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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6872301" data-attributes="member: 9546">22 Rova, 4716 - 6 Lamashan, 4716 - Beyond The WallThe door to the great hall abruptly opened, and the four guardsman stationed outside them turned in unison. It had been some time since Father Donnagin had ordered them out of the keep and they were starting to become restless. Standing in the doors was not the priest, however, but Corporal Sam Rogers, one of Captain Barhold's men."Boys," Rogers nodded, "The Lord Commander wants the lot of you up in his conference room on the double.""What's going on now?" Private Wilson asked. "I thought the place was under quarantine. Aren't we gonna get sick?"Rogers shrugged. "Who do I look like? Father Donnagin? I'm just following orders, gents, and I suggest you do the same."Though they continued to grumble, the four men fell in line behind Corporal Rogers and followed him up the stairs to the fourth floor of the keep. The fact that they did not see any other guards along the way did not immediately concern them. The others had likely been commandeered by Father Donnagin to help with the Magister. Rogers threw open the doors to the conference room, which appeared to be unoccupied."Have a seat," he gestured towards the table. "The Lord Commander's at his prayers. He'll be out in a minute."The soldiers looked at one another. Whatever this was, it must be serious if they were being invited to sit down. They each drew out a chair at the long oak table and made themselves comfortable. From behind the door leading to the Lord Commander's private chamber they could hear the sounds of chanting. They smiled at each other knowingly. The commander was a pious man.The door to Havelyn's private quarters suddenly opened, and a strange, dark-haired woman stood there. The soldiers stared, perplexed. What was a young, attractive woman doing in the Lord Commander's room? That was when they noticed something even stranger: the conference room had suddenly become silent as a tomb. They couldn't even hear themselves breathing. There was more movement from behind the woman as several figures stepped through the door after her. One of them was a dwarf. The guards recognized him as one of the engineers. He held out one hand towards them, and as he did so chunks of rock and dirt came flying out of it. The debris struck Private Wilson full in the face and he was hurled backwards out of his chair. He hit the wall behind him and slumped to the floor, blood gushing from his crushed skull. One of the other soldiers started to rise, but a robed young man emerged from behind the dwarf and pointed a finger at him. Bolts of streaking blue light came from the man's finger. The guard saw several bright flashes, felt a brief moment of pain, and then knew no more. By this time the remaining two guards were on their feet, but were still much too slow. Before they could draw their weapons, a large, burly man wearing baroque plate armor charged towards them, sword in one hand and shield in the other. He slashed viciously and disemboweled one of the men. The last one fell with a pair of arrows sticking out his throat. The last thing he saw was the smiling face of Dakota as she lowered her bow._________________________________________________________Lord Commander Havelyn strode purposefully across the Bridge of Death towards the gatehouse, flanked by a soldier on one side and a dwarf engineer on the other. Or rather, Tardaesha made that walk accompanied by Lemmy and Katarina. The soldiers on duty in the winch room were taken aback when they saw the retinue, fumbling hurriedly to snap to attention."Raise the portcullis," 'Aesha commanded in Havelyn's voice."S...Sir?" one of the guards asked, perplexed."You heard me, soldier," 'Aesha replied. "Surprise inspection. I want to make sure the most important piece in this tower's security is being properly maintained. Is there some reason that I should be concerned about that?""N...no Sir!" the guard stammered."Excellent," 'Aesha nodded. "Then snap to it. I'll have Master Killmister of the engineers go over it with a fine-toothed comb.The four guards hurried to the twin winches and cranked them as fast as they could go, slowly raising the heavy portcullis below. Once it was locked in position they backed away so that Lemmy could inspect it. Kat stood behind him, occasionally pointing out this or that, to which Lemmy nodded and muttered. What the guards did not see were the slim tools in Kat's hands, which she put to use jamming the winch mechanism so that the portcullis could not be lowered again. At that moment, however, one of the trapdoors in the ceiling above banged open, and Captain Barhold climbed rapidly down the ladder."What is the meaning of this!?" he demanded. "Who ordered that gate opened!?""I did," Tardaesha said, stepping into view. Barhold turned and stared at her."Who are you supposed to be?" he sneered"I don't think I like your tone, Captain," 'Aesha said coldly. "You would do well to remember the chain of command.""Oh, I'm quite aware of who my commander is," Barhold snarled, "and you're not him! Guards! Seize this imposter!"Tardaesha thought quickly, then turned to the guards as well."He's a spy!" she shouted, drawing her greatsword and pointing at Barhold.The guards hesitated, looking back and forth between the two officers. Their confusion ended a moment later when Lemmy blasted one of them off his feet."Take them alive!" Barhold commanded as he stepped forward with his own blade raised, and brought it down solidly upon Tardaesha's, snapping her steel in half.