tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)08:54 No. 1028744 ID: eedbeb
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Your name is Germ and you’ve been happily cohabiting with your partner Weasel for some time. After a cold, wet winter, the weather has warmed considerably bringing with it melting snow and fresh plants to augment your diet. Yori, the Necromas skull, has become a fixture in the household, though Weasel thinks it’s a bit odd when you have animated, one-sided conversations with it.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)08:54 No. 1028745 ID: eedbeb
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After serious discussion and preparation, Weasel laid an egg holding your first child. It’s due to hatch any day now, and you spend a lot of your time fussing over the perfect reddish brown speckled orb.

Right now you’re at home doing your chores while Weasel is out hunting. How do you keep the egg warm?

Heat the baby, with fire.

With a relaxing spa treatment. Warm towels and a light message

Hug it tightly, and use your body's heat to help warm it.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)11:07 No. 1028753 ID: eedbeb
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>Luxury spa treatment
You hold the egg close to your body while you fetch soft furs and bundles of herbs. There’s a pot of water boiling on the fire, so you steep the herbs and gently massage the egg’s hard shell while it rests on a soft cushion of dead animal skin.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)11:07 No. 1028754 ID: eedbeb
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You’re so caught up in your pampering of your soon to be child that you’re shocked to realize the fire has burned low and your stomach is rumbling. You’ve neglected your chores!

-Chores schmores, keep pampering
-Leave the egg and get your shit done

If the fire goes out the egg will get cold, if you're hungry you'll have a harder time taking care of the egg. Do yer chores!

>>1028754
If you leave to do your chores, the egg will get cold and possibly die!

But if you keep the egg warm, your chores won't get done!

What will you do?!

Yeah, do chores, starting with fire management to warm the place up not only for food, but to help maintain temperature of the room to keep the egg drom getting too cold

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)14:40 No. 1028775 ID: eedbeb
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>Do your chores
It causes you great emotional distress to leave the egg alone, but you need to keep the fire going to cook and provide warmth. You tuck the egg securely into the furs and fetch dry wood from the pile.

The fire is soon burning merrily again and you boil some squirrel soup for a hot lunch.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)14:40 No. 1028776 ID: eedbeb
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Once you’re full, you feel much better. The fresh water that you keep in a sturdy pot is getting low, you need to go haul some from the spring so you and Weasel have enough for cooking and cleaning. You touch the surface of the egg to test the temperature and turn it so the other half can face the fire.

-Take the egg with you on your errand by fashioning a heated backpack
-Leave it in the cave

egg should be fine after we turned it and let the other half get warm. getting water shouldn't be that hard regardless and won't risk us dropping or falling on the backpack and breaking the egg.

cleverly disguise egg to fool would-be thieves

Leave it in the cave, Weasel can have a turn.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)17:53 No. 1028798 ID: eedbeb
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>Leave egg
Surely nothing bad will happen to the egg if you take a quick trip outdoors. The cave entrance is well hidden and you can pile furs over the egg to fool would-be thieves. Weasel could also be back any time, it’s totally fine. You are doing nothing wrong.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)17:53 No. 1028799 ID: eedbeb
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Having made the complete mental pivot from obsessive father to responsible husband, you get the water buckets and head for the spring.

It’s a quick descent to the nearby bubble of crystal clear stream, and a slow, unwieldy return. Water is heavy, and you struggle not to spill as you struggle to the cliff cave entrance.

tippler 2022/04/10(Sun)17:53 No. 1028800 ID: eedbeb
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You think you hear a scuffle from inside the cave as you approach. What do you do?

Rush on in, spilt water be damned

Don't worry, it's probably Weasel, Weasel was said to be back soon. That said, go on in normally.

go in, quietly

>>1028799
Put down your water and go in quietly.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)07:21 No. 1028853 ID: eedbeb
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>Go in quietly
You carefully set down your buckets and wiggle past the wattle work door. The scuffling continues, and you peek around the end of the entrance tunnel to see a strange kobold going through your things!

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)07:28 No. 1028855 ID: eedbeb
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He doesn’t know you’re there, and he doesn’t seem to realize the egg is under the pile of furs either. The intruder has opened your chest of valuables, where Weasel keeps her remaining gold coin that she got from the dragon.

Well that's not good. Ideally you would secure the egg first, but that might let him get away. Try to creep up behind him and pin him to the floor so that you can question them without them being able to escape.

>>1028856
Do this!

