Beacons of Hope: Wrath of the Righteous!

Game Master GM the Fifth

Now that you have a chance to focus on your surroundings instead of the beasts that were trying to kill you all, you can see smoke rising into the air from both the command tent to the southwest and the warehouses to the north.

You can't keep up with Sosiel who is on horseback, but you don't have far to go, either. When you arrive, you see a chaotic scene: the drake is dead, but one of the warehouses has collapsed and is burning. Aron finds you as you approach and says, "Sirs. Good to see you are all OK.

"Only good news is there were a lot of archers here still, and it didn't last long once they got into action." Now that you are closer, you see well over a dozen arrows stuck into the drake's hide.

"Sosiel taking care of the worst injuries, but he is nearly tapped out and the paladins were a long time ago."

Spending an hour here (again) would help the army minimize losses.

"Of course, I will do what I can to help. Bring me to the wounded," says Kemat. "The power of Aset is still with me."

Darya pitches in to help wherever needed, using her limited skill with healing, but more so, her ensuring her presence is both seen and felt in the aftermath of the battle.

I figure if everyone within 30ft of me has a continuous +4 vs fear (+5 if adjacent), just making my way through the crowd and giving support and encouragement would be great for morale.

With no healing skill to speak of, Alexa opts to do the next best thing and stay out of everyone's way.

Not having much knowledge in the ways of healing, but still able to heal through his connection with the land, Arloric joins Kemat in tending to the wounded.

I can cast cure light wounds but that's about it.

Of note, when Kemat channels, she also cures fatigue and disease due to her merciful healer abilities. In addition, she can use her Rebuke Death ability to stabilize people who are dying. The former might come up for people who've been fighting for hours, allowing them to be refreshed and ready again. The latter is likely less useful, as anyone at negative hit points has probably already perished, unless they were stabilized by someone else with at Heal check.

is this a place where they can look for survivors? She is trying to find those with wizardrly talent that she can help begin a school of magic.

Knowing that her skills lie not in the healing arts, in fact, her magic t ends to do quiet the opposite, she will go and help the archers keep an eye out for danger, hoping that her elven eyes will help in this case.

You don't find any survivors in the rubble of the collapsed building, but you are able to heal up most of the injured that escaped before it came down. There are only a couple of casualties outside, surprisingly, and both appear to be victims of the drake.

The time you spend here is enough to prevent significant losses to your army's reserves.

Once the immediate crisis is over, you follow Sosiel and Aron back to Irabeth's command tent. The damage is significant here, as well, but again the casualties are limited and most of the damage is burned up tents and damaged supplies. The body of the flame drake is on the ground with dozens of arrows sticking out of it, and the damage to a roof nearby suggests it clipped the building as it fell.

Irabeth sees you as you approach and beckons you over.

"Thank the gods you are okay! I saw the Beast of Drezen descend into the city and had a feeling you were its target. Reports are that you killed it in a fierce skirmish. Please tell me that's true.

"We took a bit of a beating here but we have mostly recovered. Vhane nearly did a number on us sending these drakes out while we were scattered and unprepared."

"The Beast is indeed fallen, though I leave that tale to the warriors. We also bolstered the reservists who were attacked, and though we could not save everyone, we have kept the troops in good order," says Kemat.

"That is excellent news. In talking with the citizens here, we've learned that the chimera was more than just one their key defenses: it was used to intimidate the populace and help keep them in line. In slaying it, you've destroyed an important symbol of the demons' power here."

She turns to face Aron. "What can you tell me of the prisoners we've liberated?"

"They were part of a large company that was just inside the border of the Worldwound when they were attacked on Armasse. They haven't been held here for very long, which works out well for us as they are still in good health and anxious to get back in the fight. If it wasn't for them," he says, sweeping an arm towards the party, "that wouldn't be the case. Many of them were injured, quite severely, in the drake attack. One of the buildings collapsed, though, and there were ten casualties. All but two were prisoners. It could have been much worse, however."

Listening to the conversation, the elf suggests this, You may want to have clerics or paladins check to make sure that demons have not infiltrated the prisoners.

