11/28/2025 – Swyvers – Feta the Foul, Part I

Summary

Maisie Fae’s Gang answered a summons in the Midden. The Big Cheese—lounging on his makeshift throne with Cheese‑Face Cordella chained at his side—was furious: his rival, Feta the Fowl, wanted Cordella back and was sending daily raids that bled the clan. He demanded the gang end Feta’s threat. He pressed a bag of rank, moldy herbs into their hands with a pointed look and loaned five ‘cheese thieves’ to guide them. A bribe pried loose a secret: a hidden approach to Feta’s den, and a warning to strike when Feta’s foragers were out.

The gang took the secret way into the Gorgonzola Grotto’s back passages. The air was cheese‑sour and hot with vermin. A turn too many brought them into a nursery packed with mewling ratlings and two hard‑eyed mothers. The alarm rose like a knife. In the crush, Krusty leapt first, fangs flashing. Lucky’s sling cracked, Amos braced his hook, and Navi kept his halberd moving despite the cramped stone. The mothers hit back like hammers: Archie was rung senseless and toppled, while savage bites left both Amos and Maisie with legs that went to jelly beneath them.

Then the torch sputtered out. In the dark, the fight became breath and sound. Navi slid to the flank, drawing the mothers’ attention; Krusty tore a tail free with a growl that echoed down the tunnel. Archie, half‑blind and hurting, found his feet, listened for the rasp of breath, and drove his knife home. One mother fell; the other followed a heartbeat later. Silence collapsed over the nursery, broken only by the thin keening of the abandoned ratlings.

Limping, the gang gathered the live young into sacks and packs and scavenged the midden heaps for anything of value. They navigated back to the Big Cheese. He recoiled at the babies—too dangerous to keep, too easy for Feta to trace—and arranged to pass them to a neighboring den that would foster them. One ratling was quietly kept to raise among humans. On the surface, a barber‑surgeon set ruined legs and sent them away sore but standing. Black Mary, a widow in perpetual mourning, fenced their filthy finds for a pittance. With wounds bound and a clearer sense of the enemy’s rhythms, Maisie Fae’s Gang planned to return, time their approach for Feta’s empty hours, and carve a path toward the rival big cheese himself.

OUTLINE:

Audience with the Big Cheese, the Job, and a Hint

• Big Cheese revealed Feta the Fowl’s reprisals and demanded the gang end him.
• Cheese‑Face Cordella, chained at the throne, was devoted and present for the tense exchange.
• Big Cheese provided a mold‑stinking herb pouch and five rat escorts.
• A bribed escort disclosed a secret entrance and advised striking when Feta’s foragers leave.

Secret Approach and the Nursery Fight

• The gang entered via the hidden tunnel into the Gorgonzola Grotto.
• They stumbled into a rat nursery; two mothers raised the alarm and attacked.
• Krusty mauled one defender; Lucky pelted with a sling; Navi worked to flank in the crush.
• Archie was knocked out briefly; Amos and Maisie suffered vicious leg bites that left them barely mobile.
• The torch died mid‑fight; Archie recovered and, fighting by sound, finished the last mother.

Aftermath in the Dark

• The nursery fell silent but for the wailing babies.
• The gang collected the surviving ratlings and scavenged small valuables from midden heaps.
• With escorts gone, they navigated back through the tunnels on their own.

Back to the Gorgonzola Grotto and a Fraught Solution

• Big Cheese refused to take Feta’s offspring to avoid retaliation tracing back.
• He arranged for a neighboring den to foster the litter.
• One baby was kept by the gang to raise among humans.

Licking Wounds and Setting the Next Move

• A barber‑surgeon repaired the damaged legs.
• A new fence, Black Mary, bought their small finds for a modest cut.
• The gang resolved to return and time their strike for when Feta’s patrols are out.

NPCs:

• Black Mary: Widow of a former gang leader who fences goods in mourning black. Efficient, unflappable, and willing to handle questionable finds for a price.
• Cheese Thieves (rat escorts): Five ratmen lent by the Big Cheese to guide the gang—greedy, easily bribed, and quick to vanish when trouble starts.
• Cheese‑Face Cordella: The Big Cheese’s ardent lover, literally chained at his side. Devoted and at the center of the current feud.
• Feta the Fowl: Rival ‘big cheese’ whose raids bleed the Big Cheese’s clan. Demands the return of his lover and responds with daily reprisals.
• The Big Cheese: Clan leader of a rat warren, imperious on a makeshift throne and fluent in threats and bargains. Wants Feta the Fowl removed by any means.
• Tybalt Tweed (Mr. Tweed): A rat catcher with ties to Maisie Fae. Knows the under‑streets and the politics of the warrens well enough to guide introductions and stir deals.

