Dragons Demand - LJM table 1

Game Master Liam Mooney

Halders grins as his dagger punctures the creature. He steps closer, brandishing a dagger in one hand and scoops up a handful of debris with the other, flinging it at the kobold, attempting to blind him for a round.

throw rocks: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15 vs CMD
The dirty trick attempt provokes AOO

The debris Halders flings manages to blind the kobold.

Galessa up now on initiative.

Hit: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Damage: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Sorry about that

Galessa ran forward, knife raised to strike!

The kobold rubs the grit out of its eyes as best it can before stepping back and firing an arrow at Galessa.

It seems to dislike humans.

Shortbow,FE,PBS,DA: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 2 + 1 - 1 = 201d4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 1 + 2 = 7

Initiative Order:
Galessa 21 (-10hp)
Shondra 20 (-7hp)
Halders 19
Sesserak 7 (-5hp)
Ragnar 5

Everyone can act now.

The old dwarf takes aim and looses a bolt at the archer. His expression grim as the little kobold is holding its own and he is out of spells.
Crossbow + Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

”Goddess! Ah!” Galessa yelled out as she was once more brought near to death. She quickly stepped back and used the last of her miracles to heal the worst of the wound.

"I have had enough of you!" Shondra shouts, loosing yet another arrow in the direction of the kobold.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 1 = 11 (PBS) Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 (PBS)

Can Halders fit in the square behind Galessa? I need to break LOS between Halders & the Kobold

That squares fine, less than half of its blocked so shouldn't be an issue.

Ragnar and Shondra's attacks both miss the kobold.

Halders grins broadly as he blinds the lizard, gesturing triumphantly- then frowns as the creature wipes away his distraction and attacks his allies. He ducks back behind Galessa, drawing a second regular dagger.
stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

The kobold fires again at Shondra.

Shortbow,FE,PBS,DA: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 2 + 1 - 1 = 211d4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 + 2 = 9

She smirks as she takes her down.

Initiative Order:
Galessa 21 (-4hp)
Shondra 20 (-16hp)
Halders 19
Sesserak 7 (-5hp)
Ragnar 5

Everyone can act now.

Shondra Stabilization Check: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (3) - 3 = 0

Shondra moans as her lifeblood ebbs out.

Hit: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Damage: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

”Rude! I’m stabbing you because you are rude!” As far as warcries went, it needed work. Still, at least it was a solid hit, and that was what mattered.

Galessa's starknife cuts deep into the kobold.

Initiative Order:
Galessa 21 (-4hp)
Shondra 20 (-16hp)
Halders 19
Sesserak 7 (-13hp)
Ragnar 5

Ragnar and Halders can act now.

From behind Galessa, Halders throws two knives;

5ft step then throw two daggers
Dagger 1
attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1
sneak attack: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Dagger 2
attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2
sneak attack: 1d8 ⇒ 1

"DAMN ROTTEN DEALS!" Ragnar curses as Shondra falls to the ground by him. He rips off his sleeve and makes quick work of it with his dagger. The dwarf presses the makeshift bandages to her wounds and ties them off the best he can whiles a stream of muttered of prayers and curses flows from his bearded face.
First Aid-Heal Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

As Halders' dagger hits the kobold she lowers her bow momentarily.

"Parley?"

Ragnar's makeshift bandages do little to stem the bloodflow.

Stabilization Check: 1d20 - 5 ⇒ (6) - 5 = 1

Shondra continues to bleed out.

Galessa rushed over to her fallen comrade. With a prayer to her goddess the bleeding stopped.

Stabilize

The kobold watches you healing Shondra, her bow still in hand.

"You Parley?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

”Yes, parlay. We just came here to find out what is going on. Make sure there is no danger to the town. Who are you, and why did you attack us the moment you saw us?”

Give a grateful nod and even a brief but genuine smile to Galessa. He is about to speak but looks over as the kobold suddenly speaks up.
Aid Other-Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
"How did you get wrapped up in all of this, and how did some of yours end up in the rubble from the collapse?"He demands curtly still holding a loaded crossbow, but pointed away for the moment.

