Thunk jerks awake and grabs his club.
Rude.
Then he goes back to sleep
"By the clubbed tail of Karthnakt! It speaks!" It takes a moment for Sees to realize she did not mean for the others to see her practicing. If the face is reactive to such things, the soft-skinned visage blushes. Sees slips back into the human affected undercommon dialect she was practicing with. "If yae could keep tha conversin' to a low roar, I'm tryn'na git some work done, and I cannae do it in such a din." Pausing, she though that perhaps the accent sounded a bit dwarvish in practice. With a thoughtfull scowl, she returned to her alcove to continue practicing in the mirror.
Smoog finally realizes nobody is listening to his elaborate explanations of folded space and time bubbles so he stops talking.
-
Shrugging, he looks around and sees Sees seeing Not-Sees. Remembering the illusion-generating hat she found, Smoog rummages around for the pocket watch he found.
He checks the red indicator dot to be sure they are still heading mostly towards their goal.
The Grippli is guiding you in good faith, Smoog. Your portrait of the hated dragonborn winks up at you cheekily, and the end of the frame pointing toward Bastion is still flared an angry red in the approximate direction the serpent is traveling.
"We're nearing the end of the swamps," the frog-man comments, glancing toward the swamp serpent's lips. As if in answer, the serpent rumbles again in it's deafening voice all around you. Pork recognizes the intent of the sound to mean, "I LEAVE YOU HERE. FAREWELL." To everyone else, it's unintelligible vocalizations that sound somewhere between a whale and a snake.
The mouth opens and you all are immediately violently dislodged from your perches by the majestic creature's powerful gagging instinct. You're dumped unceremoniously on a small peninsula of dry land that extends out into the swamp. You may roll defy danger dexterity to keep your dignity, but the worst thing that Will happen on a fail is that you land on your face. Beyond are the Corruptor's Wastes, which take about 3-4 days of travel, before the city of Bastion.
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CON
Thunk finds himself flying through the air and instead of trying to roll he straightens like a pike and spears himself into the land and finds his head buried
Fully distracted by his conversation with "Gorlaug," Hegh fails to realize the serpent is stopping and tumbles out of the mouth, looking somewhat like a snowball rolling down a hill.
Undamaged by his roll, he stands, makes sure that he has his sword, and drops into a ready stance.
Sees manages to land in one piece flat on her rump. Flinging the clinging mucus from her limbs, she returns her headdress to its correct position, reversing the bowler and ending the illusion. From her position in the mud, she tries to get a grasp of the lay of the land.
What here is useful or valuable to me?
The gadget-toting bluescale tumbles out of "Wormy" (Smoog's new pet name for the beast).
-
With a quick little roll Smoog manages to land on his feet and begins walking towards Bastion.
-
"Farewell! Thanks for the ride." he calls over his shoulder, already preoccupied with orienting his watch-compass and munching on a roll of trailtack.
Flung adroitly tucks into a ball, executes a roll and comes up in the ready position.
"Hegh... if you and your Shieldbearer keep an eye out on the left flank, I will take the right. You others... be alert. We don't know what's out here!" Flung calls out to the other kobalds with him.
Hegh and Shieldbearer immediately take the left flank.
Sees-death, while scouring the muddy horizon for valuables, passes Thunk's body jutting petulantly from the mud and attempts to push him upright. Instead, she bounces off and lands back-first in the mud herself.
Hegh watches Sees try to help Thunk and after a moment he begins laughing. As Hegh's laughter intensifies, Shieldbearer joins in, and soon all thought of protecting the flank disappears as the two kobolds take turns impersonating Sees.
Showing the natural grace of the kobold race, Grick tucks into a tumbling position as he is launched from the huge worm and upon landing turns the tumble into a smooth motion that results in him ending up on his feet.
Grick's mouth opens and he silently snickers at Thunk's landing. His tribe must not have taught tumbling.
Mik-Mik walks out of the gordumrunra last, having clung to one of the beast's teeth during the gagging reflex. With a keening croak coming deep down in his throat, the Grippli calls out. Around a dozen Grippli emerge from behind a wooden structure that has been built on the peninsula. Six of them bear another Grippli that has been...staked through, with a sharpened spear nearly ten feet long and thick in width. The staked Grippli has been gagged and is screaming against the gag near-constantly, his blood coating the stake. The huge wooden sacrificial beam is the only thing keeping the Grippli alive, seemingly - otherwise, he would surely have bled out by now...
