NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4515204" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 14 - Kobold Hall (Part 1)Thira called light to her staff as Dulvarna led them down the steps into the darkness of the place that Milos named Kobold Hall. He hand wanted to accompany them into the underground chambers but Dulvarna had convinced him that someone was needed to keep watch lest more kobolds return while they were within. He had accepted guard duty grudgingly for Brother Milos was nothing if not courageous though he was often grim and morose as well. Once out of sight of the priest both Thira and Kel pulled back their hoods so as to be able to see more clearly around them and no sooner had they done so, than the stairs emerged into a chamber. Dominating the room before them was a long trench filled with a glowing green substance. Beyond the trench, a small reptilian humanoid stood in a shadowy chamber, gaping at the newcomers. It carried a sling, and quickly reached into the pouch at its belt for a stone. It hissed and shouted, “Intruderss! Intruderss!”Dulvarna charged into the chamber, drawing her sword as she ran, and darted right around the pit. She immediately saw two more kobolds lurking behind a portcullis that barred a corridor to the east.“He’s not alone!” she called back to the others.“Why am I not surprised,” answered Lavren.The elf followed Dulvarna into the chamber, darting right and then backpedalling as he saw the kobolds behind the portcullis. He drew his wand and levelled it at the iron grill, hoping that his aim would be true and that the magic he was about to unleash would pass between the bars. He spoke a word and black, crackling energy seared forth from his wand and passed between the bars. The two kobolds ducked down and the blast passed over their heads. Across the pit, a kobold with a spear emerged from the shadowed far chamber and circled to its right around the pit to come at Lavren from the left. The elf looked back anxiously seeking aid from his companions as another kobold emerged from the far chamber. This one circled the other way and met Dulvarna with its spear. The running warrior woman sought to parry but the spear point drove into her right shoulder and spun her around, dangerously close to the edge of the pit. A sling stone whirred across the pit then and struck Lavren’s arm painfully. He cried out and turned back to face his new opponent.Kel was next into the chamber and she ran left to meet the kobold coming that way. Her morning star swung out and connected with the kobold’s shoulder, halting its charge and spinning it around on the spot. To the right, one of the kobolds slipped through the portcullis bars and came at Dulvarna with its spear. She half turned to parry but the point drove into her thigh and forced her back a step almost to the edge of the slime-filled pit. Erlmoor came into the chamber last and paused to survey the scene before deciding where best he might aid his companions. He glanced at Kel, battling a kobold alone and despite Lathander’s teachings that told him to welcome any into the light of the morning, he turned to the right to aid Dulvarna.Thira came into the chamber last and turned her stave at once upon the kobold that Kel fought. She loosed a silver bolt into the creature’s side and sent it reeling away from the dark elf. A sling stone flew out from the portcullis then and struck Erlmoor’s breast palate, jolting him for a moment. He looked towards the kobold behind the iron bars and wondered whether he should deal with that threat first. He decided against it and raised his blade to aid Dulvarna.Dulvarna herself recovered from the blows struck to her and spun on the spot, her blade scything around her and cutting across the chest of one kobold while gouging the shoulder of the other. Both cried out and stepped back, allowing the warrior woman the chance to move a step away from the edge of the pit. Lavren meanwhile, cursed the kobold slinger and loosed more crackling black energy from his wand, this time towards his new foe. The blast struck the kobold in the chest and sent it staggering backwards.    To the left of the pit, the kobold Kel faced recovered for a moment and jabbed low with its spear. The dark elf darted to her left, away from the pit but the spear’s blade drove along the side of her ebon-skinned calf, gouging a painful wound. To her right, a sling stone whirred across the pit and struck Lavren on the shoulder, spinning him away to his right. The elf cursed and raised his wand towards his enemy again. Kel glanced briefly at her companion and then lashed out with her morning star, striking the kobold’s side again and sending it dancing back a step.Another kobold spear stabbed into Dulvarna’s leg and the warrior woman felt her strength waning with the pain of the wounds she had suffered. Beside her, Erlmoor called out a challenge to one of the kobolds and then breathed acid upon the creature and its companion beyond the portcullis. His blade followed the acid breath but the kobold was ready and danced back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s huge sword.Thira levelled her staff at the kobold battling Kel once more and loosed another silver bolt of energy. It struck the kobold in the side of the head and seared through the creature’s reptilian skull, felling the creature where it stood. Kel nodded her thanks to the tiefling and then started around the pit again to meet the slinger who yet dogged Lavren on the other side.From the side passage another sling stone struck Erlmoor, this time on his shoulder and again he wondered whether the slinger beyond the portcullis was worthy of his attention. Again he decided that it was not for even as he advanced on the kobold he faced again, Dulvarna weaved her blade in a graceful figure of eight only for the kobold to deftly duck under it and come at her anew. The warrior woman took a step back and parried the kobold’s spear thrust, swatting the weapon aside. Lavren tried to conjure fire within the kobold slinger but the little creature faught off the magical attack and launched a round globe that struck the elf in the chest. It shattered on impact and showered him with sticky glue that held him in place, unable to move from the spot. Kel was on the slinger a moment later, her morning star swinging at the creature. The kobold ducked and then threw down its sling, fumbling for the dagger at its belt. A silver bolt from Thira’s stave struck the creature in the side then and panic filled its eyes.To the right of the pit, Erlmoor cursed as a spear drove into his leg above the knee. He slashed out with his blade across the chest of the kobold and drew blood but the creature would not fall. A sling stone glanced off the side of the dragonborn’s head and he cursed again, wondering how long it would be before the slinger struck a truly lethal hit. Beside him, Dulvarna stabbed low at the kobold and drove her blade through its hip. It staggered, as blood gushed forth from the terrible wound, and then collapsed to the floor of the chamber.Lavren’s wand loosed more crackling black energy at the panicked kobold slinger but the blast flew wide and struck the wall beyond the creature. It drew its dagger and darted forward, driving the blade into Kel’s right arm as she moved her morning star to parry. The dark elf brought the weapon up high despite the wound she had suffered and then brought it down on the kobold’s skull. The reptilian creature collapsed to the floor, dead long before it hit the stone.         Erlmoor and Dulvarna advanced on the remaining kobold before them. It darted to its left and stabbed out with its spear, nicking Erlmoor’s arm but then retreated, slipping through the bars of the  portcullis. Erlmoor sheathed his blade and grabbed the bars of the portcullis, heaving with all his strength to lift it. The kobold stabbed at him and struck the bars but still Erlmoor could not lift the portcullis. Thira came over to lend what aid she could but Lavren had a more innovative solution. With a word, the elf vanished, only to reappear in the passage beyond the portcullis beyond the two kobolds. He dropped his wand where he stood, pulled forth his sword and plunged it into the back of the kobold. The creature cried out, twisted around and stabbed at the elf with its spear. Lavren darted back and smacked the weapon aside. Erlmoor tried to raise the portcullis again and this time, muscles flexing, he raised the gate. No sooner had he done so than he drew forth his sword and swung at the kobold. The creature screeched and ducked, the dragonborn’s sword striking only the stone wall of the passage. Thira lowered her staff a moment later and with an uttered spell, filled the passage with fire. The kobold just beyond the gate was seared to a blackened corpse in moments and collapsed where he stood. The remaining slinger screeched its own terror and pain and back away up the corridor. Dulvarna surged past her companions then with her blade before her and reached the kobold before it could flee. Her sword thrust out and drove into the creature’s chest, bursting forth from its back and piercing its heart as it went. The kobold stared wide-eyed at its killer and then slid off the blade to the stone floor.</blockquote>

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