I shall have a real gameplay post up when I have the players.
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Dotted.
Present
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The ride from Domierov to the kobold sanctuary to the south is actually a fairly easy ride, as rides go. The land is gentle, and avoiding going to the Narlmarches makes traveling around the Stolen Lands a lot easier on horseback.
The kobold guide is given a pony by the Domierov stablemasters and leads the Domierov heroes on the ride. It's a ride that takes multiple days, and on the third day the kobold mine comes into view. The place is a sorry sight, even by its own standards. Several unburied kobold bodies lie outside the cavern entrance, and contrary to past welcomes, no kobold guard comes rushing to shout at any of the heroes. The outside of the mine is deserted of living creatures.
Entering the mine, the kobold follows behind the big, armored humans, trembling and looking out from behind their knees. The first few passages are similarly deserted, and the mine is quite quiet. It isn't until the group reaches the mine's central chamber that any creatures are encountered. All of the remaining kobolds (most of the tribe, it doesn't seem that they've had many more casualties) plus four huge, hulking figures.
All four figures are bipedal, and three of the figures have long, apelike arms that stretch from their shoulders all the way to the ground, ending in huge hands that sport long, sharp claws. A long snout on their face with tusks that jut upward into the air, characteristic green skin, and drool dripping down onto the ground identify the three figures as trolls.
The final figure is horned and furred, but just as large and just as muscular, its head easily hanging twelve feet in the air. Cloven feet and a bull's snout mark this creature as a minotaur. The minotaur is clad in what looks like the hide of a green dragon, and carries a massive, crackling black axe.
One of the trolls sits upon a makeshift throne, a carefully and finely wrought crown of gold upon its head, a long-handled battleaxe across its knees, and a wicked grin upon its face. A line of kobolds is going up to the crowned and enthroned troll to alternately massage its feet, bring it items from the kobolds' food stores, or to simply compliment it in various exaggerated styles.
The crowned troll looks up, his grin growing wider as he sees the heroes enter the mine's main chamber. "So," he says, his voice rumbling and deep, and the minotaur adjusting its grip on the immense black axe, "The famed Baron has come. And he has brought a retinue. How charming."
The trip south had gone delightfully easy - and without hazards. It would seem that the roads are safe at least. he thought with a hint of bitterness. Hopefully they would be able to safeguard the people as well. At least the weather is compliant. During the travels, the arcanist was hardly in a talkative mood - brooding over the latest series of misfortunes and thinking of some sort of measure to make sure it didn't happen again. When he did speak, it was mostly to his familiar or on the topic of slaying trolls or giants.
The entrance to the cave was indeed a sorry sight. The guards appeared slain and scattered about, the fact that no-one had taken the time to bury them was an ominous sign. He dismounted and left the horse with their guide and took his place in the party to go inside. In his hands where a metamagic rod and a dart, foci and enchanter for a little acidic gift he had prepared for any potential trolls.
On the ride south, Wilhelm makes a point of trying to remain cheerful. He quips and banters a little with his companions and tries to meet as many of the soldiers trailing along as he can. Those who take the time to study him as he jokes notice that despite his outward cheerfulness, there was an uncharacteristic tightness to his eyes.
The tightness only grows as the group approaches the entrance and the signs of death become evident. That they're dead is one thing, that they are left there is another. Where are the rest of the Sootscales? Growing grim, Wilhelm dismounts and hands the reins of his horse to one of the attendants. Slipping his blade free of its sheath, Wilhelm expresses his condolences to Felicia, "I'm sorry, Shimmerscales, that we couldn't make it here earlier. When we've determined the state of things, we will see them properly honored."
Eyes growing hot, Wilhelm enters the caves, picking his way through carefully and keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. Where are they? We should have seen someone by now. Rounding a corner, Wilhelm stops, surprised by the presence of the monstrous creature. Turning his eyes from troll to troll to Minotaur and back, Wilhelm's eyes rest on the crowned troll just as he begins to speak.
Eyes narrowing at the tone taken, Wilhelm rests his falchion point down, laying his hands on its hilt as he replies, "Indeed. I'm afraid I've never had the... honor... of making your acquaintance. Who are you and what is your purpose here? Where is the chief of the Sootscales?"
As he waits for a reply, Wilhelm studies the kobolds a moment, trying to get an impression of their feelings.
Turning his eyes back to the troll and mulling over what he learned, Wilhelm carefully studies the troll for signs of deception as he answers.
As far as Wil can tell, the Sootscales are looking fearful, but rather submissive. Kobolds are, of course, the type to do whatever they can to survive, including willingly serving bigger, stronger beasts instead of being torn apart and eaten. Chief Sootscales' black scales are not in evidence, but none of you have seen his body either.
