I've spoken with Brother Sosiel about prisoners. What are our limitations regarding prisoners? Nilus responds to the Commander.
"Jinxx got his back fur up about something involving Nurah as well. It was only after that that we found these prisoners. Nurah ran off on her own. I have a bad feeling about this.
Irabeth blinks incredulously.
"Nurah is free to act as she pleases, what was suspicious about her behaviour? Ronan, can you explain? And Nilus we... well, we didn't expect prisoners this far north. I'm not sure what to do. Ayesha can tell us if we have the food to feed htem. It's an awkward situation."
"We have the supplies, but it takes our margins dangerously low. Perhaps we can stretch things a bit if the army is willing to tighten their belts a bit. I'm not very favorable on reducing our already thin chances by weakening ourselves too much, but we can't just let them go at this point, and executing them now seems a bit...unpaladinish? Certainly doesn't feel like something the forces of good should condone, anyways."
"Jinxx and I saw her around the building where we found the prisoners Jinxx just had the feeling she was up to something no good, I had him follow her discreetly and he saw her cast some spell and disappear. I don't have any proof Nurah is up no good, but I trust Jinxx's instincts."
While out scouting, we ran into an enemy scout. We had a small advantage in starting out on the ground, as it made it harder for the enemy to see us. I had Anevia and Aron fire, and predictably it was more interested in revenge than reporting our position. We lured it down and took it out. We did find this."
He removes the cloth containing the medallion and shows it to the group.
"We prevented it from reporting back, but there will be more. We should be prepared, and keep vigilant while we camp."
I don't know if her behavior was suspicious, but leaving me alone on the battlefield was certainly reckless.
Dejik shifts uncomfortably. I don't like to acknowledge it, but I am effectively blind. Those tieflings didn't need to pretend or even hide. If they had bows instead of daggers, I would have been dead before I even knew they were there.
Irabeth listens quietly for a moment before speaking.
"Well news of a mixed nature, but if we found a scout this large army the Sergeant spoke of may very well be on our path. I suppose all we can do is continue to send out scouts."
She then turns to regard Dejik.
"It may be that she simply forgot you are blind; the nature of your sight is mystifying to be honest. That said if there is suspicion about her behaviour then I would be foolish to ignore it; I trust Jinxx's instincts. My immediate reaction in such situations is to just question her, but there's merit in keeping quiet and having someone keep an eye on her."
Irabeth then regards Ayesha, sighing.
"No, we're not slaughtering the prisoners. But they're a significant liability if we keep them with us. We can either let them go - there are no settlements in the area for them to make mischief upon, or we can carve off a section of the army to escort them to Kenabres for imprisonment."
Irabeth looks over the silent group of nights and speaks up again.
"I need some decisions. I can make them if you want to delegate that to me. Should Nurah be questioned or simply watched? And do we let the prisoners go or keep them with us?"
Those that will not renounce their ways publicly...should be punished for their crimes. However those that wish redemption, we should keep with us. As to Nurah, I do not know, I was not there. I believe that she should be treated as a friend until she proves otherwise. I can speak to her about her actions with Dejik.
"Jinxx can keep an eye on her, might be easier for him to follow her than one of us."
"Nurah has done nothing other than arouse suspicions. I say that we leave it be, until other evidence comes to light, if it ever does. Still, we are in a difficult position, and should even chance action - much less deliberate - alert the demons of or coming, our success will be in jeopardy."
Should we continue to scout, or should we try to engage the other army before they find out we are here?
As far as the prisoners go, our rescued friends said they wanted to return to Kenabres. Could they take the prisoners with them?
"We could go out in the direction we saw the demonic scout coming from, and try to get more information. I do think it would be good if we could manage to use the element of surprise."
Irabeth blinks and looks at Dejik.
"Gah, the bad air here is affecting my thoughts. It's a lot of prisoners for them to handle, but if we send one paladin with them it may be sufficient."
She nods.
"That's settled, we'll have the Sergeant return the prisoners to Kenabres. I think we can end this meeting. With Nurah, I think we're agreed that we shall be watchful. The behaviour is strange, but she was personally selected by the Queen to be with us on this march."
She slaps her gauntlets together.
"So unless there is anything more, we can break camp tomorrow morning."
The group finally beds down for the night, and at the break of dawn Irabeth's voice roars over the camp to break. With the astonishing efficiency only an army of paladins could manage, the tents are broken down, rolled up, piled onto wagons, and soon the army is mounted and on its way. Sergeant Kamilo waves her goodbyes, and her ragtag group of a dozen soldiers escorts the tiefling prisoners southwards to Kenabres.
The Sellen is brutally cold, but a relatively easy ford here, and soon the group is on the west side of the river, heading northwards for the Ahari. Stepping across the Sellen is a shocking change as the green plains turn to badlands. There is no vegetation on this side, despite the flowing river. Animals are scarce and sickly, and the air tastes of poison. Aravashnial mutters that you aren't even in the Worldwound yet, just at the border.
