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Changing her tune, so to speak, Nurah decides to attempt to demoralize her foes instead. Calling out to all the cultists around her, as well as the commander and Vrock, she says "Look at your flighty commander! Look at your cowering Vrock! Bumbling and stumbling, they cannot even handle a handful of crusaders and a swarm of animated insects! This is how you intend you conquer your foes? With ineptitude and impotence? Perhaps by playing the fool and hoping the crusaders laugh themselves to death? I have studied the crusaders and the armies they've fought. Your feeble force does not even merit a footnote!"
Nurah spurs her mount, guiding it to move underneath the enemy commander now that he has been driven down towards the ground by Markus' wasps. "What's all the buzz up there about?" she calls up towards the commander. "Not so fond of their stinging retorts? You should be doing much better against them, after all, they're just winging it!" Weaving her magic into the words, she attempts to cause the commander hysterics upon hearing her puns.
Even with Ary's guidance, Annabelle's ghostly mount doesn't manage to shake off the vrock's screech. All the same, the pair are in position, and her brother has maneuvered around behind the vrock. The creature is in dire straits, and Annabelle raises her glaive, spins it above her head, and snaps it down at the creature's shoulder to try and finish the job. As she swings, she quips, "You should try your little tricks on someone who cares, ugly vulture!"
Ary focuses on the battle surrounding her; unwilling to give up the advantage that Libi provided in maneuvering around the engagement, and certainly unwilling to leave her mount behind in the teeming hordes, she determines to stand her ground for now - the Vrock had changed little with its screech, leaving its own situation still just as dire as Nurah had predicted. The Alchemist was still busy with the wasps, and soon would be dealing with a rain of arrows - once the wasps were no longer with him.
That left the Schir and their drummer. She began to nudge Libi gently forward, waiting for her to become a little less panicked, as she focused on defending herself and those men within her reach... as well as the turmoil of the battlefield.
The crusaders continue to stream into the encampment, cutting down cultists as they move. Emboldened by their Commander, and ironically more hurt by the vrock's screech than the actual crusaders were, nearly half of the opposing cultists have fallen. Schir begin to stream in from the back of the encampment, halberds out as they advance, providing some reinforcements but not enough to equal those who have already died.
The enemy commander bowls over in hysterical laughter at Nurah's joke, falling straight out of the sky and into the crowds below to the ground. The magic that surrounds him is enough to slow his fall enough that he isn't hurt, however, nearby crusaders seize the opportunity to stab at the fallen commander mercilessly.
Further away from her, Annabelle's glaive soars like a hunting bird, ripping into the vrock's abdomen, exposing strange, alien entrails. The vrock screeches again, this time feebly, flapping its oily wings and causing spores to rain down upon Irabeth and Aron, sticking to their skin like tree pollen in the springtime. It swipes at Irabeth wildly, its clumsy, disoriented attacks clanging uselessly off of her sword, before falling to the ground... bleeding and unconscious from exertion.
The paladins of the Sunrise Sword move to the fallen crusader's aid... when a few of them stop, clutching their heads in confusion. Some start to babble, while others swing their swords around randomly, not caring if they hit friend nor foe.
Captain Cobelen curses. "What foul sorcery is this?!" He turns, and with what able-bodied men he has left, cuts down the skald and ends their spell upon the ravenous schir.
You glance around, noticing a small group of unarmored cultists 50' away underneath a tent. They are psychics, using the psychic spell id insinuation to confuse the crusaders into inaction. The crusaders will be confused for as long as they are able to concentrate on their minds. There is a group of armored cultists in front of them, keeping nearby crusaders busy and unable to engage them.
Suddenly, the clouds over the center of the encampment turn black. They begin to whirl in a slow circle, as red lightning begins to crackle between them. The horrible smell begins to intensify, causing your eyes to water.
You recognize that smell. Back at the temple of Shelyn, in Nerosyan. It's a smell you'd never forget.
