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An Adventure in Five Acts (AD&D 2E) (Final Update 25 Feb 2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 8897104" data-attributes="member: 86051"><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V, Part I (Continued)</span></strong></p><p></p><p>As so our noble heroes return to their own rooms, left to come up with a foolproof plan. They agree that time is of the essence and that they must get to the dam as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this would involve them flying there and thus reducing most of them in size again, meaning that they will probably stand a poor chance of attacking the ice troll to any effect. And then there is the small matter of getting out in time if the dam should break. How fast will it break? Would they stand a greater chance of getting out of the way when they are large or small? What if they fly to the dam, have to wait for 24 hours to revert to their normal size and only then attack the ice troll? Surely this would give the enemy too much time, especially since there is no way of knowing their timescale? Should they try and get to the dam on foot? That would also take about a day and would lead to the additional problem of getting past the palisade and crossing the hinterland unseen. It is a true conundrum.</p><p></p><p>An hour has passed when we find Sir Eber and Navarre entertaining the feeble notion that Sir Suvali could perhaps reduce one of them in size and dangle him from a line so that he could try and kill the troll with the <em>Sword of Shadows.</em></p><p>“We’re not really considering this, are we?,” Navarre says.</p><p>“No,” Sir Eber says. “But only because I won’t draw the sword again. Anyway, I don’t care how we do this, large or small, as long as we do it and fast.”</p><p>“Undeniable,” Navarre nods. “I will say this, though: I will not be a part of this unless we can come up with a sure way to get out of the way when the dam breaks. I do not intend to die a fool’s death.”</p><p>“I’ll do it,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>“You’ll likely die.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“Don’t be an idiot,” Navarre says angrily. “What of your responsibilities? Your people are going to need you when all this is over.”</p><p>“The people can take care of themselves,” Sir Eber says. “They seem to be doing all right at the moment.”</p><p>Navarre raises an eyebrow.</p><p>“Surely you jest, Sir?,” he says.</p><p>But it doesn’t look like his noble companion is.</p><p>“Gentlemen,” Sir Suvali says, rising to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna have another look at the enemy lines. Just to make sure everything is still as it’s supposed to be.”</p><p>He leaves the room, leaving the rest of our noble heroes to continue discussing the plan and it becomes clear that they will probably have to get to the dam in reduced form. So how are they going fight an ice troll when they are the size of garden gnomes? How large is an ice troll? Will their little legs allow them to get out of the way in time when the dam breaks? Will the frozen part of the dam instantly thaw upon the death of the ice troll – its magic lost as Sir Suvali seems to suggest – or will it take time?</p><p>“Time flies,” Sir Eber says when the bell strikes midnight. “We’ve been at this for two hours now and I say we get a move on, now, come what may. Where’s the sorcerer?”</p><p>Has it been two hours? <em>Tempus fugit</em> indeed! Two hours! Has that allowed the enemy to find out about the plan using the <em>Kettle of the Coven?</em></p><p></p><p>It is this what Navarre is thinking of when Sir Suvali bursts into the room.</p><p>“Alarm!,” he yells. “Alarm! The enemy has moved to higher ground!”</p><p>Sir Eber is the first to react: “Get word to Mim! We have to move! Now!”</p><p>“I’m on it!,” Sir Oerknal yells, grabbing his axe and charging out of the room.</p><p>“We’ll have to move fast!,” Sir Suvali says. “We must know what is going on and there is only one way to get to the dam in time. Gentlemen, prepare to be shrunk!”</p><p>Although he does see that he is left with little choice, Navarre still manages to utter a feeble protest before the sorcerer points the wand at him. Minutes later, the others already in the pockets of the <em>mage vest,</em> Sir Oerknal returns.</p><p>“He’s gonna need two hours!,” he yells. Sir Suvali reduces him in size and when the creature has climbed into a pocket of the vest, the sorcerer runs out of the inn and takes to the air.</p><p>Below him, orders are shouted and men start scrambling to higher ground in all haste.</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 19, 01.00 hrs</strong>: When our noble heroes get to the dam about an hour later, there are more fires on both ends of it than before, which either means that the enemy has increased their vigilance because they found out that a guard had gone missing or that the game is afoot – or perhaps a combination of both. After several passes, our noble heroes conclude that there are at least 30 men to each side of the dam.</p><p>“We can’t get to the dam from the plateau without engaging them,” Sir Suvali says. “I’ll have to lower some of you directly onto the dam if we want to get this over with.”</p><p>“Why?,” Navarre asks. “It would seem that the enemy is about to break the dam. Why not leave them to it?”</p><p>“To the castle, then?,” Sir Suvali says.</p><p>“Yea,” Sir Oengus says.</p><p>“Would there be any point at all if we were to stop the enemy from breaking the dam?,” Navarre asks.</p><p>“Nah,” Sir Oengus says. “Let them spring the trap and get rid of it. We might want to make sure they don’t do it too fast, though. Mim will need another hour.”</p><p>“Agreed,” Sir Suvali says. “We’ll wait to see what happens and get to the castle when the whole thing is over.”</p><p></p><p>Our noble heroes do not have to wait long. They observe the goings on for over half an hour until Sir Oengus points at the castle.</p><p>“Sail ho!,” he says. “The witch is coming.”</p><p>On the other side of the lake, the gates of the old castle have opened and a group of some 60 people emerge and start for the lake in the light of their torches.</p><p>“I see no giant,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>When the group is close to the dam, our noble heroes retreat to a vantage point on a cliff to the duskward side of it. The group moves to the middle of the dam and splits, with about half of it moving to the left and the other to the right, leaving only a smallish woman and a handful of people in the middle of the dam. The giant is still nowhere to be seen.