The Old Log And Dirty Bishop Trick

AK510-39 Cool Summer End Week 3
[Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Cogaday (High Noon)

Sick to death of planning they decide to use the tried and tested SWANT (Spells, Weapons And No Tactics) approach. They use their magic to leave the keep undetected and start to sneak towards the besieging army. This goes well as the enemy is hundreds of yards across the swamp.

Todd Stuffitt and Bob Charmer move stealthily through the soft rushes and dark mud, staying in cover at all times. They reach a point where Todd can hide in the undergrowth and study his foe. They will remain hidden at long bow range and snipe at the Two Headed Champions if the opposing army.

Ivellios uses his magic to render himself invisible and then flies out to a position where he can rain fireballs down upon the unsuspecting lizardfolk on their lethal heavy catapults. He cleverly remains within the cover of the long rushes and pocket mists of the swamp as he approaches, knowing that there will be a few of the enemy with the power to see even those who are invisible.

Tanner has a problem with stealth. Several in fact. Tanner is a charismatic religious leader, clad in the glorious shining plate mail of the legendary Setanta Fochlachan, he wears the bright red Cloak of The Dark Keep Standard Bearer designed to rally troops around the battlefield. He covers all this with the luxurious bright white travelling cloak of a Croi Vedic, which proclaims his position to all who see it. Tanner loves to call upon the power of Croi to surround himself with a shining whirling and lethal ring of maces and to swell his muscular frame to a powerful hulking twelve foot tall champion of the Gods. Tanner is a lover and a fighter not a hider. Clanking visibly through the swamp, sinking deeply into the mires, bogs and soft dark mud tanners cloak is soon filthy.

John Appleby accompanies him and using his skills as a ranger and druid manages to guide the metal laden cleric safely toward the enemy camp. Tanner fails to mention that the fly spell he has active is his divine assurance that drowning is not his immediate destiny. Soon though they are close enough for their visibility to be an issue. With strange sound effects playing through the air, Appleby calls upon the power of Naduir and transforms himself into a giant crocodile. He sinks down into the murky swamp water and soon only his eyes and nostrils are peeking above the waterline. Even his large cheesy grin of satisfaction is hidden beneath the surface. Appleby loves being a druid. Using his powerful tail and claws Appleby swims quickly among the reeds towards the lizardfolk army. Tanner meanwhile is forced to cover his travelling cloak in mud and water. He sinks down behind the toppled trunk of a long dead tree and hides as best he can. Lets hope they fall for the old log and dirty bishop trick, he thinks to himself.

Confident in the invulnerability and stealth of the ethereal, Ethan's ghost glides serenely over the swamp, wafting through the cover of the reeds and rushes on the material plane, he manages to get very close to the opposing forces before they are made aware of him by lizardfolk sorcerers.

Then the mountain elf wizard appeared in mid air just inside longbow range, a bright sparking streak rocketing towards the heart of the besieging forces. An instant later a bright yellow, orange then red ball of fire blossomed around one of the heavy catapults. It erupted in a flash and was gone. Tin Tan almost wept at the beauty of it. One instant was all it took to prove the power of Ivellios magic. Dozens of lizardfolk were dead or dying from lethal blistering burns. Most of the siege engineers and the larger lizardfolk had managed to dive for cover but were still badly seared and in considerable pain despite their tough scales. The catapult had grown a skin of charred wood and all of the ropes were completely incinerated. The ground surrounding the machine was dried and scorched earth, the vegetation striped in a perfect circle describing the fireball's area of effect. Smoke billowed up from the strike zone and the stench of burnt flesh wafted across the field of battle. The others heard the muffled sound of the fireball's explosion and took this as their signal to engage.

Ethan raced forward towards the catapults. The lizardfolk were alert now though and the sorcerers spotted him. A hail of arrows was unleashed at him but none could pierce his ghostly flesh. Tanner began the ritual to summon a hippogriff from the heart of Croi. The Appleby crocodile surged recklessly forward cursing the massive distance to be covered, the short range of his spells and the twisting tributaries of the Dark Swamp. Bob unleashed a trio of arrows at one of the four Two Head Clan lizardfolk leading the army. Todd remained secreted in the marshy undergrowth studying the same target looking for a weakness he could exploit.

In the chaos of battle, plans fall away in the heat of the moment, time is distorted and twisted by the urgent need of the moment. The moment focuses entirely on the act. The act is often merely a response to the act. In the to and fro of the third clash between the defenders of the dark keep and arrows fell like rain upon the small scattered band of adventurers who dared to attack the entire army unaided. Ivellios unleashed another fireball on the other catapult with similar results and was rewarded with a hail of arrows for his efforts. Protected by distance and his magic Ivellios was wounded by only a single arrow which somehow managed to strike true.

