05/11/2024 – Infiltrating the Keep (11)

Getting into the Keep

Malcolm is able to outrun the large man chasing him. He slips down the stairs, hurting himself but increasing the gap between him and his pursuer. The large man slows down and stops his pursuit, suspicious of running into a trap. He stops at the bottom of the stairs, watching as Malcolm escapes. Someone from the tower shouts at him and he begins to head back up the stairs.

Malcolm runs out of site of the keep and catches up with the others, who are surprised by events. Banquo and Rowan try to hide out of site and prepare an ambush, but the large man spots Rowan and shouts up to others in the tower who are looking out.

There is a standoff and the Companions consider what to do next. Malcolm tells them he found Prince Edmund in the Keep, Logan decides to use his Animal Affinity to influence the large man, hoping he is dumb enough to be affected, but it does not.

Back to the Shadow Realm

They resolve to have Malcolm get them into the keep, while leaving Rowan outside to keep distracting the men in the Keep. Malcolm struggles but is able to open a way into the Shadow Realm again, further away than before to make sure they are out of sight.

He then leads them through the strange twilight of the Shadow Realm towards the keep, which also exists in here. He becomes a little lost and has to move around, trying to find the shadow he used before to get into the Keep.

He waves around and above the strange light in the keep seems to latch onto them and starts to approach, pulsing and shifting its spherical shape as it does. As it gets closer, they feel its coldness and its whispering in their minds. Malcolm quickly takes them through a shadow back into the normal world, but the experience leaves him stressed out.

In the Dungeon

They step through the shadows into a small, smelly, dirty and unlit room that is likely underground. There is a single, sturdy door that is closed. Feeling stressed and paranoid, Malcolm tries to get out of the room, but the door is stuck. He begins to barge the door desperately, to open it. It is making a lot of noise and Logan is forced to restrain him.

Malcolm remains stressed and anxious, while Banquo slowly pushes the door open, as quietly as he can. When they leave the room, they realise it is a cell in the dungeon under the keep, where Malcolm found himself last time. There is a torch on the wall by the cell at the end of the corridor, where Malcolm saw Prince Edmund last time.

They sneak down the corridor, but the cell that the Prince was is open and he is no longer in there. There is just some stairs leading up. Banquo tells them to wait while he checks out what’s up the stairs. Malcolm tells him that’s where the big guy was on guard.

The Fighting Begins

Banquo sees two men in the room above. One is a red-headed man with a Mhorien accent, who is giving orders to another man to keep trying to find how the intruder got in. Banquo tells the others and suggests sneaking, while Logan argues for a bum rush attack.

The decision is made when one of the men starts coming down the stairs and Banquo immediately cuts his throat. The man falls downs the stairs, blood going everywhere. The red-headed man hears this and heads down after him, trips on a table and then Banquo hits and wounds him in his sword arm.

The red-headed man screams and backs away, shoving the table in the way of Banquo’s advance. Logan throws a spear at the man, impaling him in his other arm. Banquo then finishes him off and they all go up the stairs into the room.

Many Doors

There are four exits from the room, roughly at the compass points. Another man then runs into the room from the east, asking what the shouting is about. Logan is nearest him and spears him in the head, causing him to collapse. He is then finished off.

After a short pause, Logan checks what is behind the east door and finds it is at the end of a corridor, leading north, with doors on each side. He decides to close the door for now and check the other doors.

The north door leads to a rotten old dining room with a long table and broken chairs. There are some signs of recent use, but not much.

Sam checks the west door and sees it leads to the base of the main tower of the keep, with a spiral staircase leading up. There are clearly some people higher up in the tower, calling out to others outside. Sam back out of the tower, closes the door and puts a table in front of it to delay anyone coming behind them.

Exploring the Keep

They then head again to the east door and start to explore the corridor. The first door opposite leads to a dormitory, with a number of places to sleep set out. Most of them are empty, but one person is in there, with a pillow over their head sleeping. Logan quietly kills him, makes it look like he is still asleep and leaves the room.

Another door in the corridor leads to a large, empty room, the purpose of which is not clear. There are some stairs leading up to a small fortification at the edge of the building. Banquo goes up the stairs. There is no one up there, but he can see the general layout of the Keep. The main building is surrounded by another wall and he sees some of the bandits standing around by the main door in the outer wall.

They return to the corridor, which turns west. Another door off the corridor leads to a store room, which has a lot of fresh supplies in barrels and boxes. It looks like the bandits have stocked up for a long stay, probably a few of months.

Logan Has a Plan

After that room, they see some natural light to the north further along the corridor and realise they are now by the exit to the main building. Logan peers around the corner and sees the bandits standing around by the doors of the outer wall.

He then proposes shooting the bandits with bows and then shutting the doors to the Keep, locking them out.

End of Episode Eleven