The Key In The Porridge

As soon as the guards have left, Yaz says his devotions to Prirodna and pulls some of the holy cannabis from amongst his hair then tries to heal the most badly injured. He tries first upon Xavier, despite the Saxon's protestations that he wants none of Yaz's mytickal healing. Yaz's first attempt has little effect upon Xavier's health, and so he tries another, which has similarly little effect. Yaz mutter to the Saxon that he needs to accept Prirodna's gift of healing for it to be more successful. Xavier just mutters some curses about wretched fey arts.

Giving up on Xavier, Yaz turns his attentions to Darius. His healing magick has a much better effect upon he goblin, and Darius is fighting fit, totally back to his original self, after the druid's healing efforts.

After they have settled down in the cell again, the viewing hatch is opened again and a bucket appears. Jihan goes to collect it and once more sees the young girl handing over the evening meal. Again she shows no emotion as she hands it over. Looking inside the bucket, they see that it contains more cold oatmeal porridge. Some of them eat, while others are not sufficiently hungry. They settle down for another miserable night in the cell.

The evening goes without incident as they all consider your fates in silence, realizing that, unless someone comes up with a way of escape, they will all have less than 48 hours to live - all except Xavier who was able to get another ten days of life, perhaps longer depending upon how his trial by combat works out. You wonder what Corrow is up to. Is he simply going to flee from Dvur Kralovye, trying to pretend that the past three weeks of his life never happened, or is he summoning some kind of aid at this very moment?

Winnacer looks around the cell nervously, the slow progression of time until sentencing is definitely agitating the young lord. He peers out the cell door window, looking to see who or what is guarding them now. He spends much time watching out the window, trying to get a sense of guard shift changes and times of heavy activity if at all possible.

He notices that there are always two goblin guards on duty, and each team works an eight hour shift. One team works from 0800-1600, the next 1600-0000 and the others take the graveyard shift of 0000-0800. When the new guards take over, they take a large bunch of keys from the outgoing guards. The guards are obviously bored out of their minds for the majority of the time. Usually playing cards and chatting with each other to try and make the time go faster. There are very few visitors to the cell area.

While watching, he speaks aloud to nobody and everybody.

"This is really not good. I am willing to die for this cause, but not quite yet. Any suggestions how to shed these manacles? Or to escape this cell? I can think of some ways to try to convince the guards to open the door, but it is of no use if we are shackled. At least Corrow is free..."

Winnacer trails off and keeps his watch on the hallway.

"I wouldn't be so sure about Corrow... He seemed pretty serious to me. I won't be surprised if we never see him again."

Yaz sits. "So apparently I am to be dipped in shit 2 days from now."

He grins widely. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss it."

"The real trouble is to get the door open. I don't think we'll convince the guards to do it voluntarily. We'll have to threaten them."

"I can reverse my healing spells so they cause damage instead of mending it. All I have to do is touch the creature. What if I killed one, then we threatened the other. The problem is we'd have to hold the guard somehow. Grab his arm through the viewing hole or something. Maybe if we think of a way to get them both to come to the door -- if we all "ooh!" and "ahh!" at something inside, maybe? Or whip them with the chain? Me and Xavier can grab a guard each. I kill mine, and Xavier holds the arm of the other so he can't run. I wave my dangerous hand in front of his face, and get him to open up."

Yaz thinks. "Or do you think they'll open the door if we advertise the fact that we're free of our chains? I doubt it... or if they do, they'll have reinforcements.'

"Can we make a device out of the bucket pieces?"

"Timing is also an issue. I vote for nighttime, 36 hours from now. What do you think?

"Bennett, do you have any suggestions?"

After his earlier behavior, Bennett has been fairly calm since the others returned from their sentencing, although if looks could kill, Darius would have met a ghastly death a long time ago.

In response to Yaz's question, he just shakes his head sadly.

