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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: 8937679" data-attributes="member: 86051"><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V, Part IV (Continued)</span></strong></p><p></p><p>It is around six o’clock in the evening when Sir Suvali returns with some of the necessary supplies (oil, lanterns, torches; tarpaulins, snowshoes, winter blankets, thick coats and cloaks; ropes, mallets, pinions; food, wine).</p><p>“Did they kick you out, Wyrsn?,” Sir Eber asks.</p><p>“The castle is under siege,” Sir Suvali says, ignoring the quip. “The rebel army has split. Half of it is still in the valley blocking Mim’s advance and the other half is laying siege. Bandits.”</p><p>“Then the rebels are finished!,” the <em>chevalier</em> cries, opening a bottle of wine. “Mim has them outnumbered in the valley!”</p><p>“Unless Murphy has some trick up his sleeve,” Sir Eber says. “Maybe he has a way of getting ice giants to the castle.”</p><p>“So everything now seems to depend on him,” Navarre muses. “Still, his little revolution is over even if he were to retake the castle. The royalists will crush his army in the valley.”</p><p>“All the more reason for us to find him fast,” Sir Eber says, glowering at Sir Suvali.</p><p>“I’m going back to the castle,” the sorcerer says.</p><p>“I think you should take our armors with you,” Navarre says. “We have no use for them until we get to the Icy Waste and they only add to the weight we have to carry. If it’s only a couple of hours from the Icy Waste to the castle, you can pick them up again when we get there.”</p><p>“Okay,” the sorcerer says.</p><p>Navarre hands him his armor and the sorcerer takes to the air again. Some ten minutes after he has left, he spots a large tree, picks a spot near the top leaves the armor right there before continuing to the castle.</p><p></p><p>Navarre, Sir Eber, Sir Oengus, and the <em>chevalier</em> spend the next three days traversing the mountains on foot, with Sir Suvali flying up and down with supplies – and leaving an armor in his tree each time he returns to the castle. He also brings letters from our noble heroes’ parents. One of these is from Duke Dauberval, who expresses his displeasure at our noble heroes pursuing a commoner to the end of the world while The Forest is at war.</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 24, 13.00 hrs</strong>: Navarre, Sir Eber, Sir Oengus, and the <em>chevalier</em> have crossed a third mountain range and are presently looking down a long, snow-covered glacier in a V-shaped valley leading down to a vast icy plain stretching as far as they can see underneath a gray sky – the Icy Waste.</p><p>“Good lord,” Navarre breathes, quite impressed by the view. “It exists!”</p><p>“Of course it does, lubber,” Sir Oengus says. “Maps don’t lie.”</p><p>“I suppose you’re right, old sport,” Navarre replies.</p><p></p><p>Our noble heroes decide to take a breather and are are just finishing lunch when Sir Suvali arrives with a large pack on his back.</p><p>“Gentlemen,” he says, when he has landed and taken the pack from his back. “A sled. It just needs reassembling.”</p><p>And, sure enough, about an hour’s work later, our noble heroes have assembled a long sled much like the carts in the stables at Diamond Castle.</p><p>“There is a large rift at the bottom there,” Sir Suvali says, pointing down the glacier. “Right where the Icy Waste starts. It runs from dusk to dawn and it’s huge.”</p><p>“Captain on deck, lubbers!,” Sir Oengus says. “If there be somethin’ to steer it’ll be me as to do the steerin’, by thunder! All hands on deck and sails away!”</p><p></p><p>Our noble heroes start down the glacier in their sled, with Sir Oengus at the helm. Although there is less wind on this side of the mountains, it is definitely a lot colder than before. While they find their progress much easier now, it is still not very fast and it is around five o’clock in the afternoon when they get their first good view of the rift the sorcerer saw earlier. It runs right across the bottom of the glacier and it must be about a hundred yards wide. Beyond is the Icy Waste – an endless plain of ice.</p><p>“It be another hour to the rift,” Sir Oengus says.</p><p>“I say we make camp here,” Navarre suggests. “We don’t know what we will find down there and I’d rather find out with a full day ahead of us than with night falling.”</p><p>“Agreed,” the <em>chevalier</em> says.</p><p>“I will scout ahead,” Sir Suvali says.</p><p></p><p>A camp is made and then Sir Suvali makes his first outing to the rift. He decides not to get too close to it for the time being and so he can only determine that it is, indeed, a jagged rift in a thick layer of ice on the bedrock. It must stretch for tens of miles in both directions and, from what he can see, he estimates it to be at least one hundred yards deep. There are no signs of life anywhere.</p><p>He gets back to the camp for some dinner and takes to the air again when evening has fallen. When he returns, he reports that there are still no signs of life – no fires, no lights, no nothing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 25</strong>: Around four o’clock in the morning, just before daybreak, Sir Suvali prepares for another outing to the rift. He finds the day to be exceedingly cold, perhaps close to freezing, and realizing that it is high summer in The Forest, he concludes that the mountains must be a natural barrier against the cold of the Icy Waste. He takes to the air and makes another pass over the rift, still finding no signs of life anywhere. He flies back to retrieve the armors he left in his tree and, when he returns to the camp around ten o’clock, he finds his noble fellows ready to go.