The blue kobold yips something to the others. Though they keep their weapons, crossbows and spears, ready, they do not immediately attack. Dassah takes a similar stance, with her crossbow steady on the leader. Ash berry and her brother hang back, keeping an eye on the rear.
Help? Yes. Bloodscales take over, cracking but normal. But this Merlokrep and Tartuk, they doing things wrong. Turn away from True-truebloods for tentacles, skulls, and hungry-dark. No more them, Sootscale in charge again, and sootscales take over bloodscales, and no more hungry-dark. You do that, we let pink-skins go. Why help pink-skins? You not them. They yours?
"Yes, they are mine, and I want them back. I assume you know what happened to everyone else, including the ghost, that we have come across. So you help us, we help you. No more bloodscales. But Sootscales have to promise not to hurt the pinkskins. They are mine. You cant hurt them."
The two kobolds by the door back away to join their comrades. Fine, no hurt pink-skins. Not stupid. How you help us? Gesturing to a door on the north side of the room. Rest down there. Merlokrep, Tartuk, and four claws, one claw next room. Many. Strong. Sssss two claws sootscales, and Chief there too. Not so strong.
"We surprise them. I make creatures. You tell me who is most powerful. You tell me who you can't handle. I make my creatures kill those. You make the other ones die. You betray me, I make creatures kill you. You help me, you get your place back. I get my pink skins back. We are all happy. I like to be happy."
Deal. First claw over there. Pointing through the closed door to your left. We open door, you stand in front. Shoot big red one. The blue kobold then raises a holy symbol in the air, the five pointed star of Asmodeus. Lord of Hell! Prince of Promises! Kerrdremak make deal with devil-thing. Deal for vengeance and punishing! Merlokrep break promise and doing things that he should not. Help kill him! If devil thing break promise. Kill it too.
You feel the prayer surround you. An iron darkness that steadies your aim and drives out fear. Two of the kobolds move towards the door, ready to open it when you are. The others ready their crossbows. From the other side of the door you hear a kobold, but it's voice sounds different. Deeper, with an odd timbre. Kerrdremak! Saying things you not supposed to? Kill you if not eating dirt!
Eleanor explains in Draconic, "You in front. Me behind next to my naga like friend. The pink skins behind me. I will make a creature in front of you. When door opens, you all fire at or hit the Merlokrep so I know who it is."
"It seems that the kobold leader has made some kind of pact with the even more evil forces. These ones want us to help overthrow their demon pact making leader and his creatures. So I have agreed that we will help them remove their leader, and we will leave them alone. In return, they will not harm any of the people held captive."
Then in common "These kobolds will help us get your family back if they can, but I do not entirely trust them. Be on guard."
Finally, in Draconic Eleanor finishes with, "I assume you can count to three? You open door on three. One... Two... Three!"
Fine. We fight-fight. Kerrdremak grumbles. Looking to the others, Open door. Everybody ready. Fight-fight! Following his direction, the kobolds take positions by the door and in front of you.
Little scaly monsters, acid goo, and now demons. I'm officially against going into underground ruins. As she readies her crossbow.
Ashberry and her brother stand behind you. Unwilling to get too close to the kobolds.
The two kobolds frantically throw open the doors, revealing a kobold wielding a human sized ax in both hands. Muscles bulge unnaturally and an expression of ecstatic fury covers it's scaly face. Though relying on your darkvision, the dim light is enough to see that this kobold's scales are a dark red, the color of spilled blood. Four other kobolds, their scales a dull black advance behind, fearfully clutching crossbows.
Your sootscale allies send a volley of bolts at the red kobold, three pierce the creature's torso, quickly joined by Dassah's. It snarls and raises it's ax in response.
Eleanor quickly summons her eagle to take the place as front line fighter, and steps in front of Dassah.
"You can get shots off from behind me I think."
"Ashberry, I do hope your brother had time to pick up a little bit on firing those things from you, because I think his assistance might be needed right about now..."
