Heading east leads to an intersection, some bars and a vast array of polished kobold skulls. The group takes this as a positive sign and treads that path, dealing with the obligatory traps they have grown to expect. They enter into a cavern, dominated by a fortress that surrounds a vast stair that rises into the ceiling. Hey look! An army of kobolds is approaching. Ho hum.
The party does what the party does and soon the gurgles of the burnt and dying fade away. Sniffles and Bayga animate the bodies of the fallen and Sniffles appoints two skeletons to be nursemaids for the kidnapped kobold pup they seized earlier. The fortress is clearly alerted, so the party does a quick recon from the sky. It all looks pretty standard, so Digin picks up Zaal, wings to the tower top, and the duo start swinging. As they mow through the terrified defenders, Sniffles and the rest rise to meet them; The defenders are dismayed, then deceased. Well, all except a single shaman that was taken prisoner. The skeletons guard the prisoner and the kidnap victim while the stair is surveyed. The stair leads to a vast cavern of crisscrossing aerial bridges and crystal columns. The group’s response to the dazzling vista? Meh. Looks like a headache.
The steps are retraced, and the scouts return to report. They question the shaman before murdering him and venture out of the area along a gently sloping curved ramp that descends to the levels below. The ramp levels out in a vast cavern with a river running through it. There are signs of inhabitants, but they seem to be making a concerted effort to avoid interacting with the party. The group crosses a river and moves into the tunnels beyond, acting on the information provided by the now-deceased shaman. The tunnels ahead echo with the sounds of kobold konversation and it is a trivial thing for the party to locate the mining operation, complete with an elevator leading to the depths below.
What do you do when you see some kobolds?
What do you do when you see some kobolds?
What do you do when you see some kobolds and you want to kill them?
Blow ’em up with a fireball!
Blow ’em up with a fireball!
Blow ’em up with a fireball and slay whoever’s standing!
As the elevator plummets into the depths, the party departs for parts unknown. They rapidly traverse a hallway or three and find a staircase that climbs upwards…