You stand beside a mountain, five men and women you barely know at your side. From many different walks of life you have banded gathered together to answer the cry for help from the tiny village of Oakhurst. Beset by kobolds the village elder sent out young men to the north, east, south, and west in a desperate bid for help. And when they returned they brought you… and many others.
Now the six of you stand before a hole in the ground, literally. A cave opening into the side of the mountian that a Eladrin ranger who calls himself Riardon has tracked the creatures too.
[OOC: I am starting you at the entrance to the cave, not in the cave 5’ from the nearest kobold as the module would have you. Everyone have fun and lets get this started!]
"There’s always a hole in the ground somewhere when it comes to kobolds, isn’t there?” Corrin asks of no one in particular as the group stands before the cave entrance.
“Well, Tymora guide us, I think the dwarf and I should go first while some of you more delicate types follow close behind.”
"Wise council, Corrin,” said Erais. “Let us proceed...and may the blessings of Amaunator aid us in bringing light into this foul, dark hole! I shall stand at your back, Kathra...and I would council Riardon to follow Corrin, as his arrows shall be less impeeded by Corrin’s stature.”
"Not to mention that his steel armor will act as a good defense as well. Lead on, little ones, I shall follow behind you both. My arrows will guard your backs.” Riardon pauses. “Unless my companions wish me to scout ahead?” He pulls out his bow and strings it.
"I shall follow Riardon into this hole. I am intrigued whether my wand will prove a better aim than his bow. A little contest might help wrap up this filthy work quicker, no?” Tira states wryly. Drawing her wand into her left hand and mindlessly nibbling on a trail ration, she watches Riardon as he strings his bow.
"My skill vs. your magic, eh?” Riardon raises an eyebrow and turns to Tira. “Intriguing. Very well, I accept.” He smiles condescendingly. “I will try to leave some of these creatures for you to finish off. Not too many, mind you, just a few.”
Deciding it is a time for action, Riardon stows his bow on his back and descends into the whole as quietly as possible. After a short hike of 40-50 feet Riar spies the end of the tunnel, where it appears to open into a large cavern. Being as silent as possible he sees 4 kobolds in front of his, and as he turns to go hears another to the right.
[OOC: Stealth 15+9=24 vs (kobold’s) Passive Perception of 11; Perception 7+14=21 vs (kobold’s) Stealth of 9+5=14)
Making his way back to the others, he draws them a quick sketch in the dirt of what he sees:
"Seems simple enough,” Erais mused, as he stared at the image in the dirt, then added his own elements.
“Corrin, Kathra, if you can cut the majority of them off and engage them, Riardon and I can follow in close behind, striking at whomever you are unable to fell imediately. Skamos and Tira can fill in behind, and cover for any we might have missed.”
“If we strike quickly, Amaunator willing, this battle will be over before they even realize they are under attack. Do ye concurr?”
Looking at Erais’s battle plan, Corrin nods in agreement. “It’s not exactly what I would have suggested, but it’ll work nonetheless. Skamos and Tira should focus their initial efforts on the lone straggler off to the left here in order to make sure he doesn’t move behind those of us on the front line and create trouble for them that they aren’t ready for. Other than that though, these kobolds should fall like wheat before the scythe.”
"I see no obvious flaw in this plan. The mages should be able to help the cleric defeat the left foe and still back the rest of us up. Just be sure to notify us if reinforcements arrive from that side. Corrin, you and the dwarf should make sure to not push too far ahead of the rest of us, lest we get separated by foe or trap.” Riardon says, as he looks at each of his companions. Then he smiles, “If you do well this day, I may even learn your names.”
"I am not so sure I agree with your assessment of fragility. Delicate is not a word I would use to describe myself, anyway… In any case, I agree that the kobold on the left should be no problem for ‘little ole me’let alone all of us.”
“Also,” Skamos adds, “I will learn your names after a week and no less. I’d imagine the lot of you won’t live that long anyhow. Proceed, cleric...”
"Perhaps we should hold hands as we enter Skamos. I’d hate for either one of us to get separated from the group by the big bad kobold on the left.” Tira chuckles.
“Let’s just get this done with. Your plan appears sound enough, Erais”
As the party slowly tries to sneak up on the koblold Corrin (predictably) skitters on a few loose pebbles that go clattering down the cave. In response the adventurers hear a call:
“Kertitna? Kertitna quarkiko su?”
Sensing the gig is up they go charging forward and enter a large dank cave lit by a fire pit in the center, over which the carcasses of two chickens are slowly roasting. A narrow stream enters the cave from a descending passage directly opposite, forming a large pool against the northwest wall. To the left, a series of steps lead up to an ascending passage, while a narrower passage exist the cave to the far right. Immediately the kobolds inhabiting the room spring into action as the rather large kobold to the right starts banging on a crude brass gong.
Quickly sizing up the field, Tira is impressed with Riardon’s scouting, although the kobold to her right being oversized would have been nice to have known before charging in.
“Oh well, a plan is a plan. It’ll take Riardon longer to bring that one down anyway” Tira mumbles with a smirk. “Hopefully not too long though, that gong could cause some issues.”
Tira marches towards the left cave wall, muttering some esoteric phrases along the way. With a flick of her left wrist, Tira levels her wand at her assigned kobold. Simultaneously her eyes begin to glitter, and the kobold’s head is rocked backwards. No sooner than the kobold crumples to the floor, Tira vanishes and reappears closer to the pool.
[OOC: Move 1 square left. Warlock’s Curse on kobold1 (1 and 3 are both 2 squares away at this point, so I’d like to place curse on 1. If ruled 3 is closer, no biggie, I’ll still use it on 3 then). Eyebite on kobold1 (the small one) +4 vs Will 1d6+1d6(curse)+4 damage, invisible to him until my next turn if he lives. If kobold1 is killed, Misty Step (teleport) to “B4” (assuming x axis is A-K, y axis 0-6, labeling from bottom left corner)]
Realizing the threat the kobold near the gong poses, Erais turns towards him, holy symbol held in hand, and intones, “Nay, creature...Ye shall not sound thy alarm...flee...flee before the might of Amaunator!”
Cause Fear on the big kobold, Divine Fortune for +1 to this attack.
Quick on her fee, Tira steps to the left, and fires off a spell at the nearest kobold after she curses it. Unfortunately the kobold is made of stronger stuff than she thought and shrugs of the spell with no ill effect [ooc:3+4=7 does not defeat his will].
Enraged at seeing their lair invaded, and bolstered at seeing one of their number stand up to the spells of the warlock, the kobolds spring into action. The larger of the kobolds barks a few orders and the smaller ones scamper into position and start attacking the party. The first kobold stepping up to Tira and missing in his attempt to extract retribution. Meanwhile kobolds 2 and 3 step up to flank Corrin, kobold 2 misses but kobold 3 takes advantage of the distraction to score a wicked hit against Corrin for (2) damage, while the last of the small kobolds attacks Kathra and misses.
“Nay, creature...Ye shall not sound thy alarm...flee...flee before the might of Amaunator!” Erias bellows, his command, and more importantly, the command his god lends to the spell provoke terror in the kobold and he goes running towards teh far end of the cave as fast as he can. This mindless fleeing leaves Karthas an opening which she uses to good advantage, hitting the reptilian humanoid for 13 damage.
