Soltengrebbe:
Tauni:
Everyone looked to the castle and saw a large creature fly over the walls and directly toward the group. It seemed like it should not be that quick, but it closed the distance toward the open area the group was skirting surprisingly quickly. The field sloped up toward the castle, so the group had been planning on approaching a low wall at the far end of the field and spying on the castle. Now it appeared the creature would be on them all before they could find cover. It looks to be a single creature with three heads.
Tauni seemed to surprise herself when she marveled at the creature and murmured "Its beautiful. Terrible, but beautiful."
"We can't let it outrun us and get to the army; it would be devastating!"
Tauni casts haste on the group, hoping it is enough to tip the balance of the imminent battle.
Tauni caste a spell, and as the magic took effect, the monster flew closer. It became increasingly obvious that the beast was a chimera, a seldom seen, almost mythical creature. The stories usually depicted such a monster as having the fore body of a lion, the hind quarters of a goat, and a serpent tail, with two extra heads, a dragon and a mountain goat. It had all this, although the body was ten feet long. It somehow also seemed more powerful and dangerous, with the central head like an oversized snow leopard, the dragon head white like a white dragon, huffing clouds of frosty air, and the goat head midnight black with jagged horns.
Tauni’s insight about keeping the chimera away from the armies was wise, as even from a distance it was clear the knights would be no match for this magical beast.
The Paladin leads her friends into battle. As a swift action, she declares her smite against the monstrous foe. She then casts Divine Favor and moves forward as far as possible to engage the beast, calling out her challenge. ”Come face a true champion of the Inheritor, foul beast! Today will be your last to threaten this land!”
Karas stood his ground as the monstrous beast came for them.
|
Anarya's eyes lock on the fearsome beast of legend, and she gasps at the sheer power she can feel, even at this distance, emanating from the monster. Spying the frosty air billowing from the dragon head's jaws, Anarya calls upon her halo's light to shield her allies from cold. Warmth envelops each of them as she moves to stand at Karas's side, weapon raised - ready to meet this fell beast alongside her love.
"The hell is that other than ugly?" Raine muttered, before she decided the best thing to do was riddle it with arrows first, and ask questions later.
|
|
Avelina saw her opportunity and went for it while the monster was still far off.
Avelina cupped her hands in front of her, as though taking a drink from some sacred spring. A ball of shifting fire no bigger than a chestnut blazed into existence in her palms.
”Witness, Villains and Heroes alike, the Spark of a Single Righteous Soul.”
She held it up to her mouth and blew. The tiny ball shot forward with surprising speed. As it reached the formation of tieflings, it appeared to wink out for a fraction of a moment. But then! Avelina threw open her arms and a whole field flaming flowers exploded into orange-gold bloom.
Tauni:
As the strange almalgam of creatures flies closer, only Karas recalls any specific lore about such creatures. Tauni knows of the creature, but only the general sort of creature that it is. This one may well have abilities unknown to such creatures if the demons have groomed it for battle.
Chimeras are monstrous creatures born of primordial evil. Hateful and hungry, they hunt on the ground or in the air. A chimera’s dragon head may be of any evil dragon type, with the corresponding breath weapon, and its wings usually match the scales on its head. Chimeras speak with three overlapping voices, but rarely do so, typically only when playing toady to a more powerful creature. A chimera is 5 feet tall at the shoulder, nearly 10 feet long, and weighs 700 pounds.
Chimeras prefer meat but can subsist on vegetable matter if necessary (although being forced to do so generally leaves the beasts more ill-tempered than usual). Their flight means they can pick and choose their prey, and they usually hunt a large area in search of easy food. They are too stupid and belligerent to acquire followers, though sometimes a tribe of kobolds might give them offerings. Conversely, they are just intelligent and stubborn enough that they make poor pets, and only a significantly more powerful creature can keep them submissive. They may form equal partnerships with a respectful humanoid or similar creature, and even consent to be used as a mount. A pride of chimeras is very leonine in its hierarchy, with a dominant male leading the group and most of the hunting done by the females. A solitary chimera may be a young male or a female with cubs nearby.
