Thread 6316278

You're a plague rat.

You don't remember much about your past. Your life before the plague settled within you is a mystery. The plague doesn't affect you, and you're not sure how it would affect others if they got infected. You feel an itch to spread it though. You also feel like you'll grow stronger and maybe learn something about the plague if you do.

Your little body still aches, not from the plague, but rather as if from a long journey making your muscles sore.

Around you, in the dark, is flowing waste, the pitter-patter of water drops on wet stone, and the stench, the unmistakable stench of the sewers. You think you also hear the squeaking of other rats. The stone tunnels stretch before you.

What will you do, little rat?
>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?
>Map the area. Check what's above the sewers. Maybe there's something of note within them as well.

>>6316278 (OP)
>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?

>>6316278 (OP)
>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?

>>6316278 (OP)
>>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?
Plague plague plague plague plague plague plague plague plague plague! Anyone is a good vector for plague!

>>6316278 (OP)
>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?
We prey at night we stalk at night

>>6316278 (OP)
>>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?
Cheesed to meet you

>>6316278 (OP)
>Map the area. Check what's above the sewers.
Get a feel for where we are, assess opportunities and threats.

>>6316278 (OP)
>>Map the area. Check what's above the sewers. Maybe there's something of note within them as well.

>>6316278 (OP)
>>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?

>>6316278 (OP)
>With GRATITUDE
Oh wait wrong quest

>Map the area

>Find someone to spread the plague to. A misfit dwelling in the sewers? Other rats?

Locking in the vote. Update itself may take a while due to reasons.

You are Erdet, a resident of Karkris, and you've been slowly getting poorer and poorer. Alcohol has been your main means of escape recently, ever since your wife died. Your daughter has almost willingly helped alleviate your sorrow as well.

You've heard there's a gambling den accessible through the sewers. Your drinking friends told you it's really easy to get some coin by playing there. Having sold the old pendant you got from your wife, you're heading right there.

The sewers are vast, and as you go deeper and deeper, you're starting to feel lost, even with your friends' directions.

Wait, is that?..

For sure, this is the light of the gambling den. You accelerate your steps, eager to start playing and winning, but a sharp pain in your leg stops you and makes you yelp.

"Fucking rats..." You say, sending the little creature with oddly green eyes away with a kick of your boot.

You proceed to the door through which light spills out and enter it, disappearing into the den.

==========

That kick hurt a lot. But with your saliva in the man's blood, the plague should grip him soon.

You don't feel any lasting injuries, so you continue traversing the sewers. You find a rat hole soon. Inside, in a relatively dry place opening up into someone's basement, several rats are huddled together in a pile. You join them. They don't seem to mind.

A few hours of rest later, you leave the warm pile and emerge back into the sewers. That swarm of rats should be infected now - while you only licked, not bit them, the plague should still spread from exposure time.

You feel like you've grown stronger. Once again finding a secluded corner, you fall into solitary sleep.

The plague develops. You have unlocked a mutation.
Pick one (1) upgrade:
>Grow to the size of a cat
>Sharper, more dangerous claws and teeth
>Acid spit
>Understand spoken word
>Become stealthier
>Potentiate the plague (more lethal)
>Increase plague spread
>Write-in
Some mutations may lead to others.

>>6316598

>Become stealthier

This is probably our best weapon in the short-term

>>6316598
>Become stealthier

Making the plague deadlier at this point is just stupid it would have less time to spread before people start dying and thus countersactions would be taken

>>6316598
>Understand spoken word
Forget the plague, let's learn how to cook.

>>6316598
[green]Grow to the size of a cat[/green]
meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow if you are a cat you have nine lives

>>6316598
>Become stealthier
First we sneak, then >>6316665 we cook.

>>6316677
Point and laugh at this user,

>>6316598
>Become stealthier

>>6316665
>>6316679
>Make a quest about a rat spreading plague
>Players decide to turn it into fucking Ratatouille
wtf
>>6316677
Newfriend, please note 3 things
- Only the thread's OP can format with anything besides spoilers
- To make greentext you simply have to place > at the beginning of the line
- You won't take the form of a cat, you'll just be a big ass rat
Make sure to read the 4chan FAQ and sticky for the first 2 points.

>>6316598
>Become stealthier

>>6316698
We could disperse the plague through food and control humans pulling their hair.

>>6316598
>Increase plague spread

>>6316598
>Understand spoken word
this looks like my type of quest

Become stealthier - 5
Understand spoken word - 2
Grow to the size of a cat - 1
Increase plague spread - 1

>Become stealthier

Ending the vote. Small update... probably soon.

In your slumber, you see visions of a large being, amorphous and scary, imparting an object to a small one, transforming it. When you awaken and make sense of them, you think you understand that the plague has neither appeared on its own nor been made by your own claws. It has been given to you by someone. For what purpose - you do not know. You'll need to grow stronger to understand more.

Inspecting the new feelings in your body, you see you have become stealthier. If you stay completely still, the eyes of creatures passing by will not detect you, unless they are intent on meticulously searching this particular area.

You haven't mapped the area, so places of interest are unknown to you, but you can still focus on scurrying around and spreading plague to creatures you meet. You have a feeling something may happen that will disturb your routine if you simply keep at it, though. Sooner or later.
>Map the area (sewers)
>Scout the upper city
>Keep spreading plague
>Write-in

>>6317134
>>Keep spreading plague
Wherever we are, we must plague!

>>6317134
>Map the area (sewers)
If we want to spread the plague strategically, we need to know the best infection vectors.

>>6317134

>Keep spreading plague

The only choice that matters

>>6317134
>Scout the upper city
We must find the best soup kitchen to cook in, for maximum infection-spread.

>>6317134
>Map the area (sewers)

>>6317134
>Map the area (sewers)
This goes best with stealth. Maybe we'll find a cooking book there.

>>6317134
>Map the area (sewers)

Map the area (sewers) - 4
Keep spreading plague - 2
Scout the upper city - 1

>Map the area (sewers)

Locking in the vote, update may take a while though.

The sewers would be hard to navigate for someone not used to them. The endless, twisting and turning tunnels, opening up into great waterworks hubs and terminating into dead ends with bars only someone small could fit through. The monotony of stonework and quiet waterflow. The aquatic insects, lesser monsters and, of course, the rats.

