Dragon's Egg - Act IV

[Nihal]

Tarlack is a leader, bound to know more. He might realize Skivver's mistake as soon he names me. I eye the creature as we walk. Should I tell him? He'll lose his credibility if his chief sees his error. Unless... I open and close my hands again. Nay, I should not give up my leverage so easily. Right or wrong, probably it won't matter.

I glance over my shoulder again, a faint smile lingering on my lips. The still haven't cracked this puzzle, have they?

I investigate the smell, wondering if the stench is one of refuse or corpses. Oh. I crouch near the hole, sighing and whispering, "You should let me go first. You'll block the view, Baldhart."

I drop my silk rope on the ground, sure that the others will need it.

((Whether she let's Mauve go first or not.))

Half sliding, half climbing, I go down the hole. It's not like I'm turning back now, trap or not.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

"My sacrifice," I whipser to Mauve.

Maybe she doesn't understand what Brynhild asks of me. I know she doesn't, nor does she want to. No matter. I hope my tone shows my appreciation for her offer, though I go ahead, prepared to take the hit. I am useless from afar, while Mauve is the most powerful at a distance. I'll be out of her way quickly if I can help it.

And if nothing stops me, I won't hesitate to free this Tarlack or kill a dark elf. And if the kobolds knowingly delay us... I won't let the children die of hesitation.

 

[Nihal]

Baldhart and her foolish habits. I shrug, letting her descend first, but following right away.


(( If the climbing happens without incident, Mauve will study her surroundings... ))



(( ...and find nothing. Cursed stench, taking her concentration away! ))

 

[Steerpike]

Skivver squints into the hole then turns and nods at Cadell. "Garbages dump."

The lizard gets out of the way as Baldhart moves to descend into the opening. It isn't difficult for Baldhart to descend to the trash heap. Her feet descend into the mass of bones, softened by the cold, damp air. Footing is slippery and the stench here is worse than above, but no traps are sprung and there doesn't appear to be any immediate danger. The refuse is in a shallow basin a foot or so below the level of the narrow passage way that disappears ahead into darkness. The diameter of the refuse pit is a good ten feet.

Nissa flies down after Baldhart just as Mauve lowers her rope to descend. There is nothing readily available to tie the other end of the rope to, but Masama takes it from Mauve and wraps it around his forearm three or four times, then nods. Mauve makes it down easily enough, with Skivver being sure to leap onto the rope right behind her and make his way down as well. When it appears that all if safe below, Masama motions Burnbright and Branwen to go down as well, and both children are able to get down with no difficulty, Burnbright pointing out to anyone who listens that she's a natural at climbing and has been since she was a little girl. Branwen manages to grip the rope with both hands, stronger than a fully human or elf girl would be, though she gets herself inverted and ends up climbing down face first, her legs holding tight to the rope behind her.

Below, Skivver gestures into the darkness. "Tarlack there." The lizard kicks through some of the bones and finds one belonging to a small animal, bits of flesh still clinging to the joints. Skivver tears a few pieces away with sharp teeth and swallows the bits hole. He then notices Branwen watching him with her own mouth slightly open, and the lizard casts a quizzical glance at Mauve as he extends the bone toward the young harpy.

Above, Masama says "All who require this rope should descend now. I will hold it for you, and then climb down on my own."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

I use my glow rock to light the way.

For the children's sake I have no wish to hesitate. Even if this is a trick, it's quicker to walk into the trap then to delay it with suspicion. And if Skivver is truthful, then the delay is for nothing.

I tell Skivver, "I will speak to Tarlack. I assume your leader knows the language of humans as you do." If not, Skivver can translate.

I face the darkness, approaching slowly, giving time for Nissa or Alin to stop me should my light illuminate a trap. My eyes stay forward, meeting Tarlack's once I see him.

"Tarlack. I am Baldhart Eisenberg, here to rescue children from the dark elves. Your people were enslaved by the dark elves, so I mean to free you as well. The elves here are child-killers and slave-drivers—people that the world is better off without—and they are as much my enemy as they are yours. Let us fight them together!"

Baldy's failed roll:

Nissa's failed roll:

 

[Nihal]

I point to Skivver as he offers the meat to Brawnen, "That is kind, but no," then turning to point at Baldhart when she says she will talk to Tarlack, "No. You keep your mouth shut."


((!!!!))

I survey the area from where I stand, looking for signs of the Tarlack.

 

[Ankari]

The kobald seems at ease. If this isn't a trap, he's too trusting in our aid. The fact is enough to doubt his intentions. I chose my elvish words carefully. Speaking the common language too long can make clumsy both tongue and mind.

