"Hmmm..." Rupert looks concernedly at the cave, but seeing Treshiell hop inside without hesitation seems to clear up any doubts he might've had. He crouches down and steps inside, quickly moving away to make room for Orin and the others behind him.
"You pit watch," the kobold says as it leads you down the right side of a tunnel going into the cave.
You see what looks like three hidden pit traps on the left side of the tunnel.
He then leads you through a tight section of caves, which you can barely squeeze through. A pair of kobolds stand watch here, but make no move after Yakpik reassures them. One does begin to follow the group, however.
Yakpik leads you past a tunnel to the left into a cave where the air feels warm and close, thick with a reptilian stink mixed with smoke and burnt meat. Numerous beds of fur lie scattered throughout the room amid smoldering cook fires, while to the south a 10-foot-wide alcove contains a large mound of furs framed by dozens of sticks on which are mounted the skulls of many birds and small animals, all smeared with ash.
In the cave are a half-dozen black-skinned kobolds along with a slightly larger member of the tribe wearing a feathered skull as an apparent helmet. He stands up, brandishing a bone club and interposes himself between you and the other kobolds as you enter.
"Who are you? What you want here?" he asks, his common less strongly accented than either Mikmek or Yakpik.
Edrukk follows quietly, allowing the young witch to take the lead on this one.
Treshiell runs her hands across the dungeon walls as the party decends deeper into the earth, rythmicly switching from stroking the wall with the palm of her hand and scraping at it with her nails. Her viper, Thaal, slithers after the witch as she enters the larger cave and curls up around her leg, his eyes swaying from side to side taking in the whole room. Treshiell only has eyes for the large sooth scaled kobold, fixing her gaze to its eyes.
Treshiell ignores the "who" and goes straight for the "what". "We have come to return your statue. Tell me, where did the mites take it?"
The kobold chief seems taken aback by Treshiell's directness and pauses for a moment as he looks you over.
"I take you to Tartuk," he says.
He leads you -- along with a pair of kobolds and Yakpik -- deeper into the caves, into a cavern with walls decorated with a rickety wooden frame formed from clean-cut branches lashed together with gut and twine. 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. A large cauldron filled with bubbling red liquid boils in the center of the room.
In the room is a purple-skinned kobold who looks up in surprise at your entrance.
Before the chief can say anything, Yakpik speaks up in draconic: "אני מביא בליגה של הגדולים כדי להציל את הכף פסל ופיח!"
Agnar raises a bushy eyebrow at the appearance of what must be the kobolds' resident shaman.
"Well, there's something you don't see every day. I had no idea they came in purple."
Treshiell and Thaal alternate between the symbols on the walls and the purple kobold by the cauldron. Finally both viper and witch fastens their gaze on the shaman. "איר זענט לילאַ. די בלאָנדע בירדאַד האט ניט קלערן איר געקענט זיין בלוי. זאג מיר, טאַרטוק, וואָס מאכט איר ספּעציעל?", she asks in calm hissing tones.
You are purple. The blonde bearded did not think you could be blue. Tell me, Tartuk; What makes you special?
"Do you have anything else to ask?" she then asks the group adding "I can translate for you" as if nobody has noticed that the witch have been speaking draconic.
The kobold shaman glares at you for a moment after your question, Treshiell.
"אני שמאן חזק ורוחות טובה לי. מה אתה רוצה עם השליט חכם וחזק שבט סולם פיח?"
"I am a powerful shaman and the spirits favor me. What do you want with the wise and powerful ruler of the Soot Scale tribe?"
Treshiell, the symbols appear to have no meaning that you can make out. Similarly, you have no idea what is being brewed in the pot.
AS the group enters the caverns, Orin loosens the greatsword in it's scabard. taking his cue from Treshiell he follows the others. As the conversation continues with the shaman Orin relaxes slightly as the tone does not seem overly hostile.
Treshiell studies Tartuk in silence. "אַזוי איר זענט.", she finally hisses and gives a brief nod. "אויב איר זענט דער ווירע, וואָס טוט איר טאָן?", she says to the large black scaled kobold before continueing as if not expecting an anwser. "איר זענט פעלנדיק אַ סטאַטוע. סטאָלען דורך מייץ ניט ווייניקער. איר ווילן אונדז צו ברענגען עס צוריק"
So you are.
