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Zithembe begins to shout, "He or--!"
The shabti then raises his shield and crouches to avoid the worst of the summoned fire. His golden tattoos glow and draw in much of flames that contact him. He straightens, tattoos crackling with energy and looking stronger than before the blast. "He ordered them to kill the prisoners!"
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”Ouch!” the Grandfrogger croaks. ”Hurry! Stop them, you must. Tend to my wounds, I can.” Drawing a stick of willow wood from beneath his heavy cloak, the small figure hops away from the other Pathfinders before pointing a gnarled finger at the demons. Equally-twisted plants burst from the befouled soil, grasping at mortals and outsiders alike.
As the flames explode around most of the group Zithembe, who actually seems to gain power from the fire, calls a warning to the rest of you, informing you of the intent to kill the prisoners! Maria takes off at a run across the top of the northern ridge while the Grandfrogger manages to weather the worst of the fiery blast and conjures the same grasping plants as before...
...and actually manages to entangle the brimorak and one of the dretches!
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
Sir Ilivan
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions:
Hepsubia is UP!
Both Sir Ilivan and his faithful steed manage to avoid the worst of the brimorak's fire as well, the crusader gritting his teeth as he draws his sword.
"Bah! It'll take more than that to put me down!"
As the duo prepare to charge forth, something catches Sir Ilivan's eye and he points towards a dust cloud that seems to be advancing from the north. "Damn! Reinforcements!?"
Every single one of you see it too and spot the figures within - more demons, advancing quickly on your position.
"Pathfinders, kill that brimorak and rescue those men. No matter what, rescue those men and then ride as fast as you can for Nerosyan. I'll hold them off. Consider this my last order." Sir Ilivan's expression is grim but determined as he and Hannah wheel about. "For what it's worth, it's been an honor to share your company.
He kicks into Hannah and the pair charge off toward the north to meet the oncoming horde, sun glinting off his armor and lance steady in his grip...
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Hepsubia also manages to evade most of the fiery blast and attempts to fire off an arrow in return but stumbles slightly and the arrow whizzes off into the sky instead of at its' target.
Blue Dretch, having escaped the Grandfrogger's entanglement, quickly hustles outside of the reach of the vines and ducks behind a nearby boulder. Red Dretch struggles to break free...
...and manages to do so! He advances towards those of you in the gorge, claws flexing and teeth gnashing.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions:
Rumble, Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 1 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 2!
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Zithembe advances towards the demons with intention. As he draws his blade, his copper eyes transform into carved ruby. Those allies who draw close enough feel the sweat dripping down their faces, aching muscles, and chaffed shoulders where past armor wore at long gone crusaders fighting against the hordes.
Zithembe moves forward, intent on meeting the demons head on. As he does, he taps into the spirits of the crusaders that came before, bolstering himself and those around him with their power!
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions:
Rumble is UP at the bottom of Round 1 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 2!
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Effie watches Sir Ilivan charge off to certain doom. Noble fool, to seek redemption in sacrifice. We must triumph, to speak of his valour!
She turns her attention to the brimorak and its dretches.
"...fire...No...Your fires will not avail you, fiend! See, the soldiers of Heaven still come for you!"
Effie aims and shoots.
Rumble moves to follow Zithembe; he's clearly not afraid of any demons and he uses a bit of his divine power to mend what few burns he sustained from the brimorak's fireball.
Up on the ridge, Effie watches for a moment as Sir Ilivan rides away and then turns her attention - and her firearm - back on the brimorak. The bullet punches through the demon's defenses and he roars with pain and surprise!
The demon struggles against the Grandfrogger's twisted, grasping vines...
...but can't break free!
The brimorak begins casting, which is made more difficult by the vines...
...but manages it! The grasping vines suddenly wither and return to normal as the effects from the Grandfrogger's wand are nullified.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions:
The Grandfrogger, Hepsubia and Maria are UP!
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The Grandfrogger takes a deep breath before hopping forward. "Courageous, you must be!" he cries, tongue darting out to touch Rumble gently on the back on the head. The burly dwarf shimmers with magic for a moment, his broad form somehow even more sturdy and his facial hair even thicker before fading back to normal.
