The lone kobold doesn't seem too phased by Alphonse's spell.
And in response he moves to Alphonse, provoking from Khargol, Angor, and Vladimir.
Khargol frowns at the carnage all around them, a huff of breath the only sound he makes for the moment. Walking to the robed Kobold, he rips a strip of cloth from the body's clothing and uses it to clean the blood from his blade.
"A pity. There was an opportunity for real progress to be made between our peoples and theirs. Though if their is a rift within their tribe as you mentioned, Alphonse, perhaps the other side might be more willing to parlay?"
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Donovan takes a moment to catch his breath and wipes from sweat from his brow. He checks to make sure that the various kobolds are dispatched before he sends out another wave of healing to the party.
"Vlad, what exactly were they talking about? Maybe we can glean some useful information that will help us to formulate a plan to deal with them when we find their lair."
The priest makes the rounds of the party, taking a quick check on everyone's condition.
"I have exhausted much of my healing power. We should probably head back to shelter for the night."
With a final chuckle a combat died down Sugua moved his blade wiping most of it off with the motion. " AHAHAHA! They werent so bad! But they sure showed me something I wasnt expecting. Thus is the thirst of battle! I think I'll take one back I didn't kill, should make for a good sparring partner! Now where is the one I hit with a shallow blow..? " Sugua marched back up to the front lines picking the one he hit the weakest. It had some of its wounds cleared up from the pulse so that meant it was dead.
" Hah! Yes you'll do nicely! " Draping the Kobolds body over his other shoulder, as he began to loot.
" Imagine if you all had went back to their place and they didnt like it! Their king is just a volatile.. they seem to react to strength though! " Sugua noting his lack of injury and the other dead ones, he also pointed to Durielle. He clearly had fun.
Angor look like a raging drink for most of the fight and managed to miss the nimble kobolds with every swing. Even he had a limit. And it was reached this day. Angor continues to chant and swing, taking out his anger on a defenseless tree nearby. Even after the magic of his song has faded and his axe has been dulled to a blunt object, he continues to swing until the tree falls. He is thoroughly exhausted afterwards. He leans heavily on the axe, now buried in the stump, as he gasps for breath and comes down from his angry episode. When he has caught his breath, he pulls the axe out with a vicious yank and follows after the others. If anyone tries to speak to him he merely points at them and says, "Don't.
Tomas slowly opens his eyes and looks up into Durielle eyes.
"Well I cannot think of a better way to be awaken from a near fatal wound! I thank you My Lady for your healing, and you too good Sir Donovan!"
The wizard gingerly gets up and surveys the scene of devastation.
"Well, looks like we won..."
He turns and offers his hand to Durielle to help her up.
When Tomas awoke he shouted, " Ofcourse we did.. I killed 5 of them, they werent too bad! "
Sugua watched Angor much like entertainment at his clear self-disapproval. He'd seen those that went through this.. it as a good thing. Having complete confidence just because of luck was not a good method, but improving yourself to not need luck was the real winner.
He wouldn't say much just move in, watch with his newly acquired punching bag and looted goods and smile until the Fellow Half-orc was tired.
As they were moving back to Olegs he would laugh heartily.
Responding to the priest, Vladimir says, "Apparently there is some disagreement between two sects within the tribe. The ones who wanted to take us as prisoners to their Chief Sootscale, and others that support one known as Tartuk. The disagreement is significant enough that their Chief does not leave their den for fear of this Tartuk's influence. Perhaps when we eventually find their den, this is something we can use to our advantage."
" Infighting! One of my favorite forms of fighting! Breaks down the enemy from within and overall makes you have a better position because they aren't coordinated! Its a riot for sure. " Sugua pats his stomach.. taking out some bear jerky and nibbling on it.
" Sounds like we dont have to hurry to get there either if the leader isnt gunna leave. Maybe by that time the little titans won't drop ya in a fight. "
Durielle coughs slightly before she accepts Tomas' compliment and hand with a smile. Upon reaching her feet she says,
"I, too, am sad that we could not come to accord and avoid bloodshed, but what's done is done. Our future in this land will surely include blood spilled in necessity...as well as needlessly yet unavoidably. To become shy about it will certainly undermine our purpose here."
Sighing, the oracle brushes back her white-gold hair behind a pointed ear.
"Our intent is good, and peace was offered. But our resolve must remain constant regardless. If this is to be the answer provided to our peaceful overtures, then the kobolds have already set themselves against our good natures; and, sadly, it would seem their fate will be determined for them. Hopefully, their brethren will be better disposed to peaceful relations."
Sugua chuckles, " When it come to these types of things no side is better than the other. But if we choose it best be with the stronger one. Unless we think we can kill them too just in case. "
Sugua can tell that compared to normal kobolds the Sootscale tribe has a few differences.
The first being that their scales are a bit soften than one would expect, making them more susecptible to weapons. But that also, their snouts are more elongated and their jaws seem to have more muscle mass, in addition to a set of very sharp teeth and a small sack in the back of the throat that he surmises contains acid that can be used when they bite their opponents.
