 |
  |
 |
|
|
|
Back to the previous chapter: Baronies
First Draft
Rishala quickly crawled down the exterior of the mansion, taking advantage of the dweomer he had used to get he and Kasey up the exterior. Sturm was at the window overhead, looking back into the room to make sure Kasey was still following.
Eric looked towards their carriage. A number of people had run past it, some shouting in panic, as they fled the confusion inside the mansion house. "That will probably be our best bet for an escape," Eric said. "We can pretend to be dumb, panicked nobles so we blend in with the rest of this crowd."
"The knights will catch up," Bilbus said as he kneeled to lift one shoulder of the dead orc laying on the ground. "Help me carry the body."
Eric stooped to lift the other shoulder. The two jogged towards the carriage as Rishala, Adria, and Breanna ran ahead.
Kasey finally made it to the hole in the wall, Sturm noticed. Kasey looked ill, his face far too sweaty for the brief exertion he had just had. The Church Knight was stooping, holding Caladbolg with a single hand. The tall knight looked towards Sturm, not noticing an orc rushing into the doorway to his left.
"Kasey!" Sturm shouted as he rushed forward, drawing his sword.
Kasey snapped Caladbolg upward, straightening as he did so, to deflect a blow just before it hit him. The Church Knight moved into a fighting stance, holding the long grip with both hands. He swung the great sword in a counter strike that the orc easily deflected. When the orc attacked again, Kasey ignored the swing, concentrating on an attack of his own. The orc blade struck him, pushing him slightly off-balance, but the strike was weak, and it failed to cut through the invisible magickal shield of Kasey's necklace. Caladbolg struck the orc, cleaving viciously into its shoulder and chest. The orc collapsed, dying. Kasey kicked the orc backwards, clearing the doorway.
Sturm saw a shadow on the floor of the hallway. He jumped past the falling orc, landing in front of a second, surprised orc. Snapping Gretorixmar up, Sturm deflected a frantic swing. He countered with a cut low, across the orc's leg, before parrying a second high blow. Another low slice, cutting deeply into the orc's other leg, was followed by another parry. Sturm feinted another low strike, but turned his arm at the last moment to drive Gretorixmar deeply into the orc's side. The mortally wounded orc fell backwards, gasping.
Sturm ran back to the window, passing Kasey, as he put his sword back into its scabbard. The Sun Knight hurried down the rope and stepped away, giving Kasey plenty of room. The Church Knight dived head-first out the window, scaling the rope upside down, but he lost his grip and fell. The knight flailed for purchase. When his feet and hands brushed the wall, he came to an abrupt halt, hanging upside down. The dweomer Rishala had put on him was still operating, and it had stopped his fall four feet above the ground.
Sturm looked at the Church Knight. "Are you okay, Kase?"
Kasey shook his head. When he opened his mouth to reply, he vomited noisily down the side of the mansion. The Church Knight spat a couple of times afterwards. "I don't feel well."
"I can see that," Sturm replied. "Come on. We need to go."
Kasey crawled down the wall, avoiding his vomit, then righted himself. He ran with Sturm towards the carriage. His friends were ahead of them ten paces, Eric and Bilbus carrying the dead orc, the other three ahead of those two.
"Hey!" Adria shouted.
The carriage had started to roll forward. In the dim light of the Nobles' Cavern, Adria could see someone trying to drive it away. A second person was in the open passenger compartment. Still running, Adria took one of the orc throwing blades from her belt. She paused, hefting the foot-long curved blade, then threw it at the driver of the carriage. The blade struck him resoundingly in the back, cutting between two ribs. The driver shook the reins, trying to urge the draft lizard to move faster. Adria took a second throwing blade and hurled it at the driver. This one also struck him, dealing a mortal wound to the would-be thief. The thief fell from the wagon.
The passenger, a pasty woman in noble's clothing, screamed and jumped from the wagon. She ran away from the party, following the other pedestrians fleeing the mansion of House Eilservs. Adria let her flee, choosing instead to run to the slain thief to recover her throwing blades. She rolled the body over. It was a human man, just as pale as the woman, in noble garb. Adria wiped the gore from her blades onto his jacket, them climbed into the carriage.
The rest of the party had caught up. Rishala scrambled onto the driver's bench and gathered the reins. The rest of the party crowded into the carriage.
"What about the body?" Bilbus asked.
"Put it on the floor. It will not be noticed unless someone looks into the carriage. And we can strip the armor from him."
Bilbus and Eric hoisted the body into the carriage, folding its legs so it would fit. Once everyone was aboard, Sturm and Eric started unfastening the straps that held the black adamantine plate armor in place. Rishala started the draft lizard to moving again, following the dark road through the cavern towards the narrow bridge and the river that separated the Eilservs estates from most of the Nobles' Cavern.
