Down the party travels, stairway after stairway, ramp after ramp,
deeper into the zone of fog. The air grows
colder, colder than most could tolerate for long. Consequently, this region seems even
less inhabited than others. The desertion seems to be
recent, though, judging by what appears to be relatively
fresh graffiti on quite a few surfaces. Much of this is painted or scratched
lower down than a typical adult might place it, apart from the usual
daring locations one expects from displays of dominance.
The gist of the messages is pretty clear, despite most of the words being written in
Draconic: gangs marking their territory.
Spoiler for Draconic: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
The Night Fires Rule All!
Fear the Killer Bolts!
Death Clouds Repay....
One design is the most prominent, covers many of the rival markings, and features crude skulls, in a variety of non-upright positions, along with more Draconic:
Spoiler for Draconic: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
SKULL KICKERS!
The party walks down
one more staircase - and comes out of the fog and into a
strange chamber. It doesn't seem much like a typical tower space, but the party is in a
very old part of the city now, and many rooms and quarters have lost their
original purpose, and been repurposed again and again.
The room is a
rectangle and one of its short sides contains the
stairway the party just descended. Just
past the middle of the room, is a
rectangular pit, as wide as the room, but there are
large alcoves on either side so that the pit can be passed. Whatever is in the pit is
glowing with a green light.
Beyond the trench, a
small, reptilian humanoid stands in a shadowy chamber,
gaping at you. It carries a
sling, and quickly reaches into a pouch at its belt for a stone. It hisses and shouts,
“Intrudersss! Intrudersss!”
This is the lair of the
Skull Kickers. They're the
only kobolds that appear to be in this region, so they'd be
the ones who took the shipment.
Roll initiative!
23:03, Today: DM Paul, for the NPC Slingers, rolled 18 using 1d20+3. Initiative.
23:04, Today: DM Paul, for the NPC Dragonshields, rolled 17 using 1d20+5. Initiative.
Room:
4x8 squares (20x40 feet).
4 squares (20 feet) north, an 8x4 rectangle crosses the room, forming two 2x4 (10x20 feet) alcoves.
Pit:
Between the alcoves, perpendicular to the room. 4x2 squares. 10 feet deep, but filled with thick, green sludge. Falling in does 1d10-2 damage. Entering the sludge immobilizes a creature, DC 13 Strength check to escape. DC 10 Athletics to climb out.
Illumination: Effectively bright light (no penalties due to vision).
Status:
Party: At south end of room.
Kobold slinger: (24/24; 14/12/14/12; +5, 1d4+3) 18 initiative. At other end of room.
Kobold dragonshield: (27/27; 15/11/14/13; +6, 1d8) 17 initiative. In small room behind slinger. Not in line of effect for any party members.
