Morday, 13 Brightday 204 [continued]
At about midday another guard enters the cell with a foul smelling
beggar. The sozzled old fruitcake is deposited into a cell some
distance from the party. He introduces himself as Ragginbone, and
says that he used to be a infamous burglar until he became too old
and infirm. Now, he gets captured on purpose for the foot. He begins
to suck vigorously on a mouldy piece of black bread while party
continue to plan their escape. They speak in Salmayan so not to
alert the guard to what they are doing.
It soon becomes obvious that Ragginbone can understand every word
they are saying, and as a result the party decide to bring him in
on the plan. He says that he's very grateful and will never forget
their kindness to him. The planning goes on for most of the afternoon,
as idea after idea are suggested and rejected by the group. Nicos
is eager to burn to death as many people as possible, but Elias
quite sensibly points out that Nicos' pyrotechnic proclivities are
half the reason they are in this mess in the first place. In the
end, they come to the conclusion that one can plan too much in these
matters. Elias will try to charm both the guards in the cell; then
they'll wing it.
As soon as it gets dark, Elias begins to mumble the incantation
for a charm person spell and lays his whammy on one of the two guards.
Things immediately begin to go wrong. Although the first guard is
successfully charmed, the second has seen Elias cast the spell;
yells "Spellcaster!" and calls for aid. A third guard
enters. Elias tries to charm the second guard, but the spell has
no effect. The charmed guard, a man called Ack stands bemusedly
as guards two and three charge over to Elias' cell. Doing so brings
them into range of Nicos' burning hands, and the fire cleric
maliciously singes the pair. The second guard brings his cudgel
down heavily on Nicos' arm as punished, while the third begins to
unlock Elias' cell.
Between Elias and Ravenna, a phenomenal amount of charm spells
fly through the air. Eventually, guard two is charmed, but this
doesn't stop his companion from wrestling Elias out of the cell.
A well placed command spell from Nicos, drops the third guard and
while the second stares ahead confusedly Elias springs into action.
He picks up the keys from the fallen guard and throws them to Raza,
who quickly releases himself and throws the keys to Arvan. Raza
launches himself at the charmed guard standing outside his cell.
As the stunned guard lying on the floor tries to rise he looks up
at Elias standing over him, sword in hand. Nicos and Ravenna urge
Elias to kill the guard but he hesitates. Ragginbone, unhelpfully
tells Elias to remember that he immortal soul is at stake. Elias
smacks him down with the pommel of the guard's own sword, knocking
him unconscious.
Ravenna finally gets a spell to work and casts cause fear on Ack
to send him running from the room. As Ack leaves two more guards
rush in. Ack is so terrified that he bars the door behind his companions
shutting the guards in with the prisoners; he then legs it through
the dungeons screaming his head off. However, in the cells, all
the members of the party (and Ragginbone) are now free. Arvan and
Nicos rush to engage the two guards who have newly arrived and after
a short and brutal fight it is the prisoners that are victorious.
With a little attention from Arvan, it is made certain that none
of the guards are going to die. They are stripped of weapons and
armour and locked into the cells. The group then proceeds the door,
which is a little slippery due to the three rays of frost that Ravenna
inadvertently shot at it during the fight.
After levering open the spying hatch the group can see that the
door is barred from the other side. Elias tries to move it with
a mage hand spell, but it is too heavy. Ravenna squeezes next to
him to lend a hand with the same spell, but they are not optimistic
that even together the hands can lift the weight of the bar. However,
as they try the bar flies up and shoots across the room. This is
very peculiar. Elias is not convinced that his spell was capable
of doing that. They exit into a small guardroom. Elias picks up
the bar in his hand. It is heavy, it certainly weighs more than
ten pounds – too heavy for a mage hand cantrip to be able to
move it. There is another force at work here. Ravenna suspects Ragginbone,
but as the beggar picks himself up off his backside where he slipped
on the ice.
After checking the store rooms for more weapons and armour, the
group moves off into a long dark corridor. They can hear nothing
but the echoing of their own feet on the stone floors. There is
no sign of any more guards. Unlocking a door on the right hand wall,
they begin to ascend a spiral staircase to the next level. At the
top they meet their next obstacle. Although disguised as a guard
Elias is shot at by a man wielding a crossbow – evidently the
time for bluff had long passed. There are four guards on the landing
of the stairs. The party manages to deal with them, mostly thanks
to Raza's enviable talent in hand to hand combat. At Ragginbone's
suggestion the unconscious guards are manhandled into a side room
and locked in. Elias opens the door ahead and sees the corridor
full of guards – perhaps twenty of them!