The crowned troll leader, surrounded by fifteen of his big, scary followers, shifts on his makeshift throne of boxes and barrels. He smiles bigger before answering, "Hello, small human king. My name is Hargulka, the Great King of the Narlmarches and the Greenlands. I am here to ask you, politely, and for the first and last time, to leave my lands." He leans forward, his beady red eyes twinkling and his fingers rubbing the sharp edge of his battleaxe. Blood runs down the blade of the axe, and his the cuts on his fingers close even as they open up. "I am not here to fight you, small human king. If you try, I will rip you and your followers apart, piece by piece, and I will eat you." A few of his followers growl and roar in approval. "But I think I can trust you to not do that. I am here to be nice."
"You and your people need to pack. As soon as they are able, and they need to emigrate. Now."
He looks down and around at the kobolds. His bemused grin grows more serious, and he locks gazes with Shimmerscale. "To my kobold friends, I have a different offer. You are not like the humans, who are here to despoil and steal and take and destroy. You are of these lands, and so I offer you a place in my new kingdom."
As far as Wil can tell, he's being completely sincere. He shows no sign of initiating aggression, and Wil certainly doesn't think he's lying about either the letting them leave, them leaving themselves, or his intentions for the kobolds.
Wilhelm's eyes narrow and he shifts his weight slightly, eyes glancing at the line of trolls eyeing him. "It is well that we meet, Hargulka, as it seems there is much for us to discuss. You will forgive my hesitation, but I'm sure someone so reasonable as you can understand my reluctance to uproot my people. We have settled much of the northern lands already and have been here for some time. That you have heard of me and my groups exploits in the area-" Wilhelm cocks an eyebrow, "- bodes ill that this is the first we've heard of or from you. On what authority do you claim the title of king of these lands?"
After allowing a moment for the troll to answer, Wilhelm addresses the kobolds, "My friends, it is well that we have had the opportunity to meet. I only wish that it were under friendlier circumstances. I am Wilhelm Orlovsky, Baron of Domierov and cousin to Felicia Shimmerscales who was once Felix Orlovsky." Wilhelm bows politely to them, still keeping a wary eye on the trolls. "If you feel comfortable serving under Hargulka, then that is your choice and I can hardly interfere. But I would extend a hand to you in defiance of the portrayal Hargulka has painted of us. We create a new nation, one of inclusion, where many can live peacefully, and we would happily accept you as partners. Felicia serves as my strong right hand on the ruling council and has my ear on many things. We would be glad to see you join us as well. I leave to choice to you, but I urge you choose carefully who you wish to tie your fates to: The "king" Hargulka and his band, or to myself and Felicia."
Fhârns eye twitches as the troll king speaks. Some nerve that one has! 'You humans must leave because you are despoilers, but I'll sit here as a subjugator of the weak'. Morale is truly subjective with this one. At least he has better manners then plenty of nobles I've met, including our dear neighbours ... He bites his tongue to remain silent, but his displeasure is plain for all to see.
Munin, sensing the mood of his master looks around after a good spot where he can fly over too and avoid getting caught in the inevitable brawl. Perhaps he could find the chief too ?
Shimmer quietly rages at the treatment of her people, this king would die for his crimes. Flames cried out in the Kobold's soul, flames waiting to pierce their enemies heart. Soon, the burning would commence.
Anastacia rides along with the others to the Sootscales caverns. She is not very talkative, the killings back at Bej's ranch are troubling, this new threat does not occur at a good time. Not that there's ever a good time for an invasion of giants...
Anastacia takes in the dead kobolds with a stoic eye, they will need a proper burial ceremony as soon as possible.
"As you make your choice, members of the Sootscale tribe, bear in mind who it that murdered you comrades, that lie still unburied, outside your complex here."
There is murmuring among the kobolds at Wilhelm's speech, but none of them speak up. The Chief is, after all, missing. Hargulka, on the other hand, laughs loudly and brazenly at him. "By what right? By the right of strength and the right of bestowment! You will see the right by which I claim these lands when I remove your head from your shoulders."
"But not today," says the troll leader, standing from the makeshift throne. As he steps forward from it, the minotaur brings his massive axe down upon it, cleaving the boxes and barrels, spilling grain everywhere. "You have heard my offer, and now I and my followers will take my leave of you." and with that, he and his troll followers move to leave. If unaccosted, they stoop and move out of the main chamber, ascend out of the caves, and peaceably walk away into the forest.
Wilhelm smiles, satisfied, as he hears the murmuring rising among the kobolds, but Hargulka's laughter, grating in the close confines, quickly sours the smile. Eyes narrowing, Wilhelm suppresses his desire to call the feral leader out then and there. Taking a moment to chant the Litany of Tranquility to regain his composure, Wilhelm responds calmly to the show of force, "Very well, we've heard your 'offer' and will give it the consideration its due." Considering the army waiting outside, Wilhelm frowns and adds, "It would be best if you allow a messenger to go ahead of you. It would be tragic if blood, fire and death were to visit us due to a misunderstanding."
