The Action as we played it
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So we hurried along the edge of a ploughed field that blocked our direct route to the house. We could see a herd of cows tended by two dwarves beyond it but they made no move. As we came closer to them I was shocked to see that they were both dvaus! (Female dwarves) Dvaus working out in the open! Such a thing would be unheard of back in the Kaven! They must be some of the other lawbreakers that Proodi had mentioned. At the corner of the field was a wooden animal feeder and we turned right past it, shooing the witch as we went.
“What trouble are these louts bringing us?” I heard one of the dvaus say.
Ahead there was a stockyard leading to a cavern, which must have a way up into the house. But no-one was to be seen.
“Grakeln the elves are behind us!” shouted Grath. Sure enough there were a dozen or more emerging from the wood. I ordered my party to make a stand in the stockyard where it was partially protected by a hurdle. Resting his crossbow on it Coin shot down one of the elves. They halted and returned the fire but without result. The two dvaus began herding the cattle towards the stockyard.
I called up to house “Downfel! I am Grakeln a fellow Kazid and we need help!”
Another dvau appeared on the crag beside the house. “What troubles are you bringing upon us!”
“I am Grakeln son of Grake and I have a prisoner, an elf witch worth a fortune in ransom! Pray fetch Master Downfel?”
“I will see what he says.”
“You could let us and your dvaus in to escape these murderous elves, please!” The dvaus now had the cattle, including a bull in the stockyard beside us.
Proodi shot down another elf and then four of them charged us. Had more of them come we had been overwhelmed! The dvaus went and hammered on the door at the back whilst we fought the aattackers. Sorri fell and Drip and then Proodi but we cut down two elves and the other two fled. Fled way past the rest of their party and into the wood! I saw a group of dwarves on the cliff above us, as we at last made a tactical withdrawal through the door at the back. Drip was still alive so we took him with us. A dwarf called Rood locked and bolted the door behind us. We went up a stair and up through a trapdoor into another cavern heaped with supplies. I spotted two murder holes in the roof above and more steps to another trapdoor. Then we were in the passage-way of the house. A dvau was telling Downfel that an elf demon had cast a rock at her! “I warn you these people are bringing trouble!” she said.
“Greetings Master Downfel I have come to make you wealthy!” I said. “I have here an elf witch worth a truly immense ransom, if you can protect us from her evil followers!”
“Ha, her dress is not up to much!” snorted a dvau standing behind Downfel.
“We dressed her in sacks for modesty’s sake. She is a most scandalous elfess! She insulted all Kazidom! King Dearth will be overjoyed to have her prisoner!”
“King Dearth does not rule here and Amelia is an Elvish Kingdom!” Responded Downfel. King Dearth likes me not!”
“Master! The Elves wish to parley!” called a crossbowdwarf from outside.
Downfel went out and I followed, pulling the great witch with me. She was indeed tall, double my own height and had banged her head on the beams twice! Below us stood an elf Officer holding a white cloth. It is said that elves are given a white cloth to surrender with, as soon as they are old enough to be warriors!
“I am Commander Gryll of Regalia! I am in pursuit of some Kazid pirates who have slain some of our kinsmen and kidnapped a high born lady of ours!”
“I am Downfel owner of this estate under King Litelsene of Amelia. I have allowed these dwarves into my house, so under our laws of hospitality, I am bound to protect them!”
“But the elf Lady was brought there under duress! Do you think King Litlesene will condone your being complicit in the kidnapping of an Elf Princess?”
“We want nothing to do with any of them!” snapped a dvau behind us. “Downfel! To hang with the laws of hospitality! You should hand them all over to the big elf!”
“I have had no intimation that the Lady was brought as you claim Commander Gryll. Females in our society are not given the licence that you permit in yours. You may have misread the situation.” Said Downfel.
“She is worth many thousands ransom!” I hissed to him. “I will share it with you?”
“The Lady is Princess Voluptia of Regalia. The abduction of her is an act of war even more so than the murder of her menie!”
“We want nothing to do with this Downfel! We will all be killed after being so comfy here!” snapped the dvau.
But Downfel responded “I have no proof of your claims elf? Here we do not talk of ransoms. Were we truly to claim a ransom for an elf princess, it would be for many thousands of Gilden Pezzi.”
“You would be rich for life and a dwarf hero to boot!” I hissed at him.
