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Story Hour
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
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<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 1831598" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p><strong>Forest Foray For Four</strong></p><p></p><p>This installment requires a bit of explanation. This was the session following the beginning of 'Death Makes No Sound'. However, real-life events led to a situation where only half of the group could meet. So, our DM decided to run a small side adventure for the four of us, which actually starts before our arrival at the logging camp but ends well after our initial encounter with the zombies at the end of 'Death'. In the following week, the DM ran a side-adventure for the other four players to compensate; those players that had been in the first side adventure played NPCs in the second.</p><p></p><p>This post, like the last one, runs a bit long for my taste (I like my Story Hour updates substantial enough to be worth the click, but not too much at once). But it's a one-shot adventure, and I see no reason to split it. I'll probably return to breaking things up a bit more after this.</p><p></p><p>****************************</p><p></p><p> Tolly’s eyes wandered as he sat on watch, despite himself. They were due to reach the village sometime in the next day, but the proximity of civilization did not settle his mind. Somewhere out there, some unknown entity was watching them. Kavan had spotted it the night before, just before dawn, stealing away from their camp. So far the entity seemed benign, but this fact didn’t put Tolly at ease. Autumn sat nearby, her aasimar eyes able to penetrate the darkness of the forest much better than his own, but neither of them had seen a thing.</p><p></p><p> Tolly glanced at the moon, high in the sky to his left. “I think it’s time to wake the next watch,” he said quietly.</p><p></p><p> Nodding, Autumn watched as Tolly rose and went into the tent occupied by the men. He shook Kavan and Osborn gently. Kavan responded almost immediately, emerging from his trance. Osborn was a bit slower to rouse, but eventually his right eye cracked open. Tolly walked out of the tent to give them room to dress and get ready for their watch. He glanced over at Kyle, who was sleeping soundly. The wizard had been excused from watch because of his need to rest in order to prepare his mind for his spells. Tolly felt a twinge of jealousy; though no stranger to all-night vigils, he didn’t relish them, and he and Autumn had agreed to take the middle watch, which was always hardest.</p><p></p><p> After several minutes Kavan and Osborn emerged, fully dressed in their armor. Kavan looked at Autumn. “How’s Lanara doing?” he asked her. Lanara was fighting a case of the Stygian Shakes that she’d picked up back in Trageon.</p><p></p><p> “Fair,” she told the elven cleric, “but she’s sleeping poorly. We could hear her tossing and turning all night.”</p><p></p><p> “Hopefully she’ll recover soon,” said Tolly, as he unbuckled his breastplate and set it down. Autumn watched as the Ardaran priest stretched his shoulders.</p><p></p><p> “Perhaps I should remove my own armor out here, too,” she said. “So I won’t disturb Lanara. Kavan, can you assist me?”</p><p></p><p> Tolly muttered goodnight and went into the tent as Kavan began pulling on one of Autumn’s many straps. He knew that the process of removing and packing the sentinel’s field plate would take several minutes, and he saw no need to watch it. Setting his own armor and weapon next to his bunk, he crawled under his blanket, and was asleep within moments.</p><p></p><p> Which is why he was somewhat irritated to find himself awake moments later. As he stood there, looking around at the trees, he suddenly realized that he had no recollection of getting out of bed, let alone getting dressed again. He also realized that where he was standing was in the same forest, but their camp was nowhere to be seen. What he did see were three of his companions; Kyle, Arrie, and Xu.</p><p></p><p> “Where are we?” Arrie asked.</p><p></p><p> “I believe we are dreaming,” said Xu.</p><p></p><p> “This seems very real for a dream,” replied Tolly. “Not to mention that we all seem to be sharing the same dream.”</p><p></p><p> “I think I read about something like this in school,” Kyle piped in. “There’s magic that can do something like this. A very powerful mage or magical creature could do it.”</p><p></p><p> “You mean, something like that?” Arrie said, pointing off into the woods.</p><p></p><p> The rest of them turned to see a large, translucent figure floating toward them. The creature had the head of a wise-looking human male, perched atop a lion’s body. Enormous feathered wings were folded at its sides.</p><p></p><p> “What is that?” asked Xu.</p><p></p><p> “Androsphinx,” both Kyle and Tolly whispered simultaneously.</p><p></p><p> The sphinx came within a few feet of the four adventurers, floating in midair. Then his mouth opened, and his voice was like thunder.</p><p></p><p> “Who will hear the riddle of Ujaset?”</p><p></p><p> Both Kyle and Tolly yelped at the loud noise. Xu and Arrie remained calmer. “What riddle?” Arrie asked.</p><p></p><p> This time Ujaset’s voice seemed to emanate from all around them. “What is half a dragon, but lacks a wyrmling’s strength? What is half a dog, but lacks a mongrel’s length? What is it that has two halves, but has but half to stand on?”</p><p></p><p> As the echo of the sphinx’s words died down, the group moved together to consult. “What do you think?” asked Arrie.</p><p></p><p> “Well, he seems to be describing a creature that is small and weak,” Tolly said, “and is somehow related to both dragons and canines.”</p><p></p><p> “A chimera, perhaps?” offered Xu.</p><p></p><p> Kyle shook his head. “No, a chimera’s got three heads, but only one’s a dragon head. The others are lion and goat; no dog.”</p><p></p><p> “Perhaps the part about ‘having half to stand on’ means that the creature is bipedal,” said Tolly.</p><p></p><p> “So, a small, weak biped, with both dog-like and dragon-like features…” Kyle mused.</p><p></p><p> It only took them a moment to put the clues together. “A kobold,” announced Tolly.</p><p></p><p> “Correct,” Ujaset said, smiling. “You are just the sort I am looking for.”</p><p></p><p> “Where are the rest of our companions?” asked Kyle.</p><p></p><p> “My power was unable to bind them into the dream world,” said Ujaset, “they must be asleep for the magic to work.”</p><p></p><p> “So, what did you mean when you said we were ‘just the sort you were looking for’?” Arrie asked.</p><p></p><p> “I would ask you to do a task for me, so that my soul may be at rest.”</p><p></p><p> “So… you’re a ghost?” Kyle asked. The androsphinx nodded.</p><p></p><p> “I was slain in my lair and my possessions taken, and now my spirit is restless and cannot depart this world for the next. I need to have someone avenge my death and remove the taint of the creatures from my home so that I can be at peace. Do this task for me, and what was once mine shall be yours.”</p><p></p><p> “What sort of creatures?” asked Arrie.</p><p></p><p> “The answer to your question is the answer to my question,” replied Ujaset.</p><p></p><p> “Kobolds?” Tolly asked, incredulously. “You were slain by kobolds?”</p><p></p><p> “I do not wish to speak of it,” the sphinx said, and the sky seemed to darken. “But there were many of them, and there was a sorcerer of considerable ability among them.”</p><p></p><p> “Forgive me for asking,” Tolly said, “but you seem to be a creature of considerable power yourself, and as a ghost you cannot be harmed by physical weapons. Why not deal with the kobolds yourself?”</p><p></p><p> “Because I cannot return to my lair. I have wards in place to keep out the undead, which are unfortunately still active. Also, I am unable to manifest in the physical world, so my ability to affect the kobolds is limited. After all, I have only been a ghost for a few days.”</p><p></p><p> “Okay, fair enough,” Arrie responded. “So where are these kobolds, and how many are there?”</p><p></p><p> “They are in my lair still,” said Ujaset. “As to their numbers, I cannot say, for I died before I get a sense of that. As I said before, one of them is a sorcerer.”</p><p></p><p> The four adventurers talked amongst themselves briefly. “Okay, we’ll do it,” said Kyle. “Where’s your lair?”</p><p></p><p> Ujaset described the location of his lair, in a cave perhaps a half-day’s walk from their campsite. As the androsphinx finished, the world suddenly became hazy, and then vanished. Each of them awoke in their own bedrolls. They went about their day as usual, proceeding to the village they’d been hired to help. The four humans discussed the dream privately as they walked. They agreed not to involve the other four members of their party yet, so that they could focus on their current mission. Having only half the group show up to the village would probably reflect poorly on them. They resolved to address Ujaset’s plight as soon as an opportunity arose.</p><p></p><p> The opportunity came sooner than expected. The group had settled into the village, and had gone on a night patrol looking for the undead that were plaguing the loggers there. They encountered and destroyed a group of zombies and skeletons. The next day, some of the group wanted to go out with the loggers to investigate rumors of fey creatures attacking the men. Upon hearing this, Arrie mentioned that a ‘local’ has asked for help with a problem. They agreed to have Kavan, Lanara, Autumn, and Osborn accompany the loggers, while Arrie, Kyle, Tolly and Xu went to investigate the other problem. Later that morning the four humans mounted their horses and rode out into the forest.</p><p></p><p> They left their horses secured at the site of their last campground, and proceeded on foot to the sphinx’s lair. After a couple of hours of walking, they emerged from the forest into a boulder-strewn glacial plain. As they walked on, Tolly heard a sharp, reptilian rattling coming from the trees behind them.