Collecting his arrows he fired...or one of his arrows anyway, Tal quickly took his place in line. He felt invigorated, never had someting so profound as hunting these animals stirred something in him. Here there was no social status, no people to impress and no witnesses to failure. Here it was truly the hunters and the hunted, and there was something that felt so right about it. The feeling that anything could happen. It settled so strongly in Tal that he wanted to see this hunt to its end...for better or worse.

As you venture into the tunnel, you all try to move stealthily, but the tunnel is so tight and full of rubble that you can't help but drag your feet a little too noisily. You follow the passage down beyond where it curves and come to an area where the ceiling grows taller and the size of the tunnel widens to about ten feet. It stretches on about twenty five more feet before it turns to the right. 

As Wrath leads the way, his eye catches something on the ground: a thin shadowy line. Being familiar with snares and how to make them, he stops the group and bends over to inspect it. Sure enough, it is a tripwire. His eyes follow it to a jar suspended about fifteen feet above the ground; if he had kept walking, this would have fallen right on his head or maybe Tal's if he had been quick enough. 

"Hm?" Veldan's head cocked when the ranger shifted ahead of him down the tunnel. Eyes closed, it was Twilight than leaned in close until it caught a glimpse of his ears. At the realization. the half-elf let out a gasp. Until now, he hadn't had the opportunity to inspect every member of this hodge-podge group

"I hardly expected to see another of the People as soon as I arrived in Emon." Veldan said to Tal in Elvish. "Pardon me for not introducing myself sooner," He continued in Common. "I am Ser Veldan, Knight of House Aldamiel. Do you hail from Syngorn as well? Oh, or were you born here?" He pestered as they traveled through the first part of the tunnel. 

Razz, no wanting to worry about the simple trap loudly tells his teammates, "Trip wire!" 

He also motions to the jar overhead.

Tal's veritable "high of the hunt" had been pierced by the half-elves words. 'Not here...not now' Upon being stopped by Razz and noticing the tripwire Tal sighed heavily and looked back at Veldan, In curt elvish, "Maybe now is not the time for Introductions." He wasn't gonna have some trap kill him or stop this hunt. Looking up at the jar Razz mentions he wonders if he could catch it before it falls...but then again why should he? "We should leave this trap and I'll set it off when we get far enough away."

Veldan's face went from excited to crestfallen, which then eased into insulted as his nose wrinkled. "Hm! Perhaps not." He turned his head away at that,  letting his hair fly and not really doing much other than being indignant.

Shaw takes a moment to contemplate, "Best to shoot from a distance, I trust a Ranger's aim over the accuracy of my spells."

"Right, well, time to move along, chaps!" Krenak said with a clap and a grin. "Do you think any of these pesky kobolds will allow the light of the Changebringer into their hearts?"

Tal draws an arrow into his bow, takes aim at the thin tripwire about 30 feet away, and looses. The arrow flies true and severs the nearly invisible cord as the jug is released from the harness and smashes on the ground, making a large clatter. A hundred small insects, beetles, centipedes, worms, and more squirm their way out of the shattered remains and burrow into the earth or scuttle away. You all shiver at the prospect of having such a swarm land on your head.

Taking a glance at the sprawled group of bugs, Razz momentarily thinks about eating a few, but passes on it as he can't even make out any of the 'bug'gers.

Maintaining his position at the front, Razz continues onwards.

Seeing the arrow actually hit the mark suprised Tal and he tried his best to hide his shock with a cocky smile. He hit that tripwire. The haughty part of him told him seemingly in his father's terse voice, 'You are an elf, millennia of ancestors have come from the forests of the Feywild to Syngorn and you are just utilizing that part of your Ancestry.' But there was a part of him that doubted that thought. His family were all high elves, mages, politicians and merchants, most of which had never worked a day in their lives let alone done something so agile and smooth. Maybe this didn't relate to his family at all, maybe he was actually good at something. Something his parents could never seem to accept back in Syngorn.

Tal spent a bit too long staring at the spot where that arrow connected with the tripwire. Upon the jar crashing and all the critters burrowing Tal grew pale. Seeing the worms and centipides and other crawling critters scuttling away into the ground sprung him from his musings. Quickly brushing himself off he jumped up and rejoined the group trudging up to Shaw and trying to hold a mixture of emotions from disgust to fear in control.

After a minute following Tal's mind began to wander again. He couldn't seem to shake what Shaw had said before he had loosed his arrow. 'I trust a Ranger's aim over the accuracy of my spells'...a Ranger...was that how they saw him? He had always been defined by his race or what his family was, never by what he could personally do. So far this party had only complimented him on his bow skills and allowed him to shine by his merits, not his family. That was a very alien concept to Tal. He smiled at the thought of it, it was one he could definitely get used to.

Silently behind Shaw he pressed further down the passage.