Hippogriffs were summoned from Croi and attacked the ranks to distract the army from the scattered heroes. Most died swiftly. Charmer and Stuffitt sent bolts and arrows into the fray and between them managed to slay on of the hulking red champions.

The Church of The Moons Vedic Deshok the Balanced raced from place to place, casting spells, directing the other priests and sorcerers to cast their own lesser magics and trying to fend off several assaults from the ghost of Ethan Namer. As Ethan closed he directed the elite archers attack one much to Ethan's surprise an enchanted arrow struck true and he knew pain for the first time. Then Deshok tried to command the ghost to cease his hostilities in the name of the sun the moons and the holy trinity. Ethan was forced back. Then after returning through the earth Ethan attempted to possess one of the bloodscales but was resisted and slashed with a massive two handed magical axe. Finally Ethan Name Cei-Liur of Fileadh used his Bas given supernatural powers of fear against Deshok and his companions. Given their affinity to Bas they were unaffected. This provided Deshok with his chance. Priests may not attack each other without sanction. He called on the Bone Clan Priests of Bas and Saol to appeal to Bas to remove the turbulent priest from the battle and preferably recall him to the wall of souls. Deshok concentrated their appeal through himself and the potent prayer was answered. Ethan's ghostly form evaporated from the battlefield, accompanied by a strangled dying cry of frustration from the ancient bard's soul.

As Ethan was expertly distracting the priests and the majority of the army, the druidic crocodile, transformed into John Appleby Sheriff of Woodhaven and he hid in the long grasses preparing to lay down the law. Using the power of Naduir he reached out to the catapults and felt the faint glimmer of life left within the wooden arm of the machine. As he twisted his arm, his magic warped the wood of the arm and wrapped it around the catapult's base, rendering it useless. Needless to say, this attracted a massive and unwanted response from the army and the archers spotted the spellcaster hidden nearby and unleashed a hail of arrows in his direction. Several of the struck true bit no wound was too deep to deter the druid.

The army began to move forward. The dirty bishop was out of useful spells, as was the mountain elf. The yodelling ghost had been destroyed and the scaly druid was fleeing from a hail of arrows. The advantage had been lost. They decided to retreat to the keep to repel the attackers. However Ethan's plan had worked.

The lizardfolk were coming to fight!

Very Long Talks

AK510-39 Cool Summer End Week 3
[Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Cogaday (Morning)

The Count is furious. There was another assassination attempt against him during the night. One of his guards was paralysed and the other poisoned with Black Adder Venom. The assassins fled when the Count came rushing to the door. The poisoned guard was saved by the Count who drew out the poison and gave him his antitoxin. No sign of the assassins was found and the guards saw nothing as they were taken by surprise. The Count believes that they were the survivors of the previous wave of lizardfolk assassins that attacked the keep a few days earlier.

At dawn all the battle plans are ready. Ethan has formulated an excellent series of tactics and strategies to thwart the opposing army. He instructs each member of the keep on their role in the defences. All the spellcasters have been given a carefully selected list of spells to memorise. The non-spellcasters are effectively asked to keep out of the way.

Hundreds of yards away out in the dark and misty swamps, a horn sounds. Soon the ominous sound of slow beating drums started to thud it's way over the still murky waters. More horns join in the cacophony. The lizardfolk are coming.

The heavy catapults and siege towers slow the lizardfolk considerably as they heave them through the swamp. Once the lizardfolk siege engineers believe that the range is sufficient for the catapults they stop their march. They load up the catapults and fire. Massive stones dredged from the swamps are hurled into the air. Muck and water rain down as the rocks tumble through the air seeking the keep. Then the impact. The rocks smash into the keeps roof. The keep reverberates with the ear-splitting crack of the incoming stones. The strong but aging stone roof cracks. The defenders realise that the keep will eventually fall under the weight of this punishment.

After an hour or so the roof is breached and the rubble begins to build up on the floor of the third floor. The situation looks grave. Ethan pleads with the Count to reconsider his decision to defend the keep to the death. But Arkthuus and his knights are honour bound to defend the realm and the cannot countenance the craven act of abandoning the keep despite Ethan's heartfelt pleading.

Ethan surveys the situation and realises that the lizardfolk army has no reason to attack. They know they can destroy the keep by merely loading and firing their catapults. This is exactly what they intend to do. This throws Ethan's battle plans into disarray. For a long time the companions are at a loss as to what to do and lengthy unproductive debate follows. The benefits of fleeing, exploring the dungeons for a weapon, attacking individually, attacking en masse, subduing the Count and then fleeing et cetera are discussed ad nauseum. Nothing is concluded and frustration begins to set in.

