“Castle Aelfheim of Lord Aelevengeth
At first, you will see nine towers. Each has about 4
defender(s) visible (there are actually seven times that number total) and
about 1 will arrive per round in the case of an alarm. The outer walls are 51
feet tall and the towers extend 9 feet above them.
from the sea, there will be 33 feet of ordinary ground
before the walls start.
*Due to the condition of the walls, climb checks are at plus
four.
*The lowest windows are 38 feet up.
*The initial volley from the towers in case of an unexpected
attack will be crossbow fire. The second volley in case of a siege, an
anticipated attack, or a small but persistent raiding party (like a bunch of
PCs) will consist of more standard bowfire-
*Additional security measures include:
A gatehouse with inner portcullises that cut off the
gatehouse at both ends. A series of secondary walls--12 feet higher than the
outer walls. There are 1 fewer inner towers than outer ones.
*Also:
The captain of the garrison is insane. The interior
architecture is irrational--dead ends, pointlessly sloping passages, etc. “
So when we come to ask ourselves how to kill Lord
Aelevengarth the question is complex.
Outer walls 51 feet
Nine outer towers each 60 feet
Assume each tower has 28 guys defending
Inner walls 63 feet
Eight inner towers (assume 72 feet?)
Does each inner tower also have 28 guys?
If so then the total number of defenders would be about 476!
Frontal assault is out.
Assault by stealth - The walls are easy to climb and the
windows are low but the inside of the castle is irrational, G+ means poor
mapping so we are almost certain to get lost inside
The weak point is the paranoid garrison captain (play last
session revealed his insanity manifests itself as paranoia.)
I know my plan for everything is assault by deception, but,
it does seem like the best bet this time. (Of course that requires a complex
plan, which will certainly go wrong.)
Best idea so far is plant the idea in the captains mind that
Aelfheim is a doppleganger. Somehow place some kind of mind enchantment or
alter Aelfheim somehow so he doesn't 'seem' like himself.
Maybe effect his memory somehow? The effect should be
non-harmful and so mild that no-one would think to defend against it. So mild
that it would seem pointless to curse or poison someone with it.
Something like 'you forget the name of your dogs' or 'you
forget the names of your servants until you are reminded'.
If the curse itself remains a secret and we implant the
suspicion in the paranoid guard captain correctly then he will kill Aelfheim
for us, hopefully in front of witnesses. Then we kill the captain in revenge
and leave with clean hands.
1
Plant Doppleganger suspicions in in the mind of
Guard Captain.
(My favourate way of doing this is to forge a letter to the
Guard Captain from Nornrik, have some goon deliver it. It says;
'Please disregard the earlier message, it was written by a
low level official with paranoid fantasies who has since been dismissed. There
is nothing to worry about. Do not allow any of these wild and unfounded
accusations to besmirch the honour of Lord Aelevengarth. He has our full
support.'
But no earlier message ever came. And if he writes back,
they say they know nothing about the letter he got. Then if he tests it, he
finds out it's forged.
If he questions the goon, the guy lies, badly, then on
further questioning says a bunch of weird guys in the wastes paid him to bring
it. They wore masks.
And all of this makes him more suspicious, because every
piece of evidence that there is no conspiracy, is also evidence that the
conspiracy is bigger than you thought.)
Alter Aelevengeth in some mild way, keep it secret.
Start asking the guard captain 'hey, you see anything weird
about that guy?' Join him in finding out what’s going on.
Kill some of Aelevengeth's personal staff. Make it look as
if he did it.
Join with captain as 'only ones he can trust'
Civil war breaks out inside castle? Good.
Persuade guard captain 'now is the time' he kills his boss,
or dies trying. Either way we step in to clean up.
This is a terrible plan. But they all are aren’t they?
Less-shit plan. Cause a distraction, have assassin, thief
and combat monk infiltrate the castle by climbing. Get to the lord. Kill him.
Escape.
Other plan- Lord Aelevengeth is a keen hunter. Create
impression of some terrifying beast out in the wastes. Kill some livestock,
leave strange tracks to ambush spot. If anyone but Aelevengeth tries to catch it, kill them and leave freaky
wounds on the bodies. Then, when Aelevengeth comes out to fight it, lure him
into the spot and nail him from all sides. (Downside, he is a good hunter, will probably work it out.
Never fight someone in their preferred arena.)
Interestingly, my thief Kölkblser Mönsterhole is a true child of the millenium. though he doesnt know it, every moment of his life is on record. All of his games have been written up by one
person or another. (Depending on whether you can acces the G+ posts.)
He starts out in my friend Nathan’s far North setting and
has a bunch of adventures up there (Still immune to natural fire! Never come in
useful but it will one day I’m sure.)
Next Kolk moved to the Vorn-welt (WeltVorn?). This got written
up by Chris Peterson on G+
He spent his time kind-of weirdly transferring back and
forth between the Vorn-Welt and Arnold K’s ‘House
of Hours’. In one he’s a Homburg-Wearing thief with a Trombone case, in the
other it’s more standard D&D thief.
So far his most terrifying enemies have been some moving IV
drips and a bad internet connection.
He has recently sworn fealty to a pig who saved the entire
party.
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