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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: 8927434" data-attributes="member: 86051"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V: Diamond Castle, Part III: Castle Diamond</span></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Day 20, continued</strong>: In the third tower, tiny Olaf is now also at risk of being stepped on by the combatants. He runs back into the dressing room, where Sir Suvali kicks him again, leaving him no choice but to start running back to the corridor once more.</p><p>“Help!,” he squeaks when he gets there. “Help! I’ve been bewitched!”</p><p></p><p>Some way down the corridor, in front of the door to the witch’s room, the <em>chevalier</em> only just manages to parry a furious attack from the man in the iron armor. With knives still flying past his head, he has a good look into both corridors to see what it is that he is actually up against. He counts three men: his iron-clad opponent and two men in leather armor, one behind him in the part of corridor to the other side of the door and the other way back in front of a door at the end of the other corridor to his right. Deeming this to be a bit too much for him alone, he retreats into the witch’s room and closes the door behind him.</p><p>Sir Oengus is at the rimward wall and he has been collecting all manner of flasks and alembics on a table in front of him, one of which he now has in his hand.</p><p>“Could be acid,” he says to the <em>chevalier.</em> “Open the door and I’ll start throwing them.”</p><p></p><p>In the dressing room, Sir Suvali is standing with his back against the rimward wall.</p><p>“Now what?,” he hears one of the men in the corridor whisper. “They have witches!”</p><p>“Let’s get back to the others,” another man says.</p><p>The sorcerer hears the men start down the corridor and then sees them pass the door in the dawnward wall, the man in the iron armor with the tiny Olaf in his left hand. When they are past the door, the sorcerer sneaks through the rimward door, just in time to see the door to the room with his noble companions open, slightly at first and then a bit more.</p><p></p><p>When the <em>chevalier</em> opens the door again, using both the door and his shield to protect himself from the flying knives, he sees his opponents leave the tower through the door at the end of the corridor in front of him. When the last of them is gone and the door is closed again, he suppresses a sigh of relief, opens the door and steps into the corridor, to see Sir Suvali coming through a door to his left.</p><p>“I’m up to the roof to see where they’re going,” the sorcerer says when he Sir Oengus also appears in the corridor.</p><p>“Fine,” Sir Oengus says. “We’ll go after them, then, shall we?”</p><p></p><p>When the sorcerer is gone, Sir Oengus and the <em>chevalier</em> move to the door their opponents used earlier – to find that they cannot open it. They spend precious minutes pushing, pulling, kicking, and ramming the door until the <em>chevalier</em> loses his patience.</p><p>“<em>Mon Dieu!,”</em> he exclaims. <em>“Merde!”</em></p><p>“They must have wedged it,” Sir Oengus says, drawing a dagger. “I’ll see what I can do.”</p><p>“Out of my way!,” the <em>chevalier</em> cries, also drawing a dagger. “I’ll do it!”</p><p>He starts trying to work the dagger between some of the thick planks of the door and fumbles about for a bit, furiously muttering under his breath. When this gets him nowhere, Sir Oengus tells him to step aside and sticks his dagger into the narrow opening underneath the door, wriggling it about until he runs into a wedge. He jabs and stabs at the thing for some time and then, after a lot more kicking and ramming, the noble duo finally manage to open the door.</p><p>“Ha!,” the <em>chevalier</em> exclaims.</p><p>The noble duo step onto the wall outside and start moving. Advancing slowly, they approach the door at the other end, some arrow-slits in the wall above it. When they get to the door, they find it firmly locked.</p><p>The <em>chevalier</em> heaves a deep sigh and looks up at the battlements above.</p><p>“Grappling hook!,” he demands. “I have had it with doors.”</p><p>“Stand back,” Sir Oengus says.</p><p>He swings his grappling hook and hurls it straight up into the air, missing the battlements by what must be yards. Behind him, the <em>chevalier</em> is tapping his foot impatiently when he hears Sir Eber and Navarre talking in the courtyard below. And is that Sir Suvali on the tower behind him?</p><p>“’<em>Allo!,”</em> he yells, gesticulating wildly. <em>“’Allo!</em> This tower over here! Suvali! Over here! This door!”</p><p></p><p>When Navarre comes running out of the gatehouse, he sees Sir Oerknal disappear behind the large tent to his left. He runs after him, past the strange hoisting device with the cage, around the tent, to see that a door to the stables is open. He approaches and hears a loud bang, followed by Sir Eber and Sir Oerknal speaking.