Nebbin leaps back in shock, a small scream escaping his lips.
"I didn't do it!"
Lucius grimaces as the Brimorak disappears into the shadowy gem like a spill down a drain, his crossbow bolt and Turook's sword seeming to make very little difference in impeding the effect.
"It would seem the demon's 'commander' was...displeased with his name being shared. I am also reasonably certain that due to this displeasure, it is much too dead to report about us."
"Unfortunately, the knowledge that its minion was divulging information is telling enough, and in the hands of a being able to reach through shadow to enact this discipline is rather frightening."
"If we assume that we are not simply already being watched or scried upon, it must be that the name itself has power. Do not repeat it."
"OK," Nebbin says unhappily, looking down warily at his own shadow.
"Huh," Thom grunts as the scene goes suddenly quiet. Then he looks over at Saoirse and Lucius, "How powerful does a being have to be to be able to do that?"
He resheaths his blade, looking uncomfortably at the fields of carnage around them.
"Very."
"We should not make unwarranted assumptions about what information the enemy commander will be able to glean from a dead or mostly-dead brimorak. We should leave this place as quickly as possible."
He looks about, seeing the extent of the death. The crusaders will want to at least approximate a proper burial for the garrison here. Likewise, leaving hundreds of demonspawn bodies to rot will simply breed disease...but they do not have time to dig that many graves, or even a sufficient mass grave. A pyre? He knows that the skin and flesh of fiendspawn resists flame. But it can still be marked and branded by sufficient heat. Can it still burn?
As the army moves on from the ford and makes camp, the air of celebration is palpable. As you wander around the camp, sit and eat, pray, or work on infernal devices, none of you seem to see Nurah or Sosiel. Aron is loudly carousing with some of the soldiers, he being a bit more celebratory than the rest.
Nurah impishly says something about there being a suspicious sound that she wanted to check.
Nurah glances at you for a moment then angrily begins to stomp away to her tent trailing a curse and the words "Doesn't matter, I guess, what it was...There's obviously nothing now!"
An big cheer comes from the camp as Saoirse returns with a small group of paladins with what appear to be survivors of the brimorak and his tiefling army. About a dozen folk come, one of them a female with the markings of a sergeant on her arm. She has a brave face, but in the confines of a private conversation with all of you, she tells a terrible story. "My name is Kamilo Dann. We're all that's left of the army that protected this ford...the demons came swiftly and took us by surprise. They talked about holding this ford for a greater army up north that was coming from a place called 'Keeper's Canyon'. The demons kept coming into the storehouses they held us in and used whoever they selected as a sacrifice...or worse. We're in no shape to help you, I'm sorry to report, but I can lead us back Kenabres. Saoirse here tells me that Queen Galfrey has an army there and we can report this news to her."
The next morning is pretty uneventful as the survivors troop off towards Kenabres with their grim news. Your army marches on towards Keeper's Canyon, which Nurah confirms that it is the canyon that contains the Ahari riverbed you are aiming for. The distance to the canyon is a good day and a half...the area already seeming like a foreign land. The sky is darker, no vegetation is growing as you get halfway through this day. Camp that night is more subdued. Aron is nowhere to be found and you do recall that Sosiel was looking worried and Aron was looking odd during the day.
The next morning, starting to travel again, you come pretty quickly to the gorge and see the dry riverbed. The information you've received leads you to believe there is an army waiting for you in ambush.
If we're expecting an ambush in Keeper's Canyon, the best advice Luciuscan come up with is to approach with caution, moving the army at reduced speed so that we can keep sending small 'reconnaissance in force' scouting parties ahead.
"If they're in the gorge, maybe we can attack them from above?" Nebbin asks, hoping that's not a stupid idea.
I hope that's not stupid. And that no one laughs at it.
"Where's Aron? Maybe he'd know? But I haven't seen him in a while."
"What in blazes is she up to?" Turook blusters, moving off in the direction of Aron's tent. Rounding the corner, he finds Nurah in the midst of casting an invisibility spell. Her work interrupted, she tells him she was investigating some curious sound.
"Ah. Vigilance is important, especially when so many of our number lose themselves in the celebration of victory. Allow me to assist you in your investigation." Turook begins searching for any signs of anything out-of-sorts near Aron's tent.
Saoirse shifts slightly in her horses saddle as she looks up towards the gorge and down the riverbed, biting her lower lip for a moment as she thinks things through, turning towards Lucius and the others. "I don't like the idea of charging into an ambush, but maybe we could turn this around on them. If we split the army into two forces, a smaller group could advance up the riverbed and bait out the ambush, ready to retreat and make the enemy chase back towards the gorge here where we could smash them while they are strung out. How does that sound? Any other ideas maybe?"
Thom stands with the assembled team, looking out as if he can see the waiting demon army. ”If those demons are lying in ambush, I hate to gamble our men’s lives drawing them out unless we know we can actually get them out.” He nods in consideration of Nebbin’s simple idea, ”I like the idea of taking the high ground, but I like the idea of knowing what’s waiting for us even more.” He looks around, ”Could Turook take a team to recon from that high ground? Information is what we need right now.”
