5 Flamerule, 1368: The Highwayman and the Kobolds

The party arises at 4-5 in the morning. Elessaria had another bad night of the heebie jeebies. About an hour after breaking camp, the dogs begin to sense that something is following them. The dogs are looking from side to side nervously. Nothing can be detected, however. After another half hour of being shadowed in this way, the PCs find themselves having to walk down a narrow ravine, perfect for an ambush, in order to continue to follow the trail. It is very difficult to see ahead for any distance due to the winding path, and vision is only possible for about 100’ ahead and behind.

It looks very suspicious and the party decides to go around by climbing up the hill.

Suddenly the air is filled with arrows whizzing past, and about 20 thud into the earth around the PCs. Many of the arrows have come dangerously close, but miraculously none seem to have hit any of the party members. As the PCs take stock of their situation, a leather armor-clad man with an impressive long bow steps onto the edge of the ravine above them. He calls out:

"Throw down your weapons and all your valuables, and I will spare you your lives. Disobey my command and I shall show you that my arrows and those of my men need not have missed you on our first volley."

Elessaria and Selina try to parley. The archer repeats his demand, "I ask you once more, and offer you one final chance to comply or die this fine day."

Stago mouths off and Selina gets on her knees to show the archer that the party doesn't mean any harm. Stago figures that the archer is too far away to cast the web scroll on him. The archer begins counting and Elessaria and Serena flee.

Stago casts a shield spell. Selina, in her flight, gets hit by an arrow. The arrow goes all the way through S, but does no damage. Stago realizes the arrows are illusions. He sics Spike and Fido on the archer, but tells them not to kill.

The dogs chase the fleeing archer over the hill. The party hears a scream. Selina, Elessaria, and Stago race up the hill, leaving Merle and Routunious (along with Tick-a-Tick) below. When the trio crest the hill, they see the dogs snarling and nipping at... nothing. Stago realizes the illusionist is invisible, and demands that the archer reappear or he'll give the dogs the command to kill.

In a moment, a small young man, maybe 18, reappears and looking much less impressive than he did when leading an illusory army of archers. Stago tells the man to lie flat on the ground, face down, with arms out and palms down. When the highwayman complies, the gnome calls off the dogs while Elessaria and Selina search him.

After questioning the young man, they learn that his name is Rolf. Among his possessions are a dagger, 2 coppers, 2 gold and a wand of perfect illusions.

Stago takes the man's boots, explaining, "It's rough and rocky and this will slow him down if he tries to follow us." He sticks the boots into his dogs' panniers and then starts talking about taking the pants, too. Elessaria and Selina ask him where his camp is and the whimpering captive says, "I don't want to tell you. If I tell you, you'll just go there and steal everything else I own."

Selina, in an effort to reassure him, takes the boots from Stago and tosses them down the ravine for Rolf to get.

"That will still slow him down, but won't turn him into a halfling, tromping over these hot stones with bare feet the rest of his life." Selina said to the sour gnome.

"Aren't you a thief?" Stago demanded, "Why are you giving stuff back? Are you a lawful good thief? Is that even possible?"

Following the trail, nothing happens before nightfall. Near dark the PCs come upon a clearing at the top of a hillock with a pile of rocks which might once have been a druidic temple with a fire pit in the center of the circle.

8pm
Stago examines the wand and Elessaria and Selina go foraging for an uneventful night. However, Elessaria still has the heebie-jeebies and continues to pester everyone with tales of her encounter with her own ghost. When she retires, she doesn't get much rest.

11pm
The stillness is shattered by the dogs howling. Elessaria is on full alert. In the darkness surrounding the camp, everyone can hear hissing, clicking, yipping sounds.

Stago smells something bad -- like stagnant water. In the flickering torchlight, they can see about 6-8 small shapes running about behind the rocks around the perimeter of the camp.

Merle throws a stone out into the blackness -- it's thrown back.

Selina lights another torch, and leans out of her tent, on the fire pit end. A small spear or javelin hits her arm for 1 pt of damage. She still manages to throw the torch toward the fire pit, where it reignites the remaining wood and creates a central source of illumination.

Stago runs about with the wand of perfect illusion, shouting "Arrows! Arrows!" It seems to be the appropriate command word, because illusory arrows appear to rain from the sky and the nasty creatures panic, running away. Stago comes into the tent with Ellesaria, Selina, and Merle.

Stago explains, "Kobolds. Stinking, yapping, disgusting and dangerous kobolds. They don't like gnomes - if they saw me, they might come back. I think kobolds hate gnomes as much dwarves hate goblin-kind."

Selina and Elessaria stay on guard, and, sure enough, about an hour later, the kobolds come back and are now ringing the camp. The party is able to count a total of 12 of them.

The company enters into melee...and in a fierce battle kill six of them, and the other six escape. Elessaria cuts the heads off to add to the collection they'll pick up on the return trip.

Stago searches the headless bodies and finds a few coins, and 2 wineskins of a slightly viscous black fluid that smells like lamp oil.

Elessaria, in scouting the perimeter of the circle, notices about 12 pit-traps around the camp area -- she deduces that their plan had been to lure the company out into the darkness, in hopes that they would fall in the pit-traps to be set on fire with the lamp oil.

Wounds are tended to and healing administered, then the party retires again for the evening. The remainder of the night is uneventful.