THE STRANGE FORTRESS
" What in God's creation!" stammered the dwarf. Fastening the grip on his warhammer, the cleric quickly gave orders Salimen found a tree to prop himself in while the others quietly took up respectable positions and readied their weapons.
Silence reigned as the team looked south into the dense forest expecting another unfortunate incident in this vicinity. Grabbing his amulet, Oktavianus prayed for Moradin to cast his blessing over the group.
The ranger smiled " A quaint meal. That would have held nicely in my stomach." He spun onto the dwarf " Let's continue our march."
Oktavianus seemed too worked up to manage a reply, but gathered the team together for their trek, once again, with motions of his thick arms.
The fellowship strode west for another three hours before the muddied track ended and led them up an embankment.
11 PM: Atop the rise, the group saw what they had anticipated. A ruined keep lay before them 150 feet away.
Crenulated eroding tower walls rose 18 feet to either side of a two-story gated entrance. The towers {50 yards apart}, to the far south and north, rose three stories. There was no stirring of any orc or habitable monster in the area.
The dwarf looked in amazement at the giant structure, examining it carefully from a distance before bending low against the soft ground.
Pointing at its' cracks and broken walls, Oktavianus admonished " More stone there, more support here...this is a strange masonry job if I may say so."
Torynth crawled close to Oktavianus
"There's no way we can lay siege nor do we carry enough explosives to bring down one of the walls. We don't know how many of the foul beasts we face or even if they are even still there." The dwarf amended " Perhaps our best bet is to send in a stealthy scout to explore the area and gather information." The bard stared at the bleek walls of the small fortress nodding his head
The dwarf gave a low grunt " I feel that two scouts are twice as likely to be spotted, and therefore, twice as likely to be killed. I do not know the mysterious ways of rogues and druids, but there will be time in the near future to test your skills and courage. We need ONE to go unless you all overrule my decision."
Leah reaffirmed to the bard " What our friend here says has merit. It may be more prudent for one to scout ahead. If you are agreeable, I have a blessing that will allow you to travel through the woods disturbing it as little as the wind. I was planning on using this spell on myself, but if the group is to send only one, I will give this power to whom the task was appointed."
Smiling at Leah, Salimen winked " Any assistance in remaining undetected would be greatly appreciated. This will make a wonderful tale when it is done."
The druidess extended her palm to the bard's chest and whispered a few solemn words. After a brief moment, Salimen left his possessions behind, gathered four canisters of the blast oil and promptly left the group, disappearing into the night. Erelis breathed deeply " I hope he brings back good news."
" Leah, Aramil, Erelis; go east and flank this creature. Salimen, Gailwind, Torynth; go west. Teflar and myself will stay here and draw attention."
Time passed slowly...
A movement stirred straight ahead! Aramil rose his staff beaming a light forward upon something moving slowly out of the trees. A deer! A ten-pointed buck staring straight back at the group. It stood momentarily frozen with alarm before bounding back into the safety of the trees. A few harts followed its' escape as well.
The monk scratched his chin looking to the others
" We may be able to infiltrate the keep at night, set the charges where the majority of the orcs sleep, and take out the bulk of our enemies. Once done, depending on how many we face, we should be able to pick off the remainder or escape to come back later to finish the job."
Glancing over the group, the small dwarven eyes stopped upon the bard
" Salimen, are you up for the task?"
" If fair Leah shall accompany me, I should be happy to go ahead with my duties."