Sorting through the treasure, Sack picked up the throwing daggers and looked at them with interest.
| He was inclined to take them as it was, but then he unsheathed one, to discover that the weapons were cruelly barbed at the business end. | |
His eyes lit up at this; although the weapons were utterly unusable as melee weapons, as thrown missiles they would be utterly deadly. Grinning, he took the weapons and added them to his collection.
Surya hefted the lance. He alone of the companions was trained in its' use, and it was a particularly fine example of its' kind. He looked with interest at a series of holes drilled in the shaft. Kobort, standing nearby, commented that it looked rather like a flute; they concluded that it would probably make some sort of noise in the charge.
The group settled down to rest and recuperate a bit, with Hildraft recommencing work on his idea of a sprung crossbow reloader. His original design used a leaf spring, but calculations and drawings showed that such a device would be bigger than the crossbow itself and far too big to transport. He started again, this time using harder-to-make but smaller coiled springs instead.
Surya and Kobort headed down the entrance tunnel to check on the horses. After a bit of fumbling, they got the mechanism to trip over, opening the pit to the surface. Immediately, they heard noises coming from overhead.
Kobort cast Invisibility, and, using his cloak, ran lightly up the wall of the pit to see what was happening. Surya, approaching the same thing from a different angle, lashed a small mirror to the end of his scabbard and poked it up over the top.
They saw that the ruins were no longer empty. A substantial military force was encamped around the site of the House of Swords.
Twenty-four horses were tethered to the north of the entrance hole, and armoured men bearing the badge of the Dragon were moving around; some busied with camp tasks, some obviously guarding and observing the entrance. While the guards weren't leaping to their feet to charge the entrance, they were clearly aware that it had opened, and one had already set off to summon his superior.
| He crossed the camp to where three figures were waiting. These appeared to be in
charge, especially one tall man in ornate, baroque plate armour. He turned as the soldier
approached, revealing an angular, inhuman face, lightly scaled and upswept, pointed ears.
He was Kin! Orders were given, and troops began collecting weapons and gathering ready to move in on the entrance-way. This process was still going on when - surprising the soldiers but not Kobort or Surya - the block began to close again. Quickly, Kobort dodged back down into the passage, and the soldiers' startled faces were the last sight they saw as the entrance closed. This discovery obviously altered the companions' plans. They couldn't just lug their loot out, climb on their horses and set off for the Erean mountains. Either they had to fight, or do something sneaky. Or maybe both. |
 |
The ranger and the dwarf returned to each level of the vaults, searching the walls more carefully. Meanwhile, Surya and Kobort started shifting the bar steel from the sword vault and stacking it at the end of the entrance passage, to form a barricade. As they finished this job, the other two returned with the good news that they'd found a bolthole.
Cautiously opening a hidden door, they discovered a long, narrow passage, rough-cut and almost featureless, running straight as an arrow towards the river. Every ten feet or so there was a niche cut in the wall, with a small beryl - an elvengem - set at the bottom. Kobort investigated this, and at his touch, the gem sprang to light, emitting a dim but sufficient green glow. One after another, all the gems set further down illuminated as well, until a long line could be seen all the way down the passage.
The adventurers explored, and after some considerable walk, found themselves emerging from a cleverly concealed opening half-way down the cliff which fell from the city above to the river Vileflow below. One look at the river made it clear that swimming was out of the question, but a narrow, precipitous path seemed to lead to the top of the cliff. Investigating, they found themselves at the edge of the city, very close to where they had left the horses.
This was the break they needed. Over the next ten hours, they ferries all the loot they wanted to rescue from the vaults down to their horses; the weapons, the adamantite, and a couple of the swordblanks, as well as all their own gear. Then they had to take a vote; run or fight.
They decided to fight.