Bilbus looked at the spear he held. Up until now, he had been dismissive of the dreams that he had had. But he had seen this spear in a dream, months ago, wielded by his childhood idol, King Uther Paendroeg, as the Sun King died at the hands of an impossible number of orcs. If that dream had been real, how many other dreams were real?
The mountebank shook his head. He removed the Eilservs servant's tabard he still wore and wrapped it around the head of the spear. He tied it off, concealing the metal head and making Rhongomyant into a rudimentary banner. Even when he had it covered, Bilbus stared unbelievingly at the spear. The wood of the shaft was dark, and it certainly did not look like it was over two thousand years old. It had that smooth appearance of well-oiled furniture, with no wear or gouges that he could see. Even the spearhead looked nearly new, with its strange sigils and etchings that could have been carved a day ago as easily as two millennia ago.
Kasey hung over one side of the carriage, fighting bouts of nausea and waves of chills as they washed through him. Breanna gingerly touched the knight's neck.
"You're running a fever, Kasey," she said.
"I'm cold," he replied miserably. "And I ache. And my stomach hurts."
"I can give you some ginger, but that's all I can do right now. I don't have my kit with me. It's at the inn. When did this start?"
"After the fight," Kasey said. "I was fine until then. Then, it just hit me suddenly."
"The lich did something," Bilbus said. "I think I know the dweomer he used. Kasey will probably be sick for another day, then it will just clear up."
"Orcs approaching," Adria said, just loud enough to be heard over the creaks of the carriage. She looked towards the front of the carriage.
Several seconds later, a group of orcs passed the carriage, jogging towards the Eilservs mansion, siege bows strapped to their backs and swords at their sides.
Minutes passed before the carriage reached the bridge that crossed the dark river.
"The armor's off the orc," Eric said. "Stop the carriage, and we can toss the body into the river."
Rishala stopped the carriage. Sturm and Eric dragged the body out of the carriage, checking both directions to make sure no one was nearby. They pushed the body over the side of the bridge, watching just long enough to be sure it was drifting downstream. They got back into the carriage, and it once more rolled along towards the gate to the Nobles' Cavern.
The fleeing guests were spread few and far between this far from the mansion. Few had fled before the explosions of the fire blasts, and the party had already passed most of those already. The road was empty of traffic ahead, save for a pair of draft lizards that were being ridden.
Bilbus glanced towards the distant ceiling of the cavern, watching the oddly-colored glows of insects and lichens that created an otherworldly sky above. He sat up when he noticed a dark movement, not too far overhead, flying in the same direction that the carriage was rolling.
"Did you see that too?" Eric asked, his neck craning as he tried to keep an eye on the flying thing.
"It looked like a Shadow Kindred horse. Or whatever it is that they ride," Bilbus corrected himself.
"Do you have a spyglass?" Eric asked Sturm.
The Sun Knight replied with an "Arrrrr", mimicking Adria's pirate growl, and held the metal cylinder out to Eric. Eric took the spyglass and quickly spotted the receding beast. At first glance, it looked like an emaciated horse with long, ragged bat wings. It was hard to see clearly in the darkness.
Eric lowered the spyglass. "I don't see a rider. Maybe that was the mount for the Shadow Kindred that we fought in the mansion."
"Maybe it's going for help?" Bilbus wondered. "Maybe they have some lair near here."
"It may be," Eric admitted. "I don't think it is, though. I don't think those things are particularly intelligent."
The carriage was passing the walled compound of the Portal. The gate at the front was closed. Along the top of the wall were numerous orcs and drow, all armed with bows, watching the carriage as it passed.
"So much for escaping through there," Bilbus muttered quietly.
A few minutes after passing the Portal compound, the party passed a group of drow guards running past them, towards the mansion. The drow had grim expressions, but they ignored the carriage and its passengers.
"Well, I guess we got their attention," Bilbus commented.
The carriage had slowly overtaken the pair of draft lizards. Now, the carriage was close to them. A single drow, a guest of the baroness, judging from the finery, rode each lizard. The drow ignored the carriage, so Rishala slowed it to keep behind them. The gates to the city were close, and it was closed.
The drow stopped at the gate. A guard approached them slowly, holding up a hand.
"Let us through the gate!" the drow noble ordered.
"There have been explosions in the Nobles' Quarter," the guard replied.
"I don't care. Someone attacked the baroness's house. You will let us through!" The drow's voice had been getting louder as he spoke.
The drow guard sighed and waved to other guards, who opened the gate and let the riders through. They held the gate open to let Rishala drive the wagon through, as well.
The main avenue was in utter chaos. People were huddled together, looking towards the right, where the Nobles' Quarter of the city filled the corner of the cave between the Outer Gate and the Nobles' Gate. An explosion thundered from somewhere in the Quarter, lighting the haze of the cloud overhead briefly.
Sir Omyos had found a new alleyway to use as cover. He drew more marbles and sent them sailing into the haze above.
"You! Stop!" a voice shouted from behind him.
