Isk looks somewhat pleased by Ryzztyl's words. "You are likely correct, but I would greatly look forward to the challenge of enlightening it with the ways of Old Sharptooth. Of course, some of our kin have needed to be beaten into submission, and I am certainly up for the task," the warpriest grins again with his toothy yellow smile.
Having little experience with trapsetting or ambushes, Isk leaves the preparations to the experts, and attempts to hide.
Nodding to the plan Yighuk adds "I have no skill with negotiation. I will stand as bodyguard to either Kirtyl or Ryzztyl. Let the dragonkin see some of our strength but not all."
Isk is not able to locate any trap, placed by a Tazlwyrm or by anyone else, around where you are.
Meanwhile Blokpug places his trap between the shore and Yiguk, and then hides in a bush.
Isk hides himself too.
Yighuk waits for someone of the 2 blue kobolds to offer for the negotiation.
Kirtyl dusts off his robes and clears his throat.
Brother, we come to speak with you. Our tribe is in conflict and we can offer you many kills as well as a share of gold. Our home is nearby and a place where you can receive food. And our trappers can teach you to be a better ambusher.
Kirtyl stays with Yighuk as bodygard for the negotiation,
assuming Ryzztyl hides himself too.
From the river the Tazlwyrm appears, but he is so stealthy that nobody of you is able to notice her until Blokpug's trap springs, the dragon avoids the traps and roars against the two visible kobolds.
At this points Kirtyl starts his diplomatic approach, the tazlwyrm stops, silent, gazing upon Kirtly.
Her attitude towards Yighuk and Kirtyl is no more Hostile, but from his eyes you can understand that he is still Unfriendly.
Since the Tazlwyrm is motionless you can notice some bad scars in his scales, those scars are probably from some kind of torture and not from a normal wilderness life.
Kirtyl moves his hand slowly to motion toward the scars on the Tazlwyrm. He doesn't step forward, trying not to spook the creature.
Those look nasty. And I imagine you want revenge for that. Who did it? Maybe we can help you hurt them...or kill them for you...and in return you help us kill our enemies?
He stands up straight, trying to make the most of his horned visage.
Blokpug marvels at the creature. "To be that big and that quiet...how is that even possible. Glad I set that trap." He whispers to himself.
Blokpug sees a slight shift in demeanor, but is still very wary. He slowly moves to within 30 feet of the Tazlwyrm and loads his crossbow, staying hidden but ready at the first sign of hostility to fire.
Well pleased by Kirtyls efforts Yighuk slowly removes a smoked and wrapped rabbit from his pack. He carefully places it before the Tazlwyrm as an offering.
"Great Wyrm of the river, I am Yighuk, a warrior of the Sootscale. Kirtyl speaks truly, let us avenge those wounds to your magnificence as a token of our respect and a show that our strength is worthy of alliance."
Believing his companions well have the situation in hand, Isk remains still and hidden.
The dragon smells the rabbit before eating it, and is very voracious in doing that, probably meaning she had not eaten for few days.
The Tazlwyrm attitude change from Unfriendly to Indifferent.
You can't understand if she doesn't wants to reply to you or simply is not able to speak in draconic, but from her reactions it seems obvious that she perfectly understands what are you saying to her.
The dragon doesn't seems to be aware of Blokpug's new position too.
Doing his best to read the Tazlwyrms body language Yighuk starts to hope that they will indeed succeed in befriending the dragonkin. As a sign of good faith, and as a message to his fellows that things are going well, he hangs his axe from his belt. The more subtle blade on his tail remains ready however.
"You speak well for the tribe Kirtyl. Perhaps it is time to introduce our fellows. Then, if the wyrm is willing, we can travel back to the tribe to allow the Chief to properly welcome our new friend? I am sure he will wish you at his side for the negotiations." he whispers to Kirtyl.
