Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Session One Hundred Sixteen: The Attack on Fort Iron

When the group arrived in the dark early morning, outside of Fort Iron, they began making a hasty plan for their attack. Rafiq asked Clavis, Ali, and Yusef to start some fires in the distance, large enough that they would be seen by the fort guards. They agreed to do so, but did not have any fuel for large fires.
Rafiq carried a nights worth of fuel for a fire and split it up among the three men.
Then, Rafiq wanted Dimitria to use the magic to create a large cloud, which would magically frighten and confuse the guards. He asked Selia to do hit and run strikes on the guards, from outside of the fort. He would then teleport in and free the slaves.

Rafiq, Dimitria, and Selia thought they had a great plan. Ali and Yusef were not trained for war, so they thought it sounded fine. Clavis was used to doing what he was told, so he just went along with it. Ali, Yusef  and Ali got into position and started their fires. They were small and wouldn't burn for very long, but the smoke was spotted from the fort. The guards didn't think much of it.
Selia got into position, hiding in the shadows of one of the fort's out buildings. Dimitria cast her spell and a cloud spread around the fort. Most of the guards were confused and some of them fled into the protective walls.
Rafiq teleported inside the fort and located the three slave pens. He opened a large portal inside one of the pens, with the way out, south of the trade fort. The slaves didn't know what was going on and the cloud made them frightened, so none of them went through the portal.

Suddenly, a woman emerged from the wall and cast a spell of her own and the cloud disappeared. The group in and near the fort noticed ash near them, where plants once struggled to find a hold in the rocky soil. She then turned and retreated back into the wall.
Rafiq was standing on top of the wall, with a large, glowing doorway open in the slave pen. The guards turned and aimed bows at him. Some of the slaves shook off the fear and ran to enter the gateway, others were too afraid.
Rafiq yelled at the slaves to go through the gate, as arrows began being fired at him. He teleported to another place on the wall. Selia began firing arrows at the guards on the wall. Dimitria was using magic to harass the guards. There was some chaos, but the guards were well trained. Ali, Yusef, and Clavis began running toward the Fort, because their fires seemed to have done nothing.
Even though not all the slaves had gone through the gate, Rafiq eventually had to close the dimensional gateway and open another in the second slave pen. Some of these slaves were scared too, but the majority knew that there was a chance at freedom, so they ran through the portal.
Meanwhile, Rafiq continued to dodge arrows and teleport around the fort. It was creating a lot of confusion. Selia kept firing arrows and running around the fort's out-buildings. She would draw the guards fire, which gave Rafiq some respite from their attacks. Then, the defiler emerged from a trap door on top of the walls. She saw Rafiq and sent bolts of magic toward him. They struck Rafiq and injured him badly.
Selia and Dimitria directed all their fire at the defiler and she was forced to flee. Rafiq gave chase and teleported to her location. When Rafiq dropped into the wall, a templar greeted him and cast a spell. Rafiq was enchanted and thought he and the templar were good friends. The templar asked Rafiq to close his portal, which was letting the slaves out, and he agreed to do so. With Rafiq neutralized, the guards turned all their fire on the group outside the fort. The confusion was working to the groups advantage, but that advantage was gone, so the group fled into the desert.

Join us next time for another exciting session of Adventures Under the Dark Sun. 
2nd edition AD&D Dark Sun Cast of Player Characters 
Dimitria: Human female druid. 20 years old. Played by Mary. Speaks Urikite, Raamin, and Tyrian.
Clavis: Human male gladiator. 30 years old. Played by Dave. Speaks Drajish and Tyrian.
Rafiq: Human male psychoporter. 25 years old. Played by Ben. Speaks Tyrian, Balican, Raamin, and Urkite.
Selia: Half-elf female ranger. 27 years old. Played by my wife. Speaks Elf and Tyrian.
Yusef: Human male thief. 24 years old. NPC party member. Speaks Tyrian, Nibnese, and Urikite.
Ali: Human male clairsentient. 26 years old. NPC. Speaks Tyrian, Urikite, Balican, and Gulgish.

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