The chimera is an evil creature of mysterious origin, resembling a great lion with its head flanked on one side by the head of a chromatic dragon, and on the other by the head of a goat . Upon its shoulders, a chimera possesses a pair of scaly leathery wings, and its tail is similarly scaled, matching the color of its draconic head. The chimera’s legend is possibly even more powerful than the strange beast itself, perhaps because tales about it always grow in the telling. The creature is so strangely stitched together that seemingly any story about it is believable. Rumors, myths, fireside stories, and travelers’ tales fill in gaps about what a chimera might be or what it could do, and none seem impossible or unlikely for a beast of such bizarre qualities. It has so many and such varied features that each one gains its own embellishment, until the creature becomes an epic tapestry of monstrous menace and brutal hatred, ideas which in and of themselves are not entirely divorced from the reality of the chimera, regardless of how inaccurate the specifics may be. Its name has become a byword among doubters, skeptics, and naysayers, who refer to anything that seems impossible, fanciful, or overly embellished as chimerical, for surely nothing in the world could possibly be all the dubious things perpetuators of the chimera myth claim the monster to be. Nonetheless, lingering in the back of even the most cynical individuals’ minds is the knowledge that whatever the chimera is, it must be a truly horrifying beast to garner such extravagant fables.
Skeptics are correct in thinking that the tales of the chimera do in fact outstrip the reality. A chimera can speak, but it is only barely intelligent, able to do little more than curse, bluster, threaten, or (when tamed by a mightier power) complain. Chimeras are cunning enough to set rudimentary traps and create ambushes, but, while effective, their tactics are crude at best. They can fly, but clumsily and without grace. They are fierce in battle when they have the advantage, but if bloodied are apt to retreat in search of easier prey. They are not so much cowardly as they are indolent, content to scavenge rather than hunt if easy food does not present itself. Chimeras graze and gnaw plants down to the ground, despoiling fertile lands with their great hunger when they choose not to do so with their caustic breath. A chimera is always on the prowl for bigger and better prey, however, and when hungry will attack just about any creature smaller than itself.
Despite all these coarse qualities, a chimera is highly adaptable, able to survive in the midst of desolation, and in possession of a hateful cunning. Its savage brain is just bright enough to remember an attacker and seek revenge, clever enough not to fall for the same trick twice, and social enough to gather together in prides when overwhelming an enemy is the best way to win a fight.
Avelina's fiery explosion caught Soltengrebbe completely by surprise and he flew straight into the blast. The flames enveloped the monster momentarily, as it roared above the rumble of the spell, before it burst out of the flames flying on toward the heroes bracing for its arrival. Its flanks burned in places, but it did not seem to pay the flames much mind.
Raine's arrows mostly bounced off the armor-like hide, but one arrow drove through to lodge in its flank.
Anarya provided magic insulation against the expected biting cold of the chimera's breath, as Karas and Ellena watched and waited for it to close to melee range.
The creature did not seem to be flying that fast, but it managed to close more quickly than expected, reaching a point close enough for the dragon to breath its frigid breath on those waiting on the ground.
Round 2
Tauni (cold resist 20)
Soltengrebbe (45 lethal, on fire)
Karas (Shield Other, haste, cold resist 20)
Avelina (Shield, Mage Armor, heroism, false life, haste, cold resist 20)
Raine (haste, cold resist 20)
Anarya (Magic Circle against Evil, Veil of heave, corruption Resistance, haste, cold resist 20)
Ellena (haste, Smite evil, AC 25, cold resist 20)
Soltengrebbe (45 lethal/116, on fire)
Tauni moved closer and cast a spell that she hoped would slow the chimera down and keep it from bypassing them.
Casting slow after moving up within range. DC 18 will save, SR applies if it has it.
