Homebrew system thread II, part 2

[Kaelan]

Being dry stone, given Dirts size and mass he could most likely run through the walls will little impediment (perks of a NE England country upbringing - dry stone walls everywhere). Alternatively given the height of the walls and general assembly of the building Dirt could always enter via the roof for a surprise attack.

I would advise against the hammer of shock. A blast is likely to do as much damage to the person inflicting it as the wall due to blowback and shrapnel. Flint is very popular in dry stone walls for the gaps.

[Kaelan]

A thrown rock of blasting on the other hand...

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Given that a good waller will usually try to work with the irreularities of the stones, make sure they catch against each other enough to stand up to wind, weather in general and animals leaning against them, it wll take some time and more sweat- breaking through directly is possible, and easier than running into solid rock, but it's not that easy. Remember you're looking at from five to six feet high and two or three feet thick through the base. Kneepads. Thick kneepads.

(Assuming they're actually in there, of course. Nobody's swept the area looking for sign, have they?)

The yeomanry are doing it the hard way already, working through.

[Kaelan]

Like I said, roof would be easier (unless they're using it for grazing). In the interim, unless directed otherwise Dirt will see about helping the yeomanry with his crossbow.

[Fiji_Fury]

Dale feels uneasy. This is either a spectacularly good ambush in wait, or de Berrey's men are not here.

"I am willing to scout ahead of our main body, from a different approach than that of the Yeomen. With your leave," he nods toward Sir Alfred, "I will advance to the wall itself and take a cautious look over it. If I spring any trap along the way, you can collapse upon de Berrey's exposed men. If I find anything without springing it, I'll signal back."

Unless there are objections, Dale hustles to it, with shield at the ready in case of any incoming ranged fire.

[Panzersharkcat]

He nods in assent.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Dale skirmishes forward, and notices the same thing that the yeomanry are noticing and scratching their heads about; there's nobody on watch. No heads sticking up, no movement. None at all.

'Where're the villagers?' One of them whispers. 'Would you put it past that bastard to have killed them all?'

'Even most lordlings aren't mad enough to wipe out their own peasants.' The other one says. 'Holding them under guard, hostage?'

Dale narrowly avoids- moving slowly and sneakily, his foot catches on, he draws back and steps over, a tripline. One of the yeomen isn't so lucky. The stone is jerked out of the wall, he leaps for safety, and parts of the wall clatter down behind him. Dangerous to bet everything on a few thin cords, but it did serve as an alarm. Nothing much seems to be happening in response, though. Nothing visible, anyway.

There are obvious places for one but no actual ambushes in the maze, although there is a tethered pig that has to be shot very quickly before it can do too much squealing. Breakfast's sorted, if nothing else is.

Most of de Berrey's troops are close combat anyway, not archers. They don't want open ground, not to fight yeomanry. Almost a pleasant surprise there were none of them there.

Then you're on the inner edge, with two holes in the ground, and two roofs over holes in the ground, to look at. Closed doors. The plan?

[Kaelan]

Dirt wispers to Larric "Magic inside? Flash boom and then we fight?"

Dirt lowers the crossbow and preps his axe for the order to charge, ready to try and barge open one of the doors on command.

[Panzersharkcat]

"No, they may be holding the peasants hostage inside. Starting fighting may provoke the dragoons to kill them."

[Simon_Jester]

Looking at one of the dug-in longhouses, listening to Dirt and Alfred-

"Hold on, everyone! We need one man to call a challenge, if there's no answer another to look inside, shield up if they throw anything at you. If the rotten snakes are in there, AND they don't have swords to anyone's neck, 'flash boom.' If not, we save it for later. Give me a little time and we can do it."

He hunts up a good-sized hunk of flint a reasonably flat working surface, ready to scribe in chalk to make a capacitor-grenade of it. Chalk he has, for the slate-book.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

One of the yeomanry is willing to do it. Calls on de Berrey to come out and answer for his betrayals and crimes; not exactly much of an incentive, but nothing happens for about twenty seconds. Then one of the doors moves a little. Not open, just shakes, as if someone tried and failed to barge it open from the inside. Building on the left.

The point team moves forward to open it; has to charge it and break it down. No reaction. Another long pause.

One of them reappears about thirty seconds later, clearly not in a good state- staggering and slumping, makes it about a body length from the door before falling over. No visible wounds; no movement inside the building.

What are you doing from there?

[Simon_Jester]

That's an armed man, yes? One of de Berrey's warriors?

Larric boggles. "Poisoned? Cursed?" He strides closer, sweeps with Insight-and-Substance, looking for evidence of either.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

And that was an excellent guess. Wasn't one of de Berrey's men, it was one of the yeomen who kicked the door down. There is a powerful scent in the air that hardly requires an alchemist to detect, but in terms of making sense of and reacting effectively- try to smell as little of it as possible. Someone with an evil sense of humour has dumped what smells like the local wise woman's entire herb box into the fire.

Probably been more selective than that actually- soporifics and analgesics, only toxic in high concentration but what are the chances of there not being someone in there who's been overexposed? Probably a few funny mushrooms thrown in for good measure too.

What de Berrey's gone and done is he's left you with a problem; lots- maybe thirty to forty- of ill people, in unnatural sleep heading towards coma, who are going to have to be fetched out of there- somehow, without joining them in laa laa land, and nursed, and antidoted- and worse, it isn't even terminal. Mostly.

Actions from here?

[Simon_Jester]

Larric shouts "alchemical problem, everybody stay back until I can ward you!"

