Stan broke off a bit of his trail biscuit and offered it to the poor Kobold.

He said something in what sounded like the language of magic, though the words carried no arcane power with them. The speech was dark but elegant, not gutteral like the Orc tongue yet not as flowing as Elven. It was the language of dragons and their lesser kin.

"Ask him how many more of his kind there are, where they are, and what traps they have created. Ask him where this stupid knight went." Ilsa was getting impatient. She would have already beat the information out of it. Or maybe just beat it. The half-orc scratched the top of the wolf's head and sighed. She missed Shirok.

"I'm sorry about your friends."  Roth explains to the kobold, "We don't want to hurt anyone--well, maybe the orc does,--but we need to find a human knight that came here before us.  To end the sickness."

Stan translated Roth's words to the kobold, assuming it even understood the dragon-language in the first place.

It shrugs at Porto’s question.
That strange smile seems to reappear in the kobold’s face as he hears the words from Stan.  It eagerly snatches up the biscuit and tastes it gingerly.  It makes a look akin to that of disgust and tosses it away.  As it does, it replies to Stan in the same tongue, and seemingly at a more comfortable pace.
"Naš vođa, moćna šaman zove M'dok naredbi da se držite ove špilje. Mi ćemo koristiti sunčan stijene prodati izvan naroda, i graditi naše snage, ali za ono što ja ne znam."
"Shiny warrior!" the kobold says to Ilsa and Roth as they too speak to it.  "Warrior meet wit M’dok an' den leave.  Meza no know more on d'is."

"M'dok?"  Roth looks to Stan, not sure if that is a name or a foreign word.

"M'dok is the name of their leader. Apparently he wants them to defend these caves and use the minerals to... sell and... build their strength? I think that's what he said. Apparently the Crystal Knight talked to their leader and then left."

Stan was glad to translate such a challenging language if it meant taking his mind off his troubles.

"Mi ovdje pokušavamo izliječiti bolesti koja zla svoga naroda. Ako želite dobiti dobro ne bi trebalo ugroziti nas."

"Left were?" Ilsa was growing angry. "Why do I have to ask these stupid questions? Can you not think of them yourselves? And ask him about his leader and their defenses. Maybe we find the knight taken prisoner here. Maybe this creature is lying to you. Maybe we slaughter them all." Yes, she was liking that plan more and more. "Or maybe leader knows what knight said and why knight left and where he went. We go talk to leader. Maybe not kill them if they give us good information." It was a compromise plan.

Neya gently nudged Ilsa on the shoulder, trying to distract her. She could smell the anger coming off of her, and whenever Ilsa got angry Shirok usually tried to calm her down. Shirok wasn't here, but Neya could at least try.

Roth shoots a glare at Ilsa, thoroughly annoyed by her presence, and suggests, "Why don't you check the next room?"  Turning back to the Kobold, Roth asks, "Can you take us to M'dok?  We need to fight this warrior."

Ilsa grinned and licked her teeth. She then kissed the air at Roth. "Come, Neya. Maybe we make it to M'dok first." She hefted her sword, turned around, and opened the door.

Neya glared at Roth for a moment before she stood and padded after Ilsa, trying to stay alert through the haze her sick mind had left her in.

The kobold stares hard at Stan, but doesn’t say anything in response to the wizard’s last statement.  As Ilsa speaks, you all can tell the little creature attempts to follow her; but his basic grasp of the Common language is just too rudimentary.  The kobold becomes very nervous at length, visibly relaxing only when Roth seems to stand up to her.
He nods at the elf, “Yes, yesss!” it answers.  “Meza taka you to M’dok ifa you’za maka nice.”  The creature looks around the room one final time to survey the slaughter before leading the band down the eastern tunnel.  Ilsa and Neya remain in the room and once the other party members leave, following the kobold, they make their way through the northern door.

I will continue with Ilsa and Neya in a separate thread, until the party meets back up.

