Crooktail, Kobaldi Cleric of AZURAN OF THE EAST WIND, made his decision. They would attack this mischievously “big-spending” group of Jambuka and their flag bearing Kobaldi leader. With no Dragonkin guards appearing for at least 15 minutes, it was worth the risk. The group had been “sized up nicely” on their way to the pub, and they had some pretty good quality gear. With a bit of luck, his crack archers would down a couple immediately, and the rest would scarper! He gave the silent order.

The first hit did not score a kill, but a serious wound on their wizard would help. The Silverscale brothers, Grimey and Slimey had fired the first shots and would be ready to take the initial attack, with the two hidden rogues, Eggrunner and Snaretoe, ready to make flanking attacks. Crooktail reckoned if he had to lose a couple of rogues, it would still be worth the venture, but just in case things got worse, he had his escape route at the ready.

With his favourite archers, Gary and Barry Gearcobble directly in front of him, he gave the “silent squeeze” for them to loose their missiles, and cast HOLD PERSON on their ENLARGED fighter. Now they counter attacked. Their sniper was good, but at least the fighter had been held, and oh shit! He hadn’t realised that kobold was a bard. Things were beginning to look difficult. Eggrunner went down. Ah no, not GREASE! Damn their wizard, and curse that Cleric of Seggotan for keeping the others alive! Looks like this wasn’t turning out to be the walk in the park Crooktail had been hoping for. He rushed forward to CAUSE FEAR on the bard, but alas, the slimy kobold resisted. Slimey went down. And Grimey!

“Run Away!” Crooktail yelled, as he speedily exited to the south. One of his rogues managed to follow, and his two archers. Oh, what a miscalculation. “TEENAGE RAMPAGE Indeed!” What a disaster!

After a slow morning with fresh bread baked by Mandla and a letter and reward sent by Kobaldi Kirby for the rescuing of his daughter’s Tiara, TEENAGE RAMPAGE set out for the Triolan Market Square to experience the much anticipated FIVE KOBOLD DEBATE.

After hearing several edfying speeches about the major Draconic religions of the Mharoti Empire, a public vote was held and Izmos Steelcoat declared the winner for his eloquent religious assessment of the tenets of Azuran of the West Wind.

Thereafter, much rejoicing was held in the square; and when Squeek Squaker, Jack of Badside Row, Sni Ve-Lor and Gangwulf went home for dinner, they met up with Spinwind, who suggested they go out for a few “JARS” at The Black Nurian. They passed a couple of suspicious kobolds en route, and returning back the same way later that evening, were alarmed when two bolts zipped out of the darkness, severely wounding poor Spinwind!

Combat Starts Next Week!

Excerpt from: A Kobaldi’s guide to not adventuring by Squeek Squaker

Well dearest readers as stated in the previous chapter Jack of Badside Row’s, now steadily going, Jambuka mistress Millie had invited us to an unforgettable day about the Imperial gardens, and what a day it was!

After curing the brave and noble Jack of the vile infections inflicted by the hellhounds ((rabid dogs)), from a short time before, it was a tired group that returned home to The House in a Street with No Name. I, knowing my place as housekeeper, got an early night with plans to scrub the lower floors to gleaming. Gangwulf likewise retired as the clever man he was, my other two, less clever, companions Sni Ve-Lor and Jack decided against this option opting to instead drink till unreasonable times. Gangwulf at one point stomping downstairs to quiet their raucous singing.

I was disgusted to discover a STILL drinking Snivelor downstairs when I arose at three am to begin my customary cleaning! I soon put an end to that, with the threats of no breakfast and pouring out the horrendous concoction the two were brewing in the cellar. He’d even left a pair of the most stinky raggedy socks imaginable on MY kitchen table when finally trudging upstairs, needless to say they made an excellent fire starter in the stove. At five the ever reliable and humble Mandia delivered the promised bread and cookies I’d thought to arrange for the feast (picknick) in the gardens we where to have that day. A truly remarkable man and master baker! You’ll find a full list of his recipes in my book ‘A kobaldi’s guide to things that want to eat you and how to eat them first’ the insights into herb lore on page 8 will astound you!

