Planning The Assault

As the day draws later and later, it becomes more obvious that Winnacer is not particularly pleased, as the young Lord's head is almost continually shaking to and fro. He digs into his bag and removes a kerchief, which he smooths out over his leg and proceeds to run his fingers over the Scales of Justice emblem. Lost in thought for a few minutes, Winnacer gets up and speaks:

"With regards to my thoughts regarding our possible use of the fur farm as a base, I was thinking more in the way of turning on their masters only in pitched battles, not on a routine basis, when the Nyemetz are least able to react. It would be something to meet another set of thirty worgriders and just blow a whistle and watch the worgs proceed to toss off their riders and devour them as we ride down on their infantry and archers. Under those conditions, the animals would live and then be free. By the way, do we know if this is where they get ALL of their mounts? What did you find out about the place anyway?"

"Not that much," replies Bennett. "We didn't get as close to it as we would have liked."

"Problem is that the Nyemetz most likely come knocking on a regular basis," continues Winnacer, thinking as he speaks. "If the farm was cleared out and the animals were no longer for sale, they would realize that something happened and seize the place. Which may be good for the animals, but spoils a place with some great potential. At some point, we really are going to need a fortified base of operations to house supplies and the like. And its proximity to Hradetz makes it an almost perfect staging point when we are ready to liberate Hradetz and Dvur."

The young lord sighs and continues to think of the more pressing matters:

"We could afford to take our time with the fur farm, but we must come up with our plans for the games quickly, and I must admit that I am not particularly pleased with our plans so far. I think that, if we were to proceed with what we've been talking about, it will probably be a catastrophe. Here are the problems that I see."

"First, only Flint is really comfortable with the use of explosives. He is the best suited to plant them, but, unless we can either alter his appearance or make him invisible, it will be a waste. From the story fragments you related to us before, it sounds like Flint will stick out like a sore thumb, considering he'll be the only dwarf in the whole place. Unless either Faewen'il or Corrow can help us around this obstacle, somebody else is going to have to plant the explosives."

"That leads us to the second problem," continues Winnacer. "We can assume they know that some of us are coming, the five they dealt with previously. Unless we can disguise those members really well, they will probably be stopped at the gate. The Nyemetz are not well known for their elven nobility or merchants, so even that proposed guise will fall flat. The best suited for infiltration of all of us is Jihan, but that too will be impossible if he is recognized."

"Perhaps Boris can spare a man or two to set the explosives? They have the experience needed to skulk around without the stigma of suspicion already upon them. But that really is up to the Dragons and Flint. It would solve all the problems previously mentioned without resorting to magic. And we most likely will need all the magical support we can get later."

"No one touches the holy powder except for me," says Flint vehemently. "It's not the stuff that amateurs should be messing about with as it has to be looked after with care."

"Getting Jihan, Yaz, Will, and Flint inside may prove to be too difficult to attempt, for the reasons above," continues the young LawBringer. "But in reality, they do not need to enter the Arena until the last possible second. As Yaz suggested, it may be best if he meets the animals prior to their arrival at the arena and do what he does best. They then could all mill around outside the arena until the explosions begin to go off, using that distraction to take out the guards at the gate, securing a way out for all of us. Once that is done, they could make their way inside and release the animals, if not already done by one of the other groups already inside."

"The more I think about it, the more I believe that this Druidess knows that Yaz and company will be coming and that attempts to have them infiltrate will probably jeopardize the whole endeavor. Instead, we should figure out what things they can manage to do from the outside, such as charming the animals, lightning bolting the guard house, climbing the wall and firing flaming arrows, and most importantly, securing an avenue of escape if things go horribly wrong."

"As for the rest of us, there are many ways we can approach the Arena. Bennett can easily be disguised as a mercenary, having a much greater chance of not being recognized with a casual glance. Faewen'il, Xavier, Bennett and I can enter either as one or two groups, taking care of the tasks that need to be done on the inside. We could open the pens to release the already charmed animals, we could seek out this Eladria and her husband and give them a reckoning, we could set or set off the charges in a pinch, and we could lend a hand to the Dragons if their operation begins to go sour. If we choose to remain together as one group, Faewen'il should play the role of a Nyemetz lady with her three oafish bodyguards. If we split into two groups, one of us could use Bennett's special armor to pass as a noble, activating it when things begin to get hairy. Either Xavier or I should play the noble role if we choose to go this way, for Bennett is prone to be recognized. Although I am only supposed to wear non-blessed armor, in a pinch, this may qualify."