He moves to shut the door, but the guards from the corridor are
soon upon them! However, as they enter the room it becomes obvious
that the guards cannot see the party at all. It is as if someone
had cast a powerful invisibility spell upon the group. Ravenna looks
at Ragginbone, but the beggar seems as surprised by this turn of
events as the rest of them. Using whatever had happened to its advantage,
the party move as quickly and as silently as they can up the corridor
to freedom. Only Nicos succeeds in making enough noise to make Minsc
proud, and he must dodge and duck furious sword strokes all the
way to the final staircase. Up the stairs, along the corridor and
into the entrance way the invisible party bolts. In the entrance
is Captain Skellig and six guards. Arvan casts flares of light to
distract and disorientate their captors as the party charges headlong
into the courtyard. As they do there is a shout from above "There
they are! Prisoners escaping!" The invisibility has worn off.
Arvan instantly conjures an obscuring mist to hide the group as
arrows rain down from above. "Drop the portcullis!" yells
Skellig as be races out of the tower. The metal grill is loosed
and crashes earthward. Raza quickly ducks beneath as with a jerk
the portcullis comes to rest, a good yard above the ground. Under
the cover of the mist the party make their escape. Arvan, turns
back to get Ragginbone when the beggar is shot in the shoulder by
an arrow and the druid is wounded himself for the trouble. In a
second the party are out! Out! Free of the mist, free of the castle
and into the killing zone of the archers above.
Despite the darkness, the party does not escape unscathed from
their flight to the outer postern. All are wounded by flying arrows,
but only Ravenna goes down. Arvan hands the wounded Ragginbone to
Elias and scoops Ravenna up in his arms. Just as they are wondering
how they are going to escape through the outer gate they discover
that it is just opening to allow a wagon through and into the castle.
The group has the luck of Vítaeous on this evening! Elias,
Ragginbone and Raza make it through, leaving Arvan and Nicos and
the unconscious Ravenna trapped on the other side. Ragginbone takes
his leave at this point, but the others do not abandon their friends.
They push on the gate and allow their friends to slip out, but not
before Nicos is stabbed in the back and rendered unconscious just
at the moment he thought he was going to get through one combat
without being knocked out.
The five are now free of the dungeons and the castle. With an uproar
at their backs Elias leads the way through alleyways, patios, tended
lawns and ornamental fountains until they finally reach the stable
of the Castle Inn. Once inside they hastily shut the door behind
them, and strain their eyes searching the gloom for Alessandre.
In short order the bard appears, stepping out from behind one of
the trestles. She is not alone.
"Meet your new friend!" exclaims Alessandre, gesturing
to a stern looking dwarf who has emerged with her. He looks as though
he can take care of himself; two large dwarven axes are crossed
on his back and he is wearing studded leather armour. "This
is Brack Ogrebane," Brack nods at the party. "He's looking
to join a new group after his previous companions were…. um…."
"They were eaten by a wyvern," Brack says coolly. "But
I killed it." Elias and the rest of the conscious party members
daren't ask the next obvious question. Brack anticipates them and
reveals a wyvern egg from his backpack. He eyes them smugly.
"We don't have much time," Alessandre butts in, doing
her best to gloss over Elias' obvious pleasure at seeing her. "I
have to say I'm very impressed by your audacious escape, I don't
know how you did it." The party reply that they don't either.
Alessandre continues, "But the guards are going to be looking
for you already. Lie Ravenna and Nicos down in the hay." Doing
as they are instructed, the group hears Alessandre begin to sing
the most beautiful and soothing song they have ever heard. She lays
her hand gently on Nicos' forehead and continues to sing. Her voice
has a magical effect on the cleric's wounds, as they begin close
before them. Colour returns to his cheeks and his eyes flicker open.
The first sight he sees is Alessandre staring down at him, and it's
not an entirely unpleasant one. He smiles at her. Elias fumes quietly
in the background. Alessandre smiles weakly and repeats the performance
on Ravenna. She is soon up and about as well. The song was obviously
draining, and Alessandre stumbles. Elias quickly supports her. Alessandre
explains that it is simple fatigue, and there is still more than
she has to do.
As Brack is introduced to Ravenna and Nicos, Alessandre produces
a large sack. Contained within are five changes of clothes for the
group, five daggers, a short bow and twenty arrows. She throws Elias
a pouch containing forty crowns. "I want that back," she
says with glee. She also produces one poison sac from the wyvern
she killed. She doesn't want to get caught with it, and if the party
want it then they are welcome to it. Elias also takes this. They
thank Alessandre and prepare to depart. She moves to stop them,
saying that they'll never get out of Northmeet without more of her
help, so stand still and be helped.
