Bumolin takes the keys. "I think he doesn't need them anymore - haven't we been looking for a pair just now? Maybe try them?"
Xylas shrugs, "Might as well."
Thorfinn advances a little ways past the others into the wide passage, blade ready.
Xylas exchanges a pained look with Bumolin as Thorfinn moves forward rather than toward the vault. "We can check it out later. Forward?"
A few small piles of furs laid out like nests are heaped near the walls of this small cave. There is a large boulder in the center, and smoldering embers from a past cooking fire glow softly in a shallow fireplace.
Two kobolds stand ready as Thorfinn leads the way around the corner!
Before anyone can react, an arrow flies out of the darkness to strike Thorfinn!
[Ooc]Thorfinn can see the kobold who shot him, she is crouched behind the boulder about 30 feet from his position. Thoefinn would not be able to charge any of them, but should be ablento enter melee range with all three. I've revealed the shooter on the map.[/dice]
"BARE IS BROTHERLESS BACK!" The Ulfen rushes toward the archer, but if either of the other kobolds steps out to attack him he'll start with them.
The kobold archer sneers but does not cry out in pain despite taking a very serious wound to her arm. She calls out to her compatriots in their native tongue before stepping back and unleashing another arrow on Thorfinn.
The kobold archers arrow pierces Thorfinn's chest, dealing a serious wound.
The other two kobolds take position at the tunnel with their spears at the ready, threatening anyone trying to enter the chamber.
[Ooc]Edit: I realized I forgot to move the archer kobold on the map and just shut down the doggone computer to head to work. She stepped back five feet to her right to make the attack without provoking. She would have cover from everyone outside the room, but Thorfinn needs to only make a 5' step to be back in melee unobstructed.[/ooc)
Bumolin takes a step forward into the tunnel and then puts his ceremonial bowl on the ground. While the fight around him continues, he takes out a bit of straw and puts it into the bowl. He beats some sparks out of a piece of flintstone, sets the straw on fire and puts a small organic undescribable object into the flames. The flames immediately get bigger and start to produce a greenish translucent smoke that starts to fill the chamber.
Thorfinn laughs through the pain, his rage keeping him going as he chases the kobold around the stone. His blade rises and falls again, bloody in the torchlight.
Roxy starts an inspiring chant and moves up. Buoyed by her music, Cordia closes with one of the kobolds and stabs at it with her rapier.
Wondering if the barbarian is speaking in tongues, Xylas nonetheless tries to help out if he can. The half-elf steps up beside Burps and takes aim at a kobold (blue)...
only to drop the arrow at his feet.
As Cordia steps forward, the kobold lunges at her, but he trips on a rock and practically falls on the woman's rapier. The kobold drops to the ground in a slump.
"Wait! I told him to surrender! You keep coming, like goblins! Ugh!" The archer shouts in the common tongue before she tries to tumble away, dropping her bow in the process, but her evasive attempt to escape is clumsy.
The other kobold throws his spear down and puts his hands in the air.
The smoke concentrates next to the archer, where suddenly a giant centipede appears who crawls towards the kobold trying to bite it.
...failing miserably
Bumolin takes out his sling and shoots at the remaining Kobold spearman.
...hitting the stone wall above
Thorfinn calms down, panting with fatigue. He steps forward to stand over the bow. "They surrendered, Bumolin! Stay your hand!"
"I knew this was a bad idea. I told Roaghaz we have had no conflict with the humans for generations, First we were told to simply demolish the Tower. The wizard hated that it blocked his view. Can you believe that? Okay, if we had done it as originally planned, no one would have ever known, but Roaghaz said, 'lure the wizard to the collapse. Bury him, then loot his home.' I said that would bring the humans down on the tribe. Then Nighttail the Glib tried, and failed, in her coup attempt. I had no choice but to follow the chieftains orders. Now? A dozen dead miners, and a town of very angry pinkskins!"
The archer drinks her potion, some of her Wounds stop bleeding. She takes another and offers it to Thorfinn.
"We cannot return home. We ask only for safe passage so that we can find a new path."
"They surrendered, Bumolin! Stay your hand!"
"Or many, many hands as the case may be," Xylas adds. He puts away his bow and picks up his arrow upon the kobolds surrender. "So your leader is Roaghaz? Another kobold? Where is Nighttail now and where will you go?"
"Yes. Roaghaz is our current chief. He knows magic, but has a short supply of good sense. I do not know what became of Nighttail. I was sent here after her sttpt to take control of the tribe." She sighs heavily before answering the last question. "Perhaps, Kaer Maga. The city welcomes all and fsctions active there always need skilled trackers."