</p><p></p><p>Our noble heroes reach the rift an hour later. It stretches from dusk till dawn as far as the eye can see. When they look into it, they see many chunks of ice and rock wedged between its walls to either side but it is otherwise too dark down there to see the bottom. As Sir Suvali reported yesterday, the rift is cut right into the snow, ice, and bedrock, with the icy layer being some five yards thick.</p><p>“So where did he go?,” Navarre asks. “Did he go around it?”</p><p>“I didn’t have time to read tracks,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>“You lost them, didn’t you?,” Navarre grins.</p><p>The ranger growls something unintelligible.</p><p>“So what is it to be, captain?,” Navarre asks Sir Oengus. “Right or left?”</p><p>“I’ll see what’s on the other side,” Sir Suvali says. “If he crossed the rift somehow, he may have left tracks there.”</p><p></p><p>He takes to the air, crosses the rift and flies about for a bit but he doesn’t find any trace of Albert Murphy. But then, when he is on his way back, he spots what must be a trail leading down along hubward wall of the rift. Getting a bit closer, he sees that it starts some distance duskward of where his noble companions are now. It must be 400 yards long and ends in a large cave entrance darkness another 40 yards down.</p><p>He returns to his noble companions and reports his findings.</p><p>“A cave!,” Navarre exclaims excitedly. “It must be where he went! It must be where he spent his time in the mountains!”</p><p>Our noble heroes turn left and eventually reach the top of the trail, where Sir Eber picks up Albert Murphy’s tracks again.</p><p>“It is no longer than a day old,” he says. “It’s a sled going down there.”</p><p>“Got him!,” Navarre says.</p><p></p><p>Our noble heroes start down the trail and find it to run along a natural fissure in the rock, with some steps cut into it where necessary. At the end, in the hubward wall of the rift, is a large hole – a cave entrance. It is some five yards high, high enough for an ice giant.</p><p>Drawing their weapons, our noble heroes enter the cave, a short tunnel that opens up into a large cave with a domed ceiling. The cave must be 30 yards across and there is a huge table directly to the left of the opening. Beyond it, in the center of the room, a large hole in the ground is surrounded by a number of chests and what appear to be low, standing stones. A weak light comes from the hole.</p><p>Bows at the ready, our noble heroes cautiously advance into the cave until they get to the hole, which they find to be quite deep. There are a number of… mounds of ice?… on the floor and a ladder is against the wall close to where they are now standing. The light is diffuse and exceedingly weak and it has no visible source – and the DM calls for Initiative checks.</p><p></p><p>“Initiative?,” Sir Eber exclaims, perhaps, finally, slightly concerned for his safety. “The giant is dead!”</p><p>“There may be more,” Navarre says.</p><p>“Ssh!,” the <em>chevalier</em> hisses. “There is another opening at the back! There is a light!”</p><p>The ranger hurls his torch across the pit.</p><p>“Something moves!,” Sir Suvali yells, pointing to the opening at the back.</p><p>A man wearing a thick coat has appeared in the opening, a bow in his hand. Having won Initiative, Sir Suvali casts a <em>Sleep</em> spell – to no effect at all – and then the man shoots an arrow at him, inflicting some considerable damage.</p><p>“Death to all sorcerers!,” he yells. “They are here! Get them! Goddammit!”</p><p></p><p>The sorcerer dives to the floor behind a chest and Sir Eber starts for the archer while the <em>chevalier,</em> Sir Oengus, and Navarre release their arrows and bolts, causing the archer to curse again. Then, with Sir Oengus and the <em>chevalier</em> continuing to fire at the archer, Navarre draws his sword and charges after the ranger, who suffers some considerable damage, the archer taking a negligible amount in return. The ranger reaches the archer and hits him twice – hard – an then a second man comes running, this one clad in full plate armor and wielding a halberd.</p><p>With the arrows of the <em>chevalier</em> and Sir Oengus whizzing past to little effect, Navarre reaches the opening, which gives into what is obviously a smithy. There is a fireplace in each of its three walls, smith’s tools and bellows are everywhere and there are numerous anvils, one of which seems to have been constructed of four anvils welded together.</p><p>Against the far wall is Albert Murphy.</p><p></p><p>“Call off your dogs, Albert Murphy!,” Navarre yells, dodging an attack by the halberdier. “It is over!”</p><p>“Go away!,” Albert Murphy yells. “Assassins! Killers! Revolution!”</p><p>But, with Sir Eber landing a mighty blow on the archer and sending him sagging to the floor, Navarre has to leave Albert Murphy where he is and engage the halberdier. But he fumbles his attack – will it ever stop? – and then Sir Eber turns to face the halberdier.</p><p>“You again!,” the halberdier roars to the ranger, turning to face him. “Bugger off, already!”</p><p>With the halberdier engaging Sir Eber, Navarre advances into the smithy, where a third man appears.</p><p>“You there!,” the man yells to Navarre. “Over here! Stinking wizards! Now take on someone your own size!”</p><p>It is Olaf, the bandit lord who was reduced in size back in the witch’s tower and who is now back to normal again.</p><p>With Sir Eber and the halberdier now fighting each other – Sir Eber suffering massive damage and hardly inflicting any in return for a change – Navarre charges the bandit lord and then Sir Suvali, who has been ‘focusing on Albert Murphy’ from behind his chest way back in the cavern, shoots a magic missile at the halberdier.