</p><p></p><p> “I believe there is something behind us,” said Tolly. “I suggest we…”</p><p></p><p> He was interrupted by a horrific screech, as a large winged form burst from the treetops and dove for the group. The flying reptile’s body was twice as long as a horse, and its long tail was that length by itself. At the end of the tail was a barb that was slick with a foul-looking ichor. The creature swooped down and grasped Tolly by the shoulders, and began lifting him into the air before anyone could react.</p><p></p><p> “Wyvern!” shouted Kyle.</p><p></p><p> Arrie stepped back and tried to lash at the creature with her spiked chain, but barely missed. Xu tried to leap up to attack the wyvern by using Arrie as a makeshift ramp, but mistimed her step and ended up flat on her back. Tolly wrenched his arm around enough to produce his holy symbol, and despite the pain managed to unleash a blast of sound at the wyvern’s head. Reeling from the assault, the wyvern dropped Tolly, and then hit the ground itself, too disoriented to stay in the air.</p><p></p><p> Unfortunately, the wyvern was directly above the party when this happened.</p><p></p><p> Only Arrie was out of the way when the wyvern hit the earth. Tolly and Xu, already prone, were not much harmed by the ton of draconic flesh dropping on them, but Kyle was buried under the creature’s bulk. He struggled to break free, but was unsuccessful. Xu and Tolly fared better, squirming out from under the wyvern even as Arrie took a chunk out of its side with her chain. The pain of Arrie’s attack roused the creature, and it lashed out in several directions at once. Tolly was impaled by the poisonous tail barb, while Arrie leapt out of the way of the wyvern’s jaws and Xu nimbly dodged the thrashing wings. The beast found an easier target in Kyle, who was directly under its claws. Bleeding profusely, Kyle finally managed to free himself as the wyvern lifted its bulk off him.</p><p></p><p> Arrie, Xu, and Tolly attacked the wyvern again, slashing, punching, and hammering at its scaly hide. The beast, its breathing now labored from the punishment it had received, spread it’s wings and threw itself into the air, clearly trying to flee. It lurched in midair as two magical bolts summoned by Kyle struck the wyvern in the chest. As the wyvern started to climb and bank away, melee weapons were dropped in favor of bows and crossbows. Arrie launched a quick shot from her double bow, striking the fleeing wyvern just under the wing. Xu fired her crossbow, but the bolt went wide. Then, as the wyvern started to soar over the treetops, blood dripping onto the forest floor below, Kyle stepped up and leveled the butt of his crossbow to his shoulder. Ignoring the pain from his own considerable wounds, he squeezed the trigger.</p><p></p><p> Moments later, they all heard the satisfying snap and crunch as the wyvern dropped through the trees and landed head first in the hard earth.</p><p></p><p> “So,” said Tolly, as he walked up to administer healing to the party with his wand, “do we go after the body now, or come back for it?”</p><p></p><p> “What do we need the body for?” asked Arrie, as she stowed her weapons.</p><p></p><p> “Well, the tail does contain sacs with a rather potent poison,” said Kyle, who was looking considerably less pale now that he’d received the attention of Tolly’s wand.</p><p></p><p> As if to underscore the wizard’s point, Tolly suddenly doubled over, vomiting. His knees shook as he tried to regain composure. Arrie stepped up and used her innate talent to detect poisonous substances. The area around the puncture wound in his shoulder glowed a sickly green.</p><p></p><p> “Are you all right?” she asked, helping the priest to stand.</p><p></p><p> “I… will be,” said Tolly, only a slight tremor in his voice. “I think the worst has passed. I do feel weaker, but tomorrow I will pray for the power to restore some of my strength.”</p><p></p><p> “I think that we should not stray from our mission,” commented Xu. “The wyvern is no longer of concern to us.”</p><p></p><p> The others agreed, and after giving Tolly a moment to recover they set out for Ujaset’s lair again. The group arrived at the cave entrance shortly before sunset. They saw the yawning opening in the side of a hill, no signs of life anywhere nearby.</p><p></p><p> “What’s our plan?” asked Kyle.</p><p></p><p> “Well, Ujaset said it was just one big open cave, no passages or side chambers,” said Arrie, studying the cave entrance. “So the kobolds are likely camped out right in the middle. Tactically, it’s not the best scene. Our best bet is to go in as fast as we can and hit them hard before they know what’s up. Hopefully we take enough of them out in the first attack that they can’t counterattack.”</p><p></p><p> The party began making preparations. Tolly invoked a blessing on the group, and enhanced Arrie’s strength. Xu drank a potion that surrounded her in a field of force to deflect blows. Kyle created his own protective field, then cast another spell that caused a half-dozen illusory duplicates of himself to appear.</p><p></p><p> “I have a spell that will neutralize the sorcerer,” said Kyle, his words somehow strange coming from seven separate mouths. “But I’ll need to touch him.”</p><p></p><p> “We’ll see what we can do,” said Arrie. “But the basic plan is Xu and I are the front line, and you stay behind us. Of all of us, Kyle, you’re the least protected and not trained in close combat.”</p><p></p><p> “I’ll make sure that nothing happens to him,” said Tolly.</p><p></p><p> With no other preparations to make, the group moved as close as possible to the cave, then charged in, weapons ready. As they drew near, they spotted a single kobold sentry crouched behind a loose boulder. The kobold spotted them at the same time, and with a terrified yelp at seeing a group of hardened warriors charging him (including, apparently, seven wizards), it dropped its spear and threw its hands in the air.</p><p></p><p> Kyle rushed up to the kobold, as he was the only one who spoke the kobold’s language. “How many of you are there?” he barked.</p><p></p><p> “Me!” the kobold squeaked.</p><p></p><p> Kyle suppressed the urge to punch the kobold; he reminded himself that in a situation like this he’d need to be very concrete with the poor creature. “I mean, how many are there inside the cave?”</p><p></p><p> “Me!” it yelped again.</p><p></p><p> Tolly saw the look of frustration cross Kyle’s features. “Let me ask him,” he said, hefting his warhammer. The kobold screeched and soiled itself.</p><p></p><p> Kyle held his hand up to stop Tolly, then took a deep breath, not an inconsiderable feat considering the strong odor of kobold urine now surrounding their captive. “I want to know,” he said slowly, “how many kobolds there are inside the cave besides yourself.”</p><p></p><p> “None!” it squawked. “Jaalask here alone!”</p><p></p><p> The others blinked in disbelief when Kyle translated. But sure enough, when Xu stepped into the cavern, it was empty except for a large, half-rotting corpse; Ujaset’s remains.</p><p></p><p> Tolly picked up the kobold, apparently named Jaalask, and shook him. “Tell us where they are,” he growled.</p><p></p><p> The rest of the group stepped up as Tolly dropped Jaalask to the ground. Kyle knelt down to the kobold’s level. “Look, Jaalask, we’re here because we were told a tribe of your people had come here and killed the androsphinx that lived here.”</p><p></p><p> “Yes yes! Blackspear tribe kill big lion-man! Blackspear tribe very strong!”</p><p></p><p> “And where is the Blackspear tribe now?” Kyle asked, after translating for the others.</p><p></p><p> “Tribe take lion-man’s shineys, go back into woods.” Jaalask suddenly frowned. “Leave Jaalask here because Oppal say I no fight good.”</p><p></p><p> “Who is Oppal? Your tribe’s leader?”</p><p></p><p> “No,” Jaalask said at first, then a sly smile crept onto his face. “Well, yes. Oppal is shaman, his mojo is strong.”</p><p></p><p> Kyle was about to ask another question when he saw Arrie watching him intently. “Is something wrong?” he asked.</p><p></p><p> “Oh, no,” she said. “I just wanted to listen in, see if I can pick up a little Draconic.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, why didn’t you say so? I’d be more than happy to teach you if you wanted. But let’s finish up here, shall we?” He turned back to address Jaalask. “How strong is Oppal’s mojo? What magic have you seen him do?”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, Oppal’s mojo very strong. He can make lightning come from his hands. He can make blizzards come from his hands. He can make himself look like other people – he goes to other tribes to spy on them, which is why Blackspear tribe is strongest. He can make scary animals come from nowhere and fight for him.”</p><p></p><p> After hearing this translation, Arrie frowned. “What does that mean?”</p><p></p><p> “Well,” replied Kyle, “the spells he’s describing could be as simple as a <em>shocking grasp</em> or a <em>ray of frost</em>; both of those are spells I know. Jaalask could also be describing <em>lightning bolt</em> and <em>cone of cold,</em> which are well past what I could manage. Potentially, that’s bad news for us.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, what now?” asked Tolly. “What do we do with this one?”</p><p></p><p> Kyle knelt down again. “Can you tell us how to find your tribe?”</p><p></p><p> Jaalask nodded furiously. “Jaalask will swear oath to Grabâkh to lead you to tribe if you swear oath to your gods that Jaalask will not be harmed.”</p><p></p><p> “Why would you lead us to your own tribe? You must know that we’re going to attack them.”</p><p></p><p> Jaalask shrugged. “If you beat tribe, you stronger. Jaalask will go find new tribe. If tribe wins, then Jaalask is hero for leading humans to tribe to be killed.”