“When a dvau is transferred from one family to another it is customary to be paid dvaugeld, a much more modest amount.” He continued ignoring me!
“We have little money with us for we elves are not a mercenary people but what would you ask for the safe return to us of our Lady?”
“What can you offer? We hope that this matter can be settled agreeably?”
“If there is nothing in it for me why should I not kill her? You give up the chance to be a hero of renown!” I warned him.
“That would mean death for us all! That is the usual fate of renowned heroes! Be thankful that I am not handing you over to them!” he replied.
“I should take off her gag and then you would find out just what an evil witch she is!”
“Calm down Grakeln son of Grake. I have not lived and prospered here long in peace to have it all destroyed by a rash act!” Down below, the elves were consulting amongst themselves. Then Gryll returned, “We can only offer Fifty Gilden Pezzi in coin but I could offer a promissory note for another one hundred and fifty?”
“Only two hundred! You could have thousands!” I cried.
“Two hundred dvaugeld for an elf! Really Downfel, that is far too much!” complained the dvau!
“But she is a princess elf Helem, illuminator of my cave! It is not enough for a princess Gryll!”
“If I call on my sister I could bring it up to a promise of two hundred to be paid here within a week. On my written word as a Regalian Commander?”
“Could you not keep her here until the money comes?” I asked Downfel.
“What and have you steal her away? No I want rid of both her and you on the easiest terms! Guard the elf lads!” and they were pointing their crossbows at me rather than the witch! “This could result in a family blood feud you know!” I growled.
“I heard your family were not so keen to own you Grakeln son of Grake. Commander Gryll I accept your terms! I shall come down to receive the money and promissory note. Then my dvaus shall bring the Lady to you! Helem, Blank and Flem, you will escort her down to them. Do not untie her bonds and gag until you get near them!”
And so all my plans for wealth and glory came to dust through the poltroonery of a fellow kazid! We buried Sorri and Proodi at the back of the crag. We intended to bury the four elves after a decent interval the next day but the wolves got them in the night.
That evening we stayed with Downfel. He had heard no news of the defeat at Talarth Narnienor. Nor had the Amelian elf Jaunhos and his hunters who called later. They had just killed a black bear that had been killing livestock from a nearby cave. Drip had a punctured lung and several broken ribs so we left him behind. So I had only Garth and Coin with me as we trudged off back towards Grossflusschaukelnundholzbruck.
Zid
Following pushing the Tarkgh boats out into the river I went to the base crag to collect a dropping stone. Then I travelled to the tall crag indicated by Daigost and waited for him. There I was joined by the minor demon Springah. I told him I was waiting for orders from Commander Daigost who had two packs of wolves in the area. I sent Springah to the base crag to collect a dropping stone for himself. Whilst he was away I saw Daigost fall from the sky in the distance. Someone on the ground had shot him. We later found his body on the ground with an arrow in it. Of course he was only half a demon or there would have been only ashes left. Springah returned to me. “I fear that we are on our own now unless you can speak canine?” Springah shook his head.
“Two packs of wolves and no-one able to order them to attack! However maybe we will get a chance to do some damage? Look, a fight between elves and dwarves!”
So we went through the flaches to the big house on a crag. On one side was a group of dwarves, so I tried to scare them with my horn from the Spoinage Flache. With little discernible effect unfortunately. On the other side of the house was a dwarf woman whom Springah tried to hit with his stone. He missed but she did run inside in a hurry! The dwarves and the elves seemed to now be having a truce so I decided we had better leave, so we returned to base.
Gryll
Despite the losses of Phern’s whole squad and my kestrel scout, I proceeded onwards to the wood where the dwarves were last seen. Spreading out to search, you worked forwards through the wood but no sign of the dwarves nor the kestrel were found in it. In the open, the dwarves were spotted running across from the right, skirting a ploughed field. On seeing us two more dwarves who were tending a herd of cattle, began driving them towards the house on a crag ahead. From its half-timbered style you immediately guessed this to be a dwarf dwelling. Reaching a stockyard at the foot of the crag, the dwarves stood and loosed crossbow bolts at us. Our bowmen replied but the dwarves got the best of it dropping two of our number. However whilst they were reloading, four elves spontaneously charged forward to engage them. As they began to fight, two demons materialised above the house and more dwarves emerged on top of the crag. I thought it best to wait to see what else might occur, before supporting my reckless followers. They felled three dwarves but losing two of their own, the two survivors fled past us to hide in the large wood. Now down to eight effectives, we could not in reason assault the crag-top house. I decided it was time to have a parley with the original inhabitants. So I went forward alone, waving a white cloth. Soon a group appeared on the crag, including a much taller figure whom I guessed to be Princess Voluptia. When within shouting distance I called out, “I am Commander Gryll of Regalia! I am in pursuit of some Kazid pirates who have slain some of our kinsmen and kidnapped a high born lady of ours!”
