Sent: 1/7/99

The party sits behind the stone wall, carefully planning their next move. The night is fairly quiet and still, save a few owls and other night animals. The slight breeze would be soothing and calming, were a great battle not imminent.

Upon returning from his foray, Guilliam thanks Storm heartily for the use of his rope and grappling hook. Smiling, he compliments the Dwarf. "By the looks of your frame Storm, I thought you'd move with the sound of thunder. Your stealth is suprising. At some later time you'll have to give me a lesson. I'd be happy to sing you the legend of Thrack the Bearded and the Shining Mountain Mines as payment for what you could teach me!"

Then, he once again dons his leather armour, talking to the others all the while. "Thirteen to five. They know the area better than we. If our fight raises even the slightest noise, it will attract four more. And those four are the most powerful of the lot." With a smile beaming from ear to ear, Guilliam looks to his friends and asks with glee "What are we gonna call ourselves? Such a battle will make the perfect beginning to our legend. But we need a title. Something memorable. Something that flows across the lips with ease. And larger than life. Our name has to make us sound larger than life. Nobody wants to recall tales of a bunch of anybodies. People want to hear of greatness. So our name must reveal our greatness. Any ideas?"

Edryd and Cy do not look amused. Looking to them, Guilliam stops his banter and says, "Ah, yes, the battle must first be won before the songs are sung. And to win a battle a battle plan is needed." Trying to settle down, Guilliam proves his lack of military training by blurting out a few suggestions:

"I wonder if these men think the mill is haunted? Maybe we could scare them first or get them to seperate into smaller groups by making them think their are ghosts about...

"What about if we lay out a trail of coins on the ground, beginning at the door to the mill and ending in a bush. I could knock at the door and then hide. Whoever answers will follow the trail to an ambush...

"What about setting fire to the house? The guards would have to leave the mill to put the fire out. Then we could slip in and rescue Canter. It might even create enough of a diversion for us to kill Mazen in the commotion. Remember we are not being payed to kill Mazen and all of his followers. Just Mazen. Of course, the song that I'm envisioning would sound much better if we defeated his forces along with him!"

Storm accepts back his gear and begins to think of a plan. He kneels on the ground with his head tilted slightly down. His brow creases, and he scratches his head with the index finger of his left hand. After a good minute of this, he looks around, stopping at Edryd. "Well, mate, I be stumped. Me nevers had the brains for these things...just tell me who to run through and I be a-doin' it." He smiles broadly and winks.

"Urhmmmm! I wasn't planning on there be being so many!" Crayne says as he finishes memorising his spell. "It seems then that we are going to have to be extremely careful here! I fear that we are going to lose someone when we go in." Crayne puts away the burning hands spell in a pouch on his belt and then rubs his hands together.

He speaks his mind: "Right I think our first bet is to take out the three guards quickly and silently. Get in there slit there throats and drag them into the woods. Next I suggest me and somebody else go up to the mill and set it on fire. Then we'll go back to where hopefully the rest of you are hiding behind the brick wall or in trees with your bows trained on the front doors of the mill. As soon as the door opens I suggest you begin firing at them. Meanwhile, I suggest somebody make an entrance into the mill through hopefully some sort of back entrance and get Canter out of there. Hopefully, by then we'd have killed a fair few using suprise to our advantage. Then, I suggest we get out there and meet at some sort of destination deep in the woods. Heal ourselves up and wait for them to find us picking them off one by one and then we can go back and find Mazen. As again I should mention our main problem is the mage. We have to be careful of that invisibility spell. I'm sorry that I haven't the ability to circumvent it yet, but hopefully with alot of study I can get there soon!" Crayne then looks about the group seeing what they think, "Does anybody here have any fire starting equipment?"

After hearning the others speak, Cy clears his throat. He then says, "I think the plan with the fire has merit, and I would follow it. But I do have another suggestion: Hmm... We may be wishing to draw the enemy out a bit... perhaps a two front diversion to split thier ideas and tactics. If there be only four guardin', we might silence those immediately so no alarm may go up and fight the leaders first. Men will often reason when there reason for workin' is dead. My course would lie this way, for the more danger comes by power and not by number. If the guards go quietly and we can free Canter, perhaps we can kill the minds without harming the masses."

Having listened to everyone else give their point of view, Edryd then speaks up. "Cy, I recognize your talent on the battlefield. We would not have made it this far had you not been with us. But I suspect that this Mazen be a mighty warrior, and we are going to need all the help we can get to take him down. So I would first free Canter in the hopes that he may be able to help us in our battle with Mazen. I can still cast that spell of healing, so whatever condition Canter may be in, I can fix him before we meet Mazen. He, too, is a skilled warrior and swordsman, we've all seen it. Therefore, I must say I agree with the ambush and attack on the mill first, though as quietly as possible."

Cy nods, accepting Edryd's point of view. "That healing power of yours may be the difference between success and failure tonight, and life and death for any one of us in the future."

"Aye," Storm chimes in. "I agree, but now we be fightin' or talkin'?"

