Killian me softly

Diversion and disaster follow us like twin ravens, dark and inevitable. Not two days from the Aerie, en route to the future site of Dragon keep with a detachment of Dwarves, we met an aerial interruption. A trio of eagles swooped down from the sky, and two of them transformed into humans. We knew Alysa, the lycanthrope healer we met in the forest near Stonyvale, and she introduced us to her associate Erson.

Alysa told us that a force of approximately 2000 Nothrog had left Baraxton and crossed the river to the north, apparently headed for Merrick. She feared that Merrick would fall easily, as her sources informed her that the Captain of the Guard was an incompetent drunkard. If Merrick fell to the Nothrog, Denska would be isolated from the rest of the Free Kingdoms, and the Aerie might be next. Worse yet, the Deverenians would probably pre-emptively take the Aerie, and she held it unlikely that the Free Kingdoms would ever retake the region. All that from 2000 Nothrog! We're lucky Nassiral Hate isn't trying particularly hard yet.

Alysa pleaded with us to come to Merrick's aid, pointing out our recent success in defending the Aerie. Of course, the situations are completely different: we didn't actually defend the Aerie, we merely helped to defuse the conflict. It's unlikely that there's a similarly removable third party at work in the assault on Merrick. Borrow, as usual, suggested leaving Merrick to its fate -- yet he accompanied us there all the same. I wonder why he sticks around, when we continue to pursue courses of action he considers foolhardy?

In the end we were convinced (and so too the Dwarves under Etor) by the catastrophic nature of the alternative -- Merrick's almost-certain doom, and the further dissolution of the Free Kingdoms -- rather than any particular hope of success. Alysa asked Erson to accompany us, and flew off to alert the Aerie and try to rally more aid.

Leaving the dwarves with a map and plan for their forced march, we set out posthaste on ethereal mounts (a most puissant replacement for the weakness of flesh-and-blood horses, whether summoned or native). We reached Merrick just after dusk, and cooled our heels at the gate while surly guards fetched somebody who could let us in. Later we discovered that the booze-reeking sourpuss was Lord Gottle himself, Captain of the Guard.

We arose from our inn early the next morning and sought out Councilman Jessod; Erson bore a letter from Alysa requesting an audience with him. The implausibly poor state of Merrick's defenses aroused my suspicions, and I cast detect thoughts before we entered. To my shock, Jessod was in fact communicating with someone even as he spoke to us, a "Killian" who seemed to be directing Jessod's actions (I couldn't hear Killian's side of the conversation, just Jessods). Superficially, Jessod seemed glad of our help, and suggested a meeting to discuss the defenses of Merrick with himself, his fellow Councillor Thaddeus (a mage), and Lord Gottle. Since I wanted some time to notify the others of potential treachery, and to investigate Killian's involvement, I suggested that we take a walk around the town in the morning to familiarize ourselves, before meeting after lunch. Fortunately, Jessod agreed.

Outside, I quickly brought everyone up to speed, and we set out to see if we could find out something about Killian. After a few hours tavern-crawling (but going light on the beverages!) we found a barkeep who cheerfully informed us that Killian rented a room in the back and we could go see him ourselves. Proceeding down the hall, Ili knocked twice, and boldly stepped into the room when she received no answer. After a few steps into the apprently-empty room, we were surprised by invisible assailants who surrounded us with live steel. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed this time (Malakar was busy elsewhere), and we avoided battle by parlaying with Killian himself.

Killian was holding most of the cards, so I played it mostly straight with him. His first priority was discovering how we found out about him; although I didn't say it right out, he inferred that I used detect thoughts, and shared his disdain for the tactic. I tried to reason with him, calling on a (hopefully shared) care for the defenses of Merrick; I didn't have a lot of luck, but Ili's sincerity won him over in the end. He told us that he shields and hides dissidents and other powerful figured from the surrounding regions, regardless of race or creed. I get the sense that this particular business is key to Merrick's leisure-oriented economy. As far as we can tell, he is sincere about wanting Merrick's continued survival, and won't interfere with the defense of the city. However, he direly warned us against trying to find any of his charges, or against interfering with any of his competitors. Fortunately, we have no intention of doing that unless it's critical to the defense of the city. Why does everybody enjoy threatening us so much? Haven't they ever heart of a "carrot"? It should be obvious from our actions so far that cautious self-preservation is pretty low on our list of priorities, so threats aren't even terribly effective. The capacity to deliver on the threat is important, but that's usually apparent before the threat is made.

Back at the council chambers, things started out badly: Gottle wanted a charge, dismissed the possibility of superior Nothrog strength and cunning, and didn't see any risk in the sketchy intelligence we'd received. It took all our combined powers of reason and persuation to get him to reconsider, but in the end he was willing to fortify the city instead.

While Gottle and the others worked on the plans for defense, we decided to ride out to confirm the size and disposition of the enemy force. We came up to the army impossibly soon: they were supposed to be days from Merrick, but there were merely hours away! Erson scouted as an eagle, and counted twice as many as reported, with siege engines and trebuchets and giants. Worst of all, they were led by a fire giant, who Erson knows as the leader of the Mammoth Tribe.

My first thought was that Thaddeus, whose scrying had led us astray, was working with the Nothrog. We rode back at top speed, and used a similar detect thoughts on Thaddeus; fortunately or unfortunately, he turned out to be legitimate: I surmise that Nassiral Hate has many ways of deceiving diviniations, something I must keep in mind if our paths cross again.

Gottle really came into his own once we told him of the actual force composition. He admitted that the walls would fall rapidly no matter what our defense was, and proposed to allow controlled incursions of Nothrog into the city where we could fight on our own terms them in small groups. This time, his plan seemed sound. We agreed to form a squad of 10 with the assistance of some of his elite troops, and far too soon we heard the crash of boulders against the north and south walls.

Thaddeus joined us with a telepathic bond so we could stay coordinated, and we headed out to slow down some hill giants who were bombarding the north wall. I confess to some grave concerns about this engagement -- without time to rest, I have not been able to prepare for military action, and should I use my few potent spells against the giants I will be helpless for the rest of the night's battle. I hope that Erson knows how to fight, and I hope that some of Gottle's men are more than just cannon fodder.