</p><p></p><p> The group mulled the proposal over. “I’m not fond of the idea of letting such an evil creature go free,” Tolly said.</p><p></p><p> “I know,” said Kyle, “but if he leads us to the Blackspear tribe we could potentially wipe them all out. Then Jaalask either finds a new tribe, or he’s eaten by something in the woods while trying. Even if he finds another tribe to take him in, one kobold isn’t going to make that much of a difference.”</p><p></p><p> “You have a good point,” Tolly admitted. “But we’re securing him with rope.”</p><p></p><p> Kyle went back and relayed their terms. At first Jaalask was skittish about being tied up, but Kyle explained that they were doing it to help their priest feel safer, so that he wouldn’t accidentally injure Jaalask. Then Arrie stepped up, and after talking briefly with Kyle to learn the proper words, she spoke with the kobold.</p><p></p><p> “I swear by my god Tor that no harm will come to you if you lead us safely to the Blakspear tribe.”</p><p></p><p> Jaalask nodded enthusiastically. “Come come! Blackspear tribe not far! We get there before moon is high in sky!”</p><p></p><p> The group began collecting their things. Tolly, however, walked into the cave mouth and looked at the decomposing body of Ujaset. Summoning divine power, he caused some of the rock in the cave ceiling to soften, which allowed much of the cave to collapse on the body, burying it. As the rocks tumbled down, a large boulder in the side of the cave came loose, and through the dust Tolly saw a glint of metal. Once it was safe, he went to investigate and found a suit of mithral chainmail stashed in the hidden alcove, obviously missed by the kobolds. After showing the prize to the others, Tolly tucked it away in his pack.</p><p></p><p>The group set off, pausing long enough to pull a loose rope around Jaalask’s waist. They walked quickly across the plain and headed back into the forest. As they walked, Kyle asked more questions to Jaalask about the tribe; he learned that there were between 15-20 of them, in addition to Oppal and a pair of dire weasel “pets”. A few hours later, Jaalask stopped and pointed. Just beyond the rise they saw the glow of campfires.</p><p></p><p> “Do you think they’ll try and move before sunrise?” Kyle asked the kobold. Jaalask shook his head.</p><p></p><p> “Tribe likes it here. Trees are big, block sun. Tribe sleep here during day.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, then,” said Kyle, after relaying the news, “I’d like to propose resting here and attacking in the morning.”</p><p></p><p> “Why not attack now?” asked Tolly. “They won’t be expecting it.”</p><p></p><p> “Yes, but all those spells we used to get ready have worn off, and I hardly have anything left,” said Kyle. “Besides which, you’re still suffering from wyvern venom. In the morning we’ll be close to full strength, and they’ll be sleeping.”</p><p></p><p> Arrie nodded approvingly. “Where’d this come from, Kyle?”</p><p></p><p> “Hey, they do give us classes in basic tactics in the school of wizardry, you know,” Kyle said, grinning. “True, it’s usually not much more in depth than ‘here’s where you want to put the <em>fireball</em>', but still…”</p><p></p><p> The group bedded down in a small depression just out of sight of the Blackspear camp. Arrie and Xu took turns at watch, allowing Tolly and Kyle to rest. The next day they rose and made their preparations as before, except that Kyle did not use his mirror image spell. Jaalask agreed to stay back away from the camp so that he wasn’t accidentally targeted. They decided to move up to the camp quietly to scout it out before engaging.</p><p></p><p> The group came over a small rise and approached the camp. Most of the kobolds were fast asleep, sprawled out on the ground surrounding a large fire pit. The remains of several casks of ale were strewn about, and off on the far side of the camp the dire weasels were curled up next to each other. Three sentries stood around the camp, barely watching the forest around them.</p><p></p><p> The group moved forward, hoping to be able to take the sentries out quickly and leave the remainder of the kobolds as easy targets. Unfortunately, as they approached the edge of the camp both Kyle and Xu stepped on a large branch buried under a pile of dead leaves, snapping in cleanly in half. The sentries jerked their heads up, and began chattering loudly. The two weasels looked up, and began bounding toward the group, prodded on by one of the sentries.</p><p></p><p> Tolly was first to act, obliterating a trio of kobolds with a sound blast before they even had a chance to get to their feet. Xu moved around a tree and took a shot at one of the dire weasels, injuring it. Kyle cast a spell, and a translucent glowing hand appeared just over his shoulder, hovering. Arrie trained her elven double bow on a larger kobold that was rushing toward them, sending two arrows into its chest. Another large kobold in chainmail armor fired a crossbow back at Arrie, but missed.</p><p></p><p> Now the entire camp was on their feet and rushing to engage the intruders. The weasels leapt up on Xu and grabbed hold of her, even as another sound burst from Tolly killed three more kobolds nearby. Xu managed to get out of the grip of one, but the other held fast and began biting at her neck in an attempt to sever her arteries. Kyle, seeing Xu’s plight, cast a spell that coated her in a layer of grease, allowing her to wrench free. The large kobold that Arrie had shot tried to attack Tolly with its spear, but was cut down by Arrie, who had switched to her deadly spiked chain. Tolly looked around and realized that as Xu had backed away from the dire weasels, she had opened a direct path between them and Kyle, and so moved to protect him. But Kyle had seen the dire weasels coming, and threw out a spell that created a hypnotic pattern of light and color that mesmerized one of them.</p><p></p><p> The kobolds finally managed to swarm into melee, yapping with glee. But their enthusiasm waned as four of them were beheaded by a swipe from Arrie’s chain. The kobold’s own attacks were not nearly as effective; even the kobold in chainmail, a safe distance away, was so nervous that his shot fired at Arrie missed. As Tolly engaged the lone dire weasel, Xu quaffed a healing potion to staunch the blood flowing from her throat. Kyle sent a pair of magic missiles at the kobold with the crossbow, demonstrating that distance did not guarantee safety. As Arrie ripped another kobold to shreds, the three remaining enemies saw that the writing on the wall was written in kobold blood, and scattered. Xu began to run after the kobold in chainmail even as Kyle singed him with a rolling ball of flames. Arrie moved to help Tolly finish off the dire weasels as Kyle cast a <em>detect magic</em> spell. He looked around, but could detect no magical auras other than those possessed by his friends. Kyle scowled; there had been no sign of magical attack coming from the kobolds. Where was Oppal? Kyle even scanned Jaalask quickly to make sure he wasn’t cloaked in illusion magic, but there was nothing.</p><p></p><p> Tolly stepped back as Arrie landed the killing blow against the last dire weasel. He looked around and surveyed the carnage in the exoticist’s wake. “That was… impressive,” he said.</p><p></p><p> Arrie grinned, flecks of gore dotting her face. “Yeah, my master’s thesis was ‘Ripping Little Gobbets of Flesh From My Opponents’.”</p><p></p><p> Meanwhile, Xu managed to run down the fleeing kobold leader. Cornered, it fought back savagely even as Xu attempted to bring it down without killing it. The kobold’s short sword slashed out and drew blood on a few blows, and for a moment it seemed as though the small creature’s desperation might bring him victory. But then with a lightning-fast backhand Xu sent the kobold to the ground, senseless. She bound him and dragged him back to the camp.</p><p></p><p> It was several hours before the kobold prisoner awoke. It that time the group had tended to their wounds, burned most of the bodies, and allowed Jaalask to take his pick of the kobold’s meager belongings and be on his way. They found remnants of Ujaset’s treasure, including a short sword and a cloak worn by the kobold leader, which Kyle saw were magical. Another kobold, likely a lieutenant, had a potion. Coins of various kinds and denominations were found in a sack stuffed under a rotten log; Kyle had used his innate talent to summon an unseen servant to sort the coins for them.</p><p></p><p> Interrogation of the leader led the party to discover that Oppal had left the camp two days ago with the gems the tribe had taken from Ujaset in order to buy weapons for the tribe. The leader sold out the sorcerer in exchange for his life; he told the group that Oppal would go to the nearby village in disguise to buy supplies. After giving a detailed description of Oppal’s usual magical guise of a gnomish merchant, he was released after being allowed to take a spear from one of his fallen tribesmen.</p><p></p><p> The party made their way back to their horses, and made their best speed for the village. They arrived in the late afternoon, just before the loggers were due to return. Knowing that their companions were out with the loggers and couldn’t be reached, the group went straight for the merchant section of the village, knowing that a gnome wouldn’t be hard to find in an elven logging village. A few questions pointed them to Caramip’s Spicehouse, whose proprietor was a gnome and would likely have had contact with others of her race.</p><p></p><p> “Greetings!” Caramip said brightly, as the group walked in. “What can I do for you?”</p><p></p><p> “We’re looking for a gnome,” said Tolly.</p><p></p><p> “Well, you’ve found one!” she replied.</p><p></p><p> “No, I mean another gnome, a different one.”</p><p></p><p> Caramip pouted slightly. “Why, is there something wrong with my shop?”</p><p></p><p> “No, no,” said Arrie impatiently. “That’s not what we meant. We’re looking for a gnomish merchant with blue eyes and a blue shirt. We were told you might have seen him.”