Mulluq calls back to Kira, "It is a lot harder to do when you announce to them the plan, Lady Valerious." All the same, he waits briefly to see what they plan to do.
"What can I say, they don't seem that bright!"
One knight charges, flinging himself at Jod. The other takes out a flask and hurls it at Rhok.
The third knight tries to crawl out of the greasy area.
Jod flinches as he fails to dodge the man's rushing attack. "Tsk. Nice strike. We could use you to fight demons. But now you must die."
Mulluq shrugs, calling back over to Kira, "We may not be drawing them out." Following Rhok in moving in to the fight. He steps up to the space recently emptied by Rhok, and with a swing of his blade strikes out at the now surrounded soldier.
It's a brutal blow, but somehow Rhok keeps his feet. He gets his revenge as he and Mulluq take down the first knight. Of course, there are two left, both uncomfortable close.
"Cousin, that was crazy. Coming from me, that's saying something - now get behind me, would you? I don't want to have to go home and explain this."
"Ghroth, stay with us. It sounds like they have gone mad, but I dont want to kill them unless we have to in self defense."
"Fighting amongst ourselves, no wonder the demons are expanding the Worldwound," Kaygan mutters, making sure to put himself between the crusaders and the tiefling child.
"Now they have all the benefits of cover and we are split up. It just gets better and better." Kira mutters to herself.
Kira's shot is deflected from the knight's armour.
The amphibian eidolon is tense and ready for action, but holds at Hannik's insistence.
Jod moves forward as he speaks, "Lay down your weapons. Let us heal your friend. Come with us to Defenders' Heart."
"Then your friend will bleed to death. Or surrender and live to fight the real enemy."
Mulluq is concerned by the turn of action. The knights attacked, and the group reacts in return, only to turn around and try reasoning with them once more. He scowls at the conflicting decisions, before accepting the choice of peace with anyone willing to fight demons. "There is a greater cause to be fought here, and it is not against one another. Let us work to cleanse the city of the demon taint that corrupts it."
The knight frowns. "Then show your true colours! Don't just bleat about it, heal him. Or don't, and fight on!"
To answer the knight's challenge, Mulluq stoops and pushes a pulse of healing energy into the fallen knight. His wounds stop bleeding and his breathing becomes less laboured. The standing knight scowls but doesn't attack, his indecision written on his face.
|
Sol helps the girl to her feet and ushers her past Mulluq, before releasing her hand in the direction of Hannik, Kaygan, and the teifling child. "You'll be safer with Hannik back there."
Then he addresses the standing knight. "Tomorrow, your friend here will thank you. We were pretty strung out before we found the Defender's Heart. A little rest among crusaders can really help your outlook. I'm Sol Calondor. Mulluq here looks like hell, but he's on our side. Ghroth too. None of us, loves the demons and we've all lost kin or friends to them."
Hannik whispers to Sol, "I think if they come out of the ally right now and see Ghroth standing here with us all hell is gonna break loose again. Better not test such a fragile truce."
"Ghroth, I'll call you back again later, probably tomorrow. Thank you for everything you did today." With a gesture and a word, the eidolon blows away like dust on the wind.
"Smart," Kaygan nods to Hannik. Then more loudly to the knights he says, "My friend Sol is right - we're here to rescue what people we can and fight demons when we need to - not fight amongst ourselves. That's the way the demons win. I don't know if Kenabres can be saved at this point, but there are still people to help, and the way to do that is to work together, not follow silly superstitions about virgin's blood. At Defender's Heart there may yet be clerics or paladins who can enchant your blades to bite demon's flesh - far more effective."
Kira lowers her crossbow, and steps back, but it remains loaded, and ready to bring to bear at need.
"Alright," says the knight slowly, "If you are going to Defender's Heart, we'll come with you. But don't try anything!"
Jod sheathes his falchion and collects his bow from where he dropped it. Striding back to the fallen man, he offers, "Let me help you carry your friend. It has been a long day and they are going to be able to help him more than we can."
