It is a sad day indeed for the inhabitants of the Sootscale Warrens. The lair was entirely empty except for its central room, here the few remaing Kobolds of Clan Sootscale gathered around the remains of their dead chieftan.
"Ack, is bad luck to be without Chief, and scaleless come and take our things, kill Chief, intend to run off with beautiful Kobold women to replace nasty hairy things they call female." said Xanriaxz before continuing "Needs new Chief to avenge tribe Sootscale, I am new Chief! I call myself, Chief Sootscale!!" Chief Sootscale finished.
But Morkmet interjected "Bah, Chief Sootscale not fit to lead, I am new Chief Sootscale" declared Chief Sootscale.
Soon the hall was awash in arguing as Chief Sootscale called Chief Sootscale a coward for not fighting the scaleless, while Chief Sootscale stabbed Chief Sootscale with a nasty wicked nail.
Soon the wisest amongst them all, Chief Sootscale; stepped fowards and said "Enough talk, scaleless took all furry beasties when they left, we has no foods. Scaleless has foods, Chief Sootscale told me yesterday, they grow big radishes. We take radishes and eats them, then we decide who is Chief Sootscale." Chief Sootscale looked quite pleased with himself, before Chief Sootscale stabbed him from behind with a trident.
"Chief Sootscale agrees! We needs the bravest of kobolds to volunteer to takes delicious radishes from the scaleless. Then whens they returns, we talk about who is to be Chief. Who volunteers!?"
"I will lead this... expedition... to acquire these radishes. Rest assured I will be taking notes on who is the bravest. When we return we will talk about which of the Tribe who accompanied me will be Chief. After all - is not willingness to undertake danger on behalf of the Tribe that which sets Kobolds apart from the scaleless? Would any see a Chief who lacked this bravery take the Wyrmcrown?"
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Krezlak steps forward and says,"I will go, too. All of this fighting with the scaleless has got us nowhere, really. We need someone who can talk to them, and explain what we want and how we feel. I can help. Make us stronger. Like dragons!"
"Talking and writing...what is writing anyways?...BAH...I never needed those things in the weasel pits" The largest kobold in the room thinks to himself. When he finally speaks his words are accented by clicks and trills of unpracticed, reptilian vocal chords "You want radishes? I'll get you radishes. Give my dire weasels one radish to scent and they will bring you back 100! Give them 100 radishes to scent..." The kobold pauses to contemplate the math "...and they will find you even more radishes." The kobold smiles confidently,"So, I will go on this mission."
The lair starts to rumble as the ground quakes with something big walking above. It seems to stop right about the central chamber before stopping and ending with a heavy THUMP!
A few moments later, Ixen scuttled his way into the central room, looking about at the assembled kobolds. It'd been a while since he was around the tunnels, and after so much time on the surface, he'd found them to be far too cramped for his liking. This was why he was always an outcast.
Well, that and his seeming ability to talk with animals.
"Ixen came as soon as he heard. Chief Sootscale is dead? Trouble for the tribe... who is new chief?"
Ixen takes the slap in stride, snarling back, but ultimately not doing anything. "Radishes? That all? Ixen and Tom could bring back much more food than disgusting radishes. You aim too low. We're heading for nearby village? Follow Ixen. Ixen knows the way."
"I believe you will find" comes the cultured voice "That I am leading this expedition. We will prepare and head out at first dark. There could be scaleless watching the exit, and darkness is our friend."
"If scaleless are here, I will talk to them. Make them understand. We don't need to fight them. But I will go along with what the group wants to do."
"Talk!?", Gritt screeches in frustration, "We need to sneak attack. Revenge. At night. Someone lead this band of Kobolds to the radishes so we can hit the scaleless where it hurts!"
Chief Sootscale nods in approval "This one smart! I makes map for you all, so don't get lost."
You can see by the map that the radish patch is actually a fairly long walk away to the northwest, it will take you some hours to reach it.
"If the biggers were outside, Tom would let me know. He's watching on top." Looking at the map, Ixen nods. "We should move now, while day is still here. If we start now, we can reach the patch by nightfall."
"No! The weasels and kobolds need to rest from the attack on our home. We wait. Rest. Then move. Get there when night is darkest so sun-walkers are weak and unaware." Gritt says as he puffs out his scaled chest and glares challengingly at Ixen.
"Patience and planning. These are the Kobold virtues. If we head off now, reach the radishes at nightfall and then return we will approach the caves exhausted - ripe for an ambush! Better to do this slowly, patiently, and well. "
"We sneak out in nightfall, go to the radishes and get them, then start back. Any suspicions or problems and we hide while we prepare - then strike or run."
"I agree with Dazak, at least in that we should avoid conflict if we can. Going at night seems like a good idea, if we aren't going to try to communicate with them."
"Dazak makes a good plan. I hope for conflict. One more dead scaleless is one less that can kill us or steal from us again."