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, him?” said Caramip, the pout disappearing. “Yes, he was here. Very strange – didn’t want to talk, very impolite. Not very… gnomish, if you know what I mean.”</p><p></p><p> “I think we do,” Arrie said. “Do you know where he went?”</p><p></p><p> “He said that he was going to see Potter, the blacksmith,” she said.</p><p></p><p> “Thanks,” Arrie said over her shoulder as she moved out the door of the spice shop. Tolly, however, lingered a bit to buy some spicy dried peppers, hoping to smooth over their rather brusque conversation. Kyle went outside to keep Arrie from getting too far ahead of them.</p><p></p><p> Once reunited, the group went to Potter’s forge. They found him just as he was packing up the last of his work for the day.</p><p></p><p> “Greetings,” said Tolly. “We’re looking for a gnomish merchant with blue eyes and a blue shirt by the name of Oppal. We understand he came looking for you.”</p><p></p><p> “Why yes, he did,” Potter said. “He was here two days ago. He wanted to buy weapons and shields from me. He’s staying in a house nearby waiting for me to finish my work.”</p><p></p><p> “How many weapons and shields?” Arrie asked.</p><p></p><p> “He wanted twenty of each, whatever he could get. He had a bag of gems to pay for them, too. I was actually just about to go out to see him – a friend of mine from the city came into town yesterday and sold me a large amount of surplus weapons and armor.”</p><p></p><p> The party looked at each other. “Do you think we could go with you to see him?” asked Kyle.</p><p></p><p> “Why? What’s wrong?”</p><p></p><p> “We have reason to believe that the money Oppal is using to buy your goods is stolen,” Tolly said. “In addition, we believe he intends to give these weapons to a local kobold tribe.”</p><p></p><p> Potter’s brow furrowed. “Stolen money, you say? That’s serious.” He walked over to a hand-cart in the corner of his smithy, laden with wooden crates. “If what you say is true, then Oppal has no right to these. I can show you where he’s staying.”</p><p></p><p> “Thank you,” said Tolly. “Hopefully we can lure him out and capture him without incident. However, we fear he may resist. If you take us to Oppal’s residence, I would be prepared to get to safety should the situation get out of hand.”</p><p></p><p> Potter led the group across town, carting the load of weapons and shields. He stopped outside a two-story home near the edge of town. A set of wooden stairs on the side of the house led up to a doorway.</p><p></p><p> “He’s upstairs,” said Potter. “The woman who lives here rents rooms to traveling merchants.”</p><p></p><p> “Call him down,” suggested Arrie. We’ll wait down here to get him when he’s out in the open.”</p><p></p><p> The group spread out to cover the area. Arrie hid underneath the stairs, while Tolly waited at the bottom. Xu remained close to Potter, while Kyle moved off near the corner of the house and waited.</p><p></p><p> “Hey! Oppal!” shouted Potter. “I’ve got your order ready! Come down here!”</p><p></p><p> After a minute, a high-pitched voice shouted back. “Why can’t you bring them up to me? You’re a big, strong man.”</p><p></p><p> “Uh, er…” Potter looked around for help, but the group had moved too far away. “You, uh, need to come take a look to make sure they’re all right!”</p><p></p><p> There was the sound of soft grumbling, but a moment later a gnome in a blue shirt appeared at the top of the stairs. He looked around, squinting. “Who’re these other three people with you, Potter?”</p><p></p><p> “They helped me bring the stuff over,” Potter lied.</p><p></p><p> Oppal’s eyes narrowed even further. “But it’s all on that cart you’ve got there.”</p><p></p><p> At this point Arrie stepped out from under the stairs. “Actually, Oppal, we have other business with you.”</p><p></p><p> Tolly began heading up the stairs. “Oppal of the Blackspear Tribe, you are under arrest for deceptive trading practices, bargaining with stolen goods, and intent to provide armaments to hostile humanoids.”</p><p></p><p> In response, Oppal uttered a short, barking string of arcane syllables, and promptly vanished. Tolly dashed up the stairs, but the landing was empty; he stood in the doorway, hoping to block Oppal’s escape if he’d fled inside. The others waited for some sign of the kobold sorcerer’s presence.</p><p></p><p> They didn’t have to wait long. There was a shimmering in the air on the stairs behind Tolly, and suddenly a vicious-looking dog with burning eyes and black fur appeared, snarling at the priest. It opened its jaws and a gout of flame erupted from its snout, singing Tolly but fortunately not spreading to the wooden house. Xu moved up behind the hellhound to attack it, while Potter the smith promptly fled, as did several other passers-by. Arrie moved out away from the house, listening intently for any sound the kobold was making. Kyle did the same, but remained where he was.</p><p></p><p> Tolly, realizing that he was trapped, leapt over the rail and down to the ground. He tried to help Arrie search, but their efforts produced no results. Arrie could hear Oppal casting more spells, but she could neither pinpoint the sound nor see any visual effect from the casting. Snarling, she moved far out away from the house, hoping to cut off a retreat.</p><p></p><p> “This isn’t working!” she shouted. “I can’t even find him!”</p><p></p><p> “Keep looking!” Tolly shouted back.</p><p></p><p> “What good does it do? We have no idea where he is!”</p><p></p><p> “Well, do you have a better idea?”</p><p></p><p> Kyle, listening to the exchange, suddenly realized that he did have a better idea. He saw that Xu was having little difficulty with the hellhound; she’d been bitten, but not badly. He ran around the corner to the door on the lower story of the house, and pounded his fist furiously on it.</p><p></p><p> Whatever Kyle had planned, it was never put into practice. As Tolly moved out searching for the sorcerer, there was a shimmer, and Oppal appeared, hand outstretched toward the priest. A blast of frigid air came flying from Oppal’s palm, blasting Tolly full force. Arrie, finally seeing a target, pulled out her double bow and fired a quick arrow at Oppal, but the blast from the ice storm diverted the shaft and it missed. But the sound of the spell distracted the hellhound long enough for Xu to land the killing blow, dispersing the summoned creature. Kyle, seeing his chance, cast a spell that surrounded his hand in glowing energy. He started moving closer to the sorcerer.</p><p></p><p> Tolly moved in to engage Oppal, despite the fact that he was barely standing. He swung at the disguised kobold even as it was chanting another spell. He managed to wound Oppal, and another two shots from Arrie hit their mark. But despite the injuries Oppal managed to keep control of his spell, and suddenly four large, wicked-looking rats appeared, two surrounding Tolly and the other two positioned to block Xu and Kyle’s advance. Xu stayed back to deal with the new threat, killing one of the fiendish rats, while Kyle took his chances and charged in, swinging at Oppal with his ensorcelled hand even as the other rat sunk its teeth into his calf. The pain of the bite broke Kyle’s focus, and his swing missed. Nearby, the other two fiendish rats swarmed Tolly, and their bites managed to overwhelm the priest, sending him down.</p><p></p><p> Oppal turned to deal with the new threat posed by Kyle. He summoned four magic missiles, slamming them into the wizard. He also directed the rats that had just downed Tolly to attack Kyle, and one of them sunk its teeth into his other leg. Xu also received a disease-laden bite while battling her summoned foe. Arrie, seeing that Kyle was in trouble, began running toward the combat, unfurling her spiked chain as she ran.</p><p></p><p> Kyle’s vision blurred slightly as he considered his predicament. He’d used up most of his defensive magic in the fight with the Blackspear tribe, and thus was relatively unprotected. He’d intended to use this spell against Oppal from a safe distance, but he’d already wasted his spectral hand spell in that same combat. For some reason Kyle’s mind flashed to memories of his days at the Tower – struggling to answer questions in class that the other students seemed to know by heart because he hadn’t been studying magic since childhood; watching helplessly during the first examination with his new group of friends because he’d chosen the wrong kind of spells to prepare; stumbling through the investigation at Dagger Rock because he’d never learned the finer points of talking to people. And now it looked like he was about to be taken down by a kobold and a couple of rats, which would force Arrie and Xu to break off their attack to save him and Tolly. That could give Oppal the opportunity to escape. Kyle was tired of feeling helpless, tired of not being able to pull his weight.</p><p></p><p> No more.</p><p></p><p> Lunging forward past the snapping teeth and claws of the fiendish rats, Kyle’s hand shot out and grabbed Oppal by the head, lifting him off the ground by his skull. Arcane energy poured directly into the kobold’s brain. Kyle let go, and Oppal dropped to the ground. He sat on the ground, unmoving, a line of drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. The summoned rats, with no will to direct them, suddenly became quiescent.</p><p></p><p> Arrie slowed her charge, seeing that all the opponents were down. Xu moved to help Tolly, pouring a potion down his throat to stop the priest’s slow descent into death. She smiled as she saw the bluish tinge fade from his skin, and heard his breathing become less ragged.</p><p></p><p> Arrie approached Kyle, stopping long enough to step on the necks of the motionless fiendish rats. “What did you do to him?” she asked.</p><p></p><p> “<em>Touch of idiocy</em>,” he said. He looked at the hand that delivered the spell. “Though I didn’t expect it to be that… effective.”