"This cheerfull place? Cant possibly understand why anyone would want to leave."
Justin flashes Merle a quick glance,
(One that says 'I agree with you, but now is not the time')
and back to Alessia.
Realization slowly dawns on his features.
He just hadn't bothered to contemplate it before.
Alessia didn't die and wake up undead on that forsaken hidden fortress.
She's been around for a while. A LONG while. And she's had time to travel.
"If you've been here, before,... I don't suppose you happen to know of any side doors or anything?" The wizard asks casually. Hope making his voice light and his smirk start to return.
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Alessia begins to remember. Unlike the pleasant brightly-colored memories that exposure to the Radiant Sea brought up, these memories are the grey monochrome-tinged ones of her second life. Of her unlife.
She fell among her adventuring comrades to a swarm of Wights while exploring the fabled Tomb of Horrors. The next thing she was aware of was being awakened by these same grey horrors and ordered to obey. To her disgust and horror, she was involuntarily forced to do just that.
What followed was a decades-long nightmare. She became the minion of the Dread wight Saverine, one of the chief lieutenants of Acererak. The wights served as the arch-lich's Praetorian Guard, an unsleeping unswerving host that protected him as he scoured the Great Wheel for dark knowledge and esoteric artifacts. One such mission brought her to the Citadel she now faced.
In those days, centuries past, the Citadel had been known as Ferreraz, a goblin word for "Iron Fort". It had been intact, and swarming with Hobgoblin petitioners. Acererak had business with its warlord, Gunthum Gorespitter, and Alessia had accompanied Saverine and the others of the Dread Guard to the citadel.
Later, after the death of Saverine, and Alessia's escape from the horrors of Acererak's tomb city of Moil, she visited this citadel again, searching for any clues to the arch-lich's phylactery. The citadel had fallen into ruin, as a mighty battle had been fought there. Now, more than a century on, the citadel looked even worse.
Alessia knew this place, and knew its passages. There is a outer wall, then a series of outbuildings and a mustering field. Then an inner bailey wall and then the Red Tower. The Red Tower was likely the location of whoever occupied the citadel these days.
"If you've been here, before,... I don't suppose you happen to know of any side doors or anything?"
Alessia silently stares at Justin for a moment, then raises her gaze to the central tower.
"Follow me," she says tersely, then heads in the direction of the outer wall.
Justin blinks, watching Alessia as she moves away, apparently intent upon her new destination.
The wizard looks back to the others. He shrugs.
"You heard the Lady." Justin says with a small smirk, and a look of 'Now what?!?' in his eyes. The Wizard floats after the departing undead warrioress.
The path up is a pitted jumble of ironmongery. Not as bad as the surrounding junkyard had been, but treacherous nonetheless. Still, Alessia heads up with a will.
The reddish gloom of this huge rusty cave is unbroken as the party moves forward warily. Alessia brings them to the outer wall's gatehouse. This imposing fortification was fought over fiercely at some point in the distant past. The main doors are half-melted, leaning drunkenly away. a thick portcullis inside is twisted off its base and crumpled to the side. The rusty ironmongery is scorched with burn marks all through the 20' tunnel of the entryway. Oddly, there are no bones or other evidence of death in the area
Alessia motions to Justin, then points to a series of marks on the ground.
"Someone else is here..."
"Huh. No bodies,... Oh yeah. The hobgoblin, orc and goblin petitioners of this plane, although solid enough to try and kill us, are dead. As this is their twisted version of Valhalla, once they are killed in battle their bodies disappear and they are reconstituted elsewhere on the planes after a certain amount of variable time." Justin waves a hand in front of his own face, to snap him out of his 'lecture mode'.
At Alessia's whispered voice, he takes a second to note what she had already spotted.
"Yes. Looks like someone has walked through here recently alright. Good idea, setting up in a fortress on THIS plane. Anyone who might discover this is where they're holed up probably didn't think to ask if it was a fixer-upper."
Justin looks at Alessia.
"How, how well do you know the layout? I doubt Murphy is in one of the guest suites."
"Unless they plan on trying to turn her. In which case,..." Justin snaps his jaw shut, Firmly stomping a mental foot on that particular thread of thought.
"Actually. How well DO you know this place? I doubt that the Vamps are going to all of the travel-trouble WE just went through, just to keep this place a secret. They MUST have another portal or portals back and forth to Sigil or far more accommodating planes available. Either IN the fortress, or near enough to be passably convenient. We may not have to fight our way across half this cube to get back." Justin whispers hopefully.
"First things first. Keep your eyes open for a possible portal. And for vamps. Alessia, where do we go?"
Alessia knows that there is only one way after the gatehouse. Straight through to the inner wall, that wall's gatehouse then the Red Tower inside. The path will be completely exposed.