You feel at home here, and after a couple days of mapping the tunnels, you identify some key areas.

There's the area where slimes coalesce. They are extremely dangerous to small creatures like yourself due to their ability to engulf and dissolve them. Thankfully, they are quite slow and easy to outrun. NOT thankfully, they can hide in water in wait for someone to jump into them. The distinct sloshing sound as they swim against the currents can warn you about them. Growing in size so they cannot swallow you whole should protect you against them.

Another area has several underground alchemical and drug workshops. If you can get in, you think you can infect the ingredients. You can also try to snatch something for your own mutation or to improve the plague, be it from the workshops itself or whatever they throw away into the sewers.

There's also a dungeon area where prisoners are kept. Rat tunnels lead between it and the sewers.

Another area seems to be the meeting place of a cult or something. It is far from the centre of the sewers and opens up into a forest through a makeshift entrance. People in dark cloaks convene here, bringing corpses from the outside, reanimating, then killing them. Maybe it's for learning necromancy?

Another dangerous area is one with a lot of water snakes. They're a natural enemy of rats and are quite fast, capable of keeping up with rats for short periods of time. In the end, rat endurance wins. However, just like rats, they can work together to cut off escape routes and capture their prey. You should be wary of this ability of theirs. They are poor swimmers and can be evaded by quickly escaping through water or throwing one of them in. Still, if you allow several of them to corner you, even this may not be enough.

Snakes are hunted by snake-catchers which regularly make raids into the sewers.

One part of the sewers opens up into a cavern. There's a lot of bats in there.

Finally, there's an area where people with weapons gather. You're not sure what they're talking about, but there's a lot of them coming and going all the time.

What will you do now? No significant events have happened yet.
>Spread plague. (pick: cultists, armed people, snake-catchers, dungeon, alchemical workshops, other (write-in))
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.
>Scout the upper city.
>Explore the bat cavern.
>Explore the forest. Track where from the cultists bring their corpses.
>Write-in

>>6317659
>>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.

>>6317659
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.
First we improve the plague, then we infect the forces of order. That'll cause chaos and that will make easier to spread and harder to counter.

>>6317659
>Explore the bat cavern.
Flying plague carriers.

>>6317659
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.

>>6317659
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.

>>6317659
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.

>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.

Writing.

>>6317659
>Find a way to improve the plague from alchemical workshops.
We need to cook.

You take some time to get food before your visit to the workshops. It's not hard with all the rat tunnels leading to people's basements. You treat yourself to grain and even an odd fruit, then set up camp near the alchemical laboratories, waiting for an opportunity.

It comes after a few hours. An alchemist comes out of one door, intent on getting rid of some waste. In the time he spills out the contents of several bottles, you enter the workshop, then hide in a corner, waiting again for an opportunity to steal something.

The workshop is full of weird smells and the air stings your eyes and sensitive nose. There are several tables and cabinets with colourful liquids. The place is a bit messy.

The alchemist returns and keeps working for a few hours, paying you no mind. Finally, he leaves the room and turns off the mage-lantern. You have free reign now.

You climb on the tables and inspect the concoctions. Most of them are half-ready potions that would be useless to your goals. A few are dangerous, even with your bit of resistance to poison and acid, but not really useful for the plague itself.

Finally, you find one that you're fairly sure from your senses is a kind of biological sludge. If you eat or ingest it, you should be able to integrate it into the plague. Problem is, it is also fairly toxic, so you would need to consume it bit by bit in safety, not here in one gulp.

As you snatch it, suddenly, the lights come on! The alchemist is back! He glances around, then begins checking tools and flasks, as if searching for something.

You can bolt for the door, but that would spill most of the contents, and the plague power-up would be less. You can also stay still and bet on your stealth to carry you through this. Finally, you can pick up and throw one of the acid flasks at the alchemist with your mouth and leave carefully while he tries to recover, but this could lead to unknown consequences in the alchemical workshops.

What will you do?
>Run!
>Stealth!
>Attack, then sneak away!
(I should say that in this quest, I plan to have no rolls, instead making situations with different approaches having trade-offs and gains. There may also be completely wrong options! I hope you enjoy whatever I come up with. If it doesn't work out, I may switch to regular rolls.)

>>6318065

>Stealth!

Our best bet given our prior upgrade, I think.

>>6318065
>Stealth!

>>6318065
>Stealth!

>>6318065
>Stealth!
Time to test its effectiveness.

>>6318065
>Run!

>>6318077
>>6318095
>>6318101
>>6318105
>>6318117
>Stealth!

Writing.

You stay completely still, relying on your newly acquired stealth ability to carry you through this.

However, since the alchemist is deliberately searching through the area, not just checking quickly he soon detects you! As your eyes meet, you bolt towards the door, while the human shouts something angrily. Just as you reach the entrance to the laboratory, you feel a strong kick in your back! You fly right out into the sewers, dropping and shattering the biological sludge.

As you swim and crawl out of the waste water, you notice you've been injured: one of your hind legs is damaged, and you are now slowed for the next encounter. Snakes will catch up to you, slimes will keep up, and other creatures and monsters are quicker in comparison to you, as well.

You limp to the nearest rat hole and fall asleep, hoping the injury starts healing soon...

=====

You are Kadar Weiss, a physician in the city of Karkris. It's thankless work to go around the slums of the poor by requests, but something your oath binds you to do. Most of the illnesses are easily curable with a few ointments, cheap drugs or, in particularly hard cases, a bit of magic.

Not this one.

"It resists examination," you say quietly, taking your hand off the sleeping man. The rain, pattering against the dirty windows, muffles your words, yet also makes them heavier.

"How long has he had the fever?" You ask Duvole, the girl that called you here.

"Two days. On the first one, I thought he'd caught a cold in the sewers, but then it got worse. Started coughing up blood as well."

"That's bad." You sit in the chair for a few quiet moments, recalling what you were taught. Magic-resistant illnesses are usually tough to cure, but not impossible. It doesn't answer the questions of why, when or how it appeared. And those were important for preventing its spread. You didn't want the second Gravirian typhus, no thanks.

