Amphibious Assault

Will looks to the group after the questioning and states:

"Well I guess that nixes my idea about waiting until shift change, as doing so would double their numbers."

Winnacer then sighs:

"It seems as if we now have all of the information that we can expect in order to determine how we get onto the island and deal with the guards on the walls."

He looks towards Faewen'il and Yaz:

"So just Faewen'il and three others are able to cross over by walking on water?"

The magess and Yaz both nod.

"In that case," the LawBringer continues, "we need to decide which three will accompany Faewen'il and how they are going to deal with the guards once they get there."

Bennett shrugs:

"I'll go, but I think this may be an affair for those with a little more secrecy. We aren't going to succeed here with swords and axes, I think. Anybody got any spells to eliminate those guards?"

He thinks for a moment:

"Also, the plan is to bring the ferry over once the guards are dealt with, right? Then do we use Yaz's magic to get in or do we just go in through the door? I think we should use an alternate means of access, as they surely have guards waiting inside the magically locked door. Also, we might want to check and see if there is any way to access the Lab from the roof, as those guards had to get up there somehow."

He shrugs:

"Just some things to think about."

Winnacer nods and then offers his assistance:

"Well I will volunteer to provide muscle. Being resistant to disease and having the aura may be helpful across the lake, considering otherwise that most of us fighters are more or less the same."

"However, that still doesn't help us take out all ten guards that are on the wall."

"That's if we need to take them all out," Will interjects. "Perhaps there's another way of getting past them."

Winnacer looks amazed at hearing the bard's words, as he did when the subject of a bloodless solution was discussed earlier in the day:

"Being able to easily and bloodlessly release the prisoners from the compound without assaulting it seems like a physical and a logistical impossibility," the LawBringer responds. "On the off chance we are able to somehow mine an underground tunnel or magic means of exit for those imprisoned, they are likely in no shape to move quickly, will require much medical aid, and will also need a large amount of supplies to survive a march in this weather. It is most likely that we will need to utilize supplies liberated from the Nemotz themselves if we plan on moving the captives and having them survive. Those supplies, like the prisoners, will likely be missed."

"Secondly, moving more than a small group of people without alerting the whole of the compound to our presence should be impossible. The Nemotz have been capturing people for years. It is quite unlikely we will be able to move so many people in secrecy at one time. And it is likely we would only get one crack at such an operation."

"Third, we have no way of enabling the sick to cross over the lake. We only know of one boat and one set of boots. To save three people, again this may be adequate, but we have no clear idea of the scale of what we are attempting. Again, questioning and reconnaissance must be utilized before committing to such an action."

"While the risks to ourselves may be greatest, we probably would be best off if we all explored the Stronghold. By destroying as much of the complex and its manpower from the shadows, we best enable ourselves to provide a real exit for those captured. We also would steadily be putting an end to a great evil while we provided the imprisoned with a realistic chance of escape. With chicanery and guile, we should do quite well within the stronghold, especially when we claim the robes of the guards and priests."

"Logic and the heart both dictate that a bloodless operation would be best theoretically. But nobody has cobbled together any plan that sounds feasible to bloodlessly save the prisoners. Until such a plan is devised, if possible, we should make ready to infiltrate the castle."

Will looks at Winnacer as a kindergarten teacher upon a slow child:

"Theoretical, hmmm. Yes, how is this for a feasible plan. We have five spellcasters among us. Each of us is capable of casting in excess of five charm spells per day, totaling above twenty-five charm spells per day. I presume we would start with the guards, charming them all the first day as they change watches. We then work our way inward from there, with no fear of the guards."

He then relents his attitude and speaks without the air of condescension:

"I apologize Winnacer. I forget that you do not yet cast spells, and have been castrated of any attempts to instruct logical use of others' abilities. You are not to blame here."

Winnacer looks at Will and laughs:

"Such condescension without merit. Perhaps logic and book learning may not be my birthright, but simple tactics are. But even by logic your way is a poor choice without serious amendments, despite your obvious disrespect of my thinking. These charm spells are notorious in their propensity to fail, and it only takes one failure to alert the entire garrison that something is amiss. I highly doubt that the spell will take twenty five times without failing."

"Then again, we would also have to get close enough to cast the spells without them noticing us and cast them all before they could react. Getting close enough that we will be able to cast the spells without being spied upon are low. Then we must consider that they outnumber our spellcasters, and that are likely to raise an alarm and dash all of our plans the second we are spotted. Unless you have a way to charm them all at the same time, your plan is likely to fail."

"Lastly, placing all of the party's magical resources into one type of spell makes our group unable to react to the infinite possibilities that we can be faced with inside the Stronghold. That should be obvious to one that subscribes to the ideas of logic that you do, as it is obvious to me. We can hamstring ourselves by adhering too heavily to one method if we run into some resistance that it has no effect upon."

"Don't get me wrong. Charming may be a good way to gain entry and perhaps give us a few extra days before they note our incursions. Unfortunately, it is just as likely to fail and raise an alarm as any other plans mentioned, unless there is a better way to synchronize the spell casting and a way to insure that the spells do not fail."

