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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9721835" data-attributes="member: 86051">Duergar & Daemons Part VII: Basileus Ante Portas – ContinuedWhen our noble heroes reach the amphitheater, they realize that the duergar king is approaching on the other side of the city. And so they start making their way across the city in haste, some more willing than others, and presently find themselves in an area largely devoid of dripstone formations, Ahead of them, two tunnels some distance apart from each other lead out from the city, each some ten yards wide and thirty high.Without breaking his stride, Navarre advances until he has a good view of both tunnels.“What on earth are you doing?,” the chevalier asks. “The man will make tartare of us all!”“My dear fellow!,” Navarre exclaims. “We are dukes! Are we to be refused to speak to a king?”Then, a huge spider comes crawling from the tunnel to the right, an armored duergar riding it – and then another, and another, and another, and then another. The chevalier, now left with little choice but to accept the situation, procures his trumpet and blows the ‘All Hail the King’. From their vantage points on floor, walls, and ceiling, the duergar riders start screaming and pointing and waving their crossbows at our noble heroes: “Graarg, graargh, blaah!”The chevalier performs a military salute, and then one of the riders rears his spider, turns it around, and disappears back into the tunnel. The others show no signs of calming down, and the tension rises.“Weapons down!,” one of the duergar screams, pointing his crossbow at Navarre. “Surrender!”“I’m afraid you already have us at a disadvantage, Sir,” the chevalier says frostily.“We would speak to your king,” Navarre says. “I am Navarre Dau…”“Humans are prisoners!,” the rider screams. “Surrender!”“We are already at your disposal, monsieur,” the chevalier replies.“We are emissaries from above,” Sir Eber says. “We are here to talk, not to surrender.”“Humans are prisoners!,” the rider screams again.“Call your king, soldier,” Navarre says, rapidly getting tired of the screaming duergar. “We are at his disposal.”Eventually, the riders stop screaming and calm down. But then Sir Oengus draws his bow, knocks an arrow, and aims it at one of the riders.“Put down your weapons!,” he yells. “Surrender!”“WTF!?,” the other players yell at him in abject horror.“Hmm…, nice!,” Frank says, beaming. “Marvelously chaotic neutral!”“Somebody shut him up,” Navarre says to his noble companions.Next to him, the chevalier sits down on the cavern floor, his head in his hands.And then a truly impressive amount of giant spiders and duergar come charging into the cavern, swarming across walls, ceilings, floors, stalagmites and stalactites, and columns. Within seconds, it seems, the creatures are everywhere, crawling all over the place and surrounding our noble heroes, their riders screaming and yelling as if possessed by demons – or perhaps daemons. Sir Suvali, who now declares that he was high up in the air long before this – which he wasn’t – is informed that he has been spotted by the duergar anyway and that dozens of crossbows are presently aimed at him.But the show isn’t over yet and, when some three score spider-mounted duergar have surrounded our noble heroes on all conceivable sides, the special forces come swarming into the cavern – the king’s guard, judging by their shiny plate armors. They move through the duergar lines and, when they have thus cleared the way, the largest spider our noble heroes have ever seen comes crawling into the cavern at speed. On it is a four-foot duergar in a magnificent plate armor, his evil grin clearly visible underneath an equally resplendent helmet. Behind him, yet more spiders come swarming into the cavern.Navarre hasn’t moved an inch during all of this, helped in no small way by the amount of Lillac he has consumed. He has a good look at the duergar king, and waits for him to speak as tradition demands.But he hasn’t counted on the chevalier, who presently rises to his feet and bows the duergar king.“Mon Roi!,” he says with an elegant flourish. “We have come from the surface, drawn by the many stories of your heroic deeds. That is why we ask for parley. I am Scaralat de Sarazin and I and my fellow noblemen are at your service! We are here to speak to you.”The king doesn’t seem impressed, rather giving the impression that he owns the place.“We have come in small numbers,” the chevalier resumes. “And therefore not to fight. We are here to talk. And to hand over des cadeaux.”“What kind of gifts?,” the king asks.“Whatever would please your majesty.”“Gold?”“We speak of the fruit of fertile lands and vineyards,” the chevalier sings. “Of the work of our most skilled artisans. We can deliver all of this in exchange for goods of comparable value!”“So you have nothing on you?”“Everything that would please your majesty is within reach,” the chevalier replies smoothly.“Weapons? Wine? Gold? Pearls?”The chevalier bows.“What you want in return?,” the king asks.“What would majesté be inclined to offer?”“Iron, copper, fungi.”