We're Off To See The Wizard

The clock on the Cathedral of Spravedelna tells them that it is now 11.15.

"It's time to move out of here now," says Winnacer upon hearing the bells toll. "We can continue with our discussions at Petr's place."

"Myself and Magda will stay here," High Priestess Valechkova says as the party makes to leave. "I will arrange for several of the other senior priests to join us here so that we can tend to your injuries upon your return."

"I think that it's best if we stay here as well," adds Ithridiel. "Although it pains me greatly that we shall have no direct part in rescuing the proletariat, Comrade Corbinson was correct when he said that we are no match for your martial skills and our numbers are too small to run the risk of being annihilated here. Good luck."

Bennett adds:

"I hope that your attempts at rousing the spirit of these people are helped by our actions today, but whether they are or are not, keep doing what you are doing. In the end, all the pain and all the problems will be well worth it."

As they do so, Winnacer speaks with Yaz:

"So have you decided your role in the operations today? Are you still going to attempt to take out the worgs?"

"Uh-huh," says Yaz, although his face shows signs that perhaps he is not completely sure that he isn't biting off more than he can chew.

Winnacer nods, although his face shows that he is not sure that Yaz is making the right decision:

"Very well, if this is how you believe that you can make the greatest contribution, then good luck. If you have second thoughts, or manage to complete your task quickly, then I am sure that we could certainly uses your assistance in the Great Square. Otherwise, I believe that we should all meet back here after the operation."

Padre Kokal then speaks:

"I and the other Padres will now depart and get the Foot into position, so this will be the last chance that we have of discussing the situation before the event. We will rush the orcs surrounding the scapegoats immediately that you start your actions, but not before. The Foot are a great deal more vulnerable than you are, and so we can't afford to take the first retaliatory strike by the Nyemetz."

"Good luck."

With that, the five Padres take their leave.

Priest Born is the next to speak:

"My colleague will head off and get Glorin and his dwarves into position. I shall accompany you to see the mage."

With everyone's plans now determined, they head out of the inn. They see that the streets are quieter than normal, and most people who are around seem to be heading in the direction of the Great Square.

They head off in the direction of Petr's house, keeping up a fair pace, as they know that time is short. They take a slight detour in order to get to the other side of the city, not wanting to stray too close to the Great Square, so as to avoid into the concentration of Nyemetz there.

Will takes the point position as you move through the streets. He keeps a good lookout for Nyemetz patrols along the way, but during the ten-minute journey, there is no sign of them. Obviously, their resources are not so strong that they are able to keep up patrols as well as securing the Square.

Just before 11.30, they arrive at Petr's mansion. They look up to see that it is an incredibly impressive looking building, clad in white marble, with four wide columns at the front.

As the party moved off for their rendezvous with Petr, Jihan lagged to the back of the group, a strangely combined look of trepidation and anger on his face. When the building came into view, the elf stopped outside the door:

"I'll head to the square and see if I can find a decently covered area to fire from..." he mutters, turning about to leave.

He peers at the massive dwelling and sighs in exasperation, then stares around at the rest of the party, almost challenging someone to question him before melting off into the shadows.

"We need to go through the rear door," Winnacer says, looking over his shoulder constantly in order to ensure that you are not being watched. "I promised Petr that we would not bring any attention to him or his residence."

They all head round the side of the impressive building and Winnacer knocks upon the door. It is answered almost immediately by a liveried butler, who glances at them for a moment before throwing the door open wide:

"Oh, it's you," he says as he looks them all over. "Come in, please. Quickly, Emperor Vanichek is waiting for you and it is dangerous for you to be seen entering the place."

Bennett's eyes roll over so hard the pupils are no longer visible:

"Emperor? Holy mackerel! This guy's got a bigger ego than...."

He smiles and doesn't finish the sentence.

They quickly file in through the door and then the butler speaks once more after closing the door firmly behind them:

"Follow me," is all he says as he leads them into the well-appointed hallway.