</p><p>When he enters the stables, he finds his noble companions at a door to his left.</p><p>“Locked,” Sir Eber says. He takes a few steps back and hurls himself against the door, which doesn’t budge.</p><p>“My turn again,” Sir Oerknal says. He hurls himself at the door with force – to no avail.</p><p>“This isn’t working,” Sir Eber says, already in the doorway to the courtyard. “I’m going to get the giant’s hammer.”</p><p>When he reaches the second hoisting device at the back of the tent, he has a good look around for something he can use to open the door in the stables. He doesn’t find anything and continues to the giant’s quarters, where he collects the giant’s hammer and a huge crowbar. When he leaves the building to get back to the stables, he notices four halberdiers in iron armor in the gatehouse.</p><p>“Enemies!,” he hollers, alerting his companions in the stables. “We must close the gates!”</p><p>He drops the giant hammer and crowbar, draws his sword and axe and charges the advancing halberdiers. Moments later, one halberdier is down and then another is hit by an arrow. The ranger hits the wounded halberdier with both of his weapons, sending him reeling and now another arrow hits one of the remaining halberdiers.</p><p></p><p>When Sir Eber has left, Navarre also has a go and likewise fails to force the door.</p><p>“Isn’t there something in here we can use in here?,” he says, rubbing his shoulder.</p><p>Sir Oerknal lights a small lamp and moves to the first box, where he finds some crates containing weapons. He rummages through them for a bit until he finds two crude halberds. He gets back to Navarre and the noble duo use them to try to and force the door, again without any success.</p><p>When they hear Sir Eber calling from the courtyard, they run outside and start for the gatehouse, Sir Oerknal to the left of the tent and Navarre to the right. When Navarre rounds the tent, he sees Sir Eber fighting three halberdiers. A fourth is on the ground and Sir Oerknal is already closing in from the left. Arrows come flying from somewhere to the left and presently one of them hits one of the halberdiers.</p><p>Navarre draws his sword and charges into the fray. His attack is parried and when Sir Oerknal also misses his man, Sir Eber does make both of his attacks count and another halberdier sags to the ground. Now, the two remaining men start moving backward and, when one of them leaves his flank open to him, Navarre executes a devastating attack, instantly killing him. When another arrow takes care of the last halberdier, the enemy have not managed to land a single blow.</p><p></p><p>Navarre runs through the gatehouse looking for more enemies in the old courtyard but all he can see there are what must be more than a hundred dead nobles. Behind him, Sir Oerknal and Sir Eber approach.</p><p>“Do you see any gold?,” Sir Oerknal asks.</p><p>“There is nobody alive out there,” Navarre says grimly. “We must get back to the castle and finish this.”</p><p>“We must close the gates first,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>But Sir Oerknal turns around and starts walking back to the new courtyard, so it is left to Navarre and Sir Eber to close the gates. This takes them some time and when they eventually get to where Sir Eber dropped the giant’s hammer and crowbar, the hammer is gone.</p><p>“Olm!,” Sir Eber growls. “My hammer!”</p><p>“The creature must have taken it,” Navarre says. “Back to the stables!”</p><p></p><p>Sir Eber picks up the huge crowbar and the noble duo start for the stables. Halfway across the courtyard, Navarre looks up at the third tower, where he sees Sir Suvali looking down at him from the battlements and waving his bow at the fourth tower. He turns to the fourth tower and sees the <em>chevalier</em> and Sir Oengus at a door on the wall leading up to it, the latter swinging a grappling hook.</p><p>“The others are up there,” he says to Sir Eber, pointing at the fourth tower. “We will go in through the stables. Attack from two sides and meet in the middle.”</p><p>When the noble duo reach the stables, they hear the <em>chevalier</em> yell at them from above. Is there a hint of irritation in the voice of their noble fellow?</p><p>“’<em>Allo! ’Allo!</em> This tower over here!”</p><p></p><p>Moments earlier, Sir Oerknal did find the giant’s hammer and crowbar.</p><p>“My hammer,” he says.</p><p>He lifts the handle and starts dragging the huge hammer to the stables. When he gets there, he has a good look at the door and then at the hammer, estimating his chances. But then, considering who may be behind the door with arrows knocked, he decides he’d better wait for Sir Eber. He puts the hammer against the wall next to the entrance, picks up his lamp and starts searching the stables again. He discovers four large metal cages taking up most of the second box – obviously an impromptu cell block of sorts.