To the wyrm he says, "You seem hungry Great Wyrm of the River. It is my tribes honor to feed you." With that he digs the remains of a chicken, no doubt pilfered by one of the tribes scouts, and again offers it.
"Our tribe is at war with the mites of this area. Foul fey creatures but their flesh will make a fine feast for all dragonkin!"
Kirtyl nods when Yighuk whispers to him.
So, what shall we do? Do you want to come back with us to our tribe? He motions back toward the tribal territory.
Or is there someone you want us to take care of out here first? Food, vengeance, or both. The choice is yours. We were sent out to scout so we won't be terribly put out by stopping for a moment to assist you.
The dragon gladly accepts the second offer of food from Yighuk, but still remains silent, not answering at any of your questions.
Since she is more static now, you can now quickly discern that the exemplar is surely a female Tazlwyrm, and a lot of those scars are in the location where you expect to find the oviducts.
Noticing the scaring and that the Dragon has calmed down and no longer seems threatening Blokpug slowly approaches it. "Can you not speak anymore?" If she nods yes he will draw a rough sketch of the region in the ground and ask, "Where did they do this to you?" If she points anywhere he will try to figure out who controls that region.
Probably some damned humans or something... He says, spitting out a curse. Who else would try to neuter a dragon?
He stands aside and motions to Blokpug.
This is our scout and trapper. He's the best one to help you find whoever did this to you. You should listen to him and show us where to go.
The tazlwyrm seems to trust Blokpug, and marks an X in the rudimental map, pointing in the hills south to the ford.
map
You have no news of an human settlement in the area marked by the dragon, but you never went so south in your exploration under Mikmek's guidance.
Seeing where the Tazlwyrm pointed Blokpug says to the group that is visible, "I don't know what is down there, I just know that anything South of the ford is very dangerous ground and I am not comfortable crossing it...We also have to report back to the tribe, though I do not know how well the rest will respond to the Tazlwyrm or how it will respond to them."
Deciding that the situation has been sufficiently diffused, Isk will come out of hiding with no weapons in his hand. He will slowly and carefully approach the group, smiling at the Tazlwyrm.
Isk will try to examine the wounds and scars of the beast from a distance to try to determine if magical healing would help.
Isk will look at the marked spot on the map and say, "We should look into that. Chief wanted us to patrol to look for threats. Any one who would have tortured our distant kin like this, is certainly a threat. I think we should check it out and either eliminate this threat, or find out what it is so we can report back to the Chief."
I agree with Isk. If we are to look for threats, this seems like the chance to do just that. Humans, if they are there, are likely to help the mites, or at least do harm to us. I say we at least check it out...how far out of our way is it?
Blokpug sighs and say, Ok, let's go and find out what it is. If the odds are stacked against us though we will leave and report it to the tribe. I do not want to go on a suicide mission." He then whispers to Kirtyl, "Can you try to get her to show us the safest way there? And to see if she will go with us. She seems to like you, and another ally would be very helpful. If they can do that to her I don't want to know what they could do to us."
Those wounds are probably from some kind of torture, you can't determine if inflicted by magic, in a mundane way or a mix of both. The lines are too clear and straight, and you start suspecting it could have been some kind of experiment, and that there are several internal and permanent damage only a powerful magic healing spell can restore
The dragon seems becoming a little suspicious of the various member of your team coming out from their hiding places.
She is still Indifferent as attitude towards the party.
And starts moving a little more than before around the shore.
If you can show us a safe way to get to where they attacked you that would help us. Even if you don't want to come, just draw on the map where we should travel.
Kirtly waves at the others to take steps back and not encroach on the Tazlywyrm.
The dragon first starts moving her tail in a very chaotic way, then she calms down, and goes back to the sketched map.
She draws a curved line from the ford to the point she previously marked.
After this she goes more away from the waters, clarifying her intentions of not going back there.
Although the dragon is a very proud noble beast in her behavior towards your team, she seems particularly afraid of what she had left there. You start thinking that there are not so many things that can scare a fierce dragon.
