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Raiders of Oakhurst - A memoir of Erais Gunterson
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<blockquote data-quote="Colmarr" data-source="post: 4297434" data-attributes="member: 59182"><p>As I rounded a corner in the passageway, I skidded to a halt before a narrow opening in the wall to my left. The fleeing kobold was nowhere in sight. Its yipping echoed from the uneven stone and I couldn’t locate the beast via sound alone. I stepped up to the opening and peered in, careful to keep as much of my body behind the stone as possible.</p><p></p><p>Inside, more than 20 kobolds huddled in a small cavern littered with furs and food scraps. The adults were smaller than the ones we had encountered so far, and I assumed that they were the females of the tribe. Kobold children, if that is what they are called, huddled around their legs, yipping piteously. A mass of fear-filled eyes stared back at me.</p><p></p><p>Skamos and Tira slowed to a halt when they saw me standing in the passageway, but Corrin flew past me. He ignored the room into which I was looking and took off along the other branch of the cave. “This way!” he called. Tira moved to follow him, just in time to see the floor swing open beneath his feet. The paladin gave a startled yell, and then disappeared from view. The trapdoor swung shut above him.</p><p></p><p>I turned in alarm and, the female and young kobolds instantly forgotten, ran to Corrin’s aid. Tira, however, did not even slow. She leapt across the trapdoor and disappeared around the next corner in pursuit of the fleeing kobold. </p><p></p><p>As Skamos and I pried open the trapdoor and dropped a rope down for Corrin to climb out, Tira staggered back into view. Blood trickled from her hairline down into her mouth, and a shimmering globe of force took her in the chest as I watched, lifting her from her feet and slamming her into the cave wall. She staggered towards us and collapsed upright against the uneven rock. “Ambush,” she whispered.</p><p></p><p>A moment later, a kobold carrying a spear bounded around the corner. I watched the wretched creature spring towards us, and knew that Skamos and I were in no position to intervene. Our hands were full of rope, bearing the weight of our plate-armoured paladin. Fortunately, Tira was by no means out of the fight. She gestured with a blood-slicked hand at the onrushing beast, and a blast of eldritch magic caught the kobold in the shoulder. The spear went clattering off into the wall, and the creature howled in agony as the warlock’s hex stripped away skin and bone. It fell writhing to the ground, and did not get up.</p><p></p><p>Urging Corrin to hurry, I reached out to Tira with my magic, sending the power of Amaunator to mend her broken flesh. The blood stopped trickling from her scalp, and she rose from her slump against the wall. She smiled at me momentarily as kobold yipping sounded in the room beyond.</p><p></p><p>“Get him out of there,” she said simply. “I’ll keep them occupied”. And then she ducked around the corner again, firing bolts of dark energy as she went. I started to call out to her, to warn her against going back, but at that moment Corrin put all his weight on the rope and it was all I could do not to be pulled into the pit with him.</p><p></p><p>The paladin clambered up the rope with a nimbleness that belied the enormous weight of his armour, and without a word, he dashed around the corner after Tira. I heard his battlecry of “Tymora be with me!” echo through the passageway. </p><p></p><p>Skamos and I glanced at each other. The pit trap was situated in the middle of a three-way intersection in the cave complex. We had come up one corridor and Corrin and Tira had disappeared down another. The third went off a short distance in the opposite direction, but then curved around and looked as though it joined the same cavern. We dropped the now-defunct rope and charged down that passageway, emerging into the cavern where our companions were locked in battle. </p><p></p><p>Tira stood resolutely near the entrance, firing bolts of energy at the opposing kobolds, while Corrin had forged ahead and engaged a shield-bearing warrior. Tira’s wounds were bleeding again and I knew she could not take much more. As I came into view, a robe-wearing kobold gestured at her and uttered a phrase in their yipping speech. Another globe of force, like the one I had seen moments earlier, flew from its outstretched claw and narrowly missed Tira’s head. It slammed harmlessly into the cave wall, but visible waves of energy radiated from the impact point. The kobold priest growled in agitation, and its bone necklace clattered with its movements.</p><p></p><p>Tira responded in kind, blasting the priest with black energies, and then she ducked out of sight around the corner to avoid the kobold’s return fire.</p><p></p><p>A second shield-warrior moved toward Skamos and me but the tiefling was faster. He pointed with his wand at the robed priest and shouted arcane words. I expected to see a bolt of force or pillar of flame, but nothing seemed to happen. Then I saw the shield-warrior slow, as though its legs were not responding to its desires. The creature glared at us, but behind the malice in its eyes was a bone-deep weariness. It turned to engage Corrin half-heartedly. The wyrmpriest sagged slightly as though weighed down by its adornments, but then it shook its dog-like head and straightened up. </p><p></p><p>The wyrmpriest threw both arms in the air and screeched, and waves of force radiated out from it. The two shield-warriors attacking Corrin seemed to take heart and their darting blades stabbed out again and again at the halfling. Fortunately, the paladin’s armour held firm, and the kobolds’ stone weapons for the most part clattered harmlessly against his plate and shield. The priest gesticulated at Skamos and me, and one of the shield-warriors disengaged from Corrin and moved towards us.</p><p></p><p>But it was too slow. The priest was vulnerable for just a moment when its two bodyguards were distracted by their attacks against Corrin, and Skamos and I made good use of that time. My lance of faith took the kobold in the stomach and it doubled over in pain even as motes of light danced in the air around it. Skamos seized on that illumination and with a wave of his hand sent a crimson globe of force across the cavern. The orb crashed against the top of the wyrmpriest’s skull, which shattered under the impact. The beast slumped lifelessly to the ground, even as a shard of crimson force stabbed out and took one of the shield-warriors in the back.