The group boards the ore barge, piling on. You wonder how the barge actually maneuvers, there are no sails, and surely they can't pole such a massive weight. There are no oars.
You take a seat near the back, resting against a heap of ore. The pilot is a dwarf actually and he sits in a small boathouse at the back of the barge. He seems to be moving some levers inside it and the barge must have some sort of locomotion on the bottom of it, as you hear some churning in the water and the boat starts to move.
You make sure Grubgullet doesn't eat the ore, and the barge moves towards the giant gap between the towers. The spotlight keeps you all in its bright focus. At the entrance between the towers, the pilot calls out to the guards and the guards within the tower activate some contraption that must lower some underwater defense. There is a churning in the water, the sound of large metallic gears creaking and heavy metal chains clunking. After a bit the signal is give to move the barge through. Once though, the noise resumes, and water is under the water returns to its position to protect the entrance.
Crossing the lake is slow for the large barge, and even at this late late hour, there is quite a bit of activity in the lakeshore village. The southern shore is dimly lit but you see houses and buildings set against the wall that protects that shore, the northern shore, the buildings are spread out under the face of the cliff. You head to a docking area on the north shore, where heavily armed patrol boats guide you in and keep an eye on you.
Once parked, several marshals blow a whistle and approach the boat. The dwarven pilot disembarks and moves to talk with some dock workers about the cargo. The marshals wait until you disembark and gauge the group.
"Welcome to Cliffort refugees. Your group has special quarters in the fort. Follow us."
A large contingent of heavily armed dwarves waits nearby, thick armor, heavy crossbows, pikes, hammers, picks, axes all complement their mini armory of weaponry.
The marshals pause and wait to see if you follow or have questions.
Oh look! They called an honor guard out for us!
Shaeyl plasters a huge grin on his face and eagerly waves at the 'contigent of heavily armed dwarves'.
He'll approach them smiling and waving offering his hand for a shake and greeting each of them.
Thank you for your hospitality! Thank you! Oh wow, that armor is soo shiny! Ooh that axe looks sharp! Do you work out a lot?
The dwarves look fairly no nonsense, and none of them acknowledge your greeting or take up your offer to shake their hands. Many of them shift slightly, and you see their hands move close, ready if they need to cut you down.
The marshals try to gather Shaeyl back over to the group. Addressing Aury'tss, "Don't bother with them, they aren't the chatty type, they don't get chummy with anyone."
Aury nods appreciatively for the advice and shrugs apologetically to Shaeyl,
"I don't think the dwarves are going to want to chat any time soon. Maybe after we help the fort, they might be more open to it."
To the marshal again she asks, "Before we settle in, could I ask for a favor? If there's going to be fighting, and we might have to leave early as an early attack team, I need a weapon. I'm pretty good with a bow, but haven't been able to find one with the goatlings. It'd be about shortbow size by your standards, or maybe a training longbow for younger humans."
Day 4 - late late night
"I believe you will meet with leadership in the morning. If you are helping, I suspect they will make attempts to outfit you. Don't quote me on that, but if you need a bow, you will be able to find one here. Normally there are weaponsmiths who sell their wares, but the Thain has decreed that most weapons are sold first to the crown, and all smiths are under orders to produce things that are needed most. There are plenty of hunters here that would sell a bow maybe. Just ask when they meet with you tomorrow."
"I am Marshal Averleen. I will escort you to your quarters now." Marshal Averleen is a short wiry human woman with close cropped mousy brown hair and dark piercing eyes. Two other marshals with her could be brothers with a similar look, large blonde beard but short hair. They walk with you and the dwarven unit falls in behind keeping watch as you step into the small village.
The village is illuminated by torchlight in most places, or lanterns, or even possibly everburning fire. You are proceeding directly to the cliff face although the village streets wind and twist. Given the organization of everything else you are surprised the streets are not laid out more orderly, although you suspect it may be a defensive strategy. You eventually approach a massive gate. The gate appears to be made entirely of thick reinforced steel and is heavily guarded. Built right into the cliffside, the gate slowly opens to reveal a massive portcullis and a series of inner gates. You are led through the gate after the marshals are verified. Inside the gates and portcullises are opened and closed in sequence, one at a time, trapping you within the gates. Murder holes above, and a drop floor below are evident. Tubes flanking each side of the inner gates could expel all manner of death to invaders in your positions. Your mind wanders to fire, acid, gas, spears, bolts, arrows, or other things.