</p><p></p><p>When the <em>chevalier</em> and Sir Oengus have left the witch’s room, Sir Suvali climbs up to the roof of the third tower, just in time to see the man in the iron armor and his companions reach a door at the other end of the dawnward wall. They knock a couple of times, the door opens and they enter the tower.</p><p>The sorcerer has another look into the courtyard, where he observes Sir Eber rummaging through some items at the hoisting apparatus to the right of the tent and then walk to the giant’s quarters. He turn his attention to the dawnward wall again, where the <em>chevalier</em> and Sir Oengus are now moving to the fourth tower.</p><p>Just when his noble fellows get to the door, the sorcerer hears Sir Eber sound the alarm in the courtyard below. He moves to the battlements to his left and sees his noble companion charge four halberdiers exiting the gatehouse.</p><p>He takes his bow and starts firing arrows – hitting at least two halberdiers before Navarre and Sir Oerknal come running. When Navarre cuts down the third halberdier, the sorcerer plants two more arrows in the fourth, killing him.</p><p>He puts away his bow and watches Sir Oerknal drag the hammer to the stables while Sir Eber and Navarre are closing the gates. Turning his attention to the <em>chevalier</em> and Sir Oengus again, he sees that they haven’t made much progress. He looks down again and sees Navarre pass below. When he looks up at him, he waves his bow at him, pointing to the fourth tower.</p><p>Then, when the <em>chevalier</em> starts hollering, he flies to the roof of the fourth tower, attaches a rope to the battlements and throws it to Sir Oengus and the <em>chevalier</em> below. Next, he moves to a position close to the trapdoor so that he can kick it back into place again the moment the enemy should try to get to the roof and waits for his noble fellows to arrive.</p><p></p><p>Sir Oengus is just swinging his grappling hook again when Sir Suvali’s rope comes tumbling down the tower wall.</p><p>“Out of my way!,” the <em>chevalier</em> cries.</p><p>He pushes past Sir Oengus, grabs the rope and starts climbing up the wall. But he hasn’t even made it a yard up the wall when his hands slip and he falls back down and ends up sitting on his bum and with his legs spread wide.</p><p>“<em>Zut! Zut! Zut alors!,”</em> he yells, before uttering a high-pitched laugh. <em>“A-ha, ha, ha! Merde!”</em></p><p>Sir Oengus hurls his grappling hook a second time and now the thing settles firmly. He starts climbing up the tower wall but fumbles as well and also falls back down, right on top of the cursing <em>chevalier</em> and sending both men sprawling.</p><p>“<em>Tonnerre!,”</em> the <em>chevalier</em> yells when it is all over. <em>“C’est une impasse!”</em></p><p>Cursing, the <em>chevalier</em> gracelessly scrambles back to his feet and starts climbing up the rope again and, now, finally, he reaches the roof of the tower, quickly followed by Sir Oengus.</p><p>“Now what?,” the latter asks.</p><p>“There’s a staircase below the trapdoor,” Sir Suvali says. “Archers at the bottom.”</p><p>“We going in?,” Sir Oengus asks, readying his bow.</p><p></p><p>By now, the <em>chevalier</em> seems to have regained some of his composure. Shield ready, he moves to the trapdoor and opens it slightly. No arrows come flying out and, when all he sees are some steps leading down, he opens it further – upon which two arrows come whizzing through the opening, only just missing the sorcerer behind him. He starts a slow approach to the top of the stairs, shield and sword at the ready – before he can no longer restrain himself.</p><p>“<em>Chargez!,”</em> he cries, suddenly charging forth at full speed – before executing a sharp but rather elegant turn when he gets yo the top of the stairs and sees four men at the bottom of it, two with longbows and two in sturdy leather armors and brandishing shields and short swords.</p><p></p><p>Reacting to the <em>chevalier’s</em> call-to-arms, Sir Oengus has also moved closer to the opening, out of the line of fire of the four men below and ready to start firing arrows into it. When the DM explains to him that he has only three hit points left and that the men can hit him in return if he can hit them, he retreats and puts his bow on the floor.</p><p>“Oh dear,” he grins, opening his trousers. “I do believe I have to take a rather urgent leak.”</p><p>And with this, he rolls “16” and relieves himself down the opening, pissing all over one of the men below.</p><p></p><p>If anything, his forced retreat seems to have agitated the <em>chevalier</em> once more.</p><p>“<em>Merde!”,</em> he cries, taking his bow from his back, knocking an arrow, and calling for a table to be brought to him.</p><p>But no one brings him a table.