The warforged hold their fire.
"The whole gang's here," Janosz mutters, "but they are currently invisible in case more trouble rolls in. Get me up to speed on the situation here."
Ezreal calls out as well the tension in his voice clear, "We are here, but you seem to be under attack so you will have to forgive my caution while we let the spell run its course. We can aid your troops briefly or evacuate all of you, but we cannot stay long."
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“I understand Ezreal,” Lightbringer nods, facing the general direction that Ezreal’s voice emerged from. “We greatly welcome your aid; I was preparing to lead a sortie against the warmachine flinging the living spells – seeing how handily Janosz dealt with the spell reaffirms to me how much we need your help. I understand if you cannot stay long – but I regret to say that most of my comrades here will not wish to evacuate. Help, however brief, will be appreciated.”
The warforged turns back to Janosz. “The situation is this,” he begins, speaking quickly and precisely. “A former follower of the Lord of Blades, Bludgeon, has rejected his one-time leader’s philosophy. With his followers,” he gestures to the other warforged in the courtyard, and back towards the keep, “Bludgeon seeks to establish a new sanctuary for warforged here in the Mournlands, one that does not preach hatred of the fleshed races. I have become one of Bludgeon’s chief spiritual advisers, and have helped many of my fellows here find faith in the Silver Flame.”
“As well as offering sanctuary to displaced warforged, Bludgeon wishes to act as a foil to the Lord of Blades militaristic tendencies and evil intentions towards the Five Kingdoms. Having witnessed them first hand, I share Bludgeon’s concern at the number of the Lord of Blades’ followers and the destructive power of his exotic weaponry – much of it salvaged from Cannith facilities and warped by the Day of Mourning; the weapon that flings living spells against us is but one example. The Lord of Blades has definite intentions to attack the Five Kingdoms, and his position here in the Mournlands puts him within easy striking distance of at least three of them. A significant force that opposes him here, such as one provided by Bludgeon, helps blunt his threat.”
“Unfortunately we may have made our move here to Fort Gaillard prematurely, or else underestimated the Lord of Blades’ ability to counter us. We have come under siege by a large force at a time when we are under-resourced, both in number of warriors and sufficient resources to repair our damage for much longer. Darkheart waits without, and his force commands several powerful weapons.”
“It is my belief that if we are able to destroy the weapons and vanquish Darkheart, the siege would be broken, and the Lord of Blades would not have the forces or weaponry available to further threaten this fort – or targets outside the Mournlands – for several months at least, in which time we would be able to significantly reinforce our numbers and position. I do not know if my allies and I could achieve this goal – but I believe with your help and by the grace of the Flame, a quick and precise strike against Darkheart could succeed.”
Lightbringer lowers his voice and steps closer, so that the other warforged in the courtyard are unlikely to hear. “Beyond that … I desire to leave with you, if your fight against the evils of this world continue. While I feel I can do much good here, I also wish to lead by example in terms of working with the fleshed races, rather than leading a separate existence here in the Mournlands – though I can see that that is right for some of my kindred. Still, the faith of my fellows is young, and without strong spiritual guidance my concern is that they may stray; turn away from the Flame, perhaps return to the fold of the Lord of Blades, or concede to a philosophy of hostility towards the humanoids that have driven them away. They will need faith to stand against the Lord of Blades, and in conscious I am not sure that their faith will remain without continued guidance. I pray to the Flame that you understand and forgive me if, after this current armed action is complete, my assessment is that I still cannot return with you.”
Another disembodied voice speaks up, forgetting to identify itself. "Glad to see you are still operational, Lightbringer. Do you have a place where we can set up the tent?"
"Name the primary targets. What are Darkheart's siege engines and how far out?"
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The plan is to reach the machines and destroy both them and the ammunition. Killing Retort and the warforged titans would also be a bonus. For the ordinary soldiers this would be a very tough assignment, emerging from the castle, crossing the ground and attacking some very tough opponents. For the adventurers this should be much more doable as they have greater mobility and firepower. It would strike a blow against Darkheart's army, though not necessarily immediately end the siege.
“There are two catapult-like devices, stationed about 900 feet away outside the gates. This castle will not hold up for long against a sustained barrage. The ammunition is kept near the machines - canisters containing living spells. Each catapult is manned by a warforged titan as a loader. The catapults are overseen by firing crews, guarded by at least two squads of troopers. In overall command of the war machines is one of the Lord of Blades favoured underlings, an artificer named Retort,” Lightbringer recites this all rather maater-of-factly.
“We will not last long against those catapults. My plan is to reach the machines and destroy both them and the ammunition. Destroying Retort and the warforged titans would be the secondary objective. The chance of success with the troops here would be low – a last ditch effort, as we would face strong opposition and attacks as we crossed the open ground. If you were to assist I believe our chance of success greatly improves, as you have greater mobility and firepower than most of my troops here. Success would strike a solid blow against Darkheart's army, and stave off our imminent defeat. Though it may not immediately end the siege.”
"All right! Let's get an overview, shall we? By the way, how long does the invisibility effect last?" Janosz scrambles up the interior wall and peers over the battlements. "What is your plan for your troops? Stay inside and support us with missile fire?"
