Keep on the Shadowfell

[Myshlaevsky]

The ancient Dragonborn, Korba, has entrusted you all with a mission of the utmost importance. Talking in a hoarse, cracked voice, he told you of his suspicions about the ancient ruins above Winterhaven. A year ago, perhaps more, a human named Kalarel and his group of cultists fled into the Keep on the Shadowfell, disappearing into the depths of that forbidden place. Recent events have made him worry ever more about Kalarel - there has been talk of evil rituals conducted within the crumbling stone keep, and strange reports of kobolds gathering in the area. The aging paladin thinks that the Great Enemy is at work. Sending you out from his church, Korba bade you to go to Winterhaven and investigate the keep and stop any dark practices occurring there. A reward (and the old lizard's gratitude) have been promised should you successfully carry out this task.

You're only a few hours from Winterhaven now but the tepid heat in the air around you, as well as the rough condition of the road, make the short journey remaining unappetising. You have no idea what you will find once you arrive in Winterhaven, or what lies brooding within the Keep on the Shadowfell. Korba is rarely wrong about such things.

[Eldmor]

This sun is quite simply dreadful. The young fey takes a cyan silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and wipes the sweat from his brow and pads his boy's cut, blonde hair. His features are extremely fair and smooth, not having a single scar, blemish, or burn. As if he didn't look pampered enough, his sky blue regalia reminds you of the fact. As if we have something to look forward to. KOBOLDS! His snark is injected especially into the last word. If I wanted to kill vermin I'd be born to a slum.

[fendrin]

Ander

The young halfling walks along the road stoically, seeming not to feel the heat at all. The only concession he has made is that his hood and face mask hang from the neck of his dark green accented black tunic rather than being worn in place. This reveals much more of the tanned skin common to the northlands than Ander typically shows. His hair, a brown so dark it might as well be black, is short-cropped and unruly, standing on end in a variety of directions but somehow suiting his angular features. His eyes are a similar deep brown shade, such that on the rare times he passes through a shaded patch of road his eyes become deep dark pits devoid of reflected light.

"Kobolds do not concern me. Kalarel is the bigger threat."

[OnnaOtaku]

Kuan-Ti Lu
Kuan turns to Luke. Never let your guard down. What seems to be a simple task might become more difficult than expected. The older man has a thoughtful yet serious look on his face. He has the look of a true warrior. His skin is bronzed from constantly being outdoors. His dark brown eyes seem to have a spark of fire within them. His short black hair flutters in the slight breeze. His features are rough like stone, which is complimented by his comfortable stone gray attire.

[Jokes]

"Suck it up, Luke. We are almost there." The Genasi can barely hide his own discomfort however. Looking into the clear blue sky, Einar hopes to see a single storm cloud, but there is nothing more than thin wisps of clouds. Sighing, he runs a hand through his pale blue hair. "What I would give for an inch of rain right now..."

[DiabolicalFurby]

Garith struggles to keep pace with the others, his heavy armor slowing him down more than his companions as well as causing the constant cacophony of creaking leather and rattling chains to fill the air. His shoulder length hair is pushed back off of his face, the hair and the raven feathers tied into the black strands helping to keep the sun of his rather fair, a no doubt extremely sweaty neck.

He takes out his water skin and takes a sip as he trudges along behind his companions and after he partakes of the water he pours a rather sizable amount of it on his armor, cooling the sun-warmed rings and thus, himself.

"A lone kobold is no threat to us, but a contingent will be." he says, eyes taking in the appearance of Luke. He smiles when Einar wishes for rain for he too wouldn't mind a brief reprieve from the rather daunting heat.

[Myshlaevsky]

As you walk along the dirt road, you notice that here and there an occasional cobblestone peeks forth, indicating decades of neglect. The path splits into two only a little further on - one small, dirtier track leading off to the left, and the ancient cobblestoned road heading straight ahead. There are tracks in the roadside dirt - tracks of small, clawed feet that jumble forwards and backwards, and then continue on the left-hand path. You can smell something clogging up the still air.

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Perception checks please. Let me know if you are going to investigate the tracks.

[Eldmor]

Perception - (1d20)[2] Luke casually listens to his surroundings.

[DiabolicalFurby]

Garith stops and looks at the split in the road, taking in the disrepair of one and the markings on the other. "I have heard that Kobolds are creatures of trickery and guile. These tracks might be a ruse." He leans on his scythe for a long moment, eyes watching the tracks even as his human ears struggle to take in every available sound.

Perception

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[roll]1d20+5[/roll]

[fendrin]

Ander

Ander allows the others to examine the tracks, he keeps his eyes and ears trained to detect a potential ambush.

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perception - (1d20+5)[21]

[Myshlaevsky]

Ander hears a scrabbling from one of the bushes on the left-hand side of the road and, looking, notices the leaves quiver from movement inside.

[fendrin]

Ander

Ander casually pulls his mask and hood into position. He whispers to Luke:
"On my word, quickly and without hesitation, set fire to that bush."

When Luke indicates that he has heard him, he draws his shortsword in one hand and a dagger in the other, shouting:
"To arms, we are attacked!"

[Eldmor]

Luke puts away his handkerchief and gives a nod. He takes out his wand, 7" ivory, and utters a word of arcane power.
Naur.
A small ember flies from the wand and plants itself in the bush, slowly setting it ablaze.

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Prestidigitation, lighting a small fire. No damage, but it should certainly startle whatever is in there.

