Nighttail enters the room a few steps ahead of Spitter. The chamber has large, vaulted ceilings and a deer carcass lies mostly eaten at the entrance.
A bipedal green lizard with massive claws hops forward, chittering like a happy pet. The kobold wraps her arms around it and hugs tight.
"I will give him a quick death for not mistreating you! Yes, I will, yes, I will!"
"The coward is probably hiding in his chambers," she says after a moment.
Seeing the nature of her companion, Spitter smiles easily.
"I can understand the sentiment: Such a beautiful lizard! With those claws...is it related to dragons or drakes to be of such size?"
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A smile crept over Pavo's face without him even realizing it. Truth be told, at seeing Nighttail reunited with her...companion, it made Pavo long for his own family. He quickly shook it off hoping that the others hadn't noticed. His fingers flexed in his cestus as he risked a glance in Maellyra's direction. She was right of course. He had been careless, but it wasn't like he meant to. He silently promised to be better, to be smarter, to think about how his actions affected those surrounding him. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to punch something. Preferably in the face.
"We should go soon. They are likely making preparations for us. I'd hate to keep them waiting" Pavo said with a feigned smile.
Spitter waits patiently as Nightail and her companion reacquaint themselves happily.
"Nightail? We should get moving I fear: Time will be of the essence."
Nighttail stops her baby talk and playing with Hak. She nods to Spitter and leads the group to the tunnel not yet explored. It goes on for a little while before ending in a small cave.
A thick layer of straw covers the floor of this cave. The cave's northern end hooks around a corner to the east, and is out of sight from the south.
"Trapped, but I do not know how to disarm it properly. Be cautious. Just beyond is a tunnel down to the lower levels."
Thanks to Nighttail pointing it out, the trip-line is easy to spot. It looks to be connected to a series of darts that would fire at anyone crossing.
Spitter looks over the small cave carefully.
"A trap?"
"Here." Maellyra points out the tripwire with the point of her dagger. Flicking her pale gaze to Nighttail, the witch asks, "What will we find down there? Aside from more loyalists?"
"I can try in case it's double trapped and I need to dodge something quickly," offers Leng.
The kobold thinks for a long moment. "I will take you the most direct route I know and warn you as needed. I want to preserve defenses in case this coup succeeds." She stares hard at Maellyra with a neutral expression.
"Double trapped?" Nighttail scoffed. "Hak may not understand, can you lift him over?"
Hak bobs his head and cocks it to the side quizzically. His long, sharp claws click on the hard stone.
Maellyra meets Nighttail's look evenly. She might not have thought anything of it either—given her own inexpressive nature, the witch considered Nighttail's look a fairly innocuous one. The kobold female's hesitation and evasiveness in answering, on the other hand, is certainly suspect. Maellyra emotes her suspicion and disapproval with the slight furrowing of her brow. "If there is to be peace and cooperation amongst our tribes, there will also have to be a degree of mutual trust."
Maellyra answers Nighttail's question by way of glancing at the menfolk, fully expecting them to field that request.
"Trust must be earned," she says while soothing Hak and preparing him to cross the trap and steep climb down further into the warren. "I must begin thinking like a chief, if I am to usurp the current madman ruling my people. That means keeping some of our defenses unknown."
Wasting no more time, Pavo reached down and scooped up the lizard. With one arm locked around the creature's head to keep the sharp teeth under control and another supporting it's midsection, Pavo hustled forward quickly. He still felt somewhat ashamed since his earlier scolding and wanted to redeem himself with the others, and he was used to doing the grunt work. After all, he was normally the hired muscle.
With more grace than one would assume he had, he tip-toed over the trip wire and spun around, more from the squirming Hak than his own conscious footwork. Once a few feet beyond the wire, he waited impatiently for Nighttail to catch up. He didn't want to make it past the trap only to have Hak turn around and run back to it's...master? His eyes darted from the trip wire to the ground in front of him and back again, over and over trying to silently convey his message that she should join him and Hak as quickly as possible lest the struggling creature get free of his grasp.
