Kobold Adventure: An Interactive Journey

Try to remain relaxed, so as to disperse the nervous tension.

 

Well hello there.

Right, right. Don't overthink this--it's not like you're interrogating him or something. It's just a little chat. Nothing to worry about.

"So, uh, you're an adventurer. You've been on lots of adventures, and... done... adventuring stuff. And you got some pretty cool looking scars from it. What's the story behind that?"


He smiles in what you think is meant to be an enthusiastic expression, but it kinda comes across as menacing and creepy. "Ah! I see what yer at, laddy boy--yer thinkin' o'joinin' th'adventurin' career! Tis a real experience, lad, not like nothin' ye ever saw. My story's a long one, though, iffins yer got an ear t'listen."

You certainly don't see any reason not to.

((Holy cow, I've been missing a while. These are from way back when I first dwindled off on this thingamabob, and my style has changed quite a bit since then (and I'm a bit rusty with my tablet to boot), but darned if I don't pick this thing back up! I'm going to do a few pictures this week to tell the old adventurer's story, so I may-or-may-not be able to get in any responses to any additional questions. Cheerio, and have a good one!))

 

I say stay a while! Listen...
((It's great to have you back. I hope you saved some puns for this and didn't spend them all in the dragon tutor comments section...))

 

AHA! He is alive! I was worried you'd drowned in holiday cheer.

 

Stay for a bit, then when the story reaches it's climax catch up on some well needed sleep.

 

You agree to listen to the adventurer's tale.


"Right, lad, sit yerself down and prepare yerself fer a tale of adventure and excitement! Long ago in years past, I was narry but a wee led meself, a little tyke of dirty ol' mine wif no purpose but t'dig, dig, and dig some more. But I'd have narry a bit of it! Every chance I got, I was gettin' meself involved in troubling miscreancy, explorin' old caverns an' runnin' about the roads outside. Soon enough, I found meself confronted by a great mountain of a man, near thrice me size, who gave me an offer I could never refuse, and still wouldn't refuse, even knowing the treachery that lay inherent to it's claim---"

"---leavin' me no choice but t'slaughter th'lot of 'em, the nasty badgers, and even still, I've been searchin' fer it ever since. So, what d'ya say?"

You have no idea how you managed to pass out so abruptly, nor how the adventurer doesn't seem to have noticed in the lightest. A bit too tired to really think clearly, you decide to just play along with whatever he's talking about.

"Gruh-huh, uh, sounds, um... Good?"

He seems enthusiastic. "Great! I knew from lookin' atchya that ye'd be the right sort of lad, ha-hah! Not th'kind t'lead a fella astray or take back yer word."

You feel like you've agreed to something, but aren't sure what. Regardless, it looks like most people have left the party except the barmaid and the sad Kobold that fell over in the corner earlier. You could easily hang around here a bit more, but you get the feeling you ought be leaving soon to look about town a bit and make the big decision--where you want to employ yourself in town.

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You may-or-may-not have noticed that the style has slightly changed, with more dynamic images and a generally darker tint to everything. The former is because my artistic skills have changed quite a bit over the months since I stated (and subsequently left off) this little comic, and the latter is for both artistic and story based reasoning. It'll all make sense eventually (if you fine folk drive the story the right way--there are a couple major directions you could head this off in...).

It's good to be back, and actually working on something! And don't worry--I wouldn't be so koBOLD as to say that I can't DIG up a few extra puns for any topic, especially for dear Leopold here.

I do live! I'd hit a bit of a rut for a spell (in a variety of ways), but now I'm back, and I'm gonna finish this one.

 

(( I noticed! How long ago was it that you last left off?))
Whatever. If it takes you way from this toxic place you once called your own party, it can't be all that bad can it?
Though perhaps you should check up on the sad guy, make sure he's all right first.

 

((It's good to see you back though m8))
I think it's time to move on, you should probably at least step outside. Thank god those twins are gone.

 

On your way out you accidentally knock over a candle causing another fire... again...

 

Make sure the twins ARE gone! They could be waiting to pull off a shining creep-out on you!