Cassandra's voice follows the ranger into the battlements. "Minutes only. It would need to be refreshed to cover that ground and footprints would be visible unless it's stone from here to the destination."[b]
[b]"Lightbringer, are any of your warriors able to run a catapult if it were captured? How many would be necessary to load one of those canisters?"
"I was wondering if we could attack their ammo from a distance and maybe let the living spells do some of the work for us."
"All right! Let's get an overview, shall we? By the way, how long does the invisibility effect last?" Janosz scrambles up the interior wall and peers over the battlements. "What is your plan for your troops? Stay inside and support us with missile fire?"
“If you will accompany me to the enemy catapults then yes, I would suggest that the best use of most of the warforged troops here will be to provide missile cover. Some may be both willing and capable enough to strike with us.”
Cassandra's voice follows the ranger into the battlements. "Minutes only. It would need to be refreshed to cover that ground and footprints would be visible unless it's stone from here to the destination."[b]
[b]"Lightbringer, are any of your warriors able to run a catapult if it were captured? How many would be necessary to load one of those canisters?"
“I had not thought to use the enemy’s war machines against them. Some of those here may have training in using siege equipment – I would have to ask.”
An invisible voice, unknown to Lightbringer, pipes up from within the vicinity of Janosz. "I have a distant memory of working some siege engines. Are there any here I could direct with a crew? Failing that, if we get over there, I can use one against their troops, though that'd also need a crew. Hmmm... Or I can just charge forth with others. I could summon a wall of blades, as usual, but it can't move. It could shore up a defensive weakness if the footsoldiers come after us, or could just surround us if we get stuck."
"Flight. Invisibility. Ring of blades. But titans and living spells. An interesting scenario. How many are manning a catapult, Janosz? Lightbringer, have you seen evidence of a mage among their number?"
"We still need to set up the tent. Perhaps in the yard away from where the spell-shell landed? Maybe we can sneak in and sabotage the catapults as a first move. Choices, always choices."
Janosz looks out over the wall. The fortress sits on a low rocky hill. Beyond, the besieging army surrounds the castle on bleak plain. About a mile away a leafless forest spreads across some higher ground.
These being warforged, there are no tents or other comforts and there is little noise from the army as they largely stand and stare back at Janosz. However, he can make out the machines to which Lightbringer referred. Here there is more activity, as two warforged titans lift more canisters into the launching cradles of the catapults. Other warforged troopers move around tending the machinery.
"Oof. Sounds like a lot of them. And the machines are just out of reach of my best transport spell. We'll need to distract them or out-think them. I presume they are capable warriors, but even complete incompetence in great enough numbers can be formidable."
"I suggest you set up the tent inside the keep - the courtyard will soon be the target for more living spells," says Lightbringer. "However we approach, we need to make it soon."
Gil hauls the tent to the keep and starts setting it up. As she moves away from the mage, she becomes visible, appearing as a young half-elf woman with long dark hair, toting a rather large bundle of fabric and material toward the keep.
"In general terms, we can assault one catapult, seize it and use it against the other one. However, we need to get there first."
"Also, where is their leader?"
to spot banners or a smaller group of warforged moving together or something similar that would indicate where the commanding officer is.
Once the tent has been set up, Gil will study the canister they have along with any others within the walls that might be available.
Thinking out loud, she mulls options, "My magic can get me quite close quickly, but not undetected. Perhaps I could fly and avoid notice, but how long could I remain so at the site? Silence the catapult, cause the team difficulty in hearing orders? Acid - do we have acid? Acid on a crucial link to weaken it? Kazadar, you are likely a better engineer than I am, how does one disable a catapult subtly?"
"Well, attacking the threads or the arm should do nicely enough. Doing so stealthily, though..."
“We should aim to advance as quickly as we can – using spells to increase our speed if possible – towards the nearest catapult. Move as a group so as to assist each other if we come under assault, but not so close that we make too tempting a target for area assaults from the catapults or the alchemist. If we can move under cover of invisibility or some other magical cover, all the better. If possible, it would be ideal to harry both titans from range as we move, to prevent them from reloading and firing; if not feasible, we concentrate on moving as quickly as we can. Once we reach the catapult we will come under attack from the titan and other warforged – if we have not already by this point. Those of us most suited to should engage the defenders, whilst Matilda and anyone else with the expertise to do so assesses the catapult. If it can be turned against the other catapult – good. If not, disable it. If possible, we should not engage Darkheart until we have dealt with the catapults and their crews. Holy Flame willing we will succeed.” Lightbringer looks about at the others. “Does this plan sound suitable? If so, let us take twelve to eighteen seconds to cast preparatory spells, then move.”
"As long as we either destroy those catapults or sabotage them it seems viable. With them out of the picture the fort may stand and we have somewhere to fall back to when necessary. Give me just a moment to prepare."
"Can living spells be dispelled? Or are the containers they are in magical and subject to dispel?"
"Gil- the canisters containing the living spells have to rely on arcane bonds to hold them. So we can assume that the ward can be suppressed by dispelling it. Take this." Ez pulls a wand from the sheath on his forearm. "It is weaker than what you can do, but if there are a lot of them, use it all."