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Recently the Pathfinder Society allowed a number of kobolds to join the Society's ranks. Six of these eager young adventurers' have so impressed their Venture Captains that they were sent to Tien as part of a cultural exchange program. While in the Successor state of Shokuro an esteemed warrior and ally of the Pathfinder Society requested that these unexpectedly promising Pathfinders come to the town of Ashima to assist her with a local matter. This is where the adventure begins.
The screen door opens on an unassuming house tucked in the small town of Ashima. Filling the doorway is an elderly woman of regal bearing who wears a lopsided smile. Long white hair meets her waist over colorful robes that would not be out of place in the salons of Tian Xia’s largest cities. The grandmotherly woman speaks with a deep, rich voice.
“What fates and fickle winds bring blooming lilies to our forest island.
With such winds does history ebb and flow.”
Having introduced herself with this couplet, she bows and adds, “Yes, yes you’ll do perfectly. I hope you’re fond of bears.” She grins and steps aside, raising a welcoming arm. “Quickly, come in. And off with your shoes!”
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Only fleshies keep their feet in dry skin of other fleshies. Gross! A Kobold the color of ivory, is creeping around the edge of the group. Wearing a baggy black cloak, it's hard to get a bearing on his physique or what may be hidden beneath.
"Why do mighty Kobold hunt bear in Tian Xia? There is many bear in Avistan!" he complains to his compatriots, looking at a brochure. "It say many food to eat," prodding the folded paper, "but only have jerky from Absalom." Approaching the woman, he tugs on her robes, as he's seen many smaller fleshies do to bigger fleshies before getting what they want. "Lady, are you host with the many food to eat? I am Skithryx and also hungry."
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Though some of the kobolds in the group have clearly spent some time together prior to the exchange program, there are also a few new faces mixed into the group as well. One of these, a small female kobold with blackish-purple scales, considers the woman's request.
"No shoes to take off," she remarks, echoing the same sentiment as the rest of her group, gesturing toward her clawed feet. Then she smiles as only a kobold can smile, showing off several sharp, pointy teeth. "Will wipe my feet, though."
And she proceeds to do just that, carefully scraping her feet over the welcome mat to remove the dust and dirt of the road.
"I am Skyxa and I serve the Waybringer," the kobold introduces herself, gesturing to a small holy symbol hanging about her neck that depicts a silver dragon above a clear crystal pool. "We will help you."
She seems somewhat well-spoken for a kobold, if a bit abrupt.
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"Oh yes! I am Krall Visker the Cobalt! It looks like I serve the Pathfinder Society at the moment but I still haven't gotten any answers about if they have any dragons." calls out Krall as he realizes he didn't introduce himself.
He puffs up showing his glimmering blue scales when he states his name and totally not made up on the spot title. His equipment is bare-bones but both his claws and teeth bear strong resemblance to his dragon progenitors.
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"Aaah, I can see that. Just please wipe your feet at the door and please mind your claws on the hardwood."
Mai Chun let's the kobolds into her home, gently grabbing Skithryx by the claw so that he is no longer tugging at her robe. "Yes, I heard that your group have prodigious appetites and are fond of seafood. I have a nice pot of fish stew cooking in the kitchen. Go to the classroom and I will bring you a bowl."
Mai Chun's house is cluttered with stacks of scrolls and books and every wall is covered in swords and shields. The classroom is neat, with cushions arranged in concentric circles around a chalkboard in the middle of the room.
Mai Chun returns with a tray filled with chopsticks, short spoons and small black bowls of aromatic soup. "You can eat and I can talk. I want you to explore an old estate from the days of the Lung Wa Imperial era. The forest has grown around the estate but if you follow my directions it shouldn't be hard to find."
"I need Pathfinders to go there because I sent a couple of the villagers there and they returned telling me that there is a bloodthirsty dire bear haunting the grounds. They ran away, as they should have. Who would make the harvest festival stew if Wu got his head bitten off? No one, that’s who. You lot, though? You look like you can handle a big bear if you had to.”
"Assuming that you can handle the bear, then I'd like you to search the premises and see if there are any relics of historical importance there. I'm hoping that you find something that can enhance Shokuro's reputation among the other Successor States. Bring back whatever you can to me." Mai Chun pauses. "You can ask me whatever questions you have now.
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"This is the treatment we deserve, right? We need to get this back at the Lodges!" Krall says enjoying the food looking to the others to confirm.
"I prefer shiny things and secrets...can you tell me more about what is important to you? I could just grab everything I can carry...which...well it isn't much." he questions while still having a mouthful of bread.
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“Sadly I can’t give specifics, as I don’t know exactly what’s there. Shizuru curse any looters that may have already gotten to it. But, if anything remains, I’m looking specifically for documents. Maps, letters, scrolls, things of that sort. Other than that, any treasure could be significant. If it’s shiny and not bolted down, pick it up. If it is bolted down, I have pliers,” Mia Chun says with a wry smile.
