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<blockquote data-quote="amethal" data-source="post: 4017503" data-attributes="member: 22784"><p><strong>Scene 5 – Golden Griffon and North Gate</strong></p><p><em>February 12th, 7 pm</em></p><p></p><p>The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully. </p><p></p><p>The party pick up a few items in the city’s market. Jonathan is able to find a craftsman willing to paint his skull mask, and decides on he’d like it red, with one black tear falling from an eye socket.</p><p></p><p>Now they are enjoying a meal at the inn when a tall, gangly man approaches. Solsus remembers seeing him amongst the crows during their audience with the king, but he’s clearly no noble.</p><p></p><p>The man seems nervous as he approaches, and whispers to the party, “You must leave! You are in danger!”</p><p></p><p>“Who are you?” asks Solsus.</p><p></p><p>“My name is Humbrand. I’m one of the king’s minstrels. I saw you at the audience, but the king wasn’t in the mood for my music. I can’t answer any questions. It is dangerous to be seen with you.”</p><p></p><p>“If that’s what you are worried about,” says Gribron, “head for the latrine. I’ll follow in a minute.”</p><p></p><p>Humbrand does not seem keen on this plan, but heads for the latrine. A few moments later Gribron follows him in. When he is satisfied only the two of them are present, he casts a spell and Humbrand vanishes from sight.</p><p></p><p>“There you go,” he says. “You can come back and give us some more information, and nobody will see you.”</p><p></p><p>Once they make it back to the table, Humbrand provides more forthcoming. “The king has sworn out an arrest warrant for you. The guards will be coming to arrest you later on tonight. Your only chance is to flee north to Duke Gallo’s lands. I have arranged for you to be let out the north gate.”</p><p></p><p>“Arrest us?” says Caryk. “We have broken no laws. I’m sure once we explain that to the lawful authority, we can quickly clear up this misunderstanding. Maybe we should turn ourselves in, to try and speed up the process?”</p><p></p><p>“No, no,” says Humbrand. “In these days of fear and suspicion, an arrest warrant is tantamount to a death sentence. The king is insane; he sees spies and assassins everywhere.”</p><p></p><p>“I see,” says Caryk. “If he is insane, then he is no longer competent to hold office, and the arrest warrant is illegal. I think we are lawfully entitled to oppose this injustice.”</p><p></p><p>“Why are you helping us?” says Solsus to Humbrand.</p><p></p><p>“I can’t tell you that. Head for the gate if you want to live. Now I must go.” Humbrand moves towards the door of the inn, watched by Agatha, who is able to see the unseen. She informs Gribron when Humbrand has left, and he dismisses the spell of concealment.</p><p></p><p>“There was something strange about his manner,” says Gribron. “I think he was under an enchantment of some sort. I think someone ought to follow him and see what he gets up to.”</p><p></p><p>Solsus volunteers and, flying invisibly, is easily able to follow Humbrand. The man returns to the castle, where he is promptly arrested by the guards. Solsus returns to the others to report his findings, and the party retire to their rooms to plan their next move.</p><p></p><p>“The north gate could be a trap,” says Gribron. “I think we should go and investigate.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll stay here,” says Balan. “The inn should be safe enough, and I’m confident I can slip past any guards if they do come to arrest us.</p><p></p><p>The rest of them head out of the inn, and decide to wait for a while in a nearby alley, to see if anybody seems to be following them. At one point a skinny man emerges for the common room and urinates in the alley. Its not clear whether he spotted the party or not – and it’s a mystery why he didn’t use the inn’s latrine – but he soon heads back into the inn. Solsus sneaks in after him, and spots him sitting at a corner table, nursing a mug of ale which he seems in no hurry to drink. The man appears to be unarmed and unarmoured, and might be a simple commoner after all.</p><p></p><p>Pondering this somewhat odd behaviour, our heroes set out in search of the north gate, which proves to be easy enough to find. The party finds a convenient spot from which to study the guards. It is difficult to tell, but they do seem to be somewhat on edge. Solsus creeps closer and eavesdrops on their conversation, but doesn’t find out anything useful.</p><p></p><p>Gribron creates an illusion of the party and sends it towards the gate. The guards snap into alertness. “Do you wish to leave the city?” asks one.</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” says Solsus, flying invisibly in roughly the same location as his illusionary double. “Will that be a problem?”</p><p></p><p>“Not at all. Open the gates!” the gates creak open, and the illusion marches out of the city, accompanied by the real Solsus. The gates close again, and the illusion winks out as Gribron can no longer see it to maintain it. Solsus looks around, but doesn’t spot anyone lurking in ambush.</p><p></p><p>Solsus returns to the party, and they continue to watch the gate. The guards have visibly relaxed following the party’s “exit”. Soon afterwards a pair of merchant types, having watched the illusionary party leave, head over to the guards and ask if they too can leave. Their request is refused.</p><p></p><p>“Seems safe enough after all,” says Gribron. “I’ll wait here and keep an eye on things. The rest of you head back to the inn and get Balan, the sleigh and our gear.”</p><p></p><p>“Who put you in charge?” says Agatha. “Still, any plan which gets me away from you is a good plan!”