Ronan brings his crossbow up and fires a cold iron bolt at Nabasu.
Ronan's cold iron bolt thumps into the nabasu's side! It lets out a shriek as it pinwheels briefly, plummeting away from Jinxx before it rights itself.
Free at last, Ayesha sheathed her scimitar and pulled the demon bane arrows from Dejik's quiver. She took one and fitted it to the string of her own longbow, waiting for an opening to fire.
The nabasu turns on the party and gazes down on everyone, the group feels the horrible stare of the powerful demon withering them! Then, just as quickly, it chants a spell, gesturing at Dejik with a vicious claw.
(haste and bless active - +2 to attack, +1 to AC, extra attack)
Aravashnial
Celestial dire bat
Dejik (7 dmg)
Ronan
Nilus
Jinxx
Sarkast
Anevia (10 dmg) (protection from evil) (paralyzed)
Ayesha
---
Blind tiefling
Ghoul
Nabasu (10 dmg)
Nilus feels the withering gaze and resists!
Make me fly and that demon will be brought to task! Nilus calls.
Keen on Radiance 5 minutes
Ronan shivers at the nabasu's gaze but feels no ill effect.
"Does anyone have a way to get any of us up to it, or bring it down to us?"
Oh, that demon! Dejik draws a demon-bane arrow and whispers Inheritor, guide my hand!
Sarkast kicks the ghoul's corpse out of the way as he steps back. Dropping his dagger and spear, he takes Anevia's bow and reaches out to Dejik to get one of the magic arrows.
Ayesha shook off the effects of the demon's gaze with ease, but her mind still reeled from the punishment. Her aim was shaky, and one of the precious demon bane arrows sailed wide as she tried to hit the monster above her.
Sarkast feels a terrible, deep pain as part of his life force is drained away!
Aravashnial shrieks as he is affected by the nabasu's gaze while Anevia, still paralyzed, seems to be unaffected. The conjurer furiously orders his bat to attack and then moves over to Nilus, chanting and slapping the paladin on the shoulder.
The dire bat swoops in on the nabasu, biting at it viciously! The nabasu struggles to stay aloft as demon bane arrows slam into it and the bat attacks.
The nimble little demon snarls at the bat and lunges at it, trying to rip it to shreds. However, it shrieks as its wing hammers uselessly against the bat and it pinwheels to the ground!
The nabasu leaps back to its feet and bites out at Ayesha!
(haste and bless active - +2 to attack, +1 to AC, extra attack)
Aravashnial (negative level)
Celestial dire bat
Dejik (7 dmg)
Ronan
Nilus
Jinxx
Sarkast (negative level)
Anevia (10 dmg) (protection from evil) (paralyzed)
Ayesha (paralyzed)
---
Nabasu (40 dmg)
Ayesha drops her bow and yanks Darb N'ssiar from its sheath once more. Grabbing the dragon's scale at the same time, she used its powers to align her weapon with the life force of the good dragon, then lashed out at the demon in a spinning cut.
Jinxx dives down straight down and pounces on the nabasu and rips into it.
As the demon hits the ground, Sarkast snarls and drop the bow. Moving with another burst of divine speed, he pulls another spear from his quiver as he moves. He jabs the demon, then backs off and charges in again, roaring as he runs. "DIE!!!"
Dejik fires again, hoping to make the most of the few demon bane arrows she has left.
Nilus bellows For the Rose! and attacks!
The nabasu snaps out as Sarkast as he rushes in and out, but misses wildly, exposing it to a number of attacks. Arrows fly in as Sarkast's spear finds a mark near its heart. Finally Nilus raises his weapon overhead, and slams it down brutally, cutting in deeply and breaking the back of the small, vicious demon. It lets out a shriek and lies still.
The blinded tiefling, who seems to have regained his sight, lays perfectly still against the south wall, shaking in fear.
End of Combat
Aravashnial slams his staff into the neck of the nabasu as he dismisses his dire bat.
"Foul, evil thing! The world is a better place with one less nabasu." He spits down on the corpse and then points down the canyon.
"It is a good thing you killed it as quickly as you did, very likely it would have teleported to warn whatever these creatures were lookout for. Speaking of which..."
He looks across the canyon at the terrified tiefling.
Nilus strides over to the tiefling.
Do you know who we are? he asks.
"You... you look like crusaders. Really... really strong ones," stammers the tiefling.
I am Nilus, Servant of Shelyn, and I represent a choice you must make. You can choose to continue your life of destruction...or. You can choose a new path, a beautiful one. Make it now. Do you renounce the Demon Lords and their path of despair and monstrousness? If so, there may be redemption for you.
Nilus waits a few moments for the tiefling to make his choice, and if he makes the right one...
What were you guarding?