"You seem so hungry! I bet they haven't been feeding you enough at the lodge. You're practically just scales and bones, Kaidynn. Here, have another bowl! I insist," she says, ladling more soup in the ravenous kobold's bowl.
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Skithryx's eyes bulge a little when Mia Chun gives another bowl to Kaidynn for finishing quickly. Never leaving Tian Xia! Jealously, he scarfs down the rest of his food before looking gleefully at their host. "Only bones too! Look! Look!" he insists, pointing at his cloak-obscured chest.
"Ok, mighty Kobolds can kill bear. Big bear, little bear, in the middle bear, is no problem. Still bear, all die the same," he promises, once another bowl has been offered. "Sometimes more traps, is no problem for Kobolds. You have map?"
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Skyxa takes a seat where indicated, careful to lay her longbow and other weapons aside so that they don't scrape the floor or damage anything. She sniffs her bowl of soup hungrily and then considers the chopsticks. Picking them up, she awkwardly tries to make use of them but having never seen them in use, she's a bit lost.
Finally, she resorts to using the chopsticks to simply stab the solid bits within the stew skewer-style and eating them that way. But rather than slurp the broth directly from the bowl she spoons it out with her spoon. It's still a bit messy but not as bad as it could've been.
"Thank you. Your food is very good," Skyxa remarks with an enthusiastic nod. "Who is Shokuro and why do they need to be famous?"
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Mai Chun continues serving more bowls of soup to the kobolds as she talks.
"Yes, I expected that your group would have no problem dealing with a mere bear."
"Now might not be the best time for a history lesson, but I could give you a quick summary. Shokuro used to be part of the Lung Wa Empire, but when that Empire fell apart we became one independent Successor State out of several. There is kind of a fragile balance of power right now because none of the Successor States have a strong enough claim to unite the old Empire. We're kind of the underdog in this whole struggle because we're not the strongest or most prestigious of the Successors but we value our independence and we don't want to get swallowed up by one of our bigger neighbors. Archaeological finds like this are one way we can kind of shore up our legitimacy. There's a lot more to it than that, but its probably not important for you to know more than that."
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A moment of realizations trikes Skithryx. Pouring the rest of his stew down his throat (trust in this clutch ends at the plate), he leaves the bowl on the floor and begins scooting his cushion around. After a minute or so of laborious, yet determined, scooting, he finally reaches his destination: arms reach of Mai Chun.
He tugs a few times on her robes again. "You have map?" he insists. Fleshy custom weird, but I learn!
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Mai Chun frowns at Demm's comment. "A little blunt and lacking historical context, but a fair comparison."
"You don't need to tug on my robes, little one. Grandma Mai Chun can hear you," she says to Skithrix in a sing song voice. "Who's child is this? Do you need me to watch them while you are exploring the estate?"
"I don't have a map, but when did Pathfinders start needing maps? Doesn't your name mean person who can find the right place to go? There is an old imperial road that you can follow to get there. Just go past the blacksmith and take the path going into the forest. And then...". Mai Chun gives the party thorough, easy to follow directions to the old estate.
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Gynnezz had found the local bugs different, but neat in their own way. So much so, that when the rest of the truebloods had gone to the briefing, she'd gotten distracted following one of the neat bugs while chatting up a storm with them about bug-stuff and how important it was to do bug-ly things and how no-scales don't understand and....
It was only after an hour or so of travel that she suddenly realized she was: A. Alone with the hornet she was talking to.; B. Outside of the town she was supposed to be meeting someone for a Pathfinder snarl mission; C. Finding it kind of hard to see because she's wearing her nifty smoked goggles so her eyes don't hurt.
"Bzz klklklklklk rrrrrrrr lklk kshkshksh!"
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"Maps are good but directions work," Skyxa shrugs. "Long as we have an idea where to start."
Unable to help herself she snort-laughs at Mai Chun's question. "He's not a child. Doing that is easy and it works. Most smoothskins are very tall, you know. Not always easy to get their attention with words or waving."
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"Yes, yes, and at Absalom small fleshies do to tall fleshies and get what they want! So I do it too and get what I want, see?" Skithryx explains confidently. "I no have Grand-Ma before, yay!" he adds cheerfully, giving the woman and awkward but sincere hug from his pillow. "Many Kobold die before Grand anything! No dying, ok?"
As she begins to rattle off directions, he throws himself to the floor and urgently pulls paper and a fist of charcoal out. Holding the chunk in his claw, he proudly scribbles out a map.
"Ok, ready! We go now and kill bear!"
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While Gynnezz waits for hopeful word of the rest of her snarlmates, she goes about looking for something for her bug friends to eat -- she's not some nogood noscale that'd just 'say' she's doing something.
"Bbbzzzkkkt bbbbbbbbbb..."
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Mai Chun leads the kobolds to the door. As they begin walking away, she waves at them and shouts out a poetic benediction,
“Daylight spends like merchant’s coin,
but so much slower in old Li Sho.
