A table stacked with maps sits in this cave's center, while drawings scratched into the walls depict stylized eyes and creatures writhing in flames. Sheets and furs line a massive bed.
The maps depict the terrain of the Hollow Hills, along with detailed notes about the region's wildlife.
There is a narrow crack in the wall in the western wall.
As the snake coils fall away around him, Rogar stays (admittedly unsteadily) standing, stone skin cracked and bleeding, mildly annoyed at the ladies' amusement, but gratefully accepts Wulfram's healing as the cracks go away and his wounds heal. "Thank ye. Ah think ah need ta be more careful abou' charging in." he says.
Looking at the crack, Rogar does his best to widen it just a bit with his powers, allowing them all to get through easier.
The crack widens, allowing you access to a concealed chamber. A deep well of mineral-laden waters here extends down over 100 feet, and another crack leads to a chamber to the south.
Peering down into the well, you can just make out a pile of bones at the bottom. You can also hear quiet voices speaking to each other in Common from beyond the crack, fear and anxiety evident in their tone.
Wulfram went back out into the main chamber, and looked through the opening to the north, near where they fought the giant snake.
The Legion erected wooden barricades across two smaller side caverns as a place to keep humanoid captives. Twenty-one captives—mostly humans—remain, emaciated and sickly. They cry out to be rescued upon spotting Wulfram!
A smaller chamber between the two pens stores a variety of goods, including 100 iron rations, 10 doses of antiplague, and a jar of stone salve, as well as mundane camp supplies.
The final chamber in these caves appears to have been burrowed out to serve as a large den, though its occupant is missing. Only a few massively oversized plates of chitin remain behind,
Wulfram worked to free the prisoners. "I'm Wulfram of Phaendar", he told them. "We're going to try to get you to Longshadow, which is still holding out against the Ironfang Legion."
He offered the captives food and water, and healed their injuries.
While Wulfram tends to the captives, Rogar checks out the room behind the crack, peering into the water to see if there's anything of interest.
Aside from the pile of bones at the bottom of the well, there also appears to be a staff half buried in silt!
"I"m sorry Rogar. It's not you it was the priest."
She'll help free the slaves, and gives them food and water. "Want me to go get the staff? You can lower me down."
She looks into the den. "Karla? Do you know what that is?"
Wulfram looked down the well, looking so see if there was something nasty down there.
He took a rope out of his backpack, and lowered Eustoma down to the staff.
Eustoma swims down to the bottom of the well to pull the staff free of the silt. The bones down here appear to belong to a winged humanoid, possibly a harpy. The halfling emerges back to the surface clutching her prize. The staff bears numerous carvings of flames and open eyes.
Pele jumped out of Wulfram's pack and danced around the staff. *Fire, fire, wonderful fire!*
"That's an awesome thing. I've never seen anything like it before." Eustoma shakes off the water like a wolf.
After consulting with Navah on how to transport the freed captives, Wulfram said, "If we camp here overnight, Navah says she can prepare enough spells to teleport everyone to Longshadow in the morning. That sounds like a good plan to me."
You rest overnight in the cave, and in the morning, Navah studies her spellbook. "I can't actually teleport this whole group in one day, but I can use shadow walk to get us all back to Longshadow swiftly. We'll be traveling on the border of the Plane of Shadow, so everyone stay close and don't wander off. Dangerous things lurk in the dark."
When you are ready, she casts the spell twice. Coils of shadowstuff transport you to a realm of blurry shadows, where strange noises echo in the distance. You follow closely behind the changeling as she leads you through this odd realm, and after almost an hour of walking, you step back into the real world, just outside the gates of Longshadow--a journey of nearly 40 miles! The rescued prisoners weep in relief seeing the city.
Three days remain before th Ironfang Legion attacks!
Wulfram made sure that the freed prisoners received proper clothing and accommodations, before turning to the task that he dreaded: training them. He asked for volunteers and gave them training equipment, and set about trying to teach them the basics, with dismal results.
Eustoma tries to imitate a little general she heard about once. She stomps up and down the line with her had in her jacket. For some reason that seems to be important.
While his allies try to inspire the troops, Rogar instead puts his own unique skills to use, digging out trenches around the walls, especially close to the gates (before the battle itself, he also digs massive holes specifically around the gates and fills them up with earth and stone, making them completely inaccessible. For now, though, he leaves them open.) He also manages to perfect a technique that allows him to fly through the earth, and to take advantage of this, creates several 20-foot tall pillars of earth scattered throughout the battlefield to aid in scouting when the day comes. In addition, he also erects secondary defense positions throughout the town, barricades, walls, and the like.