ITEMS:

• Billy Hook: Amos’s curved tool with a mean bite—farm gear turned street iron.
• Boiled Leather Armor: Stiffened leather plates and jacket—stained by the Midden, but the difference between breath and burial.
• Cordella’s Chain: The iron link keeping Cheese‑Face Cordella at the Big Cheese’s side—a symbol and a warning.
• Halberd: Navi’s long‑hafted polearm, carriage‑law papers or no—the noble’s symbol and scourge in tight halls.
• Mold‑Reeking Herb Pouch: A bag of pungent, moldy herbs given by the Big Cheese with a cryptic warning that they ‘might be needed.’
• Rolling Papers (pack): A bundle of paper for smokes, salvaged from the midden—surprisingly valuable in bulk.
• Shank: A simple, mean little blade that thrives in the dark where longer steel falters.
• Silver Tooth: A small, grim trophy of silver—likely pried from a former owner—worth a few coins.
• Sling: Lucky’s pocket trebuchet, humming stones through narrow lanes and tighter tunnels.
• Spade: A battered shovel pulled from a heap of refuse—useful for digging or prying.
• Torches: Hard‑used sticks and pitch, the only light between the gang and the abyss below.

LOCATIONS:

• Gorgonzola Grotto: The Big Cheese’s warren, a ripe‑smelling cavern network thick with ratfolk, stacked trash, and the constant reek of cheese.
• Rat Nursery: A cramped chamber of nests, scraps, and mewling ratlings—ferociously defended by their mothers.
• Secret Entrance to Feta’s Den: A tight, hidden tunnel that skirts the edges of Feta the Fowl’s territory and bypasses his main guards.
• The Jail District (Prison Tower): The city district dominated by a looming jail tower. It serves as the gang’s current neighborhood and point of return.
• The Midden: A sprawling under‑city of sewers, crypts, smuggler runs, and collapsed basements. Rank, labyrinthine, and ruled by rat clans.

FACTIONS:

• Barber‑Surgeons: Pragmatic medics of the streets, fixing what they can for coin and leaving the rest to luck.
• Big Cheese’s Clan: A rat warren loyal to their reigning ‘big cheese.’ Strength rules; opportunism keeps them alive.
• Feta the Fowl’s Clan: Rival ratfolk who answer to Feta the Fowl and harry neighboring warrens daily.
• Rat Catchers: A loose fraternity of pest‑hunters, informants, and tunnel‑runners who know the city’s under‑veins.

QUESTS:

• Fence the Midden Finds: Move the scavenged goods through a reliable fence for coin to re‑equip.
• Infiltrate Feta’s Den: Use the secret entrance and timing to get past defenses, recon his lair, and prepare the kill.
• Matchmake for the Big Cheese: Secure a partner for the Big Cheese to cement goodwill and safe passage in his domain.
• Set the Legs Right: Find a barber‑surgeon to mend the gang’s bitten, failing legs before returning below.
• Shelter the Ratlings: Decide the fate of the rescued rat babies—leverage, fosterage, or adoption—without drawing Feta’s ire.
• Stop Feta the Fowl: The Big Cheese wants Feta neutralized to end daily raids and reclaim stability in the Midden.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Amos: A farmhand turned tough who swears a billy hook is a farming tool until it isn’t. Solid, stubborn, and protective, he plants his feet and holds the line even when his legs threaten to give out.
• Archie: Street‑raised son of a failed actor, equal parts scrapper and survivor. He fights low and close with a blade, stubbornly getting back up when knocked down and finishing what he starts.
• Krusty (Maisie’s dog): A scarred pit‑mutt with a nose for trouble and a jaw like a trap. Krusty is fiercely protective of Maisie and proved the sharpest ‘weapon’ in the tunnels, tearing into foes even in the dark.
• Lucky Clover: A silver‑tongued bootlegger estranged from family, with quick hands and a quicker grin. Lucky prefers distance and leverage, letting slingstones and schemes do the work, and keeps a keen eye out for an angle—even in the dark.
• Maisie Faye: A 78‑year‑old street fortune‑teller whose muttered prophecies cut through the stink of the Midden. She carries herself like someone who has outlived worse than sewers and rat kings, with a wicked glint and a loyal mongrel at her heel. Even when her legs failed her, her grit didn’t.
• Navi, the Rightful Baron of Rookery: A proud, sharp‑tongued noble who insists on his titles even underground. Fine clothes over boiled leather and a halberd at his shoulder announce both vanity and readiness. He favors poise and position, flanking foes and turning a bad scrap through nerve and timing.