 

You hesitate for a moment that seems to drag on for about six months as you suddenly and inexplicably consider the ramifications of if your entire world were controlled by some ill-equipped creator to whom's will you are bound, with the very real threat that at any given moment this creator could arbitrarily change the very fabric and appearance of your reality without you ever noticing the difference, or, even worse, that this creator might get distracted from your existence and leave you floating in a limbo land for practical eternity, left as a loose end to some sick and twisted game created for enjoyment from your success or failure in this strange phenomenon known as life.

Then your realize this is all nonsense, and entirely moot since everything is perfectly normal and exactly how they were moments ago when you finished talking to that adventurer.

Yep. Everything is exactly how it is. Obviously.

As you try your best to ignore the disturbing rate of growth of that spider nest in the corner, you visit the poor drunk Kobold that passed out by your table.

It smells really sad. Not like it smells bad and makes you sad. It just smells like pure sadness. Like the scent hits your nostrils, and the only reception you feel is an inherent sadness communicated by your nose. It's... It's just sad.

On your way out, you do a quick double check. It's just you, the sad guy, and the barmaid. The twins are probably off to the mines, setting traps to make sure no outsiders come stumbling into Zazkthel.

But with that, it's probably a good time to leave. You do still have to figure out your job by the end of the day, and you certainly don't feel like you want to deal with drunk Kobolds all day.

Oh, come on! You like to think you have a little better sense of your surroundings than to just go knocking open flames over! You mean, sure, it happened that one time, and you happened to be in the dry goods storage, and you'd happened to accidentally carry a lit lantern in despite consistent warning not to, and you managed to open the hatch without noticing even though it was firmly set in place, and you even managed to hit it off that table that was across the room without touching it or the table while also causing the oil to catch flame and spew virtual dragon's breath all over those heaps of food and provisions that caused a quarter of the town to burn down and forced a good chunk of the population to have to leave town because they couldn't afford to feed them, but that was totally a one time thing that will never happen again!

Besides, they've long since outlawed all open flame of any sort ever since the incident.

It suddenly feels much warmer than it should right now.

"Please leave."

You promptly exit the tavern and head into town.

***NEXT: Map of Town and Choosing a New Location***

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I stand by the policy that I will never abandon a project without a proper farewell. You'll note I never did, and still haven't, bid a dieu to Kobold Adventure.

Hence the post, hence the proceeding to post, hence your further commands for Leopold as we find enjoyment from the success or failure in this strange phenomenon he calls a life.

The style has changed much so as to both look better and be easier to draw (I ain't gonna worry a lick more about realistic proportions, I'm goin' cartoony all the way). Hope you enjoy and stick around, assuming you haven't already disappeared due to inactivity.

Enjoy!
--Vurrunna

 

Hey, I'm still around!

 

I'm pretty sure we're going to have to wait for the map of the town.

 

Your home, Zezkthel. You found a nice scrap of dire-mole leather a while back and made yourself a map of the town to help in case you ever got lost. It... It happens a lot more often than you'd like to admit.

Up to the North are the Mines, where most Kobolds in town work. Most people agree that it's not the best job, and you don't like the look people get in their eyes after a long day's work in the shafts. Plus you have noodle arms not fit for mining. Still, might be good to visit to see if they have non-physical jobs. Or to accept your inevitable doom. Either way.

Next to the Mines is the Storage, where all the ores, stone, and food is stored. Some Kobolds check over the storage, but they normally have other work to do. It's also a good place to get snacks, and you heard they give tasty mushroom cakes to Kobolds turning twelve! Well, Kobolds they like, anyway. So your chances may be slim there.

There's the Tavern, which you just left. It's next to some Homes you might wanna visit, where the elderly Kobolds spend their time. They might have some advice for you. Or they might be cranky and yell at you and your bright scales hurting their eyes.

The Chief's Manor is on the East side of town. If you were on his good side, he might give you a nice job as an attendant, or even just a house cleaner, but he's grown a tendency to give you the stink eye whenever you come near.

