In very fine lettering on the inside of the band Quint is able to make out the initials S.L. Beyond that, though, there isn't anything remarkable about the ring that you can see.
The goblin looks helpful, nodding along enthusiastically even though it seems apparent that he didn't understand all the words. "Friend, yes? Friend not hurt friend or friend of friend? Kobold... how kobold friend? Big lizards fun to poke!"
He thinks for a moment. "Probably not other Big Head around. Most got killed off by longshanks to the south or lizards to North."
Maybe we can find who the ring belongs to and return it? That would be a good end to the story.
"How are Big Head and longshanks friend? The same way that longshanks and kobold are friends, and the same way Big Head and kobold can be friends."
At the mention of the humans to the south, "Longshanks to the south? Can you tell us anything about them, about the Stag Lord?"
Elvara shakes her head at the goblin king fighting them. "I guess he had a death wish. This one seems much more reasonable... Or more cowardly..." She looks to the macabre minstrel.
"If you are nice to us and work together with us, you might yet live a long life. If you betray us however, your life is not long for this world..." Elvara says with a serious face to the goblin.
"Tell us about the area around here. How long have you been here? Where did you come from before this? Do you have any secrets hidden here or are there things that might be useful to Longshanks here that you didn't bother with? Maybe you know some secret tunnels or the like?"
Elvara will detect magic to check out the ring and the crown.
The goblin looks to Elvara. "Oh, oh, Gorbog wish for long life. Not betray. Big Head come from a tall tower of green stone. Far from here. Travel long, find hole to hide, make new home, kobolds to poke. Longshanks from south make trouble; Big Head raid camp near river, take shineys, food."
He things for a moment. "No, tunnels, other than..." he points to the chasm. "Nowhere to go though."
"What kind of humans are in the south? Do they ride horses? Use swords or bows? Any of them cast spells?"
|
Vorsirion catches the ring and takes a look at it, noticing the initials and the fact that the goblins said it came from a raid near a river to the south. Longshanks--humans, most likely, though perhaps some other tall race like elves.
He closes his eyes and focuses his mind on the ring--did it have any historical significance? Who last used it?
Examining an item in this way requires him to spend 1 minute handling the item. If the item is a magic item, the occultist learns its properties and command word as if he had successfully examined the item using detect magic and succeeded at a Spellcraft check. This ability does not reveal whether the item is cursed unless the occultist's class level is equal to or greater than the caster level of the item. If the item has any historical significance, the occultist learns one piece of information about its past (as determined by the GM). Finally, if the item was last used no longer than 1 day ago per the occultist's class level, the occultist learns one piece of information about the last creature to use the item. This information might be a glimpse of the creature's appearance, a brief vision of what it saw while using the item, or perhaps its emotional state when it last used the item. The GM determines what information is gained in this way. This functions like the psychometry occult skill unlock, but doesn't require a skill check and can be used at will.
Quint tries to decipher where the goblins might have originated, but he's never heard of a green tower.
Gorbog's eyes burn with hatred at the mention of horses "Yes, the Longshanks, ride nasty evil horses that crush Big Head heads! Have bows that shoot Big Head with arrows. Not see use spells, though."
Elvara too tries to think of the green tower.
"Are there any useful plants or other things in the area? Like shiny rocks or something. Maybe some of you big heads have hidden away things somewhere? What are those lizards you spoke of earlier? Can you describe them more closely so we can identify them? What other things live nearby?" Elvara has a lot of questions for the poor little goblin. She feels like it has to make up for it's companions attacking them, even though they were the ones who invaded it's home...
The goblin looks forlorn. "No, no shiny rocks that know of, they taste funny. And lizards... kobold. Fun to poke. Look like ones in front of cavern."
He thinks for a moment before he responds to the last question. "Oh, lots of things. Lizards, longshanks, longhorn-elk, swamp-breath-dead..."
"There dead longshanks, that live in river near here, east-ish, at river bridge. Not see before, but heard he eats Big Head, though asked about some Stag-lord-something. You could ask Rotgut about it, except..." he points at the splattered remains of one of his companions. "That."
"A dead human that asks after a Stag Lord? Where was this creature, and what did it look like? Was it wavery and see-through, like mist? Did it look like a rotten corpse, standing on its own feet? An animated skeleton?"
kn:religion
Raven stays distant, allowing the people who are less likely to give the goblin a heart attack by vaguely reaching for her sword to talk and prise information out of the green bugger.
