Yeah, that's right you kobolds, watch yourselves!
There is nothing to be lost by being polite
Oops, thought we were going the stern warning route. I should learn some more lang...
Big Head starts chuckling.
I was sure I could get through that sentence with a straight face.
Prof. One-Fang snorts at Big Head's joke, seriously trying not to burst out laughing again.
You make good deal. You teach big monkeys speak proper language like kobolds! We seal deal Grayscale way!
The kobold fishes out a radish from a basket and hands it to Berrik.
You eat radish, we eat something of yours. This make good truce.
DraconicYes, noble truce indeed
Berrik takes out a Meat ration and trades. He then eats the Radish.
Wonderful
Berrik hopes he won't get sick.
As you eat a radish you first get the mild taste of almost a turnip - then a hideous fire spreads through your mouth and the spiciness of the moonturnip is overwhelming. You have a desire to drink lots of water, or beer, or milk or anything to stop the spicy radish from scorching your tongue any further.
The kobold nods approvingly as Berrik eats the whole radish and eats the meat ration - his teeth tear into the jerky.
The kobold pulls out a small fang on a cord and hands it over to Berrik.
Is token of tribe. You tell kobolds we got truce. May not work south, they big dummies. Don't like radish.
The other kobolds count the radish leaves poking out of the soil quickly then pick up their baskets and leave, emitting a rhythmic hissing and roaring you realize is kobold singing.
Bow deeply, but also do my best to memorize the tune. I am a Bard after all.
I accept this token
to the party THis will work with the Greyscales, but maybe not southern tribe. They do not, apparentlly, like Radishis
It would seem that radish had quite a bite. Would you want any water, Berrik? Perhaps the professor would want some to alleviate his respiratory issues as well...
This was whic hex we were just it?
"Let's go east from here, shall we? Let's put some distance from here so I can laugh without causing diplomatic issues." He snicker-snorts.
Once the party is well out of range of the little band of Kobolds, the Prof. buckles over in a paroxysm of laughter.
Yes.
"East is fine with me - and let us hope all of our encounters could be resolved so swiftly. Would that bandits would renounce their ways for the safety of their root vegetables."
Berrik bows before remounting. I am working on the tale already! Facing down a dozen of the Kobalds was quite a feat!
The morning before you leave the forest you find your boots filled with pine needles.
As you thunder across the plains out of the forest, leaving the Grayscales behind, you see the sunlight hit the grasslands.
As the day stretches on and the sun begins to set you come across a field of bones.
These bones could be anything Berrik - you're pretty sure that skull with antlers comes from a dragon.
You do see what looks like a crevice in the middle of the bone field however.
I have no idea what these bones are, but what do y'all think is going on with that hole? The one in the middle of the bones?
Back up away from the hole, gingerly, and draw my sword.
You're still a ways away from the hole unless you wanted to enter the bone field.
"I daresay if we must deal with dragons, I would rather they be the size of our new scaled friends. I am not sure I want to know what lies inside that hole."
Dom sees the crevice as well and notices something...lurking in there. The field is littered with skeletons from boars, deer, bears and a few humans. After some thinking you believe the crevice holds one of the menaces of the Stolen Lands - a giant trapdoor spider.
Sooo, if we're the only living things around here, that means we're winning, right?
I guess we need to clear this beast. How to get it out without getting attacked though? Are the bones arrayed as trigger points? Can we trigger the beast out and then pounce?
Is the hole close enough to toss a lit torch in there?
I'm assuming you're outside the bonefield on the premise that no one enters a bonefield for no good reason. So you're 100 feet away. You could try lighting a fire arrow?
Raising his finger and smiling, Dom declares, "You will note that there are no Halfling skeletons down there."
"In seriousness, I could perhaps light an arrow and fire it into the hole. Maybe that would flush it out without us venturing too close...and of course I would defer to those of you who may be better shots."
Go for it!
Given the size of the opening I think AC 15 is your "target" number.
"I appreciate the encouragement, Berrik. Let us hope this shot is something worthy of one of your tales."
Dom whispers a quick prayer to Erastil while preparing his arrow. Please guide this arrow, Old Deadeye, and protect us as we endeavor to make these lands safe.
The arrow flies astray but the crevice seems to grow smaller as the arrow whizzes past.
Say, those things can change size?
Is this the worm trophy Oleg wanted? If not, I'm starting to wonder what's in it for us to flush it out and kill it.
"Friends, it appears my shot did not have the desired effect, and may indeed have made matters worse. If we have no other ideas, might we just need to gird ourselves for battle and march ahead?"
Or not? I don't know what this creature is, apart from the fact that it's able to kill people, and creatures mightier and faster than people. Berrik seems to think whatever it is set up a bunch of traps here--what's going on?
I'm from the city, I don't have a lot of experience with 100-foot-radius boneyards, and if I'd seen a skeleton menagerie like this in the city, I think my impulse would be to stay away.
If someone has a plan, I could go along with you, I'm just not expecting whatever snacks on people, bears, deer, and--is that a dragon?--to give us a fair fight.
If you know what it is, let us know
Dom had, apparently incorrectly, assumed that the party was preparing to battle the beast ahead.
"Perhaps in the future, if we are unwilling to engage with a monstrous creature whose passions we have inflamed, we should refrain from urging the most bite-sized party member from taking shots at it."
"I am fine with moving on...I may boast about the lack of halfling bones, but I do not want to be the first to add mine to the pile."
I have no objections to fighting. Can we expect a fight if we press on though? This boneyard suggests that whatever it is prefers to stay here and doesn't roam freely. Yet we have remains of very swift creatures. It seems this creature has a way of keeping prey from running. There are bears here, but their immense strength did not help them. Does it fasten limbs to the ground? Does it immobilize its prey? Or spit poison?
I'm curious as to what the people here left behind that this creature couldn't digest, but unless I know how they got to be food, I suspect it's only too likely we'll end up among their ranks if we press on without preparation.
We've got a couple outdoorsy types, what is this thing, and what does it do? How do we make it not do that thing long enough to kill it?
OK enough fooling around. We are going to beat this thing, and beat it good.
Begin my buff and advance, slowly, ready to dodge.
Since I now have a longbow, I will also advance with that out and ready to fire. If whatever it is, is fast I am planning on dropping the bow to draw my sword.
I'm with you Berrik, time to eliminate this monster.