'I have had several days more than you have in this cesspit to consider all ways of escape, but the Nyemetz are no fools and have not left any obvious means of escape open. If we could just get out of these chains and through the doors, then we have a good chance. I'm prepared to fight my way out of here, or die in the attempt. Anything is preferable to rotting here only to end my days fighting Slovenes for a cause that I despise.'

The cell goes quiet again. They all realize that it would be better to wait another day before they try any escape plans, as it will give more time for the injured to recover. Eventually, worry gives way to boredom as they realize that there is little that they can do under their present circumstances and they fall into a deep sleep.

 

 

18 SEPTEMBER 3460

The day starts as it did the previous day, at 7.00 a.m., with the sound of the viewing hatch being opened and a bucket appearing through the gap. Faewen'il goes over to the door in order to take the bucket. She looks at the girl, seeing that she has seen slightly less of life than even her own few years. As she looks into the girl's face, she sees that the girl is looking very nervous for some reason, as opposed to her emotionless look on the previous occasions that she brought the food bucket. She asks to retrieve the previous buckets that they finished with the previous day. Faewen'il goes and picks them up and gives them to her. Without saying a word, the girl takes the bucket and leaves. She leaves with some degree of haste, Faewen'il notices.

The bucket is brought into the center of the cell. They all let out disappointed sighs as they see that the bucket contains the same cold oatmeal porridge as it has for the previous meals. The thought of eating the slops is not that pleasant, but they realize that they must eat to keep their strengths up, to continue the process of healing that is still underway. They eat silently as they go back to considering their fates.

Then, Winnacer freezes.

There is something in the porridge.

Slowly, Winnacer pulls the object out. Covered in porridge, it is impossible to make out what it is. It appears to be some sort of cylinder some eight inches long with a diameter of around three inches.

*Darius*, whispers Winnacer to the goblin. *Go check on the guards. Keep them occupied if needs be.*

Darius casually moves over to the door. He sees that the guards are playing cards for copper pieces, bored out of their tiny minds. He indicates to Winnacer that the coast is clear.

The others crowd around Winnacer as he investigates the object further. The young lord wipes the residue of stodgy porridge off the object and sees that it is a marrowbone. At first, he thinks that it is perhaps just left over from a previous meal, but then he sees something scratched into the bone.

'You owe me big time. See Viktor at The Cow & Gate' Winnacer reads to the rest of you.

He turns the bone over and, as he does so, an item drops out of the hollow bone. It drops to the floor with a quiet metallic chink.

It is a key.

Jihan investigates the key. Looking at it closely, he sees that it is a key unlike any that he has ever seen before. Rather than the teeth of the key being fixed, there are many small teeth. Jihan rubs his finger over the teeth. As he does so, the teeth give a little. They are fixed to microscopic springs.

Heimlin investigates:

'Looks like the work of gnomes to me. That's real craftsmanship that is. Not even dwarves could come up with something like that.'

Jihan looks at Darius to check that the guards are not coming. He also steals a glance at Bennett to see what his reaction is. His reaction is the same as the rest of them, a mixture of surprise and hope.

Jihan gingerly places the key in the lock. He gently twists it to and fro until he hears a satisfying tiny click as the teeth fit into place. Breathing deeply, and giving a quick chant to Prirodna, he gently twists the key.

*Click*

The padlock securing all of their chains to the ring in the center of the cell springs open.

Winnacer's grey eyes ignite with a giddy fervor as the lock springs open. He continues to unlock the chains until each person has a length of chain to use as a weapon if needs be. Winnacer takes one last look at the bone fragment, making sure he hasn't missed anything else written on it before crushing it to powder under his boot, then mixing the powder into his gruel before eating it.

"Today we've made a new friend. Before we leave, let me dispose of anything that might incriminate him."

Winnacer bolts down the remainder of his gruel, choking on a bone chip or two.

