Saria frowns as Xanderghul suddenly vanishes, her golden wings beating at a steady rhythm to keep herself aloft.
"What the hell... why do the twiddle-fingers have to keep changing the entire battlefield. Can't a girl catch a break..?" Anevia asks as the fog rolls out. "Right, might as well use it..." she says, vanishing into thin air and moving quickly to the southwestern barricades into the edge of the fog to gain a bit of cover... though it's not entirely necessary given the wall of stench just beyond the wall of wind, but every little bit helps. She then waits for just the right moment to try to interrupt her spell once more.
Osfirth and Onsig use the cover of the illusionary fog to creep past the sets of walls and stand near Xanderghul. They draw arrows, though they are hesitant to fire on the aasimar without an order - they are aware that to do so would help her pinpoint their location.
Saria thinks for a moment, then apparently grows bored. With her many wounds it is getting harder to hold herself aloft in one position, so she flies slightly upwards and towards the east, gaining an additional 10' of altitude.
"You can't hide in there forever, you know," she chides. She glances across the town, noting that the kellid force was slowly in the process of attempting to move past the southeastern barricades. "Let me know when you're ready to come out and play."
And with that she languidly flicks her wrist - Anevia raises her shortbow, and a silver string forms once more as she lines up a shot against the fog-concealed, rippling Aasimar, before firing. A silver shortsword arcs out of the fog flying a few feet to the Aasimar's right. "Stupid twiddlefingers..."
A red bead goes flying out towards the southeastern barricades - it explodes into a fiery inferno near Valaria... the agile tiefling is lucky enough to evade most of the blast, but those who were carefully negotiating the nets and poles of their own defenses, were not. Another six perish in the flames.
At the death of his kin, Onsig enrages, forgetting himself, and firing from deep within the fog at Saria. Though his arrow flies true, lancing through one of her wings, Saria raises an eyebrow. She knew a thing or two about fog spells, namely that you couldn't see out of them any better than you could see into them... and given that she had already discovered that Xanderghul was an illusionist, well, it isn't too hard for the spellcaster to put two and two together. Suddenly the fog clears, and she can see the three, clear as day.
"Hm. Well aren't you adorable, illusionist. Running out of tricks, are you?"
"But...Y'know I can take care of that aasimar b#!%+ for you. But if I'm gonna do it, I get to choose how she dies. It's only fair. Whaddya say?"
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a small hilltop lakeside kellid village. Its parameters are protected by a set of crude barricades built of sharp poles, branches, and up-turned boats. One of the buildings is on fire.
The defenders of Silvershore, composed of 37 kellid hunters, have dispersed into town and are headed towards the southeastern barricades in an effort to flank the army past the wind wall.
Isilme is 10' away from the perimeter of town, along with Ayavah. They are 90' from the southeastern barricade.
Ehren stands in the southwestern part of town, next to a puddle of grease, a dead cultist, and a dying one.
At the southwestern barricades is Anevia. 10' in front of her are Hinagiku, and Ehren's summoned earth elemental, protecting them from the ongoing army. Xanderghul has created an illusory fog to help protect their escape, though it does not conceal Hinagiku and the elemental.
Valaria is at the southeastern barricades along with the kellid army. The barricades there are on fire.
The army takes up 40'x40'. The army is 10' on the opposite side from the barricades. There are 50 total, and half are entangled in a spell. The other half has escaped the spell. A third of the total are dead. They are shielded by a 100 ft long Wind Wall that is also 50 ft high. They are also blocked off by a 70 ft long wall of nausea, which grants them 20% concealment. In the back of the army is a row of tiefling skalds with war drums.
The army is completely composed of tieflings, except for one person who stands out - a beautiful winged aasimar woman called Saria clad in green robes, flying 30' up in the sky. She has flown away from the entangle, and is circling around towards the southwestern barricades - she is still 50' back from them, however.
Their captain, a babau named Mangvhune, has apparently vanished.
Hinagiku is up!
All Hinagiku could really do was to join the kellid force. Making sure the earth elemental follows her, she makes her way toward the north eastern barricade.
Hinagiku swiftly crosses the battlefield - though she does not speak Hallit, she was able to see through his illusion easily regardless. She negotiates her way back across the barricades and into town, Ehren's little earth elemental plodding after her.
Meanwhile, the kellids maneuver through the barricades, slowed down somewhat by the fact that some of them are now on fire, and circle around into position opposite the cultist army - the wind wall no longer between the two armies.
Ayavah follows alongside behind Isilme, pausing when she does to fire off another set of 4 magic missiles at the aasimar sorceress. She is slowly gaining confidence in her abilities, and this time her attack is much more effective, her blasts pummeling into the sorceress relentlessly.
The cultist army, to their credit, finally breaks free of entangle. Half of the force hobbles into the clear snow, only for Isilme to point her wand - the ground beneath them erupts anew into angry vines and grass. Saria covers her face with both hands.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a small hilltop lakeside kellid village. Its parameters are protected by a set of crude barricades built of sharp poles, branches, and up-turned boats. One of the buildings and the southeastern barricades are on fire.
