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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3612121" data-attributes="member: 1210">Into the Deadgrass Maze!During the night, those of our heroes that are in the best shape keep watch, constantly jumping at shadows. Nervously, they strain their ears for the tell-tale yipping of kobolds or the sound of the tall grey grass rustling in the darkness. They have a small, low fire; it is easily hidden amongst the tall embankments of grass. Hopefully. When the morning sun finally drags itself out of the eastern sea and the night sky lightens and gradually turns pink, our heroes rise. There is a maze to conquer. Grom leads the way. He claims to have a good deal of skill with locating traps, and suggests that (as they have already encountered one trap) he is thus probably the best one to take point. When Kifla points out that the reason that the party “encountered” the one trap was that Grom failed to detect it, the half-orc offers to let her take the lead instead. She declines, Tempe snorts in amusement, and Grom takes the lead.The so-called “deadgrass” is an ashen grey, spotted with brown and green. It is brittle and shatters into sharp edges; though not strong, it can easily slice through skin and flesh. It grows around seven to ten feet tall throughout the area of the maze. Skaal eyes it dubiously as the party moves in. Everyone is excruciatingly careful; with Grom scanning the party’s path for traps, they are able to take their time without slowing the group down.Into the maze. Our heroes enter the place warily, eyes wide open, ears listening for anything suspicious. They move in to the pit that they encountered the night before. Keeping their eyes open for kobolds (or anything else), they creep through the T-shaped intersection that the pit is in the middle of and head off to the left. ***As soon as the intruders are past the pit, Yizfip creeps back through the tiny passage through the center of the thick grass until it intersects another, bigger passage, big enough to run down. He creeps to the corner and listens.Yes. The intruders are making lots of noise. Even as far away as they are, probably 50 feet, most of which is full of the grass, he can hear them clearly. He sprints down the open path between walls of deadgrass, leaving the intruders behind- for the moment. He follows the passage straight through a four-way intersection (the intruders will be off to my left, Yizfip thinks) and follows the path as it curves right. Pass the opening to the left, it doesn’t go anywhere anyway. Straight ahead- and the kobold skids to a halt in the only large open space in the entire maze. The boss’ chamber.And there he is.Yizfip quails every time he sees the great lizard man. He is always afraid- every single time!- that the boss is going to rip out his heart and eat it! He starts to tremble and his tail tucks, quivering, between his legs. “Boss,” he whines, “the intruders from yesterday are back!”Voorsikthss stirs on the wooden and bone chair that he has fashioned for himself. It is festooned with the skulls of those whose hearts he has eaten, foes and kobolds alike. His red eyes flare and his lower jaw drops open with a hiss that Yizfip recognizes as the lizard man’s malevolent laugh. “Let’s start the fun,” the boss rumbles.***Left. Right. Left again.“This place is a maze,” Tempe comments. No one answers. Are there kobold eyes spying on them from hidden peep tunnels in the grass? No one is certain, but they are nervous about the possibility.In the lead, Grom wipes sweat from his brow and moves another few feet ahead. So far, nothing. But he knows better than to get complacent- kobolds have a reputation, you know! Even if this is the first time he has actually met them... He takes another step, momentarily distracted, and suddenly, to his dismay, he realizes that he has just stepped into a noose hidden in the dirt. It tightens swiftly, seeking purchase on his ankle-He yanks his foot free just in time. Though he was distracted, he reflexes are still amazing. Still, he gulps. Just as he is opening his mouth to tell his companions of the trap, four kobolds charge around the corner ahead, clearly expecting the party to be experiencing some trouble from the trap. “Look out!” he shouts. “Kobolds!”Tempe reacts with elfin alacrity, hurling her spear at one of the kobolds. It throws itself flat and the spear misses; then, the lizard-like dog-man scrambles back up to its feet, growling and baring its teeth. The two foremost kobolds spring forward, slashing at Grom, and one of them hits! It slices across his left leg, drawing a