Noctus listened and heard the multitude of questions. He took but a moment before replying:

“What did he say?” I said "Take heart good people and fear naught for I have arrived. What sort of trouble doest place terror into you hearts of the sort a mouse would know when a cat lurks nearby?"

“They’re not heroes! They don’t have armour!” Ahh but I do have a fine cape and what hero was ever seen without such?

“Please save the princess!” Is she cute?

“Are you married, kind sir?” No my dear I am not married, though I am always looking.

“Please help us!” Fear naught for help you shall have

“There was a big boom and then this….” That is the way they tend to appear, with a big boom and such

“ We panicked and ran….” A good choice for those not trained in such matters

“Someone spiked the …” punch perhaps judging from yon guard

“Where you from?” Oh, here there and everywhere mostly

“Are you a Syl? Daddy says you shouldn’t stand still near a Sy because they will ….” Yes and will what?

“You call that a sword? That’s a fire skewer!” Ha good one my fine fellow. Never heard that one before. Perhaps I could interest you in a demonstration of how this fire skewer works

“Someone stole my boots.” That is terrible, I hope they get blisters

“The Princess is in there, you save her.” I shall indeed, assuming she is cute that is.

“You will be rewarded!” oh, hadn't thought about that

“Some of you may die.” Yes some may but that is a price the others are willing to pay

“Look at the muscles on that one!” Ahh yes. Big muscles, small other things

“Are you a priest? Do you do weddings?” No and I attend many for there are oft lonely bridesmaids

“Big bada boom.” Well said

“People running everywhere.” Not with scissors I hope

“Monsters in the corridors.” Thanks for the tip

“Save the King and the Princess!” yes yes save them all we shall

“Ugly green things…” I eat ugly green things for breakfast

With the questions answered Noctus met with the others to plan. Hearing that a novice mage had a scroll that could bring down the shield he spoke, "Perhaps tis best to give it a try. From what the townsfolks say we will not be able to walk through it. Worst case the spell doesn't work and we try plan B." Noctus hoped that soemone else would come up with plan B.

Some time ago, when he first came to Drannon and Tharbad, Brandr met his current companions and wiped out a lair of greenskins with them. Back then the flood of questions would have taken him totally by surprise. Now - now he'd grown somewhat used to the strange mindset of the Drannese. The Dranns, in the Vidar's opinion, simply spoke too much. They spoke so much, that there seemed to be little time and effort left for thinking. He himself was a man of battle and had been so ever since his father had finally decided to give him a chance and began to train him. But even he would rather use his head dfirst.

The other tall man in the group, Peter, was looking good again. There was no denying it. Though not exactly one women would call ugly himself, even the muscular warrior had to admit, that the priest was a very handsome individual. He was the only one, taking even the syls into account, who bothered to polish his armor every day. Brandr guessed it was mostly due to the man's incredible vanity, but he'd witnessed the effect a knight in shining armor could have on a horde of evil little things like goblins. Weakest of the greenskins had squealed in fear and run away the moment they'd laid their eyes on the follower of the Battle Lord.

Peter was a brave and strong man, both qualities in a man that Brandr respected and wished to have beside in times of trouble. The rest of their companions had proved themselves in battle too. No one was a just hanging along for the show. Certainly he liked some more than others, but none had so far done or said anything that would have angered the ranger. And he was hoping this new adventure, for that's what it very much seemed like, would bring no change to that.

Still silent, the tall warrior danced his way through the hand-waving, babbling crowd to where Derry was talking with the robed lad. The kid had given the mage a bag, which obviously contained valuable, or better yet, useful things. He could get a glimpse of a few jars and potions along with a scroll of paper. He caught something about a spell of magic, which might be useful if they had a sorcerer powerful enough to use it. Apparently Derry was not that man.. or woman.

