The mighty black dragon plummets to the earth, his eyes dimming and his hateful jaws going slack, dying even as Min sends arrow after arrow to chase him down to the lowest pits of the abyss.
Valkk is no more.
Even as he falls, though, a roar of defiance and fury goes up from the ground forces and the heavy ballista teams underneath Lin fire their bolts. One whistles past Min's head, missing him by inches, but the other is wide right by a fair bit, missing the great silver dragon entirely.
Orders are screamed in orcish, then, from the west, and the ground troops turn their attention to the oncoming Warbanian horde. The last few remaining Marrashi, as well, seem distracted, but their Erinyes lieutenant reminds them that you Skyknights are their primary target and they are not to concern themselves with ground forces.
Livain, high in the air and safely ensconced in cloud on Tora'an's back, makes a determined noise. "Aylaeth, my friend, I thank you for your assistance, but my husband -- my lifemate -- is down there and I cannot abandon him. I know he can fight for himself, but I cannot just abandon him to do so, though it should mean my doom. For if I fall, it should be at his side!" Without warning, the aellar archer slides off the king pegasus's mighty flank, letting herself plummet out of the fog cloud before catching herself with her wings. Not wishing to charge headlong into disaster, Livain uses the curing wand one more time before calling out to Maiathreen. "My husband! I'm here! I'm coming to help!"
The last Erinyes surveys the battle grimly. This was not how things were supposed to have gone. She flaps her mighty wings and propels herself forward past the two Marrashi that Min wounded. Nocking an arrow in her bow, she aims at the rapidly approaching Sir Damian, holding her shot until she can get a solid, close bead on the Captain of the Skyknights.
"Come to me..." she whispers "Come to your death, mortal."
Also: OOTS is AWESOME!
Maiathreen rockets towards the remaining Erynies in an attempt to stop it's impending attack on Ser Damian. Ignoring the one arrow that slipped through his defenses to remove another image.
The fury sees Maiathreen coming out of the corner of her eye and growls. "Don't worry, sub-creature; you shall have your chance to taste my flame."
"Look around you fallen you've lost! We refuse to lose! WE. WILL. NOT. LOSE."
Damian spots the Erinyes aiming an arrow towards him. Quickly, he considers his options. His armor will hold if the arrow flies towards him, unless it hits him in one of the unprotected areas that his armor does not cover. If the devil attacks Keythan, he may be able to jerk hard on the reins and spin them to avoid the attack. Either way, he must strike her out of the sky. If the cost of doing so is danger to his own life, he must take the risk.
He rockets across the sky, a golden streak reflected in the morning sun. His sword and shield glitter against the blue sky, glittering just like Izmir behind him. With his sword and shield up, he prepares to plunge his holy sword into the abomination in front of him. He shouts encouragement to his allies as he comes closer and closer. "You will fall, abomination, and return to the Pit you crawled out of!"
Returns to his seat
@Min & Lin
"How badly battered err yah?"
Decides it best to heal Min....
Wand Cure Moderate Wounds
Knowing the cavalier of the Silver Flame is hurt, the Erinyes ignores Mai's presence and unloads a flaming bolt from her compound bow that hammers into the Sir Damian, injuring him further, just before she herself is brutally slashed by his magicked sword, blood for blood.
Maiathreen catches the Erynies just as her attention falls fully on Sir Damian and slashes Servais across the furies back an instant before Damian's own blade cuts.
"Livain! No!" as her new feathered friend drops out of safety to go aid her husband. Instantly following suit Tora'an drops out as well, allowing Aylaeth to witness the fast and furious between Damian, the Erinyes and Mai. Taking in the whole scene at once and seeing that Damain, Keythan and Livain are dancing near deaths door, she calls out once again for her allies to retreat. Knowing that even one or two hits from the archers could finish them, she hopes against hope that the brave fools will actually listen this time.
"My Friends! We have won the battle! But now is the time for the better part of valor! Tora'an and I are not injured and these flying bags of filth cannot hope to catch us in the sky! Go! We shall cover your retreat!"
Even as she makes her impassioned speech Tora'an is hurtling towards his natural enemy, the devilish once-angel. Crashing into the creature he bites savagely.
Tora'an' bite: to Hit Damage
Equally focused on the destruction of the foul creature Aylaeth calls upon the power of her magic pearl to once again summon the magics of the shocking grasp. Channelling the crackling electricity into her evil form.
Concentration Shocking Grasp DC17:
Spell Strike Attack: to Hit Damage
Melee Attack: to Hit Damage
Hasted extra melee attack: to Hit Damage
Spell Penetration vs SR19 with Hero Point (4/7):
At the same time as all of this, little Ada'an, remembering perfectly every battle he had ever been in as a mortal and his bravery still intact flies off of Livian, plops down on his master's head and blasts a scorching line of fire at the two closest Marrashi.