</p><p>“<em>Mon Dieu!,”</em> he cries, exasperated, before approaching the opening and starting to fire arrows into it.</p><p>“I know,” Sir Oengus says, closing his trousers. “I’m not going down there either. I mean, look at me!”</p><p></p><p>Sir Suvali does exactly that and notices that his noble companion does seem to be in a bit of state. He procures the jars with <em>Ilm’s ointment</em> and smears some of it on Sir Oengus, who regains 11 hit points. When this is done, the noble trio start firing arrows down the opening, ducking for cover after each shot as enemy arrows whiz past them. Angry cries from below indicate that their own missiles at least manage to cause some consternation below.</p><p>But then the spirited <em>chevalier</em> changes his mind again. He puts away his bow, readies his shield and sword, cries <em>‘chargez!’</em> again, and charges down the stairs. About three-quarters of the way down, he is met by two soldiers in leather armor who easily parry his attack.</p><p>Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus continue firing arrows into the opening, targeting the archers and then, with arrows now whizzing past in both directions, the <em>chevalier</em> finally manages to land a serious blow. Praying that his luck may finally change, he fumbles his next attack when his opponent hits his right hand, causing him to drop his sword. The poor <em>chevalier</em> utters an incredulous, high-pitched laugh and scrambles to pick up his sword, cursing loudly when he only just manages to retrieve the weapon. But he manages to follow up with an impressive maneuver and finally inflicts some significant damage on his opponent.</p><p></p><p>Long before all of this, Sir Eber and Navarre have joined Sir Oerknal in the stables and presently the noble trio are using the giant crowbar on the door. They have been at it for a while when Sir Eber finally manages to force the door with a mighty effort, revealing a narrow corridor leading to another corridor running at straight angles to it. At the intersection are five men in leather armor, two behind shields covering two archers with longbows and a fifth behind all of them and holding a bull’s-eye lantern.</p><p>“Alarm!,” the man with the lantern yells. “They have breached the door!”</p><p>Two arrows come flying down the corridor, one of them grazing Sir Eber’s arm before he gets a chance to duck for cover. When Navarre and Sir Oerknal have also taken cover, to the other side of the doorway, the ranger removes his backpack and puts in on the ground. Two more arrows come flying through the doorway when he retrieves some flasks from it and starts lobbing them to his noble companions.</p><p>“Fire bombs,” he says, lighting one himself. “I’ve got eight of them.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ilgatto, post: 8927434, member: 86051"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V: Diamond Castle, Part III: Castle Diamond[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER] [B]Day 20, continued[/B]: In the third tower, tiny Olaf is now also at risk of being stepped on by the combatants. He runs back into the dressing room, where Sir Suvali kicks him again, leaving him no choice but to start running back to the corridor once more. “Help!,” he squeaks when he gets there. “Help! I’ve been bewitched!” Some way down the corridor, in front of the door to the witch’s room, the [I]chevalier[/I] only just manages to parry a furious attack from the man in the iron armor. With knives still flying past his head, he has a good look into both corridors to see what it is that he is actually up against. He counts three men: his iron-clad opponent and two men in leather armor, one behind him in the part of corridor to the other side of the door and the other way back in front of a door at the end of the other corridor to his right. Deeming this to be a bit too much for him alone, he retreats into the witch’s room and closes the door behind him. Sir Oengus is at the rimward wall and he has been collecting all manner of flasks and alembics on a table in front of him, one of which he now has in his hand. “Could be acid,” he says to the [I]chevalier.[/I] “Open the door and I’ll start throwing them.” In the dressing room, Sir Suvali is standing with his back against the rimward wall. “Now what?,” he hears one of the men in the corridor whisper. “They have witches!” “Let’s get back to the others,” another man says. The sorcerer hears the men start down the corridor and then sees them pass the door in the dawnward wall, the man in the iron armor with the tiny Olaf in his left hand. When they are past the door, the sorcerer sneaks through the rimward door, just in time to see the door to the room with his noble companions open, slightly at first and then a bit more. When the [I]chevalier[/I] opens the door again, using both the door and his shield to protect himself from the flying knives, he sees his opponents leave the