</p><p></p><p>They head back to the inn, and lurk once more in the alley. Solsus decides to scout out the upstairs windows, and almost immediately spots a hole in one of them. “That wasn’t there before,” he thinks. The hole is just big enough to allow a human or similar sized creature to reach in and unlock the window. </p><p></p><p>He decides to investigate, and reaches in and opens the window. Judging by its sparseness, this must be Caryk’s room. He looks around, but sees nothing else out of place, and heads over to the door. He can’t remember if Caryk locked his door when he left – Caryk will later confirm that he did – but the door is not locked now.</p><p></p><p>Solsus eases open the door as quietly as he can, and sneaks into the communal living room which links all their bedrooms. Again, all seems to be as they left it. Solsus heads over to Balan’s room, and tries the door. It is unlocked. Solsus opens it carefully. The room is unlit, but some light comes in through the window and Solsus’s fey heritage enables him to see quite well in conditions of low light. </p><p></p><p>Balan is sitting in a chair, apparently asleep. Solsus scans the room, and can see no threats. He calls out softly, but Balan does not stir. Solsus moves closer, and sees that Balan’s nose has been smashed in by a blunt instrument of some sort, possibly a fist. He is dead, and Jonathan will later speculate that the blow he suffered could have caused a splinter of bone to break off from the nose and penetrate the brain, with fatal results.</p><p></p><p>Once again the room seems undisturbed, although Solsus does note that the purse of gold Balan had been carrying to cover the group’s expenses seems to be missing.</p><p></p><p>Solsus returns to the others and explains the situation. He then heads into the stables to secure their transport. He rouses the sleepy stable boy and gets him to ready the sleigh. He also warns the boy that there is trouble coming, and advises him to keep his head down.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, out in the alley, the others hear the tramp of marching feet heading for the inn. A patrol of guards is approaching. It sounds as if they have some large creatures with them – horses perhaps, but the noise doesn’t really sound like hooves.</p><p></p><p>The party shrink back into the alleyway as the guards arrive at the inn. There are twelve soldiers, two sergeants and one officer – and two, winged, horse sized creatures with lion-like bodies and the heads of rams.</p><p></p><p>“You’ve got to be kidding me,” thinks Jonathan. “What the heck are those things? Some kind of sphinx perhaps? Not what you’d expect in a city.”</p><p></p><p>The officer is met at the door of the inn by the apparent commoner who attracted the party’s attention earlier. He leads all but two of the soldiers inside, with much bluster and fanfare. The sphinxes, if that is what they are, decide against squeezing through the door and remain outside with the two sentries, snorting and steaming in the cold weather.</p><p></p><p>One of the creatures glances towards the alleyway, and the party shrink back into the shadows. Caryk is conscious that his shell is hard to hide. It seems to Jonathan that one of the creatures winks at him, before ostentatiously looking in the opposite direction.</p><p></p><p>Solsus rejoins them, and explains that he has arranged for the sleigh to be brought out the back door of the stables. The party are able to get in the sleigh and head off along the snow covered streets to the north gate without having to confront the soldiers sent to arrest them.</p><p></p><p>However, there is no avoiding the guards at the north gate, and their arrival is met with consternation.</p><p></p><p>“We’d like to go through the gate please,” says Gribron.</p><p></p><p>“But you left an hour ago…,” splutters one of the guards.</p><p></p><p>“Obviously we didn’t, otherwise we wouldn’t be here now, would we?” says Gribron patiently.</p><p></p><p>The bemused guards have no answer for this, so do what comes naturally in such situations – they pass the problem up the chain of command. One of them goes off in search of the sergeant, who is none too pleased at being roused from his comfortable office and sent out into the chill night air.</p><p></p><p>The sergeant takes in the situation before him, and his mood gets even worse.</p><p></p><p>“What were you orders, private?” he bellows.</p><p></p><p>“To let the foreign party out of the north gate, sergeant,” replies the guard.</p><p></p><p>“And were those orders somehow unclear? Or were they too difficult? WHY IS THE GATE SHUT WHEN YOU HAVE ORDERS TO OPEN IT !?!”</p><p></p><p>“Opening the gate now, sergeant,” says the subdued private. “Sorry sergeant.”</p><p></p><p>Once more the gates creak open, and the party head off into the night. “Good luck,” the sergeant calls out as they pass through.</p><p></p><p><strong>Act Two – Gallo’s Fend</strong></p><p><strong>Introduction – Gallo’s lands</strong></p><p><em>February 17th, 1 pm</em></p><p><em></em></p><p>It takes about two days to reach Lord Gallo’s lands. Our heroes discuss the strange things that happened in Bresk, but are pretty much baffled by the whole thing. </p><p></p><p>They have various theories about their easy escape. Possibly the regular soldiers are opposed to the Talon secret police, and so helped the party evade their arrest warrant. Alternatively, the party’s presence in the lands of Gallo might be intended as a pretext for the king turning against the northern lord he suspects of orchestrating the assassination of his family.</p><p></p><p>When the party do arrive at the border of Lord Gallo’s lands, they find their reputation has preceded them. Jinis, Lord Gallo’s proxy, arrived the previous day and told everyone he met the story of how the party rescued him from the king’s dungeon. They are lauded as heroes, and escorted by Lord Gallo’s men to his capital, Gallo’s Fend.