</p><p>However, he does so only once before he starts shooting arrows again and the next round sees none of our noble heroes inflict any damage at all, while the halberdier once again inflicts substantial damage on Sir Eber. Olaf manages to push past Navarre and is now attacking the ranger, fortunately to no effect. Then, finally, Sir Eber manages to land some glancing blows on the halberdier and the man sags to the floor.</p><p>“Surrender!,” Navarre yells to Olaf, missing him in the process.</p><p>“Deal!,” Olaf yells, dropping his weapon and turning around to point at Albert Murphy. “There he is! It was him! I had no choice! I was forced into this by the brute!”</p><p>Navarre turns around and approaches Albert Murphy.</p><p></p><p>“Albert Murphy!,” he calls. “In the name of the King! I arrest you for treason, inciting a revolution, and the murder of countless innocent men!”</p><p>“Well…,” Albert Murphy says, sitting down on the floor. “Oh, well. It seems that we have come to the end of the road. Welcome to my humble abode.”</p><p>The architect is a short, neat, but otherwise rather nondescript man. In strange defiance of the seriousness of his situation, he exudes an air of calm and confidence – much as if he were welcoming a party of friends for a pleasant soiree.</p><p>“I say…!,” Navarre starts, suddenly at a loss for words. After all the man has done? The bloody nerve of him!</p><p>“Welcome?,” the <em>chevalier</em> says frostily, pushing past him. “This is not my idea of a welcome.”</p><p>“Ah!,” Albert Murphy says amiably. “But you are! Such fine gentlemen like yourselves! Welcome! Is there anything I can offer you?”</p><p>“Gag him!,” the <em>chevalier</em> cries. “He speaks in tongues!”</p><p>Albert Murphy makes the sign of Ulm and calmly allows Sir Eber, heavily wounded, to tie his hands.</p><p>“Good lord, man!,” Navarre exclaims angrily. “A revolution!? What were you thinking?”</p><p>“I do not owe you an explanation,” Albert Murphy says. “The future will prove that I was right. The vision was clear.”</p><p>“<em>Des mots clair,”</em> the <em>chevalier</em> says sharply. “You are a murderer of noblemen, of women. Even children you did not spare.”</p><p>“Have you nothing to say for yourself?,” Navarre fumes.</p><p>Albert Murphy calmly looks at each of noble heroes in turn but doesn’t answer.</p><p>“No matter,” Navarre says. “You will be judged for your misdeeds.”</p><p>“Why did you come here?,” Sir Eber asks. “What is was your plan? How does the Icy Waste fit into all this?”</p><p>“I was going to regroup,” Albert Murphy says, still speaking as if he is engaged in some light banter.</p><p>“Then who else is here?,” the <em>chevalier</em> asks.</p><p>“So many questions, gentlemen,” Albert Murphy says soothingly. “Why, I…”</p><p>“And you had better start answering them, <em>monsieur!,”</em> the <em>chevalier</em> cries.</p><p>“Are you people peers of the realm?,” Albert Murphy asks. “Do you represent someone?”</p><p>“We represent the King,” Navarre says.</p><p>“I would ask you to watch your tone, <em>monsieur,”</em> the <em>chevalier</em> says.</p><p>Once again, Albert Murphy looks at each of our noble heroes in turn, still strangely unperturbed by the situation. “What do you intend to do with me?,” he asks.</p><p>“You will be brought before a court of law where you will answer for your misdeeds,” Navarre says.</p><p>“That is grave news,” Albert Murphy says solemnly. “I will not stand much of a chance in a court presided by a new king, even if I would cooperate. Perhaps you could be my judges? You have the right to do so in small council, if I am not mistaken. Maybe I can be of service to you in some way?”</p><p>“Are you mad?,” Navarre exclaims. “ Would you believe that we would negotiate with you?”</p><p>“He is stalling for time,” the <em>chevalier</em> says, looking around the smithy. “Something is afoot.”</p><p>“I feel it, too,” Sir Oengus says. “We should get out of here.”</p><p>“We will search this place first,” Sir Suvali says. Some moments earlier, he has covertly cast <em>Detect Magic</em> on Albert Murphy and the smithy but he does not detect any magical auras.</p><p></p><p>While Sir Oengus and Sir Suvali subject the cave and the smithy to a search, the others discuss the possibility of judging Albert Murphy in small council, with each and every one of our noble heroes continuing to keep an eye out for anything that could indicate that Albert Murphy is, indeed, stalling for time.</p><p>“I’m not entirely sure how this small council would work,” Navarre admits.</p><p>“We can condemn him to death and kill him,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>“That is not quite what I meant,” Navarre says. “The man should have some sort of counsel to defend him.”</p><p>“Not me,” Sir Eber says.</p><p>“Nor I,” Navarre says. “I would not know where to begin. Still, judging him here would save us the trouble of taking him back across the mountains and into a war zone.”</p><p></p><p>After some more of this, Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus return. They have located Albert Murphy’s sled and his dogs in a niche rimward of the smithy and presently suggest that our noble heroes search the pit.</p><p>“There’s something down there,” Sir Suvali says. “A suspicious mound of debris against one of the walls. It may hide an opening.”</p><p>“Well?,” Navarre asks. “What’s stopping you?”</p><p>“An exit?,” the <em>chevalier</em> exclaims. “I knew something was afoot! We must get out of here!”</p><p>“I suppose it will not hurt us to prepare for when we should have to get out of here in all haste,” Navarre says.</p><p>“Something is wrong!,” the <em>chevalier</em> cries. “I feel it! We must go now!”</p><p>And with that, he starts for the dogs and the sled.