Talya nods in agreement.

"Gnome size with claws. You think it could be kobold tracks?"

Talya grins at the prospect. Gnomes are fierce enemies of the Kobold. All gnomes have some childhood training in the kobold's chaotic approach to combat. They are taught to absorb the feints with steadiness. Keep your balance and don't flinch. These tactics help the gnome to have confidence and success when fighting them.

Neither Talya nor Myrcury had ever actually put these skills to the test. Talya, at least was feeling cautiously eager to change that.

Myrcury likes seeing Talya this way. It's a change from her normally cautious approach. She seems hungry to fight the little draconians. He wonders about their numbers. They are known to form large groups.

"What if we are outnumbered?"

Myrcury is genuinely concerned. Whether for himself or just Talya he isn't certain.

Talya chuckles,

"You sound scared Myrcury. Come on, if we can suprise them we could take out a half dozen without breaking a sweat. Lead the way, stay hidden."

She smiles at Myrcury strangely. Was it a flirtation? Myrcury doubt it.

The cave and passage are dimly lit by the phosphorescent glow of the resident fungi. Myrcury takes a deep breath then moves a Silently as possibly into the passage, sticking to the shadows.


Move Silent
1d20 + 5 rnk + 4 dex
Rolled: 8 + 9 = 17

Hide
1d20 + 5 rnk + 4 dex + 4 size
Rolled: 8 + 13 = 21

This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 07 Mar.

Talya stays back as far as she can without losing site of Myrcury,  which is not far under the circumstances.  She hangs back about 40 feet.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 13:46, Thu 07 Mar.

Ahead of Myrcury the passage bends to the right and gets smaller rapidly. It is about 15 feet across and maybe 10 feet high. It is a hewn passage. There are no natural rock formations, nor obvious hiding places other than the prolific shadows. There are patches of glowing mushrooms growing sporadically through the passage.

He continues to move forward with little change in scenery for nearly a hundred feet when he notices more foot prints in the dirt, many more. It is too dark to see clearly but he is certain they are there. He pauses and listens carefully. Hearing nothing he becons Talya with a hand motion.

Talya quietly catches up to Myrcury and sees the tracks. Again she scares Myrcury with the enthusiastic expression on her face as she whispers,

"A few of them. But I dont hear anything. Stick to the shadows."

She indicates with her body language that she is eager to continue.

Myrcury continues into the gloom, mentally counting paces for his map. Ahead he sees a bend in the passage to the right. He hugs the right wall as he moves through the bend, always with stealth as his objective. As he finishes the bend he sees the passage ends about 50 feet ahead, in a closed door. He continues till the door is 20 feet away then he removes his pack as Talya catches up.

The door looks typical in every way. It's a thick wooden, dungeoun style door fit into a wooden frame that fully seals off the passage from what lies beyond. There is a handle and a latch mechanism. The door is about five foot high and two feet wide. A little small by gnome standards, but not unusually so. The passage itself continues to glow with phosphorescense the air is still and silent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Wed 13 Mar.

Talya is following close behind Myrcury who had stopped to examine the door. She looks around and notices something about the ground here. It is very well trodden around the door.

" I am having second thoughts about this. It feels like we may be poking a bees nest. Perhaps we need to get a team together for this."

" I agree Talya. This lock is not old and worn. Its solid and fairly new. Lets get the scales and head back to town. We need to be very descrete, but we need a couple more."

The pair return to their established base camp and gather up the centipede scales and head back to the surface. Mrycury is eager to get the poison glands to Mr. Cobble for freshness sake. They decide to stop there first prior to heading to Talya's shop to unpack their gear.

As they enter the shop they see two familiar faces. Terriadoc Proudfoot is Kinder Cobble's apprentice and a kid from the neighborhood. Myrcury and Terry, as he was known, were similar in age so they knew each other from school. Talya, being the master leathersmith in town does business with Terry's mother on occasion. They offer warm greetings but Myrcury is eager to speak to Mr. Cobble. Myrcury has a small pouch held delicately in his hands. Talya has a large sack slung over her shoulder.

More coming....

"Master Moleburrow and Miz Honeybeard, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Good morning, Master Coble. I have something I think you might like to buy. Talya and I killed a large centipede down by the river. I extracted the venom sacks along with the fangs, though they look more like straws then fangs. "

Myrcury removes a specimen vial given to him by Kinder Cobble several weeks ago. Now it contains two large venom sacks and the stingers still attached.

"I did it like you showed me with the snake, but it was pretty different. I hope I got the right stuff."

Kinder looks over the small jar and gasps. The size of the stingers is astounding.


"By Garl these are huge! Where did you come across such a monster? These creatures can be extremely dangerous."

"We are dangerous Master Cobble."

He gives a proud grin to his partner.

"I am beginning to see that. Tell me, where did you come across this creature?"

Myrcury hesitates a moment before answering dishonestly.

"In a cave down by the river. We dispatched it pretty easily."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:30, Tue 16 Apr.

Kinder looks over at his apprentice who has been patiently watching the conversation with curiosity.

" Terry, come taje a look. I am going to need your help with this."

He turns back to Myrcury.

"Terry here has graduated from the Hermits Academy and is a full fledged wizard! Even has Wilda over there to prove it. If you two are going to keep hunting big game, you might want some magical assistance."

"Congratulationss Terry!"

Tayla looks over at Myrcury and they exchange a glance.

" By the way, I have a pair of garden gloves for your Ma. You should come visit mexat my shop today to pick em up."

This is the first time Terry has seen Myrcury and Talya in armour and he is really impressed, the rapier and hooked hammer tell him that they aren't just playing, that they're serious.

"Wow! If you guys have killed a giant centipede, would you be willing to help me with a giant spider? It jumped me last night while I was summoning Wilda then hid in a burrow when I wounded it. It might not still be there but if we check the burrow or the bushes it attacked from it might lead to a nest. I figure we split anything we find three ways, I don't have anything to pay you with yet... Oh and of course I'll come and pick up the gloves for ma whenever's convenient for you Ms Honeybeard."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:29, Tue 16 Apr.

Myrcury's ears perk up at the mention of another large venomous creature. This may become his specialty.

"First of all, congratulations! A wizard! Wow! That is exciting Terry. I didnt even know you was prenticing with the hermit. Wilda is beautiful.  Do you mind if I talk to her?"

Myrcury is genuinely fascinated by the concept of magic. He just never could catch on to it.

"Of course Myrcury, Wilda is very smart and I think she agreed to come here because of her own curiosity and I think she'll enjoy talking to everyone. I spoke to her yesterday and explained who I am and where we are, also that I will use my burrowers tongue at the end of each day for conversation just in case there's an emergency during the day. I am a very amateur mage, if I can become more powerful our connection will grow to include a personal language, until then I have to rely on my own gift and the gift of others to keep Wilda entertained, I worry that she'll get lonely here."