The tanglefoot bag seems to catch onto Tartuk.
Lukan cuts down the bird with no difficulty, knocking the dead bird out of the air and onto the floor.
Telias, in the way that men who care nothing for bloody regime changes do. Pulls out his pipe and tobacco taking a pinch to it before lighting it. Absentmindedly he he offers a pinch of his pouch to a nearby kobold straining to see what's going on inside. The kobold curiously takes the offered pinch, sniffs it, and puts it into his mouth. After a thoughtful chew the kobold makes a face and spits the stuff out making a disgusted face. Telias shakes his head sadly and continues to watch the brutal murder.
miss chance:
Sir Bronwyn swings his blade into the air and hits nothing.
Watching the combatants casually swing at air, I 5-foot move to W23 and center the sleep spell at R22/S23 so that it gets as many squares as possible without including any party members.
Tartuk, Tartuk, where'd you go;
Your time is up, now your blood will flow.
I then reach out and touch James - Touch of Rage, +1 attack, damage and Will saves for 1 round.
The spell goes off landing in the area where you believe Tartuk to be, however you see no effect at all.
Round 3
Order:
Tartuk
Kobolds
Jameson Addercop IV
Chief Sootscale
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain
Lukan Swane
Sir Bronwyn Raslov
Telias Markan
Carina Stigard
You can hear Tartuk recite a spell but as you can't see him you can't strike at him. The kobolds don't attack, unable to close in and having no idea where he is.
Round 3 Init 10
HP = 22/25
AC = 20/11/19 (22/11/21 w/ Shield)
Weapon Equipped = Longsword
Speed = 35'
Challenge = 1/1
Status Effects = None
Jameson swings again at the space he hears Tartuk's voice coming from.
Sootscale swings his club at the area, but misses as well as Jameson does.
"Die, Traitor!" he growls with anger.
Round 3
The knight moves closer to where the shaman disappeared, wary of attacks.
Seeing his sword arm won't win this fight, Bron uses his sharp tongue instead, initially seeking a weak point in the enemy's defenses.
"Do you hate yourself so much that you would lead your own people to destruction? What was it, a female kobold didn't respond to your advances?"
Apparently, reading reactions from an invisible creature is more difficult than Bronwyn initially thought.
"You were born of a chicken egg left in the sun, you... scaly thing!"
HP: 16/16
AC: 16
CMD: 16
Saves: 2/7/2
Speed: 30ft
Equipped: Cold Iron Battleaxe
Quiver: 20/20 Arrows, Cold Iron
10/10 Arrows, Silver Blanched
Conditions: none
Base +5/+2, PB Shot +1/+1, Inspire Courage +1/+1, Firing into melee -4/-; Total +3/+4
"This is getting old, shaman. Come out and face your death with some dignity." Ganit backs up a step, drops his axe to the ground and pulls his bow from his shoulder. He half-heartedly releases a shot towards the area he and his comrades have been attacking blindly for some time now.
-----------------------------------------------
Lukan rushes in next to his allies to continue the onslaught against the invisible monster.
I turn to one of the Kobolds behind me.
In Draconic: Do you have a net we could use? I think the evil that is Tartuk needs to be trapped.
I touch James again - Touch of Rage --> +1 attack & damage for 1 round.
With Ganit's arrow his aim his true and once it hits nothing, becoming invisable for a second, but then Tartuk re-appears, bleeding out and then falls to his knees, spitting out blood and grinning as he looks at the group.
"Filthy Kobolds. You big people...will regret..." and with that his last word comes out as a garggle of blood before collapsing to the ground.
Sootscale smiles widely, walking over and then taking his club in two hands, lifting up high and then crashing it down on Tartuk's head, screaming triumph to the tribe. With that he turns to the group.
"You will always be friends to Sootscales. You can have all he had in life, our friendship and whatever you wish." he says, moving over to the treasure pile in the room "Anything here you want?"
Turning to the Chief.
Draconic: I hope that this is the last bloodshed between the great Sootscale kobolds and the settlers of this land. May our peoples work together to strengthen all.
I cast detect magic and scan Tartuk and everything else in the room.
Jameson smiles, revealing his tusks.
"A ring, Chief Sootscale, we are looking for a certain ring in addition to the other spoils you offer us."
"And some hot food and maybe a bed," Ganit adds as he picks his axe up from the ground and slides it into a leather hoop on his back. "It's been a long day and I could use a good hot meal. I'm sure the others will agree."
