Session 5: The Little Giants

The party found themselves now eleven days out of Elslein, and bored. One afternoon, to break up the monotony, they decided to stop and hold a little athletics competition for themselves, doing stuff like the long jump and such. Rougi won of course, being the most nimble and dexterous of them all, but it wasn't like they were playing for money or anything. So they enjoyed the little diversion and moved on.

The next day, as they walked along during the morning, they noticed that the forest was growing thinner. Suddenly, it opened up, and they found themselves passing by some fields of crops and livestock. They could see barns in the distance, though no people or homes. The fields were broken by patches of forest, so they knew they weren't quite out of the woods yet, but it looked like a town was growing close.

Then, as they came around a bend in the road, they saw the town. Jaden realized she knew this town - it is called Joff, and was founded about three centuries ago by humans who had grown weary of living in Summercrest, and is still an all-human town. Not very many people pass from Elslein to Summercrest, and those that do are often non-humans who don't feel very welcome and thus don't stay long. The town lives off the land, farming several nearby fields and hunting in the forest. As humans go they're a pretty enlightened bunch, treating the forest with respect, and not getting into fights too often.

As they approached the town, they found the gates shut tight. Not 10 paces out from them, without warning, an arrow fired from the guard station at the top of the wall and barely avoided hitting Kriv. The party immediately went into defensive positions of course, and Rougi slipped in to the bushes to avoid detection. Before any return attack could be mounted, though, a voice rang out, "Stop, stop, stop, you idiots, don't attack them, are you blind, they're not kobolds!"

The face of a man appeared above the wall; he is tall, bearded, and about middle-aged. He called out to the party that his name is Bard, and that he is the captain of the guard in this town. They've been under attack by some monsters lately and his guards a little 'high-strung.' He pleads their forgiveness and welcomes them into the town. Rougi slips through the gate unnoticed, but once inside it becomes apparent that Bard is truly penitent and is no threat to them, and so he makes himself known.

In an effort to smooth over this little incident, Bard invites them into the inn, where his wife works in the kitchen. She cooks them a hearty meal of meat-and-turnip pies with excellent mashed potatoes and rich soda bread, topped off with foaming mead. It's basically the best food they've ever tasted.

Bard sits and eats with them and explains the situation a little more thoroughly. For years, they've known that there was a clan of kobolds living somewhere in the forest close to their town; however, it's usually been a situation of mutual disinterest and they haven't bothered each other. The kobolds occasionally steal food, but it's always been pittances, sneaky thefts in the middle of the night. But then, three weeks ago, a dozen or more kobolds attacked the town in broad daylight! They were repelled of course, but just a few days ago, they attacked again, and this time one of the guards was killed. A violent death is pretty rare in this town under any circumstances, so this whole situation has the whole town jittery and afraid. Hence, the accidental attack on the party.

The party reflects the situation is a little odd. Kobolds after all are usually cowardly and sneaky hunters, setting traps and ambushes, not openly attacking en masse. They think about the fact that, while dragons usually ignore the kobolds worshiping them, every so often a dragon takes a direct interest in its followers and then the kobolds can become an actual menace. They wonder if that's what's happening here.

Rougi figures that, regardless of the reasons for the kobolds' actions, this is a perfect opportunity to hire themselves out for some monster-kills. He proposes to Bard that they get paid a fee to end this kobold menance. Bard laughs - the people of his town are both proud and poor; if they had the inclination or means to hire mercenaries then they would have already done so.

The party asks Bard if he knows anything about the symbol they've been chasing; they show it to him, and he says that he recalls an Eladrin passing through here a few years ago with that symbol of the hem of his pants. The party realizes that that must be the same person whose remains they found in the woods. They ask for the Eladrin's name; he says he can't recall it, but calls in one of the other guards, who says that he remembers the Eladrin's name as Soveliss. The party groans in recognition; that was the name of one of Qualion's band. They ask if there was anyone else with him when he passed through; they say no, he was alone. Bard's curiosity has been piqued by their interest, and asks for the story; they tell him what they found, and he sighs; ochre jellys seem to pop up in the forest at least once a decade, and it's really annoying to know that they're back.