Eleanor turns to smile at the young halfling reassuringly for just a moment before directing her focus back to the fight at hand.
"I am glad we have a wall of semi squishy kobolds between us and the bigger and uglier than usual one. Try not to insult them too much though. I think it rankles their scaley hides a bit to be called ugly."
As the kobolds' bolts fly into the next room Eleanor draws her own crossbow, and fires at the large red behemoth of a kobold.
s4
k1
k4
s5
The next few second are a blur. The screams, bolts, and twisting shadows combine into a nightmare unlike anything you've experienced. The eagle tearing at the monster's face, your bolt striking true. Then another, and another, and still the beast won't die. The kobolds pull back to be level with or behind you, frantically reloading their bows. Then you see a small figure rush forward and fire erupts from her bandaged hands to fill the hallway. Somewhere is all this a quarrel must have struck you, though the wound isn't serious. Dassah's thought mirrors your own What is wrong with it?! Nothing should be alive, let alone standing after all that!
The last thing you see is the maddened creature rushing toward you, blood streaming from wounds, and axe raised rend your life, while Dassah's despairing cry echo's in your mind.
You awaken to two very anxious halfling faces looking down at you. Your chest feels like a horse kicked it, or rather tried to split it with an axe, judging by the cleft running down your sternum. Though painful, you are able to move. Patrona! Can you breathe? Please don't move. You're still terribly wounded. Your servant, Dassah, is gone. Once you feel she screamed and vanished! Evan nods eagerly, eyes wide with excitement, fear, or simple shock.
In the next room you see Kerrdremak and the other... nine? The kobolds are crouched around a circular pit, crossbows pointing down, occasionally letting a bolt lose at some unknown foe.
At your feet lies the body of your foe. Eight bolts pierce the corpse, seven from the front and one from right side. It would have come from your left. In death it looks much like the other kobolds you killed. A moments study begins to reveal the differences though. Aside from the red coloring, the muscles are still a little too large. The bones of the face look slightly off, as though they had been forcibly changed. Even the coloring has a hint of wrongness to it, though you haven't the faintest idea why. Whoever this Merlokrep is, 'doing wrong things' may not be descriptive enough.
Rising to a seated position, Eleanor closes her eyes, and meditates on her beloved Dassah, trying to pull her into the world, and searching for any hint of her leaving. Please don't let her have died, please, please, please be ok...
Once she has determined with a reasonable certainty the fate of her eidolon, Eleanor turn to Ashberry stating, "See you keep calling me Patrona, but now you have saved my life. So any duty you have for me is ended I think, but I would be more than happy if you stayed with me. Let's see how well I can get around before we continue on."
Rising shakily to her feet, Eleanor surveys the gathered kobolds Good to see they kept their word. It would be a lousy way and place to die I think. A brief pang of grief crosses Eleanor's face as she ponders the potential death of her eidolon in just such a place and way as she just considered. Speaking in Draconic, Eleanor asks, "You there, Kerrdremak, tell me the happenings so we can continue on, and what pray tell is in that pit that takes so much killing?" Pulling some rations from her pack, Eleanor offers some to the soot scale, "Nothing like an early afternoon death to wet the apetite eh?"
The bond with your eidolon remains intact, though it will be some time before you can summon her again. Something from a previous conversation comes back to you, As long as you live, so do I.
Ashberry seems uncertain, You wouldn't have been hurt if you weren't trying to help me. and busies herself helping you.
Scooting back from the rim to stand up, the cleric's tone is puzzled. You hear nothing? Four claws. We fight one. One, what happen? Three down there. Three! Pointing into the pit. Pinkskins, Merlokrep, Tartuk, Sootscales all there. We shoot, they no come. They come, we dead. We go down, we dead. You summon birds, lot of birds, attack Bloodscales. We follow in lift. Gesturing to a large cauldron suspended by a long chain that feeds through a complex pulley system.
