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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1520129" data-attributes="member: 1210">The Yips ArriveThe screams of our heroes serve to set off a panic, and the folk of Blackwood are screaming as they run indoors.  Sandy cries for assistance- surely the town (pop. 99) must have some warriors- but the folk are stampeding like a pack of lemmings.  Doors are slamming, shutters are being closed. The judges of the jam contest scatter as well.  Some contestants lurch under the tables, but most sprint for some sort of shelter.  The cries of “Kobolds are coming!” have put some spring in their step, that’s for sure.  Only Airhead Ed remains at the table, bawling her eyes out.  Our heroes climb the watch tower again.  If only there was a watch- but no.  With the breakdown of authority in the Dark Empire, towns like Blackwood are on their own.  Except for the rare occasions when they have a brave pack of halfling defenders, that is.From the watchtower, Martini draws out his bow; at the base of the watchtower, Federico pulls forth his crossbow.  An arrow is knocked and a crank turns, drawing back the crossbow’s string.The kobolds- more than a dozen, but most in hiding; how many are there?- are advancing into the town, gradually coming towards the square.  From their vantage point, the heroes can see the back side of the Displacer Beast tavern, and Trinia nudges Martini and points.A window in the back of the bar opens, and a figure struggles through and starts running.Three of the kobolds burst from cover and start towards the figure.Martini and Federico start firing arrows at the lead kobold.  The little dog-folk are moving fast.  Federico’s bolt sails directly at one of the kobolds, but its hand knocks it away before it has a chance to hit!  “Oh no, I’m scared,” whimpers Federico as he fires.  He doesn’t want to fight his own kind- but he will!Unnoticed, in the center of the square, Airhead Ed sweeps all the jam entries from the table into her backpack.  Wailing, she ties her bag shut and stuffs it out of sight under the bench she’s sitting on.The fleeing figure, catching a glimpse of the missiles firing at the kobolds over his head, veers towards the tower.  He’s running as fast as he can, but the kobolds are closing steadily.  Sandy, having descended to the ground, fires a bullet from his sling; but it sails past his target ineffectually.  Trinia starts descending the watch tower’s ladder.Federico mounts his riding dog (Ethel) and rushes towards a building for cover, but one of the kobolds has turned towards him.  “Arf, oh no!” Federico cries in distress.“Come, brother!” the strange kobold cries.  “We will free you!”  And he makes a strange gesture, one hand in a first crossing the other- it’s fast, and Feddie only partially catches it. The running figure has finally reached the base of the tower, two kobolds yipping right behind him.  Our heroes recognize him as Tanthos, the strange man with an affinity for Ferax the dragon and kobolds that they met previously in the Displacer Beast.  “You!” Martini exclaims, but Tanthos, fear in his eye, ignores the halfling and starts scrambling up the ladder.”Hey!” Trinia yells at him.  “I’m coming down, you idiot!”  The kobold-f***er (as the party has begun to mentally call him) ignores her and keeps climbing.  Cursing, she ascends back to the platform at the top to let him pass.Martini, meanwhile, steps up with his halfling-sized blades and rapidly cuts one of the kobolds down to size.  “Yip!” it cries, as he stabs it through the spleen.  Ethel (Federico’s dog) meanwhile tears another of the kobolds down; the party’s two dogs and wolf had all attacked the second kobold, using dog pack tactics to take it down, though it did kick the wolf hard enough to knock it out cold.  The third visible kobold cries, “Peace!  We mean no harm, we want only him.”  And he points at Tanthos, who is cowering above on the tower (which Trinia is again descending).“He is a kobold-f***er!” Martini shouts.  “I knew it!”Next Time: How will our heroes negotiate a cessation to hostilities?  What will they do to, for or with Tanthos?  And will Ed get away with the jam??</blockquote>

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