Before long the series of elaborate security ends and you are within the fort itself. You are handed over to a unit of dwarven guards at the gates who will lead you to your quarters. Marshal Averleen and the two brother marshals depart. The dwarven commander grunts at you and mutter something incomprehensible, but you gather it means to follow him. A large security detail of similarly armored and armed dwarves escorts you, in front and back as you are led through winding tunnels up and down various stairs, and through a variety of doors, most with sentries. Eventually you are led into a narrow hall. Many of the halls here were problematic for Grubgullet, forcing him to stoop or move slowly. Here it is even more lower and narrow than before. The dwarves seem unapologetic. They unlock a chamber and are led inside. The room, which seems ordinarily is some sort of storage chamber has been fashioned into some quarters of some sort. Beds for all, and even several have been pushed together for Grubgullet. There is food, water, chamberpots, a table with some stools and a washbasin. The dwarf speaks for the first time at least to you and intelligibly. "These are your quarters for tonight. Do not leave or wander the halls. In the morning you will have an audience with leadership. "
Without waiting for a response, he steps out and closes the door. You do not hear it locking, but you are aware of sentries stationed outside. There is a brief exchange of words, but it is probably in Dwarven (modern), and you don't get the gist of it.
The group has made it, civilization at last, such as it is. Tired, hungry, thirsty and dirty, you have real actual beds, and a real roof. What will happen in the morning?
"Don't know exactly, they haven't said much that I can hear, but I think they're here so we don't create a ruckus, or scare the villagers. The humans are a bit more willing to talk, it seems."
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Sly slings his small pack next to one f the beds. Eying Grubgullet, he makes sure to grab a portion of the food for himself and Aury'tss before it is all gone. "Did you see the defenses as we came in? They are certainly well-prepared. They could probably withstand a protracted siege if need be. Not that we will let it get that far," he says seriously. "But we should get what rest we can. It may be many long days in our immediate future."
Shaeyl follows Sly's lead with grabbing some grub for himself and his familiar. May as well put this time to good use with the remaining leather.
Settling on one of the beds, he eats, and then starts working on a new jacket for himself.
"Well, apparently not knowing the language wasn't a problem tonight. You could have cut through that tension with a rusty spoon. They were almost as silent as some of the illithid hosts back home."
Ctha'at pauses and probes the food offered gently with his tentacles before wriggling them in disgust. He turns back to the group before continuing his train of thought.
"And the hosts were brainless. I'm not sure what the dwarf's excuses were." Ctha'at looks happily dazed at the thought of brains before making a strange noise and digging into the offered food, heading to sleep after he managed to pick through a small portion.
As the candles flicker and grow smaller, Shaeyl works into the night on his jacket. The others nod off or go to sleep after some food, water and ablutions.
Day 5 - Morning?
The group wakes with a start to someone pounding on the door. There is a moment of confusion; where are we? what happened? what time is it? Your darkvision kicks in and you look around the room and rememember where you are. You have slept well, but not sure how long. Shaeyl wakes next to his jacket, having fallen asleep mid-craft, the tools scattered on the bed and floor with scraps of leather.
The knock is repeated, louder and more earnestly.
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Quickly rousing himself, a still bare-chested Sly braces himself against the door. Something about the situation causes him to cast a message spell on Aury'tss and Shaeyl as a precaution. "I have cast a message spell and can hear your replies, just in case, he whispers. He finally calls out, "Who is it?"
Sly you realize they cannot understand you, probably. Hoping they have some linguistics spell running you reply. In return someone on the other side, a dwarven voice probably replies, and you don't understand it.
Aury'tss still has the shared languages spell running however.
"It is time to meet with the Thain. Ready yourselves. Are you awake in there? Get up!"
Grubgullet stirs, not sure what's going on. As far as he's aware, all that's happened is that the group found a place to eat and sleep, and it's full of more people who talk gibberish.
Nonetheless, as the group doesn't seem to treat this rude awakening as a threat, unlike the last time this sort of thing happened, he remains docile.
"Yes one minute!" She calls out to the gruff voice.
"It's time to meet with the Thain, grab your things everyone!"
"Yes one minute!" She calls out to the gruff voice.
"It's time to meet with the Thain, grab your things everyone!"
The voice calls back, "No weapons, no minions! We will escort you there, be ready in 5 minutes."
"Minions?" Aury asks herself aloud in ancient common.