15' Breath weapon,DC17 for half:
Reusable in rounds
Aylaeth and her entourage rocket out of the sky and skewer the Erinyes, hitting her so hard that even her infernal resistance to damage cannot save her, and her body spirals swiftly to the ground.
Something strange happens, then. One of the Marrashi holds up its left arm and barks a series of words in Auran, then it and all its brethren take off up into the sky, hurtling straight up as fast as their powerful wings can take them. They do not fire, they simply...fly.
Your momentum carries you forward a short ways, and you all fly over the glowing lines on the ground beneath you, with Aylaeth bringing up the rear.
After crossing the lines, you continue north. The fields are blasted and burned, and these lands that should be growing grains and vegetables and food for all cities and nations, are ruined and smoking. The black dragonflight has been burning as they have traveled.
Looking ahead, you see no cover. Apparently the dragonflight has been chopping and burning down the stands of trees in addition to the fields, giving their enemies no place to hide, nowhere to bed down. This would also explain the eerie and unnatural flatness of the plains. They are supposed to be flat, this is true, but the state they are in now is the result of meddling, of damage, of brute burning force.
The sun begins its descent. Darkness soon will be upon you. You have all been flying nearly nonstop since your departure this morning.
"Min Lin do you feel this area of forlorn souls, it stretches into tha horizons, an someone catches them an is going to use them......a soul keeper or something....Do you feel the screams? I hear them within my heart!"
The trio plowed their way through the wind wall that had surrounded them, with a heroic effort on Lin's part. As they moved to reform their previous formation, Min looked back to watch as the Warbanian's engaged the black dragonflight troops in open combat. He wanted to help them so badly and knew of only one way he could...
He summoned forth strength from the bond once more, calling on the power to grant him the ability to strike true before he nocked a thistle arrow to Avenaada's string and took aim. As he leaned over the saddle he honed in on the dragonflight officer shouting orders before slowly exhaling a tense breath to steady his shaky aim. When he released the thistle arrow it flew true and hammered the officer in the lower back, which caused the foul creature to stumble and interrupted its orders momentarily. Min set Avenaada across his lap as he leaned heavily against the saddlehorn.
"I'm injured but alive Belsarious, thank you for your efforts but it would be best for you to save your magic. We have a long way to go my friend before we reached Izmir."
Min's gear was battered pretty badly, arrows clung to his elven chainmail like gruesome jewelry and slashes and burns covered several parts of his exposed skin. Blood staind some of his armor and ran down his side from where some of the arrows had pierced more deeply then others.
He looked down at the land below, trying to ascertain where they were but because of the carnage wrought by the dragonflight forces, he wasn't sure if he would be able to determine much at all...
He looked for someplace for them to rest out the night, someplace where some small degree of safety may still lie. He searched desperately as darkness started to fall because Lin was wore out from the dragonstone and she was in dire need of rest. But when Belsarious suddenly started talking about lost souls and something foul that stretched beyond the horizon, he barely resisted looking back at their passenger.
"I feel nothing Belsarious, only the cool wind on my face and my bow in hand."
Lin rumbled in agreement with Min, although she had more faith in the gods then her rider, she too could not feel what Belsarious was speaking of.
Relief and satisfaction flow though the Magus as she watches the death spiral of the last of their devilish enemies. Then her ear perk up as she tries to catch the Auranic words of the Marrashi before they are shoot up higher into the sky. For a moment she is tempted to pursue them and finish them off but her impeccable sense of duty clamps down, reminding her of the mission they are sworn to complete. Sighing, feeling strongly that they will encounter those aerial enemies again, she gently nudges Tora'an to take off after the others.
As they fly over the lines, she is completely caught off guard and rocked to her core by the intensity of the massed surge of otherworldly emotion which hit her. Instantly tears begin to stream down her face as her heart goes out to the thousands of souls which scream their sadness, rage, frustration and longing. Then she becomes aware of the scope of what the lines of souls comprise. Her heart then grows cold with worry and fear as she begins to get a feel of the malevolent Presence which is behind the impossibly immense in scope spiritual event. Automatically reaching down to embrace Tora'an for support and comfort she whispers in Celestial "My friend, things are far, far, more dire than we have understood" The Pegasus Lord replies in the same tongue, his rarely used voice deep and gravely, yet warm and comforting at the same time "We shall persevere my Andeau, as do we always."
Her mind racing to try and comprehend this event she also reaches up to touch Ada'an, asking for aid from her familiar with his perfect memory and knowing her felt much of what she did through their bond "Ada'an, what was that?? Have you ever come across, or heard anything the like of it before? And have you ever felt that Presence before?"
