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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3670521" data-attributes="member: 1210">The sound of kobold feet scurrying towards the party is all too clear. Barouk begins hurrying forward, followed by Skaal, who draws out both of his sickles. Then a pair of kobolds come into view from around the corner! Grom immediately charges, his growl growing into a shout as he launches himself forward. Tempe unleashes a mind thrust, but fails to penetrate the startled kobold’s mental defenses. The two kobolds strike back with their spears, and four more join them from around the corner. A furious press develops, with our heroes striking and parrying. “Listen!” shouts Grom. “I can hear more of them barking. I think there are more coming!”“We have to break through these,” Barouk barks, smashing his fist into one of the yipping kobolds’ nose. It drops. It is right about then that the kobolds break and run. Our heroes roar and charge in pursuit, but suddenly there are spears coming at them from behind! Swiftly, the party turns to deal with this new assault, and they engage another group of kobolds that has snuck up behind them. Skaal’s kocho kicks and bites, screeching wildly. Another group of kobolds comes in to reinforce them- but these ones are carrying a figure bound to a pole. Still, the kobolds are cowards by nature, and when they realize that our heroes will bloody and beat them, the kobolds flee. In their haste, they leave the bound figure behind (and, of course, the pole). Gasping to recover their breath, our heroes glance warily around. There are no imminent, obvious threats. Tempe wipes her brow. “These guys are sneaky and treacherous,” she remarks.Barouk nods. “Well, they are kobolds,” he grunts. “What about this guy?” Skaal gestures at the bound figure. It appears to be a nude half-elven male. His head is bloody. A collection of what the party assumes to be his gear is on some of the dead kobolds. The party cuts him free; he hardly seems a threat at the moment. Skaal tends his wounds as best he can, and after a few moments and a goodberry or two, the strange half-elf’s eyes flutter and open. “Gah!” he groans. “Who are you? Where am I?” He looks completely confused. “You were captured by kobolds, as near as we can figure,” Barouk responds. “What is your story? What’s your name?”“I am Romdar. I...” The stranger trails off, wincing. “I can’t remember... anything. Except my name.” He groans; his face takes on a profoundly lost cast. “What’s going on??”“It must have been that blow to the head,” mutters Skaal. “Listen, here’s the important thing: We’re in the middle of a dead grass maze that appears to be the lair of a pack of kobolds, and it’s full of traps. Now, what useful talents do you have?” Barouk gestures at the gear. “Is that your sword? Are you a warrior?”“I...” The half-elf pauses and frowns. “I am more than a warrior. I am a duskblade.”“A whatwho?” asks Skaal.“I... am not entirely sure.” “Well, listen, Romdar,” says Barouk, “we’re in here together, and we’re against common foes. Why don’t we work together for the time being?”“All right.” Romdar’s face turns stoic. For the moment, he has something to focus on. But I can’t remember my past, he thinks. Any of it!Suddenly drumming starts up in the distance.“Crap,” mutters Grom. “This is not good. They are going to hunt us like animals.”“They’re just trying to scare us,” Barouk growls.“It’s working,” nods Skaal.And then it stops abruptly. Which is just a slight bit more unsettling.***Our heroes keep moving, and as they move- trying to make good time- they keep hitting traps. First a spear flung by an unseen mechanism, then a blade of the sharp dead grass, then another pit.And then the drumming starts again. Grom groans. Romdar snarls. Nobody is happy. The party stops to cross the pit, but a kobold assault comes right then, and the heroes are forced to reverse course and make a stand.Unfortunately, this time the kobolds have a sorcerer, and she keeps trying to put our heroes to sleep and stuff. Soon the pitch of the battle rises, and furious blows are exchanged and spells are being slung. A solid spear blow to the head puts Skaal down, and another takes Grom from the fight, but the kobolds’ morale soon breaks and they flee, leaving our heroes to tend their wounded. “Kobolds are a pain in the ass,” Romdar remarks. Barouk chuckles and nods. “Uh, guys,” Barouk says slowly. “We may have a problem.” “What’s that?” asks Romdar. “We’re lost.” Barouk gestures at the parchment that he holds. “If my map is anything like right, we should be right near one of the pits up here. But there’s no pit.”“Let’s backtrack,” suggests Romdar.They retreat the way they came, but something doesn’t match up on the map. Barouk tries to lead them as best he can, with the unconscious folk strapped to the beetle, but the bewildering maze just gets them more and more confused. Finally, frustrated, in a fit of pique Barouk lights a torch and then hurls it off into the maze over the tall grass adjacent to him. Romdar shrugs and lights a fire in the grass nearby as well.The party moves away from the flames. But soon the smell of smoke is everywhere. Soon they face a curtain of fire. They retreat, taking another side passage, and move along... only to find the fire again. They retreat- they must go another way, but there are more flames. Back again- and again, another way... and another, as smoke fills the sky...Next Time: Will we have a tpk by fire? Find out!!</blockquote>

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