Seven am and Gangwulf arose for his morning prayers, at this time I saw him to be a devout worshiper of the Dragon Gods and not the heretic he turned out to be, always be careful of the allure of false gods and kings! Although I always thought it strange he would refuse to pray at the small shrine I had installed in the Living Room. While cooking breakfast (Fried Skink Bacon and whami whami eggs) he awoke our companions using alchemical toxins as vengeance for disturbing his rest previously. Jack disturbed breakfast in a panic that he lost the necklace he’d bought the evening before as a gift for his mistress and alas breakfast was eaten cold when it was found down the back of the couch.

At 10am Milli arrived on time with a copy of the 5 Koblold Debate that was due to take place that very Wednesday. A prestigious and glorious gathering of the finest religious minds of the Holy Dragons. Needless to say I already had front row seating and the glorious Milli persuaded my allys to join me at the event! I invited her have a quick spot to eat and off we went to the Imperial Gardens.

The sights we saw, the many winding private pathways leading to masterfully crafted flowerbeds and many life like bush sculptures. We encountered only a few other partakers in this land of miracles (miracles indeed as I was to discover later, this magical place has the capacity to heal illness and injury). At that time, and honestly still do occasionally, find the other dragon kins regards to Jambuka as strange. Everyone we meet thinks them my slaves, why dear reader would I want my dear companions to be dirty degenerate creatures? A slave is a slave a Jambuka is a Jambuka both in entirely different worlds… Anyway, the lovely Kobali family we initially met found it odd that I would live with and party alongside Jambuka as equals, but I can only believe them to be good people as they were taking their slave on their walk with them. Not many would take their slave with them, he was a good slave picking up after their little hatchlings so diligently.

Now onto the main event of the tour of the Gardens and one of the highlights of my life, my fateful meeting with the magnanimous, wonderful and frightfully powerful Malachai Woundwort. May his scales continue to radiate heat forever.Upon walking the wonders of the paths we stumbled upon this mightily drake having a light snack for lunch. Powerful his voice and imposing his presence he invited me to converse with him he also invited my friend Sni Ve-Lor to join in, however he was acting very silly calling me his master and all, fortunately Malachai took this in good humour and bad me join him in a snack… Fresh. Live. Piglet. Delicious! It squirmed so delightfully in my claws squealing and squalling. My teeth made shot work dear listeners, yes indeed. Hot blood splashed and flew, the bones where crunchy but not too hard. Perfect, my new acquaintance Malachai had excellent taste. Upon finishing my unexpected feast I was even given the honor of having Malachai becoming interested to see my humble abodes of the The Triolan Quarter Market1 he also insited Snivelor be present as well despite his silly behaviour.

Shortly after leaving we began to search for a spot to have our own lunch, however this search was arrested by dastardly criminals.We head a cry for help to stop thieves, then two suspicious figures came RUNNING down the pathway toward us. This, as you all will know, is Illegal in the Imperial Gardens unless in emergency the same also goes for drawing weapons. Then catching sight of distressed Kobaldi, our path was clear I cried for us to stop the vagabonds. We sprung into action apprehending the hardened Jambuka criminals with Sniv’s expert marksmanship and jacks perfects swings of his mighty sap, my voice only played a small part in this. Yes, we committed a crime. We drew weapons, BUT we were in the right the circumstances to be exempt, or so I hoped. The lovely Kobaldi family were at the loss of a priceless tiarra, this of course we retrieved and returned without thought of reward. HOWEVER I was appalled and ashamed that Jack has he audacity to ask for a reward, outright for being a just and reasonable person. Thankfully the family were not insulted and graciously agreed to accompany us to hand the transgressors to justice.

