Chapter 16: Gnoll Stronghold

The terrain towards the Gnoll Stronghold became wilder and wilder every day. Occasionally large, sheer sides of rock would rise majestically out of the short grass, and large waterfalls cascaded down cliffs that had been caused by an uplifting of stone through a fault line millions of years ago. Through this they climbed, slid, and cursed their way through.

The temperatures did not rise much during the air, but at night the chill wind made itself felt. They were close to the Cloudpeaks, a large mountain range where the dry winds blew off down the slopes towards them, occasionally warm, and occasionally biting.

They had reached yet another waterfall when they saw the large fortress of the gnolls rise out of the rocky ground around them. It looked high and imposing, and was obviously constructed of the same orange-brown rock around them, piled neatly and locked in blocks that made up the entire structure.

A rickety rope bridge crossed the waterfall, whose mists swirled in the air like the ghosts of forgotten gods, the susurration of water like the wails of such gods whose followers had been killed or had abandoned their faith.

At the end of the bridge were two large, savage looking humans. One of them was fair-haired, and wore gloves that were alight gray in color, with an identical rune stitched on both palms of the gloves. The other carried a large club set with spikes of metal. Both of them only wore loincloths, and both of them towered even over Gamier himself.

"To pass must pay fee," the one holding the club roared to them, "Fee two hundred gold coins."

"Two hundred's a bit steep, don't you think?" Kurent remarked to the world in general. The giant appeared to take this seriously.

"Ok then. One hundred gold?" he asked after some hesitation in which his large face screwed up in thought.

Kurent looked at the rest of them. "Let's vote," he said quietly with a mischievous grin. "Do we fight, or do we fight?"

"That's a hard one," Zak grinned, "I vote either." Neira and Verdana nodded in agreement.

"Well, Gamier?" Rimn asked.

"They should not collect a toll for this bridge unless they built it," Gamier said, "And I don't think they did."

"Fine," Rimn grinned, "Overwhelming majority for getting rid of them. You're on."

The two giants had realized that something was going on, and the one with the club roared and charged onto the bridge, which shook alarmingly.

"Why do work that can be done for us?" Kurent said rhetorically, "Everyone hold on to the bridge, and Gamier get your horse off it. Good, then, swing right!"

Neira laughed as they all collectively leant their weight to the right, causing the bridge to swing that way, then encouraged it to swing the other way, the giant human looking nonplussed and panicky.

"If I drop in," Zak cried over the roar of the waterfall, "I swear I'd take you in with me, Kurent."

"So you'd have my wonderful company in heaven?" Kurent laughed, as the giant staggered to the side. Its companion looked on stupidly.

"In hell," Zak laughed, "I don't think we'd make heaven, the both of us. And we'd go and throw stones at Lloth, hear?"

"It's a deal," Kurent grinned.

"You men are incorrigible," Neira smiled, "Oh, there he goes." The giant fell off the bridge finally, grabbing ineffectually for support, and fell down into the deep chasm. Gamier fell to his knees.

"Are you trying to die?" Rimn asked, as the bridge finally stopped swaying.

"I must pray for his soul," Gamier said.

"How long will this take?" Kurent said, eyeing the other, angry giant.

"An hour," Gamier said.

"No time," Verdana said, "Neira and Rimn, can we have some missile attacks?"

"Yes ma'am," Rimn said, aiming his crossbow. The giant fell to the ground like a toppling tree, a bolt in his chest and an arrow in his throat.

"Good shot," Zak commented, as they walked across the bridge, dragging Gamier and his steed along.

Kurent was already bending over the body. He took out the gloves and fit it over his hands, nodding in satisfaction.

"Magical gloves?" Gamier asked.

Kurent nodded. "They're called the Gloves of Thieves."

"Not good," Zak quipped, and Rimn nodded empathetically.

"Or the gloves of dexterity," Kurent grinned, "Be happy for me, one and all, for I'd just need the boots of Stealth to complete the set."

"A set that says, 'Stop me! I'm a thief!'" Neira said dryly.

"One thing you have to learn in life, Neira," Kurent said, "Is to be optimistic."

"I know," Neira smiled, "But to quote someone, being pessimistic means I won't be disappointed often, and when something good happens I'd be pleasantly surprised."

"Good theory," Zak approved, "Now let's go surprise those guards."

They made short work of the four gnoll guards at the gates. The gates were made of stilts, with feathers and beads on them.

"Superstitious creatures," Gamier said. "Good luck, fortune, long life."

"Uh huh," Kurent said, "Let's go up before we set up the alarm."

They crept up the worn and weathered steep stone stairway. What gnolls they met on the way were swiftly but surely disposed of, mostly by Rimn's bolts and Neira's arrows.

"Not again," Zak sighed, when another seven-foot humanoid thundered down the stairs.

"Can I do this one?" Rimn asked, "I haven't gotten the chance to try out the corked bolts."