Will laughs back:

"LawBringer, your ignorance will bury you one day if you do not seek the council of those with knowledge in subjects where you are lacking."

"First, there is a spell which can detect if a subject is charmed or not."

"Second, the range for the spell is a hundred and twenty yards!"

"And lastly, I thought that I had used extra sarcasm to demonstrate the point that we would not come anywhere near exhausting our magical resources in order to charm the foes herein."

Winnacer squints as he looks at the bard:

"From how I believed it worked is that you needed to get close enough to the subject to have him both see and hear you. So if the spell works from a hundred and twenty yards away, would that mean you had to shout your spell across the entire distance? I think that would alert the rest of them something was amiss."

"I'm also not concerned that they will pretend to be charmed if the spell fails. I'm concerned that the spell will not work and that they will take that time to raise an alarm. One piercing yell, from them or for us, is all it can take to put a quick end to any element of surprise we may have."

"I also disagree with that last point. If we load top heavy on charming spells, we will be underprepared to deal with the other horrors of the Stronghold, such as disease, injury, and the inevitable combat against the disease beasts or high priests that are immune to such magics. We must always be concerned with the state of our resources, both magical and mundane, as taking them for granted has led many groups to their doom."

"Now that we have made our move on the guards at the platform," Winnacer continues, "we have probably around 22 hours before the Temple is alerted that something is amiss. I'd rather be inside trying to save those inside with steel rather than trying to come up with a bloodless solution from the outside of the walls when the Nemotz get tipped off to our presence."

Will speaks:

"The best way to take them would be to let them divide the remaining guards at the next guard change. One of us gives the raven call from the platform, and five of the guards will come across on the ferry. Our forces deal with them when they arrive. Simultaneously, our advance party makes way to those that have remained on the island, that way both groups of guards will be dealt with at the same time, and divided amongst our numbers."

Bennett nods:

"That's a good idea, I think. I'll stay and deal with the guard change, as crossing that river doesn't really appeal to me."

"I thin' that'd be the best job fer me too," Kokal says. "I don' do much good sneakin' up on anyone in this armor, an' I 'ven't got any missiles or spells that'll make it up t'th' guards on th'walls."

Aneira, still somewhat distracted, nods:

"I will stay with Bennett and Kokal. I've used my Silence spell, so am no longer much good at stealth."

Winnacer looks quizzically at Will:

"We know that there are more than fifteen guards in the building, so waiting until the changing of the guard at dawn won't reduce the numbers on the walls at all."

"Plus, they are up high on the wall with bows. They have a much better position from where they are to keep a good guard. It would be quite the feat to convince them to leave the high and safe ground. It is likely we will need to take them out where they stand."

"I would think a good minimally bloody solution would be to use the illusionary magicks we have scoffed as of late. Waiting for the next set of guards to come across, we could lay ambush to them, using an illusion to cover the action. An illusion of nothing would be adequate, just enough that the guards across the lake would not be suspicious."

"With five of us dressed as guards, we can approach the next set of guards and make quick work of them from surprise. With ten sets of guard's uniforms, we will find it easier to get around once we have infiltrated the building. We also will have the boat and an excuse to take it back across the lake."

"Using the same illusion of nothingness or invisibility, we could then approach the front entrance disguised if we wished, or head to one of the other walls and gain entry that way. But if we are able to convince the wall guards that we are the returning guards, perhaps with an oft used charm spell upon the leader or another similar tact, we could enter without any suspicion for a whole day as well as manage to transport the whole party over in one go. Plus it will allow us to better prepare ourselves with spells for tomorrow and perhaps give Faewen'il a chance to infiltrate the compound in her ghostly form if she wishes to. It may take another day, but if done correctly, should reduce the risk that we are taking upon ourselves and allow us to gain entry with minimal suspicion."

"I'm not quite sure how four or five of us are going to make short and quiet work of the ten men on the tower without using a lot of our magical resources. What we could accomplish with two or three well cast spells will take five or six spells if we proceed to cross the lake separately."

While Will and Winnacer are discussing their planning, Jihan questions Yaz:

"Does your blessing from the Lady give the target any sort of carrying capacity, as Fae has said Sylva's boots do, brother?" Jihan inquires of the druid.

"Yessir... In fact, I could cast it on horses. That'd get most of us across. Although I can't imagine it'd be very quiet..."

Fae rolls her eyes a bit and coughs to get the attention of everyone in the group; though more than likely it would be Xavier who had taken to standing near her as of late.

"Iffen ye like, I could simply blast thar replacements with a pleasant bolt o lightnin... or freeze them iffen I was near... or wither them whar they stand with me little toy staff or hold them in place with Kurtek's nice wand... or a few other thins iffen it war an emergency..." she said in a voice that sounded rather bored and mostly annoyed.

"Well then," Jihan says to the lull in conversation, "it appears as if we've got a lot of options open here. The only thing I'd be worried about going along with your plan of the disguised infiltration, Winn, is the fact that there are so few guards here at any one time. Unless these mercs are a real aggressively solitary lot, which I can't imagine what with them getting stuck out on 12 hour shifts with no one but each other for company for two months at a time, pulling off a deception will be tricky, unless we get really lucky with those charms. Still, it sounds better to tackle them this way, from within, rather than hit them head on with magicks blaring. Perhaps our new friend may be useful in getting us in, if we can convince him its for the better," the elf says, peering across at the lazily grinning guard.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to use that forgetfulness dweomer today, would you Will? Make our new chum forget all about us and continue on as if nothing was wrong.

