Move 176: Deja Gnome
Tunnels--Midday, 7 Eleint 1374 DRArachne concentrated for a moment before disappearing. A second glance revealed her wispy form, nearly invisible in the partial light that the glowing stones provided in the tunnels. She walked through the doors, leaving the others to discuss what they would until she returned.
Jana looked at the goblins. "How about we line them up in front of the door? That way, if something besides Arachne comes through, they'll buy us a little time."
Echo gave the bound cowering goblins a skeptical look, "I don't think they'd buy us much time. They look like they might drop dead from fear as it is. It's a good idea to have some kind of plan of what to do if something else comes though," she said with a nod at
Jana. She walked over to one of the tunnel walls before adding, "I'm starting to see why you don't like me scouting, Jana. The waiting is nerve wracking."Jana grinned at Echo. "Yes, it is," she agreed with soft laugh.
"Indeed it is, Echo," replied Aloysius. "If we moved back a bit, and the rest of thee were behind me, I could conjure a wall of webs to impede any hostile creature that should come through yon portals."
He gave a sympathetic glance towards Fred and the other 2 goblins. "That would likely provide more time for us than the goblins would."
Aloysius moved to the front of the group and removed some wispy white material from his pouch.
"Uhm, Aloysius," Jana said quickly, "Maybe we ought to wait a moment. I mean, be ready to do your spell, but no sense in casting it right away. I mean, if Arachne comes back with the all-clear, it's gonna be a mess to remove."
"'Tis my intent to simply have it ready, Janathell," said Aloysius. "For future reference, in case any of thee are in need of an efficient removal of my webs, simply use flame. They are highly flammable."
"Good to know." Daelen said, patting his sword hilt.
After a couple of minutes had passed, Arachne came back through the doors.
"Tell us, small one," said Aloysius eagerly, "what did you see?"
"Not much, on account of the darkness," the small one replied. "But enough," she added, pleased to have an eager audience for once. "Those doors are thick," she began. "Stone, and more than a foot deep. There's no bar or lock that I could see on the other side -- but they do block the smell. Yes, there are orcs on the other side. I saw about a dozen, armed orcs who seemed to have nothing better to do than guard the area. With them were three big lizards. The lizards were maybe three adult elves long. The guards aren't right at the door. They're down at the far end of the large chamber. If we can open these doors quietly -- and with all our lights extinguished -- we can probably get through without them noticing.
"After that, I expect you'll simply _have_ to fight the orcs in order to get past them. I have some questions and suggestions:
"Tell me again, who here doesn't need the torches and glowing swords to see by? And who would rather sneak up on an enemy -- _quietly_ -- than confront them face on? I think that, either after opening the door quietly (if we can) or going through my dimensional door, we should go in two waves. The first wave can include sneaky people and those who can see in the dark. I want them to set up in a narrow passageway that runs along the left side of the chamber. Then, with them ready in that location, the people who need lights and make more noise can come through. They'll attract the orcs' attention.
"I'm not sure what the orcs will do -- charge the noisy group or wait for them to come to the orcs. Either way, I think the ones in the passageway will be able to surprise the orcs sort of from behind once the fighting starts.
"One more thing: Anyone have a silence spell? I think it would probably be very wise if, as soon as possible, the far exit from that chamber were silenced. It's -- um..." She considered. "A couple hundred feet from the doors, I guess. And there's probably lots more orcs behind it. Probably want to gag the goblins, too," the gnome considered.
"Echo, are you sure the doors are locked or is it possible that they are just really heavy?" Blacky asked "Renn, how long does that silence spell last? Could we try to open the doors and if that doesn't work go in through Arachne's portal with the silence still in effect?"
"Not very long I'm afraid," Renn replied, as he slipped his bow over his shoulder. "Just about eight minutes, give or take a bit."
"In a fight, eight minutes is forever," Arachne said.
Aloysius fretted. "Lizards three elves long?" he asked rhetorically as he assessed Renn's height to get a comparison. "Moons and stars!" He rubbed his razor stubble nervously. "Stargazer hath spells of sleep and one to create the giant web. He also has one to create mystic bolts of energy and one of illusion."
He looked over at Arachne. "Are the orcs far enough away so that they will be unable to see your blue portals if we decide to employ that method of ingress?"
"Good point," Arachne allowed. "I can easily place the other end of the portal out of direct sight of the orcs, but it's possible that they could notice the slight general glow in the direction of the doors. Hmmm..."
"They're locked," Echo confirmed. "Arachne, I think me, you, and Renn are the ones who don't need light." She looked around to see if she had missed anyone.
