|
"Amarandlon " , asks Ax, "It might be a good idea if you asist Aaron and Rumble down the trapdoor " . Turning to Fox, Ax suggests " Jack, you and I can quietly climb down with the rope and enter that way" , and finally, to Jar, Ax says, while looking around the tree line, " Jar, if you keep guard up here to cover our back, I think we can investigate more confidently".
Ax takes his rope out of his backpack and proceeds to tie it to the tree.
Ax starts climbing down the gully.
Climb test down the rope:
Stealth test to do it quietly:
Ax takes a deep breath and awaits suggestions.
Rumble opens the trapdoor with no effort, and sees nothing of note as he peers down the hole. There is a staircase leading down away from the edge of the gully about 10' and a doorway opening to the left at the bottom. There is no light down the stairs.
Having easily opened the trap door Rumble peeks down the hole.
His voice is low sounds like the tail end of a large tunderclap; it is clear that this is his namesake. He says in common, "Stairs leading down about 10' with a doorway at the bottom.
His mental voice doubling in Aaron's head he continues. Goin' to poke my neck in a little farther and see what we can see. Good thing I see in the dark
With that he lays near the ground an scopes his head another 5 feet making him look more like one of the animal experiments Fox had hinted about and less like a wolf/lion.
Aaron approaches just behind Rumble with his short spear in hand. He reaches into his pack for a sunrod in case he desides to enter.
Make sure you are looking for anything out of the ordinary. Those litte goblins can be tricky.
Jackson nods in agreement. "Sounds like a plan, Ax. You an' I'll slip in through whatever hole in th' wall might be down there by that bridge, while Aaron and Amarandlon scout through this trap door. We'll need some kind o' signal in case we meet each other. Somehow I doubt that there'll be anything speakin' Elven down there; how 'bout a codeword? Somethin' like..." he pauses for a second, before saying something in Elven.
Looking quite sceptical at Jackson wondering if he understands what he just said Amarandlon replies: "That is surdently an option and I do believe it is one the greenskins will never guess."
"Thank you creature" Amarandlon says to Rumble and continues: "How much light is there at our path?"He follows behind Aaron still with his sword drawn.
Aaron tries to repeat the elvish words "caryave a' kuluina" in his head and stumbles over the pronuciation. The language is not one known to him, although he has heard it spoken from time to time. He repeats the code word mentally to Rumble. The group is splitting in two. If we meet up the code word is "carry a kuluna" or something... It's elvish. Amarandlon will be with us so hopeful he will be in position to say it. Anything further down there?
Aaron looks to Ararandlon, Rumble says the path is dark down to the door. Only light coming from this enterance. I'll need a sunrod or other light source when we go down there.
Satisfied with the arrangements, Jackson follows Ax down the rope.
Ax and Jack both easily climb down the rope. Ax gets down first, and as he steps on it, it sways dangerously. When Jack is still on the rope, Ax is assaulted by tiny stones coming from inside the room.
>>
>>
One of the stones misses, but the other pings off a Ax's chest, bruising him slightly, but not seriously hurting him. When Ax looks to see the source of the stones and find himself looking at 2 kobolds standing inside the room.
Jar’Kel shrugs at Ax’s plan, more then happy to spend the day above ground. Standing in the shadow of a wide elm tree at the edge of the clearing, he hums a song picked up from a buxom serving wench during his wandering.
“Be nice to bag some of the small game about.”
“Think I seen some onions over the other side to.’
“Set up camp to the north I think.”
“What was that wench’s name?”
“Sure could use a bit of Ale, an some of her company.”
Interrupted from his revery, by the sounds of a scuffle. he races across the clearing to the tree where Ax and Jackson had descended on a rope. “Well that didn’t take long”
Rumble sensing nothing amiss, starts down the stairs; his head making the door long before his body. Moving his legs his neck fold upon itself. He listens closely to the door and checks it for anything out of the ordinary. .
