Session 4: A Rat Trap Report
General Summary
The Peacekeepers are on a new case involving some vandalism at Ratti Farm. A rat under some sort of magical spell was left in the barn, causing trouble for Rodolfo Ratti. The party was able to deal with the rat, and through some investigation, they found that Farmer Ratti suspected a kobold of doing the deed. Not just any kobold, though. He thought it was Snitt who was running for Town Council.
The Case of the Rat Trap
Snitt was a red kobold found outside of Town Hall. He was obliged to help the party and answered every question he could. He claimed to have an alibi for the previous night, he was with Stormi Fellwater at The Tall Stone trying to garner support for his own cause. With that, the party had a new lead to investigate.When Vincenzo approached her at The Tall Stone, Stormi was eating lunch. From the beginning of the conversation, it was apparent that Stormi did not like the Peacekeepers. Regardless, she still answered his questions, although vaguely. Finally, she said that the magic used on the rat was likely transmutation, which she did not believe any of the town's residents could do on their own. She said that Emil at The Loyal Sword was known to sell shoddy spell scrolls when he could come across them.
At The Loyal Sword, Nonna took the lead and spoke to the owner. Surprisingly, she did not have to do much persuading to find out that Emil did sell the spell scroll in question. He said it was to a yellow kobold miner.
The trail led them to Queen Den, a blue kobold leader at the mine. She told them that about a dozen yellow kobolds worked under her. As they further explained the crime to her, she said it reminded her of one named Clint, who was fond of rats. The party went towards his tent in the camp, but he spotted them and began to run. Most of the party gave chase, but the ladies went into his tent to investigate.
Through clever spellcasting, Rocco tripped up the fleeing kobold with an unseen servant. Quick as ever, Mario caught up to the downed kobold and shackled him. They took him back to his tent. There, the girls had discovered rat cages and the same contraption attached to the cage. The devices were timers that released the rats when they went off. Clint was not very clever and stumbled into an admission of guilt. He said he wanted to prove to Farmer Ratti that kobolds were not underestimated.
The Peacekeepers returned him to the courthouse and turned him over to Deputy Taldahk.
The Earthquake at the Mine
Over the next week, The Peacekeepers continued with their regular duties while also doing some side work. Things seemed to be going well for them in town, and everyone seemed to be adjusting to their new life. That's when the next earthquake struck suddenly. Vincenzo was quick to suggest that they go straight to the mine since it was there that they sensed magic for the ley lines before.Once they arrived, they saw that there had been a cave in and miners were fleeing the mouth of the mine. One said that monsters were coming out, and the walls were glowing green. He also warned them of a giant worm with a beak that seemed to be digging through the tunnels. Without hesitation, they heroically charged into the mine to save trapped miners.
They were immediately swarmed by giant cave bats that angrily attacked them out of fear for what was happening around them. Once they had fended off the flying rodents, they entered the workroom and found two dwarves and a kobold hiding. With the path out now cleared, they began to leave. The kobold gave them two healing potions and told them that another miner, Minto, had been lost. He was last seen on the third floor.
They then headed for the elevator to take them down. They were attacked once again, this time by two small fire elementals. Rocco tried to talk to them, but they were far too angry about the sudden burst of magic that had caused the earthquake. They were forced to defend themselves and then put down the two elementals. During the fight, one of the elementals exploded, badly injuring Mario's left leg.
They decided to go directly to the third tier of the mine where Minto had last been seen. As they stepped off the elevator and turned right, they were ambushed by cave goblins. The goblins came at them from both sides of the tunnel, trapping them.