She begins to sing again. It is a different song, a song that would
not be out of place in the halls of the Arcanum Incognita. She kisses
Nicos gently on the forehead and he disappears, rendered invisible.
He kisses her back in gratitude. Elias can't see of course, but
he knows. He knows. Alessandre proceeds down the line, rendering
each party member invisible apart from Brack. When it comes to Elias'
turn, he asks if she is all right, as the toll of casting so many
spells is heavy on a bard. She says that she will be fine after
a long rest. She kisses Elias gently and then slumps down into the
hay. With the last of her energy she tells the party to flee from
the town. She will be okay in a few hours. They all turn to leave.
Elias lingers in the doorway, wondering if there will ever be any
time for the two of them. He disappears into the gloom.
Out in the streets the party clusters around the visible Brack
and who heads toward the western gate. He explains that he is a
ranger, and as such will be able to lead them to safety. At the
gate they discover that the duke has closed the city to prevent
the prisoners from escaping. Brack oils the wheels of diplomacy
with a gold crown and soon the party is outside the walled town
(although Nicos did get his legs shut in the door). Alessandre said
the invisibility would last for an hour. Brack tries to make good
time before that happened to a woodland a few miles from the city
walls. Once there, they set up camp for the evening. Ravenna is
reunited with her familiar, Snowy and Arvan's companions Tok and
Arax eventually find the druid again. Brack volunteers to remain
awake all night and watch while the rest of the party sleep. The
five take him up on his offer most readily. The dwarf is true to
his word and looks over the party and the camp until dawn heralds
the end of an uneventful night.
Sunday, 14 Brightday 204
The party is up with the lark and considering their next move.
No-one wants to return to the Village of the Eighteen Churches,
and no-one knows where the near-by monastery that Gunlarr spoke
of is located. As far as Elias can see, they have but one option:
to head to the capital city of Uris. Uris is on the coast of the
Great Sea, and the group can therefore retrieve the water Narramac
asked for and Uris is also home to the greatest temple of the Scriveners
of Doom. There they can find the information they are looking for
concerning the tooth from the maw of the oldest of dragons. Despite
her willingness to give up the entire quest a few days ago, Ravenna
finds herself firmly back on track. This puzzles her somewhat, as
she is still of a mind to find Minsc and kill him. This option is
vetoed by the rest of the party, for now.
Travel time is a problem. Uris is 375 miles from Northmeet. Without
horses the journey will take a total of sixteen days; but the party
now needs to move at the speed of a dwarf, which will increase the
time to twenty-three days. In thirty-five days they have to be back
at Mount Korvast with all the items Narramac asked for. Time is
most suddenly of the essence. They agree to spend an extra day giving
Northmeet a wide berth before returning to the road. Then they will
take the first opportunity to buy a mule for Brack to ride, at least
then he will be able to keep up with the rest of the party.
Shortly after dawn they head off, Brack leading the way to the
North Uris Road. In the mid afternoon they have to hide in the long
grass to avoid a group of horsemen from Northmeet, but the day is
otherwise uneventful. By the evening they are on the road and choose
to spend the night off the road in the woodland rather in one of
the many Sharrashan waystations that dot the road. They are tired
by on their way to their destination.
Vítday, 15 Brightday 204
Another early start sees them reach the small town of Alhaven by
lunchtime. As the rest of the group hides in the bushes, Brack enters
the town for provisions and mules. After a quick look around the
town he enters the local inn, and tells the bartender that he is
looking for some mules or donkeys. The bartender is amazed to find
a dwarf in his establishment, but rightly guesses that Brack is
in the area because of Narramac's quest. He points him in the direction
of Old Felix, a sozzled old rummy sitting in the far corner of the
pub.
Old Felix seems to know what he's talking about, and says that
he has dozens of horses, ponies and mules for sale. Brack says that
due to financial considerations, he will only be looking for mules.
Felix is also surprised to see a dwarf, but a as far as he can tell
a dwarf's money is as good as anyone else's so he leads the ranger
out of town to his ranch. The ranch actually turns out to be a small
paddock, with some of the oldest and moth-eaten mules that Brack
has ever had the misfortune to see. He selects what he considers
to be the best two, and proceeds to haggle over the price. He buys
Eddy and Ginny for fourteen crowns and heads out of town. Felix's
children watch him leave, finding the dwarf's gait quite amusing.
Brack quickly returns to party, and selects Eddy for his mount.
The group see a rider bearing Duke Colharn's colours race into town.
They think that it is well past time they took their leave, and
head on to Uris. If all goes according to plan they should arrive
in the capital on 29th Brightday – during the full moon of
Calafax! Of course, nothing has gone to plan so far, so their expectations
are not high.
Prodigal Wizard
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