With your training in the arts of war and a surprisingly intimidating halfling, you are able to quickly get the rescued slaves ready for battle. As the day of the attack approaches, scouts report things are eerily quiet. You're certain the Ironfang Legion still has a few tricks up its sleeve, though.
The evening before the assault is supposed to occur, you gather with your allies in the Canary. Mayor Crawbert, Navah, Cirieo, and Cobb Greenleaf confer over the plans for the town's defense to be sure everybody is on the same page. "You've done all you can to bolster the town, and her citizens are ready for a fight," Crawbert says.
"The Rangers are eager to get some revenge on these hobgoblin scum," Cobb asserts.
"This is it, then," Navah says nervously. "If there anything else you need to do, now's the chance."
"Navah, are ye able ta teleport us tha day o' tha battle? Ah remember Mahrzan saying tha' they'd 'ave catapults, an we'll need ta get ta them fast, afore they do too much damage."
For most of the day, Rogar goes around bolstering any and all areas that might need fortification, but also spends some time trying to buy a bit of better gear in preparation for the attack.
"I'll have a few teleports prepared to help you move around in a pinch," Navah says.
Eustoma looks grim on the eve of battle. "Who knows what the gobs will do. I'm worried about another one of those black towers. I hope they don't pop up during the battle."
Wulfram spent the day before the battle drilling the new recruits, keeping them busy so they didn't have time to worry about the imminent danger. He also so made periodic reconnaissance flights to watch for infiltrators.
He checked and found that his new armor was ready, which would help him survive the coming conflict. He made sure to prepare Dream Shield spells for each of the party members, so they could get a good night's sleep.
At last, the day of the assault on Longshadow has come. Ironfang forces begin assembling a half mile northeast of Longshadow shortly after dawn, and while their numbers are overwhelming for you to confront alone—easily a hundred soldiers and dozens of warbeasts—they by no means appear to be capable of seizing a city the size of Longshadow. By this point, the Ironfang forces are on high alert. It is too late to sabotage their assemblage and far too late to run.
The town's defenders take their positions, anxiously waiting through the day. Finally, as dusk approaches, a human swathed in rags and iron shackles approaches Longshadow's north gate, waving a flag of parley and bearing a scroll. He squints in the light of the setting sun, but begins to read in a wavering voice.
"'People of Longshadow! You face the host of Kosseruk, lord of the war maze, emissary of the Ironfang Legion, she whose horns shall pierce your walls and mercifully redden the river with your blood!
"'You infest this place, which my mistress desires. In her mercy, she offers you this one chance: throw open your gates. Cast down your arms. You will serve her. You will serve the Legion, in this place you call home and at these forges you so lovingly built. And your children will live to one day know freedom. Resist, and you will die. Do not think your deaths will be honorable. My mistress will crush you beneath her hooves, grind your bones into the earth, and what remains will rot. There is nothing you false heroes can do to stop this.
"'Be wise! Are your lives, your families, your friends, truly worth this spit of land and the false hope you cling to? Kosseruk is a generous mistress, but her displeasure shakes the hills and brings tears even unto the gods.'"
Upon a hill some thousand feet distant, where the Legion's forces are assembled, a single hobgoblin holds a shining spike of black aloft, then drives it into the ground. For a moment the army falls silent, and then the ground begins to rumble. With a thunderous crack, the stones part and a shaft of obsidian reaches into the sky, growing and twisting into an ominous tower. The echo of a thousand iron-shod boots echoes from an arch in the monolith's base, and from the darkness steps a minotaur of impossible stature, swathed in gleaming bronze.
"Longshadow!" she bellows as an army pours from the opening in the tower behind her. Her voice carries like thunder across the hills. "The sun has set upon your pink faces because it was my will to gift you this one last moment of beauty. But now the sun is gone, and this night is the domain of monsters!"
Kosseruk's sudden arrival and intimidating speech shakes many Longshadow natives to the core, and forces begin whispering of surrender to save their lives and town.
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Orisons: Create Water, Detect Magic, Guidance, Light
1st lvl: Bless x2, Entangle, Liberating Command, Remove Fear
2nd lvl: Barkskin x3, Calm Emotions, Delay Poison
3rd lvl: Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Evil, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud
4th lvl: Blessing of Fervor, Divine Power, Ice Storm
5th lvl: Overland Flight, True Seeing
Wandering Spirit: Battle
Wandering Hex: Battle Master (one extra AoO, weapon specialization longspear)
Wulfram awoke early and prepared for the trials ahead. He felt nervous; he had faced many battles before, but now the fate of an entire town rested on his shoulders, and those of his companions.