</p><p>“So the witch is going to do it,” Sir Eber says.</p><p></p><p>Although our noble heroes cannot exactly make out what is happening, it is obvious that the smallish woman engages in some activities and then there is a loud ‘crack’. Instantly, everybody on the dam starts running left and right until there are no more people on it. All remains quiet for some five minutes when there is another loud ‘crack’ – and then another one, and another. Suddenly, there is a huge cracking sound and the whole lake shudders.</p><p>Seconds later, the dam breaks.</p><p>“Keep eyes on Serena!,” Sir Suvali yells, rising into the air for a better view.</p><p>“Where’s the troll?,” Sir Eber yells.</p><p>With the water thundering into the valley below in apocalyptic fashion, our noble heroes try to keep track of their target while spying for the ice troll at the same time.</p><p>When the group with the witch starts back to the castle, no one has seen the troll. Did it wash downstream with the flood?</p><p>“They’re on the move,” Sir Suvali says from above. “We’re going after them.”</p><p></p><p>When they get to the castle and the witch and her entourage have disappeared, our noble heroes have to decide what to do. At this point, it is still about four and a half hours to the morning rain and some 22 hours before they will revert to their normal size.</p><p>“I’m going back to Mim and be his scout,” Sir Suvali says. “Want me to drop you into the castle?”</p><p>“What else?,” Sir Eber says. “Get us to the courtyard and we’ll kill the giant and the rest of the leaders.”</p><p>“I’d say that would be a little rash,” Navarre says. “We have no idea how many soldiers are in the castle and I am not going to fight all of them in that courtyard. And most certainly not while I am this small.”</p><p>“Then we’ll start in one of the towers and work our way down,” the ranger says.</p><p>“Wouldn’t that sort of be the same thing?”, Navarre says angrily. “What is wrong with you? Do you really want us to charge into the castle and start hacking away at the enemy when we’re this small?”</p><p>Much to his surprise, Sir Eber grins apologetically.</p><p>“I’m just saying that we should stop talking and do something for a change,” he says.</p><p></p><p>Navarre takes some time to calm down and then has a good look at the castle. He is the only one with some understanding of its layout and he notices that there is only one tower with a roof: the <em>pigeonnier.</em> There are no guards on it and it could be approached from the back in a bit of a blind spot for the guards on the walls.</p><p>“We could get to the <em>pigeonnier</em> unnoticed and wait there until we get back to normal,” he says eventually. “Even at our current size, we could probably handle a dove keeper if the worst were to happen.”</p><p>“Let’s have a look,” Sir Suvali says.</p><p>After some scouting, the <em>pigeonnier</em> is indeed found to be the best place to wait for the magical effect to end. After a stealthy approach, the sorcerer drops his noble companions onto the ledge where the pigeons normally land and heads back to the army.</p><p></p><p>When he reaches the valley, he looks down upon a scene utter devastation. Whole sections of the rocky slopes and the forests on both banks are gone, carried away by the raging torrent. Even though the worst seems to be over, the river is still thundering through the valley with force, past veritable mountains of rocks, boulders, splintered trees, and other debris.</p><p>When he gets to the army camp just before daybreak, he finds everything gone except the inn. On both sides, the armies are scrambling to take up new positions in the valley.</p><p>He finds Duke Mim in the inn and informs him of what transpired on the plateau and that he left his noble companions up there to keep an eye on the enemy. The duke tells him that neither army suffered much from the flood.</p><p>“It would seem we are stuck here for the time being,” he says.</p><p>“Okay,” Sir Suvali says. “I’ll get some sleep and fly back to the castle tonight. We are planning a move against the enemy and I’ll get back to you with news as soon as we have achieved something up there.”</p><p>He takes his leave of the duke and retires.</p><p></p><p>Navarre wakes up at the break of dawn. Our noble heroes are still in the <em>pigeonnier,</em> which takes up most of the upper floor of the tower, its only connection to the rest of it being a trapdoor in the floor.</p><p>He has slept for some four hours and decides to start observing the goings on in the courtyard below. He is just in time to see the giant emerge from a row of buildings on the other side of the courtyard, stooping low to get through what seems to be an enlarged doorway. It has a white skin and white hair and it is wearing a filthy, white hauberk. It stumbles about for a bit and then starts pissing into a barrel. When it is done, it picks up the barrel, staggers out of the castle and tosses the contents into the lake. It returns to the castle, picks up another barrel and drinks what seems to be most of its contents. When it is done, it stumbles back into the building it came from. It is obviously blind drunk.</p><p>“The other giant was black,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>Navarre turns to face the ranger.</p><p>“An ice giant?,” he muses.</p><p>“I say we poison the f**ker,” Sir Eber says, nodding to the barrel.</p><p>“Commendable,” Navarre says sarcastically. “If somewhat beneath a peer of the realm. Pity we don’t actually have any.”</p><p></p><p>Since there is little else to do, our noble heroes observe the goings on in the castle for much of the rest of the day and they can now confirm that the banners flying on the walls are those of Ulm. The large circus tent turns out to be the center of activity in the castle. It is surrounded by many strange constructs and contraptions: hoists, cranes, and all manner of other contrivances with ropes and pulleys. Voluminous clouds of steam billow from the the tent itself and there is a huge pile of what seems to be blue earth next to it. Maybe as many as hundreds of slaves come and go, operating the constructs, emptying buckets onto the pile of earth and then sieving the blue earth, all watched over by armed soldiers.</p><p>“At least now we know what happened to our families,” Sir Eber says grimly.