"They said 'no weapons, no minions' and that they would be ready to escort us in 5 minutes."
"This thain fellow isn't a very good host, security is one thing but those guards just seem rude."
The group hurriedly dresses. You use the chamberpots, splash some water on your face, toss down some food and water, and maybe a little prestidigitation to look presentable, and prepare for the audience.
In a short time, the knock comes again, and the door opens, a different dwarven officer steps into the room and nods in greeting. He has thick black hair, a long full beard adorned with silver rings around some small braids. He and the dozen or so heavily armored guard unit accompanying him stand ready. "The Thain is ready to see you. The audience will be brief, but he has stated he wishes to personally meet every group of your people arriving. As you are aware of the impending attack, his time is required to facilitate over many issues. My name is Commander Klavin."
I haven't been here long enough to acquire any minions. Those guards might make good ones, but I expect my minions to have a sense of humor. The dwarves may not pass my interview process for minion status. Ptery is not a minion, and won't be left out of the proceedings.
When the dwarf comes for them Shaeyl listens and looks to Aury for translation.
I'm ready.
If Grubgullet had taken the time to think about the situation, he'd probably be thankful that Dwarven architecture had a taste for the grandiose. Otherwise, he likely wouldn't have fit inside, let alone had room to move around. However, Grubgullet being Grubgullet, there was very little chance of him stopping to think about anything more than what he was about to say.
"Will stumpy mens have breakfast?"
If Grubgullet had taken the time to think about the situation, he'd probably be thankful that Dwarven architecture had a taste for the grandiose. Otherwise, he likely wouldn't have fit inside, let alone had room to move around. However, Grubgullet being Grubgullet, there was very little chance of him stopping to think about anything more than what he was about to say.
"Will stumpy mens have breakfast?"
The halls and corridors getting to the room you are in were tight and narrow in some spots and required you to stoop at times. The room you are in is spacious enough even for your large frame. They did leave food on the table for you the night before, which, assuming you did not consume it all then, is still there.
The dwarves make sure you have no weapons, or minions (they don't care about familiars, they just don't want eidolons or other big animals) they escort you out. Commander Klavin says "Ok we go to visit the Thain. Make sure you observe proper protocol. Don't interrupt him or approach him, just,....try to be....normal."
You are led through more winding corridors up and down stairs, and through secured doors with sentries, escorted by your heavily armed unit of dwarves.
You reach the audience chamber which is really more of a war room. Maps, and scrolls and books are all over. A man who must be the Thain stands in the middle of the room surrounded by advisors and generals.
The Thain has dark hair, somewhat graying. His long thick beard is braided in four parts, each braid kept in a golden band with valuable jewels. His armor is silvery and highly ornate, etched and inlaid. His head is bare; with no crown or helm. Next to him is another dwarf, shorter but portlier looking. This dwarf too wears armor, although it is clear this armor while excellently maintained has seen quite the number of battles. A large symbol of twin axes hangs from his neck.
"I Thain Yarvik Ironfirst IV welcome you to the Nordron Holdings, on behalf of King Karl Thunderforge."
"This is Priest Stonehammer, high priest of Clangeddin. These are my commanders."
You also notice a large contingent, twenty plus, of elite dwarven guards in the room, armed to the teeth with loaded crossbows and an arsenal of other weapons.
Commander Klavin bows to the Thain and leads you to the back of the room and arrays you there, and then leaves the chamber with his escort unit.
"I have begun meeting with each group of your people. It is folly for us to ignore the circumstances of your arrival, and in many ways it can be fortuitious for both of us. As we learn more of your ... people, we understand you are looking for your lost master. At the same time, we have learned that we are soon to be under assault by a large gathering force of giants, they humanoid underlings and a mix of other creatures, all gathering in the black ice tunnels and mountains less than a week north of us. This rabble must be dispersed and if they make it here to attack the fort, must be shown the error of their thinking. If you aid us in this fight, offensively or defensively, we will pay you for your services. "
She nods respectfully towards the Thain.
"Of course, Thain Ironfist, the goatlings told us of the situation with the giants and raiders.
Before I ask anything further, would you permit me to cast a spell so one of my companions can understand you and translate to the others?"
Indicating the two dwarves she says "Thain Yarkvik, and the high priest Stonehammer."
"We believe we can aid you in the fight by acting as an attack or scouting force. Do they have patrols or scouts closer to the fort that can be dealt with?"
