“Come on kid, don’t lose him now! Down that corridor, he’s feinted to the left, but he’s probably burrowing through that trash on the right. Kobolds do that. The mud suits them.”
Everything was calm just a moment ago. As calm as things get for Irirangi, anyway. She knows she probably strayed a little too far down the towers, but it was as if she moved within a daydream. It was a harmless stroll, regardless.
Until, the mad kobold lunged out at her from the shadows; snapping her out of any fantasy. Not expecting combat, she was unable to defend herself from the flailing creature. It lunged for her neck, screaming “Xint, Xint, Xint!”. It managed to get a hold of her holy symbol, but was unable to pull it off of Irirangi with a single tug. Pulling furiously at her amulet, the kobold was suspended above the ground. Iri reflexively tried to pull the creature off of her; the kobold responded with a similar reflex, chomping down on Iri’s left hand.
The pain in her hand was just enough to throw her off balance, and give the kobold the upper hand in the tug-of-war. Clutching Iri’s holy symbol in its little claws, the kobold took off back into the shadows that it came from.
Holding her wounded hand, Irirangi looks around for any sign of movement, spurred on by Benefor’s prodding.
Perception: 1d20+3; [11,3] = (14)
"Right Mr Oh-so-good with tactics. What now?"snapped Iri. "Am I supposed to scrabble through the rubbish?"
Reluctantly, she draws her dagger and starts sneaking towards where she last saw the kobbold.
"Hey - nice dark alley, good for fun and games."
"Sshh. This isn't the time or the place."
whispers Iri frantically, scrabbling at her neck, hardly able to believe her treasured Holy Symbol has gone.
"This is soooooo disgusting .... why aren't you just blasting it? You got the power girl, why don't you use it?"
"Because..."
Belatedly realising that talking out loud to her friends is going to lessen her chances of finding the thief, Iri continues
"I can't see it. Please, help me one of you. Come on Benefor, this is your department. I won't leave without that symbol."
By now what with the rubbish and the chase and the loss of her treasured relic, Iri feels perilously close to tears.
Though the kobold does his best to hide from Iri, it is hampered by all the debris. The rubbish moves ever so slightly, giving away the kobold's scampering.
It is headed down the right corridor, as Benefor suggested. Through the rubbish, it opens into a larger alley. Squeezing between two towers is easier for a kobold than a human, but Iri could make it with little difficulty.
"Now now kid. No crying on my watch. Tears make it harder for you to see. You can't spot that critter if you're wiping tears out of your eyes all day. Get in there!"
"You're sweet when you cry. It doesn't happen often enough. Irirangi Biasharan, did you know I love your green eyes weeping? They look like melting emeralds."
"Even for you that's gross Cassio. "Melting emeralds" - did you even think before you came up with that metaphor? Hey - girlfriend, there's work to be done! Wakey wakey, time's a-wasting. Beats me why you want the stupid symbol back, but if you do, moving would be good. Benefor's right."
"My green-eyed lady's a mental Paladin, my weeping green-eyed lady ... don't be so cynical Aphra, of course she needs the symbol. Poor love, sweet Irirangi, let me wipe the tears away."
"You do understand. I know you do. Such a narrow gap ... Ow... Oh, I can't."
Her last words coming out as a wail, Iri pushes through to the wider alley. Furiously wiping away the last of her tears, she looks for any signs of movement.
"What is is you always say Aphra? Don't get mad, get even. I will do just that. As soon as I find the little beast."
The words and gestures that trigger some of her powers rise up in her head without any conscious effort on her part.
Scrambling through the passageway, the alley opens up to a small platform.
The kobold has cornered itself, for this area is clear of debris, and there is no way out; the opposite side of the platform is simply an edge, promising a plummet.
Still clutching the holy symbol, it is standing in the middle of the platform. It looks around nervously, hissing and baring it's tiny fangs. The kobold's tail flicks back and forth like an angry cat, and it looks like it's about to pounce.
"Bite him back."
1d20+2; [5,2] = (7)
Iri glares at the chittering kobbold.
"If you've got any sense, you'll hand that symbol back right now. Otherwise I'll just pick it up after you've gone over the edge. Your choice."
She hopes she looks and sounds tougher than she feels. Confrontation is usually something she avoids. That's Aphra and Benefor's job.
"Did I do that right? I just want my symbol back, I don't really want to start hurting things."
Green-eyed lady, you know I love you, but you should have used the dagger. If you're going to make a threat, you have to back it up."
"Girlfriend, that was pathetic. Now you probably have to hurt the critter. Sooooo ... which mystic power is it going to be today? Touch of madness would be good, not used that in a while.
"I need my holy symbol for that. Give it back!"
Forgot about that. Acid splash, ray of frost. Got a world of damaging fun to choose from. Make your mind up girlfriend."
The kobold runs toward Iri, flailing with it's one free claw. He leaps up to claw her face, but his strike goes wide, his claw just briefly running through her hair.
At this proximity, Iri notices that the kobold's eyes are a beady red. It's mottling is a pattern of light grey on off-white.
"Nuxsh grak il fertek", it yips.
Grabbing at the kobold, Iri unleashes a streak of acid at it with an involuntary flex of her fingers.
"Get out of my hair, give me back my symbol and learn to talk properly."
"Any better?"