Letting the conversation continue, the Vidar turned his blond, pony-tailed head at the sphere following it with his eyes first to the right and then left. He looked up and then down, and then turned towards Peter and Derry. "Under. Has anyone tried digging beside it? Maybe it doesn't keep on going too deep into the ground." Not waiting for an answer, Brandr moved his cold, blue and serious gaze to the young local. "Hey mageling, you or any of your friends tried digging? You know where I could get some shovels?"

While he waited for the wizard's apprentice to respond, Brandr caught himself thinking of what he was doing there and then in the village with the other adventurers. Why was he there instead of some other place, some other adventure. Why hadn't he simply tried to find some safe and normal work on a farm or something. Why had he ended up with this lot instead. He wasn't one for glory and fame. No. Brandr Bjornnson wanted anything but attention. He was a solitary soul who was happiest in peaceful woods where he could enjoy the sounds and smells of nature. And he didn't really need money either. It was good to have some to be able to buy a pint of ale or three every now and then, but other than that, he had little use for silver or gold.

Digging? That sounded exactly like the kind of practical suggestion the ranger might make. Desiderius liked the tall ranger. He was quiet and stoic like many woodsmen, but he always seemed very solid and reliable. What more could one ask?

"I think trying a shovel is a great idea. Lets circle the building and see if there are any ways in. Lets dig. Lets consider all "normal" options. I suspect they won't work, but lets try. I don't want to waste the scroll if we don't need to because there is obviously a mage of some power involved here and we may need it later."

Derry looked around at the group and continued, "If it comes to it, I'll try the scroll. I would be very surprised if I am able to dispel the entire spell. This is high level magic. But it might weaken it, open a gap, or have some other temporary effect which would allow us to get in. If in is where we want to be. I can't guarantee just what impact it might have so lets consider all options."

"Any suggestions besides digging?"

Ela watched and Ela listened. Finally Ela actually spoke.

"Has anyone tried to do anything with that bubble besides walk through it? Perhaps tried an element on it? Water or fire perhaps? Likely it will have no effect but as you have said we are short on ideas..."

At that she thought she felt the eyes of the crowd upon her, their doubt returning along with their fear.

"...Not to say that we have NO idea's mind you... just so many to try and so little time to try them IN if you catch my meaning." She said more loudly to try and allay any fears.

Then she turned to Crow and whispered softly for him alone "One way or another we had better do something, and do it quickly before this town starts to think we are involved somehow. The Drannen's are fickle to say the least..."

“Noctus my friend that was Tharbad, not here, and as for helping them, including the ladies, I ask again, what’s in it for us other then you gaining carnal knowledge of some of them.”
“He has a point Noctus. Not all of us would benefit from getting intimate with the local ladies. Although……At any rate. I was getting bored, we should investigate further.” Ela herself replied before Noctus could he himself do so.

Yet before Crow could answer Ela, Noctus did finally answer Crow’s earlier question to him in better terms that the Thief could actually get into. Money talks as they say and for one without armor every little bit would help.

"Ahh Crow, my elocution may have made comprehension unattainable for you. Let me try to make it a bit plainer for you." Dropping his voice to a whisper Noctus continued, "Party do good; people feed Party and give Party shiny things for free."
Crow heard the Swashbucklers words and for the first time actually understood Noctus’s meaning and could not help but find himself grinning at the prospects of a big payoff.

“Yes I do like the sound of that my friend, let us, as Ela has suggested, investigate the possibilities further.”

However before Ela and he could move forward the talk turned from using the scroll, to trying to dig under the seemingly powerful spell force field, to Derry asking for any other suggestions. As Brandr went in search of a shovel Ela spoke of the possible use of the element’s of Fire or Water.

"Has anyone tried to do anything with that bubble besides walk through it? Perhaps tried an element on it? Water or fire perhaps? Likely it will have no effect but as you have said we are short on ideas.... Not to say that we have NO idea's mind you... just so many to try and so little time to try them IN if you catch my meaning."

As Ela was speaking all Crow could really do at this point was hop off his horse, tie its rains around a dagger thrust into the ground and take a seat. Pulling a ration bar out of his pack he began to slowly eat as Ela turned to him in a low voice.