tower through the door at the end of the corridor in front of him. When the last of them is gone and the door is closed again, he suppresses a sigh of relief, opens the door and steps into the corridor, to see Sir Suvali coming through a door to his left. “I’m up to the roof to see where they’re going,” the sorcerer says when he Sir Oengus also appears in the corridor. “Fine,” Sir Oengus says. “We’ll go after them, then, shall we?” When the sorcerer is gone, Sir Oengus and the [I]chevalier[/I] move to the door their opponents used earlier – to find that they cannot open it. They spend precious minutes pushing, pulling, kicking, and ramming the door until the [I]chevalier[/I] loses his patience. “[I]Mon Dieu!,”[/I] he exclaims. [I]“Merde!”[/I] “They must have wedged it,” Sir Oengus says, drawing a dagger. “I’ll see what I can do.” “Out of my way!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] cries, also drawing a dagger. “I’ll do it!” He starts trying to work the dagger between some of the thick planks of the door and fumbles about for a bit, furiously muttering under his breath. When this gets him nowhere, Sir Oengus tells him to step aside and sticks his dagger into the narrow opening underneath the door, wriggling it about until he runs into a wedge. He jabs and stabs at the thing for some time and then, after a lot more kicking and ramming, the noble duo finally manage to open the door. “Ha!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] exclaims. The noble duo step onto the wall outside and start moving. Advancing slowly, they approach the door at the other end, some arrow-slits in the wall above it. When they get to the door, they find it firmly locked. The [I]chevalier[/I] heaves a deep sigh and looks up at the battlements above. “Grappling hook!,” he demands. “I have had it with doors.” “Stand back,” Sir Oengus says. He swings his grappling hook and hurls it straight up into the air, missing the battlements by what must be yards. Behind him, the [I]chevalier[/I] is tapping his foot impatiently when he hears Sir Eber and Navarre talking in the courtyard below. And is that Sir Suvali on the tower behind him? “’[I]Allo!,”[/I] he yells, gesticulating wildly. [I]“’Allo![/I] This tower over here! Suvali! Over here! This door!” When Navarre comes running out of the gatehouse, he sees Sir Oerknal disappear behind the large tent to his left. He runs after him, past the strange hoisting device with the cage, around the tent, to see that a door to the stables is open. He approaches and hears a loud bang, followed by Sir Eber and Sir Oerknal speaking. When he enters the stables, he finds his noble companions at a door to his left. “Locked,” Sir Eber says. He takes a few steps back and hurls himself against the door, which doesn’t budge. “My turn again,” Sir Oerknal says. He hurls himself at the door with force – to no avail. “This isn’t working,” Sir Eber says, already in the doorway to the courtyard. “I’m going to get the giant’s hammer.” When he reaches the second hoisting device at the back of the tent, he has a good look around for something he can use to open the door in the stables. He doesn’t find anything and continues to the giant’s quarters, where he collects the giant’s hammer and a huge crowbar. When he leaves the building to get back to the stables, he notices four halberdiers in iron armor in the gatehouse. “Enemies!,” he hollers, alerting his companions in the stables. “We must close the gates!” He drops the giant hammer and crowbar, draws his sword and axe and charges the advancing halberdiers. Moments later, one halberdier is down and then another is hit by an arrow. The ranger hits the wounded halberdier with both of his weapons, sending him reeling and now another arrow hits one of the remaining halberdiers. When Sir Eber has left, Navarre also has a go and likewise fails to force the door. “Isn’t there something in here we can use in here?,” he says, rubbing his shoulder. Sir Oerknal lights a small lamp and moves to the first box, where he finds some crates containing weapons. He rummages through them for a bit until he finds two crude halberds. He gets back to Navarre and the noble duo use them to try to and force the door, again without any success. When they hear Sir Eber calling from the courtyard, they run outside and start for the gatehouse, Sir Oerknal to the left of the tent and Navarre to the right. When Navarre rounds the tent, he sees Sir Eber fighting three halberdiers. A fourth is on the ground and Sir Oerknal is already closing in from the left. Arrows come flying from somewhere to the left and presently one of them hits one of the halberdiers. Navarre draws his sword and charges into the fray. His attack is parried and when Sir Oerknal also misses his man, Sir Eber does make both of his attacks count and another halberdier sags to the ground. Now, the two remaining men start moving