Kobold Run: Blue Team (IC)

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Welcome to the First Centennial Kobold Run!

Blue Team

Cue theme music.
An overhead of Kobold City can be seen. Hundreds of thousands of joyous kobolds dance like excited ants in honey in the streets, on the balconies of their six story mudscrapers, and thousands more watch from home on their scrying stones. The emblem of XIR the Magnificent flips onto the viewing image and the announcer's voices chime in.

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Hello Kobolds and Koboldettes, and hatclings of all ages, and welcome to the First Centennial Kobold Run! I'm your host Grax Greyworm.

And I'm Diane Cuddlegrub.

We come to you live today from Mount Xir for this once in a century special event. There's going to be blood! There's going to be scales! Murder and mayhem! Thrills, chills, and good times for the whole family. They dangers that await our altheletes are manifold and some of the most creative death traps in the land. The buzz is that the players will face dragon spawn, frustrating and deadly puzzles, environment obstacles, and I've heard that Xir even has an incorporeal beholder on staff.

Incorporeal? You mean, like dead and ghosty and stuff?

Yes!

The beholder is dead? That's so sad.

Sad? Wha... It's a good thing you're pretty Diane. Regardless, this is shaping up to be one hell of an event.

Oh I can hardly wait, Grax. Who do you think is going to win?

Well it's tough to say Diane. There is a good possibility no one will win, but my electrum is on the Red Team. Trombag and Tax are both powerful spellcasters. Rumour has it that Tax was selected for the games for his financial indiscretions when handling the Mighty Xir's coin. If he can bring that ingenuity to the dungeon, I think a small team of two elites has a good chance of taking it.

Yes, and of course Trombag has those powerful wildshape forms.

That's a good point Diane. I know the kids at home are really looking forward to seeing that.

But what about the Blue team? Aren't they supposed to be a classic well rounded team of four?

Yes, but they decided to go a different route. Rather than diversify their respective positions the team has decided to focus on martial prowess and stealth. Blue team has two swordsages and a rogue. And for some reason they've thrown a Warblade into the mix. I'm not sure about this strategy.

Oooo... I like swordsages.

Of course, then there's the Green team. They did a pretty good job of diversifying and taking advantage of their superior numbers.

I understand that one of them stocked up on healing potions, is that correct?

Yes, a young "Julius the Tyrannical Paladin". We'll see if it pays off for him.

I like the Purple team!

Well, that's because you're retarded Diane

Xir the Great and Powerful Red Wyrm of Ages strides proudly through main street in Kobold City. Confetti chokes the air with colour and glitter and the screams of adoration fill the whole mountain.

And here comes Xir! The crowd is going wild.

He's so handsome! Uhh! I just want to lick his toenails or something.

I know what you mean Diane. That's one fine fire lizard.

Xir approaches the City Central Dias. His Colossal claws gesture to magically raise the sounding stone with which he will make his pronouncement.

My loyal subjects,
Thank you. Thank you. You are too kind.
Please... quiet down.

The cheering respectfully subsides.

Thank you.

As you know, this is our first ever Centennial Kobold Run. One day, while I was bathing in my vast piles of gold and picking my fabulous teeth with the femur of the latest adventurer to cross my path.

A rousing chorus of booing fills the catacombs. Xir chuckles.


Now now! They serve their purposes. If we didn't have adventurers the trap cleaners wouldn't have any gore to mop up.

An obligatory city wide chuckle follows.


Seriously though, I was looking for a way to improve our security system, when it occurred to me that my loyal subjects could use some entertainment. What if we could see our labour in action, and watch as the intruders get smashes, boiled, eaten, and pickled? Wouldn't that be fun? After years of planning and careful consideration I selected fifteen special kobolds to compete in a race. The winner will be rewarded with amnesty and riches will rain upon them forever. The losers shall die. And so it is with great pride that I declare that this First Centennial Kobold Run officially open...
BEGIN!

With a single flourish, the Dragon Xir activates his teleportation spell. The kobolds magically appear in their positions and the crowd goes wild.

Blue Team

The Blue Team materializes on a narrow ledge. The cliffside is tapers down and it wouldn't be hard to climb down and away from here. But then, any Kobold crazy enough to do that would almost certainly spontaneously explode. Loose rocks and snow cling to the various outcroppings. It is only a short ways away to the north entrance. The kobold's heads swim from the recent memory erasure. They know where they are, but they can't recall what that means. Are they in a good position or not?