"Me Sesserak," she says. "Was sent to help wizard collapse tower but he died in accident. Chief will be annoyed but if we gave him your treasures he'll be happy. Not going back now, failed him twice. If you want I show you secret way into kobold lair?"

Halders frowns as his second dagger pings off the rubble near the Lizard, then nearly jumps out of his skin when the creature speaks; "Oi! Ya daft-bow-twangin-beastie. Ifn' ya wanna parley why'd ya put arra's in the tall one 'ere?

Halders harumphs and emerges from the shadows. He holds up both hands; "look- no knives- but you need ta give ol' Mister Isgood ya weapons 'ncase ya got ideas of sticking us again. If'n I like ya answers then can 'ave it back."

sleight of hand: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
attempting to hide a knife from the Kobolds view, like a magician might hide a playing card

diplo: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
diplo to persuade the kobold to put down the bow

If the Kobold puts the bow down, Halders will relieve it of any potions or treasures.

Seeing you healing people the kobold takes a gulp of a potion from it's belt.

"I look, I see knife" she says, her grip on the bow tightens but she keeps it lowered for now. "You drop your weapons and then we parley"

Halders' wide grin turns to a frown and the halfling reluctantly slips his knives into his bandolier;
"'sa sneaky beastie, this'n- Ya don' shoot me an I won't 'ave ta stab ya again"

The verbal diarrhea of the Kobold catches Halders by surprise;
"'ang on! We'not givin' nobody our treasure- recovered this fair'n square- especially if'n you wanna save your own scaly skin by giftin to someone you failed again!"

"Ok, you keep treasure, I'll show you the tunnel to kobolds lair and then I'll leave. Not safe there for me now, Chief will be angry."

”Thank you.” Galessa said. ”I’m glad we could end this without anyone dying.”

Now that things have calmed a bit the kobold looks at her two fallen allies and then Galessa "you have healing powers, can you help them?"

They're in pretty bad shape but haven't yet completely bled out.

”I can try.” Galessa said. She walked over to the wounded and did her best to tend to their wounds. Stabilize

Galessa's spells stabilise the two injured kobolds.

"Thankyou for helping them, Sesserak give you these as thanks" she says passing you a bad of gems with some coins in as well. Follow me, I'll show you the path to the kobold's lair.

You gain 6 gems worth 25gp each and 10pp in coins.

Sesserak leads you down the tunnel to a hole in the ground around 4ft wide that drops into a tunnel. Around the corner from it is a small cave with a few furs laid out where the kobolds had been sleeping but there's nothing of value there.

You've now completed the 2 requests from the baroness - you know what the kobolds were up to and that Hunclay was involved (and why no one could find him).

Halders winks at Rangar; "Abadar shines on us 'eh"

He addresses the Kobold again;
"Now that ya friends' 'ave been seen to you we 'ave more questions." He holds up a hand, five fingers outstretched and folds them back down as he ticks off each question;
"One, Why you so keen on rattin' out your big beastie?
Two An' why did ya wanna collapse the towa?"
Free, 'whats ya big beasties name?
Four, if'n we let you go, whats ta say you don follow us into ya secret tunnel an' stab us in the back?
Five, what did ya do ta make the big beastie mad?"

Ragnar gives a grunt of relief when he hears they do not have to give up any treasure and holsters his crossbow after unloading it. He places a hand on Halder's shoulder."Settle down sticky fingers. Abadarans deal fairly. What happened here was a misunderstanding and thankfully no one died. If they want to leave in peace let them. The ones who collapsed the tower already paid with their lives, but I would like to know anything she can tell us about her chief."

"The chiefs scary, he leads the blood vow tribe with powerful magic he says the dragon ancestors gave him. Has throne room full of bones too. Any who speak against him he gets rid of so I'm not going back now, will find new tribe."

Ragnar nods and waits for the kobolds to leave before turning speaking to the party as he walks stiffly over to Hunclay's body."As much as I want to get back to the inn and go over our spoils, we need to deal with him. This place spawns the unquiet dead and I don't feel right leaving his remains here. Furthermore I do not trust those savages to not eat him."

Speaking of spoils. Are the mithral daggers medium or small sized?

They'd be medium in size.

”We need to rest, heal our wounds, resupply, and go into this ready. I almost died here! Died! And I’d rather not push on when my power is drained.”

