As Winter’s grasp began to tighten around the kobolds at first it nearly seemed a blessing. There was quite a bit of work to be done and though there were plenty of paws the clay for the walls was still heavy. Under Zata’s careful eye the outside wall of clay was built first to provide a single entrance to the camp, all the better for it to be guarded by the iron plated “doggy” chained inside. At the same time Maverick worked with military consultation (and insinuating flirtation) from Kalras to make a fortified wood wall near the clay barrier. The Death Passage certainly wasn’t impressive, but it would at least make charging into the camp a little bit more difficult.
“Need spiders,” pointed out Mephistophelia as she played a game of catch with the Iron Doggy.
“Shiny Cog,” called out Tin as he surveyed the work being done from on top of one of the living huts. “Shiny Cog smart?”
Shiny Cog looked up from her current project of hammering together several bones with a curious look on her face. “Smart? Shiny Cog count. Count paws.” She held up both of her bone-dust covered paws in demonstration of this.
“Good,” responded Tin with a serious look on his face. “Put statue, then count.” So it was that Shiny Cog became the Hoardcounter of Ebentijenta with a bone statue to commemorate her raising. It didn’t really look that much like her and honestly didn’t show the whole ‘raising to hoardcounter’ very well, but it certainly did add to the glamour of the dining hall.
Although the food supplies were still good there was talk among the kobolds that with the camp’s increasingly fast growth it could be good to have more meat available. Besides, more bones were going to be needed to arm the incoming group of kobold fighters! The Menacing Rabbles and the Wanderers of Heaven took up their arms and went off in search of Adventure. Splinter found the drake first, a massive grey beast with a hissing tongue. He did what any kobold would do in that moment. He charged it alone with a cry of battle. Swinging time and again with his pointy stick, he couldn’t seem to pierce the drake’s scales. Then he reached too far forward and the monster’s claws found his leg and his hand. With a cry of pain, he stumbled back dropping his stick.
Seeing Splinter collapse onto the ground, holding his paws above his face to protect himself, Kalras, Anald and Deepblue shouted out to him and charged forward. The drake hissed in surprised and turned on them leaving Splinter time to scurry away. “Die dragon,” snarled DeepBlue as she began stabbing and pushing it back into Kalras’ ready stabbing. The three warrior women stabbed, chunks of scale ripping off and blood spurting until the beast was down. At the last, Anald crushed it’s skull and the three went off to celebrate.
Splinter was not in so much of a celebrating mood. Nursing his hand he wandered back to camp letting out small whimpers of pain as he went.
Before GatorFace could even kiss Splinter’s hand better, there came a cry of terrible fear. A beast so terrible and horrifying that it sent shivers of fear through even the bravest of kobolds. A monster from hells so deep that no loving kobold parent would let it’s pups know of it’s existence. And it had found Maverick.
A GINGERBREAD WOMAN.
Maverick took up his spear and let out a primal shout of anger and rage, summoning everything it was to be ‘bold. The Gingerbread woman’s mouth quirked upwards the chocolate chips forming a sneer before she backed away into the wilderness growling out, “I will return for you, Maverick of the Wrung Claws. I will devour your soul.”
With the military all set to attack, there was a moment of calm. The kobolds panted out heavy breaths as they stood waiting. Then a terrible hissing came to their ears. Two drakes that had previously been assumed to be stuck at the bottom of the river had began to climb up toward the camp. Alone Kalras descended the stairs to fight it, stabbing again and again, ripping through it’s scales with her pointy stick and shouting defiance to the monster before her. It bled and raged, screaming as it charged at her and for a moment, she stumbled on the edge of the stairs. Her claws reached out to try to grasp for a friendly hand, the drake, anything to stop her. Then she fell.
The Dread Drake Voicekisses snarled and let out it’s signature hiss of terror. “NOOOOO,” cried DeepBlue as she hurtled down the stairs with her spear ready, stabbing again and again into Voicekisses. Anald and Splinter were soon behind her, but neither could match the fierceness of her strikes. She cut into it’s side, stomach, back, and finally with a harsh flick of her wrist took it’s head from it’s body. “Die, DIE!” she snarled out as she stabbed the corpse over and over again, until Splinter and Anald had to pull her from the body.
When the three came up to the camp, Maverick, unbeknownst widower of Kalras, saw the tears on DeepBlue’s face and asked, “DeepBlue? Why cry?”
“Kalras,” she responded and Maverick’s eyes went dead.
The kobolds held a service that night to say goodbye to Kalras.
“Kalras bravest,” sermonized Maverick as the slab for his wife was placed before the statue Kalras had carved earlier that year of her god Shinto Spraysnaked, “Kalras carve good. Kalras good hunter.” The other kobolds nodded and the slab was put into place to honor the first fallen warrior of the kobolds.
Not exactly the happiest way to return to Ebentijenta. Kalras will truly be missed.
