Down to the lower decks
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Main Level, Tutorial Dungeon 1Gt#56, Dungeon Space
2021-10-18 07:32 am Eastern Standard
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The ramp lead down into what obviously used to be a gym. There was a small track around the edge of the room, and ruined exercise machines that were stacked up to provide a crude set of fortifications that another couple of kobolds were stationed behind. These two appeared to be armed with crude crossbows that seemed to have been designed partly from the remains of the exercise equipment. As James and the kobolds came down the ramp, they were challenged from the bottom of the container ramp.
"Halt! State the password, or we shoot you full of bolts!" one of the kobolds yipped excitedly.
Lirha shook her head, looking disgusted, and replied "This weeks password is 'The Elder is magnificent', you useless fool. We have a strange prisoner to deliver to the chief, so disable the traps."
The yippy kobold replied with an insouciant grin "Did the elder teach you no manners? Disable the traps, what?" He replied, as if lecturing a child, despite, or perhaps because of his appearance. Most of the kobolds that James had seen on this ship were a silvery-grey is color, with distinctive scaly skin that was mostly smooth except for some ridges down their backs and on various parts of their faces and snouts. This kobold, on the other hand, had a hump back, and his left arm was obviously shorter than his right, though that did not seem to effect his hold on his crossbow. The ugliest part of him was his face, which was covered in what looked like warts and his snout looked as if it was smashed into his face.
Lirha closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, obviously attempting to calm herself before responding in a tight voice. "Fine. Runstle, please disable the traps so that we may come through." she said, teeth gritted."
"Now, politeness was not so hard, was it", the ugly kobold named Runtsle replied. James took a moment to [Inspect] him.
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Runtsle - Kobold warrior, Small humanoid (reptilian, clone, mutant)
Init ???; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception ??
DEFENSE - ???, Weaknesses light sensitivity
OFFENSE - Speed ??? ft.
Melee sword ???, tailblade ???
Ranged makeshift crossbow ???
STATISTICS - ???
Languages - Draconic, ???
SPECIAL ABILITIES - Crafty (Ex) - Engineering and Stealth are always class skills for a kobold.
Mutant (Ex) - This kobold has mutated, probably due to issues with the cloning process.
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'This Runstle is not an adolescent, and is therefore more dangerous' James thought to himself, observing the interaction between the adolescent kobold and the warrior. James became wary of this ugly kobold. Runstle reached over and made a pulling motion behind a crate, and then James heard several clicks.
Runtsle grinned. "You can come through now. I can see that you caught one of them Portallers. Gonna take him to the chief for judgment?"
Lirha and Brink nodded at the same time. Lirha explained "yes, we will be taking him to the chief for judgement."
Runstle's partner, another kobold warrior, albeit one with less mutations, grinned. "We all know how that is gonna go... maybe his gear can pay off a bit of debt."
James looked at the warrior. "What debt?" he asked, puzzled.
The kobold warrior looked at James angrily. "The debt the elder owes, of course. The one all of you Portallers make worse every time that you come. You damage our home and kill our kin, and then you leave us with the damages."
James was surprised at this response. Up until now, everything had seemed like a game, albeit one where you could eventually die. This kobold's statement made him think about what might be going on. As he followed Lirha and Brink out of the gym into the hallway, he mentally asked his AI, Nebula, 'what debt are they talking about'?
Nebula looked pensive. 'To keep a given dungeon populated, the system sometimes creates clones that are the denizens of a dungeon. This allows the system to control the power level of the creatures in a given dungeon, matching them to the dungeon participants. Dungeons are often controlled by inhabitants that were creatures from the normal universe who committed crimes. They are often sentenced to serve as monsters in dungeon space and to manage the dungeon, and are usually fined many credits and have to pay them back. This particular dungeon, Dungeon 1Gt#56, is known as a difficult solo dungeon, as, well, most creatures cannot communicate with the inhabitants in this dungeon, so combat is guaranteed and there are many traps. It is very strange that you were able to speak with the inhabitants and have not had to fight them, yet.'
James nods to himself. 'Is it really unusual to not know what kobolds speak?' he asked while he continued down the hall.
'There are millions if not billions of species of aliens in the Galactic Mutuality, and no one should know what they all are. The fact that you know what they were is unusual, and the fact that somehow you speak their language is really strange. According to the data I can access, the System itself did not list what language these creatures speak, like it normally would, until you identified the language.' Nebula replied. 'I'm not actually sure what is going on, the data I can read for this dungeon is a bit... strange. This ship appears to exist in reality, not just in dungeon space. I searched and I found out that it went missing over a hundred years ago.'
As they walked down the hall, James noticed that there were several other doors, which were labeled bunk area, head, mess hall, and officer's quarters. The hallway ended in a T-intersection, with a room with double doors directly at the end of the hallway. That door had a sign labled 'Comm Room' beside it.
Brink pushed James toward the doors, which opened as they approached. "Chief Inside" the young kobold said, shoving Jake in the room.
Lirha proudly followed, saying "Chief, we bring a prisoner to talk".