Overall, the battle so far is going well, other than the horrifically ominous stuff going on near the center of the encampment. But in terms of body count, you have not suffered any casualties, and half of the cultist forces have fallen.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 100 or so soldiers. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground doubled over in hysterical laughter next to Nurah.
Within the fray is everyone, except for Markus, who stands 30' away from the melee.
The Sunrise Sword works to cut down a group of schir, but they are being harassed by some strange magic working on their minds...
Round 5!
Markus is up!
"Markus, I need you to disrupt whatever they're summoning, if you can! If it isn't too late!" Ary calls over the din, as she tries to discern what's causing the havoc with Cobelen's men.
Aron goes pale, his hands shaking slightly. "Oh Inheritor no..." he breathes, barely loud enough to hear over the din of the battle around. "Not these again."
Once the enemy commander falls, Markus nods in grim satisfaction. "Commander, I can't see what's going on farther into the camp, so I can't command my wasps to be effective back there! I'll do what I can to get closer, though."
First, he points at the psychics confusing their allied crusaders. He calls out to the wasps, "Those men! They need to fall, and quickly! Fall upon them and remove them from this world!"
The wasps turn, their dead wings buzzing and the holes in their exoskeletons rattling. They charge over the tops of the armored tiefling warriors, driving their stingers right into the soft, unarmored flesh of the enemy psychics.
Markus himself pulls out a potion of invisibility as he strides forward, entering the melee just as he quaffs it, vanishing from sight. He needs to avoid the attention of the enemy infantry so that he can get into the center of the camp without becoming too injured.
Sosiel catches up to the crusaders of the Sunrise Sword, finding the bulk of them acting in a rather bizarre manner. Seeing as his allies were in no shape to properly defend themselves, he engages the schir, whirling his glaive once more. All the while, he tries to keep his distance from the confused crusaders' frantic swings.
In the midst of his attack, the Shelynite is momentarily distracted by the swirling clouds in the sky, his nose wrinkling up slightly as the foul stench assails it.
Sosiel moves to the defense of the Sunrise Sword, swinging once at one of the schir. His swing bites deep, consuming the life of his helpless victim. Meanwhile, Markus' wasps dive into the melee at the psychics, past their armored protectors, their barbed jabs ending with a disquieting thunk through their robes.
The spores sprout onto Irabeth and Aron, curling into ugly green vines and snake around their bodies, slowly constricting them.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 50 or so cultist soldiers and 30 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground doubled over in hysterical laughter next to Nurah.
The Sunrise Sword works to cut down a group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 5 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps are attacking the psychics.
Irabeth is up!
With one swipe of her hand, Irabeth brushes off the dying remnants of the spores which landed on her face.
"What's that stench?" she calls out to Aron when she notices him shaking from across the vrock's dying body.
Then, seeing the vines on the engineer, she makes her to him, fending off a few of the surrounding cultists.
"There, in my knapsack, there are vials of water, take them and spread the liquid over the spores." she turns sideways and lifts of shield, presenting the aforementioned sack to Aron.
Once all said and done, Irabeth whistles toward her horse, beckoning it to come to her.
Aron grabs the bag and digs around for one of the vials of holy water. "Hezrou demons..." He pulls out one of the vials and pours them over the spores, washing the demonic vines off his body. "The demons of filth. They're the ones we... met in Nerosyan. We need to stop them from being summoned, otherwise the army will be devastated."
Irabeth whistles, but it appears her horse is too skittish to travel across the battlefield alone. Meanwhile, Aron cleans the spores off from his body using one of Irabeth's vials of holy water.
Further away, the enemy commander rolls around on the ground, gripped by uncontrollable laughter. He focuses and manages to stop, though he still lays on the ground, gasping for breath.
"Is everything alright? You look a bit down! If you're prone to this sort of melancholy, keep in mind that it only feels like you've hit rock bottom," Nurah says to the commander, figuring the best bet now is to keep him pinned down while the crusaders finish him off.