The defenders of Silvershore, composed of 37 kellid hunters, have dispersed into town and are headed past the southeastern barricades in an effort to flank the army past the wind wall.
Isilme is 10' away from the perimeter of town, along with Ayavah. They are 90' from the southeastern barricade.
Ehren stands in the southwestern part of town, next to a puddle of grease, a dead cultist, and a dying one.
At the southwestern barricades is Anevia. Xanderghul, Osfirth, and Onsig are on the other side of the barricades, having maneuvered around both sets of wall spells 10' ahead of Anevia. They are concealed in an illusionary fog spell, though Saria has already discovered the ruse.
Valaria is at the southeastern barricades along with the kellid army. The barricades there are on fire.
The army takes up 40'x40'. The army is 10' on the opposite side from the barricades. There are 50 total, and half are entangled in a spell. The other half has escaped the spell, only to become ensnared in yet another entangle spell. A third of the total are dead. They are shielded by a 100 ft long Wind Wall that is also 50 ft high. They are also blocked off by a 70 ft long wall of nausea, which grants them 20% concealment. In the back of the army is a row of tiefling skalds with war drums.
The army is completely composed of tieflings, except for one person who stands out - a beautiful winged aasimar woman called Saria clad in green robes, flying 30' up in the sky. She has flown away from the entangle, and is circling around towards the southwestern barricades - she is still 50' back from them, however.
Their captain, a babau named Mangvhune, has apparently vanished.
Round 6!
Ehren is up!
As Ehren completes his summoning spell, the air over his head twists and turns into a small, spindly shape, its body just barely illuminated by the tiny star lights swirling within its vortex. The vaguely humanoid creature looks down, awaiting its orders.
"An ceann a bhfuil sciatháin - chur léi síos!" the druid calls out to the air elemental.
In an instant the tiny air elemental blasts across the sky in an attempt to smash right into the aasimar.
Once the attack has been launched, Ehren follows after Valaria, keen on reuniting with the others.
The little air elemental smashes into the aasimar, nearly knocking her out of the air, but she somehow manages to stay aloft. Meanwhile, its master heads across town, albeit more slowly than his hasted friends.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a small hilltop lakeside kellid village. Its parameters are protected by a set of crude barricades built of sharp poles, branches, and up-turned boats. One of the buildings and the southeastern barricades are on fire.
The defenders of Silvershore, composed of 37 kellid hunters, have dispersed into town and are headed past the southeastern barricades in an effort to flank the army past the wind wall.
Isilme is 10' away from the perimeter of town, along with Ayavah. They are 90' from the southeastern barricade.
At the southwestern barricades is Anevia. Xanderghul, Osfirth, and Onsig are on the other side of the barricades, having maneuvered around both sets of wall spells 10' ahead of Anevia. They are concealed in an illusionary fog spell, though Saria has already discovered the ruse.
Ehren, Hinagiku and the small earth elemental are currently headed across town towards the southeastern barricades. It will take them another round to reach them if they continue at a normal pace.
Valaria is at the southeastern barricades along with the kellid army. The barricades there are on fire.
The army takes up 40'x40'. The army is 10' on the opposite side from the barricades. There are 50 total, and half are entangled in a spell. The other half has escaped the spell, only to become ensnared in yet another entangle spell. A third of the total are dead. They are shielded by a 100 ft long Wind Wall that is also 50 ft high. They are also blocked off by a 70 ft long wall of nausea, which grants them 20% concealment. In the back of the army is a row of tiefling skalds with war drums.
The army is completely composed of tieflings, except for one person who stands out - a beautiful winged aasimar woman called Saria clad in green robes, flying 30' up in the sky. She has flown away from the entangle, and is circling around towards the southwestern barricades - she is still 50' back from them, however. She is being confronted by Ehren's summoned small air elemental.
Their captain, a babau named Mangvhune, has apparently vanished.
Xanderghul is up!
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Xanderghul grins. "I may be adorable, but you're dead and so's your army. Have fun in the Abyss. I promise that it isn't fun."
He turns to the men behind him, "Iawn - lladd hi."
Then he turns back and unleashes three magic missiles at her. While it's not as many as she was able to field, they still dart unerringly towards her, slamming into her already-injured form.
At Xanderghul's prompt, Osfirth fires off a shot at the winged sorceress, in time with his own volley of magic missiles. Saria plummets from the sky, falling to the ground near Hinagiku's feet. She is still breathing, but she is bleeding from her many wounds, and will die soon if not attended to.
The kellids get into position and fire a volley of arrows into the entangled mess of cultists, picking off the helpless men and women one by one.
Combat ends!
Around twenty cultists remain after the last volley. They begin to cry out, begging for mercy.
