After finishing up their chores, the pups left to go find Chungotlus in his hut at the edge of the reservation. The old man was nowhere to be found and so the little kobolds got to playing. They danced and yapped until one of them picked up a stick. “Look!” he said cheerfully as he swung the stick around. “I'm FeralTalon!” Immediately the others began picking up sticks and before long all of them were stabbing and bashing away at invisible enemies.
Slowly from behind a tree loomed a spindly figure who stepped towards the pups silently. The elf's eyes narrowed as he watched this imaginary warfare and he muttered to himself, “Little rats can't even be peaceful when we provide everything for them.” A near skeletal hand reached for the bow at his waist, but before he slaughtered the pups he relented. Then he called, “Here pups! Come get your berries.” The kobolds jumped and skittered with fear though the little scrap-earred pup stood with her “sword” raised in defiance. “No! Want meat!” she yipped out before charging. The elf deftly smacked the stick aside and tossed her into a bush.
“Knife ears!” came a shout of a weak voice strained with anger. “You will withdraw from this place. I will not see these pups mistreated.” Chungotlus limped in looking tired with bandages all up his arms. The elf sneered at the elder, but withdrew. The elder watched as the other pups helped the little scrap-eared pup out of the bush. One of them commented with a chuckle, “That's what you get wanting to be Cadbee.”
“I would not underestimate young Cadbee,” suggests Chungotlus with a faintly proud sound to his voice. “She may not have had the training some of the other Spirits had, but she came into her own. Let me tell you more...”Nix paced back and forth next to the huge pile of shattered bug-bits. He grumbled as he walked spear held firmly in his paws before he turned to Straw and asked again, “No bones?”
Straw heaves a great sigh as she sorted through the chitinous remains of giant bugs and bug men. “No bones,” she confirmed with an arched brow. “Told Nix paw times. No bones. Bug no have bones. Bug have...” The bonecarver held up a piece of chitin with a twisted nose. “This.”
“Nix need armor,” Nix reminded her again before turning to hunt down Corai. Several of the kobolds had a habit of avoiding Nix as he frequently displayed something of a short fuse. His very name carried with it an implication of possible violence. When he found Corai inspecting weaponry, Nix tapped him on the shoulder and told him, “Nix need armor.”
Corai nodded at this as his big ears twitched slightly in annoyance. “Corai know,” he assured him as he straightened Blue's leather armor. “Need armor for all recruit. Nix have skin armor.” Nix gestured to his armor hand-crafted with the finest of giant sparrow leather, “This? This no armor! This feathery!” He scowled and gestured to Corai, “Corai make hunt.”
For a moment, it seemed that the two might come to blows. Finally, Corai nodded and gestured with his spearpoint. “Form up. Spirits hunt.” Soon the kobolds had gathered up and were ready to hunt. Corai faced them seriously with spear in hand. “Bolds. Spirits. We hunt. No need meat. Camp have meat. No need bugs. Camp have bugs. Need bones. Bone armor. Bone weapons. Bones for pups. For future. Fight good. Fight hard. Live. Kobolds-” His speech was cut off by shrieking from the camp. He looked back towards camp and barked out, “Spirits to camp! Fight!”
The Unseen Spirits ran back to the camp with weapons drawn and ready for the fight. Cogdis, who had remained behind from the hunting rally was standing toe to toe with a massive beast-creature with black fur in a mask, a long snout filled with teeth, and giant menacing claws. “Coati!” grunted Corai. “Coati man! Big, but no kobold.”
The coati man swung a clawed fist at Cogdis, but he ducked beneath it. The kobold spearman held up a hand forestalling help and then turned back to the creature. Though the creature stood nearly twice Cogdis' size, he did not falter. The coati-man swung a fist again and Cogdis dodged beneath the blow to stab his spear into it's side, blood and bile leaking out. He ripped it free to a shower of gore and continued to spin and weave and stab. Soon the monster's hands were both cut open and Cogdis seemed to have won. With a roar of bloody rage the coati-man ripped the weapon from Cogdis' paws and charged for him mouth down and open. Cogdis pulled back a fist and punched it in the mouth, shattered teeth flying in every direction.
Nix tossed Cogdis his spear, Cogdis caught it in a spin, and stabbed through the beast's head. He stood, panting for breath for a moment, and then turned to the other kobolds. “Coati man big. Kobold stronger.”
The Unseen Spirits scattered to fight back the beasts as they swarmed in upon the camp. Ever eager to prove herself, Cadbee came face to face with a caoti woman. The monster screamed out a chittering challenge and charged at her. She stood ready with her sword and buckler facing down the beast. She tried to duck as Cogdis had, but wasn't quite fast enough taking a punch to the stomach. Cadbee gasps in pain but rights herself to shove the beast back with her shield. It draws closer again and punches her in the face, blood beginning to fall from her lip. Her vision blurred as she stumbled backwards. The coati-man drew closer and she grit her teeth again the pain. “Plasobler,” she murmered out. “Plasobler, give Cadbee strength.” She then pushed forward with all of her might the buckler hitting the open mouth of the coati-man. With super-kobold strength she bashed the jaw backwards up into the skull, causing the monster to collapse. She spit out a mouthful of blood and shook her head to run on to the next target.
