Smiling, Parum was glad that the others chose to help the villagers. This was good. The other two, Trear and the warrior, went off ahead while Parum stayed with the villagers. Before Orchid went and got himself into danger Parum made a point to stop him so she could tell him what to do with the kobold as well as other reasons. "Hold up there big guy." Parum said, approaching him with a quiet voice. "You can't go running into the next fight in your condition. Look at you! You're just going to get yourself hurt again. Stay and protect the villagers with me. Besides, I want to talk to the kobold you're carrying when we reach somewhere safe."

Hopefully Orchid would have listened, though Parum couldn't waste time arguing if he choose not to. Lilan, Cuth,and their children already went ahead to follow Trear and the warrior, so Parum went after them. They had stopped moving, which told Parum that they found something. She stayed with the family, her viol and rapier out, ready for the next fight. She stayed as quiet as she could, not moving an inch, waiting and watching.

"Ha ha ha! Fighting!" Orchid was pumped at the prospect of more fights. It was a fairly boring ride with the caravan aside from singing and eating good food. It'd be good to get a good workout now. Orchid was going to charge in and take point when Parum the halfling stopped him. She wanted to talk to the kobold, which Orchid already figured. After all, why else would she want him alive? Though she also warned him to stay back due to his injuries. "Ngeh. No hurt. No problem! Orchid fight enemy. Keep village people safe by kill enemy." Figuring that the plan was simple enough, Orchid was going to just go forth and do as planned. Fortunately for Parum, Orchid did not do so when he heard a loud crash coming from Trear. Admittedly while he was going to be the first to attack, he intended to go into his hunter mode and try to make an entrance stealthily. With her critical failure, Orchid conceded to staying back if only so he could continue to have some slimmer of stealth.

Orchid followed along, keeping keen to the situation around him. He was listening for any ambushes, sniffing the air for abnormalities. He stopped when Parum stopped and noticed some people off in the distance with kobolds. He couldn't make out their finer details from this distance, but he could tell that they were nor kobolds and the kobolds were not killing them. Perhaps they were also raiders? Parum stood still as stone trying to listen to them, so Orchid followed her lead. With his shield strapped to his arm and a harpoon ready to throw, Orchid sneaked into the darkness and readied himself for a fight. This time, he'd be the one to make the ambush.

What appeared to be the enemy filled his vision as a woman in light leathers and a kobold stood side by side without any sort of conflict. While at first the man expected her to be some sort of prisoner, their ambient chatter inferred something else altogether; collaborators, which to Brannor only meant one thing in that an ally of the darkness should be swift to join it in the darkest dream. So was it that the man, with all the cunning and stealth of a hunter observing his unaware quarry, drew up his bow from his concealed position; the arrow knocked and string drawn lightly. His feral eyes shifted to the elven huntress who had accompanied him, awaiting her mark before looking back to a half orc and yet another kobold which had joined the first pair. The intensity and focus in his eye told her which target he sought; the armored woman struck him as more dangerous than the kobolds.

The enemy was drawing nearer, alert now, but ill prepared it seemed for an ambush in wait, walking to the left of the rows of scorched hay and pillaged houses. Hiding was not going to prove an effective option unless luck or fate had it that these four foes, one of which bore something in hand - likely loot - were not as wary as they should be.


All the same, the man exhaled and centered himself on his task, surrounded in the ash and smoke, crouched low and concealed beside a building. If right guided his arrow, then his mark's death would be swift, as he hoped so would the ranger's quarry. There was no need to further the chaos or cruelty here on this night - only do what must be done.

@Hekazu@Lucius Cypher@VKAllen@Ryonara

Perhaps it was the gods' jest that saved her. She was able to see more danger heading down the path they treaded. With Brannor and his human-mass arrow-notched bow silently seeking a signal as Trear herself readied an arrow behind the bow. Arms relaxed and sights on the half-orc. She noticed the object he had on his hand and saw the exchange of words between the woman-- but she could not hear. They were now on approach and Trear refused to allow them gaining ground and fired an arrow on her target. She noticed another flicker by the wind as Brannor's arrow took flight for the woman.

(Longbow Attack - 25 - AWW YISS, CRITICAL!)
(Longbow Damage - Piercing - 15)

The concealed attack of the front guard was highly effective, so effective in fact that it had a high potential of catching the two off-guard. The unleashed arrows found their targets with a mere second between them, Trear's piercing the right eye of the half-orc and Ashkar's sticking into the abdomen of the woman who had just begun to point their finger at something... The half-orc didn't even react but simply stumbled down while the other one took a few panicked breaths before hitting the ground.