</p><p>“It is an outrage!,” Navarre growls.</p><p>The castle is clearly composed of two parts, an old part to the right and a new part to the left, separated by wall with a gatehouse in it. The main entrances to the complex are in the rimward and hubward walls of the old castle. A bridge crosses the river running through the old part and on the far side are the stables and numerous barracks where the slaves are kept and the soldiers sleep. The tent is in the new part of the castle, as are the giant’s quarters and the stables. If the prisoner told them the truth, the three remaining towers of the new castle must be where the three leaders reside.</p><p>There must be hundreds of enslaved nobles, watched over by some two dozen soldiers. Another two dozen men are patrolling the walls of both parts of the castle and our noble heroes gather that there must be from 50 to 100 enemy soldiers in the castle. Judging by what they saw back in the valley, this would mean that the ‘army of the people’ there constitutes perhaps 95% of the entire enemy force. Since most of the soldiers in the castle are armed with halberds and wear the strange iron armor, our noble heroes assume these must constitute some sort of elite force.</p><p></p><p>After some six hours of continuous observation, just when Navarre concludes that he has seen enough, something stirs in the courtyard. People start cheering and applauding loudly and now a smallish man appears. He is probably some 40 years old, of lean build, clean-shaven, and clad in spotless overalls. He benevolently acknowledges the admiring crowd and crosses the courtyard to the tent, where he starts inspecting the various constructs.</p><p>“There he is,” Navarre says, gritting his teeth. “Albert bloody Murphy the traitorous architect.”</p><p>It takes Albert Murphy about half an hour to complete his inspection of the courtyard, after which he disappears into the tent. Since it is still a long wait until our noble heroes will revert to their normal size and because he thinks that he has seen enough for the day, Navarre decides to get some more sleep.</p><p></p><p><strong>23.00 hrs</strong>: It must be close to midnight when Sir Suvali turns up and finds most of his noble fellows fast asleep. Not so Sir Eber, who instantly jumps to his feet when the flying sorcerer appears, wide awake.</p><p>“Time to take the castle,” he growls, flexing his muscles, tiny as they are at the moment. “The little architect is still in his quarters.”</p><p>“Patience, friend,” Sir Oengus says. “We still have to get back to normal.”</p><p>“I say we liberate our kinsmen first,” Navarre says. “There must be at least five hundred of them, most of them able warriors. We will stand a better chance against the soldiers if we have the numbers. We can get to the barracks via the wall and there are only two guards on it. We can get in through the roof. The operation will be fast and we will be at the other side of the bridge, which we can easily defend against the soldiers and giant when they attack.”</p><p>“We must get the giant first,” Sir Eber says. “Get the punch out of their attack.”</p><p>“There are too many soldiers out there,” Navarre says. “Even if we would make it to that building, we may be in bad shape when we get to face the giant.”</p><p>“I won’t sacrifice my family to the giant,” Sir Eber growls. “He killed the King in one blow. He will crush all of them.”</p><p>“I am sure your father would be honored to die for the King,” Navarre says stiffly.</p><p>“Let’s do both, starting with the giant,” Sir Suvali says. “The giant is our most dangerous opponent, especially if he should get the chance to get into his stride.”</p><p>“The giant must not be allowed to roam free,” Sir Eber says.</p><p></p><p>Although he sees the point, Navarre is not convinced – he is not convinced at all.</p><p>“There is no way we can get to the giant’s quarters without being spotted by the guards on the walls – not to mention everybody else in the yard,” he says. “The giant will be out long before we get there.”</p><p>“Then we use the walls,” Sir Suvali says. “If we are careful, we only have to deal with two guards at the time. The route isn’t that different from the one you propose to get to the slaves.”</p><p>“Possibly,” Navarre says. “But the end result will be different! If we free our kinsmen, we will end up with an army of trained fighters. In your case we will end up fighting a giant with enemy soldiers closing in all around us. We will not survive.”</p><p>“Then we die,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>Navarre casts the ranger an incredulous look.</p><p>“I did not think that was the purpose of this exercise,” he says.</p><p>“We cannot take the castle,” Sir Suvali says. “Not even with the help of the slaves and definitely not when the giant is still alive. Our mission must be to make it as easy as possible for Mim to take the castle when he gets here. We cannot allow the giant to wade into Mim’s troops and start slaughtering them.”</p><p>“I think we can get to the giant without attracting too much attention,” he continues. “Even if he would come out before we can get to his quarters, I think we can still kill him if we concentrate our attacks on him. Job done as far as I’m concerned, whatever may come next.”</p><p>Navarre has to admit that the sorcerer has a point. Moreover, if his plan would fail, it would alarm the giant and possibly lead to the death of a lot of his peers, whereas, if the plan with the giant would fail, at least the unarmed nobles wouldn’t be in the line of fire.</p><p>“I say we get through that trapdoor and then onto the gatehouse wall,” Sir Suvali says. “Get the first guard and drag him inside while I take his place in disguise and take the next guard. After that it’ll be playing ticker with the wand. I can get to get to the next tower in no time.”</p><p>“And how will you ‘disguise’ yourself?,” Navarre asks. “You will need more than just a cloak. You may have to speak to the other guard.”</p><p>“I am very good at disguising myself,” the sorcerer declares.</p><p>“I suppose you are,” Navarre says pensively. “Hmm… We could probably get into the building through the roof from the hubward wall. It might work.”</p><p></p><p>The discussion continues like this until all of our noble heroes are back to their normal size.</p><p>“Let’s go!”, Sir Eber says.