The cloud is about 20 feet away, so Eryn does not make it into the cloud. He can hear the running footsteps of kobolds, though only one sounds close; the rest are distant. He can smell the overwhelming stench of what he thinks is kobold, a sour fear smell, and sweat. 

(Because of the nat20, I'll say you got it just as it was running in)

Arthasis releases a blast of dark purple energy from his hand in the direction of the last kobold. Thinking he's missed it as it disappears into the fog, everyone is surprised when the creature wails somewhere in the fog before it cuts off suddenly and a wet explosion sounds. 

Eryn is surprised to find himself suddenly covered in kobold bits. The smell of blood and viscera combined with the high pitched whine getting louder and having recently been unconscious makes him tremble and twitch. Roll me a wisdom save. 

 Keaton is up

Menodora on deck. 

[OOC: Sorry, just woke up. It is Sunday morning as I type this.]

Wisdom save: 22

(No worries! I know we're all in different time zones~)

Eryn desperately reaches for something, anything, to calm himself. He remembers a dream - a curtain of purple protecting him from the world and a comfortable, warm place to nap. Slowly, the trembling subsides and Eryn masters himself again, the moment passed.

Keaton runs up to the edge of the fog cloud, but then is torn, unable to muster the will to jump into the unknowable fog that is likely filled with enemies first.  He waits at the edge, trying to hold on to a divine flash of energy until he sees one of the foes in range.  

(Hold Action, Sacred Flame.  If a target appears, it must make a Dex DC 13 save or take 8 Radiant damage)

Keaton waits at the edge of the fog, divine energy held coiled in in his fingers. 

The high-pitched whine is louder, almost painful for some of you. Suddenly, the kobold with an arrow through it's eye explodes, bits of gore flying everywhere. Menodora and Aeros catch some of it on them, but the others are far enough away that they avoid it. 

There are no more signs of the enemy - Eryn would be able to tell that the scents are fading, and he can no longer hear their footfalls within the fog. 

You all have an unconscious Kobold beginning to stir on the ground, but we are effectively out of combat. 

What do you all do? 

Shaken by what has just happened, Eryn slowly sheathes his short sword and returns to where he left his bow to take stock of his situation.

It is at that point he realises that he still has the hand crossbow bolt stuck in his chest. It comes free easily, the head apparently having penetrated his leather armour but somehow left his flesh relatively undamaged. Looking at the bolt in his hand, he remembers the shock of the pain and the wave of blackness that had come over him. He also remembers waking suddenly and the cold anger that had gripped him at the affront that such a lowly creature as a kobold had managed to bring him down—even if only just momentarily.

Then he remembers the others and where they are. These streets were deserted, but surely someone will be coming to investigate the explosion. To avoid involvement in what must happen, he will need to act fast.

He pockets the bolt and picks up his bow. Then, in silence, he walks to where he struck down the first kobold and retrieves what is left of his arrow [OOC: 1–3 the arrow is broken, 4–6 the arrow can be reused: 6 DM, let me know if the recovery chance has changed in this situation.]

"If any of them are bleeding, there will be a blood trail," he says grimly, looking up the still foggy street in the direction his foes went. "Who is with me?"

It felt exhilarating when his magic struck down the kobold that just had escaped into the fog. The pain these creatures had caused him demanded a bloody kind of retribution. Arthasis wondered why those low-lifes tried to kill them. If they just had ran by them, most likely no one would have bothered with their escape, he wouldn't have at least. The anger within him made him curious about their motives but he knew that probably wouldn't last. So when he heard the pale elf encouraging them to follow the kobolds, Arthasis replied, "Why should I? They won't make it past the city walls most likely. And if they do, let the authorities deal with this mess."

"Honour, for one thing," replies Eryn coldly.

Then, after a moment where he looks back in the direction where the explosion occurred, he adds, "And reputation for another. I make my living with my bow and it is not through winning archery competitions. There might be some coin coming to those who bring to justice the ones who brought damage to this city."

Menodora winces in confusion and disgust, and moves to wipe off some of the gore from the exploding creature that finds its way onto her. 

"I think it's either we try and follow them, or we risk the authorities suspecting us as having done...all this," she states quietly to the group, offering a hand in the direction the group has come from. And the explosion they'd produced during their escape. 

"Unless we think this one creature -- who I'm sure is going to be very talkative to us after having tried to kill us, will be enough for us to prove that we had nothing to do with nothing, when someone shows up." 

And of that, she is most uncertain. Not that she altogether wants to get back into a fight, but she would rather not wind up locked up or blamed for something they hadn't done either. 

"You mean we have a prisoner?" asks Eryn, surprised.

Then, seeing the unconscious kobold, he says, "I speak their language. I will be able to get him to talk. But perhaps here is not the place for an interrogation. Let us move elsewhere."

Aeros takes a few moments to wipe up the... remains of one of the attacking cultists.  "Well... this is a first..." he says to no one in particular slightly grossed out by his current situation, "Definitely not how I expected my night to go."  As he listens to the others discuss what to do next, he notices the kobold he had knocked out of the fight earlier and goes over to it to make sure it didn't run off, and to make sure his companions didn't do something rash.  I'll need to be very careful with them, he thinks to himself as he notes their reactions to the fight moments ago, these are not your run-of-the mill commoners that's for sure.  Wanting to play the peacekeeper, Aeros chimes in with "I can communicate with the kobold as well if it does not speak common.  Before we decided each of our next moves, I think it makes sense to hear what the creature has to say.  Might give you all clarity on what to do next."  For Aeros, no matter the creature's response, he knew what his next course of action would be.  For he knew wherever there's kobolds, there's a chance, however small, of something much greater lurking in the shodows; and if he was lucky, that shadow would be the target he seeks.