Tim Tanner prays to Croi for a vision to enlighten him on how to proceed. The vision he receives promotes more questions. He sees Deshok the Balanced being ordained as Arch Vedic in a Church of The Moons temple. Vedic Tanner is very unhappy about this possible usurpation of his expected position. But how should the vision be interpreted? This is a vision of the future and as John Appleby explains "Always in motion is the future". Does it mean that Deshok is favoured by Croi and they should not interfere with his plans? Does it mean that Deshok will be favoured if he wins that battle of Darkkeep and Tim fails to protect it? Does it mean that Tim must thwart Deshok's plans in order to ensure that this unworthy charlatan is kept away from a position of power within the church. Tanner obviously decides to adopt the last interpretation.

Another resounding crack echoes through the beleaguered keep. Somewhere nearby a chandelier falls to the floor and a soldier roars an angry curse. We've got to do something concludes Todd Stuffitt. "I don't feel like dying just yet" responds John Appleby. "Can't we just leave?" asks the extremely fatigued ranger, who has been finding the confines of the keep too constrictive.

After another series of intellectually stimulating arguments, identical to those that where exchanged in the previous hours, they finally agree to stay and fight for the keep. They are not entirely sure why but they are sure that they will need to escape quickly if the battle goes badly. With that in mind they make a note to unblock the route to the escape caverns at some unspecified time in the future, so that the other defenders of the Dark keep can escape.

Arkthuus Surveys The Clans

AK510-39 Cool Summer End Week 3
[Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Shaleday (Dusk)

Arkthuus surveyed the army arrayed against him and knew that the fight was almost hopeless. He had been in hopeless fights in the past. In his youth when he had served as page for Suluuk, they had fought the lizardfolk and carved out a kingdom. He had survived Bloodfarm valley! And he was damned if he was going to run like a craven now that he had finally been given the reward he had waited for all these years. No way.

His knights were with him. Loyal and Brave. None of them were craven and none would flee a battle in the face of death. Good Men. Honourable Men. He wasn't quite so confident in the common soldiers. They would break unless lead properly. The rabble which was all the remained of the camp followers would serve out of fear and he knew better than to trust in them, either in battle or in any other field. Not much of a militia. Perhaps he should just let them go. If the Vedic's Band could find a way for them to flee the keep and find safety he might even consider it. But not while there was hope. And there was still some hope.

He tried to remember the last time he had seen an alliance of so many different lizardfolk clans. It was unheard of for them to co-operate on the battlefield, especially so many different clans and in such numbers! This uprising far surpassed even the worst of the lizard wars that eventually drove the Torlandish armies from Stormwatch. He had thought the centurion to be a braggart and a liar when he had read the reports they had found in the keep. He told tales of three of four clans co-operating in raids, attacking with war bands numbering in the hundreds and disappearing again into the swamps. The centurion had held the keep though. It was only when the empire needed the troops elsewhere and the colony was deemed unprofitable that they left. Fools. This land was a treasure chest for those with the wit, the will and the stomach to exploit it. Knowing Torland though, it may well have been a political decision to disgrace some senator or tribune. Sometimes he wondered how Torland survived.

So what do we face this time Arkthuus? He cast his doubts aside as best he could and tried to focus on studying his foe. Everyone had a weakness, every army even more so. If the lizardfolk could be reminded on their long fought blood feuds perhaps this army would tear itself apart. He extended his spyglass in the direction of the approaching army. It would be a start to identify all the clans arrayed against him. More clans meant more feuds, which was cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless.

After yesterday's futile parlay he knew that the Church of The Moons was involved with the lizardfolk army. This was not a great surprise to the Count, the Church was constantly meddling in affairs that were none of their concern. Arkthuus was acquainted with The High Reave of Charon Derfel Forc IV and had experienced first hand the hostile relationship he had with the Earl. Suluuk bowed to no man and gave only a nod to the Gods but he always showed enough respect to keep the inquisition at bay. The Vedic who was meddling on his side of this war, had told him that the fallen were behind the lizardfolk invasion. Arkthuus thought it was more likely that the Church had orchestrated the whole affair just to prove a point. The Wild Marsh Druid was probably a Stiuradh priest pulling the string of the lizardfolk nation.