Mythic Breath (Dragon):
DC 19
Anarya:
Avelina:
Ellena:
Karas:
Raine:
Tauni:
Tauni's slow spell energy formed a skein of golden threads that spread out to engulf the chimera, but the threads broke up as they interacted with the creature's stern will.
The dragon head shot forward and a blast of freezing cold winds filled with jagged ice shards flowed over the field of battle. Anarya's protective spell turned the cold into luke warm air, but the ice slivers cut into everyone, although everyone but Ellena managed to diminish the damage by turning their backs and shielding their faces before the worst of it shot into them.
The chimera flew and landed on the ground next to Tauni, Avelina, and Ellena.
Round 2
Karas (Shield Other, haste, cold resist 20, 3 lethal)
Avelina (Shield, Mage Armor, heroism, false life, haste, cold resist 20, 5 lethal)
Raine (haste, cold resist 20, 5 lethal)
Anarya (Magic Circle against Evil, Veil of heave, corruption Resistance, haste, cold resist 20, 7 lethal)
Ellena (haste, Smite evil, AC 25, cold resist 20, 10 lethal)
Soltengrebbe (45 lethal/116, on fire)
Round 3
Tauni (cold resist 20, 5 lethal)
The ground is undeveloped by the residents. The soil is like the general terrain of the Worldwound, essentially badlands or desert scrub like the southwest U. S.
As the creature landed, Karas was a blur of motion. There was something new in his familiar combat changes this time. His jaw distended, teeth grew, and scales formed drawing to a half-Dragonlike snout. He called out in a far more gutteral tone, "It shouldn't have any form of resistance!"
In an instant Karas was behind the chimera, tearing at its flanks.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Avelina, Raine, Ellena, and Tauni all feel their wounds heal . Anarya grits her teeth as the pain from her companions' wounds passes to her, but she is unconcerned. She knows her healing powers are at their strongest on herself. The light from her halo spills out, healing her companions' remaining wounds and eliminating her own. The same light crashes over Soltengebbe as fiery wrath, scorching the fell beast.
But Anarya is not done. She focuses her remaining light into a beam - a powerful blast that she sends directly at the monster. Not fire, now... this is the overwhelming power of goodness itself, cascading into the three-headed beast infused with divine wrath.
Ellena takes three powerful cuts with Radiance, screaming with passion as she swung her blade. She extended a part of her Mythic Power to gain the benefit of power Attack without taking the negatives (for one minute.)
Attack with Haste, Mythic Power Attack, Flanking, and Smite Evil
Damage with Mythic Power Attack and Smite Evil
Haste Attack with Haste, Mythic Power Attack, Flanking, and Smite Evil
Damage with Mythic Power Attack and Smite Evil
Iterative Attack with Haste, Mythic Power Attack, Flanking, and Smite Evil
Damage with Mythic Power Attack and Smite Evil
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Karas shows no respect for all the effort someone went to to create a chimera of mythic might, rending the beast in a flurry of blood and guts that leaves Karas gasping and covered in gore and leaves the chimera very dead.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
...Not sorry!
"After the leaders of the Knights of Kenabres defeated the mythic chimera and attacked and disabled several of the watch tower catapults nearest the south facing gateway, all the serious impediments to the siege of Drezen were removed. Now five armies began their preparations for the battle for the fortifications built by the dwarves as their part in the limiting of the World Wound. Dwarven fortresses were formidable and the armies of the enemy were filled with demons, human cultists, and tieflings."
The Storyteller paused to light his pipe. The evening's story telling was just getting under way, so everyone was waiting for his dramatic rendition of the battle.
As the armies prepared for battle, Aron and the other scouts circulated around the fortress, assessing the armies as the prepared for battle. Aron gave his report to the leaders.