The hallway leads up to some gilded doors which the butler proceeds to throw open and then stands aside in order to allow them access to the room. As they enter, a trumpeter standing in the corner starts to sound a fanfare, and the butler announces their arrival:

"Miss Faewen'il Morwen, LawBringer Winnacer Stradheim and friends, your highness."

As they walk into the huge room, they stare about them open-mouthed, having never seen anything like it in their lives. The room is a huge one, a lot bigger than they would have thought possible for a house this side and it is decorated in the style of a Roman palace, completely encased in white marble.

They walk up the purple carpet towards a figure at the far end. As they get closer, they see a rotund man in his late forties lounging on a marble recliner. He is wearing a purple toga, lined with gold thread and wears a sprig of gilded olive branches upon his head. He is being fed grapes by a beautiful handmaiden and a black panther sleeps at his feet.

Bennett cannot help but mutter, but he keeps his voice down far enough that only the group can hear it:

"Pompous indeed!"

Other mumbles follow that are indecipherable.

Petr looks at them all briefly as they enter the room, but then fixes his eyes on Faewen'il as they come to stand before him:

"So, I see that you are still interested in going through with this exercise," Petr starts with a neutral expression.

He looks specifically at Winnacer:

"Let me summarize how I agree to assist you for the benefit of your colleagues."

"I have agreed to cast several spells upon LawBringer Stradheim and others of your group that will transform each of them into near unstoppable death dealing super-humans for a limited duration. Let me elaborate:"

Bennett perks up at hearing this. He is prepared to forgive the man his obvious flaws if the advertising is true.

Winnacer nods appreciately.

"Firstly," Petr begins, "I will cast a spell upon you that would boost your strength way in excess of its normal boundaries. I know that some priests also have a similar ability, but their efforts pale into insignificance compared to the results of my enchantment. I can perform this upon four of your number."

"In addition to this powerful enchantment, I will then cast another spell that will increase your size to double the norm, making you all 12' tall. Combined with the strength-altering spell, it should mean that anything that you hit with your weapons will be immediately hacked in two. Once again, I can cast this upon four of your number."

Bennett's eyes widen in excitement. He is almost shivering.

"I can then cast a further spell upon you which will speed your actions so that you are able to move and attack at twice the speed that you are normally able to do so," the mage continues. " I can give this ability to any of you whom wish to partake of its benefits. I would warn you, however, that this spell is detrimental to your metabolic rate, and could result in taking a year off your lives, so you may not wish this to be cast upon you."

Bennett makes a rude noise:

"Pshaw! What's a year, anyway?"

"Finally," Petr adds, "I can cast another spell upon you which will make your skin as strong as stone. Blow after blow that lands upon you will fail to leave any mark upon you whatsoever. This is a powerful spell indeed and so I am only able to cast it upon two people tomorrow."

Bennett looks at his Fabio clothes, shaking his head and muttering:

"Nope, got that covered."

"As you can see," says Petr, "through a combination of these spells, you will be transformed into nearly unstoppable killing machines for a limited duration."

Bennett's grins:

"Umm hmmm! That sounds damn good to me. You must indeed be a mage of great power to do all that, your majesty, or highness, or whatever."

Once he has removed his lips from the sorceror's ass, he turns to the rest of the group.

"Providing that you do not dally here after I have cast the spells," the pompous one continues, "the effects of the enchantment should be sufficient to last the duration of the action. The only one of them with a short duration is the hastening spell, which normally last just under quarter of an hour. However, through the means of another spell, I am able to extend its duration to slightly over 20 minutes. As you should be able to get from here to the Square in just a couple of minutes, this should give you enough time to finish your task before the enchantment expires."

Bennett nods:

"We'll f***ing run there to make sure it does. Getting late, anyway. Things should be in place pretty soon."

Petr then pauses for a moment:

"So which of you will be the ones to benefit from the enchantments?"

"A 12' foot dwarf, now won't 'at be a sight," Gronk adds. "I be appreciatin' it iffin ya could be makin' me extra strong an' big-like. Oh, an' bein' speedy too. We ought ta be makin' like stone da fighters with da worst armor."

