[Teregor Eltherian][Session 2 - Level 1][Part 2]

Teregor Eltherian and Bandlor had left the village in a hurry. They didn’t take the main road, so as to not be spotted. Instead, they were traveling through the treeline of the nearby forest. Teregor held the light crossbow close to his chest as he ran. Bandlor had the shortsword in a rough-looking sheath on his hip. Possessing these weapons brought up a few questions about Drigs’ past, but Teregor shoved those thoughts aside for later.

The two reached rolling hills where Teregor was certain the kobold's lair was. They kept low as they tried to walk in a serpentine pattern along the low areas. Trying to not go over the top so as to stay out of sight.

Bandlor suddenly stopped, crouched, and looked at the ground. His eyes were tracking the earth that had been disturbed. Teregor could barely make out the footprints of the small kobolds and would have for sure missed it if Bandlor hadn’t drawn attention to it.

The god of war put a finger up to his mouth to tell Teregor to stay quiet. The two continued their way along the trail as it started to crest a hill. Bandlor lowered himself until he was crawling. Teregor followed suit, crawling the same way, and they both reached the top of the hill.

Down below was a kobold; a red-scaled, dragon-snouted, three-foot-tall creature. It was standing watch outside a tunnel entrance. The creature kept shifting, its head was on a swivel, and it gripped its spear tightly.

Bandlor pointed up ahead at the five adventurers who had also arrived at the warren. They were slowly moving around a hill and about to have a clear line of sight on the kobold. Teregor started to push himself up.

The god of war slapped a hand down on Teregor and held him to the ground. Teregor struggled for a second, taken by surprise, but quickly relaxed. He figured there was a good chance Bandlor had a plan.

The adventurers were spotted by the kobold who immediately turned to flee into the tunnel. The elf stepped to the side of the group while drawing an arrow. The projectile flew through the tunnel entrance and Teregor heard the kobold let out a yelp of pain.

El watched as the five adventurers charged into the tunnel after the kobold. The elven archer was the slowest, his head on a swivel, as he surveyed his surroundings. Bandlor pulled Teregor further down the hill and they remained hidden while the elf went after his companions.

Bandlor jumped to his feet and ran down the hill, Teregor followed, and they came to the entrance of the kobold warren. The ground shook slightly and part of the hill collapsed. Dirt flooded one of the tunnels kicking up dust.

El managed to spot the five adventurers, the dwarf half buried in a cave-in, further down. Rocks were moved from the walls from inside the warren revealing a half dozen arrow slits. Small, crudely made, arrows were being shot out at the adventurers. The knight stood to one side, holding his sword in front of him like a shield, blocking the arrows. The woman with some metal armor on stood on the other side holding an actual heater shield up to block some of the arrows. The elf started twisting around, firing at the various arrow slits, as the woman in plain clothes was shouting an incantation.

“Teinis!” She screamed as a bolt of fire sprung from her hand and shot into an arrow slit.

The bolt was followed by the screams of a burning kobold. The dwarf pulled himself out of the dirt, yanked his ax free, and barreled through a wall with an arrow slit in it. He burst into a small corridor built for the kobolds.

Bandlor ran in, grabbed his sheath off his belt, and swung the hilt of a sword at the woman in plain clothes. The adventurers noticed him at the last second, and with his cover blown Bandlor gave a roar as the sword hilt crashed down into the face of the female caster.

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She stumbled back and crumpled to the ground unconscious.

The elf drew an arrow and aimed at Bandlor. Teregor fired his crossbow and the bolt pierced the elf in the shoulder. He dropped his shot, as the arrow flew into the dirt, and Bandlor quickly punched the elf in the face. He stumbled back, a hand to his nose, as blood poured down his fair elven face.

The kobolds on the right turned their attention to the dwarf, the armored woman took the opportunity to spin around and swing her sword at Bandlor. The god of war easily parried the blow as he stepped into her space and headbutted her. The woman staggered backward before Bandlor kicked her square in the chest plate.

As she crashed into the dirt the knight on the other side swung his massive sword in an arc around him. His sword crashed through the arrow slits, collapsing the wall enough to cover them, but the momentum carried through as he turned to hit Bandlor.

The god of war angled his scabbard as he ducked underneath the blow. The sword hit the scabbard and slid upwards going over the top of Bandlor.

Bandlor quickly jabbed the knight in the side, denting the plate armor, but from the look on the god’s face it may have broken a few of his fingers.

El reloaded his crossbow and raised it up again aiming at the crowd before him. The knight raised his sword to swing down at Bandlor, but hit the ceiling. Dirt rained down on them as Ban took the opportunity to tackle the knight.

They hit the ground, Bandlor quickly raising up to sit on his knees, and grasping the blade of his scabbard. He slammed the hilt down on the faceguard of the knight’s helm. He did so again and again.

The woman rose to her feet and pulled her sword to the side to swing in an arc at Bandlor.

“Watch out!” Teregor yelled.

Bandlor swung the scabbard behind him and smacked her strike away. His sword was knocked out of his hands, but he was already twisting around to lunge at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping his head low, and started pushing her to the otherside of the cave. Ban seemed to think ramming her into the wall was his best plan.

The elf grabbed Bandlor by the back of his bandolier and pulled him away from her. He raised upright quickly and swung an elbow back to hit the elf in his broken nose. The woman swung a fist and clocked Bandlor across his jaw.

The god of war was smiling, with blood smeared across his teeth, and an audible laugh escaped him.

“What’s wrong with you?” The armored woman asked.

She spat into the dirt a mixture of blood, sweat, and saliva.

“You haven’t even seen what's wrong with me,” Bandlor replied.

The dirt was suddenly blown out of the tunnel entrance. Teregor Eltherian shielded his eyes before looking back up. A kobold emerged from a path cleared through the fallen rocks. They were black with green patches and held a staff with a small drake skull fixed to the top of it. On one side of them was a black kobold with a crossbow that had red patches. On the other side of them was a black kobold with a spear that had purple patches.

“Qur entritt chein hoi?” The kobold with the staff yelled.

“Who enters our home?” The kobold with red patches repeated.

“Moun antre lakay mwen.” The kobold with purple patches repeated in a different language.

The kobolds in the side passage tossed the dwarf out into the main tunnel. He was unconscious, maybe dead, riddled with arrows. The armored woman moved towards him, removed a pendant from around her neck, and placed a hand on him.

A few kobolds aimed bows and spears at her. Bandlor raised his hands up and spoke.

“Don’t shoot. I can promise you, if they start to cause more trouble for you, I will kill them. Jich, steis, avej des, Drachen.” Bandlor made eye contact with the older kobold that had the staff.

“The monsters may leave with their wounded. You, defender of the warren, are granted an audience.” The kobold spoke with the staff in the common tongue.

The knight slowly rose to his feet, and he and the elf dragged the woman in normal clothes out of the warren. The armored woman said a prayer for the dwarf, her fingertips glowed, and he began coughing. She helped him up to his feet and they managed to stagger out of the tunnel.

“Come, to the meeting hall.” The kobold called out, waving to Bandlor, as they turned.

“Well, let's follow,” Bandlor said to Teregor.