Locate Kobold Stronghold

The day after they returned from Orderly Stones monastery, Cathance, Kaelani, Ondar, and Ka trooped back up to Arnari's office to talk about mission assignments.  Mia and Osric joined them.

Mia immediately sat in the plushiest chair available.  Ondar uncharacteristically hesitated, then sat in the smallest chair, very carefully lowering his bulk onto it.  He turned to Cathance, and gestured at the largest chair, more suitable for a quinametzin.  Cathance climbed onto and sat, kicking her feet.

Ka stood in the corner, looking at everyone darkly.  Kaelani and Osric, wondering at this interplay, just sat in the normal chairs, which were just fine for dwarves.

Arnari was also wondering at this interplay, but said nothing, perhaps amused at the sight of Osric in the too-small chair.  She sorted through the papers on her mahogany desk; some of them had become dog-eared.  "I have several different missions," the half-elf began.

• Check on the pollution; it will pay 100gp plus an uncommon potion this tiem.
• Hunting gryphon eggs for House Liona; it is 150gp/egg, or a dozen eggs will get you a trained gryphon mount.
• Go back up and actually find the kobolds.

Here Arnari paused, and gave the Freelancers who had just returned a look.  Cathance exclaimed, "My plan would have worked!"

Ondar retorted, "Were we supposed to just leave an apex predator training camp alone, and go seek kobolds?"  Arnari replied, crossly, "Of course not; use your best judgement.  Fuifui and Taleisin are understanding, and appreciate removal of immediate threat vs long-term, but: it will keep happening."

A stony silence ensued.  After a time, Arnari resumed listing missions:

• Kaiea still wants…  the cemetery noises are still happening.

Cathance was surprised.  "Still happening?"  Arnari glanced at the assembled Freelancers before answering, "Yes, but I'm still not sure it's worth your collective time.  Might still be teenagers."

Cathance asked, "How much?"  Arnari said shortly, "100 gp each," before listing the final mission.  The paper she had was much less dog-eared.

• Lastly, the town of Sceap… a small sheep-herding town along the road to Three Rivers … town needs help.  A couple pastures are unusable for sheep-herding.  This one is 150gp/person.

Arnari stopped and looked at them all expectantly.  She never knew how the group-think was going to go.

Kaelani:  what makes these unsuitable for sheep-herding?
Arnari:  well basically, animals are going missing in the part closer to the marsh.  It's kind of weird.
Ka:  I'd like to finish what we started [with the kobolds], but am also interested in flying bears.
Mia:  we just got the bears!  Give them a chance!
Cathance:  do they [Sceap] think this is magic?
Arnari:  not sure; I'm getting the information through Three Rivers.
Cathance:  y'know, gryphons could take sheep.
Arnari:  the town is closer to hippogryphs; but the shepherds know what to look for.
Cathance:  overnight, or day?
Arnari:  started overnight, but they stopped… <looked at papers>  …maybe daytime
Cathance:  owl gryphons
Ondar:  who's left with the sheep?
Arnari:  one or two shepherds, plus a dog
Ondar:  what if the shepherds were killing them?
<everyone wondered silently about Ondar's history.>
Mia:  that would be pretty stupid.
Arnari:  there's no sign of dead sheeps.
Mia:  so: defend sheep, or goats.
Ka:  still think we should finish what we started.

And on that note, it was off yet again to Orderly Stones monastery, so they could actually find the kobolds.  Before they left, Cathance picked up another 15 rations for her and Jigsaw.

Since Cathance was the only person in the group with a mount, it took them 2 days to get to Orderly Stones monastery, and the day had already faded to evening by the time they arrived.  Taleisin greeted them at the door to the courtyard, and led them to dinner while a pair of monks led Jigsaw to the stables.  Fuifui was off in the training room, leading others, he told them.

After dinner, they got to talking.

Taleisin:  since Freelancers got involved, our goatherds are safe.  I am thinking the kobolds drove off the normal, natural predators; now it is safe.
Cathance:  this is so weird.
Ondar:  well, there is the possibility Orderly Stones has something they want; or they are villains for the sake of it.
Kaelani <darkly>:  don't forget the Snake.
Osric:  but, they aren't actually attacking the monastery; are they ambushing the goatherds?
Taleisin:  ... no, not really.