"One way or another we had better do something, and do it quickly before this town starts to think we are involved somehow. The Drannen's are fickle to say the least..."

Replying to her in a same low voice and speaking in Syl

“Agreed, but what?, Ela my skills are useless here as there are no locks to pick or shadows to hide in. All you and I can do is wait for the rest to find some way in. Honestly Derry is wise to try and save the scroll for future use, but I’m afraid in the end we will have no choice but to use it anyway. Join me in a ration bar?”

The young Syl smiled as he offered her one from his pack.......

"Well Crow, gold in coin form shall be yours indeed if we suceed. As for me I prefer to claim my payments in the form of goldenhaired lasses free of raiments."

Noctus moved to a spot in the center of the milling throng facing towards from the bubble. "Good people gather around one and all. Fear naught for my fellow adventurers are already hard at work seeking a way to pop yon bubble and free those inside. No need for such good folks as yourselves to bother any longer; go instead and tend you fields and shops. Soon enough this will be over and a new celebration will begin. Go and make ready!" Noctus hoped to draw their attention away from the other members of the party as they tried to deceide exacctly what to do. It simply would not do to have the townsfolks question the outcome.

“If you don't mind I will borrow this for a moment and go talk with my friends. Perhaps we can figure out what to do about this glowing dome. Don't worry, I shall return before we use any of the things inside." Derry said.

“By all means kind sir,” The apt replied as he handed the bag over, “My master said it was for emergencies and I think this situation qualifies. If you can use anything in it to save my master I would be most grateful.”

"Under. Has anyone tried digging beside it? Maybe it doesn't keep on going too deep into the ground." Brandr had approached and asked the young local. "Hey mageling! You or any of your friends tried digging? You know where I could get some shovels?"

“Shovels?” his voice cracked in surprise, “Why didn’t I think of that?” he mused aloud and then turned to the crowd of people while shouting, “Boswell! Jerry! Get some shovels! Try digging under the …thingie”

Two young men broke from the crowd and ran off towards town, followed shortly by two others as a murmurs goes through the crowd of “Good idea.”

"I think trying a shovel is a great idea. Let’s circle the building and see if there are any ways in. Let’s dig. Let’s consider all "normal" options. I suspect they won't work, but let’s try. I don't want to waste the scroll if we don't need to because there is obviously a mage of some power involved here and we may need it later."Derry said, "If it comes to it, I'll try the scroll. I would be very surprised if I am able to dispel the entire spell. This is high level magic. But it might weaken it, open a gap, or have some other temporary effect which would allow us to get in. If in is where we want to be. I can't guarantee just what impact it might have so let’s consider all options. Any suggestions besides digging?"

"Has anyone tried to do anything with that bubble besides walk through it? Perhaps tried an element on it? Water or fire perhaps? Likely it will have no effect but as you have said we are short on ideas..." Ela asked. The suggestion caused a ripple through the crowd.

“Get some Water!”

“I have that pitch in my shed!”

“Dad’s got that bad batch of shine that will burn goods!”

More men leave the crowd at a run in order to fulfill the requests called. Desperate to do something for their liege and beloved princess, some of the people seem to be eager to accept your suggestions as orders - however most of the crowd still hangs around, making a racket and commenting on every suggestion.

Noctus drew attention toward him. "Good people gather around one and all. Fear naught for my fellow adventurers are already hard at work seeking a way to pop yon bubble and free those inside. No need for such good folks as yourselves to bother any longer; go instead and tend your fields and shops. Soon enough this will be over and a new celebration will begin. Go and make ready!" The crowd doesn’t disperse of course, but the chevalier accomplishes his plan of drawing them away from the rest of the party.

Soon, four young men arrive with shovels, a pick and some boards. Without asking for direction, they run to the shield and begin setting up for ditch digging with the enthusiasm of youth, just to the left of the roadway leading into the castle/sphere. Shortly after them comes a wagon loaded with earthenware jars and other people with buckets. The arrival of the wagon causes a panic through the crowd and they begin leaving in such a hurry you’d think that a dragon had appeared.