The kobolds were perfectly aware of what was going on. They would be walking into an ambush of sorts if they continued on this path and there were at least two shooters. The telltale sound of a bow firing an arrow had come from over there on the right so as long as they'd choose the other way they could still get away. The nodded to each other and took off, with the one a little further back stopping for a mere half-second to pry the newly found prize from the half-orcs fingers before rushing to reach their partner. They didn't seem too interested to be involved any further.

This left Trear and Ashkar in the bushes next to the side road with Parum, Orchid and the villagers following behind, both barely seeing the commotion that had gone past so swiftly. The family they had in tow had decided to lag behind for a moment as to not show their position, but Linan was now slowly approaching the two with a look on her face that could be interpreted as: "Can we go yet?"

Parum heard a commotion up ahead and followed up, only to see that Treat and the warrior had taken out what appeared to be a half-orc and another woman. Parum's face paled when she saw this. The first thing that came to mind was murder; that Treat and the warrior had simply killed these two in cold blood. But surely they had their reasons. Perhaps they saw something she didn't. Concerned at the thoughts of her companions slowly turning towards the darkside, Parum walked up to them and spoke up. "Who are those two? Did... Did you just kill them?" They did not appear to have been townfolk, but that didn't mean they couldn't have been part of the town. Parum hoped to gods that those two had a good reason to slay the two without question.

The approaching sound of Parum coming not long after the two kobolds so swiftly made their exit, Brannor's jaw clenched tighter. On a deeper level he wished to hunt the two small, craven agents of this draconic invader, but that was not what it was he was here to do. As much as not knowing what the prize they so valued above their life was, it was better to press on and make for the keep - other lives, not just their own, were at stake and time was certainly of the essence. Second arrow drawn forth from the quiver, the man knocked it and glanced to the elven woman with a smile that spoke of how impressed he was with her shot, but it faded as the woman behind questioned them... and worse yet, their motives.

"Who are those two? Did... Did you just kill them?"

Looking back to the halfling, then forward again, peering around the corner of his concealment and the nearby cover, his eyes swept the street. They returned to her in their primal glory as he stood, having surveyed their following cadre of survivors and the orcish warrior accompanying them.

"Collaborators and looters, or worse yet, more of the dragon's thralls." The man snarled softly, careful to keep his voice down but certain enough to emphasize the fact he was more than offended she would ask why they would kill someone. "And yes, we did. We will explain later, but we need keep moving - two kobolds fled, with whatever prize they sought no less. I would rather not they have more time to marshal their allies."

@Hekazu@Lucius Cypher@VKAllen@Ryonara

Orchid tried to be sneaky, but when he heard the cries of the kobolds he quickly ran up to see what was going on. But whatever action he could have gotten into, he was too late. It seemed like the other two members of the party had taken out a half-orc and some woman, causing the kobolds to scatter. Who these people were, Orchid didn’t know. Perhaps it didn’t matter either. Parum asked questions about why the other two killed the people, but it seemed pretty obvious to Orchid. They were bad people and needed to be killed. Simple as that.

And since the bad people were not dead people, Orchid went up to them and looted their bodies. Humanoids didn’t make for good skinning, not that he couldn’t, and it would be too time consuming to strip them of their armor as well. So he took whatever small thing that was obvious; daggers, coin pouches, necklaces, maybe a ring or two if they had any. Afterwards he would return to the others with his loot and readied himself to get going. The warrior mentioned two kobolds that had fled, possibly to get more allies. ”Go to keep. Keep people safe, then fight little dragon and bad guys.”

Not letting the disagreement about methods slow them down, the party moved on towards their end goal, the keep with the surviving family in tow. The formation remained largely the same, Orchid and Parum remaining just a bit closer now thanks to Cuth's request of doing so in case some trouble would approach from behind them.

The dragon had retreated higher up into the sky, flying in circles as if patrolling above the town for some reason. The children seemed very interested in the creature and occasionally asked some questions from their parents, but were quickly shushed. This was not the moment to be curious, they were told and promised they'd hear as much as they could be told once they had made it to the keep. Somewhat content with the answer, their little voices did stay silent for a while, often not any longer than the next passing of the dragon.