They hug the rock face and inch along toward the cave. To their disappointment they only find another drop, this time inside the mountain.

Map (Side view)

If they put their scrying stones up to their ears they can hear the event hosts talking about them.

What do you think of the Blue Team, Grax?

They've clearly been placed on the north face of the mountain, Diane. This is going to mean a lot of climbing and natural hazards, as well as unnatural ones. With that much muscle they should be fine.

How do you know it's the north face Grax?

Because I can see the sun setting in the background Diane, and I'm not an idiot.

Oh. Hahahaha! You're so clever.

Everything is relative Diane. Everything is relative.

[White_Drake]

Snik-Snik looks around suspiciously at his surroundings before settling on his teammates as the greatest immediate threat. I suppose we ought to start. He walks up to the edge of the drop and seats his grappling hook in a cleft in the stone before lowering his rope down the side. What's our march order?

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix hops around a little frantically, "Me first! Me first! I want to get right in there and skewer some guards!"

[OMG PONIES]

Blink

A quiet, wizened kobold stands apart from the rest. He watches their interactions without an outward hint as to his inward thoughts. At the moment, he is too busy trying to remember who he is and where he is. A word echoes in his mind for a second before it is gone again. The routine repeats, blinking in and out of his head: Blink. Blink. Blink. He obliges, closing his eyes slowly and opening them again. Nothing. Perhaps this echo is some clue to who he once was? With nothing else to go on, he assumes Blink to be as good a name as any.

Kravix hops around a little frantically, "Me first! Me first! I want to get right in there and skewer some guards!"

"Easy, young one," he rasps with a gravelly voice. "Or else the only thing you'll skewer is yourself." Blink feels around in his pockets and finds a map. Though it was crude, it was at least a start. He took a moment to soak in any clues about his own identity. Between his armor, a few other items, and the masterful dagger that curved like a leaf at his side, he figured himself to be some kind of scout...a soldier, perhaps?

Blink didn't know whether he was a grunt or a general, but right now his band of troops needed a leader. As reluctant as he was to fill the role, he knew one thing for certain: inside that dungeon, they'd need every kobold they had if they wanted to survive. He sized up the others, gauging their abilities by their carriage and their gear. His eyes settle on the smartest-looking of the bunch, a thin little thing with thick glasses. "You, any good with traps? If so, we'll need you in front. And you," he points to Snik-Snik, "Second? Seem like you know how to stay quiet." He turns to the energetic young hatchling, easily twice Blink's size. "You've got guts, but if you wanna keep them inside you, stay to the middle. I'll take up the rear, keeping out an eye and an ear for trouble in both directions. Hoo-ah?"

Blink doesn't wait for the others to assent, but starts moving towards the first gentle slopes of the cave. He stops to give the Nikkel (the smart-looking one) his map. He nods and says, "Here, you may be able to read this better than I can." With that, Blink begins to scurry up the walls of the dungeon, not stopping until he is hanging upside-down from above his comrades. Take care, but be quick," he whispers back over his shoulder. "Remember, troops, this is a race. Roll out."

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

Nikkel's eyes twinkle with amusement at the eagerness of the others and of one assuming command.
Let's take it slow and careful. This may be a race, but if only one team finishes they win; and this is a race where it's easy to get taken out of it.

Nikkel will slowly advance to the entrance;
there he makes two search checks checking for traps at the entrance and a bit further in.
(1d20+16)[34]
(1d20+16)[20]

He then proceeds a bit forward very cautiously while the team plans their next move.

Hide, move silently, listen, then spot check, in that order.
(1d20+11)[12]
(1d20+11)[21]
(1d20+3)[4]
(1d20+5)[15]

edit note: hiding not in general, but just to hide from anything around the corner from where we are, like if there's monsters down the ledge he's gonna be peeking over slowly and carefully.

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix listens to his elder and nods, "Okay! But when we get to the guards I still want to skewer them!" With that, Kravix settles back and lets the others do their thing.

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Nikkel's search reveals nothing out of the ordinary. The howling winds make it difficult to hear anything, but for all intents and purposes they appear to be alone.

The slope reaches about 25 feet down. Ice has formed a bit of a slope at the bottom. Nikkel can picture a less experienced crew slipping and falling 15 feet and then sliding the other ten of to the next dip. Fortunately, everyone present was well prepared to deal with minor obstacles like this.

