Galandram climbs up the rope offered by Cei, thanking each of the party members for their assistance.
After catching his breath at the top of the climb, he looks around briefly. He hears Yngvilda's suggestion of using the ropes to secure passage, and nods his head in agreement.
Hearing her question about leaping the pit, he gives it a dirty look, as if the elf blames the pit for his inability to avoid it earlier. "I think I could make it across, Yngvilda," he says in response to her question.
Galandram takes the rope from the Ulfen woman, then takes a running start and makes a flying leap, trying to clear the pit in a single bound.
Galandram's running start is more difficult than he had first imagined once he starts moving. The stone debris that litters the corridor makes him lose a little speed and as he leaps into the air he begins to get a little worried that he may not have enough speed.
His feet touchdown on the other side as he lands safely.
"Well done!"
Yngvilda climbs down into the pit, then up the new rope to the far side. She reequips her glowing shield and draws her axe, ready to continue leading the group onward. She is limping slightly and not holding her shield quite as high as she was before, but is certainly not complaining about it.
She tries a practice swing with her handaxe, then rolls her shoulder until it cracks.
"I'm ready. Onward!" smiling at the group, her excitement and enthusiasm obvious and infectious.
Coming up on the other side after Yngvilda, Bri walks up to Galandram. ”I am glad you’re safe. And you too Yngvilda. Let us move forward but cautiously, I hope we all make it out alive.”
If the spell ended Bri will put another Light spell on Yngvilda’s shield. ”So you can see my friend”
Pleased that his companions survived their fall into the pit. Eldon quickly follows Yngvilda and Sabrine down the rope into the pit and then up the other side. "On the bright side this should help prevent those sneaky Kobolds rushing up behind us". Settling his pack mor comfortably he looks ahead ready to proceed.
Once everyone has traversed the pit obstacle and made it to the other side, Yngvilda leads them on to the east. A mound of what appears to be rotten vegetables, fruit, and excrement sits heaped in the middle of the room. A bulging leather sack rests atop the mound of garbage. A single forlorn kobold sits in the middle alcove in the northern part of this cave, her arms, legs, and snout tightly bound with rope and her body lashed to iron spikes driven into the cave wall. She squirms and wriggles, against the ropes on her snout so she can talk. "Mmm.Mmhm.mnnhnmm!Mmmmmmmmhmmnhmph!"
"Should we let set it free? It might be grateful and tell us things about the camp, and about this curious mound of garbage."
Yngvilda waits for her more learned allies to decide about the bound kobold, and peers at the mound, and at the bulging sack on top of it. She enters the room to get a better luck, trying not to breathe through her nose near the rubbish
"It seems to be trying to talk to us, we should at least free it's mouth and hear what it has to say". Eldon says following Yngvilda into the room. He looks curiously at the mount of rubbish and the leather sack.
The pile of rubbish stinks terribly, but the leather sack appears to have recently been thrown on top and stands out as separate. As Eldon looks to the sack, the tied up prisoner nods several times and motions towards the sack and then back to itself. "Mm! mm-m-mmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmmm!"
While Galandram and Sabrine collect themselves, Yngvilda will try talking to the Kobold. She's getting a bit frustrated not understanding what's going on all the time so she decides to give this one a chance to talk in common.
She grabs hold of the bag from the top of the pile and looks in it , then looks to the tied up Kobold. Is this yours?
The kobold nods vigorously at the sack, "MMM! MMM! MMM!"
"And if I remove your gag so we can talk, do you promise to keep your voice down and not call in the other kobolds?"
while she's talking she hands the bag over to Eldon or the others for them to have a look at.
She narrows her eyes at him. She's learned that even though she's often confused as to other people's intentions, if she squints and looks thoughtful people often assume she has the slightest idea what's going on. Sometimes anyway.
The kobold continues to nod silently and vigorously, dropping his speech altogether.
She moves closer to the kobold. "Keep your voice down, but who are you and what are you doing tied up by this refuse pile?"
and she pulls the gag out of its snout.
The kobold breathes a deep breath when the gag is cut. "Thank you!" she exhales quickly. [smaller]"My name is Nighttail. I was bound here by the chief of this tribe, left on display so all of the tribe can throw their trash as me. Once the chief tires of these antics ..." her voice trails as she thinks of what likely comes next.