"Look at your fool of a commander! He cannot keep from laughing at how pathetic your forces are. I bet he'd be willing to surrender if he could manage to catch his breath!" She watches the surrounding cultists with interest, seeing if her attempt at demoralizing them is having any effect.
The Commander coughs, taking everything he has to resist the little bard's influence on his mind. Finally, he sputters out, "You fools! Do not retreat! Protect the priests, at all costs!"
"Yes, Commander Othirubo, sir!" The cultists begin to fall back, forming a defensive line between the army and the center of the encampment. Meanwhile, the crusaders near the Commander continue to lash out at him with their swords, bringing him to within an inch of his life.
Once Libi II regains her senses, Ary guides the horse through and around the melees, heeding Markus's warnings. Certainly, they had been intended for the wasps, but the cultists were -certainly- a major threat to the group fighting the schir.
As she arrives, she lashes out at the front of the cultists with Radiance, her tricky chop catching one of them by surprise, though three of the other psychics remain unmolested. They stand still, eyes glowing, eerily not seeming to even notice Ary nor the wasps' presence. Further away, one of their ensorcelled crusaders is cut down by schir. The psychic controlling her comes to. Alarmed, she extends her arms out - her eyes glowing a vivid pink she slowly floats off of the ground, hoping to get out of the crusader's way.
Heeding Ary's orders, and with the Vrock dead, Annabelle and Blossom wheel around and gallop towards the center of the camp. Seeing the psychics marauding the Order of the Sunrise Sword, and knowing that she would be immune to most of what they could throw at her, Annabelle spurs Blossom into a gallop, drawing her glaive up along the side, spinning it.
After a few moments, she pulls Blossom's reins sharply, and the horse wheels around to the left, and Annabelle swings her glaive heavily against the armored warriors protecting the psychics. Clang! The glaive bounces off of the warrior's breastplate. The cultist smirks, counterattacking with his vicious scythe, and cutting deeply into the young cavalier's flesh.
The crusaders manage to finish off the rest of the cultists within the crater, leaving only a contingent of twenty or so schir in their stead. The rest of the cultists have formed a line blocking off the crusaders from the center of the camp, though a few remain guarding the psychics. That group surrounds Ary, the wasps, and Annabelle, lashing out at them with their scythes. At the line the cultists raise their wicked, curved blades, ready to receive any incoming foes.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground doubled over in hysterical laughter next to Nurah.
The Sunrise Sword works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 5 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps are attacking the psychics. One psychic is in critical condition, another is wounded. Yet another is floating 20' off the ground.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Round 6!
Markus is up!
Unseen and determined, Markus runs towards the center of the camp. As he runs, he comes near the psychic tent - Ary, Annabelle, and his wasps fighting quite a few cultists. Quietly, he murmurs, 'Tu vulnere', and blows across the palm of his hand, sending a wisp of negative energy out to heal Annabelle.
Meanwhile, the wasps continue to attack the cultist psychics with their blade-like stingers.
The wasps manage to kill two of the psychics. Nearby, Annabelle grins as her newest scythe wound heals over, thanks to Markus' influence. She knows better than to alert her foes to his presence, though, and focuses on the fight at hand.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground doubled over in hysterical laughter next to Nurah.
The Sunrise Sword and Sosiel works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 3 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps and Ary are attacking the psychics, while Annabelle confronts their guards. Markus stands invisibly nearby. One psychic is in critical condition, another is wounded. Yet another is floating 20' off the ground.
Aron and Irabeth stand next to a fallen vrock.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Sosiel is up!
Sosiel eyes the levitating psychic, apparently among those bewildering the crusaders of the Sunrise Sword. Amid the ongoing battle against the schir, the cleric removes one hand from his glaive and points its palm skyward.
"Oh Rose, purify this wicked being!" he invokes, unleashing a ray of blinding light from his palm.
Sosiel's blast sears into the floating psychic, leaving her robes torn and raw, red flesh exposed underneath.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground doubled over in hysterical laughter next to Nurah.