</p><p>He opens the trapdoor in the floor and disappears through it. The others follow and now our noble heroes are in a dark room. They have a hard time recognizing exactly what is in it until Sir Oerknal tells them that there are crates and racks with weapons everywhere. There are three doors: one to dawnward; one to the gatehouse wall; and one to duskward, to the old part of the castle.</p><p>The sorcerer speaks again: “Everybody ready? We’ll take the guards one by one and replace each of them with one of us as we proceed. If we move quickly, we can cover more ground than you think.”</p><p></p><p>Navarre still has his doubts but Sir Eber has already opened the door to the gatehouse wall and is presently confronted with the back of a guard who has just started moving away from him.</p><p>“Stay low and get him in here!,” Sir Suvali hisses, unleashing his spell.</p><p>The guard is asleep before he can turn around and Sir Eber has dragged him into the armory even before he has had time to hit the ground. Quickly, the sorcerer dons the guard’s cloak, grabs his buckler and steps outside. Sir Eber closes the door behind him, drags the sleeping guard to the back wall and moves back to the door again, setting it slightly ajar. The whole thing hasn’t lasted ten seconds.</p><p></p><p>Outside, Sir Suvali is moving down the wall at a leisurely pace and approaching the second guard, who seems blissfully unaware of what happened moments earlier. When he is within range, the sorcerer casts his second spell, never breaking his stride while the guard collapses. Witnessing the event, Sir Eber opens the door, silently runs down the wall and drags the second guard back into the armory without making a sound. He takes the man’s cloak and buckler, gets back out and starts walking down the wall.</p><p>In the armory, Sir Oerknal drags the second guard to the back wall, right up to where Navarre, the <em>chevalier,</em> and the first guard are.</p><p>“My turn,” the <em>chevalier</em> announces, taking a buckler from one of the stands moving to the door.</p><p>Not wholly sure of what the plan was but pretty sure that it didn’t involve the <em>chevalier</em> charging after the sorcerer and the ranger at this time and without a proper disguise, and with Sir Oerknal and Sir Oengus now also eager to join the action and moving to the door, Navarre is left with the problem of the two sleeping guards. He ponders the situation for a moment before he decides to cut their throats. All is fair in war and war and all that.</p><p>What follows is a rather remarkable series of events involving the <em>chevalier</em> and Navarre replacing the sorcerer and the ranger on the gatehouse wall; Sir Suvali and Sir Eber finding the door to the second tower locked and clambering up to its roof using a rope; a short, muffled fight with the two guards up there; Sir Oengus replacing the <em>chevalier</em> on the gatehouse wall when his impetuous noble fellow has also climbed up to the roof of the second tower; a spot of a-guard-on-the-third-tower-looking-at-the-trio-on-the-second-tower-for-some-heart-stopping-moments-before-deciding-that-all-is-still-well – all of which has led to the following situation: Sir Oerknal still in the armory; Navarre and Sir Oengus on the gatehouse wall; and the <em>chevalier,</em> Sir Eber, and Sir Suvali on the roof of the second tower, where they have found a trapdoor in the floor.</p><p></p><p>“This is it,” Sir Suvali whispers to his noble companions, of whom Sir Eber is on his knees next to the trapdoor. “I have no more spells and we’ve been pushing our luck. Eber, you and I get through the trapdoor and see if we can reach the giant’s quarters via the courtyard. Scaralat, you remain here and prop up that dead guard against the hubward battlements so that you’ll at least seem to be two up here.”</p><p>“Certainly,” the <em>chevalier</em> says, with more than a hint of irritation in his voice.</p><p>The sorcerer opens the trapdoor to allow Sir Eber to climb down the ladder thus revealed. Unable to see a thing, the ranger strikes a spark and sees that he is in a study <em>cum</em> bedroom taking up most of the floor. The air is dry and parts of the room have been partitioned off with drapes and curtains; there are numerous bookcases and chests, one or two desks, some chairs, books and papers everywhere, a flight of stairs leading down, and a large four-poster bed with a sleeping man in a night-cap in it.</p><p>The man is probably bald, perhaps 60 years old and he has a short beard and it doesn’t take a genius to know that this must be Vincilli Litworth, the Chancellor. Without much ado, Sir Eber stabs him in the heart when Sir Suvali steps down from the ladder.</p><p></p><p>After a cursory inspection of the room, the noble duo descend the stairs and end up on the ground floor. They open the door in the dawnward wall and run across the empty courtyard to the giant’s quarters.</p><p>Sir Eber opens the door, lets the sorcerer pass and follows, closing the door behind him. The noble duo find themselves in a large room taking up most of the building – indeed, the inner walls have been torn down to create one large room. Some barrels and several piles of what looks like garbage are in various locations on the room.</p><p>Sleeping on the floor, its back to the door, is the giant.</p><p>Taking but a moment to take in all of this, the noble duo advance. Sir Suvali touches the giant with the Loremaster’s wand reducing the giant to just over a foot tall. He lights a candle and Sir Eber starts hacking away at the miniature giant, which therefore suffers considerable damage before it can come to its senses. Indeed, it is already bleeding profusely when it finally manages to speak: “What, what…? Stop! What are you doing!? Who are you!? Stop!”</p><p>Without saying a word, Sir Eber continues hitting the miniature giant, now aided by Sir Suvali, who has drawn a sword.</p><p>“Master! Master!,” the miniature giant yelps. “Stop hitting me!”</p><p>Sir Eber hesitates and stays his attacks. But Sir Suvali is not so easily swayed and he continues hacking away at the miniature giant, hitting it again.</p><p>“Stop!”, the miniature giant squeaks, now desperately trying to shield itself from the sorcerer’s relentless blows. “I’ll do anything! I’m your slave!”</p><p>Still the sorcerer keeps hacking away at the miniature giant, which is now definitely seriously injured.</p><p>“What the f**k!,” the miniature giant yelps, finally trying to get away. “Help! Help!”