Milloy's crossbow bolt flies across the room and breaks on the wall.
Alsterro brings his quarterstaff down on one of the turtles!
Alice jumps around and then fires an arrow at a kobold but misses.
Roaring in pain and frustration, Kurth lays into the nearest kobold.
Kurth slices a kobold in two and follows it up by cracking a turtle open!
---
The remaining kobold steps up to stab at Alice!
The turtles continue to snap!
Milloy will step a little closer and try to shoot the kobold!
for
"Scoot on toward Alice if you can Alsterro - she's getting carved up by them snappers and spearmen," Kurth says, taking a clumsy swing at the nearest turtle.
Alsterro will move to assist Alice and trust in the natural indigestibility of priesthood to protect him from being chomped.
Milloy's crossbow bolt flies wide.
Kurth attacks but misses as well.
Alterro also swings but seems to follow the party luck.
Alice follow suit and misses the kobold.
---
The remaining kobold stabs at Alice again!
The turtles continue their snapping!
"Alice!" Kurth yells, seeing the bloodied rogue stabbed again. Pushing east, the big fighter smashes the nearest turtle, following through to the one next to it.
Grunting, Milloy drops his crossbow and draws his quarterstaff as he steps forward to attack one of the turtles!
for
Kurth cleaves through the two turtles!
Milloy fires his crossbow but misses!
Alsterro will move to distract the Kobold, hopefully giving Alice the time she needs to either get away or kill it.
Alsterro smacks the kobold and knocks him out!
Milloy will cast Detect Magic as the rest of the group recovers from the battle. He'll also start to search the room.
Milloy finds nothing of note except for the kobold's spears and guisarmes.
Nighttail looks about as well and says, "Oo! Armory!" as she walks through one of the openings into a small chamber with a large number of weapons stashed neatly inside.
There are 12 spears, 120 sling bullets, 4 slings, 3 suits of leather armor, 3 wooden whiels, 2 bows, and a (medium sized) cold iron longsword.
Hmm, well gather what you might need and let's move on before something else shows up. As Nighttail does whatever she is doing, the wizard will look down the western passageway, then the southern one, both from the safety of the room.
Kurth ensures the downed kobolds are all dead, then checks to make sure Alice is being tended to by Alsterro. He'll then follow Nighttail into the armory and, assuming no one else objects, help himself to the cold iron longsword.
"Which way next lizard, er, Night-whatsit?" Kurth says. "You reckon that was the only ambush, or will they have more farther in?"
Milloy looks down the southern hallway and notices a single small palette heaped with furs sitting against the wall. Nighttail notices at the same time and says, "Shh!" She cautiously approaches and motions for you to follow her. An aged kobold, his green scales dull and his eyes shut tight, lies on the palette.
As you enter and come around him, his eyelids flutter open to reveal milky, blind orbs. In a raspy voice, he calls out in Common, "I can tell by your scent that you are strangers here. If my nose tells the truth, you bring the destruction I foretold. Good. . . good. I had hoped to see our ruin before journeying to the afterworld, but I will settle for listening to it. Beware the great scaly beast, strangers. He seems to speak reason, but his words are poison. And his bats, the ones he called from the darkness. . . they are harbingers of lunacy and chaos. . . Dread Lord Aeteperax will surely be your doom as he has been ours."
As if the act of speaking was too much, after delivering this cryptic and ominous message the aged kobold dies. He clutches a small leather box in his hands.
"Come over here, let's get you patched up." Alsterro works his magic, changing a few of his prepared spells into healing magic. "I don't know how you ... folks ... get by without us sometimes. It's a dangerous world. Best be protected."
Following after the Kobold, Alsterro listens as the ancient one speaks of his prophecy. Kneeling before the old one, Alsterro closes his eyes and murmurs a prayer to speed him on his way. "So passes a true seer." Carefully removing the box from the dead Kobold's fingers, Alsterro gently opens it, then whistles. "I've only seen these on holy warriors. Champions of Torag and Iomedae, and the like. It's a phylactery that helps to protect the faithful from dishonoring themselves before their god."