There was a clue. That bite that Duvole had shown you. But it was useless to search for one particular rat all throughout the sewers.

"Okay." You gather your thoughts and take a couple flasks out of your bag. "This one is an antipyretic. Use it once a day, three drops. Should keep the fever down. This," you say, showing her the other flask, "is for healing blood vessels. One drop a day. Should prevent further blood cough."

You place the two flasks on the bed stand. "If any other symptoms appear, call for a healer again. Don't bother coming for additional medicine - these are the last flasks we have for the nearest two weeks. And try to keep your mouth and nose covered when you're nearby. Don't want you to fall ill as well. Wash your hands frequently, too."

Duvole stares at you with attentive eyes. There's something else in them, though. Is it pain? Or is it joy? It's a strange expression.

"I will," she says.

"My work here is done, then," you say. "Farewell."
(cont.)

=====

You close the door behind the physician and return to your father's room. You stare at the medicine he provided. It will help him get better. Help keep him alive.

But do you really want that?

You feel a cold hatred when you look at his face. Something within you reminds you that he raised you. Reminds you of the porcelain figurine he gifted you on your 10th birthday. Of when he told you stories, even when he was tired after a hard day of labour in the tailor's workshop.

But it doesn't excuse what he's become. Doesn't excuse him pawning off all the gold he could find in the house for just a bit more alcohol. It doesn't excuse him taking your virginity in a drunken rage.

The hatred doesn't subside. You take the medicine, then hide it in your room. When he wakes up, fevered and coughing, you will tell him the healer didn't give you anything. That there wasn't enough drugs for everyone, and you'll have to manage somehow.

That would be for the best. You look at the street through the window. It's still raining - a torrential, heavy rain. The mark of a cold autumn.

You hope you'll live to see spring.

=====

Waking up in a rat pile, you see your leg hasn't healed yet.

As you emerge back into the sewers to check your surroundings, you see a water snake approaching!

[event]

You squeak to warn your fellow rats, and they're up and running shortly. Your group has 4 rats, including you. You do not know how many snakes are out there to get you, but you see one approaching slowly.

A single rat can temporarily keep the snake occupied, but will eventually get eaten if it doesn't run away. Two rats can kill a snake with some effort, but it takes time.

You briefly think of escape possibilities. The rat hole leads to someone's basement. Perhaps the humans would be a less dangerous opponent with your stealth ability. They usually don't stop to search for something in the hallways, so you could stay there to conceal yourself. The snakes would be vastly more noticeable compared to you.

There's the water, sloshing nearby. You could swim - that would put you on even terms with the snakes since they're poor swimmers.

You can also kill the snake with your fellow rats, but that would take time.

You can also just run in the other direction than the snake. But with their teamwork, they may already have blocked that route.

You are capable of coordinating your actions with other rats.
>Kill the snake. [occupies 2 rats]
>Run in the opposite direction than the snake.
>Escape into the basement.
>Jump into the water and swim.
(QM message: I thought one of the anons would figure out that the alchemist was thoroughly searching the area, so your stealth wouldn't work, as mentioned in the initial description. Was it not clear? Did you think it only applied to enemies searching for you specifically? I'll try to explain them more clearly in the future, sorry.)

>>6318389
I think I should say you can also write-in different strategies for these events. I may have missed an obvious solution with my prompts and situation construction that would check all the boxes and let you leave with every benefit possible.

>>6318389
>Kill the snake. [occupies 2 rats]

>>6318389

>Kill the snake. [occupies 2 rats]

I honestly did not think the alchemist was looking for us specifically, I just assumed he forgot something in the room and was coming back to retrieve it…

>>6318389
>Kill the snake. [occupies 2 rats]

i thought that people had to search for a rat specifically to notice us, for some reason

>>6318413
>>6318418
Alright, I see.

So to explain: so long as a creature or person is searching the area thoroughly, it doesn't matter if they're looking for you, a rat or some other item - they will detect you.

If they're just passing through, you can stay hidden, even if they would normally see you. So it is possible to e.g. turn a corner, then freeze, and the chasing creature would pass you by, even if you're in clear sight. Same for humans passing through a hallway where you're staying still by the wall.

If they're quickly searching, then they won't detect you as well.

I wanted to indicate the alchemist was searching thoroughly by mentioning that he glanced around, didn't find what he was looking for, then started checking every tool and flask.

Sorry for not being clear enough, again. As a make-up for this, I will allow you to use a single "bonus" in the future (even in this snake event, should you desire). If at any moment you wish to make an action that would normally result in failure succeed, or alter something in your favour, you can mention it in your vote and it will become a success (so long as using it is supported by other anons). It doesn't have a precise effect, but, for example, you can use it to outrun a snake even with your injury, or use it to kill it even with one rat.

Also, I want to remind you, like I said here >>6318390 you can write-in to coordinate the remaining 2 rats while the other 2 deal with the snake. So e.g. you can have the remaining 2 pass by the snake while it's fighting with the former group, and continue their escape. Other write-ins are also possible.

>>6318389
>Escape into the basement.

>>6318389
>Escape into the basement.

>>6318389
>Escape into the basement.

Dad will die uncucked

we should be able to do both since its not mutually exclusive

>>6318389
>Escape into the basement

So to combine and confirm course of action: 2 rats go to kill the snake, 2 others (including you) escape into the basement. The fighter rats will join you once they deal with the snake.

This fine with everyone?
>Confirm
>No (write-in alternative action)

>>6318698
>>Confirm

>>6318698

>confirm

Do we really care if the other rats die? I don’t

>>6318698
>Confirm
are the other rats infected?

>>6318751
If they aren't, we should give them the gift of plague! Yes yes, man things will suffer suffer greatly from our friend-broods doing spread-spreads with us!

>>6318747
B-but anon... the rat f-friendship... the r-rat brotherhood...
>>6318751
Yes.

>>6318698
>Confirm

>Confirm

You squeak to the other rats, two of whom go to kill the snake, while you and the last one sneak into the rat hole.

You enter the basement of a house. It's mostly filled with preserved food in barrels, bottles and jars, and that which doesn't need preservation, like sacks of grain. There are also some tools here.

