Ankih bemusedly follows Bugsby ( though he isn't very stealthy) and tries to make sense of what he is being taught.
I wonder if belief is all that matters? Believe in your own ability to do something, and you can? It seems to work remarkably well for the gnome...
Ankih idles his time away at the Flask, donning his new yeti fur cloak, flipping the hood up and scaring himself in the mirror, because with the hood up he LOOKS a lot like a yeti...
Bugsby stealthily makes his way to meet the various shop keeps after dark, using the noise from the Weasel to drown out any potential noises he may have made. The carpenter tells you that his magical wares are nothing more than a basic enchanted staff of darkwood . The blacksmith takes down his sign as he tells you this is a magical shield of arrow catching, and he makes sure to emphasize the catching part. He takes a few steps away and fires an arrow at a spot 5' away from Bugsby, who amazedly watches the arrows path turn to strike the shield. The owner of the general store has two items that piqued the gnomes interest, the belt makes you feel more robust and hardy, while the studded leather is a step up from your normal magical armor.
They advise you they'll remain in their shops for another hour "cleaning up" if you wanted to make a purchase.
Bugsby thanks them profusely and quietly and reports to the others what wares were available. "Iwashopingforacurativewand, buttheydidhavesomeinterestingthings. Whatdoyouthinkwouldhappenifyouputthatbeltonadyingoldlady? Iwonderifanyoldladiesaredyingaroundtown..." he muses.
It is about a 10 mile hike to the Pale Tower. Sharp winds whistle across this stark white plain, stinging the eyes along with the near-blinding rays of the reflected sun. A great eruption of frozen ice rises in the distance- An imposing pale tower crowned with icicles spearing into the sky. Seemingly born of the land itself, an unbroken circular wall of ice guards the towers base, with no means of entrance visible. High above, a large gash opens in the tower's bowl-like crown, ringed in icy spikes and split by a massive plane of ice resembling an inverted crescent moon. A trampled path of snow, heavily tracked by footprints and sled trails lead away from the road, and ends abruptly at an opaque wall of ice. Carvings and ancient glyphs depict only the semblance of a gateway on its surface. Above, there are two parapets flanking what was described as the entrance. The heads of two guards can be seen above each parapet, while there is an occasional head seen along the wall as a guard peers over the side.
Avora will surrender herself up to being a guard.
Watching Sven struggle along in the too-small guard uniform, Kalt can't help but chuckle. "This reminds me of something, Bjornson," he says in a low voice as they make their way towards the tower. "That bar-maid, the, um, big-boned one? And your abrupt exit from her room when her father showed up?" He laughs almost helplessly for a moment, a departure from his usually grim demeanor, and a stark contrast to the Pale Tower's fearsome appearance. "You ran out of there buck-naked, grabbed one of her dresses off the laundry line as you cut through the horse-yard of the tavern, threw it over your head on the move. The whole squad watched as you made off down the street, looking for all the world like a long-haired lass - though the shoulders and the beard spoiled the effect a bit."
He settles down a bit, and says, "Though the squad all agreed that you did the right thing by running, rather than going toe-to-toe with the innkeep after a roll with his daughter. And we've all gotten a few free drinks since then, telling the tale."
As the Tower nears, Kalt's more serious demeanor asserts itself, and he takes on the visage of a stern-faced guard of the ice witches' tower.
I cant believe they thought I could pull off being a guard. Nobody in this region has skin my color. Hope I don't give us all away...
Ankih walks to the rear of the group, with his Yeti cloak's hood pulled up and over his head, he remains quiet and tries not to be noticed....
" I ..think.. I understand what you are trying to teach me. The idea of a structured and more rigid path seems to appeal to me though. It seems more like my priestly training. I am wondering if maybe that isn't the path I shouldn't take. It seems really hard for me to follow in your wondrous footsteps my friend." He says to Bugsby, looking a might more clearly now.
" Yes, I believe , I will start studying the structure of spells and cantrips, now. Wizardry, not Sorcery will prove my path. It won't be nearly as fun, I'll wager. But I will probably be a good deal more successful with it. Thank you friend Bugsby!"
As he's marched along with the bigger folks, off-times more carried than walking towards the magestic white tower, the gnome considers his role. "It'llbemypleasure!" the little fellow says with a wide smirk. He continues to think of his lines as they move, hanging his head low and stumbling a bit the times his feet do touch the ground.
