Kerrdremak looks at Kairon quizzically as he gives his instructions for the choker to be left to rest. He quirks a brow, and his lop-eared head tilts just a bit, reminiscent, to the healer, of a dog trying to puzzle out its master's instructions. Then the red-robed kobold turns to both the warriors that followed him and the slurk riders clinging stickily to the walls and says: "Gadewch y choker yn unig. Os caiff ei niweidio pan fyddaf yn dychwelyd, bydd eich bywyd yn talu'r fforffed ar gyfer ei."
After giving his instructions he returns to the adjacent chamber and looks down the hallway to the north, peering intently into the darkness... "If you're sure this is the way you want to go, we'd best be about it." He says. Then points down the corridor and hollers at his guards. "Yma, ewch! Pan welwch chi unrhyw un, gwynwch, felly gallaf siarad â nhw cyn iddynt weld y croen pinc."
"He must have escaped here after some of our warriors cleansed their nest from one of the newly discovered mine shafts." There is no emotion on the magic-wielding kobold's face as he speaks his truth. No remorse. Only facts.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 HA!!!
Kerrdremak takes in all of Illiam's pointed words, and looks down both of the paths ahead. The path north is, of course, the more direct, and if Merlokrep is destined to die in their coup, he must, as Illiam says, show strength now, so that should he rule afterwards, his rule starts with strength. Convinced, he looks at the group and says, "If you desire to go the most direct route, and to take Merlokrep's veteran forces head on, I will lead you that way. The halfling is right, if I'm to rule in strength, I must begin that rule in strength."
I hope you guys know what you're doing...?
Dolok sees nothing that sets off his magical senses in either this room or the adjoining.
Kerrdremak looks at Dolok and says, "Shorter in distance, but through that way we'll encounter more than one full contingent of warriors who are loyal to Merlokrep, loyal to the death. They will not stand down for me, or anyone." He then walks up to Dolok, and whispers to him, "The only reason these two here aren't attacking now is because I told them you all killed the Forge Spurned upstairs, and they're half afraid."
Kerrdremak and four of his retinue get onto the elevator platform and start lowering themselves to the bottom. Those close to the shaft hear a mumbled draconic conversation, that is, at moments, somewhat heated, but, after a few minutes, Kerrdremak's voice carries up through the shaft. "Come down, all is safe."
Kerrdremak makes his way up to where the Forge Spurned was so summarily dispatched, and after grasping Goruck's hand in a sign of friendship and thanks, he moves over to where Chillel is looking down the crevasse that leads to the kobold warrens below. It is a fairly straight fifteen foot shaft, with occasional handholds, but it drops directly into darkness. Chillel calls up some magical light and moves it down the shaft to see that the floor below has many tall stalagmites spaced throughout. As they stare down into the abyss Kerrdremak says, "It seems to me, if we could secure that chain," he points at the mostly intact chain left by the deceased Forge Spurned, "with a piton of some kind, we could use it to make the descent quite a bit easier. If you wish, I'll send my warriors down first to see if Reglos, that's what the Gargoyle calls himself, and his Dire Bat companion are at home. The other option, of course, is for myself, and one of my warriors to go down the elevator shaft, to attempt to put the ambushers there at ease. Someone with some knowledge of engineering would need to fix the mechanical elements of the elevator before that happens though, as they've rigged it to collapse under pressure of too much weight."
Dolok, Enlarge Person is a 1 round casting time, which means the spell is completed at the beginning of your next turn in the initiative. Also, I moved the dancing lights off the grid map, near where they would be floating, just so the actual grid is less clogged with icons. Speaking of icons, Chillel I moved yours into a position where you had line of effect/sight to the FS in order to hit it with your hex, and Goruck I moved yours into a position where you could strike the chain on the anvil with Glintaxe.
Forge Spurned Hex Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Chillel's attempt to weaken the Forge Spurned fails as his supernatural power shrugs off her hex magic like so much water from a goose's back. He snarls and flexes his undead muscles, loosening the chain from Jurin's wrists so he has the full flexibility to flail it in attack. Immediately seizing the opening, Illiam pours his potion of Cure Light Wounds down Jurin's throat.