Thorfinn takes the vial, but doesn't drink it while he recovers from his efforts.
Xylas nods agreeably. "Did you come out of that hole back there? Where do we find this chief now?"
Bumolin still looks redfaced, angry and flustered. But he puts his sling down and commands the centipede to stop it's assault. Seconds later it scrambles into the dark tunnel ahead and disappears into the darkness.
"Must have overheard...but be carefull with them. Never met a Kobold, who wasn't a thief and a liar!"
The kobold archer snaps at Buomolin, "Roaghaz is your theif and liar! We were happy minding our own business until..." She bites her tongue a moment. "Anyway, the tunnel over there will lead you, but I doubt any of you but the halfling could fit. Roaghaz will be there, surrounded by the last of his loyalists. I couldn't begin to give directions from the surface, except to say east in the fen. Near the old quarry."
"So, you never roasted a chicken or a sheep that didn't belong to you?"
"Hey now, Bumolin. I can tell you don't care for these kobold folks, but I don't think we should take that all out on this one. Sounds like his new chief is the main problem. Sometimes folks just end up with a bad leader. You recall our recent caravan chief, huh?"
The mention of Silas makes Bumolin thoughtfull. "I see what you mean... it's just: back home I have never seen one of them except legging it with one of our livestock. But you are right. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt."
Xylas nods gravely. "Kobolds, you are free to go so long as you promise to harm no settlers on your way to KerMAGA. Beware of the mean bird."
He turns to his companions, "I think this is the end of our investigation. Perhaps we should return to the town with our report."
The kobold woman shakes her head, "We will avoid any who are not kobolds, and indeed, even kobolds until we are far from here." She pauses for a moment before asking, "Mean bird?"
"Mean bird?"
"Take my word for it, you'll know it when you hear it." Xylas frowns.
Thorfinn didn't follow all the negotiations, but did catch that there were more kobolds out there who could be killed. Once the former enemies have left, he looks doubtfully at the vial before tossing back the contents.
"I suppose we need to bring the wizard's body back with us." And I have a quarrel with that battle-swan....
"I suppose we need to bring the wizard's body back with us." And I have a quarrel with that battle-swan....
Xylas looks confused a moment. "Oh, the old guy was the wizard? I totally missed that. There was a corpse in the torture device as well that I said I would bury."
Bumolin takes out the keys "so those are his keys. Maybe they open his workshop? Didn't someone back in town say his workshop was locked and therefore they couldn't check on him?"
"Didn't someone back in town say his workshop was locked and therefore they couldn't check on him?"
"Oh, right. Hunclay wasn't it? This must be him. You got it, Thorfinn?" Xylas asks the big northerner making sure that he's bringing the dead man along. "That ugly kid on the caravan was asking about this guy, too, but I'm not sure where he went after the tower fell."
Xylas points out the vault on their way out. "Still gotta find the keys for that. Did we check all the cells here?" Xylas keeps an eye out for more secret doors on the way back to the trapdoor room.
"we can look around while we go back. But I'm all for returning to town. I will still have to find something to eat for Abon. We left before I could bring him something."
The group recovers Hunclay's body and moves carefully back through the cramped kobold dig-site. Once back in the treasury, they see one of the locks being pecked at by the "mean bird." It lets out a 'caw' before turning invisible. It can be heard fluttering out from between the bars and down the hallway.
"I suppose we need to bring the wizard's body back with us." And I have a quarrel with that battle-swan....Xylas looks confused a moment. "Oh, the old guy was the wizard? I totally missed that. There was a corpse in the torture device as well that I said I would bury."
Thorfinn forces the rusted iron maiden open so that Xylas can give the individual inside a proper burial (along with the poachers in the haunted cell). The body that tumbles out seems rather unusual for a torture victim. It is dressed in rotted, black studded leather and has two gleaming mithral daggers strapped to his waist! The daggers have unusual notches on their hilts that very much resemble the teeth of a key.
Thorfinn's eyes widen at the sight of the loot. I can afford to go home! But I can't leave now, in the middle of the tale--what skald would tell of it? "And it was then that the brave and mighty son of Feigr abandoned his companions!" No, I will not flee. I shall return to the north a hero, or not at all.
"Ah. A good deed rewarded! Puts me in mind of one of Erastil's Parables. We may have to come back for the silver and copper, but let's get the rest of this hauled up to the surface with the remains. We should hold onto these daggers, too."
Once topside, Xylas asks the dwarf what Abon likes to eat.
Back at the entrance, the boar snorts and stomps facing a broken section of the Tower's wall. The crowd has dispersed leaving Deputy Mulle to watch the ruins bored and alone in the cool early evening.