Yaz prays to Prirodna, lying face down on the floor, seemingly comatose. When he rises, he approaches Xavier and Winnacer, offering them healing.

"Xavier, we need your strength. Accept Prirodna's graces this time, I beg you."

Xavier looks deeply into the eyes of Yaz, his face full of some respect.

"I do not understand you Yaz, my good friend. Me a sinner, how could I be so worthy of the blessing of your deity? People of your faith, elfs have died by my hands, but still your deity is able to forgive and be willing to grant me the greatest of blessings. The power to take away my hurts, restore my torn flesh and sinew, for nothing in return. I am amazed my friend. I shall accept your god's blessing. A sinner such as I is in need of such blessing from any diety, happy enough to overlook my sins. Praise be to Prirodna!"

Xavier offers himself up freely to the blessing of the healing powers of Yaz and his deity.

Yaz touches his wounds and the effects are instant. Xavier is now feeling substantially healed from his previously poor condition, although the strong warrior is still some way from feeling totally back to his usual level.

"Amen" says Xavier, in gratitude for Prirodna's gift.

Winnacer has no problem in accepting Prirodna's gifts and Yaz's magick has great effect upon him. Winnacer is not far from being back to perfect health.

"The guards are typical goblins," begins Bennett. "If you threaten one or both without holding them, they will call the orogs down in seconds, and we are in no shape to deal with them. The goblins hold no loyalty to each other either, so we must capture both simultaneously, as the other would desert were we to slay or capture the first."

"My idea is this," Bennett says. "The goblins are aware that your group and I hold no love for each other. Could someone ask the little rat to find out how much of our conversations they have heard and understood? If feasible, I suggest that it comes over here and I pretend that I am killing it, which won't be hard, then the rest of you make a row and yell for help from the guards, as I am killing their brother. If they come in, or even open the door, allow them to come over to me to stop what I am doing. I assure that one at least will fall in silence at my hands, leaving the other, most likely in the doorway, to the rest of you. If they do not enter, or they summon the orogs, then you break up the act and tell them intervention is unnecessary. Alternately, since the guards have neglected to allow me a means to get to any food, I can yell that I am being starved and see if that at least gets them to open the door. As I haven't eaten in two days, such an act will be easily accomplished."

Darius arms himself with a set of nasty looking manacles which, when swung, should give a nasty thump...then he positions himself in sight of the human Bennett.

Winnacer listens to the suggestion of others before he pipes in:

"While I definitely see the value of releasing all the prisoners here, I wonder if such a jail break might cause so much of a ruckus to alert the guard to our escape. While the law may be quite skewed from anything I would ever follow, they did let Corrow free, gave Bennett lashes for his unknown crimes, and let Xavier fight for his innocence. Most likely any prisoners sentenced to die would have been killed already. They did mention the unusual delay in the preparations for our execution, I doubt others would be so fortunate as to force the Nyemetz filth to stretch their imagination. We may be best served by sneaking out and causing the least amount of commotion we can. And I worry that some of the prisoners may be out of favor Nyemetz who may cry out for the guards in an attempt to regain their favor."

Winnacer looks at Heimlin's family, especially Granny, and shrugs.

"Who am I kidding? Let us free them all. May I never stand in the way of the will of Spravedelna!"

Winnacer then turns to Bennett and holds out a length of chain:

"Well Bennett, this is where we leave. But our paths do not need to diverge here. Join us in our escape. Whether or not you can agree with our cause is no matter, these things can be discussed once we have cleared these walls. But let us now work together to avoid horrible fates at the hands of such vermin."

Bennett responds enthusiastically, "I would happily join you, as I have a feeling our causes might not be so different. In any case, I will join you in the escape, as I would sooner die than go east without having my revenge."

Winnacer hands him the length of chain and smiles and says off-handedly:

"You wouldn't be the first person we've traveled with that desired to harm Darius. But a loyal friend can come in some of the strangest packages. Please, do him no harm, now that you are free and armed."