The Sunrise Sword and Sosiel works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 3 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps and Ary are attacking the psychics, while Annabelle confronts their guards. Markus stands invisibly nearby. One psychic is floating 20' off the ground. It is grazed.
Aron and Irabeth stand next to a fallen vrock.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Irabeth is up!
"Commander, we need to end the ritual, send the cavalry away to puncture the protective perimeter with a charge! Captain Cobelen and Caelda, be ready to move on the commander's order!" Irabeth calls out to Ary and the commanding officers.
Then, decided to fully demoralize the opposing force, the paladin makes her way to the enemy commander, sword lifted. When in range, she again imbues her sword witth the holy power of her goddess, and with one quick motion she strikes the alchemist.
Irabeth strides over to the alchemist and thrusts her sword downwards, but the alchemist rolls out of the way just in time.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground next to Nurah and Irabeth.
The Sunrise Sword and Sosiel works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 3 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps and Ary are attacking the psychics, while Annabelle confronts their guards. Markus stands invisibly nearby. One psychic is floating 20' off the ground. It is grazed.
Aron stands next to a fallen vrock.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Aron is up!
Ary nods and calls over the din as best she can, "Cobelen, Caelda, wheel around the encampment and see if you can hit them from the other side!"
Aron follows Irabeth, maneuvering around so the commander is between them , then jumps down to drive his sword in to the fallen commander. "Sooner would be better than later," he says under his breath, his eyes constantly darting in the direction of the ritual.
Aron drives his sword into the fallen commander. The tiefling has a sly smile on his face as he drifts into unconsciousness.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground next to Nurah, Aron, and Irabeth.
The Sunrise Sword and Sosiel works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 3 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps and Ary are attacking the psychics, while Annabelle confronts their guards. Markus stands invisibly nearby. One psychic is floating 20' off the ground. It is grazed.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Nurah is up!
"Commander Bishop, remember that the barricades go the entire way around the camp, the cavalry will have a hard time attempting to enter from the far side. It would be more advantageous to have them dismount and press forward through the melee down the center to punch through and reach the ritual!" Nurah calls to Ary, moving up alongside her.
Sitting high in her saddle, she calls out across the melee, her voice remarkably loud and clear for one her size. "Your commander has fallen, demon worshipers! Soon you will follow him to the afterlife. Commander Bishop's army routed your comrades at the Ahari bridge without losing a man, what hope do you have?"
Reaching over, she utters an incantation, blessing Ary with the same protection she had granted Irabeth.
The heroes lead an army of 160 crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers and 20 or so schir. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide. This has left an enormous crater in which the two armies clash.
The Commander, an alchemist, lays on the ground next to Aron, and Irabeth.
The Sunrise Sword and Sosiel works to cut down a small group of schir, but they are being harassed by a group of 3 cultist psychics, protected by a contingent of armored cultists. Markus' undead wasps, Nurah, and Ary are attacking the psychics, while Annabelle confronts their guards. Markus stands invisibly nearby. One psychic is floating 20' off the ground. It is grazed.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Annabelle is up!
Annabelle and Blossom continue to harass and attack the armored defenders protecting the psychics, hoping to break through so that the paladin infantry can overrun the enemy spellcasters. "Come on, you guys!" she shouts. "We've got 'em on the ropes!"
Annabelle lets her glaive fly - it carries her deadly intent unerringly into her foes again... and again... and again.
"Aye, Commander! Cavalry of the Flaming Lance! To me!" Captain Halse cries out. The cavalry start to stream out of the crater and run around the encampment to the opposite side.
The infantry meanwhile surrounds the remaining schir. The schir fight back ferociously, felling over a score of the infantry themselves, but in the end they all fall to the blades of the paladin foot soldiers.
"Gerey! Heny! Joyce! Kot dol bagi i bat throsh!" calls one of the armored tieflings.