Nodding to Fhârn and then Munin, Wilhelm calmly asks the pair, "Would Munin oblige and carry a message to allow Hargulka's party to pass without incidence? Falling back a reasonable distance may be for the best."
After the trolls have left, Wilhelm joins his companions near the kobolds and asks, "Are any of you badly hurt? I can heal many injuries and I've no doubt the trolls were brutal in there entrance to this place." Having dealt with any injuries, Wilhelm asks, "Now, I don't believe I have been introduced to your chieftain. Is he here?"
Without waiting for the troll-king to interject, Fhârn nods towards Wil and turns towards the raven on his shoulder. He meets his black eyes and nods again and the bird takes flight on dark wings. It irked Fhârn greatly that they were going to let the trolls leave, but starting a fight in her without the army would be ... unwise. Besides, preparation was key - and he hadn't planned for quite so many trolls!
The troll king allows Munin to go out ahead of him, and waits a few moments before strolling out of the cave, waving cutely with his fingers at Wilhelm as he does so, and within a few moments has disappeared from even the sight of the army sitting outside.
Most of the kobolds respond negatively to Wilhelm's request - they look, on the whole, pretty scratched up, but people that surrender, for the most part, don't get savaged by claws and teeth.
A little, weak-looking kobold approaches Wilhelm at his question of "chief" and leads the paladin further into the caves, saying, "Troll-boss didn't want Chief meddling, but Chief has to be in charge for when he wanted us to join him, so he put Chief away!" he turns a corner and enters a small storage room, the center of which is occupied by black-scaled Chief Sootscale, one ankle and one wrist bound by chains and attached to a pike, driven into the ground.
Shimmer waits for the inevitable confrontation... that never comes. No leaping to action, no desperate fight for the right to live, just nothing. They were letting these creatures, who had slain her friends and family, these monsters were let go without a fight.
No time to think on that as they rush to the Chief's aid, no time to yell at the situation. Shimmer runs to the chained chief, ready to level any healing magics needed. As she looks over her friend she screams inwardly and outwardly. "We should have fought, I could have slain that beast with fire. We could have fought them in these caves, forced them to come one at a time... next time they will be in the open... in your city... In numbers. IN YOUR HOMES. KILLING YOUR CHILDREN INSTEAD OF MINE." Grief overtakes the kobold, loss of the tribe seems to push its way in to he heart and carve a lair all its own. She had been getting through to them, showing them a better way, and now this. She sobs as she tends to Sootscale, racked by the tragedy of it all. Death to all I love, all I touch, that is my curse.
Anastacia moves close enough to Wilhelm to whisper in his ear.
The trolls pass by and Fhârn grips his tools harder, muscle and mind tensing up. But no attack comes, from either side, and the moment passes. When the trolls finally is out of sight, he puts away his rod and dart and removes his helmet. The urge to spit was overwhelming - as to cleanse himself from the trolls presence - but out of respect for the Kobolds home he resisted the urge.
*Bleh*
He follows the others more slowly towards the Sootscale chief - he doesn't really know the kobold - and he wasn't much of a healer either. He couldn't do much but try words and reason. The arcanist put an armoured gauntlet on the golden kobolds back.
"We will roast him one day, I promise. But not in here - better to bring the war to him. And we'll burn down the forest if that is what it takes!"
Dante watches stoically as the trolls move past him. He stares at their "king" a blank cold stare. He loosens the fur cloak around his shoulders and moves to Felicia, draping it around the wounded chief, it seems to swallow the little reptile.
"I know this seems like an injustice, but know that they'll not get away with this. Cave fighting is a brutal and nasty way to wage war, and in these halls, those monsters would have had the advantage, in the open field though, my men can ride them down with far fewer casualties." He pats his friend on the shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss."
Turning he walks out of the cave, nodding to Fharn. Walking past Wilhelm and Anastacia, "Lady Stormwing, My lord." he says curtly.
Once outside, he calls over a captain. "Captain, send a detachment of rangers to track those trolls, I want to know where they sleep and take shelter. They are to keep out of sight and are not to engage. Reports back as soon as they are able." The captain took off running to the assembled army and started barking orders to a specific few.
Dante mounted Mandarb and sat astride the war horse, waiting for his fellow council members to emerge from the cave.
Anastacia listens to Dante as he gives his orders, then looks at
Fhârn.