"The plans we have been making just seem to place everybody in jeopardy needlessly. I know that a number of you wish to extract a measure of revenge against this druidess and her husband, but such attempts will likely undermine the entire operation. She knows that you are coming, Yaz. So why not surprise her by getting there at the last moment, after all is said and done, instead of possibly tipping her off earlier. I think we can manage to do all we have planned without requiring all of us to enter. Please tell me what you guys think of all of this and feel free to poke holes. But remember, just winging it will most likely lead to failure, especially if they are expecting us."

"I cannot disagree with anything Winnacer has said," agrees Will, nodding his head. "It is sure that Eladria will be expecting us five, so keeping our faces out of the place until hostilities break out is the best bet."

"I apologize again for my lack of ability to comprehend the workings of the invisibility spell. I have tried and failed to learn it. I have appealed to Fae for help. But all of this to no good ends. Hopefully I shall learn to be of more use in the future."

"As for revenge, I have no such motives. Although the lass is surely deluded, she did treat us with openness and honesty. I cannot hold her in hatred within my heart."

"However, this also does not change the tactical significance which this place holds, and its necessity to deal with it. She did offer to work with us when we were here before, although I have my doubts that any mutually acceptable agreement could be reached."

Then, much to everyone's surprise, Faewen'il starts to speak, breaking the silence that she has kept up since leaving Hradetz at the start of the day:

"Were it not far tha fact that I value some thins above others; I would tell ye all what ta do with yar spell requests. Tha very next time that a certain someone acts as he did tha other eve... ye will have ta depend on him far all yer magic, far I will leave an go where I am at least not talked to an treated as iffin I lacked a brain ta wield magic with."

Faewen'il paused briefly before continuing in a less acidic tone:

"As far yer requests; I have a somewhat more LIMITED selection ta choose from since I had ta give tha only book I be able ta work on to Konan... having ALREADY transcribed tha lesser powered ones I fed to tha damned blaze.... but yes.... I can make him invisible. An so ye don't have ta ask nicely, here be what I thought."

"I be makin me an Flint invisible with a single spell that make all people within arms reach o me turn invisible. Both me an Flint goes ta place all tha charges or whatever they be, while I be readin tha minds o those near ta me. I have tha spell that will create tha invisible sarvant; but it be limited ta doin thins 30 feet from me parson. I would cast that an have tha sarvant set flame ta Flint's work when we be safely away. I also have two spells o magical missiles, one sleep, one that be creatin a wall o fog ta hide our escape iffin it be needed, an I also be havin tha spell o colors as a scroll."

"That sounds pretty good to me," says Flint, a broad grin on his face. "You and me, snuggled up all tight together. Nice one, babe."

"An ta make good our escape," continues Fae, ignoring the dwarf. "I be havin another one o those invisibility spells. Tha reason that we might be usin tha fog though, be that we make footprints in tha snow... and THAT be somethin I canna hide with magic..... yet..."

She adds that last word as a wistful whisper.

"Yar job would be ta make sure people not be payin attention to tha ghostly footprints in tha snow that me an Flint will be makin once I cast tha spell. I had plans ta wait until we were in tha farm a fore castin it so that we can take advantage o tha footprints already thar."

"I can help with that," says Yaz, completely forgetting Fae's present touchy humour. "A couple of spells, and you and Flint won't be leaving no footprints anywhere for about an hour.

"I don't think you'll need that Servant tho, if Flint can toast the joint with his wand. The wall of fog might be useful for escaping, plus I've got a variant of the pass without trace spell that does what your invisibility does -- hides the tracks of anyone within 10 feet of me. Trouble is, it comes at the expense of a Shape Wood or Hold Animal or something else that might be useful.

"So thar ye be...." Faewen'il says as she shrugs, wondering how long it would take Winnacer and the others to change the plan.

