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This is why I should be the one ruling! These softscales are more worried about stupid ugly headgear than showing the true power of the kobold bloodline! But while they fight over hats, I will be busy conquering all of absalom!
Engashez's eyes narrow as Hats states his belief that she'd given him her hat for keepsies - but bites her tongue, for now.
Maybe there'll be a good opportunity to snatch it back from him. I just have to keep my eyes open.
"Excellent," she instead says with a bit of a hiss. "These Onyx humans will be no match for the mighty Sewer Dragons and the mighty Hats! Together we'll show that the sewers are our domain and ours alone!"
Once everyone seems ready to depart, Engashez obligingly steps aside to allow the stealthy and crafty among them - such as Fazgyn and Athrax - to lead the way.
Anthrax takes the lead and the group heads out. He tries to stay ahead of Hats and stealthy move.
"It's time for the Sewer Dragons to destroy the Alliance! -she blurts out without thinking, and quickly adds before being the target of dirty looks- Not the one with the Society, the Onyx one!"
Fazgyn follows swiftly behind Athrax, stealthily slinking through the tunnels and eagerly anticipating an excellent day of trap laying.
After allowing Fazgyn and Athrax to get a little bit of a lead, Engashez falls in behind Pethtun and the rest as the group set out towards the mysterious portal. Though not especially versed with traps and the like, the little blue kobold still prided herself on being a pretty good sneak when she needed to be - such as now.
A crevice almost 20 feet below the main sewer line separates the two disconnected ends of the tunnel. To the west, several snaking arterial tunnels crisscross and connect to the larger tunnels, cramped for hairy human-sized creatures, but usable for magnificent smaller creatures such as yourselves. These tunnels are unlit.
Hats has a horrible time of it, but stays with you...
Five-foot-wide sidewalks run alongside a five-foot wide sluice of murky sewer water. The path reaches a T-junction, with paths leading east, north, and west. The eastern and western tunnels go on for an indeterminate length, while the northern tunnel abruptly ends in a drop. The sound of rushing water intensifies to the north.
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Fazgyn quietly walks down the dark tunnel, on the look out for any errant traps he may have laid a long time ago and forgot about. He isn't terribly eager to join a fight, but knowing that a smelly hairy human has already defeated, and apparently licked, these Onyx people makes him feel confident that the mighty Sewer Dragons will have little trouble dealing with them.
I better stay a bit to the back of the group, Hats appears to be an excellent shield and I don't want to get destroyed by mere humans.
Engashez creeps along, making sure to keep Hats behind her and her sturdier scaled companions in front. Although still sore at Hats for absconding with her headgear she does her best to help guide the otyugh along and minimize the noise he makes - which is much easier said than done.
"No no no, step-look, just step a little to the left," she hisses as they come to the T-junction and the beginning of the end of her patience. "Do I need to hold a tentacle?" she asks, snark creeping into her tone.
Anthrax makes sure he's at the front of the group. I will show them what a great alchemist and Pathfinder can do.
The intrepid group of kobolds turns towards their destination. The sewer path ends in a section of scorched stonework. The sewer here has collapsed into a vast cavern, and the sewer water tumbles in a filthy waterfall to a makeshift lake twenty feet below. A wooden ladder on western end of the collapsed tunnel leads down to the cavern floor.
Engashez utters a low whistle when they round the corner and see the collapsed and scorched section of stonework.
"Wow...must've been strong magicks to do that. Sewer Dragons best watch their footing here," she whispers as she looks around.
Engashez sees little of note, but thinks the ladder is sturdy enough for the kobolds (Hats is another matter entirely.)
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"That is good advice for anywhere, my hatless friend." Fazgyn whispers back, "Traps that grab your feet are the most fun!" He then heads off again, scouting for any trouble, and now also keeping an eye out for a safe way to bring Hats with them.
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Fazgen moves up to the edge. The sewer line casts down a sludge-like torrent of water and other matter into a growing lake of grime.
It doesn't take a genius kobold to know that the water here is BAD NEWS. Hats, however, seems ready to dive right in! "SUCH a glorious pool for HATS!"
Skyrahk still walks behind Hats, stopping before the end of the sewer line, she'll cast Detect Magic in the direction of the waterfall and grime pool.
Unfortunately there seems to be nothing of interest to the kobolds. Hats, clearly excited about such a relaxing pool of water barges forth and jumps into the pool.
Hats disturbs the bodies of a trio of humanoids, but they seem to be simply corpses dumped here.
Engashez flinches as Hats zips ahead and simply dives down into the fetid pool below, hoping that there isn't anything or anyone else nearby to hear the splashing. She edges up a bit past Skyrahk and stands on tiptoe, craning her neck to see down into the pool below.
"Hah! Some stupid humans let themselves be defeated by a pool of nasty water," she chuckles, pointing at the three bodies that Hats' antics had disturbed. "Or something else that would've been easily avoided by superior Sewer Dragon skills." She pokes at Pethtun standing just ahead of her. "We should get moving once we're sure the ladder is safe; Hats might wander off if we leave him alone for too long!"
_______
Antrax moves to the other side of the tunnel looking into the bottom of the pool. "Hats anything interesting down there?"
"Down the stairs then Sewer Dragons." He'll wait until there's room for him to jump across the sewer to get to the other side.
Hats continues to bathe in the putrid filth. Thankfully the ladder seems to have no problem holding kobold weight.