"That's a good suggestion Telarin, we've seen that's one of their favorite tactics." Darya agrees with the mage's assessment.

"Good to know that the fall of The Beast will carry a lot among the population., though I am truly sorry to hear that there were casualties among those who only just had hope restored. Though at least, they died free." she adds solemnly.

Alexa wrinkles her nose.

"Right. Now, what's our next move?"

Irabeth thinks for a moment, and says, "That is a good idea. I'll make sure that happens if someone didn't think of it already.

"As for our next move, we need to lay siege to the citadel itself. Of course, we don't have any siege weapons, but preventing those who can't teleport from escaping is good enough. The courtyard inside the walls is where their last defensive forces are holed up, and they are preparing for an invasion. Namely, us.

"But," she says, pointing to the fortress in the distance, "three of those towers have catapults on them. They appear to be designed for close defense, so we are out of range now, but we won't be once we cross the river bed. Before we can engage their forces, we need those catapults taken out.

"Anevia says they are manned by brimoraks. They can teleport, so if you don't find a way to take them stealthily, you could find yourself fighting three or more at the same time.

"We need a full day to bolster our forces with the liberated prisoners. That means getting them armed and armored, and assigned to units to replace the soldiers we lost this morning. So, you have today and tomorrow to do this. I'd like to attack early morning, two days from now."

"If I can get close enough, I can use an enchantment to warp wood and make the catapults unusable," says Kemat. "The advantage is that if we repulse the attackers and are able to seize the catapults, I can then undo the magic so that our own side can use them."

"Nice. If we can salvage the catapults and restore them for our use later, all the better. It does still mean moving from one to the other, and giving you time to use your magic, while dealing with teleporting demons." Darya points out. "Anyone have a means of blocking or stopping teleportation?"

Know planes 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 17 + 2 = 21 to find out about the brimoracks

"That is excellent news. In talking with the citizens here, we've learned that the chimera was more than just one their key defenses: it was used to intimidate the populace and help keep them in line. In slaying it, you've destroyed an important symbol of the demons' power here."

"Imagine how great a symbol it'll be for US when one of us marches onto the battlefield wearing its hide as a mantle!" Arloric comments with a grin.

Irabeth thinks for a moment, and says, "That is a good idea. I'll make sure that happens if someone didn't think of it already.

"As for our next move, we need to lay siege to the citadel itself. Of course, we don't have any siege weapons, but preventing those who can't teleport from escaping is good enough. The courtyard inside the walls is where their last defensive forces are holed up, and they are preparing for an invasion. Namely, us.

"But," she says, pointing to the fortress in the distance, "three of those towers have catapults on them. They appear to be designed for close defense, so we are out of range now, but we won't be once we cross the river bed. Before we can engage their forces, we need those catapults taken out.

"Anevia says they are manned by brimoraks. They can teleport, so if you don't find a way to take them stealthily, you could find yourself fighting three or more at the same time.

"We need a full day to bolster our forces with the liberated prisoners. That means getting them armed and armored, and assigned to units to replace the soldiers we lost this morning. So, you have today and tomorrow to do this. I'd like to attack early morning, two days from now."

"What's worse is if we DON'T take the brimoraks down quickly, they can teleport out and call for help. Or more likely demand slave-soldiers move to reinforce the towers or die. Either is bad."

He nods at Kemat and Darya's suggestion.

Correction: I said three up there catapults, and the count is actually four.

She will share the information in the spoiler with the group.

"We'll need to hit them hard and fast, and have a few options to hit them from range if getting up close will be difficult for some of us." Darya strategizes.

Alexa looks down at her gladius.

"I think I'm going to need an upgrade for my weapon--it barely made a scratch against the Beast of Drezen at the best of times."

Irabeth says, "We'll have a planning meeting in 30 minutes to pool our knowledge on brimoraks, the towers, and the citadel itself.

"Until then, I suggest cold iron against demons if you have them."

She makes her way to the meeting room.

Bron walks into the room, having taken mental notes about all what's going on and what's needed.

"Best way to prevent their teleport is to kill them, period." He murmurs, evaluating how many strikes from his sword would he need for that.

