The rest of the group continues to advance on the stage, hoping to get in close before Kibizax can unleash more lightning, or worse. Hepsubia remains watchful, as though waiting for something to happen.
Effie circles around and heads towards the backstage area in an effort to block Kibizax from escaping in that direction. She also continues to crack wise, hoping that maybe she can get Kibizax to react in some way. But the dang kobold still refuses to respond.
Maybe low comedy is more his speed?
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grid)
Hepsubia is UP at the top of Round 4...maybe?
Figuring that it's time to get serious, maybe, Hepsubia gulps down a mutagen to give her even MOAR speed and alacrity. It dulls her senses a little bit but who needs those, right?
From within the cloud, somewhere near the front of the stage and towards the south, comes Kibizax's voice.
"Electricity isn't the only element at the Sewer Dragons' command, bwahahaha!"
The sound of chanting can be heard...
Oh hey, it's Scorching Ray.
...and as the shadowy outline of a kobold appears near the mists' edge what looks like a ray of fire shoots out; though it's clearly angled in Zithembe's general direction it misses by quite a bit and leaves a smoking hole in one of the nearby seats instead. And even though he failed to strike his target the old kobold laughs maniacally as he steps further back into the mist.
"Dance, little Pathfinders, dance!"
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grid)
Maria, Zithembe, Rumble are UP at the bottom of Round 4 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 5!
Rumble answers the newest challenge with a reply of his own as he continues to hustle forward and around to the left side of the stage. This kobold is going DOWN!
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grid)
Maria, Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 4 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 5!
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Zith's right. I can't get a clear shot in the mist, but if I bump into Kibizax I can hardly miss!
Effie follows Zithembe's lead and walks into the mist. She slips her elephant knife into her free hand as she goes.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Chief Scaredy-pants!"
As Parison also closes on the stage Zithembe, Maria, and Effie all bravely step into the fog - determined to drag the kobold out by his tail if they have to. Each of them enter from a different angle, hoping to maximize their chances of finding him.
Having stowed her bow Maria comes in from a northeast angle, only making it a few feet into the fog. No sign of Kibizax.
Zithembe steps in from the southeast and then heads west, stopping just past the kobold chieftain's throne - or what's left of it, after Effie torched it. No sign of Kibizax.
Effie steps in from the north and heads in a meandering path towards the south. She moves maybe about 10 ft...and then she spots a kobold-sized shape in the fog! With no melee threat apparent she fires upon him at point-blank range!
Everyone can hear a shot ring out but only Effie can see the immediate results; even though it certainly seems that the bullet encounters some manner of resistance as it pierces the kobold's hide the effects are still quite devastating. Kibizax yelps with pain, his eyes wide as he looks down to a gaping chest wound that is now bleeding profusely...but he doesn't fall.
"B-boomstick...makes this even more dramatic, haha!"
______________
Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grid)
Hepsubia is UP!
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Moving toward the battle, Hepsubia does something unusual. Of course, you are now quite used to the elf unusual tactics, but once again she manages to surprise all of you.
She starts singing, with a thunderous, creaking voice, mocking the kobold earlier spellcasting with all the anger, spite and disdain she bottled up so far, and then the brutal song changes,
chanting the praise of Effie's main weapon
Your own weapons start to pulse with arcaning might, in rythm with Hep's song, nearly bobbing out of your hands
Hepsubia closes on the battle as well and as she does, she pulls out a maneuver that none of you have seen before. It's sort of like Effie's comedic jokes in that you feel a rush of inspiration...but this inspiration is purely battle-focused. Heavy. Brutal, even. You feel the power of her voice infusing the weapons in your hands, making them stronger. Deadlier.
It's actually pretty groovy.
From within the vapors, the kobold cocks his head to one side as Hepsubia sings.
"No! It's not time for the fat lady to sing! Not without a final encore from the great Kibizax!"
Even in his grievously wounded state, it's clear that Kibizax doesn't plan to go down without a fight. He adopts a defensive position and attempts to cast a spell...
It's Invisibility again!
...and vanishes from sight once again. Effie can hear and even vaguely sense movement very close by but can't actually see where the kobold might be moving to now.
______________
Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
==============
Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grid)
Maria, Zithembe, Rumble are UP at the bottom of Round 5 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 6!
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Still trying to make sure he keeps as many items as he can between himself and Kibizax, Parison reaches the end of the theatre seats. He drops down into the orchestra pit and circles right around the grand piano and then climbs up onto the stage.
