Incident Report: Lycan Ambush

Dire Rabbit

Location: Chasm under the Helmlands
Participants: Holy Strategist Keline Hallenthen, Unknown were-rat

Whilst mining for mithril and titanium to finish a project, I was ambushed by a were-rat under improved invisibility. My guardians jumped to my defense and drove it off before it could finish its work, I enspelled myself with stoneskin and other empowerments, and gave a rolling overwatch chase, plowing through a few gnolls and other creatures on my way to the exit.

I was again engaged by the creature and deployed my guardians to box him in, slam down with a hammer and throw choking powder at him to keep him contained while I healed. My guardians were putting a fierce pounding on him even with his improved invisibility before he started hitting me with dispel and lightning bolt wand charges.

After a few more traded blows, and near felling blows on both sides- which I could not capitalize upon due to lack of wands of my own- we both broke off the engagement and I withdrew to town. No obvious reason presented itself as to his attack, until I received a letter today, enclosed.

I don’t know if this is aimed at me in particular, the council, or some list he’s working down- at first I thought it might’ve been opportunism on his part, but from the letter this is very deliberate attack upon myself. Some reasons may include my attempts to organize the council against the threats of the region, White Horde spies within the city, or just some jackass that wants to see chaos spread further.

When you are done bickering about onyx and drawing attention to its use as a necromantic tool by every wannabe in the city, please give it some thought; there are more immediate and pressing matters to attend to.

Holy Strategist Keline Hallenthen

[enclosed letter]

Keline,

I badly wish I could be writing this letter with good news to tell, especially after our talk earlier today.
As you know, I went out looking for work with Sara and Kirin. We travelled to Eveningstar, and on the way, we encountered something you should know about. A wererat had staked out the roads of East Way, and it was looking for you. Specifically, it threatened to destroy the people you care about. Then it cast the area in darkness and ran away.
I've written a letter to the Great Druid to tell her where this happened and what the wererat said.
You take care of yourself too.

Regards,
Laurel

Combat Characteristics:

Strengths

Sneaky and prone to striking from shadows. His blows are ~very~ dangerous, he knows what he’s doing. Stoneskin saved my life and only just barely.
Able to use potions and wands whilst shifted, use of elemental ward recommended. Rismante has made it clear wand castings of things like Lightning are not as dangerous as a true caster, but they are still dangerous. My elemental ward negated his damage more than once from that wand.
Haste and invisibility were also used to try and gain an advantage.
Has an abundance of wands and tricks- such as dispel.
Thick hide requiring a potent magic weapon to cut through.
Uses a darkness wand to favor himself and his sneak attacking. Get out of the darkness at all costs!

Weaknesses

Lycanthrope. Silver weapons will be a great help. I can make these if you need.
Very little resistance to my attempts to control him- Impede, Hammer, even choking powder, hit their mark with very little trouble. He is fragile and weak willed- perhaps a side effect of his cursed blood?
While nimble, he would be extremely susceptible to things that take away that mobility such as the mentioned. Add Slow to the list, and you have an all but guaranteed win if you can capitalize upon it.
Relies on ambush tactics using his main striking hands- deadly though they are (and they really are), I suspect this tactic has always won him his fights so he’s unlikely to vary it up much.

Suggested Strategy:

If you are traveling alone and have common cause with me, assume you may be targeted. I would suggest see invisibility potions (for his inevitable retreat from battle), an Impede wand and a Hammer wand with a few charges. This would give you options for engagement or dispersal- Impede and hammer or Impede and run. Both are valid.

His hide is tough, you’ll want a magically enchanted weapon or silver coated one, the better the more likely you are to succeed. My guardians that did not have enchanted weapons had a difficult time cutting into him, however those with made good work of him.

Dispel wands would not be a bad idea, nor Hold Person. Impede wands are much cheaper for casual use, however.