Characters: Jeb (Steve), Raul (GT), Chris (Ryan)
Setting: The mines of the Mountains of the Silent Watch
The party had worked their way down the mines with great struggle. After having explored all 3 floors, they returned to the collapsed tunnel on the first floor. Various parts of the mine were flooded, and rumors of a water naga swarmed the mine. Jeb looked forward to catching the beast to mount it and sell it. Chris wanted to use the scales and teeth to make various jewelry and trinkets. The two argued as Raul led the way to the cave-in. Their arguement came to a temporary halt as Jeb rolled out some boom powder to blow away the rubble. After taking several paces back, he lit the fuse and watched as their path was made clear.
On the other side things did not look good. Dead miners and signs of attempts of futile escape showed that this cave-in may have been more than a disaster. The miners appeared extremely pale, and kobold footprints covered the floor. The party was stumped as to what happened. Vampire kobolds were very unlikely. They chose to go deeper into the tunnel to try to find some answers.
After a minute or so of walking, the tunnel came to a split. A tunnel branched off to the left and the right. In the middle of the two, laying right in front of the party, was an extremely pale dead kobold. It seemed that kobolds were the least of their problems. Suddenly Jeb heard a noise from the left cave. Eager to find the source of all this, he sprinted down the tunnel as the other two tried to keep up. As Jeb emerged into a room, he caught four kobolds off their guard. With a cry of battle Jeb rushed forward and hacked away. Raul and Chris had stopped. A few kobolds were no match for Jeb, this was a perfect oppurtunity for them to relax. However, Raul's cunning ear heard steps behind them. As he turned, he saw another party of kobolds rushing toward them. The blast Jeb used to open the tunnel had gotten him more attention than he wanted. Raul and Chris fought in the hallway as Jeb finished the ones in the room. Jeb had already dispatched half of the four and swung to take out another. As his sword cleaved through the third, a glimpse of light caught his eye. The fourth kobold had pulled out a fire arrow and was aiming at Jeb. The arrow took flight and Jeb dove back. Just as he did, he realized that the kobold wasn't aiming for him. No one could shoot that bad. As he landed he turned to see what the kobold had really been aiming for. What he saw was probably what the kobolds had used to cause the cave-in to begin with. The arrow had struck a barrel of boom powder. The room suddenly filled with fire and dust, as the cave shook violently. Raul and Chris turned to see only the finale of what the final kobold had done. Having finished with the kobolds in the hallway, they ran in to see if Jeb was alive. Sure enough the burly man had survived the encounter, but was half trapped under a rock with a few broken ribs. With the help of his two companions, the rock was moved and Jeb began tending to his wounds.
With another blast having taken place, Raul heard more kobolds coming down the tunnel. Jeb couldn't fight, so Raul and Chris went to the hallway to do what they could. There weren't as many as Raul had expected. He stabbed his way though kobold after kobold. Chris opened fire with his spells, but after a single casting realized he couldn't do much more. Knowing Raul needed help, the clumsy sorcerer pulled out his flaming sword which he had used as a torch and ran forward to swing. As the sword came down, the handle slipped from his grasp, and the blade flew behind all the kobolds. Shocked at his extreme misfortune, he grabbed one of the kobolds weapons and began to hack to his sword. Once he reached it though, he was not at all safe. One of the kobolds had picked up his flaming sword, and grinned as it struck Chris down. Raul leaped in, taking the kobold by suprise. The kobold was no different than the rest, but Raul had a hard time killing him.
Jeb and Chris stayed in the rubble room as Raul went to see where the other tunnel went. The right tunnel was covered in vines, which was odd for so deep in the caves. As he stepped through the tunnel slowly, he could see the vines move to him, trying to grab him. They were slow, and could easily be avoided by walking continuously. Raul held his light forward and kept moving. Ahead he saw a room, but he couldn't quite tell how far it was. Suddenly he felt no floor under his next step, and he plunged into water. He surfaced and looked around. It was a small circular room, and all the vines seemed to come from the water. He swam over to the edge and was about to climb up, when he thought about what the vines would do if he tried to climb them. Raul saw ripples in the water that were not his own and yelled, "Guys, come here, quick!" Jeb and Chris took off for the right tunnel. Jeb darted around the intersection and didn't even seem to notice the vines as he went. Chris, not far behind, was not as lucky. The vines simply moved up and made Chris trip. He feel down into the vines and they quickly constricted his arms and legs. He was speechless as he saw them dig into his skin and literally suck his blood. He had heard of these before. These "bloodvines" is what killed the miners. Chris knew he was in trouble.
In the meantime, Jeb screeched to a halt at the waters edge as Raul yelled a warning of water. As soon as he saw the pond, he threw Raul a rope remembering that a water naga could be near. Raul began to climb the rope, and suddenly he was grabbed by the leg and drug under. Jeb tried to hold his footing, but was drug under as well. Twenty feet, thirty feet, fourty feet. Finally Raul reached his dagger and bent down to stab the scaley monster and make him let go. Jeb and Raul swam to the surface. Scrambling up over the vines was easy, they seemed preoccupied with something else. Jeb saw the large snake coming back for more. He took some of his lantern oil and poured it in the water. Kneeling down, he ignited the water as soon as the naga surfaced to attack. The oily water covered the naga, as did the flames. It flailed around as it died, finally coming to a dead stop at the feet of Raul. "Help!" Jeb heard from the hall. He ran back and saw Chris fully entangled. He could hardly breathe. Jeb took Chris's flaming sword from his side and was about to cut him free when he had a devilish idea. "Now... who gets the naga?" he asked Chris. With a sigh and a slight insult, Jeb knew the snake was his and cut Chris free. From that point on, Jeb always had a pair of naga earrings, and the money he made from selling the mounted naga.