She looks back up at Yngvilda and says excitedly "You have to help me! Please! I need to save the tribe!"
Bri watches Yngvilda ungag the Kobold, This seems to be the right choice, this kobold could be a wonderful tool for us.
Stepping forward Bri bows low before speaking initially in Kobold, ”मैं आपके अन्यायपूर्ण व्यवहार के लिए क्षमा चाहता हूँ। ड्रैगन आपको छुटकारे में मदद कर सकता है”
I apologive for your unjust treatment. May the dragon help you find redemption.
”Nighttail, it is a pleasure to meet you and my associated and I will consider helping you. What did you do to get yourself put here?”
Nighttail smiles when Sabrine speaks her native tongue, but lets a little laugh escape. She pronounces one of the words Sabrine said with a slightly different guttural assertion on the last syllable. "You said 'My dragon and I will consider helping you', I believe you meant my companions?"
Letting the smile fade, she sighs "Chief is sending Blood Vow tribe down wrong path. I expressed reservations about working with wizard and trying to tell people not to listen to the chief, but listen to me instead. This is my reward. Embarrassment, then death."
Eldon takes the sack from Yngvilda upon seeing what is inside and eagerly pulls out the two wands and begins to examine them muttering a quick spell to aid his identification.
He mutters to himself "Hmm, not sure about this one", he places the first wand back in the sack and focuses on the second one. "This one however I think I know what it can do."
"Why didn't you want to work with the wizard? What did they want your tribe to do, and what were you going to get out of it?"
After listening to her response, she continues:
"The town has sent us to move this Kobold group on, by any means necessary" She looks to the others to emphasize the point. "I'm sure we'd all like to find a peaceful solution. Could you help us convince your tribe to leave this place?"
Nightail sighs and shakes her head. "I tried, this is where it got me. As long as the idiot chieftan Roaghaz is around they won't listen to me. If you were to take him away, well, then I'm sure I could relocate the tribe elsewhere. We'd never bother humans ever again."
"Excuse me"
Yngvilda turns to her allies and lowers her voice "This seems like a good arrangement. This Nighttail can take the tribe away, and we just have to take down the chief. I say we free her and ask her to take us to him, she seems to be telling the truth"
Eldon pushes the identified wand into his belt and turns to Yngvilda and the kobold paying more attention now he has finished examining the wands. "Hmm, kill the leader and this kobold will take the rest away? Sounds reasonable as long as we can trust this one.". Eldon turns to face the kobold "Do you know what these wands do? Are they yours?".
"Ok, you can lead the way and I'll be watching you. I'm keeping these wands and I'll use this one on you if you try to betray us."
Nighttail tries to hide her frustration when Eldon shoves her belongings in his belt. "Uhm. Yes, that IS mine. Along with the rest of the items are all mine."
She frowns when Eldon threatens to use her wands on her, but she nods silently as she waits to be freed.
The silence stretches on as the group tries to come to a decision, until almost without realising she's decided, Yngvilda cuts through Nighttail bindings in a quick slice.
She pops her axe back into its loop and offers Nighttail her hand in friendship.
"Will you help us to rid your tribe of this bad chief Rogue-Whores?"
Eldon watches the kobold for a short time trying to determine whether it is being truthful or not. Unsure what to do he looks to the other members of the group to see what they think.
As Yngvilda acts, Eldon watches the creature closely to see what it will do a few small sparks arcing between his fingers.
Nighttail nods to Yngvilda. "Yesyes. I will assist you in your removal of Chief and I move Blood Vow tribe away from humans!"
When Eldon makes sparks appear from her fingers she issues a soft "Ohhh! You have lightning hands? Seems like eating food would be very hard to not shock yourself."
Nighttail, thank you for your assistance. One last question from me, do the Kobolds want to move?”
Bri steps forward, smiling as she perceives an opportunity for diplomatic prowess,”Perhaps if we can remove the diseased parts of this tribe, we can work some mutually amicable arrangements with the city of Belhaim. Just a thought, for now lets carry forth and complete our task.”
Yngvilda retrieves her new axe and hoists her shield, secretly happy to be following the Kobold so she won't fall into any more traps.
"Does anyone have a spare healing potion? I used mine to revive Galandram and I twisted my damn ankle in the fall." She grins sheepishly.
"I should have bought a couple more before we left instead of spending all my gold on axes, but they're so damn beautiful"
She stands ready to follow Nighttail regardless.