The terrain is difficult and awkward as the army is forced to climb hills, skirt the edge of a very fast, very dangerous river, and deal with constantly varied terrain. However, moderately good time is made and Irabeth finally calls the exhausted army to a halt.
Nilus bids farewell to the Tiefling he spoke with earlier, he draws a Rose to the best of his ability. and gives it to her. Remember the Rose's beauty, and how it can be inside of you if you so choose.
Deific Obedience (Inner Sea Gods)
Each deity requires a different daily obedience, but all obediences take no more than 1 hour per day to perform. Once you’ve performed the obedience, you gain the benefit of a special ability or resistance as indicated in the “Obedience” entry for the god to whom you performed the obedience. Obedience Paint a small picture, compose a short poem or song, dance a scene from a ballet, or create another work of art,
whispering praise to Shelyn’s beauty and grace as you do so.
The art piece need be neither large nor complex, but heartfelt
and made to the best of your ability. Gift the piece of art to
a stranger and pay her a sincere compliment as you do so. If
there are no suitable individuals around to receive the gift,
leave it in an obvious place with a note praising Shelyn and
asking whoever finds it to take it with your warmest wishes.
Gain a +4 sacred bonus on Craft and Perform checks.
As the camp sets up, Aron approaches all of you. Sosiel follows closely behind, never far from Aron. Distantly, the sound of Nurah singing to the exhausted troops to raise their spirits as they make camp
"We should hit the entrance to the Ahari riverbed tomorrow," he rasps. "The going will get easier, but certainly more dangerous. Good scouting efforts will be required; it's good to have Sarkast and Anevia here."
The day of travel was hard, and despite her words of the previous day, Ayesha kept an eye on Nurah, whenever she could. The riding was hard, and she kept twitching her shawls around her in an attempt to keep the cold air out. All in all, a miserable time. However, when they broke for camp, she found that they had apparently done relatively well. She could barely manage to think about the army's supplies.
Seeing her shiver against the cold, Dejik lays her hand on Ayesha's shoulder. I don't know if this will make it feel any better, but it will protect against any harmful effects.
If I can find a squire to guide me, I can help replenish the water and recover any spoiled food.
Ayesha sighed in relief as Dejik cast her spell. "Oh, byt the light of all who are holy, thank you, Dejik. That feels so much better. I do not see how anyone can stand living in these conditions."
Sarkast settles into the routine that is now becoming familiar: helping to set camp, then taking a small scouting group to ensure the safety of the chosen area , then after the evening meal checks the edge on his spears and assists with any repairs to the soldiers' arms .
The scout smiles when Dejik casts her spell. "I have grown accustomed to simply bearing whatever the weather might bring, but I will admit that magical comfort is far better."
Dejik does her best to bring relief to the party and those in the army suffering the most. The attitudes of those in the camp around Dejik are somewhat awestruck as they watch her work. Despite the paladins being empowered with their own divine magic, she is increasingly seen as a sort of miracle worker. Ayesha's work on organizing and caring for the provisions, along with Dejik's help does wonders to stretch out the food supply.
Strikes out with Anevia and Aron to explore the area for the evening. Although they do not find anything hostile, or much at all, there is clear evidence that the army of tieflings came from this direction originally. The entrance to the Ahari river basin is unfortunately too far to head to and from in the evening.
Around the camp, Nurah is doing her usual rounds of singing to the troops as they settle in for dinner. Irabeth is sequestered away in her tent in prayer. Sosiel is sitting with a large group of paladins, sharing stories and doing his best to raise spirits considering the foul terrain.
Having found nothing except more badlands along the river you head back with Anevia and Aron. As you travel, you notice that although Anevia is as cheerful and chatty as ever, Aron is unusually silent. He seems preoccupied and upset about something.
Nilus standard actions at camp will be to work closely with Sosiel to tend to the spiritual needs of the group. He knows that the Paladins mostly follow Iomedae, however there might be followers of the Rose somewhere in the army.
Ronan will wonder the camp and see if anyone need anything or help with anything.
He will also have Jinxx keep a discrete eye on Nurah.
On the walk back to camp, Sarkast waits for a moment when Anevia is to one side, and then quietly speaks to Aron. "Aron, is something bothering you? You seem a bit withdrawn. Our task is burdensome, but burdens are more easily carried when shared."
Noticing that Nilus is looking for followers of Shelyn to counsel, Dejik approaches him. Nilus, your wisdom and kindness is not dependent on whose symbol you wear. I've found myself inspired by your unshakeable hope--and hope is something we all need in times like these.
She smiles and shakes her head. No, it's more than that. The crusaders of Mendev has been at war for generations--some of us were raised to fight from childhood. It's easy for us to forget that there's any kind of life outside of battle, assuming we ever had one. But protecting that life--isn't that the entire reason for this war? You can remind us of what we're fighting for.
Dejik's words move Nilus to tears I. I only wish to serve my Lady and bring more beauty to the world wherever I can. Thank you for your kind words M'lady. and Nilus bows to Dejik formally.
