Kingmaker: Ep. 15 – Gongaii

Winter held the Swordlands in a hard, dry fist. The party hunkered in Fort Owlbear, where Ulisha—their silver‑tongued former partner—moved into the cleaned‑out cellar and set about championing their cause. From the hearth, Mikmek the kobold shared grim news: his soot‑scale clan was under the thumb of a green‑haired gnome named Tartuccio, and Chief Sootscale would yield if only the idol stolen by the mites were returned. With Lana’s missing wedding ring rumored to be in the kobold hoard and a bounty on Tartuccio’s head, they set south.

They found the lair at a ravine cave marked by a toppled sign for the Oaktop Silver Mine and a cage where a furious blue gremlin rattled its bars. A small kobold sentry, awed by the idol in Yohei’s hands, guided them past hanging nooses and marked safe steps. Inside a smoky den lined with small animal skulls, Yohei offered the idol to Chief Sootscale. The chief lifted it high—then shattered it, declaring the curse broken. He promised friendship, treasures taken by Tartuccio, and pointed to a sanctum where the gnome, flanked by red‑daubed zealots and a steaming cauldron, held sway.

Words turned to violence. Light flared, spears jabbed, and the chamber erupted. Yohei’s shot staggered Tartuccio, Ashla waded into the press, and Adder’s blasts blew kobolds off their feet. Brother Kaarl failed to tip the cauldron and was speared down, then hauled back to fighting form by Junie’s slapdash elixirs. Izzy’s prayer stitched blue light around his allies and seared foes. As they began to push through, Tartuccio blurred and stepped out of sight. When Izzy urged Sootscale to stay his people, the chief turned coat and sicced the tribe on them. Izzy seized him by the scruff and ended his life with a single, terrible touch, and the kobolds broke.

Junie streaked houndstooth under Izzy’s nose, and the oread tracked Tartuccio by sweat and velvet through the wind‑blown hills. They cornered him behind a boulder; he tried to buy them off, tried to slip away, and failed at both. Manacled, gagged, and sagging, he yielded Lana’s engraved ring and a few coins. Back in his chamber, they found a mound of copper, two short green‑fletched hand‑crossbow bolts slick with sleep venom, and an unhinged Undercommon journal tying his schemes to Patax.

At the post, Lana received her ring in tears and pressed Old Rick, the riding mastiff, into their care. With Ulisha smoothing every introduction along the Lonely Road, they reached Taarka. Lady Kravmenko took the prisoner, set her drow magus Ebon to peel out his secrets, rewarded the party beyond the posted bounty, pledged a garrison and banners for Fort Owlbear, and offered instruction in Draconic. As Adder stayed to study and the others celebrated modest winnings, Kravmenko named their next charge in a clear, cold voice: bring her the heart of a dragon—and with it, the Swordlands’ future.

OUTLINE:

Winter at Fort Owlbear and the Kobold Problem

• Ulisha settled into the fort and championed the party’s cause.
• Mikmek revealed Tartuccio had seized control of the soot‑scale kobolds and craved the stolen idol.
• The group set goals: return the idol, find Lana’s wedding ring, and capture Tartuccio alive.

Into the Oaktop Silver Mine and Parley with Sootscale

• At the ravine cave, they noted a caged gremlin and a fallen sign: Oaktop Silver Mine.
• A kobold guide led them past snares to Chief Sootscale.
• Yohei presented the idol; Sootscale smashed it, declared the curse broken, and begged them to remove Tartuccio.
• He promised alliance, loot, a dragon altar’s location, and confirmed Tartuccio had Lana’s ring.

The Cauldron Hall Battle and the Chief’s Betrayal

• They confronted Tartuccio in a banner‑hung chamber; he replied with a dazzling blast and kobold zealots.
• Yohei fired point‑blank, Ashla fought through the swarm, Adder blasted, and Junie kept allies alive; Brother Kaarl fell and rose.
• Tartuccio slipped away; when pressed to call off his tribe, Sootscale turned on the party.
• Izzy seized the chief and ended him, breaking kobold morale.