CLW Potion: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Immediately upon the potion hitting his belly, Jurin fires fully into consciousness, and screams, seeing the massive, half-orc, stone-warrior Goruck standing over him menacingly with an axe. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! is all the child can get out before succumbing to the shock of the situation and falling limp into Illiam's invisible arms. Illiam swiftly drags the boy as far as his little legs will carry him, just on the other side of the stalagmite from Sarenrae's chosen priest.
Meanwhile Kerrdremak spurs his warriors to filter into the cavern at the rear of Hollow's heroes, acting as a rear guard. Gurtlekrep follows along as well. Not a whole lot the kobolds can do at this point as the staging area for the fight is filling up with bodies rather quickly... :D
Kerrdremak looks thoroughly cowed by everyone's rather aggressive expressions of the revenge that will be taken upon his corpse for hinted at future crimes of betrayal. He nods his assent, and then turns to his warriors and says, "I fyny! Rydym yn mynd i ymladd ochr yn ochr â'r Valers." His five warriors look at each other in a moment of hesitation, with quizzical expressions on their scaly brows. Kerrdremak gives them a moment, then yells, "Dywedais i fyny cŵn disglair!" At this they jump up spears and small shields to hand. Kerrdremak points them towards the northern door, and they immediately go through and into the broken down hole in the wall that leads into the winding and smokey caves that lead to the Forge Spurned's lair. After passing into the thick smoke that obscures much of their sight, the kobold warriors pause, and look at their lop-eared leader. In turn Kerrdremak looks back at the group and says, "Anybody have any way to clear that smoke? The Forge Spurneds hellhound b!tch is no doubt hiding in it waiting to pounce and strike."
Feeling a powerful increase in hostility Kerrdremak holds out his already-sleeve-extracted hand in a sign of surrender. He then says, "Peace! My friends. I am going to remove my other hand, slowly, as asked, from my sleeve so that you can see there is nothing up there." Then he does just that, slowly inching his clawed hand out from his sleeve and showing that there is, indeed, nothing in it. "Clearly, you will not be dissuaded from your course. Therefore I will agree to your terms. My warriors and I will lead you into the tunnels as you have asked. I wonder if you have considered, though," and here he pauses for a moment and looks specifically at Kairon, "What if, at a moment when we see you are at your weakest, and it looks like you will not be able to accomplish that which I have asked, we turn on you to create the ruse that we were only following you to betray you later? It seems to me that bringing us along, could take a bad situation and make it unrecoverable. Don't you? I just wonder if you'd considered that?" Kerrdremak smiles and holds both hands up in surrender, making it clear he wishes to avoid conflict.
Kerrdremak scratches his scaly chin with the long claw from one finger. He looks at his collected warriors, then at Kairon, clearly thinking deeply about something. "I understand your reservation, and admire your skepticism. Were I in your situation I would look for a more earnest show of loyalty as well. Very well then. I have a proposal, that I think will prove my truth, and speed things along. How about we," he points at his warriors and then at himself, "help you in fighting the Forge Spurned, and the gargoyle and dire bat that reside in the chamber below. Then, if we succeed in rescuing your son of the Hollow from the smoking undead dwarf, me and mine will watch over him, and we'll convince, by his tone of voice it is apparent that Kerrdremak means by diplomacy if possible, but by any means necessary, if not, "those that lay in wait at the bottom of the elevator to fix it so that your exit will be safe and smooth?" He pauses here for a moment focusing intently on Kairon. This, I believe, would prove my words, provide the 'blood' that you seem to require, and, hopefully, speed you on your successful way. Agreed?"
Kerrdremak listens intently to all of Illiam's wonderful arguments. Then he says, "I don't fault your arguments. I just don't agree with them, not in principle, nor in action. You have as much help as I am willing to give. As I've said, if that doesn't feel like enough, then do me the favor of killing me first." His five warriors murmur restlessly at his willingness to die, but he waves a hand at them and they settle down after a moments' rumbling. "Also, don't forget that you'll need someone to watch over your Hollow's son that is now trapped by the Forge Spurned. His moments of life grow shorter as we sit and argue. As do those of the child in Jekkajak's clutches. I strongly doubt you have much time to waste arguing with me, let alone dragging a child into the chaos that will be experienced below."