</p><p></p><p>Gallo’s Fend is a heavily fortified city beside the Nasham River. It is built on imposing cliffs, and has never fallen to assault or siege. Gallo’s troops are some of the finest in the land, battle hardened from skirmishes with their Ragesian neighbours across the Alydi Gap and from expeditions against various savage tribes within Dassen itself.</p><p></p><p>The party are met by one of Duke Gallo’s menservants, Rodger, who invites them to an audience with the Duke Gallo the next day. In the meantime he places himself at their disposal.</p><p></p><p>Having some free time, they busy themselves selling those items of their loot, such as Talon armour, which it would have been imprudent to offer for sale in Bresk. The city is on a war footing, and they get good prices for the weapons and armour they sell.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene 1 – An audience with Duke Gallo</strong></p><p><em>February 18th, 10 am</em></p><p></p><p>Rodger leads the party to Duke Gallo’s castle. To their surprise, they are met at the gates by the Duke himself. He is a tall man, with blond hair that is starting to turn grey. He steps forward and offers his hand. He is accompanied by his retinue, which includes his proxy, Jinis.</p><p></p><p>“I am Michael Gallo,” he says. “If what I’ve heard about you is true, then you are most welcome in my city. Please follow me inside.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone assembles in a small conference chamber, and Duke Gallo sets out the situation as he sees it.</p><p></p><p>“Its hard to get word out of Bresk right now, but all the signs are that King Steppengard is preparing to march his army here to attack me. He has accused me of assassinating his family, and trying to assassinate him, as a means to putting myself on the throne of Dassen. He has also accused me of harbouring fugitives from his justice – namely yourselves.</p><p></p><p>“I am no doubt biased, but I think that in attacking me he is making a serious strategic mistake. The Ragesians are the real threat. The late Emperor Coaltongue was very reliable; he only had two approaches to his neighbours. If he wanted your lands, he’d send in an army and take them by force. On the other hand, he was an honourable man. If he signed a treaty, he’d stick to it. </p><p></p><p>“This Leska, who styles herself as Empress, she’s a tricky one. The entire Ragesian Third Army is sitting on the other side of the mountains, waiting for the snow to melt so they can march down the Alydi Gap into my lands and wave their non-aggression and free passage treaty in my face. </p><p></p><p>“Are they really going to all this trouble just so they can destroy your little swamp town of Seaquen? I think not. It’s Dassen they want, and I’m the only thing in their way – and my own king is marching against me …</p><p></p><p>“Will you help me defend this land against the Ragesians?”</p><p></p><p>The party agrees to help the Duke.</p><p></p><p>“Excellent,” says Duke Gallo. “For your services thus far, and in expectation of your services in the future, please accept this promissory note for 2,000 gold pieces.”</p><p></p><p>At this point Proxy Jinis moves forward, and there is a brief whispered conversation between him and the Duke. “My apologies,” says Duke Gallo. “In the light of Proxy Jinis’s most compelling arguments, I must withdraw this promissory note, and replace it with one which more befits heroes such as yourselves; I award you with a promissory note for 4,000 gold pieces.”</p><p></p><p>“Is that 4,000 gold pieces each?” asks Gribron.</p><p></p><p>“Alas no,” says the Duke with a smile. “The amount is to be shared among you. There is, after all, a war on.</p><p></p><p>“I will spend the rest of the day in discussions with my advisors, in order to determine how best to proceed. Please enjoy the amenities of Gallo’s Fend, and return here tomorrow at the tenth hour when I shall have a task for you.”</p><p></p><p><em>February 19th, 10 am</em></p><p></p><p>The next day, the party have another meeting with the Duke.</p><p></p><p>“I have had further intelligence,” says the Duke, “which estimates that King Steppengard is bringing north an army of ten thousand along the frozen Nasham River. Frankly that is a laughable amount; I command nearly as many men, although admittedly they are not all at Gallo’s Fend – some are spread out amongst my various outposts. Gallo’s Fend has never fallen to an enemy assault, and Steppengard’s ten thousand men will fare no better.</p><p></p><p>“However, the forty thousand men of the Ragesian third army are a different matter. We can’t afford to have our fortifications weakened by the king, or even worse be under siege when the Ragesians get here.</p><p></p><p>“So I have resolved to meet King Steppengard’s army in open battle, in the hope that we can win a quick victory before the snow melts in the passes. I know that the late envoy Balan did a wonderful job of convincing the nobles of the rightness of Seaquen’s cause and the need to hold of the Ragesians. I calculate that victory over Steppengard will be the final impetus they need to throw in their lot with me. The Ragesian third army cannot take Gallo’s Fend if the combined might of Dassen is defends the city.</p><p></p><p>“In order to defeat King Steppengard in the field, I really need the support of my neighbours, Lord Dashgoban and Lady Timor. They are friends and allies, but will be understandably reluctant to defy the King and start a civil war. What I need to sway them is evidence of Ragesian treachery. On the other hand, if I have wronged Leska and the Ragesians are no threat to Dassen, then I can safely sit behind the walls of Gallo’s Fend and let my King’s army carry out its futile assaults.