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Adventures in the Eastern Provinces
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 5032250" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>“Look,” Sepia says, gesturing at the brush around the staked-out cow. “There are kobolds in there.”</p><p></p><p>“Not for long!” quips Cavemouth.</p><p></p><p>But before the words are even out of his mouth, Kane is charging ahead with a wordless battle cry. Into the brush, then swinging his magical greataxe- and suddenly gore and brains are splattering in the brush. Squeals of fear and anger come from the hiding kobolds as they turn to see the barbarian spin and charge another of them, his axe a blur as it sweeps into the little dog-lizard humanoid’s neck from the side, decapitating him.</p><p></p><p>Kane roars.</p><p></p><p>The others break cover, charging in, and suddenly everything is chaos. </p><p></p><p>The poor cow. It strains against the ropes holding it, but to no avail. It trembles in fear; being in the middle of violent combat is not its natural state. The screams of the dying kobolds terrify it. </p><p></p><p>But not as much as what it senses is coming from below. </p><p></p><p>The ground, much like the cow, is trembling.</p><p></p><p>The cow lets out a terrified moo as sling bullets whiz past it. One- not really a bullet, but more like a small jar- hits Cavemouth and bursts, covering him in a sticky mess of glue. The goliath curses, struggling to free himself, but he is stuck fast. “Damn it!” he swears.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Karl hangs back and directs his spells at the kobold slingers, zinging them with <em>magic missiles</em> and <em>scorching bursts.</em> Fortunately, the brush is wet enough to avoid starting any large fires. Shifty stays near him at first, throwing shuriken, but wades in quickly when it becomes apparent that the battle is going to be very one-sided.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately for him, his assessment proves less than accurate. </p><p></p><p>The cow <em>screams</em> as the ground beneath it erupts and a huge, insect-like beast lurches up from below. </p><p></p><p>“It’s another ankheg!” cries Karl.</p><p></p><p>But Cavemouth, who is closer, corrects him. “No it isn’t- it’s the <em>same</em> ankheg! I can see the scars it took in our last fight!”</p><p></p><p>The ankheg squeals and latches onto the cow. Squirming up from the dirt around it are a pair of smaller, immature-looking ankhegs as well. “Broodlings!” warns Karl. “Watch out!!”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Wizzy- one of the hapless kobolds- sees his chance. </p><p></p><p>Not that he wouldn’t flee if he could; but the new boss would kill him if he returned empty handed. The new boss is very <em>hungry,</em> and he wants his delicacies. </p><p></p><p>Wizzy sprints forward and snatches up one of the broodlings, then turns and runs. </p><p></p><p>“No you don’t!” cries Sepia, and she punches him in the face with her brass knuckles, leaving him staggered. He drops the ankheg broodling and shakes his head to clear it.</p><p></p><p><em>WHACK!</em> Another brass knuckle blow to the face breaks several of the bones in the kobold’s snout, and he drops like a sack of potatoes. Then the tiefling returns her attention to the big ankheg, who is pulling the cow down into the ground. <em>I don’t think I want to save the cow that badly,</em> she thinks.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Cavemouth finally wrenches free of the sticky goo that the kobold slinger had stuck him with. And then, boldly, he grabs the cow and starts to pull it back up, trying to wrest it from the ankheg’s grasp. The two of them wrestle roughly over the poor cow, who is lowing in pain and fear. </p><p></p><p>With a roar, the goliath pulls the cow free- at least for the moment- and then whips his axe out and severs the ropes keeping it from fleeing. Bloody and in terrible pain, the cow lurches away, trying to reach some kind of safety. With it out of the way, Karl blasts the other broodling with a <em>scorching burst,</em> slaying it.