The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[Jack Simth]

Jack teleports everyone to the roof of the central tower, and then retrieves Narp's shield via spacewarp. The view from the tower would be splendid, if only it was light out. Jack teleports in a bunch of sand for the golem.

Jack "Let's see...."

Jack creates a golem from the sand he teleported in, but this isn't quite a standard golem; its left arm is thin and jagged, with no hand. It looks suspiciously like a saw blade.

Jack "There - that should get them noticed."

Jack (to golem) "Cut tree limbs off of the trees in that forest and drop those tree limbs on the bandit army in that forest from high above. Dodge anything sent your way. Do not enter any clouds of dust."

Hearing its command, the golem starts to fly off to the forest, but Jack intervens and teleports it to just above the tree line. The golem ducks into the trees, and a few moments later, low thuds and faint screams can be heard from that direction.

Jack brings in more sand and starts repeating the procedure....

Jack "That arm can't bend much - I had to reenforce it to make it hard enough to saw wood. But then again, it doesn't need to bend much."

[ August 16, 2003, 06:34: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

The forest did not come up to the castle walls--such a state would allow enemies to approach unnoticed. It did, however, come close enough that Jack's golems could harass the bandits until they were within two and a half bowshots from the castle. Those closest to the leader were staying fairly close together with shields held above their heads; several on the edges were dragging; and a few had thrown down their weapons and were in flight, cursing the "haunted" woods. All told, there were still eighty-five or ninety fighting men, several with slight wounds. Most were armed with swords, although eight or ten sergeants carried halberds.

The bandits had gladly left the cover of the wood and its assault of branches, finding it was still dark enough not to be seen. They had slowly advanced up the hill toward the manor house, stopping about a bowshot away for some brief instructions from their lieutenant, right around the time the party teleported to the central tower.

As the bandits resume their approach, several explosions occur behind them. When they turn around, a force wall sweeps through the group a foot from the ground, knocking dozens off their feet. A few try to run, but are stopped by a gruff word from their commander. They form ranks and head for the wall double-time, silently preparing for the attack.

[ August 17, 2003, 01:45: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[sounds like the alert has been given. maybe half servants/half guards? in any case, i'll call them all guards.]

shouts echo from the walls. A few moments later, globes of magical light flare out around the wall. John mutters "now those, i remember. A minor, but well-done spell." Guards run out of the towers and line the walls as ladders and grappeling hooks hit the wall. Bags of flour fly both ways, but the globes avoid those aimed at them. They don't appear to have any substance, simply floating in air. Guards push ladders and hack at ropes.

Narp "The defenders are holding, but barely. Maybe a noisy distraction would be better next time, Jack. A few minutes more, then bombard."

at the walls, several on both sides pull out low-level magical items.

ooc:[there. something fun for the next person. The globes don't nessasarily have to be all John's idea, to.]

[ August 20, 2003, 06:07: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack teleports his golems back, who are all holding tree branches, having had no quarry in the forest to drop them on for a time.

Jack "Noisier, hmm?"

Jack (to golems) "Cancel previous orders. Return to that forest, drop the branches you are carrying, find a tree at least three feet in diameter at its base, or failing to find such a tree, the largest tree in the forest; cut it down, bring it to a position five feet away from this tower, and await further orders."

The golems, having their orders, start to fly back towards the forest, but Jack again teleports them to just above the tree line.

Jack "There - give them a minute or two to find and fall a good-sized tree. When they get back here, just tell me where you want them to drop it. The crash should be very noisy, and even those who can't hear will feel the thump when it hits the ground. There should be no mistaking it."

Jack "... or did you want me bombarding them some other way?"

Jack "Hey Arthur, how tight of a control do you have on the weather? Could you force the attackers to go through snow drifts or something without swamping the turrets with it? That would slow the attackers down a lot, without hindering the defense much."

[ August 20, 2003, 06:58: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

Arthur "Snow? Well, I suppose I could get snow, but limiting it to such a narrow zone would more than likely limit its density as well. I don't think it would be more than an annoyance. Now, rain, that I can do. I don't think it would be easy to climb that hill in a raging thunderstorm..."