“Giant spiders?,” the chevalier ventures.“Possibly.”“How fortuitous to find majesté in a practical mood!,” the chevalier exclaims. “Why..., I do believe we have already started negotiating!”By now, well over a hundred duergar on spiders have entered the cavern, and still more keep coming from the tunnel.“You have a minute?,” the king…, um, declares, signaling his generals.Instantly, the duergar start screaming again and speed off into the city like demons possessed. Soon, their war cries mix with the terrified screams of the duergar of Stalag.“The utter…, evil bastard!,” Sir Eber growls under his voice. “This must be stopped! I must challenge him!”Navarre puts a hand on his noble cousin’s shoulder and takes a step forward.“My lord,” he addresses the king. “Would you stop the slaughter.”“Why?,” the king asks, grinning.“I must ask again, my lord,” Navarre insists.“There is no reason.”“We have come to speak to a king,” Navarre says, a hint of steel in his voice.“So?”“Your actions are unworthy of one.”The king’s grin freezes.“What?”“It is the habit of our kings to suspend their plundering of helpless cities when speaking to their peers,” Navarre says.The king shifts in his saddle.“Ha!,” he barks. “A small diversion to amuse me while I listen to your claptrap. I tell you that Stalag wasn’t up for another year.”“That is as may be,” Navarre says, taking several steps forward. “But it doesn’t solve our problem. I insist you halt your cowardly attack.”“Ahem! Ahem!,” the chevalier coughs conspicuously as he pushes past Navarre. “A-ha-ha-ha! A toast, perhaps?”And so the chevalier starts sweet-talking the duergar king again – and ruin Navarre’s build-up to Sir Eber’s challenge. Not for the first time, our noble hero wonders whatever it was that the chevalier discussed with the duergar queen when he first was in the palace a ten-day ago.Now, Sir Oengus starts flipping a gold coin into the air and then he, the chevalier, and Sir Eber start speaking all at once, which results in a cacophony of clamorous and haphazard exchanges with the king.“I understand you people have a tradition of challenges and duels,” Sir Eber addresses him after some of this, silencing Sir Oengus and the chevalier. “What do you think?”“I am highest rank here,” the king says.“You’re the best in the world,” Sir Eber states, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.“World is big. Some duergar more powerful.”“Are you open to a duel?,” Sir Eber asks. “I think I’m ready for a new challenge.”“Human want fight one of champions?,” the king replies.“Maybe as an opener,” Sir Eber says. “What about you?”“You fight a champion. Then I consider rude question.”“Seriously?,” Sir Eber scoffs.“You not duergar. Is no need to accept. You fight champion. You win? Maybe I show human I am better.”“I accept,” Sir Eber says. “High Rules for the fight between me and one of your minions. We fight until one of us falls. I do this as a sign of respect for both our peoples. It will be a celebration of battle.”The king looks at his generals, many of whom have been following the conversation with interest – and some even seem to like the idea. Of these, most lower their eyes in sly or fearful submission when they meet the king’s gaze, though others return it with something bordering on barely-veiled defiance.“Now?,” Sir Eber asks.“Now,” the king replies.And so our noble heroes are on their way to the amphitheater again, this time in the company of the duergar king and his army – and without a single citizen of Stalag in sight. There is a palpable tension in the air when they enter the place and the king and his generals are settling down on seats of honor. Eyes flashing and weapons at the ready, everybody waits for what is to come.“I will cast Haste on all of you for when things go wrong,” Sir Suvali says.“I disapprove,” Navarre says. “The duel is to be fought under High Rules. Magical trickery and subterfuge is not likely to impress the duergar very much.”“Then I call you to council, gentlemen,” the sorcerer says. A vote is taken, and Navarre has to give in when the others are in favor of the sorcerer’s plan.With the king’s men now settling down on all sides, Sir Suvali uses the commotion to cast Detect Magic. He has a good look at the king, his guard, his generals, and the champion, and concludes that about half of the guards and generals have at least one magic item on their person (a hammer, a shield, some other weapon); that most of the king’s equipment is magical; and that his champion has a magical hammer.There is a moment of silence when all duergar have taken their seats. When our noble heroes start placing fire beetle light balls in various locations on the stage, the duergar stir, and some even stamp their feet in what seems to be approval.“What is this?,” Sir Oengus asks a duergar next to him.“Humans raid Fire Beetle Island!,” the duergar replies, grinning. “Very good!”“Raid?,” Sir Oengus asks.“Duergar army never raid island,” the duergar replies. “Steeders no cross water.”One of the king’s generals steps onto the stage. He looks at the king, who signals for the fight to begin.