Elient 19 - There Be Dragon!

After sleeping in the Kobolds lair for the night (they really do not smell too badly), we returned to battle the Goblins. Again the beasts had lain caltrops across their entryway. Having learned from last time, we slowly proceeded into the room, taking care to step around them. After a ferocious battle (where Chrissy had to heal me once!) we defeated them. This time we took the damn caltrops (1 bag each) so that we won’t have to deal with them again.

Proceeding further into their complex, we decided to check a door we did not happen to check last time. Behind that door we found prisoners! Kobolds and a Gnome (Erky Timbers) were being kept in awful conditions. The smell, the body waste on the floor, and did I mention the smell? It nearly made me want to lose my breakfast. Meepo freed the Kobolds who ran in terror back to their lair. We then freed the Gnome and questioned him. Erky told us that 3 humans had been captured (our missing party) and kept in the room only for a few weeks. “Old Ballack” wanted them. He is apparently an evil druid who tends the tree with the fruit. The summer fruit heals, but the winter fruit kills. He is independent of the Goblins, but they cooperate. Erky also knew that there was a raid on the Kobold lair and that the taking of a dragon was involved, but he knows nothing more. We decided to let Erky join us temporarily, while we proceeded back into the large, cloudy room in search of the Goblin Chief. And as Chrissy and I discussed, we need to get that fruit for my father.

We went back to the door behind which we heard sounds yesterday, and we burst into the room. There were 4 goblins in the room, playing dice. We attacked and quickly defeated them. Next we found the room with the women and children goblins (determined through listening through the door) so we left them alone. Lastly, we discovered the room with the Kobold’s dragon. He had been chained up by the Goblins, but had apparently broken free. He seemed very happy to be free, and had done quite a bit of damage to the room.

Now, I am a big fan if Aramil. He can cast spells, we can talk Elvin to each other, but sometimes I think his head is not in the game. He actually told the dragon that we were going to take him back “to his Kobold masters.” Needless to say, that won him a blast of cold dragon breath. I came up to him at this point and tried to intervene, but we could not reason with the dragon. We ended up pummeling him unconscious and dragging him back to the Kobolds. Probably not my finest moment, but we needed that key and perhaps one day he’ll get big enough and eat all the Kobolds in revenge for keeping him caged up.