'Perhaps Munin could help Dante's scouts... If you can spare him, of course." Anastacia doesn't really know that much about the relationship between a mage and his familiar, but she is well aware of how useful the bird can be as a liaison.
"If it would help." Fhârn nods. Trolls can't be that hard to track ... "I don't think their mound would be too hard to find either from the air - unless they made their lair underground."
"Well, if that is all - then I will head back to the horses. At least I can try to mend some of the material damage and help the living stay that way. You will care for the fallen, I assume?"
He finishes the sentence somewhat carefully, nodding in between the cleric of Pharasma and the golden kobold - unsure of whom would be the most proper to address. With a quick bow he excuses himself and heads from the cavern to fetch his tools. A worried look comes over him as he mulls over the latest events in his head. Things had been going so well for them. But first Bej. Then this! He shook his head and sighed when he recalled the letter he had received just a handful of days ago. Sweet little sister, what have I dragged you in to?
It was nice to be back in the air again. Munin didn't really like caves - the notion that some sort of groundwalking critter could climb up over his head always unsettled him. And the limited room for aerial manoeuvres.
No, this is definitely better *Caw*
The raven swooped back and fourth across the forest, both relaying messages and trying to spot the trolls. He really wasn't much of a tracker - but he tried his best.
Wilhelm follows as Felicia rushes into the room, staring with tightened jaw at the scene before him. Monsters, not only in appearance, but in manner. Justice will be meted out, but the cost... Wincing as Felicia begins to shout, raging in pain and anger, Wilhelm stands, hands behind his back as his cousin looses her rage at the situation. He lends an ear to Anastacia, nodding acknowledgement of her words.
Fists clenching behind his back, Wilhelm nods, "I too understand your desire to fight here, Felicia. It wasn't my home, nor was it a people who I can yet call my own. But this was tyranny and oppression and I will have none of it in my barony."
Loosing his clenched fists, Wilhelm kneels by now sobbing kobold, "My friend, my cousin, my councilor- we will strike back against these fiends. They have delivered an ultimatum, flee if you not of our kind, those few who remain will bow to us. They are bully's and this troll king, Hargulka, is a tyrant who will always hunger for more." Laying a gentle hand on Felicia's shoulder, he assists in freeing the Sootscale chief from the bonds shackling him.
"Our next priority should be to secure the Sootscales. I'm not sure that we will easily be able to hold this cave, and it may be best if we all return to Zatoksta." Wilhelm hesitates, obviously uncertain about his citizen's reaction, "Once the safety of all is secured, we'll want to meet with the rest of the council and resolve the murders in the capitol. We'll need to guarantee our home is in good order before we attempt to ride away again. Have you thoughts?"
"Caverns are actually ideal defensive positions from many attacks. Also, I've heard that kobolds are adept at trap-making. I'm not a specialist at that myself, of course, but a simple trap such as a spiked pit that is filled with burning oil seems like it would be fairly effective against most anything."
Anastacia thinks for a moment. "The smoke from something like that could be a hazard to everyone in the complex, but if it could be vented, or better yet contained, it would be a weapon on it's own. I don't know how that could be done. It would be safer to just vent the smoke away."
Fhârn halts his departure when fortification comes up as a topic. While he had little actual knowledge or practice, siege engineering fascinated him. And not only because it usually involved large complex machines throwing deadly projectiles far and high. That was merely a bonus.
"Would the Soothscales agree to an evacuation? Fortifying a cavern is easier then a city like ours, but we would also split our forces... A delicate matter indeed!"
"We'd be asking them to fortify their own cave, for their own defense. Anastacia's lips curve in a half smile. "People usually agree to matters of self interest."
"We will stay, the clutch is here. We can move the entrance, trap the tunnels, prepare for a siege. We forgot what the world is like, we forgot how cold and harsh this land is. We won't forget again. We will be ready." Shimmer shakes her head at the thought."We will be ready, and we will be waiting."
Wilhelm stands and takes a few steps back to give Felicia some room as he listens to the others' advice. Nodding thoughtfully, Wilhelm adds, "What you're suggesting makes good sense to me, particularly since we won't have the added difficulty of trying to acclimate our peoples to one other in war time." Frowning, Wilhelm looks around appraisingly before nodding, "Yes, I can see what you mean, Anastacia." Felicia's reply removes any traces of uncertainty from Wilhelm's voice, "Very well, that will be the way of it. We'll want some means to coordinate our forces, I would think. Would you object to leaving a small force here to assist in setting up defenses and to act as messengers? If you'd prefer, Felicia, we could simply allow your tribe to handle its own defense entirely. This said, we should work together wherever possible against this common foe."
Having waited for Felicia's reply, Wilhelm nods and gestures towards the entrance, "All this decided, it may be best if we hurry back to Zatoksta to inform the rest of the council and see about further preparations."