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With the battle at its end, Ehren waves his hand, dismissing his summons. The earth elemental promptly crumbles into dust, soon followed by the air elemental's dispersal into a light breeze. Slowing to a walk, he looks upon the charred corpses of the hunters still strewn across the barricades. His expression was undeniably tinged with sorrow, but there was something else below the surface. Naturally, he had no intention of stopping the people of Silvershore from killing every last cultist. He was all but certain that one of the others would stop them - Ary certainly would, if she were there - but he himself could not deny them the satisfaction. Deaf to the pleas of mercy, he instead addresses the matter at hand.
"Un fyddin mwy i fynd. Mae'r un yr wyf yn eich rhybuddio gyntaf. Roeddwn i'n meddwl i mi weld unrhyw gelynion arswydus yn eu plith, ond ar ôl hyn ... Yr wyf bellach yn sicr."
It was not lost on him that the sorceress had escaped his notice - it had been Mangvhune who drew his attention. But even if he had spotted her, would he have recognized the threat she presented? Ehren looks over at Saria, wondering whether she was still alive. Not that she had any right to be. A part of him wanted to leave her to be executed by the hunters, along with the rest of the army. It was one thing to take a few hapless tieflings prisoner, but she was clearly a figure of some authority.
"What do you think?" he asks Hinagiku, gesturing at the unconscious aasimar.
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Hinagiku stops in her tracks, she was heading toward the Kellids whose clothes were on fire, hoping there might be enough time to rescue them. However, Ehren's question echoes with her own; what should they do about the dying women... same with the army.
"I... no death is truly less tragic than another. If you have time to save one, do so. Or so I believe." she answers, in almost soothingly calm tone. Still, there was no time to linger, though all death was tragic, saving Kellid might help stave of the oncoming horde of onis.
Focusing her attention back to the Kellids who were being burned alive, she runs and tackles one of them, using her cloak and the surrounding snow to put out the fire. Then, with quick prayer to Irori, Hinagiku helps stabilize the warrior.
"Mr. Ehren, my wand, should be on the ground there." she says, pointing toward where she had dropped it.
For a moment, she looks out at the cultists who are trapped and begging for mercy. It feels wrong to not interfere with the kellids executing the trapped soldiers, but looking down at the burned corpses, she can't bring herself to speak up. "We have nowhere to put prisoners." she rationalizes. "And we can't trust them not to simply stab us in the back when their allies show up." She hurries over to Ehren and Hinagiku. "What can I do to help?"
Osfirth nods to Ehren, while Onsig kneels beside of his sister's corpse in silence.
"Byddwn yn gweddïo i Gorum am gryfder mae angen i ni ddod drwy'r storm sy'n dod tuag atoch."
Hinagiku finds that a few of the burned kellids are still alive and breathing, but they are in terrible shape.
You find that five of the kellid hunters are still breathing, but they are dying. Any form of magical healing will be enough to stabilize them and prevent death, but only time and attention from a healer (or the the spell regenerate) will help them regrow their burned off flesh. In lieu of magical healing, a healer's kit and a DC 20 heal check will stabilize them naturally, but at the cost of one hour of time.
For now, the burns needs to be covered lightly in dressing, and cloth needs to be placed in between their fingers and toes to prevent them adhering together. They should be placed in a sitting upright position to help keep airways open, and they should be covered with warm furs to prevent shock. Their feet should be elevated at least a foot off the ground.
Once their heart rate has gone down, the wounds need to be washed in cold water immediately. This helps reduce swelling, meaning less fluid will be lost.
"Pah. My way would have been far more entertaining. Magic missiles are but a child's spell."
While Hinagiku, Valaria, and Ehren are busy in town, the kellids fire off another volley, silencing the cultists once and for all. They then move into town to assess the damage. A few homes are on fire, but without a magical solution, there isn't much to do but to let them burn. Black smoke pours into the sky above Silvershore.
Ayavah groans, catching up with Valaria. "So... two down, one to go right? What was that guy saying about a pet that multiplies? That doesn't sound too great."
She looks over the kellids. "And everyone's looking pretty tired, too..."
I noticed that you succeeded at the knowledge check to identify the thing as an ooze, but Anevia doesn't speak Abyssal :(
So here's your prompt, haha.
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Ehren lingers for a moment before retrieving Hinagiku's wand, evidently content to let the aasimar bleed out on her own. While he did not disagree with the monk, he did believe that some lives were more deserving of salvation than others. As for Saria... whether not saving someone was the same as killing them was something for philosophers to debate.
"Some of them are still alive," he says to Hinagiku as he hands her the wand. Having picked up on the severity of their condition, he adds with some sense of urgency, "But they need healing immediately. Can you channel any more of Irori's power?"
He looks back to Valaria, not wanting her to feel listless in between battles. "Valaria, could you help us move them? Somewhere that's not on fire."
Putting out the flames would normally be an insignificant tasks for him, but the past two battles had pushed him to his limit. And he needed what power he had left for the battle yet to come. Homes can be rebuilt. But only if we live past this day.
Hinagiku, kneeling close the the wounded, lifts eyes with a tiny hint of apologies.
