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IRON KINGDOMS: The Journals of Heinrich Uberlich - Final Chapter
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<blockquote data-quote="ReeboKesh" data-source="post: 2875529" data-attributes="member: 40101"><p><strong>Tuesday, March 5th, 603 AR </strong></p><p><strong>“Fort Rhyker”</strong></p><p></p><p>I must scribe carefully, for I am sitting on the back of a rickety wagon with a large disk beaten with gold and a disassembled field glass, heading back to Corvis. </p><p></p><p>This morning we met up with Captain Helstrom. He had four black stallions and two small kegs with knotted cords sprouting from their lids, for us. He explained that these were filled with gunpowder and that the cords, when pulled, would create a fuse that detonated the kegs within 20 to 30 seconds. We all smiled at this gift. Cromwell and myself even more so when Helstrom handed me half a dozen bullets for the small ancient pistol that Cromwell gave me and a pair of masterwork daggers for Cromwell. He asked that the daggers be returned as they were property of the evidence locker from the Watch barracks. He wished us well and we rode of to the north.</p><p></p><p>Our ride took some four hours and we had to pass through some of Widower’s Wood. During our trip through the forest I had the feeling that we could have been randomly attacked at any time.</p><p></p><p>Eventually we reached Fort Rhyker, a multilevel stone structure spanning an immense rift in the land. The Fort’s gatehouse was on the side we had come from; the larger main tower would take us several hours to reach if we traveled around the rift. As we approached a chilling site greeted us. Captain Helstrom had told us that the fort had been a site for an immense battle years ago and that the bodies of the dead littered the field of battle. Before us, over twenty skeletons were digging the bones of the long dead from the ground and placing them in a wooden cart pulled by an undead steed.</p><p></p><p>Two of the skeletons looked up from their duties and began to watch us. We decided to make a break for it and ride up to the gatehouse, unfortunately a narrow roadway was the only entrance and we found ourselves riding toward a trio of heavily armed skeletons. Cromwell passed them first but as I attempted to one of them struck me a vicious cut with its halberd across my back. I gritted away the pain and continued to ride. Darius rode up beside me and handed me a potion. I greedily swallowed the contents and the pain across me back subsided.</p><p></p><p>We continued up the roadway but once again we were attacked. I suffered another deep cut and Yama Khan’s horse was spooked. It bolted with the necromancer hanging on for dear life. Darius road up to me and spoke a prayer to Morrow healing me of this new wound turning back I saw that Cromwell had dismounted his steed and moved to combat the skeletons alone. In one swift move I drew forth my pistol and fired catching one of the skeletons in the shoulder. Dismounting I spoke the incantation of my Disrupt Undead spell and let loose at one of the skeletons fighting Cromwell. The beam disrupted the Negative energy keeping it ‘alive’ and returned it to a simple pile of bones. Unfortunately I was unable to prevent Cromwell from being downed by a second skeleton. I turned to Darius and cried, “In Morrows’ name do something!” With that Darius focused the power of his god and the two remaining skeletons ceased their attacks and backed away from the approaching priest. We rushed to Cromwell’s side and after administering another healing potion he regained consciousness. At that moment Yama Khan, who had regained control of his horse, returned. The general consent was to retreat to rethink our options, so we did so, backing up half-hour distance from the gatehouse.</p><p></p><p>While we rested for a moment Cromwell began to gather rocks from the ground and placed them into a sack. When I asked him what he was doing he replied that if we placed one of our kegs in the sack with the rocks, when they exploded the rocks would cause even greater damage as the force of the explosion flung them in every direction. I then began to collect rocks and filled my own sack, with the second gunpowder keg as well.</p><p>We rode back towards the gatehouse and took a wider path to avoid the skeleton guards. We considered hiding in the wagon of bones but thought against it for we could be caught on foot in a possible ambush. Entering the gatehouse we discovered several skeletons unloading the cart and another two skeletal horses. Stabling our own horses away from the undead we moved towards the only two doors leading into the building. Yama Khan stopped us and muttered some arcane words, the spell was unfamiliar to me, but when he finished he began to concentrate intently on our surroundings. He stopped and as he looked at the ceiling above us he said “There are ten undead ‘life signs’ above us, eight weak ones and two stronger ones.” Cromwell smiled and hefted his warhammer; the rest of us checked our gear and followed the elf though one of the doors.