</p><p></p><p>Kane, Shifty and Cavemouth pounce on the ankheg, hacking at it. It squeals again, spitting acid at them, but all three manage to dodge out of the way before returning to their assault on it. </p><p></p><p>The bug grabs onto Cavemouth and starts to drag him under as well. “No you don’t!” the goliath shouts, pushing off of its carapace with his boots and freeing himself. The ankheg, clearly hungry and angry both, emerges from its burrow and scuttles forward to attack Sepia, who jams a dagger in its eye before socking it with her brass knuckles. The beast’s forelegs wave in the air, and everyone focuses their attacks on it, hacking, stabbing, shooting and pummeling it. The ankheg fights fiercely, but it is plainly weakening.</p><p></p><p>“We have it now!” Shifty declares. He slips into flanking with Sepia and stabs it in the back. It whirls to face him, and Sepia throws herself against it, driving her dagger deep into the wound he just opened. The ankheg screams as brownish juice sprays all over. It raises itself up, then slams itself down, its antennae moving weakly. Kane and Cavemouth both drive their axes into it, and the bug gives another, faltering cry. </p><p></p><p>Sepia smashes its face in with her brass knuckles, and the ankheg stops moving (except for a few twitches). </p><p></p><p>A quick look around confirms that all the kobolds have fallen; the fight is over. Our heroes catch their breath and then discuss the situation.</p><p></p><p>“First of all,” Karl says, “isn’t it weird that we fought this same ankheg before, a few dozen miles away? Do they have that big of a territory?”</p><p></p><p>“Ankhegs are common in this area,” Cavemouth replies. “And they do have a pretty big area that they hunt. But still... you’re right, that is pretty strange.”</p><p></p><p>Kane snorts. “Maybe it wanted its revenge on us for defeating it once.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t think that they are that smart,” muses Kane. </p><p></p><p>“What were these kobolds doing, anyway?” wonders Shifty. </p><p></p><p>“That one is still alive,” Sepia says, pointing at Wizzy. “I just knocked him out. It seemed like they were trying to capture the ankheg broodlings for some reason.”</p><p></p><p>“Well,” says Shar, “since we have a prisoner, it should be easy enough to find out...”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>When the party brings their captive around for questioning, he proves to be more than happy to talk. Clearly a coward, the kobold informs the party that his tribe has recently had its leadership usurped by a new boss- a goblin, in fact. The goblin has taken to eating young ankhegs- apparently, they are quite a delicacy (<em>If there was a dwarf amongst us, we’d already know that,</em> thinks Shar)- and has demanded that his kobold minions bring him broodlings snacks periodically. “If we don’t,” Wizzy whines, “he hurts us!”</p><p></p><p>“So you have been stealing the cows to attract the ankhegs?” asks Shifty. “That makes a weird sort of sense.”</p><p></p><p>The party binds the kobold and then withdraws a few dozen feet to talk over their next move. “We continue backtracking them until we reach their lair,” says Cavemouth.</p><p></p><p>“And kill them all,” Kane adds with satisfaction.</p><p></p><p>“Well, hold on a minute,” objects Karl. “We might be able to handle this another way. If we slay this goblin, we might not have to kill them all.” Kane looks disappointed. “There might be a lot of them,” the wizard continues. “Kobolds breed like rats.”</p><p></p><p>“Very true,” agrees Cavemouth. </p><p></p><p>“If we can avoid fighting a hundred or so of them, we probably should,” Shar nods. “We also might be able to find the old chief- the one who has been usurped- and get him to turn on the goblin, once we show that we can defeat him.”</p><p></p><p>“Hey kobold! Is your old chief still alive?” demands Cavemouth.</p><p></p><p>Wizzy nods.</p><p></p><p>“All right,” says Shar, “I think we have a plan.”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Their prisoner leads our heroes to a ruined outpost on a hillside, indicating that it is the location of the kobold lair. The party lets him go, warning him that if he crosses them again, they will show no mercy. </p><p></p><p>Then they plunge into the kobold lair.