</p><p></p><p>“This is where you come in. I have six watch towers along the Alydi Gap. If the Ragesians are planning to invade, the obvious first move is for them to take the towers. Please could you ride north through the Gap as quickly as possible, inspect the towers and either confirm they are intact or bring back evidence of Ragesian treachery.”</p><p></p><p>The party agree to undertake the mission, and set off immediately.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene 2 – Alydi Gap</strong></p><p><em>February 18th, 6 pm</em></p><p></p><p>It is cold and dark in the Alydi Gap. Our heroes have been supplied with horses by Duke Gallo, and they have ridden them hard. Were it not for liberal use of the healing wands also supplied by the Duke, one or more of the horses would have died under the strain.</p><p></p><p>The watch towers are cunningly concealed. Our heroes have a map, but still struggle to locate them. However, the first five towers prove to be safely in Gallo hands. Their remote garrisons are pleased to be receive winter visitors, and express surprise that the political situation has grown so fraught.</p><p></p><p>All that remains is to visit outpost six. It is situated on a rocky spur over a hundred feet tall, only accessible by a narrow path which laboriously winds its way up at a forty five degree angle.</p><p></p><p>As they have done on five previous occasions, the party approach the fort cautiously. Solsus turns invisible and flies ahead to investigate.</p><p></p><p>There are two humanoid sentries on the roof of the tower, huddled up against the cold. They could be Ragesians, Dasseni or scarecrows – it is impossible to tell under these conditions. However, they are accompanied by a two legged, dragon-like creature with wings and a long tail ending in a wicked stinger. This is a wyvern, and there are none in Duke Gallo’s army. The Ragesians, on the other hand, use them frequently.</p><p></p><p>Solsus returns and informs the others of what he has seen. The Ragesians have taken outpost six. Nobody suggests returning to Gallo’s Fend with the news. Instead, it is agreed that Solsus and Agatha will fly up and take on the troops on the roof, whilst the rest move up the path and try and go in via the front door.</p><p></p><p>The invisible Solsus fires a sling bullet at the wyvern, and strikes it in the left eye. The beast bellow in pain. Agatha blasts the beast and really gives it something to complain about.</p><p></p><p>The rest make it up to the tower’s door without being seen. Unsurprisingly, it is locked. Gribron pulls out his lock picks, but to no avail. Caryk waits patiently for Gribron to come up with an alternative plan, but Jonathan doesn’t feel like hanging around. He pulls out a potion from his belt pouch, drinks it down and then effortlessly scales the side of the watch tower. He climbs onto the roof and blasts the unsuspecting wyvern with a ray of fire.</p><p></p><p>Solsus makes an arcane gesture and a ball of flame appears in his hand. He hurls it at the wyvern.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Gribron puts away his lock picks, pulls out a wand and calls out, “Open!” There is a loud click as the door unlocks itself.</p><p></p><p>The battered wyvern, delighted to finally have a target, moves towards Jonathan and strikes at him with its tail stinger. However, the blow misses. The two sentries on the roof fire arrows at Jonathan which likewise fail to connect. Agatha hits the wyvern with another blast.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan sees his chance to finish off the badly wounded wyvern. He carefully makes sure he does not lower his guard, despite the proximity of the beast, and engulfs the wyvern and both sentries in flames. The beast dies, as does one of the guards. The other, however, is made of sterner stuff and strides towards Jonathan, shrugging off a blow from Solsus’s sling as he does so.</p><p></p><p>He wrong foots Jonathan with a cunning feint. Unfortunately, he also fooled himself, and the follow up attack goes wide. Jonathan scrambles across the roof, and manages to stay out of trouble long enough for Agatha to bring down his assailant with a couple of well timed eldritch blasts.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, back on the ground floor, Gribron and Caryk have entered a large room with one exit and no apparent enemies. However, there are a number of arrow slits in the far wall which Gribron considers are likely to have archers behind them. He proves to be correct, but fortunately most of the volley is aimed at the elusive Caryk and they fly go wide.</p><p></p><p>Gribron has no wish to be a target for further arrows, and rushes for the door out of the room. He is not surprised to find that it too is locked, but a quick tap from his trusty wand solves that problem. He hangs back slightly to let Caryk lead the way, and both of them confront the six figures in the corridor beyond.</p><p></p><p>A confused melee follows, with Caryk engaging in hand to hand whilst Gribron provides magical support. It is touch and go for a while, but the tide of the battle turns once Jonathan, Agatha and Solsus emerge from a staircase behind the Ragesians. Soon the enemies are dead, and our heroes are in possession of the watch tower.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan ends up with another inquisitor mask to add to his collection, but this one was clearly a novice so he wonders whether to bother. He also finds a book of Ragesian propaganda, denouncing the various other nations and aggrandising the destiny of Ragesia. It has some interesting comments about Dassen, and Jonathan thinks it may come in handy when trying to persuade the other lords to unite against the Empire.</p><p></p><p>Gribron, on the other hand, has found something much more interesting - the written orders for the Ragesian infiltrators.