Cwm follows along behind the others, watching how they interact. When they reach the room with the layer of straw, he notices Mak's hesitation to enter before being told of the trap. He watches from the edge of the room, curious to see what happens. when the straw holds, he looks on with interest as Mak disables the trap. He's just about to pass along his congratulations when he notices something odd off toward the wall. He approaches, mumbling softly to Mak as he passes him, "I think I'll take a stab at it as well, I think they've made this looks sloppier than it actually is." He pulls out his tools and gets to work, hopeful he didn't miss anything when he stands up and proclaims the trap defeated.
Mak and Cym work together to disable the trap with a high level of confidence. Removing the tripwire and clearing the line they declare it safe for entry.
Nightail isn't so sure about that however and insists that someone from your party goes first. Looking down the hole you see it's dark down below.
Cwm shakes his head as Nightail insists that someone else risk their neck for work he should be doing. He steps forward and peers down, however, looking for a way to safely enter.
Yngvilda looks embarrassed as she almost triggered another trap, completely oblivious as she mentally prepared for battle.
"I should go. I'm a strong climber, and Eldon can light my shield like before. If there's anyone down there I can hold them off while you join me!"
Then she looks slightly confused while she thinks.
"I do have a tendency to walk into traps though. OK Cwm if you insist you can go first, but I'll be right behind you"
Cwm smiles, "since I'm the new guy, why not let me hop down this once. I don't need the light and hopefully can try and determine it's safe for everyone else. Maybe I'll even get the drop on a guard or two."
That settled, he makes his way down as quietly as possible.
Eldon follows the group preparing himself for the battle to come. But upon hearing of yet more traps he looks worried.
Breathing a sigh of relief when Mak and Cwm declair the way forward clear.
Moving up to Yngvild's side he says, "Sure, here allow me" and mutter to himself for a moment before reaching out and touching Yngvilda's shield causing it to glow with a warm light.
Eldon then moves back behind Yngvilda and waits his turn to enter the tunnel.
"Don't worry, folks - Hope and I can bring up the rear," Tykent says cheerfully. "These old eyes don't mind the darkness, and Hope here don't need a rope."
As Cym climbs down he sees two shallow, murky pools sit in the north and south ends of this ovoid cavern. Each of the murky pools is several feet deep and filled with something that is moving back and forth. The tunnel leading south is cluttered with rubble, and will be difficult to pass.
A single kobold sits near the southern pool, lounging while looking around lazily.
The kobold hasn't noticed Cym descending the rope quite yet.
With a grimace, Mak falls in line behind the fighter to climb down. He'd need the light to see, and while climbing down, he'd be totally defenseless, so having a sturdy body in front of him seemed like good planning. As he waits his turn to climb into this certain fight, Mak takes a moment to look around, hoping to glean any useful information about the tunnels they found themselves in.
Cwm looks back up at the others. He holds up one finger and then two which he makes a swimming motion with. Hopeful they can understand what he means, he looks back across the cavern and rushes forward to stab his daggers in the unwitting kobold's back.
Eldon waits at the entrance to the runnel to see what the others report. He leans towards the opening straining his ears to hear any sounds from his companions.
Cwm's stealth and expert precision allow him to quickly dispatch what was likely a scout or guard who was distracted and unprepared. The ifrti's strike sends the kobold to the ground without a sound.
With no further noticeable threats, he motions to the rest of the party to advance and slowly each of them descend the rope to the murky pooled room below. A single leads east and then south. Nighttail points out "There are snappers ahead, likely. The next room is large and has many paths into it."
Cwm quickly searches the body and then moves away to join the others. He whispers to them that he saw motion in both pools and they should avoid them if possible. At the mention of snappers, he turns to Nighttail and asks, "what are those? And what's in the pools?"
Looking admiringly at Cwn, Eldon whispers "Good work!" and follows the group into the next tunnel.
[ooc]Assuming we are following Nighttails directions.[/oov]
Yngvilda drops down the rope, quickly re-equips her shield and axe and looks appreciatively at Cwm's handiwork.
"Eldon could you switch the light to my axe? Then I can hide it behind my shield if I want and be a bit less obvious"
She then takes up a position at the front alongside Cwm (taking care to let him look for traps) and listens for Nighttail's responses
Hope chitters worriedly as Tykent descends, but the two make it down the rope without incident. ”Goodness, excellent work!” he says softly to Cwm.
Silently climbing down the rope with the group, Mak rearms himself with his bow, again sticking close to the light source on the fighter. Looking carefully at the two pools after Cwm mentions movement, Mak glares slightly, not liking the idea of some unknown creature behind them as they move forward.