The tiefling scowls at Nilus. "The blood of the demons runs strong in me and I am one with the corruption! And this pass is blocked - an army of dretches awaits for you. I don't care how mighty and heroic you are, the handful of you are nothing, NOTHING compared to the might of our horde!"
As you wish. Nilus says, sadly as he swings the Glaive, tears spring from his eyes.
Nilus says a prayer to his goddess and with a swing executes the defiant tiefling where he stands. Anevia suddenly gasps as her paralysis ends and there's a moment of silence as the group looks over the crumpled bodies of their enemies.
Sarkast shakes his head. "If the demon blood ran strong in him, it is better he not live to pass it on."
He collects his various weapons, then says, "This started because Anevia, Aron, and I were scouting. If there is an army of dretches nearby, perhaps we should range ahead and see exactly what we face, then come back and report?"
Nilus takes a few moments to collect himself, saying prayers to Shelyn as he does. Taking life is never easy for him...
Ayesha shook herself as Nilus killed the demon-spawn. The encounter with the Nabasu had rattled her far more than anything they had come up again in the last few weeks. Losing control of herself...well, it shattered her sense of self and reminded her of times not too distant when she had had little control over her life, or what was done to her.
Ayesha shuddered, with a look of remembered despair in her eyes.
You are brave and whole mother, we are together in this and your allies are strong. Do not despair!
Triumphant yet somber, the group returns to the army to give their report and speak of the fallen nabasu. Sosiel's eyes go wide as the group gives their tale and sadly informs Sarkast and Aravashnial he is not quite powerful enough to cast restoration.
With the advance warning of the enemy army, and their scouts slain, the Knights of the Fifth Crusade are able to approach stealthily into Keeper's Canyon. There, an army of tieflings, and an army of dretches both lurk with the dretches in the ruins of what was once a town on the banks of the river, and the tieflings hanging out outside.
Using obscuring mist spells once more, the army manages to approach, and moves into a dead charge!
- Successful
Conditions - Ambush vs Tieflings (they cannot act)
Special
Knights: +4 DV vs Dretches (spellbreaker), +2 OM (scouted battlefield),
Dretches and Tieflings: Darkvision, spellcasting
Tactics
Knights: Standard
Tieflings: Standard
Dretches: Relentless Brutality
Ranged
Melee
Result: Dretch and Tiefling Armies Defeated
The battle is a complete massacre as the tieflings were utterly wiped out by a wave of errors before the front lines charge directly into the dretches pouring out of the ruins. An incubus, high up in the ruins, sees how badly the fight is going and teleports away, abandoning his armies. Despite the ferocity of the dretches, the Knights of Kenabres slaughter every single one of the demons without suffering so much as a scratch. During what can only be described as the butchery of the demonic army, the few tiefling survivors simply flee westwards down the canyon.
End of Mass Combat
The army now finds themselves standing over the ruins of Keeper's Canyon as the paladin army takes some time to clean their weapons and marvel at the fact there were no deaths, and barely any injuries. Those injuries that were suffered clean up very quickly after some healing magic.
You all now stand in the shelter of a dilapidated building. Irabeth looks happier than any of you have ever seen her, despite the death surrounding the paladin and the brutality of the surroundings.
"You were INCREDIBLE! The scouting was top notch, the army did not see us coming despite several possibilities for them to have advance warning, and we have not lost a single soldier despite two massive battles. Aron, I must congratulate you personally, very well done! And to the rest of you, when we can camp for the night I can speak to you about that horrifying encounter with the Nabasu."
As she speaks the sounds of Nurah, as always, playing triumphant music sounds across the army.
Aron smiles wearily at Irabeth, but otherwise remains silent. Sosiel looks at him with some concern.
Aron looks nervous, twitchy, and unhealthy - more so. It's apparent that something is bothering him either mentally or physically.
Irabeth then looks to Ayesha and the rest of the group.
"Madam quartermaster, we can camp here or continue marching on as we have around a quarter of the day left. There may be food to scrounge up in the ruins, although I can be sure the paladins won't be too happy to do it. How are we on supplies?"
Nilus doesn't notice anything wrong. However, he does assist Sosiel with his priestly duties with the army.
Sarkast goes to Irabeth, Sosiel and Dejik, and asks if they can speak privately. "I have a personal concern I would like to discuss."
I can go with the foraging crews: I can purify any food we find. She grins in embarrassment. And I promise I won't get left on my own this time.
Ronan:
Jinxx:
Ronan doesnt sense anything, but Jinxx certainly does and lets Ronan know.
Seeing Sarkast going to talk with Irabeth Ronan holds back from saying anything just yet.
The briefing done, Aravashnial, Aron, and Anevia take off. Sarkast steps aside to speak briefly with Irabeth and Sosiel. Sosiel frowns and then waves the rest of the group over.
