Seeing that the overwhelming number of kobolds may prove detrimental to his colleague in their midst, Sphynx whirls his right hand and points at the foe on Hawke's rear flank, as he takes another step forward. Two, dark blue shards of light emit from his right hand and arc directly toward the designated kobold. "Feel the burn of my wrath, reptile!" Sphynx states in Draconic.
Kobold #3 takes 7 damage total. Kobold goes down.
Kobold #6 no longer has +2 flanking bonus to hit.
Sphynx takes a step forward, as he launches two, swirling, dark blue missiles at the Kobold on Hawke's left diagonal flank; the reptile twitches and flinches, as if he were trying to shake off the energy attack, but his actions are in vain. The spell shuts down his nervous system, and drops him like a stone.
Nimbar charge attack: +2 to hit. -2 to AC.
Mage Armor: +4 to AC for 3 hours (1800 rnds)
Adjusted AC: 14 (+4) = 18, -2 = 16 for charge.
Attack roll: (16) = hits. Damage = 4 pts.
Kobold #6 is gravely wounded, but still up.
Nimbar charges Kobold #6, and skewers the reptile with his rapier, piercing the upper left side of his chest completely, just below the collar bone. The Kobold screams in pain from the grievous wound, but remains standing.
Kobold #6, speaking Draconic: "Curse you, Human! We will yet send you to the burning Hells!"
Listen DC to hear the din of battle: -10 (extremely easy);
However, this battle is less the ringing of steel on steel, and more a series of grunts, thumps, and thuds, mainly from steel hitting leather, and from bodies slumping to the ground. Add to that the fact that it's taking place in the copse of trees, out of sight, within an area that the Kobolds have claimed as "their territory."
Thus:
Listen DC to hear the din of this battle: DC 0 (Still quite easy.)
Modifiers:
Other humanoids are used to the Kobolds bickering and fighting among one another: +3 DC ("...It's just those noisy runts again...")
Other humanoids cannot understand the Draconic language: +2 DC ("...What are they saying? Who the heck knows?...")
Only one Kobold has actually screamed at this point, the rest of the noise being grunts and thuds: +2 DC ("...Sounds more like a scuffle than an actual battle...")
General apathy, even hatred, towards Kobolds on the part of other nearby Humanoids: +2 DC ("...Who cares? Let the little cretins kill each other...")
DC for Gnolls to hear, and recognize the danger: DC 7
DC for other Humanoids to hear, and recognize the danger: DC 9
Rolling for distance: 1d20+5, in yards, for nearest group of creatures:
25 yards.
DC Adjustment: +2 for every 10 yards. (Total: +4 Adjustment to DC.)
So...
TOTAL DC for Gnolls to hear, and recognize the danger: DC 11
TOTAL DC for other Humanoids to hear, and recognize the danger: DC 13
Who is the nearest group? 1= Gnolls, 2= Hobgoblins, 3= Orcs, 4= Wendol.
Roll = (2) Hobgoblins.
Hobgoblin Listen Check, DC 13: (18) = Success. Hobgoblins have heard the scuffle, and have recognized the danger!
As the Kobold screams in pain, Nimbar curses under his breath. In the distance, loud, grunting Humanoid voices are heard! Though you cannot make out the language, you are almost certain by the tone and depth of the voices that you have attracted the attention of nearby Hobgoblins!
Hawke takes several swipes at the Kobolds around him, but they are fast and small; out of three swings, he connects only once. However, it is a fatal blow, dropping Kobold #7 with a single, violent blow to the head.
Hawke's Attack Rolls: 8,26,11 (One hit, with off-hand. Damage = 1d4+3.
Damage = 7 pts. [HP: -2] That is enough to drop him.
Attack of Opportunity: Nimbar rolls 21 (Hit); Damage = 5 pts. [HP: -4]
Kobold #6 drops, ending the immediate combat.
Kobold #6, despite his threat, realizes that the battle is going badly; he decides to make a break for it, since he is so near to the edge of the treeline. However, his gamble is poorly decided, and Nimbar finishes the work he started, skewering him in the middle of the back as he turns to flee.
