Atomies and a Giant

After recovering and healing from deftly catching all of those crossbow bolts, the group started poking around the ground floor, looking for a way up the tower. Shortly, they turn their attention to the alcove with a floor covered in decoration and magic; as Zacarius moved up to assist Doyle in checking the alcove, the magic became active and started coating him in ice. When Doyle also grabbed the crystal key, he was also covered. Though Ash tried to break Zacarius free, both Zacarius and Doyle were teleported up to the dining hall.

In the dining hall, a pair of atomies panicked at the appearance of Doyle and Zacarius and turned invisible, while the bard who had been gently strumming her look stood up in shock. Meirul spoke with Doyle about why they were in the tower, but things devolved to combat when Ash and Kyezra arrived. The atomies struck at Zacarius, wounding him fairly severely while Meirul started performing an inspiring song.

Doyle vanished and positioned himself for a strike at Meirul's back, only to barely dodge up on to the table as Kyezra's cat came charging in to his spot. Meirul took several hits in quick succession and surrendered; the atomies were far more loyal to the tower's witch and fought (for a very short time) to the death.

While this had been going on, Captain Hestrig Orlov, who had been studying in the library, overheard the combat and began preparing for a fight. Enlarged and protected, she charged in on the group just as they executed Meirul and were searching through her possessions. Hestrig's first strike nearly split Doyle in half, but in a stroke of luck he managed to deflect the blade with the plate he had been examining. The rest of the group struck Hestrig quickly and took her down before she could do much more damage.

The group proceeded to investigate the library and the garden room across the hall from it, waking and angering a mandragora who latched on to Ash's face. Though the mandragora fought like a weed enraged, the group was able to put it down without any lasting injury.

Shock and Awe

Having cleared the courtyard of defenders, the group entered the tower. They quickly moved through the rooms until they found a closed chamber in the back had sounds of snoring beyond the door. After a quick hushed discussion, they decided on the prudent course of action - Doyle slipped the door open and starting slitting throats. Ash decided to help, but his first victim woke before expiring and screamed, alerting the rest of the room. A chaotic melee followed.

After clearing the room and searching the bodies, Kyezra grabbed one of the blue-flaming torches. As she carried it out past the fountain, the water elemental took exception and stuck her torch down, then went after her. Though it had surprise on its side, it didn't last long as the group beat it down.

Deciding it worked well the last time, Doyle slipped open the next door to see one of the bunk beds had been pushed across the doorway and loaded with crates and obstacles. The tenants of the room had readied crossbows leveled at the door, and let fly with good effect. Doyle shut the door and stumbled out of the way.

Ash reopened the door and started smashing crates out of the way while Kyezra and Nadya moved to the other door to press the flank. With two fronts to defend, the guards fell quickly.

Crows and Walls

As the group journeyed towards the Pale Tower, they were accosted by a curious witchcrow, an obnoxious creature with a habit of questioning to the point of frustration any travelers she met. She also could see magic and the lure of the newly-reactivated keys were irresistible. In mid-conversation, she vanished and circled around to Zacarius. Being quick, she managed to steel the giant's beard before anyone could react, tearing off to the southeast.

Though Doyle guessed correctly how fast an average crow could travel, his hypnotic spell fell short of the witchcrow's position. Zacarius tried to cover closer to the group, thinking that the witchcrow had just not flown at full speed, to no effect. Doyle did get lucky and manage to spot some tree branches moving as if by a creature passing and they managed to track the witchcrow back to her nest.

In the ensuing assault, the witchcrow's tree was felled and the witchcrow herself slain. The group recovered the beard and a few useful trinkets she had secured in her nest's construction. The group returned to the dogsleds and returned to their trek.

Arriving at the head of the valley containing the Pale Tower, the group peered with trepidation at the expanse of open snow fields between the forest's edge and the tower wall. After some discussion, they decided to move off the trail and wait for nightfall to attempt an assault. At dusk, soldiers who had been searching for the Black Rider returned to the tower; guards stationed inside the wall opened the gate by causing the wall to dissolve at a marked arch, resealing it after the patrol had entered.

The party waited for full night, then snuck forward. With a bit of luck on their side, they arrived at the wall and tried to figure out how to get the door to open, working on ideas such as speaking to the wall, pressing on it, and throwing a rope to the top, until Zacarius offered to teleport people to the top of the wall, one at a time. Ash went up first and set a rope; once Doyle had arrived, Ash leapt from the wall directly on to one of the two guards on watch inside the wall, felling him with a mighty blow. Doyle quickly finished the other guard and Zacarius continued teleporting people to the top of the wall.

With no alarm raised, the group starting fanning out to search the courtyard's many small huts. As they did so, a large ice troll charged Zacarius. After a nasty little fight, the group put her down and doused her remains in fire.