Rennirolas nodded as Echo named him. "And I believe that's everyone as well," he added. "And if we cannot open the doors from without and must use Arachne's skills to get within, we should unlock the doors from the other side at the earliest moment," Renn said. "I'd hate to see us run across trouble and have no place to withdraw to."
"I'd suggest Echo for that job -- after the fighting," Arachne said. "There wasn't any obvious lock on the other side of the doors, either. I wonder how the goblins ever would've gotten through? Assuming they'd ever wanted to..."
Echo nodded.
Jana scowled, looking singularly unimpressed with the Sneaky Plan. "You're assuming that they need light to see," Jana pointed out to Arachne. "What good is it when both sides can see in the dark?"
"I'm assuming that they can see light, yes," Arachne replied. "I'm also assuming that they will automatically decide that anyone who is using light to find their way around is an intruder to be attacked. And, most importantly, I'm expecting them to target us based on the light. I'm expecting them to assume that where the light is, there we are _and_ that where the light is _not_ we won't be either. So the group of us that goes without light and quietly should be able to surprise them because their attention will be on the lights."
"Hmm . . . I agree, Janathell," said Aloysius. "That would seem to be a valid inquiry." He shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well, Stargazer shall leave tactics to those who are more accomplished in that area. It does appear that we will have need of Arachne's portals once again, since I find it unlikely that we could overcome these doors through sheer force."
"I'm partial to any plan that'll let me get my hands dirty. I can probably take four or five of those orcs... don't know about lizards though."
"I don't see any difficulty getting your hands dirty," Arachne said neutrally.
Without thinking, Daelen reached down beside him to scratch Snow's ear, his expression hardening when he remembered he had no idea where Snow was.
"Let's just do it or go. I'm tired of waiting around."
"Arachne, can you place the portal behind where the orcs are?" Blacky asked "This is what I'm thinking. Renn casts the silence spell centered on me then I go through the portal first, arriving right behind the orcs. That will silence any fighting or cries of alarm. The rest of our fighters come right after me and we kill them all before the silence wears off." Blacky grinned "It's a plan anyway."
"That's a neat idea," Arachne agreed, "except for a few problems: As Aloysius has pointed out, my portal does glow a little. I would be setting it up blind and the glow would be likely to attract their attention. You'd come through silently, yes, but you'd also come through disoriented, and your silenced field would likely not be wide enough to keep the orcs from calling an alarm to other chambers. Also, I'm not sure that I could reach the orcs with my portal."
"Let me show you my idea," Arachne said.
"That flat end is the doors," she said. "The long axis here is, I guess, a couple of hundred feet. The widest point on the orthogonal axis is ... I guess a hundred fifty feet? Maybe a little less. Anyway, the orcs and the lizards are settled in at the _far_ end of the oval. An exit to somewhere else is also at the far end of the oval. Now..."
She added another squiggly shape inside the oval. It was approximately in the middle, a little closer to the doors than to the orcs, but much closer to one side of the oval than the other.
"This is a big column in the cavern," she said. "It goes all the way up to the ceiling. You can get past it on either side, but this side is only about 5 feet wide -- single file -- while the other side is much broader. What I'm suggesting is this:
"I'll place the other end of my portal on the doors side of the column. We go through in darkness as quietly as we can. Echo and Renn go first and make for the narrow passage. They go up that and see if they can get close enough to the far end for Renn to silence it. Echo and Renn, can you give me a wild guess how much time you'd want before the rest of the gang lights their lights, making their presence known and comes up the other side of the column? And then, you all incapacitate the orcs and lizards the way you're so good at."
She awaited their dismay...
Aloysius nodded enthusiastically. "Aye, small one, so long as the orcs see not your glow, this should work wonderfully." He looked at her diagram, trying to be sure he understood her explanation. "Uh, how far away from the orcs and lizards will we be, approximately, when we emerge from the portal? I ask just so we'll know how much time, if any, we'll have if they see the glow and come after us."
Arachne pointed to the rock column in her diagram. "This thing is...um, well, a lot longer than it's wide. I guess a third or so the length of the whole chamber." (She indicated the extent from the doors to the other exit.) "But it's only about fifteen feet wide; it doesn't extend very far across the chamber. The orcs are on the far side of it... They should be, anyway. That's where I left them."
"A wild guess?" Echo asked. "I have no idea, two or three minutes?" She looked at Renn questioningly. She added, "I remember the lizards now," Echo said. "This is where I was before." She began to tremble slightly.
Jana moved to stand beside Echo and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "What do you think we ought to do?" she asked Echo gently. "I don't think scouting's the best idea."
"We need Renn's spell to try to keep them from sounding an alarm," Echo said quietly. "He shouldn't go by himself. Arachne can't go. That leaves me." She shrugged, "I'll be fine."