As this is happening, everyone can hear the Hobgoblin voices drawing closer; they don't seem to be in a hurry. They are calling out in Hobgoblin, something that sounds like question. There is anger and annoyance in their tone.
"Hey. Grab a kobold and head back to the Ogre cave." Sphynx will attempt to carry a kobold, if he is strong enough. He will also retrieve his darts before quickly heading back to the cave.
Later. "Most of these denizens are at odds and do not know the demise of the Ogre. These guerrilla tactics are bound to cause confusion."
These Kobolds are each about 2.5 ft. tall, and weigh about 54 pounds each, without gear.
Leather armor for small creature: 7.5 lbs.
Short spears (2): 2 lbs. each. (4 lbs.)
Machete: 1.5 lbs.
TOTAL WEIGHT PER KOBOLD: ~67 lbs. (each one will vary slightly; numbers counted here represent averages.)
Sphynx: STR = 11 (115 lbs. max load.) = carrying 1 Kobold would be a medium load. Adjusted move rate = 15' (Running = 60 ft.)
Hawke: STR = 20 (400 lbs. max load.) = carrying 2 Kobolds would still be light load. Adjusted move rate = 20' (Running = 80 ft.)
Nimbar: STR = 13 (150 lbs. max load) = carrying 1 Kobold would be a medium load. Adjusted move rate = 15' (Running = 60 ft.)
It will take 1 round for Sphynx to retrieve both darts.
It will take 1 round to stow weapons and pick up a Kobold (or two);
Hawke cannot carry more than two; although he is strong enough to carry many of them, he simply doesn't have enough hands to hold them all.
4 of the Kobolds were taken out before they could draw their spears. These are the four Kobolds that the group decides to pick up. It is surmised that the four with drawn weapons will appear, to the untrained eye, to have killed one another.
Treasure:
4 suits of Masterwork, Kobold-sized Leather Armor
4 Masterwork Rose Gold Machetes (same stats as Short Sword)
8 Masterwork Rose Gold Spears (same stats as Javelin)
The Kobolds were not carrying any money.
Sphynx finds a piece of paper on one of the Kobolds, apparently the leader, that shows the location of their ambush site, and the location of a pit trap, just inside the entrance to their lair, Cave #1.
Everyone agrees that Sphynx's plan is a sound one. Everyone quickly stows their weaponry, and picks up a Kobold body. Hawke manages to pick up two of them. The ones left behind, all of whom had drawn their weapons, will (hopefully) be thought to have quarreled and killed each other.
The party decides that running, despite the risk involved, would be best, since most of the party's movement will occur unobserved, within the small thicket. The party sets off at break-neck speed, with Hawke in the lead, but trailed closely by Nimbar and Sphynx. The party makes it back inside the Ogre cave without incident, and without being discovered.
As the party is picking over the Kobolds' gear, Sphynx finds a piece of paper tucked into the belt of one of the Kobolds...
As Nimbar is telling Sphynx about why they are here, and how much Rose Gold that Sir Walter needed, he also says:
Nimbar says, "We have enough Rose Gold for Sir Walter's purposes. We could actually break the amulet now, and return home via its magicks. We could give him all 8 spears for good measure, and we could sell the armor and the machetes and make a tidy profit. In that part of the world, Rose Gold does not exist, and import fees border on extortion. The amulet has enough power to transport us all, probably even our camels as well. What say you?"
Hawke gets a gleam in his eye, "This place is too lucrative to leave. I will admit, they have large numbers of warriors, but we could actually recruit a few henchmen to join us, and probably clean up. There are probably untold riches down in those caves. Plus, we know of at least one, fat merchant who'd probably give us a nice reward for his rescue."
"Hmm." Sphynx thinks about the situation for a moment before continuing to reply.
"Nimbar, I like the logic behind your proposal. Hawke, I like the motivation in yours."
