Johnathan will attack.
Cretien will leave the mechanus to hold the rope.
Preparing to attack, he casts Shield on himself.
Enemies Group 1: 2, Group 2: 12
Stealth: Merle
Merle, Chretien and Johnathan fire on the enemy killing three, eliminating group 1 and one member of group 2.
The remaining two of Wintry's wards go off killing another 2.
Three enemies dismantle the barricade in front of the stairs.
The group then splits up one moving toward each door dismantling each barricade.
A captain grabs Wintry by the throat and sword in the other and says, "Your elven friend here will die by my hand if you do not let us in!!!"
Enemies: 9
Round 7
Johnathan will cast color spray at the captain & Wintry, hitting as many soldiers as he can (if possible).
Johnathan unleashes a color spray where he takes 2 hp of damage from attacks by hanging out the window, which enables chretien and Merle to pick off two enemies each.
Mithas braces the door but the second door takes 2 points of damage.
Off in the distance another 20 enemies come into view.
Round 8
Group 2: 5
Group 3: 20
Johnathan fires on the nearest group from the window.
With enemies dead around Wintry, Cretien will attempt a saving maneuver.
The one enemy by the man door is able to do 1point of damage to the front door.
Mithas Brace:
The enemies do 2hp of damage to that door.
Johnathan, Merle and Chretien take out enemies
The air elemental finally realizes what is going on and kills an enemy.
The third group moves closer but and attempt to attack the team in the tower but the distance and flight of arrows miss their targets.
Group 2: 1
Group 3: 20
Round 9
Merle, Chretien and Johnathan spot a sudden disturbance on the coastline, as something causes a hundred foot high shaft of amber to erupt out of the sea floor, then disappears just as suddenly. A massive wave rushes toward the sea wall.
"Now what in blazes is that"? Merle exclaims nodding his head towards the sea, as he sights in another soldier. Merle shouts.
"If that wave wipes out the fleet, we will have to surrender." Johnathan says quietly to Merle.
He fires at the remaining member of Group 2.
Clutching his shoulder where a crossbow bolt tore through, he winces.
"We can't hold much longer, in any case."
The kid seems afraid, as the large third group approaches.
Seeing the rope doing no good, Cretien has the mechanus haul it up and fires at the enemy.
Mithas Brace: ,
The enemy does 1hp of damage to his door.
Johnathan, Air elemental, Merle and Chretien take out enemies
Group 3: 17
The group splits up with nine hitting the main door and 8 hitting the door where Mithas is.
As the first enemy cracks through the door Mithas as an Aoo kills him, and then attacks and kills the next one.
15
One enemy is able to break through into the lighthouse at the other door.
The tidal wave then hits killing seven members of the enemy forces and doing an additional to Wintry and Joseph, killing them both as their bodies are washed out to sea.
Round 10
Enemies: 8
Johnathan fires again.
Cretien and the mechanus hurry to fortify the barricade.
Mithas will attack the soldier:
Mithas kills two enemies and takes 6hp of damage.
Chretien makes his way downstairs and tries to build up more barricade but is attacked and takes 8 points of damage.
Merle and Johnathan and the air elemental are able to eliminate three more enemy troops.
30 seconds later, Risuri naval warships sail through the open sea gates and into the harbor, firing cannons, arrows, and spells at the duchess’ forces who dare to break from cover. Her forces fall back to the walls of the Outer Fort while ships line up out the mouth of the harbor. Crews lash gangplanks from prow to stern so a thousand soldiers can march to the mainland.
The second invasion in a week begins. You watch from the top of the lighthouse.
Axis Fortress still has damage from the last time it was sacked, and so the Risuri loyalist forces attack from multiple avenues. They outnumber the duchess’s forces five to one, and plan to quickly climb over the walls with the aid of siege engines and the troops landing through the sea gate move quickly to eliminate her guards keeping the main land entrances closed. The fort is designed to be defended by people with muskets and cannons, weapons the duchess’ forces aren’t well-trained with, so the outer wall will be overcome within an hour.
Medics from the arriving naval units quickly make their way to the lighthouse, kill the enemy troops and heal the members of your team to full HP.
