Chapter 6: The Iron Door mission

[kalstone]

Solaine will draw her composite bow and wait for the kobolds to reappear.

Is there a door to the north? If so, we should spike it shut. If not, we need to set a guard there so we don't get surprised from that direction.

[drpete]

There's a door up the corridor to the north. Does someone want to run up there?

[Zorroroaster]

Should we send Galen?

[drpete]

You could. He can't fight, but can spike a door or whatever.

Does Torgyr want to respond to the voice, or just try to ignore it?

[kalstone]

Do Audi and Em have missile weapons? If not, one or both of them could do it.

[drpete]

They dont. Emm is at the intersection (ready to do whatever needs doing) while Audi is back in the cave (near the dead dwarf's crossbow, if you want her to take it).

[Zorroroaster]

Torgyr hands his crossbow to Emm, and pulls a flask of oil from his belt.

"Galen, spike that door. Everyone ready?"

If Audi grabs the other crossbow, that would be greeeeat.

[drpete]

You rush to prepare yourselves.

Many of you join the firing line. Galen grabs a hammer and spike and rushes north to seal the door. He encounters no opposition.

Strangely, the kobolds wait until you are all ready to test you. Three kobolds run out from the caves. One steps on a stray caltrop, trips and collapses. Ranulf blasts the other two before they can get more than a few steps into the room.

You wait, and all gets quiet again. At one point, you hear some of that annoying cackling kobolds like to do. The oil fire barrier is slowly burning out...

[Dogma]

"Maybe if we let the fire burn down we'll get more of them to rush into our firing range, " whispers Ranulf.

Since he gave his crossbow to Randolpho earlier he's just going to run defense in case some of the kobolds break through and get close enough for melee.

[drpete]

FWIW, Randolpho grabbed one of the dwarf crossbows, so I assumed Ranulf had his back... since the kobolds are not rushing things, you had plenty of time to get it back.

As if in response to his comment, Ranulf hears a feminine voice in his head:

"Tsk, tsk... so confident we'll walk into your trap... maybe we should just seal you in...?"

"You're an honest man, Ranulf. Why won't we make a deal, and save your friends? I'm not asking for much, juse that wE reach an... understanding. You don't think you can take all of us, do you?"

[drpete]

Just adding a tactical map for the current situation.

Kobold Stalemate.PNG (320.59 KiB) Viewed 706 times

You can see that everyone is pretty crammed into this hallway leading west to Guran's cave (room 67). In the back (with red circles) are the folks who have been seriously injured. It would take them about 6 rounds to make it to the door by Galen.

Galen and Ajax are up at the door to 42, which he's just spiked.

If you look to the east and south, you can see a few kobolds on the map here. You're aware of their presence, but you can't actually "see" them... the cave walls on the map are just a little transparent. You're aware of them because they make some noise, and you can hear them giggling and shuffling around. The south passage leads (down) to 68, and the east passage leads (down) to 66.

[Zorroroaster]

Quick thought - both Emm and Audi are better armored and have more HP than Torgyr. He wouldn't mind switching position with one of them. He feels a little more exposed than his leather armor wants him to be. Any objections?

[drpete]

Nah, that's fine.

[drpete]

Date: Euryale 12, 2:50 pm (Turn 37)
Season: Mid Fall
Moon phase: First Quarter
Light Sources: Randolpho's (on ground) (Lantern, 1 hrs, 10 minutes remaining), Galen (Lantern, 1 hrs, 50 minutes remaining)
Time since rest: 50 minutes (5 turns)
Location: Intersection outside Guran's cave

The group waits in the intersection, watching attentively for a kobold attack, ready to pounce. The kobolds are clearly just out of sight around corners in the tunnels, but they do not advance. Oil fire burns low as its oil burns out.

Maintaining this level of alertness is hard, and you each find your attention wandering a bit as you wonder what the kobolds could be waiting for...

[drpete]

You are able to get the wounded up to the north door. The two healthy dwarves support Torgan, and Emm and Audi guard them.

Galen removes the spike in the door, and they pass through. As you prepare to retreat, Torgyr hears the voice in his head again.

"Do not return to our home again as enemies. We will not be so forgiving, next time"

[Zorroroaster]

"Miserable little bastards,Torgyr mutters.

"Spike that door shut really well, and let's take a moment. Then I think we should press on and get out of here while we still can." He casts an angry glance back at the doorway.

[barkman]

"Where do we go next? Help the dwarves get to their camp? Split up and we leave? What did we manage to get out?"

[drpete]

The group manags to retreat and spike the door. Feeling relatively secure, the group settles down to rest.

Wincing after being lowered to the ground by his two companions, Torgan shakes his head "I think we aren't going to make it back down. Not like this..." Torgan sighs, as he looks at what's left of his legs. "Things are falling apart... they're getting in, getting loose, going crazy. I hope you can wait for that tour, Ranulf."

Galen checks his legs, though Torgan feebly tries to wave him away. "Fate may have spared you, dwarf, but you're not taking anyone anywhere for a while."

The two healthy dwarves are Keldo and Tholo. One of them says "We still need those reinforcements, so probably a good time to head out...?"

[Zorroroaster]

Torgyr kneels next to Galen as he inspects Torgan's wounds.

"Looks like yer lads want to go down and bring back the cavalry. Between the two of them I imagine they can get you where you need to go, though you'll be in a tight spot if you get cornered by something along the way. For us, we have our own wounded who need tending, and we will be heading to the surface for a while. You are more than welcome to join us, if you'd rather. Your brethren can travel faster to the deeps without you, and you'd be well protected by our larger party. As you heal, we can learn more about your ways and you of ours."

[drpete]

The dwarves, you recall, are on a mission to the surface to get reinforcements to help with the troubles below. The dwarves are all interested in going to the surface, rather than down, for now.