</p><p></p><p>Their assault goes pretty much exactly as planned. They carve through the initial kobold guards, work their way inside the outpost and through a series of kobold warrens. Once they have penetrated deeply enough, the goblin that has taken control of the kobolds comes to the battle; and, once the party has pounded him with attacks to the point that their prowess is undeniable, the former kobold leader- Wyrmkin- turns on him, exhorting those kobolds still loyal to him (as well as those wise enough to see which way the wind is blowing) to join in finishing him off. </p><p></p><p>“No more stealing cows,” Shifty warns Wyrmkin sternly, after the fight is over. “You have seen what we can do. If you molest the people of Overland again, we’ll be back.”</p><p></p><p>”Don’t worry about us!” Wyrmkin exclaims. “Until that damned usurper Thox came along, we never troubled your folk. Now that I am in charge again, we shan’t do so again.”</p><p></p><p>The party negotiates an appropriate payment from the kobolds- consisting of the pink potion that Thox had carried- and departs, returning to Overland. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Rested, recovered and rewarded, the party spends some of their hard-earned money back in town. Soon enough, though, Shifty points out that, to maintain the extravagant lifestyle that they are rapidly becoming accustomed to, they need to find another paying job. Shortly, word reaches them of goblin bandits marauding the road east of the crossroads. </p><p></p><p>“Even if we aren’t hired to take them out,” Shifty says, “they undoubtedly have some loot.”</p><p></p><p>So the party once again sets forth to find adventure, heading to the crossroads for another night’s rest in the company of the various merchants that are encamped there. They reach it in the middle of the afternoon. Once there, the party questions the merchants, and though none of them have been assaulted by the goblins themselves, there is a general consensus that they are a nuisance that is only growing worse. </p><p></p><p>However, as night falls, another group of merchants limps into the crossroads. These ones look more like peasants than merchants, and our heroes make inquiries of them. Indeed, it turns out that the goblins had assaulted and robbed them.</p><p></p><p>“They seem to have come out of a chasm that opened up in one of the recent earthquakes,” one of the merchants says. “I don’t know if they just moved into it, or if they were there already and just gained egress after the quake, but either way, they are causing nothing but trouble!”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t suppose you’d care to hire us to deal with them?” Cavemouth asks. </p><p></p><p>The merchant snorts. “If I had any money left, maybe,” he replies, “but my money and merchandise have all been stolen!”</p><p></p><p><em>Yep,</em> thinks Shifty. <em>They’ll have some loot for us, all right!</em></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes make their first foray into the Dim Depths of the Earthquake Rift!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 5032250, member: 1210"] “Look,” Sepia says, gesturing at the brush around the staked-out cow. “There are kobolds in there.” “Not for long!” quips Cavemouth. But before the words are even out of his mouth, Kane is charging ahead with a wordless battle cry. Into the brush, then swinging his magical greataxe- and suddenly gore and brains are splattering in the brush. Squeals of fear and anger come from the hiding kobolds as they turn to see the barbarian spin and charge another of them, his axe a blur as it sweeps into the little dog-lizard humanoid’s neck from the side, decapitating him. Kane roars. The others break cover, charging in, and suddenly everything is chaos. The poor cow. It strains against the ropes holding it, but to no avail. It trembles in fear; being in the middle of violent combat is not its natural state. The screams of the dying kobolds terrify it. But not as much as what it senses is coming from below. The ground, much like the cow, is trembling. The cow lets out a terrified moo as sling bullets whiz past it. One- not really a bullet, but more like a small jar- hits Cavemouth and bursts, covering him in a sticky mess of glue. The goliath curses, struggling to free himself, but he is stuck fast. “Damn it!” he swears. Meanwhile, Karl hangs back and directs his spells at the kobold slingers, zinging them with [i]magic missiles[/i] and [i]scorching bursts.