The next morning they arose to sunrise and drizzle, with fog coming over the mountains to the north and east, with clouds in the distance far beyond the skylith.  The drizzle and fog was not enough to interfere with Jigsaw flying, although Cathance would be a little damp.

The Freelancers headed to the only gap left in the pattern of predator locations.  Mia and Ondar were out front, watching for hazards; Ka was in the middle, in black-chased scale mail; Osric and Kaelani were in the back.  Cathance flew above, air scouting.

Nobody saw anything.

They got to the map location and started poking around.  They found some caves, some clearings, nothing that looked anything like a "predator training camp."  Disbelieving this place was an exception, they started looking for shrines to The Snake in a clearing with some caves at the western edge.

Mia saw a garden snake in the bushes, and cried out, "I found it, a snake!"  Osric came closer to look, and found other small forest creatures, which distracted him entirely from looking for any shrines.

The others found plenty of signs of goats grazing in the nearby clearing.  Kaelani, though, found a small, crude carving in the trunk of a tree on the northern edge of the clearing.  It was low down, and sort of looked like a snake with wings.  He pointed it out to the others.

Mia:  see, it's a snake!  I told you guys!
Cathance:  with wings?!
Ondar:  everything else been growing wings!
Mia:  hard to saddle a snake.
Kaelani:  don't want to meet a snake large enough to saddle.

Kaelani looked around the cave; it appeared to be natural.  He pulled out his driftglobe, and looked more closely; it appeared dry, undisturbed, unoccupied.  Ka joined him, and started looking for secret tunnels in the cave, but with the natural rock, he did not think there were any.

Cathance looked at the tree again.  The crude carving was eye level for her, and from her angle, it appeared as if the carved snake was looking at the cave.  She backed away, northward, walking back and forth among the trees, trying to see from where it would be visible.

Kaelani also returned to the tree, trying to assess how old the carving was.  It seemed pretty recent:  less than a quarter.

Mia had been watching Cathance drift further and further away, and called out, "Cathance, where you goin'?"  Cathance hesitated before answering, then said, "Trying to find out who would see that thing."

Mia blinked, then said, "Oh, you think we should track it?"  Cathance shook her head as she walked back towards the tree.  "Can't tell."  Osric asked, "Should we go in the other direction?"

Cathance got back to the tree, and pointed for the others.  "See, it points to the cave.  I wonder… if it's visible from the air."  She looked up at the surrounding trees, and realized it was a tall evergreen, towering over the nearby lesser trees and with no branches near the ground.

"I'm gonna check for that tree!" she exclaimed, and Cathance mounted Jigsaw and took off.  She headed north and a little bit west, and did a broad circle and came back from north and slightly east.  All in all she was flying for about 15 minutes, while the others tried to keep sight of her through the trees.

"Guys!  I found another tree!" she said excitedly upon return, dismounting from Jigsaw.

Osric asked, "Did it have the symbol?"  Cathance's face fell.  "Oh, oops!"  She mounted Jigsaw again.  "I'll be right back!"

All of the Freelancers called out "Byeeeee!" as she took off north.  They looked at each other, shrugged, and started walking north.

Cathance found the evergreen she'd spotted quickly, and landed at the base of it.  There, on the north side of the tree, she found another carved snake symbol, slightly different than the last one, but about the same age.  This crude carving had the winged snake pointing straight ahead, instead of to the right.  Cathance turned to mount Jigsaw and return to the others, but a thought struck her and she checked for any tracks around the tree.  Seeing nothing, she flew back towards the others.

The other Freelancers were trying to find a path through the woods, but there was no path to find.  It took Cathance a bit to find them, but she did, and told them her findings, then resumed guiding them from the air as before.  Forty minutes later, they were all at the tree Cathance had found.

Ondar examined the tree, and realized it was a Douglas fir, which was unusual for this part of the skylith, which was in a bit of the rain shadow from the mountains to the east.