</p><p>This wakes Sir Eber from his reverie and he starts hitting the miniature giant again until it sags to the floor, where Sir Suvali finishes it off. Instantly, the giant reverts to its normal size.</p><p>“Dead,” the sorcerer says, already scanning the room for treasure and spotting two large, quality chests that stand out from the garbage. A quick inspection reveals a collection of smith’s tools and what appears to be gear for survival in arctic conditions.</p><p>“Nice,” Sir Eber says, picking up a huge hammer.</p><p>“Leave it,” the sorcerer says. “We’re getting out of here.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ilgatto, post: 8897104, member: 86051"] [B][SIZE=5]An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V, Part I (Continued)[/SIZE][/B] As so our noble heroes return to their own rooms, left to come up with a foolproof plan. They agree that time is of the essence and that they must get to the dam as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this would involve them flying there and thus reducing most of them in size again, meaning that they will probably stand a poor chance of attacking the ice troll to any effect. And then there is the small matter of getting out in time if the dam should break. How fast will it break? Would they stand a greater chance of getting out of the way when they are large or small? What if they fly to the dam, have to wait for 24 hours to revert to their normal size and only then attack the ice troll? Surely this would give the enemy too much time, especially since there is no way of knowing their timescale? Should they try and get to the dam on foot? That would also take about a day and would lead to the additional problem of getting past the palisade and crossing the hinterland unseen. It is a true conundrum. An hour has passed when we find Sir Eber and Navarre entertaining the feeble notion that Sir Suvali could perhaps reduce one of them in size and dangle him from a line so that he could try and kill the troll with the [I]Sword of Shadows.[/I] “We’re not really considering this, are we?,” Navarre says. “No,” Sir Eber says. “But only because I won’t draw the sword again. Anyway, I don’t care how we do this, large or small, as long as we do it and fast.” “Undeniable,” Navarre nods. “I will say this, though: I will not be a part of this unless we can come up with a sure way to get out of the way when the dam breaks. I do not intend to die a fool’s death.” “I’ll do it,” Sir Eber says. “You’ll likely die.” “So?” “Don’t be an idiot,” Navarre says angrily. “What of your responsibilities? Your people are going to need you when all this is over.” “The people can take care of themselves,” Sir Eber says. “They seem to be doing all right at the moment.” Navarre raises an eyebrow. “Surely you jest, Sir?,” he says. But it doesn’t look like his noble companion is. “Gentlemen,” Sir Suvali says, rising to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna have another look at the enemy lines. Just to make sure everything is still as it’s supposed to be.” He leaves the room, leaving the rest of our noble heroes to continue discussing the plan and it becomes clear that they will probably have to get to the dam in reduced form. So how are they going fight an ice troll when they are the size of garden gnomes? How large is an ice troll? Will their little legs allow them to get out of the way in time when the dam breaks? Will the frozen part of the dam instantly thaw upon the death of the ice troll – its magic lost as Sir Suvali seems to suggest – or will it take time? “Time flies,” Sir Eber says when the bell strikes midnight. “We’ve been at this for two hours now and I say we get a move on, now, come what may. Where’s the sorcerer?” Has it been two hours? [I]Tempus fugit[/I] indeed! Two hours! Has that allowed the enemy to find out about the plan using the [I]Kettle of the Coven?[/I] It is this what Navarre is thinking of when Sir Suvali bursts into the room. “Alarm!,” he yells. “Alarm! The enemy has moved to higher ground!” Sir Eber is the first to react: “Get word to Mim! We have to move! Now!” “I’m on it!,” Sir Oerknal yells, grabbing his axe and charging out of the room. “We’ll have to move fast!,” Sir Suvali says. “We must know what is going on and there is only one way to get to the dam in time. Gentlemen, prepare to be shrunk!” Although he does see that he is left with little choice, Navarre still manages to utter a feeble protest before the sorcerer points the wand at him. Minutes later, the others already in the pockets of the [I]mage vest,[/I] Sir Oerknal returns. “He’s gonna need two hours!,” he yells. Sir Suvali reduces him in size and when the creature has climbed into a pocket of the vest, the sorcerer runs out of the inn and takes to the air. Below him, orders are shouted and men start scrambling to higher ground in all haste. [B]Day 19, 01.00 hrs[/B]: When our noble heroes get to the dam about an hour later, there are more fires on both ends of it than before, which either means that the enemy has increased their vigilance because they found out that a guard had gone missing or that the game is afoot – or perhaps a combination of both. After several passes, our noble heroes conclude that there are at least 30 men to each side of the dam. “We can’t get to the dam from the plateau without engaging them,” Sir Suvali says. “I’ll have to lower some of you directly onto the dam if we want to get this over with.” “Why?,” Navarre asks. “It would seem that the enemy is about to break the dam. Why not leave them to it?” “To the castle, then?,” Sir Suvali says. “Yea,” Sir Oengus says. “Would there be any point at all if we were to stop the enemy from breaking the dam?,” Navarre asks. “Nah,” Sir Oengus says. “Let them spring the trap and get rid of it. We might want to make sure they don’t do it too fast, though. Mim will need another hour.” “Agreed,” Sir Suvali says. “We’ll wait to see what happens and get to the castle when the whole thing is over.” Our noble heroes do not have to wait long. They observe the goings on for over half an hour until Sir Oengus points at the castle. “Sail ho!,” he says. “The witch is coming.” On the other side of the lake, the gates of the old castle have opened and a group of some 60 people emerge and start for the lake in the light of their torches. “I see no giant,” Sir Eber says. When the group is close to the dam, our noble heroes retreat to a vantage point on a cliff to the duskward side of it. The group moves to the middle