Quint leaves his friends with their interrogation of the goblin, and returns to check on the kobold.
"Is he coming with us, or do we leave him to his own? I'm not sure we can trust him to go on his own, but it might be cumbersome to bring him with us. The other Kobolds mentioned we might be more readily accepted if we bring the head of a big head..." Elvara blanches at the idea.
The kobold remains tied to the wall At first he appears to be resting, though he looks up at you with clear eyes. "Is it done?"
Quint offers Meepo some food. "All of the goblins are dead except one, who we took prisoner. Do you want to come with us on our trip south, or do you want to return to the Sootscales? We'd like to visit your tribe in the future, and we would be grateful if you would put in a good word for us."
"Sounds like an undead creature of some kind. I hardly put any stock in these goblins' recollections, but I trust them to recognize the walking dead when confronted by them."
Alamina frowns as they walk out of the goblin lair.
"If it was asking about the Stag Lord in some fashion, it must posess at least some modicum of intelligence. Again, taking the word of a goblin...not such a great plan I'd say."
"I think we are done here, let's all go and see what Quint is up to." Elvara says and starts moving towards Quint and the Kobold.
"I think we still got time to stop by the Kobolds, these Sootscales, on the way south. It hopefully won't take too much time..."
"Sounds good to me. The sooner we deliver our scaly new friend home, the better."
Alamina follows Elvara, storing her weapons as she goes.
Meepo is incredibly thankful at you for dealing with Big Head. : "Meepo glad you dealt with those evil murderers! Meepo will gladly lead you to tribe! Soft skins will be hailed as heroes!"
The journey southwards is uneventful, though occassionally you see signs of conflict: burnt trees and blood stains give hint to the conflict that must have been brewing between the goblins and kobolds.
On the next day, an outcropping of large boulders emerges from the weathered face of a nearby hillock. A narrow opening in the rock leads into darkness below. A fallen sign leans against the side of the cave entrance, and a cage made of branches and sticks sits on the other side. Within the cage is a single goblin, that cries out in common when it sees, "Longshanks! Let me out!" A kobold that was hiding in the rocky outcropping emerges when it spies Meepo, rapping the side of the cage with the butt of his spear. "Quiet, you!" the kobold snarls in common, before giving an excited chirp to your kobold companion. "Meepo! I thought you dead!"
Meepo responds, "Nakpik! I thought I was going to join the ancestors, before these softskins saved me, and cut off many Big Head heads!" He looks around carefully, before asking quietly, "Tell me, how fares the clan? Does Tartuk still hold sway over the brood?"
Nakpik, also as quiet, responds. "Yes, and things have been worse since you have left. The clan holds together by a scales-breadth. You and the soft-skins should see the Chief." He then looks at the party. "Nakpik lead you to Chief Sootscale?"
Quint bows to Nakpik.
"Yes, we would like to speak to the Chief and do whatever we can to help the Sootscales."
"Seems we have an audience with the Chief. Perhaps we can accomodate a peaceful resolution to this whole situation yet."
Alamina follows along, quietly humming a tuneless ditty to herself.
Quint unconsciously picks up Alamina's ditty, humming a counterpoint.
Raven continues walking grimly, sternly nodding at Nakpik. She seems to have taken a shine to Meepo, however, even if that means slightly less cold to him.
"With the chief? Be wary of him, in tribes like these, only the smartest and strongest rise to power," Raven cautions the rest of the party as they walk in.
Elvara nods to Raven. "Perhaps it is like we discussed earlier, that the most ruthless are more likely to get to power, just like in human lands. If they are even half as bad as the Surtovas we should be vary..."
"It seems they know common, at least some of them. So it seems better to speak that so all of us can understand and contribute."
"Nice tune Quint! I quite like it, maybe they will as well." Elvara says with a smile as she tries to aid in the singing.
You are are escorted by a growing number of kobolds that tag along curiously or watch from a honeycomb of small-tunnels. Shortly you are brought before a kobold that clearly has significance: larger than the rest of the kobolds, he bears a feathered headress, a pierced nose of bone, and a bone club
He speaks in common, accented sibilantly, yet suprisingly well for a kobold. "Softskins, words of your deads have reached me. I am thankful for your return of my clutchmate, as well as your destruction of the Big Head menace. I believe you have the best interest of my people in mind, which is why I share with you the burder that hands over me. The shaman, Tartuk, is not of our clutch, yet his whispers hold sway over many of the tribe, and worse. I believe he holds a grave threat to the safety of the clan."