Osric:  should we remove these?
Cathance:  that would be a bad strategy; then they would know there is an adversary.
Mia:  do not want to give them a warning.

Osric and Mia looked for tracks, but they saw none.  Osric looked at the carving, and it was done more than an eighth ago.

Cathance:  maybe Gwidion pushed them out.
Kaelani:  maybe looking for a new home.
Mia:  weren't they hassling travelers before?
Cathance:  aren't those dead?
Mia <shrugged>:  I wasn't there.  <to others>  should Cathance fly up again?
Cathance:  should plan on overnighting.
Mia:  well duh.

Cathance flew up, but no third tree was apparent to her from above, and she flew back down.  Osric said he could try locate animals and plants, which would persist if he wild shaped a chipmunk.

Of course the problem with that is chipmunks can't exactly talk, and full-sized person Osric was too much for Jigsaw to handle with Cathance and various gear.  Osric thought about it, then said, "I will take a big nut, or something, as a chipmunk, and stuff it in the right or left cheek to indicate where to go."

Mia was delighted.  "Osmunk!" she exclaimed.

The problem was, that locate animals and plants doesn't persist at all.  So the plan became, Osmunk would go with Cathance about 10 minutes' flight north, and if they see another Douglas fir, they would check it, and if they did not, Cathance would land, and Osric would cast the spell.  Osmunk would still bring a nut, and look for the tree along with Cathance.

It only took 5 minutes' flight to see another Douglas fir, and they landed at the base of the tree.  Osric stayed a chipmunk, but rode on Cathance's shoulder, as he found himself intimidated by Jigsaw in that form.  The same mark was carved on the tree, still Cathance-height, and this time they saw old kobold tracks as well, going north and south.  Cathance followed the tracks far enough to establish they did, indeed, lead to the other tree, then they flew back to where the others were waiting.

Osric tried to do a chipmunk performance to explain their findings.  He gesticulated, made very loud noises, flicked his tail.  However <narrator voice:  Casey did not roll a nat 1, but his total was actually 0> his efforts merely resulted in all the Freelancers becoming concerned if he was having a chipmunk seizure, so he had to shape back out of the chipmunk and explain in Trade.

The Freelancers headed to this new tree, looking for kobold tracks as they went.  They also looked for signs of travelling by moving tree-to-tree.  About halfway to the new tree, they tracks started showing up; they concluded that as they went south, the kobolds had started to take care to hide them.

Satisfied that they were on the right track, the Freelancers found a stream that wasn't too close, and camped for the night.

The watch order the Freelancers established was Mia, Ondar, Osric, then Kaelani.  All of them were on sharp alert, but only heard the sounds of the wilds, with distant predators:  owl gryphons hunting, wolf pack singing.  Kaelani heard a giant elk moving through the underbrush, far away.  Overhead, they saw the occasional underbelly of an airship reflecting the Daystar.

After they rose and ate breakfast, they talked about what to do next.  They'd figured out a pattern:  large Douglas fir, snake pattern carved in the bark as a kobold blaze.  Since they'd reached a place where the kobolds were no longer hiding their tracks, the Freelancers decided to take some care to be more stealthy in their travels.  Osric cast pass without trace on everyone, and they moved like the wind, back tracking the path set by the trees.

Around mid-day, they halted in the underbrush, to watch two late-adolescent gryphons fail to catch a giant elk.  The latter fought them off, then galloped off into the woods, fortunately away from where the Freelancers were hidden.  The gryphons were ribsy, and Cathance's eyes narrowed in speculation.

Cathance:  I could cast hypnotic pattern
Kaelani:  and?
Cathance <nodded at gryphons>:  could capture
Mia:  they are not as cool as bears.
Osric:  but we're stealthy now; we'll not be, with young captured gryphons.

Then the gryphons flew off, and the conversation was moot.

The Freelancers resumed heading northward, and realized nobody was mapping their route.  Ondar said he'd be able to produce a rough map, and they kept going.