Arloric holds up his sword with a smirk when Irabeth recommends cold iron weapons.

"Got you covered!"

"Do we have time to prepare our spells for this specific battle, or do we need to leave immediately?"

Alexa leaves to go in search of a well-made cold iron gladius.

Looking for at least a masterwork cold iron gladius. If it's enchanted, that'd be nice too.

Should I roll for it?

This is fine. While I you might expect Drezen to be bereft of cold iron weapons, it has its underground like any other city and, amazingly, at your arrival and apparent success at retaking the city, suddenly cold iron weapons have appeared on the streets. People seem to be confident that liberation is just around the corner, and are arming themselves appropriately.

Buying a +1 cold iron gladius for 2,030 GP and selling my old masterwork gladius for 165 GP. Net result is 218.48 GP.

Alexa returns later, bearing a gladius wrought from cold iron in the place of her old weapon. Its surface clearly reflects her cold, stony glare.

Darya breathes a little easier knowing her love carries a weapon forged to bring harm to the enemy.

1:00 pm

You meet Irabeth in the new command tent. Aron, Nurah and her minder, Anevia, and Sosiel are there. And, to your surprise, so is Uriel. Irabeth sees your expressions as you enter and says, "As you can see Uriel is back with us. I couldn't talk about this earlier, but I sent him on a special assignment. We'll get to that later. For now, the more immediate issue is these watchtowers. Nurah?"

Nurah pulls out what appear to be old construction plans. "The citadel is surrounded by a 30' tall fortified wall, which forms a rough hexagon with a gap at the south end. There's a watchtower at each vertex, and at the start and end of the wall, so seven total. The towers are 40' high, and 60' in diameter. Of these seven towers, four are still in good repair, and each has a catapult. According to the construction diagrams, there's a large, wooden turntable at the top of each tower, used to aim those catapults. The towers themselves are mostly hollow, containing only a spiral staircase for accessing the roof and battlements."

Map of Drezen showing the citadel

Map of a watchtower

Irabeth says, "Each tower is manned by a single brimorak demon.It's difficult to get a view of the towers themselves, but we are confident that it's just one in each. Occasionally we see two together, and when that happens one of the other towers is unmanned. That's enough to lead us to believe that this is the extent of the towers' protection. After our successes here the defenders seem to be spread thin.

"We need these catapults taken out of action. It doesn't need to be permanent, but it does need to be something that can't be reversed in just a couple of days, even with magic. We have pooled our resources on what we know about brimoraks."

Nurah speaks again. "Brimoraks, like most demons, are difficult to injure. You'll need cold iron weapons, or those imbued with holy power. They can't be harmed by electricity or fire. They do not like cold, and though they can shrug off some of its effects what does get through hits them hard. They can shrug off spells.

"They can teleport, but only once a day. This can work to your advantage. In general, they do not have a lot of magical ability, but they have a very limited ability to disrupt magic, create fireballs, heat metal, and summon other demons."

Nurah pauses, then says, "A single brimorak is no match for the seven of you. In fact, even two brimoraks would not present a challenge. You'd have to fight all four at once for it to get ugly."

Irabetha takes over again. "How you want to do this is up to you, but...I believe you could assault these towers in two groups, and hit two of them simultaneously. Best case, you take each brimorak out before they can call for help. Worst case, you fight two or three at once. And frankly, even three brimoraks against half your number would be a battle in your favor. Alternatively, you could go after just one tower, and try to goad the others into joining in the fray. Or, you could play stealthy and try to take out one tower at a time.

"Doesn't matter to me. Once the brimoraks are dead, you'll be free to destroy the catapults if you act quickly.

"The enemy knows we are here. An attack on the towers is probably something they expect to happen, they just don't know when or how. The main thing to worry about is getting scaling the walls without being seen until you are already over the top."

"How much time do we have? I can adjust my spells if we don't have to go immediately," says Kemat. "Protecting the team from fire and perhaps dealing with ways to prevent the brimorak from teleporting away, maybe a few other surprises."

"That would be extremely useful!" Darya adds looking to Irabeth. "When do you plan to have the army move on the fortress? That would set our timeline to bring the towers under control."