Little Taz faced off against a coati man with his axe ready. The bone was already red with the blood of the coati before him, but he couldn't quite seem to move fast enough to get a decisive hit. He had, at least, managed to avoid getting injured himself, slicing at the coati-man's hands whenever they came too close. He bared his teeth and snarled out, “Coati! Stay!” Cadbee pulled up behind the coati and kept it in place by harrying with her sword. Then the two fell upon the beast and slashed it to bloody bits.
Corai moved with the squad of Blue, Nerev, and Nix hunting for coati. “Low,” instructed Corai as he loped through the underbrush. Suddenly there was the flicking sound of a bow and he turned with a scowl on his face. “Blue! No shoot!” She pointed and he turned to see that her shot had gone accurately, hitting a coati hard enough in the arm to split the bone. He gave a nod and called, “KILL!” He, Nerev, and Nix sprinted forward to finish off the beast. As this happened, Blue turned to keep giant crows from getting too close by providing air coverage.
With the slaughter done, the Spirits returned to the camp. They were greeted with cheerful grinning kobolds lead by FeralTalon. “FeralTalon!” barked Nix with a scowl on his face. “FeralTalon no fight! FeralTalon coward!” There was a tense silence as the two warriors faced each other. Then FeralTalon shook his head and corrected, “FeralTalon father.” Two little pups were brought forward by Straw and placed in his arms. “MonkeyHead have litter. Two boy. This Jrusislis. Him Clockcluttered, take aaaall time. This Kureechlus. Look head fur all pointed! Him Grizzlepeaked.” The Spirits inspected the pups and the feast began.
While the Spirits had been gone, the merchant Cheechrider had arrived with his caravan and burned woods. Though the camp knew of campfires, he could create dancing spirits in the flames. Fortunes were told, gods were praised, and fine coati meat was eaten. In the end, a bed and piles upon piles of arrows were traded for 2 blocks of copper, several stones, and an anvil for pounding out metal. Best of all, the merchants had an iron chopper. When Taz received it, he looked upon it with reverence and barked out, “Need more kill for axe!”
The festivities were well on their way and many kobolds had drifted off into Godruprus' drinking-sleep when the rattlesnake men and flying squirrel-women arrived. No alarm was given and the camp was unready. There were only two warriors who were not engaging in the revelry.
A small distance from the campfire, Cadbee and Nerev were training. “Move feet,” instructed Nerev as his sword met Cadbee's strong enough to nearly take it from her hands. “Move feet, take hit. Need faster.” Cadbee nodded at this and then reversed to swing her training sword at Nerev's head. He brought his blade up just in time and caught her arm, flipping her onto the soft grass. “Cadbee no strongest,” he explained. “Need move. Need quick.”
“But Cadbee no quick!” Cadbee complained as she got herself up to her feet.
“Cadbee learn,” responded Nerev with a smile and a pat on the head for the younger kobold. He then paused, his ears twitching. “Camp! GO!” The two ran back to find the kobolds in panic. The warriors ran for weapons, the civilians ducked under chairs and tables, and the rattlesnakes and flying-squirrels tore through the camp, upending things and threatening the kobolds. The two swordsbolds ran into the fight screaming at the tops of their lungs.
Cadbee came upon a rattlesnake woman first, stabbing it deftly in the hand and moving as Nerev had suggested. She spun and twisted her blade, ripping it free in a spray of blackish blood. When an arm came too close to her mouth, she sunk in teeth and wrestled the much larger best to the ground. The larger beastwoman eventually got the better of her and pulled back her head to strike. Cadbee screamed, swinging her sword as best as she could at the close quarters, but she was too late. Blood sprayed and teeth flew as Nerev's bone-sword suddenly placed itself between Cadbee and the rattlesnake woman. The snake pulled back, hissing and moving it's head rhythmically, but Nerev could not be taken, jabbing his sword into her stomach and ripping free the insides.
As Nerev was occupied with the rattlesnake woman, Cadbee turned to find a flying-squirrel woman bearing down on her. She spun rapidly, jumped off a freshly cut stump, and kicked both feet into the squirrel's stomach. With the beast down, she swung her sword in a downward arch ripping open it's chest. Only a couple more stabs were necessary before it stopped bleeding and flailing.
Down to the south, Hugo was standing at the wall engraving. His stone chipped away an image of kobolds as they danced and sang while in the darkness an evil force lurked waiting for them. Waiting for the moment when they could be swallowed up. He began to walk back towards the camp oblivious to the fighting that was going on.
Again, apologies for the crappy/few pictures. Going to take more for the next season! Currently there are still 4 squirrel people and 1 rattlesnake person left to fight. What lies in store for Summer?
I'll be making a question answering/post answering reply later today as well as making sure that all entries and supplements are properly linked! Then HOPEFULLY Summer will come on Tuesday.
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Topic: Tadlotlindrirajer: Community Kobold Camp: Please Vote On Our Fate! (Read 30876 times)