OOC: You are alone now except the few people who want to help – The Apt, four men digging, one guy with the wagon loaded with bad homemade alcohol, two ladies with water and another man who brought a bucket of tar/pitch. The sphere encompasses the entire manor house and the gardens around it so it is very large (hundreds of feet wide). It is hard to see through but you don’t see any movement from within, just the trees surrounding the house and the manor itself. You do notice that when people were “attacking” it the redness seemed to get darker where the attack was and lighter elsewhere in the sphere.


Map is coming soon. Most likely Monday

Noctus held the crowd spellbound with his words for a few minutes giving his companions time to come up with a plan. With the arrival of a wagon most of the crowd seemed to have a sudden need to be somewhere other than where they currently found themselves.

'Well this should prove interesting.' Noctus thought as he saw several groups simulataneously trying various plans. There were the diggers; he held little hope that a spell of such magnitude would be defeated by a shovel but he wished them luck. "A fine job there lads. Just a bit deeper, I think you almost have it." There was the bucket brigade. What water would do he had no idea but encouragement was cheap. "Ahh yes splash it on there. Well done, well done indeed. Give it a good soaking." He nimbly jumped back to avoid a splash on his boots before moving on. The man with a bucket of pitch seemed intent on burning the bubble. "Careful there my good fellow, that stuff tends to stick fast and care not if it burns bubble or flesh." Then there was the wagon load of alcohol. It would not do to have that near the pitch guy. "Why don't you try over there." Noctus motioned towards a section of the bubble farther away. "I think I might have seen a bit of a softspot you could exploit. Yes, yes. That way." As the wagon moved one way Noctus moved the other. Finally he caught up with the mage and apt. "Me thinks that oft the best way to fight fire is with fire. And in this case, there being no fire, I suspect that neither pitch or an explosion fueled by the remnants of last years grain harvest will have the desired effect. Of course I am not a prestidigitator by any means and so I defer to you purveyers of the arcne to accertain a viable solution to our current quandry."

Sighting a rather buxom young girl Noctus turned his attention to a puzzle of his own. How exactly to get closer to her. "You there m'lady! Are you alright, you seem a bit woozy. Perhaps t'would be best if I held you by the waist to steady you. Such excitment can be overmuch for a delicate flower like yourself."

Derry couldn't help agree with Noctus that shovels, water pitchers and a bit of burning alcohol was unlikely to have the desired effect, but it seemed unlikely that anything would be lost by the effort. Sometimes the simplest solution really was the best. And unfortunately sometimes it wasn't.

So while Noctus was plying his wiles on one of the local women Derry attempted to be of use with the attempts on the sphere.

The digging he left to the ranger, figuring that since he had suggested it, and was much stronger than Derry anyway, he would see to that task.

Derry cautiously approached the wagon and suggested that they make a torch out of some wood and hold it to the sphere. "Lets just see if the sphere reacts. While one of you is doing that, perhaps the rest can gather wood for a larger fire - in case it appears that flame has an impact." It also gave everyone something to do.

Derry allowed those with pitch and wood to do the work - he was willing to lend a hand if needed, but if everyone else cleared out around these guys there was likely a reason. "slow down, lets not get anyone hurt. All we are trying to do right now is see if the elements have any impact on the sphere."

Derry turned to his companions. "Ok, there are probably two things we are looking for. First, is this thing a dome or a sphere. The digging will show this - does it go under ground and if it doesn, does it seem to be curving back on itself as a sphere might? Second, the thing seems to deepen in color where it is hit. do water or fire cause this effect? Does an intensification of color inone place cause a reduction in color, and maybe thus stregth, in another? We've got some help, lets see what happens."

"Yes I had noticed the change in color myself." Ela noted, trying not to pay attention to Noctus wandering off after the buxom local girl.

"I think that while you work on attacking this side I shall move to the other and see if indeed the color drain does indicate a weakness there."

She glances at Crow. "Join me?"