Selecting a piece of leather like jerky, Kerrdremak replies, Young pinkskin taste better. This good for armor, good for before fight. Gesturing at the fallen bloodscale. [b]Truebloods not fight like this. Traps. Sneaking. Kill and nobody see, not run screaming with axe and never die. Not right. Wrong. Very wrong. No time though, so just fight instead of fight-fight.
Eleanor speaks in Draconic, "Very well, a fight fight. Is the door open down there? My eidolon is my eyes. I see bad without her. You light an bolt with fire. Shoot where you want lots of birds, and I make many birds." Eleanor peers down into the pit, looking for the fourclaws that will kill us all, trying to spot their hidey holes in case the Kobold fails to understand.
"You say when to go. You make sure Sootscales ready. I will help."
Then in English to the halflings, "No, you did not get us killed. We are all healthy and whole. I help people, just what I do, so don't fret overly. You can stay, but only as a friend I have no use for slaves. Agreed?"
Looking down, the walls of the hole extend down perhaps six or seven feet before opening up into a square room much like the others you have passed through. Directly below you though, a spiked pit, perhaps ten feet deep of the same diameter as the opening you currently looking down. Other than scrambling down the sides and dropping a dozen feet, the cauldron and chain seem the only way down.
Keeping mostly out of sight, four kobolds, bloodscales you'd guess, occasionally trade shots with the sootscales beside you. These appear to be like the one you fought with the werewolf, rather than monstrous brutes like what you faced here.
Better. Kerrdremak yips to one of the others, Oil and fire-oil now!
Ashberry nods in agreement. Agreed.
A few moments later, the kobold comes back carrying several ceramic jars. Two marked with flame designs. Kerrdremak passes out the flasks and looks to you. We throw, you summon.
At his command the kobolds hurl the flasks, and two of the kobolds below are covered in flaming oil, and begin rolling on the ground to put out the flames. Your eagle begins to attack one of the unaffected kobolds, which returns the favor, though does not dispel the summon. The remaining bloodscale gets lucky, wounding Kerrdremak when he moves to throw.
Eleanor summons another eagle, then noticing the fallen kobold, asks Ashberry, "Can you and your brother heal him? His help may be invaluable." As Eleanor makes her request, she moves carefully to put herself between Kerrdremak and the bloodscales inside the pit.
The two eagles finish off their kobold before he is able to flee, and the two burning ones are overcome by the flames, leaving a lone watchman to flee yelling Slaves revolting! Slaves with bigfeets! As your eagles fly back to rest on your shoulders.
Kerrdremak slaps Ashberry's hand away as she approaches him, Not hurt bad! Tell slave wait. Need later. Need for Merlokrep. Seeing the large eagle resting on you, the cleric inclines his head more deeply toward you. Powerful. You, slaves, these Gesturing to three of the sootscales, go first. We lower, keep watch. You safe there, we follow. Not safe, pull you up.
Eleanor nods to the kobold leader and sending her eagles after the fleeing kobold. I am certain my eagles can out pace anything on foot! As the eagles take flight, she prepares to descend the chains. .
Once at the bottom, Eleanor yells back up to the top, "I am down." in both common and draconic. Turning to the soot scales who came down with her, she arranges them in front of herself, and follows the eagles down the tunnel at a slow and careful pace, keeping her eyes open for more of the bizarre bloodscales, or worse. Speaking in draconic again she explains "I don't see well. My Dassah is my eyes. She sees well. You go ahead. You pick out enemies. I make birds attack."
The shaft drops down into a large, mostly square chamber. A doorway opens in one wall, to your left/west, to what looks to be a storage room while two other walls have been broken through, directly in front/north of you and the wall to your right/east, towards the north-eastern corner. Cramped, narrow tunnels beckon from beyond the breached walls. Though you can't see much in the narrow passageway ahead, the way to the right appears to open up into a chamber of some kind, filled with rubble and boulders.
