Pib and Zarf
Two kobolds who have always been dragons, and would very much appreciate it if everyone would finally acknowledge this.
Pib and Zarf have always been dragons. The evidence is clear, if you know how to look. Scales. Claws. Draconic ancestry running through every fiber of their small, technically-not-that-small beings. The Cinderclaws worshipped dragons and refused to grant them so much as a respectful nod, which was honestly the most offensive thing about the entire occupation. More offensive than the displacement. More offensive than the rationing. They were hungry, they were furious, and when the party came through the east armory door, the kobolds did what any self-respecting dragons would do.
They charged, screaming "We are dragons and we wants your meats!"
The East Armory
Pib and Zarf had been neighbors to the Bumblebrashers in the eastern wing of Citadel Altaerein's vaults for years before the Cinderclaws arrived. The arrangement was not a formal alliance. The goblins did not eat them; the kobolds did not steal anything the goblins would specifically miss. By the standards of inter-species cohabitation in the ruins of an abandoned Hellknight fortress, this counted as harmony.
When the cultists moved in and chased everyone toward the upper levels, the kobolds ended up in the east armory with the stripped weapon racks and the lean-to they had constructed from rope scraps and ripped leather. They were there when the party arrived: two kobold dragon mages, underfed, magnificently aggrieved, and technically threatening.
William told them to surrender or die. Alak Stagram put Pib on the ground with a non-lethal strike before the ultimatum finished landing. Zarf looked at the situation and did the math.
Nadira offered them food. She cast Word of Truth so they would know she meant it. Both kobolds accepted without further argument.
The Alliance
Over shared rations, an intelligence exchange occurred. Ten Cinderclaws in the northern passages, some capable of magic. Details about which rooms held what. All of it delivered in exchange for the party's agreement that these were mighty dragons being helpful, not desperate kobolds begging for scraps.
Trisiel understood what was actually being asked for and provided it: the framing. Mighty dragons defending the keep from invaders. The party absorbed this reinterpretation and ran with it, because the information was valuable and the kobolds were not wrong that the Cinderclaws had treated them as something less than they were.
Four silver pieces changed hands. The kobolds accepted these with the gravity of creatures who have always intended to build a hoard and are now officially beginning.
In the fight that followed, Pib and Zarf harassed the cultists from range: stone throws, taunts, the particular satisfaction of watching their mockers fall to people who had taken them seriously. When the vaults went quiet and the last cultist dropped, Pib and Zarf cheered.
After the Citadel
When the party and the Bumblebrashers reclaimed the citadel, the party said their goodbyes. William thanked them for their courage with the weight of someone who meant it. Nadira told them that strong friendships make communities stronger, and suggested the Bumblebrashers as exactly that kind of community. The kobolds received this graciously, departed with purpose, and then apparently reconsidered the distance between "departing with purpose" and "leaving entirely."
They are still at the citadel.
By the time Nadira told the rescued Thornscale kobolds about the settlement during Book 2, Pib and Zarf were mentioned as existing residents, a point of reference for what kobold life at the citadel looked like. The Bumblebrasher tribe has not made a formal announcement about their status. Pib and Zarf have not requested one. The arrangement works the same way it always worked in the eastern wing: everyone coexists, nothing is stolen that would specifically be missed, and the question of formal membership has simply never come up because the answer is obvious.
Voice
Pib is the one who speaks first. Zarf is the one who is listening while Pib is speaking and comes in immediately after with the correction or the escalation, depending on which is required. Neither of them has a consistent position on which of the two of them is the bigger dragon. This is not a subject of real dispute. It is a subject of permanent, comfortable argument.
They speak in the first person plural when discussing anything important: territory, the hoard, their history, their opinions about the Cinderclaws. Individual attributions emerge only for specific feats, and those attributions are always first-person and definitive. "I threw the one stone that made the tall cultist trip." No one disputes this. It was Pib. Probably.
Both of them will tell you, at length, about the four silver pieces. They are the beginning of the hoard. There will be more.
Statistics
Pib | AC 16 | HP 24 | Speed 25 ft.
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +5 | Perception +5
Str −1, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +3
Resistances poison 5
Zarf | AC 16 | HP 24 | Speed 25 ft.
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +5 | Perception +5
Str −1, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +3
Resistances fire 5
Skills (both) Arcana +5, Acrobatics +7, Deception +7, Stealth +7
Languages Common, Draconic
Items Shortbow, dagger, four silver pieces (shared, non-negotiable)
Dragon Magic ◆◆ (both) The kobold casts a cantrip from their innate spell list (electric arc, produce flame, or shield). Pib favors produce flame. Zarf favors electric arc. Neither will admit that these choices reflect their resistances.
Hurried Escape ↺ Trigger: an enemy targets the kobold with a melee attack. Effect: the kobold Steps before the attack resolves. This does not mean they are retreating. It means they are repositioning.