The Grippli bear their kicking burden to the edge of the shore, where the hungry gordumrunra awaits, positively licking its enormous chops. Even with many of its saliva glands removed, the creature manages to drool in anticipation.
The Grippli tribe, with Mik-Mik looking on, bear their grim offering to the edge of the shore. The stake that has been driven through the Grippli sacrifice is driven into the shore grounds, and the gordumrunra slinks back beneath the surface of the waters of the swamp. Impossibly, its huge bulk is masked in the relatively shallow water.
A few tense moments go by. The Grippli are all staring stoically at the sacrifice, who is still kicking and screaming on the sacrifice spear.
Hegh watches the frog men with growing disdain. He turns to Flung, Can we kill these frogs yet?
"You wanted fast passage to the edge of the swamplands. You got it. The gordunrumra's services require regular...appeasement. You had your dragon. We have them." Mik-Mik's tone is slightly bitter as he regards the hapless victim on the spear.
Did it ever occur to you that the beast might know you plan to leave the swamp now that it's doomed? Why would it stop at devouring one helpless grippli when you've so graciously offered a baker's dozen? Pork, you'll probably want to figure out a reason for it not to eat us as well. You can manage that, right? I'm right here if you find yourself lacking.
Hegh watches the frog men with growing disdain. He turns to Flung, Can we kill these frogs yet?
"Why bother? They are beneath us" Flung replies with contempt, spitting on the ground. "I, for one, thirst for vengeance against those that slew the Great Gorlaug!" he exclaims vehemently.
Addressing Sees-Death, who was looking at the Corruptor's Wastes "Do you know the way to get through here, unseen?"
Mik-Mik doesn't look at Sees when he responds. "Our tribe has history with the serpent. There is an understanding between us. It will be able to take care of itself once it has claimed the sacrifice, like it always has." The Grippli doesn't flinch when the great serpent rears out of the swampwater in a sudden strike to snatch the Grippli victim from its perch. The Grippli, the spear, and the predator vanish under the swampy water, frog blood rising to the surface.
"The sacrifice is over, our payment rendered. Our debt is clean. We part ways now," Mik-Mik says, as the other Grippli rally behind him. Behind him, the volcano that was Moontower Mountain is barely recognizable; the caldera has expanded dramatically, and continues to belch fire into the sky. The frog chieftain lifts up his hood and gestures to his posse, and they begin traveling south without another word.
Sees-Death points to the deeper waters of the river as they pass out of the swamp and toward the walls of Bastion. "The walls should have two weaknesses besides the portculli: the water inlet and the sewage outlet. If they have any filtration system at all, and I'd wager they do, we don't want to try the inlet. We can follow the river, a route which would be hard to lose our way on, but an obvious one. The wastes are flat and mostly lifeless. There won't be much cover. Also, we are running low on rations, so anything more complex than the direct route might find us scavenging for meals." Sees stifles a yawn, "On the bright side, by morning the city will be in a panic from the eruption and won't be watching the walls to keep things out. They will be too busy trying to enforce order and either shoring up their walls, or evacuating."
Sees pauses and glances back to the grippli, "On the other hand, if we had a boat, maybe a slick, leather-skinned frame of sticks, we could ride the river and save ourselves the possibility of starvation. I feel nothing for these folk." Sees stresses the echo of Mik-Mik's words.
The sky is beginning to visibly darken from the ash being thrown into the sky from Moontower Mountain's fiery demise. Blackness coats the sky like a spilled ink container on a table, originating from the Mountain.
Kobolds made the journey across the Corruptor's Wastes without fear in years past. Their mission of collecting tribute was so important to the Great One that there were a few times where he actually intervened to protect the caravan of his goods. He flew off with the caravans themselves after he saved them, of course, but the legends of his arrival cowed the locals into submission to the kobold tribe.
You obviously no longer enjoy Gorlaug's godlike protection, but you know that the road is easy to travel for the most part. Spirits willing, your journey this time will be as uneventful.
Let's see three Perilous Journey rolls, to get to the halfway point of the Wastes, Felix's Flophouses. One of the few halfway civilized points in the entire wasteland between Bastion and Moontower Mountain, the Flophouses are a group of buildings that sprang up around an oasis in the badlands. It's neutral, accepting monstrous races and adventuring types alike, and Felix enforces peace on his property between all tenants. For the most part, anyway.
THAT IS OF COURSE...unless you have unfinished business in this area that you want to finish first? *glances at Sees-Death*?
Thunk pulls his head out of the mud, just in time to see the devouring.