"Glu, Enet, I throshizg pekhi i!" cries out the floating psychic.
"Usha bi bol roshub! Ra pashi rel glimbak."
The floating cultist reluctantly descends and flees just behind the other two psychics, who manage to squeeze behind the defensive line, while the armored tieflings stay to shield their escape.
Markus, invisible and amidst the battle, takes a moment. He calls upon the luck of his ancestors, and spreads a morale-improving burst of magic around the battlefield, affecting all nearby Crusaders and allies, before continuing on towards the center of the camp. He runs up to the defensive line, unnoticed and unseen by the soldiers there.
The heroes lead an army of 110 or so infantry crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Around a third of the crusader infantry have fallen by this point, as the crusader medics are low on resources. The crusader cavalry is doing well, but they have left the encampment to try and circle around to the other end of the barricades.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide.
30' away from the crater, the Commander, an alchemist, lays unconscious on the ground next to Aron, and Irabeth. Sosiel stands nearby.
60' away from the crater, Annabelle, with Nurah, Ary, and two of Markus' undead wasps nearby fight a small group of armored tiefling cultists. The three remaining psychics have fled.
100' away from the crater the remaining cultists have formed a defensive line. Markus stands here, though he has not crossed it.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Round 7!
Sosiel is up!
Sosiel charges forward to join Annabelle, sweeping his own glaive at the armored cultists in a wide arc.
Sosiel's strong swing rips completely through his enemy's body, leaving her as dead as dead can be.
Irabeth is up!
With the commander dead, and Nurah's opportune demoralizing call, Irabeth decides that there is little more for the troops to do here; the five armored culstists, she could take care of them with Sosiel's and Annabelle's helpo.
"Commander Bishop, you have to head toward the cultist and lead the troops to disrupt the summoning. I'll stay here Annabelle and Sosiel to make sure the armored cultists don't attack your rear." she says, hustling toward the armored cultists.
"Irabeth's right, we need to move quickly, we can't them summoning help." Nurah adds.
Irabeth moves over until she is next to the three remaining armored cultists.
The heroes lead an army of 110 or so infantry crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Around a third of the crusader infantry have fallen by this point, as the crusader medics are low on resources. The crusader cavalry is doing well, but they have left the encampment to try and circle around to the other end of the barricades.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide.
30' away from the crater, the Commander, an alchemist, lays unconscious on the ground next to Aron.
60' away from the crater, Annabelle, Ary, Irabeth and Sosiel with Nurah, and two of Markus' undead wasps nearby fight a small group of armored tiefling cultists. The three remaining psychics have fled.
100' away from the crater the remaining cultists have formed a defensive line. Markus stands here, though he has not crossed it.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Aron is up!
"Yeah, alright." Ary responds, "You've all got a lot more experience in this stuff than I do. Halse, Cobelen, belay that and press inwards with the rest of the troops." she adds, eyes darting to the downed soldiers near the Schir and then back to Irabeth, "Yes, Chevalier." she adds, before doing as the woman had suggested.
Cleansed of the spores, Aron hurries to join the rest of the group engaging the heavily armored cultists. The fact that it puts him further from the summoning is simply a fortunate bonus.
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"I'll create a distraction and see if I can do something about the summoning ritual," Nurah says to Ary and Irabeth. "Don't take too long getting through that line!" She gives a wink and guides her mount around in an arc backing up slightly before giving the reins a sharp crack. The spectral mount bolts for the line, moving with preternatural speed, it's spectral form leaving a trail of grey mist in its wake. As it nears the line, Nurah tugs on the reins and bends forward, holding on to the conjured horse's neck as it leaps into the air. Sailing through the air, the shadowy mount seems no longer tethered to the ground, clearing the defensive line by almost twice their height and landing a couple dozen feet behind them.
Continuing onward without looking back, Nurah spurs her mount, scanning furiously for any sign of the cultists who are involved in the summoning in an attempt to figure out who needs to be disabled.