Walking along the perimeter of the bubble she goes until she finds a place that is not as dark red as the rest. Her bow is always her prefered choice and so she nocks and arrow and without further hesitation lets it fly into the potentially weak space.

Chaos surrounded the crimson dome as the people blurted out questions and statements. Noctus, the charismatic swordsman whom Peter had taken an immediate liking to for his suave extrovertedness and his natural witticisms, fielded them rapidly firing out clever one liners in response to the cacophony of citizens.

Peter grinned broadly at the comment about his muscles as it joined the wash of human voices and his smile grew larger as he heard his companion’s short reply, “Ahh yes. Big muscles, small other things.” Peter bellowed out his clear laugh that usually incited smiles in others and jabbed Noctus lightly in the side.

“Don’t go giving away my secrets now.” Peter winked to him confidentially. But his attention was quickly called into the commotion the party received as they gathered together and shared their ideas. Peter was impressed by the flood of notions that had arrived to the various comrades of his. It was times like this were Peter felt keenly aware of his youth. In battle, he felt drunk on the blood: ageless and eternal. He felt a man centuries old emerge from his body and wield his sowrd. When steel was drawn and met in vicious confrontation Peter was aware of nothing but the flurry of motion. He knew only his body and those around them, who would stand beside him and who against. But here, when ideas and experience was shown in intelligence, Peter felt small and childish and though at times at irked him, at times it excited him. The chance to learn and serve his diety better and bolder in the future seemed a blessing.

Peter watched the whispered exchanges between Crow and Ela curiously. The language they spoke, Syl it was, sounded beautiful rolling off their tongue in long, smooth sentences. When they had first begun to travel together, this relationship had seemed startlingly exclusive. The intimacy between them had made Peter nervous and it hadn’t been only once he’d wondered if it was insults they whispered. But, of course, he had learned better. He looked on his first impressions now as an infantile misunderstanding. It was only logical that in a world divided by race these two would find companionship together, especially surrounded by four humans. If he found himself the minority it wouldn’t take much for him to latch onto the other humans. He had grown to rather respect both of them in their peculiar way. The way they supported each other seemed marvelous next to the rigorous independence that Peter lived by.

Peter returned from his thoughts to see there was once again an urgency of action. Townsfolk were returning with shovels and wheelbarrows and such in search of a way of aiding their entrance into the castle. Peter smiled brightly. Adventure again. He could taste it, the excitement of action, his muscles tensed and relaxed within his tight armour and his heart pounded. Something caught in his throat as his eagerness mounted.

The cleric watched as people hurried to accomplish the tasks they’d been given by the party. He couldn’t help but laugh as Noctus turned to a woman that Peter himself had noted earlier. He wasn’t used to a competitor and made a note to himself that he would have to be quicker on the draw if they were to enjoy the rewards of this town after completing their mission... if indeed they completed their mission.

It eemed many had committed themselves to some form of action and Peter felt silly standing around while commoners worked. He desired movement and hurried over to the four who bore shovels. He was willing to bet that he and Brandr were stronger than these four and, more importantly, was bored.

He turned to the ranger and called out happily, “Brandr, what say you, we have a go at this earth and see if we can’t make a nice neat tunnel straight to the princess and right the wrong that ails this pretty little town?” Peter was in high spirits now and turned to the lads who were toiling over the dirt and clapped a hand on one of their backs. “Would you be adverse to letting me have a go at it?”

-Dragonblood

As Crow ate the last of the ration bar he quietly listened to the talk around him as what to do next. Having nothing to add to the idea’s of the others he chose to listen instead of speak. Ela having stated that she was going to check the far side of the bubble for a supposed weak area turned to Crow and ask him to join her.

“Of course” Standing the syl thief retrieved his dagger from the earth sliding it back into its sheath in his boot, and with the rains of his horse in hand followed Ela as she slowly moved around the bubbles perimeter.

