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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 973782" data-attributes="member: 6783">Assault on Broken SpireAshimar peered through the darkness and tried to gauge the distance between him and the battered old keep.  Perhaps eighty feet of open field lay between him and the dark silhouette of the keep.  The clouds from the late afternoon had hung about and now the night was dark; perfect for making his way across the open expanse.  In theory the guard on the tower would never see him, but just in case Ashimar was warded by the most powerful magics the party could devise.  A mantle of invisibility laid on him by Jallarzi was his first layer of defense.  A potion that granted dwarf-sight for seeing in the dark made it easier for him to see.  Finally, another potion that increased strength was coursing through Ashimar’s blood – that was for the coming fight.“All right.”  Whispers the ex-thief.  “I’m heading out.”  Kellron saluted the voice in the darkness – a gesture of good luck.  Though from vastly different backgrounds, he and Ashimar had become fast friends.One.  Ashimar made his way quickly through the open field.  Behind him, Kestral and Jallarzi were counting to sixty.  When they reached that number they were going to follow after believing that the watch-guard was dead.Four.  Hyla, Lady of Luck, glanced away while Ashimar was still crossing the open expanse at his brisk walk.  Moving as fast as he was Ashimar never saw the signs of the concealed pit.  Ground gave way and Ashimar threw himself to the left and rolled to his feet.  The noise alerted the guard on the tower who began shouting.“Oi!  Who’s there?”  The guard, Dav, could see nothing, but he was the nervous sort.  The keep had a bad reputation and Dav was jumpy.  Locating a moving shadow he fired blindly into the ground near the noise.Seven.  Ashimar thought about turning back and warning his friends of the pit but decided against delaying.  They surely heard the noise.  Ashimar made it to the keep walls where a corner was formed as part of the keep jutted further out from the main structure.  What was once smooth stone had been worn over the centuries and neglect had completed the work.  It would be ridiculously easy to climb here.Meanwhile, Dav’s shouts and crossbow fire has risen the guards in the courtyard.  “What’s going on up there?”  Shouts one of the courtyard guards.Dav eyes the shadows suspiciously, but he can see no movement and everything is quiet.  Ashimar had long ago learned how to climb silently.Thirteen.  Now standing on top of the walls of the keep, Ashimar takes a quick look around before  moving to the tower itself.  From here it’s only another fifteen feet up to what’s left of the tower roof.  Dav finally answers the guards in the courtyard.  “Nothing.  It sounded like someone was out there.”  Dav doesn’t sound so sure, but the guards know him and curse him roundly for being so jumpy.Nineteen.  Ashimar crosses the roof, taking care not to make any sudden sounds.Twenty-five.  All is quiet from the courtyard and the top of the tower.  Ashimar is climbing slowly, making as little noise as possible.  Only his good strength, honed with his training bouts with Kellron, allow him to make the slow movements necessary to scale the wall so silently. Thirty-seven.  Ashimar finally makes the top of the tower wall and cautiously moves over the loose rock.  The tower is nearly forty feet across and the guard is about twenty feet away looking with suspicion at the darkness.  The roof itself is covered in bird droppings and the floor, originally designed to be an interior floor, looked ancient and rotted.  Thirty feet away to the right, just ten feet beyond the guard is a crude shack that covers the stairwell; a good place to stay out of the rain if necessary.  Ashimar notes that the guard is dressed in simple leather armor and has a short-blade and a crossbow.  Ashimar grins.For his part, the hairs of Dav’s neck are standing on end, but he doesn’t hear anything.Forty-Three.  Ashimar draws his rapier as quietly as possible and rushes the guard in a surprise charge.  Dav’s reflexes are good though, not quite conscious of any presence on the tower with him, he still manages to turn as Ashimar rushes him.  Ashimar still strikes and manages to make it a deep wound, but the guard does not go down.  Still, he’s too surprised to do more than take a deep breath.Forty-Nine.  The guard is still off balance and Ashimar presses the attack.  Another thrust and Dav slides to the ground with a muffled thump.  Ashimar moves back to the edge of the tower.“Damn it Dav!  What’s going on up there?”  Shouts the guard at the gate.Fifty-Five.  Ashimar looks around wildly and then shows himself to those in the courtyard, confident that they can’t really see more than a silhouette.  With a harsh cough, Ashimar begins his bluff.  “Nothing.”  He rasps out with another cough. “Just tripped.”The gate guard looks up at the tower and decides that Dav is coming down with something.  “All right.”  He calls and decides to head back into the barracks for a quick snack.  No one was going to attack this accursed keep in the next two minutes anyway.Sixty.  Kestral and Jallarzi look at each other and nod to the others.  They all heard the shouting from the keep though it was mostly unintelligible.  No alarm appeared to have been raised.  They quickly cross the open expanse to the same spot Ashimar climbed up.  It would be easiest there.  Unfortunately, like Ashimar, Hyla glanced away from them too.  Panther was first to find one of the covered pit traps dotting the expanse.  Like Ashimar he threw himself to the side, rolled to his feet and continued on.  Jallarzi and Kestral managed to make their way across unscathed.  Kellron however did not fare so well.  Already slowed by his armor, Kellron blundered into yet another pit trap and fell to the bottom.  Fortunately for him his armor turned away the many spikes at the bottom.  Lyntern and Kupier stopped to help him climb out.Ashimar takes the rope from his backpack and secures it to a solid looking chunk of stone.  Then looking around he moves to the stairwell.  Ten feet across the roof, Ashimar steps on a spot that the latest occupants had known to avoid.  The rotted timbers gave way with a sudden crash and Ashimar was falling.</blockquote>

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