Loose threads: Securing passage through tunnel, Serpentfolk, unidentified religious symbol in Serpentfolk lair.
Short summary:
The guild asked us to investigate the Kobold caves and make sure there wasn't trouble lingering beneath the land. Also, find a path through the mountains so we can pass through without having issues with the Kobold Village. We found no sign of the original trouble beneath the mines, but we did ultimately find a path from the mines through the western side of the mountains, and we did run into Serpentfolk beneath the mountains.
Full report:
This is our report. From Mesper. But my friends call me Mesp, so call me Mesp. Anyway, we started our trip happy as pigs in mud ridin' down the path and ended up at the cave with the Kobolds everywhere. We was lookin' for that cave, you understand. Our group ran into the Kobolds working the mine during the day, but thanks to some quick thinking (and a huge keg of mead), the foreman looked the other way and pretended we weren't there. We almost got the business end 'o the mining picks cuz I went 'n tried to heal up one of the sick ones, but the leader didn't like that much. Think the sick one mighta been a black sheep of the group. But hey, we got in, so guess we got ourselves some good thinkers in this group.
We dived deeper and deeper down into the mines. Made so many twists 'n turns, we'd be as lost as a mosquito in a fart if we wasn't markin' everything up with chalk. Well, we finally stumbled in a funny lil' room that looked all stone worked n such. We saw a stain on one wall next to a cracked opening. The stain looked like it was some form of artwork at one time, but time and moisture made it look like slop on a wall. That's what one o' the Clerics back at the cathedral said my paintings looked like too. I kinda liked how it looked.
Anyway. The crack was more weird, wide enough to slip through if ya wanted to feel like a sardine. Hurn, being the smallest, squeezed through and found a pair of reptile eyes. And then utter darkness. He managed to scramble back through the crack before anything happened, but by the time the group managed to squeeze through together, the creature slipped away like a greased hog in a butcher shop. The only thing left were puddles of acid, which again yours truly managed to step right in. Not knowing if this creature was wanted by the Kobolds or not, the decision of the group was to avoid chasing down the mysterious acid-darkness-reptile and instead to explore elsewhere.
We went down a dark corridor and had some explorin' directly onto a pressure plate. Darts started flying from the darkness. Felt like a food fight in the middle 'o a Candlemark dinner, 'cept the food was more like angry hornets swarmin' the poor soul stepping on their home. So we did the only natural thing to do and smashed the wall open. Seneca did a good job supervising the deconstruction, since he was all paralyzed from the poison. All the same, it was appreciated. But the ones who liked the trap we just smashed came and tried to take their pound of flesh, two right big Unknown they were. Personally, I was offended that they all tried to use scimitars the wrong way, but I guess we made a lesson for 'em good. Found their little guard post, but nothing really of note in it 'cept for this weird religious symbol none of us could put our minds on namin'. Didn't give me the warm fuzzy feelin' though.
From that guard post, we found a path that looked to either lead deeper into snake land, but we ain't all about that. We went down the tunnel that felt like it could lead somewhere out to the surface. On account of that was one of our big goals after all, not to start some crazy war with all these venom-teethed folk. Took a few days of travel in the dark, and I'm sure our Unknown friend Hurn didn't much take to all that underground nonsense. But we found the sun after what must've been a few days and managed to climb out with a bit o' luck and muscle. We marked the whole way with chalk, even! Left all our names written at the entrance to show we rode it out.
Well, that was all well and fine, ya see. But we wanted to make sure the path was clear. Ain't no point in an exit place if it brings ya out into the middle of a swarm of fire ants the size of yer head. Trust me, I did that as a kid, those suckers hurt like a pissed off rooster huntin' a snake in a chicken coop. And trust me, I know what that feels like too. So ya see why we decided to look around the place, spent a few days canvasing the dry mountainside. Ended up skirting past the forest to the southwest and found a portal to what Thurdan said was the First World. Even found some Sprites that decided to try to play all rough-like. They wanted to play some kinda hide and seek with Hurn, but turns out they found me and tried ta make me a permanent member of the group. Well, we played rougher, and now the Sprites know what it feels like to mess with a snake-huntin' rooster. Though I gotta give that Seiko, she hid in those woods like a true pro. Dunno if we coulda found her if we wanted to. It's all good though, we got a few licks and headed home to report in.
So now we know for certain two things: whatever was messin' with the Kobolds is dealt with, and the mountain can be traveled through while mostly avoidin' issues with the Kobold territory.
- Mesper
Locations: Dragonscale Peak, Dragon's Tail, Watchers' Holy Lands, Silent Forest