Omyos turned to face the voice. A pair of drow guards -- they each wore a dark red sash -- faced him. Omyos cursed under his breath and reached into the second bag he carried.
"Keep your hands where I can see them," one of the drow instructed.
Omyos quickly grabbed a pair of marbles from the bag. The drow rushed forward as Omyos threw the marbles, as hard as he could, at the lead drow's breastplate.
Omyos dropped to the ground before the marbles hit. The explosion was deafening in the close confines of the alleyway. Omyos got back up, his ears ringing. One of the drow was dead; the other was horribly burned and shouting for help. Two more drow arrived at the end of the alleyway. Omyos turned and ran.
The carriage slowly worked through the crowds on the main avenue. The explosions in the Nobles' Quarter had stopped, but the press of the crowd on the main avenue was worse than usual, as drow, orc, and human alike wondered what was happening in the Nobles' Quarter.
Eric looked down alleys as the carriage passed them, trying to find any sign of a pursuit or ambush. Four drow guards ran along the side of the avenue towards the next alleyway ahead, to the right. Two had rapiers drawn, the other two had bows readied. They turned down the alleyway. When the carriage pulled alongside the alleyway, Eric saw the four closing on Sir Omyos. The Church Knight's back was to the four assailants. He was fighting two others at the other end of the alley, struggling to keep them at bay.
Sturm leaped over the side of the carriage. Kasey followed immediately after the Sun Knight, moving as quickly as his nausea would allow. Eric and Bilbus followed suit while Adria stood and hefted one of the heavy orc throwing blades.
The commotion caught the attention of the drow. The two closest to the party -- the two with readied bows -- turned to face the party. The other two, rapiers already drawn, charged towards Omyos.
One of the two drow archers drew a bead on Eric. The archer loosed his arrow from a handful of paces away, expecting an easy kill. Bilbus dived forward, reaching for the arrow as it shot towards his friend. The mountebank's timing was off, however; the arrow punched clear through his hand. It was slowed by the magickal protections Bilbus wore, keeping it from hitting Eric, but Bilbus still shouted in pain. He regained his balance and readied Rhongomyant, its head still wrapped in the brilliant cloth of the Eilservs tabard.
The drow glared briefly at Bilbus, then fired a second arrow at Eric. Eric dived to the ground. The arrow shot through where his head had been.
The other archer loosed an arrow at Kasey. The Church Knight was bringing Caladbolg to bear. Through shear luck, the arrow deflected off of the greatsword's blade, harmlessly embedding itself in the side of the carriage. Kasey and Sturm charged the drow. Adria threw one of her blades at the drow who had attacked Eric. The curved blade sliced deeply into the drow's unprotected leg. Bilbus quickly jabbed Rhongomyant into the drow's chest, slaying it.
Sturm sliced viciously at the other drow archer. Kasey followed shortly thereafter, and that drow archer also fell. Sturm pushed past the drow, intent on helping Omyos, who was quickly losing his fight against the other four drow.
Eric crawled forward to the nearest drow and grabbed the drow's bow. The drow's quiver was just in reach, with its dozen arrows. Eric rolled onto his back, readying the bow to fire from a supine position. One of the metal orc blades flew overhead, sailing towards the drow at the other end of the alley. Eric loosed an arrow at one of the nearby drow, slaying it with a deadly shot. Sturm and Kasey were attacking as well, and the drow quickly fell to the deadly combination of swords and arrows.
In the aftermath of the fight, Omyos collapsed from his wounds. Kasey kneeled next to the Church Knight, trying to cover the wounds as best as he could. Breanna jumped down from the carriage and rushed to the fallen knight.
"I don't have many supplies with me. I can help him some, but we need to get to my healer's bag."
The knights carefully hefted their fallen comrade and carried him to the carriage.
After the knights set the unconscious Sir Omyos in the carriage, Bilbus climbed in with him. The mountebank untied a bag from Omyos's belt. He pulled it open and peered in. There were a number of orange marbles, and a few clear ones as well. Bilbus grinned to himself and tied the bag to his own belt.
He jumped back down with the rest of the party. The knights quickly checked all six drow to make sure all were dead. Breanna had climbed into the carriage to tend to Omyos's injuries some more.
"Bilbus, give me a hand," Eric said. The Karasimian was collecting arrows from one of the dead drow.
Bilbus and Eric quickly gathered the remaining bows from the drow corpses. They tossed the bows into the carriage, then went back to collect the six rapiers and daggers. The daggers they immediately distributed to their friends. The rapiers were dropped in the bottom of the carriage. The party then climbed back into the carriage, and Rishala drove onwards.
The Twisted Cap Inn was ahead, fifty paces away, on the left. Rishala slowly worked his way through the pedestrian traffic towards the alleyway that led to the inn's stablehouse. As he got closer, Eric looked back towards the Nobles' Gate. A contingent of drow had come through the gate, twenty of them fanning out in a line. They pushed their way along the avenue, roughly shoving orc, drow, and human alike out of their way.