Towards Sabrine, the kobold responds with several nods. "Blood Vow listens to Nighttail, that is why Chief tie me up and prepare to kill me. He worried that he lose control"
Nighttail looks to her sack and says "I had two healing potions in my sack, you are welcome to them for freeing me. Thank you again, humans."
"Thank you"
Yngvilda will drink one
"I feel much better now." She tries walking normally and seems able to put weight on her leg again. She puts the other healing potion in her belt pouch, and sniffs at the third potion "What's this other one?"
It's unfamiliar scent is no help.
Eldon follows behind Yngvilda, keeping a close eye on Nighttail; still wary of treachery. "How far do we have to travel? Are there more traps?"
Taking up the rear Sabrine, quite as thought lost in thought she eventually speaks up as the party continues its journey, ”Nighttail, I believe that once we place in you power of this tribe, there may be a chance that the kobolds do not need to leave if they do not want to; but it requires my friends and I to stay alive. Please keep us safe and we will return the favor.
Sabrine will be on the lookout for any that she seems in this cavern or area that would be a resourceful benefit to the town of Belhaim that the city currently does not have.
Nighttail nods. "Whichever works best, we just need to change the leadership so that they do not follow that foolish idiot any longer. We need not be enemies, you and I."
Looking over at Yngvilda, Nighttail points out. "I had two of curing and one of invisibility. Careful not to drink the wrong one!"
Following along behind Nighttail, Yngvilda turns her nose up at the mention of invisibility, but she doesn't say anything out loud.
Instead she wordlessly offers the invisibility potion to one of the others.
"How much further is this chief? Are they likely to be surrounded with strong lieutenants? Fiendish traps? Anything we should know about?"
Nighttail looks at Yngvilda considering her questions. "Chief likely in Grand Hall. Not close to here, other end of cave."
"Lots of kobolds here. Churgri, cleric of Vapula from Hangtooth kobold recently made Bloody ow's priest of Vapula. Worth adversary."
"Chief keep bit rats for protection and not sure of traps or defenses he may setup near hall, Nighttail not allowed near there."
"There's a pit trap in the western corner the way you came, but it sound like you already find it."
"Sounds like more taps are likely, everyone be careful."
Eldon follows along, keeping an eye out for any traps.
"That sounds like a lot of enemies opposed to us. While fighting them all at once might be a glorious death, I'd rather have a glorious life if I can manage it. Would they all be in the grand hall Nighttail do you think? Or could we face this Churgri on their own?"
.
The town's baroness, Lady Origena Devy, pushes into the tarvern and seems to be searching for someone. When she fails to find it, she frowns. Turning to the three of you she asks "New here in Belhaim, I don't recognize your faces. I'm Lady Origena Devy and was looking for recent group of five that is supposed to be off on an errand for me, but it appears I'm too late and they've already left.
I was hoping to reinforce their number given that they are undertaking a dangerous task. If you're up for a little adventure, I have some gold coin if you're willing to help them exterminate some kobolds who are posing a threat to our safety here in Belhaim."
Galandram was not able to recover from his fall into the pit. While initially he thought was ok, once the adrenlin had worn off he released that he likely had broken his leg and would need to sit the rest of this one out. Cei volunteered to keep and eye on him and escort him back to town while the rest of the party continued on with Nighttail.
The group insists that they should ensure they at least exit the kobold hideout safely before seeing them on their way. As the group of five adventures and one kobold exit the tunnels, they catch a strange sight. An aasimar, an ifrit and a human male all are approaching from the direction of Belhaim, heading in their direction.
It was not with any regularity that Mak Taure made a trip into the town of Belhaim, nowadays it was maybe once or twice a year. But eventually the furs would pile up, and Mak had to make the long trek to town, where he sold off those furs, and purchased any tools that had worn out since the last visit, or occasionally purchased a new piece of equipment, or had his repaired. It was for this reason that Mak found himself in the local tavern, the only real place to pass a few hours time while the tanner went through his furs and picked out the skins he wanted to purchase.
After a gruff but kind greeting to the few other patrons of the tavern, Mak staked out a corner of the tavern and nursed an ale, always watching around him somewhat nervously. It wasn't that he was paranoid that he'd be attacked, he simply wasn't as comfortable in town as he was out in the wilds. But he had to admit, it was on the rare occasion, nice to spend a little time around others. Social interaction was by no means his cup of tea, but even the stodgiest person needs a bit of human interaction sometimes.
