The Rat of King of the Deep

[_RoyalCrafter_ 3241]

The Rat of King of the Deep

[source: KarolinaSt]

 

Introduction

The following is the true story of how the dwarven people gathered to defeat the Rat King of the Deep, who was assaulting Urguan with his rodent minions.

Spoiler

Based on real player events hosted by yours truly.

 

Part 1 - The First Bite

For a few months, the hospital of the Grand Kingdom of Urguan had been infested with by grotesque plague-bearing rats of an unknown origin.

 

Garedyn The Green, who wanted to renovate the hospital, assembled small company of dwarves and a halfling to eliminate this plague, but as they started their work, they quickly realised things would not be so simple. Firstly, although not debilitating, the rats’ blighted fangs spread disease with irritating symptoms such as rashes and vomiting.

 

The initial wave of rats was composed of many small beasts hidden in every nook and cranny of the hospital. Their fangs did little against our dwarven steel, but the rats were oddly coordinated, as if working together or following commands. This would not prevent them from being stomped by our boots, however.

 

Once the filth was cleared out, our dwarves took to scouring the halls of the hospital to find from where these wretched creatures came. From the quarantine room, a chilled and foul breeze filled the hospital. When it was inspected, they discovered large crack in one of the rooms.

 

As our torches lit up the darkness of the cave, a monstrous rat the size of a goat bared its gnarled and diseased fangs, followed by more hoards of its smaller minions. The beast was simple in its attacks, so the dwarves hid behind the walls to the side of the entrance to the cave to ambush the rat, and as it walked past them, the combined assault of the dwarves sentenced it to death immediately.

 

The clean-up was not over, however, as further inspection of the cave in which the enormous rat dwelled revealed a tunnel leading into the depths below.

 

Part 2 - The Giant

On the second expedition, the dwarves reassembled once with Tuzic Mossborn bringing his golem Vengrynn and another golem Ak'Rullaz also accompanying them. Ulfric Frostbeard and Thelgrud Mossborn served as the vanguard of this mission. The tunnel downward was extremely steep, and packed with loose gravel, ensuring there was no safe way down. Still, the party took the risk, and using their metal armour to their advantage, they slid into the darkness.

 

On their way down, Ulfric slid down the gravel with his face, but the rest remained largely unscathed. Once they reached the bottom, they arrived in a foul cavern, smeared from top to bottom in rat blood and faeces, though luckily no rats were immediately present.

 

With no way to climb pack up the gravel slide, the only other way forward was a seemingly bottomless pit. The golem Ak'Rullaz bellowed with its stony voice into it, causing reverberations throughout the cavern. Soon after, almost like the sound of thunder, the horde of rats could be heard echoing from below.

 

In the blink of an eye, the dwarves and the golems were surrounded by the beasts once more, but just as quickly, they put them down.

 

Not wanting to delay any longer, Garedyn The Green leaped forth into the bottomless pit in front of him, placing all his trust in Grimduguan. The others naturally followed after him.

 

Garedyn landed badly, causing him to be unable to move for the rest of the events that were to transpire, but by the grace of the Brathmordakin he survived. As the rest of the dwarves fell into the bottom of the pit, they were not greeted by more hordes of rats, but instead with a singular one of titanic proportions.

 

This beastly plague-bearer stood at the size of a morko bear, with diseased and patchy fur, showing flesh and bone underneath. While the attacks of the dwarves upon it did sufficient damage, it was pummelled into a sickly and fleshy pulp by the combined might of the golems before it could even lift its claw to swipe properly. Though the giant rat did unleash a foul spray of plagued vomit at the group, causing one dwarf to slip.

 

After the battle, the area was secured, and a rotten wooden door was found leading further in.

 

Part 3 - The Rat King

In the third and final assault upon the rat horde, a large force of dwarves was assembled. From Irehearts to Mossborn to Starbreakers and even an elf joined in, all came to defeat the plague.

 

The door barricading the cave was broken down and the vilest scene was revealed. The cave was a spawning ground for those rats, with giant rats giving birth and nurturing tiny diseased ratlings. And at the back of the cave stood a lone decrepit dwarf, covered in rotten rags and smeared with blood with a crooked and crimson-stained staff. Upon seeing the intruders, he began growling and squeaking in a rat-like manner, and the monsters around him rose up to face the party.

 

With barks like a commander, the Rat King ordered the rats into formation and the battle began. One by one the dwarves engaged with the monsters. The tough and armoured dwarves stood on the front lines to absorb the shock from the large beasts, while the others handled the little ratlings. The dwarves at the very back launched projectiles to take out the crazed dwarf who was commanding the rats, but the cave environment made it difficult for Hakka Ireheart’s javelins to reach him. Hana Starbreaker tried to purify the rats with hier magic, though their illness was of a biological nature and not magical.

 

As the rats were slowly felled one by one, the Rat King grew desperate. In a bid to escape, the began commanding all the ratlings to gather in front of him. The diseased rodents listened to him without question, and they all coalesced together to form a thick wall of rats! The Mossborn mage, Tuzic, shot forth a ball of fire, to burn the wall away, but as the rats burnt to death, the Rat King was already gone, escaped through a tiny hole in the wall, one that no dwarf should be able to fit through.

 

For now, the menace of the Rat King has been dealt with, but who knows where this mysterious and crazed breeder of beasts now lays hidden.

[_Grey_W0lf_ 612]

"A' gud foig't t'at wos" would Ursus Grandaxe mutter

[HurferDurfer1 2584]

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[SharpString 323]

"Vengryn... glad ye were t'ere wit' us on t'at deh... et was ahn interestin one.." Tuzic mutters