The party, two-by-two, moves into the cave. [DM: As I have it, Flen & Leee Za are first, Rhiannon is in the middle, and Omar & Bammit are taking up the rear] The cave itself is small at first, but quickly widens into a fairly sizeable natural tunnel, where three humans could walk abreast. A phophorescent glow in the rocks, accented by the flicker of Flen's torch, provides an eerie light by which the tunnel draws the party along.
The tunnel itself does not split, and maintains a singular course for a good half-mile into the mountain. At one point, Leee Za pauses to look at what appears to be scratches on the wall, and mumbles to herself. She shakes her head, and motions Flen to continue.
The tunnel suddenly opens up into a large cavern, probably 200 ft in diameter, and is noticably the scene of a small mining operation. A rickety cart lays on its side in the center of the cavern, and a pick axe leans up against the far wall. An open chest next to the pick axe appears to empty. Rhiannon starts to speak, but a clatter of rocks startles her to silence. Leee Za kneels down to look at the ground, and spits a word under her breath: "Kobolds!"
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At the sound of that hated word, Bammit instinctively raises his mace and growls.
"By Khagryt's beard," he mutters. "It's a good bet they know we're here. We'd best be on our guard...and don't get caught out in the open!"
Bammit stares at Omar with disbelief. Then, very deliberately, he says, "I assume that's a joke..."
Flen looks at Leee Za. "Can you tell how old those tracks are?"
Keeping her voice as low as she can but still addressing the group Leee Za says "These tracks are not recent, but we should definitly be cautious", she scans the group and then continues "The question is how are they getting into the cave. There were no tracks the way we just came nor any other of the usual signs of kobolds such as excrement or that sticky brown spittle they are constantly releasing."
"Right," replies Bammit quietly. He throws a glance around the party and says, "Okay, we're moving in, but with due caution. All of you, keep your wits sound, your eyes open..." He glances at Flen. "...and your mouth shut."
The party moves into the cavern proper. At the far end of the cavern (almost perfectly opposite to the tunnel you came from) is an unnatural pile of rocks about waist high (to Omar). A slight wind whistles through these rocks, indicating a passage behind. Other than this abberation, the cavern appears not to have any other exits.
The open chest isn't completely empty: the skeletal remains of a kobold lie in the bottom of it, it's skull clearly cracked open.
Flen gestures at the chest, and speaks softly. "Looks like Falster's boy didn't go quietly!"
"Amazing that the bones were picked clean so fast," observes Bammit quietly. Then he glances at Leee Za. "Zeee La, are the Kobold tracks coming from those rocks?"
(Using my Dwarven skills, is this rock-blocked passage a new construction? I'm also going to check the area in front of it for sliding or false partitions.)
Another clatter of rocks from near where the party has grouped, cathes everyones attention. A large rat, eyes gleaming in the torchlight, scurries from under a pile of rock debris, and runs to the far side of the cavern.
Bammit snorts with contempt at the rat, and then he turns his attention back to the pile of rocks. Humming thoughtfully, he sniffs the air, scratches his nose, and moves through the party to get a closer look.
He mutters something in Dwarvish, and then he reaches out with his mace and taps lightly on the cavern wall next to the rock pile. Withdrawing the mace again, he sniffs it, licks it once or twice, and hmmms again.
"This is a new dig," he says quietly but authoritatively. "What's more, it was tunneled into this chamber, not from it." He sneers. "And the rocks so cleverly placed to deceive us were brought from within the passage rather than this cavern! Khagryt's beard!" He spits. "Who did those bloody khubulta think they were fooling?"
Flen looks annoyed. "Bloody kub.. bulb... whatever, they still keep us from following them." Flen kicks at a small rock. "I mean, we'll never get through this mess. Guess that ends that search, eh?"
Bammit gives Flen a 3,000-megawatt glare.
Very deliberately, he says, "Why do you think we have hands, lad?" He begins carefully probing the rock pile to see how loose the rocks are, and then he says, "Speaking of which, Omar, I could use one or even two."
Bammit scowls. "As loud as some of us here keep breathing," he says very deliberately, "the slime probably already know we're here. But just in case, try setting the rocks down gently..."
Bammit pauses, eyes Omar curiously and sniffs.
"Imagine Flen over there with a dog's head," he says, nodding his head in the halfling's direction. Then he grimaces. "Now imagine it about twice as filthy and fifteen times as ugly. You'd probably be pretty close."
Snorting, he lifts another rock.
Flen scratches his head for a moment. "Don't they have tails too? Like lizards?" Flen walks over to a particularly large rock, and starts tugging on it. "Dang, these are heavy!"
Rhiannon walks over, and helps Flen shuffle the rock (really a boulder) out of the way. "Kobolds are particularly violent little creatures.", she says calmly. "If... I suppose, when... we come across these little devils, I would suggest dispatching them quickly, and not attempting dialog with them." She then grabs a couple smaller rocks, and glares at the halfling. "Come now Flen, the more of us doing this, the quicker it will be done."
Flen frowns, and starts helping to clear rocks.
"Sound advice," says Bammit. "Reason with kobolds? Hmmph! One might as well try to reason with rabid dogs! But don't underestimate them either, lad. They're smarter than they look. Sneaky little devils. They're not to be trusted."
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