Navior |
Felos steps up to the door and then Tippi opens it with her spell. The small room beyond is covered in a layer of sand and countless seashells. A small hammock hangs from hooks driven into the walls to the northwest, just above a heap of blankets and cushions.
There's only a brief moment to take this in, however, as the kobold, hovering just past the door, pulls on a rod in her hand. It pulls on a rope that runs into the wall and suddenly the cauldron is flung like a catapult straight at Felos.
Cauldron Trap at Felos: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 -- hit (flat-footed)
Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Felos Fortitude vs poison: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 -- pass
The scalding hot substance pours over Felos, burning him in several places. The kobold claps excitedly at first, but when she sees that Felos is still standing and apparently unaffected by the poison, she stops and cowers back, whimpering pathetically.
"I surrender!" she says.
Navior |
"That way." The kobold points to the west. "Through the room where they practise fighting. Big spider guard though. And nasty dragon pet."
Jacinth keeps watch by the kitchen door. So far, he hears nothing come from the other side except the ongoing twitter of the birds and that is calming down. Nothing tries to open the door.
Navior |
"That's okay," the kobold responds to Festa. "I wasn't expecting you either."
"The spider does," she says in response to Tippi. "It's on a big chain in the room before Rowyn's office. She pulls the chain in to let guests in and out, but loosens the chain to stop intruders. Gut Tugger--that's the dragon--he stays with Rowyn and goes wherever she goes. He's not really a dragon. He's actually a drake or something like that, but he looks like a dragon, except smaller, so everyone calls him a dragon."
Xanthippe |
"Right, well, I haven't the slightest intention of killing a bunch of people merely because they're in the same organization as Vanthus Vanderboren, not when it's likely he's been as duplicitous to them as he has been to us. How might we get in to speak with Rowyn peacefully?" she asks the kobold. "Oh, and do you feed the worg? He says he's hungry."
Navior |
The kobold shrugs. "They don't like intruders. Don't know how you can get in peacefully because they'll probably try to kill you. I feed the worg, but Rowyn acquires the food herself. I'm not allowed to do anything with it except give it to him. I'll take some food round to him soon. If you let me live, I mean."
Xanthippe |
"I've already said we're not killing anyone who doesn't force us to defend ourselves," she reassures the kobold, "although you probably would have been safer if you hadn't drenched the cat. What does the worg eat? And where is its food kept? Do you have to go to Rowyn's office to get it?"
Xanthippe |
"Right, well, answer a few more questions for us, and you can go feed the worg," Tippi assures her. "How many Lotus Dragons are there down here usually? And are there any other surprises other than the worg, the spider, and the drake? Oh, and what's your name?"
Navior |
"Hmmm... Maybe around ten or fifteen," the kobold replies. "Plus Rowyn. They come and go a lot. Other surprises? Oh! There's a zombie. Forgot about that because it's new. Rowyn just got it a couple days ago. That's it, I think. Oh, my name is Churtle."
She looks about to say something else, but pauses, apparently having second thoughts about it. But then she seems to decide to go ahead anyway and says to Tippi, "Do you need a new personal assistant? Rowyn will probably be angry at me now, so I'll need a new job. I'm an excellent cook and poison-maker, and I never get the two mixed up."
Xanthippe |
"There's a zombie. Forgot about that because it's new. Rowyn just got it a couple days ago."
Xanthippe arches her brows at the others. "Anyone we know, I wonder?"
"Do you need a new personal assistant? Rowyn will probably be angry at me now, so I'll need a new job. I'm an excellent cook and poison-maker, and I never get the two mixed up."
She leans over a little, resting her hands on her knees so she doesn't tower so far over the kobold. "Churtle, I would be delighted. Our employer has a cook but not a single poison-maker! Stay out of trouble until we're ready to go, and you're welcome to walk out of here with us. Start out by feeding the worg so he doesn't get all hungry and agitated."
She turns to the others with a sigh. "A spider and a drake. Why couldn't it have been a pseudodragon? Any thoughts on getting in to see Rowyn?"
Felos |
"Other than smashing, clawing, and shooting our way through, no ideas, but you aren't asking the important question."
Felos approaches the kobold and looms over her. "Are there any more people in this place throwing liquids at us!?"
Xanthippe |
"I'm more worried about being caught between Rowyn and them," Tippi says grimly. "Knowing the nearest exit doesn't help much when you have to fight your way to it. But we don't seem to have many options." Considering her three weapons, she decides on keeping her whip in hand.
Festa Fire |
Festa first guffaws at Churtle's admission to not mixing up cooking and poison, but then nods to himself that this was indeed the sensible thing to do. After a minute he also adds to the kobold: "We might have a new position for you; at least, if we're successful with all this Vanthus hunting we might restore our employer's fortune - if so there's every possibility that she's open to expand her staff."
Xanthippe |
"Here, now," she flicks Festa lightly with the tip of her whip, "she offered to be my personal assistant. Let Lavinia hire her own staff; I'm not her procurer." She listens at the door, figuring that if anyone has entered the dining room, it will have stirred up any remaining birds again.
Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Xanthippe |
Heading back to the sparring room, I presume? In what order?
Felos took one for the team last time; shall we put Festa in front this time? With Tippi behind him for tripping and let Felos maybe use his bow while Jacinth tries to conserve cures and channels?
Festa Fire |
"What? You want to be her assistant right next to us, who are not nice ones? Is she really that nice? She just whipped me - and we're on the same side." Festa laughs at the thought, then adds, "Well... you have been hanging out with these people in here - and some of them are definitely less than nice."
Xanthippe |
"Of course you are," she says soothingly to the catfolk. "One is rarely at one's most charming when one has just been drenched in boiling liquid. By the same token," she goes on, turning to Festa, "several of the Lotus Dragons might be delightful company in other circumstances when they're not trying to kill us. If they started trooping through the halls opening doors at random uninvited at Vanderboren Manor, we probably wouldn't be the most gracious of hosts either."
Navior |
Leaving Churtle to hide in her room, you make your way back round to the sparring room where this all started. A bunch of the Lotus Dragons wait for you there, spread out around the room in a good position to ambush you. However, while they have weapons drawn, they don't move to attack. Instead, one of them--the one who seemed to be in charge earlier (#1)--steps forward and says, "Mistress Kellani would like to speak to you."
You get your first good look at the room itself. The floor is covered in thick padded mats and there are numerous target dummies positioned along the walls. To the west, a wooden stage sits a foot off the floor. A padded throne flanked by potted plants sits on the stage.
Xanthippe |
"Oh, excellent," Tippi replies with a smile. "We'd like to speak to her as well. Will one of you be going to fetch her then?" She doesn't make a move further into the room.
This set-up reminds me of one of those Dragon Age cut scenes where the brain-dead party saunters unconcernedly into the midst of a couple of dozen enemies so they can be surrounded when combat predictably ensues.
Xanthippe |
"No, I don't think so," Tippi replies without moving. "With all your men between us and the exit, that's tantamount to being taken prisoner. If we're going to have to fight our way out if negotiations fail, I'd rather fight now without seven of you at my back. But it's up to you: If you're all ready to die now to make things more convenient for Mistress Kellani...." She shrugs politely and gives them a bright smile.