Tartuk had on his body a wand of magic missile (CL 3rd, 28 charges), masterwork cold iron sickle, bravers of armour +1, cloak of resistance +1 and what appears to be a jurnal, written in Undercommon.
Sootscale nods and looks into the one of the bags and produces a brass wedding ring, handing it over to the group. He pauses to consider what Ganit says and then nods.
"You may for tonight. We need to clean out this room and burn Tartuk's body." he grins as he looks it over again, satisfied that his club did it's work.
Edit:
"Well, that's a day's work to me! Chief Sootscale, we graciously accept your hospitality and promise not to overstay our welcome."
Bronwyn sighes relieved of a chance to remove his armor. He will do so, and pack the chainmail together with his shield and other belongings.
"We sure could sit by the fire and have ourselves something to eat while we're at it. I just hope we had some ale to celebrate our many victories this day."
Sitting by the fire, the knight strains his eyesight trying in vain to read the words in the journal.
"So, Carina, what language was that you were using with the kobolds? i didn't know there was a kobold tongue. Would you care to teach me some words?"
Grinning: It is draconic, the language of dragons and of kobolds - although the dialects are somewhat different, it is pretty much the same.
"Well, that's a day's work to me! Chief Sootscale, we graciously accept your hospitality and promise not to overstay our welcome."
Bronwyn sighes relieved of a chance to remove his armor. He will do so, and pack the chainmail together with his shield and other belongings.
"We sure could sit by the fire and have ourselves something to eat while we're at it. I just hope we had some ale to celebrate our many victories this day."
Following Bronwyn's lead, Ganit takes a seat by the fire and begins to pry off his worn leather boots. The joints in his toes crackle painfully as he stretches and contorts them in the hearth's comforting warmth. "Tomorrow we'll pack our cart and leave at sunrise. Since your war with the mites is over there is no reason for you to keep the supplies your tribe has stolen from any travelers so we would like to see them returned. In return for this we will open and encourage trade with the Sootscales as the land prospers. Now, what's for dinner?"
Following Bronwyn's lead, Ganit takes a seat by the fire and begins to pry off his worn leather boots. The joints in his toes crackle painfully as he stretches and contorts them in the hearth's comforting warmth. "Tomorrow we'll pack our cart and leave at sunrise. Since your war with the mites is over there is no reason for you to keep the supplies your tribe has stolen from any travelers so we would like to see them returned. In return for this we will open and encourage trade with the Sootscales as the land prospers. Now, what's for dinner?"
He considers your suggestion but shakes his head.
"Our treasure. People we took from died or ran. Gems and coins ours." he says defensively as he begins pawing over the gems, precious rocks and coins.
Chief Sootscale. One promise we must get from you is your word that you and the Sootscale kobolds will no longer harm or threaten any travelers or merchants. As we have discussed, our desire is to have you and your unique skills as part of the new nation here. I, and I speak for my companions, would prefer if this is done peacefully.
The other thing is that the merchant Oleg has requested that we recover a ring that was stolen from him. First it was taken by some bandits who are no longer. It was stolen from them by your former enemies the mites. Once again, they are no longer a concern. It is our understanding that you have this ring. We request that you return it to us. Despite how you obtained it, it is stolen property and anyone in possession of it would be considered a thief and an enemy of the new state. I doubt that you and your fellow Sootscales want to begin your time in this new land as outlaws. . . But the choice is yours.
If I were you, I would give us the ring to be returned to its rightful owner. We will even tell Oleg that you recovered it and returned it to us which should allow you to begin to trade with him and obtain many useful items that he typically stocks.
Diplomacy:
"At the very least, consider it a sign of good faith. Our settlements will both benefit greatly from the example you could set."
He considers what you say and nods, grabbing the entire soiled sack, same sacks as those the bandits had and hand them over.
"We lived here many years, seen many big people build. I was not here, but they drove my people away. If you take us in, we can leave the cave for you to mine pretties." he points at yet another vine of silver. Seems like this mine is far from mined out.
The bag contains:
the brass wedding ring with a pearl you have already been given (Svetlana's from the descriptionand worth 120 gp), two doses of dust of illusion and tons of coins weighing it down the most: 5 cp, 486 sp, 1028 gp, 19 pp.