*</p><p></p><p> “Well, whatever you did, good job. Let’s see what he’s got on him.”</p><p></p><p> Once Tolly had revived and recovered enough to see to the rest of his and Kyle’s injuries, they secured Oppal and removed his belongings. They also searched the room he rented, and found a pouch of star sapphires as well as some other loose coin. Oppal the sorcerer was handed over to the town guard, after warning them of his abilities and pointing out that his true form would be obvious to all within a few hours. As the comatose kobold was hauled away, the four heroes felt a sudden sensation of peace wash over them.</p><p></p><p> “I think we’ve satisfied Ujaset,” Kyle said.</p><p></p><p> “Agreed,” added Tolly. “Now we should focus on our task of aiding these villagers with the undead menace.” </p><p></p><p> “Actually, Tolly,” said Arrie, “we’ve been pushing hard for the past two days, and we don’t even have an idea what our companions have been up to. I think our focus should be on a good night’s sleep.” She paused, then smiled. “Hopefully with no dreams.”</p><p></p><p> </p><p>-------------------</p><p></p><p>* Kyle rolled a critical on his touch attack for the spell, and nearly maxed out the double roll. The more rules-lawyery among the readers will note that a critical on <em>touch of idiocy</em> shouldn't do anything, as the spell applies a penalty rather than ability damage. At the time, however, none of us caught that (and hey, it was cool).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 1831598, member: 5203"] [b]Forest Foray For Four[/b] This installment requires a bit of explanation. This was the session following the beginning of 'Death Makes No Sound'. However, real-life events led to a situation where only half of the group could meet. So, our DM decided to run a small side adventure for the four of us, which actually starts before our arrival at the logging camp but ends well after our initial encounter with the zombies at the end of 'Death'. In the following week, the DM ran a side-adventure for the other four players to compensate; those players that had been in the first side adventure played NPCs in the second. This post, like the last one, runs a bit long for my taste (I like my Story Hour updates substantial enough to be worth the click, but not too much at once). But it's a one-shot adventure, and I see no reason to split it. I'll probably return to breaking things up a bit more after this. **************************** Tolly’s eyes wandered as he sat on watch, despite himself. They were due to reach the village sometime in the next day, but the proximity of civilization did not settle his mind. Somewhere out there, some unknown entity was watching them. Kavan had spotted it the night before, just before dawn, stealing away from their camp. So far the entity seemed benign, but this fact didn’t put Tolly at ease. Autumn sat nearby, her aasimar eyes able to penetrate the darkness of the forest much better than his own, but neither of them had seen a thing. Tolly glanced at the moon, high in the sky to his left. “I think it’s time to wake the next watch,” he said quietly. Nodding, Autumn watched as Tolly rose and went into the tent occupied by the men. He shook Kavan and Osborn gently. Kavan responded almost immediately, emerging from his trance. Osborn was a bit slower to rouse, but eventually his right eye cracked open. Tolly walked out of the tent to give them room to dress and get ready for their watch. He glanced over at Kyle, who was sleeping soundly. The wizard had been excused from watch because of his need to rest in order to prepare his mind for his spells. Tolly felt a twinge of jealousy; though no stranger to all-night vigils, he didn’t relish them, and he and Autumn had agreed to take the middle watch, which was always hardest. After several minutes Kavan and Osborn emerged, fully dressed in their armor. Kavan looked at Autumn. “How’s Lanara doing?” he asked her. Lanara was fighting a case of the Stygian Shakes that she’d picked up back in Trageon. “Fair,” she told the elven cleric, “but she’s sleeping poorly. We could hear her tossing and turning all night.” “Hopefully she’ll recover soon,” said Tolly, as he unbuckled his breastplate and set it down. Autumn watched as the Ardaran priest stretched his shoulders. “Perhaps I should remove my own armor out here, too,” she said. “So I won’t disturb Lanara. Kavan, can you assist me?” Tolly muttered goodnight and went into the tent as Kavan began pulling on one of Autumn’s many straps. He knew that the process of removing and packing the sentinel’s field plate would take several minutes, and he saw no need to watch it. Setting his own armor and weapon next to his bunk, he crawled under his blanket, and was asleep within moments. Which is why he was somewhat irritated to find himself awake moments later. As he stood there, looking around at the trees, he suddenly realized that he had no recollection of getting out of bed, let alone getting dressed again. He also realized that where he was standing was in the same forest, but their camp was nowhere to be seen. What he did see were three of his companions; Kyle, Arrie, and Xu. “Where are we?” Arrie asked. “I believe we are dreaming,” said Xu. “This seems very real for a dream,” replied Tolly. “Not to mention that we all seem to be sharing the same dream.” “I think I read about something like this in school,” Kyle piped in. “There’s magic that can do something like this. A very powerful mage or magical creature could do it.” “You mean, something like that?” Arrie said, pointing off into the woods. The rest of them turned to see a large, translucent figure floating toward them. The creature had the head of a wise-looking human male, perched atop a lion’s body. Enormous feathered wings were folded at its sides. “What is that?” asked Xu. “Androsphinx,” both Kyle and Tolly whispered simultaneously. The sphinx came within a few feet of the four adventurers, floating in midair. Then his mouth opened, and his voice was like thunder. “Who will hear the riddle of Ujaset?” Both Kyle and Tolly yelped at the loud noise. Xu and Arrie remained calmer. “What riddle?” Arrie asked. This time Ujaset’s voice seemed to emanate from all around them. “What is half a dragon, but lacks a wyrmling’s strength? What is half a dog, but lacks a mongrel’s length? What is it that has two halves, but has but half to stand on?” As the echo of the sphinx’s words died down, the group moved together to consult. “What do you think?” asked Arrie. “Well, he seems to be describing a creature that is small and weak,” Tolly said, “and is somehow related to both dragons and canines.” “A chimera, perhaps?” offered Xu. Kyle shook his head. “No, a chimera’s got three heads, but only one’s a dragon head. The others are lion and goat; no dog.” “Perhaps the part about ‘having half to stand on’ means that the creature is bipedal,” said Tolly. “So, a small, weak biped, with both dog-like and dragon-like features…” Kyle mused. It only took them a moment to put the clues together. “A kobold,” announced Tolly. “Correct,” Ujaset said, smiling. “You are just the sort I am looking for.” “Where are the rest of our companions?” asked Kyle. “My power was unable to bind them into the dream world,” said Ujaset, “they must be asleep for the magic to work.” “So, what did you mean when you said we were ‘just the sort you were looking for’?” Arrie asked. “I would ask you to do a task for me, so that my soul may be at rest.” “So… you’re a ghost?” Kyle asked. The androsphinx nodded. “I was slain in my lair and my possessions taken, and now my spirit is restless and cannot depart this world for the next. I need to have someone avenge my death and remove the taint of the creatures from my home so that I can be at peace. Do this task for me, and what was once mine shall be yours.” “What sort of creatures?” asked Arrie. “The answer to your question is the answer to my question,” replied Ujaset. “Kobolds?” Tolly asked, incredulously. “You were slain by kobolds?” “I do not wish to speak of it,” the sphinx said, and the sky seemed to darken. “But there were many of them, and there was a sorcerer of considerable ability among them.” “Forgive me for asking,” Tolly said, “but you seem to be a creature of considerable power yourself, and as a ghost you cannot be harmed by physical weapons. Why not deal with the kobolds yourself?” “Because I cannot return to my lair. I have wards in place to keep out the undead, which are unfortunately still active. Also, I am unable to manifest in the physical world, so my ability to affect the kobolds is limited. After all, I have only been a ghost for a few days.” “Okay, fair enough,” Arrie responded. “So where are these kobolds, and how many are there?” “They are in my lair still,” said Ujaset. “As to their numbers, I cannot say, for I died before I get a sense of that. As I said before, one of them is a sorcerer.” The four adventurers talked amongst themselves briefly. “Okay, we’ll do it,” said Kyle. “Where’s your lair?” Ujaset described the location of his lair, in a cave perhaps a half-day’s walk from their campsite. As the androsphinx finished, the world suddenly became hazy, and then vanished. Each of them awoke in their own bedrolls. They went about their day as usual, proceeding to the village they’d been hired to help. The four humans discussed the dream privately as they walked. They agreed not to involve the other four members of their party yet, so that they could focus on their current mission. Having only half the group show up to the village would probably reflect poorly on them. They resolved to address Ujaset’s plight as soon as an opportunity arose. The opportunity came sooner than expected. The group had settled into the village, and had gone on a night patrol looking for the undead that were plaguing the loggers there. They encountered and destroyed a group of zombies and skeletons. The next day, some of the group wanted to go out with the loggers to investigate rumors of fey creatures attacking