"What was all that about Eighty-per-ax calling bats from the darkness? I thought he was a merchant or slaver or something."
Aeteperax, Milloy corrects the fighter. Legend tells of a huge black dragon named Aeteperax that once terrorized this area long ago, until his defeat at the hand of the famous local hero Tula Belhaim. We first discovered his name in the fallen tower if you recall.
Milloy looks at the now-dead kobold seer with interest. Hmm, bats and words of poison. Prophecy of destruction. Old fools and their riddles! Looking to the cleric the wizard says as he turns away, If we can use the box, take it. It will do no good for him now. Milloy will then cast Detect Magic just in case the old kobold had anything else of interest before turning away.
Milloy does not find anything else in this area. Nighttail spends a moment arranging the old kobold's hands and head to make him look more comfortable before saying, "Well, should we keep moving then? If his prophecies are true. . . ."
Nighttail leads the party down the southern passage. At one point it widens out a bit and you find a wooden barricade blocking access to a room on your right. The cramped cave beyond has only a three-foot-high ceiling. Mounds of moldy straw have been stuffed into it from floor to ceiling to house three large rats. They look larger and more ill-tempered than normal dire rats, but have been locked away and do not seem to be a threat behind their wooden bars.
Milloy peers into the room where the rats are being held. Hmph! No need to bother with them if they pose no threat. Keep going, unless Ms. Nighttail says otherwise? Milloy stares at the kobold with a watchful gaze, awaiting a reply.
Alsterro glances into the small room. "Trifles. Unless they can magically open those bars, I doubt they're any threat."
Nighttail responds, "Well, if the others had let them out they look pretty feral and mean. But behind bars I don't think they'll pose a threat."
Nighttail directs the party further down the hallway. You turn into a passage that leads to a chamber where the ceiling rises to a lofty twelve feet. The cave floor drops away into a pair of long, ten-foot-deep pits. Between them, a ridge of stone forms a dubious walkway to a landing on the opposite side, where a five-foot-wide shaft with a knotted rope hanging down into it awaits.
Once the party starts to cross the room, six kobolds wielding slings step out and start aiming for the party!
"What's with these gods-damned lizards! No offense, Night-tickle," Kurth says, as he draws his recently-acquired longsword and advances on the thickest group of attackers.
Milloy will fire a crossbow bolt at K5, still being worried about expending all of his magic on kobolds!
for
for
Kurth moves up and cuts one of the kobolds down! He then cleaves into the next one and takes another out!
Milloy then follows up by putting a bolt into the shoulder of one of the kobolds!
---
The first two kobolds drop their slings to draw spears and stab at Kurth!
The other two kobolds aim their slings at Milloy and Alsterro!
Ah! A ranged conflict, eh? We can oblige!
for
Milloy takes out the injured kobold!
"Enough with the spears, you dogs, it's starting to tickle," Kurth says, flinging blood from his blade before launching into another attack.
Alsterro will aim for the one remaining slinger with his staff, throwing it end on like a javelin before it returns to his hand.
Alice puts an arrow into one of the kobolds!
Kurth cuts into the first kobold and the cleaves through the second one, cutting it in two!
Alsterro throws his quarterstaff and bonks one of the kobolds in the head.
---
The first kobold stabs at Kurth!
The other kobold slings a rock at Alsterro!
Kurth turns, his blade whistling, as he tries to take out his remaining opponent on the backswing.
Grunting in surprise after the (likely) unsuccessful attack, he shifts north to give the others a clear shot at the wily kobold.
Milloy fires at the kobold that still stands!
for
Aiming a little bit lower, Alsterro hurls his quarterstaff once again.
Alice takes out one of the kobolds, killing him outright!
Kurth swings but misses.
Milloy follows it up with a crossbow bolt that clatters against the wall.
Alsterro then throws his quarterstaff into the mix and knocks out the last kobold.
Milloy will cast Detect Magic in the area. Seems we've come to a dead end. Where do we go now, Nighttail?