"I think they're looking for us," Eric informed the party. "They must have realized something was missing."
Bilbus glanced back at the drow. They were making little headway against the crowd, moving no faster than Rishala had been. "We have time to change, still. They're looking for nobles, remember?"
Rishala stopped the carriage in the walled courtyard behind the inn. Broedrick waited there with the party's wagon and horses, his eyes turned towards the haze overhead.
"Something's going on in the Nobles' Quarter. I've seen explosions over there."
"We know," Eric said. "I think it's time to get out of the city, before something really bad happens. We need to change." He looked at Omyos.
"I'll be okay here," the wounded knight said weakly.
Most of the party went up to their respective rooms to change into their merchant, merchant escort, and slave outfits. Bilbus ran into the inn's tavern, instead. He found a paper and pen, and scribbled a note to the orc Sulz. The writing was crude looking, even for orc script, but it was passable. In the note, he wrote an apology to Sulz for not being at the tavern -- "Sorry I missed you at the tavern. You know how ladies can be. They wanted to leave. Have a couple of drinks on me." Once the ink dried, he folded the note and dropped several coins into it. He wrote Sulz's name on the outside of the paper, then gave the bartender a coin. "Make sure Sulz gets this. He should be here later today."
Bilbus raced up the stairs to his room. Adria had finished changing. She was gathering her nobles' dress and putting it away. While her back was turned, Bilbus stripped out of his fop's garb and threw it into the room's fireplace. He put on his slave costume as Adria turned around.
"Did you just burn that outfit?" Adria asked sharply when she saw the smoldering crumple of red, orange, and yellow material in the fireplace.
"Yes. I am never wearing that again." He grinned as the outfit blackened in the fire.
With a start, Bilbus reached into the fire and grabbed a piece of material that had not burned. Adria was ready to leave, so the two went back downstairs and out to the courtyard. Bilbus took Rhongomyant from the carriage and wrapped the spearhead once more, this time with the fabric that he had just saved from the fire. He walked over to the wagon on which the party had arrived in Erelhei Cinlu and removed one of the two lantern poles from the support on the front of the wagon. He tossed the pole into the bed of the wagon, then put Rhongomyant into the pole support.
"If we lash a lantern to it, it won't draw any attention," Bilbus said to himself approvingly.
The rest of the party had arrived in the courtyard. A minute of activity followed as they moved the captured drow bows, swords, and daggers over to the wagon, hiding the loot in some crates. They also took the orc armor pieces and hid them as well. Sturm and Kasey helped Omyos into the bed of the wagon, then they climbed onto their horses, and Eric climbed onto the wagon's driver's bench. The rest of the party climbed into the wagon bed, sitting atop the crates, looking dejected.
Bilbus watched Breanna climb onto the wagon bed. "This won't do. Your clothes are too clean to be a slave's garment." He swatted her rear with a sooty hand.
Breanna turned and reflexively slapped Bilbus across the face. The mountebank took a step back, surprised at the force of the blow.
"Why didn't you do that to Adria?" Breanna asked crossly.
"She would kill me," Bilbus replied honestly.
"Settle down, slaves!" Eric said half-heartedly. To Broedrick, he said, "Lead on, to the City Gate."
Broedrick walked out in front of the wagon. He led it back to the avenue, then towards the City Gates. The party glanced back at the drow patrol -- they were much closer, but still a couple hundred paces away. The patrol was reacting much more harshly to any pedestrians who failed to get out of the way quickly. Sturm and Kasey followed behind the wagon as it slowly rolled towards the city gates.
A block from the City Gate, Omyos hoarsely cried, "Stop!"
Eric halted the wagon. "What is it?"
"Someone help me to that shop." He pointed at a mushroom shop on the main avenue.
"Great. Don't let Bree near there, or we'll never leave," Bilbus said.
Kasey dismounted Farran and helped his fellow knight into the mushroom shop. In the back room were Father Ilsinan and Tydanae, sitting in chairs, waiting quietly. Tydanae looked up and saw the injured knight. She started to get up, but Father Ilsinan put a hand out to block her.
"I'll heal him," the priest said quietly. "He must have run into trouble. I wondered why he was taking so long."
"We need to leave town now," Kasey said. "We could take you with us. He can be another escort and you two are with the merchants?"
"We have our own papers, Kasey," Father Ilsinan said quietly. "We are leaving, too. You should get underway now, so we can leave separately, so the drow won't think we're traveling together."
"Oh, that's a good idea," Kasey said. He turned to leave, glancing once to make sure Omyos was okay. Ilsinan was already putting his hands on Omyos's injuries.
Kasey returned to the party and climbed back into Farran's saddle.
The City Gate was closed. Drow sentries stood near it, watching passers-by.
Eric asked, "Broedrick, how do we get out of the gate?"