Keeping an eye out for anything unusual himself, for the moment he followed quietly, in truth in no real hurry to enter the bubble himself. Though he was not a coward he surely was not a fighter and whatever lay inside that manor house, with the level of magic needed to create the bubble, was mayhap something he did not want Ela and he to have to face..............

After speaking with his companions Desiderius stepped back and called out to the guys who looked to be attempting to make a bomb. "Be careful. And give us some warning! We will want to be able to see what impact your experiment has on the whole bubble. For that we need to know when it is coming!" Under his breath Derry could not help mumbling, "And to get under cover. Beware of peasants, moonshine and an open flame!"

Before the entire group dispersed he also added, "Hey, when they plan to set off the explosion, we might want to all be ready to move. If it does anything it will probably be to just weaken the thing a bit. If it does, we'll want to be ready to try to run through the thing. All together would seem to be the best idea. I'm going to go check on the digging, but when they are ready to blast, lets get set to react. Let me know if the bubble responds to any of your attempts. Andif it does, does it weaken at the point of impact, or on the opposite side."

With that Derry moves off to observe the digging, standing back a bit with the apprentice. He gives the apprentice the same basic guidelines. Look for weakness in response to any of our actions. He makes sure to stand well back from the bomb team, but keeps a close eye on their activities.

Noctus kept one eye on his companions and one eye upon the fine lace bodice before him. If an opening of any type presented itself he wanted to be ready to go in quickly.

“Boswell! Jerry! Get some shovels! Try digging under the …thingie”

Brandr stood like a stone watching the two lads run towards the town to get shovels. He had no idea whether digging would solve the problem or not - what he knew of the way magic worked was very poor at best. Still, it felt like an obvious thing to try and should it fail, it would bring no harm to anything or anyone. While waiting for the kids to return, he listened to the options everyone else was offering. Ela was a Syl and according to what little experience Brandr had about her people, Syls were closer to magic than other beings. So her suggestion was probably a lot wiser than his own. Elements… The Varigads used the elements like tools to control the world and to remind the mortals of their place in the order of things. A shaman had once told him that all magic was a in a way a combination of elements. He'd understood very little there and then and knew no more today, but fighting fire with fire sounded good to him.

The big warrior was still standing motionless when the four young men came back and set to work right away without a word to the strangers trying to save their dear king. Brandr could only watch in disbelief at the ineffectiveness of their digging. It was pretty close to useless. They lacked the strength as much as they lacked the skill and they were trying to dig through the roots of the apple trees too. He was just about to offer the lads a piece of advice when the approaching wagon caught his attention. The thing was filled with strange jars and though he had no idea what they contained, the villagers obviously did. The vidar had never seen a crowd disperse so quickly. He could see the fear in people's eyes and hear some cries of warning while the locals were trying to run away.

Then Noctus started giving directions and left Brandr dumbstruck for a moment. Sure, he'd seen and heard the swashbuckler go at it before, but hells! The ranger knew he could not even think that quick - let alone offer advice to anyone. But there was one word in the stream of dozens that really caught his ear: "explosion". Now, Brandr, being from a land far far away in the cold North, was not too familiar with the concept of blowing up things. In his homeland men fought men with swords and axes - not bombs. And things like fireworks were unheard of. Sure, the vidarak brewed beer like anyone else and distilled booze they called Aekvavhit or Water of Life, and once in a while something went wrong with a big boom. But that's where his experience with explosions ended unless trembling of the earth or trees struck by balls of lightning were not taken into account.

Then Peter did what Brandr had thought of a few heartbeats earlier. The handsome priest suggested that they in the stead of the local lads would grab the shovels and started breaking sweat. Brander nodded to Peter in acceptance and followed him to the diggers. Not a man of kind and beautiful words, he simply offered one big and strong hand to one of the young men and waited for him to place his shovel in it. Nodding once more, Brander pointed further to the west and said to Peter: "Let's move away from the trees. The ground under the road would be too hard for us to get through fast enough and even still, the roots may reach there too."

Without waiting for the younger man to respond, the ranged move a couple of hundred feet away from the road with long strides and without further ado started digging.