bloody line on his thigh! The half-orc bites back a scream of pain. It feels like his leg is on fire; from his thigh down, his leg is suddenly wet. The rearmost two kobolds fire sling bullets at him, too, and one of them hits him in the chest, leaving a tremendous bruise. He staggers back, hit twice, noticeably wounded.Barouk draws and throws a dagger, catching one of the rear kobolds in the arm. It gives out a loud yip of pain, then glares at him. Skaal tries to emulate the dwarven monk, throwing a dagger of his own, but he misses. The kobolds are fast! Grom draws his short sword and engages the two kobolds on him; despite his two wounds, he is ready to fight! Unfortunately, the little dog-lizard men are quick and manage to evade his first clumsy stabs. Tempe grimaces and glares at one of the kobolds.. The smell of burning metal fills the air, and suddenly the creature screams. Blood bursts from its eyes, nose, ears and mouth; it collapses, dead. “What did you do to it?” Barouk cries, astonished. Tempe just smiles. The kobolds in the back, with the slings, fire again. One fires at Grom, but the half-orc zigs when the kobold wanted him to zag, and the stone hits one of the other kobolds! It howls in pain, staggering. The other kobold slinger hits Skaal, who gives out a screech. The stone connects less than an inch from his eye!*Grom misses another thrust. Forget this, he thinks grimly. He leaps back, tumbling through a backwards summersault and ending up on his feet behind his comrades. His leg throbs with pain, as does the right side of his chest. “Get them!” he exhorts his friends.Tempe’s brow crinkles again, and again there is that weird smell of burning metal. Another of the kobolds gives out a loud howl and collapses, blood gushing from its mouth and nose, its eyes suddenly extraordinarily bloodshot. Its tongue lolls from its lifeless mouth.The other two kobolds take a step back. Skaal whips out his two sickles and begins advancing. The two remaining kobolds break and run. They veritably dash away, scampering back and around a corner in mere seconds. Our heroes begin to pursue, but Barouk reins them in.“Now hold on,” the dwarf says. “You’re just going to get split up and killed in the maze.”The party gathers up and re-forms their ranks. “We could just try to find another way around this place,” Tempe points out. Barouk shrugs. “Sure. We could. But it might delay us for days.”Tempe nods. “Then let’s go.”The party keeps going. They advance in the same direction that the kobolds fled in, and ignore the first side passage. It is to their left; so far, they have gone left-right-left, so it is the next right-hand passage that they take. “Listen,” Skaal commands suddenly. “Do you hear that?”The sound is impossible to miss. “Drumming,” grunts Barouk.“The kobolds?” wonders Tempe.Barouk nods. “I’d bet on it.”The party keeps moving. As the party travels down yet another path between walls of deadgrass, Grom abruptly says, “Stop!” Without question, the other members of the party do so. The half-orc squats down to examine whatever he has seen. To the others, it looks like normal hallway. Grom seems to brush at the floor with his finger, then to do something- what, the rest of the party cannot ascertain, except that it involves hunching over that particular section of hallway- and then a pit opens in front of him. It is small, just big enough to catch a leg, and is less than two feet deep.But the bottom is filled with black widows. “Nasty,” Skaal remarks. There is more than a hint of admiration in his voice. “A formidable type of poison.”“I’m just glad that I didn’t step in it!” Grom declares. Deeper in. The party’s journey continues, Grom staying in the front. The sharp-edged grass sighs around them. The air is growing warmer as the sun creeps up the ecliptic towards its zenith. “Stop!” Grom commands the others again.“What is it?” grunts Barouk.“A trip wire.” The half-orc gestures, pointing out what he sees. “Right here. It’s very thin...” He pauses, looking it over carefully, pulling out a few long, slender tools to try to disable it. After a few moments, he shakes his head. “I can’t disable it,” he says.“Then stand back.” Tempe pulls out her whip. “I’ll trigger it from far away.”Grom scurries back behind the female elf. The others watch as she cracks her whip at the tripwire.CLANGACLINGACLANGA!!“Aw, crap, it was an alarm,” Grom says.Next Time: Our heroes get lost in the maze! What kind of drastic measures can they take? How about- lighting it on fire!!*Threat; not a crit. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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