The Kobold and a Plan

“She was the Bauchan’s latest victim. They took everything she had,” Robert started explaining about the mysterious girl’s situation. “She’s been trying to find someone to help her retrieve her gear; she’s very adamant about it. Unfortunately, it seems she once again didnae have any luck. And by the looks of it, the situation won’t change with these patrons,” he said while the two watched her walk from one table to another. With each negative response, she became more ****.

“Why is no one willing to help her?” John asked indignantly.

“Look around ya, everyone here is either too tired or busy. Most of them just came back from a skirmish against the Drows.” Robert sighed while explaining the state of his customers. “And that’s only half of her problems; since she isn’t a clan member, no one would help her without any guarantee of a reward. As ya can obviously see, she’s in no state to defend her case.”

John decided to cast observe on the girl and was quite surprised by what he saw.

“Wait, she’s a kobold?” John asked sounding a bit too surprised.

“First of all, how dae ya know she isnae human?” the inkeeper asked surprised.

“I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said it was a lucky guess?” John asked; he wanted to kick himself for his big mouth.

“Try again,” said the innkeeper keeping a serious face.

“I have a skill that allows me to see some details about people,” John gave the briefest explanation possible hoping it was enough.

“Now, for the more serious matter,” Robert said after accepting the explanation. Unfortunately for John, he wasn’t out of the hole he dug himself into yet. “Dinnae tell me that ya have a problem with her not being human,” Robert stood up showing that this issue was even more serious. “I’ll have ya know that her uncle went through great lengths to help this clan. They have more than paid their dues, having even been cast away from their tribe.”

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear. I was only surprised that she wasn’t a real girl.”

Robert would have probably smiled if it wasn’t for the state of the girl. Seeing her walking towards them, he finally spoke up, “It’s fine. Anyway, I’ve just had an idea. Just go along with it, ok?” He smiled at the girl as she approached them and sat on a stool by the counter and greeted her. “Hello, Aza. I guess ya didnae have any luck.”

She took off a necklace she was wearing under her dress and a perplexed John watched her appearance change back into her real Kobold form. Her pink human skin changed to scaled reddish-brown, her jaws grew to their reptile shape with sharp teeth, the same happened to the horns on top of her head. John knew that the rest of her had changed too, but it was concealed by her clothes. He didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t help it and kept staring at her.

“It’s no use, Robert,” she said ignoring John staring at her. “No one will help me. Here, you can have this back.” She slid the necklace over the counter to the innkeeper.

“Ya hold on to it, lassie. Something tells me ya might just find someone to help ya,” he told the kobold girl. “So, laddy, ya said ya were looking for a Bauchan tribe.” He smiled at John, showing his obvious intentions.

“Yeah, but you told me no one knew where they were camped.” John had figured out what the innkeeper had in mind. “I guess I’ll just have to give up.”

“I know where they are,” Aza piped in, suddenly getting excited. “I can take you there, although I have no idea how to enter the place, and that’s just one of the problems we would have to face. To tell you the truth, I’ve been trying for two days to find someone to come with me. How could you have forgotten to mention me, Robert?”

“I am sorry, lassie. I guess I just forgot,” the innkeeper answered her trying to conceal his smile. “To tell ya the truth, I thought that after ya didnae find anyone yesterday, ya had just given up,” he managed to give a better excuse before upsetting the girl. “What dae ya think, lad, would ya like to join Aza?”

“How did you find out about the location of their camp?” John wanted to know more before actually going with the girl.

“After they robbed me, they tried to kidnap me as well, but just before we entered their camp barrier, I managed to escape.”

“Just like that?” John continued to ask; he felt that any details that he obtained could be important for his quest.

“Well, no. I had to retrieve and use one of my uncle’s devices to get away,” Aza answered not giving much more detail of her escape.

“I mean, why did they want to kidnap you?”

“My uncle and I have made a lot of enemies since we turned sides,” she told him a bit saddened. “I was just unlucky that I ran into a squad of them and they caught me off guard. They took everything I had. Everything! My uncle gave me that gear. He gave it to me so that I can do a task for him. I just had to make a delivery and I failed him.”

“So now you need someone to help you retrieve your stuff,” John concluded.

“Yes, she is, laddy. Looks like ya both need each other’s help.” Robert smiled at both of them, but then became serious. “I’ll be honest with both of ya, this will be a very risky partnership. I was even hopeful that ya had given up, Aza; nothing is worth more than your life. If ya were stronger, I’d feel better. I hope ya come up with a good plan.”

John knew Robert was right; after facing three Bauchans by himself, he knew he wasn’t strong enough. Aza could be very helpful, but he didn’t know her well enough. He could always drink the boost potion his teacher had given him, but that would mean he’d risk failing his current daily quest without knowing how well the potion works. He opened his inventory not sure what to do. That’s when he found Adrang’s flask on a slot beside it and an idea popped up in his head.

“Do Bauchans drink much?” he asked Robert.

The innkeeper chuckled at that question. “If ya mean dae they drink a lot of booze? Yes, they dae. They prefer to drink ale, having even tried to steal from me and my supplier quite a few times. Why dae ya ask?”