backward and, when one of them leaves his flank open to him, Navarre executes a devastating attack, instantly killing him. When another arrow takes care of the last halberdier, the enemy have not managed to land a single blow. Navarre runs through the gatehouse looking for more enemies in the old courtyard but all he can see there are what must be more than a hundred dead nobles. Behind him, Sir Oerknal and Sir Eber approach. “Do you see any gold?,” Sir Oerknal asks. “There is nobody alive out there,” Navarre says grimly. “We must get back to the castle and finish this.” “We must close the gates first,” Sir Eber says. But Sir Oerknal turns around and starts walking back to the new courtyard, so it is left to Navarre and Sir Eber to close the gates. This takes them some time and when they eventually get to where Sir Eber dropped the giant’s hammer and crowbar, the hammer is gone. “Olm!,” Sir Eber growls. “My hammer!” “The creature must have taken it,” Navarre says. “Back to the stables!” Sir Eber picks up the huge crowbar and the noble duo start for the stables. Halfway across the courtyard, Navarre looks up at the third tower, where he sees Sir Suvali looking down at him from the battlements and waving his bow at the fourth tower. He turns to the fourth tower and sees the [I]chevalier[/I] and Sir Oengus at a door on the wall leading up to it, the latter swinging a grappling hook. “The others are up there,” he says to Sir Eber, pointing at the fourth tower. “We will go in through the stables. Attack from two sides and meet in the middle.” When the noble duo reach the stables, they hear the [I]chevalier[/I] yell at them from above. Is there a hint of irritation in the voice of their noble fellow? “’[I]Allo! ’Allo![/I] This tower over here!” Moments earlier, Sir Oerknal did find the giant’s hammer and crowbar. “My hammer,” he says. He lifts the handle and starts dragging the huge hammer to the stables. When he gets there, he has a good look at the door and then at the hammer, estimating his chances. But then, considering who may be behind the door with arrows knocked, he decides he’d better wait for Sir Eber. He puts the hammer against the wall next to the entrance, picks up his lamp and starts searching the stables again. He discovers four large metal cages taking up most of the second box – obviously an impromptu cell block of sorts. When the [I]chevalier[/I] and Sir Oengus have left the witch’s room, Sir Suvali climbs up to the roof of the third tower, just in time to see the man in the iron armor and his companions reach a door at the other end of the dawnward wall. They knock a couple of times, the door opens and they enter the tower. The sorcerer has another look into the courtyard, where he observes Sir Eber rummaging through some items at the hoisting apparatus to the right of the tent and then walk to the giant’s quarters. He turn his attention to the dawnward wall again, where the [I]chevalier[/I] and Sir Oengus are now moving to the fourth tower. Just when his noble fellows get to the door, the sorcerer hears Sir Eber sound the alarm in the courtyard below. He moves to the battlements to his left and sees his noble companion charge four halberdiers exiting the gatehouse. He takes his bow and starts firing arrows – hitting at least two halberdiers before Navarre and Sir Oerknal come running. When Navarre cuts down the third halberdier, the sorcerer plants two more arrows in the fourth, killing him. He puts away his bow and watches Sir Oerknal drag the hammer to the stables while Sir Eber and Navarre are closing the gates. Turning his attention to the [I]chevalier[/I] and Sir Oengus again, he sees that they haven’t made much progress. He looks down again and sees Navarre pass below. When he looks up at him, he waves his bow at him, pointing to the fourth tower. Then, when the [I]chevalier[/I] starts hollering, he flies to the roof of the fourth tower, attaches a rope to the battlements and throws it to Sir Oengus and the [I]chevalier[/I] below. Next, he moves to a position close to the trapdoor so that he can kick it back into place again the moment the enemy should try to get to the roof and waits for his noble fellows to arrive. Sir Oengus is just swinging his grappling hook again when Sir Suvali’s rope comes tumbling down the tower wall. “Out of my way!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] cries. He pushes past Sir Oengus, grabs the rope and starts climbing up the wall. But he hasn’t even made it a yard up the wall when his hands slip and he falls back down and ends up sitting on his bum and with his legs spread wide. “[I]Zut! Zut! Zut alors!,”[/I] he yells, before uttering a high-pitched laugh. [I]“A-ha, ha, ha! Merde!”[/I] Sir Oengus hurls his grappling hook a second time and now the thing settles firmly. He starts climbing up the tower wall but fumbles as well and also falls back down, right on top of the cursing [I]chevalier[/I] and sending both men sprawling. “[I]Tonnerre!,”[/I] the [I]chevalier[/I] yells when it is all over. [I]“C’est une impasse!”