The party suspects that all the strange occurrences in this forest are connected somehow; the ghouls, the ochre jelly, the strange actions of the kobolds, perhaps even the goblin attack against the temple of Moradin in Elslein. They decide that even though they are not likely to get paid anything, they will fight the kobolds. In fact, they propose to Bard that they track them back to their lair and take care of this. Bard is enthusiastic, and this greatly improves his opinion of the party (their asking for money and Kava's bizarre statement had been a little off-putting ^_^).

So after lunch, the party, along with Bard and two of his guards, head off east into the forest to try and find the kobolds' lair. The party suggests bringing more muscle, but Bard says he can't clean the town undefended. Their tracking goes well, and they are pretty sure they're drawing close to the lair.

Then, the forest opens up into a shaded clearing, and they see at one end a short creature standing there. It's a little too far away for them to tell what it is right away, but the creature doesn't wait for them to get a closer look. Raising its arms, it cries out "For the glory of Tubaloth! Death to the infidels!" (Jaden recognizes the name Tubaloth; he is a creature of myth, a dragon that supposedly lived in the mountains of Tryn many centuries ago. No one is really sure if he ever existed, though. )

Suddenly the clearing is crawling with kobold warriors! They swarm at the party and the humans, javelins whizzing through the air and swords flashing. It proves to be a pretty even fight though; a good number of the kobolds are little better than cannon fodder, dying after a single hit. However, once they are dead, the much stronger warriors rush in on Rougi and Bard and a fierce dogfight ensues. The original kobold hangs back, every so often letting out a magic burst that bolsters his allies. The party is in perfect form though, and while Rougi takes some serious hits, they all do some powerful damage. Even Kriv unleashes some pretty heavy blows. Pretty soon only the priest character is left, and Rougi and Jaden quickly bring him down.

They didn't kill him though; after they knocked him out, Kava tied him up and they fed him a healing potion to bring him back to consciousness. They then proceed to question him. However, no matter how intimidating or diplomatic most of the party is he won't say a word. But then Kava steps in, and he opens up like a old book. In a spirited Draconic conversation with him, Kava is able to learn from him that four years ago, a "great prophet" came to this clan of kobolds and told them that Tubaloth, their great dragon master, had returned! The kobolds had been waiting for this day for many generations, and so were eager to learn what instructions Tubaloth had for them. The prophet told them to exact tribute and gold from the town of humans (being lazy, it took them this long to get around to really doing it). The prophet promised to return in five years, so he should be back in about twelve months. Kava asked him who this prophet is. The priest does not know his name, and can only describe him as a "metal human", a phrase that means nothing to any of them there.

The priest flatters Kriv and Kava endlessly, using very overwraught language, and persuading them to turn on these "stupid" allies of theirs and join forces with them in the grand service of Tubaloth! Kava is able to convince the priest that she and Kriv are on the kobolds' side; she tries to convince them that their allies are not to be despised, but the priest seems to be "just saying it" when he agrees.

In the end, Kava makes him agree to contact them in a year's time when the prophet returns, and then decides to let him go. Bard and Rougi are not for this idea, and in fact when Kava unties him, they make moves to kill him. But he runs off, and both Rougi and Jaden are unsuccessful at tracking him back to his lair. Bard is willing to just him go - until he hears the recap of Kava's conversation with him. Once he realizes that these raids are not going to end, he angrily states they have no choice but to go wipe them out. Kobold clans are not too big, and so the battle to destroy the rest of the clan will probably not be any more difficult that what just transpired. Kava and Kriv try to argue otherwise, but in the end the decision is made to track them back and annihilate them!

Rewards

XP: 800
Money: 360 gp (90 gp each)
Treasure: The priest dropped a round ball as he ran off. It's a level 5 Energy Orb; it grants an additional +1 to attacks (vs. Reflex) and deals 1D10+3 fire damage at a range of 10 squares. It's power is an at-will and takes a standard action. As a level 5 item it is worth 1,000 gp. (This item is not in the Player's Handbook.)