How many exit does the cave have? You might be able to watch him from here and jump him when he goes to leave.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)11:12 No. 1028874 ID: eedbeb
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>Tackle him
You’ve been successfully sneaky so far, and you manage to creep up behind the intruder. You bunch your lean legs under you and leap squarely onto his back.

He yelps in surprise and scrambles for balance, fat gold coin clutched in his left paw.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)11:12 No. 1028875 ID: eedbeb
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The other kobold is slightly larger than you, with a similar lean mountain physique. You try to pin him down with your weight, but he breaks free and runs for the tunnel at the back of your cave that connects to other parts of the kobold neighborhood.

-Give chase
-Stay to protect the egg, you can tell the local kobolds about the thief later

Protect egg. A life is more important than a gold coin.

Stay with the egg. You can try to find that 'bold later, and he'll be sorry when you do find him. But you gotta protect the baby rn

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)14:05 No. 1028888 ID: eedbeb
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>Stay
You take the water inside and fetch your spear before curling up with the egg and watching the tunnel with wary eyes. Oh you’re going to make that guy sorry for stealing Weasel’s precious coin! That was all of your savings, and with the baby on the way you might need more supplies that you have to buy from the humans or Rhortra.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)14:05 No. 1028889 ID: eedbeb
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Weasel finds you on your tense vigil when she returns with a bag of deer meat from a successful hunt with some of the in-laws. You tell her what happened and she checks you for any injuries, before praising your protection of the egg.

With more eyes in the cave, you’re able to relax a little. The feeling of invasion still makes your scales crawl as you prepare for dinner.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)14:05 No. 1028890 ID: eedbeb
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That night, you wrap yourself securely around Weasel and the egg, unable to sleep. The open mouth of the tunnel taunts you with the flimsy illusion of security. Needless to say, you’re very tired the next morning.

-Notify the other kobolds of the thief alone
-Have Weasel and the egg come with you

Have them come with, because frankly you may feel a little paranoid right now after your home was invaded, and you want them to be right there with you so that you can protect them.

Notify the kobolds alone. The thief got what he came for and has nothing to return for.

>>1028890
Have Weasel and the egg come with you because you’re tired from your lack of sleep and Weasel can help keep you awake.

Suggestion 2022/04/11(Mon)17:51 No. 1028954 ID: eedbeb
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>Have them come with
Despite the need for someone to smoke the deer meat, you’d feel more comfortable if Weasel and the egg stayed with you. Weasel can help keep you awake and you’re less likely to be ambushed this way.

It’ll only take a couple hours to notify the neighbors, then you can have a nap and get back to work.

Suggestion 2022/04/11(Mon)17:51 No. 1028955 ID: eedbeb
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You announce your arrival politely as you approach each cave, and don’t enter if you don’t get a response. The other kobolds all coo over your beautiful egg and act appalled at the news of the theft. The mountain only holds roughly a thousand kobolds, so it doesn’t take long for someone to recognize your description of the sharp horned thief.

Suggestion 2022/04/11(Mon)17:51 No. 1028956 ID: eedbeb
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Apparently he’s a young adult like you. Instead of a nice, cozy cave, he lives in a shelter by the river, closer to the human town. A bit of an outcast, and the kobolds assure you they’ll keep an eye out for him.

You contemplate confronting the thief. You could even fly over there in a few minutes.

Is he really worth using your wings?
No, but Weasel's gold coin is!

Go there with a small regiment, then politely address whatever human delegation the thief is bartering with.
Calmly explain that they stole your entire (monetary) life savings, just before your child is due to hatch. Whatever excuse the thief has will melt.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)20:38 No. 1028978 ID: eedbeb
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>Get that son of a lizard
Your wings have limited uses, yes, but the sooner you retaliate the more likely you are to retrieve Weasel’s coin! You exit the tunnels and activate your magic. Weasel does as well, and you both speed toward the river until you spot the shack. Hopefully no one saw you, or at least if they did thought you were just two big birds.

tippler 2022/04/11(Mon)20:38 No. 1028979 ID: eedbeb
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Weasel is still holding the egg, so you tell her to stay back while you knock firmly on the door. When no one answers, you fling it open.

The thief hisses at the daylight and hunches against the wall like a wild beast. His home isn’t nearly as nice as your well-organized cave.

Keep it straightforward and ask why he was burglarizing your home.

RETURN THE COIN
OR SUFFER MY CURSE

Tell him about how you are going to be a parent soon, and that coin was going to help you out with raising your child. You'd like to have it back.