Your sensitive ears pick up footsteps from beyond the basement's door, upstairs. Your rat allies have not returned from the snake battle yet. You think only a single snake can emerge from the rat hole at once. The rat hole is not directly visible from beyond the barrels and sacks, but is accessible, and should humans enter while you're fighting a snake, they will detect you by the squeaks, hisses and shuffling.

What will you do?
>Ascend the stairs and stay still until footsteps subside and you can enter the house. There's a narrow gap near the floor that you can squeeze through.
>Put some distance between yourself and the rat hole in case snakes emerge from it, then stay still to hide behind some sacks.
>Set up ambush near the rat hole so you can kill any snakes as they emerge together with your rat ally. The ambush will offset the penalty you have from your injury and allow you to fight like any other rat.
>Write-in

What do you want your rat ally to do? She doesn't have your stealth ability, so will be detected in clear view, even if she stays still.
>Write-in

>>6318996
>Ascend the stairs and stay still until footsteps subside and you can enter the house. There's a narrow gap near the floor that you can squeeze through.

Ratbro:
>Put some distance between yourself and the rat hole in case snakes emerge from it, then stay still to hide behind some sacks.
>Infect some food with the plague

>>6318996
>Ascend the stairs and stay still until footsteps subside and you can enter the house. There's a narrow gap near the floor that you can squeeze through.

>Put some distance between yourself and the rat hole in case snakes emerge from it, then stay still to hide behind some sacks.

>infect some water with the plague

>>6319002
supporting

>>6319002

Also supporting

>>6318996
>>6319002 +1

Not dead, but kinda fucked up day, will try to update tomorrow.

>>6319002
>>6319073
>>6319113
>>6319259
>>6319399
>Ascend the stairs and stay still until footsteps subside and you can enter the house. There's a narrow gap near the floor that you can squeeze through.
Ally:
>Put some distance between yourself and the rat hole in case snakes emerge from it, then stay still to hide behind some sacks.
>Infect some food with the plague

You squeak, giving your ally commands, then scurry up the stairs, deftly jumping up them one at a time.

The footsteps do not grow quieter beyond the closed door. You notice the play of shadows underneath, and suddenly, the door opens, and a human walks in! You freeze in place, and the man passes you by, descending into the basement. As you scurry through the open door, your little rat feet now stepping on old wood, the human lets out a surprised shout. You do not return to check whether he is surprised by the snakes finally slithering out of the rat hole or your ally, not hidden in time.

You're alone now. You hear the patter of rain outside, but the house is warm and dry. Candles illuminate the hallway in a pleasant light.

The hallway leads to the entrance on one end, closets for street clothes slightly open, and to a staircase on the other. There are doors to other rooms along its sides, closed shut, and with their own share of sounds from some of them.

On the street, you may find an entrance into the sewers, if you're lucky enough. The street is home to stray animals that may be dangerous to you, however, not to mention all the people.

The staircase may lead you to the attic, and then the roof. It's high up, and will offer a good view of the street to search for an entrance into the sewers, with less attention from passers-by. You think you're going to face humans on the way there, however, and maybe they'll be even angrier to meet a rat in their home than one on the street.

There should also be a bathroom somewhere, and with some luck, you may get into the sewers through the toilet, but you don't know which of these doors leads there, and it's going to be quite an ordeal to get through the pipes - you're not sure you can persevere through it.

What will you do?
>Go for the staircase.
>Go for the entrance and onto the street.
>Write-in

>>6319957
>Write-in
before we go back to the sewers let us infect the people living here
for that we best hide in their bedroom and wait until they sleep

>>6319957
>Go for the staircase.
Get intel.

>>6319957
>Go for the staircase.

>>6320004
>>6320215
>>6320259
>Go for the staircase

You scurry along the wooden floor and towards the staircase, then up, up, up the steps, until you reach the attic, thankfully with no humans interrupting your ascent.

Squeezing through the hole in the door, you notice an elderly human hunched over a workshop table, an oil lamp lighting it. You cannot see what he's doing.

There is a subtle, barely audible squeak of door hinges as you enter, but the human turns around and peers into the dark still. He doesn't see you and turns back to his work, tinkering with something.

You inspect the area. The rain is audible here, showering against the roof. It's a wonder how the human detected you with this distraction. Stone figurines and odd mechanisms line the shelves, of which the attic has plenty. There is the smell of old wood and dust, and the warm light of the oil lamp is calming and secretive. The overcast sky doesn't offer much light through the sole window. A ladder leads up to the rafters, and at the end, there's a hatch leading, presumably, onto the roof itself. Its hinges are rusty, and it's high up, higher than a human can reach from the floor.

The hatch is shut with a simple loop, through which a small iron hook passes. It's possible for a rat to open without falling. This can be done fairly quickly, should you position yourself correctly, even with your injury.

The human sits on the other side of the attic from the hatch and door.

What will you do?
>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.
>Climb up the ladder and open the hatch, then get out and onto the roof. Be quick about it.
>Return the way you came.
>Write-in

>>6320314

>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.

Hide in a shadowed corner or under something if possible? We can be patient and wait until the old guy leaves

>>6320316
>Hide in a shadowed corner or under something if possible?
Yes, that would be possible.

>>6320314
>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.
Patient and stealthily. We need time for the injury to heal anyways.

>>6320314
>>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.

>>6320314
>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.
its really amazing how many rats we can get working with us

>>6320316
>>6320333
>>6320341
>>6320784
>Wait until the human leaves, you'll be able to open the hatch without unwelcome attention then.

You hide behind a cabinet and start waiting. It takes a while for the old man to leave. He spends an hour or two more hunched over the table, tinkering with his work, quiet metallic and knocking sounds escaping his workspace. However, he eventually takes a break, offering you an opportunity to climb the ladder and open the hatch, slowly, carefully. Its hinges creak, but with nobody but you to hear it, you're out of the house.

The cold autumn wind meets you once you crawl out onto the roof, making your fur stand. The rain has stopped, leaving the tiles slippery and wet, and with your injury it takes effort not to fall down.

You follow the streets, looking down, searching for an entrance into the sewers. You notice some cats down there - felines that may have caught your vulnerable self had you chosen to take the lower path.