the men. Upon hearing this, Arrie mentioned that a ‘local’ has asked for help with a problem. They agreed to have Kavan, Lanara, Autumn, and Osborn accompany the loggers, while Arrie, Kyle, Tolly and Xu went to investigate the other problem. Later that morning the four humans mounted their horses and rode out into the forest. They left their horses secured at the site of their last campground, and proceeded on foot to the sphinx’s lair. After a couple of hours of walking, they emerged from the forest into a boulder-strewn glacial plain. As they walked on, Tolly heard a sharp, reptilian rattling coming from the trees behind them. “I believe there is something behind us,” said Tolly. “I suggest we…” He was interrupted by a horrific screech, as a large winged form burst from the treetops and dove for the group. The flying reptile’s body was twice as long as a horse, and its long tail was that length by itself. At the end of the tail was a barb that was slick with a foul-looking ichor. The creature swooped down and grasped Tolly by the shoulders, and began lifting him into the air before anyone could react. “Wyvern!” shouted Kyle. Arrie stepped back and tried to lash at the creature with her spiked chain, but barely missed. Xu tried to leap up to attack the wyvern by using Arrie as a makeshift ramp, but mistimed her step and ended up flat on her back. Tolly wrenched his arm around enough to produce his holy symbol, and despite the pain managed to unleash a blast of sound at the wyvern’s head. Reeling from the assault, the wyvern dropped Tolly, and then hit the ground itself, too disoriented to stay in the air. Unfortunately, the wyvern was directly above the party when this happened. Only Arrie was out of the way when the wyvern hit the earth. Tolly and Xu, already prone, were not much harmed by the ton of draconic flesh dropping on them, but Kyle was buried under the creature’s bulk. He struggled to break free, but was unsuccessful. Xu and Tolly fared better, squirming out from under the wyvern even as Arrie took a chunk out of its side with her chain. The pain of Arrie’s attack roused the creature, and it lashed out in several directions at once. Tolly was impaled by the poisonous tail barb, while Arrie leapt out of the way of the wyvern’s jaws and Xu nimbly dodged the thrashing wings. The beast found an easier target in Kyle, who was directly under its claws. Bleeding profusely, Kyle finally managed to free himself as the wyvern lifted its bulk off him. Arrie, Xu, and Tolly attacked the wyvern again, slashing, punching, and hammering at its scaly hide. The beast, its breathing now labored from the punishment it had received, spread it’s wings and threw itself into the air, clearly trying to flee. It lurched in midair as two magical bolts summoned by Kyle struck the wyvern in the chest. As the wyvern started to climb and bank away, melee weapons were dropped in favor of bows and crossbows. Arrie launched a quick shot from her double bow, striking the fleeing wyvern just under the wing. Xu fired her crossbow, but the bolt went wide. Then, as the wyvern started to soar over the treetops, blood dripping onto the forest floor below, Kyle stepped up and leveled the butt of his crossbow to his shoulder. Ignoring the pain from his own considerable wounds, he squeezed the trigger. Moments later, they all heard the satisfying snap and crunch as the wyvern dropped through the trees and landed head first in the hard earth. “So,” said Tolly, as he walked up to administer healing to the party with his wand, “do we go after the body now, or come back for it?” “What do we need the body for?” asked Arrie, as she stowed her weapons. “Well, the tail does contain sacs with a rather potent poison,” said Kyle, who was looking considerably less pale now that he’d received the attention of Tolly’s wand. As if to underscore the wizard’s point, Tolly suddenly doubled over, vomiting. His knees shook as he tried to regain composure. Arrie stepped up and used her innate talent to detect poisonous substances. The area around the puncture wound in his shoulder glowed a sickly green. “Are you all right?” she asked, helping the priest to stand. “I… will be,” said Tolly, only a slight tremor in his voice. “I think the worst has passed. I do feel weaker, but tomorrow I will pray for the power to restore some of my strength.” “I think that we should not stray from our mission,” commented Xu. “The wyvern is no longer of concern to us.” The others agreed, and after giving Tolly a moment to recover they set out for Ujaset’s lair again. The group arrived at the cave entrance shortly before sunset. They saw the yawning opening in the side of a hill, no signs of life anywhere nearby. “What’s our plan?” asked Kyle. “Well, Ujaset said it was just one big open cave, no passages or side chambers,” said Arrie, studying the cave entrance. “So the kobolds are likely camped out right in the middle. Tactically, it’s not the best scene. Our best bet is to go in as fast as we can and hit them hard before they know what’s up. Hopefully we take enough of them out in the first attack that they can’t counterattack.” The party began making preparations. Tolly invoked a blessing on the group, and enhanced Arrie’s strength. Xu drank a potion that surrounded her in a field of force to deflect blows. Kyle created his own protective field, then cast another spell that caused a half-dozen illusory duplicates of himself to appear. “I have a spell that will neutralize the sorcerer,” said Kyle, his words somehow strange coming from seven separate mouths. “But I’ll need to touch him.” “We’ll see what we can do,” said Arrie. “But the basic plan is Xu and I are the front line, and you stay behind us. Of all of us, Kyle, you’re the least protected and not trained in close combat.” “I’ll make sure that nothing happens to him,” said Tolly. With no other preparations to make, the group moved as close as possible to the cave, then charged in, weapons ready. As they drew near, they spotted a single kobold sentry crouched behind a loose boulder. The kobold spotted them at the same time, and with a terrified yelp at seeing a group of hardened warriors charging him (including, apparently, seven wizards), it dropped its spear and threw its hands in the air. Kyle rushed up to the kobold, as he was the only one who spoke the kobold’s language. “How many of you are there?” he barked. “Me!” the kobold squeaked. Kyle suppressed the urge to punch the kobold; he reminded himself that in a situation like this he’d need to be very concrete with the poor creature. “I mean, how many are there inside the cave?” “Me!” it yelped again. Tolly saw the look of frustration cross Kyle’s features. “Let me ask him,” he said, hefting his warhammer. The kobold screeched and soiled itself. Kyle held his hand up to stop Tolly, then took a deep breath, not an inconsiderable feat considering the strong odor of kobold urine now surrounding their captive. “I want to know,” he said slowly, “how many kobolds there are inside the cave besides yourself.” “None!” it squawked. “Jaalask here alone!” The others blinked in disbelief when Kyle translated. But sure enough, when Xu stepped into the cavern, it was empty except for a large, half-rotting corpse; Ujaset’s remains. Tolly picked up the kobold, apparently named Jaalask, and shook him. “Tell us where they are,” he growled. The rest of the group stepped up as Tolly dropped Jaalask to the ground. Kyle knelt down to the kobold’s level. “Look, Jaalask, we’re here because we were told a tribe of your people had come here and killed the androsphinx that lived here.” “Yes yes! Blackspear tribe kill big lion-man! Blackspear tribe very strong!” “And where is the Blackspear tribe now?” Kyle asked, after translating for the others. “Tribe take lion-man’s shineys, go back into woods.” Jaalask suddenly frowned. “Leave Jaalask here because Oppal say I no fight good.” “Who is Oppal? Your tribe’s leader?” “No,” Jaalask said at first, then a sly smile crept onto his face. “Well, yes. Oppal is shaman, his mojo is strong.” Kyle was about to ask another question when he saw Arrie watching him intently. “Is something wrong?” he asked. “Oh, no,” she said. “I just wanted to listen in, see if I can pick up a little Draconic.” “Well, why didn’t you say so? I’d be more than happy to teach you if you wanted. But let’s finish up here, shall we?” He turned back to address Jaalask. “How strong is Oppal’s mojo? What magic have you seen him do?” “Oh, Oppal’s mojo very strong. He can make lightning come from his hands. He can make blizzards come from his hands. He can make himself look like other people – he goes to other tribes to spy on them, which is why Blackspear tribe is strongest. He can make scary animals come from nowhere and fight for him.” After hearing this translation, Arrie frowned. “What does that mean?” “Well,” replied Kyle, “the spells he’s describing could be as simple as a [I]shocking grasp[/I] or a [I]ray of frost[/I]; both of those are spells I know. Jaalask could also be describing [I]lightning bolt[/I] and [I]cone of cold,[/I] which are well past what I could manage. Potentially, that’s bad news for us.” “Well, what now?” asked Tolly. “What do we do with this one?” Kyle knelt down again. “Can you tell us how to find your tribe?” Jaalask nodded furiously. “Jaalask will swear oath to Grabâkh to lead you to tribe if you swear oath to your gods that Jaalask will not be harmed.” “Why would you lead us to your own tribe? You must know that we’re going to attack them.” Jaalask shrugged. “If you beat tribe, you stronger. Jaalask will go find new tribe. If tribe wins, then Jaalask is hero for leading humans to tribe to be killed.” The group mulled the proposal over. “I’m not fond of the idea of letting such an evil creature go free,” Tolly said. “I know,” said Kyle, “but if he leads us to the Blackspear tribe we could potentially wipe them all out. Then Jaalask either finds a new tribe, or he’s eaten by something in the woods while trying. Even if he