Demand that what belongs to your family be returned, and warn that the next time he enters your cave uninvited will be his last.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)15:35 No. 1029064 ID: eedbeb
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"Give back my family's money, you dirty thief! How dare you burglarize my home when I have a child on the way." you snarl. Weasel steps into frame to show off the egg as proof of your words.

The kobold shrinks away at the sight of your fearsome wife. He's outnumbered and trapped, and he knows it.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)15:35 No. 1029065 ID: eedbeb
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"Well I didn't know you had an egg, I was returning the humans' gold to its rightful place." he stammers.

"Humans' gold? Humans' gold?!" You are frothing slightly and that added to your tired eyes makes you appear rabid. "That coin was a gift from the great dragon, given to us for our Thanks Meal offering."

"And the dragon stole it from the humans after she massacred them." the kobold says, more strongly.

"As is her right to clear her territory. Humans are the worst anyway, they're noisy and bothersome and they don't respect the dragon." you insist.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)15:36 No. 1029066 ID: eedbeb
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He bares his teeth at you and hisses again, so naturally you hiss back. This guy is totally insane and lacks the necessary awe for the great matriarch that she deserves. Next he'll be saying you should pay the humans property taxes.

You suspect the kobold still has the coin either on his person or in his shack, since you came here so quickly.

So he stole from you, because somebody stole from someone else in the past, and through this train of logic he is supposedly in the right? Not only that, but when faced with the very simple facts that he has robbed your growing family, no apologies were offered. Just justification and irreverance towards the dragon.

So this is the time in 'Bold quest where we move onto violence, either until he gives in and returns our coin or until he is unable to stop you from searching his body and cave until you find it.

Tell him if he loves the humans so much why isn't he living with them? ...also there's no way he knew where the gold came from, on top of it still not being justified since he's not authorized to confiscate stolen goods. He's just making excuses for thievery.

Apply violence if he still won't cooperate.

>>1029066
Tell him that he's just trying to make excuses to justify breaking into your cave to steal from you and put your egg in danger! You demand that he returns your gold to you!

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)19:16 No. 1029106 ID: eedbeb
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“If you like humans so much, you should go live with them instead of stealing from real kobolds.” you say nastily.

“That’s what I’m trying to do! The leader of the town told me where you lived and that you had something that belonged to them. Once I give them this coin they’ll welcome me.”

“Stop making excuses for your crimes! Give it back!”

“No!”

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)19:17 No. 1029107 ID: eedbeb
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Violence is the only remaining option. You lunge for the thief in a blind rage. He still has the physical advantage and responds with claws and teeth that draw blood.

It’s a nasty brawl, and you’re losing until Weasel enters the fray. With your combined strength you pin the thief down and knock him out with a blow to the head. Once he’s unconscious you scour the shack and find the precious coin under a loose stone.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)19:17 No. 1029108 ID: eedbeb
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Weasel returns to where she put down the egg in the grass and holds it close to her warm stomach. You’re bleeding from multiple cuts and feel a deep exhaustion down to your bones.

The thought that the humans set the thief on you is frightening. They found out where you lived this winter and now they’re turning your own kind against you.

The thief is absolutely lying. The humans could not possibly know you had the coin. Unless... it sounds like he was sent to "steal back" an item without being told what the item was. Perhaps he was lied to, and instead it's just someone trying to profit off of his gullibility, pointing him at the only known location of a kobold den and assuming you were a thief or otherwise had something of value to steal.

You should tie him up, and interrogate him to find out what human sent him.

Did...did the humans even tell him what we had of theirs or did he just assume it was the coin? cause it sounds more like he was after our skull.

Suggest moving to a new home to Weasel.

Either that, or start explaining the situation to some neighbors you trust.

Yori is a member of the family now and they can pry his cold, dead skull from your warm, soft hands.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)20:12 No. 1029121 ID: eedbeb
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Anxious thoughts swirl in your head. How would the humans know about the gold coin? Unless they were actually after something else, like Yori the skull. If you knew who the thief’s contact was you’d have a better idea. Oh it’s so horrible to imagine you’d have to move caves, right when you were settling down.

You want answers, but you’re so tired. Your parents live on this side of the mountain so you can take thief to them. You tie the injured kobold’s ankles and wrists together and slowly drag him up the hill, with Weasel’s help.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)20:13 No. 1029122 ID: eedbeb
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Your father’s home and is horrified to hear your story. He promises to keep the thief restrained.