As you, the halflings, and the three kobolds pile into the large cauldron. You realize that you are in a giant's pot, being lowered into a hole by Asmodeus worshiping monsters to fight demon worshipping monsters in order to save a family of 'slips'. Your family always said you'd come to a bad end...
The trip proves uneventful. The pulley and chain system safely delivering you to the next level. Your eagles rejoin you from the chamber to the right. The presence of both, and the ichor on beak and claw, indicate the kobold is no longer a problem. Though your allies obviously dislike being in front, they grudgingly move ahead of you.
Up above, the other kobolds raise the cauldron and begin their own descent. Upon joining you, Kerrdremak prods the other kobolds to join their fellows, forming a rough double line shielding the two of you. He then hurriedly gestures toward the two openings, Need two things. Forward, left is eggs and eggmothers. Need for tribe. Right, right is sootscales and pinkskins. No forward, forward. Forward forward is Merlokrep and hungry dark.
You nod in acknowledgement. You were planning to head that way and freeing the prisoners sounds like a good way to get more help. As your party moves forward...
When Dassah suddenly shouts Patrona! In the shadows! as another hideously mutated kobolds erupts from the rubble strewn room. With
spindly little chicken legs that contrast bizarrely with its tremendously muscled upper body, this creature is even more twisted than the last. It wields a pick that, although probably less effective than an axe, seems deadly enough given the furious rage evident in its eyes. The sootscales loose their bolts, five wound the creature, though only two seemed to do more than aggravate it. As they suddenly withdraw behind you, Kerrdremak steps forward and thrusts out his holy symbol.Stop! and the raging beast is suddenly frozen in place.
Eleanor orders her two remaining eagles to attack as she loads her crossbow to fire at the mutated beast.
"It is another one dear Ashberry, make sure to keep yourself between me and it!" Eleanor whispers back at her small healer. As she does so, Eleanor takes a very defensive stance.
As Ashberry moves take her place in front of Eleanor, the tiefling's tail lashes out to stop her. "Sorry, I misspoke. I need you to keep me between you and that creature. Sorry, switching languages seems to be garbling my use of pronouns and what not. You stay as safe as possible. I am your meat wall."
Ashberry follows your direction, but from the way her fingers twitch you suspect she is ready to use her magic again needed.
More bolts wound the kobold, but it is ultimately you eagles that end its life.
As you enter the cavern, sounds can be hear coming from a passageway in the far way that curves quickly to the right. The sootscales run forward and the room is quickly filled with chirps of welcome. Following, you enter a chamber that seems to have been recently excavated, stone chips and mining equipment litter the floor. Perhaps a dozen kobolds are the focus of the sootscales attention, while your attention is drawn to the prisoners chained to a nearby wall.
Four children, ranging from a moppit barely able to walk to an adolencent a few years older than Ashberry, huddle against a mature halfling who looks to be their father. Ashberry and Evan quickly join their family while taking care to avoid the wall's other occupants.
Despite manacles and a collar bolted to the wall, the werewolf still seems dangerous. Obviously female, it stands tall as a human and bears numerous scars. Two smaller werewolves are secured nearby and echo the adult's defiant snarl.
In Draconic, "Do any of you have the keys to these pink skins chains? They have to be freed as soon as possible." Without waiting for an answer, Eleanor quickly switches to common, "I am guessing this is your family then? Let's see if we can find anything amongst this mining gear that would let us break the chains that bind them."
"We should get these halflings taken care of first. I don't know what to do with the werewolves though. It seems cruel to leave them chained, and crueler still to simple kill beasts chained to a wall. Ideas? Keep an eye out, I bet there are more of the red ones around somewhere... And I bet they don't like us."
Ashberry helps you search for something to free them with, Yes. My father Evan, Antal, Rosemary, Lem, and Lily. Father, this is Weeder Eleanor. Looking around anxiously, Where's mother?
Her father's grim silence is all the confirmation Ashberry needs, she begins to weep quietly.