</p><p></p><p>“Take the first outpost, then stay put, receiving supply drops every other day. When we learn of the success or failure of Madness, our weather mages will break the winter over Alydi Gap. When the thaw begins, prepare to take additional outposts.”</p><p></p><p>The party ponder the meaning of these orders. It reminds them that Cristin’s vision was that Jinis would be caged by madness.</p><p></p><p>“The king is clearly insane,” says Solsus, “so I guess the madness has succeeded. The Ragesian invasion must be imminent.”</p><p></p><p>The party discuss whether they should defend the tower against the Ragesians. Flushed with their successful re-capture of the tower, they seem convinced that they can prevail over the forty thousand soldiers apparently heading their way. However, in the end they decide to compete their original mission and return to Gallo’s Fend; the captured Ragesian orders will surely be enough to persuade Lord Dashgoban and Lady Timor to aid Lord Gallo.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="amethal, post: 4017503, member: 22784"] [B]Scene 5 – Golden Griffon and North Gate[/B] [I]February 12th, 7 pm[/I] The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully. The party pick up a few items in the city’s market. Jonathan is able to find a craftsman willing to paint his skull mask, and decides on he’d like it red, with one black tear falling from an eye socket. Now they are enjoying a meal at the inn when a tall, gangly man approaches. Solsus remembers seeing him amongst the crows during their audience with the king, but he’s clearly no noble. The man seems nervous as he approaches, and whispers to the party, “You must leave! You are in danger!” “Who are you?” asks Solsus. “My name is Humbrand. I’m one of the king’s minstrels. I saw you at the audience, but the king wasn’t in the mood for my music. I can’t answer any questions. It is dangerous to be seen with you.” “If that’s what you are worried about,” says Gribron, “head for the latrine. I’ll follow in a minute.” Humbrand does not seem keen on this plan, but heads for the latrine. A few moments later Gribron follows him in. When he is satisfied only the two of them are present, he casts a spell and Humbrand vanishes from sight. “There you go,” he says. “You can come back and give us some more information, and nobody will see you.” Once they make it back to the table, Humbrand provides more forthcoming. “The king has sworn out an arrest warrant for you. The guards will be coming to arrest you later on tonight. Your only chance is to flee north to Duke Gallo’s lands. I have arranged for you to be let out the north gate.” “Arrest us?” says Caryk. “We have broken no laws. I’m sure once we explain that to the lawful authority, we can quickly clear up this misunderstanding. Maybe we should turn ourselves in, to try and speed up the process?” “No, no,” says Humbrand. “In these days of fear and suspicion, an arrest warrant is tantamount to a death sentence. The king is insane; he sees spies and assassins everywhere.” “I see,” says Caryk. “If he is insane, then he is no longer competent to hold office, and the arrest warrant is illegal. I think we are lawfully entitled to oppose this injustice.” “Why are you helping us?” says Solsus to Humbrand. “I can’t tell you that. Head for the gate if you want to live. Now I must go.” Humbrand moves towards the door of the inn, watched by Agatha, who is able to see the unseen. She informs Gribron when Humbrand has left, and he dismisses the spell of concealment. “There was something strange about his manner,” says Gribron. “I think he was under an enchantment of some sort. I think someone ought to follow him and see what he gets up to.” Solsus volunteers and, flying invisibly, is easily able to follow Humbrand. The man returns to the castle, where he is promptly arrested by the guards. Solsus returns to the others to report his findings, and the party retire to their rooms to plan their next move. “The north gate could be a trap,” says Gribron. “I think we should go and investigate.” “I’ll stay here,” says Balan. “The inn should be safe enough, and I’m confident I can slip past any guards if they do come to arrest us. The rest of them head out of the inn, and decide to wait for a while in a nearby alley, to see if anybody seems to be following them. At one point a skinny man emerges for the common room and urinates in the alley. Its not clear whether he spotted the party or not – and it’s a mystery why he didn’t use the inn’s latrine – but he soon heads back into the inn. Solsus sneaks in after him, and spots him sitting at a corner table, nursing a mug of ale which he seems in no hurry to drink. The man appears to be unarmed and unarmoured, and might be a simple commoner after all. Pondering this somewhat odd behaviour, our heroes set out in search of the north gate, which proves to be easy enough to find. The party finds a convenient spot from which to study the guards. It is difficult to tell, but they do seem to be somewhat on edge. Solsus creeps closer and eavesdrops on their conversation, but doesn’t find out anything useful. Gribron creates an illusion of the party and sends it towards the gate. The guards snap into alertness. “Do you wish to leave the city?” asks one. “Yes,” says Solsus, flying invisibly in roughly the same location as his illusionary double. “Will that be a problem?” “Not at all. Open the gates!” the gates creak open, and the illusion marches out of the city, accompanied by the real Solsus. The gates close again, and the illusion winks out as Gribron can no longer see it to maintain it. Solsus looks around, but doesn’t spot anyone lurking in ambush. Solsus returns to the party, and they continue to watch the gate. The guards have visibly relaxed following the party’s “exit”. Soon afterwards a pair of merchant types, having watched the illusionary party leave, head over to the guards and ask if they too can leave. Their request is refused. “Seems safe