Zorlon - Levdia

[Malchik]

The member of the Held says: "I can tell you a little. There are two groups of men. Those to our right number about 50 and appear to be mercenaries. Those to our left are three times that number mostly mercenaries but there is a central group of maybe 20 who appear to be too well organised simply to be a rabble for hire."

 

The boy in green is male but sounds older than the fifteen he looks.

 

"We have a fighting force of some 250 so we outnumber them but only a few of us are experienced with anything other than bows and arrows and as you can see they are sheltering in areas of the forest where arrows are difficult to use. At the moment they cannot attack the refuge - you can see what happened to those who tried - but if they can use some magical means to destroy our arrows, outnumbered or not, they will surely win."

 

The 'boy' looks around and up into the trees.

 

"There are ten of us in the trees seeing what we can find out. The smaller group of mercenaries is completely protected by the forest. The larger group surrounds a small clearing where the 20 who are organised have set up eight tents. We are pretty certain the hostages are in one of these tents but we do not know which."

 

Again the 'boy' looks around.

 

"The man who spoke to you just now is using a cloak that blends into its surroundings. He is currently debating with his colleague although I don't know what about. I can reach him if it will help."

 

OOC> Teleportation into any place unknown is hugely dangerous as you can teleport into an object and die. (You cannot however teleport into a person, you simply land on them.) As long as someone in the party knows the layout they can 'picture' it and Lurel can use that to teleport. There is a slight risk but that is a choice that must be considered. Philemon has obviously studied the area in depth but he is out of contact and in any case would not know the internal layout of Lindan Yar tents. A couple of points - activity in the tree tops and above them is unlikely to be noticed except above any cleared area, and perhaps not even there if some form of concealment is available. The Held is not a fighting force as such and will willingly accept a sensible strategy either en masse or individually. Lurel has visited the old Held village (where Thail is) and the refuge where the sick children are (now being defended by most of the Held) in the past. Siffli's power of telekinesis would enable her to lift (and 'carry') a small skinny child. To succeed each member of the party will need to use their particular skills at one point or another. I will exclude Ari as Arturius has disappeared. Lurel and Lisette can use elemental magic if they wish.

[Mercbird]

Lisette ponders whilst staring, with renewed respect, at the brave youngling Held. Her rage now well in hand, she thinks clearly for the fist time since encountering the ward, more than a bit embarrased about her earlier recklessness and volatility.

 

" I am beginning to suspect that our priority must be the children in the refuge, and secondly the hostages. The good of the many before the few. We could use the trees up to the treeline, and then request a flock of birds to cover our action whilst securing the children away from the smaller group of mercenaries."

 

She looks at Lurel thoughtfully.

" Or is it posibble for you to teleport into the refuge, seeing as you've been there, and then use the potions to to move them to safety. The mercenaries might not even know they're gone that way."

 

She grins suddenly at the Held in green again, being the inspiration for using the trees "We could use the treetop-and-bird tactic to then discover in wich of the eight tents the hostages are, and mayhap release them. Once this is achieved a good distraction may be to release my fiery temprament with Siffli's attentions and the support of those in the trees, and of course Ford's *who is never lazy with a sword* on the small group, giving the Philemon's slayers the gap to take out the 'elite' twenty...and then let the chaos monster take its course... even if we are to die ... the children may stand a chance..."

 

Looking again at the faces of her friends, hoping that her faculties has not, yet again, let them down

[ThetaOrionis01]

"I don't think I could teleport everyone out with the help of just a few potions," Lurel sighs. "However, I suspect that Philemon might be able to. But I'm not convinced that the hostages were chosen at random. There was something about that little girl...perhaps she's the key."

 

He takes a deep breath.

 

"We need to get those hostages out, and help the Slayers carry out their contract. So we need to get to those tents. I can't teleport there - I don't know the area. What I could perhaps do - though it would be risky - is to use earth magic to tunnel right into that clearing. But it would be difficult to get my bearings underground, so that the tunnel emerges exactly where I want it to. Secondly, we'd need a fairly major distraction to draw people away from the clearing, to allow me to get out. I wonder..."

 

He asks the Held member. "It goes against the grain, but if it was our best chance of rescuing the hostages.. how would you feel about using fire as a distraction?"

 

 

After another pause, he adds. "Perhaps dropping the other group of fighters into a deep enough hole might be a wise precaution... provided I can do it, with all those trees around them!"

[Malchik]

OOC> Lots of good ideas but I will need a definitive strategy at some point. Lurel can certainly tunnel into the tent but has to be very certain where to go. There is a member of your party who is very good at remembering shapes and distances who can help in that.

