Ambush

by Irene Smith

NOTE: This story is not High Fantasy. It was written about a bunch of AD&D characters and is based on an actual session in which I was the DM. If you're not a fan of role-playing games, you probably won't like this story.

The first time the group came into the Purple Dragon, I was sitting quietly in the corner, watching the evening's festivities. They arrived shortly before dinner time and seemed to be in a good mood, laughing, talking and calling out orders to the waitresses. Despite the fact that the weather had turned dreary and damp with pockets of fog everywhere, nobody seemed to mind. The man I now know to be Koal was particularly friendly with anyone who would even return his glance. I found him a rather remarkable creature, a man whose like I had never before beheld. Every visible inch of skin was completely black, even the palms of his hands! He caught my eye several times and smiled in a friendly manner, but I was feeling an uncharacteristic reluctance to talk to anyone so I only nodded back.

Shortly after the newcomers finished their meal, another stranger came into the inn. This man was not in a happy mood and he didn't look too healthy. He staggered in, out of breath and badly battered. Once the innkeeper had finished tending his wounds, he finally gathered the strength to speak. He told a tale that made cold shivers run down the backs of many of the room's occupants. It seemed that he had been part of a caravan on its way to Droflim from far distant places. The caravan had been accosted by a band of terrible creatures (he was sure they had been wererats) and everyone else had been killed with the exception of the local cobbler's niece, Clarissa, who had also been a part of the group. He told us that she had been kidnapped by the fiends and taken away, probably to serve as a meal.

The innkeeper begged for volunteers to fight the brigands and return Clarissa to her family. Just at that moment, the cobbler joined the group and added his pleas and the offer of 50gp (all the money he had in the world) to the offer. Bravely, the Lady Sela spoke for the group, offering to make things right again. To the everlasting gratitude of all present, the group immediately took up arms and left the inn, to head for the location of the ambush.

This next bit comes from Sela, herself, who told me afterwards what had happened. It seems that when they reached the ambush spot, Wicket became invisible (something I have since found out is as natural to him as breathing) and approached the deserted wagons of the caravan. As he did so, they group was attacked by assailants that they could not see. After a brief altercation, in which one of the thieves was killed, the attackers took off into the forest. With shock, the group realized that they had been attacked by lowly kobolds. The entire group set out into the forest to follow them.

Since Koal is an accomplished Ranger, he easily managed to track the thieves to a small hillside that had three cave entrances side by side on its western slopes. Approaching carefully and as silently as possible, the group split into two, with Koal, Wicket and Ng in one group and Lep, Pointdexter and Rufus in the other. Sela stood ready to pass messages back and forth between the two groups. Each group approached a separate cave entrance and attempted to see what lay within.

Becoming invisible again, Wicket went a short way up the passage to see what he could find out about the thieves. A short way along the low, cramped passageway, he spotted a small alcove. Within the alcove was hiding two of the kobolds! Excitedly, he returned to Koal and Ng and reported his findings.

It didn't take much conversation before Ng convinced the rest that they should sneak up the passage and try to eliminate the guards. In the meantime, Pointdexter and Rufus were exploring the other passageway and found a nasty surprise waiting for them. As they approached a spot where the tunnel narrowed and passed under a small ledge, two giant skunks came out of the opening and attacked. At the same time, Rufus glanced up at the ledge and saw about half a dozen kobolds standing above them, ready to attack as well. With no time to call for backup, the two returned the attack.

Despite the cramped quarters, and the fact that Rufus quickly found himself retching violently in response to a well-aimed squirt from one of the skunks, they managed to dispatch the creatures rather quickly and began firing at the kobolds on the ledge above. Strangely enough, the kobolds didn't return their fire and they soon realized that they were attacking dead kobolds that had been set up for effect only. The real creatures were cowering deeper within the cave complex.

Taking only enough time to let the others know what they were doing, they entered the tunnel and crawled through to the larger chamber on the other side. Once there, they discovered that there were about four kobolds waiting for them and ready to attack. The battle that ensued was eerie with the constant accompaniment of what sounded like a hunting horn. The battlefield became increasingly foggy and soon they were fighting almost blind.

Even though the kobolds were clearly not your average easy-to-kill weaklings, it didn't take long with Lep's help and the assistance of an illusionary griffin, created by Rufus, to quickly dispatch the remaining kobolds. All, that is, except for the horn player who remained hidden from view.

Meanwhile, in the other passageway, Koal, Ng and Wicket managed to sneak up on the two guards. Before either of the kobolds could sound the alarm, they were dead and Ng and Koal waited while Wicket went the rest of the way up the passage. The corridor opened onto the ledge which the others had passed beneath and Wicket had a good view of the chamber. That is, he would have had a good view, if the chamber had not been almost completely filled with fog! Even so, he could hear the sounds of battle below and quickly returned to get Ng and Koal.

