Quest #30 "Into Kobold Country"

[OGRE MAGE]

Jaxsen and Luther have discovered tiny threats to the town in the form of invading kobolds. The monk of Bralm wants to set out on a solo mission to find their lair.

[OGRE MAGE]

If you feel the need to move more of the past conversation into this thread, please do.

Jaxsen Reiter

After Bonnie leaves, Jaxsen gets back to work. His plan is a bit different than before, however. He changes the traps around to become scarecrows. Whether or not they catch a leg or not, thin twine under the sand sets them up to all go off when any of them are triggered. If even one trap is set off, there will be snapping and popping sounds all over the place. His hope is that if the kobolds set them off, they will immediately run away.

Once those are in place, Jaxsen retrieves his halberd and moves once more into the jungle. He follows the blazes he marked earlier, until he returns to the point where he lost track of the captured Kobold earlier. He moves off the actual path and climbs into the foliage, hiding himself and waiting.

[SirOwen]

No, other than private thread stuff, this about catches Jaxsen up.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

It takes Jax the rest of the day to set up his elaborate new connected trap system, allowing the young man a good nights sleep before he heads out alone into the jungle to figure out where the kobolds have made their home.

Finding his way back to the hives in the morning, he sees that his traps have not been sprung. The monk then disappears into the nearby jungle and retraces his steps back to where he lost track of the fleeing kobold the morning before.

There are no visible changes and no signs of any other activity in this area. Waiting in hiding for a while produces no new indication of the tiny monsters.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

No stranger to waiting and the patience required, Jaxsen merely uses the time to focus his senses around him and slowly improves on the camoflage he is using to hide.

[OGRE MAGE]

Looks like our thread coordination needs a little work?

Jaxsen

Jaxsen finds himself multi-tasking very quickly, blazing trees on the move, and trying to be quiet as he does. He thanks Bralm for the Teachers and Priests of his youth who taught him so much and gave him so many abilities.

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Following his keen sense of direction and the droning of The Mothers children, Jax sets out on a northerly path leading him deeper into the thick jungle.

Though he is wiry himself, and able to move better and more deftly than most, the way still proves difficult and fraught with danger. After moving into the jungle for a good hour or so, blazing trees to mark his path as he moves, there is still no sign of any more of the kobolds.

So, is he staying put or moving further in?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen moves further into the jungle, following what indications he can find of a trail, still blazing so he can find his way back.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Morning, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Continuing into the thick bush, Jaxsen stays focused on his mission, despite the misery of slogging through the heavy foliage.

He follows his instincts and a small cloud of gnats north for a few more hours, not really seeing any more signs of the tiny jungle monsters anywhere. Blazing trees as he moves, he is pretty sure he will be able to find his way back into town eventually.

Sometime around mid morning, a large bright green fruit that looks like a cantaloupe with warts drops from the trees above his head, a few feet in front of the monk. That's when the young Brother realizes that the jungle noises around him have suddenly quieted somewhat.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen stops immediately and looks upwards to see who dropped the fruit to him, although he rather expects to see some variety of Phanaton.

Does the swarm of gnats dissipate here, or continue on?

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Morning, Hot, Humid, Buggy

The tiny swarm continues buzzing through the trees with little resistance, very much unlike the human following them.

When Jaxsen looks up from where he stopped, all he can see above him is vegetation in the form of leaves, branches and vines swaying this way and that in the now hot breeze. His friendly insects don't seem to notice that he's stopped, flitting away in front of him now, nearly out of sight.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen grabs the fruit and runs to catch back up to the swarm before they leave him too far behind. Once he does, he is careful to go back to his blazing and quiet.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Noon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Grabbing the fallen fruit and moving on, Jaxsen continues his slog through the thick jungle, following his tiny guides. He presses his way through trees and branches in an ongoing northerly direction, eventually finding himself back on the loggers trail again. There he continues north until about mid day when his guides head back into the bush again, veering slightly to the northwest now.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Having traveled the Loggers trail before, Jaxsen is careful to note where he encounters it and where he leaves it as he follows the Queen's guides. Since he almost lost them once, and realizing that Bralm does not tolerate sluggishness, he puts everything except following them, blazing his trail and being quiet about it out of his mind. He knows they will not swarm after dark, and he can put off thirst, hunger and heat until them. "I am a Warrior Priest of Bralm," he thinks."I toil mightily."

