“Well that's curious. And maybe good news… Look up there,” she says, indicating a spot in the path ahead . “Hoof prints! Maybe this means some knights made it up here after all.”
Nme'an stoops down to inspect the tracks, looking for anything to back up the Druid's idea that the prints might have come from the Prince's knights.
The accounts Nme’an has heard of kobolds have never included the scaly creature’s use of horses or cavalry. Moreover, the half elves can discern that these hooves were shod with metal, most likely iron, horseshoes. The Knight Apprentice knows all horses of the Dawnflower Order are required to be shoed before riding. He can also see that efforts were made to cover the hoofprints, but the efforts were obviously not thorough. In fact, some of the fallen stones appear to cover more tracks.
The druidess likewise recognises the efforts to conceal the hoofprints. Some of the prints are stamped overtop one another, and given the Sevenstone’s attention to living things and their tendencies, she estimates the gait of horses like Rexel and Drexel with riders. With a tracker’s eye, she pieces together that the hoofprints tell of at least three horses passing this way.
Nme'an looks at the fallen stones, considers moving them, but then decides not to.
Beyond the covered pit trap he already identified, Themp does not notice any other trap triggers up ahead.
Careful to notice if and where the hoof track will cut out, Themp advances, choosing his steps carefully and silently.
Beorae and Shark follow five to ten feet behind Themp as he navigates the path.
The four carefully pick their way through the Blackcrag Pass, with the soft-footed city scoundrel in the lead. Looking over every corner and crack, his suspicious nature guides him and his companions through the cliff-walled ravine. Thankfully, the druidess follows closely behind, and helps the thief find the disguised covers of two more pit traps, which the four warily pass alongside to safety. A long walk after the second pit, Themp notices a tripwire spanning the gap between the two mountains. He traces it up to a side of the cliff obscured by shadow and hardy shrubs, to find an array of crossbows pointed at the vicinity of the where the trigger wire lay. As soon as he comprehends the function, the crafty city man sets to disabling the murderous devices. He expertly ties off the tripwire at a relay, allowing his companions to continue without fear of a bolt volley.
By this time, two hours pass, and the four are able to cover the distance of one mile. The big grey cat follows Beorae’s heels, his wide paws softly padding on the dry ground. The captured kobold remains unconscious on Mot’s shoulders, and indeed the big man occasionally forgets he is carrying a captive until the scaly body slides off a shoulder. The Knight Apprentice brings up the rear, watching their backs for any ambush. So far, there is nothing to raise alarm.
An unexpected twang rings out over the quiet movement of the four, and all eyes turn to Themp, who looks down in shock at an unseen trigger line released by his foot. Just as suddenly, the wall to their right crumbles away! A roaring avalanche of tumbling rock pours onto the four as they attempt to dive out of the way.
The wave of rocks settle, covering the ravine floor. Dry dust hangs thick in the air, but a large dark hole can be seen in the cliffside, once covered by the false rock wall.
Nme'an hears a sharp, heavy crack... rock crushing against rock... as the trap's primary support mechanism breaks free. A dozen or perhaps a dozen dozen thoughts flash through his mind in the brief seconds it takes for the deafening hoard of boulders to reach him.
Shout a warning? Not enough time! Push one of the others out of the way? Which one? No, they're all too far! Run? Never!
One thought though wins out above the jumble of others: Shield!
The knight moves back south, the way the group came, as he orients himself to the incoming danger. Then, acting quickly, he raises his sturdy shield with barely a moment to spare. The wave of heavy rocks sweep over him, knocking him to the ground. The roar of the avalanche subsides until the final pebbles end their energetic journeys leaving the canyon deathly silent. Then, a moment later, there is movement! Nme'an pushes stones aside and struggles to his feat. The trap has left him injured, but his quick reaction along with his heavy armor may have just saved his life!
"อึ!", exclaims Themp as the false wall crumbles toward him.
In a moment of thoughtlessness, Themp dives north, away from the crumbling stones, miraculously unscathed. Quickly springing back up on his feet, Themp checks back for his companions and any other nasty surprise that might still be around.
The druidess attempts to raise her shield against the tumbling rock as she and Shark dive out of the way . The roar of rock becomes louder and the ground rumbles beneath their feet, shaking as if it had a mind of its own. The chaos overwhelms for a moment until Beorae feels something hit her in the head. She stumbles forward—or is the ground stumbling up to me?—as the world dips to blackness.
The Casns snarls as the stones tumble forward. With one hand he tosses the limp kobold by the scaly nape of the neck behind him. The reptilian body bounces against a boulder a short distance away. He pivots and his powerful legs push him south with a great leap, as rocks pummel his meaty shoulders and back.