Blink hangs from the wall waiting for a report while Kravix anxiously waits for something to skewer. Nikkel suspects that the decent will only get tougher further down. Xir doesn't need a trap here.

[OMG PONIES]

Let's take it slow and careful. This may be a race, but if only one team finishes they win; and this is a race where it's easy to get taken out of it.

"That's affirmative, Specs," Blink nods in agreement. He hadn't taken the time to get his crew's names--oftentimes names did little more than cause you to lose focus when the one holding them bit it. In the line of battle, nicknames were quick and easy. Blink liked quick and easy, since these days few things in his life seemed to be either. With a small sigh, he scurries across the ceiling just behind his teammates and stays on alert for signs of...anything, really.

Listen - (1d20+10)[18]
Spot - (1d20+12)[28]
Move Silently - (1d20+5)[7]
Hide - (1d20+9)[10] assuming that the outcroppings on the ceiling provide cover

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OOC: Is our map top-down, or a side view? I ask because the description in the text matches up with the slope in V3-T6. If it's a side view, Blink starts in P1, looking down for signs of anything suspicious. Absent them (and only once Nikkel provides the all-clear) he moves down to N10, peeking around the corner.

[White_Drake]

Snik-Snik slinks forward with the rest of blue team. We're skulking? Finally, something I'm good at.

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Hide: (1d20+15)[32]
Move Silently: (1d20+13)[20]

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I suggest the group narrate how they plan to descend. No traps here (I swear). The DC with rope is 5, but if you want to keep the rope you need to tell me how you retrieve it from the anchor point. There are plenty of places to secure a rope in this part of the caves. A use rope check DC 5 ought to do it.

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

I'll go down to the next ledge and check if there's anything threatening in the next area. If it's clear then i'll signal for you to follow. The last person will be one of you with those fancy tricksy maneuvers who can recover the rope and just teleport down here.

Nikkel will use rope to go down; and do the usual hide/move silently/spot/listen as he looks over the edge of the next area to see if there's a threat. rolls will be in the order named
The last person should untie the rope and bring it down with him using shadow jaunt.


(1d20+5)[19]
(1d20+11)[26]
(1d20+11)[26]
(1d20+5)[9]
(1d20+3)[13]

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix peers over the edge, "If someone is really good at climbing, they can probably get down this no problem. If not, I can grab the rope and jump down. I like jumping!"

[boldfont]

I'll go down to the next ledge and check if there's anything threatening in the next area...

It isn't hard for Nikkel to rappel down the ledge. The plateau is fairly slippery, but as long as they walk and not run everyone should be fine. When he lands he takes a moment to look around and listen. It's still fairly light here, and for a kobold this part of the cave is lit like a summer's day. A warm breeze flows out of the cave, explaining the melting ice in places. In others, where the breeze doesn't reach, it is frigid and the water has pooled and frozen again. He is quieter than this draft is. Nothing leaps at him from the darkness. This is too easy.

Kravix

Kravix peers over the edge, "If someone is really good at climbing, they can probably get down this no problem. If not, I can grab the rope and jump down. I like jumping!"

Kravix's voice echoes throughout. Nikkel realizes that they have been talking quite casually at the entrance and their voices will have carried a long way. If something is down there, they know Blue Team is coming.

MAP

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Listening to the echoes of his voice, Kravix looks around a little sheepishly and whispers, "Sorry, I tend to get excited."

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

Nikkel signals the others to come down then keeps his eye out for anything coming up at them from below.

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I'm going to help you guys move this along a bit. You could give me a series of moves in the future so that you aren't standing on the ledge of an ordinary cliff until the dawn of time. Now that I know how each of you climbs...

They each proceed in this fashion. Scouting, checking for hidden evils, giving the all clear sign, and then on to the next ledge. One climbs with the rope, another hangs from the walls, and yet another poofs in and out of darkness like it were an ordinary door between A and B. As they go down the air reaches a comfortable temperature.

It is not until Nikkel reached the bottom (P10) that they have their first real sign of trouble. The cave narrows to little more than a shaft. A kobold could squeeze through there on its belly, if he or she wasn't too encumbered and dragged their equipment behind them. They biggest concern with this plan is the bones. The bleached white bones of Kobolds, and maybe some other creatures, lay scattered around the basin of this chamber. In particular, around the shaft opening. Warm air blasts out of the the narrow pass. It's disturbing.

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix looks nervously at shaft, "I don't like this. I like jumping and moving. Small spaces like that don't let me do that. Those bones don't help."

