"True, but... No your right it better to try all other options first. Let's not waste the rest of the day. Which way should explore to fill in holes in the map?"
"No need to risk misfortune after expending resources and the risk of an attack in our dreams. We can explore later after this thing is finished."
The party retreats from the mine and the abandoned barracks, putting a good hours distance between yourselves and whatever was living below. While searching for a good campsite the air is suddenly filled with the stench of something large, rotting in the late day sun. Just a few yards further you can see the land dips into a small gully filled with tall native grasses. At the bottom of the gully is the corpse of a large animal.
"That thing smells horrible. What would have killed it and not eaten it?" Andrei asks looking at Warren, then turning to Angel "Last time I smelled something this bad was that spider."
Anwel barely spares the dead animal a glance before hauling out his sextant again. Even if the animal turns out to be entirely mundane, the gully is still a noteworthy landmark. "Any number of things, up to and including a hunter that decided they wouldn't like the taste," he says, pointing the instrument up at the sun and jotting down the reading. "Although given that the spider had parts harvested, it might be worth checking to see if the beast is yet whole. Spider venom is a reagent in any number of concoctions; both spider venom and, say, this creature's horn, less so." Anwel glances at Kallista for confirmation.
Andrei nods and wanders down towards the corpse, circling slightly to avoid the worst of the wind blowing the smell to them.
Warren cuts open the spider to see if it has swallowed any valuables.
Phedre looks around the area before getting closer to examine the corpse. "Does it look like a human or an animal got it? It could be bait..." she adds, hoping silently that she could take her earlier frustration out on a different foe.
Warren, Andrei and Phedre move closer to the corpse. A large buffalo from the looks of it. Focusing his attention on dissection, Warren fails to notice he's not alone with the corpse until it is too late. Kneeling down and without his shield ready, the druid finds himself suddenly caught between the jaws of a giant centipede. His left arm is nearly sliced off by one pincer while the other comes in to shred his armor and midsection, leaving the druid little more than a bloody mess.
At the sounds of Warren's scream and the tearing of his flesh, Anwel drops his sextant and runs to the lip of the gully. The sight of Warren, his arm nearly ripped from its socket, spurting blood on the mandibles of a giant centipede, almost makes him sick. Lairochal whinnies in the background, but Anwel puts her out of his mind, focusing on how to save his comrade. The centipede had clearly been eating the dead beast, and was defending it from an intruder. So Anwel would give it another intruder. But what would it fear that would not make a sound?
Anwel snaps his fingers and the shadow of a giant owl swoops over the gully. It's joined a moment later by a figment of the beast itself, stooping onto the centipede with silent wings and talons that glinted in the twilight.
Standard to cast silent image, creating a figment of a giant owl. DC 17 for the centipede to disbelieve, if it interacts with the owl.
Will be concentrating to maintain the illusion until further notice. Break a leg, y'all.
0/32 hp round 1
Warren steps away--having used his healing on Vrag, he is pretty much incapacitated. He uses the magic in the necklace to heal.
Rd1
Andrei swings his shield into place and stepping up to the creature. "Warren get behind me. Everyone else convince this we aren't food."
Tareth you didn't mention Vrag's location.
"Warren!" Phedre cries out as the insect attacks. She draws her sword and steps into Warren's place as he steps back and fends it off with a quick strike of her longsword. "Get back Warren, I'll heal you up as soon as we get rid of this pest."
Kallistra strides forward, moving before hurling a makeshift bomb at the giant insect.
Warren heals a bit and then step back using the magical necklace.
Anwels illusion suddenly appears overhead, immediately drawing the attention of the centipede. Using the the distraction effectively, Phedre lands a hit on the creature opening a slight cut along one segment that leeks yellow-green ooze. Andrei steps up to cover Warren as the druid heals himself and steps back out of range of Kallista's bomb as rolls under the creature and then explodes shattering a couple of legs and opening more gashes and cuts. With a growl, Vrag draws his sword and runs to engage the creature.
Unaware of the real threat, it strikes out at the largest target, Anwel's owl. It's pincers narrowly miss the owl's flapping wings and the illusion holds as the centipede continues to focus on the owl.
"Get that owl to go for it's eyes or something. If surround it on three sides and it might flee." Andrei shouts as he draws his sword and strikes.
Anwel has the owl swoop away from the explosion, opening its beak to screech during the roar. It flaps a few times and then wheels back to the centipede, closing on the side opposite Andrei and Phedre.
Warren moves in and swings his scimitar and flanks with his eagles.