As the rock slide diminishes to silence, he winces and circles his thick arms to alleviate the bruising on his back. Blood is scarcely discernible through his wild head of hair, until it runs down an ear and the side of his neck. He casts about, peering through the dust, until he sees the druidess, unmoving and mostly buried in the fallen stone.
“Och, lass!” the highlander vaults over rocky terrain with haphazard steps, as the stones shift unexpectedly under his weight. Stooping over the unconscious half-elf, the big man begins wildly tossing rocks out of the way.
The dust slowly begins to clear, and the others can see Shark reappear from around a boulder and limp toward Beorae, nudging her face with his nose. The only sound in the quiet canyon is Mot’s frantic tossing of stones.
That is, until another sound interrupts the silence. A chorus of yips and howls echo from the gaping hole in the cliff, and the noise grows closer with every second. The Knight Apprentice recognises the pitch of kobold voices, and Themp’s attentive ears pick out at least four on the approach, and no more than seven. By his guess, the Thaleniel champions have only moments before the voices reach the opening in the rock.
Hearing the oncoming throng of kobolds, Shark turns toward the hole in the wall, readying for combat.
At the sound of the kobold, Themp scurries his pack for the magic healing potion.
I'd rather not have you under those rocks when the beasts arrive, Freckles
"Big man, help me hold her head steady", he says while he uncorks the vial. With great care not to miss a drop, Themp splashes the potion down her mouth.
Satisfied with the colors now returning to the half-elf's cheeks, Themp turns his other companions.
"Mot, Nme'an", he beckons, raising his voice so the paladin can also hear him, "I hear at least four of these small creatures coming through the hole. Ready yourselves."
Nme'an sees Themp and Mot tending to Beorae. Relieved that she survived he begins picking his way across the now almost impassable rocky terrain, drawing his sword as he goes. There isn't enough time for him to reach his fellow Half-Elf as the Kobold seem to be just out of sight, but he manages to close the distance with Shark. Concentrating, Nme'an first heals himself then reaches out and does the same for the tiger.
Having done all he can at the moment, Nme'an turns to face the approaching threat.
Beorae's eyes flick open and adjust to the brightness of the day amidst the settling dust. She sees Themp and Mot peering down at her, scrambling through rocks.
“Wha… happ…?,” she tries to ask, but she's cut off by the howl of oncoming kobolds and her eyes snap open as she recognizes the sound.
“Och-aye! Yoo jahonnyup raght qweck t’lixer!” Mot cheers, slapping a meaty palm on Themp’s shoulder after the thief administers the curative concoction.
At the city man’s warning, he nods gravely. His long muscular arms pull the greatsword loose from its scabbard, and he takes wide, unbalanced strides between Themp and Nme’an, passing them and stopping a short distance ahead. At the mouth of the great opening, he plants the point of his sword in the rubble, directly at his center, and waits for the kobolds to appear.
Six kobolds stream in from two small tunnels at the back of the wide shallow cave; three brandishing spears file out to the front, and two behind enter with slings already spinning. The sixth does not wear the leather armor like the five before him, rather, several necklaces adorned with bones, feathers, and glittering precious metals rattle as he enters behind the slingers. His face forms what could only be a sneer, and barks a command, gesturing at the humans and half-elves. He then begins to weave arcane sigils in the air, followed by “Seyvuz!” and a gesture at the towering highlander. The two whirling slings release their shots at the most imposing of the four.
Mot’s blade clangs as the shot aimed at him glances off his runic steel. The knight feels a solid impact on his banded mail, though he knows it will do little more than bruise.
The three kobolds in the front cry out in their strange tongue, shaking their spears and daring the tall folk to attack.
The highlander’s eager grin to cut down the scaly fiends relaxes to a placid, slack-jawed expression. His large eyes blink rapidly as though something is in his eyes. He mumbles vaguely about a “...cally breek…” and very uncharacteristically fails to throw himself at the enemy. His bulky form remains in place while his expression looks as though he is attempting complex, or perhaps not so complex, mathematics inside his large cranium.
Nme'an grumbles at Mot for abandoning his helpful task of unburying Beorae and moves to take the big man's place. Momentarily setting down his sword and shield he removes most of the rocks pinning the Druidess leaving only one last one for her to pull herself free of.
"Wale walio na slings ni karibu tayari," he warns her. "Kukaa chini mpaka wao mashambulizi."
"The ones with slings are nearly ready," he warns her. "Stay low until they attack."
