The drakes fly over the golems and decide the large targets will be fun to munch on. But then they think chaos is better and choose a random army upon which to feast.
drakes v Celfwyn, Devon, Druthane, (haro?) or Wembly
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The cavalry chases down the cavalry and soon blood fills the ground. Some red, some greenish, blackish, and oozieish.
howlers v taldor (daytime, no adjustments)
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"Our enemy is wounded, but can still fight - let us drive over them, but not with total abandon. Mind your mounts' undersides and flanks, but still - show the demons no mercy! Charge!"
Army: Taldor's Army of Exploration (ACR: 6 | Speed: 2)
Tactics: Taunt - Howler Cavalry must make a Morale check, DC: 16 (10 + ACR) at the start of every Melee phase. Failure => their OM and DV decreases by 2 for that phase. If they succeed at two of these checks, they are immune for the rest of the battle.
Strategy: Standard (+0 OM / -0 DV / +0 Damage Dealt)
Special Abilities (1): Challenge - Once per battle, the army may increase its OM by 2 against a target army, but it also reduces its DV by 1 against attacks from any army that is not the target army. These effects last for the rest of the battle.
Special Abilities (2): Glory Hound - When this army joins a battle that includes any allied armies except other battalions of the Army of Exploration, it suffers a –2 penalty to DV and on OM and Morale rolls for the rest of the battle.
OM: +12 (+9 +1 Driven by Glory +2 Challenge)
DV: 20 (19 +1 Bound for Brevoy)
HP: 35/38 (33 +5 Allies from Andoran) | Morale: +5 (+3 +2 Driven by Glory)
(OM/DV -2 if another allied battalion enters this battle | DV -1 during this battle against anyone except the Howler Cavalry)
Horatio finishes the howlers on the first clash!
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"Stay with the elves. Fire spells at the drakes on my mark. Set! Fire!"
Army: Riftwardens HP 17/21 DV 16 ACR 6
Strategy: agressive (+2/-2 DV)
Tactics Phase: spellbreaker
Ranged Phase:
Melee Phase:
Special Actions: channel planar energy, favored enemy (demon), spellcasting* (+3)
Morale +2; Consumption 3
Channel planar energy: In the Melee phase, the army deals +1d4 points of damage against an extraplanar army.
The acid spewing behomoths shake the earth as they drop from the air to engage their foes. the aura of the drakes shakes their target's very bones.
Wembly and the Riftwardens feel this menace the strongest.
[spoiler=failure]reduces its OM and DV against the drakes army by 2 for that phase.[/dice]
, Wembly take at the start of the next phase.
, Wembly if this damages you (you can retcon a tactics change if you would like) take at the start of the next phase.
The pathfinders combined might works at the mighty beasts, but it is no easy task!
[dice=target]1d43[/dice, [dice=m3]1d20+8+4[/dice
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Reeling from the first attack, Wembly changes tactics
"Resist them! Stand firm!
Army: Riftwardens HP 6/21 DV 18 ACR 6
Strategy: standard (+0/-0 DV)
Morale:
Melee Phase:
Morale +2
"Retreat!Withdraw immediately!
Army: Riftwardens HP 6/21 DV 20 ACR 6
Strategy: defensive (-2/+2 DV)
Morale:
Melee Phase: Withdraw
Morale +2
The riftwardens flee dealing no more damage, but escaping with no further casualties. The drakes turn their attack on the golems, but fail to get through. The creatures' bloodlust rises and they turn their attention to Devon. As they do a menacing aura roils over the Pathfinders.
Celfwyn & Druthane need to make an attack.
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Terrifying screeches, blasts of acid, and razor slicing teeth take their toll on the Army of the open road.
Melee phase4: Please, a roll from all three remaining armies (unless you are leaving the field). Also I will give my shirt reroll to the first who wants it.
Drakes are changing tactics from standard to aggressive. (-2 DV, +2 OM)
, attacking druthane
By my count, m3 put Pathfinders at 9, bleed drops that to 5 at the beginning of m4. Not enough for a route, but might not want to stick around either. Roll attack if you do, roll morale if you withdraw.
Golems also can attack :)
R1: drakes take 2+0+12=14
R2: drakes take 0+1+0=1 (15 total)
m1: 1+6+0+1=8 (23 total)
m2: 0+0+11+0=11 (33 total)
m3: 0+0+2=2 (35 total)
M4: 18+?+?=
The drakes green flames fall harmlessly on the golems. Not so the blows directed toward them. One drake falls. The Pathfinders throw a cautious feint at the beasts while the golems hedge them in. Both actions create a huge gap the Elven Uprooters march through with bows blazing so fast they could be shooting flames themselves!
Another drake falls. Then a pair of massive scaled bodies shake the earth when they fall. After their murderous screeches over the last--very long--day, the air begins to quiet. More drakes fall, and more. The Army of the Open Road drops the last creature to the ground and soon the darkening sky swallows the last of their echoes. It is quite for a bit. Then a cheer goes up, and another!
After the battle the commanders are whisked back to the command center in Silvershore. Farabellus and other captains have much to congratulate you on, but they do not spend much time on spreading glory. The envoy from the Mendevian crusaders arrive to honor the commanders valor. Each of you is presented with a gift. The clothe presented unfurls to a narrow red flag made to flown from a lance or spear. The celebration is jubilant but short. This is still the World Wound afterall.
The armies make camp and there is a brief reprieve as the greater forces of the Army of the Open Road regroup and forge ahead. As the long task of scouring the hills for the path to Jormurdun begins, a paladin of Sarenrae still painted in dried blood and dirt from the battlefield approaches you. Ollysta Zadrian, leader of the Silver Crusade produces a map of the immediate region with lines leading through the hills.
