Saoirse squeezes tightly onto the hilt of Radiance as she dashes forward, picking up speed as the angelic script visible along her neck flares up for a moment, giving her the burst of energy she needs to leap up towards the bloated queen. Saoirse flashes over Nebbin's shoulder as Radiance rises over her head like a star. Saoirse shouts out, "For the Inheritor!" as she brings Radiance down to strike two-handed.
Assuming the demonic bug is still alive when Nebbin's and Soarise are done with it, Lucius will blast it with the wand.
The insectile queen screams again and again as painful blows wrack her body.
Focusing on the bearer of the shining sword, the disgusting creature lashes out in pain and rage.
Thom roars as he continues rushing (slowly) forward, trying to demoralize the creature through sheer volume. He feels Saoirse’s pain through the bond, and feeds healing right back through it.
AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (-2 to all when raging), DR: 2/-, Cold resist: 1
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2 (+2 to Fort and Will when raging)
CMD 17
HP 54 (64 when raging)
Rage: 1/14; Mythic power: 2/5 (1d6+1 surge); Legendary power: 1/2 (1d6+1)
Effects: Rage
"No! You don't get to hurt her!" Nebbin roars, body seeming to swell for a moment as he brings his hammer down on the creature with a scream ... "GYAAARGHHaaaaa"
... that quickly turns into a pained cry.
Dropping his hammer, the big man falls to his knees, clutching his head as he curls into a ball. Beneath his massive hands, a pair of ram's horns seem to curl back over his brown hair, obviously the source of the pain.
Thom's sudden anger and outburst causes the vescavor queen to pause in surprise. The constant insectoid chittering even stops briefly.
The momentary weakness Thom causes, coupled with Nebbin's frightening transformation and incredibly strong smashing hit, the vescavor queen drops to the ground, wings twitching.
Her death throes last only momentarily as her body stills quickly.
Around the cave you can hear higher pitched insectile voices crying, then suddenly quieting down to a whisper. A swarm of vescavor larvae, which was coming towards you from the west, seems to become confused and seeks the nearest fissure in a wall to disperse into.
Towards the southeast you notice another small cavern. A long, rippling crevice of nauseating mauve energy splits the southern wall of this otherwise empty cave, a tear in reality through which roiling clouds of mist churn and twist. The edges of the rift pulse and writhe, widen and contract, almost as if it were an organic thing. The temperature is noticeably hotter here than elsewhere in the caves, and the air carries on it the foul stench of burning flesh.
As you go near the awful energy, the boundaries of it start to...throb...and expand as if something were trying to stretch it open.
Nebbin whimpers on the floor, still holding his head, though the horns seem to have receded.
"That crevice leads directly to the Abyss. It explains the infestation of those vermin."
Saoirse screams as the horrible pain of the Vescavor Queen's claws sink deep into the muscle of her shield arm. Radiance flashing as she slices through the demonic creatures serrated claw, tearing her arm away with a hissing gasp of pain. Breathing shallowly, she grabs hold of the ichor spewing claw and rips it out of her arm. Saoirse grits her teeth as she puts Radiance in the dirt long enough to reach up with her unarmed hand, a soft white glow emanating from her hand as she suffuses her wounds with healing energy, "Inherior grant me respite."
Picking back up Radiance, Saoirse turns to see the rift that Lucius speaks of, and the angelic script that scrolls up her body pulses back against the throbbing power of the rift, beginning to glow in reaction as she wonders out loud, "Is it possible for us to close this rift? I do not feel comfortable leaving it open behind our army."
Blade still bared, Turook approaches the malformed blacksmith cautiously. “Nebbin... what ails you, man?”
The big man, clutching his head, looks up with tear-filled eyes.
"Did you see? I ... I ... I grew ... HORNS! Oh, Gods, I think I'm turning into one of them!" His voice cracks on the last word.
"Turook, please, you have to put me down. I don't want to be a DEMON!"
Turook nods solemnly, knuckles tightening on the hilt of his blade.
Thom steps between Nebbin and Turook. ”Nobody’s killing anybody.” His eyes cut over to the destroyed vescavor, ”Well, other than that.”