"From the sounds of conversations that we could hear coming from just behind the curtain wall of the outer fortress, there are three armies. One sounds like a relatively small army of dretches, about the same size as the Knights of Kenabres although not as formidable. There seem to be two larger camps preparing, one sounding like it is made up chiefly of tieflings, and a second of humans. We heard prayers suggesting the cultist of the Ivory Labyrinth. Only the tieflings have bows, so be prepared for arrow attacks as the armies move across the bridge. There is no gate blocking the way to the inner courtyard, but the walls will provide some cover for the defending armies, obviously."
At the appointed hour, the Knights of Kenabres and the large army of rescued soldiers assembled and began the march toward the gates of the citadel of Drezen. Those at the fore, as they came into view of the bridge over the Ahari gorge, saw an army of dretches setting up near the north end of the bridge, joined by parts of the armies of tieflings and cultists. Horns of various timbre rang out and drums tapped out marching tempos. Anarya, resplendant in her golden armor, flanked by Ellena and Avelina, joined by Karas, Tauni, and Raine, along with many others, drew up proud and stern at the south side of the bridge.
Archers among the knights readied their initial rain of arrows before the knights charged across the bridge to take the righteous swords of the bravest in Golarian to the demons and their wretched allies. They awaited only the orders that the battle begin.
Ellena whispered to the leaders about her thoughts on the battle. ”Should we deal with the small force of drenches first? If we get the demons out of the way, that will allow us to focus on the two larger armies. If we are quick in and out with them, we could be on to the next army before we are expected.”.
"The Dretches are being used as fodder I think. trying to weaken us before the other armies move in. If we can overrun them quickly that might be best but maybe the secondary force should engage the cultists or tieflings from the flank?" Karas responded as he gazed over the field.
Tauni hugged herself as they examined the battle forming. "The dretches we fought underground, after the fall of Kenabres, seemed so formidable and terrible. It is hard to believe that so many gathered could be stopped."
She paused and mustered her courage. "But then, we aren't exactly the same novices that were struggling to survive and escape then, are we? And this army we are with, they have achieved so much already."
She stopped hugging herself and let her hands fall to her sides. With a deep breath she musters her confidence and wisps of arcane force dance across her hands like flames.
"Yes, let's annihilate them. Every last one." She looked to Anarya, awaiting her commands.
Raine had gone out earlier with the scouts, learning what she could; now, she merely nodded gravely. "I agree-- a quick victory over the dretches might help morale, Commander. The archers stand ready."
|
|
Anarya listened to her friends' counsel and agreed. "We will launch an all-out assault on the demons first. If they can be routed early, we will earn a significant tactical advantage." Runners quickly relayed her battle plans to the knights, and trumpeters stood ready to signal the attack
She strode forth before her troops and prepared to speak. A shimmer of light played around her throat and lips for a moment as she summoned another tiny miracle, and when she poke her voice was louder than the trumpets' calls, ringing clear and true to every soldier among her command. "Knights of Kenabres and defenders of Mendev, you are crusaders one and all! Today, the city of Drezen will be retaken! Today, the wretched servants of the Abyss are driven back! FOR THE INHERITOR AND FOR MENDEV!" she cried, and reached up as though to blow an invisible horn. At her gesture, a piercing horn blast rang out across the battlefield laid before them, its call answered by the trumpeters among the Knights' ranks, and the armies began their charge.
OM: +16
DV: 15
Ranged attack. Their tactic is standard and their strategy is Standard. They direct their attack at the Knights of Kenabres army.
OM = 14
DV = 12
Dretch Army
No attack
DV = 14
Results of Round 1
Knights decimate Dretch army; hp down to -16.
Tieflings do 2 damage to Knights; hp down to 14
As the trumpets blew, arrows arched over the river gorge and fell without pity or mercy on the dretch army, leaving the demons all dead or dying. But as the Knights of Kenabres struck the first blow in the battle for Drezen, the tiefling archers returned fire. Most of the arrows missed or were deflected by the fine armor worn by the paladins of Iomedae. But a few found a weak spot and some of the Paladins were killed or injured too badly to continue fighting.