"This appears to be a trap. Draw your weapons and prepare for an assault. I'm delaying my descent." Let them think as they please. I gave them warning.

I take hold of Dalla's arm and pull her close to whisper in her ear. "We may face an ambush. Fall behind the main force by thirty paces. I'll remain up here for a count of three hundred to make sure we are not ambushed from behind. No fear, aim true, and do your part. "

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron:
Climbs down and moves to one side as far from the group as possible. Spellcasters love their targets all bunched up.
Aliron has an arrow ready. He scans the garbage for anything useful or signs of a possible trap.

Bressel:
Climbs down, and moves close to the opening, sword ready.
"Mauve has a way with reptiles, let her go first. Maybe its the eye or something."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((Baldhart won't stop, and she does suspect a trap. She'd rather get caught in it than hang back and wonder. But I do feel the need to edit her speech due to Mauve's awesome roll.))

Mauve needs to choose her words carefully if she wants to stop me.

I press on and say, "Tarlack. I am Baldhart Eisenberg, here to rescue--"

The children. And if I don't choose MY words carefully, I may endanger them.

"--you."

I finish my sentence without skipping a beat and leave it at that. I hold up my glow-rock, mentally prepared for what may be illuminated. Tarlack? Dark elves? A whole bunch of Skivver's friends ready to kill us?

I'm ready to work on the bars or grab a hostage or opponent.

((Readied action, though not nearly as ready as she thinks! Anyway, STR to grab prison bars, or a 14 vs. the nearest guy she can grab if she finds herself close to a dark elf. If it's a bunch of kobolds, well... I guess her action depends if they're captive or not!))

 

[Steerpike]

Skivver throws the gnawed bone aside when Mauve says "no." Branwen's eyes flick to Mauve, then to the dropped bone, but she doesn't pick it up.

Skivver then dashes ahead, leading the group twisting through narrow natural corridors away from the trash heap. The kobold is quieter than one might expect as it moves through the corridors, moving quickly but making relatively little noise as its feet strike the hard ground. Eventually, the corridor terminates in a set of rough stairs cut into the natural floor that spirals around the perimeter of a round room to a stone door more than ten feet above.

Skivver dashes up the stairs and leaps onto the door, bracing his feet against the smooth stone jamb while tugging at the thick handle, The door cracks open soundlessly, and Skivver jumps down, shoving his thin head into the doorway and looking side to side at whatever lays beyond.

The lizard holds one hand back behind him, saying "Skivver look dark elfs." The creature stays in that position for a couple of minutes before turning to the party and saying "No dark elfs. Tarlack down."

The lizard forces the door far enough open to permit passage, the door swinging silently as good dwarven doors do, no matter how heavy. Beyond the door is a smooth-carved corridor, and you've all seen enough dwarf-work now to recognize it. The passage is in fact part of a stairway to extends to both the left and right of the door, with the left leading down into darkness and the right leading up.

Skivver turns left and skitters down the stairs into the dark, leading the party for a good forty or fifty feet until another door is reached. Skivver repeats his trick of leaping onto the handle and bracing his feet against the jam, this time hissing to himself as it takes him longer to open the door. Skivver finally manages it though, and the dim light of the glow rocks shows, faintly, a corridor around thirty feet long with a door at the end and two doors along either side of the corridor. The doors are stone, but are set with small windows with iron bars in them. As soon as Skivver finishes opening the door you hear soft crying coming from one of the doors ahead. Skivver points to the door directly at the end of the corridor and says "Tarlack in," then heads down the corridor toward the door.

You can't yet see Tarlack, if indeed he is there, because the barred window is too high and too small to see through from your vantage point.

Ankari

((Just a note - Dalla stayed with Biorn at the farm house. I don't know how long Ankari wants to stand watch atop the opening to the trash heap. After spending a reasonable amount of time to watch for pursuit from behind, he finds none. Of course, both the watery passage and the passage the party used to enter are possible routes for enemies as well, but at least as yet there is no sign of pursuit)).

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

Crying? Is it Talack? A small child?

I was able to free Keit using brute force. Perhaps a cage made for such a small creature is no match for my arms.

 

[Steerpike]

((The door is normal size. Still worth a try)).

Moving down the corridor after Skivver, Baldhart soon realizes that the crying sound is coming from the second door on the right, not from the cell that Skivver indicated belonged to Tarlack. It is dark in the cells, but the crying sound certainly sounds like a child.

Baldhart is able to get a good grip on the bars in the door, but these, too, are dwarven work and as might be expected they are quite stout. The bars don't give even a little under Baldhart's brute force, and the doors are solid stone with a slender, elongate keyhole in the front.

