Hasren readies to follow, but waits to hear from Heimoth whether it opens up inside or not.
"If it stays cramped in there, I should probably go in after Sefra so that if Heimoth gets injured badly, I can help keep him fighting."
Acrobatics
"If I have to I'll go but I won't like it..." Terra says poutingly...
"YOU won't like it?!?" Mutters Marc with a disdainful sniff.
"Are you sure we shouldn't check for a back door? First? Before the little rodents with delusions of granduer sneak up behind us while our tushies are stuck in the tunnel?!?" He asks, looking around.
acrobatics; guess I'll go in after Haz Gun and the cat lady.
Inside the hole, it leads down sharply into the ground. The space is narrow - hard going for a normal sized human, much easier for a kobold. The air is smoky but relatively clear.
"I'll just guard the hole then, shall I?,... I'll just wait for you,... Out here,... all alone,... Ah,... D@##!t!!" curses Mark as he unhappily follows everyone else into the hole.
"SOMEone owes me a new shirt!" he grumble softly. (Meaning loud enough to be heard by everyone ahead of him in the tunnel) As he slides relatively easily down the tunnel,...
It isn't easy going down the narrow passage. Tree roots and creepy-crawlies reach out of the dark, and it is generally filthy and damp. The foxhole twists through the earth, and the smell of smoke is replaced with damp and then the sickly stink of rotting flesh. The way then widens out to a domed chamber about twenty feet across. A thin shaft of light beams down from somewhere in the ceiling, and across the floor are piled kobold corpses, too many to count at a glance.
"What gives?..."
"Hopefully it wasn't caused by eating radishes. It smells like they've been dead for a while, though. Beware of rats, snakes and other creepy-crawlies here."
Perception check to see if I notice anything out of place.
Marc slides gracefully into the room, and brushes himself off with a distasteful grimace.
"The little buggers had better appreciate all of the trouble I'm going to to,... kill,... them,..." He mutters off as he takes in the contents of the room.
"Well. It would appear that something beat me to it! Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but a little warning would have been nice!" He grumbles as he warily pulls out his long, wavy-bladed dagger. He looks around the room cautiously.
"I suppose that radish-takers are not our little friends' biggest problem?"
"I guess it would be naive to assume that the smoke did this?"
"We should be so lucky." Murmurs Marc in agreement.
Squirming his way down the entrance to the kobold lair,
Hasren slips & goes careening down the hole!
Upon reaching the bottom, he quickly stands up & brushes himself off. Hopefully before any of the others arrive!
be careful. guano is slippery.
"I guess it would be naive to assume that the smoke did this?"
"Nah. They wouldn't have had time to decompose if that was the case. Also, the smoke would have seeped out through that hole in the ceiling."
"I really do not think it is warranted, but could anything useful be gained by sifting through that mess?"
"Those kobolds were most likely moved here, their are lots of stab wounds but no equipment...."
"Well we're down here now, at least it isn't as cramped although being underground has always given me the creeps... Climb back out or go sort out the dead kobold mystery?"
Marc points a manicured hand at the larger entrance on the other side of the room.
"I vote we leave. Post-haste." He says, covering his face with a laced handkerchief.
"Whatever did this, we probably don't want to fight it In it's home!" He stresses the last bit of his statement a little more than he intended.
Terra says aloud "Ahh Come on Marc just think about all the bard tells that Hasren can spin about how the mighty dragon mage faced down the beast in it's own lair..." "Of course a beast that stacks bodies and steals equipment is a strange one indeed..."
"Let's move onward. Any mysteries in this room will still be here when we return." Heimoth sets off towards the other exit.
"Agreed, mark it on the map and return later. However the kobolds ran here obviously more scared of us than whatever is down here."
"Unless he's one of the killers. I assume that kobolds fight as much among each other as humans do."
"Everything looks fine up ahead, shall we continue?"
"Yep lets go."
Marc perks up at Terra's comments, and a slow grin spreads across his face. He still looks around the room, but it is with a sure swagger in his step.
"After you ladies!" He grins broadly.
The tunnel winds on in similar fashion before emerging back into the the sunlight near the edge of the thicket, facing east. There are signs of an encampment here - judging by the equipment, either children or small humanoids such as kobolds - with blankets and bedrolls scattered about and the signs of a few campfires. The ground here seems torn up as if by a scuffle, and there are bloodstains on the grass and gear.
Perception looking for tracks of whatever did this
Nature
"Traps?..."
"It appears the kobold we are pursuing left some more tracks, but I don't see anything else besides the normal coming and going of the kobolds..."
Marc looks perplexed.
"So, Then what caused all of,... that?" he asks with a wave in the general vicinity of the pile of bones they found. "Unless that is simply how they dispose of their dead?" He shudders to emphasize his distaste.
"Well, if he is still running, we can surmise that it is towards his friends. We should catch him before he returns with assistance!" The dandy declares.
"Shouldn't we work our way back to our supplies and horses. I am sure we will find the kobolds in due course."
"Agreed. We can solve this mystery later."
right on.
The party leave the thicket bearing their prize of moon radishes and the mystery of the kobold massacre. The rest of the day is uneventful, and at night they camp out to the usual chorus of wolves howling in the distance. The next is also quiet, as they complete their survey of this section of the wilderness.
Marc nods in agreement, happy to put the cave of bones behind him. At least for now. He strikes a dramatic pose atop his horse.
"Onward then, noble friends!" He declares. Apparently serious.
Yeah; let's take the radishes back.
Agreed