of the dam and splits, with about half of it moving to the left and the other to the right, leaving only a smallish woman and a handful of people in the middle of the dam. The giant is still nowhere to be seen. “So the witch is going to do it,” Sir Eber says. Although our noble heroes cannot exactly make out what is happening, it is obvious that the smallish woman engages in some activities and then there is a loud ‘crack’. Instantly, everybody on the dam starts running left and right until there are no more people on it. All remains quiet for some five minutes when there is another loud ‘crack’ – and then another one, and another. Suddenly, there is a huge cracking sound and the whole lake shudders. Seconds later, the dam breaks. “Keep eyes on Serena!,” Sir Suvali yells, rising into the air for a better view. “Where’s the troll?,” Sir Eber yells. With the water thundering into the valley below in apocalyptic fashion, our noble heroes try to keep track of their target while spying for the ice troll at the same time. When the group with the witch starts back to the castle, no one has seen the troll. Did it wash downstream with the flood? “They’re on the move,” Sir Suvali says from above. “We’re going after them.” When they get to the castle and the witch and her entourage have disappeared, our noble heroes have to decide what to do. At this point, it is still about four and a half hours to the morning rain and some 22 hours before they will revert to their normal size. “I’m going back to Mim and be his scout,” Sir Suvali says. “Want me to drop you into the castle?” “What else?,” Sir Eber says. “Get us to the courtyard and we’ll kill the giant and the rest of the leaders.” “I’d say that would be a little rash,” Navarre says. “We have no idea how many soldiers are in the castle and I am not going to fight all of them in that courtyard. And most certainly not while I am this small.” “Then we’ll start in one of the towers and work our way down,” the ranger says. “Wouldn’t that sort of be the same thing?”, Navarre says angrily. “What is wrong with you? Do you really want us to charge into the castle and start hacking away at the enemy when we’re this small?” Much to his surprise, Sir Eber grins apologetically. “I’m just saying that we should stop talking and do something for a change,” he says. Navarre takes some time to calm down and then has a good look at the castle. He is the only one with some understanding of its layout and he notices that there is only one tower with a roof: the [I]pigeonnier.[/I] There are no guards on it and it could be approached from the back in a bit of a blind spot for the guards on the walls. “We could get to the [I]pigeonnier[/I] unnoticed and wait there until we get back to normal,” he says eventually. “Even at our current size, we could probably handle a dove keeper if the worst were to happen.” “Let’s have a look,” Sir Suvali says. After some scouting, the [I]pigeonnier[/I] is indeed found to be the best place to wait for the magical effect to end. After a stealthy approach, the sorcerer drops his noble companions onto the ledge where the pigeons normally land and heads back to the army. When he reaches the valley, he looks down upon a scene utter devastation. Whole sections of the rocky slopes and the forests on both banks are gone, carried away by the raging torrent. Even though the worst seems to be over, the river is still thundering through the valley with force, past veritable mountains of rocks, boulders, splintered trees, and other debris. When he gets to the army camp just before daybreak, he finds everything gone except the inn. On both sides, the armies are scrambling to take up new positions in the valley. He finds Duke Mim in the inn and informs him of what transpired on the plateau and that he left his noble companions up there to keep an eye on the enemy. The duke tells him that neither army suffered much from the flood. “It would seem we are stuck here for the time being,” he says. “Okay,” Sir Suvali says. “I’ll get some sleep and fly back to the castle tonight. We are planning a move against the enemy and I’ll get back to you with news as soon as we have achieved something up there.” He takes his leave of the duke and retires. Navarre wakes up at the break of dawn. Our noble heroes are still in the [I]pigeonnier,[/I] which takes up most of the upper floor of the tower, its only connection to the rest of it being a trapdoor in the floor. He has slept for some four hours and decides to start observing the goings on in the courtyard below. He is just in time to see the giant emerge from a row of buildings on the other side of the courtyard, stooping low to get through what seems to be an enlarged doorway. It has a white skin and white hair and it is wearing a filthy, white hauberk. It stumbles about for a bit and then starts pissing into a barrel. When it is done, it picks up the barrel, staggers out of the castle and tosses the contents into the lake. It returns to the castle, picks up another barrel and drinks what seems to be most of its contents. When it is done, it stumbles back into the building it came from. It is obviously blind drunk. “The other giant was black,” Sir Eber says. Navarre turns to face the ranger. “An ice giant?,” he muses. “I say we poison the f**ker,” Sir Eber says, nodding to the barrel. “Commendable,” Navarre says sarcastically. “If somewhat beneath a peer of the realm. Pity we don’t actually have any.” Since there is little else to do, our noble heroes observe the goings on in the castle for much of the rest of the day and they can now confirm that the banners flying on the walls are those of Ulm. The large circus tent turns out to be the center of activity in the castle. It is surrounded by many strange constructs and contraptions: hoists, cranes, and all manner of other contrivances with ropes and pulleys. Voluminous clouds of steam billow from the the tent itself and there is a huge pile of what seems to be blue earth next to it. Maybe as many as hundreds of slaves come and go, operating the constructs, emptying buckets onto the pile of earth and then sieving the blue earth, all watched over by armed soldiers. “At least now we know what happened to our families,” Sir Eber says grimly. “It is an outrage!,” Navarre growls. The castle is clearly composed of two parts, an old part to the right and a new part to the left, separated by wall with a gatehouse in it. The main entrances to the complex are in the