Mountain chateau

You look around you and you see that you are in a roughly circular 
chamber with torches on the wall in metal sconces. 

The ceiling is hardly tall enough for the horses.

"I should have thought more about the horses. They will be cramped in the 
basement. Tell me what you want to do with your horses, I do not think 
the ceiling will be tall enough" Mac utters.

"There are some cells just outside of this room that they could probably 
lay in, you tell me.

There are very few dangers in this house, the biggest danger you may face 
is a wandering group of dark elves, but I think I've taken care of that 
problem.

There are two doors on the right side of the wall in the 2nd floor. Do
not open them, one room contains giant spiders and the other usually contains
wolves. 

There is a large rug in front of the main entry to the house, do not step 
on it. There is a pit concealed under it and it would hurt a lot if you 
fell into it." Mac concludes

"i'll see you all in ten hours here alert and ready for battle" quoth
Kai "although you might do well to post a guard here in case i need
someone in a hurry"

Turning to the dragon (which must be cramped in here if the horses are!)
he adds "were there any landmarks i could make for to help me pass them"

Just before the wand is reassembled, Kai pauses and says" you might all
want to leave the room before I do this"

That said (and after waiting for Kirion/Kraken's response), Kai takes
the wand and duplicates Mac's actions in reverse...

Arriving with help of the wand in Mac's villa in the mountains Manon 
walks out of the summoning chamber. He asks Beren to tend to the 
horses. The count then spends half an hour walking round the house
inspecting what it looks like, careful to remember the doormat and 
not to open the two doors at the second floor.

Manon then settles down in on of the bedrooms and lies down to sleep.

Beren accompanies Manon on his tour of the house after coaxing the horses into the
cellar with the well, which has a bit more room.  The horses are left with water,
straw, and some grain.

Quill follows Mac on his tour of the house, then flops onto one of the 
beds upstairs and is instantly asleep.

Dax also explores the building, taking heed of Mac's precautions.  At length,
he too finds his way upstairs, throws down his pack, and prepares to sleep in
a corner of a bedroom.

Until Kai returns, or I say otherwise, everyone is sleeping.  Kai will let
you know upon his return.

Suddenly, remembering Kai's words Manon wakes up. Getting dressed, 
putting on the breastplate, picking up his sword Manon walks 
downstairs. Finding a comfortable chair Manon seats himself in front 
of the shelf leading in to the circular room. Then falling asleep in 
the chair with his sword tucked between his knees Manon sits ready 
in the chair.

Beren comes by and shakes you awake, explaining that Kai has come and gone
and that we must prepare for the battle to come.  Food and drink await in the
kitchen.

Making your way to the kitchen after dressing, you find the rest of the group
assembled there, save for Kai and Kirion.  Beren has prepared a modest 
breakfast.  It is now about 1500 in the afternoon, Tix time.

Coming down from upstairs dressed Manon greets "Good morning, hope 
you have slept well"

Mac wonders, "Manon. I have been thinking about our attack on the elves. 
Up to this point it has been a chase of the group of elves. But what about 
turning the tables?

We now have the means to be able to get ahead of the elves. We could have 
Kirion take the wand and fly ahead of the group of elves. Non-threateningly
land in front of them by about 50 meters or so. Then disappear. Only to 
return a few moments later with a whole group of men ready to fight.

Or we could get ahead of them and ambush them.

What say ye to that mates?"

"This applies to me, Mac and anyone else who is going to be on the
close-ambush team...." he trails off.

"I say 50 meters is not enough, we need to go way around them, set an
ambush along their route and hope they pass us within ambush range"
Gwar pauses then adds "If it fails the first time, we sit, we do not attack,
and we try again." Gwar seems very serious now, "We have the advantage of
strategic manoeuvrability let us use this to set up out tactical situation."

The count expresses his opinion "I am bound to agree with Gwar. As we 
are much fewer than our adversaries, we have to lure them in to an 
ambush if we want to turn the odds in to our favour"

You've had time to eat, wash, clean weapons, and try to get some of the sand
out of your clothes.  It's going on 1715 and Kai and Kirion have not yet
returned.

Mac turns to the count and asks "Manon, in the time we are waiting can you teach 
me something about tactics?"

Manon answers "Most certainly my friend"

Time  17:20:00

Kai appears in the basement, pieces of Mac's wand in his hands, black hawk
mask covering his head "we are preparing to intercept the elves  we'll be in
position ahead of them in their path when I return in forty five minutes
and i will have a better idea how long it might be before they are on our
position then but i will expect to take the rest of you back there with me
then" he churns out to anyone there and places the two halves back together.

Time 17:20:15

Time: 18:05

Kai appears again, wand half in his left hand barely visible along the
stock of his outsized crossbow, accompanying the other half clenched in
his right gloved hand.  "everyone ready mac take your wand allow me to
mount before we leave" he drones...

After Kai's initial visit, Quill gathers his things and naps downstairs,
awaiting the man's return.  He quickly enters the summoning chamber when
Kai reappears at 1805, and awaits the rest of the party.

Dax awaits Kai's return in the basement.  When the man reappears, he enters 
the chamber at his request.

Beren prepares the horses, and at 1750 he moves them into the basement room
outside of the summoning chamber.  When Kai returns, he begins coaxing the
three animals back into the summoning chamber.

Kai takes the reins of his horse from the struggling Beren, mounts with a smooth
swing to lean over the horse's neck and guides it into the summoning chamber.

Gwar gets up, secures his gear and armour.

"If we need to run, let me know and I will break the wand we and all within
the radius will return tho.

If something should happen to me, the wand will be in my boot."

With that said, Mac drops everything in a heap taking only one pouch
and his katana.

Manon mounts his steed, leaning low to avoid the ceiling, and checks his gear
to ensure everything is present.

"How far off are the Elves, Kai?" he asks.

"as much as an hour's walk at the pace they seem to keep" Kai replies across his
steed's mane "yet they may send out scouts early or move in a rush and make that
as little as ten minutes or dawdle till two hours have passed"

Swinging around to face Manon, he continues after a pause "for an ambush to succeed
we must arrive ere our targets and have patience not to mention good scouting of
our own"

After glancing around the group Gwar speaks "We may have a problem 
here." pausing and adding "Unless Kai has found a good place for us to set
this ambush I think, with our current state of dress, we will be spotted 
prematurely by the enemy. If this stands to be the case, I say we ALL appear
IN their ranks and attack from their centre outward..." If we need to retreat we
can all fall back to the centre, where we started" He looks around the
room seeming to be waiting for replies.

"let us all take a look at the position" replies Kai "perhaps some of us can
take up missile positions, and the rest return here with the exception of
someone left in their path to bring the rest back"

After a moment to listen to the replies of the others, he adds "is anyone
capable of invisibility for a period of a couple hours if need be to wait for
them"

After yet another pause, he drones on "i could be buried in their path as i do not
need to breathe if that is the best we can do"

Mac steps into the chamber and waits for all to enter.

When everyone is ready, Mac puts the wand back together and we
appear in the desert.