"Thank you, but no Mr. Ehren, I do not have any power left, all we can do is rely on this wand."
Once done, she quickly returns to her task, using a single charge of her wand to bring back the wounded from the brink of death. And, in all this chaos of helping the wounded, looking for the wand, speaking to Ehren, she only realizes too late the surrender of the Tiefling army and their destruction at the hands of the kellids... chaos of war and death, that is what I am here to end, she tells herself.
"Got it." Val carefully picks up each of the surviving kellids and helps move them away from the blazing buildings. "Thank you muleback cords." She shakes her head as Ayavah approaches her. "I'm not exactly sure. Probably something nasty. And something nasty that we're probably going to have to deal with."
Hinagiku's magic stabilizes the dying kellids after Valaria (and Ayavah, somewhat, though she is visibly squicked by the state of their skin) moves them away from the burning buildings and barricades, though the magic is not enough to help them regrow their burned flesh - only powerful magic, or time and the attention of a skilled healer, could help them recover from their injuries today.
"What. Didn't she deserve it, though? Think of how many people she's killed. Nothing wrong with taking a little... pleasure in eradicating someone like that."
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Anevia once more busied herself with collecting what few arrows she'd actually used; she avoided taking the Kellid's arrows, even though she wasn't sure they'd recover them. Seemed likely. She picks up her shortsword by kicking it up off the ground and into her hand as she passes by it.
She returned just in time to hear Ayavah mention a multiplying pet. "Ugh. Seriously? You leave Nidal and you've still got ooze oozing out of places they shouldn't be oozing out of. Mmmm, splitters are gonna split when you whack them with something pointy. Not all oozes split, mind. I think the splitty ones are more Chelaxian? Don't really remember, didn't matter at the time. They're all wonky." she says, putting her hands together and forming a big double-handed mouth to mimic her own as she talks. "The kinds that split don't care about stabby weapons, unless you cut a part off..." she says, splitting her hands into two talky mouths, "then you've got more of them. They'll usually split almost exactly if you cut hard enough. Otherwise they just... Schloop." she says as she slaps her hands together. "But once they're small enough they can't really split up anymore. So then they only Schloop when you stab or cut them."
"Orffen y cultists weddill a chasglu pawb i fyny. Mae angen i ni symud y clwyfedig i ddiogelwch ar unwaith a pharatoi ar gyfer y frwydr nesaf"
"I am going to go check the Aasimar for anything useful. We should gather up on the southwestern side of the town and make our preparations. I suggest we make extensive use of entangle when the army is several hundred feet out. If we place two or three castings between us and them, and one on top of them, it should significantly limit their ability to close, giving us time to whittle their forces down."
"We will need to deal with the ooze immediately. So no slashing weapons then, is that correct Anevia?" She looks at Anevia for confirmation before continuing. "So no daggers then, but most other things should be alright. Is there anything else we need to know about oozes? I believe we should try to all focus it down immediately, while trying to keep the commander occupied. Given that the ooze seems to be his 'pet', Hinagiku may be able to keep the commander locked down while still helping with the Ooze."
"Once the army begins to close further, perhaps we could use another shadow web, and either more entangles, or another stone call. Assuming they do not have another caster, we should be in good shape."
When Isilme is finished listening to everyone's ideas on the upcoming battle, she heads over to search over the Aasimar's body quickly to see if there might be any magic items of use. Casting detect magic she goes through her gear, rolling her over to make sure she hasn't missed anything.
"So we're going to have to deal with an ooze and their commander. And that babau is probably sneaking around either with the army or waiting for a chance to interfere when we least expect it." She sighs. "Alright. Isilme's plan seems pretty solid. They'll be expecting illusions and ambushes though, so we'll need to be smart with where we set up. Otherwise they'll outmaneuver our trap and we'll be defenseless."
"No poky things, either. No arrows, no spears, not sure about biting it. Kinda figure biting it's not really that useful anyhow. So... if you've got a nice big club, that should work... but maybe it's a thing for the twiddle-fingers to deal with? I won't really know what'll work on it til I know what kind of pudding it is... and I might not know it when it shows up. Like I said, Oozes are wonky" she shrugs. "Not really sure how you get a pet ooze, anyway.." she mutters.
Isilme furrows her brows as Anevia clarifies that piercing weapons were a no-go. "That poses a much more serious problem then," she says, thinking for a moment. "I suppose we can try to rely on magic, but I am not sure how effective that will be. It certainly is not our forte. Otherwise, Hinagiku is the only one who can deal damage to the creature if we cannot use piercing weapons."
"Xanderghul, Ayavah, do either of you have any damaging spells left? "
Isilme searches Saria's dead body but finds nothing interesting.
Ayavah wrings her hands. "I have a few magic missiles left in me.. maybe like five or so?"
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Xanderghul also does nothing to stop the Kellids killing the rest of the tieflings. His stance on the issue was clear. It simply wasn't practical.