In the pile of treasure they have you also see many worthless shiney objects such as quartz, mica crystals, bits of metal, broken weapons and armour and lots of other garbage. This is their life's treasure but as Sootscale considers what you say he decides to pull out the stuff that isn't considered junk for the group, though he looks upset at losing it all.
"I would kill for a bit person asking me for all this, but I owe you my life and the life of all my tribe." he says and moves over to shake the hand of whoever wishes to be the representative of the party. "When my hunters return, I will tell them you are welcome in these lands."
Rest of the items that are found:
Boots of Elvenkind, seven +1 flaming crossbow bolts, a masterwork light metal shield, earth elemental gem.
7,430 cp, 2,132 sp, 673 gp
Talking to the rest of the group away from the kobolds:
While we are clearly strong enough to force these Sootscales to bend to our will, or to simply wipe them off the face of the earth. I think that they could make a strong ally. We should not take all their treasure. I say that we leave them with all the silver and copper and 500 gold. That way they will have enough to begin to barter and trade with Oleg and other traders on a somewhat equal basis.
Obviously I would prefer having the magic items. We could also leave the masterwork shield, it is worth a decent amount, but as a sign of goodwill, leaving a well made item such as this for the Chief would be good.
Bronwyn's gaze is hesitant for a second, but as he offers his hand to the kobold his smile is confident.
I don't believe any one of us would ask your folk to leave your houses just so we can work these mines. Why don't we make a deal instead, from friend to friend?
He takes one quick look to the party, hoping to find approval in their gazes.
"The koboldfolk stay in your homes, and we'll provide you the tools to mine this silver. It's honest work, and one I believe you will excel at. You trade us the silver and small gems you mine in return for food for your people and the many commodities we may be able to offer you. Complex tools, magic and manufactured items will all be in your reach. And if any other force threatens the Sootscale tribe, we'll be there to defend all of you."
"What do you say, honorable chief Sootscale?"
"It would be disrespectful to simply remove them from their homes and the entirety of their wealth. Bronwyn's plan of simply hiring them as the muscle behind this mine sound genuinely fair. What they chip away from the walls here should be more than enough to barter with at Oleg's. He can use that profit to hire more guards and we can ensure that our promise to the Sootscales is fulfilled."
"I approve of this plan, Sir Raslov you have proved yourself to be a just and worthy knight."
Jameson nods before casting his eye over the kobold horde, calculating just how many trips it will take to carry it to the wagon.
Bronwyn's gaze is hesitant for a second, but as he offers his hand to the kobold his smile is confident.
I don't believe any one of us would ask your folk to leave your houses just so we can work these mines. Why don't we make a deal instead, from friend to friend?
He takes one quick look to the party, hoping to find approval in their gazes.
"The koboldfolk stay in your homes, and we'll provide you the tools to mine this silver. It's honest work, and one I believe you will excel at. You trade us the silver and small gems you mine in return for food for your people and the many commodities we may be able to offer you. Complex tools, magic and manufactured items will all be in your reach. And if any other force threatens the Sootscale tribe, we'll be there to defend all of you."
"What do you say, honorable chief Sootscale?"
Sootscale nods as this makes sense to him and then he gives a smile.
"We could make a much bigger cave. Tribe will grow huge." he smiles as the idea seems to become more favourable. "We can serve as scouts. Help protect your land."
Once again, you hear Carina moaning and speaking in the strange guttural tongue as she sleeps - which James has identified as Orcish:
Carina again finds herself standing beside the Orc Shaman. It turns to her: My apprentice, today you go on your first raid. This village has much food and slaves. Capture them and remember, their life is meaningless, as is the lives of the weak warriors. Only your life matters. - - Then the vision shifts and she is in the middle of the village surrounded by humans. The shaman instructs her: Burn them, use the powers you have learned. With that, Carina sees her hands extend, but they are not her hands, they are green, wrinkled and have dirty claws. From her hands she sees waves of blazing fire spring forth which envelopes the humans burning them to death. - - Then the scene shifts and she finds herself standing before a human with a sword. Again the shaman's voice instructs her: Grow large, use the power of your fore bearers and destroy this enemy. Again she sees her hands wave in front of her and hears the guttural tongue speak and she finds herself growing to nearly double her former size. Then she cringes as this new larger form swings a massive sword decapitating the human.
Carina then awakes, coated in sweat.
What happened, were we attacked? Or was that another nightmare? It was so real.