Aron looks to Sarkast, showing some surprise. He stammers for a moment.
"I..." He shakes his head sadly. "I doubt. I don't know if we can win this war. The demons may have us on this crusade."
Anevia looks at him with some worry as Aron lapses into silence, trudging back to camp.
Ronan finds himself swept up into Ayesha and Dejik's work on keeping track of the rations while Jinxx tries to nonchalantly keep an eye on Nurah. She's easy enough to find as she spends the evening singing to injured soldiers. Jinxx doesn't sense anything suspicious about her behaviour.
Sosiel beams a smile, clapping a hand gently on Dejik's shoulder.
"Nilus there are a few who follow the Rose in the crusades, but Dejik is right. We do not only give reminder to the beauty in the world that must be saved, but show those demons the strength of that beauty and that they shall not overcome it!"
Sarkast walks silently for a while, then quietly says, "I can't predict the future, I can only affect the present. As long as I have breath, I will fight to prevent the demons from taking this world. That is worthwhile."
Aron nods silently to Sarkast, and the trio make their way back to the camp.
The night passes uneventfully and the following morning Irabeth gives call once more to break camp. Everybody mounts up, and begin the difficult march northwards.
Sarkast and Anevia continue their scouting efforts north, a short distance in advance of the army. This time, their efforts are.
Up ahead, the dry Ahari riverbed opens up into the Sellen. The Ahari runs through a steep canyon which falls away as it enters the river valley. It is through this canyon the army must march, and a little ways down, Sarkast spots six figures that appear to be tieflings, keeping a watch out on the entrance of the canyon. They do not appear to have spotted Sarkast or Anevia. The six tieflings are a good hundred feet away, pressed against the north wall of the canyon.
Sarkast uses the signals he has taught Anevia to indicate she should report back to the others while he watches the tieflings. He slots a spear into his spear thrower, and settles in to wait for reinforcements to arrive.
Sarkast remains on watch, blending into the hillside as Anevia rushes back to the army.
The rest of the party sees Anevia riding up alongside the river's edge.
"Lookout party of tieflings! Just six of them, but they were obviously on watch."
Irabeth looks over to the rest of the group, waving her hand over.
"I imagine one of you could take down six tieflings alone - we need a quick, decisive end to the lookouts. If what he heard about a large army waiting for us is true, we don't want them expecting us."
Anevia nods hurriedly.
"They're just a short distance down the canyon, they could be approached from above or below.. although the fall from the top of the canyon is at least a hundred feet."
Ayesha's interest was piqued. "Let us be off, then. If we wish to approach from above, I can cast featherfall and we can drop in on them from a perhaps unexpected direction. We would need to go down in one group though, as you have to be close at hand when the spell takes effect."
You gave me a wand that can summon a spiritual weapon, and as I understand it, those types of weapons can travel a long distance. If someone else can use it, we could have the spiritual weapon engage the scouts while we descend.
The army's march halts as the group make their way to meet up with Sarkast. Anevia and Aravashnial join the party and all of you make your way to the canyon entrance. Anevia leads the group to Sarkast who is a bit back from the canyon, watching the tieflings.
You are now all on the banks of the Sellen, at the entrance to a canyon> Sarkast is watching the entrance out of sight, and there are six tieflings a few hundred feet back. Somebody could go up the side of the river valley to reach the top of the canyon on either side, or head down the dry riverbed at the canyon's base. What do you do?
In his heavy armor, Nilus isn't the best for climbing around however I could take this armor off and climb down to meet the enemy if we need to.
Nilus waits for the more tactically minded Sarkast to give his assessment, Nilus trusts the man to make these types of plans.
Dejik listens to the others describe the situation. How hard would it be to get to the top of the canyon without being seen? I like Ayesha's suggestion of dropping down to them, quickly and quietly--assuming that falling doesn't make as much noise as walking.
I have a couple of spells that can reach them, but without being able to see where they are, I don't trust my aim. She hands Ayesha the wand of Spiritual Weapon. If you can cast this before we start, it might help keep them occupied and confused while we approach.
"Ayesha, can you get all of us in your slow fall spell? If not, I could approach from the ground and come out from cover once you distract them with your fall. In fact, that might prove useful regardless."
"My recently burgeoning power is fairly great. I imagine that I could take care of seven or eight people with no great strain. We would all have to be tightly clumped, though. The range of the spell isn't that great."
Nilus says We could float down and attack the enemy...but what if they see us coming?
Aravashnial speaks up, bright-eyed and grinning.
"I can drop an obscuring mist spell around twenty feet over top of them. Or I can summon something particularly unpleasant to distract them."
Sarkast nods. "A mist to shield the group's descent should do nicely."
He points to a spot along the ridge. "If all of you go to that point, I will sneak along the base of the ridge. When I see the mist, I'll know you're about to drop, and when they turn to engage you, I'll run up from behind them."
Just before the group descends, Dejik will call on Iomedae for aid (Bless, 6 minute duration).