At the planning stage of everything, he basically agrees with the plan. Stay in the village, use magic to keep the enemies from getting close and riddle them with arrows. "I have an ear-piercing scream, a burst of radiance and the power contained in my bonded object left. I also have a couple of figment spells and a limp lash."
"I didn't notice the creature that the babau spoke of when I flew over the army... so it might very well be in hiding somehow," Ehren surmises, figuring that it is something he would have noticed, even in a hurry. "We have to be careful not to let it catch us unawares."
Looking back to Isilme, he adds, "I think your plan will work regardless. Even if our arrows are of no use against this 'ooze', the rest of their army will not be so fortunate."
Osfirth frowns, trying his best to follow along with his limited understanding of Common.
"Felly dim saethau ... erbyn hyn yn 'ooze'. Ydw?" He frowns.
"Y tro hwn rydym yn aros yn ôl ar y? Daw'r fyddin o'r de-orllewin, ie?"
"So no arrows... against this 'ooze'. Yes?"
"This time we stay back at the barricades? This army comes from the southwest, yes?"
Near Valaria, a few of the burned kellids laying on the ground begin to cough and choke - they are having difficulty breathing in the cold winter air.
"Dylai'r clwyfedig yn cael eu cymryd i neuadd y llwyth," Ehren says, looking to the burnt hunters sympathetically, "Byddant yn byw i ymladd eto, ond dim ond os ydynt adfer o losgiadau hyn."
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Hinagiku tends to the wounded while simultaneously listening to the plan; as she whispers soothing words into the hear of a warrior, she also nods in understanding and agreement to Isilme's plan.
"Understood miss Isilme, I will move in when needed." she softly says, before proceeding to help moving the wounded back into the clan hall.
Once done, the monkey proceeds to pick up her kyoketsu shoge, before making her way to the southwestern barricade. Doing so, she also take the opportunity to use her wand to heal herself.
Once she reaches her allies, Hinagiku starts another round of meditation. Fighting huge battles, with people of different values, was taking a certain tole on her. She needed to do something to stop the massacres. After a few minutes of slow motion martial arts and deep breaths, Hinagiku comes to side with Isilme.
"Miss Isilme, could you ask the villagers not to slay the opposing forces if they surrender?"
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Xanderghul classically approaches Hinagiku, a finger outstretched and waggling and his eyebrows raised. "What do you suggest we do with any dozens of captives we take? We already have the ten from three battles ago, and that's a complicated and resource-draining exercise that I don't care to be a part of..."
"What would we do with twenty more? I mean, after we got them to finish rebuilding the Kellid village and digging all of the graves for all of the dead... I mean, I guess you might be onto something for leaving them alive... at least temporarily..." Xanderghul strokes his chin, apparently having come into an idea. "I bet we could get them to work really hard. They would think their lives would be on the line."
"But I mean best-case scenario is that we imprison them forever, right?"
"Also, can you heal me, as well? I find that the pain from multiple bludgeoning wounds is somewhat distracting while casting spells designed to keep everyone safe and the enemy forces completely locked down."
"I am not certain that we have the resources to take prisoners Hinagiku. While I appreciate your desire to prevent unnecessary deaths. We cannot risk those injured and their families. The cultists are likely to turn on us the moment they sense any opportunity."
"Here, let me," Ehren interjects, taking out his stronger healing wand and pressing it against Xanderghul's arm, intent on expending the last of its power.
"It might sound callous, but Isilme and Xanderghul are right," he remarks to Hinagiku quietly, as he pulls away from the wizard. "Many of these cultists chose their path. Most of them were likely set on it by circumstance. But either way, each and every one of them followed it, knowing where its end may lead."
The kellids help Hinagiku move the injured warriors into the clan hall, where Mera rushes over to help tend to their wounds. She sits them upright, leaning against the walls of the building, to better help them breathe.
Ayavah listens to the conversation about the cultists with a distinctly unpleasant look on her face, though she doesn't say anything. She clutches and unclutches her hands repeatedly, silently following Valaria around the town as they plan their final defense.
The kellids get into position, taking cover behind the southwestern barricades. Time passes, and after an excruciatingly long and quiet ten minutes, the enemy army appears over the horizon, moving fast. As they come into sight of Silvershore, they break into a run, but Isilme, Xanderghul, and Ehren were already ready. With the army within 200', Isilme raises her wand, enveloping the army entirely in tangled growths, shooting up from beneath the snow. Ehren and Xanderghul then lay down growths ahead of them, creating a large space to travel between to actually get into Silvershore.
The army's commander stands in the back of the army. He is a horrifically obese man clad in plate bearing a bleeding red eye and wielding a longbow, though strapped to his back is a fearsome heavy mace. The plate strains around his immense girth, barely containing the bulbous mass within. He is riding, of all things, a white unicorn, but the horse isn't at all the beautiful creature one imagines from fairy tales. This creature has been thoroughly ruined, its flesh completely covered in horrible scar tissue, what fur it still has only mangy patches. Its horn was apparently broken off at some point in the past, it has half-grown back, though the end has been refined into a sharp point.
