Khûm – Chapter 21

“Spring of 68, Second Age. Cloudfall.
The thing about command is, it’s all guesswork. There ain’t no codex you can crack open what tells you when to march and how many archers to bring and whether your opponent’s terms are horseshit. It’s all about instinct, gut, experience. Trick is, you don’t get experience without making mistakes.
And mistakes in our line of work? They kill people. Hundreds of people.
Say, then, you’re a young lieutenant with an eye towards inheriting your mother’s failing mercenary company. Say she’s thinking about retiring and she, on a lark, gives you command of the troops to see how you handle a sticky situation with some kobolds, a crumbled fortress and the payday you need to keep the army whole. What do you do? I’ll wait.
Did you make the right choice? Can you afford to make mistakes, with so many lives in the offing? What will your mother think, if you get in over your head again?
Completely hypothetically, ‘acourse.”
–Beholder's Log, 4th of Mutson, Year 68 of Ondûn's Second Age

Surrounded by whooping kobolds, Griffon had no choice but to challenge their leader, Kuvna the Wealthy, to single combat. She attempted to weasel out of the conflict but, with Umber's help, Griffon was able to goad her into battle. Armed with [dwarven shield and spear, she launched herself at him and proved a surprisingly capable foe, even with Umber antagonizing her.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ruins, Mouse and Remorhaz successfully convinced one of the kobolds – named Shoka – to convert to Mouse's new clutch. At the sound of the fighting, Remorhaz crept from the ruins to see what all the fuss was about but, spotted by the kobold archers, they immediately opened fire on the Commander's Tent. In moments, both Remorhaz and Griffon were down – but who should come galloping to the rescue but the Menagerie scouts, led by Harpy and Blink. When Mouse emerged from hiding, they shouted up at the kobolds, attempting to intimidate them into surrender. They froze and, whooping in fear, retreated back into the ruins of Cloudfall.
When the rest of the company arrived, the Commander kept her distance from her son and he could not help but feel the weight of his failure. Instead, they interrogated Mouse's three converted kobolds, learning everything they could about Cloudfall and its interior. With Mouse at the head – and a small contingent of mercenaries behind – they waltzed into the castle and made their case. While they were initially met with hostility, the deeper into the complex they went, the more and more they convinced the kobolds to stand aside while they collected the treasure – heaped around the inverted castle's courtyard. By the end, they were all chanting Mouse's true name, given to them by Vhakizla – Kuatsada.
It took the mercenaries three long days to collect the vast wealth of Zhoraska the Red Matron, construct the carts necessary to carry the gold through the Firewood and to inventory everything collected. In and amongst the gold, four items – a belt of dwarvenkind, a helm of comprehend languages, a gem of restoration and a pair of weaponmaster's gauntlets – were individually collected by the Commander's Tent. During this time, Mouse spoke with their newly-recruited kobold allies and attempted to teach them about their autonomy. Umber, meanwhile, conferred with Chimera and confessed that his previous shame – soiling the bed – hasn't reared its head in weeks.
Once the gold was loaded, the mercenaries began the long, slow march home – not before Khosava Bracebow and her new scorpion demolished the castle behind them. On their way back through the Firewood, Remorhaz slunk away to practice and, while they felt better about their performance, they were observed by an unseen party. Umber and Pudding spoke about his future, discussing the possibility that he return to Truethrone and use his share of the winnings to help restart Clan Brightshard. Griffon addressed the whole company, informing them that Yorgos of Nyre was his father – to mixed reaction.
The night before arriving at Timberhall, Mouse slipped away in the night, leaving behind a note for their companions:

"You are my family but not my future. I need to understand my own kind, there is so much I do not know. This is not goodbye, this is a...different contract for me. For awhile. For now. Follow your nose. I'll find you again, someday."

Campaign: The Menagerie
Game Date: Mutson 4–13, 68 2A
Starting Point: Cloudfall
Characters Present:

• Griffon
• Mouse
• Remorhaz
• Umber