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Maria quickly pivots and turns back towards the group, darting across the elevated terrain until she gets just close enough to take careful aim. She fires at the nearest demon, aiming to hurt it as much as possible.
for
But watching the crusader rush off throws her aim a bit, "What? Where is he... oh no, more demons!"
As the Grandfrogger uses his long tongue to grant Rumble increased endurance Maria moves up and takes aim at the Blue Dretch. It's not her best shot, what with Sir Ilivan's sudden departure proving a distraction, but luckily dretches aren't too hard to hit! Blue takes an arrow to the chest, thick, dark blood pouring from the wound!
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions:
Hepsubia is UP!
Hepsubia continues to move forward as well and takes a shot with her bow at the Red Dretch, but it's unfortunately a miss. Though terribly injured Blue Dretch seems intent on carrying out his orders as he roughly grabs the nearest crusader up by the hair and stretches him out on the ground, baring the back of the man's neck as he slowly brings up his other clawed hand...
Meanwhile Red advances a few feet closer to the group, does a strange little gyration, and...
*brrrap*
...lets loose with a noxious, stinky cloud that envelops Rumble and Zithembe!
Of course the dretch has no way of knowing that several of you have prepared for just this sort of tactic.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Stinky Cloud (Green)
Rumble, Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
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Zithembe's golden runes crackle with frustrated energy as he finds that he cannot reach the dretch commanded to execute the prisoners fast enough and the gorge fills with foul-smelling fog. He moves through the obscuring fog, around Rumble, and emerges before the captured crusaders.
He points his sword at the brimorak and declares, "The Prince of the Moon shall strengthen my arm against you!"
With the aid of his soothe syrup from earlier Zithembe manages to resist the nauseating effects of the cloud and quickly hustles out of it, drawing his sword and leveling it at the brimorak as he delivers a challenge to the foul demon!
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
Red Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Stinky Cloud (Green)
Rumble is UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 3!
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"MARIA! EXAHCUTION ON YER THREE!" Rumble shouts as he powers through the billowing cloud of noxious gas. His shield hits the ground with a dull thud.
Igniting the warhammer in his classic matchstick fashion, he delivers a vicious two handed blow to the Dretch just as the gas obscures them from view. Tears pour from his red eyes in irritation.
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Oh no! That dretch has to be stopped. What if Maria misses?
Realising that the dretch is outside her effective pistol range, and protected by cover, Effie hatches a desperate plan.
"No you don't, stinker! I'm comin' to get ya, and the wrath of Heaven comes with me!"
Small fires burn away Effie's headscarf, revealing her horns. But this time she is not afraid.
"Yaaaagghhhhh!!!!!" she cries, sliding down the scree slope whilst somehow keeping her gun and the holy water vial in the air. She races across the battlefield to stand over the defenseless crusaders and confront the dretch, even managing to add a third object to her juggling - her gandasa.
Rumble shouts a warning to Effie and then charges towards the last place he saw Red Dretch, shrugging off the creature's vile stink cloud like it's no big thing. He calls upon Torag's favor right as he swings his warhamnmer and obliterates Red's skull in a single blow! The rest of the dretch topples to the ground in a heap.
Up on the northern side of the gorge Effie hears Rumble's warning and executes a sliding jump down to the bottom, somehow managing to maintain her juggling as well as draw her gandasa as she does! She drops down next to Blue and the weakened, helpless crusaders, ready to do battle.
The brimorak shoots a glance over at Effie but then turns his attention back to Zithembe, perhaps sizing him up as a bigger threat. "The Prince of the Moon?" the demon sneers as he draws his own sword, which instantly becomes wreathed in fire. "He may strengthen your arm, but strength is useless if you can't even hold on to your weapon!"
Once again the brimorak seems to invoke some manner of innate magical power and points to the blade in Zithembe's hand.
That's funny...the hilt of your weapon suddenly feels uncomfortably warm to the touch.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
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Blue Dretch
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Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1
Environmental Conditions: Stinky Cloud (Green)
The Grandfrogger, Hepsubia and Maria are UP!
