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[Nebulous]

Adventure #3: Ambush on the Old Road

PART TWO


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Soon after, on the open road, they discuss their clues and goals: Thair Coalstriker, lame dwarf smithy, mentioned that the leader of the kobolds was named “Irontooth.” The Frog Queen confirmed that this Irontooth was actually a goblin, and this is strange: a goblin leading kobolds? Why? Lord Padraig and Rond Kelfern have heard that the kobolds lair near the waterfall, and since there is only one in the vicinity, Dorsail Falls, Lord Padraig has scrawled a rough map for them to follow, including the location of the old keep that the party is here to map for Merple the Moneylender. Padraig has never been to the waterfall himself and does not know if there are caves or not.

Although Padraig’s map is of inferior quality to this, it roughly offers the same information:



Last week, before they arrived, torrential rain had swollen the river so much that it was impassable. But the water level has subsided now. They elect to travel north on broken cobblestone and weedy wheel ruts along the Old Road that once stretched to the Silver Marches, skirting the southern Evermoors before monsters grew too large and hungry in that region. This road is no longer used and has fallen into disrepair.

They estimate a two hour journey overland, but they’ve only been traveling for a short while when they hear abrupt screeching nearby. Three small reddish bodies leap at them from hiding, and within seconds the group finds sharp swords jabbing at their kneecaps! It is much more dangerous than it looks.



These kobolds are well-armed and armored, militarily trained, and they launch their attack with precision, managing to strike Helga several times. The dwarf counters a few blows, and her companions quickly leap into fray. Irann the Warlock curses a Dragonshield soldier, Ash skirts the fight to flank another foe, and Erevan tosses a magic missile at a skirmisher who appears about thirty feet away, heaving a spear at them that manages to hit Helga. Bloodied within seconds, the dwarf flies into a rage. Brandis maneuvers into position with his polearm, but these kobold soldiers are keen, and repositioning on the battlefield triggers their own counter-maneuver dance.

[GM Note: I really like the dragonshield shifting tactics, although it takes a little getting used to. PCs hate it. What I don’t like so much is their Marking ability, which gets tricky to follow. We used a combination of glass beads and foam pads, the latter of which we’ll probably stick with. They’re color coded, stack easily, and visible from any direction].



Helga slams her battleaxe into a kobold’s neck, hewing its draconic noggin from its shoulders for later retrieval in a burlap sack.

But the combat takes an unexpected turn when a cloaked kobold appears near the slinger, bearing a rat-skull staff. It jabbers in an unknown tongue and tosses a hissing glob of green acid at Helga, narrowly missing her.



Erevan tosses an Ice spell the direction of the wyrmpriest, slicking the ground where they stand and knocking him prone. The skirmisher advances with his final spear into the thick of melee.

The female warlock absorbs the latent soul-energy of a fallen foe and magically teleports across the battlefield in a puff of purple-blue sulfurous smoke. BAMF! She has managed to spread vile curses across the battlefield the whole time, and few can escape her influence. Two of the dragonshield soldiers are finally killed, the third surrounded, and when the skirmisher tries to escape entrapment, Brandis Padraig thoroughly skewers the little dragon-dropping on the pointy end of his halberd, raising its writhing body to the sky for all to see.

Only the wyrmpriest is left. Helga rushes it, burning an Action Point to slam her axe into the thing’s side. It staggers, but manages to send a blob of acid arcing over her foe to painfully burn the warlord Brandis Padraig. The dwarf finally cleaves the beastie clavicle to ribcage, and a frothing vomit of acid harmlessly gushes from its mouth as it collapses backward.

The group is relatively unhurt, save for Helga who took a pounding. They sort through the bodies, finding a small shield, notched swords, red-scale dragon shields, and a curious draconic medallion around the wyrmpriest’s neck. Erevan detects no magic, but he does feel an indention on the back. On the flip side is the etched engraving of a goat skull…




The heads are quickly collected and thrust into a pouch to satiate Lady Padraig’s bloodlust. Helga the Dwarf doesn’t have any problem with wearing two of them around her neck as a grisly necklace, so long as they don’t stink yet.

Ash hunts the area for signs of where the kobolds came from and soon finds tracks leading northwest behind the ancient, weather-worn gravestones. They follow, and find themselves skirting the steep banks of Dorsail Creek. The bubbling brook is crossable now after the storms, but they stay on the east side and follow the tracks. The footprints range from just a few to many, and at one point they find footprints that are decidedly larger than a kobold—easily man-sized.

An hour later they hear the distant rumble of a waterfall and slow down. From their elevated vantage point they see the falls plunging down into a ravine. Ash elects to sneak ahead in the deep shadows of the canopy and return with a report.