The conversation continues back and forth with the kobold, but even those of you who don't speak the tongue can tell that the creature isn't giving anything up.
Margût scoffs and stands up, reiterating his point. "Kill it. The wretch knows nothing..."
"Let it go, no need to murder it because it doesn't provide us useful information."
"Agreed," Blaughter says to Houk's suggestion. "I been a soldier long enough ta understand the practicality of just killin' 'em...but I'd like to think maybe ma days of always takin' the easy way are behind me. Now, that bein' said...I say we hold on ta the little fellow tonight. No sense riskin' our necks foolishly while bein' civil."
Margût shrugs, fingering the tip of his blade with a weary look in his eyes. He has clearly had this discussion before.
"Do as you will," he growls impatiently. "But reckon this: They'll know we're here. They'll be ready. They won't think twice about killing each and every one of us."
"Margut has a point. Its not like this little beastie is innocent. Its a kobold."
"Margut raises a good point. It will likely gather some of its fellows to come after us. Still, knowing there are more than just goblins in the valley is useful. I propose two options. Option one, we let it go and trail it back to the kobold encampment - that way we know their location to deal with them. Option two, we take him to the keep and see if they can lock him up. Either way, he is currently unarmed and helpless, and I, personally, will not kill him."
Orono holds her chin in her hand, then points to Henris. "I like the idea of trailing it," she says. "Less excited about it telling its friends and family about us, but at least knowing where it's located means we know where to go or avoid next."
"Trail it. The guards at the keep will simply kill it or resent us for delivering to them a problem."
"Aye, followin'em would work for me. Be good to see what 'is fellows are like before makin' too many assumptions on their character."
Roscoe rolls his eyes at the notion of kobolds not being evil little buggers.
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Margût looks skeptically at some of the less sneaky members of the group, but says nothing.
A single flick of a dagger is enough to set the creature free.
The creature staggers to its feet, eying the group warily, and sneering coldly at Margut. Then it turns and bounds away into the bushes, heading north.
The sun is now a handspan above the mountains, and the noise of the forest, even in this stunted, blighted section, begins to return. The odd bird calls out its territory, and branches of the trees creak and snap as they begin to get themselves ready for the spring, forcing sap into long dormant limbs.
The path to the north appears to proceed downhill, heading towards a deep cleft in the mountains about half a mile ahead.
"Come on," says Orono. "We don't know if it actually understood us or not. We have to follow it quickly or it will have an opportunity to obscure its tracks."
"Ok lets go.. "
With Houl bent almost double, nearly keeping his nose to the ground, the group follows the trail left by the fleeing kobold. This is difficult, because the ground is hard, covered in exposed roots and beds of twigs, and apart from the odd muddy patch, leaves little opportunity for a tracker to catch the trail.
The rising sun becomes hidden again behind the eastern mountains as the land descends. The trees begin to thin even further, and are replaced by tall obscuring ferns, thickets of thornbush, and large moss-covered boulders, seemingly tumbled from the cliffs above.
The landscape has been subtly worked, with certain bushes encouraged and tended,, while others have been cut back.
The various bushes and boulders would make an excellent ambush spot.
The scent trail seems to be leading towards a particularly dense thornbush when Houk stops, a confused look on his face. It seems he has lost the trail. All tracks just vanish, as if the kobold had disappeared into thin air.
"Back off!" says Orono with a hiss. "It's a killzone!"
"Indeed. These bushes have also been subtly tended and pruned to grow in certain ways - by a conscious decision "
Houk listens to Orono and moves back swiftly drawing a starknife in the process.
"Let's hope its kobolds and not something worse."
Henris, getting a bad feeling, will use one of his scrolls of mage armor, surrounding himself in magical armor of force.
"Indeed, Roscoe. Let's hope it is Kobolds."
No immediate danger presents itself. All is still in the glade, and the only sound is the breeze whistling through the bare tree branches.
While examining the bushes, Henris notes one where what seems to be the tip of a spear is poking out of the top, as though someone inside the bush were carrying it.
Henris takes a casual step forward, next to Houk, saying, "Well, it appears we lost the little fellow. Ah well, most unfortunate."
