Assallya sat in her throne, admiring the new jewelry she'd acquired. One good thing about being kidnapped by a bunch of kobold miners was their gifts of precious stones. Since many of them were finished works she tried not to think about where the kobolds might have gotten them. Kobolds might have been good miners but she doubted they were great craftsmen or adept at creating rings, necklaces and other pieces.

She was still contemplating the possibility of the jewelry belonging to unfortunate adventurers when two burning crimson lights appeared in the shadows between the columns at just above floor level. Slowly the miniature orbs rose up from near the floor and came closer.

"Char here. Char take you," the kobold stated, seemingly just unfolding himself from the shadows and almost scaring Assallya out of her wits.

The kobold's burning eyes faded as he stepped into the light. He was a small thing, he had been crawling on all his limbs earlier but now that he had straightened he scarcely came up to her waist at his full height. His scales were a mottled black that blended easily into the darkness. He wore no clothing, kobolds did not bother with such things. He did, however, possess several satchels hanging from his small frame.

"Must go now," Char reiterated.

The elven sorceress took the proferred scaly hand in her own, which was surprisingly small considering her own slender figure and thin fingers. She allowed him to pull her away from the throne and down several dark corridors where she was blind. Kobolds could see in the dark in a manner that elves could not. She was led through a winding maze, told to step over several tripwires and avoid certain flagstones. What they involved she could not discern in the pitch black but she was certain they would be rather lethal.
Behind her Assallya could hear short shrill cries. The kobolds had noticed her absence. The keening that followed made it clear that they were upset. It reverberated down the passages, carried through the tunnels like wind down a flute. They'd begun to hunt her, didn't want their sacrificial queen to escape.

"Hold," she said in Yip-Yap, the language of the kobolds with some awkwardness, "Stop for soon moment."

Looking back in the direction they came she began an incantation. Her arms spun through the air and her fingers twisted as they trailed through the darkness. It was a simple spell, one of illusion. It wouldn't be perfect since she was making it blind, but she could make a reasonable image of a cave in. She just hoped they wouldn't look too closely for the debris would likely not line up with the walls.

Turning and groping blindly, Assallya felt Char grasp her hand and once more lead her towards the surface. While being led, she considered her next step. A sleep spell would claim many of the kobolds pursuing them. Best of all, it was not a spell that required accuracy. She merely chose a point and anything within ten strides would feel its effects.
Finally, after what must have been a full turning of the glass, Assallya caught sight of a sliver of light. Char drew her towards it and it bloomed, resolving it into an aperture. It surely must be leading outside. To Assallya who had not seen sunlight in six months it was a magical gateway to another realm.

Squinting against the light, blinking rapidly as pupils clenched themselves shut, Assallya stepped out into the world once more. Given her reaction she'd expected a broad swathe of sky and a burning sun overhead. She was instead shocked to find the sky obscured by a forest canopy. Her eyes were simply not used to the upper world and the overcast day seemed entirely too brilliant. Char seemed to be fairing no better. Kobolds, spending the entirety of their lives mining only rarley ventured out of their tunnels and usually, only at night. Char was currently peaking out between two claws.

"Others, hard time to follow," he assured her as their roles reversed, "No can see."

"Do no worry Char. I have you."

The elven sorceress began walking, leading her small kobold companion away from the mine entrance. In short order she left the cracked, dry earth and stepped onto grass. She wasn't an outdoors elf and in truth, absolutely hated woodlands, and all things of nature. Still, at this moment, she relished the sound of birds, of wind rustling through branches, of the grass caressing her bare soles as she made her way into the wood.

"Go right, follow path." Char offered, waving his other hand before him like a blind man hoping to avoid colliding with a tree.

Complying, Assallya led him a hundred paces down the rough track and then gasped in surprise as the straight lines of a wooden structure came into view. It was gaily coloured, in crimsons, blues and reds with gold filigree as accents.

"My wagon!"

Assallya had never thought to see her vardo again. It was her home. The only true home she'd ever known. Everything she owned was inside or stored upon the roof. When she'd been captured by the kobolds she'd suspected that they'd have stripped it for firewood and looted it for metals. This did, at least, explain how the kobolds had supplied her with her cosmetics, towels and other requests.

She was about to grasp the brass pole affixed to the side and clamor up into the wagon's driving bench when she caught sight of the things harnessed to the front of her wagon. She had no idea what they were but they weren't horses. If anything they looked like giant ferret. She knew ferrets. A bard back in Baldur's Gate had a pair as pets. Whatever they were, the white throated rodents were decidedly large, three strides long and as tall as the kobold at her side.

"What happened to my horse?"

"Kobolds no like horses. Eat horse." he informed her and then told her that these creatures were better. He used a name to describe the creature, but Assallya had no idea what that word translated into.

"You ate Horatio?"

"What is hor-ate-yo?"

"I liked that horse."

"Must go."

"Right," Assallya agreed as she scrambled up the pole and then helped Char do the same before handing him the reins to the pair of dire weasels, "I no smarts how to control these things."

"Do not worry. Me know."

Char snapped the reins and said something in kobold that perked up the napping weasels, and then another to get them moving. Together the two dire weasels pulled the wagon forwards and Assallya gently helped Char direct them by pulling upon one side of the reigns and ensuring that the weasels got onto the forest path since Char could barely see ten hands in front of his face. They had to make significant distance before dark because the Kobolds would likely follow.