Two kobolds used slings to throw some sort of glue at the surprised guards, quickly immobilizing them. I made my decision, and the blood began to sing in my veins as I drew my axe and answered the call to battle!

As the townsfolk scattered I discovered that I was not alone! From other points in the market square, four stout souls were advancing on the kobolds. As the farthest back I was able to observe my fellow defenders: A Dragonborn, a Teifling, a Dwarf and an Eladrin. All were doughty warriors and between us we made quick work of our foe.

After the fight, we gathered to question the wagon driver. He, a farmer named Ned, claimed that the kobolds had attacked his farm, seizing his family as hostages to secure his cooperation in their plan to attack the Keep. As we discussed this situation, troops from Bold Brigade arrived, led my Sir Henry.

Sir Henry, fearing more kobold attacks, refused to allow any of his men to return to Ned's farm. My comrades in the battle and I offered our services in their stead. With Sir Henry's promise of recompense for our time, we boarded Ned's wagon for the journey to his farm.

As we made our way to Ned's, we introduced ourselves. My companions were Veera, a Dwarven female cook, quick with her knives; Martouk, an Eladrin male sage, an adept in the ways of magic; Kravaxsaar, a Dragonborn male warrior, a champion of the Raven Queen; and Iya, a Teifling female healer, a holy pilgrim. A diverse group, my training led me to believe our skills would complement each other in battle, it remained to be seen if we could work together.

We discovered the farm sacked and abandoned, Ned's family nowhere to be found. A search of the area revealed he kobolds' tracks, which in turn lead us to their den, a cave in the abandoned quarry to the west of the Keep. Eager to meet our prey while the setting sun still trapped them in their den, we quickly entered the cave.

Just inside we entered a long chamber, and found our path blocked by a pair of koboldes and a pair of lizard-like guard animals. Veera, the nimblest of our group quickly rushed to engage the guards, an action which nearly lead to her downfall, as the kobolds triggered a hidden trap, unleashing a rock-fall which knocked Veera from her feet.

I was unable to advance through the falling rocks, and could only call to Veera, exhorting her to shrug off her injuries and continue into battle. Meanwhile Iya called healing from her god. Between us, we soon had Veera on her feet and back in the fight.

Kobolds are not skilled engineers, as evidenced by the quick end to the rockfall, to the obvious consternation of the guards. Once the danger of the rockfall was lifted, my companions and I were able to advance and again make quick work of our foes.

Once past the outer guards we entered a large chamber, obviously the living area for the kobolds den. Among the scattered piles of goods, were many kobolds who immediately began throwing javelins at us. Here Martouk showed his might, using his magic to dispatch the kobolds at long range, while the rest of us kept him safe. At one point he dispatched all the kobold reinforcements with a single ball of flame.

Sheer numbers proved a decided benefit for the kobolds though, and we were a tired and bloody group when we moved to enter the next chamber. We found ourselves in another large chamber. This time there were no piles of crates and bundles, instead parallel lines of torches along each wall shed a smoky light to the room. At the far end was an altar and Ned's missing kin. Between us and them lay a large number of kobolds, a priest of some sort and a living statue!

Now it was my turn to make a mistake. Fearing another trap, I left the support of my comrades, moving alone along one side of the room to engage our foes. I quickly found myself surrounded, and hard pressed. The silver lining to my situation was that I had drawn off enough of the kobolds to allow my comrades to quickly overwhelm the priest's remaining defenders. In the end, with generous support from Iya, our healer, I was able to hold out long enough for the others to come to my aid.

Unfortunately, we could not slay the living statue, and it made it's escape through a hole in the roof of the room.