Will shakes his head:

"No I have only the charms and illusions today."

"Get him to tell us all about his fallen mates first though, and pretend we're sleeping while he's keeping to the watch to cut down on conversation," Jihan continues. "That'd be a good deal, if we could pull it off. It'd be nice having some covering fog or something similar if we want to try something like this. Otherwise I think that heading back to camp to deal with this new information might be a good thing. We should have enough time to get in a few winks and restudy enchantments," the elf continues, peering at the passage of the moon.

"If you really can use Prirodna's blessings on our horses, Yaz, then getting across shouldn't be too much of a problem, especially considering the large blindspot the temple creates for the guards on the wall... I'd be more worried about what we'd be doing with the horses while we're inside. Probably be best to have someone lead them back across with those boots and then return for the rendezvous. Maybe Milan and Tadeus could hide in the bushes and bring them back to camp..."

Shrugging his shoulders, the elf continues:

"So here's how things are sounding to me so far: we head back to camp to rest and study, then come back to pull the double whammy with the shift change, taking perhaps five of us, or four with our new friend, and getting inside the complex. Actually, it might be nice if one of us, or our friend, pretended to be sick when we're there, so that we could get a try at charming an acolyte to gain information relating to the interior. It could save you some risk, Fae. Those of us that remain deal with the guard replacement just like the first lot, then come with the hands of Prirodna beneath our feet on the water from the north to hide out and then deal with the rest. Perhaps if we just convinced their commander that it would be best to leave, on some false authority from the Nemotz priesthood combined with some creative enchantments, we could save ourselves the worry of having to deal with them. They are mercs after all, and unless they're a real professional squad with a serious commitment, many of them might be convinced to just up and leave. They have already been here six weeks, or at least, our friend's bunch has. Another two weeks pay might seem insignificant compared to their lives. Still..."

"And then there's the quick and dirty way, where we slip the lot of us across on the horses, with some of us wearing the uniforms of the guards for cover, and try to deal with the night wall garrison. Someone brings the horses back first of course, unless we can find a reliable way to hide them and keep them safe for an indeterminate amount of time. Pulling this whole thing off without alerting the lot of the mercs will be very tricky, but perhaps less so than convincing a bright-eyed morning bunch that we are people we aren't. Then we jump on the rest of the guards in the morning at shift change time. This could work out just as well, assuming that there are minimal complications during the night with priests or commanders coming to check and the like. We could probably pull this one off if we decided to go back to camp for a while and then just came back before the shift change. If we do it this way though, we'll have to deal with 15 guards at once in the morning, as opposed to divvying it up, but there's zero risk of being exposed."

"One thing we should try to find out from the priests sometime soon would be if there were any more 'capture' groups out and when they are expected back. By the time we're done, I don't imagine we'll be wanting any surprises popping up from behind us, nor want to subject the boys to any more risk than we have to leaving a gnashing bunch of disease priests out in the forest."

Shaking his head, the elf sighs:

"I guess we'll have enough to worry about with just getting in and dealing with the guards for now. Once we're inside, and have learned a bit more about the interior of the compound, we can start worrying about how we're going to proceed."

"One last thing as well, what shall we do with our new friend here? I'm actually surprised that the Nemotz priests let them go, on account of how secretive the society is supposed to be, but there you have it. If we don't use him to help us get inside, should we send him on his way or add one to the population of the halls of whichever god or goddess he calls his own?"

Yaz responds to Winnacer's plan:

"Oy, Winn, we can't wait another 12 hours. The guards downstairs'll notice the missing shift and know something's up before we even get in there. If we pull it now, we'll have more than 10 hours to surprise them inside!

"Here's what I think we should do. Four of us cross the water -- Fae, myself, Jihan, and Xavier. On the side where they can't see us. Xavier wears his new disguise. When we get across, we head straight to a wall at the side. I shape the stone to create a ladder, which we use to climb up. Meanwhile, Xavier moves to the front, and makes like he's coming out of the front door. He takes the ferry out across the water. If the guard asks questions, he can say he's on secret orders. Once he's across, the others of you come out, some in uniform and some not, and take the ferry back with him."

"Then it gets tricky... but if you start creating some kind of ruckus or diversion, moving a bunch of guards to the wall, that will give us three a chance to use our spells. Jihan can get an attack from behind, or shoot with poison... I got a spell that might do some good damage to all of them, and Fae can use the frosty spell she has. You guys can shoot arrows, or climb up the stone ladder or a rope we can send down."

"Once it's over, we go in the guard door on the roof."

"Whaddaya think? 'Cause I tell ya, I'm not waiting around another 12 hours, and if you decide to do it anyway, I'm going alone."

"Save yar stone shapin spells, I be havin a magical rope made far climbin thins," Fae says in her normal bitter tone.