It looks likes there are a trio of ways out of here, with a fourth blocked by a wall of rubble.
To your right is a reasonably wide passage, and to your far left there's a passage just large enough for kobolds. Also a sturdy wooden scaffold topped with a platform allows access to the edge of a cliff twenty feet above. A ladder ascends the side of the scaffold from the bottom of the cavern. The cavern itself is very rough natural rock.
Fazgyn rolls his eyes as Hats takes a decidedly unstealthy approach to the situation, but he does chuckle a little when Engashez points out what his unexpected bath turns up, "The stupidity of humans never fails to surprise me." He says as he makes his way down the ladder, "I mean, you would never see a Kobold in water like that!" He makes his way up to the small passage, wondering if it might be a good way to sneak up on the overly large soft-skinned Onyx people. "While Hats is enjoying his bath, what do you say about having a quick look through here?"
Fazgyn makes a suggestion, but Pethtun is already on it. It doesn't appear like there's much here (beyond a disgusting Hats and his bath time.)
Where to? you've got a few direction options.
"Hey Hats! Could you bring those stupid humans out with you when you're done?" Engashez calls out, her curiosity a bit piqued now that she's had a moment to consider the corpses and how they might've gotten there. "Might be Onyx people and have something useful...and if not, maybe they have something useful anyway. Not like they'll need their stuff now..."
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"SURE! When I'm done? Got it!"
Hats doesn't look like he'll ever be done.
Engashez reminds him again in a couple of minutes. Eventually he tosses the bodies rather unceremoniously on the ground. Indeed they are human-ish (they all look the same to you), and they likely are casualties of Dreng's escape. They're extra skinny, and devoid of equipment.
"Any of us fast enough to scout the narrow passages while Hats gets bored of his "pool" time? I'll try and check that raised platform, anyone else join Skyrahk?"
To she adds "Hats! You can keep swimming for now, but this pink corpses don't have hats, we may need to keep our hunts for Hat's hats going, if any humans are using uniform, like those soft fleshes like to do, maybe we can find you a pair of twin hats!" Then she starts walking towards the ladder near the scaffolding.
"Engashez join Skyrahk," the little blue kobold says without hesitation. "We'll make sure the platform is strong and won't break before the rest of you climb up," she says as she strides over to the scaffolding.
"Because fathead males might break it if they all go up at once," she adds in a conspiratorial whisper to Skyrahk. Once she's at the base of the scaffolding, Engashez gives the setup a look. If it seems sturdy enough, she begins to slowly climb up the ladder...
_______
Anthrax moves over to the scaffolding to take a look as well. "What do you see?" He begins to climb up the scaffolding. He doesn't get very far.
Fazgyn scurries through the tight side passage while other intrepid kobolds opt for the scaffolding.
It takes Athrax a bit, but with help from the others the party reconvenes at the top.
It appears that this area is a small network of tunnels. There's a main tunnel, with an opening up ahead to something larger...
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...in the background you hear Hat's talking to himself during his bath. "You sure? I can keep taking a bath? EXCELLENT!"
Fazgyn pops his head out of one of the thin tunnels and looks at the other Kobolds messing about with the scaffolding, "I like this place!" He says with a mischievous smile, "Plenty of opportunities for traps and ambushes." He hops out of the small gap and scurries excitedly towards the opposite tunnel, "If this is where those Onyx creatures are going to come through, we can have lots of fun!" He says as he squeezes past Engashez and explores the next tunnel.
"Agreed," Engashez whispers, moving forward juuuust enough to peer around the curve in the larger tunnel.
"We're still scouting, right? Or should we bring Hats along? I sure don't want to miss the destruction spectacle big muscle will bring." Skyrahk says, but you an hear a hint of nervousness on her voice.
"Thank you for the help. Let's see what we can find." Anthrax moves down the upper path to see what he can find.
As Skyrahk ponders leaving Hats behind, Athrax and Engashez inch forward.
Similar to the main sewer lines of Absalom, the channel in this tunnel is empty, save for long desiccated remnants of filth. Two major holes break off into larger caverns from the walls of this tunnel, while a pile of collapsed rock and dirt blocks the passage to the south. Following a sharp turn east, the tunnel leads to another widening chamber.
Unfortunately, they're not as stealthy as they thought. A...dog of some type growls, ready for a fight. Although it's shaped like a dog, this muscular creature has a coat that drinks up the light, drawing shadows in around it.Its maw is full of sharp teeth, and a wisp of shadow drips from its writhing tongue.
Thankfully it's your size and not much larger.
The dog bays. It's awful. Its sound vibrates your scales. It's terrifying.
All of you must make a Will DC 16, or panic for rounds.
Round 1:
Enemy: Bay
Athrax: Go
Skyrahk: Go
Pethjun: Go
Fazgin: Go
Engashez: Go
The howl makes Fazgyn's blood go warm as a shiver goes down his spine, and all his scales quiver with fear, "W-w-what's that!?" He doesn't wait for an answer, however, and immediately turns tail and runs straight back towards Hats, "Monsters in the sewers, and I have no traps ready... we're DOOMED!"
Round 1:
Enemy: Bay
Athrax: Go
Skyrahk: Go
Pethtun: GAHHHHHH
Fazgin: GAHHHHHH
Engashez: Go
"Get away from me you beast!" Skyrahk starts running back to the grimy pool. I'll bring my big friend with me next time.