Sarastra smiles
"I believe this is where my skills might come in handy"
she pulls a slim wand from her small purse. The purse seems much to small and delicate to contain the wand, which is almost a foot long and made of clear crystal
"I can render us invisible. However, this is not the greater version, so do not betray your existence by attacking"
When discussing portals, Justin recalls the note O.L.L.I. had sent him right before they left. He frantically searches his pouches and finally finds it crumpled and smeared with guano in his component pouch
in the flawless hand of his Modron friend:
Friend and fellow adventuring unit designated Justin Case:
Greetings. This unit received your request and spent 6 hours, 31 minutes and 22 seconds researching the particulars within the library. The following is a summation of the unit’s discoveries.
The Citadel of Ruin is a large fortress located within a rust cave on Avalas known as Gormoth-Moktor. The Citadel of Ruin is an ancient stronghold that frequently changes owners. The last reported owner was a Petitioner goblin warlord known as Gunthum Gorespitter. This information is at least 500 cycles old, so is not reliable. Gormoth-Moktor is a depository of many ruined items, what is known as a ‘junkyard’. The junkyard surrounds the Citadel of Ruin, and poses a difficult terrain to traverse. There are several paths to the surface of the cube, and one known as the Verdigris Seam is known to have a portal to Sigil somewhere along its passage. The portal reportedly is a star-shaped depression in the wall, and requires a drop of oil to activate. It only goes in one direction - from Avalas to Sigil, ending up somewhere in the Great Foundry District.
The fee for this research is 367 GP, 4 SP, and 2 CP. As this unit has had prior beneficial dealings with you, the fee will be interest free for a period of one cycle. Afterwards a late fee of 10% will compound per cycle unpaid.
This unit hopes that the information provided proves helpful
Assistant Librarian and Harmonium Notary 3 unit designated O.L.L.I
Justin makes a professionally appropriate face of appreciation for clever use of magic items as Sarastra pulls out her wand.
"Oh! Wait a second,..." The wizard says as he hastily searches his pockets, finally finding what he was looking for in his component pouch.
"I gotta reorganize my pockets,..." he murmurs to himself as he hastily re-reads the note.
"Huh. 500 cycles out of date, and he's STILL probably the best source of info. Way to go O.L.L.I."
"HEY!?!" Memnon pipes up huffily, spinning around rapidly from whatever it was he was looking at to glare at Justin, his eye-lights narrowed.
Justin rolls his eyes.
"Alright, yer up to bat Memnon. Do you, or anyone, know where the 'Verdigris Seam' is located on this cube? IN the fortress? Or hopefully nearby? We're looking for a star-shaped depression along it. A drop of oil should open a one-way portal to Sigil."
"Huh. The rust-cave the Fortress is in has it's own name. 'Gormoth-Moktor'. Interesting."
“Sorry bossman, but I haven’t heard that name. Maybe the bloodsuckers have an atlas inside?”
Memnon’s hat bobs gently, the Pom Pom swinging as he floats by Justin
Justin shrugs,
"Hope springs eternal I suppose. Let's take a peek and find out, shall we?"
The wizard nods to Sarastra to go ahead with her plan. He waits for her magic to take effect.
"First things first. Keep your eyes open for a possible portal. And for vamps. Alessia, where do we go?"
Alessia points vaguely forward.
"Straight through. Gatehouse, then tower. We will be completely exposed."
"I can render us invisible. However, this is not the greater version, so do not betray your existence by attacking"
Alessia lets out a low hiss, tensing up, then seeming to deflate. She turns to Justin, speaking in an odd tone of voice.
"Use it on... everyone. Not me. I will be a... a distraction. Draw attention. This is a bad place. Be on your guard."
She hefts her shield and begins to move in the direction of the tower.
Alessia travels through the outer wall and heads across the castle grounds towards the inner keep. Sarastra shrugs and casts invisibility on the rest of the group. Silently they follow after the masked shield maiden.
As Alessia moves towards the inner gatehouse, she notes movement within.
Justin sees movement ahead. Alessia can see several humans in bizarre clothes and spiky colored hair hanging around the gatehouse
"There's movement ahead. Be careful." Justin whispers to the group under the invisibility shield.
Alessia can see several humans in bizarre clothes and spiky colored hair hanging around the gatehouse
Alessia notes their presence, but says nothing, lest she alert them to the presence of her invisible comrades. Her hands tighten on the hilt of her drawn sword and raised shield.
A voice rings out towards Alessia
"Halt!"
Justin winces (invisibly, but still,) from under the small dome of invisibility as he hears the voice ring out.
"Easy does it,..." The wizard whispers to his fellow invisibles, with far more calmness and confidence than he felt.
",... That wasn't an alarm. As far as they know Alessia is just a fellow non-breathing ally. No reason she can't talk her way past."
One may wonder if the wizard is trying to convince his companions, or himself,...
A voice rings out towards Alessia
"Halt!"
Alessia completely ignores the voice and keeps walking.
Alessia strides forward, her steel sabatons ringing on the rusted metal of the courtyard's 'ground'. Four humanoids emerge from the gatehouse and form a loose wedge in front of her. They are a motley lot, possibly human, but with the look of that group known as 'Hiver' in Sigil. All four sport colorful mohawks and a random mixture of get up and armor.