Quint bows. "In the interest of peace between our peoples, I would be honored to do this. I also bring tidings from the newly formed Stonemaw tribe." He looks at his companions to see if anybody has anything else they want to add.
With sensual hissing words Elvara yet again touches both Quint and herself. "Let my magic loosen your tongue so you can more freely speak what he wants to hear." She whispers in the ear of the bard.
"It's a honor to meet you chief. I believe there have been trouble between our people in the past, but know that we are not like the other humans you've met. We do not kill without reason or take things that aren't ours."
-----
After the kobold speaks and Quint replies, Elvara raises her voice as well. "Where is this Shaman? How can he hold sway over your people if he's not here? We will help, but if he is too far away, it might have to wait a bit. I can't allow someone to use summoning for such evil purpose. Do you have more information on this shaman? Anything we can use to convince him? Or perhaps some item to aid is in the endeavor?"
Sense motive
diplomacy aid another
"You got this Quint. We can probably get the statue thing from him sneaky like, and noone needs to be stabbed or shot at all."
"He probably got ears in the crowd, so discussing our plans here might not be the best idea... Hopefully those ears don't know common though. Smexy will hopefully be able to do what you suggest." Elvara says in hushed tones with a worried glance around the room.
"To be fair, if he hears our plans to take the thing and reacts violently, that also solves the problem."
Quint blushes a bit when Elvara touches him and whispers in his ear. He listens to his companions and nods. "The sneaky way would probably be best. I have some, um, experience with that if you want me to do it." He flashes a weak smile at Elvara.
Elvara shakes her head. "I would hate to lose you. Smexy has informed me that even if she's gravely injured she'll just be sent back to her realm and'll be ready to join us the next day."
Quint nods. "Sure, Elvarra. Thanks! If Smexy doesn't mind doing it, sure."
He leans over and whispers to her. "I've been meaning to ask you, uh, what exactly is Smexy?"
Raven bows solemnly at Chief Sootscale, but stays to the side and lets the others say their piece.
At the mention of demons, however, Raven pipes up. "Demons are unpredictable. I don't like going into a fight with one unprepared. My tour on the Worldwound was bad enough even if I was told just to run at the first sight of a demon. Could you tell us what you know of this bound fiend?" She appears to ponder something for a moment, then says, "Chief Sootscale, a great, evil soft-skin lord is attempting to claim the land for his own, and potentially stomp your people under his boot. If we unify your tribe, can we expect the Sootscales as allies in the coming battle?"
The kobold chief considers your words carefully. "Tartuk has accommodations further in the south east of the caverns, his lair is mere minutes away. He likely has heard of your presence, and may cause some disturbance. When you are ready, I will give formal introductions."
He thinks for a moment. "As for the Demon.. I do not have much information beyond Tartuk's threats. He refers to the Demon as 'Old Sharptooth' which is bound to a statue he controls. He has threatened to release the demon on my clutch if I do not listen to his words of war. I know he possesses magical abilities, though I have not seen them first hand."
At the mention of allies, he flicks his tongue out, as if tasting the air. "I am unsure how much aid we can give in a confrontation with softskins; our numbers have diminished dangerously. Yet, if you do this, so long as I live we will consider you allies and give promise of safe travel to you and yours. Many softskin merchants trade for the ores that can be found in the tunnels of my tribe."
Quint nods. "That seems like a fair bargain." He looks at his companions. "Are we agreed?"
"That sounds good to me. Having friendly miners in the area would be excellent for future expansion and commerce. I don't see why that would be an issue for us."
Raven nods in agreement with Quint. "Very well."
"This is probably not the best time, but I'm not entirely sure myself. She came to protect me in response to a man doing awful things to me, but all the hows and whys of it, I do not know." Elvara whispers back to Quint.
"Sounds good to me, though it would be even better if we got some reward that we can put to use against the stag lord, even if you don't bring forces along with us." Elvara says with a smile.
"Either way, if we are going to do this bloodlessly, we need to know the location on the statue so Smexy can retrieve it while we talk to him."