"Well, you would be about 8' tall," Petr replies. "I can only double your size. It will still have the same effects upon your strength, however."

Gronk then surveys the armor of each of the fighters.

The others can tell from the expression on his face that Bennett certainly desires the speed, strength, and size:

"Of our group of five, I would imagine that Winn, Xavier, Gronk, and myself would make best use of those spells."

Bennett then turns toward Aneira:

"I would not keep such things from you, my lady, and if you wish any of the spells you may certainly have mine, but I hoped that you might stay unseeable for longer than we do, offering martial support only if necessary. I would not like to see you harmed. No, I would not like that at all."

Bennett then thinks for a moment:

"Perhaps Xavier can give his quickness spell to Jihan, as we'll need him to be fast, and Xav is old enough already."

He smiles at his joke, and prepares to dodge the inevitable cuff from Xavier.

Xavier glares at Bennett, but still fails to fully disguise a half smile.

"Alternately, I will yield mine to Jihan, as if he's to do us any good, he'll need to be damn fast," Bennett continues. "As for the armor spell, I think Will should get one of those, and the other for whoever needs it more. If Will is to survive his plan, he'll need that spell."

"Also, we need to stay together for this invisibility thing to happen. So we'll need to work out an order for us to stay in. Whoever gets the spell on them should be in the middle, obviously, with our beautiful lady to the rear. The other three warriors should stay in front. Until we get to the square, Fae, Jihan, and Will could follow up the rear, but still within the area of the thing, if I am understanding it right. Then when we make it into the square, we could split up as they desired and make for the VIP box, but all must be done with haste if we want to maximize effect."

A thing occurs to Bennett:

"We could make even better time if the hasted giants carried the other group members."

He smiles:

"It's just a thought," as the inevitable remark comes sailing his way from Faewen'il at the thought of being carted around by one of the men in the group.

Gronk looks at Bennett:

"Ain't no reason ta do no carryin'. Da Wiz 'ere said 'e could makes as many of as speedy as wanted it."

Aneira politely and coolly says:

"I would prefer not to have any spells cast upon me."

She gives a slight bow to the man and remains toward the back of the group.

Bennett is clearly pumped up:

"We don't have much time, so let's do this thing!"

Xavier shook his head with astonishment at the sight of Petr's luxurious abode. A few choice Teutonic swear words were mumbled under his breath. He stood quietly at the back of the group, uncomfortable as always with those who practice the dark arts. He listens with distaste at the magicks the foolish parody of an emperor before them is offering, his mind in turmoil:

"Useful such magics may be, but are they honorable?" he thinks to himself. "But war is war, and the Nyemetz leadership could not be described as honorable."

Shaking aside all doubts, he steps forward, nodding his head briefly in the direction of the Magus upon the throne.

"Herr royal highest," Xavier starts, his voice momentarily dripping with sarcasm, "it be a pleasure for dis noble knight to make your acquaintance. You said you could make a man's skin turn a blade, as if it vas made of stone. As you can see dis knight lacks a skin of metal to turn a blade in today's battle against the whoreson Nyemetz. That valued armor which was mine is held in their vaults. Soon it shall be restored to me but until then I ask that you grant me this magical boon this day, and I vill be thankful."

Xavier makes a stiff low bow, his pride obviously hurt by the need to request that which is abhorrent to him.

"I would rather not be hasted," Winnacer says. "But I am amenable to the rest however. I would also like to remind the rest of you to stick close to me during the fighting - as Spravedelna protects those who fight at the side of Justice."

Petr looks on at the discussions regarding who is to receive which blessings with disinterest. Once the party has come to some kind of a conclusion, then he finally speaks:

"So let me firstly cast the two spells which will turn the recipients' skin to the consistency of stone."

Will and Xavier walk forwards and Petr then reaches into his pouch and produces a pinch of rock dust that also sparkles in the light from the powdered diamond that is mixed in with it. He sprinkles the pinch of the mixture over Will and then begins to chant while gesturing towards him. Upon finishing the enchantment, Will can detect to apparent effect, but Petr does not appear to be concerned.