It is, however, Yaz who is the first to add to Faewen'il's suggestions:

"Winnacer's right, we five who've been seen by Eladria prob'ly don't want to get too close until we need to. I'd be happy to run my bolts from outside, if the weather holds, if I can count on you guys to free the animals. Which reminds me: Maire', do you have an invisibility spell memorized right now? Can you cast it on me for a sec? I need to get right up to the wall... I wanna make a small hole in the wall behind the pens where we can sneak in and out tomorrow... large enough for animals to get out, too, if they have to. And Corrow... it'd be nice to have an illusion over the hole to hide it... What if we made a quick frame out of sticks, and attached branches to it, like this..." he says as he scratches a diagram into the wet ground, "then you cast an illusion of wood similar to the wall. Then I could place it in the hole when I'm done. Would the illusion stay, or would you have to concentrate?"

"I'm afraid that it is the latter," Corrow replies sadly. "And I can't say that I really fancy the idea of sitting still for the next 18 hours while trying to concentrate on a piece of wood."

Listening to the ongoing debate a little detachedly, Jihan eventually speaks, though the control of his voice belays any suspicions of uneasiness for the moment.

"I would not be worried so much about the five of us from before showing up until the last moment because of Eladria's knowledge of us. I would be worried about the fact that she knows she revealed the presence of the games to us, us who attacked the Farm for some serious damage and unwittingly revealed plans to do so again, and that her husband, the veteran soldier, knows this as well. ANYONE who does not normally attend these things may fall under heavy scrutiny, placing all of us in jeopardy as the possibility for a hostage situation elevates. They don't know that we have friends, but they will surely be expecting SOMETHING to happen and will have taken precautionary measures to avoid such. Eladria's husband surely knows that the power of his threat to us means little to those that are let free with the option of reinforcements. I think our friends here are right when they say that the safest way may be to wait until we see how things arrange themselves tomorrow. We may be in for more than we bargained for... especially if you fellows from Hradetz and Dvur have pulled heists here before and they seem to have a propensity for improving defenses."

He pauses to scan around the area again, as he has been in the habit of doing ever since you entered the forest, before continuing:

"I'm not saying do nothing, but that any plan we make must have a good few contingencies. The clay has not yet set enough for us to decide on anything solid. Yaz's idea of tweaking a possible escape route sounds good, but I don't know about the consequences of being captured being all that positive for us. Eladria mentioned that it was her husband that arranged this aspect of their dealings, and his tender mercies would perhaps not be so agreeable as hers, seeing as he swore to kill us should we show our faces around here, so I don't know about what we could accomplish following that option. And the same goes for any invisible infiltrators... Yurek seemed a very cold and hard sort, so should they be captured we may need a little more than just a cavalry charge to free them."

"Flint, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, but things've kept cropping up that've taken my mind from it. Would it be possible for you to convert some of your holy powder into powder that did less exploding and more flashing or smoke? I've seen street performers using both of these two variants to redirect the attentions of their audiences, and such is typically more reliable than a spell because of the possibility of such being interrupted by circumstances. Plus there's the added bonus of not sending your limbs and appendages to the great beyond from several directions at once, should we attempt and use 'normal' powder for the same end. These could be quite useful, in this and other escapades, if you have the capabilities of throwing such together. I know there were quite a few times when I would've liked to be able to have a smoky concealment to make a quick escape..."

"Do I look like a f*cking clown to you?" asks Flint, staring up at Jihan angrily.

Jihan is silent, wondering whether this is a trick question.

"I F*CKING SAID, DO I LOOK LIKE A F*CKING CLOWN TO YOU?" Flint bellows.

"Errm…no," replies the elf.

"WELL DON'T THINK THAT I'M GOING ROUND PERFORMING F*CKING PARTY TRICKS THEN!" the dwarf continues to shout.

"Sssshhhhhhh!!!!" Yaz says, conscious of the fact that all was very quiet around.

"F*cking street performers," he mumbles. "Bunch of f*cking wankers, the lot of them, wasting Ohen's Holy Powder like that. Should be f*cking burned alive, the lot of them!"

"I don't know what's wrong with the chick's idea," he continues, looking at Faewen'il. "We go in there, blow everything to f*ck and then get the f*ck out of there as fast as we f*cking can, taking as many of the f*ckers with us as we f*cking can. Now THAT's a f*cking plan!"

"Errm…I'll take that as a 'no' then in that case," Jihan replies sheepishly.

Moving swiftly on, the elf crouches to examine the map scrawled on the ground.