finds another tribe to take him in, one kobold isn’t going to make that much of a difference.” “You have a good point,” Tolly admitted. “But we’re securing him with rope.” Kyle went back and relayed their terms. At first Jaalask was skittish about being tied up, but Kyle explained that they were doing it to help their priest feel safer, so that he wouldn’t accidentally injure Jaalask. Then Arrie stepped up, and after talking briefly with Kyle to learn the proper words, she spoke with the kobold. “I swear by my god Tor that no harm will come to you if you lead us safely to the Blakspear tribe.” Jaalask nodded enthusiastically. “Come come! Blackspear tribe not far! We get there before moon is high in sky!” The group began collecting their things. Tolly, however, walked into the cave mouth and looked at the decomposing body of Ujaset. Summoning divine power, he caused some of the rock in the cave ceiling to soften, which allowed much of the cave to collapse on the body, burying it. As the rocks tumbled down, a large boulder in the side of the cave came loose, and through the dust Tolly saw a glint of metal. Once it was safe, he went to investigate and found a suit of mithral chainmail stashed in the hidden alcove, obviously missed by the kobolds. After showing the prize to the others, Tolly tucked it away in his pack. The group set off, pausing long enough to pull a loose rope around Jaalask’s waist. They walked quickly across the plain and headed back into the forest. As they walked, Kyle asked more questions to Jaalask about the tribe; he learned that there were between 15-20 of them, in addition to Oppal and a pair of dire weasel “pets”. A few hours later, Jaalask stopped and pointed. Just beyond the rise they saw the glow of campfires. “Do you think they’ll try and move before sunrise?” Kyle asked the kobold. Jaalask shook his head. “Tribe likes it here. Trees are big, block sun. Tribe sleep here during day.” “Well, then,” said Kyle, after relaying the news, “I’d like to propose resting here and attacking in the morning.” “Why not attack now?” asked Tolly. “They won’t be expecting it.” “Yes, but all those spells we used to get ready have worn off, and I hardly have anything left,” said Kyle. “Besides which, you’re still suffering from wyvern venom. In the morning we’ll be close to full strength, and they’ll be sleeping.” Arrie nodded approvingly. “Where’d this come from, Kyle?” “Hey, they do give us classes in basic tactics in the school of wizardry, you know,” Kyle said, grinning. “True, it’s usually not much more in depth than ‘here’s where you want to put the [I]fireball[/I]', but still…” The group bedded down in a small depression just out of sight of the Blackspear camp. Arrie and Xu took turns at watch, allowing Tolly and Kyle to rest. The next day they rose and made their preparations as before, except that Kyle did not use his mirror image spell. Jaalask agreed to stay back away from the camp so that he wasn’t accidentally targeted. They decided to move up to the camp quietly to scout it out before engaging. The group came over a small rise and approached the camp. Most of the kobolds were fast asleep, sprawled out on the ground surrounding a large fire pit. The remains of several casks of ale were strewn about, and off on the far side of the camp the dire weasels were curled up next to each other. Three sentries stood around the camp, barely watching the forest around them. The group moved forward, hoping to be able to take the sentries out quickly and leave the remainder of the kobolds as easy targets. Unfortunately, as they approached the edge of the camp both Kyle and Xu stepped on a large branch buried under a pile of dead leaves, snapping in cleanly in half. The sentries jerked their heads up, and began chattering loudly. The two weasels looked up, and began bounding toward the group, prodded on by one of the sentries. Tolly was first to act, obliterating a trio of kobolds with a sound blast before they even had a chance to get to their feet. Xu moved around a tree and took a shot at one of the dire weasels, injuring it. Kyle cast a spell, and a translucent glowing hand appeared just over his shoulder, hovering. Arrie trained her elven double bow on a larger kobold that was rushing toward them, sending two arrows into its chest. Another large kobold in chainmail armor fired a crossbow back at Arrie, but missed. Now the entire camp was on their feet and rushing to engage the intruders. The weasels leapt up on Xu and grabbed hold of her, even as another sound burst from Tolly killed three more kobolds nearby. Xu managed to get out of the grip of one, but the other held fast and began biting at her neck in an attempt to sever her arteries. Kyle, seeing Xu’s plight, cast a spell that coated her in a layer of grease, allowing her to wrench free. The large kobold that Arrie had shot tried to attack Tolly with its spear, but was cut down by Arrie, who had switched to her deadly spiked chain. Tolly looked around and realized that as Xu had backed away from the dire weasels, she had opened a direct path between them and Kyle, and so moved to protect him. But Kyle had seen the dire weasels coming, and threw out a spell that created a hypnotic pattern of light and color that mesmerized one of them. The kobolds finally managed to swarm into melee, yapping with glee. But their enthusiasm waned as four of them were beheaded by a swipe from Arrie’s chain. The kobold’s own attacks were not nearly as effective; even the kobold in chainmail, a safe distance away, was so nervous that his shot fired at Arrie missed. As Tolly engaged the lone dire weasel, Xu quaffed a healing potion to staunch the blood flowing from her throat. Kyle sent a pair of magic missiles at the kobold with the crossbow, demonstrating that distance did not guarantee safety. As Arrie ripped another kobold to shreds, the three remaining enemies saw that the writing on the wall was written in kobold blood, and scattered. Xu began to run after the kobold in chainmail even as Kyle singed him with a rolling ball of flames. Arrie moved to help Tolly finish off the dire weasels as Kyle cast a [I]detect magic[/I] spell. He looked around, but could detect no magical auras other than those possessed by his friends. Kyle scowled; there had been no sign of magical attack coming from the kobolds. Where was Oppal? Kyle even scanned Jaalask quickly to make sure he wasn’t cloaked in illusion magic, but there was nothing. Tolly stepped back as Arrie landed the killing blow against the last dire weasel. He looked around and surveyed the carnage in the exoticist’s wake. “That was… impressive,” he said. Arrie grinned, flecks of gore dotting her face. “Yeah, my master’s thesis was ‘Ripping Little Gobbets of Flesh From My Opponents’.” Meanwhile, Xu managed to run down the fleeing kobold leader. Cornered, it fought back savagely even as Xu attempted to bring it down without killing it. The kobold’s short sword slashed out and drew blood on a few blows, and for a moment it seemed as though the small creature’s desperation might bring him victory. But then with a lightning-fast backhand Xu sent the kobold to the ground, senseless. She bound him and dragged him back to the camp. It was several hours before the kobold prisoner awoke. It that time the group had tended to their wounds, burned most of the bodies, and allowed Jaalask to take his pick of the kobold’s meager belongings and be on his way. They found remnants of Ujaset’s treasure, including a short sword and a cloak worn by the kobold leader, which Kyle saw were magical. Another kobold, likely a lieutenant, had a potion. Coins of various kinds and denominations were found in a sack stuffed under a rotten log; Kyle had used his innate talent to summon an unseen servant to sort the coins for them. Interrogation of the leader led the party to discover that Oppal had left the camp two days ago with the gems the tribe had taken from Ujaset in order to buy weapons for the tribe. The leader sold out the sorcerer in exchange for his life; he told the group that Oppal would go to the nearby village in disguise to buy supplies. After giving a detailed description of Oppal’s usual magical guise of a gnomish merchant, he was released after being allowed to take a spear from one of his fallen tribesmen. The party made their way back to their horses, and made their best speed for the village. They arrived in the late afternoon, just before the loggers were due to return. Knowing that their companions were out with the loggers and couldn’t be reached, the group went straight for the merchant section of the village, knowing that a gnome wouldn’t be hard to find in an elven logging village. A few questions pointed them to Caramip’s Spicehouse, whose proprietor was a gnome and would likely have had contact with others of her race. “Greetings!” Caramip said brightly, as the group walked in. “What can I do for you?” “We’re looking for a gnome,” said Tolly. “Well, you’ve found one!” she replied. “No, I mean another gnome, a different one.” Caramip pouted slightly. “Why, is there something wrong with my shop?” “No, no,” said Arrie impatiently. “That’s not what we meant. We’re looking for a gnomish merchant with blue eyes and a blue shirt. We were told you might have seen him.” “Oh, him?” said Caramip, the pout disappearing. “Yes, he was here. Very strange – didn’t want to talk, very impolite. Not very… gnomish, if you know what I mean.” “I think we do,” Arrie said. “Do you know where he went?” “He said that he was going to see Potter, the blacksmith,” she said. “Thanks,” Arrie said over her shoulder as she moved out the door of the spice shop. Tolly, however, lingered a bit to buy some spicy dried peppers, hoping to smooth over their rather brusque conversation. Kyle went outside to keep Arrie from getting too far ahead of them. Once reunited, the group went to Potter’s forge. They found him just as he was packing up the last of his work for the day. “Greetings,” said Tolly. “We’re looking for a