</p><p></p><p>A palpable tension is now in the air. Indeed, Navarre thinks, come to think of it, the whole cave now seems to exude an eerie, almost imperceptible sense of… something. He has a good look around but he cannot put his finger on it. Strangely enough, the only thing that does come to mind, is… that he has been here before. Preposterous! He has never been here in his life!</p><p>“It would seem that there is something wrong here,” he says to the others. “I’ll get Albert Murphy to the exit and keep him there. See if anything changes.”</p><p>When he is gone, Sir Eber starts helping the <em>chevalier</em> with the dogs and the sled. This takes them a while and, when they are almost finished, they notice that Sir Oengus and Sir Suvali are nowhere to be seen.</p><p></p><p>Not long after Navarre left the cavern with Albert Murphy and Olaf, Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus descended into the pit to have another look at the supposed exit. They found the ‘mounds of ice’ on the floor to be coils of long metal chains coated with ice as if water has been dripping onto them and then froze. When they got to the mound of debris stacked against part of the wall, they found it to be mostly rocks and mud, which seems strange in a cave containing neither.</p><p>“Only one way to find out, lubber,” Sir Oengus said. “Let’s start digging.”</p><p>The noble duo started removing the rocks and, sure enough, they soon found an exit hidden behind it. They dug some more until a large boulder blocking the exit was revealed, with the rest of the opening bricked up.</p><p>Now, both have to make a saving throw against fear, which they fail. They are exiting the pit in all haste when the <em>chevalier</em> arrives.</p><p>“Get out of there!,” he cries. “What are you doing?”</p><p></p><p>When Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus can think clearly again and have told the others of what transpired in the pit, we find our noble heroes gathered at the entrance to the cave, for it has now become clear that there is definitely something strange going on within it.</p><p>“We must deal with Albert Murphy first,” Navarre says. “We cannot have him at our back if we should start investigating whatever it is that is in that pit.”</p><p>“Agreed,” Sir Suvali says. “Besides, Eber is no condition to do anything right now. Look at him. He can barely move.”</p><p>The others agree, although the ranger says that there is nothing wrong with him, and so our noble heroes finish preparing the sled for what is now more and more looking like their impending return to The Forest.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe you should get Albert Murphy to Mim,” Navarre says to Sir Suvali when our noble heroes are ready to leave the cave. “You can use the wand on him and have him at the castle in three hours. Save us a lot of trouble and all that.”</p><p>“We must get out of the cave first,” Sir Suvali says, in a typical reaction. “We must get to the mountains as soon as possible. Get some distance between us and that cave.”</p><p>“Now is not the time to worry about our own hides, Sir,” Navarre says, for once deciding that, this time, he is not going to put up with yet another of the sorcerer’s attempts to get out of any and all conversations involving him – let alone the others – using any of the magic items at his disposal.</p><p>“Let’s go,” the sorcerer says.</p><p>Navarre looks him straight in the eye.</p><p>“Are you actually telling me that you are not going to use the wand and fly to the castle?,” he asks, steel in voice.</p><p>The sorcerer smiles feebly and averts his eyes.</p><p>“I will do it,” he says, after a dramatic pause for effect. “Just not at the moment.”</p><p>Navarre has to restrain himself quite considerably.</p><p></p><p>And so it is that our noble heroes and their prisoners leave the cave and the rift and start back to the glacier.</p><p>“This is going to be a long trip, to be sure,” Sir Oengus says, looking at Albert Murphy and Olaf huddled in the sled. “I says we kill them and be done with it.”</p><p>“We are not savages, Sir,” Navarre says. “The law dictates that he must have a fair trial.”</p><p></p><p>The company are already some way up the glacier when Navarre addresses Sir Suvali.</p><p>“Perhaps you could find it within you to start getting Albert Murphy back to Mim, now?,” he suggests.</p><p>Sir Suvali nods almost imperceptibly and tells Sir Oengus to stop the sled. Taking his time, he starts to brew up a broth from some of Theresa’s sleep-inducing herbs and feeds it to Albert Murphy, who calmly undergoes the whole thing. He then binds and gags the architect, procures his wand, reduces Albert Murphy in size and stuffs him into one of the pockets of his vest.</p><p>“Gentlemen,” he says, unfolding his wings.</p><p>“<em>Bon voyage!,”</em> the <em>chevalier</em> cries when the sorcerer takes to the air.</p><p></p><p><strong>Epilogue</strong>: The session has now more or less ended and so all that is left to say is that Sir Suvali delivers Albert Murphy in the hands of Duke Mim after he has made it quite clear to him that it was our noble heroes who took Diamond Castle – taking care to describe the heroic actions of all involved in some detail.</p><p>“Well played, my good man,” Duke Mim says. “Is there anything you need?”</p><p>“We are on our way back,” Sir Suvali says.</p><p>After this, he flies back to the castle, where he informs the besieged of the situation.</p><p>“You will have to hold out until Mim gets here,” he says. “We will be here soon. The revolution is over, we just need to pick up the pieces now.”</p><p></p><p>Back on the other side of the mountains, the rest of our noble heroes find that getting back up the glacier is quite a bit harder than gliding down from it on a sled. No one has ever driven a dogsled before – and definitely not up a glacier. When they finally decide to call it a day, Navarre shakes the hands of his noble fellows.