Over the years, Grettir had come to take teleporting very much for granted. He seldom went anywhere without one of his companions – Paradoxides, Ubaron, Kolgrim, Kojar – with the power to pop him back to Sequarl at the drop of a hat. Combined with Kojar’s clever alarm system of matched runestick pairs, this had allowed him to travel the earth, secure in the knowledge that should trouble arise back home, he could return at a moment’s notice. Indeed it was the only way to be both a roving adventurer and an effective ruling prince. It had probably saved his marriage too, now he thought about it.
He had never troubled to concern himself with how teleports actually worked either. Now he discovered that they involved a short, normally imperceptible, crosssing of the Void between the Astral Realms. Thus the demonic leaguer of Lydius would intercept any teleporter in much the same way as they had beset the Black Swan and the Ship of the Dead. So Grettir was somewhat alarmed to discover that his magicians could not teleport him out of Lydius. Grettir was keenly aware that he had promised the King that he would be available in the Spring in case the Legate did indeed march upon Chittagong as he had threatened. It was now the middle of April. From Grettir’s perspective it meant that breaking the Leaguer had become his top priority, and he had the kernel of an idea of how to do so. He discussed the matter with his wizards and the priests and together they devised a plan. It was a simple plan: they would teleport out of Lydius and kill anything that tried to stop them.
Paradoxides cast a mass teleport to Sequarl, taking Grettir, Ubaron, Jason, Kolgrim and Samuel (Wilf was indisposed). As anticipated they were interdicted by demons. They appeared in the Prime Plane on a rocky shore close to Lydius. The demons attacked, they fought back and slew them. That first sortie disposed of half a dozen demons. It was not without difficulties. They had anticipated that they would all remain together. In practice each time they were interdicted there was some random dispersal of the group. On this occasion Kolgrim was isolated and almost slain by a demon before Grettir arrived in support and slew his assailant.
They regrouped, healed the wounded and Paradoxides recast his teleport, attempting to push on to Sequarl. This time they landed in the sea close to Lydius, without Kolgrim or Ubaron. Paradoxides and Samuel could fly. Grettir had magic devices that let him operate in the water. Jason sank like a stone and was beset by a huge squid-like demon. Fortunately, Grettir got to him in time and slew the demon, which iconised into an amulet. More demons were destroyed, but Jason was badly wounded and Paradoxides was low on magical resources. Paradoxides teleported them back to Lydius this time. Ubaron and Kolgrim joined them just after dusk, having had adventures of their own with flying demons.
They rested for a day – all but Paradoxides. Grettir had given him the squid icon and he spent the day bending the demon to his will. He extracted its name and made it take the resting form of a breastplate. The following day they went again. The third sortie went much as the first two. This time the teleport left Kolgrim in Lydius. The remainder of the party met further demons on the shore of the bay and slew them. After some healing, Paradoxides recast and they all arrived in Sequarl. Grettir was relieved to ascertain that there were no alarms at home. He changed into heavier armour, considering field plate more suitable for demon-combat than his general purpose adventuring mail shirt. On the return trip there was a suspicion that something had tried to interdict them, but they arrived without incident.
After that relative success, they were optimistic that they had all but broken the siege. Between them they had now slain around a score of demons. They tried once more to prove the point – only to be disappointed. Only Paradoxides and Grettir left Lydius in the next teleport, although they did get all the way to Sequarl. The others were left behind in Lydius. On the return leg, only Paradoxides appeared in Lydius. Grettir found himself on the Prime Plane at the footings of the lighthouse that could be seen shining in the Void. Here it was but a ruin. He had little time to contemplate this as he was pounced upon by a huge demonic spider. Fortunately, it had little answer to his enchanted Imperial Field Plate and he slew it with a few keen blows from his sword. He had a ring that let him walk on water, so he just marched across the bay to the Temple of the Shattered Sun.
Comparing notes, the adventurers identified the lighthouse as a potential epicentre of demonic activity. They begged a boat and some rowers from the Knights to investigate the ruin. Above ground it was completely collapsed, but exploring underwater, with the aid of some water-breathing magics, they discovered a deep pool in the basement and two more demons. These were dealt with by Grettir and Sid the Squid (the inevitable monicker of Paradoxides’ pet demon). They could find no more hostiles.
Subsequent experimentation revealed that teleportation was once more secure and reliable. The Siege of Lydius had been broken.
G-17
OE Date: April 695
Characters: Grettir, Paradoxides, Ubaron, Jason NPCs: Kolgrim, Samuel
Real World: January 2010; Where: Surbiton
See also Ubaron’s Diaries