The Chase, Capture, and Drow Clues

• Junie’s houndstooth tincture let Izzy track Tartuccio through the hills.
• They caught him at a bluff; he tried to bargain and blink away but was manacled and knocked out.
• On him and in his lair they found Lana’s ring, coin, two green‑fletched sleep‑dipped bolts, and an Undercommon manifesto naming Patax.

Rewards, Allies, and a New Charge in Tarka

• Lana reclaimed her ring and gifted Old Rick the riding mastiff.
• Ulisha smoothed their week‑long journey north to Lady Kravmenko’s hall.
• Kravmenko paid the bounty, promised a garrison and banners for Fort Owlbear, and set Ebon the drow to interrogate Tartucio.
• Adder remained to study Draconic; others caroused and took modest winnings.
• Kravmenko commissioned them to bring her the heart of a dragon.

NPCs:

• Chief Sootscale: Skull‑helmed leader of the soot‑scale kobolds. He shattered the idol and begged for Tartuccio’s removal, then betrayed the party in panic; Izzy ended his rule with a touch.
• Ebon: Lady Kremenko’s drow court wizard, scalp inked in spider‑web tattoos. Unflappable and incisive, he identifies drow poisons and will prise Tartuccio’s secrets loose.
• Gremlin Prisoner: A blue‑skinned mite snarling from a stick‑built cage at the kobold cave mouth. He shrieked for release and promised murder with every breath.
• Kesten: A stern captain overseeing the local garrison and bounty work. Practical and fair, he helped secure Tartuccio and keeps the road safer than it was.
• Lady Kravmenko: The ambitious noble patron behind the Swordlands venture. She rewards results, sends men and banners, and sets audacious tasks with a steady gaze.
• Lana: Otto’s wife, whose engraved wedding ring wandered from mites to kobolds to Tartucio. She rewarded its return with supplies and Oldrick, the riding mastiff.
• Mikmek: A soot‑scale kobold ally who hibernates by the fire and spills clan secrets without guile. He pointed the party to the caverns and inspired their approach.
• Old Rick: A stalwart riding mastiff with wise eyes and graying muzzle. Loyal, steady, and now proudly part of the party’s growing menagerie.
• Otto: Proprietor of the Swordlands trading post that anchors travel and rumor. He sees the coin flow and keeps the ale flowing.
• Tartuccio: A green‑haired gnome illusionist who seized the soot‑scales with tricks and terror. He tried to blind, bargain, and blink away, but ended manacled and delivered to Tarka.
• Ulisha: A charming bard and Yohei’s former business partner who has taken root at Fort Owlbear. She smooths introductions, champions the party’s deeds, and is constantly planning the next performance.

ITEMS:

• Eyeless Winged Idol: A stone figure of a tall, eyeless woman with bat‑wings and a barbed tail. It haunted dreams until Chief Sootscale smashed it to dust.
• Green‑Fletched Sleep Bolts: Two short hand‑crossbow bolts with green fletching, slick with drow sleep venom. No crossbow was found to match them.
• Houndstooth Tincture: Junie’s nose‑sharpening paste that turns a trail into a bright line for an hour. It led Izzy straight to the quarry.
• Lana’s Wedding Ring: A gold band set with a small pearl and engraved inside with Lana + Otto. Carried from mites to kobolds to Tartucio and finally home again.
• Manacles: Sturdy iron cuffs Ashla carried for the day Tartuccio would run out of tricks. They clicked shut at the bluff.
• Sleep Poison: A drow concoction that drops the unwary into instant slumber. Its presence suggests hands from below are meddling above.
• Sootscale’s Skull Headdress: A wolf‑sized skull adorned with feathers, worn by the kobold chief as a symbol of rule. It now sits blood‑stained and ownerless.
• Stag Lord’s Helm: An antlered trophy helm taken from the bandit king and now worn by Yohei. A reminder that tyrants can fall.
• Tartuccio’s Undercommon Journal: Pages of cramped, angry script and diagrams linking him to Pataxian sponsors and sabotage against Kravmenko’s claim.
• Troll Bile Draft: A bitter, lifesaving concoction that stanches the slide toward death. Ugly to smell, priceless in a fight.