“Fight!,” the general yells, which is Sir Eber’s cue to quaff a potion of regeneration and put some oil of enchantment on his sword, and Sir Suvali’s to cast his Haste spell.And so Sir Eber advances to the center of the empty stage. He assumes a defensive stance and begins looking around the stage and listening intently in the hope of locating his invisible opponent. He doesn’t move much for some time, and suddenly swings his weapons with astonishing speed in what seems to be a random direction. His axe scrapes an armor, and then the duergar champion appears out of nowhere and delivers a mighty blow with his hammer (“20”), which almost brings the ranger to his knees. But our noble hero remains on his feet, and the combatants swing their weapons again, each hitting the other with a considerable impact, forcing each to take a few steps back. They advance again, and Sir Eber executes another amazingly fast series of maneuvers, most of which the duergar champion evades with relative ease before he hits the ranger twice with his hammer. Sir Eber instantly reacts with another lightning-fast sequence, though this time to no effect at all – the duergar champion dodges the flurry and hits the ranger, once, twice. Now with the momentum clearly on his side, the duergar champion takes a few steps back and charges to the attack again, just when Sir Eber initiates another of his speedy maneuvers. The duergar champion ducks past the ranger’s sword and swings his hammer in what surely must become the final blow. But the hasted ranger is too fast, and his axe hits the duergar champion full on.Without so much as a whimper, the duergar champion sags to the stage floor.“Good lord,” Navarre whispers under his breath.The duergar and their king, clearly dumbfounded by the ranger’s number of attacks per round, sit staring at their defeated champion in stunned silence. But then the audience start murmuring and communicating in their silent tongue – and some even engage in modest applause.The duergar king rises with a nettled look on his face.“A-ha-ha-ha!,” the chevalier comes running before the king can speak. “Mon roi! Perhaps now would be an opportune moment to discuss a trade deal?”“Humans bring five hundred liters of wine,” the king declares.“A superb decision, mon roi!,” the chevalier sings. “We will go forth in all haste and start the necessary preparations!”The king just looks at him, then at the ranger again.“Eh, bien!,” the chevalier resumes. “How much would majesté be prepared to pay for such an amount?”“Five hundred gold,” the king says. “We meet here in one month.”“What about our duel?,” Sir Eber comes in. “To liven up our business meeting?”“We see,” the king says. “I may have spotted certain irregularities that do not go down particularly well with me.”“A-ha-ha-ha!,” comes the chevalier’s falsetto laugh.“Until then,” the king says.He turns and leaves the amphitheater, immediately followed by some his generals.“Quite,” Navarre says, scanning the amphitheater in some trepidation, hand on his sword. “Until then.”But the remaining duergar show no signs of aggression, and they soon start leaving the amphitheater.Navarre approaches Sir Eber and shakes his hand.“Congratulations, old boy,” he says. “Mayhap next time you could refrain from not hitting your opponent so much? I feel like I have aged a year!”When there are no more duergar in sight, our noble heroes head for the palace to pay their respects to the queen. But when they step onto the final bridge, they see a large number of the king’s men trying to break down the door to the palace.Sir Eber advances without hesitation, the adrenaline still pumping through his body.“Time to go, boys,” he growls.One of the duergar gives him a defiant stare.“Duergar want ten womans.” he announces. “Then humans go in.”“Get lost,” Sir Eber says. “Fun is over.”The duergar issues some commands and some of the creatures disappear into nothing. Nothing is said for a moment as tension rises and both sides start reaching for their weapons. It must be said that some of our noble heroes get a bit nervous at this point – they are not very likely to survive a fight with the king’s army. Not so Sir Suvali, as usual eager to take advantage of situations in which he thinks no one knows what to do. He casts Sleep and two duergar collapse, to the consternation of the others.“Looks like some of your people aren’t feeling too well,” Sir Eber ventures. “Maybe it’s the altitude?”The sorcerer casts another Sleep spell and two more duergar collapse. The remaining duergar start talking in their silent tongue and then, after some moments, they retreat, taking their sleeping comrades with them.Navarre knocks on the palace door.“I say!,” he calls. “Open this door!”There is no reaction. He knocks again, this time more forcefully.“Open this door!,” he calls again. “We are here to assist the queen!”It takes fifteen minutes before he hears the sound of what appear to be a lot of latches and bolts being removed, and the door opens.“Our champion has done battle for you,” the chevalier says, when a duergar general appears out of nothing in the doorway. “As a sign of our respect for majesté! Eh, bien! The situation is precarious and we request an audience.”Some more duergar appear in the doorway and down the bridge behind our noble heroes, their crossbows trained at the retreating king’s men.