Arkthuus Poten cursed himself for letting his mind wander so easily, as he caught himself moving through idle speculations. The leaders of each of the clans seemed to be reporting to Deshok. He watched a them gather for a final tactical briefing before the onslaught began. Each leader disappearing into a overgrown mound of vegetation leading his retinue outside glaring at each other. Deshok entered first with one of the Two Head Clan. The other three remained outside towering above the others. These Two Heads were a mystery. They had never been seen before by any of the Earl's men and were in none of the centurion's reports. They were lethal fighters. Maybe there way something to this Athru theory after all.

Next an obscenely muscled Red Scale Rager followed the cleric, again leaving his retinue outside. The Blood Scale tribe was also a new arrival and seemed to be a stronger version of the Black Scales, as if the Black Scale Clan weren't tough enough already. It was unheard of for 100 Black Scales to raid together and with a score of Blood Scales and almost a dozen Red Scales driving them forward, they were an army all by themselves. The sight of ten score giant lizardfolk spitting with rage wielding tree sized clubs and charging in your direction was enough to freeze the blood of even a seasoned knight.

In marked contrast to the Black Scales came the all too familiar Poison Dusk leader. As short as a halfling and miniscule compared to the Black Scales, they nonetheless commanded the respect of the other clans. Nearly two hundred marsh rangers from that lowlife, honourless clan of thieves and villains had joined the ranks. The tribes leader was flanked by a score of the black clad scum, who were the survivors of the assassin attack that had almost claimed his life. His throat constricted at the memory of the garrotte crushing his throat that evil night.

It was no surprise to see the Steel Clan here an in great numbers. They had always felt that the Dark Keep was theirs to use as they saw fit. They had send several of their Steel Captains to command the troop of almost four hundred. Their leader Steel Marshal Karthiss was a legendary swordsman and a match for any knight. Why was he here though? And why was his hatred of the Poison Dusk kept in check? He entered the command mound without any sign of the usual enmity to his old nemeses.

The Wood Spitter tribe had long been a thorn in the side of the Colony. They were the most proficient crafters and harvesters of wood that he knew of among the dark nation. They often clashed with the Earl's men and knight of Stormwatch over rights to harvest wood and over prices of trade items. Wood Splitter lizardfolk are easily offended in negotiations and often came to blow while trading, so the Earl banned from Stormwatch and they were forced to do all their trading in Darkbridge. They would loose a lot of gold by rising up against the Earl. If the Earl's won this war of course. Their leader followed, trailed by several bow men. He scanned the army and noted that bows of superior quality had been distributed among the archers. He spotted about thirty archers who carried what appear to be magical bows. The Wood Splitter Elite Archers were notorious.

Next came a figure shrouded in dark shadows and flanked by two rows of strangely clad lizardfolk. Some were robed in white and other wore blackened armor that appeared to be made from bones. These were the priests of the Bone Carver Clan, there was a score of them half for Bas and half for Saol. They rarely ventured out of the swamp and though they were officially part of The Church of The Moons they paid little heed to the day to ay affairs of any outside their clan. Bone Carvers weapons were made from the bones of their enemies and were said to have magical properties.

The Stone Tribe had sent three hundred of their warriors to assist the attack on the Darkkeep. Arkthuus was beginning to wonder just why they hated this place so much. This was as unusual as all the rest. The Stone Clan were primitive in many ways. They had a primeval relationship with stone and their druids had great power over it. They raised many strange constructions throughout the swamps in honour of Cre and Naduir and these structures were to be found all over Stormwatch. Their homes and weapons made unsurprisingly of Stone. Some of their strongest warriors even wore enchanted armor made of Solid Stone, this was the case for two of the bodyguard that accompanied the grey clad Stone Druid leader of the tribe as he entered the mound.

The Dragon Clans standards numbered five. Representing five hundred warriors sent to destroy the keep. Why the Church had allowed the Dragon Clan to openly practice sorcery was completely beyond him. Dragon clan sorcerers were clever enough to hide themselves to hide themselves among the normal troops in order to avoid being singled out by their enemies, but Arkthuus had faced the Dragon Clan many years before and he had become skilled at picking out the wheat from the chaff. He reckoned there were about two score sorcerers hidden among the warriors. The Dragon Clan leader was the last to enter the mound and Arkthuus spotted him only because he was he saw an inconspicuous lizardfolk disappear from the middle of the Dragon Clan camp.

Arkthuus though that all the leaders were accounted for by this stage. Then from behind a ridge concealed from view until now came about a hundred lizardfolk riding giant crocodiles. Several carried clan standards and other carried a new standard, which Arkthuus took to be the Standard of the Croc Riders. The Blood Scales, Wood Spitters, Stone Tribe and Dragon Clan had formed a unified force. This unity was more alarming than the massive jaws of their mounts. The Captain of this Cavalry dismounted and joined Deshok's group.

