Liberty Beguiling

Aleixo shrugs, "If you prefer, I'd rather keep my height, though I suppose my shield will take most of this tunnel and they will have no room to attack from."

Rikrak checks his blade and armour, before carefully yanking at the vines in the side of the shaft to check their stability and slowly leading the way down into the depths of the mite tunnels. "Rikrak see well in dark," he whispers back up.  "All quiet. No mites."

Azul stretches, his brass scales catching the light as he moves. Looking to the rest of the party. with a smile across his snout "Hold on Rikrak, I believe a bit of fire and smoke will give us a much needed advantage. We can go into the tunnels after we have thinned their numbers out. Does anyone object?" Looking out to the rest of his party and seeing nods of agreement. He gathers his magic and unleashes several bolts of fire from his snout and begins to work his magic to control the flames. Working to increase the smoke but slow the actual burning.

Rikrak reluctantly clambers back up out of the hole and watches as Azul begins to spread fire around the big old tree. It's slow to catch, but gradually the edges of the big old tree do begin to smoulder. It seems that this will probably take a very long time. "If sycamore collapse tunnels, how we find Old Sharptooth?" The kobold asks with concern. 

Brim's look of resignation to the burning of the tree turns to grave concern at Rikrak's words, "Sir Azul wait! We can't destroy Old Sharptooth!"

"Relax, it's just some smoke to flush them out. Stand here." He moves aside a step. "Feel that? The wind? The air rushing out? That's what will drive them. No tunnels should collapse."

"Let's hope so, at least. Maybe my magic can help Azul." Xan moves up with the dragonborn and adds his own energy to the mix, felling the flames move over a larger area, the fire ebbing and flowing to their desire.

Not the first time Petros had watched Xan and Azul control flames like this, he was becoming very interested in how they sometimes seemed to be able to combine their powers for effects perhaps greater than either could do alone.  He closed his eyes and tried to feel the magic working, being channeled by them.

Rikrak seems less than satisfied with this approach, but equally unwilling to dive into the smoky tunnels beneath the burning tree. A high-pitched hiss fills the air as sap begins to boil, but as yet there is no sign of the mites.

A minute passes and then another, until finally Sval hears the muffled noise of coughs and the pattering of hurried little feet coming up the tunnel.

Sval braces himself. "They are coming," the Norscan hisses as he readies his blade.

A little blue, wrinkled head emerges from the shaft in the ground as the first of the mites surfaces.

As the mites run forwards, Aleixo thrusts out with his spear, forcing the first mite back down the tunnel. More quickly run up to take its place, but the ambush is well set and Aleixo is confident in the ability of his companions to keep them back. 

Sval slashes out at the mite that comes up to replace the one Aleixo had thrown back down the tunnel. His first cut sends acid splashing across the creature's face. The second removes the mite's leg. It screams pitifully and the wound gushes blue-grey blood.  Brimblebread will not like this.

Rikrak thrusts, stabs and slashes at the first Mite he sees with glee and reckless abandon. "Death to Grabbles!" The little kobold yells at the top of his tiny lungs.

Brim watches with growing concern as Azul and Xan bring fire and flames to the grand tree before them. The embers turn quickly to ashen smoke that rises up around the group until finally the first sounds of movement can be heard coming up from the hole in the tree. She turns to look at Sir Sval to see him hiss in anticipation as he hurriedly maims the first creature to come out, and immediately a lump forms in her throat as her eyes go a bit wide. Rikrak follows close behind, stabbing wildly down into the hole. "Wait!"  She cries out, though whether it's aimed at the mites or her party members is hard to say, "This doesn't have to be complete bloodshed. Come out and surrender and we can, you know, settle this."  Try as she might she cannot gain a particularly good view into the rising chaos to determine whether her words were even breaching the growing shouts. She swallows that lump in her throat and pitches her voice louder as she calls out, "Old Sharptooth! Bring out Old Sharptooth and mean ol' King Grabbles and no one else will get hurt! Okay? Please? Please don't make us do any more harm..." 

