An Epic Tale form another part of Telene IV

The story Continues 

The Urze

The kobold identified himself as the alpha and offered up his conditions of surrender. They would return the child, unharmed, and leave if the party agreed to liberate their previous cave from a bugbear called Urze. The bugbear and his goblin minions had routed and killed the alpha's mate and hatchlings, and forced the remaining kobolds to evacuate and find an alternative haven.
Reluctantly, the party agreed, mostly on Kalamor and Frug's insistence. They told Brendol, the farmer, to head into town and alert Elmin Hesir of the situation and that they would return after dealing with the bugbear. One of the kobolds would stay with them as a guide (much to Frug's chagrin).
The weather Fyban was unusually quiet as they traversed the ancient paths. No far in they found the cause. A servant of the swift sword whistled along the path. He introduced himself as Darius, a Kalamaran youth on his Search. Fighting bugbears sounded fun, so he offered his great hammer in service to the party. The other reason for the silence was quickly noticed as well, when a hunting pack of mountain lions ambushed and attacked the party. They were quickly dispatched and sent running, with the dead one making a fairly tasty meal for their camp.

The kobold who failed to be a useful guide was self-named "Dragon's Blood". He wasn't particularly bright, but he did know the way to their old cave. He was fairly good at cooking up wild cat, though. And after a good nights rest, the party continued on through the day.

Malvus used his speed and stealth to scout ahead as the party followed the creek. It would have been an uneventful travel if not for one wrong turn. A giant spider dropped down from the canopy of trees and snatched up the monk, paralyzing him with poison. Because he was so far ahead, the party didn't see the signs when they arrived and were similarly assaulted. Thanks to solid armor, however, the heroes were more resistant to the spider's bites and powered through the monstrosities.



With the spiders dispatched, Malvus was freed. Frug found some other victims of the spiders and confirmed one was the tax collector. They looted the bodies of some healing potions and the tax collectors information. A reward would probably be forthcoming for confirming his death. The kobold was grateful to Darius for saving his life and, in his stupidity admitted that the alpha had lied about the death of their matron and hatchlings. This truth earned the ire of Kalamor.

Not far beyond the spiders' den, the party located the cave. A lone goblin stood watch, distracted by a trapped pixie he was torturing. The party killed the goblin and slipped into the cave quietly. The goblins inside were unprepared for a fight and caught off-guard. The party set to dispatching them quickly before the snoring Urze woke to the sounds of battle.



As the massive bugbear emerged, he laughed at the party's attempt. Calling out the monk, he drug forward with his oversized Morningstar, "soft, puny-hand man going to get squished. I going to eat your bones!" With a roar he swung the weapon at Malvus' head, only to miss as the monk struck with lightning speed. In an instant, Urze lay dead on the floor.



"Dragon's Blood" rushed forward and stabbed the dead carcass with his spear only to retreat when a dull growl of air was released as it died.

The heroes were victorious, and they found a sizable amount of coin from Urze's stash. All in all, it was a successful venture.