UPDATE 14 - Kobold Massacre
When we last left our heroes, they were resting from a long trek to the east of Phlan.
But they soon resume the search for the kobold camp.
As they approach some mountains to the northeast, they are ambushed by some kobolds who don't want to parlay.
They are dispatched without difficulty, and a search of the area reveals two caves.
The party enters the large one first.
A Wyvern has made its nest here it appears.
It looks pretty tough, let's see what the journal says about it:
Adventurers Journal said:
Wyvern, level VII
These creatures are distant relatives of dragon. They attack by biting and using the poisonous sting in their tail.
This is bad. Poison is instant death if the scorpion encounters are to be trusted.
It is. Godfrey is stung and dies immediately, while the beast is coughing in a stinking cloud.
It tries to attack Bee but fails, then falls helpless. It is slaughtered mercilessly.
Bee tries to cast Slow Poison, and to some extent, it works. Godfrey gets back up, but also takes damage once in a while, so our heroes try to head back to town to seek a proper healer,
Not even a single step in the wilds can be taken before Godfrey succumbs to poison for good. An army of kobold then ambushes the party, another unavoidable fight. The game is reloaded before the Wyvern fight.
The next try, the Wyvern is slain without it laying its tail on our fighters.
It was guarding some small magic items.
At the back of the cave, an old kobold is discovered.
The party is nice to the elderly monster, and it tells them a story.
Adventurers Journal said:
Told in a pained voice.
'We just got the cut through to the beastie's lair when I injured my leg. King decided there wasn't much use fer me anymore. Made me a proposition though. Said if I went into the lair and brought out the treasure, he'd feed me till I stopped breathin'. Beast deal I had, so they tossed me down here. Not bein' a fool, I lit out for the deepest hidey-hole. Thankfully the beastie was asleep. I can still move real quick when I must.
'Anyway, if there hasn't been much of an alarm, then drunken Ferk must be on watch at the rock. He's the king's son, so he ain't here with me -- worthless sot. If he's here, he's got less brains than a fermented rat, just act officious and he'll take ya ta the king. Wouldn't mind hearin' of that tyrant's demise. Ya seem just the types ta do it too.
So we can avoid a lot of bloodshed and get directly to the king? It sounds like a good idea.
Our adventurers follow the old kobold's direction, and find an upward slope.
The drunk is here alright, and agrees to take the party to the king.
He taps on the wall several times on his way, a hint at some trap or perhaps ambush parties were the party not accompanied by him.
Eventually, our heroes reach a big and wide room, where they are asked to step forward.
The welcome is anything but friendly.
Looks like the cover is blown, and the fight is on.
Apart from the trolls on the front row, it's nothing remotely dangerous.
The green monsters are disabled with two Stinking Clouds.
To speed things up, a fireball is thrown in the middle of the group and clears most of the kobolds.
It doesn't take long for the leftovers to surrender.
The king doesn't take its troop's defeat very well, and fires a Ballista at our heroes!
It hurt a lot. Bloodfist and Pariah in particular took some very nasty hits.
For once, Excidium managed to dodge better than anyone.
A second wave of kobolds then attacks the wounded heroes. Among them stand Wild Boars.
Adventurers Journal said:
Wild Boar, level IV
These creatures are the wild relatives of the pig.
They don't sound very dangerous, and can be put to sleep, which they are.
Another Fireball is used to clear things quickly.
The Wild Boars have an interesting trick, they get back up when they die the first time.
However, they only come back with one hit point, so they are put down for good without too much effort.
After many of their ranks die, the kobolds start to surrender. Godfrey and Bee-Chan take this opportunity to patch the most wounded members up a little.
But the fight is still not over yet. Two men step forward.
Thank god the Ballista didn't fire again, or the party would be in serious trouble.
They are envoys, and carry what look like magical swords.
They also have halfway decent armor class, and a good pool of hit points. They're probably fighters.
Except, they're not. One of them cast a magic missile at Edward, dealing twelve points of damage.
This seems to suggest they are magic-users, at least of level three.
This could be very bad, so their spellcasting for this round is interrupted with a Fireball.
Time to try out this Silence spell.
It works, both Envoys are shut up.
Bee-Chan finishes them off with a Hold Person spell, taking them both out of the fight for good.
They were carrying some mysterious "Plate". Is it Plate Mail ?
During the final battle, the king escaped.
It looks like he still has some guards left, amazing.
More trolls and boars, along with a couple kobolds.
The remaining Stinking Clouds and Sleep spells are enough to defeat them without too much injury.
As they pursue the King, the party finds him, impaled on a spike.
Near him, the kobold "treasure" is found. Nothing of value except for the magic-user scrolls.
To the north however, the heroes spot a bottle. It could very well be the bottle they were asked to retrieve, so Edward pulls it out.
An Efreeti come out. Edward is honest and reveals they are in fact not vampires.
The Efreeti looks annoyed and goes back in his bottle, after asking to be called out if we ever meet one.
The bottle is now free to be looted, so the party does so.
Resting is still dangerous as the party is constantly interrupted. Our adventurers set out to explore the cave a bit before heading out to heal, and find a map for some treasure to the northwest of the caves.
In the northwestern area, our heroes stumble upon a young woman, obviously not in league with the kobolds.
She claims to be a princess.
Adventurers Journal said:
Told in a proud, haughty voice.
'I am a princess of a tribe of nomads to the northwest. My father is an old fool. He wanted me to marry King Al Rasid, to cement an alliance. I had more important things to do, than be tied down to an aging monarch. When I marry, it shall be to someone who has the same taste of adventure and the same skill with a sword.
'Well, Father was insistent and his subjects supported him, so I left to seek my fortune. Kobolds had been raiding our tents upon occasion, so I headed this way. If I could end the threat, then I'd have more leverage with my tribe. However, two nights ago, I was ambushed by these worms -- knocked out and bound up. I finally got myself untied a little while ago and was working my way out of these caves, when you showed up.'
The King has already been slain, so she'll have to seek fame elsewhere.
She offers to join though, and the party accepts.
She's a very good fighter as far as NPCs go.
And she looks like she can handle herself in a fight.
Another attempt to rest leads to even more wounds, so it's now time to head out and heal.
On the way, Pariah disables some Net and Spike traps.
As the party finally exits the cave, Princess Fatima decides to part ways.
Next time: more kobold caves!