The knights stowed their bows, drew their longswords, raised them high, gave a battle cry and their war horses charged across the bridge as foot soldiers of the second army, filed along beside and behind them. The battle was joined in earnest.
The cultists attacked the army of foot soldiers freed from the prisons of Paradise Hill. They throw sand and other noxious tricks to gain a momentary advantage, attacking aggressively. The tieflings played defense against the knights, hoping to last longer than the dretches.
Cult Army:
Large
Tactic: Dirty Fighters
Dirty Fighters: Your army uses trickery and unfair tactics to gain an advantage at the start of a battle. For one Melee phase this battle, its OM increases by 6. (After that Melee phase, the opposing army knows to be ready for such tricks.)
Strategy: Aggressive
Tiefling Army:
Large Army
Tactic: Standard
Strategy: Defensive
Rolls will come after Attacking armies declare their strategies. If anyone wants to call the shots for the secondary army for the crusade, go ahead. If no one does, I'll 'bot them. See the profile for the Knights of Kenabres for the stats of the other army.
|
|
The knights do not relent in their assault, but Anarya signals for the Knights to heal their wounded as they assault the cultist army aggressively, using the spellbreaker tactics taught by Aravashnial to protect themselves from tiefling assault. They reduce the savagery of their assault temporarily, but manage to restore many among the fallen paladins.
Strategy: Aggressive (+2 OM, -2 DV, +3 damage)
Tactic: Spellbreaker (+4 DV vs spellcasting enemy armies)
Boons:
- Channel Positive Energy (-1 OM, heal 3 damage).
- Battlefield Advantage (+2 OM, +2 DV)
- Defensive Tactics (+2 DV)
Knights of Kenabres: DV 21 (25 vs spellcasting), OM +11, +3 damage
-
The mercenary army attacks the cultist army aggressively, using standard tactics.
vs. Mercenary Army
Results (these might change if it turns out the OM for the knights changes)
Knights hit for 7 damage to the cultists
Mercenary Army hits for 11 to the cultists
Cultists hit for 4 to the Knights of Kenabres
Tieflings hit for 2 to the Mercenary Army.
Note the Tielfings attacked the mercenary so the Spellbreaker tactic did not help the Knights.
As it stands, the Cult army is defeated, leaving just the Tieflings to defend the castle.
The knights and the rescued crusaders converge on the cultist with savage effect. While the cultists hurt some of the knights with their dirty trick tactics, most of this was countered by the healing magic that takes place. The cultist army is broken and scatters or surrenders. The tieflings hold a more defensive line, but they look glumly at the two armies now arrayed against them, as their leader, Alarendi, a female tiefling ranger, tries to keep them at their positions and fighting.
|
|
Channel Positive Energy (Cleric 1, Paladin 4): In the Melee phase, the army deals +1d4 points of damage against an undead target army. Instead of dealing extra damage to an enemy army, the army can use this ability to heal itself; if it takes an OM penalty equal to half its ACR for one Ranged or Melee phase, it heals a number of hit points equal to its ACR.
Confident they can mop up any remaining resistance, the Knights rally and prepare for a devastating charge against the tieflings. Not wanting to risk any more lives than necessary, Anarya keeps the comparatively lightly armored mercenaries attacking more reservedly.
At her command, the knights attack, invoking the wrath of Iomedae upon the tieflings.
Knights: Aggressive, Spellbreaker, Smite Evil - DV 25, OM +14, +3 damage
Mercenaries: Standard, Standard - DV 13, OM +3
The mercenary army could not do more than contain the tiefling defenders, but the knights drove their war horses through the enemy line and the battle ended with a glorious victory for the crusade.
