Fingers: The Kobold Tower: Part II - 13 June 2021

[Marullus]

You move items up to make a ladder to the third floor trapdoor, finding it is not hot, but blocked by something heavy.

Searching the twenty or so kobold nests on the first two floor, you find about 30 copper hidden in each as each kobold protects his stash. You gather them up and find you have 277cp total. You search for otherwise useful treasure, weapons, and food. You find:
10 empty barrels
6 barrels of salt fish
10 human-sized roundshields
10 kobold spears
10 leather slings

Suspicious, Neegan and his trusty crossbow keep watch on the windows above. A kobold holding a rope peers out the window - Neegan's bolt flies true, striking him through the head.(Critical hit)Its lifeless body topples forward out the window and falls to the earth with a wet thud, a long rope trailing behind him like a tail. Neegan reloads and keeps watching as the others loot the lower tower.

Date: 11:10am, 14 June 2021
Light: Sun
Distance travelled: 1-2 miles
Weather: Dry, mostly sunny, 53 F
Spell Effects: None
Injuries: Ablesforth (Severe injury), Neegan (minor injury), Rhybek (minor injury), Sprinkles (minor injury) Craige (minor injury), Fingers (minor injury)

[Zhym]

"Looks like we got all the food we need, long as you like salt fish," says Fingers. "So whadda we do? Try to shove the door above us open and fight, or try to wait 'em out? Or are you gonna freeze 'em, Able?"

He looks for a concealed position where he can shoot or stab any kobolds that try to climb out the windows.

I'm not sure what the layout is, but the general idea is that Fingers wants to hide in shadows near the entrance. If a kobold climbs down and tries to enter the tower, Fingers would be in a position to backstab. If a kobold climbs down and runs, Fingers would be in a position to shoot it in the back.

[Rusty Tincanne]

with one kobold on the next level, it shouldn't take long to clear it out. Then we can move on to the next level right away. Spearmint, did Idriss have the disc spell memorized? If so, can he lift the object of the hatch? He can drop it on the Kobold up there or we can fight it. Whichever.
Once the Kobold is dead, Idriss can do the same to the next hatch as Able freezes the Kobolds on the top level. Once we are through, Idriss could try using the same spell to lift the Kobolds off the ground/out the window, which, even if it doesn't work, should make the unbalanced as the attack us.
I'm at a festival this weekend, so please consider that an IC post from Able.

[Spearmint]

We could all hide in the empty barrels and pretend we left the building.

The floating disc spell will not work like you asked Rusty.

[Alethan]

Rhybek thinks on the situation for a minute.

"We storm up and clear out the few remaining kobolds on the next level. Then we see if the dogs on the last level want to negotiate giving us some payment to let them live. They can pass stuff down through the window with their rope. If they don't want to do that? Then we kill them, just like we've killed all the other kobolds below them."
Once the replacement ladder is in place, he prepares to climb and finish off the remaining kobolds on the next level.

[Marullus]

Fingers fades back, concealing himself near the door where he and Neegan can keep a watch on the fourth floor windows.

Rhybek and Ablesforth consider the trapdoor above them. They decide to try to knock it free with axe and maul - their first heavy blow rings out through the tower, but the trapdoor fails to yield.

Two ropes abruptly unfurl - two kobolds rappelling out at a foolishly hasty speed to try and make it to the outbuilding roofs below. Neegan and Fingers are ready, however, and both kobolds fall when struck, crashing through the decrepit roofing below them when their bodies hit.

Rhybek and Ablesforth smash the trapdoor again, this time, it shatters upward, tossing the heavy objects aside where were on top of it. Rhybek is the first into the breach but finds the third floor emptied - whatever lone kobold Idriss saw presumably now gone. The heavy objects piled on top of the trapdoor are the scorched bodies of a half-dozen kobolds, now scattered limbs akimbo. Black scorch-marks mar the floor where the oil splashed and burned, but there is no sign of structural damage.

Two more kobolds peek tentatively out of the windows above. Fingers and Neegan launch another pair of arrows which glance off the surrounding stonework. The canine heads disappear back inside, not brave enough to attempt another descent under such conditions.

The trapdoor above awaits. Rhybek bangs on it and yells upwards in kobold, demanding surrender. There is a long pause, then the kobolds respond in their own tongue,

"How we trust you? How you don't kill us like the others? We just living here - you can have scary monster tower. We'll go."

Date: 11:30am, 14 June 2021
Light: Sun
Distance travelled: 1-2 miles
Weather: Dry, mostly sunny, 53 F
Spell Effects: None
Injuries: Ablesforth (Severe injury), Neegan (minor injury), Rhybek (minor injury), Sprinkles (minor injury) Craige (minor injury), Fingers (minor injury)

Neegan [1d20] = 16 [1d8] = 5 Fingers [1d20] = 13 [1d8] = 4

Rhybek - Open Doors [1d6] = 6
Rhybek - Open Doors [1d6] = 1

Neegan [1d20] = 12 [1d8] = 1 Fingers [1d20] = 9 [1d8] = 8

[Rusty Tincanne]

Able listens as carefully as he can during their silence, attempting to estimate how many might be up there. He whispers to Rhybek, They don't seem the sort to tell the truth. More'n likely, they'd just come back t'kill us in our sleep. Or, at best, they head to that last place we were and kill them dwarfs and humans to live in that new building. He hates that his best idea is to kill, but considering the lethal traps these creatures have set and their penchant for wanting to eat the group earlier, he feels it is the only course of action. I can freeze a few. We can try and force the rest to flee out the window.