[/i] Fortunately, the brush is wet enough to avoid starting any large fires. Shifty stays near him at first, throwing shuriken, but wades in quickly when it becomes apparent that the battle is going to be very one-sided. Unfortunately for him, his assessment proves less than accurate. The cow [i]screams[/i] as the ground beneath it erupts and a huge, insect-like beast lurches up from below. “It’s another ankheg!” cries Karl. But Cavemouth, who is closer, corrects him. “No it isn’t- it’s the [i]same[/i] ankheg! I can see the scars it took in our last fight!” The ankheg squeals and latches onto the cow. Squirming up from the dirt around it are a pair of smaller, immature-looking ankhegs as well. “Broodlings!” warns Karl. “Watch out!!” *** Wizzy- one of the hapless kobolds- sees his chance. Not that he wouldn’t flee if he could; but the new boss would kill him if he returned empty handed. The new boss is very [i]hungry,[/i] and he wants his delicacies. Wizzy sprints forward and snatches up one of the broodlings, then turns and runs. “No you don’t!” cries Sepia, and she punches him in the face with her brass knuckles, leaving him staggered. He drops the ankheg broodling and shakes his head to clear it. [i]WHACK![/I] Another brass knuckle blow to the face breaks several of the bones in the kobold’s snout, and he drops like a sack of potatoes. Then the tiefling returns her attention to the big ankheg, who is pulling the cow down into the ground. [i]I don’t think I want to save the cow that badly,[/i] she thinks. Meanwhile, Cavemouth finally wrenches free of the sticky goo that the kobold slinger had stuck him with. And then, boldly, he grabs the cow and starts to pull it back up, trying to wrest it from the ankheg’s grasp. The two of them wrestle roughly over the poor cow, who is lowing in pain and fear. With a roar, the goliath pulls the cow free- at least for the moment- and then whips his axe out and severs the ropes keeping it from fleeing. Bloody and in terrible pain, the cow lurches away, trying to reach some kind of safety. With it out of the way, Karl blasts the other broodling with a [i]scorching burst,[/i] slaying it. Kane, Shifty and Cavemouth pounce on the ankheg, hacking at it. It squeals again, spitting acid at them, but all three manage to dodge out of the way before returning to their assault on it. The bug grabs onto Cavemouth and starts to drag him under as well. “No you don’t!” the goliath shouts, pushing off of its carapace with his boots and freeing himself. The ankheg, clearly hungry and angry both, emerges from its burrow and scuttles forward to attack Sepia, who jams a dagger in its eye before socking it with her brass knuckles. The beast’s forelegs wave in the air, and everyone focuses their attacks on it, hacking, stabbing, shooting and pummeling it. The ankheg fights fiercely, but it is plainly weakening. “We have it now!” Shifty declares. He slips into flanking with Sepia and stabs it in the back. It whirls to face him, and Sepia throws herself against it, driving her dagger deep into the wound he just opened. The ankheg screams as brownish juice sprays all over. It raises itself up, then slams itself down, its antennae moving weakly. Kane and Cavemouth both drive their axes into it, and the bug gives another, faltering cry. Sepia smashes its face in with her brass knuckles, and the ankheg stops moving (except for a few twitches). A quick look around confirms that all the kobolds have fallen; the fight is over. Our heroes catch their breath and then discuss the situation. “First of all,” Karl says, “isn’t it weird that we fought this same ankheg before, a few dozen miles away? Do they have that big of a territory?” “Ankhegs are common in this area,” Cavemouth replies. “And they do have a pretty big area that they hunt. But still... you’re right, that is pretty strange.” Kane snorts. “Maybe it wanted its revenge on us for defeating it once.” “I don’t think that they are that smart,” muses Kane. “What were these kobolds doing, anyway?” wonders Shifty. “That one is still alive,” Sepia says, pointing at Wizzy. “I just knocked him out. It seemed like they were trying to capture the ankheg broodlings for some reason.” “Well,” says Shar, “since we have a prisoner, it should be easy enough to find out...” *** When the party brings their captive around for questioning, he proves to be more than happy to talk. Clearly a coward, the kobold informs the party that his tribe has recently had its leadership usurped by a new boss- a goblin, in fact. The goblin has taken to eating