Hearing the kobold's words while he's moving, the cleric is feeling winded after climbing over the rows of seats and the stage front.
"He's persistent. I'll give him that," Parison says with hitched breath in a tone of both frustration and respect.
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Rumble continues his steady plodding up the stairs and around the side of the stage. And they said I should run more! I'm running all the time! AFTER THEM! This is why I like to stand in the front. When're we going to face of against some Giants or Trolls? Something right in your face! That's my kind of fight, a proper fight for any Dwarf.
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Dang, I bet my fires would burn this mist away. I wish I had more control over them! Effie trembles at her uncomfortable thoughts, and goes back to looking for Chief Scaredy-pants.
"Hey, Hep! Cool song! I gotta learn how to reload this thing faster though!"
Effie moves through the mist, turning her gun over and over and probing with her gandasa.
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Fat? ME? I ain't FAT! And even if I was, there's NOTHING wrong with being a curvaceous woman! They are very sensuous, not that you would know, you small scaly smelly scallawag!
Hepsubia continues singing, with even more anger at being called "fat", switching for a new song about voluptuous women, keeping an arrow ready on her bow and with murder, or at least grievous injury, with a side service of taunts, in her eyes.
She seems quite proud of the "small scaly smelly scallawag" stuff, and sussurate it surreptitiously for several spells, savouring the serpentine sounds with sarcasm
Frustrated the majority of you continue to either close in on the stage or flail about in the fog, searching for the elusive and stubborn Kibizax. Parison climbs up onto the stage while Zithembe attempts to creep over to the southern stage exit, hoping to block it. Maria cautiously listens and then takes a step forward, groping into the fog ahead but finding nothing. Rumble hustles forward some more while Effie weaves her way through the fog, reloading her pistol as she moves.
And Hepsubia, extremely put out by being called 'fat', channels her ire into a new song as she readies an arrow and waits for a target to present itself.
From where he's standing, Parison hears the faintest sounds of movement from somewhere close by...and then the sound of chanting can be heard, as another cloud of misty vapor rises up to envelop part of the orchestra pit and several seats in the first two rows.
"Reeheehee! The Sewer Dragons are tenacious! What about you, Pathfinders?"
The kobolds in the audience - who, as though by some sort of unspoken agreement, have not interfered with this confrontation - ooh and ahh with appreciation.
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Maria, Zithembe, Rumble are UP at the bottom of Round 6 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 7!
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Finally reaching the first cloud, Rumble groans as he trudges across the stage to the second cloud. "What're ye playin' at? Las' aye checked, yah finger-wagglers only 'ad ah handful o' tricks! Ye'll run outta spells buhfore we're outta tenacity!" he shouts into the auditorium. Patience, though, that's long gone. Gonna wring his neck if Sledge doesn't do him in first! Shameful to force a Dwarf to do all of this running only to move the goalposts every time!
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Poor Rumble continues to chase after the elusive Kibizax and his Clouds of Extreme Irritation, all the while grumbling at the indignity of it all...
______________
Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Maria, Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 6 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 7!
Maria and Zithembe both emerge from one fog cloud and head towards the new one that's arisen from within the orchestra pit. Maria intently listens for any sound of the wily kobold but isn't able to pick up on anything yet.
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
==============
Kibizax
==============
Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 7!
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"Well if he made more fog in the seats, he must have been at the edge of the first cloud to see, right?"
Effie tests her theory by pushing to the edge of the first cloud, near Rumble. When she sees where the second cloud lies she makes her way towards it, skirting the edge of the first cloud and then entering the second and hopping onto the grand piano. As she goes she turns her gandasa and her pistol over and over in her hands.
Effie also takes a meandering, serpentine route through the first cloud and then down into the second, coming to a stop atop the ancient-but-sturdy grand piano. It's actually a pretty majestic sight, though only Maria can see it at the moment.
Still no sign of Kibizax but the two women are confident that he must be close by...
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
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Kibizax
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Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Hepsubia and Parison are UP at the top of Round 7!
Deciding to play a risky game Hepsubia takes aim and shoots an arrow into the second cloud of fog, hoping to maybe tag Kibizax by sheer luck...but the arrow whizzes harmlessly through the cloud and *thocks* into the far wall.
At least she didn't hit Maria or Effie...
______________
Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
==============
Kibizax
==============
Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Parison is UP at the top of Round 7!
As Parison hesitates in the fog, unsure of how to proceed, the sound of casting is heard yet again - and both Effie and Maria can tell that it's close. Very, very close.