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Tired of wasting arrows, Hepsubia moves (trying to avoid the bloody, stinky, sticky mess that was the dretch facing Rumble) and start singing with scorn and hate toward the evil extraplanars creatures
your weapons now seems to pulse with the energy of the elf's song, getting a new edge (except for blunt weapons, of course) and ready to shed demons blood
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Maria very carefully aims and fires another arrow. Before the result is even shown, she darts across the battlefield, skids down the hill and ends up flanked with Effie. Her voice cracks as she tries to quip, "Fancy uh, meeting you out here on the battlefield. Happen to know um... where the big hitters might be?"
for
While the Grandfrogger continues to move forward Hepsubia decides to change up her approach and moves forward, into the noxious cloud...
...which she ignores the effects of and starts up an angry, scornful song that gives your weapons a little extra oomph. Maria takes aim and shoots at the Blue Dretch - and just in the nick of time. As the dretch is about to end the crusader's life Maria's arrow pierces the demon's back and erupts out the front of his chest! The demon falls, leaving only the brimorak still standing.
It's about this time that Maria recalls a bunch of additional information about dretches, as she slide-jumps down the gorge to join Effie. Like most demons, dretches are resistant to weapons that aren't good or forged of cold iron, as well as against the powers of acid, fire, and cold. They're fully immune to the effects of poison and electricity, which isn't a big surprise. But being what one might call the 'peons' of demonkind, dretches posses no spell resistance. It's all a moot point at the moment but it's still good information to have for the future!
And to make matters even worse for the brimorak, Zithembe easily shrugs off the magic that was targeting his sword.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1, Weapon Song (60 ft. range centered on Hepsubia)
Environmental Conditions: Stinky Cloud (Green)
Rumble, Zithembe are UP at the bottom of Round 3 and Effie is UP at the top of Round 4!
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Effie breathes a sigh of relief as Maria's arrow drops the dretch. "Brimorak's right over there" she tells the archer, nodding over her shoulder. "Let's finish this!"
She steps out to face the flaming demon, drops her gandasa and slides a cartridge into her pistol. Catching the gun, she aims and shoots.
With only the fiery brimorak left standing Effie and Zithembe turn their attention to him, bringing firearm and sword to bear against him. Effie's shot rings out as she puts another bullet in the demon's chest, blood dribbling out of the wound, and Zithembe follows it up with a powerful sword thrust powered by the divine will of Tsukiyo himself!
the demon roars in pain and surprise, clearly caught off-guard by the vehemence with which you fight. But he remains standing, still a threat...
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1, Weapon Song (60 ft. range centered on Hepsubia)
Environmental Conditions: Stinky Cloud (Green)
Rumble is UP at the bottom of Round 3!
As Zithembe spills the brimorak's blood it sprays out in a hot, fiery jet that burns the shabti's skin!
He also realizes that the demon's breath is like foul-smelling smoke and that simply being in close proximity is a dangerous business.
Rumble continues to shrug off the dretch's lingering stank as he hustles out of the cloud and closes on the brimorak.
Though the dwarf manages to close the distance the demon seems to currently be focused on Zithembe and swings his fiery weapon at the shabti...
...but misses! Now looking worried, the beast takes a single step back from his attackers. It's also about this time that the lingering stank cloud finally begins to dissipate.
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Effie
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Brimorak
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The Grandfrogger
Hepsubia
Maria
Rumble
Zithembe
Active Conditions: Champion Spirit (+2 non-spell damage), Inspire Courage +1, Weapon Song (60 ft. range centered on Hepsubia)
Environmental Conditions:
Everyone is UP!
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The glow of his golden runes fades a little as the demon's hot blood splashes over him. Tsukiyo's protection guide's the brimorak's own blade away from the shabti. Zithembe steps forward to follow and strikes out at the goat-demon once more. "Return to the Abyss and ponder that there are those like me who are immortal and guard the mortal realm."
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Maria moves though the crowd of captive crusaders, "Excuse me, pardon me. We'll have you free in a moment. Just need to finish off this demon. Yes, yes, we are here to save you. I know, just hold on."
Feeling the fervor of the shabti wash over her, the bloodlust to destroy demonkind guides her next shot!
for
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Not wanting the helpless prisoners to catch the demon's attention, the Grandfrogger carefully makes his way back down the side of the ravine. "Surrounded, you are," he intones. His large red eyes stare unblinkingly, his knobby hand wrapped tightly around his walking stick. "Alone, you are. Afraid, you are."