young ankhegs- apparently, they are quite a delicacy ([i]If there was a dwarf amongst us, we’d already know that,[/i] thinks Shar)- and has demanded that his kobold minions bring him broodlings snacks periodically. “If we don’t,” Wizzy whines, “he hurts us!” “So you have been stealing the cows to attract the ankhegs?” asks Shifty. “That makes a weird sort of sense.” The party binds the kobold and then withdraws a few dozen feet to talk over their next move. “We continue backtracking them until we reach their lair,” says Cavemouth. “And kill them all,” Kane adds with satisfaction. “Well, hold on a minute,” objects Karl. “We might be able to handle this another way. If we slay this goblin, we might not have to kill them all.” Kane looks disappointed. “There might be a lot of them,” the wizard continues. “Kobolds breed like rats.” “Very true,” agrees Cavemouth. “If we can avoid fighting a hundred or so of them, we probably should,” Shar nods. “We also might be able to find the old chief- the one who has been usurped- and get him to turn on the goblin, once we show that we can defeat him.” “Hey kobold! Is your old chief still alive?” demands Cavemouth. Wizzy nods. “All right,” says Shar, “I think we have a plan.” *** Their prisoner leads our heroes to a ruined outpost on a hillside, indicating that it is the location of the kobold lair. The party lets him go, warning him that if he crosses them again, they will show no mercy. Then they plunge into the kobold lair. Their assault goes pretty much exactly as planned. They carve through the initial kobold guards, work their way inside the outpost and through a series of kobold warrens. Once they have penetrated deeply enough, the goblin that has taken control of the kobolds comes to the battle; and, once the party has pounded him with attacks to the point that their prowess is undeniable, the former kobold leader- Wyrmkin- turns on him, exhorting those kobolds still loyal to him (as well as those wise enough to see which way the wind is blowing) to join in finishing him off. “No more stealing cows,” Shifty warns Wyrmkin sternly, after the fight is over. “You have seen what we can do. If you molest the people of Overland again, we’ll be back.” ”Don’t worry about us!” Wyrmkin exclaims. “Until that damned usurper Thox came along, we never troubled your folk. Now that I am in charge again, we shan’t do so again.” The party negotiates an appropriate payment from the kobolds- consisting of the pink potion that Thox had carried- and departs, returning to Overland. *** Rested, recovered and rewarded, the party spends some of their hard-earned money back in town. Soon enough, though, Shifty points out that, to maintain the extravagant lifestyle that they are rapidly becoming accustomed to, they need to find another paying job. Shortly, word reaches them of goblin bandits marauding the road east of the crossroads. “Even if we aren’t hired to take them out,” Shifty says, “they undoubtedly have some loot.” So the party once again sets forth to find adventure, heading to the crossroads for another night’s rest in the company of the various merchants that are encamped there. They reach it in the middle of the afternoon. Once there, the party questions the merchants, and though none of them have been assaulted by the goblins themselves, there is a general consensus that they are a nuisance that is only growing worse. However, as night falls, another group of merchants limps into the crossroads. These ones look more like peasants than merchants, and our heroes make inquiries of them. Indeed, it turns out that the goblins had assaulted and robbed them. “They seem to have come out of a chasm that opened up in one of the recent earthquakes,” one of the merchants says. “I don’t know if they just moved into it, or if they were there already and just gained egress after the quake, but either way, they are causing nothing but trouble!” “I don’t suppose you’d care to hire us to deal with them?” Cavemouth asks. The merchant snorts. “If I had any money left, maybe,” he replies, “but my money and merchandise have all been stolen!” [i]Yep,[/i] thinks Shifty. [i]They’ll have some loot for us, all right![/i] [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes make their first foray into the Dim Depths of the Earthquake Rift! [/QUOTE]
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