You'll know that there's an undertaker in town who you'd be able to bring Hunclay's body to, Calladastina Hodas.

She's the one who went to check on Hunclay's manor when the two guards where too scared too.

Halders looks back and forward between Ragnar and Galessa;
" 't'would be most responsible of us ifn' we 'ead on back to town, alert the Baroness of 'Unclay's participation in collapsing the tower. We can carry ol'Unclay back and report our findings- then 'ave a nice soak, buy a couple of potions and report back 'ere with empty pockets."

I think we should head back first, purchase somethings- esp potions, maybe a scroll or two.

The old dwarf nods sharply."These old bones need the rest. All of this fighting, climbing, and too many close calls. I want to get a good accounting of what we found and also introduce myself at the local temple. So we are agreed then?"
Alright let's head back, report in and enjoy a few hours of shopping and down time at least.

As you head out of the Witches Tower you see that it's now light out and approaching midday.

Heading back down the hill (and past Hunclay's manor) you come to a left turn in the road that leads towards the Devy Manor. Just after the turn there's a sign on a building that reads:

The Sunset House, Calladastina Honas - Undertaker

The Baroness's manor is a little further down the road.

Undertakers is 25 on the map, Baroness's stables are 26 and her manor is 27. The other building (on the right of the road - 24) is Odayalle's Furs.

Ragnar wearily approaches the undertaker and enters. "Hello? Mistress Honas? We are in need of your services?", he calls soberly.

Assuming she is available he would lead her to Hunclay's body in his cart and inquire about its disposition.

We can put Ragnar's horse and cart to good use and haul everything in there ;)

Halders hums to himself happily, guiding the cart full of their takings and the body of Hunclay. He speaks to the body as they make their way from the tower to the undertaker; "tell me 'Unclay- what possessed you to collapse the tower? Goin' in with the scally beasties- me ol' mum would 'ave me hide if'n I 'ad done that... " He gazes at Huncalys manor as they go past; "Lookie 'ere, there's ya 'ouse. Its a big'un. Gona pillage it now that ya gone-" Halders winks at the corpse, and goes back to humming.

As they approach the undertaker, Halders stands near the dwarf, a jaunty tune running through his head.

Calladastina drops her head at the news. "So another dies in the Witches Tower." She heads out to the cart, "well this explains Hunclay's disappearance then and upset all the rumourmongers in town - I don't think any of them though he was dead."

"If you leave his body here I can take care of it. I think he has a cousin he wrote to occasionally, I'll have to see if my assistant can track her down to inform her. Did he have anything on him when he died? Sorting out the affairs of an estate like his is going to take me a lot of work so I'd best get to it."

Ragnar bows his head."The circumstances of his passing may require further investigation. Once that has been resolved we would be happy to turn over any items that were on his person when we found him. As a priest of Abadar I would be happy to assist with the accounting and transfer of his estate for a small fee."

"If you're still investigating you'd best speak to the Baroness then. If you wish to help you could see if Eupaphenia needs help in the temple."

"Anuver one? 'Ow many people 'ave died in the tower?"

As Ragner speaks, Halders nods his head readily;
"Yes, yes yes yes. We're well versed in accountin and whatnot, by Abadar." He holds up the keys taken from the wizard's corpse, his voice forlorn. "This is all we could recover from the ol' wizard- Abadar rest 'is soul. The Baroness 'erself tasked us wiv lookin' into th'collapsed tower and investigate 'Unclay's part in all this- it would be most responsible ov us to look into 'is estate and report back to the Baroness." The keys disappear back into the folds of his clothes.

Halders wrings his hands; "We best be off ta'the tav- Baroness an report our findins"

"Many over the years" the undertaker says. "Tula Belhaim herself was the first they say, she tripped off a railing in the rain and was impaled on a statue of the old dragon she'd killed in her fall. Many more have died there since, especially during the reign of Baron Sarvo. More recently it seems to be every few years that some fool goes poking around without care and dies."

"Best you check with the Baroness on what to do with that key, she's banned anyone from going near Hunclay's manor for now."

”Good advice. Thank you!” Galessa said cheerfully, happy to be alive and paid.