What do you do?
-Stay in your parents’ cave, nap, and interrogate the thief
-Go home with Weasel, nap, and interrogate the thief tomorrow

You're still worried about Weasel and Egg. Go back to cave.

Today's been eventful, you should go back home for the sake of your stress.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)20:52 No. 1029136 ID: eedbeb
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Family comes first, so you drag yourself through the network of tunnels until you’re back in your cave. You immediately collapse in the nest in a daze. Weasel asks if you want to dress your wounds but you’re already asleep.

tippler 2022/04/12(Tue)20:52 No. 1029137 ID: eedbeb
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You wake in the evening to the smell of delicious smoked venison. As you eat a hearty meal with Weasel next to the fire, you hear a small peep.

Did egg hatch? Quick! We must witness this miracle!

Another thief?!

Is egg hatch? Become... proud parent?!

(also we can go to the human settlement and talk to Gregory, he's friendly to us.)

Quick, think up the dumbest, cutest name ever spoken in Boldom!

>>1029137
Baby has hatched!

Baby! Look at the baby!

>>1029137
And thus a new daughter (or son) is thrust into the world.

Hope you have a name in mind.

>>1029137
Names. Have we thought of names yet? If its a boy, we can name his Aragon. If its a girl, we can name her Eredesh.

What are we going to spend our 1 coin on? Will we need to save up muny to send our baby to kobold college when theyre old enough?

Gosh we should show our parents the baby. Theyre grandparents!

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)15:35 No. 1029203 ID: eedbeb
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You drop your meat and hurry to where the egg is resting in the soft furs. Sure enough there's a long crack in its side, exposing a skin-like membrane, and you can hear more peeping from the tiny kobold trying to get out of the damp sack.

Weasel grabs your hands and you both crouch over the egg as the hatchling slowly breaks through the shell and tears away the membrane using her hard baby beak. You catch a glimpse of curved horn nubs, which means you have a daughter!

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)15:35 No. 1029204 ID: eedbeb
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It's agony to wait, but it's important for the child to use her own strength to emerge.

>Name
You and Weasel decided ahead of time to call your first child Worm. A good hearty name and a very tasty snack as well, especially when you find a bunch near a wet rotten log.

Worm slides out of her egg and squirms around on a rabbit pelt, scales wet from the leftover egg fluid. Her eyes are closed and she nestles into the soft white fur. After the hatchling rests for a few minutes, you pick her up and hold her to your chest.

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)15:36 No. 1029205 ID: eedbeb
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Your heart has been working overtime the past two days, and you wonder if Worm can hear it hammering as you hold her. Weasel fetches some broth and soft bits of stewed fat, and Worm lifts her head and peeps with excitement. A few spoonful’s of food later and Worm curls up in your arms and goes to sleep.

A perfect child! An immaculate baby! You're bursting with pride. Worm has such delicate claws, each crafted in the image of the great dragon. Her scales are a beautiful red with flecks of dark blue.

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)15:36 No. 1029206 ID: eedbeb
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You feel a tremendous urge to protect your child. How will you resolve the current situation?

-Interrogate the thief and talk to Gregory the loud human
-Ask the dragon for help
-Use your gold coin to purchase and move to a new cave

Interrogate the thief for more information about who sent him on his mission, and talk to Gregory. You were on good terms with him last you checked, so he may share some of your outrage over what's happened.

>>1029206
-Interrogate the thief and talk to Gregory the loud human

>>1029207
>>1029206
+1 to Himitsu, he's got the right idea. Has someone been filling the mountain kobold's head with nonsense?

Dragon is sleepy. Go talk to Greg.

See Greg

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)19:10 No. 1029231 ID: eedbeb
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>Get to the bottom of this
You aren’t going to run and you aren’t going to bother the dragon, she needs her beauty sleep to maintain her supreme figure. Talking to the thief and your human acquaintance Gregory will hopefully resolve the problem.

The rest of the evening goes by normally, except that you and Weasel are very distracted by baby Worm. You make sure she’s comfortable in the nest before you fall asleep.

The next morning you bid Weasel farewell, grab your spear, and trek through the tunnels to your parents’ cave.

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)19:10 No. 1029232 ID: eedbeb
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To your shock, you see your father having breakfast and chatting with the thief, whose hands are free.

“Hello Germ, this lad Bark here is an interesting fellow, he explained to me that he robbed you for love. He’s quite educated, says he’s trying to learn a bit of magic.”