”Nebbin,” Thom says, stepping towards the bigger man, ”Focus for now. We have to deal with this crevice. Then we’ll figure out what’s happening to you.”
He looks back at Lucius, ”So how do we close it?”
Something starts to struggle mightily to come through the rift. You see the tip of a disgusting feather poke through briefly.
Nebbin wipes his arm across his face, drying the tears.
He stands up with a gulp. "I'm turning into a demon," he repeats, sadly and hopelessly.
Thom turns to fully regard the quarry-man, his black eyes searching Nebbin's features.
"Do you feel any different?" he rasps quietly, "Or do you feel like there's ... anything wrong with your thoughts?" He looks up at where the horns sprouted, "Or your body?"
"Nebbin, many things have horns, besides demons. Goats and rams. Efreeti. Even the Prince of Law's own devils. Be calm, for now. One problem at a time.
"For instance, this rift. The Worldwound is littered with such things: I doubt one more will truly make a difference, but it does bother me to simply ignore it. Sealing it is beyond my present abilities. I could hem it in for some time with...well, the opposite of a summoning circle. We could bury it under a mass of stone, but neither method is likely to be truly permanent."
"Sometimes," Nebbin replies to Thom. "I just ... see red, I guess? I hate when they try to hurt Sao ... my friends and I just want to smash. It's like I can't quite think right."
He waits and thinks a moment after Lucius chimes in.
"So you think I'm turning into a ram? I guess that wouldn't be so ba-a-a-ad. Oh gods! It's getting worse. I mean, bad! Bad!"
His attention eventually diverted to the rift, the big man ponders.
"I guess I could bury it with rock, if you want."
"So you think I'm turning into a ram? I guess that wouldn't be so ba-a-a-ad. Oh gods! It's getting worse. I mean, bad! Bad!"
Turook’s somber visage cracks. “He seems fine. Gods, man! I was... Bah!” Sheathing his blade, Turook seems to dismiss Nebbin for the moment, at least as an imminent threat.
The scar in reality widens further as a few more grimy feathers push through, with a yellowed claw just visible beneath the "surface" of the rip.
The rip strains further as you can definitely make out the form of a disgusting and dirtied wing with a clawed hand attached to it.
Yep, that's bad. "I am not sure what is coming through the rift, but I would dare say it will take longer to dig through a few tons of stone than to wait out any temporary mystical protections. Nebbin, you are our stone expert. What would we need to do to collapse the tunnel?"
"Oh, I guess I could do it if I hit it right..." the big man says, then hesitates. "Um, it looks pretty secure. I can see what I can do, though. You guys might want to back up. If I bring it down, I don't want to kill any of you. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it affects me, though. At least I wouldn't become a demon anymore."
Once everyone backs up, Nebbin takes a few breaths and suddenly lets out a scream, clearly of effort, but also pain, as his muscles seem to bulge and the demon horns again grow from his head.
His hammer slams into the wall above the rift and a slow crack begins to zig-zag its way up the stone, splintering out into a web. Slowly at first, pieces of rubble begin to fall then more and more as they seem to gain momentum with each piece of rubble.
AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (-2 to all when raging), DR: 2/-, Cold resist: 1
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2 (+2 to Fort and Will when raging)
CMD 17
HP 54 (64 when raging)
Rage: 2/14; Mythic power: 2/5 (1d6+1 surge); Legendary power: 1/2 (1d6+1)
Effects:
Once per rage, the barbarian can attack the floor around her as a standard action. This attack automatically hits and deals damage normally. If the barbarian manages to deal more damage than the floor's hardness, the space she occupies and all of the squares adjacent to her become difficult terrain. Creatures in these squares, except the barbarian, must make a DC 15 Reflex save or be knocked prone. A barbarian must be at least 6th level to select this rage power.
The cave begins to rumble and stones fall from the ceiling. The ground, a churned up mass of broken rock now, grows as a physical split in the rock travels up the eastern wall. The sight of the dimensional wound fades away as rock piles up. A distant shriek, as though buried in rock but somehow also from many miles away, reverberates through your bones.
