WFRP Update 29
My plan had been foiled. Never would I see the treasure that was locked away within castle wittgendorf. And, as if my great failure was not enough, the little man came by once again! I had half a mind to turn him away, but since he brought a casket of ale as an offer to continue writing, I really had no choice.
"See, we didn't go advertising the fact that we had managed to successfully sneak into the castle to many people, so I was able to figure on you being some sort of spy. At least it should warm your heart that the new inhabitants of castle wittgendorf were very generous in their bounty for your capture. So, drink up. Once again, you paid for it!!"
After his laughter had died away and the echo of my curses had stopped ringing in his ears, he continued with his tale.
"Now, I know that it sounds like we just went strolling through the castle, smelling flowers and waving at all of the pretty ladies, but in reality, it was quite a harrowing experience. Our every move had to be calculated before hand. The guards were watching like hawks. The slightest rustle of clothing and they were over to investigate. One of the many mutated peasants that seemed to infest the place actually caught a glimpse of us as we were putting out the ropes. He went off screaming incoherently, which is probably the only thing that kept the guards from leaping on us like rabid dogs. I still don't know why I expected Elpham and Rudolpho to be able to hide at all. Elpham at least managed to look like a piece of stone, but those two kept bantering and flirting with each other the entire time that we were there! I still swear that Corobath must have married them in some secret ceremony!"
"Anyway, we've got nothing to do but wait while the rest of them outlaws climb up the ropes. Eventually we hear that they is all ready and we get set to make our assault. Now looking out across the courtyard it looked like it was an easy plan; run across the courtyard, over the drawbridge, through the guardhouse, over the inner bridge and into the inner fane. We was planning on surprise and stealth...I should have realized who I was traveling with when I made that plan, or I should have looked at the sky and heeded the omen. Dark clouds and pouring rain is not a good sign.
"We get all set and I sprint out from the hiding hole. As silent as an owl I was. As fast as a hawk, across that courtyard. Too bad that I can't say the same from the others. I had just made it to the drawbridge when I hear the guards yelling and see Rudolpho and the others huffing their way across the courtyard. Maybe if I hadn't looked back I wouldn't have been trapped behind the guard house portcullis. It slammed down faster than anything I had seen before. Now, I realize that standing in the middle of a drawbridge, trapped between two guard towers with nothing except thin air to the sides is a bad place to be, so I spin around and hustle back into the courtyard. I should have remembered that my companions were hard of hearing; since they disregarded my orders and kept rushing past me. I barely made it past the outer portcullis before it dropped as well. I managed to get Elpham directed into the guard tower, so as we can find the winch and get everyone out of there. Just before I got through the door I saw Corobath make a leap that I wouldn't have though possible. Around the guard house there be some little slip of land. And ant would have a hard time keeping two legs on this strip of dirt! And, yet, he just steps out into the sky and seems to float through the air and step down on the only solid pebble that must have existed on that whole bit of stone. Last I saw of him he was wiggling his little toes and licking the wall to keep himself from falling off as he slowly moved around the outside of the guard tower.
"Elpham and I made it inside the outer guard tower and he ran smack into the captain of the guards. Well, it wasn't like we could back off or ask him to move around, so we had no choice but to put the blades to him. Elpham was holding him off and I was putting some stones into his two buddies when I hear Rudolpho's pistol fire off. Now he claims that he actually hit something that time, and I'll actually give him the benefit of the doubt this time. I managed to grab a look out of an arrow slit and I can see Magdelaine and Rudolpho, standing on the drawbridge, jumping around trying not to get hit as Magdelaine slowly rusts away bits of the portcullis. I didn't think that Rudolpho could bend that way, but he managed to squeeze himself through that little space and rushed further into the castle. Of course, by this time, all of the guards is up in arms and one goes following Rudolpho onto the inner bridge. I don't think that the guard was expecting Rudolpho to simply walk up and push the poor bugger off of the bridge. But, I'm sure that he had lots of time to think about it as he bounced off the cliffs and rocks on his way down to the water.
"That was about the time that we could see and hear Corobath standing in the inner guard house. The old man must have been part fly to manage to stay on that wall all the way around. But, in any case he had the inner guard house to himself and was standing by the portcullis level, just waiting for us to come a runnin'. I guess that was the sign that Magdelaine was waiting for as well, because she finally decided to stop acting like a target and rushed into the safety of the inner guard house. Once I saw that everyone was safe, I pulled my blade and waded into the fray with Elpham. The guards were down seconds later and we liberated a few weapons, lifted the portcullis and made a running charge into the inner guard house. Elpham really has to learn how to keep his head down. I still can't understand how he could have been hit by one of those idiot guards on his way in, but some how they did it. We barred the inner gate behind us and got our first look at the inner fane."
The wee man stopped his story at this point as a large man, dressed in black, wearing a hood, stepped into the cell. "It seems that you'll have a chance to tell your story now son. And don't worry, I'm sure that this man will listen closely to everything that you have to say. I'll check in on you tomorrow. Try not to break his writing hand, he has a story to write."
With that, the little man left and the night of pain began.
"See, we didn't go advertising the fact that we had managed to successfully sneak into the castle to many people, so I was able to figure on you being some sort of spy. At least it should warm your heart that the new inhabitants of castle wittgendorf were very generous in their bounty for your capture. So, drink up. Once again, you paid for it!!"