"How about this?" Arachne suggested. "I'd have enough power to hold open the portal at least 6 minutes -- I'll warn you now that I'm kind of tired from being ghostly. If you want a guarantee of being able to retreat again, I'll want to rest an hour or two before we go forward.
"Anyway, you could go through first and use the narrow passage to get as close to the far exit as you can, then wait. The rest of us come through putting more emphasis on being quiet than on speed. When we're all through, which should be more than twice two or three minutes, I end the portal and people can give themselves light to see by, which would likely alert the orcs but could also alert you that it's time to cast the silence spell. Soon after that, a fight is likely to break out."
"Yes," agreed Aloysius again. "That seems sound. Arachne could remain near the doors in case we need to retreat. She could re-open the portals when she saw us coming."
He turned to Renn. "Rennirolas, perhaps you could attempt to skirt the orcs and lizards by yourself. You don't need Echo to cast your spell, and if there is only one of you you will be more stealthy."
The mage sighed deeply. "The again . . . mayhap we should not separate so."
"Now there's an idea," Jana muttered.
"Except that I expect Echo would be the more stealthy one of the two and might be able to help Renn keep quiet," Arachne said. "Plus, she could watch Renn's back for him when they get near the orcs...and she might be able to take advantage of the orc's backs being likely turned toward her when all hell breaks loose."
"I'm quite agreeable to the idea of lingering by the doors in case a retreat is called for," the gnome said. "Maybe even try to find any locking or unlocking mechanism on them while I wait. Does posting me there mean you'd like me to rest up before we go through?" She glanced around for a place to meditate.
"No sense in going in without being completely prepared," said Aloysius. He turned to Echo. "Realize do I that this place harbors memories foul for you. If with Rennirolas you must go, then so be it. If not, I trust that you shall maintain thy usual high degree of combat utility somewhere else in the formation."
He stretched his arms over his head. "Yes . . . the formation. Since Rennirolas is typically at the back and will be out of his usual position, perhaps we should make wholesale changes just for this plan. Suggest would I that Eric, Janathell, and Daelen go in front, whilst Azrun, Stargazer, and Arachne remain towards the back. If Echo goes not with Rennirolas, then she too could join the rear guard. Since Janathell and Azrun have the light stones, that would place them at a reasonable distance from one another. If I recall correctly, orcs disdain illumination. Mayhap we can use that to our advantage as well."
He looked at the goblins. "What shall we do with them?"
"This isn't scouting," Arachne said shortly if, as usual for her, absently. "Scouting's been done. This is --" She stopped. "No, you're right. It's scouting. I'm asking her to go with Renn to find the best surreptitious route up to the far end of the cavern. She's skilled at that; I asked her to do that because she would be good at working that way. Better than you or me. I can't keep as quiet as she can.
"Now, I know that you'd rather she stayed close by you and that you would do anything you could to keep any attacking orcs from hurting her. But the fact is, that if a fight is going on, Echo is in trouble if she's out in the middle of it -- even if she's close by you. She'd be in less trouble out at the fringe -- away from you and a half-dozen orcs. (I figure that Blacky and Daelen would get the other half-dozen and Aloysius can put away the three lizards.)" She grinned.
"But Jana, you're right: Echo's and Renn's role is certainly unsafe. So, I'm agreeable to your being one of the first through the portal after them. You can listen for trouble. And if we have enough of them, perhaps Echo should carry one of the light stones -- concealed! Then, if it all goes south and the guards notice our sneaks, Echo and Renn should make noise if the orcs don't and Echo should unveil the light stone so that the rest have a target to race to.
"That's the best safety net I can think of. Or you can scrap the whole idea. We didn't lose too many people when we all together advanced into the evil priest's cavern," Arachne said grimly.
"We didn't lose too many?" Jana said in an angry whisper. "Too $#%& many?!" She clenched her fists and walked stiffly away from the gnome.
"That's my point," Arachne sighed. "Mayhap, I should state it with less irony."
"Yes, mayhap you should," Echo said with a frown.
We don't have enought men - or women for a frontal assault in any case." Daelen stated flatly. "If we try to make this a fair fight, we'll probably take losses... hey, wizard, do you need to see your target when you throw that big web thing of yours or can someone just point you in the right direction and give you a general idea?"
"The latter course would be rather perilous. 'Twould be much more favorable if Stargazer could see where he was putting it."
"Oops," the gnome said. "Forgot about them. Is there some way of keeping them quiet for a few minutes?"
"Why don't we simply let them go?" asked Aloysius. “They are clearly fearful of being here. Most likely they will vacate this area as soon as they are able."
"Why don't we take them with us," Jana replied humorlessly. They'd make nifty shields."
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