You make your way back out to the above ground. The dead air seems sweet even, compared to the dank underground. You notice the swarms of vescavors are now dispersing, coursing listlessly about their way as their queen is dead. You know it will only be a matter of time before another queen makes its way through the buried rift.
It's only a few more hours march to the ruins of Drezen. The riverbed rises at a noticeable slope. Suddenly, the riverbed tops the Ahari Gorge and a smell of grime and smoke permeates the air.
Nurah, in her sorrow and repentance, has offered a map of the city. The army around you is in a hopeful mood the first camp you make, recent victories and the relative ease of the march has lifted their spirits.
Saoirse stands at the top of the Ahari Gorge, her cloak billowing softly in the rancid wind that breathes out from Drezen. Her expression concerned and focused on the visual layout of the city she makes for herself from her vantage point. After awhile, she turns to the attending paladin a few feet away and says, "Have Nebbin, Nurah, Aron, Sosiel, Lucius, Turook and Thom assemble at the War Tent."
Saoirse turns her back to Drezen, making her way through the camp of men she has lead so far. Realizing the time has finally come to see if she can really lead these men and women to a successful siege of Drezen. Saoirse's shoulders slump slightly as her boots thump into the hard compact dirt, a reminder of the effect the Worldwound has had on these lands, and she looks at each of the groups of paladins that she walks past on her way to the War Tent, taking in little details. Brushing aside the flaps of the large tent, Saoirse waits for two paladins to finish rolling out the maps, giving a nod to Nurah who is already there before taking her place at one end of the table. Once everyone is assembled, Saoirse takes a drink of her water before beginning, "Here we are, Drezen, the fallen city. Hopefully to be reclaimed, but before we can do that, we need to understand what we are dealing with. I'd like to send a scouting party into the city first and have them find targets for our armies. Besides the citadel itself there are four main areas in the city. Paradise Hill, the Cemetery, and the North and South Banks. I'd like to send Aron, Turook, and Nebbin, with Nebbin serving as backup in case things go wrong. Can anyone offer anything else?"
Nebbin looks concerned.
"Should we split up like that? Wouldn't it be safer if we have more people?"
"More are not safer if safety relies on going unnoticed, Nebbin. We need to find out what we face before we can concoct a plan to retake the city."
Once hte others are ready, Nebbin joins, though he's more concerned with making sure he doesn't make any noise and alert the enemy to their presence than looking around.
I hope Turook knows what he's looking for.
Turook spies on the ruins of Drezen, attempting to teach Nebbin a thing or two.
He’s quiet, for such a big man – I’ll give him that.
The scouting party of Aron, Turook, and Nebbin head out for a few hours. The party is a little uneasy, here on the doorstep of Drezen and hopefully the traitor Staunton Vhane.
Finally, the three return with information about what's going on around and somewhat inside the area.
Aron presents, in the commander's tent, the following:
"There's six major areas of concentration we could make out. It appears that most of the population, powerful demons according to Nurah, appears to have left. Whether or not this means they have joined the front lines remains to be seen, but it's a good thing for us they aren't here. We need to either assault these areas, or try to sneak in and sneak out. Personally, I don't trust sneaking in and out as an option...I don't like leaving my only escape route covered with enemies."
He points to the map of Drezen and marks out locations.
"In the southern district around Southbank there's a large number of tieflings and humans camped out. Looks like they're guarding gear, and we got close enough to see a lot of marks of Iomedae on them. This could be useful to us and cripple them if we take this."
"On Paradise Hill, we saw a bunch o' demons, schirs if me an' Turook are right. There's a prison of sorts and I'm sure we saw live crusaders in 'em. Could bolster our army."
"At Drezen Cemetery, there's a large number of undead, especially ghouls. These could pose a nighttime threat to our army."
At the Haunted Vault, according to the map, there's some eerie shadows and a bad magical feelin' to the place. Could be nothing, but it could be something that a few of us should look at."
At the Ahari Bridge, there's one bridge out. The other bridge needs secured to help our forces if we decide to cross that way."
"All around the wall are seven watchtowers. There's a few sentries in each, but more importantly, there's a large catapult on top of each tower. Disabling these catapults could help us dearly as we go into the tower itself...don't want the place brought down on our heads."
