The daring of the five that made up their number did not go unrewarded, for it was not long in the shallow light of the lantern the man bore that their decline into the depths of this muddy, nasty pit found what seemed to be a treasure. A chest in the cellar, its worn black exterior and faintly rusted fringes glowered at them, locked and sealed tight. Aside from the building which had burned above it and in part charred its exterior, and now laying along the rat's way, it looked no worse for wear. The owners, whoever and wherever they were, were nowhere to be found - not even their remains. So as the light cast out further, the underground opened up far larger.

The rats had been busy, quite busy, expanding beyond just the cellar and the chest surrounded by the cooled cinders of the destroyed farmstead, with various tunnels sprawling out from this main den. Here bits and piles of grasses and plants torn from the outside had been dragged under to create nests, many of which were empty, some of which had bits of gnawed bones of what had been food for the scavenging beasts. Nearly all had whatever the rats collected into their lair, some had weapons or tools even, the odd sword or sickle, likely what they had found above and dragged back with them for whatever reason. Yet all this revealed, namely to the goliath who stooped herself over, was that a tunnel headed presumably toward the barn, another toward the fields, and another still deeper down if its shallow angle was any indication.

Although this was welcome news that it would be difficult to become lost in this miserable place with its warm, almost humid putrid air, it also meant that there were many of these rats and soon there were. Immediately their intrusion did not go unanswered for long as several rats, two larger than those before, poured in from the deeper portion of the tunnel. Noses wriggling in the direction of the invaders, yellow teeth clattering, immediately the fight was on but as it would go, this time it would be the band taking advantage of the ill prepared [i]dire rats[/i]. Larger as two of them were with lighter fur on their backs, they had made the mistake of not trying to ambush the five before them.

[hider=Effects]
[b]Initiative Table[/b]
Renault - 21
Vah'lux - 20
Gorosk - 18
Quentin - 14
Tracan - 13
Creatures - 10

Four [i]dire rats[/i] appear in the open area of the cellar and the underground. Two of the [i]dire rats[/i] are larger than the other two and are at the front when they appear from the tunnel to the front-left of the group. The area they are all in together, rats and party, is some 30ft wide and 15ft long, with half of the width being the stone cellar with the chest, and the rest being the dug out nest with random items hidden among the litter. [@Lord Wyron] is first in initiative order with Renault.[/hider]
[@BangoSkank][@Hellion][@Lord Wyron][@TyrannosaursRex]