Hearing Yngvilda's whispered request Eldon moves up along side her "Of course, here.". He mutters softely to himself for a moment and reaches out to touch the head of Yngvilda's axe. The cavern darkens for a moment as the shield dims.
A moment later the axe begins to glow with a bright blue light and Eldon makes his way carefully back to his place in the middle of the group.
Nighttail waves dismissively at the pool Cwm mentions. "Babies, no worries. Bigger trouble ahead with grown snappers. Stay out of the water."
The tunnel is narrow moving forward, clearly designed for smaller creatures such as kobolds. Making things worse, the ground is covered in debris of loose rock and rubble which makes traversing it slow-going.
As Yngvilda reaches the end of the runnel it opens into a larger chamber with a large pool of dark water that sits in the middle of a low-ceilinged cavern. Two kobolds armed with guisarmes flank the entrance of the room and are quite surprised to see you emerge, clearly expecting a warning from the scout that Cwm took care of. One of the guards calls out in a strange language, shouting a command as the water begins to swirl about in the pool.
Heedless of (or more accurately, oblivious to) the danger in the water, Yngvilda moves out and to her left, striking at the Kobold standing in her way.
She tries to mimic Cwm's easy stealth as she does it, but she can't help letting out a grunt as she swings
Walking through the tunnel, Cwm eyes Nighttail, "what are snappers?"
When they enter the chamber, he capitalizes on the surprise of the kobolds and moves as quickly as he can through the rubble, turning the corner and reaching in under the guisarme to stab at the kobold's chest. One blade catches on it's armor but the other draws blood.
Instinct kicks as danger erupts into chaos and Mak quickly moves forward behind the axe-wielding fighter. Nocking an arrow, Mak maneuvers himself to fire around the fighter, thankful that his parents had taught him the value of accurate and mobile shooting.
Even in chaos, Mak's parents raised him to mind his surroundings, and the pool of water that was now churning gave him a bad feeling indeed. Taking a moment to wrack his brain, Mak tried to think of water sort of water creature might be in the Kobold infested tunnel.
"Turtles, of course!" Nighttail calls out in response as if it were a stupid question.
Both Mak and Yngvilda successfully strike their target, but neither is enough to put these kobolds down. Mak does indeed recognize these attackers as a kobold, the same reptilian humanoid as their guide Nighttail. Often sensitive to light and known to be crafty with traps, they are more or less without any known significant features.
While they may speak loudly of divine right and manifest destiny, kobolds are keenly aware of their own weakness. Cowards and schemers, they never fight fair if they can help it, instead setting up ambushes and double-crosses, holing up in their warrens behind countless crude but ingenious traps, or rolling over the enemy in vast, yipping hordes.
Kobold coloration varies even among siblings from the same egg clutch, ranging through the colors of the chromatic dragons, with red being the most common but white, green, blue, and black kobolds not unheard of.
Both kobolds try to trip the opponents before them with their lone weapons. The attack against Yngvilda is unsuccessful, but Cwm's feet get hung up in the rubble underneath of him and he can't get out of the way fast enough.
Yngvilda let's out a cry of delight when these Kobolds prove hardier than the last, steps up to follow hers and tries to slam it with her shield.
She doesn't manage to connect, but uses the opening it makes to swing her handaxe at it
Cwm stumbles as the guisarme hits his shin. He's able to prevent himself from falling into the water though.
He watches Mak's arrow fly through the space he was just occupying and appreciates the precision of the shot. Inspired, he stands up and moves up to follow the arrow with his own blade. Unfortunately, he steps on yet another stone and fails to hit anything of consequence.
To a certain extent, Mak admires the Kobold species, as much as one can admire a pest. Their use of traps was not entirely dissimilar to his own, though the typical Kobold trap was much less refined and often as much a danger to the trap setter as to the one setting it off. The small glimmer of admiration was not nearly enough to keep Mak from loosing another arrow, this time at the Kobold who had tripped up Cwm.
"Everyone watch your footing, these pests are known for their traps and I don't think anyone wants to be taking a bath in those waters!"
Tykent stumbles forward towards the sounds of fighting. "Hmm? What's all this?" he asks, fixing the kobold attacking Cwm with a stern look.
Hearing the sounds of battle erupt Eldon moves carefully along the passage way and stops once he reaches the group. Looking left and right at the two kobolds he tries to determine which target offers the better chance to hit.
Mak's arrow finds purchase in the target engaging Cwm, but doesn't take it down.
Tykent's evil eye seems to fully take hold on the enemy engaging Cwm.
Eldon moves up closer to the battle outside the tunnel.