"I agree to not do him any harm, though an apology for his untoward remark about my family would do much to persuade me to believe he is less evil than I think he is. For the weapon, though I am not experienced with such a crude bludgeon, I give my thanks."

Winnacer places his hand on his shoulder. "Now, let's get out of here."

"Once the goblins are slain and their equipment is distributed," he adds, "We have a choice. To free the others or not to free the others. If we are to free them, perhaps Jihan could skulk up the stairs and figure out a way out of here. Better yet, perhaps he could figure out where the bulk of our equipment is being kept, especially the spellbooks. I would hate to part without reclaiming such irreplaceable items."

"In any case, we will need better weapons than those of the goblins if we come upon the orogs," agrees Bennett. "I say we scout the upper floors first as a group, though someone will need to stay down here to alert us to any intruders. Any guards upstairs will not be able to call for reinforcements and if we handle them, I am sure there will be some type of armory above, if not our own weapons."

"And if we are to free the other prisoners, I think we should have Darius dress in the guard's uniform and evaluate them for us. He could do this while Jihan scouts out the area ahead."

"This is an excellent plan, plus if we have an accident, only the little rat will come to harm," adds Bennett.

Winnacer gives Bennett a very stern, disapproving look, before Winnacer continues:

"With Darius pretending to be a guard, we could screen all the prisoners, releasing those who deserve their freedom while avoiding alerting those prisoners that would ruin any plan of escape."

Winnacer then turns his gaze to Yaz:

"That you can cause harm and healing by touch alone is amazing to me. But our group certainly does not plan on remaining weaponless for long."

"Your thoughts are good," Yaz says. "I think a stealthy exit is best. Jihan can help most with that. Maybe we can sneak up a floor and crawl out a window."

Yaz then turns away and urinates in the empty porridge bucket. He invites others to do the same, adding extra porridge if there's any left. He then spreads his hands over the bucket as if to bless it. Suddenly a horrible reek rises from it. He hefts the bucket in his hands.

"Ready," he says.

The others look on totally confused at the half-elf's bizarre actions.

'It's for throwing at the enemy in case of an emergency' he explains.

While Winnacer's words are being discussed amongst the group, Winnacer turns to Heimlin:

"Are you and your loved ones up to an escape? If this is to work, we need you to keep your family moving, even when your own lungs will want to quit. Again, you must be brave and strong for the sake of your kin."

'Granny, Bekkah an' me are as fit as we've ever been, but that still ain't very fit' explains Heimlin. 'I'll be tryin' to move the pair o' them as fast as I can, but I could do with the 'elp of one of you strong 'uns to give use an 'and, I reckon.'

When the plans are set and everybody is coiled to strike, Winnacer turns to the group and says:

"May the eyes of the benevolent Gods fall upon our actions today. Let's do it!"

"I would recommend some caution," adds Bennett. "As far as timing goes, the graveyard goblins are the laziest and stupidest pair. I vote we make our move very soon after the shift change, to give ourselves the maximum time before anyone comes looking."

'He's right, I reckon' adds Heimlin. 'We have to escape under the cover of darkness. Getting' out o' this place is one thing, but getting' to The Cow & Gate unseen is another. Let's not get impatient. Let's spend the day prayin' to our gods for salvation. We'll need their 'elp in order to get out of 'ere alive.'

They all see the wisdom of Heimlin's words and resign themselves to a long nerve-wracking wait. Yaz wishes that he had waited a little longer before preparing his noxious brew as the stench is almost unbearable.

The girl comes back again at 7.00p.m., looking just as nervous as she did before, carrying another bucket of porridge. She asks whether you have finished with the last one yet.

'Errm…not quite yet' replies Yaz, nervously.

They check the new bucket to see whether it contains any more presents, but it contains only more of the cold oatmeal porridge.

You wait several more agonizing hours, with Darius constantly checking on the guards' situation.