He pulls into his mind a repeat of the Smith's Gas Mask spell: He may be at 1800 levels of chemical knowledge, but he knows king's air, dead air, and used air.* Air-and-Substance, and he's setting it to filter everything that isn't oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Magic woven without runic enhancement beyond what he traces with his fingers, only needs to last for a few minutes this time. Doesn't have to be QUITE perfect, either. Knowing the fumes aren't truly lethal, he'd accept about as low as a 90% level of fume blockage in favor of haste, or in favor of being able to do it on two people at once.

"All right, who wants to carry the villagers out? Women and children first!" He's looking for husky volunteers among the yeomen and men-at-arms. He puts Smith's Gas Mask on one, lets them go in, repeats the process a few times. Hopefully, carrying one person out of there doesn't take longer than one casting of Smith's Gas Mask- after a number of castings, enough to have a rescue team of 3-5, he'd hit diminishing returns rather quickly. Casts one last on himself and goes to help out.

*Ask him about those later. The yeomen would love "king's air;" they'd laugh their quivers off.

[Kaelan]

"Better plan. Dirt throw. Men catch."

placing FiFi on the ground, Dirt gets ready to enter in hut to start hauling people out at speed.

[Kaelan]

"Also, look for bad men. Maybe ambush when we help. Keep bowmen ready for attack"

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

They're going to need a good laugh after this; de Berrey must have set this up before the night attack, keep the people quiet and stop them from warning you- and also give you something to do that is going to slow you down.

There are only three other buildings in the inner enclosure that makes up the village- real throwback stuff, extended families in one house, one big room really, stores, animals and all- easily searched; nothing to find. Everyone's in here. More space than people, incidentally. Some must have already fled.

The first attempt, on Dirt, doesn't go well at all; one of the terms was smudged enough that it crystallised out upside down, and as he strides boldly towards the longhouse his knees start to go, the stride devolves into a sort of waddle- fortunately Fifi manages to nibble on his nose enough to keep him awake and thinking, it hasn't quite worked. (Absorbed instead of repelled. Oops. That's what 20's on the dice do.)

Second attempt goes rather better. Dirt's ah, enthusiastic style and overestimation of the structural consistency of the human frame cause a few worrying moments ('Not by the head! People just don't bump well, all the way off the ground-')but it's fast enough work, some fumbling around and two of the would be rescuers spend too long in there and have to be dragged out themselves;

doesn't take much time, maybe ten minutes overall, but of the fifty-some people you drag out between you all, three have had too much and stopped breathing, two elders and one baby; eight are only breathing with difficulty and are in need of help.

The rest will be various shades of hacking, coughing, puking, disoriented, vague, ill and weak- supportive care the villagers from the other places can do. Between the wait, the approach to the village, this, de Berrey's bought time- what are you going to do to try to make it back? Any definitive guess as to where he's going?

[Fiji_Fury]

Dale keeps a lookout, but it's almost certainly needless. This distraction is designed to occupy us and give time for deBerrey to escape. What a bastard.

[Simon_Jester]

...He could be trying to trash OUR village (i.e. the one we were camped in!)

Isn't that village visible from where we are?

Larric goes 'oh shit', clambers up onto one of the big rocks, and takes a look.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

The villagers there would be- well, might win, might not, but there would be some kind of fuss; might not be able to make out people- actually Larric has fairly good alertness, doesn't he, he might and Dirt probably would-

oh, the numbers are with you. The air is very crisp and clear this morning, almost unnaturally so; that's where they lay up waitng to see hat happened, that stand of trees there; and that is where they gave up and moved off- northward, in the direction of Qulan. Probably off to take the Baron up on his offer after all.

[Simon_Jester]

IC:

"They went that way!" Larric explains the (unclear to me) signs that tell him which way they have gone. Looking to Alfred:

"How many can we go after him with?" Spare a reasonable minimum for tending those who seriously need it, one to run to 'our' village and get help for the people of 'de Berrey's' village... what's left?

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

If you leave the walking wounded who were injured in the night skirmish, that leaves fourteen yeomen and thirteen men at arms- three of them archers and two mounted- plus the party; to catch up an unknown but worryingly large head start on de Berrey's part. Assuming there isn't another trick involved somewhere, which- well, what does it make sense for him to do? It's a good move for him to head to the town and the Baron at this point. It promises gain, and that does make it a rational move for him.

Worst case is that the Baron- or the Krylanyan in the steel bikini who seems to have appointed herself his spiritual advisor- approves of de Berrey's deviousness and actually rewards him for it. Before this whole business deVerett probably would have- hopefully he's been changed enough by it to place a higher value on an honest man. (And learned to recognise one.)

Can you think of anything or anyone who might speed your passage after him, any advantage to be gained, or is the plan going to be to sweat it out the hard way?

[Kaelan]

Dirt will check if he has any herbs that may keep fatigue away for the humans, otherwise the head start isn't too great. If they're on horseback it won't take dirt too long to run them down. The question is who in the party can keep the pace, or do we want dirt to get ahead and start laying traps of our own to slow them down.

[Simon_Jester]

"If they think having people hurt to take care of is a good way to slow us down, maybe we should return the favor. We could send our fastest-" he eyes Dirt, and... do we have any horsemen left?- "to hit them hard and run away, narrow their lead."

He frowns, not sure if that would actually work.

[Panzersharkcat]

We have two mounted left. "Tis something we can try. We'll need a way to keep in touch or a rally point." He looks around for a good one.