"That was a most excellent shot, my friend," Krenak said, grinning and giving the young elf a hearty pat on the back. "Truly you must have practiced for many years to gain that level of skill!" Turning to the others, he took his spot as rearguard and twirled his halbard. "That reminds me of an older halfling man who took refuge at the temple where I was raised. He was a circus performer who did many amazing trick shots."

Shaw gives a nod to Tal as the Ranger steps behind him. "I'm glad my faith in your bow was rightly placed." Looking down, "Bugs, should have expected something like that in a place like this." he mutters. "Let's keep an eye out for more traps like this, I expect this is not the last. With the sound that made, I'm sure they know we are coming."

Veldan's mouth twisted into a grimace. Seems as though whether in Syngorn or Emon, Elves stayed the same. Taking in a long, calming breath as the others congratulated Tal on his shot, the Half-Elf summons a smile to his face. Shutting his eyes, he returned his vision to the owl on his shoulder.

"No need to worry, my crimson companion. If those little buggers are waiting for us up ahead, Twilight will no doubt spot them out. Now let us oust these pests before the stink of this place sticks to my hair!"

Opening his sight through Twilight, he was met with a big wall of gray meat. "Oop! Pardon, friend. I just need to borrow that shoulder." Veldan informs Razz as Twilight flaps up onto his shoulder without waiting for a response, the wizard laying a hand against Razz' back to guide himself.

As you press on down the passageway, you can feel yourself going deeper into the earth. It is getting warmer, almost tepidly so. You navigate a few more twists and turns as the smell of kobolds grows stronger. With Twilight's help, it is very easy to spot the traps that the kobolds have placed; more bug jars, some small spike pits, even a complicated-looking arrow trap. You mentally mark their locations and thank the gods that Veldan's familiar is so observant; an average band of mercenaries would probably have died by now with all of these traps to deal with.

Finally, you reach a wider area that must be part of a natural cave system, not a tunnel dug by the small drakelings or their giant lizard pets. Some stalagmites and stalactites reach for each other longingly as a drip of water is heard somewhere toward the side of the cavern. It looks like there is another passageway across the room. Some crates, barrels, squat earthen dwellings, and piles of bones cling to the walls of the cave, leaving a large central area, a kind of makeshift plaza, in the middle. Standing there is a little lone figure. Tiny, sniveling, and fearful, it clutches a dagger in its quaking claw and points its blade toward you. It inhales sharply through its nose and you can hear the sound of mucus being forced back into the sinuses. With its red scales, sharp teeth, and other reptilian features, it looks like a tiny dragon without wings. This is a kobold. A sick-looking one, but a kobold nonetheless.

"Y-y-yous leaving, big mens. Kobolds n-n-no want fighting yous," the kobold says in a small, hoarse voice. It looks like it is about to say something else, but then it sneezes and begins coughing. It's pitiful, really.

"Akh, akh, akh... ahem! Go way! Lasting ch-chances!"

Twilight's keen eyes narrowed, but it was Veldan that recoiled with a sound of disgust. "Ugh! That's what a kobold looks like? Krenak, your people most certainly inherited all the looks."

Razz boldly walks up to the little guy, using his own height, size and barbaric nature to try and intimidate him into dropping his weapon.

"I don't want to fight ya either little man. But if I 'ave ta....I will."

The kobold's eyes open wider in awe and fear of Razz's giant form and powerful voice. As the goliath's shadow eclipses the little kobold, it drops its weapon and falls to the floor crying out in a language Razz does not understand.

All of a sudden, a clatter of noise and a chorus of growls and yips erupts from the surrounding huts and storage containers as eight kobolds emerge from their hiding places with slings, daggers, and spears in hand. A small yet ferocious ambush has caught you all by surprise!

Three kobolds armed with daggers sprint to the central area in a daring effort to save their friend and take down the goliath. Ganging up on Razz, they manage to work together and distract him which allows them to attack where he is vulnerable. Razz is barely standing in the wake of the kobold onslaught. Four more kobolds throw rocks from slings at the other party members, which they all dodge except for Shawsten who takes a jarring blow to the side of the head. 

A bigger kobold with a backpack tosses a cage made of bone on the ground and opens the gate, releasing a small black-and-white animal that darts out, confused and frightened.

From the back Tal hears the commotion up front and barely dodges a slung rock headed in his direction. He swore under his breath and struggled to get his bow in order as he raced to the front. He was so discombobulated that he didn't even pay heed to razz being swarmed by three kobolds of his own. Noticing the greater numbers of the hoard attacking them Tal shot blindly and his arrow puttered to the ground nearby.

Grounding his feet Tal took a breath and tried to still his mind as he grabbed for another arrow, no use feeling sorry for himself, here it was kill or be killed and he most certainly did want to die here of all places.

Wincing as a group of kobolds rushed forward, Krenak barely dodged a slung stone as several of the little dragon-like beings surrounded Razz and viciously attacked the goliath. Rushing forward as an arrow flew wildly off to the side, he bashed the flat of his halbard hard against the side of one of the kobold's head, sending it crashing to the floor. "Please, stop, I don't want to fight you!" he yelled out in draconic.