To the South-East of town are the Farms. There, they grow all sorts of plants, like gnome-cap mushrooms for jerky, brittle-teeth mushrooms for bread, jumba mushrooms for soups, silk-spawn mushrooms for cloths... Now that you think of it, it's really just all mushrooms. Either way, the job's pretty precious, and most Kobolds in town tend to make sure you keep a respectable distance from the farms at all times.

Mother Adire raises all of the hatchling Kobolds back Home. You're the oldest hatchling, and now you'll be moving on to adulthood. You couldn't work with Mother Adira (you're terrible with the other hatchlings, even the little newly-hatcheds), but it would be nice to say hello to her. Especially since the day hasn't seemed to be off to that great of a start...

The Shops have all sorts of things, like trap-makers, a smithy, a stonemason, and some others here-and-there. You've never found any craft that you can really do, and you've tried most of them, but you could always see about giving it another go. Plus there are always some nice goodies to look at and wish you could buy if you had any belongings other than a dirty map and now a sad tankard to trade with.

The Barracks house the town guard, who are always watching for danger. You probably wouldn't make it as a guard, but you might be able to do some sort of work for them. You mean, they've been the ones to clean up all of your accidents in town, but you could show them you've changed!

The North-West part of town is all gone. First there was the thing where it collapsed, than everything left got burned down. You try to avoid that part of town. Uh... People tend to yell bad words at you when they see you near there.

Lastly, in the center of town lies the Dragon Temple, where the Dragonrock is. The priests all watch over it and apparently make sure the town isn't attacked by nefarious monsters or destroyed by flying lizards. It's considered a very important job, and it takes a long time for their apprentices to become priests, but as a reward they get to wear these cool robes and carry neat sticks. At least, you assume it's a reward.

You have a few hours to visit around town. Unfortunately, that's not enough time to visit many places when you weigh in the time for getting lost and ambling about looking for help, so you have to make your visits count. Your choice of profession will affect you for the rest of your life--for once, you simply cannot mess this up.

So. Where to first?

***Choose a Location to Visit***

 

I go to the barracks.

 

I... think I'll second that idea.

 

Pfft, and get yelled at by the guards? Nah. Let's go to the dragon temple, after all if you can get a hood no one will recognize you right?

 

((Artist's Note: As we go forward, it might take me a hot minute to get down Leopold's face just right. The idea is for him to have small, softly curved horns, which are surprisingly hard to get right. I ought to settle on something easy, appealing, and correct eventually. Also, I've dropped color shading, as it's very time consuming, which discourages me from drawing more panels. Okay, back to the adventure.))

You decide to head to the barracks...



… Wherever that is. You may have forgotten to mention--it’s dark down here. Like, really dark. For most Kobolds, this is fine, because their eyes are special made for dark places, but you have bad eyesight and have never been very good at seeing much past your immediate vicinity. This makes travel understandably difficult. Heck, even with the map, navigating this town has always been a complete nightmare for you.



But hey, you're getting better! Plus, looking at how close the Tavern and Barracks are...



... There’s honestly still no telling where you’ll end up.



Regardless, through some miracle, you end up in front of the Barracks. One of the town guards is on duty, keeping the barracks full of other armed and dangerous Kobolds safe, presumably because they’re all very vulnerable when bad guys come waltzing through the front doors without another guard to stop them from outside.

Um… That’s a good point. You really don’t know what you were thinking coming down here. You mean, what were you gonna even try to join up as? You’re hardly capable physically speaking, you can’t see more than two buildings down the street on a good day, and whoever chooses the guards probably doesn’t like all the trouble you’ve caused. Honestly, every moment you spend here is just another moment the guards here have to recognize you and give you another stern talking to about the dangers of making friends with suspicious floppy-eared green dudes and letting them run amok in the town. You pretty quickly decide you should get on out of here and--



“Hey, I know you… You’re that Leopold kid! Hey, hang on just a minute, I need to talk to you!”



Blast your time-consuming thought process!!

***What Do You Do?***

 

I ask him what's up.

 

Oh no.

I guess stay for the lecture...?