The army is almost entirely composed of tieflings wearing leather armor and wielding shortswords. In the back are a set of five women, wearing semi-transparent veils around their faces, each sporting a bleeding red eye.
The commander stands firm, as the unicorn he rides simply tramples the writhing vines into the ground.
He then fires off a single arrow, which lands straight through the head of one of the defenders, killing him instantly. The kellids return with a volley of their own, hitting several tieflings, but failing to kill any of them at this long range.
Evil creatures greatly value unicorn horns as reagents for healing potions and other dark rites, and a single powdered unicorn horn counts as 1,600 gp when used as a component for crafting healing magic.
This unicorn, unfortunately, has been tortured to the extent that it has transformed into a broken soul. The extent of the tortures it has received have driven it mad with rage and they are under constant pain and agony. Broken souls are difficult to harm because they are so used to pain and abuse but because they are in constant pain they move slower than normal, and have difficulty concentrating on magical spells.
Broken souls can emit agonized wails causing nearby creatures to become shaken. Simply meeting their gaze causes agony to ones soul , and can also deliver a tortuous touch, inflicting a measure of the pain they experience onto another.
Initiative Rolls
Initiative Order
1. Isilme
2. Ehren
3. Hinagiku
4. Valaria
5. Anevia
6. Commander Hormond + Unicorn, Faceless Witches #1-#4 (entangled)
7. Xanderghul
8. Faceless Witch #5, Mass Combat
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 75 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is in the back of the army (which occupies a space of 70'x70') along with five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
25% of the tiefling army is caught in entangle. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle.
Round 1!
Isilme is up!
Isilme begins singing, bolstering the gathered kellids and heroes alike. As she does, she weaves a spell, quickening the pace and strikes of her allies.
"Â ni'n! Yr wyf yn clywed y elyn hyrwyddo,
meirch bigog yn prancio yn falch,
Helmedau yn y fwrw golwg golau haul
Gliter drwy'r coed"
"Hark! I hear the foe advancing,
Barbed steeds are proudly prancing,
Helmets in the sunlight glancing
Glitter through the trees."
Ehren is up!
Xanderghul narrows his eyes at the sight of the unicorn servitor, shouting out advice to his teammates. "That's not a standard unicorn. Its a been tortured into madness and power. Don't let it touch you if you can help it, and don't meet its gaze if you can help it. You'll be in agony if you do. I don't think we can save it... Its beyond being charmed or dominated.
Hearing the commander's orders and noticing that a good deal of the enemy army has managed to avoid being entangled, Ehren stoops down, placing one hand against the ground.
"Keep your distance from them," he instructs, the warning more directed towards his companions than the archers. "I'm going to lay down a stronger binding."
The druid concentrates, drawing on the power that permeated his soul. The wellspring of power was running dry, but he needed what was left to supplement his dwindling reserves of magic - he would have to worry about regaining his power later. Infused with the ley, Ehren imposes his will on the earth, calling forth a more powerful version of spell contained in their wands.
More plants than ever burst out from beneath the army's feet, threatening to entangle the soldiers all over again. Only this time, the plants have teeth. Thorns sprout out from within the grass and weeds, ready to tear away at the tieflings' flesh. Beyond that, many of the plants go so far as to hurtle the thorns like small javelins, even that those that manage to get away from the initial entanglement.
"That's absolutely disgusting," Val says with a scowl. "Even worse than their usual corruption." Knowing that cold iron won't be of much use against a unicorn, she checks her regular daggers so she can engage at range. "And his ooze is probably around here somewhere too. I can try to engage the commander and put the unicorn out of its misery before I challenge him, but I'm going to need fire support so it doesn't disable me with its powers."
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Hinagiku nods in understanding to the others. So, it would be up to her to stop the Kellids, and hope they could make prisoners. After the discussion dies, the monk goes to Ayavah.
"Miss Ayavah, you are a wizard, knowledgeable and smart, do you have any ideas about how we could find a way to keep them captive without them becoming a danger to the crusaders? I mean, they are not slave in the other army, they are paid to participate to it." she softly asks, hoping the sorceress could help her.
Upon hearing the leader ask his troops to split and attack from two direction, Hinagiku is tempted to rush the middle, trusting in the others to dismiss the spell, but her enthusiasm is broken by Ehren's spell. Breathing deeply she watches as the plants start tearing apart some of the cultists. It was hard to keep her mind clear an focused.
Ayavah's eyes widen and she reddens slightly. "Ah, no, I'm not a wizard... I'm a sculptor. Really. This stuff I can do... is just stuff I can do. No one taught me how to do it."
"I don't know. Really, if it were up to me, I'd let them board the next barge in Nerosyan and just leave the country. Then they're no one's problem, yeah? Get a chance to start a new life somewhere without all the baggage. Maybe they'll make better choices this time around."
Ehren lays down an even more powerful and deadly version of entangle beneath the army, and even though this army is considerably lighter on their feet than the last, over half find the thorny vines snaking around their ankles.
