Jason's magical knowledge, coming from a skill book, was more extensive than the narrow, specialised training of a such a workman. That said, Jason had no illusions he would be the equal of this tradesman in his specialised field. Jason's magically imbued knowledge might be more comprehensive, but he knew it would pale in comparison to the workman's years of experience. The man introduced himself as Frank.

“I've chased ‘em all back into this hole here, Mr Farrack,” Frank said.

“It’s Farrokh.”

“Sorry about that, Mr Farrack. So once I got ‘em all out, I sealed the hole off. It'll keep ‘em out long enough for Mr Asarno here to do his job. You much of a rat catcher, Mr Asarno?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Jason said.

The Adventure Society was not normally called in for lesser monsters, which posed a limited threat. Only in large numbers were they a problem that required Adventure Society intervention. In this case, a whole colony of stone-chewer rats had appeared in the tunnels underneath Old City.

“I was told you would provide access to the tunnels?” Jason asked Frank as Farrokh led them upstairs.

“Yeah, but I'll have to leave you down there,” Frank said. “This place isn't the only one with holes in the basement. You're not afraid of the dark are you, Mr Asarno?”

“I’m sure I’ll muddle through.”

Frank led them out of the building and down a side street, to a set of stone stairs in an alleyway that led down below street level to a metal door. Frank unlocked the door, revealing more stairs. Jason followed Frank down into what looked like a sewer tunnel. The ceiling was arched, dark water running down the middle, with walkways on either side. There was a chemical smell, heavy in the wet air. It wasn’t exactly like chlorine, but similar.

“You alright for light?” Frank asked. “I can lend you a glow stone, if that’d help.”

“Wouldn’t the rats run from the light?” Jason asked.

“Oh, you see a lot of critters like this in my kind of work,” Frank said. “My experience has been more of a run-towards situation. They’ll take a nibble out of you if they can, believe me. Your trouble will be the ones hidden away. There’s pipes and crevices aplenty down here. Lots of places to nest that people won’t fit in to.”

“I’m going to let my familiar do the hard work.”

“That’s like a magic pet, yeah?” Frank asked. “Not sure I’d want my dog running around down here. I mean, they clean this water, but there’s clean and there’s clean, you know?”

“My familiar is an apocalypse monster that can scour a world of life,” Jason said absently as he looked around the tunnel. “It isn’t going to be put off by a bit of poo.”