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Sugua points out the squishiness of the Kobold scales on his prize. " Well I'm surprised at these little guys, soft scales... Hrmm They had that bite though, very convenient eh? Spits out acid like my sword does fire. I wonder if all of them can do this? Probably alot worse on the leader Haha! "
"If we carry as much as we are able back to Oleg's it seems possible that we could use weapons and armors we have claimed as a source of income for our forays."
"Not sure who'd be in the market for this sort of thing, but we can always try. If nobody's buying, we can use a bunch of it for firewood," Donovan says with a shrug.
Sugua, with a longsword over his shoulder and a Kobold on the other seems to start to dance on the way back as he is explaining the make-up of the Kobolds
Alphonse now almost fully recovered from Donovan's healing magics stretches his arms and contemplates the events that have just past. He mutters to himself in celestial for a moment. He approaches Sugua and extends a hand in thanks "I would like to thank you for defending my while i was down, I know it was your duty to the party but i believe thanks is still due"
Having done that Alphonse turns to asses the situation "These creatures are even more savage than they look, peaceful talks if they can be done should happen on our terms, if they can sprout claws and spit acid i would hate to get in their nest and be ambushed"
"Simply learning that there are dissenters within their ranks is useful, though. It is certainly a situation we could turn to our advantage once we have located their den, either by encouraging the factions to break against each other or by convincing one group to help us against the other."
Sugua looks surprised for a moment takes the captive he took, switches it to his other shoulder to free up his left hand and grasps the little man's by the arm shaking roughly. His tusks protruding with a beaming smile. " HAh! I just cut them down because they were close, but I thought you squishier ones might need some help. Don't mention it! You're a smart one.. That might make me actually help you! "
Also, Angor with a bit of looking can spot tracks the kobolds left behind. Judging by where the you know the kobolds den to lay, and where the kobolds are now, their supplies are too light to have traveled very far.
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"If there's no objection, then, I nominate that we return to Oleg's so that we can have a good night's rest."
Even angry, Angor was a survivor. How else had he managed to stay alive so far? It is because of this that he spotted the tracks the kobold's made on the way here. Upon closer inspection he noticed how shallow they were, even for Kobolds. And there weren't any other prints nearby. That meant they came alone and without supplies. That meant one thing. "Dere is a forward base somewhere nearby. De have too few supplies to have made it from de warren Trent told us about. Bokken and Oleg might be in trouble if de are dis close. I would go alone but wid my luck I would be a pin-cushion yet again."
"Well...I do not believe it wise to stage a possible assault on their main base when we have no further healing magics, nor do I believe it a good idea to separate the group."
"Not to mention, if they do stage an assault, we'd be in a better position to deal with it from behind the walls at Oleg's. Take advantage of the fortifications available to us, choose our battlefields when we can."
"I just want to know ets location. Nothing more." He sounds sincere.
The next morning Khargol wakes and goes outside, writing in his journal as is his habit every morning. Record-keeping was one of those things that was drilled into him when he was with the Abadaran clerics and a habit that he didn't think he could himself out of if he wanted to.
At the end of the day's trek yesterday, he had been relieved to discover a few minor predators were all they had to contend with. They now had enough rations to last each of them a while, so food wasn't going to be an issue going forward unless they went a long time without finding anything worth eating.
He was curious to know the contents of the journal they had found, if they would reveal more about the rift in the kobold tribe, but it was certainly still early to try and make a beeline for it. His haste earlier, he knew, had been ill-founded. Hearing about the wilds and being in them were two different things; even living on their edge as he had done for years had not prepared him for what he'd experienced so far. "I suppose the clerics were correct there, too...ti's better to err on the side of caution..." he said aloud to himself.
When he was done, he closed the book with a snap, putting it away in his backpack before simply sitting on the stump outside Oleg's he had claimed as his own, enjoying the morning air and occasionally looking at Morgrym's statue.
Vladimir makes a point of studying the small journal the party had found upon their return to Oleg's in hope of gleaning some bit of useful information from it.
The next morning, he awakes, eats a bit of breakfast, and prepares Shadow for another trip out into the wilds.
"Where shall it be today? How about the region immediately to the southeast?" he says gesturing to a section of the group's recently started map.
Alphonse awoke that morning with a sharp start, his heart racing as visions of his childhood bullies still swam before his eyes. But as he woke the world about him came into focus and he remembered that that was long ago. he took a moment to try to flex his wings but still they seemed to ache with a pain no healer could identify or cure.
A few days now they have been in the wilderness and Alphonse was realizing just how much dirt is in the wilderness compared to the cities he was used to and this was causing one issue he could not easily deal with on his own, washing his wings was a near impossibility. taking a time to contemplate what o do about it, he came to the only logical conclusion, he must ask his new companions for help. So he went this morning to find Durielle with a request "My fair lady, I come to you this morning hoping you slept well and saw visions of a peaceful future. I have a request for you, and this something i take seriously. I need assistance bathing my wings, i simply cannot reach them and require another pair of hands to clean them, they are sensitive and i had hoped your fine elven hands would be soft on them. No is a perfectly acceptable answer too if you would be uncomfortable"
Angor keeps a watchful eye as they follow the tracks back to the kobold camp. Thankfully the ones that they met were all that were in the area so that just left an empty camp with rations and a journal. That he could leave to the ones who could read it. Maybe he should pick up Draconic too. Were kobolds worth the time though? Oh well, that wasn't the most pressing issue now. The more they explored, the more necessary a good map was going to be. That much he could do.