The commander digs his spurs into the unicorn's sides, urging the mount to move out of the area of entangle, and out of the way of the barbed plants. He fires twice into the barricades, both shots landing harmlessly on the kellid defenses. His witches are not so lucky, and are forced to slowly attempt to maneuever through the field of angry weeds.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 75 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
50% of the tiefling army is caught in entangle. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Commander Hormond has escaped the thorny entanglement and is now 20' away from it. He is 160' away from the barricades.
Xanderghul is up!
Xanderghul squints forward at the illustrious (and extremely fat) Commander Hormond. He was sure that such a huge man wouldn't be particularly agile, but for whatever reason the man was wielding a bow. And not badly, either! Well, either way, it was time to test out the man's defenses.
Xanderghul weaves a spell, (his last fourth-circle spell, he realizes with an inward sigh) stretching the reach of his magic out nearly as far as it would go. An orb of darkness coalesces around the obese Commander, obscuring him slightly. The Commander and his unicorn would hear the slowly building sound of water dripping, and then the orb would fill up with churning water like a gourd. The water threatens to sweep them both off of their feet, and would certainly prevent the Commander from firing his bow.
The commander grips the reins of his tormented mount as water threatens to overtake them both, but the obese man is blessed with unholy gifts which he has received from his god, and he sees through the illusion almost instantly. Nonetheless, he doesn't trust the shadowy orb, and he maneuvers himself and his unicorn out of the way in time.
Meanwhile the army of cultists struggles against the writhing bramble surrounding them as arrows rain down around them and wicked vines fire thorns into their shins. Some manage to make good progress to the outer reaches of the spell, but none fully escape it just yet. Three cultists die to the combined onslaught, and many more are wounded.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 72 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
12% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, though they have not escaped the area of effect yet. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Commander Hormond has escaped the thorny entanglement and is now 20' away from it. He is 160' away from the barricades, and next to a shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
Hinagiku is up!
Hinagiku knew that, even while being hasted, she would not be able to reach the commander before he could shoot another arrow, yet he was separated from his army so they needed to take this opportunity.
She looks into Valaria and Anevia's eyes, a quick calm look so they may understand what she is planning. Then, with speed, grace and calm Hinagiku moves halfway toward the commander of the enemy army, standing in the open with no weapons in hand.
Hinagiku weaves through the barricades, moving 90' out in front of the town and bravely standing alone between the army and its leader and the kellids behind her.
Commander Hormond chuckles, the sound muffled slightly by his full helmet.
"So. You're my first challenger, are you? Very well. We'll make this quick, won't we, Maggot?"
His unicorn doesn't respond, only staring balefully at Hinagiku as she approaches, its head slumped towards the ground and its ears drooping low.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 72 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
Hinagiku has left the barricades and is 90' in front of them.
Commander Hormond has escaped the thorny entanglement and is now 20' away from it. He is 160' away from the barricades, and next to a shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
12% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, though they have not escaped the area of effect yet. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Valaria is up!
"Challengers lard ass," Valaria says as she moves forward to join Hinagiku. "This town is under our protection and you will not harm this place while we live."
Commander Hormond continues chuckling, leisurely drawing an arrow from his quiver. The end is coated in some sort of vile, green, phlegm-like substance.
"This one's for you. Tonight I'll enjoy dining on that sharp tongue of yours. I can only imagine that you'll taste as sweet as you look."
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 72 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
Hinagiku and Valaria have left the barricades and are 90' in front of them.
Commander Hormond has escaped the thorny entanglement and is now 20' away from it. He is 160' away from the barricades, and next to a shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
12% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, though they have not escaped the area of effect yet. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Anevia is up!
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"Did anyone let the Kellids know not to use pokey-cutty things on the slimy thing when it shows up..?" Anevia whispers into the message spell, suddenly remembering that it was sort of important everyone know.
As Hinagiku and Valaria move forward, Anevia slips forward as well, muttering to herself. "The hell is wrong with cultists..? You leave Nidal and folks like this just bring it with them... and to a Unicorn, too. Bastard..."
"Hoo boy. There she goes doing the hero thing again," Ayavah mumbles as Valaria heads out to face the Commander with Hinagiku. She scrambles over to Isilme, not wanting to be by herself in a crowd of people she doesn't even understand.
Anevia vanishes into thin air, then follows stealthily after Hinagiku and Valaria, coming up ten feet behind of them.
Round 2!
Isilme calls out to those around her, giving them directions and inspiring their actions.
"This is it, defenders of Silvershore! When we send these cultists to the Abyss, the battle will be over! Make every arrow count, wipe out the cultitst forces! Onsig, Osfirth, focus on the veiled casters if you can, we need to eliminate them! Ayavah, use the wand of haste on Onsig, Osfirth and whomever else might benefit from it."
She repeats her orders and inspiration in Hallit for the Kellids as well. She then draws her wand of magic missile and fires off a single blast at the unicorn - he barely seems to notice, his ear twitching mildly as if it were but an annoying fly.