The inner wall is a tougher nut to crack, however, and so the plan is basically to surround it and assault different sides in turn, then fall back, forcing the defenders to rush from battle to battle. This should eventually cause them to leave an opening that can be exploited, while minimizing casualties to loyalist forces.
After about half an hour you spot a smaller cutter sail into the harbor behind the fleet - it's Captain Rutger Smith and the Impossible. He berths near the lighthouse and leaps onto the wall and up to the top floor with the beacon. 'Can't believe you did it!' he beams, offering the four of you a cigar each, but warning 'don't smoke them now until the mission is fully complete - bad luck. So tell me how you got on - was there any fighting?' and where is the infiltration team?' He demands acting out of all the really exciting bits.
"there were... many casualties," Cretien says, reluctant to say more.
The gruff captain says, "Son, I understand, this here skipper has seen his share of pain, were there any survivors other than you four?"
"One in the caves we entered through, possibly. He was injured, perhaps not mortally."
"He was fine last we saw. We left him in the care of one of the survivors of the original attack. The whole operation was nearly a disaster."
"At least the deaths were not for nothing."
Captain Smith says while patting Chretien on the shoulder, "It is always difficult to lose your comrades..."
He stops shortly to let the grief to subside, then continues, "Of course, with the tragic death of the elite infiltration team, you four are technically the highest authority for non-military matters, so it’s your responsibility to deal with the duchess once the soldiers reach her. I imagine she'll hole up in the central keep, but the military should be able to surround her within a few hours. You'll be getting a military escort soon - Sergeant Glassman should be reporting here any minute", he looks down and points to a squad of four soldiers marching in formation down the sea wall towards you. "He's a bit ... depressing", Smith warns.
Johnathan seems exhausted and distant, mumbling something about Joseph and him being the same age and looking out to sea. He seems relieved when the captain speaks.
"Us four? Then Mithas survived?"
He grins when Mithas joins them, glad to see the half-orc. Though he still seems dazed, as if in a dream.
Sergeant Glassman reports for duty just as Johnathan realizes that Mithas has made it.
Glassman and his soldiers are to provide you with military support. It becomes apparent rather quickly that Glassman has taken a vow of total honestly. 'If you intend to send us to our death', he suggests, 'Send Private Waterhouse first. I don’t much like the guy'. His men just look at you fatalistically; Waterhouse (you presume) squirming.
Johnathan washes his face with a nearby bucket of water, which was catching drops from the lighthouse's leaky roof. Quiet for a long while as the others discuss the military support and strategies.
Finally, he says to no one in particular, "A few moments later and we would have all died, and they might have shut the gates. Joseph bought us so much time. And Wintry's wards... and it was still so close."
He then looks to Merle, sadness and naivety in his young eyes and asks, "Is this what being a soldier is?"
At Johnathan's words Glassman and his men recognise the Yerasol Veteran. 'It's an honor to be working with you, Soldier Merle Adair', says Glassman. 'You can count on us to follow your orders'. His men nod - everyone's impressed at the decorated soldier.
Merle finishes running his finger along his Pickaxe, looking for any damage, and turns to face Jonathan. "Yes". "It can be sad, but you can't dwell on fallen comrades". "They chose to put their lives on the line for the greater good". "If nobody made that choice, then evil, and chaos would win the day". "So...they died a good death". "And, you must learn to place your attention on your mission ahead, and minimizing the deaths of those that matter". "That's what soldiering is about". "Sacrifice and honor...and doing the right thing".
Merle turns to the new arrivals with a bit of embarrassment. "Your words honor me good man, but are perhaps displaced". "If I survived and did good, it was because of the men who gave me orders, not to any leadership skills of my own". "Give me a plan, and I can see it done, but I'm not much on big thinking". "You do honor me though".
Then looking at the squirming Private, Merle points to him and says. "He's with me". "How do you guys want to go about this". "Frontal assault, stealth, or diplomacy".
Something in the harbor catches Waterhouse's attention. "What the fizzzzuck...!?! Look - down there."
Gunshots and screams of panic sound from one of the Risuri ships in harbor, hundreds of feet away from the lighthouse. A few flashes of fire light up the night, and then a massive ball of flame engulfs the ship. Smoke billows upward as the rigging catches ablaze, and you spot something moving on the ship - and then identify it as a humanoid figure striding across the burning deck. He points a sword that is totally on fire and sweeps it in an arc toward the sea wall. One by one, as if responding to the movement, each of the gas lamps on the sea wall shatter with a 'pop' and go dark, until the only light in the entire harbor is the lighthouse beacon and the burning ship. You feel that the figure is looking at you across the water - the large space suddenly feels very confined. Then the figure leaps into the air and disappears into nothingness, and everything goes very quiet.
