Summary[]
The party get some rest. They wake with some increasingly less drugged kobolds and face the reality of the Institute's human occupants.
Synopsis[]
We pick up having just closed the door to the cave full of kobolds in cages.
Cel suggests that they rest, given that the krakens are probably unable to attack them here, the situation in the room next door doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon, and they might need rest to be able to take on what’s next. Hamid agrees and Zolf relents, agreeing to rest and taking first watch.
Cel says they should prepare for the kobolds being traumatized when the drugs wear off, and asks Hamid if he has any spells to make the two very drugged with them sleep, if they wake up in the middle of the night and are confused by how wrong everything is; they need to protect them until they can protect themselves (Hamid doesn’t end up needing to cast sleep on them.) Hamid casts endure elements on himself and Skraak, and Cel takes an extract of endure elements.
Hamid sleeps next to the kobold pile. Art by @skraak on tumblr. Used with permission.
Before settling down for the night, Azu gently unhooks Skraak from around her neck and puts him down. Skraak and the two other kobolds form a pile, in the manner of lizards. Hamid sleeps near, but not in the pile.
Zolf’s watch passes completely uneventfully. He notices Skraak settling down, from catatonic from trauma to asleep. Zolf then wakes up Azu for second watch. Azu notices that the two kobolds that they’ve just met initially just lay down with their eyes open; during Zolf’s shift, they closed their eyes, and by Azu’s shift, they start to actually sleep. She also hears the sound of activity on the other side of the door — the kobolds are no longer standing like statues, though not banging on their cells or anything.
[Meta note: the’s party’s long rest at this point still doesn’t give them all the benefits of level 9; they’ll need a rest in a safe place to get all their new spells and abilities. However, Alex allows Azu to get her new Remove Poison ability from lay on hands, because they’ve been in a place with a lot of poisons.]
Near the very end of her watch, Azu hears the big, heavy footsteps of boots approaching further down the corridor. Azu wakes everyone up, including the kobolds. Skraak seems a lot more with it than they’ve seen in the past. He’s also taller and able to talk in full conversation.
Skraak, changed. Art by @mocksart on tumblr. Used with permission.
The other two seem a lot more cautious around the party, though they’re still drugged, like Skraak was when the party met him. Skraak hurriedly (in Draconic) tells the other two kobolds that the party is okay, and should be spared when they trash Shoin’s place and everyone in it. Cel, who now understands Draconic (though still poorly), hears Skraak talking about destroying and is a bit concerned.
The person comes around a bend in the tunnel, not seeing the party. They’re a lad and/or bloke; they’re an overweight, quite tall (pushing 6 foot) human man with a shaved head and couple of piercings in one ear, wearing leathers and carrying a wind-up torch (which Cel’s never seen in Japan before.) He’s dressed in “evil lair faceless mook costume,” though they can see his face.
Zolf ignites his glaive and charges the lad/bloke, aiming for the legs; the lad/bloke falls, and Zolf clamps his hand over the lad/bloke’s mouth. Cel, Azu, and Hamid walk over — Cel asks him what he’s doing there, Azu glares intimidatingly, and Hamid casts detect thoughts. The lad/bloke’s surface thoughts are mostly screaming and Japanese, which Hamid can’t understand.
Everyone notices Skraak and the other two kobolds slowly approaching, with the intent to murder the man. Hamid shouts at them, in Draconic, to stop; the smaller two stop, but Skraak doesn’t. Azu puts a gentle hand on Skraak’s chest, and Skraak stops at Azu’s hand. Zolf tells Cel to tell the lad/bloke to answer their questions and not scream; Cel passes on the message.
Skraak demands Azu step aside. Art by @skraak on tumblr. Used with permission.
Skraak is standing assertively and tall, his earlier lizardy-ness gone, tail perfectly still, and a big spear (not pointed at the party); he’s also a vibrant red, in contrast to his earlier more faded appearance. He looks Azu dead in the eyes and says, in English, “move.” Azu, Hamid, and Zolf all tell Skraak they need to talk to the lad/bloke before they’ll let Skraak kill him, and finally, Skraak relents.