"Of course, there are other distractions that we could use to get the infiltrators out safely. An explosion in the woods... the sky raining down bolts from the heavens... Hails of arrows... part of the pen or other wall collapsing... So far to me it seems that our main objective is to get charges placed, run, and pick up the pieces, but I am worried about what will happen should someone be captured and held... I think that it might be wise to scout all around these woods before we make a move tomorrow to see just what surprises they've cooked up for invaders... Then our invisible members sneak in with the crowd and start placing charges. Perhaps we should sneak in a few others to give inside support if necessary, though they'd have to stay very close unless it were possible to have two of such spells in operation. We'll also have to worry about just how we're going to get out of here, and fast with all that loot. The explosions are going to cause chaos, but they won't obliterate all the guards nor any other defensive mechanisms they have put in place, not to mention the possibility of Eladria's spellcasting... We'll need a place to hole up should things go bad, or should we be carrying more than we can move quickly with, so it might be a good idea to have someone waiting with an escape wagon or some such. I'm sure that anyone remaining will search the surrounding area more than thoroughly, and we cannot be assured that we will be able to handle ALL of them... Getting out may be harder by far than getting in..."

Shaking his head, he looks around at the others, and sighs wistfully before continuing once more.

"All this paranoia surrounding the event makes things unpredictable though... It would be nice to know what they're thinking right about now..."

Catching himself with an audible click of his jaw, the elf stands up straight again and unconsciously sticks a lock of stray hair behind an ear.

"We could use birdcalls to coordinate our actions, but these are hunters and foresters that are knowledgeable about such things, so they'd have to be perfect. What are you and your boys planning on doing once the rest of us throw ourselves in the maelstrom's centre," he says, turning to regard Viktor, Tomas and Boris.

"Are you just going to hijack the money wagon, or do you have any other... obfuscatory measures that you can use to help us get things started?"

"Ob-what?" asks Boris, looking confused.

"He means 'making confusion', I think," replies Viktor, stroking his beard.

"OK" replies Boris. "We reckoned that Flint's stuff would do all the obfus… obfuscalating… obfustulatoraly … confusing. If he can blow up the VIP suites, then they won't know what's 'it 'em. With the twenty of us, I reckons that we should be alright to do over any that ain't quite obfusculated."

Yaz lets out a huge sigh following Jihan's speech and it is obvious to all that his limited attention span has already been exceeded:

"Well, it seems as if we've got the basics sorted out now. It's time to move on now, I think."

"Maire' did you say that you'd got an invisibility spell today that you could use on me?"

Faewen'il nods and then takes an eyelash encased in gum arabic and starts to cast upon Yaz. A minute later, and the druid's forms shimmers and then disappears.

"Good," says Yaz. "Thanks a lot for that, Maire', I owe you one. Wouldn't hurt to have a bit of extra security though in case Eladria has a menagerie watching the place."

Unseen, he begins to rub a holly leaf over him while uttering an incantation of his own.

"Hey, Min, can you smell me?" he barks.

"Who said that?" Min barks back, wagging his tail.

"Excellent," Yaz's voice replies. "Jihan and Will, I wonder whether you fancy coming with me to cover me while I go in, just in case I get into any difficulties."

"Sure," they both reply.

"If I cry out like a heron," says Jihan, "Then the rest of you had better come running."

With that, the three of them make their way through the gently falling snow to make the half mile journey through the forested hills until they get within sight of the structure of the arena complex.

"I think that this is close enough for us," whispers Jihan to the half-elves. "We've got a fairly good view of the area from here, although it's at maximum bow range. If we get any closer. then we run the risk of being seen by their sentries."

"OK," says Yaz. "Wish me luck, I'm going in."

As quietly as he can, Yaz makes his way towards the arena. With some alarm, he notices that his steaming breath can be seen every time that he exhales and so he takes things slowly, so that he can breathe more calmly. As he gets ever closer to the arena, he becomes aware of how terribly quiet it is in the area, as not a creature stirs. Realizing this, he treads very carefully indeed, taking care to avoid treading on any sticks that might break.

As he gets closer still, he sees one of the sentries passing. The half-elf freezes in place, not daring even to breathe as he waits for the sentry to pass him. He carries on still further and eventually reaches the thick wooden wall of the complex. With the wall being seven foot high, it is impossible for him to see over it. However, from viewing the complex from above through Heathcliff's eyes, it is quite easy for him to work out which point of the wall would put him right behind the animal pens. He looks left and right to ensure that none of the sentries are close and then investigates the wall.