You soon find a gate, blocked and locked with bars. Not enough to block a rat. Its sturdy frame and stone roof leads distinctly down, into the dark - a sure sign of the sewers' entrance.

You find a way down, surprisingly with few difficulties. Using window frames, slightly standing out against the facade of a building, and its brickwork as stepping stones, you descend to the streets and make a break for it.

Some humans try to kick you, others grunt in disgust, but you reach your objective, scurrying down into the familiar dark.

You are safe now.

[event end]

As you find another rat pile and fall asleep, you feel the plague spreading, and your power growing.

You are no longer Injured.

Pick 2 upgrades:
>Biped travel and manipulator arms
>Grow in size to roughly that of a cat
>Potentiate the plague (more symptoms and lethality) (opens the way to options like influencing and seeing through the infected)
>Make the plague more virulent (faster spread)
>Acid spit + acid generation (opens path to acid and poison-related abilities)
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)
>Sharper, more dangerous claws and teeth
>Write-in
(You can pick an upgrade and specify you want to go further down the tree, then I will make a sub-vote for further skill(s) if that option wins, since you have 2 upgrades)

>>6320872
>Make the plague more virulent (faster spread)
with this the plague should be able to spread without us having to get in harms way (and it speeds up levelling)
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)
this will come in handy, not to mention speaking

>>6320872
>Sharper, more dangerous claws and teeth
>Make the plague more virulent

>>6320872
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)
>Biped travel and manipulator arms
We need to find a little hat cause we're the rat boss.

Is there a way to go full TMNT and become the horror of the sewers?

>>6320872
>Make the plague more virulent (faster spread)
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)

>>6320872
>Biped travel and manipulator arms
>Acid spit + acid generation (opens path to acid and poison-related abilities)

>>6320872

>Make the plague more virulent (faster spread)
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)

We don’t actually want to the plague to be too dangerous just yet - better to stay under the radar this way. Speech is valuable for the same reason - will open up new infection pathways

virulence - 4
spoken word - 4
biped + manipulator arms - 2
claws and teeth - 1
acid - 1

>Make the plague more virulent (faster spread)
>Understand spoken word (opens path to speech)

Writing.

>>6320903
Yes, that is the eventual idea, but idk I'll probably end the quest / thread after a certain plague aspect revelation just to make it a short story of like 20-30 updates total, kinda losing steam and didn't have a grand plan for this.

You see visions again in your slumber. Of an entity, barred from entering a space where you live. It is tethered to you by a thread, a thin pathway through which it can exist here. You are its harbinger, its tool, unwilling, but having no choice. You know now that this entity is not of this world. Where it dwells exactly - you have no knowledge. But the plague is your connection to it.

Your consciousness drifts to other dreams...

=====

You are Cecily, in charge of a team of seamstresses, and one of your subordinates hasn't shown up to work.

"Duvole hasn't come today," you tell the director seamstress.

"That girl... We have 200 jackets due tomorrow, and she skips? Ain't no better than her drunk of a father," she scowls.

As you turn to leave, you frown. She isn't the best, but she is a hard worker. Whenever she didn't come, she had a good reason. You wonder what happened to her. Could it be her father's illness that she mentioned last time?

This thought leaves you soon. You rejoin your team at the bench and get to work, practiced motions shifting the cloth, sewing it together to create a greater whole. The workshop is noisy, the other teams gossipping between themselves.

"I saw Vivy at the market today with her kid and husband, whatever his name," Rose says nonchalantly, and so it begins.

"Really? I thought he'd run away. Didn't strike me as the reliable sort," another girl chuckles.

"Must've struck gold. Nice life she has, get knocked up and catch a husband to take care of everything past that."

"I would've like that!" Another voice, mocking, sneering. "But there's just no good men left. My beauty is wasted on all those clods! If just a single one showed up, I'd snatch him and we'd have such cute children..."

"Yours? Cute? Don't make me laugh. Mine, on the other hand-"

"What about you, Cecily? Anyone you fancy? I heard you've been eyeing that handsome clerk, Devron? Devon? I can never remember his name-"

"Focus on your work," you say coldly. Instantly, there is only the quiet shuffling of clothes and threads, guided by needles. At your bench, at least.

There's no point answering this. You know already that anything you say, they will twist and laugh at behind your back.

You've got no time to go after men. Your little brothers and sisters have only you as support, ever since your parents died. The eldest ones have already begun apprenticeship at workshops, but the burden of feeding a big family is still mostly on you. Any time spent dating would be better spent working extra hours.

Although... maybe you can make time to visit Duvole later.

For now, you follow your own advice and continue sewing, letting work engross you.

=====

You awaken, and feel the plague is stronger, more virulent. Your mind shifts, and you feel within yourself the ability to understand human word.

What will you do next?
>Spread plague. (pick: cultists, armed people, snake-catchers, dungeon, alchemical workshops, other (write-in))
>Scout the upper city.
>Explore the bat cavern.
>Explore the forest. Track where from the cultists bring their corpses.
>Write-in

>>6321594
>Explore the bat cavern.

>>6321594
>Explore the bat cavern.
bats are great plague carriers

>>6321594
>Explore the bat cavern.
Secure bat allies for airborne plague bombers.

>>6321594
>Explore the bat cavern.

>>6321594
>Explore the bat cavern.

>>6321594

>Explore the bat cavern.

The plague hive mind is strong in this quest but bat carriers is unironically critical for our success

>>6321613
>>6321620
>>6321621
>>6321643
>>6321683
>>6321691
>Explore the bat cavern.

The bat cavern is a vast and dark space. Bats sleep up on the ceiling, huddled together. You can only reach those on particularly low outcrops, but you scratch them gently to their surprised squeaks. This should be enough to infect them with the new plague virulence.

You explore the rest of the caverns. As you descend deeper, silence reigns, enveloping you wholly.

Suddenly, there is a sound from somewhere - squeaking and grating of stone on stone. It soon ends. You follow the echo as best as you can in these caverns, and soon come upon a gate, an arch of carved stone. Beyond it, the walls of the cavern become walls of a structure - an underground city.