"They have sent hellhound scouts out but none closer than several days. If you wish to attack as an offensive force, you will work with Head Marshal Hawke who is coordinating the scouting efforts. "
"Very well. If are effective and skilled, Marshal Hawke will be your next meeting. He is out on a mission currently, but will return soon. He can see to your mission briefing and to outfitting you in something more serviceable than baskets and crude leathers."
" We look forward to meeting him. Is anymore known about who or what the leader of the group is or what they are after?"
"We do have information about their leader. They are after our destruction. Giants are malice filled creatures, all envious of superior dwarven industry and craftsmanship."
Shaeyl had been translating for the rest of the group as Thain spoke.
Bowing slightly, Shaeyl injected his own thoughts, Your highness, the Children of Goodwin thank you for your hospitality. Many of our brothers and sisters were often received only at the end of a sword tip. Shaeyl carefully does not glance at the guards arrayed around the room.
As you have been informed, we have been lost to time for many millennia. Much has changed, language and culture most obviously. I would not be surprised to learn that even proper etiquette has changed over the last several thousand years. Shaeyl cracks a smile at Thain. It does seem that we will find ourselves in a position of 'hurrying up to wait.' I ask that his highness see fit to assign individuals that can provide us with a crash course in the nuances of the current common tongue, proper decorum, and even history. Let us make use of that time we have before we head off into battle for your people.
"I can assign a servant to assist you with what they can if any are willing to take up the task. If you wish a history lesson, Loremaster Cronin will be willing to talk, although I need to make use of his time as well, do not overly tarry as he tends to get off track easily."
Aury'tss nods appreciatively. "That would be most helpful, Thain Ironfist. First we'll figure out language and maybe when there's more time after the raiders are dealt with, we can talk to Loremaster Cronin, I am sure this is a very busy time for everyone."
She looks to her companions to see if they have anything else to add before continuing. "We will find Marshal Hawke for more information on the battle and the raiders. Thank you for your valuable time."
The meeting breaks and the commander comes back in to escort you back to your quarters. "When Head Marshal Hawke returns from his current mission, you will meet with him for your tasks. I will check with Loremaster Cronin and see if he can take visitors."
Shaeyl talks with his companions, we don't need the King's Loremaster, any teacher of younglings would do. It's the basics we need.
"It never hurts to know important people in the world, after all. A scholar might be happy to interact with a bunch of oddities like us."
Day 5 - Late Afternoon
Your group is getting antsy in the quarters. They bring you more food and water one time, and a servant comes to empty the chamberpots. They inform you that Head Marshal Hawke is on his way and when he arrives, you will be meeting with him and some of the marshals to determine what your role will be in taking on the giants.
You wait for a few more hours and take some more food and eventually the knock comes.
"Follow us, we will take you now to the planning room."
Again with a heavily armed escort you are taken through more tunnels, halls and locked doors.
You are led into a large room with Marshal Hawke standing at the front of the room. Many others of your brothers and sisters are also assembling and filing in with escorts. Marshal Hawke stands at the front with some other marshals and he is holding a large scroll. A big map is hanging from the wall.
The room is lined with benches for everyone to sit on.
He waits patiently while the groups file in.
Ctha'at walks over to the map and examines it while the other groups continue to come in. When the stream of newcomers dwindles, Ctha'at walks over and seats himself near Sly.
Aury'tss talks to some of the other groups excitedly, sharing stories until it starts quieting down.
The various groups file in and chit chat and greet each other. Marshal Hawke seems like a lean no nonsense sort of person. He has the sort of dark eyes that see much and can take stock of a person in a glance. As Sly takes measure of him, he looks back meeting his gaze.
He starts out in your Common Tongue, probably aided by a Tongues spell.
"OK, not everyone is here yet, but that is to be expected. Let's get this rolling and I can dole out duties if we get any other recruits from your people. Here is what is happening. A fire giant name Rambanchus, self stylized as a king of some sort, has been mighy successful in raising an army of monsters to come and sack this fort. This fort, as you know is a bastion of power in this wilderness and is fairly impregnable against your run of the mill ragtag band of orcs or what have you. A lot of trade and resources come down the river, past the dam and on to the towns and cities of the kingdom. The economy of this is at stake. Clearly if a major army appeared, it would be met with an equal army sent by the king. However we are not at war with anyone, and you don't often see that level of organization among the tribes of the various humanoid races."
