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I just had a migration wave of 42 dwarves. 25 were children.

So many mouths to feed.

You slip into one of the other bedchambers, thanking the gods that it isn't occupied.

Leaving the door open by a crack, you watch as the prince and his guest reach the door to the room with the balcony.



The prince's guest knocks.

"Carlyn?"

They wait. The prince looks impatient. The guest calls again.

Looks like the bride-to-be has lost her nerve.

MEATSPACE

You deftly pivot around the door as you swing it open - the hinges hardly make a sound as you glide into the corridor and pull the door shut behind you.



You are in a small annex to a left/right corridor - snoring quietly before you is a man-at-arms asleep on a stool. He is wearing a mail hauberk but doesn't look like he's from Kethir - perhaps he's one of the household guard of the Kaelish bride-to-be's family.

It's good to get out of the storm. The wind and rain hammers relentlessly on the castle walls, howling like a hungry ghost.

It sounds like gentle snoring coming from outside the door - perhaps the man-at-arms on guard is asleep at his post.



You're about to open the door when you hear something from the other side of the room. There's someone in the privy!

You only have a few seconds to decide what to do.

The rain is really coming down now.



You are on the battlements, above the stables by the sound and smell of it. Below is the yard; to your left is the circular corner tower; to your right the square corner tower.

The massive keep stands before you. You can hear music and loud voices from inside - the celebration feast for Prince Aldun's forthcoming wedding - the revelery should be dying down soon, the prince seeking his chambers.

Most of the windows are too narrow to climb through.

To your left, beyond the square tower, there is a walkway from the walls to the keep.

On this side of the keep there is a circular tower with a balcony that stands proud from the keep about half way up. There is another, similar, tower on the other side of the keep. Both look like they might be solars or bedchambers. You might be able to throw your rope and hook that far, but it looks a long way.

On the right side of the keep are the main gates. Probably guarded.

On the far side should be another walkway into the keep.

There should be some ground-level entrances around too - the kitchens, armoury, buttery, pantry, dungeon, etc. all need access after all. Somewhere within the walls there will also be a barracks, a smithy, and a granary or storeroom. The ground level and walls will likely be patrolled, even in the rain, and despite the storm lookouts will be posted in the towers to keep an eye out for ships on the horizon.

Overhead view:

Three throwing knives and one Maririan dagger, one broken lantern with a leaking reservoir of lamp oil, a cloak, and a rope and hook.

Killing the watchmen would have been rash and foolish. Besides, you won't get paid for their lives - just Prince Aldun's.

You are near the gatehouse to the castle bridge. The portcullis is down and two men of Prince Aldun's household men-at-arms stand watch.

The portcullis - it's a crude, wooden affair. In Marir there are three portcullises before the keep and each one is made of solid, black iron. Tonight you will put Narvir back in its place.

The rain is little more than a sea fret, rattling lightly off the guards' helmets, but the growing thunder promises a downpour very soon. The men-at-arms are wearing gambesons and shortswords, each has a spear and a household insignia. There will be more men within shouting distance, probably sleeping in the gatehouse until it's their turn to stand guard.

They're coughing and sneezing, complaining about their duties and the coming storm.

"...foreigners get to sit by the fire and drink wine while we're out here in the cold."

"Did you see the bride's father? Never seen a man so fat ahorse."



The castle is on an island a short way into the bay. The bridge is the only real means of access unless you can swim.

You came by this way yesterday morning and noticed there is some scaffolding underneath the bridge that you might be able to climb over. After that it's just a matter of choosing a wall to scale with your rope and hook, stealing into the keep, finding the Prince's bedchamber or privy, and... well, the rest should come naturally.

Sure enough, there's a broken lantern in the hay. The reservoir has a small amount of oil left - hopefully enough to start a fire even if it starts raining.

The next time you are planning something like this, you'll bring some oil with you. The problem with this reservoir is that it has to be kept level or the oil will spill. Unless you take the whole lantern (and no one will be fooled into thinking that you're a lantern-bearer just because you're carrying one), you'll just have to move more carefully.

Now to decide the route to the castle. The quickest ways are via the main thoroughfares, past the merchant's quarter, or the docks.