The tunnels are claustrophobic and engraved with images of rats - was this a rat city sometime in the ancient past? You map them, scurrying here and there through the labyrinthine passages, committing them to memory. Most of the time, it's just living and communal areas. Sometimes, you find areas where glass flasks of luminous acid or poison gas stand. Sometimes, it's underground farms of shrooms, let loose and overgrown.

Sometimes, you find skeletons of giant rats and ratmen, parched and ancient.

Deeper inside, you hear sounds of rats squeaking, but these squeaks sound wrong somehow, distorted.

There is one interesting common motive in the engravings that you see. 3 objects: a weaponised claw with a red drop of liquid, a staff with a shining green stone, and a... small hat are seen as objects of reverence and worship, attracting crowds of rats.
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects. [begin short event]
>Leave them be, for now.
>Write-in

>>6322183
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects.

>>6322183

>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects. [begin short event]

I want that hat!!!

>>6322183
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects. [begin short event]
It is important for rats to have hats.

>>6322183
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects. [begin short event]

>>6322183
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects. [begin short event]

>>6322196
>>6322203
>>6322250
>>6322317
>>6322342
>Explore deeper into the ruins. You want to find these objects.

You decide to explore deeper.

As you travel through a particular gate, etched with symbols you don't understand, you hear a strange sound, and a slab of stone falls with a deafening slam, cutting off your escape route.

You're trapped here until you find another exit.

You map the deeper tunnels, treading carefully. Sometimes, there are traps that you have to circumvent. Others, it's just more of the same you saw previously.

You finally encounter a great door, inlaid with precious stones. There are two platforms on opposite ends of the hall that lead to it. They are engraved with images. One portrays a rat skull with glowing eyes, the other a whirlwind at the tip of a line.

There are halls leading in opposite directions. You decide to investigate the rat skull side first.

After a short scurry through the halls, you find a greater hall. The pictures on the wall here portray many rat skulls, with lines leading into the claw you saw earlier. The claw image, more detailed than others and inlaid with rubies as well, sits over a gate, and deeper in the dark, beyond the gate, you see a red glow.

Above the gate, there's a... gigantic sack of ore, tied precariously with a rope to a ground hook. You cannot identify its purpose.

The hall you're in has a rat skeleton, shackled to a wall. Its eye sockets are glowing with the same light that the platform showed.

Before you can do anything else, you hear those squeaks, distorted and wrong, from beyond the gate. You see rats scurry somewhere in the dark, but these are not regular rats - these are mutated, rabid ones!

Something tells you these rats will not listen to you - they are dangerous to the regular ratkind. You also note they have big noses and ears, bigger than regular rats' - excellent tools for detecting prey they may have missed in the chase.

You can quickly bite and weaken the rope to make the ore crash down, blocking the rabid rats in the red hall. However, that would also bar you from entering it.

You have also identified traps in the previous halls, and could lead them there, but you may get injured in the chase since you'll be in a hurry and may very well trigger a trap yourself.

You may also try to hide with your enhanced stealth and let them pass.

What will you do?
>Drop the sack of ore on the passage.
>Lead them to other traps.
>Hide.
>Write-in

>>6322638
>Hide.
if they dont know we exist they cant find us (surely)

>>6322638
>Hide.

>>6322638
>Lead them to other traps.

>>6322688
>>6322822
>>6323136
>Hide

You hide behind the shackled rat skeleton, hoping the rabid rats will ignore you.

Most of them pass through the hall and into other parts of the city. You may meet them later, if they haven't succumbed to traps by that time, but that's a problem for the future you.

A few remain in this hall, sniffing the air. They scurry closer and closer towards you, and you quickly understand that their big noses allow them to detect stealthy enemies, just like you guessed.

What will you do?
>The sound of crashed ore will deafen and shock them for a while. Gnaw at the rope, drop it, snatch the skull while they're stunned, and scurry back into the hall with the platforms. [get injured]
>Make a break for the main hall with the big door. Lose them in the tunnels. You may die with all the traps, rabid rats already there, and some chasing you. However, if you make it back alive, the passage to the hall with red glow will still be open. [one of the few situations where I'll make a roll]
>Enter the hall with the red glow. [get injured]
>Write-in
Remember you may use the bonus from before to succeed in an action that would otherwise fail.

>>6323195
>The sound of crashed ore will deafen and shock them for a while. Gnaw at the rope, drop it, snatch the skull while they're stunned, and scurry back into the hall with the platforms.

>>6323195
>The sound of crashed ore will deafen and shock them for a while. Gnaw at the rope, drop it, snatch the skull while they're stunned, and scurry back into the hall with the platforms. [get injured]

>>6323195
>>The sound of crashed ore will deafen and shock them for a while. Gnaw at the rope, drop it, snatch the skull while they're stunned, and scurry back into the hall with the platforms.

No update today.

>>6323372
>>6323714
>>6323727
Ended up being longer than "today"
>DROP THE ORE

You make a break for it. The rabid rats try to chase you, but they were not expecting you to bolt. You reach the taut rope and bite hard into it. One bite, two, three - and you hear the sound of it ripping. Once more, and just as the rabid rats recover and reach you, the sack drops with a thundering sound.

Not before they manage to wound and bite you.

The sound and reverberations stun rats, and, truth be told, the sheer volume makes you a bit dazed, but you have enough spirit to snatch the skull from the skeleton and be off through the tunnels before your enemies can give chase.

The platform and gate hall is quiet. Somewhere in the trapped area, you hear the echoes of rabid rats' squeaks, but they're far away and of no threat to you. You place the glowing skull on the platform with its drawing, and the floor lights up with ancient symbols. The right door's engravings start glowing soon after. You still have the other path to explore.

A short run through the halls later, you enter another large hall. A star map of luminous stones hangs over your head, on the ceiling. Contraptions of glass and iron are arranged in a large circle, by the side of which a ratman skeleton with a staff lays on the ground. The staff is odd: you sense air being pulled around it, and perpetual wind blows dust around the remains of the ratman.

There is an entrance to another area here as well, this time with a green glow. And surely enough, you soon hear squeaks coming from it. The mutated rats are here as well.