"Sarkast, you say that Aron's morale about the mission is low? I... I'm not sure I believe that. His dedication to the crusades has been unquestioning and we are on the offensive for the first time in decades. He's delighted."
The cleric frowns.
"I have suspicions I will keep to myself, they are not a danger to you but I would ask that you all keep an eye on Aron. Speak to him and challenge his ideas. See if he is keeping something from you. I love him and am too close at times to see everything, but I will speak to him when I can as well."
Irabeth sighs.
"First Nurah and now Aron, too many concerns about too many people. Just.. keep an eye out, all right? Ayesha, I think we should keep moving. We can cover a bit more ground before nightfall."
Remembering his promise to keep an eye on Aron, Nilus goes to talk with the man whenever he can.
Master Aron, it is truly great that you have joined us. Many crusader's lives were spared due to your efforts. My friend Sosiel says you and He have become close. This is wonderful news, beauty and love existing amongst so much hate and violence gives hope to all who witness it.
Dejik frowns and turns to Irabeth. Could it be that the taint of the Worldwound is affecting us in subtle ways? When I was growing up, Naris told me stories of crusaders losing touch with reality if they spend too much time here.
As you regarded Aron you noticed that he seemed darker to you in your strange vision than he was previously. There was a bizarre cast to his eyes, and hunted, twitchy behaviour. Thinking of extraplanar substances leaves you to one conclusion - shadowblood. A notorious drug infused with the essence of a shadow demon. Powerfully addictive.
You find Aron walking alone as the army marches and approach him. He seems visibly nervous as you come to him to speak.
"Y... yes, thank you, Sir. Sosiel brings a lot of joy to a dark world."
He looks around and seems desperately like he wants to leave.
"I'm sorry, is there something you wanted to talk about, Nilus?"
Ayesha makes the call that there's no need to continue scrounging the ruins, and that their food will hold out. The army packs up, leaving the piles of bodies, and continues the difficult, painful march westwards.
This march takes you into the Worldwound itself. The poisonous taste in the air becomes stronger as you continue along the river bed and the weather is tortuous. Brutal, howling winds pick up with no warning, almost knocking fully armoured paladins off their feet and causing mayhem with the horses. Black and red clouds gather overtop, blotting out the sun and making the entire experience a miserable one.
With the day nearing an end, the army comes to another interesting location, a beautiful old chapel, high up on a cliff overlooking the river below. An ancient flight of stairs leads 90' up to the top of the cliff and distantly, it looks like the symbol of a songbird is on the facade of the chapel.
Irabeth calls for the army to make camp for the night below the chapel.
Yes. I have come to speak with you on Sosiel's behalf. He worries for you. He worries that you feel hopeless in the face of the Worldwound. How do you feel?
It took Ayesha a while before she was able to shake off the funk that the demon's mind control magic had put her into. She had thought her mental preparations stronger than that. Darb N'ssiar's assurances roused her, however, and she went back to her quartermaster's duties with renewed determination.
The battle had not severely depleted their resources, and with the terrific scouting information, almost everyone was back to fighting strength with minimal injuries. The travel that day was brutal, but the chapel at which they stopped seemed an island of calm and beauty in this place of harsh brutality.
Aron looks a little evasive before speaking to Nilus.
"Sosiel is a good man. There's just... a lot at stake and with the barrier fallen I despair for our chances. We're striking a blow if we retake Drezen, but that's simply because the demons are distracted. Their numbers are endless; eventually they will organize for a push that will wipe Mendev away."
You're pretty sure Aron is lying.
While the army sets up camp, Sosiel approaches the group, looking up at the chapel.
"Commanders, I'd like to request a favour. We have the time to do it and I believe it is important - I'm sure you will agree with me Nilus."
He points up at the chapel.
"These chapels - there are many of them - were built after Drezen was constructed. Each to a different deity. They are meant as hospitals for injured soldiers, and a way station for travelers. I would like to request that you investigate the chapel and if there is taint there, remove it. My duties as the prime medic for the army keep me here, but I can think of no greater affront to the demons than to reclaim a chapel to the Rose."
The cleric smiles, showing perfect white teeth.
"And an act of heroism will do very well for morale here. We have the time according to Aron and Irabeth, and the army has enough food as we make good time. Would you be willing to see to this chapel come tomorrow morning?"
Nilus frowns slightly. Is that all Master Aron? You seem troubled beyond the stated. I can help you if there is some problem...
======================================================================
To Sosiel and the others at the meeting I would very much consider it a matter of importance to reclaim this Chapel.
Sarkast nods enthusiastically. "Military force is important, but reclaiming this place for the gods of Golarion will surely be a strong point for increasing our morale and lowering theirs."
He touches the bracelet with the elk charm that he always wears. "As one dedicated to Desna, I would find repairing a way station to be a blessed task."