BREAK
Hamid casts comprehend languages. The surface level thoughts of the lad/bloke are mostly yelling about how much his leg hurts, and Hamid shares this (and all future surface thoughts of the lad/bloke) with the party. Zolf uses calming touch (healing the lad/bloke for 11 damage, and removing fatigued, shaken, and sickened conditions.) The lad/bloke stops screaming, and Zolf takes his hand off his mouth, putting his glaive at the man’s throat.
Cel asks the man how many lad/blokes there are. The man answers, in Japanese, that there are loads, but his surface thoughts reveal that he’s the only one on shift.
Cel asks what the prison’s for, and the man says it’s for the kobolds. He’s thinking about how everyone else is in the tunnel (back to the mainland.)
Cel asks where the tunnel is, and the man says that they can follow this corridor, go through the barracks and central command, and then get to the tunnel.
Cel asks how they can let the kobolds out, and the man asks why they would want to. He’s thinking about how he hopes that the tunnel ambush worked.
Cel asks who they’re ambushing (the man says no one, he’s on shift), and Cel, worrying that something may have happened to their village, shakes him. The man gradually realizes that these are the people they’re meant to be ambushing, and is quite upset and far more compliant.
Cel asks again how they can let the kobolds out, why their eyes are green, how they can make the kobolds better, why they’ve been drugged, and what they’ve done to the kobolds. The man, overwhelmed by the number of questions, says that the “big boss just used the juice on them,” to make them do what they’re told; it takes about a day for the effects of the drug to wear off. He says they can let them out via the doors on the cages, but they shouldn’t, because the kobolds are basically “feral” and will bring down the institute.
Zolf suggests that the kobolds will probably know how to open the doors. Cel turns to the kobolds, and tells them (in halting Draconic), that the other kobolds will be okay. Skraak tells the other two kobolds to start letting them out, and the other two kobolds run off to the door.
Cel asks the man if there’s a manual override to open the doors, and the man says again that the kobolds are just monsters who will kill everything. Zolf says they’re done here, and tells Skraak to have at it. Azu lets go of Skraak.
In the cavern, the amount of green in the kobolds’ eyes has decreased (to about the same amount as was in the others, though the party didn’t notice that.) The kobolds are shifting around and fidgeting, appearing slightly uncomfortable. The two more-sober kobolds are opening the doors, and while the kobolds in the cells aren’t sober enough to help, the kobolds recruit the other maintenance crew to help.
Skraak says goodbye. Art by @skraak on tumblr. Used with permission.
Meanwhile, Skraak has brutally killed the man; he enjoyed it a lot. Zolf stayed to watch (holding his glaive to the man’s throat), as did Hamid. Cel walked away. Zolf tries talking to Skraak (in English), but since Skraak’s English is still limited, he gets Hamid to translate, which Hamid does. Zolf continues, saying that, as they make their way out, the party will get rid of the humans in the tunnel. The place now belongs to the kobolds. Skraak asks why they’d want the institute. Cel, who’s now walked back to Skraak, asks if the kobolds will have enough food, offering the resources of the village, but Skraak says it’s fine. Zolf offers them luck, and gets ready to go.
Cel asks Skraak if they know anything about the krakens. Skraak says it’s hard to remember everything, but that the krakens have been erratic. He confirms that they were made and maintained in the institute, but went out and did things elsewhere. Skraak warns the party not to let anyone live, and that the kobolds will finish off anyone left alive. Hamid asks Skraak if he wants his help. Skraak declines, taking the lad/bloke’s pack and knife, and saying, “look after yourselves, little guys.”
Hamid runs after him, and hands him the Stalking Dagger he got in the chess room in episode 143. Skraak handles the dagger terrifyingly efficiently and slides it into his belt. Hamid says he hopes he sees Skraak again, because he owes a debt to the kobolds (for killing so many of them with his fireball.) Skraak agrees, and leaves, slamming the door behind him.
Hamid owes Skraak a debt. Art by @HilaSketchCat on twitter. Used with permission.
The party heads down the corridor. These tunnels are less elaborate that those under the water, but also more functional. They reach an intersection where there are signs (in Japanese); one, pointing back, says “holding pens”; the others say “barracks,” “administration,” and “processing.”
