Kythorn 5, 1373, Silverymoon

I became conscious several hours later, very sore, but obviously alive. I was surprised at how my wounds were bandaged, until I looked over and saw that Deitricha was also wounded and tended to in a similar fashion. Apparently, Tassar and Areon had pulled us (including Antonio) to safety after fighting through the swarm of kobolds, and attempted to dress our wounds. It is a comfort to know how dependable they are— I’ve never adventured with a group that worked together so well. Upon first impression, Areon appears reserved, while Tassar comes off as downright rude. I now see that it is more like determination in Areon, and in Tassar, a misguided attempt to be social (I like him anyway).

We were now up on the ledge where the snipers had been standing. Deitricha was unconscious— no doubt as a result of the ambush I failed to see. I was a bit too dizzy to stand up, but I crawled over to the edge of the outcropping we were resting on, resolved to keep watch. Areon and Tassar were in need of rest, and Antonio kept getting knocked out. We fended off one surprise attack; I sunk an arrow into one kobold while a stone flew over my head and hit my tall human companion— poor Antonio is just not good at laying low!

Another half day passed before Deitricha finally roused— thankfully she could heal her self up well enough at that point, with some to spare for us. Apparently my halfling friend felt we had rested long enough, as he insisted on moving on— though he offered to do the scouting ahead personally. As he started to clank up the nearest passage, I reminded him that halflings can’t see in the dark as well as elves, but Deitricha offered him her everburning torch and off he went. I should have insisted on going ahead first— he walked right into another ambush. I quickly caught up with him and managed to shoot a few kobolds with my crossbow. As we dealt with them, I heard the sound of fighting behind us— Areon was taking care of those and Deitricha was tending to Antonio, who should have remained resting. Still, we got through it and the end result was less kobolds for the next attack. We climbed back up on the ledge and decided to try and get some proper rest. Tassar wanted his trail rations heated up again— I offered to help this time and he handed them to me. That is trust.

They weren’t half bad— I’m getting used to eating halfling rations, I guess!

After resting for what we guessed was about 24 hours, we decided we’d better get on with our task before the kobolds came looking for us again. In spite of my paranoia, as soon as I heard the yipping of kobolds off down a narrow passage, I moved forward to take point, and hit a tripwire. Tassar and I both tried to catch the thunderstone that inevitably fell from the sprung trap, but neither of us managed to catch it before it hit. Boom! I assume that the yipping stopped, though of course I had been deafened by the sound of the thunderstone, so I couldn’t verify it. Any chance of surprise gone, Tassar moved ahead of me and rushed down the passage. We all quickly followed.

The battle was bloody but brief. We found ourselves in a small room with sling bullets hailing down on us from a ledge, while other kobolds engaged Tassar in melee. One kobold stood back and began to cast spells, while our own Antonio (also standing back) took him out with a well-timed fire spell. Areon found himself in combat with a chainmailed, axe-toting and rather large kobold. Somehow Deitricha got to Areon just as he would have gone down from a swing of the big kobold’s axe, but she went down instead, just as she delivered a life-saving spell to the wood elf. A concerted effort by those still standing finished off the armored kobold, causing the few remaining kobolds to flee, and Tassar and I ran to Deitricha— luckily she was still alive and we managed to get her patched up. With the exception of Areon, we all still had ringing ears from the thunderstone when we rounded the next corner, hoping that we had just survived the final battle.

We found ourselves in a cavern filled with kobolds— but they were all females and their young— not a weapon among them. While I realize they often grow up to be nasty creatures, I have met one or two nice ones over the years, so was more than happy to leave them go so long as the promised to never come back to these mines. Better still, they gave us a nice pile of loot! I did a quick estimate of the coin, but we decided we’d better get Deitricha home sooner rather than later, so we fashioned a litter out of one of the mine’s many ladders and carted her, and the loot, back to Silverymoon. Thankfully, the trip back was uneventful. We got Deitricha to her own temple where they promised to patch her up, and then the rest of us went to the Bright Blade Brandished for a few rounds of house ale. We divided up our loot: 300gp in coin, two very nice weapons (one a great sword which Areon wanted, and the other, some gnomish weapon worth selling), a beautifully-engraved gold ring of Chultan design with a green spinel (I would love to keep it, but it is worth more than all the other loot combined), and a silver necklace with an alexandrite— I have heard that alexandrite is considered lucky in local lore, so I’ve tucked that into Deitricha’s share of the spoils. Other than selling off what we can’t use and splitting the remainder of the coin, we still have the 500gp to retrieve from Lord Greycastle. The night is young— I’ll go “convert” our loot into coin and, divvy it up, and then take Deitricha her share. That is, after I get done listening to my new friends share the tale of our heroics at the bar— it gets better with each telling!