"Grey lady seemed nice. Burnt One does not worry."
Yvell searches his mind once again for what Gremlin could be. Not sure if it was a monster, humanoid or otherwise. He did not wish to foolishly attempt something he did not know if possible.
Filtering through what little he could know, he introduced himself after the softer Valtyra. " I am Yvell Dullahan Endymion, paladin of Ragathiel. As Valtyra has said, we will likely assist you if there is a threat to your well-being. However we need information on the man she speaks of if you have any. "
His eyes however notice the piles of equipment sitting nearby and it sparks a definite sense of trade, both sides need to wager something. The woman from before made it sound like the group would have been allowed to pass regardless. He points, gesturing to the pile, " Does the items there have any real value to you? If we do this task for you would it be out of the question to use any of said material if so? It could increase our chances possibly. "
Burnt One sits down on the rough cave floor and opens their backpack. They pull out a battered-looking greataxe, which has only a two-foot rod as a haft, and begin polishing it with their grimy shirt. "This is Metal," they say to Bran and Derlin. "It is a friend."
"I'm assuming from the sounds, Auehda pulled something out of her backpack?" Bran says fumbling around before dropping down with a huff. He realizes that he dropped down on the remains of what felt like a slime, and grimaced. "Damn it..." Shifting a bit more, Bran brushes the goop off of his pants and sighs. "I imagine it is a fine item...this Metal, Auehda. It is certainly a poor thing that I cannot see it." He says with a bit of mirth.
"What are your friend items?" Auehda asks their human acquaintances.
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Derlin examines Metal with a look of grand approval. "A fine weapon Auehda, and a proper name as well."
Moving gracefully the big missionary flips his falchion over and hands it to Burnt One to inspect.
"Where I am from this is called a Falca. See it's subtle curvature there? A falca, when in the hands of one who is trained in the Dance of Blades is capable of cutting a man in half with one stroke, and with a slight variation to the Dance one can inflict...less permanent injuries. Like with the beetles, you see?"
You can tell the exotic warrior is proud of his Falca. With a shy tone of voice, he adds "I crafted it myself, before I left home".
Saying this, he points to a very fine inscription, a maker's mark, engraved into the bottom of the blade. You can make our the letters D F.
"I see. I see. It is very pretty, Derlin." Burnt One wipes at it with their shirt, mixing mud with ooze slime. "Kinda dirty though!"
They hand it back. "Burnt One does not know who crafted Metal. But it was there the day of waking, and Burnt One has it ever since."
With a better look at the axe, Bran nods his agreement to Derlin. "It's a fine weapon though, I have to admit I don't really agree with giving weapons names." Bran says, cracking a bit of a smile. He pulls out his dinged shield. "For instance, my shield. Got it from a merchant as payment for keeping some ruffians out of his shop while he moved. It's served me well and has been a good tool, but I know it would mean little if I wasn't good with it. To me, tools are an extension of the self. My shield is me, my daggers are me. They help me fight, they keep me alive. Giving them names, to me, seems to imply they are different from oneself. And one should primarily rely on oneself to protect oneself."
"Protection is good. But Burnt One gets protection from friends too?" They run their hands along Metal's haft, eyes staring off at the wall. "If friends didn't give Burnt One food and shelter, Burnt One would be frozen dead and buried."
Leader of the skulks, i see. This is your village? You´ve been living her for long? Seems like a nice enough place. We mean no harm to you, we are merely here to find out about some events.
Like Valtyra here said, we are mainly interested in the whereabouts of our friend Khonnir Baine and his comrades. Several of them we could find dead outside of your village. You don´t happen to know of their fate?
Mh Skulks. Skulks and Gremlins. Do i know anything about them?
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"A fair point Brand the Blind-Fighter. I consider my falca an extension of myself as well. Names can be powerful things, however, and if our friend's axe here has a name it means it is very special and powerful to her." the olive skinned man says with certain clarity.
Derlin looks around the cave while speaking, looking at the cave-scrawl and waiting for the others to return while enjoying the conversation with those who stayed behind.
Burnt One nods. "My name is powerful too. The Junkmaster said, 'Keep it secret but from friends,' but . . . you two are friends to Burnt One, so I will tell it!" They extend one hand to Bran, and one up to Derlin, keeping the greataxe in their lap. "I am Auehda."
Sef stops sliding her dagger against her short sword.
The gremlins are pests. They appear in our village through magic and steal things or cause them to break. They run from us when we try to cull their kind. But they may not run from you. They fear strength."