You can't seem to find the lever you where hoping for, but there is a pick that proves effective enough. Chains are quickly broken, but, lacking the skill to pick locks, you leave the manacles on. Better to endure discomfort a little longer than risk breaking a leg trying to remove them.
The kobold's reaction to your question is generally derisive. Who care? Free later. Though Kerrdremak is more helpful. Gesturing towards the cooling body in the chamber beyond, Lekmek whip, key there, maybe.
A quick search of the body nets you a heavy iron key that should fit, though you don't find any whip, perhaps the kobold meant something else? Returning to Ashberry's family, you are able to remove the last of the rest of their bonds. Evan, the father, faces you as the other children cluster around Ashberry. Thank you. I want to get my children away from here as soon as possible. The debt will be paid though, I assure you.
On seeing the key, the werewolves demeanor shifts. Growls turn to whines, at least with the young ones, and the mother seems, if nothing else, less inclined to tear your throat out, though that could well be only for show. It is hard to say. Most beings react well to those who free them, but werewolves aren't most creatures.
"Dassah, I have an amazingly bad idea... I wish you were here to talk me out of it."
Eleanor relates each of the conversations mentally to Dassah as it is happening, ignoring the fact that Dassah is on another plane of existance for the next twenty some hours, perhaps it is just to make herself feel better about the situation. . .
Turning to the small halfling girl Eleanor asks, "Ashberry, do you think you could get your family back out the way we came, to the wagon? I think they should be the first priority."
Turning to the Kobolds, Eleanor then asks, in Draconic, "Tell me of these furry ones."
And finally, walking closer to the mother, but not to within reach, Eleanor asks, first in common, then again in sylvan if there is no response, "Can you understand me? Please give me some sign that there is more in there than just a blood thirsty monster. I want to help you, but I need a sign you can understand me. I really am opposed to being eaten, and I can't set you free if I think you will eat me or my friends. Do you understand me at all? We captured a small one of you. I dont know if it was a he or a she, but we captured it alive. It is up there," Eleanor points back the direction the group came from, "You look like the mom. Maybe you are missing a child?"
"Once Ashberry is safely gone, I think I am going to let these werewolves go... You know, you really should be around to talk me out of ideas like this one. . ."
Distraught she is, overwhelmed she is not. Ashberry gathers her family and moves swiftly towards the elevator.
After consulting with the others, Kerrdremak tells you what he can, though it is obvious they would rather just shoot the creatures and move on. Sometimes pinkskin, sometimes this, sometimes wolf. Changes. Get bit, become one, kill everyone. Wolfsbane cures, sometimes. Sometimes just kill. Hard to hurt without silver. Monsters best kill now, or we get bit. Hmm... Used to be two more. Little one ran. Male sacrificed with female pinkskin. What else? Quick! Shoot now, get eggs, then leave, like pinkskins. The kobolds begin moving out of the room.
Expressive ears and alert eyes make it clear that the creature understands you, or at least understands that you are trying to communicate with it. Not understanding growls or wolf facial expressions makes this more difficult that anticipated, though it becomes more animated when you point down the passageway, though it is unclear if that is a result of mentioning a child or pointing to the way out.
After listening to the creatures sounds for a while, you become convinced that it is in fact speaking! The wolf's mouth mangles pronunciation, but the harsh sounds of Hallit are recognizable, and strangely appropriate considering the speaker. Now, if only you spoke Hallit.
You mentor often made it a point that all knowledge, regardless of how unlikely, would one day prove useful. Suggestions that one was only mortal and lacked time for everything were met by a dry, 'Then live longer, learn faster, or, preferably, do both.'
Moving closer, to whisper in the mother beast's ear, careful not to get within bite range, "This is probably very, very stupid of me, but I am going to pretend I can trust you. You go. Do not hurt my friends, take your baby and leave. Come find me when you are a person at Olegs, if you know what that is, and we will see if we can find a healer who can make you a person all the time again."