You inspect the hall for anything to prevent them from getting to you, and notice several large containers full of acid. You could tip them to fall, and their glass would shatter, splashing acid sludge everywhere around the passage to the room with the glow. This would block that entrance.

You get a good look on the mutated rats while they're scurrying towards you. They look different from their brethren in the hall with the ore sack. Their noses and ears seem to have atrophied, and their eyes leak pus - they look poorly attuned to searching for hidden enemies, or anything inconspicuous, really. However, their claws and teeth are very sharp and big - evidently made for battle.

What will you do?
>Drop the acid containers and block the entrance to the room with the glow.
>Hide among the contraptions.
>Write-in

>>6324644
>Hide among the contraptions

>>6324644
>Hide among the contraptions.

>>6324796
>>6324864

Supporting, these ones r dummiez

>>6324644
>Hide among the contraptions

>>6324796
>>6324864
>>6324902
>>6325080
>Hide among the contraptions

You hide, still among the tools and mechanisms of old. The mutated rats pass, sniffing the air, but catching no clue of your location through either smell or sound. Once the sounds of their scurrying completely subside, you enter the room with the glow.

It is a graveyard, a hall full of ratman and rat skeletons. At the wall opposite the entrance, a special skeleton, clad in silky robes that have not been tarnished or torn by age, holds a staff at the tip of which glows a large stone etched with arcane symbols. The skeleton is locked in a half-laying pose, clutching the staff as a means of support. Behind him, there is passage, but it blocked by a stone slab, much like one that trapped you in these ruins.

As you approach the staff, you feel dizziness and soreness in your muscles. It is evidently an object of magic, and if the skeletons are anything to go by, magic relating to death.

Still, you haven't come here to walk away with nothing. You crawl up the staff and grasp the stone, and its magic flows into you! You feel... somewhat stronger. It looks like the stone is not as powerful as it felt from a distance. Maybe it has lost some of its power for some reason, or maybe its power was in its aura.

Either way, the surge of energy is enough to get one upgrade to your plague.
>See through the eyes of the plagued.
>Communicate with the plagued without words at close distance.
>The plagued experience a subconscious desire to spread the plague.
(1/2)

With the passage deeper blocked and the stone drained, there isn't really anything else for you to do here. You go back to the platform room and snatch the whirlwind-making staff on your way back.

Placing the staff on the other platform, you see a familiar scene: the symbols lighting up in a blue light, until the other, unlit part of the gate starts glowing. With the gate activated, it slowly opens, rumbling and grating stone on stone. The rabid rats, if they haven't died yet, must have heard it. You need to hurry.

You scurry through the doors and enter a grand hall, greater than anything you've seen yet. It is completely empty of skeletons bar one, but the emptiness doesn't conceal its glory. Huge engravings on the walls, inlaid with precious stones and lit with the same arcane symbols you saw earlier display scenes of rats working, praying, fighting and communicating - an entire history of ratkind.

There are glowing lines on the floor that lead to one central piece - a throne upon which sits not a ratman, but a regular, small rat skeleton. However, something is glinting on its head. You approach closer, hurrying as the distorted squeaks grow nearer, and inspect the rat skeleton. It bears upon its brow a crown - what you must've identified as a rat hat before. You take it in your little claws and place it upon your own head.

With that action, a reverberation pierces the hall, and the arcane symbols are snuffed out. Pieces, then chunks of rock and stone start raining down, and you hastily scurry around, looking for an exit!

You look up, and see there is a single tunnel through which you see the stars, positioned just right for the light to fall upon the throne. You use the engravings as ridges to climb the wall and out through the tunnel. Just as you're out of it, it collapses as well, sealing the way to the rat city forever.

You're in a forest, it's deep night, the stars being your only guides, and you have no idea whatsoever where the city is. Briefly, there is a flapping of wings and barely audible squeaking somewhere higher. There are other sounds as well - rain, the kind of autumn rain that's barely audible and felt, but makes everything wet and damp. The trees have almost shed their foliage, which lies like a thick and muddy mess on the wilted grass. Somewhere, a wolf howls. Somewhere nearer, there are steps of an animal travelling through the woods. Hopefully, not one that would want to eat you.

What will you do to find your way back to the city?
>Write-in

>>6325289
>The plagued experience a subconscious desire to spread the plague.
>>6325291
>climb up the tallest tree and look out for the city
but maybe we should wait with that until its day and no longer raining

>>6325291
>>6325303 +1

>>6325303
>>6325603
>The plagued experience a subconscious desire to spread the plague.
>climb up the tallest tree and look out for the city
>but maybe we should wait with that until its day and no longer raining

You burrow a small hole in the dirt and wilted leaves, then wait and wait until day comes. Sometimes, there are sounds of steps nearby, of animals lumbering through the nearly naked bushes. Sometimes, it is silent.

When day comes, you emerge from your hiding place and scale a tree. It's tall, and with your injury, it is hard to climb up, but you manage. There would probably be predatory birds out to get you, but the rain keeps them landed and hidden.

From the treetop, you see a sea of trees, but they do break up to reveal spires of the city's temples and and walls far to the west. You now know where to go.

You carefully climb down from the tree and start your journey there. Luckily, it is safe: you don't encounter any animals that would harm you. It takes about half a day to reach the city, and then you're in through the odd sewer entrances you mapped earlier. It takes some time to figure out where they are, but you manage.

Still injured, you notice rats following you. A lot of rats, really. An entire swarm of rats.

Maybe something has changed about you? Is it something you obtained?

The crown. The crown of the Rat King.

You try giving the rats a mental command. Go there, form up a square. They obey. Some of them look dazed, others shrug off the effects and scurry away after a while. However, there is always a swarm around you, ready to do your bidding.

With this, it should be safe to rest and recover from your injury. You let the rats guard you as you fall asleep in a rat hole.

...

In your dreams, you feel the plague strengthen its grip both on you and on the city. The gap widens, and the cord that goes through it to connect you to the Entity grows stronger. You think something significant is coming along. A certain threshold to be crossed. As your dreams deepen, the Entity's will becomes clearer. Like commands. Like speech.