The party quickly checks “administration,” which consists of a lot of filing cabinets. There’s no one in there, and it doesn’t seem to have been used in a while. There are stock quotas and reports that are about a year out of date (at about the time that the thugs started getting more aggressive in the villages on the island.) It’s quite messy. Cel looks for things that might have been taken from their and other villages, but there’s nothing here. The room isn’t big; it’s mostly a quartermaster’s study.
They arrive at the barracks (through a pressure door), which are messy, dirty, and smelly. It’s been slept in recently, and seems like people left in a hurry, but not in a panic. It sleeps about 50 people. The party heads on through.
They arrive at another pressure door, and another helpful set of signs. One says “processing,” one that points back to “administration” and “barracks,” and one that points towards “central control.” Cel suggests they check out “processing” to see if there’s anything they can learn about how Shoin controlled the kobolds and, by extension, learn about the blue veins. Everyone agrees, and they head there. There’s a decent walk between all of these places, as they’re natural caverns that have been retrofitted.
Processing is a large cavern that’s mostly empty, and has been for a while. There’s lot of machinery and alchemical tubing. There are eight tillable kobold-sized metal tables with foot and hand cuffs, where kobolds were prepped so that the drugs would have more of an effect (but not where the drugs were administered.) It was probably used more when Shoin was setting up, to prep the kobolds in large batches. Cel can’t work out anything relevant to the blue veins. The party heads out and towards “central control.”
Quotes[]
- "I am actively in love with Cel’s ability to describe a situation."
- ―Alex
- "Honestly, I have found that one of the best things for trauma is safety and sleep."
- ―Cel
- "Oi! What on earth are you doing here? This is like, some kind of horrible prison-energy-potion-achemy, I mean, this is a crime against alchemy *and* kobolds, and also probably some kind of convention."
- ―Cel, running into a lad/bloke.
- Skraak: "Move."
- Azu: "We need to talk to him first, at least."
- Skraak: "Move. Now."
- Hamid: "Skraak, we’re going to make him pay for what he’s done to all of you."
- Skraak: "Yes. Now."
- Hamid: "We need to find out what he knows first, or can you tell us about the rest of these caverns?"
- Zolf: "Once he’s answered our questions, we’ll let you kill him. Just wait a bit."
- Skraak: "Fine."
- ―Skraak wants to make the mook pay for what they did to the kobolds.
- "Aaaargh, my leg, my goddamn leg, aaaaargh, oh my god it hurts, bleep this place, bleep these people, I’ll never walk again."
- ―Alex, narrating the surface level thoughts of the lad/bloke.
- Cel: "Okay, so let’s do this ambushing an ambush. It’s like an ambush squared! [Forced laughter.] Or cubed. Cubed, I guess. Maybe it’s many dimensions"
- Azu: "Oh, I hope there isn’t another cube."
- ―Cel is trying to keep their spirits up.
- Hamid: "I hope I’ll see you again. I owe you and the rest of the kobolds a debt, and I wanna repay it sometime."
- Skraak: "Yeah. You do."
- ―Hamid still has to answer for murdering a group of kobolds.
Dice rolls & mechanics[]
- Zolf Perception check on first watch: 27
- Azu Perception check on second watch: Nat20: 31
- Perception to see Skraak coming to murder the lad/bloke: 24 (Hamid), 24 (Azu), 29 (Cel), 20 (Zolf)
- Cel Knowledge (engineering) to look for anything blue-vein relevant in the "processing" room: 15
Combat breakdown[]
Initiative: Zolf (21), Cel (18), Azu (18), Hamid (15)
Surprise Round
- Zolf: Ignites his glaive and charges the lad/bloke, aiming for the legs: 31 (hit; 19 damage). The lad/bloke is down, but not unconscious. Zolf clamps his hand over the lad/bloke’s mouth.
- Cel: Walks over and shouts at him, asking what he’s doing there.
- Azu: Walks over and glares intimidatingly.
- Hamid: Saunters over and casts detect thoughts on the lad/bloke (the lad/bloke fails a Will save of 16.)