"Cool," the druid responds. "Maybe we should have a few more people too... Kokal and Aneira and Will... Get all our spellcasters up there. Koke can carry Jihan across, Xavier can take Maire', and Will can take me. We can do an all-out surprise attack from behind with spells and poison, plus have some fighting power in case we get in trouble."

Yaz shrugs:

"Maybe it's not the most brilliant plan in the world but at least we know what we're dealing with this way. The only trouble is, it won't be all that quiet. But maybe our disguises'll help us deal with anybody coming up to investigate."

"If you truly wish me to go, then I will swim across, if someone will carry my armor and mace. I would prefer not to be ... carried," Aneira replies, her voice dead and cold.

"Aneira walks then," Yaz agrees, "and maybe if Koke-man doesn't got any spells then he should stay below and shoot up with the others."

"Well," Kokal says, his voice reflecting absolute joy at having to talk to Yaz again, "if I'm goin', then it'll 'ave t'be for the fightin' power, as m'spells're fer 'ealin an' protectin' an' such an' tha's about all. Radegast prefers 'is priests t'do their own fightin'.""

"Tha's why I t'ought t best if I stay'd out 'ere wit Bennett an' th' priestess t'face the next shift o'guards But I'll go 'cross if it t'would be best."

"An', bye th' bye, are we sure th'clothes we're thinkin' o' some o' us puttin' on aren't full o' pox? I c'n only cure ONE 'nstance o' infection t'day."

Yaz then shouts over to the bard:

"Will, is there any way you can use your charmed friend to bang the gong and call the ferry over? Maybe Xavier doesn't need to come over right away... maybe we should take Winn up on the wall instead, and do the Fear thing so the guards jump off the wall running!"

Will shrugs:

"Dunno, he might could, but then he might raise suspicions calling for the ferry early. It would not be good for the wall guards to send for reinforcements. But we can ask him."

Will then walks back over to within earshot of the guard:

"Tell me, is the call ever made for the ferry early? I mean before the regular shift changes? If so, what happens?"

"I dunno," the guard shrugs yet again. "I remember that, three weeks or so back, Arnost got really sick. Puking all over the place, he was, and no good to anyone, because he couldn't keep quiet. The sarge made the raven cry and escorted him back over so that he could get seen to by the priests. They sent the boat over for the pair of them. I think that was the only time I saw anything like that happen."

"Well then," Jihan says to the lull in conversation, "it appears as if we've got a lot of options open here. The only thing I'd be worried about going along with your plan of the disguised infiltration, Winn, is the fact that there are so few guards here at any one time. Unless these mercs are a real aggressively solitary lot, which I can't imagine what with them getting stuck out on 12 hour shifts with no one but each other for company for two months at a time, pulling off a deception will be tricky, unless we get really lucky with those charms. Still, it sounds better to tackle them this way, from within, rather than hit them head on with magicks blaring. Perhaps our new friend may be useful in getting us in, if we can convince him its for the better," the elf says, peering across at the lazily grinning guard.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to use that forgetfulness dweomer today, would you Will? Make our new chum forget all about us and continue on as if nothing was wrong.

Will shakes his head:

"No, I have only the charms and illusions today."

"That's a shame," Jihan says a little sadly. "I was hoping that we could get him to tell us all about his fallen mates first though, and pretend we're sleeping while he's keeping to the watch to cut down on conversation... That would have been a good deal, if we could pull it off. It'd be nice having some covering fog or something similar if we want to try something like this. Otherwise I think that heading back to camp to deal with this new information might be a good thing. We should have enough time to get in a few winks and restudy enchantments," the elf continues, peering at the passage of the moon.

"If you really can use Prirodna's blessings on our horses, Yaz, then getting across shouldn't be too much of a problem, especially considering the large blindspot the temple creates for the guards on the wall... I'd be more worried about what we'd be doing with the horses while we're inside. Probably be best to have someone lead them back across with those boots and then return for the rendezvous. Maybe Milan and Tadeus could hide in the bushes and bring them back to camp..."

Shrugging his shoulders, the elf continues:

"So here's how things are sounding to me so far: we head back to camp to rest and study, then come back to pull the double whammy with the shift change, taking perhaps five of us, or four with our new friend, and getting inside the complex. Actually, it might be nice if one of us, or our friend, pretended to be sick when we're there, so that we could get a try at charming an acolyte to gain information relating to the interior. It could save you some risk, Fae. Those of us that remain deal with the guard replacement just like the first lot, then come with the hands of Prirodna beneath our feet on the water from the north to hide out and then deal with the rest. Perhaps if we just convinced their commander that it would be best to leave, on some false authority from the Nemotz priesthood combined with some creative enchantments, we could save ourselves the worry of having to deal with them. They are mercs after all, and unless they're a real professional squad with a serious commitment, many of them might be convinced to just up and leave. They have already been here six weeks, or at least, our friend's bunch has. Another two weeks' pay might seem insignificant compared to their lives. Still..."