The kobold leads you down the eastern tunnel, from where the overturned carts and dead man are.  The inclined tunnel begins to slope much steeper here.  As you near the entrance to the larger cavern ahead, you all notice a soft blue luminescent glow.  Roughly 20 feet from the mouth of the cavern, the kobold hugs the northern wall, and motions you all to do the same.
“Trap,” he whispers sheepishly.
Beyond, the enormous cavern extends upward for at least 100 feet, climbing high into the bowels of the mountain. Glowing blue-green lichens creep across the rough walls and man-sized stalagmites protruding from the ground in this area, their faint light growing and then diminishing again every few seconds. The illumination occasionally highlights small flecks of silver, which glitter in the face of the great western wall of the cave. Several cables hang down from the edge of a wide hollow within that wall. The hollow penetrates deep into the west face of the cavern and begins about 20 feet above where you stand (Map pending). The air here feels cool and damp.
Your kobold guide issues a series of hoarse barks, obviously alerting something to his presence.
“Ee mus climb erp ta ropeses,” he says as he scampers out into the open.  Despite being affected by the plague, he nimbly begins to climb up the ropes to the ledge above.  “Come.”

Shit Porto says, he doesn't like to climb.After you Roth Porto says with a gesture.

"Right." Roth agrees with Porto as he slings his crossbow over his shoulder.  With a gesture for Stan to wait until he's up, Roth takes the rope and begins his ascent, pausing at the top to first peek over the ledge.

21:53, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Roth Daos, rolled 14 using 1d20+3. Climb.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Sat 06 Mar 2010.

Roth has no trouble in following the nimble lizard creature up the ropes, 20 feet above the cavern floor.  The elf peeks over the lip and discovers the kobolds' little base of operations.
They yap at each other, speaking in their own language.  They appear passive enough with the other kobold from the dining hall, and before Roth has fully made it to the top, most of them have pressed themselves against the far wall, obviously fearing the strangers.
At Roth's signal, Porto climbs up, followed by Stan.  A short while later, the kobold who led you here returns with another kobold, dressed in an somewhat impressive red robe.
"Meza M'dok!" he declares.  "What you want?"

"We're looking for the warrior that came before us."  Roth explains to the kobold in charge, "We think he knows how to end the sickness."

Stan follows along, still a bit sullen but glad to finally be working with the kobold instead of against him.

When M'dok shows up, Stan stays close to Roth in case any trouble erupts.

“Great warrior,” M’dok replies nodding, signaling that he knows of whom Roth is speaking about.  “Her scales are hard, like iron.  Very impressive, for human.  Iron warrior not here,” he says at length.  “Left to see demon,” he says as he points out over the vast cavern to the east.
“The demon brings sickness, the demon brings death.  Have not seen Iron warrior in long time.  Probably eaten by demon.  You leave too!  Or demon eat you too.  I’s warned her, she not listen.  Her scales too thick,” he says with a hoarse laugh.

So, the crystal knight was a woman. Well, it was certainly possible in this modern age (not that Stan knew much about what he still thought of as "the future"), but admittedly he had thought their quarry a man.

No matter.

"I wonder if the great M'dok has ever seen this demon, or spoken with him?"

Or if the great M'dok would help us find and maybe even help us vanquish this demon? Porto suggests in a sing song voice.

M’dok appears about to answer Stan when Porto interjects.  The small lizard regards the portly halfling for a brief moment and then nods.
“We go!  Help fight demon” he barks, loud enough to stir those around him.  He issues a series of quick yips and snarls, and three kobold warriors approach.  Each wear bits of actual armor and carry better weapons then the others.  “M’dok lead the way,” he says to Roth.

A look of confusion consumes Roth's face for a moment at the kobold's willingness to fight a demon he seemed to be so afraid of, but with a quick shake of his head and a shrug, the elf gestures for M'dok to lead and insists, "After you, Master M'dok."

M’dok and one of his elite guards climb down to the cavern below.  Roth and the others follow, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that the kobold leader seems to stick very close to Porto.  He and his small band lead the party through the massive cavern to the east, and eventually come up to a smaller tunnel.
As you enter the tunnel you all begin to feel an uncomfortable heat emanating from somewhere ahead.  With each step the heat seems to intensify, until it becomes sweltering as you enter a small bowl-shaped grotto.  Waves of heat wash through the cave, thickening the air and making breathing difficult. This small, bowl-shaped cavern’s floor is littered with humanoid corpses. Rats skitter through the sea of bodies within the sunken floor, pausing occasionally to nibble at a choice morsel. A host of their brethren lie nearby on their backs, some of them still twitching with a few remnants of life. A tunnel’s opening is visible in the eastern wall of this chamber and, in the distance; the sound of rushing water can be heard.
“Demon on other side,” M’dok says, motioning past the bodies.  “Tunnelworms not ever enter dis tunnel.  Leave offerings when feel heat.”