Clousuk not know much of Tartuk," Clousuk admits, with a kobold's approximation of a grimace, "Only that he somehow convince some of tribe to turn hate Chief Sootscale. Blasphemers, all of them! Traitor has tongue of silver, perhaps."
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Sugua shakes his head and almost facepalms at the irony of Durielle's worries. " I'll kill when I kill and not when I don't. Thats my stance. "
Clousuk leads the party to the caverns of the Sootscale tribe.
On the way, in the far distance you can see an enormous old tree. As the party nears the caverns they reach a middle ground between the old tree and their destination, which is laden with the bodies of both kobolds and mites.
Passing through this battleground the party finally arrives at the entrance to the kobold's home. Outside are posted two kobolds who shriek at the party's arrival, but seeing Clousuk they usher the party inside.
Inside the caverns its quite dark as the kobolds don't need light to see, many of you are simply drug along by the kobolds.
It doesn't take the party long to arrive in a large central chamber. Once reached, all the other kobolds immediately file out of the excepting those who were already present.
Four kobolds far better armed and armored than there counterparts sit in this room, all with ornate glaives and chain shirts.
Behind them, a jet black kobold sits.
Seeing the party, he gets to his feet and begins to approach them. On his hips he carries two small curved blades, along with a small loop of bladed rings, and wears armor of leather and bone.
As he does so, you can see he moves with an almost unnatural litheness.
Despite his size, those of you more martially inclined can tell this small warrior is a natural killer, Chief Sootscale.
Nodding as he looks around, "Ibahalii Vuthateronock yenta Ibahalii Vuthaternock, Clousuk, wux dronilnr ve citar axun? Zi bensvelk."
"Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, Ah Clousuk, you bring me prisoner yes? Very good."
Clousuk bows to the Chief deeply, with reverence more suggestive of subservience to divinity rather than just royalty.
"Clousuk yenta Clousuk, axun, ibahalii maekrix. Nomenoi thricternock ukris di martivir mrith petissei."
"Ibahalii Vuthaternock yenta Ibahalii Vuthaternock, keh bensvelk, thricternock confn ekess faestir Ibahalii Vuthaternock, coi ui nao astahii tir zyak. Astahii versvesh, astahii geou xurwk bensvelk siliti ihk udoka."
"Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, ah good, scaleless come to serve Chief Sootscale, it is wise they do so. They seem strong, they will make good servants for us."
Sugua chuckles at the act Clousuk gives off and raises an eyebrow at the conversation between the two.
"Ibahalii Vuthaternock yenta Ibahalii Vuthaternock, ti ocuir achuak thricternock ghoros, zklaen qe jimva. Wux visp jacion ekess hetha narod svadrav koragzx. Cotose."
"Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, not see green scaleless before, must be sick. You tell him to cover mouth when cough. Rude."
The kobold briefly glances at Sugua before speaking again.
"Clousuk yenta Clousuk, achuak ir ui versvesh. Nomagqe filki thrictrekis ghoros Ibahalii Vuthaternock."
Khargol stands silently. It is his wish to put his sword on the ground as a show of his desire for non-violence, but he stops himself, knowing that any action regardless of its peaceful intent could ruin this first impression meeting. He does make sure his hands are nowhere near his weapon or shield for the moment, at least.
Vladimir briefly considers translating for the others, but thinks better of it, not wanting to interupt the dialog between Clousuk and his Chief.
Seeing Sugua raise an eyebrow in an assumedly questioning manner, Vladimir turns to the others and simply nods with a slight grin on his face, confirming that at least thus far the interaction is going well.
Alphonse feels a tad claustraphobic in the Kobold warren but thanks to hi heratige at least he can see in the dark. This conversation seems to be going well and Alphonse has a smile come to his face as he listens to the creatures talk, the dialect of the Kobolds is an amusing one to say the least. Returning a nod to Vlad Alphonse hopes this continues to go well
Turning to the others, "Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, Chief Sootscale speak scaleless slave tongue, it good to speak language of those have dominion over."
"You come to serve Chief Sootscale, yes? It smart, most scaleless worship Stag man and not Chief Sootscale. Chief Sootscale not understand why, Chief Sootscale far better leader. It not matter."
"You prove devotion to new ruler, must kill Tartuk, or go and kill Mites. Chief Sootscale is generous, gives choice to his servants." Nodding vigorously.
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"Chief Sootscale, perhaps you could tell us more about these mites and what we may encounter should we choose that route?" Vladimir asks in a a calm even tone.
Sugua smirks, " I see no reason not to kill them both, he was so nice to offer them up. Then again either or is fine. "
"And if i may ask what is the source of issue you have with the mites? being fey i could guess but i can get a strait answer here" Alphonse says with a curious tone. while two creatures having a turf war can be normal knowing who is the agressor and for why is information that brings peace to his mind when dealing with these threats.
"Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, mites is ugly. They like bugs, Chief Sootscale not like bugs. They also make explosions, Chief Sootscale not approve."
"Also, they is thieves, take statue of Chief Sootscale. Without statue Chief Sootscale not strong enough to defeat Tartuk. Chief Sootscale send Mikmek, favorite champion to go get it, but he not come back."
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Looking at Alphonse, "Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, scaleless servant not show proper reverence of Chief Sootscale, must work on show of respect."
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Durielle remains silent in the darkness and tries not to accidentally release her elf-born power and cause somethings she touches to blaze into a glow as bright as a torch. She is fairly certain that would be very poor etiquette if the kobolds' reaction in her future sight was any indication. Her eyesight was generally able to see at fairly low levels, but she can barely make out shapes as the kobold called Clousuk introduced them. Oddly her foresight did not seem to be hampered by the concept of light, and she still saw various images of the possible events to come. This was definitely something to ponder. Durielle had always thought of the "vision" as images, but this seemed to show they were more like concepts. It was her own mind that made the images. Hmmm...what a fascinating thing to discover.
Regarding their situation, Durielle couldn't help but notice how the tables had turned. Initially Clousuk had been Sugua's hostage/prisoner. Now they were Clousuk's prisoners and the tribe's chief's new servants. The elf resisted the urge to shake her head and laugh. Given the chief's reaction to the half-orc's coloring, she definitely didn't want to do anything to trigger a coughing spell.
She listens as the party begins to speak to the kobold chief. She can only hope they do not choose to do or say something which triggers the response seen by the last set of kobolds they encountered.
"Personally I see no reason to leave either stone unturned. Both contribute to local instability and I would rather side with the faction that has already displayed a willingness to... let us work for them." Khargol says, careful about his phrasing.
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"It has been noted, Chief Sootscale, that if we should choose to go deal with the mites, we should be on the lookout for your statue and...Mikmek was it?"
"Chief Sootscale, is there anything you can tell us that may aid us should we choose to persue your rival, Tartuk?"
Gonzo tries to keep attentive,but unfortunately the darkness makes iy difficult to keep track of who is talking. He keeps communications with Archie via empathy to make sure nothing troublesome occurs outside the caverns.
"Achek! Chief Sootscale says Chief Sootscale, Tartuk was mistake letting come here. Was from distant tribe, wiped out somehow, Tartuk come to us. Chief Sootscale allows him great honor of serving Chief Sootscale. But now he challenges Chief Sootscale's rule. Tartuk powerful sorcerer, Chief Sootscale not for sure beat him without power of statue."
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"So if we first retrieve the statue from the mites it will assist you in regaining full control of your tribe from Tartuk. Is that correct? If that is what you're saying then I think our first goal is clear. Great Chief Sootscale, would you allow Clousuk to accompany us to show us where the mites den is?"
Clousuk's eyes seem to bug out of their head before he says eagerly, "Clousuk says Clousuk, Clousuk be honored to meet Chief Sootscale's enemies in battle... if Chief Sootscake allow it!"
"Chief Sootscale allows this."
Sugua had watched the conversation in earnest, his smile growing and growing as the prospect of dealing with either one seemed enjoyable. The small sorcerer less so, being the nature of little casters. It wasnt too hard to know how they worked. They cant cast? They die quick.
" Are we ready to raise some hell then?! So we kill some mites bring back their heads and this statue. Seems easy enough. "
Durielle sighs in relief as their meeting with Chief Sootscale ends without the party creating any ruffled scales over diplomatic ignorance. This could really have gone much worse. Many of them had indicated concern of being forced to fight their way out of the kobold den. Those possible futures had felt very near the whole time they had been speaking with the chief, but now...they were fading into the misty dream-like past where all memories and fantasies lived.
The oracle knows the kobolds will one day need to be educated on their servants' true purpose in the Greenbelt. This would lead to the discovery of whether the small lizard-like race can in fact choose to live peaceably with the humanoids of civilization. Durielle hoped for their sake they could find accord when the time came.
Only time would tell.
As the party makes their way to the den of the Mites, they once again pass through the battleground between the two warring races. Only this time, four large green monstrous looking beasts are scavenging through the bodies.
They notice the party nearly instantly and roar before charging towards you.
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"This . . . looks rather serious," Donovan says in a complete deadpan.
Sugua scratched his head trying to remember what these Green guys were that were slightly larger than him.
Clousuk snorts and draws his rapier, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their enemies were all several times bigger than him. He points the tip of his blade at the approaching giants.
"Clousuk says Clousuk, big green monsters must die!"
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"Oh boy," Gonzo fondles around his cloak and pulls out a scroll and begins reading it, making quiet mutters that sound cryptic and arcane. As he reads the scroll begins to glow and before long the center catches ablaze and the scroll becomes engulfed in a blue flame and settles into a small pile of ash at Gonzo's feet. For a second there is a faint glow around his body but then it vanishes.