Her eyes are cold. While it may have been an insult to some to intimidate or anger, her voice remains firm.
"I do not know who this Khonnir is. I cannot tell your people apart. You come in groups that are diverse. Some went through the metal wall. Others attacked us and died to our blades. Some were killed by the other creatures lurking in these caves."
Sef flashes her teeth and looks at Yvell. "If you do this thing to help our people, then and only then will I give you a reward."
Finally, she turns to Ibuki. Sef ignores your questions about the village. "If the one you search for is strong, then he would have passed through the metal wall. If not, then perhaps the gremlins have him. Now, will you deal with these gremlins?
Except for your conversation, the skulk cavern is silent. Every so often, an area of the place shimmers slightly and you can see a silhouette of a human body. It disappears as quickly.
You see to the North of the cave two passageways. One is where the others went to speak with the leader of the skulks.
Minutes pass by. Remembering the skulks' ability, you can feel that you are being watched.
Looking at his two companions, Ibuki licks his lips.
What´s your point no this? Khonnir is strong and clever, yet we don´t know what happened. I say we deal with those gremlins.
On another note Sef, do you know anything about the forge? Some kind of machinery that sets of a hot beam or something similar which went off lately?
Sef shakes her head.
"I do not know of any forge. None of us have traveled beyond the metal door."
Yvell grins back equally fine with the arrangement set up. " We have an agreement then, for the Service of eliminating the Gremlins, we shall be allowed safe passage and rewarded upon completion. Agreed? If so I believe we should make haste and deal with these creatures. I shall take your warning of their magical abilities to heart. Valtrya, Ibuki I think it is time we reunite with our group and finish this quickly. Until we meet again Leader Sef " Yvell nods and turns around walking out of the tent, it took his entire being not to lash out from the obvious insult. heading to the others, an obvious vein across his forehead from the restriction.
" Derlin, Bran, Auehda; We are going Gremlin hunting. Get ready, for the skulks here underestimate our ability. Hope Sarenrae does not like being mocked. "
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"Ah! Welcome back friends. What are Gremlins? What did the leader skulk have to say?" the big missionary asks, "..and Mother Serenrae forgives mockery, it is the mark of an insecure soul. I, however, am only a mortal man and I lack my godesses' self control from time to time." Derlin shoots you a slightly feral grin, leaving it up to you to interpret that statement on your own.
Nap time, ill be back in a few hours brave companions :)
Luepel, the other female skulk, motions to the other passage.
"The gremlins are there. Be wary of their tricks and their magic."
The gremlin tunnels are small and tight, most are only five feet tall and force you to squeeze and duck. There are no stalactites or stalagmites, and as you continue to press on no way to discern one path from another. Eventually, you enter a passage where a strange creature is waiting for you.
It gurgles to you in Undercommon and motions for you to follow, before darting down the tunnel and around a bend.
When you do round the corner, the creature is nowhere to be found. Instead, a pile of glittering objects is in the center of the new passage. The objects appear to be a handful of gold coins and a silverdisk.
Valtyra follows behind her companions when the creature appears she is on guard. "What did it say?"
As they round the corner she says softly to her friends,"Remember we were warned that they used magic and tricks."
Softly, Bran adds "I'm not going to be letting my guard down for a second this time around."
Bran looks carefully at the pile and the area around it, trying to spot any traps.
Burnt One keeps both eyes open, scrutinizing the tunnel and the silverdisks. They extend their greataxe and cautiously prod the pile.
Val has her mace ready looking around this chamber for danger.
Before Auehda reaches the glittering pile, they (and only Auehda) sees a thin wire by their ankles. The wire attaches to a wall, where a piece of sharpened metal is poking out. It looks like a trap.
"Whats the matter? Val asks Auehda when she stops.
"Wire!" Burnt One points to the sharp spot. "It's a trap!" They push everyone backward and try to throw their club onto the strand.
Auehda's club hits the string causing the trap to fire. A metal spike ricochets around the cavern until it finally embeds itself in the ceiling.
Yvell draws his blade stepping in after Derlin, his eyes trained on te walls and cracks, sure the creature will surface. " The traps are just part of this, the Gremlins themselves most likely number more than four, otherwise Sef's group would have dealt with them already. Stay alert and look for them, but watch for any more traps.
"Well lets try to avoid any more surprises." Val says as she moves into the room.
Good catch Burnt One, that would have hurt i guess. Let´s proceed with care, so we can avoid further traps too. I would very much like to skip the fate of being skewered by such a metal piece, entirely too pathetic.
