Ch. 2, Page 21

Tenser, Robilar, and Terik stood nearby and watched as fire spread through the fort.

"A good night's work, gentlemen," Robilar said.

"We never did let the prisoners out..." Tenser said.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Robilar lied.

"You two going soft on me?" Terik asked, looking at both of them.  "We came to take care of some bandits and we took care of them and now it's over.  So let's see if we can find me a bed to sleep in before it's morning, shall we?"


Inside the fort, up on the hill, a good night's sleep was the last thing on the minds of Drake and Gronan...

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Ch. 2, Page 20

Tenser was still impatient while Robilar and Terik drank round after round of the bandits' wine.  The last thing Tenser wanted now was to return to Greyhawk City with two annoying drunks, but the two fighting men surprised him with their constitutions, or more specifically their ability to hold liquor. 

And then Robilar surprised him again by raising his tankard and, solemnly, saying, "A toast, gentlemen, to those who died here this night.  Let us pray their lives had some valor in them." 

Terik joined him in that toast and Tenser nodded in agreement. 

"Now, let's finally burn this place down!" Terik said after finishing his last drink.

This part proved easy, as Robilar already knew where large leather flasks of oil were stored.  They had only to light a torch and decide where to start the conflagration...

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Ch. 2, Page 19

If Robilar spotted the trapdoor in the dark cellar, he made no mention of it when he came back up with the cask.

"Oh, what's that?" Terik asked excitedly.

"Tastes like red wine," Robilar said, sitting it down on a table.  "I took a taste on the way back up.  Not watered down too bad either."

"Probably stolen," Terik said with disgust.  "Here, let me find somebody's tankards around here we can use."

"Is this really a good idea?" Tenser said, peaking into the room.  He had just stepped out to check for trouble, but all was silent in the fort.

"Shouldn't you be lying down and resting to get your spells back?" Terik asked as he came to the table where Robilar now sat with two tankards he had found.

"That's not how it works," Tenser said crossly.  "I need my spellbook, back in the city."

"You see why I never became a magic-user," Robilar said as he poured drinks from the cask.  "Once you're out of spells, you're useless."

"Less then useless," Terik chimed in.  "More like a burden, really..." The two fighting men stared at each hard across the table, as if something was silently being discussed between them. Tenser showed no sign of noticing, as he turned away in a huff.

The moment of intensity passed, as Robilar and Terik broke into smiles instead...

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Ch. 2, Page 18

And run away they did.  Some did not plan to stop until they returned to the City of Greyhawk.  Some only intended to run for cover in the woods, but lost their nerve as soon as they saw their comrades.  It was a complete rout.

Captain Drake was no fool and did not stand his ground within easy reach of those arrows either.  He fell back only as far as their long range and tried one last time to rally his men to him.

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Ch. 2, Page 17

The exchange of missile fire just seemed to go on and on.  Injuries on the field below the palisade were becoming common, despite shield cover and the dark of the night.  As far as anyone could see, not a single defender up on the wall had been dropped yet. 

The battle was taking its toll on both sides, though the attackers could not see what problems the defenders had.  Tenser was safely on the ground inside the fort, staging his phantasmal archers on the palisade like a director, his actors, and a stage.  Maintaining the spell was taxing, especially since the occasional arrow overshot the wall and came his way, but they all landed well clear of him.

Robilar would have run out of arrows already had Terik not found a spare quiver for him in the fort.  They both peppered the attackers with real arrows, ducking in and out of the rank of phantasmal archers.  The return fire was thinning out as the attackers ran low on arrows, but that meant that shots were being more carefully planned and aimed.  The palisade was still a very dangerous place. 

At any moment, one side was bound to crack...

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Ch. 2, Page 16

The phantasmal forces on the palisade began firing at once into the Captain's forces on the ground.  Every bandit with a shield became the closest friend of those around him, as everyone huddled up for cover.  The rain of arrows was merciless, though, and under its barrage the bandits began to fall back, despite Captain Drake's calls for them to stand their ground. 

Not that the bandits were powerless to return fire.  Many among them had short bows or crossbows and they aimed as best as they could for the shadowy defenders on the wall -- the very wall that some of these bandits had manned just hours earlier. 

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Ch. 2, Page 15

Captain Drake never thought he would have to storm his own fort, but that did not mean he was unprepared to do so.  Well versed in siegecraft from some years spent campaigning in the Bandit Kingdoms, Drake had his axemen cut down the largest tree they could and begin stripping it into a battering ram.

"The moat?" prompted the old thaumaturgist, Drake's liaison to the Sorcerer.

"Will not be an obstacle for long," Drake said confidently.  "If Robilar and his fool friends thinks they've won because they managed to raise the drawbridge on me, they're in for a rude awakening." 

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