a treaty between two kobold tribes almost shot dead by busybody adventurers
Party Leader: Gonzo/3 Warlock
Scout: Diego/3 Rogue
Trailblazer: Inti/4 Cleric
Tenfoll’at/4, Warlock 1, Wizard 3
Balthier/4 Rogue
Xurt/3 Ranger
Hillval/4 Cleric
GM: Geo
Beasts in the Woods
The party heard multiple reports of Kobold bandits in the Neathy Wood attacking merchants from White Moon Cove, and we decided to investigate.
On the way to the wood, we happened upon a strange circular henge with 20′ high moss-covered pillars on the perimeter and the center obscured by fog. The pillars were seemingly made of petrified wagon parts, and the structure emanated an aura of transmutation magic, as reported by our magicians. Not wanting to be subjected to strange sorceries, we cautiously continued to the forest.
We entered the south wood near the Black Footpad Inn and were quickly engulfed in the thick vegetation. We found a clearing for a camp and set up watch. During the night, a murder of flying raptors assailed us, which we quickly quieted. A few hours later, a gigantic lizard stomped into our camp. Frightened of the beast, we pelted it with arrows. Xurt the goblin enraged it so much that the lizard nearly trampled him. Moments later, a powerful druid emerged from the underbrush ordering us to stop. I learned later that this was Zak, Son of Gwendolyn. He chastised us for attacking without respect for the forest. He suggested we learn what is aggressive and what is not. We parted ways and settled back to sleep.
Kobold Diplomacy
The following day we discovered a clearing with a broken wagon in it. Two kobolds were inspecting it and speaking in a strange tongue. Inti explained that he could understand them, and with the help of Hillval’s invisibility magics, Inti tracked them as they walked off. The Amazing Gonzo, normally a man of flare and performance, had a spell with calming qualities and subdued the kobolds in the brush. Racing forward, several partymates began restraining them with ropes. One of the slippery little dragonpeople unfastened the knots and fled through the clearing. Pouncing into action, your debonair duelist dashed toward the tiny humanoid to tackle him, but he was too nimble for my grasp. As I was regaining my footing, an arrow had struck dead the little lizard.
A written scroll was found on the body, and with Inti acting as translator we learned that these were peaceful kobolds of the Grey Tribe. The one killed was an ambassador who had ventured to the Red Tribe of kobolds to negotiate a peace between the kobolds and the merchants of White Moon Cove and Ruined Oak. The note verbatim:
Greetings to the Grey Tribe from the Red Tribe, we have received your request to stop attacking merchants in order to establish peace with those of White Moon Cove and the tribe of the Ruined Oak by the lake. We have given your messengers our answer, the sparing of their lives is our guarantee as you have requested for our willingness to work on the solution as you have proposed.
Realizing that the killing of this messenger could have upset that brokered peace, we debated at length of what to do. Ultimately we concluded to go to the Grey Tribe with the body of the messenger to explain ourselves. We were met by the Grey Tribe leader and several spearmen. Balthier came forward to confess that it was his arrow that slayed the messenger, and he offered his Periapt of Health as reparation and a safeguard against potential loss of life to disease. The Grey Tribe leader expressed his desire for peace in Neathy Wood, and accepted both the confession and offering.
Rat Droppings
Exiting the forest, we spent a solemn night at Black Footpad Inn. We overheard some rumors of swarms of rats attacking farms to the southeast, and elected to assist the farmers. More and conflicting information came in: they weren’t rats, but demonspawn come from the ground; they were coming from a cave to the east of the farms.
Along the coast we found such a cave. It sloped steeply underground and reeked of decay and sulfur. We descended and came to a large chamber of spongy ground, small holes in the walls, and a spooky dying tree at the far end of the room. Moving closer to the tree triggered an ambush not by rats, but by small demons that resembled humanoid roaches! The bug-devils were dispatched quickly, but soon a flaming spirit appeared in the shape of lizard! It belched flame into the air, igniting the chamber, and singeing my fur. Once the creature was sent back to the underworld, the decrepit tree disintegrated to mushy pulp. In its hollow, we discovered some gold and gems.
We pushed ourselves to march back to White Moon Cove to lick our wounds.
