No such thing as Kobolds

Having found very little about the disaster in Lakedge, the four adventurers decided to take one last walk around the area to make sure what little they had found was as much as they were going to get.

An few minutes into this last patrol, and the loud sound of many steps was heard. Other than Sarlahan, the fancy elf, the group was caught in the sudden stampeding of about fifty kobolds, all running away from something.

After the miniature horde, a straight line of ugly goats pursued. The line of goats stopped near our intrepid and dusty group, apparently having been the cause of the kobolds mad run. Soon enough, the line of goats disappeared, leaving only one goat and it's rider. Our adventurers soon figured the other goats had been a mere illusion and as quickly noticed that Mirage, the elven sorceress, had disappeared, much as her name would suggest.

Much like their previous encounters with each other, the three remaining adventurers introduced themselves to the Leprechaun, who quickly took it upon himself to care for the groups hygiene. The water pouring down on them did nothing to really clean them up, and even less in impressing them.

Having somehow decided to join the group, the loopy leprechaun replaced the eccentric elf at the back of the group as they decided to pursue the dust cloud they had noticed earlier that they moving east, and coincidentally follow the kobolds, who they assumed had grabbed Mirage and were also moving east.

A few miles to the east, the road forked to a few dirt trails, one of which was obviously the way the kobolds had gone. After much deliberation if they even wanted the eccentric elf back, they still decided to go after her supposed kidnappers, and took the south bearing trail.

After a thirty minute walk, they came to the end of the trail at the foot of a large hill where they found 3 dead kobolds with darts in their necks and a large stone door in the side of the hill. A quick search uncovered the dart trap that had killed the little buggers, but it was already spent and no danger to the group. Larry, the Moonling also spotted an inscription on the door which read:

"Enter in pairs and speak only when spoken to."

Trying to find some way to open the doors through mundane means, the group finally gave up on the idea and decided they had to do what the inscription on the door commanded. What that command exactly meant was not very apparent to them.

A sudden inspiration came to Larry after about an hour of staring at the door. He stood in front of the door, Pot O'Gold, the Leprechaun at his side, and spoke "Two only!". The stone door quickly opened and closed behind the two as they entered. Kolban and Sarlahan quickly followed their example.

Inside the hill, the four were standing in a large hall with another dead kobold it's only occupant.
They found only one way to go forward and entered a short hallway, leading to three different directions. Larry spotted something in the hallway ahead and quickly went to work disarming a pressure plate trap.

Larry was still working as footsteps were heard from the doorway to the right. Quickly finishing his work, Larry stepped aside just as two goblins appeared in the doorway. The leprechaun quickly summoned a hawk to his aid, while Koblan immediately attacked.

The half-orc's great-axe cleaved cleanly through the two goblins in front, only to be replaced by another two. Those were taken down as well, revealing a goblin spell caster of some sort and two dire wolves. Magical energy hit of some sort hit Kolban in the chest, not having much of an effect on the massive brute.

Taking the advantage of their positions, the group flanked their remaining enemies, Sarlahan taking even more of an advantage by grabbing the goblin and sinking his teeth into him and in doing so revealing his nature to the rest of the group. Needless to say, the goblin and wolves did not last long and the four so called heroes promptly searched their enemies bodies and the room they were in without much reward.

Moving on, the group came upon a prison, a trapdoor at one end leading down. The intrepid Larry went down the stairs silently, keeping to the shadows, noting the fifteen sleeping kobolds at the other end of the room. Thinking to dispatch the buggers in their sleep, he came closer to their beds when the sound of an alarm went off, waking the kobolds. Fortunately for Larry, they were still groggy and sleepy-eyed and did not notice him as they went for the stairs and the trapdoor.

Waiting at the of trapdoor, Sarlahan, Kolban and Pot O'Gold triple teamed the arriving kobolds while Larry tried his best to alleviate the press of kobolds swarming up the stairs, mostly by backstabbing them. In a completely unfair battle, the kobolds were cut down by crossbow bolts, swords to the back, darts and fire. Definitely NOT a good way to wake up.

Not finding any other way to continue, the group returned to the first short hallway and entered another room which was dominated by a huge statue of an elven warrior. A lever behind the statue was found and pulled with some difficulty. A mechanism seemed to come to life, but what kind of mechanism was not immediately apparent. Somewhat mystified and annoyed, the four moved on to the next and last choice of direction, finding stairs leading up to a door, with the distant thud of feet coming from behind it. It quickly became the sound of battle.

Entering cautiously, the group found the hallway behind the door to be empty, but the sounds of battle were coming from all six doorways ahead. A peeking Larry brought news of every room having groups of kobolds fighting two steel statues bearing a remarkable likeness to the huge statue they had just left behind. The group decided to let the battle take it's course.

The elven statues eventually won, leaving about fifty kobolds dead and dying and a minor scratch on one of the steel constructs.

There was no such thing as kobolds anymore. Not in this place, anyway.

Fearing the unstoppable nature of the statues, the lever was pulled again. Of course, this resulted in the statues now blocking the hallway. A plan was thought out, a rope was tied around the legs of the unmoving constructs and the lever pulled yet again. The resulting noise was astounding. Pulling the lever one last time brought the noise to a halt and the group moved on, finding only one interesting path which led back down.

Next: The half-orc and the scent of fish...