Ixen simply sighed in resignation. The others clearly were set in their silly ways, and nothing logical would penetrate those scaled skulls.
"Thank you fellow Kobolds."
Around about three hours into your trek to the radish patch, you come across a small campfire being attended to be a lone scaleless. He doesn't seem to notice you and sits about 50 yards away in a clearing of the forest.
Outnumbering and with surprise Dazak considers carefully the possibility of attacking.
Still - no sense in taking chances. We could also have the advntage of flanking it.
Carefully she backs away and hides, then hisses words, activating a trap countermeasure that allows one to direct summoned creatures while safely hiding
"Whisper and I will hear you. Gritt, Ixen, quietly circle around so we can all attack at the same time, from every angle. Krezlak - do you think you can keep it distracted with talking while we get into place?"
"I can talk to it. But why attack? It's exactly this sort of behavior that is going to prolong hostilities between us and the scaleless races.", Krezlak says with a frown.
"Yes, exactly - say things like that."
Dazak faces a difficult decision; lie to Krezlak, or tell him the truth?
Or was there a third way after all... Krezlak did seem to be the one who could talk the best.
"If it can tell us where the scaleless are, we can let it live, I suppose." she admits grudgingly "But we will be in a place to destroy it if it tries anything!"
to the others she passes on the new plan
"Krezlak thinks he can question it. do not attack till I say."
Krezlak moves around to approach from within the scaleless's line of sight. () He slowly begins to walk towards the fire, hands empty and in plain sight, and once visible says, "Greetings. May I approach?"
Ixen shushed his pet T-Rex as it stomped up behind the group, keeping it in the back while he peered up. "Why would we attack? It is a lone biggun' and we are a group ready to fight."
Gritt sits atop his mighty weasel companion Grime and looks from Dazak to Krezlak, then back to Dazak. He thinks of saying something, but he shrugs his shoulders, dismounts, and begins sneaking into the woods as he mumbles, "Just let me know when to begin ripping apart scaleless."
"I am not looking for trouble," Krezlak says softly, as he holds his hands up in a placating gesture. "I am told that there are farmers near these parts who have been growing radishes. I won't lie. My companions, who you also need not fear, and I have been sent to retrieve some of them. I would like to do so peacefully, and in a way that will hopefully benefit both sides. To that end, do you know where they are? Also... well, as I said, I am not looking for trouble, but I'm afraid that... understandably, given the reputation of my people, trouble might come looking for us. Do you know of any patrols in the area? I ask because, if I can approach them openly, as I've done with you, it might stop needless bloodshed."
"What's he saying" Dazak's whispered words float to Krezlak via magic, inaudible to the human "Is he threatening you? Should we kill him?"
Krezlak whispers back to Dazak, in Draconic, "No need for violence. He's a hunter, just passing through looking for animals to sell their skins. He says there's a town, an hour and a half north of here. No military patrols that he knows of, but he says there are adventurers around... shall I ask him anything else specific?"
"See if he recognises the scaleless who viciously attacked us! Perhaps that was these adventurers"
"One more thing if I may..." Krezlak provides a description of the adventurers in question. "Do they sound familiar to you, by any chance? In exchange for your help, I might be able to assist you. I have some magic abilities. If you have any broken equipment, for example, I can fix it for you."
Krezlak relays this to the rest of the team quietly. He then says to the human, "My name in your tongue is Krezlak. Thank you for being willing to deal with me in a civil manner. It is my hope that a trend can be established for doing so. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?
"Are we done here?" Gritt says as he noisily comes out from the undergrowth, not bothering to sneak about. He clearly wasn't going to get the surprise attack he had been hoping for. "If the scaleless here has no other information we should be on our way. The night grows long and we must complete our task before dusk or we lose the advantage."
Dazak tenses, waiting for the human to turn aggressive.
"I shall send a scout to patrol for humans nearby. Does anyone see anything?"
Dazak orders her Rhamphorhynchus familiar into the air.
"If not, let us gather what we may, and load our strongest members down with our haul. They will feast well in the Caverns when we return!"
Following after the group and staying low, Ixen nods at Dazak's assessment. "Best to not alert the biggers to our presence, if it can be helped. As for carrying this..." Ixen turned back and puckered his lips, letting out a bird call before the thumping of a sizable, yet somewhat smaller T-rex rumbles the ground a little. Walking through the treeline, Ixen waved the others back.
"Back up. Here comes Tom." he said, as the T-rex lumbered up next to him, wagging it's tail as it stopped. "Tom can carry all the radishes we'll need. Just load up his saddle bags and we'll be on the way."
"Yessss. An excellent idea Ixen."
The group gets to work gathering up the radishes.
Unfortunately neither Gritt nor Krezlak are able to keep particularly quiet throughout the task, and soon shouts can be heard in the distance coming from the cottages.