"And then there's the quick and dirty way, where we slip the lot of us across on the horses, with some of us wearing the uniforms of the guards for cover, and try to deal with the night wall garrison. Someone brings the horses back first, of course, unless we can find a reliable way to hide them and keep them safe for an indeterminate amount of time. Pulling this whole thing off without alerting the lot of the mercs will be very tricky, but perhaps less so than convincing a bright-eyed morning bunch that we are people we aren't. Then we jump on the rest of the guards in the morning at shift change time. This could work out just as well, assuming that there are minimal complications during the night with priests or commanders coming to check and the like. We could probably pull this one off if we decided to go back to camp for a while and then just came back before the shift change. If we do it this way though, we'll have to deal with 15 guards at once in the morning, as opposed to divvying it up, but there's zero risk of being exposed."

"One thing we should try to find out from the priests sometime soon would be if there were any more 'capture' groups out and when they are expected back. By the time we're done, I don't imagine we'll be wanting any surprises popping up from behind us, nor want to subject the boys to any more risk than we have to leaving a gnashing bunch of disease priests out in the forest."

Shaking his head, the elf sighs:

"I guess we'll have enough to worry about with just getting in and dealing with the guards for now. Once we're inside, and have learned a bit more about the interior of the compound, we can start worrying about how we're going to proceed."

"One last thing as well, what shall we do with our new friend here? I'm actually surprised that the Nemotz priests let them go, on account of how secretive the society is supposed to be, but there you have it. If we don't use him to help us get inside, should we send him on his way or add one to the population of the halls of whichever god or goddess he calls his own?"

"Jihan," says Yaz, "I got no plans to wait another night. We got kids to save, and once 12 hours go by, the whole temple'll know we're here when the five trail guards don't return from duty. Then we're hooped."

"Let's just get Will's buddy to call over the ferry. He can tell them he's sick or something. The fighters who cross that way -- Gronk, Bennett, Kokal, and Xavier -- can be dressed in guard uniforms so they don't get fired on right away. Okay, maybe Gronk won't fit into a uniform, but he can hide behind the others. The four spellcasters and Winn can follow Jihan across the water and be ready to climb up Maire's rope while the fighter types are creating the distraction out front. Then we jump 'em from behind."

"Let me 'ave a drag on 'at," Gronk says as he reaches for Yaz's weed, "whate'er it is, it be makin' ya talk sense ta me. Iffin we cans get da warriors over while yous magic-types get on da temple, 'en yous can make sure none of 'em mercs go in ta tell all 'eir friends we's havin' a party."

"If we wait, we'll have to coordinate spells and all that," the druid continues, "and plan how to deal with the mercs and priests out looking for the lost guards in the morning."

"If anyone has any ideas how I can get more out of my fire spell with oil or something let me know... it only affects, like, a 12-foot square area. Might catch only two guards if they're spaced out. But maybe Winn's fear gig will bunch them up at the end of the platform... that'd be good."

"Iffin ya can only gets one," adds Gronk, "'en mayhap it best be used ta make sure 'ey don't gets back in da temple. 'en we's can sneak in an' takes out da rest o' da mercs."

Gronk then gives Thunder and his crossbow a quick once-over, making sure everything is in order before the fun starts.

Will nods to the plan.

Winnacer looks as if he wishes to append the plan somewhat, but looks at the impatient faces of his companions:

"Let's just do it then. Make sure you all are ready to charm the boat bringer, or else things may not go so smoothly."

"Well, I don' know 'o y'expectin' t'do th' charmin, as I've already tol' ye m'spells 're only fer 'ealin' an' protection," Kokal says with a sigh. "But I thin' we four prob'ly got other ways t'deal with one guard."

"Mebbe we c'n jus' stay off out o'sight an' let th' charmed one stagger 'roun an' fall far enough 'way so th' boater 'as t'come off onta shore t'get im, where we c'n take 'em out quick, quiet an' out o'sight o' the walls. Or I c'n put th'fear o'Radegast in 'im an'make 'im -- an' meebe ye charmed frien' there too," the Padre adds in a hushed voice to avoid the charmed guard hearing,"... run off an' leave us th' boat."

"It also may be better if the warriors headed over first rather than the archers," Winnacer continues. "This way the archers can disguise themselves as guards while the warriors can descend upon the guards once the jig is up. We may as well maximize our offense, and the guards will not be prone to arrowfire if the guards find themselves overwhelmed in melee. Unless, of course we are planning on ensorcelling the guards once we are over there."

"I think it's better to have the archers and spellcasters up top," Yaz replies. "For one thing, we can't be disguised in guard-armor and cast spells at the same time. Also, we need to be in range for our spells to work... and surprise from behind gives us that chance. Down below they will be much more vulnerable to arrows from above, but also to any guards or priests coming out of the temple. And since you fighters got better armor and stuff than us, you should be down there."

"It would be good, though, for you guys to have a way to get up the wall if you need to. Maybe Will should stay with the fighter group so he can use his lasso to do that. It'd also give him a few chances to charm the guard who ferries across the water to pick you up. Gronk, will you come upstairs with us? How are you at climbing rope?"

"Prob'ly bestest out o' the lot o' yers," Gronk says proudly. "I comes from the mountains, remember. Ain't none o' yers as good at gettin' up sheer cliff faces than me, I betcha."