“I was thinking of maybe drawing them out of their camp barrier. Some barrels of ale could be a nice incentive,” John started to explain what he had in mind. “Once they get back inside with their loot, we could maybe find out how to enter it.” John knew that he would have to rely on his observe skill for this part to work.

“That could work, but even if ya choose not to enter the place, and I hope ya dinnae, the risk is still quite high. Knowing how to enter their camp and the very high probability of the Bauchans being too drunk would make it a much better incentive to get others to join ya.”

“Can you supply the barrels?” John asked hopefully.

“Look, laddy, if these were different times, I would gladly sell the casks to ya for very cheap,” Robert told him saddened by the state of things. “But as ya can see, times are rough and I can’t afford the risk.”

John took the coin purse his teacher had given him and handed it over to the innkeeper. “Will this be enough?”

Robert emptied the purse on the counter and counted the silver coins that came out of it. “Unfortunately, no. This will only afford ya one cask of the low-quality ale. Ya still have to pay for Maria’s fruit salad; there’s also the issue that Aza needs some gear to be able to go with ya.”

Aza smiled at John and pleaded. “Please let me come with you. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Unfortunately, I have nothing more of value that I can give away.” John made a mocked search around his body to show he didn’t have anything else, that’s when his hand touched the ring under his shirt. “Will you accept it if I left something here as a form of guarantee?”

“What dae ya have?” the innkeeper asked intrigued.

John handed to him the silver ring that Amelia had given him and Adrang’s silver flask.

“This flask isn’t worth much value to me, I have quite a few in the back,” Robert said after inspecting it first and gave it back to him. “Now this is a really nice ring.” He inspected it further and then looked at John inquisitively. “Ok, deal. I am very curious as to how ya acquired it, but alas, we shouldn’t delay this any further. I’ll also provide ya some transportation.”

“I don’t know how to drive.”

“Dinnae worry about it. My delivery boy, Mark, will take ya,” he told John. “I have to warn ya though, he won’t be of much use other than driving. He’s a bloody coward when it comes to fighting; if anything were to happen, he will be out of sight faster than ya can say: ‘Get back here, ya big jessie.’

“Oh, I must be getting old. I keep forgetting things.” Robert reached under the counter and gave John two fliers that he retrieved from there. “Since there is a chance of ya entering the Bauchan camp, I suggest ya try to also retrieve the items mentioned in these fliers. Their owners said they too were victims to the Bauchans. The reward for them should be more than enough to pay for everything.”

As John read from the fliers, he got a notification window.

Two more objectives were added to the Teacher’s Pet Spy quest.

Quest Update - Teacher’s Pet Spy
Gather information for Mrs. Wentworth from the Bauchan’s tribe
Optional Objective 1: Don’t get caught
Optional Objective 2: Don’t kill any Bauchan
Optional Objective 3: Retrieve family heirloom - Claymore Sword
Optional Objective 4: Retrieve family heirloom - MacDonald’s clan signet ring
Reward:
500 XP, 1 rare item
Optional Objective 1 Reward:
200 XP, 2 stat points
Optional Objective 2 Reward:
100 XP, 1 uncommon item
Optional Objective 3 Reward:
100 XP, $5000
Optional Objective 4 Reward:
100 XP, $2000

Wow, a total of $7000. John was stunned by the amount he would get as part of the reward.

“So, now comes the rest of my end of the bargain.” Robert started writing on a piece of paper. “Ya’ll need the ale casks; let me see, one cask of good quality ale, three of medium quality and another two of poor quality should be enough.” He turned to Aza, “As for the gear, ya’ll have to come with me, Aza; I should have something that fits ya in the back room. Wait for us here, Gamer.”

John watched them walk through the door to the back room. He saw Maria looking at him from the kitchen and, since he had her attention, he asked her, “Ma’am, would you mind packing the remaining fruit salad to go for me? I would like to take it with me after I’ve finished.”

“Sure, niño,” she smiled at him and disappeared inside the kitchen to prepare his request.

John was sitting by the counter waiting when he felt someone behind him.

“So, Gamer, you’re going after the Bauchans?” he heard a feminine voice. John turned around and saw the mysterious girl that had disappeared moments before. “Nice plan by the way, but I must warn you, it has its flaws.”

“Ohh?” was all John could say, showing off his marvelous skills of talking with a cute girl face-to-face.

“Bauchans have a bit of resistance to the effects of ale,” she said taking Aza’s place on the stool and getting right to the issue at hand. “So, even if you manage to enter their camp barrier, you won’t have much success inside, because they will quickly find you.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Amanda,” she told him sticking out her hand for him to shake. Unfortunately, John wasn’t sure if he should shake it or not. “I am hoping that we can soon become friends.” She retrieved her hand after a while. “But I guess, in order for this to happen and for me to gain your trust, I must help you. So please, take this,” she told him while handing him a medium sized vial with a clear liquid inside it.

“What is this?” John asked her.

“A sleeping agent, mix it with the ale and those Bauchans will be knocked out, giving you and the kobold more than enough time to do your job.”