LOCATIONS:

• Fort Owlbear: The reclaimed bandit fort that now serves as the party’s seat in the Swordlands. Smoke in the chimneys, a bard in the cellar, and plans on every table.
• Old Sycamore: The dead giant tree that once housed the mites’ lair and the route by which the idol changed hands. A landmark on every local’s tongue.
• Otto’s Trading Post: A palisaded waystation where news, coin, and travelers cross. It is the party’s nearest lifeline to civilization.
• Pohad Foothills: Low, stony hills south of the Gnarlwood, wind‑scoured and veined with ravines. The kobold caves and Tartuccio’s bluff lie among them.
• Sootscale Caverns (Oaktop Silver Mine): A narrow ravine cave worked long ago for silver, now a kobold warren of snares, skulls, and smoky fires. It held Tartuccio’s cauldron hall and a shattered idol.
• Taarka: A tiered city of banners and longhouses, home to Lady Kravmenko’s fortified hall and court. Power climbs the hill there—and so do those seeking favor.
• The Lonely Road: The long artery north to Taarka, dotted with farms, mile cairns, and inns where reputations are made in conversation.
• The River Below the Ravine: A cold ribbon threading the foothills, glinting at the lip of the kobold gully. Its breath carried Tartuccio’s scent just enough to catch.

FACTIONS:

• Drow of the Utter Below: Shadowed folk whose poisons and tools sometimes surface above. Their hand‑bolts in Tartuccio’s kit hint at deeper threads.
• House Kravmenko: Lady Kremenko’s growing power base in Tarka, bankrolling settlement, garrisons, and grand designs in the Swordlands.
• Kesten’s Garrison: The blades and shields keeping order from the trading post to the border. Hard men and women with harder jobs.
• Mites of the Old Sycamore: Blue‑skinned gremlins who warred with the kobolds and started the idol’s journey. Petty, vicious, and fond of cages.
• Patax: A rival eastern kingdom whose coins and whispers funded Tartucio’s sabotage. Their claim on the wilds is a powder keg.
• Sootscale Kobold Tribe: A soot‑skinned kobold clan in the old silver mine. Recently torn between a broken curse, a dead chief, and a fleeing gnome tyrant.

QUESTS:

• Bring a Dragon’s Heart: Hunt and slay a dragon and deliver its heart, fresh, to Lady Kremenko for great reward.
• Deliver Tartuccio Alive: Capture the green‑haired gnome who subverted the soot‑scales and present him to Lady Kremenko.
• Garrison Fort Owlbear: Work with Lady Kremenko to provision and man the reclaimed fort as a proper seat.
• Investigate Drow Involvement: Trace the source of the sleep‑dipped bolts and any underworld ties to surface plots.
• Return Lana’s Ring: Recover the engraved wedding ring stolen by mites and passed to the kobolds.
• Secure Alliance with the Soot‑Scales: Turn the kobold tribe from chaos and betrayal into stable neighbors or allies.
• Settle the Woodcutters–Dryad Dispute: End the conflict between loggers and the forest’s fey before it flares again.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Adder: A shabti kineticist who gathers storm in his hands and hurls it with grim precision. He absorbs punishment that would crumple others and answers it with force. After the dust, he stays to study, to be ready for the next threshold.
• Ashla: An aasimar fighter with a bounty‑hunter’s resolve and a moonlit blade. Taciturn until it matters, she fixes on a target and does not let go. This time, she brought the manacles—and used them.
• Brother Kaarl: A scarred human priest who protects balance with his fists as readily as his faith. He charges first, grits through the worst of it, and rises again when the world thinks he’s down. Piety for him is blunt, uncompromising, and backed by a hammer of conviction.
• Izzy: An oread cleric of Yamath, all stone‑set calm and sudden judgment. He shields his allies, snuffs evil with a touch, and can track prey like a hound when the moment calls. When he speaks for the party, people listen.
• Junie: An ifrit alchemist and rustic woodcutter who dreams of a wilderness Home Depot. She brews oils and oddities on the fly, patching wounds, tracking foes, and occasionally inventing something fizzy and new. Practical, warm, and always carrying firewood.
• Yohei: A quick‑smiling kitsune gunslinger and the party’s de facto face. He wears the Stag Lord’s antlered helm like a promise and leads with a steady hand and a sharper tongue. Dreams whisper from the idol’s shadow, but he answers them with steel and nerve.