“Friends, Marcos Farabellus has begun the final push against the armies of Tancred and Thurl. Thanks to your efforts in breaking the demonic armies, Farabellus is intent on crushing the remaining forces of the traitor, which are hidden somewhere in the Wolfcrags. Complicating matters is the demon army’s warlord—a half-fiend named Brae-Hagen—who has retreated into a secure bunker where he oversees his remaining forces.”
“The warmaster sent me to inform you of the location of the bunker, an ominous structure built on the side of a cliff. While most of Brae-Hagen’s forces are engaged by the Army of the Open Road, you will slip in through a series of passages in the hills that lead to the entrance of the bunker. There could be some defenders left, but intelligence reports the demonic warlord runs a fairly lean command center.”
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Celfwyn is in rare form during the short-lived celebration, actually seeming to enjoy the company of others. The wine does not stop flowing for the Uprooters.
After Zadrian's briefing, he focuses on the new task and is again his former self. He checks his gear and alchemical supplies before straightening his wide-brimmed hat and nodding his readiness.
"Do we know anything of this stronghold? From intercepted couriers or the like?"
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"Ha! We showed 'em demons who's boss!" Devon celebrates regardless of his army's battered shape. "'twas easy, really! Yeah sure some wounds and such, no biggie. The agents have earned their rest, yessirree!"
He then turns to Ollysta and eyes her with suspicion. Devon has never quite trusted the Silver Crusade's leader to be all so pure and white as she claims to be.
"Right, and we six are to slip through? Aye, I can do that. Not sure about them others. So this half-fiend, he she whatever likely has some lackeys we're to slash and slaughter, eh? Any info on that subject, please."
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Druthane seems to avoid the celebration, not thinking that he deserves much in the way of credit. The news of the bunker, however, perks him back up. "indeed i think the six of us would be a fine choice. Tonight I will prepare my thoughts. " The magus is true to his word, asking numerous questions about people's experiences and skill sets.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Do we know anything of this stronghold? From intercepted couriers or the like?"
Lady Ollystra needs to get back to Farabellus' final push but quickly responds, "“It’s a grim edifice, a massive demonic skull of metal and stone that dangles off the side of a cliff. The mouth of the skull opens and closes by some mechanical apparatus, and it’s from there that Brae-Hagen issues commands and speeches to his forces at the base of the cliff.” She turns to the halfling as he asks a question.
"Right, and we six are to slip through? Aye, I can do that. Not sure about them others. So this half-fiend, he she whatever likely has some lackeys we're to slash and slaughter, eh? Any info on that subject, please."
"It would be prudent, but every evidence is that Brae-Hagen leads a lean command center and most able body soldiers are engaged in conflicts.
Druthane seems to avoid the celebration, not thinking that he deserves much in the way of credit. The news of the bunker, however, perks him back up. [b]"indeed i think the six of us would be a fine choice. Tonight I will prepare my thoughts. "
The magus is true to his word, asking numerous questions about people's experiences and skill sets.
The paladin nods. “The captain agrees. You’re the only agents Farabellus trusts to carry this mission out. Many senior Pathfinders have been dispatched in the quest to track down Tancred and Thurl, and the warmaster can’t afford to tip off Brae-Hagen that we’re coming by sending a full army.”
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Devon has been forcing alcohol down his army's thirsty throats, willful or not, as to revive their spirits and have them "rest". The commander halfling himself has also taken his share of the "loot". Thus he is glad they aren't bringing the big guns again; Devon got a few evil looks from the agents due to his mindless tactics.
"A skull carved in tha mountain? Who is this, the absolute caricatyre villain from the Absalom children chronicles? What else you know of this, er, fortress? Backdoors or something?"
“This villain was as akin to nobility as one gets within the Worldwound, at least prior to the Society’s arrival. His father was Teremthal, a balor demon slain by Society agents during the siege of Nerosyan. Brae-Hagen has lost considerable standing now that his patriarch is not around to scare off rivals. It seems he’s thrown his lot in with Tancred and Thurl and is now leading their armies against us"
About the entrance she can offer little information. "It is at the top of a cliff whose bottom houses the multitudes of armies he commands. Flight will get you there, but probably not while those armies are milling about," the paladin says. As all of his subordinates do not fly, it is likely there is an actual entrance somewhere.
Questions? Plans?
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Horatio comes in, very tardy as with the initial briefing. He looks disheveled but happy enough after his near-debacle in the first round of army action. His armor, and the barding on his mount, clanks loudly with every step.
"What ho, fellows. Well done out there, well done indeed! SO! ...what's next, hmm?"
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"STEALTH?!" Devon laughs, waving his pepperbox wildly, "once I fire up this baby the whole crew of the skull will know we are there and mean business! We better just go in blazing, strike 'em so fast they don't undastand it themselves til they drop dead! So yea, with speed and haste, that's more of my liking."
"I guess we all have a nose to pick with this demonfiend fella, teehee."
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Horatio looks down at his armor
Then back to you
Then back to his armor
(He's on a wolf).
"I say! The lad with the blunt stick that has a hole running through it is right! Damn the padfooting around and full speed towards this evil general's destruction! Just leave Ferox and I a lane to assault, and our charge will strike at our foes the same way mighty Taldor's armies charged the fields!"
The party is given a map of the location of the canyon where Brae-Hagen issues his commands to the army. A series of paths, back-track and passages take the party to the top of the cliff by the middle of the next day. The metal tubing simulating horns can be seen and dozens and dozens of guards stand at attention between them.