</p><p>“Suvali must have delivered Albert Murphy to Mim by now,” he says, raising his glass for a toast. “I say congratulations are in order.”</p><p>“Gentlemen!,” Sir Oengus hollers. “To changing times! We shall rule The Forest as the Table of Five!”</p><p>“Ha, ha, ha!,” Navarre laughs. “Perhaps Albert Murphy was right after all!”</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">THIS ENDS “AN ADVENTURE IN FIVE ACTS”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ilgatto, post: 8937679, member: 86051"] [B][SIZE=5]An Adventure in Five Acts, Act V, Part IV (Continued)[/SIZE][/B] It is around six o’clock in the evening when Sir Suvali returns with some of the necessary supplies (oil, lanterns, torches; tarpaulins, snowshoes, winter blankets, thick coats and cloaks; ropes, mallets, pinions; food, wine). “Did they kick you out, Wyrsn?,” Sir Eber asks. “The castle is under siege,” Sir Suvali says, ignoring the quip. “The rebel army has split. Half of it is still in the valley blocking Mim’s advance and the other half is laying siege. Bandits.” “Then the rebels are finished!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] cries, opening a bottle of wine. “Mim has them outnumbered in the valley!” “Unless Murphy has some trick up his sleeve,” Sir Eber says. “Maybe he has a way of getting ice giants to the castle.” “So everything now seems to depend on him,” Navarre muses. “Still, his little revolution is over even if he were to retake the castle. The royalists will crush his army in the valley.” “All the more reason for us to find him fast,” Sir Eber says, glowering at Sir Suvali. “I’m going back to the castle,” the sorcerer says. “I think you should take our armors with you,” Navarre says. “We have no use for them until we get to the Icy Waste and they only add to the weight we have to carry. If it’s only a couple of hours from the Icy Waste to the castle, you can pick them up again when we get there.” “Okay,” the sorcerer says. Navarre hands him his armor and the sorcerer takes to the air again. Some ten minutes after he has left, he spots a large tree, picks a spot near the top leaves the armor right there before continuing to the castle. Navarre, Sir Eber, Sir Oengus, and the [I]chevalier[/I] spend the next three days traversing the mountains on foot, with Sir Suvali flying up and down with supplies – and leaving an armor in his tree each time he returns to the castle. He also brings letters from our noble heroes’ parents. One of these is from Duke Dauberval, who expresses his displeasure at our noble heroes pursuing a commoner to the end of the world while The Forest is at war. [B]Day 24, 13.00 hrs[/B]: Navarre, Sir Eber, Sir Oengus, and the [I]chevalier[/I] have crossed a third mountain range and are presently looking down a long, snow-covered glacier in a V-shaped valley leading down to a vast icy plain stretching as far as they can see underneath a gray sky – the Icy Waste. “Good lord,” Navarre breathes, quite impressed by the view. “It exists!” “Of course it does, lubber,” Sir Oengus says. “Maps don’t lie.” “I suppose you’re right, old sport,” Navarre replies. Our noble heroes decide to take a breather and are are just finishing lunch when Sir Suvali arrives with a large pack on his back. “Gentlemen,” he says, when he has landed and taken the pack from his back. “A sled. It just needs reassembling.” And, sure enough, about an hour’s work later, our noble heroes have assembled a long sled much like the carts in the stables at Diamond Castle. “There is a large rift at the bottom there,” Sir Suvali says, pointing down the glacier. “Right where the Icy Waste starts. It runs from dusk to dawn and it’s huge.” “Captain on deck, lubbers!,” Sir Oengus says. “If there be somethin’ to steer it’ll be me as to do the steerin’, by thunder! All hands on deck and sails away!” Our noble heroes start down the glacier in their sled, with Sir Oengus at the helm. Although there is less wind on this side of the mountains, it is definitely a lot colder than before. While they find their progress much easier now, it is still not very fast and it is around five o’clock in the afternoon when they get their first good view of the rift the sorcerer saw earlier. It runs right across the bottom of the glacier and it must be about a hundred yards wide. Beyond is the Icy Waste – an endless plain of ice. “It be another hour to the rift,” Sir Oengus says. “I say we make camp here,” Navarre suggests. “We don’t know what we will find down there and I’d rather find out with a full day ahead of us than with night falling.” “Agreed,” the [I]chevalier[/I] says. “I will scout ahead,” Sir Suvali says. A camp is made and then Sir Suvali makes his first outing to the rift. He decides not to get too close to it for the time being and so he can only determine that it is, indeed, a jagged rift in a thick layer of ice on the bedrock. It must stretch for tens of miles in both directions and, from what he can see, he estimates it to be at least one hundred yards deep. There are no signs of life anywhere. He gets back to the camp for some dinner and takes to the air again when evening has fallen. When he returns, he reports that there are still no signs of life – no fires, no lights, no nothing. [B]Day 25[/B]: Around four o’clock in the morning, just before daybreak, Sir Suvali prepares for another outing to the rift. He finds the day to be exceedingly cold, perhaps close to freezing, and realizing that it is high summer in The Forest, he concludes that the mountains must be a natural barrier against the cold of the Icy Waste. He takes to the air and makes another pass over the rift, still finding no