Immersive Ink

ooc: I'm out of spells

"Good point, Wen," ponders Highbough. "Dieter, Olaf, Torben: please make camp and keep guard so Wen and I can rest and memorize more spells. We should gather our strength before we assault the Fortress."

coffee wrote:

mushgnome wrote:"Excellent, it works!" exclaims Highbough. "The voyage was one-way as I suspected... I hope you all said goodbye to the others? Now, there should be a fortress around here somewhere. Let's organize our search so we don't get separated." The old Elf would look for any high ground or landmarks he can climb to have a look-see of this alien landscape.

"One-way?" Dieter snarls. "Don't you think you should have made that clear before you brought us here? As I recall, the plan was for us to have a rest and for you lot to get your spells for the day, and then do something rash."

He shakes his head, eyes scanning the distance. "Elves!"

Once he spots a defensible looking place in the surrounding high ground, he'll confer with Olaf on heading there.

Olaf nods at Dieter's suggestion, "That's as good a place as I see and should give us a vantage of what is up there. The way back *is* elsewhere, so we need to go elsewhere."

mushgnome wrote:"Good point, Wen," ponders Highbough. "Dieter, Olaf, Torben: please make camp and keep guard so Wen and I can rest and memorize more spells. We should gather our strength before we assault the Fortress."

Olaf grumbles to himself, "Old elf should have thought of that before he brought us here.", but he does agree that getting into a defensible position and surveying things is the first thing to do so he moves up the dune into a hollow of sand that provides cover and protection from the sides, but it high enough so he can look over the top of the dune and see what is out there.

[p Man,mail+helm,magic sword,shield,9,16/16]Dieter[/p] and [p Young Man,leather+helm,sword,shield,12,14/14]Olaf[/p] pick a likely direction and head off into the howling wind, their cloaks flapping like wings.

[p Elf,leather+helm,bow,silver arrow,12,7/8]Wen[/p], [p Old Elf,leather+helm,spear,hand,12,10/10]Highbough[/p], and [p Man,elvish mail+helm,spear,shield,12,11/11]Torben[/p] await their return by the Ring. It is hot and dry and the colour of the light is too red. And their water skins are none too heavy...

The red dunes are, in the main part, packed hard so [p Man,mail+helm,magic sword,shield,9,16/16]Dieter[/p] and [p Young Man,leather+helm,sword,shield,12,14/14]Olaf[/p] have little trouble finding a route to a defensible looking rock at the summit of the nearest ridge, and although they sweat with the effort of hiking in the heat they find their step curiously quick and light.

As they approach the summit they crouch low so as not to be seen, and peer into the wider world beyond the rock. Less than a quarter mile off they see a daunting black structure; an impossible iron wall that must be 40ft high if it is ten--and it is. It runs left and right into the desert that goes on forever, it seems; heat shimmering off the distant red hard pan.

But most impressive--most terrifying--is a truly colossal black fortress hulking over the wall. If the wall is 40ft high, then the vast iron structure--an assembly of huge black slabs of iron--that overlooks it must be 200ft tall and at least twice as wide. And, [p Young Man,leather+helm,sword,shield,12,14/14]Olaf[/p] points along the direction of the wall... there are more of them. A few miles, perhaps, farther along the wall in either direction, another similar-sized structure can dimly be seen.

While the humans are gone, Highbough confides in Wen, "I do not like it here one bit. How do we get home?"

Apparently I just thought it and didn't say it: Dieter will have his sword sheathed and his bow out as he goes up the slope. (And I assume Olaf will, as well.)

coffee wrote:OOC: Is this still the same day we fought the Tar Fiend and lost Gustave?

Yes, it was the afternoon of that same day when (collective) you activated the Ring.

coffee wrote:Apparently I just thought it and didn't say it: Dieter will have his sword sheathed and his bow out as he goes up the slope. (And I assume Olaf will, as well.)

You assume correctly, Sir! Olaf has his bow in hand.