In their stealthy journey to the other side of the massive cavern, the group spotted close to one hundred of the bipedal reptilian creatures. Duke managed to get an IDENTIFY off on one of them early on and was able to share what he found. It was clear that this dungeon would be a challenge to experienced adventurers. To the unwary or inexperienced, it would be absolutely deadly. To this group, it was inconvenient.
*** You have encountered a Kobold.
Tier: 1
Level: 62
Class: Archer
Health: 31,185
Mana: 1,260
***
They passed on into the passage heading away from the cavern, somewhat concerned that they were leaving a potentially large group of enemies behind them. Duke increased his following distance just in case the kobolds came swarming in behind them. He received an acknowledging nod from Aurelia as she moved to keep up with the two beastkin. Her steps were light despite the apparent weight of her armor.
After a number of twists and turns, the group found themselves staring at a fortified stone wall at the end of another large chamber. Between the crenelations, they could see kobolds moving as if on patrol patterns. Once again, they pulled back to plan their approach. It was at this point that the beastkin realized that Duke had been hanging back a significant distance.
“Why are you all the way back here, Duke?”
“You saw all the kobolds in the previous chamber as well as I did. At least I hope you did. We left a sizable force to our rear. What is going to happen when you start the fight ahead and an alarm sounds? They are going to come charging down the tunnel. It’s a clever multi-stage trap. While you are dealing with the kobolds ahead, the ones behind trap you against the wall with attackers on both sides. That would be the end of most parties of adventurers I’d say.”
Glances were exchanged before acknowledgement dawned on their faces. Snarlheart spoke next. “And if we go back and deal with the ones behind us, any alarm will bring the group ahead of us charging up the tunnel too. We are well and truly trapped. I’m open to suggestions.”
“We could try to bypass the fortifications with stealth like we did the walkways.” Aurelia suggested.
“Do you think they let us go ahead to prepare for the attack from the rear?” Emberclaw asked.
Duke nodded. “That is the most likely scenario. This design is insidious. I like it in a lot of ways. Even if we had fought our way across the walkways, it is highly unlikely that we could have killed even a quarter of the kobolds if they kept attacking and ducking away. Sure, we would have crossed the walkway and felt we had accomplished something. Then we get to the fortifications and caught in a great ambush either way.”
“If we had a larger group, we could set up a defensive position here and pick the kobolds off the battlements ahead.” Aurelia ventured. “But it’s just the four of us. That’s not a viable plan unless we rely on Duke’s outsized force for one of those positions.”
“We may have to.” Emberclaw added sullenly. “Or can we expect Aurelia’s FLASH CHARGE to be able to reduce the fortifications to rubble like it did the barricade?”
“It might work, but if it doesn’t, I’ll be in hurting shape out there.”
“Rather than use my full force, I could TELEPORT you three on top of the wall so you could easily clear the kobolds there and hopefully have a position to deal with things forward and backwards.”
“A good idea. Anyone have any others that don’t involve Duke or me charging headlong into a stone fortification?” Aurelia’s question was met with headshakes. “Then I guess we go with the TELPORTATION plan. Where are you going to be during all this, Duke?”
“I’ll wait back here in case the alarm is raised. If I am really needed up there, you know I can get there fast. But I am really expecting you three to be up to the task. Just go as long as you can before any alarm is raised and you will do just fine.”
“I guess that’s the plan then. Let’s line up so Duke can place us on the wall in position to take out the sentries quickly. Remember to strike fast and to prevent any alarm to be raised.” Aurelia stepped into line with the two beastkin, her sword readied. All three nodded to Duke and with a smile and a flex of his will, they disappeared.
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Snarlheart appeared right behind his sentry and, with a taste of his BLOODFRENZY, reached around the reptilian snout and tore the creature’s throat completely out. It collapsed in Snarlheart’s army in a muffled gurgle.
Aurelia, likewise, appeared behind a sentry. She slammed her sword sideways completely through its chest. The blade sunk hilt-deep and protruded from the far side of the creature’s body. It too died silently as both of its lungs had been pierced as well as its heart. It was a precise blow, and she was thankful their anatomy aligned with most humanoid bipeds.
Emberclaw’s strike was equally as precise, driving through the creature’s neck and severing its brainstem entirely. It collapsed to the ground, eased to a slow tumble by her free hand.