Irabeth says, "Their remaining army is organizing within the walls and digging in, preparing for an assault. The longer we give them, the more time they have to harass us, organize raids, call for help, or for those who can't teleport, to escape. We have them off balance, and I want to press that advantage.

"You don't have to tackle this problem immediately. We will need the rest of today and all of tomorrow before we are ready to move on them. If we need to delay another day, we can...but I'd prefer not to. At that point we are pushing our luck and I would expect to see some further retaliation."

"That should be more than enough time for Kemat and Telerin to ensure they have the ideal magic prepared for the task, right ladies?" the paladin asks, turning to the two primary spellcasters.

She was burning with curiosity as to what Uriel had been up to, but for now she maintained her focus on the mission.

"Can we attempt to take the catapaults and turn them against the enemy, like Darya suggested earlier? Or would you prefer we destroyed them to guarantee they not be used at all?" Arloric asks.

Uriel steps forward "I may have a partial solution. I'll have more to say about Irabeth's task for me later" he says, acknowledging her with a nod, "But suffice to say it was a productive trip, and Our Lord" he says, nodding to Darya, "has been good to me." Carefully stepping away from others, toward the center of the tent where there is height to spare, the aasimar manifests a set of five flaming wings, as he flaps them, everyone in the tent is buffeted with hot wind and he lifts up off the ground. After a moment, he drops back down and folds them against his back. "I can only do that for about a minute right now, but if we can get close enough, I can reach one of the tower tops quickly. I can probably carry one other person, and if I'm quick enough, might be able to drop someone on one tower, kill the Brimorak on the next tower, and reach the third tower before I run out of time. I can also let down rope for others to climb the walls, of course. I doubt they'll expect an aerial assault."

She is pensive as she listens to the details of what is known. I can change the energy types of the spells I can cast to cold without having to change my spell preparation, and I have a good range with my fireball spells. Would you all rather that I prepare more offensive spells and allow the cleric to provide the support and defense?

Irabeth says, "I prefer you destroy the catapults. We don't have the expertise to use siege equipment. By the time we have reinforcements who know what to do with them, we can figure something out."

She addresses Uriel next. "An aerial assault is a good idea. I will see if there are any potions or scrolls in the city that might be of use. This would be a good project for Horgus. He's already started assessing Drezen's infrastructure, with an eye on its commercial districts. I don't have a lot of money to spare for this--we will need most of what we've brought with us for reconstruction--but I can part with some of it."

Darya's eyes widen slightly as Uriel manifests flaming wings, before smiling at the sure sign of Ragathiel's blessing. "If we can get to them faster than expected and hit hard, we may well be able to take one or two of them out before they can call for reinforcements."

She nods as Irabeth lays out the mandate for dealing with the catapults. "If they're mostly wood and we're looking to destroy them rather than disable them, alchemists fire and oil might be good to use once the demons have been felled."

When appropriate she will attempt to identify these items, casting detect magic
chain shirt 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22 spellcraft
- dagger 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22 spellcraft
- pennon 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35 spellcraft

The items are:

+1 returning dagger
+1 chain shirt
Knight's Pennon, battle

She informs the group about what she has discovered about these items.

Knight's Pennon
This narrow cloth flag is made to attach to the end a knight’s lance, though it can be flown from a spear, polearm, or even a staff. It has no effect if not mounted appropriately.

A knight’s pennon grants different benefits depending on its color and design.

Battle: The red knight’s pennon of battle allows its bearer to benefit from heroism once per day.

Arloric is awed by Uriel's new trick.

"It's almost like looking at Sister Cinder..." he says, before composing himself and nodding at Irabeth's words. "Makes sense, thanks for clarifying."

"I should probably see about securing some more solid armor. I've fallen in battle at least a couple of times, and while I'm hard to kill, I'd rather not render myself useless so quickly."

Alexa blinks at Uriel's display, seemingly not as awed as the others.

"Impressive." She remarks before turning back to the assembly. "What's our strategy if the worst happens?"

Feel free to use the discussion thread to do your planning OOC.