Right around the time Mak was finishing his ale and about to head out to the tanners, the baroness barged in, looking for someone or something. With no intention of bothering someone of such a noble stature, Mak went to leave the tavern, before stopping as she addressed him directly. Mak's parents had raised him to have good manners, but not so much the intricacies of addressing a noble. Although he knew very little about the baroness, he had never heard of her being cruel to her subjects, so he saw no reason to deny her request.
”Your worship... Or is it your Highness? I'm not new to the area, but it means a lot that you've forgotten this face...” Mak gestures to his scarred visage. ”If the town is threatened, and these other adventures need help, I suppose I can leave my trade for later. The trapper will store my furs until I return.” He listens to her directions and is familiar with the quarry of which she speaks. Her directions are fair, and though Mak is certain he could find a faster way, he decides to keep that to himself. Turning to the other two individuals the baroness addressed, he nods solemnly. ”I'll meet you two on the edge of town.” He turns to walk away, then remembers his manners. ”I'm Mak by the way.”
After a quick stopover at the tanner's shop, where the tanner agreed to hold his furs until his return, Mak made his way to the edge of town where he met up with the Aasimar and the Ifrit and, following the baroness' instructions with a little help from his own knowledge of the area, they made their way to the quarry. Upon arriving, Mak spotted what must be the group they were meant to meet, but to his dismay it appeared that at least one of them was quite injured, perhaps with an injured leg, based on his awkward stumbling gait.
Raising a hand in a sign of greeting, Mak called out. ”Would you be the group sent by the baroness to deal with the Kobolds? We three are here to assist you, and it seems that we are just in time. I am Mak, well met.”
Yngvilda was leading the group out of the cave, her eyes searching for signs of more Kobolds, handaxe drawn and shield held high.
When she sees a human flanked by an angel and a devil, for a second she fears she might have hit her head harder than she thought. She motions for the group to stay back while she moves forward in a crouch and takes cover behind a rock. When they call out though, she relaxes.
"Oh thank Torag" She moves out from behind the rock and beckons the group forward.
When they're closer she lowers her voice some for some short introductions and greetings.
"Yngvilda Grimsdottir, it's an honour. Be careful, there are Kobolds around, but Nighttail here is with us" she introduces the others and catches the newcomers up with events inside the cave.
"We just need to cover Galandram and Cei's retreat here and we can get back to it. Sounds like we'll be doing the Kobolds a favour by taking out their chief, them and the Baroness both"
Tykent bids farewell to the farmer he’d ridden into town with as the wagon came to a stop outside Belhaim’s tavern. ”Remember - two handfuls of dandelions, one mug of ale, let it sit for the afternoon, and your son’s indigestion should pass by morning,” he says, passing a small bag of dried herbs to his traveling companion. As Dawn’s Hope swoops down and perched on his shoulder, the old man surveys his surroundings. ”Where has Lady Luck taken us this time, hmm?” he asks, scratching under the rhamphorhynchus‘s chin.
The tavern is quiet, and Tykent hushes his boisterous familiar as the two approach the bar. ”If you have some ale, I would gladly pay,” he says cheerfully to the innkeep. ”Or if you have a well, I can draw myself a cup from there.”
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The baroness’s offer surprises Tykent, but he happily agrees to meet the trapper Mak outside of town. ”I see we shan’t be bored here, eh Hope?” he quips as the two leave the building. The old man finds a quiet spot on the edge of town and sits against a tree for a while, feeling the sun’s caress on his skin and the breeze in his hair. Spirits of life, of love, of adventure - what shall we experience today? He meditates on the thought for a while before gathering his things back up and finding his newest companions.
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Tykent is a quiet traveling companion, used to folks needing their silence and open to conversation if wanted. He stops every so often to collect a few leaves or a particular mushroom, his pace never slowing. A steady tap from his walking stick on the hard-packed dirt keeps time to Hope’s trills as the dinosaur flits through the tree branches above.
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At the sight of the wounded adventurers, Tykent is quick to unpack his bandages and check their condition. He tucks a bag full of moss into Cei’s hand, murmuring instructions for creating a paste out of it to help numb pain. Turning back to the rest of the group, he apologizes. ”Sorry, got distracted - name’s Tykent, and this fluttering showoff is Hope.”