</p><p></p><p>We headed upstairs after finding a room with a working dumb waiter. The device indicated that there was also a lower level to this gatehouse. We had spied two bridges between the gatehouse and main tower riding up to it. Neither of these bridges could be reached from the ground level.</p><p></p><p>On the next level we followed Yama Khan’s instructions and moved cautiously in the direction of the undead. As we entered a corridor four skeletons emerged from a doorway. A battle ensued. During the battle I noticed one of the tougher, well-armed skeletons seem to speak to another skeleton though a doorway. A eerie sight indeed as the skeleton made no sound speaking. We destroyed our opponents and then looked into the empty barracks they had emerged. At that moment Yama Khan cried out. He had been caught by surprise by another larger group of skeletons coming from behind. He audibly cursed himself for using his spell to only scan in one direction. I invoked a Shield spell and rushed to combat the six new skeletons by Cromwell’s side. During the course of battle Cromwell fell again and Darius was forced to call upon Morrow once more to force the skeletons back. As he treated Cromwell’s injuries, Yama Khan and I destroyed the ‘turned’ skeletons.</p><p></p><p>We continued our exploration of the gatehouse and discovered a gold plated signaling device and a large mounted field glass. Together we vowed that we would take these items with us upon leaving this gatehouse or die trying. I took a moment to peer through the field glass and discovered that many of the digging skeletons had been destroyed, someone else was here but I didn’t know at the time whether they were they friend or foe?</p><p></p><p>Cautiously we descended to the lower levels of the gatehouse. In a side room I found the wheel mechanism to the lower bridge, a drawbridge to be precise. Without giving it another thought I raised the drawbridge, preventing any possible advancement from the main tower to the gatehouse via this entrance. The we heard a sound coming from upstairs. As the skeletons had been quiet up to this point we surmised that it was a mysterious guests.</p><p></p><p>I entered the room with the dumb waiter and noticed the chain moving. I reach over and shook it, hoping to dislodge something or someone. I was greeted seconds later by a flask of alchemist’s fire exploding in front of me. Luckily Cromwell was near with his fireproof gloves and helped me snuff the flames burning my long coat. We raced upstairs ready to confront our mysterious guests. There were four of them, dressed in drab coloured clothing and light armour. Two were armed with shortbows, the other two with shortswords. They offered no call of truce and neither did we so a battle began. My first gunshot missed its target and I was struck in the leg by an arrow. Not taking any chances I drew forth the scroll we found in the catacombs and I read the incantation of the Lightning Bolt spell. The resulting bolt of lightning, crackled loudly in our ears and when my eyes adjusted from the flash, I found the two rogues before me blasted and burnt on the floor. I turned to follow Darius and Yama Khan up the stairs after one of the rogues.</p><p>Moments later, Yama Khan and I caught up with Darius and Cromwell near the field glass. I peered over the side of the battlement and saw the body of the last rogue pin cushioned by a pair of arrows. Cromwell showed us one of the rogues’ severed hands, it had a symbol tattooed onto the back of the hand, a symbol of an eye with a lightning bolt through it. I chuckled to myself; those two rogues I had killed wouldn’t have had the time to realise the irony of their tattoos when my Lightning Bolt blasted them apart.</p><p></p><p>We caught our collective breaths after that fight and began the process of dismantling the field glass and signal disk. During one of several trips downstairs another trio of skeletons attacked us. Defeating them we discussed on how to destroy the upper bridge to the main tower. Cromwell had a plan but it seemed to be too complicated so we pulled one of the cords of the kegs as more skeletons began to march across and retreated to watch the spectacular explosion destroy the stone bridge and several skeletons with it.