Erky Timbers is a )@^$#)(^ moron!

[Christian]

Was just glancing over part of The Sunless Citadel, and noticed something that had never struck me before ...

SPOILER ALERT
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(Like anyone hasn't read SC yet, but anyway ...)
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Erky has been a captive of the kobolds for about a year.

They keep him in a cage, one sturdy enough that its bars require a DC 22 Strength check to bend.

Erky has a 14 Strength.

Regdar: "I'll get you out of there, little friend!" {Grunt, strain, BEEEEEEEND}

Erky: "Well, I'll be! I wonder why I never thought to try that?"

(Dilbert: "Wally's in jail. Can you help him get out?"
Dogbert: "Tell him to try the door. The guards only pretend to lock them."
Later, at work ...
Wally: " ... but I'd have to say it was the lifers who were the most embarrassed.")

 

[Quickbeam]

Yeah, but he has a cool name and I've heard numerous DM's and players on these Boards claim that their groups kept him around after he was rescued .

 

[Spatula]

I thought Erky was a captive of the goblins...

But okay, say he gets out of his cage - what then? He still has to fight his way past the goblins and the kobolds with no weapons or equipment.

 

[Christian]

Eh, kobolds, goblins-they all look the same after you fireball them.

Yeah, it was the goblins. And you're right-he may have been cowardly rather than stupid. Still, he had his spells to help. A Cause Fear and an Obscuring Mist would go a long way towards helping him get out safely. (Sanctuary would be even better, of course, but I don't imagine the goblins left him his spell component pouch and holy symbol.)

 

[Talon5]

Hay! No crap talk about my little buddy Erky! He's a close friend of at least two of my characters, and ran with two of the groups we run (both in the same world).

He retired to the Lortmills, but he's remembered and loved.

Erky is smart and knew he couldn't get away without some gear, so he was waiting for the right moment.

 

[Will]

This is why my mid level wizards generally pick up Spell Mastery at 9th level, to whit:

Teleport, Knock, Obscuring mist, Invisibility, plus more if I can swing it.

Got my spellbook and stuff? I'll be back...
Still Spell, Silent Spell, and Eschew Materials round out the 'paranoid wizard' bit.

 

[stevelabny]

Well, I thought it made more sense to give him his stuff. Because one of the goblins would be using it. The REAL problem is , that Erky is a gnome and hates all goblins and kobolds. And the party probably has a deal with the kobolds. Why would Erky deal with anyone who is friendly with evil Kobolds?

Couldn't wrap my head around it.

 

[Klaus]

In my game, here's what happened:

1) Erky had his gear taken from him when he was captured. That included his holy symbol, so no praying for spells then. He had to live in a tight cage, with no leverage to try and bend the bars, and had enough nonlethal damage from poor eating and sleeping.

2) After he was rescued, Erky stayed with the party due to his honor-bound commitment to help them, Meepo or no Meepo.

3) After one year imprisoned, Erky was one heck of an angry gnome. The first time the PCs got to keep a goblin alive to question it, Erky waited 'till the PCs were finished with the questions, then asked them:
Erky: You done with him yet?
PC: Yes.
Erky (forcefully applies mace repeatedly to goblin skull): TAKE THAT, YOU $%@#$%! AND THAT! AND THAT!

After Calcryx was rescued, Erky helped the PCs explore the locked part of the dungeon (you know, where the Imp was) and then left their company, his duty fulfilled. He was anxious to sleep under the open sky again.

Rumor has it that he married Corky, the female gnome cleric of Pelor in nearby Oakhurst.

 

[Munin]

Alas, poor Erky did not survive the encounter with that dreadful druid, but he died heroically.
Honorable little Meepo also fell fighting the foul goblins.
And here is the interesting part: The party only had time to retrieve one of the bodies for a proper burial before returning to the surface. They choose the kobold over the gnome.
It was an early highpoint in my dming career!

 

[Christian]

Erky is smart and knew he couldn't get away without some gear, so he was waiting for the right moment.

I dunno ... it seems to me that if the 'right moment' doesn't show up after a year, you're waiting for the wrong moment ...

Erky had his gear taken from him when he was captured. That included his holy symbol, so no praying for spells then.

Clerics don't need their holy symbols to prepare spells, AFAIK. They just need them to cast the ones with a Divine Focus component. Which is the majority of them, but there are still some good options available.