That evening, they found a nice place to camp, and kept the same watch order.  Mia tried to pay attention, but it was a very nice night, and her ability to hear things approaching was handicapped by a nearby noisy bug, announcing his availability to the world.  Ondar took over from her, but after the days' exertion, and the mental work of making a map, he just fell asleep in the middle of his watch.  <narrator voice:  Matt rolled a 1.>

So, Osric slept through his watch, and Kaelani also was not awakened for his watch.  However, by then Duquesne was out from behind the Skyway central storm, and the sky wasn't entirely dark.  Kaelani woke up with a start halfway through his watch.

He shook Mia awake.  "What the hell!"  Mia was not appreciative.  "Go Away, I have another hour, I woke Ondar up.  Fuck Off."

The Rock sagani turned to Ondar and woke him up.  "What the hell, man!"  Ondar, half-asleep, retorted, "It's 'what the hell, ONDAR.'"  Kaelani was undeterred.  "Why is everyone asleep?!"  Ondar jerked awake, to see everyone asleep.

Mia complained, "Oh my gosh, let me sleep."  Ondar sat up and peered at everyone, suspicious about people maybe getting swapped.  Mia became louder, entirely unaware she was making all the noise.  "Can you just shut up and let me sleep!"

Mia's noise woke up Jigsaw, and the hippogryph stared at her, Ondar, and Kaelani.  Ondar nodded.  "Mia is really Mia," he declared, and went back to sleep.  Grumbling to himself, Kaelani settled into his watch, as the sky brightened for the next hour until the Daystar appeared in the east… or would have, if there were no mountains between them and the skylith edge.

After breakfasting, the well-rested Freelancers resumed their pattern from the day before, trying to be even more careful about possible detection by any kobolds.  Osric again used pass without trace, but it didn't do much for him as he kicked the leaves.

Ondar hushed him.  Cross, Osric demanded, "If we can't walk through the leaves when we're in a forest, when can we?!"  Ondar replied, "When we're not sneaking!"

Two hours after Daystar zenith, the Freelancers spotted a kobold patrol.  There were 6 kobolds:  two with big shields (well, big for kobolds), two wearing robes (Osric and Ondar realized they were some sort of caster), and two in the air, flying with their own wings, armed with swords and slings.  These latter two did not spot Cathance and Jigsaw, who were as quiet and unnoticeable as a leaf, and quickly landed near the others.

Mia:  track, or let go?
Kaelani:  let them go, and backtrack.
<the patrol went past; they were obviously a perimeter patrol.>
Cathance:  can't tell devices.
Kaelani:  not sure.
Mia:  flying one has a Snake holy symbol, maybe.
<the patrol continued, not visibly avoiding traps in particular.> 
Cathance:  worried about traps.
Mia:  not caring.
Ondar:  Ondar wants to follow them at max distance.

At that, Osric re-cast pass without trace, and the Freelancers started to follow the patrol, doing their best to be stealthy.  Kaelani's "best" involved walking into a tree branch <narrator voice:  because David rolled a 1>.  Nobody else walked into a tree branch.

The patrol was not in a particular hurry, and the Freelancers followed them for a couple hours or so.  Then, as they watched, the two winged kobolds vanished into a cliff face.  The other four started climbing it, stealthily.

Ka, Kaelani, and Mia were confused.  As far as they could tell, the patrol had just disappeared...

Kaelani:  I assume they have an illusion.
Mia:  did you see where they went?
Kaelani:  I think in a cave!
Osric <pointing>:  right there!
Mia:  huh?  Are you following this?
Kaelani:  I know what an illusion is!
Ondar:  no, it's natural cover.

...Ondar and Osric saw them using kobold-spaced handholds to go 60' up the cliff and disappear.  Cathance and Jigsaw were hidden in the treetops, and studied the handholds and opening closely <narrator voice:  Shari rolled a nat 20>.  The opening was 50'-60' up the 150' cliff, and was 20' wide and 10' tall.  She thought about how any assault on the stronghold would need flying mounts, and the opening would accommodate them.  She also spotted a hidden guard at the entrance.

Cathance dropped down to the others and relayed what she'd seen.  Then the Freelancers started retracing their steps.  It was late afternoon, and they were 3 days' travel northwest of Orderly Stones.  It would not do to camp and have one of those perimeter patrols find them.

• Kaelani → lvl 5!