______________________________________________________________"This is not good," Roger said. He was standing on the parapet rooftop of the main keep, looking towards the gatehouse where he could hear the distant clangs of steel on steel. He moved quickly to the trapdoor and slid down the ladder."We've got trouble," he said to Kelvin, who was seated at the Lord Commander's desk. "Something's gone wrong at the gatehouse."Kelvin rose to his feet and started for the stairs. "Stay here," he told Roger, Dakota and Dorian. "If you don't hear word from me in the next ten minutes, seal the lower staircase back. And take this,"He handed Roger the signal flare the Fire-Axe had given them."You know what to do with it."_________________________________________________________________Katarina spun around behind one of the guards and jammed a dagger through the base of his skull. Tardaesha held one hand out placatingly towards Barhold, but when her flesh touched his, she released the corruption."You see!" she shouted to the remaining guards as the captain snarled in pain. "Iomedae's touch undoes this imposter! He and his minions seek to shatter our defenses!"Lemmy blasted Barhold from behind, and the captain whirled on him, striking him a crushing blow across the chest with the flat of his blade. The two guards, now thoroughly confused, raised their signal horns to their lips and sounded the alarm. _________________________________________________________________"That's it then," Roger said, once more on the keep's roof, where he heard the horns plainly. "It's now or never."He placed the flare on the flagstones and pulled the fuse. A moment later a crimson ball shot high into the night sky, illuminating the landscape for miles in all directions.______________________________________________________________Tardaesha grabbed Captain Barhold by the throat and channeled her unholy power through him again, leaving him unsteady on his feet. Katarina darted in behind him and slashed across the back of his thigh with her knife. The leg crumpled and he dropped heavily to one knee. Gleefully, Lemmy leaped towards the captain, both hands outstretched, prepared to blast him full in the face, but Barhold got his blade between them and thwacked the dwarf across the temple with its broadside. Lemmy staggered back and Barhold climbed shakily to his feet to follow. This time when he swung his sword, it was the edge that sliced the geomancer from shoulder to shoulder. Lemmy fell like a sack of bricks.The other trapdoor in the roof was thrown open from above, and four more soldiers scrambled down the ladders. Her eyes burning, Tardaesha allowed dark energy to flow from her. Arcs of black fire flared around the room, striking all of the combatants, including Katarina and the unconscious Lemmy. Katarina did not fault her sister. Collateral damage was unavoidable sometimes. Instead, she took advantage of the chaos to launch herself at Barhold and drive her blade to the hilt into his gut. Grunting, he exhaled heavily and fell forward face-first into the cauldron of scalding sand. The door between the gatehouse and the Bridge of Death suddenly burst open as two more guards, drawn by the sounds of battle, barged in. Tardaesha immediately turned towards them."Captain Barhold is inciting a mutiny!" she cried. "Defend us so that we may alert the keep!"The soldiers looked uncertain, and then one of them pointed at Tardaesha accusingly."That's not the Lord Commander!" he shouted. "Imposter!"Tardaesha turned to the other one."He's with the traitors!" she shouted.The second soldier looked between his comrade and his commander for a moment, then his eyes grew hard."Fall back, Lord Commander!" he yelled. "I'll guard your retreat!"'Aesha didn't hesitate. She ducked behind the guard, through the door and out onto the bridge. Katarina somersaulted through the intervening soldiers to join her. Once they were both clear, the soldier defending them slammed the door shut behind them."I do so appreciate loyalty," Tardaesha smiled as she and Katarina fled back across the bridge."What about Lemmy?" Kat asked."He's safer back there than with us," 'Aesha replied. "These simpletons have too much honor to kill a helpless foe."As they neared the other end of the bridge, two soldiers came running into view from the battlements."There's been a mutiny!" Tardaesha repeated her tale. "Hold the bridge! We're going to fetch the magister!"The soldiers nodded and turned towards the gatehouse just its door burst open. As more soldiers began pouring out of it, a fiery explosion engulfed them."It's the magister!" Tardaesha shouted. "He's come to our aid! Hurry! The traitors have raised the portcullis! You must lower it!"The two soldiers nodded again and sprinted across the bridge. As the smoke and flames from Kelvin's well-timed fireball cleared, it was obvious that most of those caught in it were dead. "Wait for it," Tardaesha smiled at her sister as the other two guards reached the gatehouse.Another explosion, and this time, no one was left standing. ____________________________________________________________________Tardaesha began rallying soldiers as they came hurrying up out of the lower levels, responding to the alarms and explosions."Get to the gatehouse!" she commanded. "Search for survivors and get that portcullis down!"They hurried to do the bidding of the Lord Commander. Two returned a few minutes later, bearing Lemmy between them."It's one of the engineers, Sir!" one soldier said. "He's badly injured, but he'll live. The portcullis is jammed up tight. We can't lower it.""Damn it all!" 