rimward and hubward walls of the old castle. A bridge crosses the river running through the old part and on the far side are the stables and numerous barracks where the slaves are kept and the soldiers sleep. The tent is in the new part of the castle, as are the giant’s quarters and the stables. If the prisoner told them the truth, the three remaining towers of the new castle must be where the three leaders reside. There must be hundreds of enslaved nobles, watched over by some two dozen soldiers. Another two dozen men are patrolling the walls of both parts of the castle and our noble heroes gather that there must be from 50 to 100 enemy soldiers in the castle. Judging by what they saw back in the valley, this would mean that the ‘army of the people’ there constitutes perhaps 95% of the entire enemy force. Since most of the soldiers in the castle are armed with halberds and wear the strange iron armor, our noble heroes assume these must constitute some sort of elite force. After some six hours of continuous observation, just when Navarre concludes that he has seen enough, something stirs in the courtyard. People start cheering and applauding loudly and now a smallish man appears. He is probably some 40 years old, of lean build, clean-shaven, and clad in spotless overalls. He benevolently acknowledges the admiring crowd and crosses the courtyard to the tent, where he starts inspecting the various constructs. “There he is,” Navarre says, gritting his teeth. “Albert bloody Murphy the traitorous architect.” It takes Albert Murphy about half an hour to complete his inspection of the courtyard, after which he disappears into the tent. Since it is still a long wait until our noble heroes will revert to their normal size and because he thinks that he has seen enough for the day, Navarre decides to get some more sleep. [B]23.00 hrs[/B]: It must be close to midnight when Sir Suvali turns up and finds most of his noble fellows fast asleep. Not so Sir Eber, who instantly jumps to his feet when the flying sorcerer appears, wide awake. “Time to take the castle,” he growls, flexing his muscles, tiny as they are at the moment. “The little architect is still in his quarters.” “Patience, friend,” Sir Oengus says. “We still have to get back to normal.” “I say we liberate our kinsmen first,” Navarre says. “There must be at least five hundred of them, most of them able warriors. We will stand a better chance against the soldiers if we have the numbers. We can get to the barracks via the wall and there are only two guards on it. We can get in through the roof. The operation will be fast and we will be at the other side of the bridge, which we can easily defend against the soldiers and giant when they attack.” “We must get the giant first,” Sir Eber says. “Get the punch out of their attack.” “There are too many soldiers out there,” Navarre says. “Even if we would make it to that building, we may be in bad shape when we get to face the giant.” “I won’t sacrifice my family to the giant,” Sir Eber growls. “He killed the King in one blow. He will crush all of them.” “I am sure your father would be honored to die for the King,” Navarre says stiffly. “Let’s do both, starting with the giant,” Sir Suvali says. “The giant is our most dangerous opponent, especially if he should get the chance to get into his stride.” “The giant must not be allowed to roam free,” Sir Eber says. Although he sees the point, Navarre is not convinced – he is not convinced at all. “There is no way we can get to the giant’s quarters without being spotted by the guards on the walls – not to mention everybody else in the yard,” he says. “The giant will be out long before we get there.” “Then we use the walls,” Sir Suvali says. “If we are careful, we only have to deal with two guards at the time. The route isn’t that different from the one you propose to get to the slaves.” “Possibly,” Navarre says. “But the end result will be different! If we free our kinsmen, we will end up with an army of trained fighters. In your case we will end up fighting a giant with enemy soldiers closing in all around us. We will not survive.” “Then we die,” Sir Eber says. Navarre casts the ranger an incredulous look. “I did not think that was the purpose of this exercise,” he says. “We cannot take the castle,” Sir Suvali says. “Not even with the help of the slaves and definitely not when the giant is still alive. Our mission must be to make it as easy as possible for Mim to take the castle when he gets here. We cannot allow the giant to wade into Mim’s troops and start slaughtering them.” “I think we can get to the giant without attracting too much attention,” he continues. “Even if he would come out before we can get to his quarters, I think we can still kill him if we concentrate our attacks on him. Job done as far as I’m concerned, whatever may come next.” Navarre has to admit that the sorcerer has a point. Moreover, if his plan would fail, it would alarm the giant and possibly lead to the death of a lot of his peers, whereas, if the plan with the giant would fail, at least the unarmed nobles wouldn’t be in the line of fire. “I say we get through that trapdoor and then onto the gatehouse wall,” Sir Suvali says. “Get the first guard and drag him inside while I take his place in disguise and take the next guard. After that it’ll be playing ticker with the wand. I can get to get to the next tower in no time.” “And how will you ‘disguise’ yourself?,” Navarre asks. “You will need more than just a cloak. You may have to speak to the other guard.” “I am very good at disguising myself,” the sorcerer declares. “I suppose you are,” Navarre says pensively. “Hmm… We could probably get into the building through the roof from the hubward wall. It might work.” The discussion continues like this until all of our noble heroes are back to their normal size. “Let’s go!”, Sir Eber says. He opens the trapdoor in the floor and disappears through it. The others follow and now our noble heroes are in a dark room. They have a hard time recognizing exactly what is in it until Sir Oerknal tells them that there are crates and racks with weapons everywhere. There are three doors: one to dawnward; one to the gatehouse wall; and one to duskward, to the old part of the castle. The sorcerer speaks again: “Everybody ready? We’ll take the guards one by one and replace each of them with one of us as we proceed. If we move quickly, we can cover more ground than you think.” Navarre still has