Seeing no one doing anything worthy of a good smash, he shakes off what mud he can and looks to Sees and Flung
Which way go so Thunk thump?
Relying on his goggles and compass Smoog plots a course to the Flophouse...
-
-
Keeping an eye out for trouble, Fssst scans the horizon...
During the travel, Hegh and Shieldbearer keep a close eye on the left flank.
Sees slaps a bit of trail jerky out of Pork's claw. "We're keeping to the scedule this time!"
On the way to Felix’s Smoog summarizes their predicament…
-
”People at large that we are set on finding and vanquishing are as follows…
Their Leader, a Redscaled Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut
Twinkletoes a Faerie Trickster Mage
a Human Dread necromancer
a Dwarf Barbarian Lord of Fists and teeth
an Elven Archwizard of Acidic Blasting Magic
and a Halfling High Druid of Nature Magic with Animal Allies
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Bolgir might still be aiding or allied with them.
-
Since Gorlaug is, was...IS the most powerful being we know and these six (o r seven) defeated him without taking casualties how are we to proceed?
-
One by one of course, but which one to start with?
I know we need to find them first and hope they are not all together but then?
Any suggestions; requests?.
"They are an adventuring party. If they are still working together, which is likely, we will need to give them a reason to split up. If they have split up, the dragonborn we can find anytime, so we could leave him for last. Our first move against them must be to gather information. We must secure them within our claws before they squirm away. Seeding descent among them should divide them. The paladin will be headed for another dragon. If we can find something sacred or precious to one of the others, we can pull them from the party with a side quest. Paladins are notoriously singleminded."
Hearing Smoog's recap, Flung recalls Groglauk, his battlemaster, discussing with the warclan's leaders his planns to get rid of the Dwarf barbarian before the attack on their home.
Something about where the dwarf would be in the near future... They were planning an ambush... Now if I can only remember what they said...
#$@&^$#!
I've got nothing!
m*!#&@%u(%&r
The others see Flung hitting himself in the head several times with his fist, shaking his head cursing under his breath to himself.
"I agree, Sees. We also need to do all this without alerting them to our presence or intent.
If their deaths look accidental, we can remain hidden and act from our Kobold strengths, Guile and Subterfuge!
-
Maybe we can poison one...
Or get one falsely imprisoned...
Murdered by pirates is good...
-
But yes, separate the weak from the herd and pick them off one by one.'
"The dragonling pretender dies last, when his world and life are in ruins. I care not about the others."
While Flung wracks his memory for what his battlemaster's tactics had been, your attention wanders and you don't pay proper attention to where you're walking. Your foot falls into a snake-hole in the wastes that is currently unoccupied, blessedly...but when you fall and crack your head on the ground, it reminds you of something!
A memory, previously buried in the trauma of losing everything, resurfaces suddenly. You flash back to moments after Gorlaug's dreadful last moment, when his head was finally sundered from his neck. You had been there. You had been trying to help, but you were too weak to really interfere much at the time. You had been pinned by the legless corpse of one of your kobold friends, that had been resurrected by the necromancer adventurer and used against your clan. It was trying to eat you, and had you by the ankle, so you were distracted with trying to destroy his skull and free yourself. As the adventurers made their escape, you could only listen with impotent rage as their triumphant voices talked of what would happen next. Their joyous voices rang in the halls that were formerly Kobold-homes.
You remember now...they spoke of a spell, a mighty effort of a cabal of freakish priests and priestesses, that was putting the entire city of Bastion in phase. You recall that damned illusion mage faerie, Twinkletoes, crowing about how the eruption of "this foul wyrm's mountain" won't affect the inhabitants of the town in the slightest! Furthermore, that means the adventurers knew what would happen after Gorlaug died...which was information only high-up scalykind and dragons knew.
Fortunately, it matters little to the immediate situation how distracted Flung is with his revelations. After helping him up again, the intrepid band of scaly kobolds resume trekking across the vast Wastes of the Corruptor.
The road was familiar and yet strange to every kobold walking it that had seen it before. Gorlaug's absence cast its shadow here as well.
Smoog doesn't account for all of the effects that surface terrain would have on his normally-subterranean goggles, so they lose a bit of time by deviating from the normal road. But, it turns out to be a good thing. [i]While Fsst was scouting for danger, he nearly stumbled upon danger himself. Hegh was there by his side instantly, having seen the threat - a hunting hellhound, domesticated, with a rough leather collar around both necks - that was sniffing around the area. Hegh and his little runty helper, Shieldbearer, get Fsst to a safe vantage point. Working together, the three kobolds were able to kill and eat the thing before it even knew they were there. Hellhounds have legendary senses, but kobolds are notoriously quiet and work well together in small groups. You're able to bring back enough Hellhound meat for everyone in the group to enjoy, everyone can add 1 Ration to their supplies in meat. Delicious.