Arthur steps away for a moment and concentrates. Low clouds suddenly gather, very low, some just a few feet above the central tower. They converge on a spot over the base of the hill, triggering a deluge so heavy it sounds like a nearby waterfall. The storm remains stationary long enough to create a muddy slough, then begins methodically working toward the manor. The grass quickly becomes slick with mud, and bandits soon are slipping every few steps. A few completely lose their balance and slide down the hill, only to sink in the yard-deep mud there. The storm stops about ten yards from the castle gates and offers yet another gift to the already-weary bandits--hail. The warriors struggle to keep their balance on the slick hill while raising their shields to ward off the fist-sized stones. The few who were already at the wall are torn between continuing the attack on their own or waiting for their comrades.

Arthur "Jack, if you could take this and link it to a good power source, it could Last for a while. If you want to use a capacitor, we can give them a good burst and then try something else. Either way, I'll need a substantial rest if I sustain this for much more than another thirty seconds."

Meanwhile, John comments to Narp, "Well, Narp, I guess that rules out any kind of sortie from the gates. Maybe if we had some good light out there, we could hit them with ranged weapons."

[ August 23, 2003, 03:28: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[ok. post. if i remember correctly, Jack's drained his capacitater. i can't remember how long it takes to charge.]

Jack "The capacitater has been drained. it will be a while before it is charged again."

ooc:[ugh.]

a few bags sail upwards, but few manage to reach the clouds. those that do however, disapate it as Arther reaches the limits of his control.

Arther "Well, that's it."

From the wall, glowing red missiles shoot from the end of a wand held by a guard and seek targets standing below. several of the bandits stagger and a few fall. then a furious but limited echange of magic takes place, with the bandits getting the worse of it as they try to avoid hitting the other bandits on the wall, who are still struggling with the gaurds.

On the hill below, one bandit is moving things on an object. It appears to be made of two dials extending out from a handle, one vertical and one horizontal, moving on two curved peices. The bandit moves one of them to one quarter from the left and the other all the way to the top. The bandit then triggers it, and it shoots out a huge ball of heat, forty feet accross. The heat is not intense though. Repeated applacations while the bandits struggle helps them out of much of the morass. Narp, however, takes the opportunity to shoot the bandit, since the heat produces some light. Another bandit quickly takes it up, and Narp has his next target.

Narp "Yeah. But with only thirty guards and half of them servants, i wouldn't want to try to sally."

ooc:[not that i came up with that sally part immediatly. i've done better than this post.]

[ August 26, 2003, 05:39: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

ooc:[Yep - it's empty; it takes a day or so to fully charge off Jack's normal excess production, but he has been casting quite merrily recently and hasn't been able to charge it as quickly as he normally would. Hmm, Arthur wasn't around when Jack explained what his rings do, was he?]

Jack "Arthur, you're drawing off your internal reserves? Ouch. Umm..." Jack removes one of his rings, and runs his fingers around the inside for a moment "There, I've configured my spare to give you acess for an hour or so; just pretend it's a circle of mages producing power for your spells. It should more than sustain the spells I've seen you casting quite readily. I can make you one later - my standard fee is four pounds of lead, but I'd need that in advance, as my capacitor is currently drained."

ooc:[If you're curious why lead, ask him about it - I've got an explanation ready; it even makes some amount of sense.]

Jack hands the ring to Arthur, then glances at Narp as he nocks another arrow.

Jack "You need more arrows. Let's see ... are any of those the right size?"

Jack looks down at the battlefield, and teleports one of the bandits, an archer, to a point a foot past the edge of the tower, and holds him there with some levitation. Jack then reaches down and pulls the arrows out of the very bewildered bandit's quiver, and hands them to Narp.

Jack "Are these the right size? There are more archers if not."

Before the bandit can gather his wits, Jack cancels the levitation spell, and he falls. Hearing a moan from below, Jack glances down.

Jack "Hmm, not high enough. Ah well, I can try again."

Jack again teleports the archer, over the battlefield this time, well above the level of the tower. The poor guy falls and lands on one of his fellows; neither get back up.

At this point, Jacks golems start flying back, collectively carrying a hundred foot tall maple.

Jack "Ah, the tree's ready. Where should I have them drop it?"

[ August 26, 2003, 07:05: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

[ooc: Nope, he wasn't there. I don't think he even knows about the rings, except to sense that there some sort of enchantment present.]