Smiling at Pavo's obvious effort to help Hak, Spitter winks and nods in encouragement.
"You are an exceptionally wise pink-skin 'Pavo.' By helping her with Hak, you are helping to cement the pink-skin's agreement with the tribe."
He points with his staff.
"Shall we continue?"
The way down comes in the form of a very steep and narrow tunnel. There is a rope hammered into the stone to provide stability climbing up or down.
"I cannot say if there are guards below," Nighttail relates, going last so she can lead Hak carefully down.
The tunnel opens into a small cave filled with dark, muddy water. Croaking from frogs and the sounds of tiny aquatic creatures jumping in and out of water echo in the room. A passageway opens to the east, filled with rubble.
Looking around carefully, Spitter inquires out loud.
"Traps?"
Maellyra's gaze flicks back to Nighttail briefly but, not yet convinced of the kobold's trustworthiness, the witch turns to search the small cavern with the aid of her ghostly witchlight without waiting for an answer.
In response to Spitter she replies, "The next chamber is a sort of defensive choke-point." Maellyra's light distracts her from her next statement. She waits with her head cocked to listen for a reaction from the cave, but none comes back. "I do not hear a reaction from the guards. Be wary of the pool."
Spitter moves along the right side of the cave, staff extended defensively.
Leng, likewise, moves quietly and cautiously, having retrieved his chain-belt weapon.
Without thinking, Pavo moved to the front of the group and pressed forward. If whatever was down here didn't know they were here by now, it was probably already dead.
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Pavo moves forward, stumbling on a rock along the way. It echoes down the tunnel and he hears the sound of small creatures swimming just ahead. As he rounds the corner he sees a fairly large pool of water. Ripples indicate the presence of some sort of animals. The ghostly lantern bearer hangs above the lake, and Pavo sees what looks like a broad, flat rock surface and glide gently through the water in the light of the witch's spell.
There are three tunnels exiting the chamber. "Take that tunnel," Nighttail says, pointing to the western most one. "Most direct route and safest. No traps. When the tunnel turns back to the north, be wary. The defensive plan calls for an ambush there. They will be using slings to attack from a concealed and raised position."
"If you are not in the trusting mood, feel free to go another way." Nighttail says while looking at Maellyra.
Spitter moves to support Pavo, nodding and whispering.
Typical and pretty common of my kind for a defensive spot, if uninspired."
Maellyra meets Nighttail's look evenly for a handful of moments until breaking eye contact when a look of thoughtful introspection crosses her pale features. She looks down the western tunnel, then toward the other two as if considering all her options. Eventually, her gaze moves back to Nighttail, who must weather the witch's stare until it seems she's made up her mind about something. Finally Maellyra inclines her head toward the kobold as if conceding to the other's point; though her next words are spoken mildly, they nevertheless contrast sharply with the yielding gesture. "If I weren't in a trusting mood, you would be the first one walking into any potential ambushes."
"So, west it is, then," she rasps, looking toward the indicated tunnel.
Everyone moves west, with Maellyra's magical illumination leading the way. The tunnel is tight with a very low ceiling for everyone but Spitter. It turns sharply to the south, then again east for a short way before going back to the north.
Two kobolds are huddled against the wall at the entrance to a cavern. One has a nasty looking head wound.
The kobolds both grab their spears, but relax when they see who it is. In draconic the unwounded one says, "We are pinned down. The loyalists have declared us traitors and will not allow us to pass. I'm worried..." The kobold swallows hard. "If they are in control down there, they may decide...to eliminate my progeny."
From here everyone can see that the chamber has a high ceiling, and there are ditches forming a very narrow ramp into the room.
Spitter reacts immediately, slapping his staff into his small hand loudly.
