26 Erenzeit cont.
Into the forested hills we went, accompanied by Gorim Greathammer and a few of his lads, following the trail the dwarves had used to move the coal they mined to Grissenwald. No goblins we met. The wizard's tower wasn't much of a tower. More like a squat, round fortress. Built on a small bluff of stone, sturdy walls of finely fitted granite, no windows on the lower floor, metal bars across the ones on the top. A dome of bronze, enough for many cannon, wasted as tiling material. To reach the single door - a foot think and set with iron bands - you had to brave an exposed ramp covered by a gallery of firing slits. In short, you'd need an army to take the place, and that's not accounting for the the resident sorceress and her apprentice.
Fortunately, no one was home. Except the halfling chef, "Dumpling" Hayfoot. He didn't want to let us in - can't say I blame him - and even if he wanted to he didn't have the means. He was essentially locked inside while his mistress was away...
We did manage to force entry. Climbing the walls and braving the slippery roof, we got a hatch open. After securing the halfling - who I proclaim free of any blame - we set about exploring Hertzen's abode, her library, workshop, observatory, and more.
Interrupted by the arrival of a large group of goblins, far too many for us to fight. We made ready to haul everybody up the wall and inside - we could still not open the door - when Greathammer reluctantly admitted to having built the place. But being a dwarf he felt honor-bound not to betray his employer.
I pointed out she was a witch and a heretic. That didn't make much of an impression. The goblins probably being in league with Hertzen did more, I think. And the idea that she'd somehow tricked the dwarves out of their mine and the cold that surely lay hidden within. What can I say? Dwarves and gold. There was talk of reclaiming the mine and staying behind. Had to talk some sense into him.
With a little help from some coal dust we found a way into the mines. Not built by the dwarves but dug later. In the old mines we found slaves, local farmers, travelers and traders, captives from the von Grissenwald estate. No gold did we find: the stupid goblins were mining not gold, but fool's gold! We freed the slaves but didn't push our luck - the goblins had a troll guarding the mine entrance. Not equipped to deal with that while keeping the civilians safe.
I was also able to locate Hertzen's secret sanctuary - the place where she kept her dark artifacts and terrible summon circle - and several chest brimming with gold. All my well-founded suspicions were confirmed. The woman was indeed the devil-worshipper I was sure she was. And a well-connected and well-resourced one. Very dangerous.
Some of the besiegers left the tower, perhaps to investigate the mines. Seizing the moment, we sallied during the night, killing many goblins, until the remaining greenskins fled. No sign of a warlord or the troll.
27 Erenzeit
The day after, the dwarves left to bring more of their kind - and wagons to carry away the stuff we'd confiscated. They returned late in the day and we loaded up the wagons. No sign of goblins.
28 Erenzeit
The next morning we set fire to the tower to deny it to the enemy, then we marched towards Nuln. The goblins did not try to oppose our righteous march.
30 Erenzeit
We reached Winkelhausen. We had a little feast which Dumpling cooked for us. I offered the poor soul a place in my household. I'm getting soft-hearted, offering my home and heart to all that I meet. Not just the insanely alluring women but now also plum halfling women pretending to be men so they can be chefs. Where will this end? A dwarf mistress?
Marching with wagons along forest roads is slow going. We didn't quite make Nuln before nightfall and were forced to spend the night in the village of Kreuzungstad, just outside the city walls.
Spent the evening in Ankh-akh's company. Found him a woman able to handle a man of his size. Then we had a good chat about his sun-god. Ankh sure has a lot of rules and commandments associated with his worship. He's also two-gods-in-one: sun god during the day, guardian of the dead at night. Some of his tenets are mindboggling and contradictory.
I would not have given this outlandish faith much consideration were it not for what happened upon our return to the inn: the world seemed frozen, we found some of our dwarves dead in the courtyard, and then we were set upon by a shadow-daemon. Were it not for the light and blessings of the sun god I'm sure I would have died there, just outside Nuln, my soul and flesh both eaten. Instead we unveiled the creature and battled it unit it lay dead and we stood victorious. It's flesh burned to nothing by the light of Ankh-akh and the world started moving again. I shall not dismiss the power of Ankh-akh again, not think him a quaint, powerless god. He's got real power.
A most disturbing encounter - little did I know it was only the beginning of a very tumultuous visit to Nuln.
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