The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[Jack Simth]

Jack retrieves Narp's shield with his spacewarp, while D lights his staff again.

Jack (as he hands Narp his shield) "While I could possibly manipulate the metal, I wouldn't be able to manipulate it where it's needed - touching the dust. If the dust were removed, I altered the metal, and then the dust were reapplied, I couldn't re-seal the metal without ruining the dust. This is one of those applications where it's actually much simpler to use a normal method. However, it should still stop a spell or two as is."

Under the light from D's staff, the dining room comes into view. Everything has been cleaned up and put away, although there is a slight lingering scent of the Last meal: roast duck. The red velvet chairs at the Baron's table have all been neatly tucked in under the tablecloth, which has a detailed scene depicting a silver knight, clad head to toe in shining plate, doing battle with with a large green dragon, wings spread and belching flame. The benches at the rough-hewn servants' table, worn smooth from years of use, have been slid under the table, without ceremony, and fresh straw has been lain on the floor.

Jack "Narp, how do we go about organizing a defense?"

[ August 14, 2003, 07:18: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[i'm assuming the manor has a central turret which is the highest and then a lower wizard's tower and that the walls have lower tower's.]

Narp "mumble mumble. mumble. general mumble high ground mumble. defensive mumble mumble."

"Ok, Jack, John, Arther, D. D, you make all of us invisible, then we go up to the top of the center tower. two of you face the woods on the right, two of you face the woods on the left. If the bandits have any kind of leader, and we can't assume they don't, they'll attack all along the wall, then concentrat some of there forces on the weak points. Their greatest advantage is suprise, so Jack, you send a golem at the bandits. make sure no-one in the manor knows where it comes from, since we don't know their attitude towards us. we don't need it to do much damage, just reveal their presence. Since they'll have flour to, it probably won't anyway. Then, when the bandits are fully engaged, you all start bLasting at their rear ranks so there's no friendly fire. At that point, it won't matter so much when we reveal ourselves. I know the towers are in the way, but work around them. I'll give suggestions as nessasary."

ooc:[feel free to stick strategetic type words in Narp's mouth.]

[ August 14, 2003, 08:24: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack teleports everyone to the roof of the central tower, and then retrieves Narp's shield via spacewarp. The view from the tower would be splendid, if only it was light out. Jack teleports in a bunch of sand for the golem.

Jack "Let's see...."

Jack creates a golem from the sand he teleported in, but this isn't quite a standard golem; its left arm is thin and jagged, with no hand. It looks suspiciously like a saw blade.

Jack "There - that should get them noticed."

Jack (to golem) "Cut tree limbs off of the trees in that forest and drop those tree limbs on the bandit army in that forest from high above. Dodge anything sent your way. Do not enter any clouds of dust."

Hearing its command, the golem starts to fly off to the forest, but Jack intervens and teleports it to just above the tree line. The golem ducks into the trees, and a few moments later, low thuds and faint screams can be heard from that direction.

Jack brings in more sand and starts repeating the procedure....

Jack "That arm can't bend much - I had to reenforce it to make it hard enough to saw wood. But then again, it doesn't need to bend much."

[ August 16, 2003, 06:34: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

The forest did not come up to the castle walls--such a state would allow enemies to approach unnoticed. It did, however, come close enough that Jack's golems could harass the bandits until they were within two and a half bowshots from the castle. Those closest to the leader were staying fairly close together with shields held above their heads; several on the edges were dragging; and a few had thrown down their weapons and were in flight, cursing the "haunted" woods. All told, there were still eighty-five or ninety fighting men, several with slight wounds. Most were armed with swords, although eight or ten sergeants carried halberds.

The bandits had gladly left the cover of the wood and its assault of branches, finding it was still dark enough not to be seen. They had slowly advanced up the hill toward the manor house, stopping about a bowshot away for some brief instructions from their lieutenant, right around the time the party teleported to the central tower.

As the bandits resume their approach, several explosions occur behind them. When they turn around, a force wall sweeps through the group a foot from the ground, knocking dozens off their feet. A few try to run, but are stopped by a gruff word from their commander. They form ranks and head for the wall double-time, silently preparing for the attack.

[ August 17, 2003, 01:45: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[sounds like the alert has been given. maybe half servants/half guards? in any case, i'll call them all guards.]

shouts echo from the walls. A few moments later, globes of magical light flare out around the wall. John mutters "now those, i remember. A minor, but well-done spell." Guards run out of the towers and line the walls as ladders and grappeling hooks hit the wall. Bags of flour fly both ways, but the globes avoid those aimed at them. They don't appear to have any substance, simply floating in air. Guards push ladders and hack at ropes.

Narp "The defenders are holding, but barely. Maybe a noisy distraction would be better next time, Jack. A few minutes more, then bombard."

at the walls, several on both sides pull out low-level magical items.

ooc:[there. something fun for the next person. The globes don't nessasarily have to be all John's idea, to.]

[ August 20, 2003, 06:07: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack teleports his golems back, who are all holding tree branches, having had no quarry in the forest to drop them on for a time.

Jack "Noisier, hmm?"

Jack (to golems) "Cancel previous orders. Return to that forest, drop the branches you are carrying, find a tree at least three feet in diameter at its base, or failing to find such a tree, the largest tree in the forest; cut it down, bring it to a position five feet away from this tower, and await further orders."

The golems, having their orders, start to fly back towards the forest, but Jack again teleports them to just above the tree line.

Jack "There - give them a minute or two to find and fall a good-sized tree. When they get back here, just tell me where you want them to drop it. The crash should be very noisy, and even those who can't hear will feel the thump when it hits the ground. There should be no mistaking it."

Jack "... or did you want me bombarding them some other way?"

Jack "Hey Arthur, how tight of a control do you have on the weather? Could you force the attackers to go through snow drifts or something without swamping the turrets with it? That would slow the attackers down a lot, without hindering the defense much."

[ August 20, 2003, 06:58: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

Arthur "Snow? Well, I suppose I could get snow, but limiting it to such a narrow zone would more than likely limit its density as well. I don't think it would be more than an annoyance. Now, rain, that I can do. I don't think it would be easy to climb that hill in a raging thunderstorm..."

Arthur steps away for a moment and concentrates. Low clouds suddenly gather, very low, some just a few feet above the central tower. They converge on a spot over the base of the hill, triggering a deluge so heavy it sounds like a nearby waterfall. The storm remains stationary long enough to create a muddy slough, then begins methodically working toward the manor. The grass quickly becomes slick with mud, and bandits soon are slipping every few steps. A few completely lose their balance and slide down the hill, only to sink in the yard-deep mud there. The storm stops about ten yards from the castle gates and offers yet another gift to the already-weary bandits--hail. The warriors struggle to keep their balance on the slick hill while raising their shields to ward off the fist-sized stones. The few who were already at the wall are torn between continuing the attack on their own or waiting for their comrades.

Arthur "Jack, if you could take this and link it to a good power source, it could Last for a while. If you want to use a capacitor, we can give them a good burst and then try something else. Either way, I'll need a substantial rest if I sustain this for much more than another thirty seconds."

Meanwhile, John comments to Narp, "Well, Narp, I guess that rules out any kind of sortie from the gates. Maybe if we had some good light out there, we could hit them with ranged weapons."

[ August 23, 2003, 03:28: Message edited by: Krsqk ]