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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PieAndDragon" data-source="post: 3861251" data-attributes="member: 18108">Task of the KoboldsThe task was clear. Their aboleth master, lord of the lake and their god, demanded captives, dead or alive, and it was the warlock’s divine duty to find them. Birik gathered his warriors and two rafts, travelling through the deeper waterways of the swamp in search of prey. A pair of their master’s servitors travelled with them, crossbreeds of fish and humanoids known as skum. They were below even the kobolds.Although mist limited their search, it also provided a shield against the more hostile creatures of the swamp, the grey renders, hydras and siv. Birik had lost many kin to the dangers of these parts, in service to the more powerful minions of the Bound One. Such creatures cared little for their kobold servitors, as long as their plans and schemes made progress.The warlock was jolted from a light doze by the exited chattering of the raft in front. Hearing his warriors preparing defensive magics, he summoned layers of arcane protection to himself. Within moments all of the kobolds on both rafts were readying crossbows, using enchantments to guide bolts and armour themselves.As the mist cleared slightly, Birik caught sight of their intended prey, a group of humans and a tain gathered at the edge of the river, some seeking cover in the reeds and shrubs around. Three salamanders alongside the prey were of little interest to the warlock, their bodies turning to fire upon death and providing no sustenance on which their master could feed. Their prey was not in flight, instead readying bows and slings, nor were they helpless, clad in armour of leather and scale.Gathering his power, the warlock conjured a glittering mass of dust over three foes, blinding them and stemming the arrows directed at his kin. Two more threats revealed themselves as a siv leapt from the waters onto the other raft, and a goblin arose from the bogs at the edge of the lake, summoning a small ball of fire on Birik’s raft. His kobolds panicked, keeping what distance they could between them and the burning mass.The siv was driven from the raft by the brave kobold warriors, as the two skum emerged onto shore, taking the battle to their foes, one fended off by a salamander and the second approaching the tain. As the ball of fire rolled onto Birik, he summoned a cloud of nauseous green gas around the goblin, but hiding his other foes from view. At his command, the kobolds propelled the raft forward and brought the prey into sight once again. The second raft continued its plight with the siv, as kobolds leapt from the raft and the frog-creature climbed up onto it once more.As his raft moved forward, Birik had a second look at his foes. He was alarmed as he noticed that although several were wounded, and the tain had retreated out of sight, the others had weathered the attack well, overcoming both of the skum and no longer hindered by the cloud. The warlock felt the dark gaze of the Bound One upon him, as the tide of battle shifted.In the seconds that followed, his magic was used to shield him from the enemy’s attention. The warlock countered a crocodile summoned from the water with an illusion of ice, and was then distracted as the goblin summoned nature spirits to attack them. Some kobolds held off the siv from the second raft, keeping him at bay with simple distracting enchantments, until he smote them from the raft. Realising that their magics were becoming exhausted, Birik decided to look for easier prey. Another cloud of greenish gas served to cover their retreat into the mist, although the siv did pursue them, focusing some of his ire upon Birik. They turned their minor magics against him, forcing him to retreat with wounds from spear and bolt. Joined by the second raft, crewed by two kobolds, they melted away into the marsh.In all four kobold warriors had fallen, and they had nothing to show for it. They could only hope that fortune would favour them before they returned to their master.</blockquote>

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