"It is not normal for the gates to be closed. The explosions in the Nobles' Quarter have the guards on alert. The training I had for merchant escort duty said that we can buy our way through this gate, but it will probably cost a Klal."
Bilbus cursed under his breath. "I'm down to my last one." He abruptly glanced up at Eric when he realized he had spoken aloud.
Eric put a hand behind his back, palm up. Bilbus grumbled again, then reached under his slave's costume to pluck the last of his golden coins with the tentacle-faced monstrosity on it from a coin purse. He wrapped the coin in a Hellenic scrip, then dropped it into Eric's hand.
Eric looked at the Hellenic scrip. He unwrapped the coin and dropped the paper currency. "We do not want to create a trail of Hellenic currency so our enemies can pursue us," he said quietly.
Bilbus glanced around at the press of the crowd as Eric brought the wagon closer to the gate. A lot of people carried open baskets, either in hand or strapped to their backs. Bilbus fished into the bags of marbles that he had taken from Omyos. One had a dozen orange marbles. The other had eight clear marbles. The thief started dropping clear marbles into baskets, hoping to distribute them enough that the magick would be spread out; it might make the magick in the wagon less concentrated.
Eric gave the Klal to Broedrick, who walked to the drow guarding the gate. Broedrick talked quietly to the drow, gesturing back at the wagon and the two outriders. The drow shook his head for a moment, then held out a hand. Broedrick blatantly dropped the gold Klal into the guard's hand, then pulled out some papers. He showed the drow the papers, then the drow nodded and turned to a pair of subordinate drow. He gestured to them as Broedrick walked back to the wagon and climbed onto the bench with Eric. As Broedrick walked away, the drow waved a hand over the coin, using magick to ensure it was a legitimate coin.
"He will let us pass," Broedrick said. "It is a good thing you have local currency. They would not have let us out if we used foreign coin."
Once the gate was open, Eric drove the wagon through. The wagon creaked as it rolled into the shantytown outside the Erelhei Cinlu City Gate. The people in the town watched the wagon curiously; some of them looked back at the city, wondering about the explosions that they had seen on the far side of the gates.
Once the wagon was through the shantytown and wrapped in the cool darkness of the Wilds cavern, the City Gates opened again. Three horses walked out, backlit by the city's magickal lights.
"It looks like they made it out," Bilbus observed. He sprawled on the crates in the back of the wagon, trying to make himself comfortable as the wagon rolled along the stone road.
The wagon was well into the darkness of the Wilds when Father Ilsinan and his two companions caught up. They rode along a few dozen paces behind the wagon, trying to maintain the illusion of not riding with the party.
Beyond them, the city gates opened again. City guards -- those who had been searching for the party -- flooded through the gates and quickly started moving through the shantytown. They were demolishing the poorly-constructed buildings as they went through the town, showing no mercy in their zeal to find their quarry.
Bilbus moved a couple of crates around the back of the wagon. He uncovered his backpack, which he quickly opened. He rifled through the pack until he found some sharp four-pronged triangular caltrops.
"Watch for caltrops," he said to the priest following the party.
When the priest moved his horse off the road, his two companions followed suit. Bilbus tossed a couple hands full of caltrops onto the road. In the darkness, the dull metal spikes were nearly invisible.
An hour passed, then another. The drow pursuing the party had not gained any distance on the party as they followed. Ahead of the party, the Outer Gate was still open, the lights of the small gate town on the other side providing a welcome light ahead of the party in the darkness.
Eric fought a brief urge to hurry the wagon up, to get the party past the gates and into the tunnel beyond that led to the surface. As he watched the road ahead of the wagon, he realized that there was a reddish glow to everything ahead of him. He could see the shadow of the wagon ahead of him. As he watched, it shortened. He looked back at the enormous dark cavern behind him. A single, brilliant red light shot upwards, roughly where the drow patrol was. They had used a signal flare arrow.
Already knowing what to expect, Eric looked back forward. The enormous bronze doors of the Outer Gate were closing. A drow leaned against each of the doors. They were closing the city gates, trapping the party in Erelhei Cinlu.
"That's great," Bilbus grumbled. "Maybe we can find one of the green signal arrows we took from the orcs and get them to open the gates."
"That probably will not work," Eric said as he continued to close with the gatehouse.
"We could try to race through," Kasey suggested. "I can get one of those doors open easily."
"They have murder holes along that tunnel," Eric reminded the knight. "It's about one hundred paces long. We can't get through there without getting slaughtered."
"I can cloak us," Bilbus offered. "I know a dweomer that will make the drow ignore us. It only has a small area that it protects, centered around me."
"I can keep Farran close to one side of the wagon, and Sturm can keep his horse close to the other side."
"No, Kasey, the wagon and its horses are too long. I can get to the door and open it, but they will notice me when I do. And it still will not protect the wagon."
Adria suggested, "Take out the guards."