"We cannot allow that! The young-lings and eggs are innocent! If the loyalists are that bad off...We MUST move in! Quickly!"
He then proceed to approach the western tunnel so he can see what is ahead himself.
When he peeks around the corner, Spitter can see a cunning ambush site occupied by several kobolds. He ducks his head back around the corner as a handful of sling stones impact the walls.
The ramp winds around like a switchback, with cover provided at the top by a low berm. The trenches look to be about ten feet deep near the lower side of the ramp, however it ascends another five closer to the top.
Crouching near the tunnel entrance, Spitter whispers harshly at his Pink-Skin friends.
"I can provide cover again! Like the mist outside! Get ready to follow me and charge their position!"
Once his friends are ready to charge, Spitter will subsume his Produce Flame spell and spontaneously cast his 1st level Domain spell again: Obscuring mist!
Leng nods. "Just give the word," he says, looping out his chain and swinging it in slow, lazy circles.
"Killin babies? Nope, not on my watch."
Pavo, continuing his trend of not thinking, rushed forward without heed. As he approached Spitter, he head the telltale of slings stones echoing off of the tunnel walls in front of them. He raised his shield in front of him and nodded to Spitter.
"Let's do it.
Spitter hisses low.
"Ready? Follow me!"
A cool Mist rises..!
"ACK!!"
"OW! Dragon Poop!!! Go on Pavo..!"
Leng sails across the pits, chain twirling, like he is riding on a cloud.
Maellyra moves to follow the group into the mists but stops short as she hears Spitter misstep and tumble into one of the trenches. Confident in Pavo and Leng's ability to handle a few kobolds without her, the witch takes a moment to stop and try to help Spitter out of the pit. Lowering herself to the ground, Maellyra thrusts her hand out to her scaly companion. "Here, take my hand."
She may not be strong enough to lift him bodily out of the trench, but hopefully she's able to give him enough leverage that he's able to scramble out by himself.
On his next action, Spitter will grab for the pale hand...
And easily sails out of the pit!
A hail of sling stones rains on Pavo's shield, leaving him mostly untouched by the assault. One stone explodes and throws a small shard of rock at Pavo and drawing blood.
Maellyra helps Spitter climb out of the pit and get onto solid ground.
Maellyra rifles through the contents of her cluttered knapsack for a few seconds until her fingers find and close around a cool, glass vial. Once the sound of stones crashing against wood dies down, the witch takes a step out of the safety of the mists before launching her own counterattack; with a careful lob, the vial of greenish goo arcs up toward the line of kobolds.
Despite the fog, Maellyra catches a kobold fanatic in the chest, spraying caustic fluid all over him and his nearby allies. The shock and pain prove too much for the targeted kobold, who drops unconscious.
Leng soars into battle, whipping his chain about in a flurry.
Pavo continued to move up slowly, picking his steps as he went. As Leng moved in for the kill, his chain swinging, Pavo flipped the grip on his trident and hurled it into the ranks of the kobolds.
On his next action, Spitter sets himself for further combat (fighting defensively) and dismisses the mist!
Leng's chain tears into the nearest kobold, dropping him with a nasty blow to the head. He then steps into the next guardian, the one already wounded from an earlier engagement, taking his legs out from under him and sending him spilling into the ditch.
Pavo's trident sails through the air and plunges deep into another guardian's chest, causing him to drop to the ground bleeding.
Both zealots stand their ground and fire their slings at Leng. One sling stone gets through his defenses, but fails to do serious harm.
The nearest one then picks up her spear as the other drops another bullet into the sling.
Green-scaled kobolds are not particularly resistant to corrosive substances. Maellyra files that useful tidbit away for future reference as she ascends the ramp, coming to stop beside Pavo. The baleful glare the witch levels at the first kobold she sees promises a painful demise if she doesn't reconsider her decisions.
The spear-wielding kobold meets Maellyra's gaze with only a minor flinch, emboldened by the Risen God.