[White_Drake]

Snik-Snik looks over Kravix's shoulder to try and determine if he could shadow jaunt to the end of the cramped tunnel.

[boldfont]

Snik-Snik looks over Kravix's shoulder to try and determine if he could shadow jaunt to the end of the cramped tunnel.

Snik-Snik moves his head this way and that for a clear line of sight. He doesn't know it, but the passage opens up after fifty feet, precisely the limit of his supernatural powers. Unfortunately, he has no line of sight to this. The various dips and rises in the pass obscure this from his knowledge and his sight. He does see what he believes to be a pocket of space with standing room. This is exactly what he needs to make the jaunt. The pocket is about thirty feet from where he is now. He would still be in the passage way. (i/j 12)

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

Hmm, this looks like a dangerous spot, maybe a trap, but mighty dangerous at any rate. I always forget something, I should've brought a whole lot of food and water with me. Going ahead too quickly here could easily be fatal, even with that trick to move ahead, there could be a trap, there could be monsters, there could be fumes, and we'd be in no position to provide any help if the person in lead gets into trouble. Any of you guys fancy techniques good on stone? Safest plan here is to spend some time widening the passageway so we can get through better; that should also make the heat less of an issue. Watch out for fumes; with this much heat there could be something toxic in the air. And mining thoughts, does the rock here seem stable enough to do a bit of tunnel widening? That will take quite awhile though.

Nikkel will sniff closely to try and see if he can tell anything about what's causing the hot air. He'll also examine the distribution of the bones to see if it looks like they came from beyond the narrowing or tumbled down from above. He also ponders whether the upper part of the cave looked like anycreature had been using it. Also, search for traps at the entrance to the narrowing.

(1d20+16)[26]

edit: i'll also offer my mining pick to anyone who's good at mining (i'm looking at you stone mountain obstacle destroyer guy.

[White_Drake]

Snik-Snik stares at Nikkel for a few seconds in disbelief. We are in a race. We have come to a narrow passage. And you are saying that the quickest and most efficient way to press forward is to tunnel through the stinking mountain?

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix chuckles at Snik-Snik before looking at Nikkel, "If we need to, I should be able to make room."

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So, with the Mountain Hammer maneuver I can do 1d4+2d6+1 damage per use that ignores hardnes/DR. Warblades can recover maneuvers with a swift action as long as they do nothing special in the same round. So basically, I should be able able to do a two-round set: round 1 - maneuver, round 2 - swift recovery. Rinse repeat. That's an average 10.5 damage per two rounds bypassing hardness.

No idea what the exact details of implementation would be or how useful it could be.

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

I never said quickest; I said safest, but mighty slow. And as I said, while this may be a race, if all the other teams die, then it becomes a survival challenge. If you want to go through with your plan and test what's ahead yourself, go right ahead.
Nikkel will spend some time listening to the crystal to hear how the other teams are doing.

[OMG PONIES]

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I suggest the group narrate how they plan to descend. No traps here (I swear). The DC with rope is 5, but if you want to keep the rope you need to tell me how you retrieve it from the anchor point. There are plenty of places to secure a rope in this part of the caves. A use rope check DC 5 ought to do it.

Blink will be on the ceiling by default where allowed, using his Dance of the Spider stance to climb effortlessly (and hopefully avoid any trap triggers on the floor...only a true psycopath traps their ceilings). He can retrieve the rope as the others climb, and this matches perfectly with his spot in the rear of the marching order.

NIKKEL

I'll go down to the next ledge and check if there's anything threatening in the next area. If it's clear then i'll signal for you to follow. The last person will be one of you with those fancy tricksy maneuvers who can recover the rope and just teleport down here.

"No need for shock & awe, Specs," Blink rasps with a smirk. "I can just climb."

"Sorry, I tend to get excited."

"Don't worry, young one," Blink hisses, "the excitement fades after you've seen your first few dismemberments."

NIKKEL

Hmm, this looks like a dangerous spot, maybe a trap, but mighty dangerous at any rate. I always forget something, I should've brought a whole lot of food and water with me. Going ahead too quickly here could easily be fatal, even with that trick to move ahead, there could be a trap, there could be monsters, there could be fumes, and we'd be in no position to provide any help if the person in lead gets into trouble. Any of you guys fancy techniques good on stone? Safest plan here is to spend some time widening the passageway so we can get through better; that should also make the heat less of an issue. Watch out for fumes; with this much heat there could be something toxic in the air. And mining thoughts, does the rock here seem stable enough to do a bit of tunnel widening? That will take quite awhile though.