* Knowledge (Arcana). DC 10:
* Knowledge (Arcana). DC 15:
elf, probably a Vekeshi mystic, based on patterns of scorch marks
and the way tongues of the still-active fire takes the shape of hands.
A PC with the Vekeshi Mystic theme feat doesn’t need to make a
check to know this.
* Knowledge (History). DC 10:
and a flying shield. There was a fey warrior who matched that
description at a battle two hundred years ago, in the First Yerasol
War.
* Knowledge (History). DC 15:
fought to rescue a high elf woman who was captured by a Danoran
general. He aided the Risuri forces indirectly, but was not technically
an ally.
* Perception. DC 10:
between a short blade and some sort of long flaming flail or whip.
* Perception. DC 15:
wall, probably from the attacker.
"Hmm, interesting character. Flaming sword-whip, flying shield. Either Asrabey or someone trying really hard to appear like Asrabey. High Elf. Vekeshi Mystic. Veteran of the First Yerasol War. Wild card, aided Risuri forces then." Cretien just rattles off tidbits that he has read as he recalls them.
"Fey magic..." Johnathan says quietly.
Chretien
Unseen Court, though you can only speculate for now why he’s here. You do remember that the duchess has been Risur’s liaison to
the Unseen Court for decades.
"From what I can ascertain, it is likely that Asrabey works for the Unseen Court. As the Duchess has been Risur's liason with the Court, I would imagine she has poisoned him to Risur's cause."
About an hour later, a courier finds you, "Sirs, my commander requests that you follow me due to the fact we have found a makeshift brig housing dozens of Danoran prisoners from the duchess' invasion. We are all aware that you are looking for a tiefling, inside the stockade are twelve tieflings, and so she thought the RHC might want to check to see if your man is among them." says the soldier in a salute.
You leave the lighthouse following the courier and make your way to the brig, a stable that was hastily converted with iron bars to make cells out of animal pens. Along the way you spot a lot of wounded, a few dead on your side, and slightly more dead on the duchess’ side. 'That will probably be us in an hour', Glassman remarks cheerfully at a group of soldiers who have lost arms or legs, and his men make faces and grip their weapons tighter. Other soldiers are busy disassembling their siege engines, hoisting them over the outer wall, and reassembling them on the far side, all by torch or lantern light, and while ducking the occasional magical missile or arrow fired from the inner wall.
At the brig a single wounded soldier and two of enlisted soldiers you recognise are trying to take a survey of the prisoners, but between the cacophony of livestock and the angered shouts of nearly a hundred Danorans, they’re making slow progress. He recognises Sergeant Glassman with a familiar dread and nods as you are introduced.
'Infantryman Sander Wodeham at your service Sirs. I took an arrow through the side of my head, but it did no real damage. Still, I got this assignment. I've been told to convince the Danorans to provide information that might make breaching the inner wall easier, but to be honest that's not going to happen: they hate us. Plus my superiors want me to recommend whether it’s safe to release the Danorans and just keep them under watch, so the actual cells can be used to house prisoners from the duchess’s forces.' He shrugs, helplessly. 'I've no idea - I'm just a soldier and my unit are reservists. Glassman says you guys are the civilian authorities. Plus, I think two of my boys are RHC during the week, Gobi and Elfi front and center, why don't you two go back to your day jobs, huh!'
Glassman puts up his hands like horns to remind Wodeham of something: 'Oh sorry I almost forgot - among the Danorans are twelve tieflings. The Admiral said to keep them separate in case one is the one you wanted.'
"Savan Harn reporting." The tiny goblins crisp salute and disciplined demeanor are almost off putting in their exactitude. Standing all of two and a half feet in height it would be easy to overlook the creature if it were not for the wicked and well used looking musket resting over his shoulder, something about the quiet menace the small man exuded set others on edge.
"I will endeavor to execute our orders with precision and excellence while in your company. So what is the nature and details of our assignment?"