He wrinkles his mouth back and forth, then runs his hands through his hair. "I am thinking that most of the denizens of this valley will be nocturnal. I am thinking we should gather our supplies and camels when the sun is pushing toward its zenith and head back for town. I can't see much profit in the camels, elsewhere. We should sell them and their tack, then tote everything else with us to return by your magical means, that is assuming you are having me along. Mission complete, then we have some leisure to return for further exploration. I definitely want to come back here."
Hawke snorts derisively, "Return? In a leisurely fashion? We came here via magical means. Sir Walter might be kind enough to send us back that way as well, but he is a busy man, and we can't count on that. If he's too busy to help us, we'd need to hire a ship. Our homeland is over 1,500 leagues from here. That's 63 days by Longship, or if we're lucky (and rich) enough to book passage on a large Galley, we could probably make the trip in just under 50 days. Either way, it's basically two months at sea. Sounds like a lot of extra expense, when we could just stay here a little while longer, then leave. No offense. And by the way, you are certainly welcome to come back with us. In fact, I think Sir Walter was expecting it. I think he'd probably like for us to recruit other skilled gophers to help him out the way we do."
Hawke pauses a moment, before continuing, "He's a good man to work for, and he pays rather well. Plus, if you have the arcane bent the way Nimbar does, he's a good mentor to have. Sir Walter is a highly skilled Wizard, and a respected craftsman of magical weapons and devices. That's why he's so busy, he always has rich noblemen lined up around the block, waiting to pay him a part of their fortunes in order to get a magical blade, shield, ring, or some such."
Nimbar wrinkles his brow in thought, "Well, ok, I see your point. But you realize that we could just pay the Mage's Guild some money to send us back here here the same way that Sir Walter did, correct? I hear that the new Arch Mage of the Guild, Sir Otiluke, has a mirror just like Sir Walter's."
Hawke snorts again, "Do you know how much a man like that is going to charge us to make use of his mirror? We'll probably pay through the NOSE to do it that way! I'd bet it would be twice, perhaps three times as expensive as ship passage to PAY for magical transport! Not to mention that he could then easily scry us, and figure out what we're up to here. I don't want to share the Rose Gold with anyone, if I can help it. I would like to keep it just between us. Sphynx, what say you? Whose side are you on?"
Both Hawke and Nimbar chortle happily, at the idea of their sides being "opposed" to one another.
Distance home = 4,560 miles (1520 Leagues)
Travel time by Longship = 63 days
Travel time by Galley = 47 days
Longship passage will be expensive; Galley passage will be VERY expensive.
Sphynx scratches his head. "Oh wow! I had no idea you had come from so far. I was thinking a few days' walk. In that case, I am with Hawke. No sense passing up such an opportunity for plunder. I say we hide what we have so far and see what else we can acquire!"
As the party is figuring out what to do, the din of battle is heard. All of you hear the deep, barritone shouts of Hobgoblins, as well as the yappy, squeaky sounds of Kobold voices. Screams follow, on both sides, as both sides begin to suffer injuries, or so you surmise.
The raucous lasts only about a minute, and when it dies down, you can still hear raised voices, that sound as if both sides are shouting angrily at each other. Eventually, there is another voice, a Human sounding one, that interrupts the other two, and begins shouting as if he is admonishing both sides to be quiet. It apparently works, because there is soon no further outbursts, although you can still make out the sounds of various Humanoids rummaging around outside, doing things that you can only guess at.
GM:
If you'd like to see if you can discern what was said, roll a Listen check, DC 13. Everyone can try for the Kobolds, because everyone speaks Draconic. No one can try for the Hobgoblins, because no one speaks Goblin. Sphynx can try to make out what the Human voice said, because he speaks Eryptian. Between the three of you, a few successful rolls should allow you to guess at the content of the Hobgoblin speech, regardless of knowing what exactly was said.
Hawke = 13, Nimbar = 18 (Both Succeed @ hearing what Kobolds said.)
Sphynx = 17 (Success @ hearing what the Kobolds and the Human said.)