With that, Aron nods and Turook and Nebbin agree sharing basically the same information.
Nebbin hesitantly speaks up.
"We should free those people, right? I mean, great if they can help the army, but we don't want to let them just stay the demons' prisoners, right? Then maybe we can go get the magic stuff to help them?"
He waits for someone to tell him why that plan won't work.
"I agree. The crusade always needs more soldiers, and freeing their comrades will bolster our existing forces' morale, as well. If we can take the equipment cache as well, we can equip them. We already have the healing potions we'd need to treat their wounds so that they can fight, and not merely be a liability to be guarded whilst they recover."
"If possible, we should take the siege emplacements as well - each one captured is one less attacking us and one more attacking them. Do the catapults have sufficient range to help cover an assault on the bridge? Battle plans do not survive contact with the enemy; I do not want to assume too much good fortune."
Turook nods in approval as Nebbin and Lucius lay plans.
Saoirse nods as she considers the new information while looking over the map, an attendant Paladin placing several pieces across the rolled out map indicating each sector of the city, tiny parchment pieces giving two-word descriptions for each location. "Freeing the captured crusaders will of course be our first priority," her words mostly to Nebbin, "however if the city is as emptied out as we believe, then they will most likely have pulled their strongest defenses to the watchtowers and the Citadel itself. I'd be loath to wade our army into range of those catapults while armies of ghouls and tieflings hound us. Lets start from Paradise Hill and work our way clockwise. Our army has proven itself spectacularly so far against forces such as these and I have no doubt they will continue to do so. While our army takes Southbank, we can move off to the Ahari Bridge and secure it for later use. Then, we will see what the ghouls," here Saoirse's tone turns to a sharp edge, her eyes glaring at the cemetery harshly, "have in store for us. As long as everyone is agreed, we can begin as soon as the army is ready."
The morning is grim, a portent of the battle to come. The knights of Kenabres marches towards the eastern side of Drezen, right towards Paradise Hill. Sure enough, an encampment of schir demons sits fortified, with a vrock giving orders!
Quietly as possible, the army gets into position to volley arrows at the demons.
The Knights of Kenabres launches its volley. The arrows begin to sink into the demons.
The demons quickly begin to stream towards the army.
The demons line is already shattered and their attack does nothing to lessen the knights of Kenabres!
The knights attack again!
The demons try to mount their rage, but their numbers quickly dwindle and they try to break off from your army.
Your army doesn't allow this, and quickly decimates the last demon. The vrock commander is the last to die, encircled by a group of paladins. Saoirse, Nebbin following closely behind her, walks into the circle. She says a short prayer and raises Radiance and swiftly cuts the head off the foul thing.
200 crusaders are held captive here, surprisingly in decent health if a little starved. They are stripped of their weapons but would otherwise make either a formidable army or a huge addition to your own.
--------------------
LG Huge army of human (Paladin 4)
hp 44; ACR 8; Morale +5
DV 28; OM +15, ranged
Tactics Expert Flankers
Resources Improved Armor: Masterwork, Improved Weapons: Masterwork, Mounts: Horse, Ranged Weapons
Special Aura of Courage, Channel Positive Energy, Divine Health, Lay on Hands, Mercy, Smite Evil (1/battle), Spellcasting (1st Level)
Speed 3 Hex; Consumption 20 BP
Knights of Kenabres
Charisma Modifier 3
Leadership 0
Profession (soldier) ranks 0
--------------------
Aura of Courage Immune to fear effects and never routs.
Channel Positive Energy +1d4 dam vs. undead army, or heal ACR Hp on self by taking OM penalty.
Divine Health Immune to disease.
Expert Flankers +2 to OM, -2 to DV.
Improved Armor: Masterwork +1 to DV and consumption.
Improved Weapons: Masterwork +1 to OM and consumption.
Lay on Hands +1d4 dam vs. undead army, or heal ACR Hp on self by taking OM penalty.
Mercy Cure disease of one allied army at the end of battle.
Mounts: Horse +2 to OM and DV, +1 to consumption.
Ranged Weapons The army can make attacks during a Ranged phase. +1 to consumption.