"Finally, we meet, little one." Its voice is deafening in your mind. Soft, yet powerful beyond anything you've ever experienced. "I have done well to choose you. You grew quickly, so quickly it was beyond my expectations. But it is not enough. You will have to spread my touch further to bring about my return."

"What are you?" You ask weakly, disoriented, dazed.

"Many of your world would call me Plague, for that is what I spread. In truth, I am Love. I love everyone and everything. I want them to experience the entirety of my affection."

"It's strange. Wrong," you say, still dreamy, still half-conscious. "If you are Love, if you love everyone, why do you spread a Plague that kills?"

"My touch kills, that is true. But tell me:

Is it not love to want to kill someone?"

=====

Ok, that will be all I have planned for this quest. Thanks for reading, hopefully it was a fun little adventure.

Please tell me if there is anything that can be improved or if there is anything you especially liked.

For more narrow questions:

1. Did you feel too many parts were skippable and/or empty? For example, the part with travelling over the roofs and into the sewers when you were running from the snakes looks like it could have contained another challenge to me, but I couldn't come up with anything, and you were already injured, so further damage would probably result in death so I kinda decided to let our rat be and skip over it without any particular scenes. Same for parts of the rat city. I decided on a 2 injury cap since the rat would probably be weak, but I guess it left too little leeway for mistakes.

2. I tried to constantly push some challenges upon you. I have the problem where I'm too soft on my players, so I made an effort to be harsher this time, but I think it turned out kinda messy and unstable in a way. Did you feel that? What could have been done differently? I tried to introduce urgency and push you into danger with "cutting off" events, like snakes being on your tail and the need to return to the sewers, or the rat city getting blocked off by the stone slabs, but it still felt not too risky. Maybe time limits on some metaphorical level up opportunities could be done?

3. I tried to hint at courses of action, but it doesn't look like you picked them up sometimes. Besides the initial alchemist thing, I tried to explicitly describe the first mutated rats to have big noses and ears that are specialised in detecting enemies they may have missed, I hoped that you would see that it tied into my description of your stealth ability where I said "So it is possible to e.g. turn a corner, then freeze, and the chasing creature would pass you by, even if you're in clear sight." and how it wouldn't work. But it seems that it was too vague? I also tried to hint at bats when you left the rat city with "flapping of wings and squeaks above you" and thought maybe you'd remember there was a bat cave, and would follow them there, but I guess that was a stretch. On the other hand, there was the second rabid rat group that was too obvious where I explicitly told "they're shit at detecting hidden enemies".

If you would've done something differently about hints, or have suggestions about how it could've been done better, please comment.

4. Were the descriptions to your liking? I tried to insert them where possible, but I think I failed often. One part I remain particularly proud of and think I did best in is the short attic description. The one here >>6320314 that's "You inspect the area ... higher than a human can reach from the floor." Did you like it?
(2/3)

5. Were the parts with glimpses of the city's denizens' lives with the plague to your liking? I didn't want it to be just rat going here and there and levelling up, so I thought I'd insert this kind of more dramatic and relatable touch. I guess it didn't amount to much, just random scenes without much weight... But maybe they added to the dreary atmosphere?

6. I see participation has dropped off as the quest went along, and I think I may know why. There is an issue with my quests where at some point they just become lists of actions without much thought or flowery description put into them, and too little stakes and pressure. Did you feel that happen here? Why do you think participation petered off? I know that it generally occurs in most quests (the dropping off of players), but I sometimes see quests "done right" where player discussion and participation remains high, so I want to know what can be done to retain readers.

If you've read this quest but dropped it at some earlier point in time, mind sharing your thoughts why you did? I will post this in the /qtg/ to see if any anons that were reading it and stopped could give feedback.

That's all for special questions, but if you have any other thoughts or suggestions, please post them.

Thanks for playing again, I will run more quests in the future, I plan on doing a multi-thread romance / slice of life one next.

Will write you a detailed response in a couple hours, QM. This was a good quest!

>>6325778
>Why do you think participation petered off?
I can only speak for myself,but I just wasn't really feeling it. I'm not against a "bad guy quest" but I didn't really feel much incentive to run around being a plague rat.

>Were the parts with glimpses of the city's denizens' lives with the plague to your liking
I think that worked against it a little honestly. if the people have complex and sympathetic lives and the MC doesn't, and is just ruining their lives without any motive or catharsis, it just feels... Bad. With a tighter gameplay loop, more dark humor and less sympathetic NPCs, or something else, I could have ignored that. As it was I just didn't get invested. Things might have changed after I left, but that is why I didn't stay.

>>6325778
6.
It was fun at first with the Ratatouille memes but this is not something I'd get into normally so I just stopped caring. Thing more of my liking called me. Sorry.
I'm with the anons that complain about the sympathetic NPC's. It's important to look forward for something engaging in a quest but when the objective is simply to be a walking tragedy...

>>6325832
Looking forward to it.
>>6325858
>>6325874
Hmm, I didn't expect the pov that the relatability of the characters would be averting. I guess that's something to expect when you portray suffering. I think I just had little connection to them as a QM, viewing them as plot tools, didn't expect that players would be so invested in them. Something to keep in mind.

>I'm not against a "bad guy quest" but I didn't really feel much incentive to run around being a plague rat.
>It was fun at first with the Ratatouille memes but this is not something I'd get into normally so I just stopped caring. Thing more of my liking called me. Sorry.
I see. Maybe if the quest ran longer, I could've reached some more dramatic parts. I had some ideas about Plague being one of the 4 horsemen of apocalypse with the other 3 having their own "heralds" and the plot would be something like looking for a way to cut off the connection while you're forced to be a walking biohazard and killing the others. But I wanted to do a oneshot and these were long-running ideas, so I put them away and tried to focus on making scenes that could be shown here and now.

Thanks for the feedback!

>>6326092
i for one liked the scenes from other perspectives the most
this is an evil type quest so i feel like anons have no right to complain about killing "relatable" NPCs

overall it had an interesting premise and the only real critique i have is that it was too short
a tipp i would give you is to work with HP instead of "injured" (but that may get too complicated)
oh and when anons made the "wrong" choice like at the beginning with the guy spotting us in his lab, you should still a roll if he sees us instead of just having it be an instant fail