That wretched thief! He struck at your father’s weakest point, his empty nest syndrome!

>>1029232
Tell your father that’s not the story the thief told you when you confronted him earlier. So that means that the thief is lying and changing his story to try and make your father take pity on him.

>>1029232
The thief is a liar. He told me a completely different story about him stealing the coin gifted to us by the dragon so he can give it back to the humans in the hopes they would let him live with him, the blasphemer! Daring to insult the great dragon in any capacity! Regardless of his intentions, he stole from our home, stealing our life savings, and endangered Worm our newly hatched baby girl.
Tell the thief to get on the ground or we'll run him through with the spear. We don't want to kill him if we don't have to, but he better get his story straight before we feed him to our gnoll neighbors.

>>1029232
Relate to your father the story that the thief told you.

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)20:40 No. 1029246 ID: eedbeb
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You’re a little more in control after a full night’s sleep but you still screech with rage at Bark’s bold lies. The thief stands and tries to get away from you, but doesn’t get very far before tripping. You see that his ankles are still tied and jab your spear into his chest.

tippler 2022/04/13(Wed)20:40 No. 1029247 ID: eedbeb
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“Tell the truth right now or I’ll run you through!” you growl.

Bark stutters a bit with fear, but manages to explain. He fell in love with a human woman and wanted to join the town, but the leaders said no. One of them, an old woman shaman, was interested in his plight and told him about Germ’s cave, saying there was something there that belonged to the humans. As you expected, the shaman didn’t specify the coin.

Wait, our shaman guest ratted us out? That bitch, what the hell?

Gregory, plz explain what the dealio is.

>>1029247
The shaman only told him something belonged to the humans.

Ask him if the shaman specified what he needed to get? Because there are 2 things that belonged to humans in our cave: the coin and the skull.

Facepalm.
"UGH. The Mayor of the town gave me that thing. THE. MAYOR. Do you understand? It legally belongs to me! And I need it for my daughter's education!
So that mother-of-a-crusader really was a rotten hag after all... Don't trust the shaman. She knew the mayor is my friend, I bet she wanted us to kill each other."

I wonder if Gregory gave us the wrong skull?
Anyway, why don't we give him the skull, then go with him and watch at a distance to find out what happens when he hands it over.

>>1029247
This is getting stranger. If he truly loves the human lady, then we'll consider this. Go ask the old lady to come visit us and we'll talk things out.
And key work, "belonged", it's our now, and they gave it to us willingly. The only lady probably couldn't tell kobolds apart and assumed the one with the skull would be us, and she probably assumed we would help you.

Oh if he's really telling the truth, then he can talk our ear off about the lady. What does she look like? What does he like about her? etc.

If you really want to stick it to that Shaman, you could ask Gregory why Bark wasn't allowed into town, and try to help smooth things over and get him in with the humans. The Shaman was either trying to get him into trouble with his fellow 'bolds or using him as a lackey, so either way giving him what he wants would be a giant middle finger to her.

Plus, then he becomes the humans' problem.

>>1029266
But we need the gold to help support our family! We can’t just give him what he wants!

its a good thing we have wings with how often we keep flying off the handle

from the explanation the thief gave, he wasn't even told to go steal anything. i doubt the humans would leave out what the item was if they really wanted this kobold to steal it. sounds like this guy is just lonely and desperate and did something stupid.

clam down and go talk with the humans and figure out what they think belongs to them.

also side quest suggestion because it would be a nice gift for your daughter -- get her a first hatchday gift. something to commemerate her hatching. maybe some glue and paints for the egg shell to make it look fancy.

>>1029267
compromise: adopt the thief. big brother time. now its both his gold and yours

>>1029251
>Because there are 2 things that belonged to humans in our cave: the coin and the skull.
False. The coin is our by right of dragon donation, and the skull was gifted to us.

>>1029257
I can see that happening. He could had accidentally given us the wrong skull. Actually, he did mentioned the skull belonged to his neighbor’s daughter little Yori. It's hard to mix up a child sized skull.

>>1029266
>>1029269
Problem is: the coin is also Weasel's. We'd need her permission, not that we want to or should give away the coin. We can be nice to Bark if he's just being an idiot, but he's going to need to earn his own coinage. Plus I'm still suspicious of the humans and their worship of that necromancer.