While Rhybek considers the options, Able pokes through the remaining items on the third level and asks Neegan to toss up his previously-thrown joiners hammer.

[Zhym]

Fingers maintains his position and waits for the others to decide whether to kill the rest of the kobolds. If any more kobolds flee, he's ready with his bow.

[Alethan]

Rhybek translates what the kobold said for the others.

Then he shrugs. "If they're willing to leave, to walk for seven days and seven nights and never return to this area again, to pledge on their lives that they'll never return, then... I'm fine with that. Fighting always brings the chance that one or more of us could get injured. Or worse. If we can clear the land of the kobolds without putting ourselves at further risk, I say we do that. As long as they leave all of their possessions and treasure behind."

He waits to see what the others say before speaking to the kobolds once more.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Able looks over his wounds and nods. I don't know these creatures. They strike me as untrustworthy, but if you think they'd stick to their word,
I'll go on that. You've a fair point about fightin' being risky.

[Marullus]

(Holding for when Rhybek speaks next.)

[Zhym]

Fingers scoffs. "They wanted to eat us. They shot my dog! Just kill 'em."

[Alethan]

Not wanting to make a foolish attack up the last ladder, Rhybek calls out, in kobold, "Unless you can give us a good reason why you should live, you'd best prepare your miserable dog souls for the afterlife..."

[Spearmint]

Idriss

"They have been resident here for a while. Perhaps they know more about the red dragon we found. Kobolds and their type often act as serfs to such creatures. Pity to just kill them straight away."

[Marullus]

Fingers and Neegan watch the tower exterior, but with the deaths of the first three kobolds the others remain away from the windows and no more try to escape. Craige the mule brays morosely from where he is tied, then resumes eating grass.

Inside the tower, Rhybek and Able stand below the trapdoor while the dwarf negotiates with the kobolds above.

In Kobold:

"Miserable! So miserable are our lives! Don't shoot us! Don't burn us, either! Don't smash us with hammers! We see your many ways of torture and death, we give respect! We'll give you our tower and you can keep it as conquest over our pitiful selves. Just let us flee into the forest, it is testament to your might! Surely, you prolong our pain and suffering, as the many horrors will eat us, but we will speak of our fear of you most of all, of the great humans who conquer! Or we speak of your mercy, yes! Your mercy as ones who let us and our miserable lives flee before you, lamenting the loss of all our bitches and children below!"

There is a pause while they argue amongst themselves, presumably about if you are more mighty or more merciful. Then the spokesman continues.
"We give you all our treasure, yes! We tell you all secrets of this tower, yes! You all come up and we let you up to grovel at your feet. Then you let us go to flee into the forest, yes? You do not shoot or smash or burn or chase further, no? You are satisfied with taking our home and casting us into the wild, but we keep our pitiful lives! We would be pleased with this. Yes! Keeping our miserable lives!"

Date: 11:40am, 14 June 2021
Light: Sun
Distance travelled: 1-2 miles
Weather: Dry, mostly sunny, 53 F
Spell Effects: None
Injuries: Ablesforth (Severe injury), Neegan (minor injury), Rhybek (minor injury), Sprinkles (minor injury) Craige (minor injury), Fingers (minor injury)

[Alethan]

Rhybek

Rhybek translates what the kobold says for the others.

"If we let them go, I suggest we have them come down to us, one at a time, wearing nothing but a loin cloth so as to not hide any treasure."

He pauses.

"Or we can just try and kill them..."

[Spearmint]

Idriss

Shouts up to the kobolds,"we can let you go but the last one down gets fed to the red dragon!", he shrugs his shoulders,"well it might provoke them to move quicker!"

[Alethan]

Rhybek

Rhybek translates what the kobold says for the others.

"If we let them go, I suggest we have them come down to us, one at a time, wearing nothing but a loin cloth so as to not hide any treasure."

He pauses.

"Or we can just try and kill them..."

OOC: Let's get a vote by all team members please. Allow them to leave without another fight? Or try and kill them all and possibly receive injuries or lose party members in the process?

[Rusty Tincanne]

There were probably 11 kobolds on the top level (including the one that would have fled up there from the third level). Three have been killed attempting to escape, leaving about 9. Able will be able to freeze 1d4 of them, so that would leave 5-8 kobolds to fight. And it only seems 2 of the PCs are willing to engage in melee.

That said, Able is fine either way.

[Dram]

Neegan- I say we kill them all. Them dogfaces are treacherous. They would kill us if the tables were turned.