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Jaxsen recognizes that he was on the main trail about 2 miles outside of Beachtown, and followed it for about another mile before moving back into the thicket in a northerly direction.

Following his tiny friends as best he can, he moves into the unexplored jungle even deeper. It’s a good thing he likes insects so much, because this area is absolutely swarming with species of all kinds. Though their onslaught of buzzing, stinging, and biting would be akin to torture for a normal person, the calm human actually seems to enjoy their company as he toils through the nearly impassable terrain. Moving north for another hour or so, he continues following the bugs without incident.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Has there been any real change in the type of terrain? Or is it still all mostly flat to slightly hilly with rain forest vegetation?
He has heard rumors of a swamp somewhere on the island and suddenly falling into marshland might put a crimp in his plans.

Otherwise:

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen finds a tranquility in the same-ness of his surroundings and his activity. His focus on the Queen's escort, and the blazing of trees, and trying to keep his movement silent all combine into a new form of meditation. A meditation that not only blocks discomforts, but, he thinks, could block his mind entirely, isolating it from others. The masters of his temple, it was said, could block their minds from even the most powerful of wizards, form a swarm around their thoughts that none could penetrate.

When the time for rest comes, he will think about this further.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

The follower of bugs and Bralm puts the torture of cuts, scrapes, stings, and bites out of his mind, masking the monotony of his long arduous task with thoughts of future mental contemplation.

He finds the territory he’s traveled to be covered with huge trees mixed in with all manner of jungle vegetation, with very little areas of clearing, just like the majority of the southern edge of the island he’s seen so far. There is no sign of a swamp, though he does notice that the elevation of this area does rise slightly the further inland he moves.

After another few hours of exploration, moving mostly north but then veering off towards the west again, the young man’s guides suddenly disperse completely, now indistinguishable from the other insects swarming everywhere. Then Jaxsen hears some strange hidden cackling from off in the distance that sounds like some form of communication. He cannot see where the voices are coming from.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen immediately takes cover, getting into the thickest piece of foliage he can find at hand. He carefully looks all around, including in the high branches. A new thought occurs to him, and he takes some of the larger leaves and crushes them before rubbing the juices and coloration into his skin, trying to match the background colors. He tries to discern how many different voices he is hearing around him and if the are all basically at the same level in the foliage. All up high? Down lower to the ground? Both?

Once he has determined that he is not being attacked or about to be attacked, he thinks back to his own preparations back in town and glances around for snares or other foot traps. If he is close to their lair, they may have something prepared for unexpected visitors.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

The tiny voices Jaxsen hears are all near ground level, distant but still discernible. There are at least 4 individuals speaking calmly and in turn, though he cant make out the language.

Seeing no threats or traps nearby, he takes the time to rub some of the local flora upon himself to try and blend in with his surroundings. The voices mixed in with the usual jungle noises remain, coming from somewhere further in, but the monk still cant make out any figures from this distance.

Action?

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Since the raiders have always come at night, and seem to have excellent vision at night, he hopes their day vision is no better than normal. The Monk drops into a low crawl, and slowly moves in the direction of the voices. He is not concerned about moving in a straight line towards them. Rather, he moves from one large bush to another, using its cover and his own newly adopted coloration to help keep himself from their eyes. Cover and stealth stay his main priorities. He keeps his ears open and his eyes peeled for both traps and the source of the voices.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hunt
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Taking his time crawling around with the bugs in the dirt, Jaxsen is able to get a little closer to the voices, close enough to spot one of the speakers off in the distance.

Kobold.JPG.jpg (9.77 KiB) Viewed 1915 times

Craning his neck a bit more, he spots a total of four tiny 3 foot tall jungle monsters standing around what looks like to be a rocky opening into a small dark cave or tunnel of some kind. They are about 20 feet away from his position hidden in the cramped jungle, and none of the creatures seems to have noticed the sneaking monk yet. The creatures continue to talk in their strange barks and clicks, none of which the Brother of Bralm understands.

Action?