Nighttail grumbles, but leads the way into the tunnel, and around the corner. Suddnely she and Hak bellow in surprise and anger!
Suddenly you see Hak fall and Nighttail leap forward to avoid being crushed under the dinosaur! She lands in a pools of water with two large, angry looking snapping turtles.
The snappers surge forward an both bite the soogy kobold!
Dagon begins a song to encourage his companions.
Juma steps forward for the usual stick-beating.
,
,
Dagon begins to inspire his companions!
Juma steps into the thick of battle, but the prone dinosaur jostles him and he misses with both swings!
Kaelic shifts forward a bit, putting away his cane and drawing his mace and sickle.
Kaelic shifts forward, readying his weapons!
Hak bleats in anger as the human stands over him!
Nighttail tries to stab one of the kobolds with her spear, but is distracted by Hak's rumblings!
The kobolds and snappers attack, but only one manages to strike Juma, but the lore warden avoids a more deadly blow!
Dagon draws his crossbow and fires at the nearest kobold.
Juma raises his guard and tries to get into a more advantageous position.
Kaelic follows Juma out of the tunnel and dashes behind a kobold, swinging his sickle ferociously.
,
Juma takes a defensive posture and moves to the east, the two kobolds taking swipes at him, but both missing!
Kaelic follows Juma's lead, using Juma as a distraction. Darting past the kobolds, he turns and nearly cuts one down with his sickle!
Dagon edges forward and puts a bolt in the other kobold, causing it to stagger from the strike!
Hak stands and tries to bite a kobold, but misses badly.
Nighttail drives her spear into a snapping turtle, ending it!
The eastern kobold swings at Juma, then falls unconscious from the effort!
Meanwhile, all the other kobolds and turtle attack, but all miss.
Kaelic, fighting in tandem with a dinosaur for the first time, finds it rather satisfying.
,
,
Juma hops into the water to assist Nighttail with the remaining snapper:
,
,
Kaelic swings twice and takes out a kobold with his second strike!
Juma steps into the pool and cracks the shell of the remaining snapper, sending it sinking to the bottom of the pool!
The last kobold looks at the party with fear in his eyes.
Dagon steps forward, then loads and fires his crossbow at the final kobold.
Dagon calmly steps foward, reloading his crossbow. Raising it to his shoulder, he draws a bead on the final kobold and fires, catching it in the neck! The kobold's eyes go wide as blood burbles from its mouth, then it falls to the ground, clutching at the bolt!
Searching the kobolds, you find their small sized equipment consisting of leather armor, a spear, two guisarmes, and a sling with stones.
Nighttail stomps out of the water, shaking herself off and jumps back onto Hak, stoking the dinosaurs neck. "Ready?" Pointing to the southeast, she says. "The armory is down that tunnel. The other two tunnels loop around to the same tunnel that leads deeper into the warren and goes to the chief's cave."
"A stop by the armory sounds fun to me. Maybe not for you larger fellows." Kaelic says as he looks for something to wipe his bloody sickle on.
Nighttail nods and leads the way to the armory cave. The tunnel to this room is locked with a wooden gate that Kaelic easily unlocks. A large number of weapons have been stashed in neatly ordered stacks and piles in this dry cave. You find among the stacks, 12 spears, 120 sling bullets, 4 slings, 3 suits of leather armor, 3 wooden shields, 2 bows, all sized for smaller sized humanoids, as well as a masterwork Medium cold iron longsword.
Kaelic frowns. "Yours." he says as he shoves the longsword at Juma.
"Now then, where were we?"
"Hey!" Juma calls, pointing to a gaping wound. "Somebody wanna close this up for me? We got that wand for a reason, right?"
"Fish has it." Kaelic says, holding up his hands in a gesture of shirking.
Juma tucks the sword into his belt.
"So, deeper into the warren, toward Chiefy?"
"Seems that way."
Nighttail nods and leads the party down the southern tunnel. As you begins to turn to the west, you see a a chamber to the north. A single small palet heaped with furs sits against the south wall of this cave. On the palet lays an aged kobold, his green scales dull and his eyes shut tight. As you pass, the kobold speaks. "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.”
"You lost me."
The kobold's milky eyes flutter open and he starts to say something, but merely lets out a gasp of air and expires.
"Nighttail, any idea who that guy is or what he was talking about?"
"Well, that was creepy."
"Well that was odd. I wonder if he was talking about a dragon? You know what they say, never make a deal with a dragon! Or, wait, maybe that was something else..."
"Do you think he has any money?"
Nighttail shrugs. "I don't know. My tribe was taken over by the Blood Vow tribe. He looks like crazy, old juju kobold."
Kaelic doesn't think he recognizes the name Aeteperax or bats of madness.
If someone checks the kobold, you only find the medallion he was clutching.
Kaelic searches the kobold, coming up disappointed. "I don't know what this is, but maybe we can sell it." he says, dangling a medallion .
Kaelic looks at the medallion and finds it of exceptional craftmanship, perhaps even magical.....
Nighttail looks down the tunnel and says. "Ready to move on?"
"Hold on. I want to examine this amulet."
Dagon examines the amulet and discerns that it is a phylactery of faithfulness.
"What's it for, Dagon?" Kaelic says, noting Dagon's examination of the amulet.
"I'm ready when you all are."
"Are you religious? This would tell you whether you're any good at it or not."
"Moving on then, I guess."
Nighttail nods and leads the party around a bend and down a north running tunnel to where it terminates in a chamber. The ceiling of this chamber 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. A curtain of rock on the eastern side of the eastern pit raises up above the pit with occasional gaps in the rock
As the party enters the room, sling stones begins flying at the party from the curtain of rock. Looking over, you see six kobolds slinging stones through the gaps!
Of the six stones, only three hit, Nighttail, Juma and Kaelic, once each!
Hak and Nighttail moves forward and attack the closest kobold. Nighttail manage to stab it with her spear, but Hak misses!
"Go get them, guys!"
Kaelic fires a flare at one of the kobolds before dropping prone. "Take that!"
Dagon begins to inspire the party, while Kaelic puts a burst of light at one of the kobolds, then drops to grouund! The kobold seems to have duck behind the stone just in time and is uneffected!
The kobolds return fire, but only one manages to hit, beaning Juma in the temple with a sling stone!
Nighttail stabs at the kobold again, but misses. Hak then clamps his jaws on it, crushing its windpipe. The dinosaur then steps forward and tries to claw the next kobold, but misses!
Kaelic stands and moves across the walkway before dropping prone again. "Stop that you crazy lizardfolk!"
"OW MY BRAIN"
Juma whips a chakram at the nearest kobold that isn't in melee.
,
Kaelic hops up, runs forward and throws himself on the gorund again!
Juma hurls a chakram at the kobolds, it course true, but it catches on the side of the opening and deflects, missing!
-Posted with Wayfinder