Will shakes his head:

"I only had one charm today. Besides that I have the illusionary sound and sight songs. It matters not to me where I am at. I can easily lasso a battlement and be up the rope in a moment, or I can go and attempt to protect Fae.

Yaz then turns towards Winnacer:

"Winn, will you use your bellowing voice? If you will, I'll hold off on my fire spell until it happens."

He turns to the rest:

"Let's concentrate on the west side of the wall before we move to the east. If there are guards in the middle section, we should leave those to Gronk and Winn, and cast and fire at the ones on the sides instead."

"The only thing that worries me there is that us lightweights will be sitting ducks out on the barge for the archers on the walls. That and firing on the guards will be next to impossible from this side of the battlements," Jihan comments. "Actually, come to think of it, I don't see why we just don't tell our friend here to take a hike and make a few trips out over the water, bringing everyone across. We do have the whole night, after all. All the heavies get the enchantments and the boots for the first trip, carrying across all the lightweights."

"How long does that enchantment of yours last, brother?" he inquires of Yaz.

"We could do it this way: have Kokal, Winnacer, Bennett and our friend here receive the enchantments and boots. They carry over us lightweights, including Fae, Yaz, Gronk and I. Aneira has volunteered to swim, so someone could probably carry her armor along with Fae or me. Then our friend walks back and gives the boots over to Xavier, who carries Will across. The bloke can amuse himself by looting the bodies of his friends and running off, or something like that, I suppose. Might be better to tie him up on the platform, just so the boys won't be at any risk. How does that sound?"

Yaz stares blankly at the elf. There is a long pause, then:

"You're right.... it'd be better if all of us were up there... and of course we can make more than one trip with the waterwalking spell... I never thought of that!" Yaz scratches his head. "But do you think we can get on the roof of the Lab quietly without a diversion happening to distract them? That's my big worry... Will could do it alone with a song or a funny story, but that leaves him completely open to their arrows if they decide to shoot. I figure four ruckus-causers would mean more targets, and less chance somebody dies."

"I guess one o' yous could be carryin' me 'cross," Gronk says, a smirk coming across his face, "longs as ya ain't up ta no funny business. Gettin' up on da temple ain't gonna be no problem, we use da little lady's rope 'ere an' climbs up da far side o' da temple. Longs as none o' us be fallin' ta da ground we's shouldn't be makin' too much noise. 'en we cans sneak o'er close by an' take out a few o' 'em with arrows an' such 'fore we takes 'em on hand-ta-hand."

Gronk pats Thunder as he finishes speaking.

"I just figure that pulling off a deception on such a small bunch as this is going to be entirely dependent on our charming enchantments, and what really does it gain us that a little rope up the wall won't?" Jihan asks. "All it's going to do is separate us further and make things more complicated. Why don't we just do our darndest to eliminate the guards on the wall right now and break in up top. They must get on those walls somehow, with there being no apparent way up from the courtyard. Fae, you say you can paralyze with that wand of Kurtek's?" he asks rhetorically, looking towards the sorceress and nodding his head at the same time.

"Why not use that on the patrolling guard and then just sneak up on the rest? We get rid of them and then we still have hours and hours to figure out how we want to deal with the morning shift, if we don't end up getting inside the temple and doing a little dressup in guard uniforms plus stealth elimination or charming in the barracks to get the rest of the guards out. Then we worry about the priests. Getting across the water is our least concern with the help of those boots and Prirodna's blessings. Why even worry about figuring out some plan to deal with events that we can avoid any way? Even if we have to garrotte the guards from behind to keep this quiet, I don't see why we can't just head over, the lot of us, right now, beat down or charm the wall guards, and have the whole night to work on the rest."

"I like Jihan's idea fer us t'try an' stay together an' make t' 'tack up on th'walls t'gether," the Padre says. 'As th' plannin' 'as been gettin' done, I 'ave also been gettin' concern'd 'bout 'ow th' group upstairs an'th' one downstairs were goin' t'get back together again. We got no idea o'th layout o' th' place past th' courtyards inside the outer gate, let 'lone 'ow many o'th' vermin might be 'tween us all once we're there .... An' d'int th' magess fin' the door at th'end o' th' yard locked wit magic?"

"If we get too separated in there, I thin' we got trouble."

"So," Kokal concludes, "I'm wit th' elf in preferrin' t'keep us together as much as we c'n. But if the most of us want t'do the two-group plan, I will do m'part ... but wha's the part o' th' plan t'get us all together again once we're over there wit one group up an' one group down?"

Winnacer nods:

"Very well, so we're now all decided that we are going over together with the three strongest of us carrying the others over. Once we're over there, the first thing that we need to do is check for alarms on the wall. The last thing we need is for them to sound the alarm and to have the other members of the garrison coming to reinforce them."

"Why not ask Will's new friend instead?" Jihan replies.

The elf then leaves the tactical planning group and heads back over to the guard.

"What do you fellows have for an alarm over there, any way? I can't imagine many people bothering the clergy of Nemotz... Would you even need one?"

