When they reached the manhole, Allistor went first, followed by Sam.  The two men would act as the bulwarks, keeping mobs in melee range at bay while the group burned them down.  But the hope was that with all the guns, bombs, and spells the group had at their disposal, they’d murder anything in the tunnels before it got that close.

Behind Allistor and Sam came Meg, Nancy, and Amanda.  Meg was ready with guns or bombs, while Nancy and Amanda would primarily heal.  Ramon and Michael would bring up the rear, in case anything snuck up from behind.

Sam cast a light globe in front of them, allowing Allistor to save his mana for attack spells.  Ramon cast one to follow behind them.  The group moved down the tunnel to the first intersection, then right, as Allistor followed his previous route.  In a few minutes, they reached the spot where he’d found Nancy.  Not pausing to remember, they continued on.  At the next intersection, Sam was blind-sided by a group of four vermin that rushed out of the side tunnel just as he stepped in front of it.    The big marine was knocked off his feet, and the vermin swarmed over the top of him.   Allistor Examined one of them.

Vermin Scout

Level 5

Health 450/450

Meg screamed, “Sam! Oh god, help him!” and raised her shotgun.  The rats were ravaging Sam, taking small chunks of his flesh wherever they could.

Allistor stepped between her and Sam, his back to her as he stabbed one of the rats with his spear.  “Wait, Meg!” he shouted.  “Don’t fire. You’ll hit Sam!”

He was tense as he let go of his spear and drew his sword.   Two careful swings each eliminated a vermin from atop Sam’s struggling form.  Sam grabbed the last of the vermin around its neck and throttled it, squeezing until its spine broke and the thing stopped struggling.

Nancy and Amanda both cast heals on Sam as he and Allistor looted the rats.  When Allistor noticed none of the others reaching down to loot, he asked, “Did anybody other than Sam and myself get xp from that fight?”

The others all shook their heads no.    So they were still on a ‘you hit it, you get credit for it’ basis.   That wouldn’t do at all.   He leaned against the wall and said, “Everybody look and see what you can find about forming a party that shares experience.”  His words were clipped, angry with himself for not figuring this out sooner.

Michael was the one to find it.  Rather than waste time explaining it to everyone, he just sent Allistor a party invite.  Then turned party leadership over to him.  Allistor was quickly able to figure out how to add party members, and thirty seconds later it was done.