”Chobofrin visited me last night,” confided Chungotlus to the shaman when the other kobolds were not so close. “She gave me dreams of falling and tears. Horrid dreams.” The shaman nodded at this and made the sign of Foseesus’ mercy over the Elder’s eyes. The two sat in silent prayer for a moment before the shaman offered her calm opinion, “Perhaps it is the story you tell. I do not recall Sruchlofisjlufruyus coming to a pleasant end.”
“Bah. What camp ever does?” spat Chungotlus in defiant rebuttle, “All that keeps us from our own oblivion is time. Gather the children. The herbs you’ve given me are helping.” He then laid back down and waited patiently for the gathering of the pups.
As they got settled in for the lesson, two of the tiny kobolds were talking softly and giving each other pushes. Abruptly one tackled the other and started scratching at him. Luckily the shaman was near enough to lift one yelping pup in each hand.
“Children!” barked Chungotlus with a rheumy look. “You would strike your clutchmate? Have you no shame?”
“He said you were telling a boring story!” yelped the smaller of the two with an accusing look in his eyes. “He says it’s just a stupid history story and there won’t be anything cool in it!”
Chungotlus made a dismissing snorting and shook his head, “Oh, there will be blood sport. You have my word. But kobolds do not thrive simply by fighting and killing. Kobolds thrive when they build...Though to be fully truthful, the kobolds of Nobletongues had not yet realized this lesson. Four out of the seven kobolds occupied themselves with martial training while the other two were left to care for the good of the camp. Of course, this isn’t to say that the warriors refused to help, they just returned to training and dueling the moment they weren’t being directly told what to do.
I say four only because Taz preferred to occupy himself with physical training of a different sort. Each time he would pass the nesting house where the others were training the other Blades of Mystery would call out, “Still fight trees? Better training! Come train!” Taz would simply shake his head and insist, “Cutting tree better. You see.”
It is lucky that the axebold kept this belief because without a merchant wagon in sight, Aseaheru was forced to continue working with wood. She built steadily all the while grumbling that she ought to just begin gathering clay whether there is a kiln available or not.
Soon the construction was completed, though it was not as large as the other kobolds had expected. “REAL dining hall when clay,” explained Aseaheru as she brushed sawdust off of her clothes.
Sen’s taupe fur was marked at paws and mouth with the bright colors of the nearby plants. She had gathered a fair store of little berries that were perfect to add a bit of sweetness to the forming winter stores. The little cook explored into the living hut where the warriors were hard at work swinging their weapons about. Splinter, panting with exertion and effort, quickly walked over to her with a lopsided smile. “You be Blade?” he asked in a joking voice. Sen quickly shook her head and pushed a bucket into his arms before rushing off back to work.
“What she bring?” asked Corai craning over Splinter’s shoulder.
“Longland beer. Splinter’s favorite,” responded Splinter with a wide grin on his face.
Then there came the rallying drums from outside. Drix stood with his bow ready shouting out, “Blades fast! Hamsterman!”
The kobolds quickly formed up and began dancing themselves up into a frenzy. Weapons beat against bucklers and the thrumming of Drix’s empty bowstring made the combat music that would guarantee them blessing from Chlombujrer Rapiddelights. Then came the shout from Drix of, “Huuuunt!”
Corai and Kalras led the charge with warchants as they pounded over the ground. Past their heads came Drix’s arrows slicing through with thrumming flicks.
The Hamsterman let out a hissing snarl, but faced with three brave kobold warriors immediately turned tail and ran. Corai was the first to catch up using his long stride to pass over the ground before Kalras could. He offered a wide grin back at her with a wink and then swung his machete in a deadly arc that ripped into the hamsterman’s foot. The beast stumbled and Corai darted underneath a swing to cut across the monster’s hand.
The hamster continued to try to flee scrambling with bloodied paws and falling onto all fours. Corai tackled the monster and began to slash and swing and stab. Roars of pain and confusion came from the beast as the kobold rode it down to the ground before rolling up and to the side. The hamster swung a paw at Corai and lost it at the wrist courtesy of Kalras arriving with her own quick machete work.
