Using her own expertise, but deferring to Sarkast's spectacular ability, Anevia assists with moving some underbrush to set up crude blinds and otherwise give tips on how to hide.
"I'll hang in the back as I'm not spectacular at firing into a heated battle. You front-liners will probably want to be in those bushes there unless you want to be near the back to cover a retreat. But we want a good bottleneck."
Anevia scampers up into the boughs of a half-dead beech tree opposite from Sarkast.
I've placed Nilus at a likely spot. Let's do this.
Haste requires us all to be within 30' of each other; it's a great idea, but we need to be set up for it.
Talking, arguing, and shouting fills your ears in the coarse, brutal tongue of the abyss. From the south you see small demon that looks somewhat like a minotaur marching from the south. Smoke billows around it, filling your nostrils with the stench of brimstone. Behind it, a half score of tieflings follow haphazardly, arguing with each other, laughing, and generally having a noisy, fun time of it.
Blessedly, the tieflings and brimorak appear to not notice the ambush thanks to the noise of their passing.
Iomedae, guide our hands!
When the enemy is in the agreed-upon position, Ayesha rises from her hiding place in the bushes, Darb N'ssiar in hand. With a few murmured words and a tossing motion, a glittering cloud of golden particle burst among the tieflings. Eight of the creatures grabbed at their eyes, blinking and trying to get rid of the burning, choking dust.
HP 50/50. Current AC: 23/19/15
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: enduring armor (mythic)
Arcane pool: 8/8 left today
Spells remaining: 1st 5/5, 2nd 3/4
Black Blade arcane pool 2/2
Nilus steps forward with a shout THE ROSE! and he slams Radiance down on the brimorak!
The party bursts from the underbrush as Dejik casts out a blessing, and Ayesha sends out a burst of glittering, chaotic colours into the midst of the tieflings. As they react, Nilus bursts from the underbrush, crying the symbol of his goddess and completely running through the brimorak with his glaive. The goat demon shrieks as the weapon is withdrawn, leaving a gaping hole in him. Boiling blood spews out, but Nilus' reach protects him.
All but three of the tieflings under the influence of the spell shriek as they are blinded!
Ronan, with a wave of his hand creates a pit where the tieflings are standing.
Ronan chants out a magic spell and suddenly a wide pit opens beneath the tieflings! There are a collected series of screams as the tieflings are first blinded, and then the ground leaves their feet. Two manage to jump to safety while two more fall in! One of the tieflings is killed outright while the other is badly injured.
Ayesha
Ronan
Anevia
Nilus
Sarkast
Jinxx
Dejik
---No Action---
Tiefling 1 (Dead)
Tiefling 2 (8 dmg)
Tiefling 3
Tiefling 4
Tiefling 5
Tiefling 6
Tiefling 7
Tiefling 8
Tiefling 9
Tiefling 10
Brimorak (59 dmg)
Ayesha
---
Tieflings
---
Anevia
Ronan
Nilus
---
Dejik
Sarkast
Jinxx
Ayesha rushed forward, calling upon her newfound powers to enhance her blade. Darb N'ssiar sang with the energy, adn the sensation nearly caused Ayesha to drop the weapon in surprise. Thus, he blow wasn't quite as sure as it might have been.
HP 50/50. Current AC: 23/19/15
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: enduring armor (mythic), bless, Arcane Strike (keen)
Arcane pool: 7/8 left today
Spells remaining: 1st 5/5, 2nd 3/4
Black Blade arcane pool 2/2
Mythic power remaining: 4/5
Sarkast jumps out from his hiding place with a blur of speed, aided in part by Ronan's spell and in part by divine power.
Sarkast leaps from his hiding place and charges into the brimorak, and the cloud of noxious smoke surrounding it. As he slams his spears into place, he inhales some of the smoke. However, the brimorak shrieks as its heart is impaled by the impossibly fast rogue, and it collapses to the ground.
Anevia lets out a cry and lets fly with an arrow from her hiding place which takes a tiefling in the back. It collapses face-first on the ground.
Ayesha also charges from her hiding place, slashing off a tiefling's arm with her scimitar. It collapses to the ground, screaming as it stares at its stump.
Death to the evil ones! You sense that Darb N'Ssiar is having one hell of a time.
Before they can act, the tieflings around the pit feel the ground slip around their feet! Two fall in, one managing to land wiht some grace. The other lands on its neck and dies noisily.
The six remaining tieflings look around in a state of panic and then howl their rage. Two of them try to climb out of the pit, one fails utterly while the other manages to get a few feet up.
The tieflings on the ground attack, although a few are blinded and flail about wildly. Three collapse on Jinxx, trying ot isolate and destroy one party member at a time. However, the wily eidolon twists and turns, avoiding the blows. ANother tiefling beautifully attacks the space between Nilus and Sarkast, unable to see anything.
