Zenkoh's Adventure

Chapter 6

Zenkoh: That doesn't surprise me. It also explains how you lost half your guards in the last attack, the smallest of the gnolls would still be larger than most of you. Do you know what direction they came from?

Fira: We believe that they came from the north-west. They said that if we didn't send tribute then they would attack within the next few days. We have just enough to care for ourselves, having to hand over anything would mean likely starvation for some of us. Do you think you might be able to do something?

Maria: Do you have an estimate as to how many there were?

Fira: The best I could tell you is that there were more than ten.

After some quiet contemplation Zenkoh looks to Maria, who nods, then to Fira.

Zenkoh: I believe we can help you with your bandit problem.

Some time later, after an hour of traveling to the north-west, they start to see smoke in the distance.

Zenkoh: Looks like that could be where they have a camp. Be ready, we could start running into patrols soon.

Just as she says this Zenkoh grabs Maria and hides behind a tree. After some rustling, a group of two brown gnolls come out from behind some trees to their left. One of them looks around confused before turning to the other.

Gnoll A: I swear I heard something. It was over here somewhere.

Gnoll B: That's what you said last time. If you're wasting our time again chasing noises that don't exist again, the clan leader will have our heads.

At the mention of the clan leader the first gnoll has a worried expression. If their clan leader was anything like Zenkoh's mother then they had every right to be worried. After a few minutes of searching they seem to give up and turn around. Once they had turned around Zenkoh climbed into the tree they were hiding behind, until they were on a branch above the two gnolls.

Once Maria sees that Zenkoh is ready above the gnolls she pulls a throwing dagger. She throws it and it flies true, directly into the neck on the back left side of the first gnoll. The gnoll begins to grasp at its neck trying to figure out what happened. Just as the second gnoll is about to say something Zenkoh lands directly on top of them, Longsword drawn. Zenkoh swiftly stabs the one she landed on in the back of the neck, then stabbing the one still grasping at its neck in the chest.

After pulling her sword free of the gnoll, she sees that they seem to have hunting gear. So, not a patrol, but a hunting party. After a second to make sure no one else was coming Zenkoh motioned Maria to follow her as she slowly made her way closer to where she believed the camp might be.

After reaching the very edge she could see a campfire with gnolls gathered around, approximately 8 from what she could see. She was also able to see that on the opposite side of the camp there were cages, and one of them seemed to have someone in it! Maria managed to make her way around the outskirts of the camp to see if she could get close enough to identify whoever was in the cage.

As Maria came up to the cages on the outskirts she could finally tell what was in it. It was a black kobold in leather armor, it was Irya. Looking around, Maria saw that none of the gnolls were within earshot and so she got close enough to whisper to her.

Maria: Irya, what are you doing here?

Irya: What? Oh, it's you. What do you want?

Maria: What are you doing out here? Why are you in this cage?

Irya is silent before a look of irritation crosses her face.

Irya: I'm in here because my boss decided to send me to this deathtrap. He wanted me to try to convince the gnolls to help with retrieving something. As you can see the gnolls didn't care much for the offer. Now I'm stuck here waiting for their leader to come back.