Ary has to yell in order for the cavalry to have any hope of hearing her, as they have already cleared Markus' crater by this time...
Aron wheels around to flank the cultists engaged with Ary, Irabeth, and Annabelle. His deadly strikes bite into their vital cores, putting them down for good.
Ary turns Libi II in an arc before driving straight for the line, though her eyes continuously move to the fallen as she moves quickly overland, her cloak too singed and dirtied to billow behind her as it had only minutes before.
She had felt an upswelling of pride at the words of the halfling, and then so many of her men had fallen to the Schir. Zero was the target number, hopefully, still zero, she thought as she brought Radiance around in a flashing arc as she came in line with the wall of armored cultists, swiftly breaking a hole in the line three men wide.
Golden motes begin to flow freely from her shield, filling the immediate area once more...
Annabelle and Blossom both attack once against the armored cultists, Annabelle raising her glaive high and bringing in down in a brutal curved arc, and Blossom reaching forward with its long, ectoplasmic neck to bite at the cultists. Afterward, Annabelle sees the flow of battle moving farther into the camp, so she and Annabelle wheel away from the armored cultists, riding after Ary and Nurah. She steers right through the hole in the line Ary created, protected by the valiant keeper of Iomedae from further harm.
"Bi hot il bempug! Birzul bi shúshitub birb bishdi hilush!" calls out a cultist. Several members of the back wall break off from the pack, throwing their crossbows to the ground and drawing axes.
"Crusaders! Shields up! Forwards!" cries out Captain Vica. The crusaders run towards the defensive line, too encumbered by their armor to make it the entire way.
"Bishishush! KASHI!" cries out a helmeted man in the back. From behind the line the crossbowmen fire out a volley of bolts. The majority of which clang off the infantrymen's shields, though a lucky few make their mark.
Past the infantry still, the cavalry reappears, the horses maneuvering slowly in and out of Markus' giant crater. They run up to behind the soldiers and prepare to charge with them.
Markus backs up, making sure that he's out of direct combat range of the defensive line of cultists defending the summoning circles. He intakes a deep breath, drawing upon his natural wellspring of necromantic power. Then, he appears suddenly, a flash of death magic flowing outward from him. A line of crackling black energy appears, set several feet back from the front line - death magic that fills every crossbowman with pain.
'obex dolor tenebrae', he says, and his voice resonates with power. The crossbowmen curse, "Undead, to me!" he calls. In the middle of their battle with the cultists, the undead wasps buzz up and away from direct combat and fly towards Markus, landing on either side of him.
Just as Markus' wall appears, Annabelle barely makes it past onto the other side. Before her is a wall of tents. Behind her, a crackling black wall of death magic. Hm. She doesn't have much time to contemplate the wall, as a group of axe-wielding cultists surround Annabelle and her ghostly steed, swinging at her with their blades and managing to score deep unbleeding wounds in her cold flesh. What few psychics remain also break off, two moving to Annabelle, the other moving past to try and cast against Nurah. The psychics try to press forwards into Annabelle's mind, but are shocked to only feel the icy coldness of undeath.
Meanwhile, Nurah gallops past Ary and Annabelle, leaping so high over the defensive line with her conjured mount that the enemy cannot even hope to reach her with their scythes. She gallops faster than Blossom, and out of sight of the vampire cavalier...
Nurah gallops away from the defensive line, weaving through the tents until she comes upon a clearing in the center of the encampment. Above, the eye of a horrible black storm whirls slowly in a circle, as red lightning cracks between the clouds. There are three large summoning circles here inscribed into the ground forming atriangle, each 50' in diameter. Situated around each circle are four evenly-spaced robed and hooded cultists, though each circle is headed by a senior cultist in extravagant robes decorated with what appear to be the iridescent wings of enormous dragonflies. At the head of the farthest circle is a grand priest, wearing a crown that resembles the head of a giant stag beetle. His glowing red eyes shine from beneath his hood as he and the other cultists chant in Abyssal...