It had been rather peaceful further away from the keep with just the two groups on their way, but now that they made it closer to the keep, there seemed to be more traffic. Most of these were spotted from quite far and they quickly vanished again between the houses, but all of them shared something in common: The groups they saw had kobolds in them... and there was this one bigger lizard they couldn't quite see from this far away. Probably for the best. To the groups horror, as Trear was peeking around the next corner they would presumably need to take, they came face to face with a kobold. A moment of surprise was shared between the two, before the kobold yelled something behind them: "Mobi re lyriki tenpiswo!"

The ferocious greatsword that laid in Brannor's grasp moved slightly as but one part of a greater motion that manifest itself. The moment of conflict had already been met again after some pause in between where the dragon and its fires were mostly silent, yet it wasn't in the way the man could have hoped; not in the least, in fact. The elven huntress had been leading as she was, the beast of a warrior not far behind her but more keen to keep watch on what it was he was charged with - his wounded ally and the family of common folk - but that changed now... and with startling speed. There wasn't time to think, just to act again.

The shouting was all the man needed in that it was no longer that foreign a tongue; at least not now in the ashes that were Greenest, scorched by the dragon and its minions. Spurred to action by this initiation of conflict, he hurried as he could from his cover and broke concealment to rush forth - darting from one ruin to another across the street and charging the rest with the clatter of his hide and chain armor providing rhythm to his motion. Setting his body without slowing, he slid to a halt across the debris beside Trear and to her back a few feet, using the building as protection.

Brannor wasn't about to be pelted with arrows and stones if he didn't need to, at least not yet.

The kobold did took the elf by surprise. The quick glance at the Kobold's blackened eyes reared her neck as it warned its friends of their presence. Battle was to ensue again and she helf firmly on her bow and arrow-- keeping her position for the moment. Brannor came to her side-- a quick glance was given, giving her a restful smile as she focused upon the brewing battle.

(Initiative Roll - 10)

Parum had to put her feelings aside for now. She wanted to question how ruthless these people could be, but right now simply wasn't safe. Because while the ruthlessness of Trear and the warrior could be brought into question, the dragon circle above them could not. It was obvious that it would have no hesitation burning them all alive, if given the chance. So they left and continued towards the Keep. They moved the same as before, with Trear and the warrior taking point, Parum and Orchid staying with the family. It wasn't long before Parum heard the cries of draconic none too far away. "Sounds like more kobolds. Orchid, stay here and protect the family, you're too wounded to fight. The rest of us will deal with these!" Parum already had her sword and viol drawn, so she scampered up to get near Trear and the warrior to join them in the battle.

Orchid didn't find much aside from these curved swords. They weren't as big as his machete, but they looked interesting. He took their sheaths and attached them to his belt. He wondered who these people were and what they were doing, seeing that they had so little loot on them. They didn't look like soldiers either... Not that Orchid really knew what some soldiers looked like. He typically imagined heavy armor and halberds. These dead bodies certainly were not well armed or armored. But orchid set those thoughts aside, continuing with the group towards the keep.

With his harpoon and shield in hand Orchid brought up the rear, making sure nothing stuck from behind them. However it seemed like Trear found some enemies in the front. Orchid rushed out to meet them, however Parum stopped him and told him to stay back. He didn't want too, but even he could tell that he wasn't in the best shape. He was light headed, his body felt weak, and even now his harpoon was shakey. he knew he could fight, but he also knew he couldn't fight for long. He'd have to be careful, be on the defensive... And he supposed he could stay back to defend the family.

Or... He could use this chance to sneak up on the enemy.

After Parum left to go help Trear and the swordsman, Orchid looked to the family. "Shhh. Hide." Orchid didn't want the family to be in harm's way, but he couldn't leave it to the others to just fight too. So After making sure the family found somewhere relatively safe to be at, Orchid tried to sneak up on the kobolds.

As the party was adjusting to this new encounter, the kobold used the time to peek around the corner before continuing to shout behind them in draconic: "Vur astahii seem ekess ti qe shafaer hesi symba!" Whatever those words meant, it caused a voice to respond, sounding like another kobold as well. The house in the way muffled the response enough so nobody could make any sense of it, but the nearest kobold drew a dagger from their belt. This wouldn't end peacefully...