"Be my guest," Neira said. Rimn took out one of the bolts and uncorked it, stringing it rapidly and letting fly.

The green bolt hit the humanoid squarely. Flashes of blue light curled up tightly around the creature, and it disappeared, to reappear as a squirrel that chattered and ran down the steps at them. Zak callously kicked it off the stairway.

"Polymorph," he identified, "Rather unpleasant if you're on the receiving end, otherwise quite interesting."

"Turning into squirrels and getting kicked off thirty foot walls is interesting?" Neira asked.

"If you're the one kicking it off, yes," Zak grinned. "Squirrels land soft, but there are owls about."

"You're developing a sadistic streak," Neira accused.

Zak shrugged. "A minor flaw in my otherwise extraordinary character."

"Oh, excuse me while I gag," Kurent said sarcastically.

"I mean it," Zak said mockingly.

"I'm sure you do," Gamier said, "But if that is not the entrance I am much mistaken."

***

The entrance was just a gap in the walls. It opened to a large courtyard with lots of the bulbous-headed, blue skinned Xvarts, and several curious looking large circular pits, of which a stench emitted.

"I think I should have Changed earlier," Zak said thoughtfully while avoiding a clumsy thrust from a Xvart soldier and piercing it with Khazid'hea, then swiping another off the parapet with the staff, which glowed with smug pleasure.

"I thought you didn't like the wolf?" Neira asked.

"I don't like some of its actions," Zak said coolly, "But it can kill this type of 'prey' faster than I can."

"Practical," Kurent commented. A knife slid out of the sole of his boot as he turned and kicked at a Xvart with the new weapon.

"You are full of surprises," Gamier observed as the Xvart staggered off the side of the stronghold down the drop. His broadsword was good for close combat, and Saber, which had followed its master up the stairs, was a kicking, biting streak of white fury.

"I'm not Master thief for nothing," Kurent shrugged.

Neira was using her short sword in one hand with efficiency. In her other hand was a small, short dagger whose blade was a strange shade of pale gray crystal, the hilt that of a snarling wolf. It bit again and again into Xvarts, but no blood stained the blade.

Verdana had resorted to the simple expedient of using her heavy staff as a sweeping mechanism, hitting Xvarts off the wall and cutting a wide swath of destruction.

Having disposed of the Xvarts finally, Kurent went around filching their gold, and they continued a few meters before running into more gnolls. These were somewhat more of a challenge, and the group rose to it with a will.

The next hurdle was a veritable small army of the humanoids. Verdana and Zak's staff cast two fireballs in their midst, which thinned out their numbers considerably. The group took care of the rest.

Gamier looked over the edge of one pit, and his face blanched white. "Monstrous!" he said in horror. "Monstrous!"

Kurent looked casually over. "Horrible creatures, gnolls," he said, and sighed. "I don't think the ladies should see this."

"Do you mean it, or is it some obscure sense of chivalry?" Neira asked.

"I mean it," Kurent said seriously, "It's a pit of sharpened sticks. They push people off onto them."

Verdana shuddered. "I see," she said grimly.

***

Methodically, they cleaned up the place. Occasionally a lucky swing from a gnoll or a stab from a Xvart would hurt one of them, and Verdana would take him or her aside and cast a healing spell. They worked quite well together, though Kurent started pushing gnolls off into their own pits.

"Is there a leader here?" Rimn wondered.

"I believe so," Gamier said.

"Then we'd find him," Zak said grimly. They needn't have bothered, for on the second floor where they were on now, a large horde of gnolls were standing, halberds at the ready. Another type of gnolls stood behind them, and they looked strange, with greenish hair and reddish fur. They wielded two-handed swords.

"Flinds," Verdana identified, "Probably bodyguards."

The first few gnolls attacked, and were cut down by Neira's arrows and Rimn's bolts, which he were trying out. A few of them collapsed in the dirt from poison, some turned into squirrels which Zak threw off the parapet, and some shocked by electricity from the bolts.

The flinds advanced, swords at the ready. Zaknafein met the first one, the creature's blows surprisingly resilient, but it looked surprised as Khazid'hea sliced through its sword and into its heart.

Gamier was having a fight with one which combined strength and delicacy, the swords whirling and darting in blurs and strategies, but he young paladin managed to leap over one low sword swing, in mid air promptly stabbing forward with the sword into the creature.

Kurent had simply thrown his rapier spear-fashion at the flind. The creature caught the weapon and looked smug until Kurent called, "Tarsakh."

The last fell to a lightning bolt from Verdana, leaving only a large, red-haired and tawny-maned gnoll. This one had a ring through its nose, and a slavering mouth. It stepped forward ponderously, swinging its halberd, but Rimn shot another bolt at it.

There was a flash of blue light, and another squirrel appeared. Zak smirked, darted forward and caught it by the tail, then tossed it off the parapet.

"Sadist," Neira accused, but Zak merely grinned.