The gnome does his best to look the part of a prisoner as the party makes it approach, and begins to moan and wail loudly, thrashing about half-heartedly as if unable to muster the strength to escape, "Ohpleaseno! Please don't throw me into jail! I promise I'll leave and never come back! Just don't go after my friends, please! I have gold, lots of red and yellow and sparkly gold! Oh no! Not the tower! Pleaseohplease not the tower! All that snow and ice and prison! is me!" His speech is deliberately slowed so as to be understood by the nearby guards, his short legs kicking futilely in the grip of his 'captors'.
Kalt does his best to look like a taciturn Tower guard, expecting that Sven will do most of the talking.
The guards at the parapets turn to look at the approaching group, shielding their eyes from the glare. Hollering down to the group;
Spluttering over Guardsman Sven’s outburst, he calls down;
Bugsby makes a show of trying to get away, "You know my friends are listening with magical ears! Please use your passwords you bufoons!! They'll be in to rescue me in no time! Haha!" he smiles triumphantly at the guards above.
" We received a command phrase for the teleport system's 2 lower levels, but not a password as such." Whispers Ankih to Sven."A gathering within the hall, take one, take us all"
Gilganis keeps his head lowered, but offers several curses and sneers in Infernal as the party leads the prisoners towards the tower. He struggles against the false bonds and when the porticullis begins to raise he feigns an attempt to try and withdraw, "No, I'll not be taken inside. Please. It's not too late to do the right thing!"
"Ehr...shut up, you!" Avora pokes gently at Gilganis with her spear, pretending to frown.
The gate pauses about half way up Looking down, one of the guards hollers;
With the pausing of the portcullis signaling the jig is up, the "prisoners" burst their bonds and the group dashes forward, Gilganis and Bugsby barely avoiding getting pinned to the ground as the portcullis crashes down. One of the guards calls out in common, "Bordegga, Dinner time!" then, looking at the party, laughingly adds, "If you are one of us, you better come up with that password in the next few seconds or you'll be dinner."
A massive ice sculpture of a dragon dominates this open courtyard, standing with raised wings upon a dias of solid ice. Seven squat shacks sit along the inner wall with several dogsleds stored outside. Between them, four ice chutes descend from the battlements of the outer wall. To the west, large double doors studded with icicles lead inside the Pale Tower itself, just beneath an overhang of sharp icicles dangling from above.
As if to emphasize the guardsman's point, the roof erupts from a distant shack to reveal a troll easily one and a half times the size of the one the group previously fought. This one wears no armor, and his greenish hide is a mass of scar tissue and burn marks, almost as if the guards enjoyed hitting the beast with fire from atop the ramparts and watching it burn while struggling up the exceptionally slick ice chutes.
Bugsby takes one look at the immense troll and quickly agrees with Sven, "Archers... Yougotit! Someone toss the grappling hook up there!" he requests urgently, suddenly forgetting who carries it in the excitement. That said, he takes off running behind a few sheds towards the chute to the south, ready to climb when the time comes. He hides in the shadow of the shed and the chute, readying his crossbow in case an archer from above rears his head over the parapet to shoot.
Avora growls, a deep and throaty sound. Though physically unchanged, she somehow seems stronger and more bearlike, an effect that is amplified by her yeti cloak. She gives a roar, loud enough to shake the very foundations of the fortress.
Kalt sees the troll smash its way out of its shack and smoothly slides his bow off his shoulder while taking a quick step around Sven. As he does so, he mutters, "Here we go again. Let me put a couple holes in it before we get started, Sven." He takes a moment to focus closely on the massive beast, identifying where it's likely to be most vulnerable, then draws back twice with startling speed, both arrows striking true and deep.
Gilganis, following the orders of Sven, rips a flask from his bandolier and shakes the mixture rapidly until it begins to smoke and fume. At the same time his tail wraps around one of the gourd shaped launchers and holds it in front of him, which he then grabs and fits with the flask, lobbing it up overhead at the guard to the south, hoping to catch the man in the blast.
Once the missile is away he quickly moves to cover behind one of the shacks, following Bugsy's example, and draws his crossbow along the way.
Seeing the troll burst out of the hut, Ankih immediately remembers their weakness to fire. Rubbing his hands together, he quickly forms flames that dances across his hands. Focusing on one hand, he produces a small ball of flame that he flings at the distant troll. Unfortunately, in his rush to strike the troll with his flame, the ball sails wide of the mark.
Two of the guards bring their crossbows to bear on the two ulfen. Sven catches the shot upon him with his shield, but Kalt, without a shield to hide behind, finds a quarrel buried in his forearm.
Howling with rage over the two arrows protruding from his chest, the troll stomps forward and brings his claws in low, raking them across Kalt's lower leg.
Feeling the duration of his spell shrink after hurling the ball of flame, Ankih hurriedly tries again, as another flaming ball forms on his hand.