Chapter 4: Gluttons for punishment

[barkman]

Randolpho.

"Can we bribe him with food? Maybe the whole tribe? It worked with the pig man, and does he understand common, rendering this conversation moot"

[Stirling]

Quinn Coburg

"Could give him a little prick with 'Quickthorn' here and see if it puts him to sleep permanently. Ashes to ashes dust to dust, kobold to stone!" Quinn remarks, feigning a parry and lunge with the sword and tries to look menacing.

"How much is a kobold statue worth, maybe as he is petrifying we could twist his body into a saucy pose, might get a few more silver for him if he has his arse sticking in the air, sell him in Yel. The zombies like that sort of plaything"

great description of collective knowledge

[Zorroroaster]

"While none have promised him mercy, he did ask me to translate his desire to be let free if he did as we asked. Also, at the end of battle, he clearly indicated that he was giving up. I don't know about you, but any enemy that surrenders to me deserves some measure of fair treatment."

"He is a miserable wretch, but I think we should let him loose. Killing an unarmed prisoner does not make us better men. Sending him back to his tribe with a message might be a better use for him."

[thirdkingdom]

Plud the Panivorous

"Well, I say we retreat for the day and resupply, stocking up on comfrey before returning. Let's see if the kobold can't draw us a map to the dwarf entrance, first."

[Stirling]

Quinn Coburg

"Do we all need to retreat now? We have only just got here? Maybe his little dog hide is worth reading for. The kobolds give us some first aid goodies and we let him go? Torgyr, can you bargain with the critters on the other side of the door?"

[Zorroroaster]

Torgyr looks bemused. "I'm not sure I would trust whatever remedy they might offer, but if folks think it's a good idea to negotiate, perhaps it's worth a try. We do have two wounded members and I agree we should retreat back to camp and sort that out. Bringing some comfrey and woundwort with us would help next time."

He looks a little wistful. "If we had Galan back, this would be a lot easier."

[drpete]

Quinn Coburg

"Do we all need to retreat now? We have only just got here? Maybe his little dog hide is worth reading for. The kobolds give us some first aid goodies and we let him go? Torgyr, can you bargain with the critters on the other side of the door?"

Note: don't get confused... there is nothing doglike or otherwise animalistic about these "kobolds". They are more like little wicked faeries.

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[sulldawga]

"While none have promised him mercy, he did ask me to translate his desire to be let free if he did as we asked. Also, at the end of battle, he clearly indicated that he was giving up. I don't know about you, but any enemy that surrenders to me deserves some measure of fair treatment."

"He is a miserable wretch, but I think we should let him loose. Killing an unarmed prisoner does not make us better men. Sending him back to his tribe with a message might be a better use for him."

Zim replies, I'm not sure the punishment for attempted murder should be "death or, if you surrender, nothing at all". How about we let Randolpho decide, since it was him who almost died at these creatures' hands?

[barkman]

Randolpho the Ambigous

"Let's see if we can negotiate with them for some food and maybe some copper? Torgyr, Are they likely to keep a deal we make? Do you want to ahead and deal?"

[Zorroroaster]

"We can try. No harm in it, and it might keep them from attacking us every time we come back if we make the point that they are no match for us."

[Stirling]

Quinn Coburg

"Come Torgyr, let's bang on the closed door and see if we can negotiate a little trade with these 'firvulag' creatures."Quinn will go if we agree to listen and parley through the doors the kobolds fled through, convinced they will not be too far away.

('Firvulag' is Old Thulian for a 'twisted dwarf'.)

[Zorroroaster]

Torgyr walks over to the closed door the kobolds exited through and gives it a few sharp thumps with his war hammer.

In Dwarven:

"Hey, you in there! Up for a little parlay? We have one of yours out here and might be interested in trading his miserable hide for a little breathing room, whaddya say? Wanna chat?"

[drpete]

Date: Euryale 9, 9:30 am
Season: Mid Fall
Moon phase: First Quarter
Light Sources: Randolpho (Lantern, 3 hrs, 40 minutes remaining)
Time since rest: 20 minutes
Location: Entrance Chamber

Having defeated the cube and the kobolds, the group binds their wounds, searches for treasure, and interrogates their prisoner. Satisfied with their answers, but unsure of how to proceed, they decide to attempt to parlay with the kobolds.

Zorroaster goes over to the door through which one of the prisoners they interrogated escaped, thumps it with his warhammer and calls out in Dwarven. This knocking is greeted with silence.

[Zorroroaster]

"Right, let's retreat back down the mountain and look to our wounded. We can return better prepared."

He looks to the kobold.

"I'll not have this thing harmed further, wretch that it may be. It has surrendered and provided us with information useful to us. It has offered to guide us further into the mountain. It is stripped of weapons. We should free it and send it back to its clan with a message to leave us be or suffer again at our hands. I think that would be sufficient. I will say this: I will not agree to the murder of this unarmed combatant, whether he has been a foe or not. I may be willing to slay it in a fight, but have no stomach for outright execution."

[barkman]

"Speaking of stomach, let's give him some rations as well, sweeten the pot as well, then let him go"

Randolpho has patched his wounds as best as he could, ready to go back to camp.

[Stirling]

Quinn Coburg

"Get some more information out of him first. Names and numbers of his group (he'll probably lie anyway... I would), where does he get clean water from?Do they trade with other groups here, buy and sell, barter. Has he seen any priests or (un)holy men working the undead. Will he spy and scout for us?"

Quinn has a myriad of practical and useless questions, but unless the kobold speaks common, we are at the mercy of Torgyr's translation skill.

[drpete]

Something bumps against the door in the north, near the warrior statue. Then there is a progression of quick scratches on it. The sound kind of reminds you of a dog scratching at a door.

You notice some light coming from under the door, now.

[Zorroroaster]

"Quick! We should form up closer to the exit, in case whatever is behind the door proves too much for us. To me!"

Torgyr takes out his crossbow, steps behind a statue for cover and waits.

[sulldawga]

Zim backs up to the exit and waits.

[Zorroroaster]

Just to be clear, Torgyr is taking cover behind the Traveller statue.