[Myshlaevsky]

There's a louder, more hurried scuffling noise from the bush and something small and dark-skinned bursts from the back of it and sets off, running rapidly rapidly on the edge of the left-hand path. The polished shield on its left wrist flickers like a heliotrope as it goes.

The flames consume the bush quickly in the still heat, and the burning leaves give off a heavy, acrid smoke.

[Jokes]

Einar

"What was that?" He looks over at Ander. "Perhaps in the future you could be a little more careful. What if that were a small child in there?"

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Nature: (1d20+2)[10]
Perception (1d20+0)[8]

[Eldmor]

I've seen that creature in a tome somewhere. Now which one... Luke takes his hand to his forehead and plumbs the depths of his knowledge.

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Arcane - (1d20+12)[24]
History - (1d20+12)[25]
Religion - (1d20+10)[23]
Nature - (1d20+5)[23]

[Myshlaevsky]

Luke

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You easily recognise the creature as a Kobold. You recall that kobolds are cunning, devious creatures with a penchant for ambushes. Thinking of this brings to mind the interesting anecdote of Chalk the Strong, a golden-haired, southern barbarian who spent the last twenty years of his life looking for the lips of a Kobold. Of course, every learned scholar knows that there are no such things.

[fendrin]

Ander

Somewhat shocked by the lack of reaction from the rest of the group, Ander chases the fleeing kobold, but then stops and throws his dagger.

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• move action to get closer (6 squares)
• minor action to shift one more square towards the kobold
• ranged basic attack:
  attack - (1d20+8)[28] vs. AC
  damage - (1d4+4)[5]
  If I have combat advantage, that's an additional +2 to hit and sneak attack:
  sneak_attack - (2d6)[8]

EDIT: First attack of the game and I crit. Nice! Crit maxes damage, so that's 8 damage (20 if I get sneak attack damage!)

[Myshlaevsky]

Your dagger flies into the back of the Kobold's neck with a thunk, and the creature utters a strangled, wet cry and then collapses to the ground below. A thin spray of blood quickly begins to pool on the dirt track beside the corpse.

[DiabolicalFurby]

Garith is momentarily startled by the sudden motion of Ander drawing his weapons and shouting even as Luke sets the bush ablaze. When the kobold leaps out of the bush and starts to run Garith instinctively reaches for his holy symbol but in the instant it takes him to bring his symbol to bear Ander is already in motion.

When the Kobold is dropped he makes his way towards the small, scaled body of the creature, nudging it with his foot as he leans heavily on his scythe. "A sentry perhaps?" He asks, to no one in particular as he looks over the body, turning it over onto its back with his foot.

[Myshlaevsky]

The face of the Kobold is rigid in a cry of pain, small, sharp fangs protruding from its open mouth. Ander's knife emerges from the throat of the thing. It looks up at you, yellow eyes mottled and lifeless, with a thousand-yard stare.

The creature is wearing some kind of crudely tanned armour, made from thick hides and leather stitched together poorly. A short sheathe is buckled at the Kobold's right side. The shield it carries, made of shell, has been coated in some kind of stinking gauze or oil, and the shiny, sticky-looking surface of it reflects the light like a mirror.

[Eldmor]

Luke precariously looks over the corpse of the green bugger. A crude-looking kobold if I've every seen one. A glance at the dagger through the kobold's throat and Luke backpedals away, holding his pants up.
Let's keep going, staring at this cretin won't make us any cooler. Winterhaven shouldn't be too far away from here.

[DiabolicalFurby]

Garith examines the dead, lifeless eyes of the Kobold for a long moment before he crouches down next to the creature and unceremoniously retrieves Ander's dagger, cleaning it off on the Kobold's roughly made armor before he hands it over to the halfling.

He runs his fingers over the shell shield and it's mirror-like surface for a moment before he stands back up. "Whatever he was, he belongs to my Mistress now." he says, taking a few steps back before he leans on his scythe once more.

He smiles a small, sarcastic smile at the words of Luke. "With a name like Winterhaven one would think the travel would be somewhat cooler."

[Myshlaevsky]

The dagger comes out with a plop!, allowing you to see the bloodstained grass underneath the gaping, gushing wound in the Kobold's neck. Some of the foul-smelling compound comes off in your hand, sticky and oozing, and your fingerprints have left a trail in this gauze on the surface of the shield. It smells vaguely metallic, but with a biting, strongly unpleasant undercurrent of something else.

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If everyone could please make another Perception check. Sight based this time. You don't have to describe it, and can roll OOC if you'd like.

[Eldmor]

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Perception - (1d20)[8] Text to lengthen my post goes here.

[fendrin]

Ander

Ander takes the dagger from Garith with a nod of thanks.
"A scout would be my guess. That shield is probably used as a signaling device, like a mirror. Probably to let the other kobolds know when to spring the ambush."

He looks around to determine where a likely ambush point might be, particularly one that could be signaled from the bush where the kobold was hiding.

[fendrin]

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sorry for the double post, but I can't add a roll to my previous post, so no choice...
perception - (1d20+5)[12]

[DiabolicalFurby]

"Yes, you are probably right." he says, looking around as well, keeping a sharp eye out for any unusual movements.

Perception

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(1d20+5)[6]

[Jokes]

Einar

"Well, I will say, that was a fantastic shot."

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Perception: (1d20+0)[12]

[Myshlaevsky]

Ander, Einar, Kuan-Ti Lu

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Each of you notices two flashes of light coming from far off to the left. There a brief pause, lasting only a couple of seconds, and then another flash of light follows.