If you are the ruler, what do you do?
You are missing a statue. Stolen by mites no less. You want us to bring it back.
Yakpik and the other kobold who followed you and the chief into the cavern cheer as Treshiell finishes speaking, drawing stares from the two other kobolds there.
"כן, קרדית גנבו פסל שלנו. אתה רוצה לשחזר את זה בשבילנו? ומה אתה רוצה בתמורה לטובה הזאת?" the purple kobold leader says after a moment, turning his attention back to you.
The black-scaled chief follows the conversation closely, looking back and forth from Treshiell and the shaman.
"Yes, the mites have stolen our statue. You wish to recover it for us? And what do you want in return for this favor?"
Agnar will simply stand by and look as menacing and competent as possible until he knows exactly what is going on. I must remember to prepare a comprehend languages spell next time we're off to speak to the non-human locals, he thinks.
Edrukk watches quietly, paying sharp attention to what is being said, but preferring to avoid having to deal directly with the kobolds if he can.
Rupert, while originally apprehensive to say the least at the prospect of wandering into a kobold fortress, seems to be enjoying the sights of kobold social habits. He grins, glancing every once in a while to Edrukk, Agnar, and Orin, giving them a look that implies "Are you seeing this?"
A mysterious smile traces Treshiell's lips and behind her mask it is obvious that the gears are turning. But what direction and to what end is impossible to say.
"וואָס קענען איר פאָרשלאָג אונדז?", she hisses in a question. "מיר דאַרפֿן אויגן צו דעקן די לענדער. איר האָבן אויגן", she continues and scans the crowd of kobolds.
What can you offer us?
We need eyes to cover these lands. You have eyes
Treshiell turns to her companions. "He wants to know what we want in return for bringing back their statue"
"What do they have to offer us?"
"Eyes", Treshiell replies with her own eyes shimmering in the light from the fire and a hint of draconic still on her tongue. "I asked them for eyes. What do you want to ask for?"
"With the exception of Rupert, we've all got a working pair already," says Agnar with a smile. "Perhaps they've got coin or something useful to give us in trade?"
Rupert shoots Agnar an indignant look, then his face breaks into a smile and he says, "Alright, y'got me there." Then, to Treshiell, "Yeah, coin is good, or any handy toys they might have kicking around," he says with a grin. "Hell, maybe they could even just owe us a favor sometime in the future. They might come in handy in bringin' down the Stag Lord," he trails off, pondering an alliance with a Kobold tribe.
"No, she's got a point. Money will come and go but somone to keep an eye out for trouble in this area and let us know so we can deal with it would be more useful in the long run."
Orin turns to the kobold chieftain "If we return this statue of yours we would liek to propose an alliance between your tribe and our people. Would this be satisfactory to you and yours?"
Treshiell is about to confer Agnar's price to the kobold leader when she is cut short by Orin. She gives the ranger an appreciative, or at least something that could be an appreciative, nod. "Coins for the clergy and the bandit. Eyes for the rest", she says in a faint whisper as she awaits the shaman's anwser.
The purple-scaled kobold shaman nods at Treshiell's remark.
"טוב מאוד, עסקת שלך מקובל. את הכף פיח יציע ידידותם אם אתה יכול לחזור פסל שלנו קרדית.
The two other kobolds in the room, not including the chief, cheer at the shaman's pronouncement.
The chief seems to breath a sigh, perhaps of relief, as you agree to get the statue back.
"קרדית יש פסל בביתם תחת עץ שקמה מצפון כאן."
"The mites have the statue in their home under the sycamore tree to the north of here."
"They accept", Treshiell tells the group before continueing the conversation with the kobold. "זאג מיר מער וועגן די מייץ. פארוואס איז עס אַז איר האָבן ניט ריקליימד אייער סטאַטוע זיך?"
Tell me more about these mites. Why is it that you have not reclaimed your statue yourself?