A dwarf wearing a large hat shouted back, “I am Downfel owner of this estate under King Litelsene of Amelia. I have allowed these dwarves into my house, so under our laws of hospitality I am bound to protect them!”
“But our Elf Lady was taken in there under duress! Do you think King Litlesene will condone your being complicit in the kidnapping of an Elf Princess?” I responded.
“I have had no intimation that the Lady was brought as you claim Commander Gryll. Females in our society are not given the licence that you permit in yours. You may have misread the situation.” Said Downfel.
“The Lady is Princess Voluptia of Regalia! The abduction of her is an act of war, even more so than the murder of her menie!”
Downfel responded “I have no proof of your claims elf? Here we do not talk of ransoms. Were we truly to claim a ransom for an elf princess, it would be for many thousands of Gilden Pezzi. “When a dvau is transferred from one family to another it is customary to be paid dvaugeld a much more modest amount.”
I replied “We have little money with us for we elves are not a mercenary people but what would you ask for the safe return to us of our Lady?”
“What can you offer? We hope this matter can be settled agreeably?”
I then checked as to how much money we could actually muster amongst us. Fifty-four Gilden pezzi and three silver florins.
I called out “We can only offer Fifty Gilden Pezzi in coin but I could offer a promissory note for another one hundred and fifty Gilden Pezzi?”
The dwarves consulted amongst themselves. Then “It is not enough for a princess Gryll!”
“He is weakening Gryll, another fifty should do it!” hissed Pansi.
I offered “If I call on my sister I could bring it up to a promise of two hundred, to be paid here within a week. On my written word as a Regalian Commander?”
The dwarves conferred amongst themselves once more, then
“Commander Gryll I accept your terms! I shall come down to receive the money and promissory note. Then my dvaus shall bring the Lady to you!”
And so it was done. I signed the promissory note, giving it and the money in coin to Master Downfel. Then three female dwarves brought the Princess to us. Her hands had been tied leaving red marks on her wrists and she had been gagged.
“Gryll! I want you to kill all those wicked pirates! They murdered Silt, Azel and Pinc and my guards! Worse they put these filthy rags on us! They must not be allowed to live!” And she was throwing off the sacking garments the dwarves had put upon her.
“Your Royal Highness they are presently protected by the Dwarf laws of hospitality. I am sure your father will demand their surrender via the normal diplomatic channels.
“Dagon take the diplomatic channels! We want those pirates dead now!”
“Your Royal Highness I regret that we do not have the force needed to take that stronghold. Moreover Master Downfel is a respected subject of King Litlesene of Amelia, it would not be politic to fight him!”
“Respected subject! Ha! That means he pays taxes to the King! Those midget elves are almost as much money-grubbers as the dwarves themselves! Could we not hide in the wood and make a night attack?”
“Your Royal Highness, after the defeat of our host this is a very dangerous locality to remain in. You are now heir to the throne and we must get you safely back to Regalis. We lost Phern with all his squad to wolves, just getting here. I started with twenty-one and now have but ten left to protect you! I am sure King Pinical will do all that is necessary to bring the pirates to justice!”
“Very well, escort me to your vessels.” So we headed back the way we had come. We reached the landing stage un-molested but all our hanoes were gone! It could not have been the wolves of whom we now saw no sign!
“Where are your vessels? They seem well hid!” said Princess Voluptia looking around.
“Alas someone has stolen them your Royal Highness! We shall have to proceed southwards on foot. We should be safe from the Chaotic invaders this side of the Undomeel.”
“On Foot! Well needs must we suppose….. But if we stay on this bank we will reach the Deepwater Lake and beyond that lie the dwarves of Varadh. To us it appears that they are a greater danger than the Chaotics! A much greater danger! We will swim the river! It will void us of the smell of those vile dwarf rags!” and she plunged into the river and began swimming strongly for the far bank!
We followed somewhat more slowly and I am glad to say that all of my remaining force made it safely to the far bank.
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