Smite Evil (1/battle) +2 OM vs. evil army (+4 if dragon or undead).
Spellcasting (1st Level) Add highest spell level to OM and DV.
Standard Strategy No modifiers.
Saoirse nods grimly as she shears the Vrock's neck clean off its shoulders, swiping Radiance towards the ground to let the ichor that sizzles along Radiance's holy blade fly off to the cracked ground. Turning to face her victorious army, Saoirse raises her voice, "Free the crusaders as quickly as possible and assemble them quickly; this day has barely begun."
Once the two-hundred crusaders are assembled in a group on top of Paradise Hill, Saoirse sits atop her horse so all can see her, reassured by the towering presence of Nebbin to the side of her. "I am Saoirse Palelight, Commander of the Knights of Kenabres by the grace of Iomedae. We are here to reclaim Citadel Drezen in the name of the Fifth Crusade. I am hesitant to ask any of you to fight for me after so recently being freed but I am also hopeful that your time as prisoners has not dampened your fighting spirit! I plan now to go to South Bank and claim the demons armory. I would have you join us to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the Crusade, if you are willing!"
Whether the freed prisoners agree to join her army or not, Saoirse then plans for the next battle of the day, and marching with the army to South Bank.
Thom stands next to his horse, watching the men through his mask. When she finishes, he raises his own croaking shout. ”We are all soldiers, but the choice is yours. Fight with us and you may die. But the lives we can save. Today. And tomorrow … is worth the cost. That I promise you.”
Then Thom leads his horse towards the planning for the next stage of the assault.
Nebbin nods, glad and somewhat amazed at how easily the army tore through the demons.
She's really a good commander. And really good looking. I just wonder if ... No, keep focused, Nebbin. There are demons around and you need to make sure she's safe to keep leading the army!
"Yeah," he adds, not happy about everyone apparently having to make a speech yet again. "And if you don't fight, you still might die, because the demons want to kill everyone, so if you don't fight you might be one of the people they kill!"
I hope that was OK. I'm not as good at talking as everyone else. I wish they wouldn't make me keep doing it.
The freed crusaders enthusiastically agree to join your army!
The air in the camp that night is again one of contained joy and hope...even in this desolate place. Victory after victory has been yours.
The morning dawns cold and grey but uneventfully.
The army makes its way to South Bank.
The arrows of the paladins, bolstered by the new additions, begins to fall around the tiefling army and causing havoc. Their arrows don't even reach you.
As the two armies swarm into each other, the casualties the tieflings take quickly becomes too much and they are utterly destroyed. Only a few paladins were injured.
A second army begins marching towards where the tieflings were.
The army of humans approaching can't even back, they take a quarter of their army in casualties on the first volley of arrows!
Once again, the enemy army is destroyed handily as your army reaches melee range. This time, however, you take no casualties and there are no injuries.
The stockpile being guarded was indeed good equipment!
"Wow," Nebbin says, impressed by the ease of the army's victories. "You're really good at this Saoirse! I wouldn't know the first thing to do if I had to be in charge."
Once the equipment has been assimilated into the army, he looks around.
"So now we go try to get the catapults, right?"
Nebbin frowns as the silence stretches.
"So we don't want to go get the catapults? That was probably a dumb idea, wasn't it?" he says sadly.
Saoirse smiles as she turns to Nebbin, standing away from the clean up of the most recent decisive battle, "No Nebbin, it isn't a dumb idea. I am just weighing it against the other options. We are close to the area of the ghoul army now, and that worries me. But..." Saoirse bites her lower lip as she makes a decision. "We will need to take the Ahari bridge before we can destroy the catapults. Nebbin, if you could gather up the rest of the group while I sort out the army's orders, we can head out and maybe tackle both problems before nightfall."
Lucius is pleased as the knights channel Iomedae's power to rout the misfits and demonspawn the demons left behind. Any minor injuries are easily mended by the paladins' own healing powers and the cache of healing potions.
"Taking the siege weapons would be a double victory for us. We can prevent them from being fired upon us, and we may instead turn them upon our foes. Provided they can be captured intact, of course. It would be better they burn than remain in enemy hands."
Thom nods along, his attention on the men and fields of battle.