Rushing towards the others Parum could hear the high pitch draconic voice call out from the corner of the building. Parum wanted to try to prevent a battle, however. While she has no doubts that they could defeat the kobold and whatever allies he may have, the party still had to head to the keep as well as protect the family. The more battles they did, the weaker they'd be, and soon even kobolds would be able to eliminate them if they just keep attacking them. "Do ti slathalin! mobi ui thric rigluin, pamon tepohaic ekess qe ouith." Parum appeared some few feet away from the Kobold on the road, not even with anyone to shield her. Her body was open, her sword lowered, showing that she didn't mean any hostilities. [color=7bcdec8]"Si tepoha nymuera di dout darastrix usjalil. Tir ti rechan dout waphic mojka tenpiswo, origato udoka dolruth zyak batobot wux nomag return ekess jacioniv tokeq."[/color]

As almost a singular, fluid motion the man stepped in before the woman to his left and cleared the edge of the ruined building. Dedicated to his movement and footing himself as he was, the sword he bore in both hands began its skyward momentum, carrying up before him from his lower right to soon at an angle across his hide and chain clad sizable figure; the edge of the steel's point clipping the wood of the structure's wall before it returned down, preparing another following swing to come in its wake. It was however just as his initial strike began, the air leaving his lungs in a controlled exhale, did his aggressive eyes note the small woman not more than a few feet away - body exposed to their slings and arrows - just out of reach and more so, out of her mind. Brannor was not afraid of battle, especially not this sort as it was a righteous calling that spoke to his heart, but either the halfling was very bold and very brave or truly crazed to throw herself out into the open as lightly defended as she was.


There was not time enough to question what it was she was doing as the greatsword settled itself again in the steel and leather bound fists of the hunter who then grit his fierce jaw and prepared his advance. In all truth however, the weapon's attack and the man's obvious intent to press forward and eliminate the invaders of Greenest certainly did not help what it was Parum was trying to do. But there was little that could be done about that, if at all.

Brannor was not willing to show the servants of this monster any relent or any remorse even if he had known.

@Hekazu@Lucius Cypher@VKAllen@Ryonara

While the kobold had brandished it's dagger, it met the fate usual to the scout: They were the one to die so the rest of their group would know what to expect. It had barely registered the words of the halfling with no time to consider their meaning before the cold steel of the heavy blade already smashed against them, a blow powerful enough to render them unconscious just before finishing the job.

Just as this was happening, a hooded figure of a humanoid stepped out from the shadows, an arrow nocked in their shortbow and the weapon aimed towards the brewing fight. They seemed to hesitate for a moment, first aiming at the big guy, then at the small exposed one, and then at the pile of muscle again. The voice they had heard after the reptilians final shout had certainly not come from that massive warrior, it couldn't have. Finalising the aiming, they let the arrow loose at the greatsword wielding man and jumped back behind the corner without paying it any more mind.

It's a shame they didn't see their end result though as the shot, while deviating slightly more upward than intended, struck the target in the throat, sticking at the spot of impact. Luckily for Ashkar, the shot did not pierce his neck, but it certainly must have hit something that should not get hit... throat was full of that kind of things.

Diplomacy attempted. Diplomacy failed. Her observation found Brannor struck by an arrow that woefully hit his neck. She was almost certain that he would've been felled. Her eyes dart quickly for the perpetrator of the bow as she herself drew her notched longbow and stretched her longbow for the hooded figure but failed to find the flanker. Without giving much thought, she moved on towards the enemy beyond the corner and firing at the next Kobold guided by Solonor Thelandira's grace.

(Longbow Attack - 25 - Critical Hit)
(Longbow Damage - 15 - Piercing)

It was time to hunt. Orchid knew he wouldn't be able to climb the wall very well with his hands full, so he put his shield away. However instead of putting his harpoon away, he hurled it onto the rooftop of the building, using it as a sort of makeshift grappling hook. When he felt it tug, Orchid started to climb the wall. But even with that helping him the wall wasn't exactly made for climbing. Quite the opposite in fact. Orchid would have some difficulty but he would endure. He makes it up the wall fairly easily despite initial difficulties, pulling his harpoon out of the rooftop as he tried to creep closer.

As Trear began their assault, a kobold flung themselves from a barrel at them, in an attempt to drive a dagger in the ranger's torso. The move didn't go quite as had been planned though, as the elf was much faster than them, releasing the prepared arrow with pinpoint accuracy straight through the creatures lower jaw and their head. The dagger was promptly released from their grip and clattered onto the ground with the kobold following in a slightly steeper arc. It was quite evident that this one was not getting up.

One more of the creatures ran from the same corner as the earlier figure, hastily letting loose a rock from their sling at Trear. As the ranger felt the rock colliding with their arm, the kobold tried to turn and run as the prior assailant had done, but tripped on their own feet. They barely made it up before the next one of the adventurers was on the move.