The Second D&D Tarak Campaign - Getting To The Trapped Kobolds

about 11 hours ago

Welcome to the ongoing saga of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while back. It started off using The Sunken Citadel module from the Tales From The Yawning Portal source book, but was then fitted into my Homebrew setting and moved on from there.

In the last post, the party surprised the orcs with a rear attack just as the latter were trying to attack the kobold tribe taking refuge in a hollowed out rock arch.

I hope you enjoy my D&D campaign write-ups, and the commentary I add to them. Questions, comments and feedback are welcome !

Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio

With the orcs defeated, at least for now, all the party had to do was get to the kobolds and get them out. Simple, right ?

Well, not so much. The kobolds were hiding in a bulge at the centre of the rock arch. On the flat top surface the kobolds had built a low wall. This wasn't a defensive structure; it marked the start of a zone covered by kobold firing slits and riddled with fiendish traps.

The first character to discover this was Griff. Ever the impetuous one, he jumped easily over the low wall. Straight onto a small covered pit trap. It was only a couple of feet deep, but that was just enough that his momentum as he fell would be enough to make the sharp spikes at the bottom effective.

The spikes only did a few points of damage to Griff, but they were also smeared with poison (not a surprise, kobolds love the stuff !) A failed saving throw meant that his dexterity was temporarily reduced by the effect of the poison, which of course would make it harder for him to avoid some of the other traps.

Luckily, this was where Erioch (the brains of the operation...) stepped forward and loudly announced to the kobolds that the party were here to rescue them from the orcs, and that they were here at the request of Yusdrayl.

Using that name had an immediate effect. The kobolds knew Yusdrayl, she was a powerful shamaness of their race, from the same tribe as them and with a serious reputation in the region (if you were a kobold, of course).

Hearing Erioch's announcement, a kobold spellcaster cast an Illusion spell. A series of blue glowing balls appeared on the ground, lights to guide the party. They started to follow them, moving in single file to ensure they followed the exact path.

As the last party member passed the balls, they would wink out and re-appear at the front of the path being laid out. This way, the kobolds were only illuminating a small part of the overall path at any one time. And a complex, winding path it was !

Eventually the party reached the kobolds' hideout. It turned out there was an extensive warren burrowed out in the bulge in the centre of the rock arch linking the two mountain peaks.

It was just a shame that everything was kobold-sized, so the characters found themselves having to move through corridors designed for creatures that were only about two foot six inches tall. Lots of crawling and claustrophobia were involved !

Once in the central chamber (where they could at least sit upright), they met with the leader of the kobold group. This was Arixxiphan, who turned out to be Yusdrayl's clutch-cousin.

In a stroke of genius, Erioch explained that while they were here to rescue the trapped clan, they were hired mercenaries and expected to be paid. When the kobolds started to explain (truthfully or not was never established) that they had no treasure, Erioch asked what else they had.

This prompted Arixxiphan to show off a small collection of keys. Most were broken and rusty, but one was still bright shining silver. It was the key Kerowyn had asked them to get !

A round of tough negotiations followed. Kobolds are excellent at this kind of thing, with a kind of natural cunning and ability to read the body language of larger creatures. Arixxiphan quite rightly suspected that the key was highly valuable, and held out for more than just a rescue as payment. Eventually they settled on 100 gold pieces on top of the rescue, and they key was handed over.

Next time.... kobold escape !