As Baldhart is working, another Kobold, this one larger than Skivver, leaps onto the door from the other side, its hands gripping the bars. It looks incredulously at Baldhart, but then Skivver yips something and the other kobold looks down. Skivver and the other kobold exchange a few sentences in the kobold tongue, but the only words you can make out are "House-Lug" and "Ball Hard."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Ball Hard

"Skivver, is this Tarlack? I wish to rescue all of the captives here, of course, including your leader." I turn to Alin. "The locks must be picked. Taking a hammer to this is a waste of time and far too noisy."

I can't do anything now. I speak to the child.

"Child… I am Baldhart Eisenberg, servant of Brynhild. Are you alone here, or are there other children?"

 

[Nihal]

((I was kinda ninjaed haha))

"Keep the noise down," I whisper to Baldhart, tapping her arm as I make towards Tarlack's cell.

I stop in front of his cell, trusting Skivver to move out of my way after doing the introduction, just as I hoped he would. "So, do you wish to regain control of your kin?" I ask him, crossing my arms.

"I have not come to conquer, but to put an end to the dark elves. Get your people out of my way and I will restore you to your former position," I raise an eyebrow, "under a few conditions, or course."

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
Moves up slowly. Looking intently for any hidden objects, concealed doors. (a place to hide keys.)
Strength and lock pick abilities are no match for out thinking your opponent. (I don't think the keys would be here, but just checking.)
Starting with the childs door, Aliron examines the lock carefully. Pulls out his pick set. Closes his eyes and whispers a prayer over the set and the lock.hide/open locks [1d20+4] = 1+4 = 5
The lock does not move.(rolled a 1)
Without word he moves to Tarlack's door and repeats the process.
hide/open locks [1d20+4] = 15+4 = 19
Aliron backs away from the door wthout opening it.
"I believe this one is unlocked. I failed the first. I will let whom ever wishes to speak to the leader open the door."

(Aliron is not one to win friends and influence people, postively.)

Bressel stays back from the doors, watching for anyone approaching.

 

[Steerpike]

((NOTE: Tarlack is in the cell at the end of the hall; it was he who jumped up on the door. The post above doesn't make that clear - sorry about that. Aliron unlocked Tarlack's door, but the door to the kids' cell is still locked)).

Tarlack looks at Mauve through the bars, apparently oblivious to the fact that Aliron just unlocked his door. "It true? You are House-Lug? You come for me?" His common is a bit better than Skivver's, but not by much. Skivver says a few more things in the kobold tongue and Tarlack hisses and says something back, at which point Skivver lapses into silence. Tarlack looks back at Mauve, waiting for an answer.

In the cell with the children, the dim light of the rock is enough to show there are two kids in the cell, both huddled together in one corner with their arms around one another. One is a boy, and he's holding onto a smaller girl who is the one crying. They look up fearfully when Baldhart speaks. "Don't hurt us anymore...." the boy says, and it is clear from his wavering voice that he's also trying to hold back tears.

The children appear to have heard the sound of Tarlack and Skivver speaking, because every time the kobolds say something in their mongrel tongue, the boy flinches back. Neither child moves from their place in the corner.

The rest of the party is able to move easily enough into the chamber with the cells. Masama takes up a position near the entrance to the room, across from Bressel, and Burnbright moves next to him, holding her spear firmly. Branwen follows Aliron and watches curiously when he tries to open the doors, then falls in next to him when he backs away from Tarlack's door. The young harpy looks around the room curiously, but says nothing.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

I hear Mauve trying to set conditions. Do we have time for this? I won't get in the way of what she's trying to pull, as long as the kobolds don't get hostile.

Maybe I can calm the children. "You have nothing to fear from me, children. I'm here to rescue you. My name is Baldhart, I am a nun in Brynhild's service. What are your names?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa

"Alin, can you try the kids' door again?" I hold up my glow rock over the lock, hoping it'll help him see.

 

[Steerpike]

The little boy stares through the bars at Baldhart for a moment, then says "I - I'm Gunnar. This is Abbi." The little girl has stopped crying, but her face is buried in the boy's chest and she won't look up. Gunnar asks "Are you really here to get us?"

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
Aliron moves back up, taking his time he works the tools again.

hide/open locks [1d20+4] = 12+4 = 16
Aliron feels something move this time, it might be unlocked.
Again he moves back, he is not one to calm a child either.

Aliron picks up Branwen and turns away from the childrens door.
[The kids might see her face, maybe her wings, but they won't see her talons right off.]