Kallistia throws another bomb
With practiced ease Phedre follows up her first attack with an even sharper strike.
Still distracted by Anwel's illusions, the centipede quickly succumbs to the parties organized assault. Both Andrei and Phedre deliver solid blows that open nasty wounds along the creatures body. These are ripped further when Kallista's lands another bomb under the creature. Only Warren, still disoriented from his wounds, fails to land a hit. But it matters little as the creature collapses and quickly bleeds out.
As calm returns to the gully, the smell grows even worse as the centipede's ichor adds its own unique aroma to that already provided by the rotting carcass.
"Well done everyone, it was good to have some practice before we face this demon... Or what ever else is in that mine." Andrei turns to look at Warren "That was a nasty blow. We should get it bandaged beofre you loose too much more blood. Anyone have some old clothes or something to bandage with?" He asks as he goes through his own pack looking for something.
Anwel undoes the clasp and hands Andrei his cloak. "Tear it up, make a sling, whatever you think best," he says. "I will fix it later."
Andrei starts rip the cloak into strips and begins to wrap Warren's arm. It is quite clear to anyone with healing Andrei doesn't know what he is doing and is just wrapping more and more fabric around it.
"Well, it appears we will be camping for two days, I won't be full tomorrow and it will take a full day of healing to be back."
"Dispersing like that left us vulnerable."
After resting, we can do a day exploring and return to the mine after a full rest.
Warren finds a comfortable and safe spot to camp for the night which passes uneventfully. The next day arrives with some high clouds and slightly cooler temperatures.
The night passes uneventfully, but as the sun rises, the skies are gray. A cool wind blows across the plain and a light drizzle starts to fall as the party breaks camp. Exploring further south and a little east there is little of interest except rolling hills, tall grasses, and the occasional minor gully or rock outcropping.
A bit after midday, something of interest is easily seen. The glint of metal sparkles occasionally in dim overcast light. Should you choose to investigate it looks to be just a mile or two west of the main path.
"Look over there" Andrei says pointing. "What ever that is its must be big." Andrei says starting to walk towards it before pausing to make sure everyone is doing the same.
"Luckily I have four eagle eyes."
Warren sends his eagles to investigate.
The eagles swoop over the area, but don't give any warning of immediate threat or danger.
"Interesting..." Phedre says as she peers at the distant shine. "Shall we go examine it?" she asks cheerfully despite the dreary weather.
And they move closer, thinking the way is probably safe.
Approaching carefully, the party discovers several dessicated bodies strewn across a small rise. The light reflecting off of a dented shield laying atop one of the bodies is what must have originally caught your attention. A cool wind blows across the plain causing the tall grasses to bend and rustle, the sound magnified by the utter silence that otherwise exists in this desolate place.
Andrei pulls his sword out and says quietly "Looks like bodies, the bandits might have hit a group or something. They are likely long gone, but..." he wanders in a circle around the figures 30' from the rest.
"Bandits would have stripped the bodies," says Anwel, his hand hovering over the flap of his pack. Eventually he decides to map the place. There might be no landmark or any other distinguishing feature about it, but that only makes keeping an accurate more important, in case they ever want to find this battlefield again. "Even kobold gear could be repurposed or sold."
"You're probably right. So any signs of who or what did kill them? Kobold are evil right so who ever it was did us a favour."
"Whether they were evil or not in life, we should give the dead a proper sending."
"Does anyone have a shovel or shall we build a pyre?"
Warren solemnly gathers the remains.
"There are shovels back at the mine." Anwel dismounts Lairochal with a sigh and begins helping gather the bodies. They are light enough so that even he can drag them with ease. "Which means they are not here. One would think we would have known to bring some by now, but that does not seem to be the case." The goblins in the woods, the bandits in the hills...they have had to resort to far too many pyres. Lighting one here could actually be perilous. The smoke, unshielded by rocks or trees, would be visible for miles, and might draw whoever had killed the kobolds back to this place.
Many believe that kobolds simply devour their dead while others theorize that burial and some form of mummification dedicating the deceased as a spiritual servant to one of the elder dragons may be quite common. This has also led a few conspiracy oriented scholars to claim that there is a massive kobold undead army being raised by some alliance of dragonkin, but most serious thinkers scoff at the possibility.
You spend the next couple of hours gathering the bodies. Doing so also reveals about 25 silver coins scattered among the dead along with two still functional short spears, a pair of daggers with ivory handles and small dented shield which oddly shows no sign of rust or other effect from being exposed in the elements.