003: Fangs & Fur

The bed would not escape Dennan! The mighty warrior kept hacking and smashing at it, in a bid to get at the rat lurking beneath. The racket distracted the rest of the heroes, and they didn't hear the furtive scrabbling of many tiny feet from behind them. Up from the bowels of the ship came a veritable tidal wave of tiny, bad-tempered rats all hungry for their next meal.

The heroes lay about them, slaying scores of the little creatures who ferociously slashed and bit their prey. A larger rat--the size of a dog--burst up the stairs. Dennan hewed it mightily, but his axe just bounced off. Luckily, Cozlo's and Horsa's magic proved more effective and in short order the creature was forced to flee back into the hold.

As the party seemed to be getting the upper hand against the rats, more of the foul creatures arrived on the scene. This time, from the other end of the ship, a blasphemous half-man/half-rat burst out of a bow cabin. Followed by two rats the three assailants fell upon the party's rear.

However, by now the party had learnt how to deal with these beasts. Luther shot the ratman with two magical arrows while Horsa bombarded it with magic. Cozlo--newly emerged on deck--struck the final blow and the rat man was dead. His two rats quickly followed him into oblivion.

The fight was over. Artur, who had played no part in the fight, had bravely managed to secure Sea Sprite'slogbook and charts and so talk turned to the party's next move. There was concern that several of the party had been bitten by the rats. Horsa identified the ratman as a wererat and that raised the horrible spectre of lycanthropy in the party. As the heat of battle faded no one could remember exactly who had been bitten by what. With the full moon only 12 nights away, several nervous jokes were made before the heroes decided to return to the captain's cabin.

Searching the cabin turned up several bags of coins which Artur decided should be returned to their employer, a sextant and various other odds and ends. With the cabin thoroughly explored, the party considered daring the ship's partially flooded hold...