Over the course of a few seconds all three sentries on the battlements had been eliminated. Aurelia wondered if Duke knew there were only three sentries all along. She figured that he probably did. Smug bastard.
The three gathered themselves together and with hand gestures and a lot of head shaking decided to prop the sentries upright against the crenelations to make it appear that they were still alive.
“That’s not going to work for long.” Emberclaw whispered.
“No, but maybe for long enough for us to get further inside this fort and find our next move. They have to have a barracks or something. If we’re lucky, maybe we can get the bulk of them unaware and be able to move on.” Aurelia agreed.
“Let’s get down. I see a ladder over there. I hope it will hold our weight. These guys don’t weigh much. Aurelia you go last.” Snarlheart said.
“Are you calling me fat?”
“I’m calling you taller than either of us and wearing metal armor. Armor that is surprisingly quiet. We’re going to have to talk about that later. I want some of that. But for now, let’s move on.”
Emberclaw led the trio down the ladder and into the fortress. To call it a fortress might be a bit of a misnomer. Inside the wall, there were three stone buildings. All were rectangular with flat roofs. Open holes dotted the walls of the buildings. To call them windows was more than a bit generous. There were no shudders or any apparent way to close the windows off. The doors consisted of openings each covered by a single piece of hide. They could see a gate in the wall beyond the buildings but that was not their concern at the moment.
The trio made their way as stealthily as they could to the first building on the left, seemingly chosen at random but Snarlheart was guiding them, and he had smelled more kobolds in that one than any of the other two. They planted themselves against the wall near one of the windows. Emberclaw quietly leaned over and looked in the window. She saw that this was indeed the barracks and was filled with dozens of sleeping kobolds. Well, mostly sleeping kobolds. There was one that was awake, and it was staring at her right in the face as it looked out the window. Its squeal of alarm caused the rest to scramble awake. Emberclaw pulled back from the window in surprise.
“Well, that happened.” Aurelia remarked.
“To the door! We can contain them there.” Snarlheart answered and burst into motion, the rest following.
As they reached the door, two things happened. First, drums started sounding a deep, resonant bass note that reverberated in their chests. Secondly, the hide door was flung out as kobolds started to pour out. Snarlheart slammed into the lead kobold, meeting its charge with one of his own. As the kobold was charging straight out the door and Snarlheart was charging perpendicular to it, they careened off at an angle in a tangle of limbs.
Emberclaw met the second kobold’s charge in similar fashion, likewise, tumbling in a tangle of claws, fangs, and scales. Aurelia took the time the two beastkin granted her to square up to the door and meet the next kobold with a braced shield bash, halting its momentum with a crunch of broken bones and sending it tumbling backwards to tangle the charging line of the creatures.
She set her stance, keeping her blade and shield ready. “None of them are going to make it out this doorway. When you are finished with those two, watch the flanks for others coming from the other buildings. I’ll hold the barracks doorway!” Action followed words as she deflected a spearthrust aside with her shield and slashed deeply into the wrist holding the spear. The kobold squeaked in pain, dropping the spear and bouncing its way through the others to get away.
Momentarily, Aurelia was joined by the two beastkin. They were bloody but a quick glance revealed that it was the kobolds’ blood and not their own. That was all the time she could spare as the kobolds had massed and were trying to charge their way through the door. She braced her shield and met the charge putting her full strength into holding the doorway.
The crash was tremendous as some Skill or Ability afforded the lead kobold an impact that far outsized him. Aurelia stopped the charge with her shield but was pushed back a half step but her arm hurt tremendously. In fact, she quickly realized that her arm was broken from the pain and inability to properly move it.
She gritted her teeth and used her sword to block, parry, deflect, and strike while her shield arm became more and more of a hindrance. Several blows impacted her armor as she could not stop them all with just her sword. She was thankful that the armor prevented the cuts and stabs from penetrating, but the bruising was adding up quickly. Still, she pressed on, killing kobolds not nearly as fast as they came.
The doorway itself was starting to crack and crumble around its edges, slowly widening as the press of kobolds pushed on. Aurelia’s concern grew as she knew she couldn’t hold them off in a large group with her mounting injuries. She could also hear grunts of effort and struggle coming from Emberclaw so she figured the beastkin was also engaged with kobolds. Things were getting desperate.