signs of life anywhere. He flies back to retrieve the armors he left in his tree and, when he returns to the camp around ten o’clock, he finds his noble fellows ready to go. Our noble heroes reach the rift an hour later. It stretches from dusk till dawn as far as the eye can see. When they look into it, they see many chunks of ice and rock wedged between its walls to either side but it is otherwise too dark down there to see the bottom. As Sir Suvali reported yesterday, the rift is cut right into the snow, ice, and bedrock, with the icy layer being some five yards thick. “So where did he go?,” Navarre asks. “Did he go around it?” “I didn’t have time to read tracks,” Sir Eber says. “You lost them, didn’t you?,” Navarre grins. The ranger growls something unintelligible. “So what is it to be, captain?,” Navarre asks Sir Oengus. “Right or left?” “I’ll see what’s on the other side,” Sir Suvali says. “If he crossed the rift somehow, he may have left tracks there.” He takes to the air, crosses the rift and flies about for a bit but he doesn’t find any trace of Albert Murphy. But then, when he is on his way back, he spots what must be a trail leading down along hubward wall of the rift. Getting a bit closer, he sees that it starts some distance duskward of where his noble companions are now. It must be 400 yards long and ends in a large cave entrance darkness another 40 yards down. He returns to his noble companions and reports his findings. “A cave!,” Navarre exclaims excitedly. “It must be where he went! It must be where he spent his time in the mountains!” Our noble heroes turn left and eventually reach the top of the trail, where Sir Eber picks up Albert Murphy’s tracks again. “It is no longer than a day old,” he says. “It’s a sled going down there.” “Got him!,” Navarre says. Our noble heroes start down the trail and find it to run along a natural fissure in the rock, with some steps cut into it where necessary. At the end, in the hubward wall of the rift, is a large hole – a cave entrance. It is some five yards high, high enough for an ice giant. Drawing their weapons, our noble heroes enter the cave, a short tunnel that opens up into a large cave with a domed ceiling. The cave must be 30 yards across and there is a huge table directly to the left of the opening. Beyond it, in the center of the room, a large hole in the ground is surrounded by a number of chests and what appear to be low, standing stones. A weak light comes from the hole. Bows at the ready, our noble heroes cautiously advance into the cave until they get to the hole, which they find to be quite deep. There are a number of… mounds of ice?… on the floor and a ladder is against the wall close to where they are now standing. The light is diffuse and exceedingly weak and it has no visible source – and the DM calls for Initiative checks. “Initiative?,” Sir Eber exclaims, perhaps, finally, slightly concerned for his safety. “The giant is dead!” “There may be more,” Navarre says. “Ssh!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] hisses. “There is another opening at the back! There is a light!” The ranger hurls his torch across the pit. “Something moves!,” Sir Suvali yells, pointing to the opening at the back. A man wearing a thick coat has appeared in the opening, a bow in his hand. Having won Initiative, Sir Suvali casts a [I]Sleep[/I] spell – to no effect at all – and then the man shoots an arrow at him, inflicting some considerable damage. “Death to all sorcerers!,” he yells. “They are here! Get them! Goddammit!” The sorcerer dives to the floor behind a chest and Sir Eber starts for the archer while the [I]chevalier,[/I] Sir Oengus, and Navarre release their arrows and bolts, causing the archer to curse again. Then, with Sir Oengus and the [I]chevalier[/I] continuing to fire at the archer, Navarre draws his sword and charges after the ranger, who suffers some considerable damage, the archer taking a negligible amount in return. The ranger reaches the archer and hits him twice – hard – an then a second man comes running, this one clad in full plate armor and wielding a halberd. With the arrows of the [I]chevalier[/I] and Sir Oengus whizzing past to little effect, Navarre reaches the opening, which gives into what is obviously a smithy. There is a fireplace in each of its three walls, smith’s tools and bellows are everywhere and there are numerous anvils, one of which seems to have been constructed of four anvils welded together. Against the far wall is Albert Murphy. “Call off your dogs, Albert Murphy!,” Navarre yells, dodging an attack by the halberdier. “It is over!” “Go away!,” Albert Murphy yells. “Assassins! Killers! Revolution!” But, with Sir Eber landing a mighty blow on the archer and sending him sagging to the floor, Navarre has to leave Albert Murphy where he is and engage the halberdier. But he fumbles his attack – will it ever stop? – and then Sir Eber turns to face the halberdier. “You again!,” the halberdier roars to the ranger, turning to face him. “Bugger off, already!” With the halberdier engaging Sir Eber, Navarre advances into the smithy, where a third man appears. “You there!,” the man yells to Navarre. “Over here! Stinking wizards! Now take on someone your own size!” It is Olaf, the bandit lord who was reduced in size back in the witch’s tower and who is now back to normal again. With Sir Eber and the halberdier now fighting each other – Sir Eber suffering massive damage and hardly inflicting any in return for a change – Navarre charges the bandit lord and then Sir Suvali, who has been ‘focusing on Albert Murphy’ from behind his chest way back in the cavern, shoots a magic missile at the halberdier. However, he does so only once before he starts shooting arrows again and the next round sees none of