The mite that Rikrak is attacking slowly twists its head unnaturally far to the right to stare at Brim. The nearer of its two eyes locks on to her, bulging and growing unnaturally large. Blood vessels fill engorged orb and a hollow pit forms within the little goblin's stomach as anger grips her heart.

Azul's shield is held high and his long spear braced and ready to strike out. But surprise sets in as the Mites emerge, he expected warriors but so far the mites have appeared sickly and poorly armed. When Brim makes her pitch he relaxes his stance hoping they will bow to reason. But as he loosens up he notices one of the Mites turn their god forsaken eyes on Brim and panic sets into the dragonborn. He couldn't go through this again, the last time he had seen those eyes terrible things followed. Events he would much rather burry down deep and act like they never happened. Roaring out like his name sake Azul stabs forward with his spear piercing straight through the gut of the Mite in front of him. He then takes a deep breath tilts his snout back and lets out a torrent of fire burning the mite crawling up the shaft. In a voice equal parts panic and enraged he yells out to the rest "Watch Brim she got hit with the evil eye, she may turn against us. If you can look down don't let these bastards look you in the eye."

Aleixo thrusts his spear forwards. "Can't look at you if they're dead." His spear scrapes nastily into the chest of a mite, and his shield lashes out next at the nearer one, catching him off guard and sending him tumbling back down the hole in a mess of it's companions that get caught up in the fall. hearing the kobold beside him laughing in joy, Aleixo too cheers. "See my friend, glorious battle can still be met when such tactics are employed. We will get you old sharp-tooth!"

Brim's confident smile and soft gaze are met with something she hadn't seen before; something that disquieted her despite her best attempts to stand strong - pure spite. Inexplicably, she felt an almost entirely alien feeling swell up rapidly from deep within her. It'd be a long time since she'd felt anger, let alone anger like this. Her eyes - always so full of light and warmth - turned cold and hard as her small brow furrowed in fury. Before she could even think about what she was doing, she'd twisted the crook over in her hands and was bringing it down hard  on the mite. " Fine !"  she snapped, "if you won't see reason then you can go to heck for all I care!

Melanthios laughs as the little goblin falls to the evil eye. Were her rage not currently focused on these enemies, he might end it, but for now he sees no harm in letting the paladin vent a little steam. "Is it not cathartic to give in to such fervent emotions, Brim?" But despite his encouragement, he isn't truly interested in a prolonged massacre. Standing near the back of the group, he raises his voice now and calls out in sylvan. "Surrender, insects! The thunder of the gods is upon your doorstep, and Dionysus himself has sent an Unseelie chorus to herald it! Bring forth your leader and the object stolen from the Sootscales or we shall put every last one of you to the torch!"

With a grin for Brim, Petros hops up into the air and into the shaft, his arms tucked into his sides to be sure to fit into the shaft.  Landing spryly, he immediately notices movement to his left down one of two narrow tunnels sloping away deeper underground with lots of tangled roots protruding from the ceiling.  He brings his hands up and pours a gout of flame at three of the evil fey creatures down that left tunnel.  Although two drop to the ground and avoid most of the flame, another is badly blistered by the heat.  He quickly scrambles back up the shaft, immediately rolling out of the way to clear space for his companions to attack any pursuers.

Xan shakes his head as the scene unfolds, it was all too barbaric, too wrong for him. He couldnt bring himself to through more powerful spells down the tunnel so he instead bolstered the abilities of himself, Azul and Brim.  Turning to Dawid he gestures for himto wait for a more opportune moment.

Sval readies his blade, waiting for another of the mites to poke its ugly blue head out.

Rikrak leans warily over the edge, watching for oncoming mites.

