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Encounter Conditions
None, but encounter results are altered by etheric.
Initial Text
A rat sits in your path, contentedly digging in a pile of garbage. It doesn't seem intent on moving.
On the other hand, getting around it would require wading through the sewage that fills the center of the tunnel.
Summary of Choices
- Charge the Rat - Fight Cornered Rat, or Angered Rat if etheric
- Wade through - Gain 5 energy of Vile Camouflage
- Dart Past - (if you fail a Reflexes test): Fight Cornered Rat
(if you pass): Bypass with no energy loss.
OR (if etheric): sometimes gain 3 XP in Strength and 5 energy of Vile Camouflage
Choice Text and Results
Charge the Rat
(If etheric)
You charge the rat and it seems somehow unconcerned by your approach. Maybe your senses are lying to you, but the rat's eyes seem to flare with a green light.(Fight Angered Rat)
(Otherwise)
You lunge forward and the rat isn't able to escape in time. It turns towards you, baring its teeth and trying to look larger than it is.(Fight Cornered Rat)
Wade through
You dip into the raw sewage to avoid the rat. You'll never smell clean again, ever.
It does leave you some time to explore the tunnels further; it's like they go on forever!
You've gained 5 energy of
Vile Camouflage.
Dart Past
(if you fail a Reflexes test)
You rush along the tunnel, leaping between piles of garbage, then slip and fall into a heap in front of the rat. It squeaks in surprise and lunges at you.
(Fight Cornered Rat)
(if you pass)
You bolt past the rat, jumping between piles of garbage. It might have lunged at you, but you escape unscathed to explore further down the tunnels.
(Does count as Walking Away)
OR (sometimes while etheric)
You run past the rat, skipping over mounds of garbage. As you pass, the rat makes a strange gesture with its paw. A moment later, the entire sewer tunnel spins and knocks you sideways into the sewage.
It takes what feels like hours to drag yourself back towards the surface. Your muscles burn and ache as you flop out of the sewage in a corner of tunnels you don't recognize.
You've gained 5 energy of
You've earned 3 XP in Strength