Bilbus nodded. "That would work. We can slip into the guardhouse and take them out. I have twelve of the orange marbles from that other Church Knight. As long as there are not too many of them in there, we can take them out. I can take a few people with me, as long as they stay close to me."
"I'll go," Kasey offered, ignoring the queasy rumblings in his gut.
Sturm dropped down from his horse. "So will I."
Eric set the brake on the wagon. "You may need an archer." He climbed down from the driver's bench. Rishala took his place on the bench.
"Stay close to me. As long as you're within about eight feet, the drow won't notice you. And as long as you don't do anything to get their attention, like opening a door or attacking them." The mountebank concentrated, mentally grabbing strands of magickal energy, shaping it into a net centered on himself.
Bilbus reached into the pouch of marbles. He counted out four of them and gave them to Eric. He counted four more for Sturm. "If you have to use these, make sure you're not too close to them when they shatter. They will explode like the fires that Bree and Rishala used on that lich, but I am sure these are much more powerful."
Bilbus walked down the gatehouse tunnel. He could feel his three friends staying close, all of them on edge. They kept wary eyes on the arrow slits high on the side of the tunnel. There was light visible beyond them, and none of them seem obscured. The drow may not be watching the gatehouse.
"They must not know they are shutting the door to prevent an escape," Eric speculated.
The four quietly walked to the door, set in the right side of the tunnel half way to the bronze doors. Bilbus reached for the handle of the door. Eric discreetly stood behind his friend, intending to let Bilbus's magickal protections absorb any traps that the door may have.
Bilbus pulled the door slowly open. The room on the other side was roomy enough to hold a dozen or so troops readied for a fight, but there were no people in it. A single glowing globe of magick hovered in the center of the ceiling, lighting a pair of metal chairs, a table with folding legs, and a lockbox. There was a door on the left wall at the far end. Bilbus took a couple of steps towards the lockbox.
"Later, Bilbus," Eric whispered.
Bilbus nodded and walked quietly to the other door. It had a pull ring, and no latches. Bilbus pulled the door open enough that he could step through it. Beyond the door was a stairwell that led upwards. Bilbus climbed the stairs. They ended in a short hallway that led to another door with a pull ring.
Bilbus pulled the door open slowly. He peered into the larger room beyond the door. It had a pair of corridors leading out of it. A long table with chairs occupied the room. It looked like a mess hall. Sitting at one of the chairs, with her back to the entrance, was the drow guard who had kneed Bilbus when the party had passed through the Outer Gate. Bilbus snarled quietly and drew his adamantine dagger.
Eric started to protest, but he refrained. Bilbus sneaked towards the drow, black dagger ready in case she noticed him. She was using her own dagger to clean underneath her finger nails.
Bilbus walked right behind her. Rapidly, the mountebank grabbed the hair on the top of her head with his free hand and jerked back. He slashed the dagger across her throat, cutting deeply into the exposed pitch-black flesh. Her violet eyes flared in surprise when she saw the human standing over her, then dulled as the life poured through the red gash in her throat. Bilbus pushed her head forward, letting it hit the table.
The rest of the party quietly approached Bilbus.
"That was not very nice, Bilbus," Kasey chastised.
"She deserved it. And we need to get rid of them so we can leave, anyway."
Bilbus led the other three through the gatehouse. Along the front of it were arrowslits that looked out over the gate village. Seven drow, all with bows, manned some of the arrow slits. The four humans walked quietly past all seven without any of the drow noticing. The party found an armory with orc siege bows and plenty of arrows for both the large siege bows as well as the drow long bows. There were barracks large enough to accommodate at least forty drow, but no others were present. The drow maintained a skeletal crew on their outer defenses, without even a relief shift present.
At the far end of the front corridor, Bilbus stopped. "Sturm, you should stay here. We'll count off one minute to give the rest of us time to get to the other end of this hallway. Once a minute has passed, throw your marbles at the nearest drow. I'll do the same from the other end, then we can mop up what's left."
Sturm nodded. He and Bilbus started counting together quietly, matching their timing. Bilbus then led Eric and Kasey back to the other end of the hall. He held his four marbles in one hand, ready to fling.
The thief glanced back at the Church Knight. "Kasey, when I tell you, I want you to charge the drow."
"Umm. Okay."
Bilbus peered down the hallway. Sturm had taken a half step into it at his end. The Sun Knight brought his arm up to hurl the first marble. As soon as Sturm threw it, Bilbus threw all four of his at the middle drow. The other two on the near end of the corridor would be well within the blast radius of the explosions.
Sturm threw his three marbles independently, one at each drow. As soon as the first one exploded, all the drow turned towards it. Bilbus's four then exploded, followed quickly by the remaining two of Sturm's marbles. The multiple concussions in the narrow hallway were devastating. By the time Bilbus waved Kasey through to attack the survivors, only one drow stood of Bilbus's four. All three of Sturm's survived the magickal onslaught, but all were very seriously burned.