His spear pointed to the tunnel ready to lash out at the first mite he sees, but is only greeted by silence. Slinging his spear he looks over to Aleixo and says "Looks like we are going in".   Azul slings his spear, and draws his sabre. With his shield held high dives into the Mites tunnel. Cautiously stepping over the bodies of the fallen, he looks behind his shield for any threats. Not seeing any he cautiously climbs down the roots and takes a defensive stance a few feet into the east tunnel.

"I've no problem getting dirty, but being bound by the earth does not sit favorably with me. I'll keep watch up here. But before you go charging off, Brim," he looks at the goblin and places a hand on her shoulder. "Rage can be a release, but even in the throws of passion we must find clarity."  With the bard's enchanted words he hopes to dispel the unseelie madness placed upon her by the mites, or at least to prevent her from letting her rage out on her companions. "Now, have fun my friends." With his little send off he begins to strum, the magic notes imbuing Brim, Rikrak, and Sval with renewed energy. 

"Agreed, Mel.  And I suspect they have more than one exit.  Let's fan out and look for where they might be off to underground.  Maybe we'll get lucky and spot some smoke rising nearby."

" Come on, stay close to me and watch out. If you think something is wrong, tell me. I suspect we will be tested here."  Xan cautions Dawid as the two of them descend into the tunnel sticking close to Sval and Azul, trying to cover beh9nd the big dragonborn and his shield.

Squeezing through the tiny tunnels and breathing shallowly as to not inhale the smoke, Sval moves as quietly as he can. He enters a wider cavern, but to his chagrin, it is not much taller. Three crude, wooden workbenches occupying its centre. Their tops are strewn with various tiny tools, metal and wooden hardware, and blocks of wood. A miniature catapult made of bone and branches sits off to one side, drawing a slight chuckle from the witcher. He turns to the south-west and motions for Xan, Dawid, and Azul to follow him as the chamber slopes away in that direction.

Spurred on by Melanthios's invigorating tune, Rikrak dashes down the shaft and ahead of Sval through the miniature workshop. "DEATH TO GRABBLESSS!" The little kobold screams as he goes charging past the Norscan and begins to clamber down the shaft on the far side.

At the casting of magic on her, the rage that had so suddenly exploded forth from her tiny frame faded away like a smoke in the wind. However, her usual demeanor did not return in its place. Methodically hopping down into the tree, her face a void of all expression, the little goblin began walking fervently past the others and after the hollering kobold ahead. " Advance, my friends. Or don't, I am not in charge here ,"  she calls out flatly. She braces her crook with each consistent but uninspired step,  " be assured Rikrak that of all the outcomes this Grabbles could face this day, this will certainly be one of them. " 

Growling as Rikrak and Brim run ahead. He opens his snout to chide them for their recklessness, and then nearly smashes his head into a low hanging stalactite. These tunnels would be his death, a wave of claustrophobia washing over him as he realizes that he can barely move let alone fight in this grave like passageway. Maybe the smaller members should take the lead, Rikrak and Brim would hardly notice the tight fit. Falling in behind them he raises his shield as much as he can and angles his blade over his shield to stab out if conflict arises.

Petros continues to move out in an ever increasing spiral, looking for signs of smoke or fleeing mites.  

Xan and Dawid bring up the rear of the group, the pair watching the spa es behind them as they move further in, eyes sharp, they see no signs of anything trying to sneak in behind them.

Rikrak descends ahead of Brimblebread, Azul, Aleixo and Sval into the next chamber and those above soon hear the kobold let out a little squeal. It's hard to tell if Rikrak is exclaiming in surprise, anguish, delight, or all of the above. "Mikmek!" There's a brief pause and then Rikrak calls back up the tunnel. "Mikmek need air!"

His claustrophobia continues to build as he makes his way down the tunnel. Getting to the bottom he is hit with a wave of smoke. His people typically didn't mind smoke but being in such a confined space with a this thick of a cloud could take him down if he wasn't careful. Taking a deep breath he enters the room.  Letting out a low growl when he sees the Kobold Dragonkin, he rushes to the the front of the room. his gravelly voice cutting through the noise as he says  "Get them out, I protect their escape."