At Dolok's aggressive behavior and speech, Kerrdremak takes a wary step back and his warriors jump to their feet gripping spears and shields tightly. Before speaking, he crosses his arms, resting his hands inside the sleeves of his red robe. His voice is very calm even soothing, as he speaks. "The area I've marked 28 is an old collapsed shaft that leads to a system of unexplored caves deeper in the earth. Ever since the cave-in we have avoided it." He pauses for a moment, looking Dolok right in the eyes making sure he's paying close attention. He also gives Kairon and Goruck a sideways glance. "If the amount of information I have already given you about the inner workings of my tribe's long-time home seems less than generous, I apologize. It so happens, my fiery friend, that I do not know any more about this level, except that we have always avoided it, there are, no doubt, creatures dwelling in the halls and chambers of this basement of the monastery, but we avoid them, and they do likewise for us." Here Kerrdremak pauses again, and paces back and forth in front of his small group of warriors, at which point everyone present realizes he's preparing another of his long diatribes. "I believe I understand your misgivings. You want my help in moving below, perhaps I could even dissuade many of the Truescale from attacking you, making your journey below so much easier. I follow that logic, but in so doing, you miss one very important truth about what I am offering, and what I am undertaking." Another dramatic pause. "You see, no doubt, that what I am undertaking here is no less than treason, correct?" He looks around to make sure every member of the group acknowledges his position as a traitor to his tribe. "You also see, I hope, as I have indicated, that I do not want to destroy the life of the Truescale tribe. I want only to kill the cancer that is destroying it. It is not the destruction of my tribe I am after, it is its cleansing. I want the Truescale tribe to be here tomorrow, and I want to be part of it. You see? He looks around to see if the seeds of his logic are taking root, watching for those moments of understanding to pop clearly upon human, halfling, and half-orc faces. "If I partake, obviously, in open rebellion, regardless the motive, my place among the tribe will be assured, assuredly ended. If, however, the knowledge of my rebellion motivated by patriotism, sits with this small group." He points at Gurtlekrep and the five warriors whose loyalty he has garnered. "Then, the cleansing of my tribe provides that return to glory, that I have spoken about. Then the Truescale tribe continues, improved, progressing, growing. I would prefer Merlokrep, first of his name, to be the king, but, as I said, I will understand if he refuses to cease peaceably. He is forever fiercely loyal to his small kingdom. It is not the kingship I want, though I am prepared to take it in the absence of another. It is simply the ability for the Truescale tribe to grow and prosper, a prospect that has been placed in severe jeopardy by the will of two imbecilic, greedy, and irrational kobolds." He pauses here again, reaching one hand out from his robe and scratching it along his scaly chin. "You see, also, I hope, what is being offered here? The friendship and alliance of the Truescale tribe. I have no doubt, that if Merlokrep lives, I will be able to persuade him to reason and to alliance with the Hollow, it is, after all, in both our best interests." Kerrdremak crosses his arms again, and turns to look at Dolok, peering intently into his fiery eyes. "Surely you can see that I am offering as much as I can offer, while still remaining loyal to the renewed strength of the Truescale tribe? If not, and you feel I have been dishonest, or that my motivations are somehow hidden, take what I have already given and use it to destroy the Truescale tribe. I ask only one thing if that is your course of action, kill me first, for I do not wish to witness the end of my people."
The barrage of questions seems to rattle Kerrdremak not at all. He calmly answers them in the order they were given. Looking at Illiam he says, "As I mentioned Merlokrep is both a warrior of great prowess, and a caster of arcane magic. His favored spells are sleep and magic missile. He has no weaknesses, except, of course, his weakness for the harlot Vreggma. Speaking of, she is only dangerous in her devotion and ferocity. She is no more skilled a warrior than any of our tribe, but, if cornered she will fight until you all are dead, or she is. Jekkajak, the senile shaman is a powerful sorcerer. His favored spells are cause fear, color spray, and summon swarm. Both he and Merlokrep will undoubtedly have covered themselves with the protection of mage armor as well. They both also wield magical weapons. Merlokrep's man-fell battleaxe is particularly deadly against humans. Jekkajak's magic dagger is wreathed in flame, and sometimes bursts forth with gouts of flame when he lands a significant blow against his enemies."