He suddenly turns towards where he sees the spear and casts a spell. A bright, shimmering cloud bursts forth from his hands in a cone, blasting the area.
He then shouts, "They're hiding in the shrubbery!"
Henris's spell briefly lights up the glade, but as your vision returns to normal there appears to be no movement or reaction. The speartip remains poking out of the bushes.
Houk will approach the spear tip from the side and investigate it to see if it's a trap or something
"I'm checking it out .. be ready just in case
"Careful its a trap. Now we need to know what kind."
Roscoe looks about.
Orono prepares sword and buckler and waits to see what Houk finds.
Houk sticks his head through the bushes, and gets a closer look. The spear is part of a strange wooden mechanism - obviously a trap trigger of some sort, with a large board where the target's 'body' would be. Striking this would release a peg, which would free a cord which he can see runs to the nearby tree. It looks as though the trap is set up to drop something from the tree on whoever strikes the 'kobold' hidden in the bushes.
"What do you see?" Orono calls from behind.
"A trap.. lets leave this thing alone.. it's rigged to drop something from the tree."
"Well, at least I didn't try stabbing the trap," Henris says, looking slightly embarrassed at his overreaction.
"We should move a long. He will back track with allies."
"Any idea what's in the tree? Might be useful if we find ourselves in a fight in this area with someone else who doesn't know about it," says Orono. "But I agree with Roscoe, we shouldn't linger here much more than that."
Houk will move forward, going around the tree though
The glade is still unnaturally quiet, with little birdsong or sound of life - only the sussuration of the wind in the mostly bare branches. Houk carefully follows the camouflaged cord as it snakes up the tree. He sees that it is tied to a pin a that fixes a large, heavy branch to the trunk, carefully positioned to look like part of the tree. Hitting the fake 'kobold' would likely pull the pin loose, dropping the branch on whoever stood below.
The 'kobold' target on the ground may be fake, but as Houk gazes into the tree, the one he spots pressed in a small hollow that has been carved out of the living trunk is very real indeed. The creature, its leather armour smeared brown with mud to hide it, hisses as it realizes it has been spotted. It sets up a strange, ululating wail, which is answered by unseen comrades in the trees around the glade - perhaps half a dozen of them. At the same time, the creature struggles to draw one of the spiked javelins that are tied to its back.
Orono shouts, "Get a little archery cover out here!" She steps close to Houk in case any of the kobolds leap down from the trees.
Henris pulls out a scroll and speaks the words of magic, casting a spell to encase himself in an armor that appears to be made of force.
Houk has a starknife in hand ready to throw
Roscoe readies his sling and takes much cove as he can in the shrubs.
With a number of hissed calls and responses, kobolds emerge from their hiding places in the trees around the clearing. It is obvious that they have been caught on the hop - they expected to be attacking with the benefit of surprise, against a group disoriented by their traps, but Houk's caution has prevented this. None the less, the scaley humanoids, armed with small javelins and spears, and clad in filthy scraps of leather armour, attempt to make the best of their situation.
Rotation:
Blaughter - can post
Orono - can post
Houk - can post
Roscoe
Margut
Minah
Henris
Kobolds
Orono rolls her eyes with frustration and stows her shield and sword in preparation for pulling out her bow.
Houk picks a likely target and hurls a starknife at it and then draws another normal starknife
Houk's starknife spins through the air and gouges a long wound in the shoulder of one of the kobolds. It hisses and fills the air with curses in its sibilant tongue.
Rotation:
Blaughter
Orono
Houk
Roscoe - can post
Margut - can post
Minah - can post
Henris - can post
Kobolds
Roscoe drops a stone in the sling and launches it in the direction of the nearest Kobold .
Henris steps to put Orono between him and the closest kobold, then makes a fist and a punching motion at it. An impact is heard on the tree near it, but the kobold itself is unscathed.
Roscoe's slingshot goes wide, the stone ricocheting through the branches to little effect. Henris attempts some more forceful magic, but working in three dimensions is unfamiliar, and his mental thrust goes wide.