Onsig and Osfirth nod at Isilme's orders. "Deall," grunts Onsig, knocking an arrow.
"Understood."
Ayavah nods, gripping the handle of her wand tightly. "Um... okay. Gotcha."
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 72 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
Anevia is 80' from the barricades, and invisible.
Hinagiku and Valaria are 90' from the barricades.
Commander Hormond has escaped the thorny entanglement and is now 20' away from it. He is 160' away from the barricades, and next to a shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
12% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, though they have not escaped the area of effect yet. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Ehren is up!
Seeing everyone moving forward to engage the enemy commander, Ehren follows suit, his pace quickened by Isilme's spell. He stops just short of Hinagiku and Valaria, clutching his staff in both hands.
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"Hey twinkletoes, come here often?" Anevia whispers from just beside Ehren.
The Commander knocks his bow - calling on the unholy power of Jubilex, his patron, to guide his shot into Valaria's heart, while simultaneously beckoning his mount to gallop past the heroes and towards the barricades, making it twenty feet past Anevia and Ehren. Anevia reacts instantly, appearing abruptly beside of Ehren, knocking his tainted arrow straight out of the air.
The bloated antipaladin notches another (less disgusting) arrow and with a precise movement, lodges the end of his shot in Valaria's shoulder.
While this is going on, Anevia, Ehren, and Xanderghul make the mistake of looking the tormented unicorn in the eyes. They are suddenly wracked with horrible pain, as they stare deep into the poor creature's shattered soul.
"Ughhh.." Ayavah clutches her face from next to Isilme, while a number of the kellids also exclaim disgust and horror at the unicorn's state. "What in the nine hells did they do to that poor thing?"
Meanwhile, the witches struggle within the writhing vines, to no avail, though one of their number does manage to escape the bramble. She stops to rest a few feet away, chest heaving with exertion.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 72 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
60' away from the barricades is Commander Hormond.
Anevia and Ehren are 80' from the barricades, and invisible.
Hinagiku and Valaria are 90' from the barricades.
160' away from the barricades is Xanderghul's shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
10' away from the thorny entanglement and 200' away from the barricades is a single veiled woman. The others of her coven are still trapped in the entanglement.
50% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, though they have not escaped the area of effect yet. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Xanderghul is up!
Xanderghul grits his teeth and clenches his fists as he makes eye contact with the horrible tortured creature. He had just been in the middle of formulating a plan (yes he knows, no plan survives contact with the battlefield, but you couldn't just sit around planning only one move ahead the whole time!) when he had been struck with the great pain of the unicorn's gaze attack. Now he struggles, fists clenched with frustration, to remember it. "Hnrg." he says, screwing his eyes shut with concentration.
"Yes!" he exclaims, eyes popping open. "Lure him closer." he says to those still close enough to hear, before he swiftly vanishes from sight. Those capable of seeing him would see him hop over the barricades and scurry out of the way of the Captain's approach, but otherwise he was completely confident in his own safety...
Xanderghul maneuevers through the barricades, though because he is not as fast as the hasted heroes, he doesn't get any further than that. Not that anyone could see that, of course.
As the kellids fire another volley into the opposing army, another witch manages to escape the writhing vines, making it far enough away from them to avoid further injury. Between the arrows and the deadly plants, a third of the army perishes, though half of the remainder manages to escape the area of effect once and for all.
Osfirth and Onsig, in response to Isilme's orders, focus down the witches in the distance. They spot one separate from the others and fire a pair of arrows into her, nearly bringing her to her knees. Meanwhile, Ayavah enchants more kellids with Isilme's haste wand, doubling the speed at which they can fire into the fray.
The battle takes place at Silvershore, a hilltop kellid fishing village on the banks of lake Silver. The town has been reinforced with barricades, though the southeastern ones were destroyed with a fireball.
The heroes and a squadron of 36 kellid hunters wielding longbows sit at the southwestern barricades. 200' away is an army of 50 tieflings, lead by the fearsome Commander Hormond, a morbidly obese man in plate riding a horrifically mutilated unicorn. He is accompanied by five women in robes wearing transparent gauzy veils emblazoned with a bleeding red eye.
Xanderghul has crossed the barricades and is on the other side from the kellids and Isilme, though he has not made any more progress than that. He is invisible.
60' away from the barricades is Commander Hormond.
Anevia and Ehren are 80' from the barricades, and invisible.
Hinagiku and Valaria are 90' from the barricades.
160' away from the barricades is Xanderghul's shadow conjuration: aqueous orb.
10' away from the thorny entanglement and 200' away from the barricades is a single veiled woman (#1), with another of her ilk (#5) 20' away. The others of their coven are still trapped in the entanglement.
15% of the tiefling army is caught in some form of entangle, and half of the remaining army has escaped the area of effect. There are three separate entangle spells, one directly under the enemy army, and two northeast of them, forming an equilateral triangle. There is also a more powerful thorny entanglement caught directly under the tiefling army.
Hinagiku is up!