Yngvilda finally takes down the kobold adjacent to her.
Cwm tries to stand up, but the kobold's reach weapon still threatens and he swings his guisarme once more and takes Cwm's feet out from underneath him, sending him back to the ground once more.
Seeing the agile rogue Cwm get tripped again by the tiny Kobold, Mak makes a mental note to stay out of reach of those polearms. If Cwm could be tripped, any of them could, and ending up on the ground, or worse in the water, could spell an early death sentence for any of them.
Firing another arrow, Mak allowed himself to be distracted worrying over the water and the frightening turtles that might be lurking under the surface. His arrow whistled through the air, but sadly finds no purchase in the polearm wielding foe.
Hoping to cut of its retreat, Yngvilda moves around the pool to come at the Kobold from the other side. With every step she is worried about a trap or getting pulled into the water
"Spirits below, what's gotten into the poor lad?" Tykent bemoans from the back of the line as he shakes his head. "Somebody take that kobold's stick away before it pokes someone's eye out."
Cwm spryly navigates the chaos, focusing on sinking his blades in the kobold's chest.
Eldon moves out towards the east, watching the pool of water warily. Reaching a point where he has a clean shot at the remaining kobold he prepares his magics.
Mak's shot just misses the mark, flying high and wide into the wall beyond.
The kobold's will is unable to fight off Tykent's mental assault this time, its defenses lowering.
Both of Cwm's attacks damage the small creature, but it still remains on its feet.
The second kobold backs up 5' and swipes at Cwm, but misses.
Focusing this time, Mak takes another shot at the polearm wielding Kobold, hoping to put the pest down before it awakens whatever creatures are resting beneath the water's surface.
Cwm raises one dagger to fend off the guisarme while he lunges forward with the other, sinking it into the kobold's arm.
If the kobold hasn't already fallen to Cwm's attacks, Yngvilda adds her own.
Though perhaps intimidated by Cwm's inimitable grace and agility, all she can do is flail awkwardly around.
The kobold guard can't keep up with the continued punishment from Cwm and Mak given Tykent's defense lowering ability. It quickly succumbs to their attacks and collapses to the ground before rolling into the dirty waters in the center of the room.
A pair of snapping turtles quickly set upon the body, ripping shreds of flesh from its body as blood quickly stains the water.
"Ah," Tykent remarks, taken aback somewhat. "I guess those would be the snappers. Let's not linger here."
"Yes, I agree. Let's proceed."
Eldon moves to join the rest of the group giving the pool of water as wide a birth as possible.
"Shame I didn't get to blast either of them, you are all pretty handy with those weapons."
Cwm watches the turtles with interest, glad he didn't fall in himself. He wipes the blood off his daggers and turns around to examine the room, "where to? Nightail??"
As the vicious snapping turtles feast hungrily on the Kobold's corpse, Mak takes note with a grim stare. Putting his bow over his shoulder, he moves over to the second Kobold corpse in this room and carefully pushes it into the water as well.
"Its grim but this turtles are likely much less a threat if they're well fed with meat.' Mak says quietly to the others. "We don't want them coming up behind us as we press onwards."
Mak isn't quite sure how much meat the snappers need to be satisfied, but two kobolds are definitely a good start in filling them up.
Several options are before you now, the tunnel diverges in three separate paths. Pointing to the southeast she points out "That way is locked. I think it's where they keep weapons, I've never been in there but I've heard about it."
Indicating straight south she says "Jakkol resides there. He was former priest of Vapula, but Chieftan got rid of him and replace him. He's quite old. I heard sick too. May be dead now. Or may not. Past his chambers is path down to lowest chambers."
Motioning to the southwest she remarks "That way, I don't know where it goes."
Eldon looks away from the pool as Mak feeds the remaining kobold to the snappers. looking to Nighttail he says. "Is the lower chamber where the chief is?".
Nighttail nods. "One more level down."
Cwm moves toward the Southeast door, "I'm not a fan of leaving potential enemies behind us. Should we clear this floor before moving down? Plus, who doesn't like weapons."
Stooping to examine the lock, he first tries to determine if there's anyone inside before checking for traps. Once he's confident he won't be alerting anyone he gets to work on the lock.
+1 for Trapfinding
"I agree, we don't want to be flooded by Kobolds when we face the chief. Though that would be an epic battle!"
Yngvilda takes up a position near Cwm, looking out for dangers while his attention is focused
After disposing of the Kobold's corpse in the murky water, Mak considers their choices carefully.
"Kobolds are not the only ones who set traps." Mak says, gesturing to his bear trap. "I can set something up behind us if we want to cover our backs."