************
Wulfram cast a spell and rose into the air, before addressing the populace. The sun glinted off his armor as his voice rang out in the cool morning air:
"People of Longshadow! This monster would have you willing stumble like sheep into enslavement, give up your proud history, and help the Ironfang Legion crush other free peoples under its iron boots!
"A few weeks ago, Longshadow was unprepared to resist the vile forces threating your homes, but that has changed! Fortifications have been repaired, reinforecements have arrived, and new troops trained. Navah the wizard has brought her formidable creatures to defend the walls, and helped us sally forth and destroy some of the enemy camps. We slew flying creatures that would have attacked you from above, and destroyed munitions that would have been used to breach the stoneworks.
"The task before us will not be easy; each of you must do your part. We are well prepared, and now is the time to follow your training and stand firm and resolute. Together, we will defend our homes and loved ones, and then drive these foul invaders from our lands!"
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Eustoma climbs high up on the wall. She stands proud with Sia standing in her armor below her. She drinks a potion, and begins to speak.
"People of Longshanks. She is a liar. She will not be merciful to you. We have seen what this Iron Legion does. They are not merciful you children will not be happy they will NEVER be free. They will be bowed under the feet of monsters. Monsters. Who will eat; your children, and make you work for just scraps of food. Do not fall we are prepared. We can hold this town. We can drive back the Legion and be free. You are not giving up."
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Rogar is fully prepared for battle, kitted out with all the spare magic they had, and with dozens of potions spread around his person. In response to the Minotaur, he grabs a potion from his left shoulder and throws the entire thing in his mouth, the glass not so much as scratching him. Beneath him, a pillar of stone erupts from the wall, elevating him until he’s level with Wulfram, ”There is nothing for ye here! Naught bu’ blood, dust, an’ fire! Ye say tha’ tha hills quake ta ye, bu’ tha ground is na ally of ye here! Tha stones shall crush ye, tha ground reject ye, and ye shall taste tha dust of battle. Ye call yerselves tha Ironfang legion, bu’ iron melts in tha fire! If ye woul try ta take Longshadow, yer fate shall be tha same as iron in tha furnace, same as all tha others of yer kind. For ah am Rogar, slayer o’ three dragons, an’ master o’ tha earth! Come, attack wi’ all yer might! Ye would be better served attacking a mountain!” he bellows. His speech then done, he returns then pillar to its normal height, then sneaks off to bring the human prisoner inside (using his powers to bypass the blocked gate and pit).
While Eustoma's words don't find an audience, the rest of your bold speeches elicit cheers and renewed resolve as the townsfolk prepare for battle. Atop the hill, Kosseruk spares you a cruel glare before beginning to organize her army's forces.
The sun sets, and torches and braziers are lit across the battlements to provide illumination. The Ironfang forces are shrouded in darkness, only the moonlight providing glimpses of the gathered forces.
Then, two hours after nightfall, the booming sounds of war horns ring out across the valley, and the ground suddenly begins to tremble with the trampling force of hundreds of hobgoblins charging toward the town. Arrows rain out of the dark sky, embedding in shields, clattering off stone walls and slate roofs, and finding gruesome purchase in the flesh of unfortunate souls. The battle has begun!
Fifteen hundred feet northwest of the town, four heavy catapults fling huge boulders at the walls. Meanwhile, an enormous three-armed giant bellows as it rushes toward the south gate!
Wulfram cast defensive spells on himself, Niko and Sia, and drank a potion. Then he said a blessing over the entire party.
He said to the others, "I think we should stop the giant first — we don't want to lose the gate!"
Eustoma casts Greater Magic Fang on both Nik'o and Sia. She feeds the potion of Fly to Sia, and calls forth the griffon from it's figurine, and climbs on it's back. "To the giant." she calls as the group begins to fly. "Rogar you need a ride?"
Eustoma give both herself and Sia the aspect of the bat.
Sia takes off with a great leap into the air.
Rogar nods, Aye, that coul' help." he says, swinging onto the back of the dragon. If any boulders are launched by the catapults as they go to the giant, he shoots it out of the sky. However, he spends the flight gathering elemental power around himself, and as they get close, he leans over, timing the wings to make sure he doesn't hit them, and launches an enormous torrent of metal at the giant, trying to pin it to the ground as much as kill it.
You take to the air by various methods, flying above Longshadow to confront the giant. Rogar blasts a boulder out of the air on the walk but another thuds against the town's reinforced walls.
The giant hurls its own rock against the south gate as it navigates the pits Rogar dug, then you swoop down close enough to engage!
Wulfram flew towards the giant, shouting, "Leave now, or you will die here!"