He then turns towards Xavier and repeats the operation.

"Now for the added strength and growing spells," he says.

Will steps back and Gronk, Bennett and Winnacer step forwards to join with Xavier in order to receive the benefits of the increased strength.

Once more, Petr reaches into his pouch and produces a few strands of hair that look as if they have come from a bear. He starts once more with Xavier and spends a fair amount of time chanting and gesticulating towards the Saxon. Finally, the spell is completed and Petr touches both of Xavier's forearms simultaneously. As he does so, Xavier's arms seem to swell, as muscles start to bulge under his arms and Xavier feels stronger than he has ever felt before, capable of anything.

Gronk is next for the treatment. Petr repeats the operation exactly as he did for Xavier and the dwarf too feels his strength enhanced, although not nearly to the same degree as Xavier felt. Bennett is next to receive the benefits of the spell. The results of the increased strength is fair, better than for Xavier, but nothing compared to what it did for Xavier. Winnacer is the last to receive Petr's spell. Unfortunately, however, the effects of the spell are weakest of all upon the young Lord.

As Petr sees the look of delight upon Xavier's face, and a slight tinge of disappointment coming to the faces of the others, he speaks:

"Apologies if the results of the alteration are not all that each of you would have hoped for. The magick works differently for each person that it is cast upon."

Realizing that time is a luxury that none of them has, Petr then continues with the other spells. Once more he starts to chant towards the four warriors, starting with Xavier. The casting takes little time at all, and he finishes by casting powdered iron over the Saxon. As the iron filings land upon the Saxon's shoulders, Xavier starts to increase in size rapidly. Within just a few seconds, he is standing over twelve feet tall, and his head almost touches the ceiling. He now dwarfs the rest of them. Without any more ado, Petr repeats the operation chanting and then casting iron filings upon Gronk, Bennett and Winnacer. In each case, the results are the same in that each of the warriors grows to double their original size, leaving them towering over their regular-sized colleagues.

A broad smile appears on Gronk's face as he increases in size:

"Oy! What be momma 'inkin' iffin she be seeing me now. Let's get ta whackin' 'em scum!"

Petr is looking fairly drained by now, obviously not used to casting so many spells in quick succession:

"And finally the hastening spell," he says. "So which of you wish to take advantage of the spell?"

Only Gronk, Xavier and Bennett indicate that they wish to take advantage of the spell.

"Very well," Petr says, and then tells the others that do not wish to receive the spells benefits to stand back while he casts upon the three.

He produces a shaving of licorice root from his pouch and then proceeds to cast upon the three of them. As he finishes, the others notice that they start to move rapidly and jerkily, finding it difficult to get used to the fact that they are moving twice as fast as normally.

"I need to cast one more spell upon you," the tired looking Petr says to the three that are now hastened. "This will extend the duration of the spell to twenty minutes so that it does not expire while you are in the middle of the combat."

With that, Petr casts once again and then falls silent. He then wipes the perspiration from his brow as he looks over at Faewen'il with tired eyes:

"Have you got the invisibility spell ready? It was part of our agreement."

"Aye," Faewen'il replies. "I shall be castin it now upon ma cloak. However, the agreement that I made is that I only be helpin the others to get away from your place here. Once we are away, then I need to be goin on ma own away from the others as I cannae be riskin getting too close to tha brass or else I be surely doomed. It only be takin two arrows to drop me to tha ground."

She then turns to Aneira:

"Perhaps ye be best to come with me. I could be usin your silence spell to mask my movements totally."

Not waiting for a response, Faewen'il then produces an eyelash encased in gum arabic from her pouch and starts to cast towards her cloak, which she is holding in her left hand. After less than a minute, the form of Faewen'il and those around her disappear from view. The others can then hear the disembodied voice of Faewen'il saying:

"Only those that be within 10 foot o me will be hidden from view. You warriors be so big that I will only just be able to hide you from view. The rest o ye will have to go without the cover of invisibility."