enough after all,” says Gribron. “I’ll wait here and keep an eye on things. The rest of you head back to the inn and get Balan, the sleigh and our gear.” “Who put you in charge?” says Agatha. “Still, any plan which gets me away from you is a good plan!” They head back to the inn, and lurk once more in the alley. Solsus decides to scout out the upstairs windows, and almost immediately spots a hole in one of them. “That wasn’t there before,” he thinks. The hole is just big enough to allow a human or similar sized creature to reach in and unlock the window. He decides to investigate, and reaches in and opens the window. Judging by its sparseness, this must be Caryk’s room. He looks around, but sees nothing else out of place, and heads over to the door. He can’t remember if Caryk locked his door when he left – Caryk will later confirm that he did – but the door is not locked now. Solsus eases open the door as quietly as he can, and sneaks into the communal living room which links all their bedrooms. Again, all seems to be as they left it. Solsus heads over to Balan’s room, and tries the door. It is unlocked. Solsus opens it carefully. The room is unlit, but some light comes in through the window and Solsus’s fey heritage enables him to see quite well in conditions of low light. Balan is sitting in a chair, apparently asleep. Solsus scans the room, and can see no threats. He calls out softly, but Balan does not stir. Solsus moves closer, and sees that Balan’s nose has been smashed in by a blunt instrument of some sort, possibly a fist. He is dead, and Jonathan will later speculate that the blow he suffered could have caused a splinter of bone to break off from the nose and penetrate the brain, with fatal results. Once again the room seems undisturbed, although Solsus does note that the purse of gold Balan had been carrying to cover the group’s expenses seems to be missing. Solsus returns to the others and explains the situation. He then heads into the stables to secure their transport. He rouses the sleepy stable boy and gets him to ready the sleigh. He also warns the boy that there is trouble coming, and advises him to keep his head down. Meanwhile, out in the alley, the others hear the tramp of marching feet heading for the inn. A patrol of guards is approaching. It sounds as if they have some large creatures with them – horses perhaps, but the noise doesn’t really sound like hooves. The party shrink back into the alleyway as the guards arrive at the inn. There are twelve soldiers, two sergeants and one officer – and two, winged, horse sized creatures with lion-like bodies and the heads of rams. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” thinks Jonathan. “What the heck are those things? Some kind of sphinx perhaps? Not what you’d expect in a city.” The officer is met at the door of the inn by the apparent commoner who attracted the party’s attention earlier. He leads all but two of the soldiers inside, with much bluster and fanfare. The sphinxes, if that is what they are, decide against squeezing through the door and remain outside with the two sentries, snorting and steaming in the cold weather. One of the creatures glances towards the alleyway, and the party shrink back into the shadows. Caryk is conscious that his shell is hard to hide. It seems to Jonathan that one of the creatures winks at him, before ostentatiously looking in the opposite direction. Solsus rejoins them, and explains that he has arranged for the sleigh to be brought out the back door of the stables. The party are able to get in the sleigh and head off along the snow covered streets to the north gate without having to confront the soldiers sent to arrest them. However, there is no avoiding the guards at the north gate, and their arrival is met with consternation. “We’d like to go through the gate please,” says Gribron. “But you left an hour ago…,” splutters one of the guards. “Obviously we didn’t, otherwise we wouldn’t be here now, would we?” says Gribron patiently. The bemused guards have no answer for this, so do what comes naturally in such situations – they pass the problem up the chain of command. One of them goes off in search of the sergeant, who is none too pleased at being roused from his comfortable office and sent out into the chill night air. The sergeant takes in the situation before him, and his mood gets even worse. “What were you orders, private?” he bellows. “To let the foreign party out of the north gate, sergeant,” replies the guard. “And were those orders somehow unclear? Or were they too difficult? WHY IS THE GATE SHUT WHEN YOU HAVE ORDERS TO OPEN IT !?!” “Opening the gate now, sergeant,” says the subdued private. “Sorry sergeant.” Once more the gates creak open, and the party head off into the night. “Good luck,” the sergeant calls out as they pass through. [B]Act Two – Gallo’s Fend Introduction – Gallo’s lands[/B] [I]February 17th, 1 pm [/I] It takes about two days to reach Lord Gallo’s lands. Our heroes discuss the strange things that happened in Bresk, but are pretty much baffled by the whole thing. They have various theories about their easy escape. Possibly the regular soldiers are opposed to the Talon secret police, and so helped the party evade their arrest warrant. Alternatively, the party’s presence in the lands of Gallo might be intended as a pretext for the king turning against the northern lord he suspects of orchestrating the assassination of his family. When the party do arrive at the border of Lord Gallo’s lands, they find their reputation has preceded them. Jinis, Lord Gallo’s proxy, arrived the previous day and told everyone he met the story of how the party rescued him from the king’s dungeon. They are lauded as heroes, and escorted by Lord Gallo’s men to his capital, Gallo’s Fend. Gallo’s Fend is a heavily fortified city beside the Nasham River. It is built