The Lady takes charge, cont.
Subject: The Lady takes charge
OOC: Is everyone from the party in here, or just Ragnar, Harp and Ran?
From: Josh
Subject: The Lady takes charge
It looks like all of us.
From: Mark
Subject: The Lady takes charge
Every one is there.
From: Jason
Subject: The Lady takes charge
"Allistair, you were probably the most aware of the overall situation. Could you summarize what happened for Force Leader Daral?"
From: Derek
Subject: The Lady takes charge
Allistair steps forward. "I would be happy to. Force Leader, we were with the legionnaires marching from Bhyo, approaching the entrance to Backbiter Pass here. The legionnaires were in front, in loose formation around Maximus and the Lady de Blum. When we were about 200 to 300 feet from the battlements, Maximus shouted out for everyone to scatter and for Gaius to get the lady off the road. He must have been the first to notice that there were giants, not dwarves at the battlements. They threw boulders at us, killing Flavius and wounding a few of the rest..."
Allistair then goes on to recount the events of the battle from his perspective. He asks Maximus and Kal to fill in the details of what happened on top of the battlements, since he was not able to see what was happening there.
After recounting the events with assistance from the others on details, Allistair continues. "I have some observations and speculations from the battle."
"One: The enemy wizard and the giants were almost certainly in collusion. The fortuitous distraction of the legionnaires and subsequent attack on the Lady make it highly likely so, but later investigation of the slain guards on the battlements confirms it. Many of the dwarves on the battlements were magically put to sleep before being killed, and others were killed by a fireball. The only logical conclusion is that the wizard assisted the giants in taking the fortifications before the attack upon us."
"Two: I believe that the Lady de Blum may have been the intended target from the outset. Once the legionnaires had rushed forward to retake the battlements, the most likely target of opportunity would have been my companions. From the distance that the enemy wizard was at, it is obvious that I am a wizard and that my other companions are skilled warriors or wield divine power. From a military perspective the Lady is the least viable target. Therefore I can but conclude that the Lady was the intended target from the outset, and given her status it seems likely some sort of political intrigue was the motivation behind the attack."
"Three: The enemy wizard is at least at an equal if not greater skill level than myself. I judge this from his choice of spells. As far as I can determine, the wizard used no spells that are beyond my capability, although he did cast several that I have not learned. It is the shear number of spells he cast that concerns me. Flight, greater invisibility, several fireballs, a powerful sleep charm, a teleportation spell of some type, and several magic missiles. The shear amount of magical energy required to dispense such magical power in such a short time implies a highly skilled wizard."
"Any other ideas or suggestions? With some luck, I may be able to divine the location and perhaps identity of the enemy wizard. I have some skill in spells of divination, and I may be able to scry on his location. However it will be much easier if I have something from the wizard himself: a scrap of clothing, or a bit of his hair or blood. For that purpose I would like Ran and Mund to check their weapons and gear again for any scrap or wisp or spot of blood that may be from him. Surin and Kal? You both have sharp eyes. Would you also inspect Ran and Mund for anything that looks like it may have come from the wizard?"
If nothing is found on either Mund or Ran, Allistair will say, "Kal and Surin? Would you mind coming outside with me to the scene of the battle? There was one spot where Mund and the enemy wizard tumbled to the earth and hit the ground. If anything came off the wizard, it was most likely then. Would you help me search that area for anything of interest?"
If anything from the enemy wizard is found, he will use it as an additional focus and use the Scrying spell to spy on the enemy wizard. If nothing is found, Allistair will attempt the spell anyway.
OOC: Did Allistair get a good enough look at the wizard to have at least 'firsthand' knowledge of the wizard? Also, if the wizard fails his Will save and the spell succeeds, will he be aware of Ally scrying upon him? If he makes the Will save and the spell fails, will he be aware that someone tried to scry on him?
From: Jason
Subject: The Lady takes charge
OOC: I think that the wizard actually did cast one spell that was beyond Allistair's power, when Mark wrote that from the size of the (fireball) explosion that Allistair could tell this mage was more powerful. Without (hopefully) going too deeply into metagaming territory, I'm pretty sure that was a maximized fireball, which is a higher level than we can cast. I also think the description was supposed to relay that information to us.
IC: At the conclusion of Allistair's remarks, Ragnar adds "I agree with his conclusions. Though don't know what purpose the attack on the Lady served, it seems clear she was the target.
"Do these tunnels connect directly to the heart of the kingdom? I will feel better knowing that the Lady no longer needs to travel above the earth where unfriendly eyes may be watching."
From: Mark
Subject: The Lady takes charge
Any thing Mund might have had in his claws from the grapple burnt up when he was hit by the fireball. Ran hit him with a sword, so while there might have been some blood on the blade, a good fighter would have cleaned it off quickly after the fight was done. The party can check where Mund and the mage fell to the ground.
From: Mark
Subject: The Lady takes charge
Daral shakes his head "No this location does not have direct access to the main warrens. That is by design. If these places fell, then who ever took them would have a direct path to our heart. What you tell me concerns me but is above my station. Before I decide what I will do I must hear from my scouts."
OODM: I will write more from what the scouts found tomorrow.
From: Porter
Subject: The Lady takes charge
If he cleaned the blood off the blade, we can get that blood off of either the rag or the leaves he used to do so.