It's Shocking Grasp, again.
*ZZZZT!*
Effie suddenly takes a heck of a jolt as Kibizax reaches out and taps her arm - and pops back into view as he does so! He's right there in front of both the gunslinger and Maria!
"Eeeheehee! Shouldn't carry all that metal!"
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Hepsubia
Effie
Parison
==============
Kibizax
==============
Maria
Zithembe
Rumble
Active Conditions: Bless, Weapon Song +1
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain = Seats, Vapor Cloud (Blue Grids)
Maria, Zithembe, Rumble are UP at the bottom of Round 7 and Hepsubia, Effie, Parison are UP at the top of Round 8!
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And with a quick retaliatory shot from Effie, the kobold chieftain slumps to the ground! It inexplicably looks like the shot wasn't as effective as it should've been under normal circumstances, but at least this time, it was effective enough!
"Heh...my last bow...and what a performance...this...was..."
The light then fades from Kibizax's eyes and as his life ends, so too do his spells and the fog covering much of the stage and orchestra pit fades away. The chieftain's fallen body takes on a bluish glow and the sound of electricity arcing grows swiftly from a faint buzz to a loud crackle. Bolts of lightning shoot down from the ceiling, striking Kibizax’s corpse over and over, filling the room with the booming sound of thunder and a palpable aura of static electricity. The fallen reptile's body is wracked again and again with electrical fire until a glowing dragon made entirely of blue electricity rises from the corpse and takes wing. The dragon circles the room once with a roar then turns into an arc of pure energy, shooting through the ceiling with a final thunderous boom.
There's a moment of awestruck silence and then a voice - familiar to Maria and Parison - booms from the stage.
"Chief Kibizax has gone to join the spirits of our draconic ancestors!"
A female kobold, dressed in an opera cloak, looks down on the group with an imperious expression. "Now I, Chief Yiddlepode, am left to deal with these intruders. Let us hope they put away their weapons and surrender quickly and peacefully, my brethren, for then we might at last achieve the greatness and prosperity Chief Kibizax dreamed of!"
At this, the kobolds in the audience finally seem to regain their wits and explode into a cacophony of cheering, clapping, and stomping.
"It's all an act, for show. Just play along and you'll be fine."
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Effie is about to tell the kobolds not to mess with 'the sharpest shot in all Varisia' when lightning starts exploding all around the fallen chieftain. She winces, and hops backwards, catching her weapons and holding her tongue.
What IS that?
Then Yiddlepode comes forwards, her tribe cheering her on.
A performance? Ha! These kobolds! What a strange troupe they make. They love theatre! Well they can't be all bad then.
Effie looks at the fallen elder with some remorse. Then glances up towards Yiddlepode.
"The chief is dead. Long live the Chief!
The Pathfinder Society will agree to your demands, mighty Chief Yiddlepode, for surely the scales have tipped in your favour!"
Effie gives a theatrical bow, sheathing her weapons.
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Rumble hesitates as the lightning obliterates the Chief's body and is about to be in full on assault mode when the dragon shows up again, but fortunately it quickly disappears.
When the new Chief announces herself, he every so slowly puts sheath on his back, but he keeps his eye on her in case this is some sort of trick. What the hell just happened?! "We jus' takin' this ah face value then?" he asks the others beneath the cover of the cheering.
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"It was not our wish to do this to Chief Kibizax," Parison says for effect as he moves in Rumble's direction. "But he gave us no choice. In his final bow, he proved to be both a crafty and challenging combatant worthy of his title."
When he steps beside his battle buddy and catches his words, Parison replies in a whisper of his own. "This is who Maria and I talked to at the theater in Absalom. We should be safe if we play along, and if we're not, we do have her brother as a bargaining chip."
Parison then turns around, speaking more for the audience of kobolds than to anyone else. "Chief Yiddlepole," the cleric calls out. "We came here to parlay on behalf of the Pathfinder Society. None of us here desire further bloodshed. If we surrender to you, will you hear what we have to say and then allow us to leave your domain in peace if we can offer suitable tribute?"
Yiddlepode is quick to take her seat on her father's old throne, or what's left of it, her bright blue cloak fanning about her. She cuts an impressive figure in spite of her small stature and for a moment you get a glimpse of how her father, Chief Kibizax, must have looked in his prime before time took its toll on both mind and body.
"I will hear your words, Pathfinders, for you fought wisely and well - for surface-dwellers," Yiddlepode replies with a magnanimous smile. "Tell me, what tribute do you propose? What do the Pathfinders have to offer for the glory and well-being of the Sewer Dragons?"