Beorae slowly nods in understanding. Flicking her eyes to the kobolds, she immediately recognizes the spell cast on Mot. Pushing the last rock away from her body frees her to move, but she doesn't stand up. Instead, she flicks her wrist and mutters a quick “Ignis”, conjuring flame once again, but holding it low so as to not attract attention. She then directs Shark to stand between Themp and the kobolds.
Back in the city streets, Themp quickly learned that a swift jab at a leader's chin usually knocked him or her out quickly, before his/her thugs could get overly excited and mug the scoundrel. That seemingly unrelated piece of street knowledge flashed in his mind as he picked his bow and aimed at the jewelry-toting kobold.
The arrows shoots through the air...
Themp’s shot clatters against stone, and the leader flinches in surprise. However, the magical words uttered by Beorae immediately catches the leader’s attention. His claws unbutton a belt pouch, and he palms a glass vial filled with orange-red fluid. He rears back and hurtles the flask in her direction.
But throw falls laughably short. The flask hits the stone and explodes with liquid fire, some of which burns Mot’s shins and knees, as well as singeing one the foremost kobolds. The blast quickly dissipates, and the leader barks out two orders.
The slings are loaded and loosed again; one bounces against Mot’s torso, and the other whizzes past Shark’s side. The three spears charge in, or try to, once the kobolds scamper over the uneven terrain. They swarm the towering highlander, taking advantage of the spell he is under.
Three spear shafts strike Mot’s muscular legs in an attempt to bring him low, but they do little more than to startle him free of his enchantment.
Curses!
Still staying between the prone druid and the kobold, Themp lets loose another arrow towards the supposed leader.
The arrow finds its mark between bones in the shawl, and the leader yelps in pain and clutches his chest where the arrowhead entered. But he does not fall so easily.
The druidess pulls herself up quickly, the urgency of the situation overriding the throbbing pain in her head and bitter taste of blood and healing potion lingering in her mouth. She takes aim at the kobold in the back who cast the spell and launches a fireball toward him.
At the same time, Shark sidesteps toward the closest kobold and lashes out with claw and tooth.
With Beorae freed, Nme'an turns his attention back to the Kobold threat. For a moment the knight apprentice hesitates, even the closest Kobold are too far to get to what with the scattered boulders and his sword and shield on the ground, but then he hears the distant leader's yelp as Themp's second arrow strikes true.
"Nice shot!" Nme'an says as he readies his own bow. He takes aim at the magic wielding leader, says a quick silent prayer his scaly foe, and then lets loose an arrow of his own.
for
The cords in his Urlghain forearms tighten as the Casns brings up the mighty blade.
In one sweeping motion, he lops off the head of the foe at his side, turning a mean eye to the kobold beside the headless one.
The kobold leader dodges Beorae’s fireball, and it explodes on the stone behind him. As he recovers, Nme’an’s arrow bounces off his exposed scales, causing a brief, magical shimmer at the point of impact.
The sorcerous kobold has Mage Armor active on his person. It is unclear when the spell was cast, presumably before the battle began.
The kobold mage weaves his claws and shrieks “Karon!” and again gestures to the highlander. A thick, oily coating begins to ooze down the greatsword that rises to end another kobold life.
After a command, the two slingers aim their shots at the city thief.
One of the bullets hits Themp square in the chest, while the other hits the stone behind him.
The two remaining kobolds make a coordinated effort; one swings his spear shaft behind an Urlghain knee while the other drives his crude spearhead into Mot’s thigh.
The maneuver knocks the big man onto his back with a thud, and the kobold spearhead punctures his hairy leg and comes away bloody.
Seeing the grease coalesce on his sword, his thick fingers tighten and the highlander does not lose his grip.
“Och!” he says in surprise as he falls, not wasting a moment to sit up and deliver a wild horizontal slice.
But the two kobolds leap out of the way of the savage attack.
Nme'an smoothly draws another arrow and fires again at the leader.
for
The arrow hits a handsbreadth from Themp’s and the kobold leader falls to the ground, either dead or at death's door.
The druidess quirks her eye as she sees the shimmering around the caster. “bila shaka…,” she whispers under her breath. She starts to take aim at the leader, but Nme'an's arrow strikes true just before she throws. Changing targets, Beorae flings her final fireball at the kobold in front of the caster before drawing the wand of healing.
Shark lashes out at the kobold closest to him
Beorae’s fireball explodes over the chest of the kobold slinger, and the scaly warrior staggers back, wavering on his two feet. Meanwhile, the druidess’ tiger companion tears a kobold to shreds with tooth and claw.
Surprised at Nme'an's markmanship, Themp can't help but celebrate the shot out loud.
"Way to go, Shiny Pants!"
Taking careful aim at one of the slingers that is harassing him, Themp lets loose another arrow, hopeful that the distance does not throw his aim off.