"That's one plan," Blink muses. "Or...we could just toss a decent-sized rock on that spot. If horrible death blades don't swoop in, we'll call it safe for 'porting to." He looks around the group, realizing that only one of them reacts favorably to his teleportation idea. "You can't all 'port?" he asks incredulously. "Well, those who can will; those who can't...guess you'd better crawl." He takes a peek down the corridor, hoping to see anything that might belie any hidden dangers.

Spot - (1d20+12)[14]

If all is clear, Blink will Shadow Jaunt from O10 to I12 (on the ceiling) and then use a full-round action to recover Shadow Jaunt.

[White_Drake]

Snik-Snik grins and turns to Blink. Sounds good to me.

[boldfont]

EDIT
He looks deep into the shaft, scrutinizing it with his discerning eye. All he sees is limestone and the occasional drip of water. PLOOP Probably a result of the hot draft blowing in. Condensation or melting ice perhaps. PLOOP As a precaution, Blink tosses a rock into the narrow shaft. It bounces off some of the limestone formations and settles in a shallow pool of water. No razors or tentacle monsters reveal themselves. PLOOP The rock is fine. The passage looks fine. He decides that it is probably safe to shadow jaunt over there.

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I guess this is my fault; I didn't outright state that Blink tossed a stone onto his proposed landing spot, though I thought I had. If I saw nasty acid doing its thing, I wouldn't have jaunted there. Any possibility of retcon (or, if not, a save against some or all of the acid damage)?

I did read the stone thing, I just failed to comment on it because it would have no effect. Adding it in makes for a more interesting post though.

I'm afraid I can think of no way to cut you slack in this case. You failed the spot check, the stone is unaffected, and you transported directly on to source of the acid. I usually like to give better hints that an area is trapped/hazardous, but given the deathy type nature of this adventure and the plenitude of bones, I can't say I feel all that bad. You'll live.

END EDIT

Blink pops out of existence here and rematerialized there. An instant later he howls in pain when his hands and toes begin to burn and the scales and flesh melt away. GGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Any place he touches the ceiling disintegrates with a foul smelling hissss Blink drops from the ceiling, not because he loosened his grip, but because the flesh that was attached to the rocky ceiling was left behind. He falls a foot onto his back. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Drips of condensed acid fall from the roof to his shin, his nose, his belly. The sizzles and corrode deep into his flesh AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

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(4d6)[17] Acid damage. Assuming you get out of there alive there will be more damage next round too. If you don't get out of there you will continue to take 4d6/round until you do.

[OMG PONIES]

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[roll0] Acid damage. Assuming you get out of there alive there will be more damage next round too. If you don't get out of there you will continue to take 4d6/round until you do.

Blink tries to fight off the pain of being flayed alive, but he is suffering badly. "Acccccid..." he hisses to the others, sounding very much like the skin melting off his tiny bones.

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I guess this is my fault; I didn't outright state that Blink tossed a stone onto his proposed landing spot, though I thought I had. If I saw nasty acid doing its thing, I wouldn't have jaunted there. Any possibility of retcon (or, if not, a save against some or all of the acid damage)?

[OMG PONIES]

You'll live...

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Says you . More than half my HP are already gone--Blink was designed to have decent AC and saves so he never has to take any damage. Can I get some insight into why this didn't allow any kind of save to avoid damage? Sorry for the double post.

Blink frantically eyes the area he's in, not wanting to linger any longer than he must. He tries to identify a safe place for the others as he crawls back through the tunnel, dragging himself through the bones of the other poor unfortunate bastards who probably tried the same thing. If he was a religious kobold, he'd be praying to Io for help right now. Instead, he simply calls out the command word that activates the healing powers of his belt, and he instantly feels a slight bit better.

Spot - (1d20+12)[25] to identify any acid-free areas.
Healing Belt - (2d8)[10] using daily charge 1/3.

[Archwizard]

Kravix

Kravix starts to hop about a little bit, a clear sign he's anxious, "Oh man, get out of there! What a welcome." He looks around the cave and then at the others, "I told you I didn't like that shaft. Now what? I don't want to be dissolved!"

[zlefin]

NIKKEL

First we deal with his wounds, then we'll make a plan. I don't have any way to help him get out of there faster; trying to give him a rope to pull him out would just hurt him more by dragging him.