"Stop right there, or yer worm meat, berk." one warns, hefting a large axe
"What do we do?" Karrin whispers to the others, "Wait to see if they come out and ambush them?"
"Stop right there, or yer worm meat, berk." one warns, hefting a large axe
"Worm meat. Funny."
Alessia continues toward the small group with the same measured pace, shield raised and sword at the ready.
Justin sighs.
Well, it was hardly Alessia's fault. She could hardly be faulted for not being 'diplomatic'. He HAD been hoping for her to at least TRY and use the old 'Hey, look! We're all undead here! Let's be pals!' shtick.
But then again, with THIS hiver-looking bunch? Maybe the bull-in-a-china-shop approach was actually a winning negotiation tactic.
Maybe?
No time for in-depth strategy. Flip the coin and pray to the Powers that you guessed right.
"You heard Alessia. She volunteered for this. Let's try and sneak past while Alessia is distracting them. And pray she can diffuse it before it gets ugly. IF it turns south, and you have to jump in, make sure you are outside of the invisibility bubble before you attack. SO the whole thing doesn't pop on us. Any who can stay unseen are our ace in the hole."
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Justin moves forward, his invisibility acting as a shield against whatever searches the rusted land for intruders.
Justin manages to skirt the wedge of Hivers but holds up as a large figure emerges from the castle's gatehouse.
A huge greenish troll comes into view. Justin has seen trolls before, and this one is a standard version: green, warty, enormous. Only .... It is headless. But, not quite headless. What Justin saw at first as possibly a vestige of the neck sticking up from the massive stump where the head should be attached, is actually a small gnome. A gnome whose two legs end in the neck stump of the troll. As if the gnome grew from the troll, a sapling growing from the stump of a felled tree. The gnome sports a mane of wild purple hair, and a deranged look in its eyes. It focuses on Alessia, and the troll's body raises its massive arms, widening out a set of wicked claws. A shrill voice calls out in a grating falsetto tone
"FE FIE FO FUM! SOMETHING ROTTEN THIS WAY COMES!"
Justin blinks as he takes in the trollish-gnome-newcomer.
'Oh. My. THAT is wrong on SO many levels.' he thinks to himself. Far calmer than he should be at that moment.
Justin's hands twitch, unsure if he should intervene, or what mystical knick-knack to reach for. First.
Karrin stealths along towards the gatehouse, but something belays her position. The abberant troll-gnome-golem screeches as he closes with Alessia
“WARE YOUR CORNERS BERKS! THERE BE INVISIBLE FOES ABOUT!”
Sarastra has vanished from sight. A sudden lance of blue energy engulfs the troll thing
The cold frosts the warty skin of the creature, but seems to not affect it
Martin steps out beside Alessia. He has forgone stealth due to his excessive clanking. He raises True Heart and the sword glows with a golden aura
Avrahim has also vanished.
Red Rust Rumble
Sarastra: 32 (greater invis) Cone of cold
Alessia: 23
Master TrollBlaster: 21 (Atk Alessia)
Martin: 12 (Atk MTB)
Avrahim: 10 (invis)
Justin: 6 (invis)
Merle:
Hivers: 5 Crossbows (TBD)
Karrin (not engaged in combat) (invis)
Alessia shrieks and hurls herself at the troll.
Alessia runs screaming in a high shrieking wail that raises the hairs on everyone's arms. Her sword cuts into the troll thing, but it doesn't seem to do a lot of damage. Some of its life force flows into Alessia though, a greasy twitchy life force
The troll-gnome thing looks at Martin. It giggles and points
"good doggy"
Martin looks puzzled, but says nothing, moving up to engage the abberant thing
Martin's sword cut draws a howl from the thing. The gnome head/body shrieks and curses the paladin
Merle chooses to remain invisable with seph for now doing her best to creep round the conflict as far as the sphere will allow her to
Red Rust Rumble Intro
Sarastra: 32 (greater invis) Cone of cold
Alessia: 23 (ATK-MTB)
Master TrollBlaster: 21 (Atk Alessia)
Merle: 19 (not engaged in combat) (invis)
Martin: 12 (Atk MTB)
Karrin: 12 (not engaged in combat) (invis)
Avrahim: 10 (invis)
Justin: 6 (invis)
Hivers: 5 Crossbows (TBD)
A disembodied voice rings out
"There are no undead in this group!"
A glowing scimitar materializes by the abberation
Avrahim pops back into sight, his invisibility broken
Red Rust Rumble Intro
Sarastra: 32 (greater invis) Cone of cold
Alessia: 23 (ATK-MTB)
Master TrollBlaster: 21 (Atk Alessia)
Merle: 19 (not engaged in combat) (invis)
Martin: 12 (Atk MTB)
Karrin: 12 (not engaged in combat) (invis)
Avrahim: 10 Spiritual Weapon
Justin: 6 (invis) (not engaged in combat)
Hivers: 5 Crossbows (TBD)
Karrin will take a 5ft step and attack the two crossbowmen:
Karrin swings into the north most crossbowman, cleaves into the southern one, and then continues to rain down blows on the two until one, or hopefully, two drops.