Edrukk continues to listen quietly, not entirely convinced at the idea of alliance, but keeping his thoughts to himself.
"הם עולים במספרם לנו. אמנם את הכף פיח להילחם בגבורה, הם יכולים רק להרוג את קרדית כל כך הרבה זמן לפני שהם נכשלים. הם יצורים הרוע באמת, שהיה תענוג בגרימת נזק סביבם," the kobold shaman says.
"זייער שטאַרקייַט איז אַז זיי אַוטנאַמבער איר", Treshiell says tasting every word. "איר שטעלן אייער האפענונגען צו אונדז צו מצליח ווו איר האט נישט. אַז מיטל איר טראַכטן מיר פּאַסיז כוחות איר טאָן ניט", she says with that mysterious hint of a smile dancing across her lips then continues "אָדער איר זענען גלייַכגילטיק צו וועטער מיר געראטן אָדער ניט. אָדער איז עס אַ דריט אָפּציע?" Treshiell digs her gaze deep into the shamans eyes with the last sentence.
Their strength is that they outnumber you.
You set your hopes to us to succeed where you did not. That means you think we posses powers you do not
or you are indifferent to whether we succeed or not. Or is there a third option?
Perception
Rupert, as usual, is too busy entertaining himself to notice anything.
"Sounds like a fair deal t'me, where do we find this statue, then?"
Perception check:
Orin notices the chief's expression change as they agree to retrieve the statue, then looks between the chief and the shaman as something begins to bother him about the situation here.
Looking at the chief Orin says "We would appreciate a guide of some sort lead us to this mite lair. We encountered one of your tribe earlier, a young Mikmek I believe. If he is available I would choose him as our guide."
The chief shakes his head as you ask about Mikmek.
"He no here," he says in common. "He on patrol for mites. You take Yakpik -- he lead you to mite home."
Perception check:
Agnar notes the chief's expression, thinking it best to speak with the group about it later.
"I suppose we should be about it then," he says, patting the dagger at his hip, "I'm glad to be packing the right equipment for hunting fey, especially little ones that live in small holes."
"Then it is settled", Treshiell states this time in common. "Your statue in return for your eyes. You may start guiding us, Yakpik"
Yakpik begins leading you north from the kobold caves, seeming a bit quiet at first, but the small kobold's apparently irrepressible spirit soon emerges as it begins singing quietly -- slowly getting louder and louder as the miles pass slowly beneath its small claws.
"אנחנו יוצאים כדי להציל את הפסל, הפסל הקדוש ביותר לנו. אנחנו שומעים שן שארפ חד שיניים, אם שן שארפ פעם שיש."
As you travel, you occasionally pass small corpses of both kobolds and, you assume, mites, little bodies torn apart by wounds and often apparently savaged by carrion eaters in the woods.
The night passes uneventfully, as you feel fairly rested with the slow pace, though Yakpik seems fairly exhausted.
"אנחנו יוצאים כדי להציל את הפסל, הפסל הקדוש ביותר לנו. אנחנו שומעים שן שארפ חד שיניים, אם שן שארפ פעם שיש."
A couple of hours after you begin traveling in the morning, you see a massive tree, a sycamore, towering over the surrounding foliage, leading Yakpik to point at it, leaping up and down and chirping excitedly. You can arrive at the tree, which Yakpik says is where the mites lair, after a couple more hours, though Yakpik refuses to go closer -- "it dangerous!"
"We're off to save the statue, the holiest statue of us. We hear Sharptooth is sharp and toothy, if ever Sharptooth there is."
"We're off to save the statue, the holiest statue of us. We hear Sharptooth is sharp and toothy, if ever Sharptooth there is."
"WE'RE OFF TO SAVE THE STATUE, THE HOLIEST STATUE OF US. WE HEAR SHARPTOOTH IS SHARP AND TOOTHY, IF EVER SHARPTOOTH THERE IS."
"WE'RE OFF TO SAVE THE STATUE, THE HOLIEST STATUE OF US. WE HEAR SHARPTOOTH IS SHARP AND TOOTHY, IF EVER SHARPTOOTH THERE IS."