The exhausted form of Petr simply nods in response:

"This will not be a problem. As long as those that are leaving do nothing to act suspiciously on their way out, then it should arouse no suspicion. I would imagine that the Nyemetz have most of their resources on the Square in any case."

He pauses for a moment and then speaks to them all:

"I have done all that I can for you now. There is little time before noon and so I suggest that you all make haste to the site now. Good luck to each of you."

Understanding the urgency of the situation, they immediately take their leave of Petr. The butler opens the door out into the corridor and the four warriors try to squeeze through it, having to bend forwards and grunt in order to get through the seemingly tiny door. All manage it, however, and assemble in the corridor next to the back door. Will, Aneira and Priest Born, who are still of normal size, head out of the door first, with Will leading the way and then the four family-sized warriors all cluster around Fae, much to everyone's discomfort, particularly Fae's. It does, however, have the result of hiding them all from view.

In such a way, the five of them exit Petr's abode through the back door ,again with difficulty due to their large size. Once out into Petr's garden, Faewen'il leads them in Will's footsteps, hurrying as fast as they can go without stepping outside the bounds of the area of invisibility. After a couple of corners and less than a minute, they are already well out of sight of Petr's place.

The fact that the four giants materialize from nowhere shows that Fae has decided that she has had enough of being pressed amongst them:

"Ye be on your own now," her voice says a couple of yards away. "Aneira, come with me."

Aneira heads towards the voice and promptly disappears. The sound of their softly muffled steps moving away fast tells the others that there is no time to discuss any more plans with the two of them.

"We need to hurry," Winnacer voice booms. "Let us make our entrance to the Square from the south through one of the shops."

With Will leading the way, they then head south from Silk Lane before they get into view of the goblin company behind the barricade to the Square. They then run down the street to the west of the Square until they get to the junction with Guild Lane. They then quickly cross over Guild Lane, avoiding being spotted by the goblin company at the barricade, and slip behind the buildings to the southwest of the Square.

They move along behind the buildings hidden from view from the rest of the Square. Winnacer stops and points to one of the buildings close to the backs of those on the South Road.

"Let us make our entry there," Winnacer's voice booms. "We need to get as close to the VIP box as possible, but not so close that we need to fight through the goblin company to do so."

Realizing that there is no time for debate, the others agree and so they run up to the back door of the building:

"Let me knock on the door," suggest Xavier, who is in the lead of the party.

Xavier raps upon the heavy oak door to the building. Forgetting the vastly increased strength given to him by Petr's enchantments, however, his knocking results in the heavy door flying off its hinges, sending it hurtling into the room.

"Sorry," Xavier says, apologetically.

The flying door elicits a scream from within. As the group stares into the room, they see a middle-aged man and his wife who are petrified with fear. They are hugging a young child towards them defensively.

"Do not be alarmed," Winnacer's voice booms. "We wish you no harm. We only wish to enter the Square through your front door."

The scribe and his family are too petrified to reply:

"Please, take what you want, just don't hurt us," he stammers.

There is no more time for apologies and so the four giants plus Will and Priest Born make their was through the scribe's home, with the giants having to bend over and squeeze through the doors in order to gain entry. They rush up to the windows at the front of the shop in order to see what is outside. The situation is almost exactly as Ithridiel and his men described it. They can see that the Square is bustling with citizens, all craning their necks in order to look at the execution platform. They can also see the back of the wooden VIP gallery, which they can see is ringed by a company of ogres, keeping a good lookout in all directions. They can see that there are companies of goblins manning barricades at each of the eight entrances to the Square. Their attention seems to be more upon the outside of the Square rather than within.

They can also see the orc companies at the base of the execution platform. All other activity from within the Square is masked by the teaming mass of civilians that are all but filling the square. Just as they are thinking about whether or not to make their move, they hear the clock of the Cathedral of Spravedelna strike the hour of noon. As the last bell tolls, the hubbub from the crowd suddenly dies and they see their massed eyes turn towards the door of the Witchfinder's Building.