"There's no alarm on the wall," the guard responds shaking his head. "There are a couple of gongs inside the building though. If there's any trouble, then all we need to do is run through the door then down the stairs and bang on the big gongs at the bottom. We've practiced the drill on several occasions, but we've never needed to do it for real."

"Thank you," Jihan responds and then returns to the others.

"So, it looks like we're ready to go then. Any ideas as to what you plan to do with your new friend now, Will?"

Will shrugs:

"Well, just because he is charmed doesn't mean that he will faithfully do anything I ask, the charm doesn't change the man's character. So, I suggest we tie him up to be released at a later time so that he cannot get into any trouble."

Winnacer nods:

"We've talked enough. Let us now get on to the island and finalize our plans once we know the exact position of the guards."

They then all start to move through the forest in a northwesterly direction until they reach the edge of the forest and feel the edge of the swamp squelching under-foot.

Jihan advances a little further and looks towards the island:

"They can't see us from here. We are hidden by the main part of the building."

The warriors then start to have a long debate regarding who Yaz should cast the water walking spells on and who should be carried over. The debate lasts for several minutes, with none of the warriors being particularly keen on being carried over. Eventually it is decided that Bennett, the Padre and Winnacer should have the spells cast upon them, leaving Gronk, Xavier and the three elvenkind to be carried over.

While the men are squabbling amongst themselves, comparing their relative strengths and weights, both laden and unladen, the women simply get on with it. Aneira, taking advantage of the fact that the men are concentrating upon bragging upon how strong they are, takes off her armor and leaves it together with her equipment and outer garments and then wades through the thick mud of the swamp accompanied by Faewen'il, who glides across the surface using her boots of waterwalking. Together, the pair of them quietly cross the lake, with Aneira swimming across the 75 yard distance with relative ease and showing no obvious signs of discomfort at swimming through the freezing cold black waters of the lake. Faewen'il walks along side her in case she gets into any difficulties. They both arrive upon the island without encountering any problems.

Meanwhile, the others have decided upon who is going to receive Yaz' spell. The druid produces from his pouch three corks that he was easily able to acquire during the day by taking them out of Oldrich's empties that were lying in the back of the wagon. He then begins an unfamiliar incantation, which he casts in quick succession upon Bennett, Winnacer and the Padre.

"Let's get Yaz, Will and Jihan over first," suggests Winnacer. "They are the lightest and they can scout ahead while we go back to retrieve Gronk, Xavier and Aneira's equipment."

Gronk and Xavier both agree, still sulking at being the ones who are carried. Bennett then stoops down in order to give Yaz a piggyback, while the Padre and Winnacer perform the same task for Will and Jihan respectively.

They then set out over the swamp, passing over it as if it were soft mud. They then proceed to walk over the water, moving slowly so as to proceed as quietly as possible. Bennett, wearing the weightless and bulkless Fabio armor, has no problem at all in taking Yaz across and soon outpaces the other two, and easily places the druid on the ground before starting the return journey in order to retrieve another member of the party. The Padre has more trouble and the sweat starts to drip off him as he carries Will and his equipment across. The journey seems to take him forever, but he manages to deposit Will on the opposite bank before he has to sit down and take a bit of a breather.

Winnacer, however, has more problems. In the bulky platemail, the young Lord is having difficulty in holding on to Jihan who is trying to cling on. By the time that they are halfway over, Winnacer is having real difficulty as the sweat from the exertion starts to drip into his eyes and he feels his grip on the elf to be slipping.

With just 20 yards to go to the shore, the LawBringer cannot hold him any more and feels the elf slipping from his back. Jihan, feeling himself descending rapidly, tries to grab onto the LawBringer for support, but cannot get a grip on the smooth surface of his platemail. The elf lands in the water with a loud splash.

While the others on the bank throw themselves prone and draw their missile weapons in case the sound alerted any of the guards, Jihan desperately tries to doggy paddle in order to keep himself from going under, while Winnacer struggles to grab his arm. Luckily, Jihan is wearing only leather armor and so does not sink that quickly and so the young Lord can grab his arm and drags the elf the remaining distance towards the island.

Upon reaching it, the two of them hit the dirt and keep an eye towards the temple, looking to see if there is any sign of activity.

Jihan curses somewhat vehemently for an elf when he is deposited on shore:

"Well, there goes the last of my sleeping venom. The water's sure to have washed it off of my arrows..."

Coughing a bit from the effects of the scummy water, he wipes at his nose again and proceeds to string Weitbeissen. Frying himself off. the elf shakes his head:

"This isn't good at all. Should've doubled up carriers. Someone's sure to hear us... Would anybody happen to be able to magick up an image of some wonderful swampland fauna to cover us up with, or fog or something? Maybe take advantage of the fact that our waterwalkers can still waterwalk? I'm pretty sure that they won't send all the guards to investigate, leaving a few behind to ring those gongs if anything goes wrong. Either that or us shooters and casters should probably get up on the roof as soon as possible... Is your rope ready, Fae?"

Faewen'il takes the rope off her shoulder and dumps it at the elf's feet:

"Tell it tae 'get knotted' and throw it up in tha air," she says before going back to ignoring the elf.

Jihan crouches down and picks up the rope. He then turns to Will:

"Fancy a little walk across the rooftops, brother?" he asks.