"Everyone okay?" She asks. Abon stops snorting at the wall and runs to Bumolin grunting with both joy and hunger.
Bumolin is rather taken aback by the size of the treasure.
"I have learned in the last months that a bag full of silver and copper keeps a traveller warm and fed on the road. And when Silas made his offer, I figured that much money will easily take me to Maheto. But what does anyone do with that much?"
When he is reunited with Abon he scratches him behind the ear:
"Yes I know ... that has been longer than it should have been. But I see you kept your manners - no annoyed humans screaming about their plundered pantry here at least. I'll get you dinner as soon as we are back at the inn... actually, this little exploration has made me thinking. We have to stay on the road for a long time. And we shouldn't count on anything dangerous just running away when you snort angrily and show your tusks... but there is time for that tomorrow."
When Xylas asks about Abons diet:
"Oh he eats more or less anything. When the rations grew short even one time a piece of leather from my backpack. Had to stitch it up. It's one of the first things you learn about raising pigs: they can eat anything, so keep them fed or they will ... Abon enjoys root-vegetables especially. I wanted to ask if they can spare some in the kitchen."
The crowd has dispersed leaving Deputy Mulle to watch the ruins bored and alone in the cool early evening. "Everyone okay?" She asks.
"For the most part though Hunclay didn't make it and we found some older remains that I felt ought to be properly interred. What are the local temples? Who usually conducts the final rites?"
"We'll be heading back to the Piper for some dinner and maybe some parsnips for Abon. Don't know if you want to send someone to let the Baroness know we've got some information for her. Oh, and if a raven says anything to you: shoot first and ask questions later."
Mulle looks baffled and looks all around for some sort of bird. She shrugs and answers the question about burials. "Well, we got a lot of Abadarans and plenty of Shelynites. Those two temples typically handle burials depending on who died. They tend to be at odds with each other most of the time, but something like this would probably get them to work together for a bit.
"The Baroness can probably wait until morning if there isn't any immediate danger. She would probably prefer to receive visitors who uh, have freshened up? But I will send her staff a message."
"I could also do the rites following the traditions of the old faith in this region. But I'm not sure that is what they would have wanted."
"Well, there are more than a few Green Faithers around here too, actually," Mulle adds. "The Kells, Azmur and Rima, ran services during high holy days. Weird we haven't seen them come through town. Rima's due to give birth in a fww months. Hope they didn't run into any trouble, though who or what could give those two trouble I wouldn't want to meet. A very competent couple those two."
"really? I would love to have an opportunity to chat with them at some time. Where can they be found usually? Maybe I can pay them a visit tomorrow...or do you think someone should check on them sooner, in case something happened?"
"Aye, I would prefer washing up before meeting with the thane. A red day it was, with no dearth of foes. That last cave-crawler we fought was a deadly archer, and I judge a cunning leader as well. Had I been a whit slower to strike--" He shrugs, then shakes his head. "Not for me to dwell on might-have-beens. She has my respect, is all."
"This town might be thinking itself a city now if the main temple is dedicated to Abadar, but I'm glad to hear some still honor the old ways.
To the Piper then, and a piping hot dinner perhaps?"
"really? I would love to have an opportunity to chat with them at some time. Where can they be found usually? Maybe I can pay them a visit tomorrow...or do you think someone should check on them sooner, in case something happened?"
"It isn't that unusual for them to miss trips into town. They're pretty self-sufficient. It is just that Rima is, you know, really pregnant? That makes us worry a little. They have some sort of camp on the north side of Rogue Creek, but I don't know exactly where. Druids can be hard to track. Well, I'll leave you here. The Sheriff will expect a report," She says leaving you in front of The Wise Piper.
Talia steps out and rushes a small mug of a hot beverage out to the deputy before she gets too far. "Here you go! I was going to lock up and run this out to the Witch Tower, thought you might need it. Come in, come in!" The inbkeeper says to the Tower's explorers. "I've got just a little stew left and your rooms are ready. I'm not going to press tonight, but in the morning I will want to hear your tale!" She says with a genial laugh.
"Oh I wouldn't mind another helping of that stew."
Bumolin takes out his bowl and wipes out the remnants of his rituals in the dungeon with his hand to make space.
"But before anything else: do you have some carrots or parsnips left for Abon here? He had to wait all the time while we explored the ruins."
Once he has some food in his belly, Xylas is thinking a little more clearly. "That was delicious, Talia! Oh, I should mention that Hunclay is dead and we found some other remains in the dungeon below the tower. Since Hunclay was so concerned about his view I'm thinking that maybe he was a secret Shelynite," Xylas muses. "Could you tell me more about the priests here?"