Kardok keeps close to Michael for the time the others seem to be discussing. He still doesn't understand much of what is being said, and even less, once Big Ern starts talking in an even stranger language.
Strange though... You'd normally hear them chattin' about loudly here..."
Xanda smiles as she looks at Ern and shakes her head to indicate she doesn't understand. At Kardok's words she frowns and hisses in annoyance. Crouching she makes a 'shushing' sign and whispers,
"Which way should we go? East or West?"
Kradok replies quickly, in a much quieter tone, pointing as he speaks:
To the other side is the breedery for their thousandfeets. Much bigger room, but stinks. Yuk."
Xanda also wrinkles her nose at Kardok's last words.
"Our guide says to the West is a working room place. To the East is the 'many-feet' place. That room has more open...but maybe also their 'Many-feet'?" She says, though she does sound puzzled as to what a 'Many-feet' is.
Xanda also wrinkles her nose at Kardok's last words.
"Our guide says to the West is a working room place. To the East is the 'many-feet' place. That room has more open...but maybe also their 'Many-feet'?" She says, though she does sound puzzled as to what a 'Many-feet' is.
"My guess is he's talking about their centipedes. Big suckers, too. And like I said, poisonous. I killed one already. I actually think we should try and eliminate that threat first. The mites, frankly, weren't as tough."
Branomnrik nods at Agerron. "Sounds like a sensible plan as any, not that we have many good options." He is frankly surprised the barbarian could think that tactically. But then he catches himself. "no" he thinks to himself "never think just because they are uncivilized they are any less cunning or deadly." Adabar alone knows they might just need that cunning at some point.
"Are we ready then? We have godly if unpleasant work to do here" He says hefting his crossbow.
At Branomonrik's words Xanda gives herself a final pat down, checking that all her gear is in place before getting ready to move off with the group.
Following Agerron's advice the group shuffles around while making their way down the eastern slope to a broader room. This one is just as high as the tunnel above, 5ft. at it's highest, with the upmost foot taken by roots and such dangling down.
Majet's lights provides enough illumination to see most of the room that's almost 40ft. at it's widest and close to 50ft. long.
Map
The wet-looking floor of this chamber is crisscrossed by several shallow trenches, each containing trickles of putrid-looking fluid. Six foul mounds of compost and dung lie heaped about the room, all of which looking like they have been tampered with in the last couple of hours.
The room is empty like the tunnel before.
Xanda wrinkles her nose and her hands flex involuntary.
Perception
perception
"Ten to one they're in the dung piles. Might be a good place for a few fires; Ern and Majet - you guys have something to light 'em up?"
Perception
"Not right now. The smoke may hurt us more than it hurts the mites."
Queslin:
"Psst!"Queslin motions to his ear and the tunnel coming in from the east.
Xanda unlimbers her X-Bow, crouches, and looks in the direction Queslin points.
Branomonrik looks to where Queslin has pointed, crossbow at ready
Made aware of the noises ahead you hear the whisper of voices from the tunnel to your east.
You don't see anyone or anything lurking in the shadows ahead though, so it's probably just sound from another chamber, traveling to your ears.
Big Ern stands at the rear of the party, scratching his ass.
"Great plan," he mutters.
Crouching in front of Ern, Xanda does not have the opportunity to see his actions. She simply shifts forwards and sideways, the better to cover the directions from which the sound comes.
Agerron looks around for a rock or dirt clump; he'll pick it up and throw into the room, to see if anything pokes it's head out of the dung.
The patch of dirt hits the ground in the back of the room, splashing some of the reeking fluid around, but provoking no further movement in the room.
Kardok looks at Agerron, then can't help himself and starts laughing out loud.
Now what? You going to make camp here?"
Laughing, the Kobold doesn't wait any longer and marches out, borrowed spear raised, towards the other end of the room, to the tunnel that leads on.
Majet follows closely behind Kardok
Queslin gives Agerron and Ern the opportunity to follow before also going after the kobold.
Xanda scowls at the Kobold's words and behaviour. She quickly moves to follow the others.
Agerron scowls at the kobold, but lets him lead. "Very well. If he chooses to blindly proceed and draw an ambush, so be it. Who am I to turn down a mobile trap detector?" He follows immediately behind the kobold, staying within a blade-swing of its back.
Big Ern takes up the rear.
Branomonrik and Michael take positions along the middle of the group, walking along the others, not speaking but their weapons at the ready.
No ambush is sprung though, no hidden trap triggered. Kardok simply walk on to the point of entry to the tunnel leading further down. It starts into a curve and not much can be seen thus.
The Kobold looks at you following him, then points at you, then to the ground, finishing the signaling with a hand holding his mouth.
Waiting a second he starts another group of signals, firstly pointing at him, then down the curve, at his eyes, acting like looking for something, then points to the ground again.
Kardok then looks at Michael, whom he takes to still be the leader of the group, and receiving a quick nod, takes of into the darkness.
sense motive
Taking a guess on the unfamiliar signlanguage, Agerron things that the Kobold wants them to stay put and silent. The secons portion probably means that he wants to head down, scout and report back.
Not a minute later the Kobold comes up the tunnel he took of into.
With the point of the borrowed spear he starts to draw in the ground what could be a crude map of the location below:
It looks like the tunnel leads to an intersection between two chambers. With another stroke of the spearblade, Kardok marks off the eastern chamber, speaking a single word that Xanda translates as 'barricaded'.
The other chamber doesn't get the marking and Kardok uses another word, meaning 'silent'.
Having finished his drawing, the Kobold looks at you again, expectantly.