Aaron follows Rumble close by. Ready to charge his sunrod if necessary but waiting until Rumble has a chance to open the door and peer inside. No sense in alerting their presence with a bright light from the door. Illuminated by the back lighting coming from the trap door, Aaron waits behind Rumble with spear in hand.
When rumble peers into the room, he sees 3 kobolds picking around the room, trying to find anything of interest. It looks like the room was inhabited by something else recently. Unfortunately, the kobolds notice the creak of the door, and, upon seeing what opened it, run to the far side of the room and down some stairs, leaving the room empty.
"Got three of those small lizard men in here. Saw the light from the door and scattered down a stairway. Looks clear now." Rumble thinks to Aaron. " I’m goin’ in to look around" With that Rumble enters the room an looks around for anything useful or unusual.
Aaron thinks back his agreement and watches Rumble disappear into the room. "Rumble says there were 3 kobolds in there that scattered down stairs when the door opened, " he explains to his elven companion. “I’m following him in and see if we can learn anything about this underground place. Looks like we may have to exterminate some the vermin around here. “
Giving Rumble a few seconds to look in the room, Aaron follow in, activating his sunrod by striking it to the floor. The room illuminates with the light of the rod. Aaron steps closer to Rumble and starts to look around as well. Somehow the comfort of his companion close by and the somewhat sharing of thoughts always lets him see things a bit clearer. He joins his animal in searching for things useful or any clue as to the nature of this complex.
Yet another opportunity to test if brother was wrong and my skills are void, this one is for you brother Amarandlon thinks before heading Aarons warning and following he into the room.
He whispers to Aaron: "Lets see dear companion if we can not find the unfortunately dragonkin.". Amarandlon glances around the room illuminated only by his companions sunrod.
The room Aaron and Amar are in appears to have been some sort of communal sleeping quarters for several very dirty creatures.
Ax completely whiffs his swing at the kobold.
"Wait! Don't attack 'em! I speak Draconic!" Jackson drops the rest of the way down, landing on the precariously swaying bridge.
Jackson holds up his hands in a show of peace, and begins speaking in
Seeing Ax swinging wildly, Jack whispers, "Ax, put down the sword! We might be able to talk our way through this."
Finding nothing in the room other than stinky mats and sleeping area. The stench was more like an unkept barn than a bedroom. “Well nothing of use here. I guess we move on to find out where they went to.” Aaron says to Amarandlon. He nods to Rumble to proceed to the other stairway. Rumbel takes the few steps to the stairway and peers down the stairway. Element of surprise obviously broken, Aaron follows behind Rumble. While Rumble is looking for where the Kobolds have gone, Aaron inspects the stairs knowing the dragonkin’s penchant for traps and tricks, short spear in hand.
Reaching the side of the tree with the rope just in time to hear Fox land on the bridge, and say something about speaking in dragon. A goofy grin crosses Jar'Kel's face, as he gets ready to descend when Fox moves out of the way.
Ha Ha, looks like someone was born under an unlucky star! Fox just might be able to talk a dragon to death.
Aaron and rumble don't encounter any nasty surprises on the stairs, but they do find another closed door at the bottom.
The kobolds the Jack addresses drop their slings and pull daggers, but do not attack. They back up slightly, and do not say anything. As they reach the half-wall, three more kobolds barge out of the doorway in the room behind, slamming the door behind. The biggest says to the others
More! They want our shiny good-good! Knife 'em!
No unimportant thought, no focus at the present as you were thought, beware of your surroundings and let your blade become part of yourself. the voice of his grandfather's patient voice for the endless hours of training echoes in his head.
"I am right behind you Aaron." Amarandlon says as he follows his companion down the stairs. As they see the door he looks at Aaron and adds: "Companion, I am ready"
Impulsively, Jackson starts blurting things out.
"Ax, get ready t' scuffle, but don't let 'em see you; I might still have 'em."
Rumble is at the bottom of the stairs ready for a battle. The opportunity for surprise and subtlety gone, he tries to open the door and attack the small green reptilian men.
Strength to assist
If the door opens he will full attack if allowed or just the bite if not.