Sturm charged his opponents as Kasey charged from the other end of the hallway. Eric stepped around and quickly loosed an arrow past the Church Knight towards one of Sturm's opponents. Within a matter of seconds, all the drow were dead.
"Let's go, before the reinforcements catch up," Eric ordered.
The four men quickly retreated into the mess hall, with the dead drow, and down the stairs. Sturm stopped at the upper door, leaving it slightly ajar with his last marble perched atop it. When someone opened that door, it would fall and shatter on the stone underfoot.
Bilbus grabbed the lockbox from the entrance room. In the gatehouse tunnel, he waved to Rishala. The story teller got the wagon moving. Bilbus and Eric climbed back onto the wagon. Sturm and Kasey got back on their respective horses. The party approached the bronze doors of the Outer Gates. Kasey climbed down from Farran and walked up to the enormous metal bar that held the doors closed. He grabbed the bar and lifted. It didn't budge. Surprised, the Church Knight tried again, groaning with the strain.
"It's held by magick," Bilbus realized aloud. He started shaping the Heka into a weave that would remove the magickal lock, but he realized that Father Ilsinan had already finished the casting. Kasey lifted the bar again, and it moved.
The Church Knight opened one of the doors, letting everyone through. He shut the door again once everyone was through, and Bilbus used Heka to lock the door magickally once more.
The party glanced around at the people in the village. Some were looking up at the arrow slits, where smoke still seeped out from many of them. Others looked at the party, confused. An orc patrol gazed at the party, debating whether they should harass the humans or not.
Eric jumped down from the wagon. He found a large rock that had been pushed to one side of the village, against the cave wall. He picked the rock up and dropped it in front of the bronze doors.
"What are you doing?" Bilbus whispered. "The orcs are watching."
"I'm going to use the four marbles you gave me right here. When they open the gates to pursue, it'll get at least some of them."
"Good idea," Bilbus admitted. He walked towards the orcs, slumping as he did so. He still wore the slave's garments. In the orc tongue, he said, "My master is setting a joke for the drow. It will be funny. Do you wish to help?"
The leader of the patrol allowed the edge of his mouth to curl upwards in a snarling smile, baring some of his rough teeth. But he did not move.
Eric called to Bilbus, "Time to go!"
Bilbus hobbled back to the wagon and climbed into the back of it. Rishala had also climbed back into the bed of the wagon, leaving Eric to drive past the orc patrol and into the dim tunnel that led to Arabel Cinlu.
Breanna quietly muttered, "We must hurry. I can hear the drow on the other side of the gate."
"If we hurry, the orcs will notice," Bilbus reminded her, just as quietly.
Minutes passed. Bilbus stood on the crates in the back of the wagon and stripped to his smallclothes. He dropped the slave garment on top of one box, then rummaged through a bundle next to his backpack. Within a few minutes, he was once more dressed in his black leather armor. Rishala likewise changed. After a few moments, Adria and Breanna did so as well.
There was a distant flash behind the party. The drow had finally opened the Outer Gates, and they had tripped Eric's trap.
Bilbus sighed. "It's a shame we are out of those orange marbles. They may still be useful. We have a long ways to go to get to Arabel Cinlu."
Father Ilsinan, who was riding next to the wagon on his horse, dropped his reins. He took a leather bag that was tied to his belt and opened it. He poured the marbles in the bag into his empty hand, which he cupped slightly to keep from dropping any of the deadly marbles. Once they were all in his hand, he started counting them.
"I love the Church," Bilbus said, smiling. The priest grinned slightly in the darkness, still letting his horse walk freely as he counted the marbles.
"Yeah. It almost makes me want to be a Church Knight," Sturm said.
Father Ilsinan finished counting. He poured the marbles back into the leather bag, tied it off, and tossed it to Bilbus. Breanna squealed in terror as the mountebank caught the bag.
"There are two dozen orange marbles left," Father Ilsinan said as he grabbed his reins once more.
Hours passed. The distant sound of a slow pursuit occasionally echoed up the tunnel from behind the party, but the drow never seemed to get any closer.
Ahead, the tunnel got brighter. The party was approaching the cave with the horrific statue. Somewhere behind the statue came the croaking of frogs.
Bilbus scowled at the tentacle-faced monster that squatted upon the pedestal. "I still think we should topple that statue. I have a bag full of marbles that will do a lot of damage to it."
"I think that is not a good idea, Bilbus," Eric suggested. "There are more of those frog-men in the tunnel behind the statue. They may take offense at your sabotage."
The party rode onwards, past the evil idol.
A few more hours passed as the party ascended the switchbacks that marked the end of the long tunnel.
"Maybe we can collapse the tunnel to stop the pursuit," Bilbus offered.
"That is not a good idea, either. It could collapse the tunnel on top of us, too."
"What if we collapse the building at the end of the tunnel? We will be outside of it when it collapses."
"And what do we tell the castle's guards when we sabotage the building?"
Bilbus sighed.
