eventually anyway. I mean, stealing from shrines was naturally a bad thing. But if the loot was already stolen to begin with then we would only be getting it back for the rightful owners. Hey, I'm a thief! Sue me!