DAY 312 (17th Hammer)(January) cont ...
As he clung to the feathers on Arahel's broad eagled back, watching the snow covered miles of forest roll past, Fenrir had time to reflect on his recent murders.
Paynon and Bale he was certain were evil, the other three he had no idea of, but on balance he hoped he had done a good thing. Or at least something that was neither bad nor good.
Even so, the blood of five people were on his hands. Should he feel bothered that he didn't feel bothered about it? He decided it was best not to dwell on it.
They landed about a mile away from Klapton and walked the rest of the way. They gates were closed though and crowded with people wanting to get in. It took them a while to get inside, but the warrant from Lord Karden stood them in good stead.
A dwarf who appeared to be the captain of the guard arrived and introduced himself as Thunda Kegshaper. He did not seem to think much of these 'big city coppers' but agreed to escort them to Lord Paynon's house.
He took some persuading but in the end he let them search the place. There was a squad of town guards in the mansion house too, guarding it from what exactly was anyone's guess as Fenrir pointed out,
'Why have all the guards here, do you think Paynon and his guests will get murdered again?'
Kegshaper was not amused.
'No listen here, boy...'
Fenrir saw that jests would not work on this surly dwarf so he tried to give the impression of being more professional.
Just as he was winning Kegshaper around, from a room down the hall in the house came the wizard
Tamba Wazerio.
'What?!' he exclaimed on seeing Fenrir (who should be called "The Always Leaves A Witness Assassin"). 'What's he doing here! He's the one that killed them all!'
There was a three way argument at that point as Fenrir attempted to turn it all around on Wazerio. 'A bit convenient isn't it? You were the only survivor and the only witness?'
Kegshaper didn't know what to make of it all, although he did think it unlikely, Wazerio, a man he knew reasonably well, was a murderer and a liar. On the other hand this young man from the city sure was convincing...
'Bah! I'm reporting this all to the magistrate. He can sort it all out!' growled the dwarf.
Fenrir agreed and as Wazerio stormed off, he set back to searching the house. It was a large building, as you would expect for the richest man in town, but after a good search all they found of real interest was a large iron bound wooden door in the cellar.
Kegshaper followed them from room to room to make sure they didn't steal anything.
There was a large chain by the door and Fenrir pulled it. The grill at the top of the door opened and a large troll glared at them from behind it. The troll then slammed the grill shut again.
Unfortunately for our heroes from Westgate, Arahel, being an untypical druid, had an untypical set of spells remembered for the day. She had no Wood Shape or Stone Shape spells, so it was up to Veddic and his trusty crowbar to go for the door.
He was not really getting anywhere, just making a lot of noise, when the door half opened and the troll started clawing at them. Fenrir didn't want to use his eldritch blast as it would rather give the game away to Kegshaper (as it would corroborate Wazerio's version of events) so it took a bit longer than usual to beat the troll back. Once Veddic had whacked it a few times and Arahel had shot it a few times with her Acid Arrow Crossbow it pushed the door shut again and sat down behind it.
Fenrir, sheepishly asked Kegshaper if he could go get some lamp oil. The dwarf wasn't keen on burning the house down but sent one of his men. They tried to get some of it under the door and when they lit it they could hear the troll grumble as it put out the flames on the other side, but it sounded like they had not greatly inconvenienced it.
Veddic then attacked the door with the crowbar for another ten or fifteen minutes until he was utterly worn out. Fenrir turned to Kegshaper, 'Can you bring more of your guards? Oh wait...'
Arahel was tugging at his sleeve. She whispered in his ear.
'If we sent them all away, then I can turn into a giant and bash the door in...'
'Oh right, ahem, Mr Kegshaper can you...'
The dwarf held up his hand to silence Fenrir.
'Before you come up with some other stupid plan, would you like to borrow my massive axe?'
Fenrir, for the first time, noticed that the dwarf had a huge two handed axe strapped to his back!
'Err, yes please...'
'Stand aside,' grumbled the dwarf, then under his breath. 'Parcel of idiots...'
He smashed down the door in a matter of minutes, then joined the attack against the troll. It fought them off for a short while, but in the end Veddic finished it off with a Flame Strike spell. They stepped over its body and into the chambers beyond...
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