on imposing cliffs, and has never fallen to assault or siege. Gallo’s troops are some of the finest in the land, battle hardened from skirmishes with their Ragesian neighbours across the Alydi Gap and from expeditions against various savage tribes within Dassen itself. The party are met by one of Duke Gallo’s menservants, Rodger, who invites them to an audience with the Duke Gallo the next day. In the meantime he places himself at their disposal. Having some free time, they busy themselves selling those items of their loot, such as Talon armour, which it would have been imprudent to offer for sale in Bresk. The city is on a war footing, and they get good prices for the weapons and armour they sell. [B]Scene 1 – An audience with Duke Gallo[/B] [I]February 18th, 10 am[/I] Rodger leads the party to Duke Gallo’s castle. To their surprise, they are met at the gates by the Duke himself. He is a tall man, with blond hair that is starting to turn grey. He steps forward and offers his hand. He is accompanied by his retinue, which includes his proxy, Jinis. “I am Michael Gallo,” he says. “If what I’ve heard about you is true, then you are most welcome in my city. Please follow me inside.” Everyone assembles in a small conference chamber, and Duke Gallo sets out the situation as he sees it. “Its hard to get word out of Bresk right now, but all the signs are that King Steppengard is preparing to march his army here to attack me. He has accused me of assassinating his family, and trying to assassinate him, as a means to putting myself on the throne of Dassen. He has also accused me of harbouring fugitives from his justice – namely yourselves. “I am no doubt biased, but I think that in attacking me he is making a serious strategic mistake. The Ragesians are the real threat. The late Emperor Coaltongue was very reliable; he only had two approaches to his neighbours. If he wanted your lands, he’d send in an army and take them by force. On the other hand, he was an honourable man. If he signed a treaty, he’d stick to it. “This Leska, who styles herself as Empress, she’s a tricky one. The entire Ragesian Third Army is sitting on the other side of the mountains, waiting for the snow to melt so they can march down the Alydi Gap into my lands and wave their non-aggression and free passage treaty in my face. “Are they really going to all this trouble just so they can destroy your little swamp town of Seaquen? I think not. It’s Dassen they want, and I’m the only thing in their way – and my own king is marching against me … “Will you help me defend this land against the Ragesians?” The party agrees to help the Duke. “Excellent,” says Duke Gallo. “For your services thus far, and in expectation of your services in the future, please accept this promissory note for 2,000 gold pieces.” At this point Proxy Jinis moves forward, and there is a brief whispered conversation between him and the Duke. “My apologies,” says Duke Gallo. “In the light of Proxy Jinis’s most compelling arguments, I must withdraw this promissory note, and replace it with one which more befits heroes such as yourselves; I award you with a promissory note for 4,000 gold pieces.” “Is that 4,000 gold pieces each?” asks Gribron. “Alas no,” says the Duke with a smile. “The amount is to be shared among you. There is, after all, a war on. “I will spend the rest of the day in discussions with my advisors, in order to determine how best to proceed. Please enjoy the amenities of Gallo’s Fend, and return here tomorrow at the tenth hour when I shall have a task for you.” [I]February 19th, 10 am[/I] The next day, the party have another meeting with the Duke. “I have had further intelligence,” says the Duke, “which estimates that King Steppengard is bringing north an army of ten thousand along the frozen Nasham River. Frankly that is a laughable amount; I command nearly as many men, although admittedly they are not all at Gallo’s Fend – some are spread out amongst my various outposts. Gallo’s Fend has never fallen to an enemy assault, and Steppengard’s ten thousand men will fare no better. “However, the forty thousand men of the Ragesian third army are a different matter. We can’t afford to have our fortifications weakened by the king, or even worse be under siege when the Ragesians get here. “So I have resolved to meet King Steppengard’s army in open battle, in the hope that we can win a quick victory before the snow melts in the passes. I know that the late envoy Balan did a wonderful job of convincing the nobles of the rightness of Seaquen’s cause and the need to hold of the Ragesians. I calculate that victory over Steppengard will be the final impetus they need to throw in their lot with me. The Ragesian third army cannot take Gallo’s Fend if the combined might of Dassen is defends the city. “In order to defeat King Steppengard in the field, I really need the support of my neighbours, Lord Dashgoban and Lady Timor. They are friends and allies, but will be understandably reluctant to defy the King and start a civil war. What I need to sway them is evidence of Ragesian treachery. On the other hand, if I have wronged Leska and the Ragesians are no threat to Dassen, then I can safely sit behind the walls of Gallo’s Fend and let my King’s army carry out its futile assaults. “This is where you come in. I have six watch towers along the Alydi Gap. If the Ragesians are planning to invade, the obvious first move is for them to take the towers. Please could you ride north through the Gap as quickly as possible, inspect the towers and either confirm they are intact or bring back evidence of Ragesian treachery.” The party agree to undertake the mission, and set off immediately. [B]Scene 2 – Alydi Gap[/B] [I]February 18th, 6 pm[/I] It is cold and dark in the Alydi Gap. Our heroes have been supplied with horses by Duke Gallo, and they have ridden them