Burnt One picks up their club, settling it back with the handle protruding from their pack. They store the silverdisks in their pack, too, but keep their greataxe at the ready. "Were the skulks four, Yvell?"
Auehda helps their friend search for trap wires. "Let Burnt One know if you see footprints on cave floor. Burnt One might track."
" There were four huts, with little room for more than perhaps two people. The Skulks also allowed groups who were 'strong' to pass through. These little creatures don't seem to be much of a threat, unless they number more than four, that was the conclusion I came to Auehda. " Yvell seems edgy knowing the traps were like that of famed kobolds, thus deadly.
Ibuki also helps keeping an eye out for traps.
There were only female skulks, did you notice that? And even though we saw only 4 huts, we don´t know their real number nor their abilities. Seems they are rather stealthy and secretive. And also clever, killing who they could and hiding from stronger enemies. Reckon they are dangerous enough for us.
"Yes. Derlin plus Bran and Burnt One saw many shimmers in the main cave while you were gone. I think there are several more than four but maybe gremlins are good at hiding."
" Yes I did note the two that we saw were indeed female. I do not assume the rest are. They are prone to hiding because they must do so to survive, they choose their targets. It is not clever to strike at those who are weak and hide from the strong, that is basic instincts. Especially when we have proven their stealthy advances are not impregnable. Everyone keep an eye out, Derlin advance with Bran I'm sure there are more Gremlins but watch for traps. " Yvell gripped his blade in two hands as he twitched his left ear impulsively ready to strike.
"Yes. I'll follow you Derlin. After all slow and steady wins the race." Val adds the last with a wink to Yvell as she follows Derlin.
You don't see any more traps as you walk through the cramped passages. After a few more passageways, you see a cavern.
Several different passageways converge on a narrow ledge overlooking a rubble-filled cavern. The far wall is made of a smooth, dark gray metal. A single circular door, tightly closed, sits on the metal wall just above the upper level of the rubble.
A green tinged gremlin, slightly larger than the other gremlins, is sharpening a foot-long metal spike in his hand with a tiny short sword.
Like the other gremlins, furry bat ears, glowing orange eyes and a ever present sharp-toothed smile make up his face.
He watches as you enter the cave. There are two gremlins in the room with him, one on the North and one to the East.
"What you want?" He says in broken Common.
Yvell steps up toward the front and looks at the Gremlins, noting at least they had not attacked, though the ploy earlier seemed like that may be a ploy. He scanned the creatures for the taint of evil before speaking thus. He had made deal, to get rid of these creatures, that had no stipulation on 'how' or 'what method'. " I'll make this easy, You leave this area, Find new area, Stop pestering the Gray ones, Or we fight. It is your choice " Yvell then sideways glanced to Derlin at the proclamation. " I am giving you a fair chance to settle this with words first, before we must come to blows. "
The gremlin boss giggles.
"Jazvit not impressed. You big, but you look stupid." He stabs the metal spike into the ground. His grin seems to get wider. "You want us to leave. Fine. We go."
He grumbles in Undercommon to the other gremlins.
Jazvit laughs. "Bye, stupid elf. We go to above town now."
Black magic shaped as ovals surrounds the gremlins and in an instant, Jazvit and his cronies disappear from the cave.
A clearly visible vein appears in Yvell's forehead, that could rival Derlin in his more emotional state, as he grits his teeth in annoyance. " NNrrrggh, The little filth called me stupid, I SHOULD have slayed every single one. That however would have been 'wrong' ... " looking to the Sarenites with mild aggravation. From the Gremlin or them its hard to tell. " With this if they return or cause an issue again, I expect for you to to follow your other code and be fine with wiping them out? Either way we need proof of our deed so I guess this stake will have to do.. lets see if there is any goods or items as well then return and get our reward before moving on. "
Yvell moved carefully to the spike and also searched around for valuables and proof of their deed, such as skin, blood, hair or an item. he was also on the look out for traps. His frustration however, did not seem to dissipate, as if he was holding something back.
Ibuki watched the whole thing going on and just opened his mouth to speak as the gremlins disappeared. He looks surprised and annoyed at the same time.
Well done master Endymion. Well done. he says in a sarcastic tone.
You seem to have more rage insisde of you than the wildest barbarians of the kellid tribes i ever saw. We could have gotten out important information from them, like if they saw Khonnir or others and if they smashed the torch or know something about it. They looked clever enough for it.
More mumbling to himself:
Mh. It seems there is a whole ecosystem down here. Could provide valuable knowledge about all kinds of things. Mh.
Burnt One tries to climb down into the cavern.