Arkthuus put down the spy glass and made several detailed notes on some battered parchment. He called a servant and bid him deliver it to the planners in the main hall below. He sent the spyglass with the note as Stuffitt had convinced him that he had a great need of it.

The parchment contained details of the enemy troops and recollections of the lizardfolk tribes. Enemy Troops: Three two headed lizardfolk, 10 Redscale Ragers, 20 bloodscales, 100 Black Scales, 200 Poison Dusk, 400 Steel Clan, 300 Wood Spitters, 200 Bone Carvers, 300 Stone Tribe, 500 Dragon Clan. Included in the tribes are the following specialists. 10 Steel Captains (SC), 10 Blackscale Barbarians (BS), 30 Elite Archers (WS), 25 Sorcerers (DC), 20 Saol/Bas Clerics (BC), 30 Druids (SC) and 20 Assassins (PD), 100 Giant Crocodile Riders (BS, WS, ST, DC).
Clans of the Dark Swamp: Two Head, Druids (TH), Blood Scale, Redscale Ragers (BS), Black Scale, Barbarians (BS), Poison Dusk, Assassins (PD), Steel Clan, Steel Captains (SC), Wood Spitters, Elite Archers (WS), Bone Carvers, Saol/Bas Clerics (BC), Stone Tribe, Druids (SC), Dragon Clan, Sorcerer (DC), Dragon Walkers, Dracotaurs Swarm Herders.

Not good thought Arkthuus. Not good at all. He tried to be thankful that the Dragon Walker Clan of Dracotaurs and Swarm Herder Clan had not sent any troops but his spirit was not in a grateful mood. At least, he thought, the battle will be a worthy end. He quietly looked out over what used to be his domain as the sun went down.

The Parlay of Darkkeep

AK510-39 Cool Summer End Week 3
[Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Shaleday

The second half of the lizardfolk army arrives with siege engines.

The two armies merge and there is considerable debate among the lizardfolk tribes.
The Redscales and blackscales assume control and the siege is renewed.

Ivellios, Tanner, Charmer raid the lizardfolk camp at night and destroy several siege towers and catapults.
Tin Tan manages to personally light al of the ones that are not lit but Ivellios Fireball.
Tim Tanner has many spells up and is fearsome to behold. However he is almost slain by the lizardfolk Redscales.
They escape to the keep.

A Church of The Moons Priest comes to parlay with the keep and tells them that if they leave the keep by dawn of the following day they will be allowed to leave unharmed under the protection of the church.
The cleric states that he is not in a position to prevent the army from attacking the keep and slaying all who are present. He pleads with them to leave. He doesn’t recognise Tim Tanner's rank as official or superior to his. He doesn't recognise the Counts claim upon these lizardfolk lands. He is arrogant, haughty and sharp tongued. He shows the minimum respect due to the keeps defenders.

Tanner contacts the church. The Church responds that he must resolve this issue as he sees fit himself to prove that he is indeed ready to accept the mantle of Arch Vedic. He realises that if the crisis is resolved well, he will be officially ordained as Arch Vedic of The North.

As the day passes, both sides prepare for the assault. Some men are sent down to the basement to retrieve materials for the defence. One is attacked and flees to the main hall. He is pursued by a molten mound of eyes, fangs and slime which Ivellios identifies as a Chaos Beast.
They slay the beast and realise that it is in fact the remains of one of the soldiers, who was somehow transformed into the hideous mass before them.

At this point a ghost forms in the main hall. Ethan's spirit is unable to rest and he has returned to help complete the fight that claimed his life.

They make their way into the basement in order to investigate the death of the soldier. They notice that several of the chains stored in the basement for use with the water machinery have been laid out in the halls. When they investigate they are attacked by a chain devil (Kyton). Ethan's ghost manages to take control of it. He then manages to force it to remain still while they others slay it.

Shortly afterwards they are attacked by a Formian Warrior and while they manage to dispatch it fairly quickly this rash of extraplanar attacks is beginning to take a toll on their resources and they have few spells left and a few of them are wounded.

Todd searches the chambers more thoroughly and find a few trinkets to amuse himself…

Fortunately the attacks seem to have abated for a short while. Ethan's ghost moves through the sealed wall at the end of the Torlandish dungeon. Beyond it he finds a shadow asp nest, a large cavern, a grand staircase and an ethereal barrier.

The barrier cannot be penetrated and his purpose somehow prevents him from descending the grand staircase. He follows the cavern for over a mile until it exists in a small thicket hidden from view of the keep. He returns to tell the others of this potential escape route.

Then they spend the night preparing for the attack to come at dawn.