"Fightin'," Guilliam says with a wide smile. "And worthy of a ledgend."

And so it is agreed: Guilliam will go around the back of the mill in the hopes of finding a back door. He will take with him one of Crayne's candles. After stealthily freeing Canter, he will light the candle, setting the hay and wheat inside the mill on fire, then escape with Canter (setting fire *inside* the mill may do less to attract the attention of Mazen and the men in the house than a sudden burst of flames on the outer walls of the structure). Meanwhile, Storm, Cy, and Edryd will approach the mill from the front and attempt to quietly dispose of the guards. Crayne will stay behind and finish memorizing his spells, ready for the second round of the attack. After rescuing Canter, Guilliam will return to Crayne's position, where Cy will have left his bow for Canter, who will use it to cover Storm, Cy, and Edryd's retreat from the front of the mill. After Storm, Cy, and Edryd return to the wall, Edryd will heal Canter (if necessary) and they rain a shower of arrows on the fleeing men from the mill.

Before the party heads out though, Guilliam gives a quiet but inspiring rendition of the poem "Gael the Wind and the Men of Flight". This heroic poem of a small group of men loyal to their crown and their fight on against all odds after their kingdom has been defeated by a cruel despot, helps to focus the group on the upcoming attack. Led by Gael, a brilliant strategist, the poem describes how the men use intelligence, skill and speed to eventually defeat the much greater forces overwhelming them. In his telling, Guilliam overlooks the stanzas regarding the love of Gael for his lords youngest daughter. In their place, Guilliam add libs a few extra verses in which each of the noble fighters returns to a fair maiden. One of which more than closely resembles the beautiful priestess they encountered earlier. And looking to Storm, Guilliam also includes a bit about how the lord whom they restore into power rewards them with weapons and armour of wonderful craftmanship and whose designs are inlaid with precious stones of great antiquity. As the party sets their plan in motion, all feel inspired and especially driven.

Everything begins smoothly. Guilliam's lanky body disappears effortlessly into the night as he heads for the far side of the mill. Storm leaves his bow in Crayne's care before he, Edryd, and Cy slip over the wall and slowly make their way to the front of the mill.

The three assigned to dispose of the guards quietly, though not exactly silently, approach the door of the mill, which is slightly ajar. Storm peers in, then turns around to address his two companions: "Two be standing just inside, they be talkin' to another, but I don' see him." Edryd and Cy nod. Slowly and quietly, Storm pulls the door open. Then, with a sudden move, Edryd and Cy pounce, each grabbing a man's legs and draging him out the door. A third man then says out loud, "wha?" and peers around the door, only to meet with Storm, holding a dagger at the ready to his neck. "You be commin' with me, feller," Storm says quietly. The man's face grows grim and angry, but realizing his life is at stake, he says nothing and slips quietly out the door. Storm closes it behind him.

The three men and their respective guards then move away from the door. Before long, each lands a solid punch on his respective guard, knocking the man out (but not killing him, as additional death and bloodshed is not really necessary). They then drag the bodies away from the mill toward a nearby tree, where Storm tightly ties the three together and around the trunk.

Meanwhile, Guilliam slides along the outer wall of the mill, now on the opposite side of the front door. He grows slightly frustrated, finding no door there. But he does not give up, moving instead to the side of the building that lies along the river. He can see the large wheel slowly turning. It is obvious that it has been a while since this has been an operational mill. Slipping along the side of the building, his face breaks into a smile as he spots a small doorway near the wheel. He makes his way there and very quietly slips inside. Once inside, he looks around. Just as Storm described, the mill housed a number of men, though Guilliam could see no guards. He quickly makes his way over the millstone, which was not far, and whispers to Canter: "Canter. Friend. Don't speak. Can you hear me?" Canter's eyes open as best they can considering his puffy, bruised face. He moves his head around, searching for the source of the voice. Guilliam carefully emerges from the shadows. Canter's eyes widen and he opens his mouth in excitement, but Guilliam quickly places his hand over it. "Don't say a word."

Guilliam takes out his knife and quickly cuts Canter's ropes, trying to get the job done before any of the men, some of whom are lightly sleeping on hay, and others of whom are still munching on their dinner or playing cards, notice him. With Canter free, Guilliam takes the candle out from his pocket and lights it. He places it on the corner of a bushel of hay, and it catches immediately. Suddenly, a man turns around from his card game and calls in Canter and Guilliam's direction. He says in an accent, "hey! Who told you to take the prisoner out?"

Scrambling for words, Guilliam tries to immitate the accent. Canter's face goes white with terror, realizing that they are about to be caught. Guilliam replies to the man, "the idiot needed to do his business, man. I don't want to sleep the night with that stuff stinkin' up the place, do you?" The man looks at his cards and shrugs. "Allright, I suppose that's okay." He then turns back to his game. With a sigh of relief, and feeling the heat of the burning hay next to him, the flames of which soon begin to tickle his leg, Guilliam leads Canter to the door. Just as they are about to open it, the man from the card game calls out again: "I'm just going to check with Jan about that," not turning away from Guillaim's direction, the man calls out, "hey Jan!" But no one answers. He then turns toward the door, searching for a 'Jan.' Realizing that Jan must have been one of the guards, and taking advantage of the fact that the man from the card game was looking the other way, Guilliam sprints for the door, draging the weakened Canter along with him. As they make off into the night, running from the mill, they can hear the voices being raised inside: "Where'd Jan go? Hey! Where are the guards? .... Fire! Some idiot started a fire! Where'd he go with the prisoner! Everybody up! Everybody get up!"