“Go in,” the general says, stepping aside.When our noble heroes are in the palace and the door closes behind them, Navarre involuntarily breathes a sigh of relief.“Gentlemen,” he says. “I believe a stiff drink is in order!”“Take us to the queen,” Sir Suvali says.“Queen busy,” the general says.“Tant pis!,” the chevalier says. “Monsieur, allow me to express our deepest regrets for the plight of your people. We have done our best to prevent the worst.”“Why don’t you Underlings beat these creeps to a pulp?” Sir Eber growls at the general.“Eber!,” the chevalier hastens to cut in through gritted teeth. “E-ber! Testosterone! Tes. Tos. Te. Rone!”“Duergar protect queen,” the general says. “No king’s duergar in palace, no harm done.”“Merveilleux!,” the chevalier says. “Now, as it happens, we have come to an arrangement with the king about the sale of some wine. It would only be appropriate that we reach a similar agreement with the queen before we head back to the surface and start our preparations.”“Queen busy,” the general repeats.“I suggest that you inform the queen that the king will be back in a month,” Navarre says, already bored with the fellow.“Humans no trust king,” the general says. “King take wine and give no gold.”“We must speak to the queen,” Sir Suvali insists. “I have gifts. Trinkets. Wine.”“Humans stay here until king gone,” the general says.Suddenly, Navarre has an idea. He has been thinking about a purpose to all of this for some time – one that would be of use in the war against the traitorous Mim and to The Forest in general – and he now thinks that he may have found one.“I say,” he addresses the general. “It has just occurred to me that we know exactly where the king will be in one month. Isn’t there some way we can use this to our advantage?”The general looks at him and hesitates.“Perhaps set up some sort of trap?,” our noble hero continues. “I mean, you must have at least – what? – three hundred armed men down here? I say we should be able to handle the king and his men with the proper preparations. It would rid the duergar of a huge problem and cement relations between our peoples.”Although the general seems to like the idea, he remains strangely hesitant.“Duergar have numbers,” he says cautiously. “Fight king and win maybe possible.”“You seem indecisive, old boy,” Navarre says. “Why so? Couldn’t your people rig the cavern in some way? Collapse its entrances? Prevent the army from retreating? Indeed! If his recent arrival is anything to go by, we could collapse the entrances just when the king himself rides into the city, leaving half of his men outside. The whole thing could be over in an hour!”“Water,” the chevalier suggests. “Their steeders fear water.”“Excellent!,” Navarre exclaims, immediately thinking of the gates back at Fire Beetle Island but unable to mention this because he doesn’t really know anything about them. “Can we flood the cavern? Even partially? Force the army into a disadvantageous position?”The general is now decidedly ill at ease. He obviously likes the idea, but clearly something is holding him back. But Navarre’s enthusiasm is growing by the minute and he even turns to Sir Suvali.“What about the egg?,” he asks excitedly. “Can we use these ‘planes’ of yours? Didn’t the Magister get to one of them from Apple Island? Does that also work in reverse? Maybe we could get some of our own men down here! By Olm! Without that traitor Mim we could have our armies down here and make short work of the king and his men!”“No,” the sorcerer says. “But maybe we can do something with the spider symbol on the square.”“Brilliant!,” Navarre exclaims, now barely able to restrain himself. “Wouldn’t that thing be something of a relic to these people? Wouldn’t their priests be interested in it? By Olm! The Stalag duergar, our own armies, the duergar priests! The king is toast!”“You know why I picked Web when I got to Level 4?,” the sorcerer suddenly says, clearly extremely pleased with himself. “It’s the Underdark and it’s an area-affecting spell. So now I have Magic Missile for single targets and Web for areas. My next spell is going to be Fireball. I can instantly cast it multiple times when I get it because I’m a Sorcerer and not a standard Wizard. I can kill large parts of the army in minutes.”“I don’t think Web is going to be of much use in a cavern like this,” Navarre says – though he doesn’t. “Its area of effect is too small and it will hardly affect an advancing army of one hundred and fifty duergar on steeders in any case. Besides, they are giant spiders. A web isn’t very likely to stop them.”And so Navarre didn’t say any of this and he turns to the duergar general again.“We must speak to your priest, old boy,” he says. “Get him to support the effort.”“Ha!,” the general exclaims. “Nobody go in temple! Priest and temple horrible! Perhaps throw letter into temple from far outside, but no more. Maybe priest answer, maybe not.”</blockquote>

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