Kira nods to herself subconsciously, and moves to once again become the rear guard. Crossbow raised and ready.
"Please," says the girl, "My parents are nearby. They are old and we had run out of food, so I was trying to find something to feed us. Can I bring them with us to Defender's Heart?"
Soon the group are winding their way through the streets of Kenabres towards the crusaders' headquarters - the adventurers, Ansell, the girl (whose name turns out to be Reka) and the three knights - the injured one propped up by the other two. The sun is beginning to drop low, and the calls of howlers begin to echo across the city. But together they reach the inn and safety before any of the demonic predators prowl close.
The adventurers are enjoying an ale with some stew and bread in the main room when one of the surviving squires arrives by their table. She asks them to join Irabeth when they are ready.
Jod looks up, a mouthful of bread and a questioning look in his eyes.
"I'm sure she would have specified now if there was a great hurry," Rhok says between mouthfuls of stew and bread. "We'll be right with her. After seconds, that is."
Kaygan shrugs and waits until the others are ready before going with them to see the half-orc paladin.
After the adventurers finish their meal they go and see Irabeth. They find her in an upstairs room which has been converted to her command suite. Trestle tables is covered with maps of the city with various new details hastily scribbled on. Also present are Quednys Orlun, the head of the Blackwing Librarium, and Lann the mongrelman from Neatholm.
Irabeth gets straight to the point. "I can only thank you for your efforts over the last few days. You have helped to roll back the demonic tide and acted as a beacon of hope and decency to the folk here in Defenders Heart.
"But as horrific as recent events have been, we’ve come to realise that they are, in fact, merely a prelude. The razing of the Kite, the destruction of our wardstone, Terendelev’s murder, and the assault on the city were nothing more than opening gambits. The Worldwound is on the march in a more concentrated assault than we’ve seen since the fall of Drezen. It’s fair to say the Lord of the Locust Host is finally making his move. The end of this hundred-year-war is upon us, and it falls to us to ensure victory. “While the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth were scattered, those who serve the Lord of the Locust Host himself remain concentrated in Old Kenabres. What we’ve heard from within the barricade they’ve erected is ominous. The cultists are waiting for something, and based on our own information and what you’ve managed to recover so far, it sounds like the vile witch Areelu Vorlesh will soon be coming to Kenabres.
"And it appears that we’ve determined what she intends to do. When the wardstone was destroyed by the Storm King, it exploded and destroyed the Kite. The network along the border failed, but did not fade completely. I believe this is because a significant portion of our wardstone still exists, and that the cultists have taken it to the old garrison in Old Kenabres. From what we’ve learned, they’re hoping to engineer a way to somehow reverse the field generated by the wardstones — essentially, to use our own greatest defense
as a devastating weapon.
“The attack on Kenabres had a predictable result: causing the crusade to gather at the border to defend it. Some wonder why the demons haven’t attacked in stronger numbers. I believe that Areelu was counting on us massing along the border, and that if she can corrupt the wardstone field, she can strike a devastating blow against us all. In effect, we’ve lined up for the slaughter.
“Vorlesh is surely seeking some object of great Abyssal power, likely the Nahyndrian crystal mentioned in the missive you recovered, and with it she intends to turn the source of our hope into an unimaginable nightmare. We cannot hope to evacuate everyone from the border — I doubt they would give up the defensive line even if they knew what the enemy planned. But we can still stop this from happening — we just need to have someone infiltrate the Gray Garrison, locate the wardstone fragment, and destroy it.”
Jod is looking for something on the map. Knowing that he's not the smart one in the group, he keeps his peace even as he tries to find landmarks in the depiction of the city.
Hannik looks troubled and nods along with Sol, "Seriously. It sounds like we lose either way. If we destroy the wardstone aren't we permanently opening a gate to the Abyss? I mean, its only Deskari now, but in time the other demon lords will start marching as well."