Guilliam and Canter return to the position behind the wall out of breath. Voices and comotion can be heard from inside the mill, though from this distance individual words cannot be made out. Suddenly, the front door of the mill bursts open and three men come stumbling out, followed by a large plume of smoke. Immediately, Cy lets loose an arrow, which hits the lead man in the chest. The man falls to the ground, kneeling, grabbing at the arrow. Cy quickly reloads and sends another missile into the men. This one also hits a man, this time in the leg. The man trips and falls to the ground.

Heartbeats grow faster and louder, the pace of the battle quickens. More men begin to pour out of the open door and Cy struggles to reload his bow. "Didn't you have a bow, Canter?" Crayne asks quietly. "I did," Canter replies weakly, "but they took all my weapons and equipment. I have nothing."

Storm reaches to his hip, drawing a long sword. "Take this, friend," he says, handing the sword to Canter. "Thank you, Storm." Canter says, looking into the dwarf's eyes with a smile.

Meanwhile, more men emerge from the mill. Some are confused. But one of them, appearing to be a little stronger and wiser than the others, kneels next to the man who was hit in the leg. Though the party can't hear what is being said, the injured man looks up and points at the wall in the general direction of the party. "Things are about to get dicey, gentlemen," Guilliam says under his breath.

Cy's gaze overlooking the area catches two men breaking for the house. "Mustn't let them get there..." Cy murmurs, aiming his bow. He let's loose the first shot, hitting the lead man in the back. The man stumbles to the ground, motioning to his companion to keep going. Cy aims at the companion and fires, but this arrow misses its target, passing behind the runner. "I think its time for a new plan!" Cy says as he spots a group of soldiers, perhaps six or eight closing on their position.

Edryd, seeing that time is no longer a luxury, turns to Canter, saying "Hold still, I can give you some strength back." He begins to cast Cure Light Wounds with the power invested in him by the Priestess. (This will take five rounds to complete.)

Storm, heading Cy's call for assistance, reaches into his boot and draws a dagger. With one swift motion he throws it hard at one of the approaching soldiers, hitting him in the leg. Guilliam, too, reaches for one of his own dagger and throws it at an approaching soldier. He also hits his target. The men are slowed, but not stopped.

Crayne, meanwhile, seeing the men approaching, quickly begins to wave his hands, casting a spell. He narrows his eyes, pointing his fingers. Suddenly, a (now familiar) rainbow of color erupts from his hands. Four more of the approaching soldiers are struck by the wedge of lights, and immediately fall to the ground, unconcious. Crayne smiles in delight.

Suddenly, things get serious. Two of the soldiers, the ones hit by Guilliam and Storm's daggers, hurdle the wall. One moves directly for Storm. Long sword in hand, he attacks the dwarf. But Storm's reflexes come to his aide, and he is a quick draw. His sword meets the soldier's, thwarting the soldier's attack. The other soldier attacks Cy, who attempts to jump out of the way. The soldier's sword glances off Cy's strong armor, causing no damage to the warrior underneath.

Meanwhile, the scene is chaos: Four soldiers are unconscious on the ground (a la Crayne). Two have hurdled the wall after being hit by daggers (a la Guilliam and Storm), and three more men are still running in their direction. One of the two messengers has reached the house, his companion lying in the grass next to a pool of blood, trying to reach for the arrow in his back. And two more soldiers are moaning in the grass, suffering from arrow hits when they first emerged from the mill, which by now is billowing smoke and glowing the amber color of flames. Not to mention the three guards tied to the tree, still unconscious.

Guilliam, seeing that Cy (with the only bow) is being distracted, rushes up to the harassing soldier, swinging his scourge. He connects with the man's arm, and the man howls in pain. Cy gives Guilliam a quick nod of thanks, and raises his bow, aiming at the still-approaching men. His first shot misses, but his second hits the man who appeared to be the strongest/wisest in the thigh. The man cringes, grabbing the shaft of the arrow and tearing it from his flesh.

Edryd, at the same time, is still casting his spell of healing on Canter. Crayne does his best to stay out of harms way for the moment.

Storm growls at his attacker, swinging his sword at the soldier. He makes a solid hit, sinking his sword into the man's torso, just above the waist.

For the sake of timekeeping, I've had the rescue/disposal-of-the-guards operations take rounds 13.0-13.4. So the battle began with the men running from the mill at 13.5, and this post ends with round 13.7.

WHAT DO YOU DO NOW? The plan worked mostly as planned, though did not run 100% smoothly.

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