If the creature makes no attempt to bite Eleanor, she will unlock one arm, and hand the beast the key, "Can you use this, or do you need me to unlock you? If you can help us, it would be nice, if not, I will finish here to keep my promise and wish you the best. Be well."
"I am the living embodyment that not everyone who looks like a beast is a beast. How else can I treat thes people? You would let me do the same I am certain..."
Eleanor quickly moves to catch back up with Kerrdremak, then asks in Draconian, "You helped me get back my pinkskins. I Promised to help you. Tell me what you need now?"
As you approach, the mother freezes, refraining from any movement that might startle you. Taking the key, she waits for a moment before undoing the locks.
bsb 14
bsb 11
As you move to rejoin the kobolds, you hear shrieks of terror and the wet crunch of a blade cleaving flesh and bone, followed by the twang of crossbows and sound of running feet. Entering the previous chamber, you can see into the elevator room. A cloud of impenetrable fog covers the northern half of the room, just reaching the elevator. Several kobolds frantically pull on the chains, lowering the cauldron back down to their level. Roars of fury echo from the fog bank.
Well something is in that fog... I guarantee it. How to avoid it though..
"Well I suppose they cant see through it any better than I can. Actually, I probably see a lot better though such things than these lizard types. " Walking over to the wall, Eleanor draws her crossbow. Once at the wall, Eleanor will keep one hand on the stone face of the elevator room as she makes her way carefully back to where the chains and cauldron ought to be.
As you approach the makeshift elevator, one of the monsterous kobolds emerges from the fog to bury it's axe in a sootscales stomach. The other two sootscales flee back into the fog.
As it stands, you are perhaps 15 feet away from the elevator, the bloodscale hasn't noticed you yet, and if you can get to it, another few seconds of pulling would lower the cauldron enough to climb into. No sign of the other kobolds or Kerrdremak, but the roaring coming from the fog indicate that there is at least one more bloodscale in there.
I am no good if I cant see...
Eleanor continues to the elevator, slowly, ready to summon an eagle should I spot any bloodscales.
Noticing the bloodscale, and the ensuing battle, Eleanor summons an eagle behind the beast, and quickly steps into the fog.
Disappearing into the fog as your eagle appears above the kobold, the last thing you see is the eagle burying its talon in the creature's neck. After a few seconds, the only sound is your eagle's fierce cry.
You hear another bloodscale roaring from the direction of the elevator and you feel your summon abruptly dispelled.
Holding her breath, and listening intently, Eleanor attempts to locate any sign of the creature that killed her summons.
Moving quietly away from any sounds heard, she tries to make her way towards the location she believes the elevator to be in as silently as possible.
Moving quietly towards the elevator, a bloodscale suddenly appears in the mist. Fortunately, it seems you seem to have surprised it as well.
Eleanor, shocked by the sudden appearance of the Bloodscale, pulls her dagger out, and summons an eagle behind the horrendous bloodscale.
(Flanking +3 to hit) (Smiting)
"You know, life is a little easier when you are arround, maybe we should work on getting you back quicker somehow...
. . . Link
As your eagle rakes the bloodscale, it's axe leaves you with a terrible wound. You suspect that it will not survive much longer, but then again, you may not either.
Wincing horribly as she realizes this is the last time she can do so, Eleanor desperately summons another eagle.
Although tempted to yell for help from Sootscales, Eleanor thinks better of it, "Probably get me a bunch more of these blasted red beasts. Don't think the Sootscales are any more prepared to deal with these beasts than I am..."
Your newly summoned eagle ends the kobold's life rather dramatically by plunging its beak into the creature's eye. It collapses in a heap.
Realizing another of the horrid red beasts is dead, and that she has no more summoning spells for the day, Eleanor quickly casts Mage Armor on herself, (expending her last spell of the day as well) and rushes to the elevator.
Reaching the elevator chain, you quickly bring the cauldron down the last few feet.