"This is something a little different, not an army, but not just a raiding force bent on stealing a few cows. Due to the unique nature and powers of the creatures the enemies have assembled, we need to unique response. The Thain has already determined to not ask for aid from the King, feeling as though it is not needed, wishing to deal with it himself. Dwarven pride and all that."
"Anyhow, we know that Rambanchus has divided his forces into smaller groups, able to move faster. They are also not crossing that great of an area. They don't need supply trains and a giants can carry a lot of food for the few weeks it would take to come here and wreak havoc. We know that there are plenty of orcs, goblinoids, ogres, trolls, ettins and cyclops among the forces. Apparently Rambanchus has been quite successful in emptying the hills and mountains of these creatures and forming them into some sort of band with the promise of war, food, and riches. They are stemming from the mountains to the north. These rugged areas are harsh and many of the ranges are covered in the black ice, but beneath the ice lie hundreds of miles of tunnels and open areas. The ranges are volcanic in origin and large portions of the ice have melted leaving, huge caverns that could hold entire towns. A griffon rider cannot see any of this from the sky. We don't even have maps of what lies under the ice. Some of these bands have come to the surface and we are seeing them moving."
"Your role is to pick a group of these creatures and strike at them. Whether through full assault or through sowing fear, doubt, dissent, or creating chaos to cause these groups to break apart or fail, I don't care. We need people willing to take these risks. My riders are already spread thing, and this is not the kind of things they do. The dwarves are slow moving and would just as soon meet these forces head on in battle to the last one standing. That won't always work. If you can manage it great, otherwise get in, and get out. While we have these individual groups weakened, slowed or eliminated, we can focus on the leadership, which will be much much more difficult. We know little so far, but with some magical scrying and divination we have discovered he is no slouch. To prove this, our scrying was blocked shortly after our first attempts. Rambanchus has skilled arcane and or divine magic aiding him as well. "
"None the less, with some luck most of them won't even make it here, and will give up without a cohesive force or leader."
"I have identified on these maps where these sub-groups are moving from. As mentioned most are some combination of humanoids, giant types and the like. They have recently added aerial support, manticores, wyverns, and they have hell hound scouts as well as other minions. Expect to encounter other creatures in their service a well, many that we have not seen yet. Our plan is simple. For those of you going, pick a spot on the map to travel to, strike at the group and do as much damage as you can for as long as you can. If you have to fall back or return here, do so. We would rather have the information learned from a failed assault than have you throw your lives away."
"We can provide equipment for this from our stores, but we don't have gear for large sizes, like ogres or minotaurs, or other exotic weapons or special materials premade. Some of this can be fashioned, but clearly you can't make a suit of ogre sized armor over night. Keep your requests logical. The Thain has authorized roughly 100 gold per person in supplies. This includes healing potions. He has authorized that you may keep any spoils, but you must report it because we need to know the level of wealth, weaponry, armor, and magic that these enemies have. If they are raiding ancient ruins, lairs and tombs, we wish to see the items to record from what era and culture they come from."
"You probably have a lot of questions. I can take a few. Keep them brief, but clearly I wish to answer them if they are important."
Aury turns to the others sitting down. "We should make sure we have a plan. If these raiders are traveling, maybe we could lay an ambush."
She calls out to Marshal Hawke, "Are they using roads to travel, or just going straight through the forest or plains?"
"The terrain is rugged, where they are, hunting trails and other natural paths such as dry river beds or canyons will serve them best. They may forge though a forest, creatures such as giants and their kin will leave a swath of destruction. I may alerts the druids they may be interested." He writes a note on a piece of paper.
"When they arrive closer they will use the trails that the miners and loggers used, but we suspect they will waste little time in approaching the fort, hopefully they leave the camps alone once they find nothing of use there. Though they may burn them out of malice and spite."
"...Ambush?"
It seems even Grubgullet knows how absurd it would be to trust him to take part in a sneak attack.
"Well I was thinking of a few ways we could do it. You won't have to sneak up on anybody, just hide in the forest."
She goes into a bit more depth on her plan - they could figure out which way the raiders were traveling, and wait in hiding ahead of them. When they are a few hundred feet away, a few of the group could begin shooting at them with bows or spells.
When the raiders get closer, they could retreat into the forest. Bear traps can be placed at the easiest places to get through to hopefully catch some of the raiders. Then they can either decide to battle or just continue retreating.
The spell obscuring mist could hide their retreat if they need to truly escape.