You are a member of a band of kobolds charged with exploring the ruins of the Dwarven citadel.
Kobolds are cooperative and lawful compared to the chaos of the previous goblin group. Sadly while kobolds work well as teams they are hindered by being only 3 feet tall, quite weak, and fragile compared to other races. It is a rare kobold that can chop wood or mine stone. This means kobold society lives as scavengers sifting the refuse that other civilizations leave behind. Despite this Kobolds are a proud people who consider them self immature dragons and who name their young after famous dragons.
Among the Dragonkin. Spellcasters are the highest caste and are widely respected in kobold society (As spellcasting is something that they do well despite their small size and racial weaknesses) Also egg-bearers (females) are esteemed above males partly due to magic use being much more prevalent among females and partly due to the necessities of life as a egg-bearing culture.
Called before Ouroboros, the kobold queen, the group is assigned to scout the Dwarven ruins and find remains of a previous expedition. The group is sent first to the Besmirian camp to gain effort and because the Besmirians consider themselves in charge of the expedition. In the camp they find that hidden watchers have been spying on the camp and may be related to the previous groups failure. Plans are made and traps are worked on. Also the camp is scavenged for materials for thigh kobolds to work with. Broken bottles or bent nails in the hands of a kobold become caltrops or the components of a trap. A plan is made to sneak out the back wall after nightfall but the first attempt fails when the party becomes convinced that something is watching them from a nearby tree. Back in camp a trap is made of a crate, several bottles of alcohol and a spring. The kobolds then liberate some silk rope with Lady Amelia's blessing and scale the wall of the camp opposite of the hidden watcher.
The group cuts back and forth to lose any watchers and narrow avoids running into a nest of giant centipedes but the group make it to the Citadel in good time and find a fantastic place from which to watch the ruins for life. Holed up in a hollow tree one watcher chimneys up to the top and over the next day it becomes obvious that there are at least three possible entries into the ruins. And each have their own hazards.
Up on the cliff face the wall is dotted with gaping holes. The remnants of grand halls and palatal rooms stand open to the elements as half of the grand citadel now lies as rubble at the foot of the cliff. The rooms appear reachable by a skilled climber and a cave is seen with goblin dogs periodically circling by to scavenge for refuse thrown from the cliffs above. But even the exposed chambers of the citadel show signs of life with armed guards, patrols and prisoners left dangling in cages over a sheer drop to the rubble below. After much discussion it is decided to investigate a nearby ruin that lay outside of sight of the guards stationed on the cliff walls.
The entrance is narrow and windy and partially hidden by dead plants and old webs. Gammon, Laudraven, and Balaur scout below and find a room filled with webs. The room contains several urns a few doors and a Large anvil. The entire group is brought in and prepares to fight spiders as the webs here are fresh and contain at least one person sized cocoon. Laudraven lays magical protection down on Apalala and then she goes forward to poke the web and trigger a response.
As soon as the webs are disturbed four spiders boil out from behind the Anvil. One spider is quite large while the other 3 are small. A lucky shot cripples the mama spider and a viscous fight dispatches the children. Laudraven finishes off the last survivor with her magic.
Then using Gammon's steel and Laudraven's magic the webs are cleared and much treasure is found. Fafnir gets a crudely made metal tower shield, several kobolds gain metal swords to replace their javelins. The cocoon is opened to find the remains of a kobold sorceress who has been gone for a few months. A scroll is recovered as well.
The group is then faced with many directions but pick the right hand path. This leads to some gore and the sign that something died this way a while ago. Gammon is sent to scout and Voldamordt is sent to follow just at the edge of vision. Balaur and Apalala stand ready to run to help while Laudraven and Fafnir secure the entry. After 50 feet another hallways intersects with the current hallway and there is no cover for approximately 15 feet from any watchers. The other hall appears to have a rotting corpse and some sign of recent travel but the group skirt that and continue onward in the current large hallway.
60 feet further on Gammon hears something whispering in a guttural tongue and he freezes in his tracks as something invisible circles him whispering in his ears and inspiring treasonous thoughts of Matricide. Voldamordt sees the thickening of the darkness and moves forward to help only to find himself frozen in place the moment he steps within 60 feet of the spirit whom he understands whispering in dwarvish about power and greed and a way to triumph over death, but only if Voldamordt is brave enough to lead rather than cower behind Laudraven. Balaur senses something wrong and drags Voldamordt back from the evil things aura and Voldamordt comes up with an idea. He begins to loudly proclaim the linage of dragons and the duty of the chosen son to defend his mother against threats. The oratory helps Gammon to shake off the things influence but by now the hulking creature has taken on a bestial form and is starting to tear into Gammon. Gammon is nimble but the creature ignores armor and each hit floods him with the desire to hurt others and a hunger for living flesh.
A retreat is made. Voldamordt uses his voice to interfere with the mesmerizing ability of the shadow beast. Apalala holds the rear against it while others secure the treasure from the first room and a orderly retreat is made. The group crashes through the forest but the beast pursues. It attacks indiscriminately. Laudraven dumps her most powerful magics into it but the creature barely appears to notice. Then when all seems lost the sound of beating wings are heard. The next time the party passes through a clearing a downdraft of air is accompanied by a jet of acid which obliterates the shadowy creature. Laudraven falls to her knees to give thanks for the dragon gods delivering her group from danger and the group makes its way back to the Besmirian camp with their bounty with no further sign of their rescuer.
The camp is bustling. New tents have appeared. The trap the kobolds had left behind appears to have been smashed apart. A lady in dark plate armor holds a small devil in her grasp while a new cage is built to hold the devil. The lady arrived while the group was out scouting and has taken command over from Lady Amelia. The armored lady is referred to as Lady Azure. The group tries to report what they have found but are dismissed when Kuro tells Laudraven "the queen may prostrate herself before me". When Voldamordt starts to question if Kuro was affected by the devil she is holding trapped in her white steel gauntlet she snaps him a glance that makes him throw himself on his belly before her. She speaks Greater Dragonic in the heads of the party as she orders them to go. The queen shall send her most powerful warriors by the morning and all those who do not grovel before her will be considered food. There has been enough hand holding Besmira has sent me to fix this mess.