As you do so, you see Kerrdremak and three sootscales creeping out of the mist. Where you going? Kerrdremak snarls and raises his holy symbol threateningly as the other kobolds aim ready crossbows in your direction. We not have eggs. You leave when we leave, with the eggs! Pointing into the mist, Left and Left are eggs. We go!
While the cleric is ranting, you see the werewolves moving quietly towards you. As you meet the mother's gaze, she gestures towards Kerrdremak, mimes biting something, then tilts her head inquiringly.
Eleanor shakes her head to the mother wolf and says in common, "only red ones."
Turning to Kerrdremak, and speaking Draconic Eleanor explains, "[b]As you may notice, my life was nearly ended, again, by a rather brutal axe swing. I have no more magic at all. I am completely drained. I can use a crossbow as well as most, but at the very least if I am to continue on, I need some healing.[/b"]
The mother flicks her ears in acknowledgement moves into the mist, disappearing from sight.
Kerrdremak is unsympathetic, Almost dead? Five sootscales real dead. Heal then go. The cleric lays his hand on your wound, stopping the bleeding and partially closing it.
Kerrdremak gestures the other kobolds to get behind the two of you. Both in front. and gestures into fog.
Eleanor loads her crossbow, putting her dagger away, and nods. "A promise is a promise, but I am no front line fighter, go. How many bloodscales are there anyhow? Have we killed them all yet?"
Whispering to the werewolf family "We are making the red ones who made you slaves hurt, do you want to come along? You are welcome if you wish."
Kerrdremak gestures at you irritably, Stupid devil can't count?! How many bloodscales killed? Pointing at the seven red bodies you can see. Seven. Gesturing at the first level above you. How many bloodscales Kerrdremak say there were? Four claws, Merlokrep, and Tartuk. Four claws less seven equals...? Two claws and three. That many bloodscales! Now now Tartuk turn these, Gesturing to the bodies of the four To these! Gesturing towards to the warped kobold that was guarding the prisoners. Again pointing to the first level, Remember fight? Remember chest split open? Remember six bolts and still not die? Want fight two claws like that? We go in front together! And with that the cleric sends the three remaining kobolds behind you, stands beside you, and waits for you to take the first step.
"Remember sleep? I sleep I get strong again. Many more birds. I no sleep, I am as small as those ones. I promised to help, so I help. I do not like to die. We take dead ones up, sleep come back and finish? Or do we need to kill now?"
Eleanor realizes it is a losing battle, and unlikely to get her much by way of concession, but makes the argument none the less. "Lead on then fearless leader. Perhaps you are stronger than you look."
As the rag tag bunch of Kobolds enters the fog, Eleanor does her best to move with some facsimile of stealth.
No kill, hopefully. All busy with hungry dark ritual, we take eggs, broodmothers, and go home. Lots of traps, easy defend, not have to fight. You want sleep, then fight? You die, not sootscale problem.
As you creep through the fog, you suddenly hear an snarling howl, kobold screams, and the sound of violent, ripping death.
Kerrdremak and the other kobolds rush forward, The eggs! Moving with them, you follow the passageway as it turns to the left, and another passageway branches off to the right at the turn. Ahead you see a chamber, more a widened section of the passageway then anything, and realize you were headed into an ambush. Three wolf pups worry a mangled bloodscale body, while a large wolf growls viciously from a ledge just overhead. On the other side of the room, blood runs down the wall from another ledge.
The far end of the room narrow before opening into a separate chamber. Three kobolds are guarding the room's enterance. You notice that the one in front is considerably larger than any kobold you've seen before and has a pair of dragon-like wings.
Kerrdremak and the others continue to rush towards the guarded chamber, stay as far away from the werewolves as possible while doing so. You hear Kerrdremak shout, We here! Merlokrep not! Eggs are ours! Before taking up a position in front of the guardian kobolds.
Kerrdremak's actions appear to have been wise, or perhaps very foolish, as the mother werewolf begins stalking towards the kobolds.