Fort Knocks - knight otu judging

[Someone]

"There are a lot of them" whispers Nodis. "And that´s not counting those we can´t see."

"And what´s that cart doing there?"

 

[dpdx]

[I take it that only the scouts see the map as is, the rest of us behind?]

Rurik scans both sides of the road warily, and decreases the pace of his horse slightly. "Aren't likely ta be less of 'em 'enceforth...," he remarks to no one in particular, particularly since Nodis seems not to understand him.

 

[Boddynock]

On sighting the undead, Eusebius nods to Artax and jerks his thumb back over his shoulder. They turn and make their way silently back to the others, where they let them know what they have seen.

Eusebius draws a sketch in the dirt. "There are six skeletons and four shuffling undead around the open gates of the fort. There's a cart drawn up in the entranceway - which worries me, since I would not have expected that level of intelligence from these walking corpses. If we can get the drop on them, and make them come to us, we have a good chance of taking them down. But we do not know if there are others hiding in the undergrowth - or what else lurks behind the walls."

"What do you think, Rurik - should we scout in the bushes at the side of the road? We run the risk of alerting those on the road - but we could be in for a nasty surprise if there is a large force concealed."

"Or should we be looking for another way in, rather than trying a frontal assault?"

"erm, let's see.... this is the nearest settlement of any size, the mine is about 20 miles from here as the crow flies, but not being crows, you'll probably feel like you're walking twice as far. Growth is pretty sparse anyway, and we try to keep the brush cleared for 50 yards or so around the walls. The walls are about 15 feet tall, and not an easy climb. We didn't close the gate after us, and I don't know if these things would.... There's no secret entrance that I know of, but then, we didn't build the fort."

"I don't think the tunnels from the different mine shafts connect, but to be honest you never know. There's no exact map or anything. the shaft we were working..." He attempts to draw on the same sheet of parchment, but with much overlap and description as he is trying to represent three dimensions much of the time. You are able to grasp the basic directions you will need to follow including a distressing realization that part of the trip is a "drop shaft" you will be climbing straight down if you want to look for the source of the undead. As the young man describes the caved in area they were trying to work around and where the group cut back in, Rurik agrees with his assessment that it was really too soon to have gotten around a fault large enough to cause such a severe natural cave in.

Eusebius seeks to recall what the miner told them about the fort.

"I am unsure of the best way to act at this point. What do you all think?"

 

[dpdx]

"What do you think, Rurik - should we scout in the bushes at the side of the road? We run the risk of alerting those on the road - but we could be in for a nasty surprise if there is a large force concealed."

"Or should we be looking for another way in, rather than trying a frontal assault?"

"Aye - ever'body get to tha brush - more cover tha' way. An' stick t'gether."

Rurik dismounts with his pack, leads his horse several feet back, then moves into the brush 10' on the side of the road nearest him. Once there, he draws axe and shield, and slowly moves forward (10' per turn) toward the mine.

 

[Someone]

"You think you can beat them?" asks Nodis, unsure. "I agree we can´t get into the mines without beating the undead outside, but we should have an idea first of how many there are and what are they doing."

"We lose nothing scouting around a bit and seeing what they do and if there are undead on the walls. Maybe we can climb them, if that´s an easier way to enter."

 

[dpdx]

Rurik stops, conveniently, behind a tree.

"If'n ye want ta think 'bout it summore, best be where they canna see ya," he offers to Nodis.

 

[Someone]

"I wasn´t going to stop inthe middle of the road, you see" agrees Nodis.

 

[Boddynock]

Brother Eusebius moves quietly off the road and joins the others. "I'm willing to scout ahead," he whispers. "I'm sure Artax would be, too. But if you advise against it, I suspect we should try to pick off at least some of the enemy from a distance."

 

[Someone]

"That´s a damn good idea" says Nodis. "No, seriously. Look, the fleshy ones almost can´t move, but we know the piles of bones can run as fast as we do. If we make them move here, we can kill the skeletons well before the zombies reach us."

 

[dpdx]

Rurik raises a hand up in the universally-recognized "wait" gesture.

"No, all o' us, together - advantage o' numbers... If any o' ye go on a'ead, ye could be o'erwhelmed... Stay close, an' try an' see who ye can see w'out drawin' attention..."