gnomish merchant with blue eyes and a blue shirt by the name of Oppal. We understand he came looking for you.” “Why yes, he did,” Potter said. “He was here two days ago. He wanted to buy weapons and shields from me. He’s staying in a house nearby waiting for me to finish my work.” “How many weapons and shields?” Arrie asked. “He wanted twenty of each, whatever he could get. He had a bag of gems to pay for them, too. I was actually just about to go out to see him – a friend of mine from the city came into town yesterday and sold me a large amount of surplus weapons and armor.” The party looked at each other. “Do you think we could go with you to see him?” asked Kyle. “Why? What’s wrong?” “We have reason to believe that the money Oppal is using to buy your goods is stolen,” Tolly said. “In addition, we believe he intends to give these weapons to a local kobold tribe.” Potter’s brow furrowed. “Stolen money, you say? That’s serious.” He walked over to a hand-cart in the corner of his smithy, laden with wooden crates. “If what you say is true, then Oppal has no right to these. I can show you where he’s staying.” “Thank you,” said Tolly. “Hopefully we can lure him out and capture him without incident. However, we fear he may resist. If you take us to Oppal’s residence, I would be prepared to get to safety should the situation get out of hand.” Potter led the group across town, carting the load of weapons and shields. He stopped outside a two-story home near the edge of town. A set of wooden stairs on the side of the house led up to a doorway. “He’s upstairs,” said Potter. “The woman who lives here rents rooms to traveling merchants.” “Call him down,” suggested Arrie. We’ll wait down here to get him when he’s out in the open.” The group spread out to cover the area. Arrie hid underneath the stairs, while Tolly waited at the bottom. Xu remained close to Potter, while Kyle moved off near the corner of the house and waited. “Hey! Oppal!” shouted Potter. “I’ve got your order ready! Come down here!” After a minute, a high-pitched voice shouted back. “Why can’t you bring them up to me? You’re a big, strong man.” “Uh, er…” Potter looked around for help, but the group had moved too far away. “You, uh, need to come take a look to make sure they’re all right!” There was the sound of soft grumbling, but a moment later a gnome in a blue shirt appeared at the top of the stairs. He looked around, squinting. “Who’re these other three people with you, Potter?” “They helped me bring the stuff over,” Potter lied. Oppal’s eyes narrowed even further. “But it’s all on that cart you’ve got there.” At this point Arrie stepped out from under the stairs. “Actually, Oppal, we have other business with you.” Tolly began heading up the stairs. “Oppal of the Blackspear Tribe, you are under arrest for deceptive trading practices, bargaining with stolen goods, and intent to provide armaments to hostile humanoids.” In response, Oppal uttered a short, barking string of arcane syllables, and promptly vanished. Tolly dashed up the stairs, but the landing was empty; he stood in the doorway, hoping to block Oppal’s escape if he’d fled inside. The others waited for some sign of the kobold sorcerer’s presence. They didn’t have to wait long. There was a shimmering in the air on the stairs behind Tolly, and suddenly a vicious-looking dog with burning eyes and black fur appeared, snarling at the priest. It opened its jaws and a gout of flame erupted from its snout, singing Tolly but fortunately not spreading to the wooden house. Xu moved up behind the hellhound to attack it, while Potter the smith promptly fled, as did several other passers-by. Arrie moved out away from the house, listening intently for any sound the kobold was making. Kyle did the same, but remained where he was. Tolly, realizing that he was trapped, leapt over the rail and down to the ground. He tried to help Arrie search, but their efforts produced no results. Arrie could hear Oppal casting more spells, but she could neither pinpoint the sound nor see any visual effect from the casting. Snarling, she moved far out away from the house, hoping to cut off a retreat. “This isn’t working!” she shouted. “I can’t even find him!” “Keep looking!” Tolly shouted back. “What good does it do? We have no idea where he is!” “Well, do you have a better idea?” Kyle, listening to the exchange, suddenly realized that he did have a better idea. He saw that Xu was having little difficulty with the hellhound; she’d been bitten, but not badly. He ran around the corner to the door on the lower story of the house, and pounded his fist furiously on it. Whatever Kyle had planned, it was never put into practice. As Tolly moved out searching for the sorcerer, there was a shimmer, and Oppal appeared, hand outstretched toward the priest. A blast of frigid air came flying from Oppal’s palm, blasting Tolly full force. Arrie, finally seeing a target, pulled out her double bow and fired a quick arrow at Oppal, but the blast from the ice storm diverted the shaft and it missed. But the sound of the spell distracted the hellhound long enough for Xu to land the killing blow, dispersing the summoned creature. Kyle, seeing his chance, cast a spell that surrounded his hand in glowing energy. He started moving closer to the sorcerer. Tolly moved in to engage Oppal, despite the fact that he was barely standing. He swung at the disguised kobold even as it was chanting another spell. He managed to wound Oppal, and another two shots from Arrie hit their mark. But despite the injuries Oppal managed to keep control of his spell, and suddenly four large, wicked-looking rats appeared, two surrounding Tolly and the other two positioned to block Xu and Kyle’s advance. Xu stayed back to deal with the new threat, killing one of the fiendish rats, while Kyle took his chances and charged in, swinging at Oppal with his ensorcelled hand even as the other rat sunk its teeth into his calf. The pain of the bite broke Kyle’s focus, and his swing missed. Nearby, the other two fiendish rats swarmed Tolly, and their bites managed to overwhelm the priest, sending him down. Oppal turned to deal with the new threat posed by Kyle. He summoned four magic missiles, slamming them into the wizard. He also directed the rats that had just downed Tolly to attack Kyle, and one of them sunk its teeth into his other leg. Xu also received a disease-laden bite while battling her summoned foe. Arrie, seeing that Kyle was in trouble, began running toward the combat, unfurling her spiked chain as she ran. Kyle’s vision blurred slightly as he considered his predicament. He’d used up most of his defensive magic in the fight with the Blackspear tribe, and thus was relatively unprotected. He’d intended to use this spell against Oppal from a safe distance, but he’d already wasted his spectral hand spell in that same combat. For some reason Kyle’s mind flashed to memories of his days at the Tower – struggling to answer questions in class that the other students seemed to know by heart because he hadn’t been studying magic since childhood; watching helplessly during the first examination with his new group of friends because he’d chosen the wrong kind of spells to prepare; stumbling through the investigation at Dagger Rock because he’d never learned the finer points of talking to people. And now it looked like he was about to be taken down by a kobold and a couple of rats, which would force Arrie and Xu to break off their attack to save him and Tolly. That could give Oppal the opportunity to escape. Kyle was tired of feeling helpless, tired of not being able to pull his weight. No more. Lunging forward past the snapping teeth and claws of the fiendish rats, Kyle’s hand shot out and grabbed Oppal by the head, lifting him off the ground by his skull. Arcane energy poured directly into the kobold’s brain. Kyle let go, and Oppal dropped to the ground. He sat on the ground, unmoving, a line of drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. The summoned rats, with no will to direct them, suddenly became quiescent. Arrie slowed her charge, seeing that all the opponents were down. Xu moved to help Tolly, pouring a potion down his throat to stop the priest’s slow descent into death. She smiled as she saw the bluish tinge fade from his skin, and heard his breathing become less ragged. Arrie approached Kyle, stopping long enough to step on the necks of the motionless fiendish rats. “What did you do to him?” she asked. “[I]Touch of idiocy[/I],” he said. He looked at the hand that delivered the spell. “Though I didn’t expect it to be that… effective.”* “Well, whatever you did, good job. Let’s see what he’s got on him.” Once Tolly had revived and recovered enough to see to the rest of his and Kyle’s injuries, they secured Oppal and removed his belongings. They also searched the room he rented, and found a pouch of star sapphires as well as some other loose coin. Oppal the sorcerer was handed over to the town guard, after warning them of his abilities and pointing out that his true form would be obvious to all within a few hours. As the comatose kobold was hauled away, the four heroes felt a sudden sensation of peace wash over them. “I think we’ve satisfied Ujaset,” Kyle said. “Agreed,” added Tolly. “Now we should focus on our task of aiding these villagers with the undead menace.” “Actually, Tolly,” said Arrie, “we’ve been pushing hard for the past two days, and we don’t even have an idea what our companions have been up to. I think our focus should be on a good night’s sleep.” She paused, then smiled. “Hopefully with no dreams.” ------------------- * Kyle rolled a critical on his touch attack for the spell, and nearly maxed out the double roll. The more rules-lawyery among the readers will note that a critical on [I]touch of idiocy[/I] shouldn't do anything, as the spell applies a penalty rather than ability damage. At the time, however, none of us caught that (and hey, it was cool). [/QUOTE]
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