Nebbin looks around, trying to help Nurah and Turook.
"I don't think I see anything either. What did you think it was, Nurah?"
The second army is more worrisome, although it is smaller. You recognize demons...dretches. They don't seem to be on high alert but a loose rock stumbles down from your feet and you barely avoid the sharp looks from some guards.
DRETCH ARMY
CE Medium army of dretches
hp 9
DV 14; OM +5 ranged
Speed 1; Morale +5; Consumption 0
TIEFLING ARMY
CE Large army of tieflings (rogue 1)
hp 9
DV 12; OM +4
Speed 2; Morale +2; Consumption 1
The army, proceeding as quietly as possible using the markers Thom provides. The armies camped below don't spot the paladins at your back. All is set for a rain of destruction.
Saoirse looks over the line of paladins to her left and right, taking a moment to look over the enemy armies below before she raises Radiance up as high into the air as her arm can reach, whispering "Light of the Inheritor... may these arrows strike true and swiftly," as the army raises their nocked arrows into position. Radiance shines brilliantly giving the silent signal to fire the first volley. The light from her sword shines across the entire line of arrows a moment before the arrows are loosed into the air as a hundred paladins call upon their divine energy at once. With the attack begun, Saoirse quickly calls out for the second volley, her voice screaming across the sounds of battle beginning.
Nebbin's eyes grow wide as the army rains down destruction on the two opposing armies.
Lucius looks on grimly as divine retribution rains from above on the demonic army - the dretches' flesh ravaged by the antithetical heavenly energies. The few that survive are in no shape to begin casting their stinks and mental attacks out of the canyon.
"Ready second volley!"
Barely a gasp of surprise can pass the dretch army before they are decimated by the paladins. The tieflings can only stare in shock before the rest of the arrows find them as well. No movement is left on the chasm floor.
"So I guess know we have to go down there?" Nebbin asks.
He picks his way through the carnage, looking like he's trying not to be sick.
Lucius looks through the site of the massacre reverse ambush, seeking anything that looks like a command post or other semi-permanent structure.
"Gather fuel. Grant mercy to the wounded, then put the dead to the pyre."
Thom walks among the destroyed armies, his sword in-hand. He keeps an eye out for any survivors, but mostly is keen to find any bodies wearing the tell-tale clothes or insignias of officers, hoping to find any useful bits of information as to this army’s orders or purpose.
The army searches through the bodies and the camps, finding enough food and water to last for 2 days (on top of their 2 week provisions they set out with), and some goods to repair or replace any equipment should the army get in an actual battle.
Crossing the riverbed, and a few hundred yards in the land changes drastically. What once was relatively good land is blasted and...evil. Short scrubby plants make up the "greenery" you can see. No wild creatures show themselves. The sky is overcast with black clouds, tinged red. The air feels oppressively hot but makes the sweat beading down your back freeze like ice. The terrain looks like it is getting rougher, the good time you've made so far will surely suffer in this...the Worldwound.
"This is horrible," Nebbin says sadly, kicking at the ground. "How do they live in a place like this? And they want to make the whole world like it?"
Saoirse shakes her head as she looks over the landscape before her, turning her horse back around to face the army steadily marching forward into the edges of the Worldwound, shouting loudly "Setup camp! Get a good nights sleep, tomorrow we head into the Worldwound." Knowing the army will organize as it has the past few nights, Saoirse turns towards Nebbin.
"No one lives in a place like this, they suffer a place like this; but hopefully, if we succeed, no one else will have to live in these conditions."
Tom stands mutely surveying the wretched lands that stretch out in front of them. Between the layers of heavy plating and the inhuman, unmoving hound mask, he cuts a stony, unflinching figure. Inside, however … inside his emotions rage and roil.
Fear and despair threaten to sweep away the young man’s nerve. When he looks out over these desolate, unnatural vistas, he can’t help but picture his own village … his own home in this filth. Nebbin was right. Who could survive this?
But even as his own indecision and fear rage like a storm-churned sea, underneath is something else. Stable, unyielding, ageless rocks of righteous fury hold fast against his own fickle fears. And more, it drives him to want to push the army harder. To make better time. To find a way to arrive well before any defensive army could hope to mount a defense. And to sweep the demons back into the ‘Wound.
Thom looks back at the army of paladins. Of humanity. No, he thinks to whatever the greatness is that shares his mind, they fought well. They deserve a moment of celebration before what’s to come.
So Thom returns to his unmoving vigil of the ‘Wound … the commotion of a hundred warriors of light setting up camp all but forgotten behind him.
Lucius settles in uneasily for the evening. The smell of semi-charred demonspawn flesh (they really are hard to burn) clings to everyone's clothing and hair. Worse, though it could be all in his head, he can feel the taint of the Worldwound emanating from up ahead. It makes his skin itch.
The camp forms around you and the army dips into the provisions it brought along. The mood is quite subdued on this night, so close to the Worldwound. Once again, Aron is nowhere to be found. Nurah is also gone from the campfires.
