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Coat of Nine-Hides follows the blacksmith. Brother Dumphey quickly swallows his snack and hurries after her.

Boo is keen for everyone to stay within sight of one another. He will follow along back to the smithy and translate if the kobold's common proves too sparse. He gestures for Tun to follow. The half-ogre partakes of some roasted rat but is too skittish to try the mushrooms.

Brother Huxley and Gebhart are both of a mind to keep the group together so they will follow along with everyone else. Neither taste any of the kobold food.

Tun eats some roasted rat. He finds nothing amiss.

Brother Dumphey eats one of the blue-capped mushrooms. It is dry and flavorless, but as soon as he swallows it, he feels a surge of power course through his body as if eating the mushroom has somehow boosted his brawn.

The party straggles along behind the kobold backsmith. He leads them through the barracks and back to the workshop. It has grown darker in the workshop; without the blacksmiths working the bellows, the forges have cooled and the embers have dimmed. The kobold makes his way to a pile of gear; discarded pieces of armor, scabbards, harnesses, and discarded weapons, mostly of kobold craftsmanship, but some of it is human-sized and superior to the kobold stuff. Also nearby is a small, iron-banded chest.

The kobold digs through the pile till he finds a short bow and a quiver of 10 arrows. He hands them over to Coat of Nine-Hides. After the transaction, he will go back to work and start pumping the bellows.

Coat of Nine-Hides tests out the bow and checks the straightness of the arrows. Assuming she is satisfied with the results, she thanks the kobold. Indicating the human-sized equipment, she asks, "How'd you come across this?"

Brother Dumphey struts around, enjoying his mushroom-lent vigor.

Coat of Nine-Hides examines the bow. It is not the finest bow she has ever seen, but it appears to be in decent shape and the arrows look as if they will fly true. She asks the blacksmith the source of the non-kobold equipment. "Dead outworlders... old dwarf stuff..." He shrugs.

Just then, there is a noise from the stairwell accompanied by a flickering light. Someone is descending the stairs carrying a torch. Shortly it is revealed that another kobold torchbearer is leading two diminutive fellows --a dwarf and an elf-- down the stairs.

"Gads!" says the blacksmith, "More outworlders?"

The torchbearer says something in his kobold language. He wags a finger at the dwarf and the elf and then at the other adventurers. He looks exasperated. He says more words in kobold and then trudges back up the stairs, taking the torch with him.
Introductions?

The elf and dwarf are—well, they look like a comedy team: the short stout one and the slightly taller skinny one. Except the short one is solid muscle, not fat. Other than that, they're a dwarf and an elf right out of central casting.

The dwarf just grunts at the kobold's advice. "Har," he says.

"Although it may appear that my compatriot here is laughing," explains the elf, in a prim, almost prissy voice, "that is his name. Har Granitefist. And I am Ilthuin Elglan. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I apologize for our delayed arrival. Have we missed anything?"

Coat of Nine-Hides looks up from her examination of the arrows. "I remember you two. A few towns back. Yet more pilgrims seeking the shrine of Nigh's comeuppance, aye?"

Pointing around the room with the kobold arrow, she says, "I'm Coat of Nine-Hides, and the bubble-eyed fool over there is Brother Dumphey. The small fellow is Boo, and the big one is Tun.

"There's Brother Huxley, and Gebhart, and... huh, has anyone seen Évariste and Carouge? Have they wandered off on their own again? That's probably why the kobolds thought you were part of our party—I doubt they're any better at distinguishing us from one another than we are they. Lucky for you, they aren't too welcoming upon first introductions."

"In any account, we think we've backed Nigh into these caves, and its just a matter of time before we pin him down and extract a little justice from his liver. You're welcome to join us."

"Hngh," grunts Har with a nod.

"We would be delighted to join you," translates Ilthuin.

Boo nods in greeting to the newly-arrived dwarf and elf. Well-met. Shall we to the mushroom cave then?

The half-ogre, Tun, smiles and nods repeatedly at the newcomers. He finally offers a shy comment to the elf, you're pretty.

Before the kobold returns to his dinner, Boo asks: which door to the safer shortcut through the mushroom cave? Is it the one in the dining room or in the hall above? Any tips on avoiding the carrion creepers?

The blacksmith shrugs. "One way is no safer than the other I suppose. So long as you don't stray off the proper path." He speaks broken common, but reverts back to kobold when common becomes too difficult. "...though if you were to take a wrong turn, you'd probably get in more trouble downstairs than upstairs..."
He works the bellows till the fires in the furnace are burning brightly. The heroes can see him grinning maliciously in the orange glow. "Carrion creepers, eh? This mine is full of creepy crawlers. The best way to deal with them is to knock your buddy down and then run away. Har, har, har!"

Coat of Nine-Hides shoulders her new bow and arrows. "Everyone ready, then? Shall we?"

Brother Dumphey hops up. "Oh, yes, let's! But... uhm, those mushrooms were good. Can I go back and get more?"

Boo does his best not to roll his eyes at Brother Dumphey's question. Well hurry then. Once the snacks are done then it sounds like heading to certain mushroom cave death may best be done through the upstairs hall.

If Brother Dumphey goes back to eat more mushrooms quickly before they head out then Tun will eagerly join in but is not brave enough to do so on his own as he balks at drawing Boo's disapproval. (Tun's focus only latches onto: [disapproval].....hurry...snacks....mushroom cave...upstairs hall.)

Brother Dumphey hurries back to the mess hall, to the bowl of mushrooms. "Anybody mind?" he asks the general vicinity. If he hears no objections, he grabs the remaining mushrooms and secrets them away in the folds of his robes. He then hurries back to the others.

Coat of Nine-Hides agrees with Boo, "Upstairs, then."

Brother Huxley and Gebhart both follow along with the others to go upstairs though Brother Huxley does throw Brother Dumphey a foul look when he pockets the remaining mushrooms.

Brother Dumphey goes back to the Feast Hall and pockets the 2 remaining blue-capped mushrooms. He quickly returns to the workshop where the others are waiting. The party travels up the stairs and are now at the top the stairs (X) on level 1. Marching order? Light source? Actions?

Coat of Nine-Hides tries to take lead in the marching order, but Brother Dumphey insists on going before her, being more thoroughly armored. "Shoot your bow over my shoulder, right?"

For once, Nine-Hides has to admit that the dim-witted brother has made good point. "Keep eating those mushrooms. They must be brain food."