[/I] Cursing, the [I]chevalier[/I] gracelessly scrambles back to his feet and starts climbing up the rope again and, now, finally, he reaches the roof of the tower, quickly followed by Sir Oengus. “Now what?,” the latter asks. “There’s a staircase below the trapdoor,” Sir Suvali says. “Archers at the bottom.” “We going in?,” Sir Oengus asks, readying his bow. By now, the [I]chevalier[/I] seems to have regained some of his composure. Shield ready, he moves to the trapdoor and opens it slightly. No arrows come flying out and, when all he sees are some steps leading down, he opens it further – upon which two arrows come whizzing through the opening, only just missing the sorcerer behind him. He starts a slow approach to the top of the stairs, shield and sword at the ready – before he can no longer restrain himself. “[I]Chargez!,”[/I] he cries, suddenly charging forth at full speed – before executing a sharp but rather elegant turn when he gets yo the top of the stairs and sees four men at the bottom of it, two with longbows and two in sturdy leather armors and brandishing shields and short swords. Reacting to the [I]chevalier’s[/I] call-to-arms, Sir Oengus has also moved closer to the opening, out of the line of fire of the four men below and ready to start firing arrows into it. When the DM explains to him that he has only three hit points left and that the men can hit him in return if he can hit them, he retreats and puts his bow on the floor. “Oh dear,” he grins, opening his trousers. “I do believe I have to take a rather urgent leak.” And with this, he rolls “16” and relieves himself down the opening, pissing all over one of the men below. If anything, his forced retreat seems to have agitated the [I]chevalier[/I] once more. “[I]Merde!”,[/I] he cries, taking his bow from his back, knocking an arrow, and calling for a table to be brought to him. But no one brings him a table. “[I]Mon Dieu!,”[/I] he cries, exasperated, before approaching the opening and starting to fire arrows into it. “I know,” Sir Oengus says, closing his trousers. “I’m not going down there either. I mean, look at me!” Sir Suvali does exactly that and notices that his noble companion does seem to be in a bit of state. He procures the jars with [I]Ilm’s ointment[/I] and smears some of it on Sir Oengus, who regains 11 hit points. When this is done, the noble trio start firing arrows down the opening, ducking for cover after each shot as enemy arrows whiz past them. Angry cries from below indicate that their own missiles at least manage to cause some consternation below. But then the spirited [I]chevalier[/I] changes his mind again. He puts away his bow, readies his shield and sword, cries [I]‘chargez!’[/I] again, and charges down the stairs. About three-quarters of the way down, he is met by two soldiers in leather armor who easily parry his attack. Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus continue firing arrows into the opening, targeting the archers and then, with arrows now whizzing past in both directions, the [I]chevalier[/I] finally manages to land a serious blow. Praying that his luck may finally change, he fumbles his next attack when his opponent hits his right hand, causing him to drop his sword. The poor [I]chevalier[/I] utters an incredulous, high-pitched laugh and scrambles to pick up his sword, cursing loudly when he only just manages to retrieve the weapon. But he manages to follow up with an impressive maneuver and finally inflicts some significant damage on his opponent. Long before all of this, Sir Eber and Navarre have joined Sir Oerknal in the stables and presently the noble trio are using the giant crowbar on the door. They have been at it for a while when Sir Eber finally manages to force the door with a mighty effort, revealing a narrow corridor leading to another corridor running at straight angles to it. At the intersection are five men in leather armor, two behind shields covering two archers with longbows and a fifth behind all of them and holding a bull’s-eye lantern. “Alarm!,” the man with the lantern yells. “They have breached the door!” Two arrows come flying down the corridor, one of them grazing Sir Eber’s arm before he gets a chance to duck for cover. When Navarre and Sir Oerknal have also taken cover, to the other side of the doorway, the ranger removes his backpack and puts in on the ground. Two more arrows come flying through the doorway when he retrieves some flasks from it and starts lobbing them to his noble companions. “Fire bombs,” he says, lighting one himself. “I’ve got eight of them.” [/QUOTE]
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An Adventure in Five Acts (AD&D 2E) (Final Update 25 Feb 2023)
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