The wagon cleared the last turn of the switchbacks. Ahead was a straight tunnel with torchlight at the end of it. Bilbus jumped down from the moving wagon and took several marbles from his pouch. He rolled them back into the tunnel, letting them roll down the old wagon ruts that led into the darkness behind the party. He then ran back to the wagon and jumped back aboard.
The tunnel emptied into the windowless building. Sturm was already at the far end, pushing one of the large sliding doors open. Once the party was through, he pushed it shut once more. The party was above ground at long last.
Broedrick stared upwards. The sky was a rich blue, slowly fading to black. The sun had set just over an hour earlier, and night time had gained purchase in the sky above.
"I had heard about the sky," Broedrick said in quiet awe. "I could not believe such a thing was real. I never thought I would see such a wonder."
Breanna pursed her lips thoughtfully. She looked at the sky above, then at the traces of snow that still covered a few spots of the keep grounds. The apothecary then rummaged through her own bags until she found the smoked glasses that she wore to help with snow glare.
"Broedrick, you will need these when the sun comes up. It is going to be very bright."
Broedrick took the offered lenses. He tried them on, then put them into a pocket of his jacket.
"Hopefully you will not sunburn too badly," Breanna added. "Keep you jacket on until you get used to it. I can make some salves that will help prevent it, too."
The guards at the citadel gates opened one of the doors to let the party out of the castle. None of the guards spoke to the party as they passed. The party rode towards the main road of Arabel Cinlu, just a short distance down the side of the valley.
"We need to stop at an inn," Father Ilsinan said. He took the lead, ahead of the wagon, and led the party to the Hoary Man Inn.
"This is where our horses are," Bilbus said.
"Let's get our horses readied," Eric said. "We don't want to stay here very long, since they're looking for us. We can leave the wagon behind, as well."
The party went into the inn.
Bilbus approached the innkeeper. "When you receive a package for Lord Hogain, forward it to the Shaded Wall Inn." He put some coins on the counter.
"Have it forwarded to the Church in Brallian," Father Ilsinan corrected. He took the coins and gave them back to Bilbus. "We can get it to him from there."
Bilbus noticed that the innkeeper recognized Father Ilsinan. Neither greeted the other as familiars, but it was clear to the mountebank that the other two men were acquainted.
"We're putting up here for the night," Father Ilsinan said. "I take it that you want to keep pressing onwards."
"They are looking for us," Bilbus said. "They got a good look at Kasey, and that big knight is hard to hide. And they were still following us."
"Good journey, Bilbus," Father Ilsinan said. "I am sure we will meet again, soon enough. In warmer climes."
Bilbus joined his comrades in the inn's stables. The party's horses had been well cared for, and the stable hands scrambled trying to help the party get ready to move on. Bilbus looked around the stables. "Where are Bree and Adria?"
Eric looked around as well. He and Bilbus darted for the stable doors. In the twilight, they could see Breanna and Adria hurrying south. They raced after the two women, overtaking them in a few dozen paces.
"Where are you going?" Eric asked as he slowed to a walk alongside Breanna.
"We're going to the bath house," Breanna replied. "You promised, and I could use a hot soaking."
"Now is a bad time," Eric said. "We have drow chasing us. We need to get out of town before they get here."
Breanna stopped, her arms crossed stubbornly. But she turned around and started to walk back to the stables. Adria went a few more paces, then turned towards her companions. "Where are we going in such a hurry, then?"
Eric thought. "We have two things we can do. We can stop the invasion in Brallian. I don't expect we will have much of an effect, since there are a lot of Church Knights already in the city. Or we go to Llwelyn to stop the Sun Knight's schism. We will want them intact, and soon, if Avillonia is going to withstand the orc attacks."
Adria walked back towards the stables with Eric and Bilbus.
Back at the Hoary Man Inn, Breanna ducked into the inn instead of the stables. She found the innkeeper and gave him a sealed envelope. "Have this delivered to Lord Adair Ceiturin of Armagh. He would like to hear from his daughter, I am sure." She left a few coins with the innkeeper, then hurried out to the stables with her friends.
The party was soon ready to travel. The horse that Sturm had ridden up from Erelhei Cinlu was now Broedrick's, and the rest of the party had their own horses once more. The party set out, heading north towards the snow of Yeti Pass.
The party was a mile out of town when they heard a horn blowing behind them, somewhere in the Citadel. They stopped riding for a moment to look back at the city. In the dim lantern light of the main avenue, the party could see watchmen jogging towards the Citadel, responding to the alarm horn.
"This is not encouraging," Eric said. "We need to keep going." His horse resumed walking up the road towards the pass. The rest of the party followed suit.
Back to the previous chapter: Baronies
Continue to the next chapter: Pursuits
Back to the Book IV Index.
Back to the Dark Mysteries Campaign Chapter Index.
Original Draft 28 May 2003
Contact for this page: JourneyMaster@BabylonByCandlelight.com