Casting around near the horses, they found a wrecked tower at the end of a ruined street that seemed suitable for their purposes; channelling cavalry into a trap. Sack set up a long cheese wire at chest height on a mounted man, and Kobort - Invisible again - hid himself in a corner where he could sling a Web over charging horsemen. Sack and Hildraft concealed themselves in the tower, equipped with bows. Surya hefted his new lance - and set off to pick a fight.
 |
Circling the location of the House of Swords, the Tellaran saw that the troopers were still watching the pit entrance, obviously hoping it would open again. He also saw at least three probable Kin; the man he'd seen earlier, a creature rather like a lizardman but twice the size and with hair, and a hunched, cowled figure that somehow managed to convey a sense of malice even at that distance. His decision made, he couched his lance and charged. As he reached charge speed, the lance began to howl, an awful dissonant moaning that struck fear into the belly. He got to within a hundred yards before he was heard. The soldiers reacted as trained professionals; ten converged ahead of him, long spears and shields in the front rank and crossbowmen winding in the rear. To the left and rear of that, the armoured man was shouting clipped, efficient orders; to the right, the small hunched figure was obviously starting some sort of spell. All around them, the other ten troopers were frantically mounting horses and unsheathing weapons. |
|
Surya knew that he and his horse would stand no chance charging into a nest of spearpoints, and he had to choose which way to veer; he couldn't pull up now. He went for the spellcaster, veering right. A volley of crossbow bolts, launched from behind the battle line, went wild as he changed direction suddenly, and then he was past. Straightening up, he aimed himself at the diminutive Kin and accelerated - then, to his horror, one of the mounted troopers managed to get in between them. There was no space to pull up or turn; the man was too close, and broadside on. The only option was to try and ride right over him. With incredible force, the charging horse and man struck their target. The moaning lance was abruptly silenced as it was driven straight through the soldier; the wrench on it caused by the man being flung off his horse was greatly increased by the horse, which was smashed flat on its' side by the impact of Surya's own mount. The lance was torn from Surya's hands and whipped away into the dust and confusion, still skewering the body of the trooper. Surya was left disarmed, moments away from engaging one of the Kin. |
 |
He drew his sword, as the Kin he faced completed a spell. For an instant, he felt all his limbs stiffening, and his muscles failing to obey him; then the effect faded and he straightened in the saddle. Snarling in fury, the Kin rapped out a second spell, and as the warrior reached her, shot straight up into the air. Her plan was to be out of his reach by the time he passed underneath; but the charging warrior was too fast for her, and as he passed underneath he was able to slash at her with his sword.
The results were very gratifying. The terrible Sword of the Dead Legions slashed completely through the stunted body, and the two halves of the creature dropped messily to the ground to either side. Spinning his horse, Surya confronted half-a-dozen more troopers converging on him.
The Returned form of Gaikan stumbled to its' feet, miraculously (if not very neatly) reassembled, and Surya directed it to attack the armoured Kin who seemed to be in charge - wondering as he did so if she would retain her magical powers in this form. It shambled over to its' target and started to claw at his horse, answering that question. The Kin sneered, drew his blade, and cut Gaikan down again with a single stroke. Then he started giving crisp orders to his now-mounted strike force, dividing them into three secions and sending the first against the mounted hero.
This was enough for Surya. He kicked the mount back into a charge, broke through the enemy line, and fled back towards the ambush.
From the tumult behind him, he was able to tell that he had been eminently successful. He'd started a fight.
Back at the ambush, the others heard the rapidly approaching sound of hooves, first one set, then many others in pursuit. Surya appeared, and flashed through the killing zone, pulling up the other side of the tower. Almost immedately, nine mounted troopers followed, pounding into the ambush in pursuit.
Kobort launched his Web, and it filled the entire area between the ruined walls; the riders had no chance at all of avoiding it. The terrible crunching sound of the horses' legs breaking was clearly audible, and the yells and curses of the riders as they were thrown were only slightly muffled by the webbing that held them helpless. Almost casually, Kobort moved through the web, slaughtering the helpless men and their crippled horses. Then, in a stroke of genius, he removed the human bodies, and rendered the web Invisible.
Then the party settled down to wait for the next attack...