After his laughter had died away and the echo of my curses had stopped ringing in his ears, he continued with his tale.
"Now, I know that it sounds like we just went strolling through the castle, smelling flowers and waving at all of the pretty ladies, but in reality, it was quite a harrowing experience. Our every move had to be calculated before hand. The guards were watching like hawks. The slightest rustle of clothing and they were over to investigate. One of the many mutated peasants that seemed to infest the place actually caught a glimpse of us as we were putting out the ropes. He went off screaming incoherently, which is probably the only thing that kept the guards from leaping on us like rabid dogs. I still don't know why I expected Elpham and Rudolpho to be able to hide at all. Elpham at least managed to look like a piece of stone, but those two kept bantering and flirting with each other the entire time that we were there! I still swear that Corobath must have married them in some secret ceremony!"
"Anyway, we've got nothing to do but wait while the rest of them outlaws climb up the ropes. Eventually we hear that they is all ready and we get set to make our assault. Now looking out across the courtyard it looked like it was an easy plan; run across the courtyard, over the drawbridge, through the guardhouse, over the inner bridge and into the inner fane. We was planning on surprise and stealth...I should have realized who I was traveling with when I made that plan, or I should have looked at the sky and heeded the omen. Dark clouds and pouring rain is not a good sign.
"We get all set and I sprint out from the hiding hole. As silent as an owl I was. As fast as a hawk, across that courtyard. Too bad that I can't say the same from the others. I had just made it to the drawbridge when I hear the guards yelling and see Rudolpho and the others huffing their way across the courtyard. Maybe if I hadn't looked back I wouldn't have been trapped behind the guard house portcullis. It slammed down faster than anything I had seen before. Now, I realize that standing in the middle of a drawbridge, trapped between two guard towers with nothing except thin air to the sides is a bad place to be, so I spin around and hustle back into the courtyard. I should have remembered that my companions were hard of hearing; since they disregarded my orders and kept rushing past me. I barely made it past the outer portcullis before it dropped as well. I managed to get Elpham directed into the guard tower, so as we can find the winch and get everyone out of there. Just before I got through the door I saw Corobath make a leap that I wouldn't have though possible. Around the guard house there be some little slip of land. And ant would have a hard time keeping two legs on this strip of dirt! And, yet, he just steps out into the sky and seems to float through the air and step down on the only solid pebble that must have existed on that whole bit of stone. Last I saw of him he was wiggling his little toes and licking the wall to keep himself from falling off as he slowly moved around the outside of the guard tower.
"Elpham and I made it inside the outer guard tower and he ran smack into the captain of the guards. Well, it wasn't like we could back off or ask him to move around, so we had no choice but to put the blades to him. Elpham was holding him off and I was putting some stones into his two buddies when I hear Rudolpho's pistol fire off. Now he claims that he actually hit something that time, and I'll actually give him the benefit of the doubt this time. I managed to grab a look out of an arrow slit and I can see Magdelaine and Rudolpho, standing on the drawbridge, jumping around trying not to get hit as Magdelaine slowly rusts away bits of the portcullis. I didn't think that Rudolpho could bend that way, but he managed to squeeze himself through that little space and rushed further into the castle. Of course, by this time, all of the guards is up in arms and one goes following Rudolpho onto the inner bridge. I don't think that the guard was expecting Rudolpho to simply walk up and push the poor bugger off of the bridge. But, I'm sure that he had lots of time to think about it as he bounced off the cliffs and rocks on his way down to the water.
"That was about the time that we could see and hear Corobath standing in the inner guard house. The old man must have been part fly to manage to stay on that wall all the way around. But, in any case he had the inner guard house to himself and was standing by the portcullis level, just waiting for us to come a runnin'. I guess that was the sign that Magdelaine was waiting for as well, because she finally decided to stop acting like a target and rushed into the safety of the inner guard house. Once I saw that everyone was safe, I pulled my blade and waded into the fray with Elpham. The guards were down seconds later and we liberated a few weapons, lifted the portcullis and made a running charge into the inner guard house. Elpham really has to learn how to keep his head down. I still can't understand how he could have been hit by one of those idiot guards on his way in, but some how they did it. We barred the inner gate behind us and got our first look at the inner fane."
The wee man stopped his story at this point as a large man, dressed in black, wearing a hood, stepped into the cell. "It seems that you'll have a chance to tell your story now son. And don't worry, I'm sure that this man will listen closely to everything that you have to say. I'll check in on you tomorrow. Try not to break his writing hand, he has a story to write."
With that, the little man left and the night of pain began.
posted by groodude at 1:36 p.m.
2 Comments:
I'm curious which resident of the castle hired bounty hunters to track Maximilian down, and you'll see why in about a month.
Now hear this. I can't help that my legs are short and that I was backup in case someone was cut down and needed to be carried. You did run like a bat outa Tzeentch's hell to the bridge, but you ran even faster the other way when the portculis was dropped. Max, it was me who decided to head up the stairs and if I hadn't had been there, you would've been cut down by the captain and his guards. And where's this we for lifting the portculis? You were sitting on your tiny behind looking for some pipeweed while I was ratcheting the portculis up. I barely had it up before you ran your little peck tush scared through the opening I created to the rest of the party. Oh yeah, I didn't take a single arrow on the run over, it was all in hand to hand like a proper dwarf would do, not throwing rocks like some child.
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