Nebbin, passing near the tent, sees something going on.
"What are you doing, Nurah? Isn't that Aron's tent?"
After overhearing the discussion within, Thom follows Nebbin to the tent. Nebbin’s question to Nurah surprises him, and it takes Thom a moment to see the man in the background.
He looks at Nurah, then the closed tent, then shakes his head. Despite the emotionless mask, impatience is obvious from the crusader. Aron. Sosiel. Nurah. We need to chat.”
He gives Aron and Sosiel a few moments to invite him in. But even if they don’t, he pushes his way in, holding the tent flap open for Nebbin and Nurah to enter. When all are inside, Thom looks at the group for a few seconds before speaking.
”Nebbin. Would you mind staying here while I go gather the army leadership? We need to talk.” As Thom exits, he steps close to Nebbin, whispering in his ear, ”Don’t let them leave. We may need to have a quick discussion.”
Thom goes to gather Turook, Lucius, and Saoirse, bringing them all back to the tent.
Thom looks at Aron, Sosiel, and Nurah, his eyes curious but hard. ”We lead an army into enemy territory. Trust isn’t a luxury. It’s necessary. You HAVE to be able to depend on those around you to survive.” He pauses to let them consider that, then he continues. ”There seems to be something … strange going on with you three. What is it?”
"OK, Thom," Nebbin says.
I guess I don't have anywhere to go, but I wonder why he wants me to stay here. Isn't this Aron's tent?
Wait, something strange is going on? What?
Nebbin looks around confused, trying to figure out what's strange.
Nurah drops a pack to the ground and says in an odd voice, "I was searching for signs of Aron's...problem."
****
Aron and Sosiel open the tent flap a few minutes later. Its obvious from Sosiel's crossed arms, tapping foot, and look that whatever they were talking about was a sensitive subject.
At Thom's question, Nurah looks at Aron and says, "Ask that one about why you shouldn't trust him."
Sosiel cuts in, "That's not fair Nurah. That was the past."
Aron just looks uncomfortable. He shuffles around for a moment then mutters, "I was addicted to drugs in the past. Sosiel helped me past that...but my addiction had already led Nurah to be captured by a demon force."
Nurah takes on a pained look as Aron continues, "But we rescued her. Sosiel himself healed you of your wounds. I'm no longer addicted...Sosiel makes sure of that!"
Nurah spits back, "How can we be sure you're not taking anything now?! How can we trust you?"
Lucius mutters a brief prayer - something about the obstinacy of fools and the cost of secrets. It is unclear if that is a metaphor or if he is literally purchasing them.
"Stop. Bickering. Start over at the beginning. What, in the name of the Nine Hells, is going on?"
"Aron has a problem? Why didn't you tell us? We can probably help him solve it, right? Can't we, Lucius?"
I bet Lucius could solve any problem I could think of.
[ooc]Heh... not even on my best roll is that Sense Motive possible for Saoirse.
Saoirse shakes her head as she listens to Nurah, Sosiel, and Aron point fingers at each other. "Yes... the beginning would be most helpful... What exactly were you addicted to?" Saoirse's voice carries a low timber different from her usual demeanor, looking back and forth between the three with suspicion.
Aron: It was shadow blood. Damned shadow blood.
Sosiel: Shadow blood...but he overcame it!
Shadowblood is exceedingly addictive and carries some significant disadvantages. Each time a creature takes a dose of shadowblood, it must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or become addicted—shadowblood addiction is a severe addiction (see page 236 of the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide). A creature under the influence of shadowblood or suffering from shadowblood addiction takes a –4 penalty on all saving throws against possession type effects made by demons, and can never gain the benefits of protection from evil or similar spells against such effects.
Nurah spits out, "Aron's an addict. Once an addict, always an addict right? He was addicted to shadowblood. A drug infused with the essence of a shadow demon. How can anyone trust him in this land?
Aron hangs his head in shame while Sosiel seems fit to have apoplexy.
Lucius raises an eyebrow. "Thom, please examine Master Kir's pack."
Thom scowls when shadowblood is mentioned, "Hideous, demonic stuff."
He nods to Lucius's request, stooping to pick up the dropped pack and roots around in it, looking for evidence of the drug.
Lucius will pay close attention to the faces (and thoughts) of Aron and Nurah while Thom searches the bag.
"But why do you think he's sniffing? drinking? whatevering? the stuff again? I mean, did he say he was? If not, shouldn't we trust him? If we don't trust each other, who can we trust?"
Thom finds the pack and searches through it. He easily finds a couple vials of the vile substance. Aron's jaw drops, "I did not have that in my pack when we set camp."
Sosiel nods, "I can confirm. I've been with Aron all evening, and I regularly check his packed items. By the Queen's orders. And because he's a friend. This was indeed not here an hour or so ago."
Nurah looks pensively around for a few moments. Her mouth works as if she is trying to conjure an explanation. Her shoulders slump and she finally whispers, "I've been working with the demons."