You also have a hellhound collar now, made of leather. It's sturdy, well-made, but otherwise unremarkable.
"We could always track down their families and homes to destroy them first. That would keep us out of their direct retaliation. The families would certainly be a source of information if we could find them. Of course, that is assuming they have any family. Most of these adventuring types have already lost their families... I guess we fit that description now. Unless my mother is still shoveling detritus somewhere in the pits of the mountain. It would be just like her to treat a volcanic eruption as nothing more than an especially dirty stoop." Sees slaps another bit of food out of Pork's hand, then looks around to see that they are all sitting down for a meal. She picks the dried rat off the floor, brushes the dirt off of it, and hands it back to Pork. "I've always assumed your mother was a hedgeboar, Pork. What was your family like anyway?"
Thunk is lost in thought.
Strange to find myself closer than ever to these villains. Deep down I assumed that I would find them and go to my death, but now, now there is a chance. If we are smart we can destroy them. I believe that we need to take some time and figure out how exactly we are going to find these warriors. After all they have slain two dragons, everyone must know, so kobolds snooping about will draw suspicion.
Thunk think there be chance now. Thunk want know how find long legs and long legs not know. Thunk think need better plan.
"Yesssss," Grick says in a sibilant tone, "let's strike at their families...They took away our great God and now we take away their families."
Hegh points to Sees. Can you pretend to be a long leg and ask after these heroes? Perhaps they might fall for your wiles where the frog did not.
"With the Human Hat and one of you to carry me on your shoulders, I believe I can pass for a human refugee. I do not think the disguise will suit the use of 'wiles' as you put them. Without weeks of practice, our unnatural movements will mark us an invalid at best. We should be able to pass casual scrutiny and converse with any humans in the flophouse or Bastion. You'll forgive me if I wish to avoid immediate contact with the adventurers themselves. Twinkletoes especially may be able to see past the illusion. I can ask about anything the rest of you can think of. I was going to begin casually, mentioning the adventurers and letting those around me offer details unbidden." Sees catches herself about to slap the same rat out of Pork's claw again and instead reaches back to scratch her head.
I am tall and strong. Gorlaug wills that I carry you.
Looking at the flophouse just over the next rise, Sees sighes. Without further hesitation, she pulls off her headdress and sets the hat correctly on her head. Sees then pulls the tent cover from her pack to use as a rough robe and uses her tail to pull the front her skirts back between her legs. As she approaches Hegh, she gestures to Flung. "You've got some sticks, hand me that long non-pointy one so I can keep myself stable."
"Hah! That's a good one!" Flung replies to Sees-Death's demand.
"You've got an interesting sense of humor. First you make googly-eyes at the frog and now you want one of my weapons?" Flung asks incredulously. "I don't think so! Maybe Smoog can whip up some sort of contraption for you." he mutters and turns to leave while shaking his head.
Approaching Thunk, Flung sits down next to him, chewing on some juicy hell hound morsels. Offering a bite to Thunk he says "Can you believe the nerve of her? Asking me for one of my weapons?"
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Smoog uses the hellhound collar and the birdcage he found to cobble together a 'seat' that Sees can use to ride on Hegh.
It will more or less let them move as one and she can use her feet to guide him around.
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=
"If it's such a great weapon, why isn't it pointy? Using it as a cane would be the first good use we'd get out of it." Hiking up her skirts, Sees mutters curses and something that sounds like it might have been "ebon splinter indeed!"
Smoog also offers Sees/Hegh a suitably gnarly branch from a nearby tree to use as a walking staff.
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"Maybe you should pretend to be lame to explain your awkward movements as a 'stacked deck'.
You should probably shuffle when you walk.
Remember, the rest of us will be in hiding nearby as your ace up the sleeve
So get out there and deal with it.".
-
Smoog just cannot hold back his mirth and giggles.
Hegh wraps his whiplike tail around himself and binds it tight, and kneels so that Smoog can affix his ... saddle?
Gorlaug wills that I go where you lead. He helps Sees mount him, wraps her tail around him tightly, and grabs her legs beneath the robes.
This is going to work. I feel really positive about this plan!