Chapter 15: Assault
-----After about ten minutes of waiting, Sol shrugs himself off the wall he's leaning against, "Close enough." He remarks before turning and entering the passageway.
-----Just as he does, Zentil emerges from the darkness and placing a finger to his lips urges the others to follow him. The party quietly moves down the tunnel. Here the steady sound of water dripping down among the stones matches the amount of rainfall from the day before. After about fifty feet, Zentil leads them to another smooth faced wall. The smell of manure suddenly is heavy in the air. Zentil pushes on the wall and it begins to give. Within, the party sees a large dark circular chamber. Close to a dozen horses stand around chomping on hay scattered about. A few snort exhaling foggy breath from their nostrils.
-----To the left, there is a large stone ramp that leads upward as it curves around the edge of the chamber. Suddenly, three of the horses begin to whinny loudly.
-----Moving forward with some urgency, Sol tries to calm the horses. He puts his sword away, and makes clucking and soothing sounds, letting them get used to his scent as well as stroking them. He also gestures for the others to move on, with a few broad sweeps of his left arm. The horses continue to nervously nicker.
-----Raven also moves towards the horses with smooth and gentle movements. Raven touches each of the horses as he whispers something to them. The horses then begin to ease and settle down. One of the horses nuzzles Raven as if in appreciation.
-----Sarah runs to the ramp and then stops, waiting for the others to catch up. She looks around to see if she can see anything weird about the room. Gabe runs beside her ready to protect her.
-----Thalog pauses a moment and murmuring a quick incantation palms a few greenish glowing motes that fall from his fingertips. Turning to the others, he whispers, "Shall we see what’s up top?"
-----"I heard some voices from further up the ramp. I didn't go look to see who or how many was up there", says Zentil.
-----Raven takes a moment to stroke the horse's head. Raven then follows the rest of the group up. Raven turns to Zentil, "Lead on." Raven draws both swords as he follows Zentil.
-----At the next level, the adventurers find themselves in another darkened chamber. Boxes and barrels are stored here. The smell of food appears to come from some of the containers.
-----The ramp continues on up to the next level and light filters down from there. As everyone stands silent, they can hear people talking in the chamber above them.
-----"Do we move in now, or what?" Sol queries. It's fairly obvious which is preferable to him. His body is tensed and his stance suggests he is about to take off.
-----Raven says, "What if we set the horses free and then start a fire in the stable? We would get the drop on them for sure or at least destroy their operation."
-----Sarah says, "Good idea, Raven! We can wait for them here and then ambush them when they come to see what’s going on." She pauses. "Can't we?" She takes out her darts and checks her pouches to see that she’s got all the components she needs.
-----"Sounds pretty good...could go awfully wrong too. But hey, could be fun. As long as the horses are safe." Sol comments softly as he scans the room once more.
-----Thalog raises an eyebrow at the current talk. His face glows with a greenish cast in the dark. "I assume the residents above have the main door to the keep still bolted. If we start the horses running up this ramp, they will effectively cause enough confusion to shield us. At the same time, if we follow them up, we will want to let loose with whatever we can." He then slowly adds with a pained look, "Of course, there is the danger of hitting one of the horses or getting trampled ourselves."
-----"If we start a fire, we may be safest in the tunnel. The wood flooring of the tower will burn, but the stone walls won’t. The rising smoke may drive our hosts outside."
-----The mage pauses to see what the others think.
-----"And if it doesn't, or the fire doesn't flourish, it'll make our job that much harder. I reckon we use the horses as our way of surprising them. A couple of us could even ride up on the last of them, keeping low till we get up there. Then begin to wreak havoc." Sol finishes with a contented smirk.
-----Raven says, "We're talking at least 10 people upstairs we'll have to take care of." Raven rubs his chin as he pauses, "Why not make a lot of smoke, but nothing that would cause the fire to spread. That way we won't be trapped in a burning tower, but still get the drop on those sons of bitches. Let's start to collect some hay, we'll wet it down so it will smoke a lot. Then we'll let the horses go and at the same time start the fire. As we make our way upstairs, we'll hide behind the horses and I'll yell 'Fire'. As the men run down here we'll get the drop on them. Zentil, why don't you stay down here and pepper anyone that comes down with arrows. Of course with all the confusion you might be able to get the jump on a few of 'em."
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