Fueled by righteous power and a strong sense of justice, Zithembe, Maria, and Rumble rip into the brimorak before he can do little more than contemplate his next move! The demon finally falls amid a flurry of blades, hammers, and arrows...and then Effie douses what's left with holy water just to be extra sure. The Grandfrogger and Hepsubia are able to save their own energy, at least for the moment.
As you quickly survey your surroundings you can see, off in the distance, Sir Ilivan locked in a mortal battle against insurmountable odds. His lance crashes into what is surely yet another demon of many, piercing its' shoulder but getting lodged in the bone. As the crusader attempts to tip the pommel down to release the dying demon gravity and the weight of the body yank the lance from his hand. Undaunted, Sir Ilivan rips his sword from its scabbard and chops down into the skull of a charging demon, while Hannah bites the hand of one trying to flank them.
But experienced warriors they may be, the horde contains more demons than one man alone can counter. From behind, one misshapen blob of flesh thrusts a spear into Sir Ilivan's kidney as another demon slips past Hannah's hooves and slices into her hamstring, bringing mount and rider both crashing to the ground. Sir Ilivan spares one final look in your direction just before he and Hannah disappear in a flurry of wings, claws, and teeth...and you'd swear that he had a satisfied smile on his face.
Unfortunately, there's no time to mourn. Sir Ilivan's sacrifice has bought you a short amount of time to get the rescued crusaders and yourselves out of danger and you'll need to act fast if you want to make the most of it.
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"Oh, poor Sir Ilivan. At least he's found his redemption. And by his sacrifice, saved us and his comrades. Let it not be in vain."
Effie holds back her tears as she sheaths her pistol and gandasa.
"Come on, I'll help you to the horses. We've got to get away now!"
She steers the crusaders back to the horses and helps those to weak to do so on their own to climb up.
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Hepsubia faces the horde of demons, ready with bow and cold iron arrows, while Effie and the Gang organize the crusaders escape.
Cause, you know, organizing things isn't her forte, and she prefers to look awesome and badass
She waits until the last moment to get on her own horse, and rides away in the sunset, singing
"I'm a poor, lonesome Lil"Hep, and a long long way from home.."
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Maria helps disable the manacles on the crusaders, at least the legs first and sends each off to run towards the horses, "Don't make Sir Ilvan's ultimate sacrifice be in vain, any energy you have left use it to run!"
The thought does cross her mind though, will they even be safe if they make it back to the fortress? The wardstones are failing. This may be a very short rescue mission.
Regardless, she takes up a position at the rear, ready to unleash a volley of arrows if the demons start gaining.
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Rumble takes a knee, the head of his hammer stabilizing the haft enough for him to place both hands on it and bow his head. Torag, guide his soul to Heaven where he can meet his righteous reward. Though he may have had a hard life, his heart is pure and his sword arm is strong. Not only does he protect his people but their way of life.
Rising, he beelines it for a horse and takes to the saddle. "Back tah tha Fort!" he orders.
It takes some doing - and a bit of circuitous route compared to the one you took earlier - but some hours later and without further incident you're able to make it back to Fort Portolmaeus. After the men on watch confirm that you are who you appear to be, a great shout goes up and you're all swiftly ushered inside. The men you rescued are quickly taken to the fort's infirmary while the rest of you are brought before Commander Wardroxan.
"I cannot thank you enough for rescuing my men," she begins, her voice trembling with emotion. "I would have been thankful enough if you'd even managed to bring back a single one...but instead, you brought them all back, alive. You have my gratitude, Pathfinders."
The commander salutes you. Then, her expression grows grave.
"But it has not escaped my notice that you returned one fewer. Tell me what happened out there and what became of Sir Ilivan."
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"Sir Ilivan an' 'is steed gave 'em everythin' they 'ad. Ah whorl o' steel an' limbs they were, tearin' Demons tah pieces. Ih woulda been an insult tah their sacruhfice an' ah waste if we didn' flee wit' tha prisoners when we did," Rumble adds. "Nah tah mention not ah one o' us would be standin' 'ere if 'e didn'."