Agerron speaks quietly. "The obvious conclusion is that the mites are behind the barricade. Our best course of action is to destroy the barricade first, preferably at range, then attack. Of course, there is no easy way to assault a fortified position, unless there's a back way we're unaware of. The other possibility, though, is that they're using the barricade as a decoy and are hiding in the silent room, waiting for us to focus on the other room. Once they attack from surprise, the advantage is lost, so I doubt they're all in there."
He thinks a bit, and adds, "If it were me, I'd have the main force behind the barricade, and a smaller one in the silent room. When the attacking force was focused on the barricade, I'd hit 'em from both sides. I recommend we check the silent room first, and thoroughly. We have two or three keep ranged weapons trained on the barricade while we do it." He turns to Xanda. "Ask the kobold what the barricade is made of. If it is flammable, we can perhaps destroy it and smoke 'em out at the same time."
Xanda nods to Agerron's request turning to Kardok and speaking quickly and quietly in Draconic for his complete over view of the situation before turning back and translating for the rest of the group.
Kardok nods to Xanda's translation of Agerron's words.
He replies: "The baricade is wooden, I think it's a table turned over, and some other things for reinforcement.
I know of no other way into that chamber, but we could go back up here and take the other route, through the workshop, to get to the other side of the silent room. We would not be caught in between then."
"That would be a fine plan, if he's telling the truth and not leading us into a trap." Idrian says, still suspicious of the kobold.
Branomanrik, stands with his crossbow ready. "Seems good a plan as any"
Xanda nods at the shift in direction. Getting ready to move as the party turns itself around.
After the rearrangement, you backtrack to the entry and take the other tunnel down from there.
As Kardok said before, you come into a chamber that's sort of a workroom, sporting one wooden workbench. On top of the workbench and on strewn on the floor lie various tiny tools, metal and wooden hardware.
Looking around the 'room' a bit more closely, you notice that there probably was at least one more piece of furniture in the room previously.
This room is as silent and unlit as the others, uninhabitated at the moment.
From here, Kardok scouts ahead again, but instead of returning, you hear a scream of terror coming from the tunnel he entered.
Upon hearing the yell Xanda tries to move closer the better to see into the room.
"I have a small light. Should I make it?" She asks in a whisper, her voice though sounding urgent as she speaks in a rush.
Majet hearing the scream runs into the room
Big Ern grabs his axe and moseys after the rest of the party at a leisurely pace.
The tunnel ahead slopes down for some time, winding left and right through the earth to finally lead into another room.
With Xanda's lights you make out a wider room that's still not high enough for most of the group to stand up straight, and some of you already feel their back aching from the constant bending.
The walls of this egg-shaped cavern are obscured by thick tangles of long, pallid roots.
Woven and tied to the roots along the wall are four limply hanging bodies of black-scaled kobolds like Kardok is one. The living kobold accompanying you currently kneels in front of one of the dead, mourning, weeping, his spear lying aside.
Hearing you approach, he turns his gaze, hatred showing in his eyes. He reaches for his spear, when you notice a movement in the back of the room...
Xanda's eyes open wider at the sight of the giant....bug rearing up a the far end of the room.
As she moves, raises her x-bow and shoots.
Initiative:
It's times like these that Queslin is envious of the benefits of the crossbow. He charges forward doing his best to swing his sword within the confined space at the monstrous bug.
Longsword: to hit
Longsword: damage
Initative
Assuming no one runs in before she can act Majet tosses a bomb at the thing
Attack (touch)
Damage
initiative
Agerron raises his spear and attacks the bug, telling the rest, "Beware the fangs! It's venom can be nasty!"
attack
damage
Init:
Big Ern tosses a bomb, too. "Burn, baby, burn!"
Majet and quickly makes her bombs ready and slings one at the huge vermin that creeps out of a ravine at the other end of the room.
A bit of luck lets the bomb not be tangled in the roots hanging from the rooms ceiling and hit the desired target, engulfing it in a burst of flames.
Big Ern does essentially the same, but has no clear way to deliver the bomb and has to take some steps to get in a better position. Throwing his bomb from there it strikes true as well, the quick succession of fire scorching the vermin's naturally armored scales.
Michael is stuck at the back of the group, unable to get close enough to the centipede in a short amount of time. He decides to better keep watching their collective backs, raising his battleaxe to the tunnel they came down from.
Kardok turns around to the centipede, grips his spear and steps up to the huge monster, only to be interrupted by the thing snaping at him, hitting the kobold straight in the chest with it's mighty fangs, leaving him unconscious and with a large bleeding wound.
Agerron runs towards the big beast, piercing it's scales with the spear.
Xanda has, thanks to the shifts in position, a better view of the monster, with only Agerron standing between her and her target.
Still, for fear of hitting the human in the back, her aim is off and the crossbow-bolt gets stuck in a root along the wall close by.
Queslin is standing at the back of the group like Michael, but due to lighter armor has it easier to close the distance to the centipede, bringing his longsword forth in a well aimed thrust, piercing another of the large scales on the body of the enemy.
Hissing the centipede darts it's head foreward, trying to close it's maw around some part of Agerron, while it's tail tries to wrap around Queslin's feet to knock the elf prone.
With a sharp sting, Agerron feels the fangs in his bowel, pain riddling him.
Letting go of his target, Agerron sees greenish fluid running out of the blood-red fangs as well.
The tail slap of the centipede doesn't affect Queslin though.
Majet no longer having a clear shot gets ready to take advantage if an opening should open up (Holding)
Queslin continues to stab.
Longsword: to hit
Longsword: damage