</p><p></p><p>Now we head back to Corvis with our prizes but alas no sign of the two missing guards. With the way the skeletons fought I can only assume they were killed. I will suggest to the others that we return their wages to Helstrom so that he may give them to their families. </p><p>____________________________________</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ReeboKesh, post: 2875529, member: 40101"] [B]Tuesday, March 5th, 603 AR “Fort Rhyker”[/B] I must scribe carefully, for I am sitting on the back of a rickety wagon with a large disk beaten with gold and a disassembled field glass, heading back to Corvis. This morning we met up with Captain Helstrom. He had four black stallions and two small kegs with knotted cords sprouting from their lids, for us. He explained that these were filled with gunpowder and that the cords, when pulled, would create a fuse that detonated the kegs within 20 to 30 seconds. We all smiled at this gift. Cromwell and myself even more so when Helstrom handed me half a dozen bullets for the small ancient pistol that Cromwell gave me and a pair of masterwork daggers for Cromwell. He asked that the daggers be returned as they were property of the evidence locker from the Watch barracks. He wished us well and we rode of to the north. Our ride took some four hours and we had to pass through some of Widower’s Wood. During our trip through the forest I had the feeling that we could have been randomly attacked at any time. Eventually we reached Fort Rhyker, a multilevel stone structure spanning an immense rift in the land. The Fort’s gatehouse was on the side we had come from; the larger main tower would take us several hours to reach if we traveled around the rift. As we approached a chilling site greeted us. Captain Helstrom had told us that the fort had been a site for an immense battle years ago and that the bodies of the dead littered the field of battle. Before us, over twenty skeletons were digging the bones of the long dead from the ground and placing them in a wooden cart pulled by an undead steed. Two of the skeletons looked up from their duties and began to watch us. We decided to make a break for it and ride up to the gatehouse, unfortunately a narrow roadway was the only entrance and we found ourselves riding toward a trio of heavily armed skeletons. Cromwell passed them first but as I attempted to one of them struck me a vicious cut with its halberd across my back. I gritted away the pain and continued to ride. Darius rode up beside me and handed me a potion. I greedily swallowed the contents and the pain across me back subsided. We continued up the roadway but once again we were attacked. I suffered another deep cut and Yama Khan’s horse was spooked. It bolted with the necromancer hanging on for dear life. Darius road up to me and spoke a prayer to Morrow healing me of this new wound turning back I saw that Cromwell had dismounted his steed and moved to combat the skeletons alone. In one swift move I drew forth my pistol and fired catching one of the skeletons in the shoulder. Dismounting I spoke the incantation of my Disrupt Undead spell and let loose at one of the skeletons fighting Cromwell. The beam disrupted the Negative energy keeping it ‘alive’ and returned it to a simple pile of bones. Unfortunately I was unable to prevent Cromwell from being downed by a second skeleton. I turned to Darius and cried, “In Morrows’ name do something!” With that Darius focused the power of his god and the two remaining skeletons ceased their attacks and backed away from the approaching priest. We rushed to Cromwell’s side and after administering another healing potion he regained consciousness. At that moment Yama Khan, who had regained control of his horse, returned. The general consent was to retreat to rethink our options, so we did so, backing up half-hour distance from the gatehouse. While we rested for a moment Cromwell began to gather rocks from the ground and placed them into a sack. When I asked him what he was doing he replied that if we placed one of our kegs in the sack with the rocks, when they exploded the rocks would cause even greater damage as the force of the explosion flung them in every direction. I then began to collect rocks and filled my own sack, with the second gunpowder keg as well. We rode back towards the gatehouse and took a wider path to avoid the skeleton guards. We considered hiding in the wagon of bones but thought against it for we could be caught on foot in a possible ambush. Entering the gatehouse we discovered several skeletons unloading the cart and another two skeletal horses. Stabling our own horses away from the undead we moved towards the only two doors leading into the building. Yama Khan stopped us and muttered some arcane words, the spell was unfamiliar to me, but when he finished he began to concentrate intently on our surroundings. He stopped and as he looked at the ceiling