But as the warriors processed the enemy combatants who surrendered, for they had nowhere to run, another issue became evident. The citadel was formidable and the enemies within were not the sort that an army could overwhelm. Irabeth, Aravashnial, and the other advisers recommended that the leadership team infiltrate the walls and search out the remnants of the enemy and use their superior skills to complete the mission by finding the Sword of Valor.
|
|
Despite the bad blood between them and the many deaths that now lay behind them, Anarya knew that some of these tieflings may yet redeem themselves, and they were unlikely to ever do so if they received harsh treatment at the hands of their captors. She knew she could count on the knights to treat their captured foes with respect and dignity, but she didn't know enough about the mercenaries to trust they would do the same, so she made sure to keep them stationed at least some distance from the prisoners when the armies dug in around the citadel.
These duties completed, she returned to her command tent where the others would be waiting. Striding inside, she removed her gleaming golden helmet and set it on the camp table that had been erected to display the map of the city. Despite the armor's bulk and the exertion of the battle, she seemed not to have sweat at all under the helmet and not one hair on her head was out of place.
She smiled at her friends warmly, still awash with the satisfaction of victory. "We did it, everyone. The Knights have won the field, and now this next trial is ours to face - together."
Karas lovingly looked over his warrior angel, "There wasn't any doubt with you at the front." he smiled.
His scales glistening in what little sunlight was left in the sky as he turned to the keep.
The tiefling hardened his gaze, "What do you think were going to find?"
”I’d expect much the same as we faced out here. Demons, undead, and more demons. All the better for us to cleave through if you ask me. The Inheritor will smile down on us as we take on those evil creatures!”. Ellena was more exuberant than usual, still marveling at the wonderful talents of their army.
"the Inheritor... sure." Karas muttered while holding a hand over an amulet under his armor.
"Haec nos vias extraneas Apsu ardere." he whispers before absent mindedly rubbing Terendelev's scale
"the Inheritor... sure." Karas muttered while holding a hand over an amulet under his armor.
Tauni gave a sly smile when she heard what Karas murmured. She closed her eyes, but tilted her head back as though looking to the sky. It matters little what deities earn the glory, as long as the Wealthy Father's civilization carries on.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So with the armies victorious, the six heroes gathered at the gates of the citadel to enter and cleanse the fort of demons and their allies. They were fortified with the righteousness of their task, confident that the gods watched over them. But gods still require valor of their servants, and the creatures waiting within would be some of the strongest and most vicious they had yet faced.
The main double doors of the gate stand slightly ajar, allowing a cautious look inside. The doors and ceiling are tall enough to allow horse riders to enter without dismounting. The passage was designed with a portculis that could be lowered to prevent entry, but that too appears damaged, hanging with its bottom five feet above the floor. Doors flank the hall and another set of tall double doors (intact) block the far end. Nothing is visible, although there is a distinct smell of sulfur throughout. There are no lights illuminating the area.
Prior to the leaders going into Drezen fortress, Aron sketches out a rough map of the interior, based on his studies of maps of the fortress when he was in Kenabres. It shows the general floor plan, but not what is in the rooms other than might be suggested as a likely function of the room. Obviously the demons may have altered the interior to suit their own needs. The areas that are grey instead of brown are the top of battlements and any stairs are those that lead to and from the battlements.
He identifies where the Sword of Valor was kept, a vault with secret doors, but there is no guarantee that the relic is there now. [It is the room west of the solid black square on the western side of the map.]
Ellena nodded at Raine, wanting the sharp eyed ranger close, to warn of dangers. She took a deep breath and moved forward, leading the group. She held her gleaming shield at the ready, prepared to take cleansing light into this dark place.
The door has enough of a gap that one could slip in without opening it further.
Raine eyed the door critically, fingering an arrow's feathers as she did so. After seeing nothing amiss, she gave a slight nod, and gestured the others forward with two fingers before nocking the arrow in her hand onto the string of her bow.
Karas stepped side by side with Ellena. While the paladin was certainly formidable, he could better react this way.
"A secret vault, in a demon held fortress... this oughta be fun." he smirked and tossed a look back over his shoulder. "Its not like we havent had to find those before."