Above each circle is glowing red crack in the air, like a jagged rip in time and space to some place unknown. The smell here is intense and terrible, as if you went for a swim in the sewers beneath Absalom, breathing in the human waste and filth until your eyes sting and your nose swells shut.
Nurah rides up and quickly incants the words for the spell grease, causing two of the cultists to fall down. They curse angrily, though this isn't enough to break their fellow priests' concentration - they chant as if nothing had happened and the angry red cracks in the air remain.
Behind her, a psychic just barely catches up, a good twenty-five feet back from you. Nurah recalls that she was the one floating above the ground previously. She calls out "No! Stop!!", eyes glowing an eerie pink. The halfling bard feels the psychic try to assert control on her mind, but Nurah is no stranger to cultists and mind-control, and is able to push her mentally away.
The heroes lead an army of 110 or so infantry crusaders on a 400' x 400' -ish circular cultist encampment, enclosing a defending force of 30 or so cultist soldiers. The encampment is fully barricaded on all sides by 5' tall barricade made of wood, except for a small 15' wide entrance to the north and to the south.
Around a third of the crusader infantry have fallen by this point, as the crusader medics are low on resources. The crusader cavalry is doing well, but they have left the encampment to try and circle around to the other end of the barricades.
Markus has blasted open the barricade so that the southern entrance is now 60' wide.
30' away from the crater, the Commander, an alchemist, lays unconscious on the ground.
60' away from the crater, Aron, Irabeth and Sosiel stand triumphant over a group of unconscious and dead armored cultists. The three remaining psychics have fled.
100' away from the crater the remaining cultists have formed a defensive line. Markus stands here, though he has not crossed it, along with his undead wasps. Ary has broken through the line, and Markus has put up a wall of blindness behind the cultists. Next to him are his two undead wasps. Just beyond the wall of blindness is Annabelle. Further than her is Nurah.
Meanwhile, the skies above the center of the camp have turned dark and are swirling in a slow circle, while a disgusting scent emanates from within.
Round 8!
Sosiel is up!
"I'm going to tend to our wounded," Sosiel remarks to Aron and Irabeth, already grasping for his holy symbol. "Be on your guard - the the enemy's wounded will be affected as well."
The cleric promptly offers a prayer to Shelyn, invoking a burst of positive energy that envelops the crusaders, both those in the charge and the wounded that were left behind.
Positive energy washes over the army, restoring their wounds. Many of the fallen begin to stir - both ally and foe alike.
Irabeth is up!
"Right." Irabeth simply answers to Sosiel, while she gets ready.
There is only slight hesitation, and maybe a sigh, between the time the cultist wounded start to stir, and the time when Irabeth finishes them off.
Thus, with a series of quick trusts, Irabeth strikes the cultists who regain consciousness, starting with the armored ones.
Aron is up!
Aron looks to the swirling clouds and you can see his complexion pale, even more than usual. "We're running out of time," he murmurs. "We need to hurry, before it's too late. Markus! Whenever you can give us an opening would be very helpful!"
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Moving into the center of the three summoning circles, Nurah stands up in her saddle, looking around at the three master cultists and the last of the inner cultists standing. She mulls the situation over briefly, wondering exactly what she was doing alone in the middle of a horde of angry cultists. "Oh well, either we stop them here or we are dead anyway, no turning back now!" she thinks. Choosing a passage from the unholy text A Thousand Voices screaming in my Flesh, something they were unlikely to expect a halfling crusader in their midst to recite, she bellows out at the top of her lungs: "Al il glimbak, ai bul, krushul ank gukhug ugh abhusha ish bi hil. Bi ghil krokhi shush kazg nu berzi ai hil ish bal glu shashi duk throsh lashdi nu beshul. Dúzg am pil Gushoshi bul bi bol ish bum bosh. Bagi glu ishakhaghurz throsh hul bi skishum nu thrishurzi har bi ghil, rota throsh shúshâmp atumbak. Al al pirúmb al nu bi bol arbarz bi gukhâm at, shu ni krokhi i ghombushug nu punk am ag nu Gushoshi. Nibhumbum bi bol hat bul ukhum bi pol ank pekhi burb doshush, at hat kot dushishi izg. Am pakhul ashi glimbak, bi bol il at!"
