Crown of the Kobold King (day 6-8)

After the fight was over, Jeva ran off into the darkness, while the heroes' choker friend left them after eating one of the kobold corpses.

The heroes decided to rest before looking for Jeva. While looking for her, they entered a narrow tunnel that opened out into a long cave, with openings in the north, south, and east walls. Unfortunately they found no sign of her.

From this cave they could hear plaintive mewling cries emanating from a warm, damp chamber. A low wall of stone divided this cave into two partitions. One half of the cave contained several rows of large eggs half-buried in the sand. The other half contained a dozen infant kobolds, scrapping and playing with each other in the darkness. A rotund little female kobold stood between the heroes and the eggs. She wore no armor and was unarmed but steadfast. She attempted to parley with the heroes (though she only spoke Draconic) an appealed to their sense of decency. She begged them to leave the eggs unmolested. When they did so, she thanked them profusely and gladly offered them information about Merlokrep (she never liked the stupid king anyways) and Jekkajak (the old shaman brought nothing but trouble to the tribe).

Next the heroes took a crazy zigzagging pathway that seemed to be the main thoroughfare of the kobolds. This narrow corridor was home to a pair of shrieker fungi whose keening wail warned Merlokrep and his warriors in the throne room.

Next, the heroes entered the Throne of Merlokrep. The Kobold King's throne was crafted from the corpse of a monstrous centipede. The massive vermin was propped up against the wall on a dais of stone blocks, its legs curling in around any who sat upon it like leveled arm rests. Merlokrep, Dragon King of the Truescale Tribe sat there honing the edge of his bloody axe. He was flanked by two of his fearsome warriors, that were themselves clad in gilded armor, clutching their shortspears at attention. Merlokrep was a physical paragon of kobolds, and his imposing powerhouse frame bellied the usual assumptions about his pathetic reptilian race. The king's one good eye peered from his skull with a fierce aspect, smoldering with rage at the heroes' intrusion. Merlokrep wielded his axe in an impressive display. His regal snout was pierced with a gold nose-ring and his well-groomed ears were also adorned with gold studs. He wore a jeweled skull over his left eye. When the heroes made it this far, Merlokrep hailed them as he rose from his throne and offered them an honored place as Great Sacrifices to the Crown, offering to feast them before ripping them open and pulling out their hearts. He was genuinely shocked when the heroes turned him down, but his incredulousness gave way to towering rage in an instant as he ordered his warriors to attack. Merlokrep cast sleep as his warriors tied up the heroes. He cast burning hands when he could catch multiple heroes in it. He wielded his axe two-handed in melee. He targeted Hrol and Seoni and nearly killed them. Merlokrep fought to the death. The warriors hurled their shortspears, then attempted to take up flanking positions with their king. They fought to the death. With Merlokrep dead, his crown with a strong magic aura was the heroes' to claim.

The heroes needed to rest again before they entered an unadorned chamber with a gruesome bloodstained altar sitting at its center. Jekkajak, shaman of the Truescales, was here along with Tyran Moonsilver, the half-elf friend of Edgrin, tied to the altar. Hollin cowered in the northwest corner, slumped against the wall in shock. Jekkajak was a walking corpse of a kobold, whose withered old white scales were stretched tight over bone. His puny skeletal snout contained a lone tooth and constantly dribbled drool. His milky eyes focused intermittently on his surroundings. The heroes entered just as Jekkajak tore poor Tyran Moonsilver's heart from his chest with a dagger. He held the heart aloft as it burst into flames and cackled madly before ordering his warriors to attack. Jekkajak cast summon swarm to thicken the ranks and concentrated on it throughout the battle. He fought to the death. The warriors placed themselves between Jekkajak and the heroes, and they tried to keep the heroes off him as long as possible. They fought to the death.