| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

The Tower Of Ishal

Page history last edited by Kirk 1 year, 2 months ago

back to the Index, or to Chapter 47: Our Finest Night

 

 

Chapter 48

The Tower of Ishal

 


 

9:30 Dragon, 25th Day of Draconis - Spring

 

 

     In the afternoon, Landon and Alpheus were each given a Greater Lyrium Potion by the Wardens.

 

Greater Lyrium Potion is on the right; weight, one pound

 

We sorted out our equipment and left many items in the Wardens' pavilion, some of it in locked chests.

 

the bridge and the citadel

 

     After sunset, Alistair, Anwen, Bran, Eornan, Landon and Alpheus took up their position near the Great Bridge, as the King, Duncan the other Wardens, and much of the Royal Army descended to the ravine and gathered behind their field defenses. Teryn Loghain and his forces were concealed behind the bulk of the mountain, visible only from the top of the Tower of Ishal.

     In the distance, torches could be seen approaching, carried by the darkspawn. Genlocks, hurlocks and ogres came into view, growling and grunting in their fell language. Some of them were pushing huge war machines, or carrying other siege gear.

     When they came in range, the King ordered his archers to fire a volley, and then unleashed a wave of mabari hounds. Hundreds of darkspawn were brought down by the Ferelden attack, but on they came. As trumpets sounded the call for our counter-attack, Alistair led our team racing from the Great Bridge to the doors of Ishal. No guards were present.

     As soon as we came to the middle of the entrance level, the Wardens sensed darkspawn -- and there they were! Someone -- darkspawn, or the teryn's men? -- had set up some simple barricades in the central area, but we quickly brushed past those and some genlocks and hurlocks. Moving to the outer passage circling around the tower, we began meeting -- and destroying -- more and more genlock, hurlocks and alphas.

     A hole in the floor at one point may have been how the darkspawn entered the tower. It wasn't clear how long they'd been there, and we had no time for discussion.

 

our route through the tower, ending at the foot of the stairs to the second floor

 

     As we approached the stairs leading up, two greater menaces appeared:  a hurlock emissary employing magic ahead of us; and at least one ogre (from the central area behind us). Landon employed his newest spell, Grease, several times to delay the ogre, and a few lesser darkspawn accompanying it. Anwen threw a torch into the pools of grease, which destroyed a couple of darkspawn and set the ogre briefly ablaze.

     Dozens of darkspawn had fallen to Our Heroes (Bran along slew nearly a score) when the approaching ogre fell one last time, near the hole in the floor. Groans and shuddering masonry led immediately to the floors of two chambers collapsing! Two hurlock alphas, the ogre, and most of Our Heroes plummeted down two levels among collapsing rock and clouds of dust!

    Anwen and Alistair apparently managed to hold onto slim ledges of stonework; since they didn't fall down to where the rest of us landed, we presumed they made their way to a safer spot without being shot by the hurlock alphas.

     Everyone who fell -- human, elf and darkspawn -- was stunned for a few moments. Once the dust cleared a bit, the hurlocks up on the remaining bits of the ground level began shooting arrows down at us. We slew the hurlocks at our lower level, and the injured (and burning) ogre, took cover from the arrow fire, and then dodged out the only un-blocked door in the chamber we were in.

     After a few quick healings and some guesses as to our location, we headed off in search of a stair up to the Beacon. There were some ominously large spider webs on the walls.

     Very soon we came upon a human woman, wearing armor, stuck in a spider web. We cut her loose, and she introduced herself as Jaq, a sergeant in Loghain's forces. She had been investigating these under-passages, but was trapped by "a bunch of spiders". She claimed to know a way out, and said that her squad of soldiers had seen "squadrons" of darkspawn moving through tunnels lower down.The squad had been seeking a way to close off the connection from the Deep Roads to Ishal's sub-levels.

 

Lisa, is that more or less what she claimed?

 

     She also knew (now) how to avoid alerting the enormous spiders to our presence. We asked her to lead us to the dwarven gate which might block the darkspawn squadrons from moving forwards ... whether into Ishal, or merely behind the King's forces, bad in either case!

 

On to The Deep Roads

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.