Will agrees and so the two of them head for the north end of the building. Jihan looks at the rope at says the magic words:

"Get knotted."

With that, the rope proceeds to snake upwards slowly, neatly tying itself in knots at intervals of a foot. It takes four minutes before the rope has managed to rise the 40' to the top of the rope. Once it has reached its full height, Jihan and Will start to climb the rope, finding it simplicity itself to haul themselves up using the ropes. In no time at all, they are upon the roof and delicately crawling towards the southern edge of it.

All are a little tense and continue to keep a low profile for a while in case the sound of Jihan's dunking has alerted the guards. After five minutes, however, there is still no sign of any activity from the temple and so they begin to relax a little.

Having recovered their strength a little now, Bennett, the Padre and Winnacer all walk back over the lake in order to get their next loads. After seeing Winnacer's struggle with Jihan, neither Xavier nor Gronk are terribly keen upon having the LawBringer as their steed for the journey and so Winnacer takes Aneira's equipment while Bennett takes Xavier and the Padre takes Gronk.

Bennett eyes the bulky Saxon, looking about for some help and seeing the other's occupied. Realizing he is the best man for this unenviable job, he throws him over his shoulders, straining with the weight.

Winnacer has no problem at all with carrying the equipment and arrives over with the others. The Padre, who struggled to carry Will has even more of a problem with Gronk and has to stagger the last few yards of the journey, taking all of his strength in order to keep the dense form of the dwarf clinging on to him for dear life. As soon as he reaches the island, the Padre unceremoniously dumps the dwarf onto the ground and simply lies, gasping for air for a while.

"Bunch o' wusses. 'at sure as hell be da last time any o' yous be carryin' me,especially o'er water," Gronk grumbles.

"Thank Radegast fer THAT," Kokal heaves. "Y'dint end up in th' damned river did ye? Bloody ingrate."

This time, it is Bennett who has problems keeping Xavier on his back. Although the light, unburdened druid caused him no problems, the heavy, chainmail-wearing Saxon is quite a different case. As he gets halfway over the lake, Bennett is beginning to struggle. After a few more yards, he realizes that the weight is too much for him and struggles to keep the Saxon from toppling him over. However, it all becomes just too much for him to bear and Xavier slips off his back. Unable to grab hold of Bennett, Xavier falls from his back and starts to sink like a stone with a very loud splash.

Bennett grunts toward those on the shore, though not with much breath:

"Uh, guys? A hand here?"

Then, upon dropping the armored fellow, Bennett says:

"Goddammit! One of you goddamn magicians! Give me a hand here! Xavier just took a dive!"

Needless to say, this causes panic among all of the others. Bennett immediately crouches and tries to grab Xavier's hand, but the weight of Xavier's mail is dragging him under too quickly.

Aneira, who was in the process of drying herself off and putting her armor back on, sees the commotion and realizes that Xavier is a dead man unless he gets some assistance. Immediately she launches herself off the side of the island and starts to swim towards Bennett. Upon arriving at the location, she dives down and disappears from view.

"Son of a bitch!" Bennett yells out in frustration, as the priestess takes care of business he should be doing. He jumps up and down, thinking if he hits the water hard enough, the spell will stop working.

"Shit, shit, shit!" says Gronk at hearing the commotion. "Iffin 'ey didn't already knows we be here 'ey sure as hell do now."

Gronk checks to make sure Thunder and his crossbow are intact before moving about 10 yards away from the rest of the group. He then readies his crossbow, trying to keep on eye on both sides of the temple as well as the roof to see if any guards appear.

"Oh shit," Jihan says from the rooftop, mimicking Gronk's thoughts on the matter, his eyes opening wide as he hears the sounds of the struggle.

The others all look on tensely as neither Aneira nor Xavier reappear. A minute passes, two, three. Just as they fear the pair of them lost, they see Aneira emerge from the black waters pulling Xavier up with her. The Saxon is spluttering and gasping for air. Aneira then does the backstroke with her arm around Xavier's neck and slowly but surely drags the Saxon to shore, with Bennett following on behind them feeling a little sheepish. Aneira simply worked at getting the large man back to the shore. Luckily, at 6' herself, she was no midget.

Bennett runs over toward the two of them, grabbing the Saxon and dragging him through the water by one arm as Aneira swims. He is, indeed, quite sheepish.

"Gott in Himmel!" Xavier exclaims, spitting out a mouthful of the foul, brackish waters. "I haf lost all my f***ing equipment in the f***ing lake!"

Looking at the wet Saxon, the others can see that he is dressed in just his gambeson, having had to get out of his chainmail rather speedily and dumping the rest of his equipment in his attempts to stop himself from drowning.

"I don't feel very well," Aneira says, as her nose starts to run and she feels the start of a headache coming on. "I think that there must be something in the water."

"I'm not feeling too good either, sister," Jihan says, wiping a trail of snot on the back of his sleeve.

Bennett looks at Xavier, expecting the same symptoms:

"Damn, knew this water was funky!"

"Shit," exclaims Gronk. "We got company."

They look round and see six guards heading towards them all around the side of the temple.