 

HE needs to see the clearing and identify the hut with the hostages.

 

Once you are ready to free the hostages you need to think who needs to be with you. A tunnel can only be traversed in single file. A question you may wish to consider is what the hostages were taken for since there has been no reference to any demand being made for their release.

 

The Slayers would do their job whether you were there or not so rather than worry about helping them see if there is anything you want them to do for you (if they will).

 

Lurel can teleport inside the refuge or teleport others there but the place is heavily defended atm and so is correctly not the priority.

 

Two other things to bear in mind. If the new arrival has serious magic potential you will certainly lose so there is an element of urgency to complete what needs to be done. Also you will never be able to take on the combined Lindan Yar and mercenaries in a fight. You will need to get them to disperse for other reasons.

 

RPG> The member of the Held looks at you. "If you start a fire there is a risk the whole forest may ignite. Perhaps if you can target it specifically it could help?"

[Mercbird]

OCC>Aargh posted too late, edit edit

" So priority number one is the hostages, secondly the refuge which seems to be at an impasse anyway, drop the trees on top of them in the hole to keep them there. They want to slaughter children, lets see if they remember their childhood and can climb a tree, if they do they'll end up looking like porcupines..."

 

Lisette smiles warmly at Lurel, " We could scout out the tents from the tree's , if the Heldling wants to help, to give you the lay out, or maby out friend in the cloak of surroundings, and we can cover your emergence and escape with a flock of birds... *If thats even a real idea, Lisette mutters under her breath* Or Siffli can provide your navigation from a birds eye view, or levitating Midge would be better"

Suddenly Lisette gets up from the ground, warming up to the idea "Combine all four approaches, if you need backup, Lurel, take Ford" turning to the Held" could you ask the slayer to find out in which tent the hostages are? Causing a distraction using fire does not go against my grain, quite the opposite... and I can certainly target it using several different points *wouldnt want to become a porcupine myself for burning down the forest*, if I use the trees to get around we could lure and spread out the mercenaries quite effectively, and take them out one bit at a time. I'll get around quicker alone with the Held"

 

As she turns the katana back into a dagger and sheathes it, Lisette almost seems to glow in anticipation and there is a definite reddish tint to her eyes...

[Switch]

Ford ponders. "Sounds good to me. Although..." He turns to the Held. "Have they issued any sort of demands for the hostages at all? I'm wondering why they took them... maybe just to stall for time?"

[ThetaOrionis01]

"Very well," Lurel says. "I think first of all we need some aerial reconnaisance. Midge has a phenomenal memory - once he sees something he remembers it. Isn't that right Midge?" He grins at the boy.

 

"We're told that the enemy has no ranged weapons - so flying over their camp would be safe enough. Whatever they are waiting for must be imminent, or they would not be content to sit around and wait. The quickest way, as I see it, would be for Siffli to fly over their camp, carrying Midge with her. Siffli, do you think you can do that? And Midge, you're not afraid of flying, are you?"

 

He takes a deep breath. "Once Siffli and Midge have returned from their spy mission Midge can guide me underground, and I can tunnel through to the clearing - if there is a possibility we'll succeed. Let us know if tunnelling through would be leading us into a death trap.. Midge and Siffli, I'll count on you to locate a good spot for the tunnel to emerge. Then I would have to get to the hostages - which is where we need a diversion. Siffli, you could perhaps watch from above, and alert the others when the time is right. Lisette, are you happy to be in charge of the diversion? If you can use your fire magic to stir them up enough to present themselves as targets for the Held, it would perhaps give me time to get to the tents."

 

He takes a deep breath. "It's going to be risky, but we need to act before their new arrival gets here."

 

He pauses briefly, and calls to the member of the Held: "Do you have any prisoners we could speak to?"

 

He looks at Ford. "They might not talk at all.... but if they do, at least they wouldn't lie to you. Maybe we could even find out why they've picked those hostages in particular."

[Mercbird]

" I'll be happy to be your diversion, Lurel, whats the signal for the diversion... a wolf howl..." she gives Lurel a long toothed grin " I'll make little fires near each Helmeded tree so they can light they're arrows and shoot them of to where they judge it would do the least harm to the forest"

[Malchik]

Midge is happy with the idea but points out that although the enemy have no ranged weapons thay are known to have a limited amount of magic and it would be safer if he and Siffli were hidden were that possible.

 

The Held member says "We have no prisoners as such but one of the enemy lying in our village is not dead though he seems so. He will die soon. How could that help?"

[Stampede]

OOC: Just so you guys know, I am following the story and waiting for a good time to post without just adding a one liner. :)

 

Siffli was never one for making difficult choices, always preferring to leave others to that task.