The two kobolds turned around the beast singing to it a song of passing as it struggled against the myriad of cuts. Then like a bolt of lighting Corai darted forward and separated the other hand from arm. The beast shuddered and fell to the ground moving no more.
In the spilled blood of the fallen hamsterman, Corai began a dance of victory, but Kalras cut him off. “Look. Birds,” she yapped out and they fled from the giant sparrows that soared in the sky above.
Mere weeks after this first kill the kobolds found themselves with another set of visitors, though this time they were much more friendly. Three kobolds approached the camp seeking refuge. Two were a young couple, Drakruldus the builder and Nix who was a spearfighter. The third was an animal trainer named Nanomage who had been one of the Elders in her previous camp. “No Elder here. Nanomage come,” she explained to the camp.
Taz nodded in approval of this and pointed out helpfully, “No pup yet. Still story good.” He offered his paw and the two shook. Kalras on the other hand kept her distance.
Several days later a hunting party was organized and the Blades of Mystery prepared to face their foes. As Taz readied his axe, Splinter approached and gave him a joking cuff on the shoulder. “Taz remember fight?” he asked in a joking voice. Taz only snorted and pointed out, “After hunt, we see.”
A short distance from the camp, the Blades found a group of hamstermen like the one that Corai and Kelras removed before. Splinter laughed and swung his machete against his buckler, “We race, Taz!” The little kobold ran forward quickly and the hamstermen dispersed.
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As the other kobolds began to run forward after the hamsters, Taz abruptly barked out, “Wait. You see training.” He leapt toward one of the hamsters, catching up with her and abruptly slamming his axe through her chest. A single kick was deliver to a leg which brought the fell-beast down. Then it was simply a matter of slicing open her stomach and finishing her off. As the stink of blood and death surrounded him, Taz pointed at the corpse. “Just like tree. Now. Hunt.”
While this was going on Splinter had caught up with another of the hamstermen. He swung his machete, but just didn’t manage the same strength that Taz could with his swings. Even a cut to the back of the head didn’t take it down. As the hamsterman fled, Nix caught up and shouted out, “Run faster! Kill!”
Splinter begins to fall behind, his boundless energy not giving him the agility he would need to keep up with the fleeing hamsterman. Nix’s feet and spear were faster, luckily, and she promptly opened up many cuts and rips in the hamsterman’s legs and back. Then, for a moment, the hamsterman was faster. He caught hold of Nix and threw her forward where she shouted in surprise before regaining her footing.
It seemed for a moment that the hamsterman might get away as it hissed in fear and turned to run for the mountains. Then a second hiss of sound came and abruptly an arrow sprouted from it’s leg. The beast fell to the ground and Nix, Kelras, and Splinter fell upon it with spear and swords. Like wolves at slaughter, they ripped it to pieces until Splinter split it’s skull. “Splinter one,” he announced cheerfully.
Kelras, Splinter, and Nix began chasing one of the remaining two hamstermen. As they ran, Splinter and Kelras began to slow down, just not able to keep up with the thing. But Nix, with her superkobold legs, kept up with amazing skill, stabbing over and over at the beast’s body, filling it with holes to leave a trail for the other two kobolds. The hamsterman finally turned to fight her. She swung the butt of her spear, but it was blocked and she took a wild punch to the arm.
Tossed momentarily to the side, she leaped up and grabbed onto it’s arm. Her teeth found flesh and she growled with hatred as she and the monster fell to the ground. Then abruptly, the hamsterman stopped struggling and there was a spray of wetness.
Taz stood over Nix holding his bloodied handaxe in one claw and the destroyed corpse of the last hamsterman dragged behind him with the other. The one which she had been biting suddenly didn’t have a head. The one he had dragged barely looked to have ever been alive, simply a slab of flesh and blood.
By the time that the hunting expedition got back, the civilians had managed to make time to start up a new project. Cut into the ground would eventually be a storage place for all of their food, safe from those who would steal from them and perhaps more importantly a perfect panic room if necessary. The four hamsterman corpses were cut up and Taz didn’t push back at Splinter for his earlier jokes.
”After all,” finished Chungotlus, “A hut is not built on words. Let me rest, children. Take your day and create. Do something of worth.”
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Topic: Non-Running Kobold Community Camp and Questions About A New One (Read 24147 times)