our noble heroes inflict any damage at all, while the halberdier once again inflicts substantial damage on Sir Eber. Olaf manages to push past Navarre and is now attacking the ranger, fortunately to no effect. Then, finally, Sir Eber manages to land some glancing blows on the halberdier and the man sags to the floor. “Surrender!,” Navarre yells to Olaf, missing him in the process. “Deal!,” Olaf yells, dropping his weapon and turning around to point at Albert Murphy. “There he is! It was him! I had no choice! I was forced into this by the brute!” Navarre turns around and approaches Albert Murphy. “Albert Murphy!,” he calls. “In the name of the King! I arrest you for treason, inciting a revolution, and the murder of countless innocent men!” “Well…,” Albert Murphy says, sitting down on the floor. “Oh, well. It seems that we have come to the end of the road. Welcome to my humble abode.” The architect is a short, neat, but otherwise rather nondescript man. In strange defiance of the seriousness of his situation, he exudes an air of calm and confidence – much as if he were welcoming a party of friends for a pleasant soiree. “I say…!,” Navarre starts, suddenly at a loss for words. After all the man has done? The bloody nerve of him! “Welcome?,” the [I]chevalier[/I] says frostily, pushing past him. “This is not my idea of a welcome.” “Ah!,” Albert Murphy says amiably. “But you are! Such fine gentlemen like yourselves! Welcome! Is there anything I can offer you?” “Gag him!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] cries. “He speaks in tongues!” Albert Murphy makes the sign of Ulm and calmly allows Sir Eber, heavily wounded, to tie his hands. “Good lord, man!,” Navarre exclaims angrily. “A revolution!? What were you thinking?” “I do not owe you an explanation,” Albert Murphy says. “The future will prove that I was right. The vision was clear.” “[I]Des mots clair,”[/I] the [I]chevalier[/I] says sharply. “You are a murderer of noblemen, of women. Even children you did not spare.” “Have you nothing to say for yourself?,” Navarre fumes. Albert Murphy calmly looks at each of noble heroes in turn but doesn’t answer. “No matter,” Navarre says. “You will be judged for your misdeeds.” “Why did you come here?,” Sir Eber asks. “What is was your plan? How does the Icy Waste fit into all this?” “I was going to regroup,” Albert Murphy says, still speaking as if he is engaged in some light banter. “Then who else is here?,” the [I]chevalier[/I] asks. “So many questions, gentlemen,” Albert Murphy says soothingly. “Why, I…” “And you had better start answering them, [I]monsieur!,”[/I] the [I]chevalier[/I] cries. “Are you people peers of the realm?,” Albert Murphy asks. “Do you represent someone?” “We represent the King,” Navarre says. “I would ask you to watch your tone, [I]monsieur,”[/I] the [I]chevalier[/I] says. Once again, Albert Murphy looks at each of our noble heroes in turn, still strangely unperturbed by the situation. “What do you intend to do with me?,” he asks. “You will be brought before a court of law where you will answer for your misdeeds,” Navarre says. “That is grave news,” Albert Murphy says solemnly. “I will not stand much of a chance in a court presided by a new king, even if I would cooperate. Perhaps you could be my judges? You have the right to do so in small council, if I am not mistaken. Maybe I can be of service to you in some way?” “Are you mad?,” Navarre exclaims. “ Would you believe that we would negotiate with you?” “He is stalling for time,” the [I]chevalier[/I] says, looking around the smithy. “Something is afoot.” “I feel it, too,” Sir Oengus says. “We should get out of here.” “We will search this place first,” Sir Suvali says. Some moments earlier, he has covertly cast [I]Detect Magic[/I] on Albert Murphy and the smithy but he does not detect any magical auras. While Sir Oengus and Sir Suvali subject the cave and the smithy to a search, the others discuss the possibility of judging Albert Murphy in small council, with each and every one of our noble heroes continuing to keep an eye out for anything that could indicate that Albert Murphy is, indeed, stalling for time. “I’m not entirely sure how this small council would work,” Navarre admits. “We can condemn him to death and kill him,” Sir Eber says. “That is not quite what I meant,” Navarre says. “The man should have some sort of counsel to defend him.” “Not me,” Sir Eber says. “Nor I,” Navarre says. “I would not know where to begin. Still, judging him here would save us the trouble of taking him back across the mountains and into a war zone.” After some more of this, Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus return. They have located Albert Murphy’s sled and his dogs in a niche rimward of the smithy and presently suggest that our noble heroes search the pit. “There’s something down there,” Sir Suvali says. “A suspicious mound of debris against one of the walls. It may hide an opening.” “Well?,” Navarre asks. “What’s stopping you?” “An exit?,” the [I]chevalier[/I] exclaims. “I knew something was afoot! We must get out of here!” “I suppose it will not hurt us to prepare for when we should have to get out of here in all haste,” Navarre says. “Something is wrong!,” the [I]chevalier[/I] cries. “I feel it! We must go now!” And with that, he starts for the dogs and the sled. A palpable tension is now in the air. Indeed, Navarre thinks, come to think of it, the whole cave now seems to exude an eerie, almost imperceptible sense of… something. He has a good look around but he cannot put his finger on it. Strangely enough, the only thing that does come to mind, is… that he has been here before. Preposterous! He has never been here in his life! “It would seem that there is something wrong here,” he says to the others. “I’ll