'Aesha cursed. "All of the other engineers are back in town with cholera. Help me get this one to the keep. We need to have Father Donnagin tend to him and get him back on his feet. Then maybe he can fix the cursed thing."The soldiers followed Tardaesha and Kat back to the keep and carried Lemmy upstairs. That was when 'Aesha ordered Roger and the others to kill them. Once that was done, Roger and. Dakota moved the heavy stone cap back into place over the stairwell to the great hall. Then it became a waiting game.Sakkarot Fire-Axe had said that it would take approximately one hour to bring his men to the keep after the signal flare was launched, and he was correct in his timing. In their thousands, the bugbears and their allies streamed over the landscape. They were not completely without siege equipment: groups of shaggy murderers wielded great tree trunks as battering rams, though they didn't really need them as the portcullis stood raised to admit them into Balentyne. The remaining soldiers did put up some resistance, though with none of their leaders present to provide order and tactics, the outcome was never in doubt. The bugbear losses could have been much worse. Sakkarot himself emerged unscathed from the battle and much heartened by his success, though it still took most of the following day to get the whole body of his horde moved up and through the Watchtower gates. The citizenry of Aldencross fled in terror, spreading word of the invasion led by a monster who wielded an axe of flame. The war had begun and Talingarde had lost its first battle. ____________________________________________________________During the course of the fighting, the members of the Nessian Knot avoided the worst of it and made their way back down into the secret tunnel that led to the Lord's Dalliance. There they found Timeon waiting for them, watching over the naked, beaten and barely conscious personage of Father Donnagin. The next few hours were consumed with the ritual Tardaesha and Roger performed, which ultimately involved the gruesome sacrifice of the Iomedaen priest. As his life's blood pooled beneath the inverted crucifix upon which he'd been hung, it began to smolder and then boil as some...thing...emerged from it. An ever-gnashing maw, filled with row after row of mismatched teeth, dominated the frightful creature's orb-like body, yet it was tiny, no bigger than a mouse. Tardaesha held out her hand palm up, and the horrid little abomination flew to it. She smiled down at it and nuzzled it affectionately."He says his name is Knick-Knack," she said, smiling as she turned to show off the cacodaemon, her new companion, to the others. ____________________________________________________________________"Look what I found," Katrina said holding out a well-worn leather-bound book towards Kelvin." 'Found?' " her brother asked suspiciously.Kat just shrugged. "I was investigating the Lord Commander's quarters. Didn't want to miss anything important. The place was like a shrine, with a painting of a very lovely young woman surrounded by candles. Poor sap. Anyway, this was tucked away behind the it."Kelvin flipped through the pages and snorted."An Iomedaen bible," he said disdainfully. "So? I'm sure every sun-worshiper in this place has one like it.""Not like this one," Kat explained, taking the book and turning to the back. Tucked away inside was a detailed chart of Lord Havelyn's family tree, but there was one entry that had been carefully blotted out. Still barely discernible was the name 'Samuel Havelyn, Cardinal of Iomedae.'"Cardinal?" Kelvin raised an eyebrow. "Surely you don't believe...""I'm not jumping to any conclusions," Kat raised her hands. "It just seems a bit coincidental that Thorn sent us to take out this particular fortress, where a man of an age to be his brother was stationed as commander.""We'll keep it," Kelvin said thoughtfully, tucking the book into his satchel. "It may be a useful bargaining chip at some point."______________________________________________________________________Tardaesha broke the clay seal that Thorn had given them to use upon completion of their mission. Within moments Tiadora appeared among them. Wordlessly, she gestured for them to follow her. She led them back to the basement of the Lord's Dalliance, and then out onto the streets of Aldencross. The town was in flames, and savage humanoids danced with glee in the lurid light cast by the fires. None of them dared approach Tiadora nor her charges, however. She led them through the darkness until they once again reached the shores of Lake Tarik, where a ship lay at anchor. On the dock sat a large coffer, and Tiadora lifted it easily and handed it to Roger. He opened it, revealing ten platinum ingots and a folded note. Kelvin drew out the latter and read it aloud."Our Lord smiles upon your success. Here is a token of my esteem. Use it to rest, recover and strengthen yourselves. Other commands will come when the Knot is needed. You work has just begun-A."From the promontory where they stood, the members of the Knot could see the great bugbear horde camped south of the Watch Wall. Balentyne yet burned behind them. "I have seen no evidence of an army gathering to meet the horde," Tiadora remarked. "It seems Zadaria has also succeeded at her mission, and has assassinated the commanders. Truly, a great achievement. Making matters worse for poor Talingarde, small bands of creatures unaligned with Sakkarot approached the breach, eager to take advantage of the chaos. How could these beasts know already about this break in the Watch Wall? Someone must have told them. Probably best to leave. This region is about to become very dangerous. Still, this will not be enough. Balentyne may be broken but Talingarde is yet strong. Soon word will reach the south. The Heartland and the great cities of the Cambrian Bay will marshal their armies. They will meet Sakkarot on the field and it will be far too close to a fair fight. We must do something about that. Come, my lords, your ship awaits. Try not to burn this one."Lords. She had called them lords. And lords they were. Lords of death and destruction. Lords of evil. They remembered Branderscar. They remembered being held down and branded like animals. How far they had come and how long yet the journey before them. Tiadora was right. This was only their first steps along the way of the wicked.</blockquote>

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