Around this time Urokris returns to the cave tunnel. "It seems to be as the dwarf said. Heads straight to the stream. That seems new," he adds, looking into the hole. "I don't know if I could even fit in there!"

Perception: 10

"Stabby type?" Quarion thought to himself with some bemusement, as he got down on his hands and knees to crawl through the kobold-sized space.  It'd been ages since he'd actually used this rapier.

Valji walked upright behind him, barely having to bend his head to fit through the tiny space.

As they approached the other end of the tunnel, Quarion saw an iron door. "That's funny," he said, "I could have sworn I saw a lock on here. Guess my darkvision was playing tricks on me."

"I suppose the prudent thing is to give this door a good once-over before opening it.  You know, just in case."

Quarion opens the door, and it leads into a small room. In one corner is a bed made mostly of copper coins and a number of colorful stones that seem to be of little value. Immediately ahead there is what appears to be the entrance to another tunnel or cave, but it appears to have been blocked by a cave-in long ago.

Across the room from the "bed", there is a kobold sized table with the remains of a number of scrolls, most of which seem to have rotted away over the years. Judging from the dust and growing stalactites and stalagmites, no one has been in this room for hundreds of years.

"Careful, my friends...I've read of collections like this, lying around, looking all innocent and ripe for the plucking. And then a dragon comes in and is all up in your face and wanting to eat you for a mid-day snack because you just looked at its treasure. And I'm not going to be a bite-sized morsel today, nosiree!" He will move carefully to the table and investigate the scrolls carefully. If he can, he will cast mending on any that seem ready to crumble away in the hopes of saving them.

Valji looks at the scrolls and finds a variety of maps and designs with notations written on them in Draconic. Some of them are incomplete, though their architect is now long dead.

"As fascinating as I'm sure it would be to explore this tiny room some more, it appears to be a dead end," Quarion interrupts impatiently, never having had much interest in scholarly pursuits. "Where do you figure we should go from here? Back to the city to try to get some rest in case that dragon attacks, or through the rest of the main tunnel to the stream?"

Skiaceq stares at the crawlspace. It is possibly the most horrific obstacle he has encountered in his lifetime. He tries to step toward it, but his feet are petrified.

Charisma save against Frightened: 12

All manner of reasons to never enter such a place spin through his head until he is almost convinced it must be irrelevant to the broader situation. But as he reaches for excuses, Skiaceq's mind grasps onto his monk training. A momentary clarity, and he is able to force down his fear.

Closing his eyes, Skiaceq suffers the tunnel, trying not to whimper. When he emerges, he immediately blocks out what he just experienced.

The others are investigating the small room. He treads over to the bed and plucks a copper coin, investigating the mint. Then he surveys the room itself. Escobert must know of this room, from his suspicious behavior, but Skiaceq had sensed no malice. Was the royalty aware of this passage also? What purpose would a room like this serve? An escape route? Or something more sinister?

Investigation: 5

"Perhaps we should head back to the city and steel ourselves for the dragon that Escobert warned of.  Urokris has scouted the other end of the tunnel, and didn't find anything unexpected, and apart from this fascinating room and the unexpected historical twist about the tunnel's construction, it seems to be more or less as advertised.  Valji's alarm should give us the heads up if any kobolds should try to use this entrance, and we'll be dead quickly if we try to assault the square on our own. I'd feel safer with the guards at least until this dragon business blows over. Safety in numbers and all that, no?"

Fighting past his fear, Skiaceq searches the bed of coins. In addition to some useless rocks in a variety of colors, he finds 1000cp, 5sp, and 2 shiny red gems worth 10gp each.

From outside, you hear Urokris agreeing, "Definitely. We have the alarm set, after all."

While waiting for Skiaceq to finish searching, Quarion paces around the room looking at the walls, floor and ceiling in case there's anything interesting in here that the others missed.

Quarion finds nothing else of value. While walking past Valji, he notices one of the blueprints appears to be of the castle and tunnel. On it, he sees a the room they're in currently. It shows the collapsed hallway continuing on into a network of kobold tunnels. It seems as though this tunnel was at one point the exit of a kobold lair.

Quarion points out the similarity on the blueprint to Valji, "Looks like there's probably a kobold lair through there," pointing at the caved in passageway. "But unless you have a clear boulders spell in that book of yours, it seems like we're stuck going out the way we came in. Care to take the lead this time?"

Valji picks up the map as Quarion points out the room they are in. He turns in a circle, orienting the map to the room and entry tunnel they were in, and looks at the collapsed tunnel. Being a mage of some skill, he was naturally a bit suspicious, and walks over to the stonefall and tries to push against the stones. If it was an illusion, it was a pretty good one! He knocks on various places, and searches for a secret lever. "Kobolds are notoriously tricky - they may have a way past this apparent dead-end. Better safe than apologetic, after all!"

Despite searching very thoroughly, Valji seems unable to find anything. As Skiaceq finishes grabbing whatever he can, a cry rings out from Urokris in the hallway. "Kobolds! In the tunnel! 100ft ahead!" he whispers urgently. 

Skiaceq turns the gems over in his palm, admiring the tarnished surface, then slips them stealthily into his pouch.

Sleight of Hand: 23

"It is best to leave the passage blocked. We don't want to grant more kobolds entry." Upon hearing Urokris' cry, he bolts back to the crawlspace and stops... feeling dread resurface.

Charisma save against Frightened: 4

Having faced this obstacle at its worst, Skiaceq feels as though he is watching himself from beyond his body, and the terror feels somehow apart. He sees himself duck through the opening. He quietly mutters an old mantra, "The body endures the suffering of the mind." The words are audible to the group, as Aarakocra cannot whisper.

(OoC: What... no... :( Because the tag on the first roll broke, it rerolled the 15 on that charisma check when I fixed it... Ughhhh. Whatever, take the reroll since I can't prove it.)

Quarion crawls after Skiaceq into the tunnel, as quietly as possible, considering the circumstances.  When he emerges he tries to press himself up against the wall of the main tunnel, taking up as little space as he can.

 Pulling a dagger from his boot, he readies an action to throw it at the first kobold he can see in range.

Urokris quickly hid his torch. "There's no use hiding out in the open here, Darvin. We should head for the keep!"

"Ah, good thinking!" Quarion whispers. "Get ahead of them and pick them off as they come out of the tunnel! They don't call you a fighter for nothing, do they? I'll just, I'll just, um..." he stammers, running ahead to be sure that Urokris would be between himself and the approaching kobolds.

Urokris watches as Quarion makes a tactical retreat, as it will inevitably be remembered. Looking to Skiaceq with compassion, he suggests "Let's get you out of this cave. Your father doesn't want you a cooked chicken."

"We won't set the alarm off, so at least we can go through the door quietly. If they open it, that is...I think Escobert locked it behind us. Since I can see in the dark, and I have one more group spell left, I'll come last and keep an eye on them. Now get moving and keep that light hidden!" Surprisingly, this is the least thistle-brained the gnome has ever sounded, as if the potential fight in a tunnel with kobolds suddenly sharpened his mind. Or he didn't have time to be funny and flighty...either way.

Stealth: 6