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Colmarr, post: 4297434, member: 59182"] As I rounded a corner in the passageway, I skidded to a halt before a narrow opening in the wall to my left. The fleeing kobold was nowhere in sight. Its yipping echoed from the uneven stone and I couldn’t locate the beast via sound alone. I stepped up to the opening and peered in, careful to keep as much of my body behind the stone as possible. Inside, more than 20 kobolds huddled in a small cavern littered with furs and food scraps. The adults were smaller than the ones we had encountered so far, and I assumed that they were the females of the tribe. Kobold children, if that is what they are called, huddled around their legs, yipping piteously. A mass of fear-filled eyes stared back at me. Skamos and Tira slowed to a halt when they saw me standing in the passageway, but Corrin flew past me. He ignored the room into which I was looking and took off along the other branch of the cave. “This way!” he called. Tira moved to follow him, just in time to see the floor swing open beneath his feet. The paladin gave a startled yell, and then disappeared from view. The trapdoor swung shut above him. I turned in alarm and, the female and young kobolds instantly forgotten, ran to Corrin’s aid. Tira, however, did not even slow. She leapt across the trapdoor and disappeared around the next corner in pursuit of the fleeing kobold. As Skamos and I pried open the trapdoor and dropped a rope down for Corrin to climb out, Tira staggered back into view. Blood trickled from her hairline down into her mouth, and a shimmering globe of force took her in the chest as I watched, lifting her from her feet and slamming her into the cave wall. She staggered towards us and collapsed upright against the uneven rock. “Ambush,” she whispered. A moment later, a kobold carrying a spear bounded around the corner. I watched the wretched creature spring towards us, and knew that Skamos and I were in no position to intervene. Our hands were full of rope, bearing the weight of our plate-armoured paladin. Fortunately, Tira was by no means out of the fight. She gestured with a blood-slicked hand at the onrushing beast, and a blast of eldritch magic caught the kobold in the shoulder. The spear went clattering off into the wall, and the creature howled in agony as the warlock’s hex stripped away skin and bone. It fell writhing to the ground, and did not get up. Urging Corrin to hurry, I reached out to Tira with my magic, sending the power of Amaunator to mend her broken flesh. The blood stopped trickling from her scalp, and she rose from her slump against the wall. She smiled at me momentarily as kobold yipping sounded in the room beyond. “Get him out of there,” she said simply. “I’ll keep them occupied”. And then she ducked around the corner again, firing bolts of dark energy as she went. I started to call out to her, to warn her against going back, but at that moment Corrin put all his weight on the rope and it was all I could do not to be pulled into the pit with him. The paladin clambered up the rope with a nimbleness that belied the enormous weight of his armour, and without a word, he dashed around the corner after Tira. I heard his battlecry of “Tymora be with me!” echo through the passageway. Skamos and I glanced at each other. The pit trap was situated in the middle of a three-way intersection in the cave complex. We had come up one corridor and Corrin and Tira had disappeared down another. The third went off a short distance in the opposite direction, but then curved around and looked as though it joined the same cavern. We dropped the now-defunct rope and charged down that passageway, emerging into the cavern where our companions were locked in battle. Tira stood resolutely near the entrance, firing bolts of energy at the opposing kobolds, while Corrin had forged ahead and engaged a shield-bearing warrior. Tira’s wounds were bleeding again and I knew she could not take much more. As I came into view, a robe-wearing kobold gestured at her and uttered a phrase in their yipping speech. Another globe of force, like the one I had seen moments earlier, flew from its outstretched claw and narrowly missed Tira’s head. It slammed harmlessly into the cave wall, but visible waves of energy radiated from the impact point. The kobold priest growled in agitation, and its bone necklace clattered with its movements. Tira responded in kind, blasting the priest with black energies, and then she ducked out of sight around the corner to avoid the kobold’s return fire. A second shield-warrior moved toward Skamos and me but the tiefling was faster. He pointed with his wand at the robed priest and shouted arcane words. I expected to see a bolt of force or pillar of flame, but nothing seemed to happen. Then I saw the shield-warrior slow, as though its legs were not responding to its desires. The creature glared at us, but behind the malice in its eyes was a bone-deep weariness. It turned to engage Corrin half-heartedly. The wyrmpriest sagged slightly as though weighed down by its adornments, but then it shook its dog-like head and straightened up. The wyrmpriest threw both arms in the air and screeched, and waves of force radiated out from it. The two shield-warriors attacking Corrin seemed to take heart and their darting blades stabbed out again and again at the halfling. Fortunately, the paladin’s armour held firm, and the kobolds’ stone weapons for the most part clattered harmlessly against his plate and shield. The priest gesticulated at Skamos and me, and one of the shield-warriors disengaged from Corrin and moved towards us. But it was too slow. The priest was vulnerable for just a moment when its two bodyguards were distracted by their attacks against Corrin, and Skamos and I made good use of that time. My lance of faith took the kobold in the stomach and it doubled over in pain even as motes of light danced in the air around it. Skamos seized on that illumination and with a wave of his hand sent a crimson globe of force across the cavern. The orb crashed against the top of the wyrmpriest’s skull, which shattered under the impact. The beast slumped lifelessly to the ground, even as a shard of crimson force stabbed out and took one of the shield-warriors in the back. [/QUOTE]
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