The wavering kobold flinches out of the path of Themp’s arrow at the last second, and woozily reloads his sling.
The other slinger calls to the others, stooping over the leader’s body and pulling a potion from the leader’s belt. Unstopping the potion, the slinger pours it down the leader’s open mouth.
The remaining spear-wielder shuffles back onto solid ground, raising the point and ready against any that might approach as he takes a defensive position in front of the two slingers.
The leader’s eyes flutter open, and the mage rises to his feet, and quickly assessing the situation, begins weaving a spell once again. “Karon!”
A large puddle of grease rises up between the rocks beyond the cave mouth, threatening the sure feet of Shark and Mot.
Mot slashes at the retreating kobold.
Too eager to take advantage of the kobold’s lapse in defense, the highlander’s sword slips out of his hands mid-swing, splashing into the pool of thick oil that rises around him.
Grunting in frustration, he rolls to his feet and tries to move out of slick area, closing the distance to the defensive kobolds and unhooking the flail from his belt along the way. The kobold spear moves to stab him but he slaps it away with a meaty palm.
"Oh no you don't!", whispers Themp as he takes aim at the freshly-revived leader.
Seeing that the space around the big man is getting too crowded for more arrows, Nme'an retrieves his shield and sword then picks his way forward through the fallen rocks heading slightly south so as to avoid the grease spill.
Beorae moves up to the edge of the grease pool to get a better view and once again begins muttering a druidic incantation.
The grey tiger growls as grease appears at his paws, but he doesn't lose a step on his way to the next kobold in his path .
The human archer misses his shot, and while the big grey cat crosses the pool of grease with no difficulty, the kobold is too wary of his fearsome fangs.
The kobold leader calls out a few orders in their archaic tongue, and his followers are quick to act. One stabs at Shark with his spear, while the comrade behind him spins his sling and whips it at the towering highlander.
The slinger that revived the leader backpedals away from Mot, loading his sling and likewise firing at the highlander.
The bullet bounces harmlessly off Mot’s chain shirt. The leader takes a bold step through the opening, directly in front of the Casns warrior, with his claws outstretched. “Yol spiir!”
A fifteen foot cone of fire erupts from the leader’s claws, spraying over Mot, Shark, and Nme’an. Strangely, the pool of grease does not ignite.
This spell the kobold cast is called Burning Hands. Also, it appears that the magical grease conjured by the Grease spell is inflammable.
The flailhead whips across too high.
Still recovering from the errant swing, the big man bears the brunt of the fiery blast. With charred skin and smoking clothes, the great warrior’s blood boils over and taking the flail handle into two hands, turns a berserker rage against the diminutive lizard mage before him.
The flail comes down hard and crushes the leader’s skull, with enough force to whip the rest of the kobold’s body to the ground. A pink mist floats above the point of impact as Mot turns wild eyes to another red scaled foe, bloody flail already spinning again.
_____
As if from nowhere, Beorae's eagle appears in the cave behind the kobolds , talons and beak flailing at the closest target it can find .
At the same time, Shark attacks again , fur smoldering, pushing the kobold back against his comrade with vicious intent.
The druidess steps forward onto the grease slick. Reaching a hand out, her fingers grasp the singed hair of the tiger and she channels some healing energies from the wand into her companion.
Nme'an, on instinct, recognizes the beginnings of the flame spell that was used on him two nights before. He moves early to shield himself, but the lower edge of his shield briefly catches on a rock, leaving him exposed to the scolding flames.
Pushing through the flames, Nme'an finally moves clear of the rocks and is able to strike at the furthest Kobold.
for
The eagle friend of the druidess finishes off the badly burned kobold, and scratches and gouges the last slinger left of the kobold troop. Shark snaps and claws at his foe, managing to slash deep across the lizard’s chest. The spear-wielder sees his last kinsman cut down by the paladin’s blade and looks with frantic eyes to the small opening at the back of the cave.
Eyes focused on the closest kobold, Themp doesn't even notice the furthest one fall.
He lets loose one last arrow, but his shot flies too high, missing the the kobold's head by not many inches.
Damn it, Themp, get a grip!
The last kobold abandons the fight, fleeing for the small hole in the back of the cave. Shark and Mot see an opening in his defenses, as he tries duck below the eagle and scurry away.
Shark swipes at the kobold as it attempts to flee, but the grease makes for uneven footing and throws off his attack.
The eagle, on the other hand, sees the kobold turn and is ready to attack.
Almost on instinct, the highlander lashes out at the last kobold.
But the dodgy lizardfolk ducks away as he turns to flee. Thankfully, he is stopped at the entrance of the tunnel.