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Rumble nods his head and relaxes when Parrison, corroborated by Maria, explain the presence of the new chief.
A lot of theatrics, certainly has a flair for being over-the-top, yikes! But if it keeps a den of Kobolds in line, who am I to judge her methods? A good leader knows their people and acts accordingly. Knowing his strength is mostly physical, he leaves it to the real diplomats to negotiate the terms of peace.
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"O mighty Chief Yiddlepode!" Effie begins with a theatrical flourish of her hand. "Dominion over the Undercity, and a share in the riches of the Society's trade in artefacts and lost lore!"
Maybe I'm overdoing the 'dominion' bit, better qualify that.
"For who could stand against our combined might? No other kobold tribe would dare to face the Sewer Dragons with the knowledge and skill of the Pathfinder Society on your side! For did we not just best the wily and skilful Kibizax? And that was with only six of our number.
And as for tribute: not only will you gain a share of wealth merely for allowing us to pass freely through your territory, but also you personally shall be invited to the best theatre that the bards of the Society produce! Front row seats, guaranteed, and you won't need to go in disguise but you shall be granted a welcome fit for the Chief of the Undercity! Why, I may even write a piece in your honour!"
Woah, careful now Effie, the most you've ever written is a skit about a donkey and two goblins!
Effie bows deeply and waits for the new Chief's reaction.
Maybe she wants gold?
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Yiddlepode considers Effie's words for a moment...and then slowly smiles a toothy smile.
"Hmm...I like this one's style," she muses. "Yes! These terms are a good start. In additional to sole governance of this Undercity, your Pathfinder Society will grant Sewer Dragons access to surface supplies - things such as cloth, lumber, and foodstuffs. In exchange, well...I am sure that the Pathfinder Society might have many tasks that are more suited to the mighty Sewer Dragons."
Chief Yiddlepode rises from her 'throne' and beckons the six of you forward, as well as a couple of kobolds who are probably meant to serve as some manner of security. "Come. We will discuss the details further in my private quarters..."
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And so you manage to complete your mission to the satisfaction of nearly everyone involved. A truce with the Sewer Dragons shows nearly immediate payoff for the Pathfinder Society. Not only do the kobolds keep to their word with regard to harassing shipments, but you also help arrange a deal wherein the kobolds are in charge of moving the goods through the sewers themselves so the Society doesn’t have to deal with the logistics and risk to its agents - except in cases where experienced Pathfinders' skills are absolutely necessary.
Even better, an arrangement is made with Yippitok - who doesn't contest Yiddlepode's place as new chief - to update and modernize his laboratory in exchange for providing alchemical items to the Society at a significant discount.
All in all, it seems to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
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"So, ah, I'm gonnna take a short break. I gotta work on an operetta for Chief Yiddlepode!
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Nah, I'm kidding. There are much better composers who'll do that. I'll definitely go and watch when it opens though. I got a letter from Master Farabellus. He says he thinks I have a talent that should be nurtured and he knows someone who can really hone my martial skill. I have to go to Quain, wherever that is. Tian Xia? Looks like I might be away a few months. Don't do anything I wouldn't, okay?"
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Hepsubia gets her report back to the Venture Captain, then adresses Zith.
Well, at least she tries, because no word seems to come out.
Then she hugs him.
After the prolonged hug, she says
I was angry at you all the time, you know. Because you said my suppositions against the scholar were foolish, and that my proof-less accusations could hurt everyone. My theory was wrong, I know that and I have no problem with that. But it never occured to you that what the Venture Captain say to us at the beginning of a mission could be a wrong assomption too. You NEVER asked the Venture Captain to prove you the Sewer Dragons were really plotting against the Pathfinders. What if he would have been wrong? What if another tribe of kobold- and I'm speaking into theorical stuff right now, just to be clear- committed whaterver misdemeanor the Sewer Dragons were accused of, so the Pathfinders would blast trough the tribe and they could easily seize their territory later? You can say I'm wrong, you can say I'm silly. But I am the one fighting along your side, day in, day out. I hope you consider myself as a friend, because we are friends, even if we bicker from time to time. You are someone who is even more logical and stoic than I am emotional and fickle, and that's saying something. All I ask for is.. Don't hold me to a different standard than anyone else, not even our Venture Captain, because it's not fair, it's not honest, and you are profondly fair and honest, and that hurts me.