Grumbling to himself as he smacks the burnt tobbaco out of his pipe as he does so he lays flat the bare truth. "Well, this was all great fun and I'm sure yer real impressed wit yerselves fer negotiatin a treaty with a buncha lizards but I think yer fergettin that all this means diddly squat till we git tha bandits takin care of."
Bronwyn nods simply in acknowledgement of Jameson's comment and tries to hide how much the simple words meant to him.
"You are right, Telias, as usual. But today's problems are resolved, tomorrow's are the province of tomorrow. Or something like that."
Bron is sitting by the fire, working hard at the translation with the kobold Mikmek at his side when Carina awakens startled.
"Shhh, calm down, Carina dear. We are in the Sootscale caverns, and we are safe and sound. You can let your guard down and sleep, I'll be here to keep you safe. Well, me and Telias are, for the first watch."
He offers her a sip of cold water to drink or refresh her face.
"And now we've got an ally to go against the lord's army. I'd wager this treaty will prove beneficial further down the line," Ganit adds as he rubs his sore feet with gloved hands; studying the soft green leather boots just gifted to the group.
"We should take our time and map this area on our way back to the outpost tomorrow. Saves time against coming back and retracing our steps. We'll have to be careful considering the load we're hauling back." He speaks without looking at anyone in particular, as if he's only thinking aloud. When he stops his work he looks to Bronwyn, who had just a moment ago put down his reading to attend to Carina, "Any headway in that journal, Bron?"
Smiling at Bron, I roll over and go back to sleep.
The book appears to have been written by Tartuk who mentions his life as a Gnome. When ogres attacked the village he was in he stepped forward to surrender and join them, but the ogres instead killed him, yet the villagers thought he had sacrificed himself.
To bring him back they used up their only real treasure, a scroll of reincarnation. This brought him back as his most hated race, kobolds. The scales were coloured the same as his hair when he was a gnome where he was not sure if a god was punishing him, nature or if it was merely badluck. He fleed from the village in a rage, travelling and murdering other Gnomes before setting his sights on the woods.
As he entered the woods he found a tribe of kobolds and began to claim he was here to save the tribe from doom, using prestigitation to turn the scales of dead kobolds yellow. He managed to wipe out 3 other tribes before arriving here.
In the page that held the fly spell he details how he plans to end his life after this tribe dies out. He was going to use the scroll to fly up high in the air. At the end of 5 minutes when the spell would fail he would be over 2000 ft in the air, well out of the safety range of the spell and be at peace.
Hearing what the journal said: It is sad, but also fortunate that we arrived before he was able to kill the good Sootscales. Clearly he was both mad and evil. We should burn his body so that he cannot be resurrected or reincarnated again.
Turning to Chief Sootscale. You and your tribe have my sympathy for your losses to this mad kobold-gnome. I think that his body should be burned, but should you have some other punishment for those who would do evil to your tribe. We will not interfere.
"What a d**k," Ganit laughs out absentmindedly.
"Sounds like typical gnome logic ta me." Telias says, impatient to leave.
Hearing what the journal said: It is sad, but also fortunate that we arrived before he was able to kill the good Sootscales. Clearly he was both mad and evil. We should burn his body so that he cannot be resurrected or reincarnated again.
Turning to Chief Sootscale. You and your tribe have my sympathy for your losses to this mad kobold-gnome. I think that his body should be burned, but should you have some other punishment for those who would do evil to your tribe. We will not interfere.
Sootscale spits on the body.
"Do what you want. We don't care." he grits his teeth and looks back at his club, still stained from the blood of yesterday when he caved in Tartuk's skull.
Lets burn his body and all his personal good which are not of value, this will be a final ridding of him from your tribe.
I help Lukan and Ganit take the body and its possessions out of the cave. We put them in a pile and burn them.
It is done, the demon Tartuk is finished.
Looking at the funereal pyre of Tartul, the kobold/gnome, Bronwyn whispers.
"May he find in death what has eluded him in life. Rest in peace."
Casting his somber mood aside, he turns to the others:
"Well, I propose we head back to Oleg's to resupply and leave most of this cargo. Once we finish this, we can prepare ourselves properly and try to finish these so-called bandits down south. That is, unless we can manage to find those fangberries the alchemist asked or that crazy boar. Any extra help in arming ourselves should be welcomed, since we intend to fight a veritable war."