Anon had not returned to the cave in days now. The kobolds sent their most silentist sneaky kobold to investigate. One of the kobold guards who guarded the miners had reached level five. He had evolved into a kobold thief because he used a dagger. He did not get a chance to choose his evolution. By the time he returned Yap and Bob were on the fifth iteration of recreating the dragonhuman’s weapon. It looked nothing like the weapon the dragonhuman used to kill Verde, but it was a fearsome weapon.

1.0 Dragon killer: A large bow that required six kobolds to hold the front and three to pull the string back. Made of metal it shoots one spear. It was quickly decommissioned after it’s first test when after letting go of the string it sprung forward and hit the backs of the kobold’s holding it.

1.1 More gooder dragon killer: They replaced the kobolds in the front holding it with large amounts of wood. It fired spears now, but the manpower required for it wasn’t like the tribe's legends. It had to be operable by only one kobold. This led Bob to make the 1.2 more gooder upgraded dragonkiller with a crank that one kobold can operate. It slowly pulls back the string. This required a sturdy stand and wheels to be placed on the machine as it was now too heavy to be mobile. On the plus side, if aimed correctly they could send spears far into the distance.

1.3 Best upgraded dragon killer.

Yap wanted it to use the chantless fire magic. He attached baskets full of the stuff and sent one spear flying. It never went off.

1.4 Added a fuse.

1.5 figured out timing on the fuse so that it wouldn’t explode in the air.

Everyone gathered for a cave meeting to hear what the Kobold Theif had to say. “The enemy is the goblins. They have our leader trapped with weird magic that makes him unable to move. They are keeping him in their main camp. Guarded by a high level Direwolf and Orc.”

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The overwhelming majority of the kobolds wanted to save him. It wasn’t a question of if they would rally to save their dragon, but how they would save him. Yap and Bob pushed to the stage. “Dragon killer mark 5! We can use it!” Their new weapon was fearsome enough to take out the camps on their way to the main camp, but if the goblin leader was strong enough to take out Anon then there isn’t a way for them to defeat him.

“Humans!” The kobold warrior shouted from the front of the crowd. A loud “What?” came from the crowd. “Lord Anon was friendly with humans. He left me in charge while he met their king. Perhaps the humans would be willing to help?”

The battle plan was set. They would get the help of the humans then attack the goblins.

Baron Herbert was in his room, counting the money he had made today. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. He got up, checked the windows, checked the bed, checked the doorway. Nothing. No one was in his room, but himself. He took his sword from it’s normal spot atop his mantle place. He leaned it against his desk, just in case. He sat down. “Damn paranoia.” It made him lose count. He pushed the pile back to one side of the desk and began counting again.

Halfway through a drop of water fell on his head. He looked up. There was a kobold hanging from his ceiling. It had its tail wrapped around one of the rafters. “Shiny.” It wasn’t water that had fallen on his head. It was the spit of a kobold drooling over shiny rocks. The Baron jumped back, grabbing his sword and pointing it towards the kobold. “What are you doing here? Guards! Guards!” The kobold jumped down. Putting its hands in the air “Wait, we need human help.”as the guards busted in. The baron motioned for the guards to stand down, lowering his own sword. “A kobold who speaks common so well. You’re one of Anon’s aren’t you? How’d you know where to find me.”

“Followed the shiny collector.”

The baron rubbed his chin, what an odd way to find the ruler of a country.

“Anon in trouble. Goblin leader, big orc, he used some kind of magic that made lord Anon unable to move.”

The baron smiled to himself. Perhaps he should have been more clear in his message.