Chapter #1144
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2024 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Adolphus 10th level half-ogre warrior +
+ Damien small, renegade imp +
+ Peyton 11th level gnome thief +
+ Rogar 10th level human priest of Olidammara +
+ Sylus 8th/10th level dark elf warrior/thief +
+ Wembly 10th level human wizard +
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+ Date: 6/17/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: midmorning +
+ Place: the northwest reaches of the Abbor-Alz hills +
+ Climate: warm and dry, with cloudy skies +
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+ "The reason they call it special warfare is because it’s special. +
+ The minute you start being conventional in thinking, conventional +
+ in anything, you’re no longer special and there’s no reason to +
+ have you." +
+ - Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team Six +
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MCXLIV. A Daring and Insane Plan
After a day scouting the mine entrances, the six companions had come
up with a plan - a plan which involved waiting for the ideal conditions
and then making clever use of the spells and items at their disposal.
Peyton had noticed that the sun's first rays shone almost directly upon
the entry shafts, and he had also observed that a thick layer of morning
fog shrouded the hills just before dawn. It hadn't lasted for very long,
but even its brief presence would provide the unusual cover needed for
the gnome's plan to work. Given the overcast conditions the previous
day, the group had waited until today to see if things might improve...
and indeed they had. The sky at dawn was completely devoid of clouds;
the morning sun would soon burn away the mist that had settled into the
depressions between hills, outside the passages into the mines.
Taking advantage of the morning fog and the rising sun, Sylus drank a
magical potion, a rather potent and useful draught that he had acquired
some time ago and saved for the right situation. The dark elf's body -
including all of his armor, weapons, and possessions - instantly changed
into a transparent and insubstantial cloud of gas. The adventurer had
done this before (at one point, he'd possessed three such potions) and
his now-gaseous form quickly floated down the hillside toward the mine
entrances. The existing morning mists, coupled with the bright rays of
the sun as it rose, provided a perfect cover for Sylus' altered form to
approach the tunnel mouths without being detected by the guards within.
The previous day's scouting had found three open entry points, each
guarded by duergar sentries who stayed well inside the passage mouths, out
of the sun's light. But there was a possible fourth entrance, concealed
by natural plant growth and rubble...and it was in this direction that the
gaseous mercenary drifted. His initial observation and suspicions from
yesterday had been correct: the piled rocks and thick shrubbery indeed
masked another passage...and this one had no guards! Within moments, the
vapor advanced, seeping through the blockage and into the dark tunnel
beyond.
Outside and above, behind the top of the next hill, Peyton moved down
from his observation post, rejoining the others further down the slope.
His doing this was a silent signal to the other four that Sylus was in.
There would be no words, no conversation from this point on. Even the
hulking Adolphus knew that he had to be quiet, and could follow such a
simple directive when it was made clear to him. The next step depended
on what Sylus found and did within the mines, after slipping into the
concealed entrance. The enchanted potion he'd earlier imbibed had a
finite (though slightly variable) duration, and sometime within the hour
the unseen vapor would change back into the solid form of the dark elf.
Ideally, by then he'd have had the opportunity to covertly explore as
much of the mine's interior as possible, noting guards, doors, barriers,
and anything else of interest. Using this new knowledge, he would then
do his best to eliminate as many foes and obstacles as possible once back
in physical form. While the optimal outcome would be complete removal of
all the guards at all three passages, no one would have bet the farm on
that actually happening. More likely, Sylus' efforts would see some
partial measure of success, followed by noise, alarms, and battle. If
or when that happened, Wembly would launch a fireball into the third of
the entry passages - the one farthest from the concealed entrance Sylus
had used. This would kill or distract at least some of the unknown foes
inside, while minimizing the chance of roasting Sylus (part of his work
while in gaseous form would be to find safe options in case the passages
were suddenly filled with flames). The plan actually wasn't as crazy as
it sounded, for the three open entrances were each a hundred feet apart;
the one Sylus had used was another fifty feet from the nearest of the
three. Thus, assuming there was a substantial network of passages beyond
the entrances - very likely given that this site was known to be an old
mine of considerable size - a fireball would have plenty of other routes
through which to disperse its destructive force.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Sylus, upon returning
to his natural form, would be overcome and slain by the mines' occupants.
However, when Damien had mentioned this during the planning talks, the
dark elf had simply smiled thinly and asked if the imp (or any of them)
wished to place a wager on the matter. Even the often-reckless demonoid
had muttered something about saving his coin.
So now they waited, concealed on the far side of one of the numerous
hills that bordered the mine entrances. They had no way to know how the
crafty Sylus was faring in those dark, unknown passages...what he was
seeing and finding...what unknown foes lay within the mine's reaches.
But they took heart in the knowledge that their companion had nerves of
steel, catlike reflexes, a keen mind, and an even keener sword-arm. He
also had a significant magical advantage due to his gaseous form. While
the infiltration was gutsy, and perhaps crazy, there was no one better-
suited to that task than the one who'd undertaken it.
In short order, Peyton and Wembly moved back up the hillside to keep an
eye on things. It would fall on the former to first see or hear anything
happening in the mines, and at that point it would fall to the latter to
use his wand of fire to launch a fireball straight into the third of the
primary shaft entrances. After that, all hell would likely break loose,
and the five companions would descend the hillside as fast as they could,
could, make for the first entrance, and take advantage of the chaos to
enter the mine and work their way in deeper.
next: Sylus' explorations
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 4/5/2024
notes: I'm sure some readers are already wondering what the hell
kind of a plan this is, risking one team member's incineration by
fireball, charging right into the mines, etc. I didn't see any other
way as I read through the description of the mines. A stealth assault
by the entire party would have been impossible - duergar, from what
I'm reading, are really really tough to surprise - and every primary
entrance has a couple of them standing guard. The other easy option
was just a full-on flat-out attack, which would alert those deeper in
the mines anyway. So I opted for a single, stealthy infiltrator, who
can hopefully get some idea of the layout and opposition, then do some
real damage from within to pave the way for his friends to join him.
Well, I guess one other way would have been to try and talk their
way in, perhaps with bribes and such, but that would have still been
known by the others in the mine, fairly quickly.
All that aside, these guys are a little more crazy than the "main"
Adventurers who've been with us since episode 1. Hell, they're more
crazy that any typical adventuring party...which makes them atypical,
which is kind of the point.
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