Trax & Trex: Making Tracks

> **This is your tribe now. We will keep it whole.**
>  Fang, quoting Trex to Trax
>
>

**Trax & Trex: Making Tracks** is the 6th episode of the Severed Sons' *Rime of the Frostmaiden* campaign.

## Episode Summary

*Trax meets an intelligent kobold named Trex, who wants to move his kobold clan to Termalaine. Everyone is suspicious.*

The Sons parley with Trex the kobold, who asks the Sons for help finding food and a warm place to stay, hoping to join the town above and find work there. The party easily senses there is something amiss about Trex, but has difficulty placing a finger on it. Trax inquires as to his intelligence, saying that there is no such thing as a smart kobold. Trex, for his part, insists that he is merely well-read, and indeed the corner of a book can be seen poking through the side of his threadbare satchel that he clings to.

After several discussions amongst themselves, and no reason to refuse, the Sons agree to be the kobolds' liaison with the town. In return, Trex offers the Sons some additional treasure from the mines - on the other side of the shaft down into the Underdark. One by one, Fang, Kai, Trax, and Trex cross to explore the area, while Mud and Donaar, fearing some subterfuge, stay with the rest of the kobolds on the near side of the shaft.

While the kobolds pester Mud about what sort of creature he is, Trax discovers a strange skull embedded in one of the cave walls. Sensing something inside the skull, Kai breaks it open to reveal a purple, grapefruit-sized crystal, which Trax identifies as a magic item that grants telepathy to its user. Trax is keen to use the item, but Fang suggests that it may do more harm than good if given to Trax, as he has a tendency to offend others more often than not. Fang suggests he hang onto it for the meantime until they can reach a group decision, and is surprised when Trax agrees.

The Sons reunite on the other side of the shaft and head for the surface with the kobolds in tow. The small dragonlings voluntarily give up their javelins and other weapons before journeying to the town, excited but nervous for their meeting with the townsfolk. On the way back, Trax and Kai take an interest in the kobold leader's satchel, and as Trax distracts the kobold, Kai "accidentally" bumps into him, taking the satchel for himself. Inside, he finds moss samples from Kelvin's Cairn and a book on botany, but as Trex realizes his loss, he collapses into the snow, barely able to motion for it to be returned to him. As Fang tends to him, Kai presses for answers, drawing out the ghost that had possessed Trex the entire time. In the ensuing battle, Kai resisted possession and then destroyed the book from within the satchel; sensing his intent, Trax destroyed the satchel whole with a *Firebolt*, and the ghost vanished.

With Trex returned to his old, less eloquent self (and Trax's "no smart kobold" comment vindicated), the Sons and their kobold company are spotted by the town crier on the way into Termalaine. Kai threatened to kill him if he talked, Fang casted *Command* on him to shut up about it, and Trax bribed him with a gold piece to keep their arrival quiet for 24 hours. In the meeting that followed, the Sons were alarmed by the unreadable motivations of the Speaker and the presence of an archer on a nearby roof, but the Speaker ultimately agreed to bring the kobolds into the town, promising them food and lodging as well as jobs within the community.

Following a well-earned long rest and a round of patented Donaar-brand Croissanwiches, the Sons head north to Lonelywood to investigate the matter of the White Moose further. The party notices some of the townsfolk recognize them from their prior visit to the town, which earned the Sons a bit of a reputation. Upon entering the local tavern The Lucky Liar, however, the raven-haired barkeep asks the locals to leave them be, and offers the party free drinks for taking down Sephek Kaltro. When Trax begins asking if she's seen his quarry, she mentions a middle-aged man and woman with "animalistic features" who came through town looking for a place to hide. Fang takes note of this information and steps outside for some air, as Mud inquires about Dougan's Hole.