Darling girl, if you'd any sense, you'd have grabbed the symbol instead of wasting time shooting acid at it. But you do what you think best my love, my green-eyed darling.
"Oh. I'm so stupid. I could hit myself sometimes."
"Don't be so hard on yourself green-eyes. Just remember to take your chances. You know I'll always be here to watch your back.
If this gets any more maudlin I'll hurl. There is a situation going on here. Keep the lovey-dovey for later you two.
"Nice shot, kid!"
The kobold reels from the acidic ray. Horrified, and clutching the melted ruin of its body, it stumbles back where it came, withdrawing from combat, but trapping itself.
The movement, combined with the stress of the attack and being trapped is too much for the creature, as it collapses. It's little heart giving out on it.
Iri hears a faint whistling sound above her head. It sounds like it is steadily getting louder.
"OK. Overkill girlfriend. You and I need to talk about appropriate response levels. Now pick up that symbol and let's move it along shall we. Oh - and wash your hands, because I'm telling you acid on the face is not a good look."
"Irirangi my warrior princess. Green-eyed goddess of good. I'm almost tempted to write poetry now."
"Don't even think about going there Cassio. This girl is getting married. No poetry. Girlfriend, that thing about appropriate response levels? You might just want to apply it a little more generally."
"Cassio, you know I love you, but I know you far too well. Aphra - he's OK, he's just being Cassio, it's not a big deal. Hey! Benefor, I really think my reaction time's improving."
Iri recovers her symbol and looks regrettfully at the remains of the kobold. There really was something a bit odd about it. What was left of it anyway.
"Aren't they supposed to speak Draconic? I should have been able to understand it shouldn't I? Benefor? What do you think?"
Her attention is attracted to the approaching noise and she looks up.
"Beats me kid. You should duck, though. Tuck and roll!"
Iri approaches the fallen kobold, but the sound above her gets perilously loud. She looks up in time to see something falling from the sky.
To add insult (and injury) to injury, furniture appears to fall out of the sky, smashing down on where the kobold is laying. It appears to be the remnants of a chest of kinds, most of it probably breaking apart on structures far above.
The kobold, and subsequently Irirangi's holy symbol now lay at the bottom of the bloodied debris.
"You have much to learn about what lurks under the surface of things. Sometimes, all is not as it seems. This creature is from very far away. Further than Draconic."
Taking Benefor's advice in a nick of time, Iri ducks and rolls out of the way of the falling chest.
"What are you talking about Dahl? Could you be more specific? Is it from another plane then? You know I hate it when you go cryptic on me. It's just annoying. My mentor does it too. Not that there's a whole lot left to look at."
Sitting up, Iri looks at the mess of kobold goo and broken furniture, sighs resignedly and starts hunting for her symbol.
"Aphra - you say one word about washing my hands..."
Searching through the rubble, Irirangi manages to find her holy symbol, still in the broken hand of the kobold. A small fracture runs all the way through the symbol, splitting it down the middle.
In addition, Iri finds a small golden ring under a plank of wood. It catches what little sun reaches these depths, shimmmering.
Countless other pieces of rubble dot the remains, including shards of what appears to be a clay pot of some kind.
Wiping the muck off her symbol, Iri notices the fracture with distress.
"Good thing I swapped that useless Acid Splash for Mending. Yes, yes, I'll clean my hands first. Nobody needs to say anything."
Carefully rubbing the worst of the kobold ichor off her hands Iri pronounces the word of power with great precision.
The cracked icon mends back together at Iri's invocation.
"Flawless."
"Better get it right girlfriend. This is not the time to make mistakes. Remember when you cast Light on your duvet? Your mother was not pleased. "Irirangi, don't do that, it upsets the staff""
"Green-eyes - take a look at the ring. It's my gift to you. Be mine Irirangi, be mine ... I've written a song for you. Do you want to hear it? I'm a bard really."
"You're not a bard Cassio. You're a lecherous sneak-thief with a glib tongue."
"What's the difference?. Hrumph!"
"I admit my demeanour is that of a rogue, my professional life less than flawless, but in my soul, I am an unquestioned bard. Irirangi, you know I'll always come back to you. Let me prove my love in verse - so much more eloquent than any words of mine. Go on, pick up the ring. It's yours."
"You're all mad, but I love you."
Iri dutifully picks up the ring, carefully avoiding the clay shards and looks at it. It's a beautiful thing, made with craftsmanship better than any she's seen before. Slowly, smiling at Cassio, she slips it on her finger.
"Go on then, what's this verse you keep boasting about."
Iri will find it hard to focus on the familiar voices in her head. It's as if they are very distant.
She feels a tingle, like electricity, flow through her whole body before colaescing at a point on the palm of her hand.
Looking at the point reveals a swirling black tattoo, pulsing gently at Iri's touch.
"Oh my..."
The tingling sensation is not unfamiliar. When her powers first started to surface, she had a similar feeling.
"More magic? Anyone know? Sorry, Cassio, I'm not ignoring you, this is just a little odd."
"A small thing. Not my own, I must admit, but the sentiment is impeccable. Ready?
O never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seem’d my flame to qualify:
As easy might I from myself depart
As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie;
That is my home of love; if I have ranged,
Like him that travels, I return again,
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,
So that myself bring water for my stain.
Never believe, though in my nature reign’d
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could so preposterously be stain’d
To leave for nothing all thy sum of good:
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose: in it thou art my all."