Brim continued down into the room Rikrak had charged into, completely oblivious to the smoke clogging its walls. With the same steady pace she approached the kobold next to Rikrak and Mikmek and begins pulling them free before Azul comes running in a few moments later. As he gives some orders, she nods, “We can do this easily enough. Or we can’t. I am not psychic, so who knows,”  she gathers the kobold in her arms and starts to carry them out.

Aleixo squeezes forwards at Rikrak's cry for help. Scooping up the choking Kobold easily in his arms, he puts him over his shoulder and heads for the exit. "I'll get him out to the air. Who would do something like this? Keeping prisoners alive and torturing them shows nothing but dishonour." He shakes his head in sadness.

"Mel!  There!"  Petros yells, pointing to a plume of smoke coming out from the side of a hill.  He runs over, preparing to attack any Mites.

Sval makes it down the tunnels to where Rikrak was calling from. He opens his mouth to speak and inhales a lung-full of smoke. Hacking, he picks up a tiny black-scaled form and turns to head back out of the tunnel.

Rikrak begins to cough and choke on the fumes that permeate the dark, cramped tunnels. Not to be deterred, the little kobold heaves one of his clansmen over his shoulder and doggedly begins to climb back up the shaft towards the tunnel to the surface.

Brim completely ignores the smoke that's seizing the lungs of all her companions as she continues at an incredibly calm, unchanged pace. "You are being rescued." She monotones as the kobold drops off the wall into her arms, then is slung over her shoulder as she backpedals through the shafts and, despite never seemingly breaking into more than a brisk walk, is rapidly back at the hole leading outside.

Out on the hillside, Petros sees several mites emerge from a hidden tunnel, including one that wears a twisted crown of sticks and rides atop the back of an enormous insect. They hear the Hellenian man yell and the mite riding the insect begins barking orders to its minions in a strange guttural tongue. Immediately, one of the creatures on foot runs towards Petros and twists its head unnaturally to stare at him with its grotesque bulging eye.

Seeing that the others were able to safely make their way back up the tunnels and that he hasn't seen any sign of opposition yet. Azul backtracks grabbing one of the Kobolds and races up the smoky tunnel with the sootscale over his shoulder.

Aleixo too, with Mikmek over his shoulder, emerges up the ladder, placing the spluttering kobold down on the ground. "Xan! Some help here please!"

Melanthios is spurred out of his bored strumming as the mites finally make a break for it. He plays an abrupt, discordant note laden with deceptive magic, but the mite king shrugs it off. "Don't let them get away!" Melanthios runs forward and as he does so he takes a small leap off of one of the gnarled tree roots. The sun meets him mid-air, wreathing him in gold just as he plays the first swelling notes of a ballad. The music propels him forward along with Petros and Dimitrios who also hear the shining tune ring through their ears.

Petros feels frustration building in him that his companions so hastily jumped in after the mites when they were so obviously going to their back-up exit.  You did make Aleixo battle leader.   Rushing forward to confront the mites, Meli's invigorating notes kindle his frustration into a burst of speed.  They might still escape.  I need to slow them down.  And just because I made him battle leader doesn't mean I shouldn't be frustrated at his hasty decisions when he has done nothing but criticize my decisions for being hasty.  What a prick.   Calling on his wellspring of power, Petros tries to will the retreating mites into falling asleep as they run.

The smoke stinging his eyes Xan curses in frustration, having been slow off the mark and making sure Dawid was following he had been at the back of the group and the others were already making their way back up with the captives. The empty walls stared at him and he turned pushing Dawid ahead of him. "We are wasting our time and we'll not be able to handle the smoke for long. Let's go, now." He sees as they make their way back to the surface that Dawid is starting to struggle, the smoke getting into his lungs, slowing him. The tunnel comes into sight finally just in time to see the last of his friends exit. " We need to keep going, are you ok?"  Xan calls out to his apprentice.