Bite Damage
Claw Damage
Claw Damage
The kobolds, now encouraged by their bolstered forces, prepare to attack. Rumble bursts through the door with no difficulty.
Jar'Kel lands heavily on the bridge, causing it to sway violently back and forth. A sense of panic sends him stumbling forward searching for more stable footing inside the dim room.
His eyes adjust slowly to the room, noticing only his companions and 2 hostile shapes along the back wall. Recognizing the enemy as he draws down on the shape directly across from him, grin turns to a wicked smile.
"Humanoid. Reptilian. Draconic. Going to get me some Kabold hide Boots.
|
|
Ax moves S 1sq W 1sq.
I hope I don't blunder again. I hope this guy Jack knows what he is doing. Either he is a man of faith or he does not know what he is doing : You cannot reason with kobolds
As he moves Ax tells Jar and Jack " move away from the door, remember the critters don't like light."
Ax grips his sword tightly and gets ready.
Other than Rumble, none of the party is able to land an attack.
The two kobolds in the west room turn back on Rumble, and the two in the east room move toward Ax.
>>
>>
>>
>>
One kobold strikes Rumble with his spear, and another gets Ax with his dagger.
Aaron feels the adrenaline rush from his companion. There is a quite a crowd gathered near the door and it would be hard for Aaron to get through and be effective. He takes one step to the west and calls forth an eagle which immediately appears 10 feet to the east of Rumble flanking his enemy. He then waits to see if the way will clear.
The eagle attacks
Rumble sees the eagle appear in front of him, a common occurrence in most of his battles. The distraction provided by his masters tiny beasts provides a substantial advantage. With the fresh blood of the first kobold still warm and dripping from his sharp teeth he eyes the foes in front of him. The slight prick from the spear brings the battle in focus. Again utilizing all of his offensive skills,
Eagle HP 5 AC 14 t13 ff12 It will be arround for 1 minute
.
Between the eagle and rumble, the kobold leader goes down.
Scolding himself, What would grandfather have thought if he saw you know? He would have been ashamed that your thoughts are dancing around unbound in this moment of need. Amarandlon's thought aren't focused and the blade goes high above the kobold's head. The little creature is grinning at him and spitting out something vile in a language he doesn't understand.
,
Jackson sighs as the kobolds completely ignore him and attack his half-elf companion. "Alright, Ax, you win. Now jus' take a step back so's I can knock 'em down for ya."
Both kobolds slip and fall on the grease, and spend a few seconds getting up and make their way around the grease towards Ax.
Amar is unable to dispatch his quarry, and the kobold strikes back with his knife.
>>
The kobold also misses his mark.
Jack and Ax suddenly hear more Draconic chattering from behind them. 2 More kobolds are crossing the bridge!
Rumble takes a five foot step to the east, confident he can take one more of these dragon creatures, and executes his full attack.
Bite >>
Claw >>
Claw >>
The eagle having dispached its first foe flies east to confront the newly emerging kobolds and stops in front of the first one 10' onto the bridge and tries to bite the kobold.
Bite >>
Aaron emerges from the stairway and seeing that more ceatures are on their way moves to the half wall, , assured that Rumble will be right behind him as soon as the kobold is dispatched.
Infuriated with himself over his lack of skill Amarandlon strikes against the kobold again should Rumble not have dispatched it. If Rumble did kill the kobold Amarandlon will take two move action ending close to Jackson.
If needed
Rumble injures the second kobold, but doesn't kill it. As the eagle flies away, the beast stabs at it. >>
The eagle takes a hit, but doesn't stop on the way to the new enemies. It can't hurt the first in line, but does get in its way.
Amar easily dispatches the already injured kobold, and moves toward the new threat.
Neither of Ax's blows connect.
The two kobolds surround Ax, jabbing at him with their daggers.
>>
>>
Both find chinks in Ax's armor.
The first new kobold strikes at the eagle with a spear, and the second launches his sling.
But the eagle evades both attacks.