Where old dreams have died, ours may yet grow.”
Gynnezz Bugtalker regroups with the kobold horde outside the town and the intrepid band begins walking towards the ruined estate.
The Li Sho Forest is surprisingly dense and has began to claim the once wide imperial road, leaving only a narrow trail with few paving stones peeking up from the forest floor. The group is able to navigate the areas where the road has disappeared by looking for the landmarks that Mai Chun describes. First they pass by some old lantern posts, overgrown with ivy. After about two hours of walking, the group passes an abandoned hunting shack. After about four hours the group spots an old watchtower. Most of the ladder rungs have rusted or broken off but the stones of the watchtower are rough, with lots of good hand and foot holds.
At this point the estate should be about an hour away.
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As the snarl sets out, Skyxa's eyes light up as they finally catch sight of Gynnezz...amusing herself with the insects, to the (probable?) surprise of no one.
"We have our job now," she calls out, waving to get the bugtalker's attention. "Supposed to go to old human home and get rid of a nasty bear. Should be easy with all of us!"
Skyxa shrugs. "Can't hurt to look. If humans wanted anything here they would have taken it by now. And might be a good view from up there..."
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"Oh, hi! I was getting worried so I sent some friends to find you. Nobody got stung, right?"
Gynnezz sees the typical organized chaos that the travelling snarl is getting ready to perform and waves everyone to stop for a moment.
"If there is bear, then maybe we can find some food and make sure it doesn't have any hatchlings near it? If we can do that, maybe we can either lure it away with the food or use food as way to lure it into trap? Also, if old tower built by noscales, it probably very weak and flimsy and maybe not able to hold even trueblood weight. We should be very slow and careful, like we were dealing with a lot of traps from an enemy snarl. "
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Skyxa scales the old tower and makes it up to the top. Under a pile of leaves they find an old, weather-proofed chest. Inside is a longbow (lets say a Small sized one) and a quiver of arrows. There is also a letter that is clearly from a child to the soldier that once stood guard here. It is unclear why they would have left such valuable items behind.
Shortly after leaving the tower behind, the kobolds encounter the estate. Gaps in the forest canopy allow shafts of light to fall on the ruins of this once opulent manor. The walls are covered in leafy vines, and the once neatly manicured shrubberies in the courtyard now wildly overspill their bounds. An acrid stench assaults the senses as corpses of humanoids and beasts alike litter the ground.
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"Bzzz bzzz bzz hmmm!" Gynnezz offers in a retort to Skith before pretty much realizing that she does, indeed, talk to vermin a bit too much -- maybe. They ARE her friends... sometimes.
As it gets darker -- or at least not as horribly bright -- Gynnezz takes off her 'light blockers' and looks at the team.
"You're a good singer." she offers to Midnight before the party is ready to move on again.
Gynnezz will be talking with any bugs or listening to any bug chatter as the party gets closer. Since it smells strongly, she will also inquire if the bugs have had any mreals recently.
Once she gets some answers good or ill or indifferent, she'll also adopt a more traditional trueblood stealth approach.
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"Hmm, bow still looks sturdy," Skyxa observes. "Maybe one of you can use it? I have mine already."
Once the group gets going again she can't help but continue to hum the tune that Midnight had been singing a few minutes ago.
"Yes, you sing good," she agrees with Gynnezz.
Skyxa sniffs the air and curls her lip in a feral-looking snarl. "Did a bear do all this?" she asks quietly, peering around the at corpses. "This seems strange."
Now on edge, she draws out her longbow and loosely nocks an arrow before falling into formation near the rear of the group...
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As the party sneakily enters the court yard, they see a bear with black and white fur that is streaked in copious amounts of dried blood lurking by the overgrown remnants of some shrubbery. The creature growls to itself as it gnaws on the femur of what may have once been a deer.
Surprise Round and Round 1
Kaiden
Skyxa
Midnight the Black
Gynnezz Bugtalker
Krall Visker
Skithryx
Demm
Bloody Bear
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"I don't think it is concerned with our feelings." he answers.
As the group springs their attack Krall charges towards the bear to get into position.
Having closed the distance his claws grow larger with a roar as he tears into the bear. His bite arcs electricity as it closes in on flesh.
"Dragonsblood is strong in me!"
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Skithryx tilts his head at Skyxa. "Guard tower from up here?" he asks
He joins in the sneaking, opting to take his shield off in favor of using his crossbow. Kill bear from far away. Who fight bear where bear is strong?
As the assault on the bear begins, he fires a pair of bolts at the beast.
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As the rest of her companions begin their assault on the fierce-looking bear Skyxa does the same, quickly raising her bow and firing a shot...
...but in her haste she stumbles and fires way too high!
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"Hmph! Work best if I'm closer..."
Skyxa moves forward and into a much better position. She takes aim and fires again...
...and this time, her aim is true!