his doubts but Sir Eber has already opened the door to the gatehouse wall and is presently confronted with the back of a guard who has just started moving away from him. “Stay low and get him in here!,” Sir Suvali hisses, unleashing his spell. The guard is asleep before he can turn around and Sir Eber has dragged him into the armory even before he has had time to hit the ground. Quickly, the sorcerer dons the guard’s cloak, grabs his buckler and steps outside. Sir Eber closes the door behind him, drags the sleeping guard to the back wall and moves back to the door again, setting it slightly ajar. The whole thing hasn’t lasted ten seconds. Outside, Sir Suvali is moving down the wall at a leisurely pace and approaching the second guard, who seems blissfully unaware of what happened moments earlier. When he is within range, the sorcerer casts his second spell, never breaking his stride while the guard collapses. Witnessing the event, Sir Eber opens the door, silently runs down the wall and drags the second guard back into the armory without making a sound. He takes the man’s cloak and buckler, gets back out and starts walking down the wall. In the armory, Sir Oerknal drags the second guard to the back wall, right up to where Navarre, the [I]chevalier,[/I] and the first guard are. “My turn,” the [I]chevalier[/I] announces, taking a buckler from one of the stands moving to the door. Not wholly sure of what the plan was but pretty sure that it didn’t involve the [I]chevalier[/I] charging after the sorcerer and the ranger at this time and without a proper disguise, and with Sir Oerknal and Sir Oengus now also eager to join the action and moving to the door, Navarre is left with the problem of the two sleeping guards. He ponders the situation for a moment before he decides to cut their throats. All is fair in war and war and all that. What follows is a rather remarkable series of events involving the [I]chevalier[/I] and Navarre replacing the sorcerer and the ranger on the gatehouse wall; Sir Suvali and Sir Eber finding the door to the second tower locked and clambering up to its roof using a rope; a short, muffled fight with the two guards up there; Sir Oengus replacing the [I]chevalier[/I] on the gatehouse wall when his impetuous noble fellow has also climbed up to the roof of the second tower; a spot of a-guard-on-the-third-tower-looking-at-the-trio-on-the-second-tower-for-some-heart-stopping-moments-before-deciding-that-all-is-still-well – all of which has led to the following situation: Sir Oerknal still in the armory; Navarre and Sir Oengus on the gatehouse wall; and the [I]chevalier,[/I] Sir Eber, and Sir Suvali on the roof of the second tower, where they have found a trapdoor in the floor. “This is it,” Sir Suvali whispers to his noble companions, of whom Sir Eber is on his knees next to the trapdoor. “I have no more spells and we’ve been pushing our luck. Eber, you and I get through the trapdoor and see if we can reach the giant’s quarters via the courtyard. Scaralat, you remain here and prop up that dead guard against the hubward battlements so that you’ll at least seem to be two up here.” “Certainly,” the [I]chevalier[/I] says, with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. The sorcerer opens the trapdoor to allow Sir Eber to climb down the ladder thus revealed. Unable to see a thing, the ranger strikes a spark and sees that he is in a study [I]cum[/I] bedroom taking up most of the floor. The air is dry and parts of the room have been partitioned off with drapes and curtains; there are numerous bookcases and chests, one or two desks, some chairs, books and papers everywhere, a flight of stairs leading down, and a large four-poster bed with a sleeping man in a night-cap in it. The man is probably bald, perhaps 60 years old and he has a short beard and it doesn’t take a genius to know that this must be Vincilli Litworth, the Chancellor. Without much ado, Sir Eber stabs him in the heart when Sir Suvali steps down from the ladder. After a cursory inspection of the room, the noble duo descend the stairs and end up on the ground floor. They open the door in the dawnward wall and run across the empty courtyard to the giant’s quarters. Sir Eber opens the door, lets the sorcerer pass and follows, closing the door behind him. The noble duo find themselves in a large room taking up most of the building – indeed, the inner walls have been torn down to create one large room. Some barrels and several piles of what looks like garbage are in various locations on the room. Sleeping on the floor, its back to the door, is the giant. Taking but a moment to take in all of this, the noble duo advance. Sir Suvali touches the giant with the Loremaster’s wand reducing the giant to just over a foot tall. He lights a candle and Sir Eber starts hacking away at the miniature giant, which therefore suffers considerable damage before it can come to its senses. Indeed, it is already bleeding profusely when it finally manages to speak: “What, what…? Stop! What are you doing!? Who are you!? Stop!” Without saying a word, Sir Eber continues hitting the miniature giant, now aided by Sir Suvali, who has drawn a sword. “Master! Master!,” the miniature giant yelps. “Stop hitting me!” Sir Eber hesitates and stays his attacks. But Sir Suvali is not so easily swayed and he continues hacking away at the miniature giant, hitting it again. “Stop!”, the miniature giant squeaks, now desperately trying to shield itself from the sorcerer’s relentless blows. “I’ll do anything! I’m your slave!” Still the sorcerer keeps hacking away at the miniature giant, which is now definitely seriously injured. “What the f**k!,” the miniature giant yelps, finally trying to get away. “Help! Help!” This wakes Sir Eber from his reverie and he starts hitting the miniature giant again until it sags to the floor, where Sir Suvali finishes it off. Instantly, the giant reverts to its normal size. “Dead,” the sorcerer says, already scanning the room for treasure and spotting two large, quality chests that stand out from the garbage. A quick inspection reveals a collection of smith’s tools and what appears to be gear for survival in arctic conditions. “Nice,” Sir Eber says, picking up a huge hammer. “Leave it,” the sorcerer says. “We’re getting out of here.” [/QUOTE]
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An Adventure in Five Acts (AD&D 2E) (Final Update 25 Feb 2023)
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