Kerrdremak looks at Dolok and says, "Finally someone with some civility and cordial discourse. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dolok of the of Hollow." He offers a small bow in greeting. Here, I'll do my best to draw you a map of the parts of this level that you'll need to get through to go below." With that Kerrdremak takes Dolok's paper and ink and draws a rough sketch of the elevator room, and his best recollection of the caverns that lead past the Forge Spurned to the cave chute that leads to the Truescale's warrens. He then gives the rough map to Dolok.
After finishing his map he looks back at Illiam and says, "No, none of your party should have any trouble with the caves or corridors below. Though, something the size of an ogre would not fit through with ease. And a slurk is a bit like a large toad with orc-like tusks growing from it's wide and deadly mouth." Upon hearing the description, Illiam's memory is jarred, and he remembers reading about just such a creature previously in his travels.
He looks at the rest of the group and asks, "Any other information I can offer to assist your quest?"
"It is our hatchery. We have many clutches of eggs being tended there by the matriarchs of our tribe. It is also fiercely guarded. There's a reason the path I drew stays well away from there. You'll avoid a massive group of our warriors that do nothing but protect the hatchery. Any other questions?"
Kerrdremak grabs Illiam's paper and ink and gets to work immediately, watching him work Illiam realizes that Kerrdremak must be some kind of amateur cartographer, his map is extremely detailed, and he's labeled the entirety of the lower level with a convenient and understandable numbering system. He takes the time to draw a line showing the most expedient route, even listing the denizens of each area.
Kerrdremak's Map
The link to that map is also at the top of the page now, under "Linkety Links." Kerrdremak would tell you all what is in every area, if you so choose, but listing everything here would be a wall of text that I don't want to put up. If you have specific questions about an area, feel free to ask them in discussion, and we can take care of it there. As is, if you look at the map you'll see that I've marked the path that Kerrdremak would recommend, and listed those monsters and kobold defenses that he knows are in each area. First order of business though, is the Forge Spurned...
While Kerrdremak draws and writes, he speaks to Goruck about the Forge Spurned. "The Forge Spurned is your first and greatest threat. He is undead, the manner of his creation is a mystery to me, as I've never dared get close enough to learn more. I can tell you that he wields an adamantine warhammer, with deadly efficiency, he also exudes heat on the level of a fire elemental. His driving force is forging his soul chain, which he also wields as a weapon with pernicious reach. He also heals, quickly, almost right before your eyes. The souls of all those he kills on his anvil become links in that chain. For some reason though, he undertakes some slow process of taking those souls, almost as if he is taking their soul, slowly, as he hammers a new link to his chain. As we came up through the elevator, I heard the screams of your Hollow's son. No doubt the undead fire dwarf is even now forging his soul into his chain. He keeps a she-b!tch hellhound as a guard. All this I know because as strong as the Truescale is, we've never been able to remove the Forge Spurned from his smoking tunnels, even after several attempts." As he speaks you notice genuine disappointment not only on his face, but also that of his collected warriors and even Gurtlekrep. He continues. "I will not lie to you, if you can kill the Forge Spurned it would be a great boon to the Truescale. As would the death of the gargoyle and dire bat that live just below his crevasse, here where I've marked the number 23." He points to the first chamber of his map of the kobold warrens, the chamber where, if you successfully kill the Forge Spurned, you would drop down to continue your mission. "If you can rescue your lad, please bring him back here. We will guard him for you as you work to rid our tribe of the cancer that now slowly kills it. If you follow the path I've shown you'll run into our slave overlord Lekmek in our mine. He will undoubtedly order the slaves to harry your, while he goes to warn our warriors. As to that, though, and to keeping as many of my brethren alive as possible, I have something here that may help." Kerrdremak reaches inside the sleeve of his red robe and withdraws a wand. He hands it to Chillel. "It is a wand with the arcane spell Sleep. The command word is "cysgu." It won't work on many of our best warriors, but on the young, the slaves, the green trainees, it should take them out of the fight."
The wand has 13 charges left on it.