hard. Were it not for liberal use of the healing wands also supplied by the Duke, one or more of the horses would have died under the strain. The watch towers are cunningly concealed. Our heroes have a map, but still struggle to locate them. However, the first five towers prove to be safely in Gallo hands. Their remote garrisons are pleased to be receive winter visitors, and express surprise that the political situation has grown so fraught. All that remains is to visit outpost six. It is situated on a rocky spur over a hundred feet tall, only accessible by a narrow path which laboriously winds its way up at a forty five degree angle. As they have done on five previous occasions, the party approach the fort cautiously. Solsus turns invisible and flies ahead to investigate. There are two humanoid sentries on the roof of the tower, huddled up against the cold. They could be Ragesians, Dasseni or scarecrows – it is impossible to tell under these conditions. However, they are accompanied by a two legged, dragon-like creature with wings and a long tail ending in a wicked stinger. This is a wyvern, and there are none in Duke Gallo’s army. The Ragesians, on the other hand, use them frequently. Solsus returns and informs the others of what he has seen. The Ragesians have taken outpost six. Nobody suggests returning to Gallo’s Fend with the news. Instead, it is agreed that Solsus and Agatha will fly up and take on the troops on the roof, whilst the rest move up the path and try and go in via the front door. The invisible Solsus fires a sling bullet at the wyvern, and strikes it in the left eye. The beast bellow in pain. Agatha blasts the beast and really gives it something to complain about. The rest make it up to the tower’s door without being seen. Unsurprisingly, it is locked. Gribron pulls out his lock picks, but to no avail. Caryk waits patiently for Gribron to come up with an alternative plan, but Jonathan doesn’t feel like hanging around. He pulls out a potion from his belt pouch, drinks it down and then effortlessly scales the side of the watch tower. He climbs onto the roof and blasts the unsuspecting wyvern with a ray of fire. Solsus makes an arcane gesture and a ball of flame appears in his hand. He hurls it at the wyvern. Meanwhile, Gribron puts away his lock picks, pulls out a wand and calls out, “Open!” There is a loud click as the door unlocks itself. The battered wyvern, delighted to finally have a target, moves towards Jonathan and strikes at him with its tail stinger. However, the blow misses. The two sentries on the roof fire arrows at Jonathan which likewise fail to connect. Agatha hits the wyvern with another blast. Jonathan sees his chance to finish off the badly wounded wyvern. He carefully makes sure he does not lower his guard, despite the proximity of the beast, and engulfs the wyvern and both sentries in flames. The beast dies, as does one of the guards. The other, however, is made of sterner stuff and strides towards Jonathan, shrugging off a blow from Solsus’s sling as he does so. He wrong foots Jonathan with a cunning feint. Unfortunately, he also fooled himself, and the follow up attack goes wide. Jonathan scrambles across the roof, and manages to stay out of trouble long enough for Agatha to bring down his assailant with a couple of well timed eldritch blasts. Meanwhile, back on the ground floor, Gribron and Caryk have entered a large room with one exit and no apparent enemies. However, there are a number of arrow slits in the far wall which Gribron considers are likely to have archers behind them. He proves to be correct, but fortunately most of the volley is aimed at the elusive Caryk and they fly go wide. Gribron has no wish to be a target for further arrows, and rushes for the door out of the room. He is not surprised to find that it too is locked, but a quick tap from his trusty wand solves that problem. He hangs back slightly to let Caryk lead the way, and both of them confront the six figures in the corridor beyond. A confused melee follows, with Caryk engaging in hand to hand whilst Gribron provides magical support. It is touch and go for a while, but the tide of the battle turns once Jonathan, Agatha and Solsus emerge from a staircase behind the Ragesians. Soon the enemies are dead, and our heroes are in possession of the watch tower. Jonathan ends up with another inquisitor mask to add to his collection, but this one was clearly a novice so he wonders whether to bother. He also finds a book of Ragesian propaganda, denouncing the various other nations and aggrandising the destiny of Ragesia. It has some interesting comments about Dassen, and Jonathan thinks it may come in handy when trying to persuade the other lords to unite against the Empire. Gribron, on the other hand, has found something much more interesting - the written orders for the Ragesian infiltrators. “Take the first outpost, then stay put, receiving supply drops every other day. When we learn of the success or failure of Madness, our weather mages will break the winter over Alydi Gap. When the thaw begins, prepare to take additional outposts.” The party ponder the meaning of these orders. It reminds them that Cristin’s vision was that Jinis would be caged by madness. “The king is clearly insane,” says Solsus, “so I guess the madness has succeeded. The Ragesian invasion must be imminent.” The party discuss whether they should defend the tower against the Ragesians. Flushed with their successful re-capture of the tower, they seem convinced that they can prevail over the forty thousand soldiers apparently heading their way. However, in the end they decide to compete their original mission and return to Gallo’s Fend; the captured Ragesian orders will surely be enough to persuade Lord Dashgoban and Lady Timor to aid Lord Gallo. [/QUOTE]
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