Arthur "That sounds useful. I definitely would like to acquire one of these when we're done here. Four pounds of lead, let's see...yes...Yes, I can do that. Is there any particular reason for your fondness for lead?"

D "As for the tree, I recommend dropping it as high up the hill as practical without having the branches hit the wall. Drop it lengthwise across the hill, and it should roll or slide on down and cause some serious damage on the way."

John "Sound good to me. The only improvement I can think of is to set it on fire for the extra damage to morale."

Arthur puts the ring on and is immediately pleased with the results. Experimenting a little, he tries some lightning bolts, knocking two of the bandits off the wall. Meanwhile, the attackers on the hill have wielded their bows and are unleashing a hail of arrows on the castle.

Arthur "It seems I have better control of the weather with this. I assume the extra power is making up for the lack of finesse. Not bad, although it could backfire pretty badly if I push things too hard. Give me a minute, and I think I can sustain a force wall to shield off most of these arrows. Of course, that could block our attacks, but give me a few seconds' warning and I should be able to manage a brief hole if I don't have to deal with too much of that flour." He starts mulling over the requirements of the shield, muttering under his breath and ticking off items on the three fingers of his right hand.

[ August 28, 2003, 06:01: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[post coming. ok, not much for Narp to do...]

Narp "Yeah, the top of the slope is good. You just have to remember to release it low to the ground and with some momentium so it keeps going and doesn't make a hole."

at that moment, one of the item-weilder's among the bandits took aim at the tower with something. Then Narp hits him with an arrow. That gives one of the braver bandits a chance, and he takes up the abandoned sextant-like instrument and releases a ball of fire at the tower.

Narp *retaliating at the bandit* "Could one of you take care of that, please?"

ooc:[so i invented something.]

[ August 30, 2003, 06:37: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack pulls his capacitor out of his robes, taps his index finger to it, and a glowing green band can be seen trailing to the gem as he pulls his hand away. Jack then flicks his finger at the fireball, and the loop connects with the glowing ball of orange flame. Jack releases the green line from his finger, and it snaps back at the fireball. An instant after it impacts, the return path to the capacitor grows thick and bright as the fireball shrinks down to nothing. Once the fireball is gone, the green band is yanked back into the capacitor, and its glow increases slightly.

Jack "Hmm, not much was recoverable from that fireball. Ah well, it's something."

Jack tucks his capacitor back into his robe, and watches the golems head his way, still carrying the tree.

Jack "As for the lead - I suppose it might not have happened here; lead became the medium of exchange after an alchemist discovered a method to get enormous amounts of energy out of it. Unfortunately, the alchemist didn't live to enjoy the fruits of his labor, as he wasn't prepared for the discharge. The city didn't fare too well either."

The golems arrive, Jack directs them, and they head off to drop the tree.

Jack "It took four specialists to figure out what happened - a psychometrist, an alchemist, a minisculist, and an animatronist - but after a month they were able to recover his work. As an alchemist, he couldn't directly manipulate the forces he needed to, so his method was rather roundabout. However, he managed to convert roughly five percent of the mass of the lead to energy - three protons, three electrons, and seven neutrons per atom - leaving the rest of the material undisturbed. The pound of lead he had used released more energy than he was prepared to handle. After the investigation, it was found that the method lent itself surprisingly easily to magic, with the benefit that a mage could capture the energy to power spells. The result is a rather worthless yellow metal, useful for its conductive properties, low melting point, and color, but little else. Unfortunately, only natural lead works. There are a handful of transmutation spells that can produce lead well enough to be used for the conVersion, but they all require an energy input in excess of the amount gained from burning the lead."

At this point, the golems throw the tree down the hill, and the poor bandits that can't get out of the way in time are left lying flat in the mud.

Jack "My fee is just double my costs; it takes a little over a terawatthour to produce one of these gems, which can be obtained from burning two pounds of lead. Normally, I just get that out of my capacitor; unfortunately, it's drained at the moment, so I'd need the lead in advance."

ooc:[A unit conVersion can be gotten here; beyond the conVersion to English units and some rounding, the numbers come off of E=mc^2 and the relative masses of the two elements (to get the element left behind as ash, find lead on a periodic chart, subtract three from the atomic number, and check the matching element.]

[ August 30, 2003, 07:38: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]