Knowledge:
Knowledge:
Knowledge:
Knowledge:
Knowledge (Arcana)† (Int) 7+3+6=16 CS
Knowledge (Dungeoneering)† (Int) 4+3+6=13 CS
Knowledge (Geography)† (Int) 2+0+6=8 CS
Knowledge (Local)† (Int) 1+0+6=7 CS
Knowledge (Nature)† (Int) 1+0+6=7 CS
Knowledge (History)† (Int) 4+0+6=10 CS
Knowledge (Nobility)† (Int) 1+0+6=7 CS
Knowledge (Planes)† (Int) 3+3+6=12 CS
Knowledge (Religion)† (Int) 1+0+6=7 CS
Perfect Memory:
Though they are not particularly intelligent, cassisians have perfect memories and remember everything they see or hear. They can faultlessly recite conversations they heard hundreds of years before. They also have the power to erase portions of their own memories, which they do (usually under orders from superior angels) to protect sensitive information.
@Min:
Squinting ahead into the gathering dusk, you realize that you are all still right on course, and are indeed three days out from Izmir, as you expected you should be right about now. Unfortunately, all the areas of cover that should be dotting the landscape have been utterly razed. There is nothing but flat, hard, burned ground for what seems like endless miles in every direction.
Perhaps more disturbing, the Black Dragonflight cavalry has vanished.
@Aylaeth:
The presence is utterly unknown to you both, but you could hazard a guess; Veriala, leader of the Black Dragonflight, who was an elf when she was alive but became an ethereal creature so she might live forever, and have even greater access to dark, arcane secrets.
So, taking all that into account, I'm completely fine with however you decide to have him address her. Cool?
Thinking about all she and Ada'an have discovered and realized she holds it in mind, planning to speak to Damian and possibly the others about it the first chance she gets.
Meanwhile, scanning the scorched and barren land around them, she uses all her knowledge and training to try and find the best place to camp. She then flies ahead to consult with their leader about it. "Sir Damian, we all need to rest but there seems to be little chance of finding somewhere we can do so safely. If you wish, Tora'an and I can scout ahead to see if we can find somewhere better."
Aid Another Profession (soldier):
"Be not stubborn friend best to heal some more than none, Many charges are within mah wand tha will see us beyond today, You are stong and will heal with rest surenly.....but jus a bit for now."
self
Min
Lin
Before the third casting Min stops Belsarious and instead directs the third casting to Damian instead. Mins wounds were all gone now and Lin had miraculously been unharmed during the struggle. Granted her scales were scuffed up by Valkk's failed attempts to hold her. Despite the wounds being gone though they were both weary from the fighting and some of their allies had come far to close to falling in that battle.
Min spoke over the wind as he continued to survey the ground below, hoping to find some sort of refuge. He indicated Livain and Damian as he spoke.
"Lin and I are fine now my friend, I promise I wasn't trying to be stubborn. I only refused because some of our allies are seriously injured. Pray though that we find a safe haven for the night, because I dread landing with that calvary running around with there demon-aided speed..."
Lin had been searching as well, but she too could find no safe place to stay. "We should find a ridge, one with high sides to prevent enemy riders from getting to us."
She continued to search for a ridge as the traveled northward, with twilight upon them though they had little time to search before full dark. Lin moved closer to their wounded allies so Belsarious could heal them more easily as the continued to discuss what they were going to do.
Even as Aylaeth and Min make offers to scout, or look further, they realize with a sinking feeling that the odds of their finding anyplace to hide are dismal at best. The horizon stretches for many many miles and not a single feature can be seen above the blasted grasses of the plains.
Realizing the futility of scouting ahead she addresses their leader "Sir, we have seen nothing as far as the eye can see which will be any improvement over where we are now. The only thing I can suggest is that we fly a fair amount off course, so as not to be in direct line with the route the riders were taking. Other than that, we may just as well land anywhere."
If there are no objects from the Skyknight she and Tora'an will veer off to the East (? The same direction the Warbanians came from anyway) figuring anywhere they may have passed through would be at least moderately safer. Once they've covered a couple miles they will begin to swiftly circle down, and begin to make ready for the night.
Survival
"Though it might appear we have no place, one maybe found if one knows tha lands!"
"Friends," begins Damian as they fly towards Izmir. His powerful, clear voice carries over the wind without shouting. "We are tired, I know. Our mounts are tired. Our spirits are tired. But we have a duty to Izmir, the light of hope for the rest of the world. We have miles to go, yes, but that is a burden that we must accept. That cavalry is heading to Izmir with the intent to lay it to seige. Izmir needs us to warn it. We must press on, force ourselves to the point of exhaustion. We can arrive in Izmir a whole day before our enemy, if we are swift. We must press on as hard as we can."
He flies closer to Ayaleth, speaking to the slyph as a soldier. "When we left Izmir, we needed Na-Calanon's assistance to make it through the seige. I imagine that we will require the same to re-enter. How was it when you left? In either case, after we rest tonight, I want you to fly as fast as you can to tell Izmir that we are coming. Your mount is faster than any of ours, and far more capable of evading their defenses. Tell Nal-Calanon and Captain Merit that we have returned, and that we may require their assistance. If there is no beseiging force, we have lost nothing, but if we arrive unprepared and fail to make it through, we have lost everything."