A dark stain has forever marred this day for me readers… I have always been a reluctant adventurer, I do not enjoy violence nor harm. I had fought and killed monsters but never people, never another thinking being. The Jambuka Girl, Greta was her name, tried to escape. She barreled Snivelor over to the ground, tried to run… escape justice. I had all the right to stop her, and I did, my voice rang out, tore her apart. She died instantly. It did not feel good my readers, killing never does. Fortunately Malachai overheard the commotion and came crashing into the scene. He listened to the explanations (in spite of us disturbing his relaxation and snack time) without judgment and even praised Snivelor for his quick thinking on using his bow, even daigning to escort us lowly creatures to the guards so glorious is he. Having both a mightily Akinji (although I back then considered him to be a Timarli and hoped him to gain this honor some day) and fellow Kobaldi the handover of the body and remaining criminal to the guards went smoothly. Malachai took the criminal to serve his sentence personally, most likely to become the slave he always should have been! Appetites at this point were low so as a group it was called to end the trip. As recompense Jack took Milli to a Coffee parlour as an apology for all the excitement.

Despite the dark cloud that hung over my head at the kill of a sentient, it could not overcome the excitement at the 5 Kobold Debate the next day, and what a day it was to turn out to be!

The name of Bartok is revered in the historical annals of Harkesh. Living about three hundred years ago, he was one of the first Royal Dragonkin Lords of Harkesh at the time of the Mharoti Empire expansion into human lands

Although he was a great musician and artist, with many of his tunes still being hummed by the scaly races of today, he was also an exemplary historian with a keen interest in the history of ancient dragons. One of his key sources was the ancient Caelmaran Sage, Leviticus Margase, who had travelled to the town of Harkesh over a thousand years ago to study the then unknown Eastern Lands. He is said to have made an account of the early dragons in a book that was never published and has never been found.

Quite recently, a brave adventurer returned from a deadly adventure into the Cold Cellars. Before his horrible death he was able to utter two words: “Margase…..Dragonfall”. This was enough to inspire a secretive sage living currently in Harkesh to offer a 10 000 GP reward for the return of this book. Maps were taken from the body of the adventurer and Krispy Dacon has offered the job of the book’s retrieval to his favourite new adventuring party, Teenage Rampage!

Gangwulf, Jack of Badside Row, Sni Ve-Lor, Spinwind and Squeek Squaker continue through the dark corridors of the ancient tomb deep in the Cold Cellars under the Scriptorium of Thoth Hermes. Jack tries to bust down a door but his failure of strength gives way to the ingenuity of Sni Ve-lor’s tools, as he wears down the hinges so that the door is easily pushed onto the floor. Inside this room is a rostrum with the carved words “LIBER VITAE”. Nothing else but a small gold ornament is found here

In the next passage, Sni Ve-lor finds a few pellets that Spinwind is able to determine are in fact Giant Rat droppings. The rats attack the party in the Throne Room. After they are all despatched, only Sni Ve-lor seems to have contracted a diseased bite. Let’s hope Gangwulf can attend to this sometime in the next few days! Squeek sits on the throne and finds an indentation in the right arm that seems the perfect size for Spinwind’s Shakti token. A clever insertion seems to open the iron door at the end of the room. The new passageway is magically lit.

At the end of this passage is another locked door that, thankfully, Sni Ve-lor is able to open, revealing a room with a Sarcophagus and six earthenware jars, full of “goodies”. After careful inspection, Sni Ve-lor just can’t help himself when he discovers an ornate mace. On touching this, the sarcophagus erupts and the Venomous Mummy of Ilsamere springs to life.

Several of the party are “downed” by the Mummy’s powerful slams, as it attacks every party member, but Gangwulf keeps the adventurers alive while Jack leads the attack with his powerful sword swings, twice succumbing to the creature’s poisonous ejecta, that spray on him with every successful hit.

However, perseverance and TEENAGE RAMPAGE win the day and the Mummy is finally destroyed. In one of the earthenware jars, the group find a clue to a secret door in the room with the rostrum, and are able to open it to discover the scroll they were looking for – “…of the use of Dragon Eggs in the preparation of Terrible Extension”. Krispy Dacon WILL be happy indeed….and so will the party, with their 10 000 GP reward!