The chief flares his nostrils, as if he smells something bad, when you discuss retrieving the statue. "I am unsure of its location, I believe he hides it somewhere. If mere sleight-of-paw was all that sufficed, it would have been accomplished before things came this far."
When you signal that you are prepared, Chief Sootscale escorts you deeper into the system of caverns, waving away any of the onlookers that peer curiously from side tunnels. As you near your destination, a cloying and sickening smell permeates from the tunnel the Chief informs you is Tartuk's lair. It isn't enough to impare you but is decidedly not pleasant.
It only takes a few minutes, but you emerge from tunnel into a small cavern. Banners cut from two-foot-wide strips of old blankets and horsehides hang from floor to ceiling, covering much of the walls. The sloppily painted banners bear dozens of primitive icons and mystic symbols. From around a corner, the smell of sulfur and coppery blood permeates.
There are two occupants in the room: a strange purple scaled kobold wearing little more than a cermonial headress and loincloth, bloody sicle on his side, and a raven that is perched on a stalagmite jutting from the cavern wall.
Tartuk glares at your intrusion, prepared for your arrival but clearly unhappy about it. He calls out in draconic: "Chief Sootscale! You dare allow these softskins to defile my lair! Your blood shall warm my sacrificial fires if you do not explain yourself!" From behind you, the Chief clears his throat, and announces in common (which you take as a calculated insult for this occasion) "These softskins have slain many Big Head and returned a captured clutchmate! They wish to meet you!"
There isn't an obvious place to hide the Statue, but around the corner is probably the best place to look.
Quint bows, but only slightly. "Tartuk, your chief only wants what is best for your clutch. War with the softskins would be disastrous. Can we work out a peace accord?"
Quint does his best to engage Tartuk and distract him from whatever his companions want to do while trying to suss out what he actually wants. He speaks in Common, feigning that he does not understand Draconic.
|
|
Vorsirion closes his eyes as he clutches the ring they have found. The voices both whisper, and a vision appears before him. Oleg and Svetlana, a few years ago, dressed in their best clothes. They stand together before a priest of Erastil, and Oleg slips the ring onto Svetlana's finger.
He opens his eyes and turns to his companions.
"This appears to be Svetlana's wedding ring," he says. "They will be happy to have it returned, I would imagine," he says.
Vorsirion leaves the talking to the others, but watches the kobold shaman intently for any clues as to his motives.
"Wow, that's a great find. Maybe they stole it from the bandits who had taken it from Svetlana and Oleg?" She's happy that they are able to do good things for someone.
---
Elvara looks over at Quint with a slight smile as they enter the tunnel. "Your balls are so nice." She looks forward into the illuminated darkness. "They light up the tunnel nicely."
Smexy tries to sneak along the wall, using both his excellent climbing and stealth skills to stay undetected. She rounds the corner and looks around for the statue.
Meanwhile Elvara tries to handle the shaman diplomatically. "Good day mighty Tartuk. We would like to talk with you. Do you speak Taldan? There is much benefit to speaking and working together between our races, rather than fighting."
The kobold snarls, showing yellowed teeth. "I speak the trade tongue, defilers. Yet I have little to say to soft-skins such as you. I have seen many times before, that you bring tidings of 'working together' or offers of peace and trinkets. Yet without fail, the lust for gold brings war to our people." He glances behind you and switches to draconic. "Come, Chief. The souls of these soft-skins would appease the demon for several weeks. Join me in sending them to the Hells."
Unnoticed for the momment, Smexy manages to turn the corner, and sees a wooden door set into an alcove in the cave. The horrible smell seems deeper from that direction.
Raven speaks for the first time in the exchange. "I have had enough of your shit. You sacrifice your clansmen to appease some demon lord that you yourself brought to this place, despite the fact that this whole 'the statue is going to eat your soul' thing is all shit, and you know it. Some of the vets passed on horror stories from Cheliax, and any actual binder would've obliterated us already, or sicced their pet fiend on us. You claim that all softskins seek to destroy your kind, but you immediately turn around and try to convince the good chief here to sacrifice us to your bullshit god so it won't kill another one of his people. You're nothing but a conjurer of cheap tricks who gets a kick out of watching other kobolds die."
The party members can detect a coldness under Raven's scornful tone, a calculated sort of cruelty. She is trying to deliberately enrage the shaman, it seems, to keep Tartuk's attention off of Smexy