Arthasis, slowly regaining his composure after the fight, gave the others a hearty smile. "Sure and I robbed a merchant just an hour ago.", he joked dismissing the idea of being blamed for this incident. "Why should they blame us? There is a kobold lying just here.", he paused and then gestured towards the remains of the corpses. "... and parts of two others sprayed all over the place. If we flee now, the gnome we jumped before will sing his song to the authorities and they will surely blame us. We need them to tell our side of the story."

He took a few steps out into the open street taking a look around to see if there maybe where some other witnesses.

"Our friend Eryn is right though. There maybe money to gain here, if we bring those creatures to... Justice. Another reason we should talk to the authorities.", he announced intrigued. The little money he had managed to bring with him was running out fast and he was eager to get some more coin into his pocket. If that meant working as bounty hunter, well why not? 

Eryn approaches the scene of carnage and looks at the remains of the kobolds. They were wearing cloaks, some were carrying small crossbows and two exploded after being killed...

Realising that there could be three explosions, he approaches the unconscious kobold with the intention of investigating the creature's body to see if there might be something he can see that is unusual, something that might indeed explode and not only hurt them but also rob them of a possible informant.

[OOC: Investigation or Arcana check (whichever is appropriate): 21  ; as Intelligence-based skills, the same roll applies to both.]

As he does this, or if Aeros tries to stop him, he says, "Do not worry, I have no intention of torturing this kobold, but we need to make sure he is not going to explode, and I can use magic to trick the information we need out of him."

As Eryn investigates the kobold, he finds the creature's feet stained with a deep crimson mud, caked up to it's knees. On further inspection, he finds a lead key hanging on a cord around the kobold's neck. It's beginning to stir, though it seems weak. 

There are other noises around - people staring out of windows and doorways. There are several small figures dressed in the colors of the Crownsguard heading your way from the hole in the mountain, though they seem to be stopping to talk to the people gathered along the street. 

Arthasis kept his distance avoiding the unconscious Kobold as much as possible. If the creature would explode like the others he had not intention to stand near it. When he saw the Crownsguard coming in their general direction he tried to get their attention. "Guards!", Arthasis exclaimed. "Guards! We have one of the culprits you are looking for. He is still alive!", he beckoned them to come over. When they approached further he would warn them, "But be careful! Two of his acomplices exploded when they ... fell."

Keaton's will fails him as he hears the sound of anguish in the fog.  He waits for the fog to dissipate before releasing the divine energy.  "Ioun help me, I have to be better."  Keaton wanted to just move on, pretending this hadn't happened.  Not an option.  We have to move.  

"The Watch will be here soon.  We need to move if we are to avoid getting implicated in this.  Alternatively, we can wait, then show the Watch this little kobold and tell the truth.  I have an appointment with the Watchmaster on behalf of the Cobalt Soul.  That could smooth this encounter over quite a bit."

With the imminent arrival of the guard, Eryn decides to act unilaterally and tries to wake the unconscious kobold so he can speak with him. [OOC: Medicine roll, if it helps: 11 ]

If he succeeds, he wants to use his Fey Presence feature to charm it (and any others accidentally in the area of effect). [OOC: a Wisdom saving throw against a DC of 14 is required to resist.]

Succeed or fail, he then talks to the kobold in draconic asking it the following questions in order:

1. Where were it and its comrades going?
2. Who were they escorting?
3. Why were they doing this?

[OOC: And here is his Persuasion roll: 8  ]

[OOC: Oops. Assuming the kobold was charmed, the Persuasion roll should have been at Advantage, so here is the second roll: 23

And if it was not charmed, ignore this roll.]

Kobold wisdom save - 15

The groggy, weak kobold hisses and growls, ignoring Eryn's questions completely. Instead, it scrabbles about its person for a moment before appearing alarmed, its gaze tracking behind Eryn into the shadows. It seems to relax then, a cruel, triumphant grin overtaking its toothy features before it surges forward to snap it's jaws at Eryn, yelling "No Witnesses!" again. While it holds the party's attention, a crossbow bolt comes from the shadowy rooftop of a nearby building, embedding itself into the kobold's heart. It falls still. 

The Crownsguard approach the party, alerted by Arthasis's shouting. They take in the scene - the remnants of the kobolds, the dead one on the ground, and you all standing there in the street. "What happened here?" one of them inquires, another stepping forward to peer down the street towards where the fog cloud is dissipating. "Did you see where the other fugitives went?" 

[OOC: Well that's a bust. Presuming that no else tries to interfere with what is going on, Eryn is now going to try Intimidation to get the information he seeks.]

Letting his charming demeanour slip away, Eryn scowls down at the kobold and with a gesture and some more arcane words the ring on his finger glows briefly a deep crimson as Eryn casts Hex on the creature [OOC: There is no save and Eryn makes the secondary effect Disadvantage on Wisdom-based checks.]

Eryn then asks his questions again, taking longer this time and embellishing them with all sorts of threats.

Eryn's Intimidation roll: 23

[LOL. Eryn is going to start doubting himself terribly at this point.]