Letter's Home #6 pt 3

(As the title says this is part 3! It was a long day… Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.)

Moving forward from the kobold kids we heard a ruckus which Whiffy snuck up on to investigate. Not that he really needed to sneak, I think it would have taken an explosion to distract these guys! There were 3 orcs (hate those things!) and 6 kobolds all in combat with a fierce dwarf. Not exactly fair odds to the dwarf (not that he cared) so we of course jumped in to help!

It’s always hard to keep track of what happens in a battle, but fortunately these guys didn’t really seem to be on top of things. I’m pretty sure I saw on kobold manage to disarm himself just out surprise when Gen got a little too enthusiastic attack him and over shot his target! I also caught Whiffy getting in some sneaky back stab action and taking out an orc, it was pretty impressive, and have I mentioned I strangely like that orange fur ball?

Anyway, Neris took out a kobold with her axe, I think that’s when Meren shot and missed, and Dwodin (we learned later that’s the dwarf’s name) managed to sink his battle axe into one of the orcs attacking him. It all happened so fast! Of course trying to see what everyone else was doing may have been why I missed my own shot… That’s ok though, because after Dwodin finished off his own orc I managed to sink a shot into the other orc!

As the battle continued Gen accounted for another kobold with his flashing knives, Whiffy uttered what I believe is the first kobold curse word I’ve ever heard (I should have him teach me sometime), Neris took out the orc I wounded, Meren and I each accounted for a kobold each with our arrows, and then I took out another one (much to my surprise!). After all of that there was only one kobold left, and he tried to flee, almost successfully too.  I think most of the team tried to hit him before Dwodin gave him a look of disgust and buried his axe deep into him!

That’s when we actually got to meet Dwodin, I figured it was easier to use his name instead of calling him the dwarf during the battle though :P We quickly learned that he is a fighter by trade (explains him taking on a group of orcs and kobolds single handedly!) and established that he’s never met a bard before, which really surprised me. I mean seriously, who gets to be an adult without ever meeting a bard? Or is that just me? I know I met more than my share growing up in a tavern, but still.

It also amused me that he thought I was the leader of the group! I quickly explained that was Meren’s role, I’m just talkative, but thinking about it I do seem to be working closer and closer with Meren. So maybe I’m kinda becoming her um… helping leader? That was horrible phrasing. Side-kick is the wrong word, but you get the idea, I’ve been helping her more and more as the party goes on. I guess we’ll see how that develops.

Since Meren was collecting our arrows I introduced Dwodin to the rest of the group and told him a little bit of why we were there. He wasn’t interested in the amulet at all, but when Meren mentioned there were some Halflings that needed rescuing he was excited about joining our party! So, after Whiffy reminded us that we needed to be quiet moving forward (although, as Dwodin pointed out, we hadn’t exactly been quiet in the fight) we got ready to keep going.

Letter's Home #6 pt 2

(Continued from the previous portion that was posted, it is the same letter, and you can find pt 1 here)

As we approached the tower we settled in for a break. Everyone else was discussing that the best time to attack would be after dark. It makes sense, but it’s not something I would have ever thought of! In the ballads they mention that the heroes attack at night, but it’s usually, “under the cover of velvet night the knight and his men set forth.” Pretty words but that doesn’t exactly tell why they “set forth” at night. Fortunately the rest of the team knows what they are doing, and that means that I am learning so much!

On that note, if I ever write an epic ballad I should find a way to include some the tactics, so that the ballad is actually useful as well as thrilling...

Anyway, like I was saying we took a break, and I made dinner with a little help from Meren. Whiffy and Gen scouted ahead to see what we were facing. Gen came up with a set of rope hand cuffs that made it look like he was Whiffy’s prisoner that were pretty clever! It still amazes me how well those two get along... Oh! Meren also went along a short way, and out for them from the trees.

While scouting the Whiffy and Gen discovered that our first challenge was going to be just getting inside the gate! It was rusty and they couldn’t pick the lock, and Meren barely even knows what locks are after growing up in tents, but fortunately Neris is handy with a lock pick and we got in just fine! Maybe I should ask her to teach me one of these days? I promise I’d only use the knowledge for good Mum! You know I would!

Moving on before I get in any more trouble...

As we headed into the tower we quickly found some crazy kobolds. You would have loved it Mum! They had pots on their heads and were fighting around with sticks like a bunch of young’ins. There was a very out of tune clavichord playing too! That drove me nuts, you know how much I hate an out of tune instrument. Believe it or not it was a kobold in a top hat playing it too!

It gets better though! We found some kobold kids playing in the rubble. There were several little  one’s playing hop scotch and one of them was old enough that he was on guard for the others, but he was skipping rope and didn’t notice Whiffy sneaking up on him to knock him out.

Speaking of Whiffy – who ever thought I would trust a kobold so much? He’s definitely a strange one, but even though we’ve only known each other a few days I really trust the fuzzy orange guy.

To be cont…