The priest heading the western-most circle stops his chanting to stop and stare at Nurah vacantly. The rift above the western circle vanishes into thin air.
The remaining priests chant even louder, hoping to drown out Nurah's voice with their own conviction.
Meanwhile, at the defensive line, Ary swiftly cuts down the crossbowmen that dared fire within range of her swirling motes, appearing back in place just in time for Markus' inky black wall of blindness to appear before her.
Ary is up!
Meanwhile, Annabelle stands alone and wounded on the other side of the wall of blindness, surrounded by a small group of cultists with axes on all sides. She can hear the summoning ritual going on in the direction that Nurah rode off to. Their voices just keep getting louder and louder...
Annabelle is up!
Annabelle and Blossom canter around in a little circle, Annabelle cursing her luck. Nurah had managed to get by without attracting attention! Nurah, who was alone in a whole crowd of enemy cultists.
Annabelle turns and gallops away from the cultist warriors surrounding her, riding into the center of the camp and attacking the nearest cultist manning one of the summoning circles.
Annabelle rides into the center of camp. Sharp and sudden, her stifling onslaught cuts through the closest cultist before they can react. The eastern rift flickers once, but as one of the greased cultists stands back up and adds his voice to the incantation, it retains its form.
More pressing, though, the northern rift breaks open into an enormous portal. Beyond the heroes can see what appears to be an immense underground cavern... mold, slime and fungus in a kaleidoscope of color grow on the cavern walls, and the tunnels are filled with filth and horror, excrement and rotten corpses.... larvae with the faces of humanoids writhe in the filth, their faces twisted into an expression of fear and pain. An unworldly stench emanates from within. The river of filth presses against the portal and begins to drip.. drip... drip... into the material plane, causing brown sludge to fall down with a plop! into the snow.
"Kral bumb Liamas!" calls out one of the acolytes at the western circle. "Am shúshitak krol kugug! Bozg bâl hi gu?" But the cultist leader remains in a trance, staring at Nurah vacantly.
"Bi kroshak krol krarb oshoshug!" responds another cultist.
"Bishdi bu! Bil burb! Bi shúshitak il am usha snoshi!"
Abyssal
"High Priest Liamas! Our summoning has failed! What should we do?"
"The halfling has him entranced!"
"Those two! Stop them! The summoning is our only chance!"
The three cultist priests chant in unison, attempting to sling spell after spell at Nurah, but the halfling's resolve prevents their magics from taking hold.
Meanwhile, the axe-wielding cultists come running towards the circles, but do not reach Annabelle nor Nurah as of yet.
Meanwhile, the crusaders crash into the cultists, breaking up their line and engaging them in one final melee... The cultists fight ferociously as if their life depended on it, and indeed... it does. The brawl breaks out all around Ary and Markus, the cultists especially eager to try and cut down the enemy Commander as best they can.
Round 9!
Markus is up!
"Forward!" shouts Markus, imperiously pointing a thin, pale finger at the enemy cultists. "Make a hole!" he says. On command, his undead wasps buzz up about a foot, and charge forward to clear a space in the fracas for somebody to get by.
Markus himself reaches forward at the wall of blindness he'd created, dismissing its magic. Noiselessly, the roiling death wall fades. Markus then turns towards Ary, speaking another Wordspell, and then blowing across his hand to infuse her with positive energy - "Tu magnus medela," he intones, and several of Ary's wounds close over. "Go, Commander! Aron, Sosiel, you too! I'll do what I can here," he calls, indicating the battle. He was the medic, after all. It was his job to minimize losses.
Markus' undead wasps rush around, cutting down the cultists one after another.
Aron is up!
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