get Albert Murphy to the exit and keep him there. See if anything changes.” When he is gone, Sir Eber starts helping the [I]chevalier[/I] with the dogs and the sled. This takes them a while and, when they are almost finished, they notice that Sir Oengus and Sir Suvali are nowhere to be seen. Not long after Navarre left the cavern with Albert Murphy and Olaf, Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus descended into the pit to have another look at the supposed exit. They found the ‘mounds of ice’ on the floor to be coils of long metal chains coated with ice as if water has been dripping onto them and then froze. When they got to the mound of debris stacked against part of the wall, they found it to be mostly rocks and mud, which seems strange in a cave containing neither. “Only one way to find out, lubber,” Sir Oengus said. “Let’s start digging.” The noble duo started removing the rocks and, sure enough, they soon found an exit hidden behind it. They dug some more until a large boulder blocking the exit was revealed, with the rest of the opening bricked up. Now, both have to make a saving throw against fear, which they fail. They are exiting the pit in all haste when the [I]chevalier[/I] arrives. “Get out of there!,” he cries. “What are you doing?” When Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus can think clearly again and have told the others of what transpired in the pit, we find our noble heroes gathered at the entrance to the cave, for it has now become clear that there is definitely something strange going on within it. “We must deal with Albert Murphy first,” Navarre says. “We cannot have him at our back if we should start investigating whatever it is that is in that pit.” “Agreed,” Sir Suvali says. “Besides, Eber is no condition to do anything right now. Look at him. He can barely move.” The others agree, although the ranger says that there is nothing wrong with him, and so our noble heroes finish preparing the sled for what is now more and more looking like their impending return to The Forest. “Maybe you should get Albert Murphy to Mim,” Navarre says to Sir Suvali when our noble heroes are ready to leave the cave. “You can use the wand on him and have him at the castle in three hours. Save us a lot of trouble and all that.” “We must get out of the cave first,” Sir Suvali says, in a typical reaction. “We must get to the mountains as soon as possible. Get some distance between us and that cave.” “Now is not the time to worry about our own hides, Sir,” Navarre says, for once deciding that, this time, he is not going to put up with yet another of the sorcerer’s attempts to get out of any and all conversations involving him – let alone the others – using any of the magic items at his disposal. “Let’s go,” the sorcerer says. Navarre looks him straight in the eye. “Are you actually telling me that you are not going to use the wand and fly to the castle?,” he asks, steel in voice. The sorcerer smiles feebly and averts his eyes. “I will do it,” he says, after a dramatic pause for effect. “Just not at the moment.” Navarre has to restrain himself quite considerably. And so it is that our noble heroes and their prisoners leave the cave and the rift and start back to the glacier. “This is going to be a long trip, to be sure,” Sir Oengus says, looking at Albert Murphy and Olaf huddled in the sled. “I says we kill them and be done with it.” “We are not savages, Sir,” Navarre says. “The law dictates that he must have a fair trial.” The company are already some way up the glacier when Navarre addresses Sir Suvali. “Perhaps you could find it within you to start getting Albert Murphy back to Mim, now?,” he suggests. Sir Suvali nods almost imperceptibly and tells Sir Oengus to stop the sled. Taking his time, he starts to brew up a broth from some of Theresa’s sleep-inducing herbs and feeds it to Albert Murphy, who calmly undergoes the whole thing. He then binds and gags the architect, procures his wand, reduces Albert Murphy in size and stuffs him into one of the pockets of his vest. “Gentlemen,” he says, unfolding his wings. “[I]Bon voyage!,”[/I] the [I]chevalier[/I] cries when the sorcerer takes to the air. [B]Epilogue[/B]: The session has now more or less ended and so all that is left to say is that Sir Suvali delivers Albert Murphy in the hands of Duke Mim after he has made it quite clear to him that it was our noble heroes who took Diamond Castle – taking care to describe the heroic actions of all involved in some detail. “Well played, my good man,” Duke Mim says. “Is there anything you need?” “We are on our way back,” Sir Suvali says. After this, he flies back to the castle, where he informs the besieged of the situation. “You will have to hold out until Mim gets here,” he says. “We will be here soon. The revolution is over, we just need to pick up the pieces now.” Back on the other side of the mountains, the rest of our noble heroes find that getting back up the glacier is quite a bit harder than gliding down from it on a sled. No one has ever driven a dogsled before – and definitely not up a glacier. When they finally decide to call it a day, Navarre shakes the hands of his noble fellows. “Suvali must have delivered Albert Murphy to Mim by now,” he says, raising his glass for a toast. “I say congratulations are in order.” “Gentlemen!,” Sir Oengus hollers. “To changing times! We shall rule The Forest as the Table of Five!” “Ha, ha, ha!,” Navarre laughs. “Perhaps Albert Murphy was right after all!” [CENTER]THIS ENDS “AN ADVENTURE IN FIVE ACTS”[/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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An Adventure in Five Acts (AD&D 2E) (Final Update 25 Feb 2023)
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