above us he said “There are ten undead ‘life signs’ above us, eight weak ones and two stronger ones.” Cromwell smiled and hefted his warhammer; the rest of us checked our gear and followed the elf though one of the doors. We headed upstairs after finding a room with a working dumb waiter. The device indicated that there was also a lower level to this gatehouse. We had spied two bridges between the gatehouse and main tower riding up to it. Neither of these bridges could be reached from the ground level. On the next level we followed Yama Khan’s instructions and moved cautiously in the direction of the undead. As we entered a corridor four skeletons emerged from a doorway. A battle ensued. During the battle I noticed one of the tougher, well-armed skeletons seem to speak to another skeleton though a doorway. A eerie sight indeed as the skeleton made no sound speaking. We destroyed our opponents and then looked into the empty barracks they had emerged. At that moment Yama Khan cried out. He had been caught by surprise by another larger group of skeletons coming from behind. He audibly cursed himself for using his spell to only scan in one direction. I invoked a Shield spell and rushed to combat the six new skeletons by Cromwell’s side. During the course of battle Cromwell fell again and Darius was forced to call upon Morrow once more to force the skeletons back. As he treated Cromwell’s injuries, Yama Khan and I destroyed the ‘turned’ skeletons. We continued our exploration of the gatehouse and discovered a gold plated signaling device and a large mounted field glass. Together we vowed that we would take these items with us upon leaving this gatehouse or die trying. I took a moment to peer through the field glass and discovered that many of the digging skeletons had been destroyed, someone else was here but I didn’t know at the time whether they were they friend or foe? Cautiously we descended to the lower levels of the gatehouse. In a side room I found the wheel mechanism to the lower bridge, a drawbridge to be precise. Without giving it another thought I raised the drawbridge, preventing any possible advancement from the main tower to the gatehouse via this entrance. The we heard a sound coming from upstairs. As the skeletons had been quiet up to this point we surmised that it was a mysterious guests. I entered the room with the dumb waiter and noticed the chain moving. I reach over and shook it, hoping to dislodge something or someone. I was greeted seconds later by a flask of alchemist’s fire exploding in front of me. Luckily Cromwell was near with his fireproof gloves and helped me snuff the flames burning my long coat. We raced upstairs ready to confront our mysterious guests. There were four of them, dressed in drab coloured clothing and light armour. Two were armed with shortbows, the other two with shortswords. They offered no call of truce and neither did we so a battle began. My first gunshot missed its target and I was struck in the leg by an arrow. Not taking any chances I drew forth the scroll we found in the catacombs and I read the incantation of the Lightning Bolt spell. The resulting bolt of lightning, crackled loudly in our ears and when my eyes adjusted from the flash, I found the two rogues before me blasted and burnt on the floor. I turned to follow Darius and Yama Khan up the stairs after one of the rogues. Moments later, Yama Khan and I caught up with Darius and Cromwell near the field glass. I peered over the side of the battlement and saw the body of the last rogue pin cushioned by a pair of arrows. Cromwell showed us one of the rogues’ severed hands, it had a symbol tattooed onto the back of the hand, a symbol of an eye with a lightning bolt through it. I chuckled to myself; those two rogues I had killed wouldn’t have had the time to realise the irony of their tattoos when my Lightning Bolt blasted them apart. We caught our collective breaths after that fight and began the process of dismantling the field glass and signal disk. During one of several trips downstairs another trio of skeletons attacked us. Defeating them we discussed on how to destroy the upper bridge to the main tower. Cromwell had a plan but it seemed to be too complicated so we pulled one of the cords of the kegs as more skeletons began to march across and retreated to watch the spectacular explosion destroy the stone bridge and several skeletons with it. Now we head back to Corvis with our prizes but alas no sign of the two missing guards. With the way the skeletons fought I can only assume they were killed. I will suggest to the others that we return their wages to Helstrom so that he may give them to their families. ____________________________________ [/QUOTE]
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