Orin smiles at the little dragon-kin's exuberience. During a lull in the singing Orin will ask Yakpik a question "Yakpik, maybe you can settle something thats been bothering me? I can understand your chief defering to the shaman about returning the statue but it seems to me he should have been the one to talk to about the alliance. Yet it seems to me he even backed whatever the shaman said. Very strange indeed."
"Yakpik not sure," the little gray kobold says. "Tartuk come from sunrise side many moons ago, he bring holy statue and help lead Sootscales."
Treshiell seems caught with the melody of Yakpik's song, echoing it with her hazy voice. Unsurprisingly the kobold and Orin's conversation attracts the witches attention. "So he is new", she says. "What does sharptooth do?"
"Sharptooth am protecting Sootscales from dire yellow death curse. It am very bad."
The kobold gives you a quizzical look as if not understanding what you're asking about. "It make Sootscales turn yellow and die," the kobold replies.
"Turn yellow and die, eh? Does this curse do anything else besides turn your people yellow? Pain? Coughing? Nausea? Weakness?"
Heal check:
Edrukk winces at the kobold's singing, but bites his tongue before saying anything. Otherwise, he is about as happy as a dwarf finding himself helping kobolds can be.
"Yakpik no know. Yakpik lucky kobold, not cursed," the kobold replies. "Yakipik only know dead Sootscales am yellow."
He's not really giving you enough details to make any sort of diagnosis, Agnar.
Treshiell's gaze lies firm on the kobold as her eyes prod and poke the small creature up and down, inside and out. "Yellow and die", she mumbles and tugs at the silver amulet tied to her wrist. "We hope that you stay lucky. A yellow Yakpik would not benefit us."
"Tell me, Yakpik. Without Sharptooth, could purple turn to yellow and die?"
"Here and no further", Treshiell says to the kobold not revealing if it's a question, just a statement or a command. The witch dismounts from her horse and starts moving up to the tree, humming "אנחנו יוצאים כדי להציל את הפסל, הפסל הקדוש ביותר לנו. אנחנו שומעים שן שארפ חד שיניים, אם שן שארפ פעם שיש."
We're off to save the statue, the holiest statue of us. We hear Sharptooth is sharp and toothy, if ever Sharptooth there is.
Agnar will loop the reins of his horse loosely around some nearby brush and look for a point of entry amid the trees roots or the ground nearby.
"Considering how small mites are, I think I'll leave my long spear here...possibly the bow as well."
Orin nods agreement with Agnar and pulls out his handaxe. Orin will begin searching around the base of the tree for an opening large enough for him and the rest of the party to enter.
Perception check:
"Yakpik no know," the kobold replies. He am powerful shaman. He am hearing what Sharptooth say and telling us."
As Orin searches around the base of the towering Sycamore, he discovers amid the roots a root-lined shaft that seems to drop 10 feet down into the earth; from here, it appears to end in a narrow tunnel that branches to the east and west.
Agnar will cast light on something carried by the first person down. I'll take rear guard, casting light on my helm before descending.
Climb check:
Treshiell stands beside the shaft and looks down into the darkness. She raises her clenched fist to her mouth and makes a caughing sound. Light seems to gather inside her hand and when she opens her fist three spheres of light roll up and down palm . She drops the spheres to the ground and they start to hoover in a circle a few inches above the entrance.
"Light to let you see", Treshiell explains then resumes her humming. "אנחנו יוצאים כדי להציל את הפסל, הפסל הקדוש ביותר לנו. אנחנו שומעים שן שארפ חד שיניים, אם שן שארפ פעם שיש." While she's humming the witch gathers some loose dirt from the ground and throws it up in the air. Instead of falling to the ground, the dust starts to slowly swirl around the girl, sometimes shimmering oddly in the morning light .
We're off to save the statue, the holiest statue of us. We hear Sharptooth is sharp and toothy, if ever Sharptooth there is.
Orin will have Agnar cast Light on his axe before climbing down in to the shaft.
Climb check:
Once at the bottom he will move aside to make room for the others.
P.S. I find it very amusing that the witch is humming that tune considering where it's from.