After listening grimly to Yngvilda's summary of the events in the cave, Mak takes his longbow from his back and with some effort strings it. Sliding his quiver into a comfortable position, Mak takes up a scouting position while Tykent and Cei discuss treatment for the injured man, who did in fact have a broken leg. Mak felt a slight twinge of jealousy as Tykent offered up some herbs as medicine. Although Mak was skilled in most of the ways of nature and was more than capable of taking care of himself, the one talent he had never picked up was the art of healing. His usual plan was to simply avoid injury in the first place, either via a stealthy well planned approach, or by the careful application of his traps.
As the group discussed the options for sending the injured man back to town and attempted to figure out the plan forward, Mak took a scouting position, watching for any Kobold activity or any sign of alternate entrances or exits to the cave system. The key to any hunt was knowing your surroundings and knowing what route your enemy might take if they spot you.
It had been a bad day. Nothing a bottle of Vjarik wouldn't remedy but looking at the swill on the wall, he knew this ... town was too small for anything of substance. He settled for Throatburn and was working on his second bottle when he noticed the baroness walk in. He heard her words but tuned her out at the mention of gold to kill kobolds. He reached into his purse, clinking the few remaining coins together. Maybe he'd try the Dragonscar when they got back.
Disappointing, he'd sobered up by the time they made it to the tunnels. Mak seemed ok. Tykent was a little too cheerful this early in the afternoon. He snorted when they tried to pronounce his name. The sounds coming out Tykent's pet snout were the closest - 'Cwm, what's so hard about that.' No matter, once they got rid of the kobolds, he could go back to holding down the floors of the tavern with his stool.
__
Cwm raises a brow when the fighter leads her party out. He barely catches her thanking Torag and is glad he's not in the presence of heathens at the very least. He stands to the side while introductions are made, keeping an eye on Nighttail, just in case. He finally asks him directly, "how many of your friends are still in there? Anyone, in particular, we need to worry about?"
While Cwm waits for an answer, he searches his gear for something to hold him over.
Eldon follow's Yngvilda and the rest of the group out of the cave, more subdued seeing the extent of Galandram's injuries and worrying about the battle to come. Upon exiting the cave complex and seeing Yngvilda react to the sight of the new comers Eldon looks around for a good place to take cover. But relaxes as she moved back from behind the rocks.
Greeting the three adventurers warmly and exchanges pleasantries as they fuss around Galdram. "Wow, what's that create? Is it a familiar? I've never seen anything like that before!"
Once Cei and Galadram are on their way back to down Eldon prepaires himself to re-enter the Kobold's lair and take care of the chieftain.
Nighttail, the kobold prisoner turned ally, addresses the newcomers with a determined expression. "You have reinforcements, that is good. I do not expect Chief will go without fight."
Addressing Cym's question, she shrugs. "Maybe twenty or so told kobolds here now. Plus some rats, frogs and other pets. Mainly worried about Chief Roaghaz and Churgri, priestess of Vapula."
With Galandram and Cei all set, Nighttail leads the group back into the tunnel. She points out the pit trap and partial tunnel collapse where Galandram injured himself, allowing everyone time to climb down and back up to the other side. Once clear of the pit they wind southeast and then northeast through a small tunnel.
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 isght from the south. Nighttail remarks "Hole up ahead leads to lower level."
Nighttail points to a trip line just in front of the hole "Chief guards lower level with trap. Can any of you take care of that?"
As the group followed the small Kobold down into the tunnel system, Mak made sure to keep a mental picture of their path, as he always did upon exploring a new place. Some people might call it paranoia, but Mak's parents always said no one ever died from being too prepared, a motto he lived by always. The climb down and back up the pit trap was trivial, though Mak had to admire the workmanship, a pit trap was not the normal trap he preferred, but if you had the space and the manpower it could be even more effective than a bear trap.
The layer of straw in the next cave room immediately made Mak think of a trapped area. Its what he'd do, and these Kobolds had already shown themselves to be adequate trappers. The small Kobold prisoner pointed out a tripwire, which Mak leaned down to examine.
"Doesn't seem too intricate. A bit rushed if anything. I've used similar traps before." Mak says quietly to the group, before pulling a his tools from his belt pouch. "I'm certain I can disable this if that's what we think is best."