"If whatever is at this place is so dangerous even a dragon as such is afraid to go back, maybe we should think about this. I agree that scouting it to know what the threat is very important, but we need to be very careful with what we are planning to do."
If you choose to do so, it will takes you 5 hours instead of the standard 8 to reach the point marked by the dragon. Now you are about 19 o'clock, meaning if you depart immediately you can reach that location at about midnight.
"We can get there around midnight if we leave now, but we must decide quickly. I don't like the idea of going somewhere that a Tazlwyrm is afraid to go back to, but I also don't want to leave something like that unknown. So what do we do?"
Agreed, we should take quite a bit of care. I think scouting the location and taking note of the size of the enemy there is going to be best.
He turns to the Tazlwyrm and speaks to her.
Sister, you can wait here and we will return for you. We will try to locate your attackers and report back to the tribe. We will come and bring you to safety as soon as we can.
Carefully and slowly he reaches into his backpack for a piece of parchment. Scribbling on it, he writes "This Tazlwyrm is a friend to the Sootscale. - Kirtyl" and hands the parchment to the Tazlwyrm.
If, before we get back, you are confronted with another patrol of kobolds, try to hide. If you are discovered, hand them this and they should treat you well.
"Indeed, I think we will be relying on your scouting ability more then ever on this patrol Blokpug. It appears there is a significant threat that we need to identify and report back to the Chief."
The dragon takes the parchment from Kirtyl, before vanishing in the surrounding area.
So, your team crosses the ford, going in the hills south.
Blokpug will lead the way that the Tazlwyrm described as quickly and carefully as possible, trying to conserve as much of the darkness as he can. He will be a decent bit ahead of the group, but will leave marks in the ground for them to follow so they don't lose his trail.
Ryzztyl follows the others but remaining silent. Despite the creature being an unevolved dragon, untouched by Dahak's blessing, the damage given the creature, still a kin, enraged him.
Blokpug leads your team for about 3 hours in the hills. You move quickly but also as stealthy as you can, and with your eyes open to possible threats. But Yighuk and Kirtyl are surely the two more noisy... Your fighter is probably the most disturbing in his clanging armor and metal tail, so must have disturbed something, because during your trip something surprise you all, coming down from a nearby hill, and charging directly him.
It's a boar! But luckily for your team Yighuk's armor protects him from the boars's gore.
Initiative
25 Blokpug
-
20 Boar
-
18 Kirtyl
14 Ryzzty
6 Yighuk
6 Isk
Blokpug will move within 30 feet of the boar fire his crossbow.
Blokpug's bolt miss the Boar.
The animal ignores the dark gray kobold and continues his attack towards Yighuk, but it's a miss too.
Kirtyl stays farther back but also attempts a shot with his crossbow.
Kirtyl's bolt hits the boar.1 damage
Isk will move off to the side where he has a clear shot of the Boar, while remaining 20' away from it.
Ryzztyl moves to the other side to acquire a clear shot, yet prefering to remain behind some cover, before muttering in a gutteral tongue and pointing his finger at the boar. A spark of electricity launches from his finger towards the beast.
Ryzztyl's Jolt cantrip hits the boar. 4 damage
And also Isk's blowgun dart hits the boar. 3 damage
None of Yighuk's attacks hit the boar.
Blokpug will load another bolt and fire.
Kirtyl follows suit with a bolt of his own.
Blokpuk's bolt miss,
the boar still continues to attack and miss Yighuk,
Kirtyl's bolt miss too
Blokpug calls to Yighuk, "After you swing step back so we can get a clearer shot"
So, Hand Axe miss, but the spikes, the tail and the bite all hit the boar, for a total of 2+5+2 = 9 damage
Yighuk makes a 5ft step backward, clearing the visual for others shots.
At this point the boar is severely injured but still alive and in combat mode.