Hmm, I think I know why they sent him here. The first thread we went into town and did a good job guarding a shop, so the humans know we can be trusted. They sent this dumbass to us because we would in theory be a good influence on him.

>>1029270
>False. The coin is our by right of dragon donation, and the skull was gifted to us.
No, what I said is true because I used the past tense “belonged”, meaning that they used to belong to the humans, but now they belong to us.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)15:45 No. 1029286 ID: eedbeb
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This Bark fellow has a severe case of idiot disease, but it sounds like he was motivated by good intentions and just needs a proper role model. You keep your spear tip jabbing into his chest while you think.

"Tell me about this woman you like." you say, as a test.

Bark launches into a lyrical description of some raven haired beauty who treated him with a cold glass of beer after he helped her in her mother's garden. It doesn't sound like she's related to Gregory or the shaman, thank the dragon, you don't think you could handle more complications.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)15:46 No. 1029287 ID: eedbeb
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"So you're familiar with the town, right? Do you know where I could find the shaman? I think she might have been talking about a different item than the coin." you say.

You explain the situation with Yori the skull and how it was a gift from a well-meaning but dense man named Gregory.

"That's probably what she wanted! Necromas skulls are a useful component of many spells." he says.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)15:46 No. 1029288 ID: eedbeb
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You instruct your father to keep Bark here while you make the return trip to your cave to grab the skull and update Weasel. Once you return, you tie Bark's hands and untie his feet, then set him in the direction of the town.

It's the same bustle and chaos that you remember from last fall. You spot the candle shop where you earned a silver piece and stand tall under the gaze of the passerby. Bark takes you to a wood building with a bone motif and the guard fetches the shaman.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)15:46 No. 1029289 ID: eedbeb
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The old woman is surprised to see you, and takes your curt explanation without complaint.

"You're right, I was hoping for Bark here to get me the skull. Gregory was a fool to give it to you, after absorbing the life energy from a new tree it has the potential to form an apparition. Also, it has better use for spell-casting than as a kobold cave ornament."

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)15:46 No. 1029290 ID: eedbeb
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Final Choice
-Hand over the skull and ask not to be bothered by humans ever again
-Hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted in town
-Screw the shaman! She should have just asked for the skull back normally. Keep Yori.

Keep skull, befriend apparition

>>1029290
Hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted in town

You don’t want the skull to turn into an apparition in your home! That would put your wife and child in danger! And getting Bark accepted in town will get him to stop pestering you.

hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted,

>>1029290
-Hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted in town
They want the thief, they get the thief.

Also complain to Gregory.

You've lost the necromas spirit, old crone! The only thing you're getting is coal.

Hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted in town, but not before chastising him on how this experience should serve as a lesson that stealing is wrong.

>>1029290
Give them the skull! We don’t want that near our family! And have the humans take Bark so he can stop bothering you!

adopt bark dammit
also dont give back the skull regifting is rude

Hand over the skull and ask for Bark to be accepted in town

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)19:22 No. 1029311 ID: eedbeb
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While it’s tempting to keep the skull and adopt Bark, your cave is too small for two more permanent guests. You have to prioritize Weasel and Worm over ghosts and weirdos!

“I’ll give you the skull on one condition, let Bark stay with you and help him adjust to human life.” you say.

“Certainly.”

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)19:22 No. 1029312 ID: eedbeb
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You hand over the skull to the shaman and undo Bark’s restraints.

“I hope you’ve learned your lesson on stealing.” you tell him sternly. “I don’t ever want to catch you sneaking into my cave again or I won’t be as merciful.”

Bark nods eagerly and scampers to the shaman’s side, peeking out at you from around the hem of her cloak.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)19:23 No. 1029313 ID: eedbeb
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Job complete, you promptly turn on your heel and march back out of town. It occurs to you that while Bark will heed your warning, the shaman could always send some other hapless creature your way. You resolve to hide the gold coin somewhere less obvious than the chest when you get home.

On the way back to your side of the mountain, you stop by Rhortra’s house to share gossip and get a fresh bunch of dandelion greens as a gift.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)19:23 No. 1029314 ID: eedbeb
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You arrive home to find Worm peeping in the furs while Weasel bustles around the cave. She immediately hands child duty off to you and goes out for some fresh air.

There are still plenty of chores to do, but you take a moment to admire Worm, proud of your actions to keep her safe.

tippler 2022/04/14(Thu)19:23 No. 1029315 ID: eedbeb
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Thanks for reading.

>>1029315
Thanks for being here