He sees that it is not going to be easy to shape the wood in such a way that it would not cause great attention to passers by once it gets light, as it seems as if the huge wooden stakes that comprise the wall are sunk quite far into the ground. He sees that the logs are lashed together with rope and it is this that gives him a solution to the problem:

"If I could just warp the wood to a point where it would strain the ropes," he thinks to himself, "then the logs would stay in place, but could be taken out tomorrow by simply cutting the rope with a knife. They'd be down in less than a minute. It's not perfect, but that's as close as I can get."

The decision having been made, Yaz wastes no more time and immediately starts to cast upon the fence. As he finishes the casting, the wood starts to groan as it takes on the shape that he envisaged for it. Although the creaking of the wood is far from loud under normal circumstances, in the deathly hush of the forest it sounds as if a giant redwood is on its way down.

"Sssshhhhh!!!" Yaz says to the wood in panic.

But the damage has been done.

He starts to hear a couple of footsteps coming in his direction.

"Shit!" he says to himself. "Time for a swift exit."

As quickly as he dares, Yaz starts to move out of the area heading back towards Will and Jihan. Every few paces, he glances back over his shoulder.

After fifty paces, one of the hunters comes into view, looking around him with his longbow in his hand.

After 100 paces, there are two hunters on the scene, investigating the area carefully.

After 150 paces, they have found the slightly warped logs of the fence and are obviously suspicious.

After 200 paces, they are stooping to the ground, looking for tracks.

After 250 paces, they have found Yaz's tracks and are starting to follow them slowly. At the same time, Yaz has reached the position of Jihan and Will.

He startles the two of them as he whispers to them:

"Time to make a quick departure," he says nervously, "and try to make as few tracks as possible.

The three of them are quickly on their feet and dashing towards the others as quickly as they can, taking care to make as few tracks as possible, although it is very difficult as a result of the very soft ground caused by the snow.

After 15 minutes, they are back with the others.

"We've got to move out of here, fast," says the disembodied voice of Yaz.

"Why?" asks Winnacer.

Yaz gives a quick explanation.

"Holy crap!" replies Bennett. "Now they'll know that we're on to them."

Jihan looks around at the ground and sees that they have churned up the ground pretty badly after spending so long standing around discussing strategy.

"I suggest that we all head back to the rest of our boys immediately," suggests Viktor. "We'll never lose the trackers in the forest, but we could manage it on the main road, as there will be plenty of tracks to confuse them. All of the boys will be spending the night with us in Dvur, as it's only four miles from here. Hopefully, if we make enough tracks, then they'll assume that we've all gone to Dvur together. In fact, it might be better if you came with us to Dvur and returned in the morning."

"No can do," replies Yaz. "We need to be up bright and early, as I want to catch them bringing the animals from the farm to the arena. However, your plan of losing them sounds good to me."

With the hunters surely getting closer and closer to them by the minute, there is no time for arguments and so they head off as quickly as they can towards the waiting Dragons. It takes just twenty minutes before they are back with the rest of the men, who are waiting where the party left them. They are obviously very pleased to see the party as they are clearly getting very cold.

Viktor quickly tells Tomas and the boys what's going on and they all quickly mount their steeds.

"I suggest that we all meet up again at 8.00 a.m. tomorrow morning, before the majority of the visitors start to enter the arena. Let's meet half a mile south of here, just to the west of the road."

"Very well," replies Winnacer.

"I ain't staying in the freezing bloody cold again," says Flint. "I'll go with them."

Not wanting an argument with the dwarf and remembering Flint's great love of smoky campfires, they decide not to argue with him.

They quickly mount their steeds and watch the Dragons and Flint depart.

"We should make camp not too close to the arena, but some place where we can cover the approach of the fur farm residents as they make their way to the arena," suggests Yaz.

Jihan leads them on a circuitous route to such a point halfway between the arena and the farm, half a mile from both of them. They find a dip in the landscape in which to make camp, some 500 paces away from the trail that leads from the farm to the arena. The two squires quickly set up camp as the rest of them arrange a watch rota.

Yaz asks Gertrude if she will fly overhead in order to provide an early warning should any movement occur from either the farm or the arena. She's still pretty shaken from the loss of her mate, but agrees and goes flying into the snowy night skies.

They then get ready for a very cold and miserable nights huddled in the tents. They do not want to risk a fire and so it is bitterly cold in the tents and they are unable to have a warm meal either. Somehow, however, they manage to get some sleep.