Late Saturday night, Teenage Rampage crept deep into the Cold Cellars under the Scriptorium of Thoth-Hermes, following the instructions given to them by Krispy Dacon earlier that night at The Cockle and Clam

It all started with a locked door, which Sni Ve-Lor was able to open. He was fairly confident there were no traps. Jack of Badside Row led the way down the passage and waited while Squeek Squaker opened the unlocked door of a small room to investigate a box in the corner. A viscious Barrow Wight arose from some old rags in one corner to confront Jack, but thanks to the protective aiding from Squeek, he managed to avoid its attacks. It moved closer to Gangwulf but this time Squeek was able to bolster the cleric’s defences.

Eventually, when they had killed the evil creature, they found a small disc with magical writing denoting “SHAKTI” and an ancient coin worth 100 GP. Spinwind seemed very interested in the disc and held it tightly in his hand.

As they further investigated the passage, poor old Sni Ve-lor walked right into a Gelatinous Cube and was immediately engulfed and paralysed. Soon Squeek was to join him, and both were brought to unconsciousness before the party managed to destroy the creature, finding a 1000 GP diamond in its quivering jelly.

In a third room, they found an ancient bookcase with four magical suits of armour “standing guard”. Jack pulled the sets of armour onto the ground and dust and bones erupted from each of them as they fell. Sni Ve-lor investigated the books, which were so old they turned to dust. Ripping the bookcase apart, they found a small sliding door. Sni Ve-lor detected a poison needle trap but was unable to successfully disable it, taking poison damage and losing one point of Dexterity.

Finding a magical Phylactery, Spinwind took this but did not put it on his neck. They all moved out of the room and decided to move slowly forward deeper into the dungeon.

It was Friday afternoon by the time TEENAGE RAMPAGE were able to investigate the warehouse storing Gangwulf’s mum’s precious vase, and it was on a street so busy that daytime retrieval would be impossible. The group would have to come back at night. Even then, it was busy. A group of Kobaldi ruffians sauntered by, exchanging nothing but glances and whispered words of derision. During this exchange, they saw someone leave the room and lock the door, but he moved quickly into the darkness before anyone could follow him. However, when two Dragonkin Guards stopped the group, they effectively ended the heist by escourting the group to The Black Nurian. Here, Jack of Badside Row confirmed his Sunday date with barmaid Millie and Gangwulf had a long chat with Bianca, Cleric of BAAL, it would seem. She agreed to look into the warehouse to see if she could find out anything, and asked the group to meet her again on Saturday night.

Saturday night was their big meeting with Krispy Dacon at The Cockle and Clam. Squeek Squaker’s Kobaldi contact told them he knew the whereabouts of a hidden ancient treasure, with a massive award of 10 000 GP. It sounded dangerous, but hey, …. 10 000 GP! Krispy gave the group a 100 GP advance and also agreed to look into the matter of the stolen vase for 500 GP (to be taken off the reward). On their way to meet Bianca that night, the group passed by the Warehouse again. Sni Ve-Lor had already determined earlier that the lock could not be picked by him, so Spinwind used his SHIFT ability to look inside, but was too scared to remain visible and so found out nothing.

On their way to The Black Nurian, the party were apprehended by a group of dragonkin youths from Squeek’s past. Danny Squasha, Carl Squeeza, and four of the Crusha brothers waylaid the group with derisory comments before bursting out aggressively with a SLEEP spell. Luckily, only two of the group succumbed. There was a bit of a scuffle, and a couple of other spells were cast, but the Crusha brothers seemed loathe to use their greatswords, and when Squeek managed to hit Danny with a FEAR spell, the whole gang ran after him into the dark.

At The Black Nurian, Bianca told them she had not been able to find out anything about the warehouse, but when they got back to Gangwulf’s parents’ house, they found one of Dacon’s cronies waiting outside with the vase. Squeek tipped the man and they went inside to prepare. At first, they had decided on a Sunday night exploit, but when Jack remembered his planned date with Millie on Sunday, the party all agreed: THEY WOULD ADVENTURE TONIGHT!