Ayesha
Ronan
Anevia
Nilus
Sarkast
Jinxx
Dejik
---No Action---
Tiefling 1 (8 dmg)
Tiefling 2
Tiefling 3
Tiefling 4
Tiefling 5
Tiefling 6
Dejik fires twice at the tiefling next to Jinxx
"Death to the demons and all who serve them!"
After finishing off the demon, Sarkast spins in place, his blades flying at the tiefling standing between himself and Nilus.
Jinxx takes a bite at one of the Tieflings.
Jinxx spins around to face the Tiefling to the east of him and attacks
Ronan attacks the other Tiefling that is attacking Jinxx
Nilus will take a 5' step south and attack any Tiefling within range of Radiance.
Ayesha stepped lightly forward, her scimitar flashing as she cut at the nearest tiefling. Her footing rolled at she stepped on the severed arm of her most recent foe. She lunged forward, Darb N'ssiar extended at the blinded tiefling between her and Jinxx, trying desperately to keep her balance.
HP 50/50. Current AC: 23/19/15
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: enduring armor (mythic), bless, Arcane Strike (keen)
Arcane pool: 7/8 left today
Spells remaining: 1st 5/5, 2nd 3/4
Black Blade arcane pool 2/2
Mythic power remaining: 4/5
There is a brief flurry of incredible violence from the group as they set upon the tieflings. Dejik Turns one tiefling into a pincushion as Jinxx manages to turn on two, killing them both. Radiance flashes in the air, sending a tiefling's head soaring through the trees and Sarkast runs a tiefling straight through with his spear. Even Ronan manages to brain one of them. As quickly as it began, the fight is over with two tieflings trapped in the pit and the rest dead before they could even manage to get their weapons out of their scabbards.
A thunk sounds out as Anevia looses an arrow, shooting the flying head of a tiefling out of the sky.
End of Combat
The two tieflings in the pit look at one another and you hear a clatter as weapons are dropped.
"We surrender! OH GODS DO WE SURRENDER!"
Nilus looks to Sarkast You short yourself Sir, your tactical acumen made this a very one sided affair.
Then to the Tieflings Nilus says You will be taken back to the army and questioned. At which point, what happens to you depends on your actions. Do you renounce the Demon Lord Lords and their goal to enslave and subjugate all of Golarion?
There's a moment of silence before one of the tieflings calls out.
"Yeah, sure! We renounce everything!"
There is beauty in all things, and all things may know beauty. I pray that your words are not empty. Come, your hands will be bound and if you attempt an escape, then no mercy shall be given to you.
if the tieflings truly surrender, then Nilus will bind their hands and escort them to the army.
Ayesha kept Darb N'ssiar out as she surveyed the surrendering tieflings. She looked about, and saw the carnage that they had wrought. She grimaced slightly.
"This might take a little getting used to. I mean, I know that we are fighting to preserve this region, and maybe this world from the demons, but this...well, it's not exactly in my experience as a harem dancer, you know?"
Sarkast cleans his blades and puts them away. "Thank you, Niles. I only repeat the wisdom of my ancestors."
To the tieflings, he asks, "Are there any more of your kin or their filthy leaders about?"
Anevia leaps down from the tree, swinging on a branch before she neatly lands on her feet. She walks over to Ayesha and slaps her on the back.
"Sometimes the Gods choose us. Trust me, this isn't exactly the person I thought I'd grow up to become."
The tieflings in the pit look up nervously.
"There's a big army that way!" One points northwards.
The other one sighs. "Umestil, that brimorak was our commander, he had us take the ford - it was great! Uh, I mean... not great. Either way I'm not sure who would be in charge now."
The pit vanishes and the tieflings pop up onto the ground, where they are quickly bound. Triumphantly, you make your return up to the camp and are greeted a runner who dashes off to report the news with a note you're supposed to meet Aron and Irabeth.
The prisoners' bravado fades instantly as they are brought through the clean, efficient camp of the highly-trained paladins. They are taken off to a holding tent for questioning while you go to meet Aron and Irabeth. They both sit in the command tent, looking over a map of the area.
"I heard the brimorak went down quite nicely, well done." His raspy voice is a little hard to hear in the din of the camp. "No time to strike like the present. They will be disorganized and sending out search parties soon enough and we are ready to march. Aravashnial and Sosiel have enough obscuring mist spells between the two of them to obscure our advance behind some rolling fog, so we can catch them unawares."
"And then we just kill the fog cloud, pelt them with arrows, hit them with a cavalry charge. It's unlikely they'll have a front line with anything to speak of, and are largely armed with short swords. Frankly, it should be a rout quickly enough."
Irabeth nods over to Aron and rolls up the map.
"So, my sirs and dames, I think it is time we lead the attack. We have much more ground to cover, and many lost lives at the hands of these tieflings to avenge."
Irabeth gives the call to break camp, and soon the tents begin vanishing and banners start being raised. Soon, the army is mounted and on the move as they descend down the valley towards the Vilareth Ford. After a good hour of marching, Aron, Sarkast, and Anevia return with the scouting report on the army, which is one of disorganization and confusion as they are split up and wandering around.