"Past Lekmek and the mine you'll have to pass through the slurk kennels, where Kapmek is the wrangler. He will also attack without diplomacy, again, if you can put him and his slurks to sleep, I would appreciate it, as they are part of our tribe's strength. Beyond that, follow this trail I've marked. Here, in the area I've marked with the number 30, Merlokrep will, by the time you reach it, as he is already aware of you and your approach, have assembled our military strength. Darkscale Hunters, warrior captains, and a host of no less than a dozen of our most seasoned warriors. There is no way to bypass it. You will have to go through this chamber to get to Merlokrep, to Vreggma, to Jekkajak and to the child the senile old shaman is no doubt prepping to sacrifice. A small saving grace... I heard Jekkajak say he would sacrifice the elf wizard first, as "his heart is more powerful." So you have some time before the child he's taken is placed on his altar of death." Kerrdremak pauses for a moment as he puts the finishing touches on his map, considering.
"Obviously, as many of the warriors as you can save, I'd appreciate that as well. Though, I won't fault you for killing to save yourself."
He hands Illiam the map, and his pen and ink back. Then looks each one of you in the eye before speaking again. "I want to be very clear on this final point. I do not think Merlokrep an inept king. I think he has surrounded himself with inept and foolish counselors. Merlokrep is no fool, but he is also fiercely loyal. You may not be able to convince him to stand down. If not, he will not be easy to kill, as he wields magic and weapons with equal ease. If Merlokrep can be saved, I think it would be for the best. If he cannot?" Kerrdremak pauses here, for more than a brief moment. "So be it. The Truescale tribe will find new leadership. Vreggma and Jekkajak however must be killed. On this I hope I have made myself perfectly clear. Now, you have little time, and much to do. As I said, your first order of business is to head north out of this room and east into the smoking tunnels of the Forge Spurned to save you son of the Hollow. I wish I had something to help you clear those tunnels of smoke, but I know no such magic."
Kerrdremak points to the double doors to the north, and awaits any questions that the envoy voices.
"Hmmmm, you are right that your names are not important, I merely wanted the courtesy of knowing who I am addressing, and, as is wont to happen in these situations, those that consider themselves leaders of a group will always be first to speak. That the priest of Sarenrae spoke first, disrespectfully, and dismissively, speaks to the fact that he leads in spirit, but not necessarily in truth." Kerrdremak looks at Kairon disdainfully, then walks closer to Chillel to address her more intimately. "To answer your question, Chillel, all of the kobolds under my charge are kin of the Truescale tribe. To answer the priest's question, I can only tell you what the glory of the Truescale tribe is not. It is not skulking around in dark caverns, biding time, trying to gather strength by listening to the words of a madman, whose insanity has caused him to believe our fate is tethered to some bizarre sacrifices of innocent human blood. Its glory is also not in catering to the greedy whims of an egotistical harlot, whose only desire is to surround herself with the facade of riches." The lop-eared kobold walks away for a moment, back to the front of his sitting warriors, he looks at the group of you, scrutinizing. When he speaks again his voice is changed, softer.
"Sadly, as you have probably already guessed, I cannot, by own, even with those few that listen, overturn the hierarchy of rule. I need help. When Merlokrep sent us up here to ascertain the truths of those cowardly souls that fled to the depths with tales of Glintaxe come to new and powerful life, and to check on the fate of the escaped prisoners, I hoped against hope that it meant people like yourselves would be here. I cannot openly defy Merlokrep, nor am I powerful enough to counter my mentor Jekkajak. What's worse, I'm sure your children are precious, and I heard the frightened screams of one caught in the clutches of the Forge Spurned and his Hellhound b!tch. To wit, you have little time, and I have little more than knowledge to aid you, at least until you've removed the threat of Vreggma and Jekkajak. So... Seek what information you will from me, I will tell it plainly. I will also tell you that, if it is within your power, I would like there to be a Truescale tribe left to be ruled after you have rescued the children of the Hollow. As many kobolds as you can leave alive, I beg of you to do. As a sign of my earnest desire, I will let you know that some of our Darkscale Hunters have set a trap in the elevator, they lay wait in ambush in its depths, and the mechanism has been booby-trapped to fail as soon as enough wait, that of at least two humans, rests on it. You dare not go that way. The only other way is down the smoke-filled tunnels, past the Forge Spurned and his hellhound pet, but of course, you will choose that way anyway, because one of your children is currently trapped in his vile clutches, hours yet to live until he too becomes part of the mad ghost's chain."
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