In the morning he returns to training but also spends some time using what maps Oleg has to craft his own. He makes one large one with the intent to show the overall area and several smaller ones to show greater detail in the areas they have explored already. Maybe he could separate the larger map into squares or hexes.
For the first time, the group of chartered explorers had a relatively easy day. A minor skirmish with a only slightly dangerous animal, and the confidence that they had mapped all the necessary sections of land surrounding the rather reclusive alchemist's abode certainly should boost the group's morale. At least Durielle hoped.
Vladimir had taken the kobold journal for study which was certainly fine. While she had been exposed to the language, she was not a scholar, and the oracle figured it was unlikely she would glean anything from it the cavalier would not.
As usual, she woke up with the morning mist still settled and the rose of dawn just barely beginning to warm the sky. Durielle allowed her mind to drift. Visions of the future came in a blur, some more likely than others to ever become history. She chose to sit atop one the remaining intact wheels of a ruined catapult this day. The elf had done quite a bit of walking these past couple of days. What sore feet exploring produced.
Durielle eventually wanders down as other begin stirring and doing their own morning ablutions and solitary reflections. Sitting at the outside tables with her cloak pulled around her to ward off the morning chill, she sips some tea to ease the congestion in her chest and eats whatever breakfast Svetlana and Oleg are providing. She chats with anyone who wishes to do so. Durielle hopes the day will not see anyone else fall to the wilderness.
At Alphonse's request, Durielle hesitates more startled than distressed. "I-I should be able to help, yes. Though I admit, this will be my first time washing such things as feathered wings."
Durielle does her best to be gentle and not cause the aasimar any undue discomfort.
Tomas wakes feeling stiff and sore from the battle with the kobolds. He goes through his head again the sequence of events that occured just before he was cut down.
Stupid, stupid! Stupid!! Not have a protective spell up in combat! Sugua is right...I am dumb and weak!, he thinks as he dresses and cleans himself.
He enters the main compound and checks to see where everyone is. He notices the 'angel' by Durielle, asking about getting the elven woman to clean his wings.
"Alphonse, did you not learn the simple cantrip of cleaning during your apprenticeship? Here let me show you."
With a wave of his hand, all the accumulated dirt and grime on the Aasimar's body and cloths falls to the ground, leaving him and his gear clean and smelling slightly of lemons.
"There you are. Quick and simple.I can teach you this simple spell if you wish...I can only imagine how difficult cleaning those wings can be!"
Being magically cleaned by Tomas, Alphonse visibly shakes for a moment before stating "I am well aware of the cantrip one can use to clean but ive always found the magical cleaning feel... off. I prefer a pair of hands and some water any day i can. i resort to magic only when needed. but thank you none the less you are simply trying to help"
"We now have fully mapped the area around Bokken's hut and we know a general direction that will take us toward the kobolds. There are still plains in that direction which will be easier to fully catalog than the forests to the west. I say we should map the region southeast of Oleg's fort next."
Donovan is up early, as is his wont, to perform his morning rites. He washes his face and hands with a bowl of water, then as the sun is rising he begins his prayers. In the close quarters that the group must share for the time being, this is a bit distracting, as usually he whispers or murmurs in a low voice, eyes closed, hands clasped, but sometimes particular phrases are audible to those who listen carefully . . .
murmur murmur murmur ". . . and bring VENGEANCE against those who have WRONGED US."
murmur murmur murmur ". . . give us STRENGTH against our BASER NATURES . . . " murmur murmur
murmur murmur murmur ". . . and extend the grace of your wings over Vladimir, my friend, and renew his confidence each day . . . " murmur murmur
murmur murmur murmur ". . . bring the light of JUSTICE to this benighted place."
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Once they had returned to Oleg's Sugua gathered one of the persons who could speak the Kobold's language. Most likely he would pick Alphonse, he owed him a favor. Once the little creature had finally arisen from the beating he had given it Sugua would wield his weapon aloft and stare it down. He would try to cow the Kobold with his presence and previous experience with almost killing it. Ofcourse the cretin would be well subdued maw tied shut so the only ay it could communicate is with yes or no headshakes.
With a translator Sugua would impart that he was under Sugua's care for now. And that he could regain freedom by getting stronger, that way he can help his tribe Chief or whatever. If he does good he is rewarded with food and drink and shinies and he gets stronger. If not he might die and if he died he could help no tribe and the other tribe0killer might win. If he gets stronger he can bring the group as 'prisoners' and that might change the war, he doesnt know. Sugua would say he likes fighting and that he likes the little Kobold's style, kill what he tries to kill.