Light 'poof' sounds fill the air as the army begins its slow advance, a bank of obscuring mist spells appearing in front of the army, vanishing, and re-appearing to give the slow impression of a rolling fog bank. However, shouts start coming out around the tieflings, and the obscuring mist spells drop at Irabeth's command to show a very prepared army of tieflings forming ranks!
"The ambush is a failure! ARCHERS! FIRE!"
Arrows fly from the paladin army, pelting the tieflings before Irabeth gives one more command.
"CHARGE!"
Hooves thunder across the ground as the front line of paladins rush into the tieflings. The charge devastates the tieflings as the foot soldiers rush in behind, the party with them. It is a matter of minutes before the tieflings are slaughtered by the paladin charge. As soon as it began, the battle is over.
Conditions: None
Tactics: Standard/Standard
Ranged:
Strategy: Aggressive/Standard
Melee:
Total damage: 17
Total damage: 0
The chaos of the extremely short battle now over, you find yourselves standing amidst scores of tiefling bodies, and can distantly see the mount of corpses from the defenders of the Ford who were slaughtered yesterday. All around you, paladins are binding prisoners or hauling the dead off.
Nurah walks over to the party, smiling.
"Oh that was fantastic! What a glorious charge - the demon bastards didn't have a chance!" She claps her hands in delight before remembering herself. "Just a quick report for you my sirs and dames, Aron and Anevia have said they intend to scout the surrounding countryside - Sarkast if you wish to join them they about to make their way across the ford. Commander Irabeth and Sosiel are both seeking out any survivors from the initial fight, I'll be doing the same."
She waits for a moment, curtseys, and scampers off.
Sarkast makes sure weapon repair and inspection are underway, then joins the scouting expedition.
Nilus will move about assisting with the healers and using his Lay on Hands to heal the least of the injuries, freeing up the clerics to focus on the most deadly injuries. Nilus will also keep an eye out for tieflings who seem like they wish to reform...or at least profess the wish.
Ayesha watched battle unfold with a sense of utter amazement. She had been in her skirmishes, but battle on this scale simply was out of her experience. Afterwards, she moved among the mounded, helping the field medics transport the injured to the area set aside for triage, and generally making herself useful.
Of course, even after a big battle, the army's logistics had to be maintained. It wasn't long before quartermasters reports trickled in, and once again she found herself elbow deep in reports.
Ronan and Jinxx will wonder the area.
You give a look over the state of the arms and armour but nothing will be really ready for you to examine until much later on as the wounded are collected and the battlefield has been cleaned up. You rush off to join Anevia and Aron. Anevia calls out to you joyfully.
"I knew you'd be with us, we're going to go see if there are any more surprises a little ways down the Ahari! I've seen you climb - do you want to take the high ground?"
Nilus finds his way near Sosiel, the two men of the Rose begin caring for the large number of wounded, often more tiefling prisoners than paladins due to the one-sided nature of the fight.
"Good to see you brother," says Sosiel. "One of the prisoners seems... vulnerable. I can see to the wounded if you want to speak with him."
Sosiel gestures solmenly over to a grey-skinned tiefling woman, without any wounds but curled up and clutching her knees. Her wrists and ankles are bound like the other prisoners.
You move over to the quartermaster's tent and begin amassing what you can from the fight in terms of recovered supplies from the tiefling army. Despite the merciful nature of the paladins, the tieflings look to have lost half of their number with another quarter having fled and now a good fifty prisoners to deal with who are at best more mouths to feed, and at worst a dangerous liability. A decision will have to be made on how to handle this new burden.
That said, as information comes in it becomes clear this is an excellent area for scavenge. There is a lot of food to be scrounged and if the tieflings weapons are properly sorted through, it could give the army valuable supplies to help maintain Drezen after it is taken.
However, convincing paladins to happily scrounge through the leavings of tieflings may require some convincing, if you feel it is the best way to go.
The sweet-tempered halfling has done her best to keep you abreast of the fight, filling you in constantly with her excited, hyperbolic chatter.
"Oh Dejik I wish you could have seen that charge, it is worth many songs. But come, I think our time is now here. There are many wounded to see to."
You follow her into the carnage of the battle as the noise of the distant army becomes a reality, the sights of the wounded and dying filling your strange vision as you approach.
"I think I see a paladin I know over there, I need to check on her!"
With that, Nurah is gone and you are left to triage the wounded.
With your strange eidolon at your side you simply walk the remains of the battlefield, taking in the carnage that has taken place. You can see Nilus with Sosiel, helping heal many of the prisoners while Dejik has been talking with Nurah who just scampered off somewhere.
You move beyond the battlefield to look over the area on this side of the ford, and notice a stone building near the river which the tieflings originally surrounded. Distantly, you think you can hear panicked shouting from within the building.
Well met Brother Sosiel.