By the time Ng, Koal and Wicket returned to the chamber, they could tell that the battle was nearly over and that Rufus, Pointdexter and Lep had things well under control. Rather than stand around with their hands in their pockets, so to speak, they decided to explore the rest of the cave complex. Crossing over the ledge they entered another passage that, apparently, would connect to the third entrance they had spotted from the outside.

The passage did, indeed, connect to the outside and Wicket took the opportunity to tell Sela what was happening. When she joined them, they began to explore a series of small rooms that obviously had been used by the kobolds as sleeping quarters. The rooms were filthy and strewn with garbage, the remains of what must have been a good-sized band of kobolds, and a narrowly avoided pit filled with centipedes.

As they approached the last room, Sela paused for a moment, held up her hand and said, "Careful, I think I hear something moving around inside."

Sela told me afterwards that Wicket immediately winked out of sight. Realizing that what he was up to, the others waited patiently while he scouted out the territory. It didn't take long for him to return.

Appearing suddenly at Sela's elbow, he whispered, "There's a lady inside. She looks sad."

"You mean a lady kobold?" asked Koal.

"No," said Wicket. "She looks like a regular person. She's all tied up and she's crying."

Ng and Koal were all for bursting into the room and freeing the prisoner, but Sela was more cautious. She quizzed Wicket carefully about the room and, after making sure that there were no other living creatures within, they agreed that they should certainly free the lady.

When the adventurers entered the chamber, the girl sat up and cried, "Please don't hurt me!"

"Don't be silly," said Sela, "We're here to save you, not hurt you!" She walked over and untied the girl, helped her up and check her over carefully for wounds.

After rubbing her hands and stretching, the girl said, "My name is Clarissa. I was returning to Droflim with my father and brothers when our caravan was attacked by those nasty creatures. My father and brothers were killed, but they seemed to find me attractive."

With a shudder, she continued, "Anyway, they brought me here and tied me up. They wanted to kill me and eat me, but the leader kept saying 'Pretty lady' and he wouldn't let the others hurt me. I hope you killed them all. They're filthy, disgusting creatures and a real menace to travelers."

"I'm sure that by now they have all been killed," Sela said reassuringly, patting the girls arm. "We'll take you back to Droflim with us."

"Of course, you might want to reward us," Koal hinted broadly.

"Certainly," said Clarissa. "In fact, I would be pleased to give you my father's farm. I haven't anything else to give you and I certainly can't run the place by myself. I would much rather that you have it. I will live in town with my uncle, the cobbler."

After giving Clarissa a drink and something to eat, Ng, Koal, Sela went back to the main chamber, leaving Wicket to guard the girl until they could be sure that everything was safe.

By the time they got back to the main chamber, the battle was over and Rufus, Pointdexter and Lep were cleaning up and generally checking things out. They had finally found and killed the leader of the group and taken from him the horn that had been sounding so incessantly. They had gathered a small pile of coins and several pieces of armor. While Sela examined the things and checked them out to see if there were any magical items in the pile, Koal picked up the horn and examined it.

"Hey Sela," said Koal, "take a look at this horn. I think it might be magical."

Sela glanced at it and confirmed Koal's suspicions. With obvious excitement, Koal blew a mighty blast of air into the horn. Immediately the same loud noise they had heard before issued from the instrument and, simultaneously, the room began to fill with fog.

"I was right," said Koal, grinning broadly. "It's a horn of fog! Just what we need if we ever have to beat a hasty retreat."

The kobolds vanquished and their backpacks filled with coins and other goodies, the group returned to the chamber where Wicket was waiting with Clarissa and the group returned to Droflim as the dawn was breaking.

When they returned to the Purple Dragon, the townspeople rejoiced to find that Clarissa was safe, although they mourned the passing of her father and brothers. The cobbler confirmed Clarissa's gift of the farm, saying that it would be well worth it to have the protection of such a noble band of fighters nearby.

After packing up their belongings and making the short trip to their new home, they spent most of the day resting, healing up and generally making plans for their new lives as citizens of Droflim. I didn't see them again myself until the next day when they came to town to purchase supplies and hire some workers to make improvements to their property and to run the place when they were away on business.

None of the inhabitants of Droflim would allow them to spend any money that day. Even I, who am certainly thrifty with a coin, bought them a round of drinks. Eager to test their mettle, I told them of an evil creature I had heard about who was attacking a nearby village and carrying off children. They agreed that such evil must be abolished, but... that's another story.

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