Zelera did not know enough about the situation they foudn themselves in nor the town but she did realize that some of their group were familiar with it so she allowed them to do the questioning since they had a better idea of what to ask than she did. She'd interject if she came up with something she thought was important.
The School
Eventually, once the questioning was done, Zelera followed along behind Niadroub when he went to the school. She wasn't sure where he was going but she knew where Niadroub went so too did his familiar and the fairy dragon was always good for some constructive, collaborative, pranking of unsuspecting people in need of some humor in their lives. Fortunately, the arrival at the school caught her attention and drew her away from thoughts of pranking someone.
Zelera saw the children at the school and found herself quite happy. She had grown up with so many siblings that she missed having a lot of kids around to play with. Zelera heard Niadroub and Emraeli speaking about education, and she couldn't help but listen in and pipe up, "So what are you teaching them about nature and the fey," like they were the most important topics in the world, which to Zelera they were.
Colwyn furrows his brow as he strolls through the village that may soon be his vassal. Its relative prosperity is quite queer to him. Having a library and something resembling a formal school is already unusual for a frontier town - certainly something Colwyn never got to benefit from as a lad. However, the fact that a gemcutter settled down here is especially unexpected. Of course, for now, he just makes a mental note to check back in on the gnomish gemcutter later. There are larger, looming issues to address first.
Upon sitting down with the mayor and Miss Numesti, Colwyn begins with the obvious questions.
"You've brought warning about an advancing army. Where are they marching from? How many do they number?"
Who are you?
“My name is Kisandra Numesti. I come from the Drelev Demesne, west of here on the far side of Hooktongue Slough—it was established by Baron Hannis
Drelev of Brevoy. My father is Lord Terrion Numesti, a knight who once served the baron but then went against him and was thrown into the dungeon as punishment.”
Who’s attacking Tatzlford?
“Baron Drelev’s troops, along with a group of Tiger Lord barbarians and some enormous trolls! I pretended to be one of them until they drew near, then slipped away to warn you.”
Why would Drelev attack us?
“To save himself. And so he can claim all you’ve built for his own gain. Drelev surrendered to the barbarians and the Lord of Pitax so they wouldn’t overrun his kingdom. I suspect he sees attacking you as a way to prove his worth to his new master, but he’s always been jealous of your success. He covets just about anything he deems more valuable than what he already
has. I’m afraid your nation is no exception.”
How do we know you’re not trying to trick us?
“Any loyalty I may have once owed to Baron Drelev died as soon as he allowed those savages to take my sister and imprisoned my father for refusing to obey his orders. To tell the truth, I hoped that by warning you I might earn your favor and obtain aid in freeing them, but even if you
choose not to help me, I can’t sit idly by and watch as that madman attacks this village.”
Pitax (pronounced pih-TAHKS) is the domain of Castruccio Irovetti, a petty tyrant who fancies himself a god. Pitax is the name of his region within the River Kingdoms as well as the name of his capital city. It seems the River Kingdoms attract these sorts of deluded megalomaniacs, with the kingdom of Razmiran ruled over by the similarly deluded Razmir.
The city of Pitax is filled with trashy art and bad sculpture, created by the masses of enslaved artists and poets that Irovetti maintains to massage his ego. The city suffers under Irovetti's rule, as his arrogant reign has turned the nearby countries of Numeria and Brevoy against him, and alienated Pitax from potential sources of trade.
Settlers arrived from Brevoy, spreading south into Tiger Lord lands along the East Sellen River—a group of soldiers and diplomats led by a Brevic nobleman, Baron Hannis Drelev.
These men not only established a fort on the shore of Lake Hooktongue, but they also sought out and looted several ancient tombs and burial sites sacred to the Tiger Lords. The final insult came when Drelev’s men tried to establish a peaceful alliance with the Tiger Lords.
Armag the Tiger lord Chieftain saw through their trickery and ordered his people to attack, but he underestimated the enemy—he assumed that a people who would open with weak attempts at friendship would not be able to stand in combat. Drelev’s soldiers proved an able match for Armag’s kin, and after three nights of battle the Tiger Lords fell back, driven west toward the
bandit hold of Pitax. Not only did Armag see his destiny of raiding Brevoy endangered, but suddenly he and his people were on the defensive, losing land to this expansion!
But as he fell back deeper into the hills, he found a new ally from an unexpected source—the realm of Pitax Lord Irovetti, the bandit king of Pitax, had already dealt with an unwanted intrusion into his territory by the nation of Brevoy, and when he heard rumors that other Brevic agents were expanding south into more distant borderlands and displacing some of the Tiger Lords (a culture Pitax had often clashed with over borders), his righteous anger saw opportunity.
If his forces and the Tiger Lords could work together, they could swiftly defeat these Brevic intruders. And if events could be engineered so that the barbarians were at the front of the battle, the bulk of the losses would
be from among their troops, further reducing opposition to Pitax’s northward expansion.
And so Irovetti and his mercenary guards traveled northeast to contact the Tiger Lords and establish a truce. Working together, they descended upon Fort Drelev with a fury and conquered the invaders in a single bloodless
wave—for as Hannis Drelev saw the combined forces of Armag’s barbarians eager for revenge and Irovetti’s armies readying their siege engines, he made a choice. Always a realist, he saw immediate surrender as the only option to save his life.
The jaded, craven nobleman sent three riders under a flag of truce to plead with Armag and Irovetti to spare his region, proposing instead to ally with the bandits and to turn control of Fort Drelev to them.
His offer to provide information about the holdings and defenses of his fellow countrymen intrigued Irovetti but frustrated Armag, who had hoped for bloodshed and violent revenge. To force the loyalty—and obeisance—of Drelev’s men, and to help appease the frustrated barbarians, Irovetti accepted the surrender but only on the condition that Drelev’s settlers
hand over five of their daughters as hostages until Drelev himself could prove his loyalty through servitude to Pitax.
Over the objections of his own men, Drelev did as Irovetti requested, commanding his senior officers to give their eldest daughters to the barbarian warlord. However, at least one captain—a Lord-Knight named Terrion
Numesti—refused. And despite Armag’s promises that the girls would eventually be returned unharmed, Drelev had to make an example of Numesti by throwing him in jail and handing his daughter over to the barbarians as
well. Drelev justified this action to his people by assuring everyone it would save their lives.
Kisanda can tell you that the attacking group consists of 25 human mercenaries armed with longswords and composite longbows, 10 human barbarians armed with axes, and six immense trolls.
The group is commanded by one of Drelev’s right-hand thugs—a pig of a man named Ameon Trask.
Kisandra also tells you that the group is somewhat disorganized and sloppy—not only are they unlikely to notice she’s missing, but Ameon’s not all that great of a leader and his tactics for the attack are likely to be little more than orders to charge the village en masse.
The group is approaching from the north along the eastern bank of the Skunk River and should be arriving within a few hours.
What are you doing now?
"Tiger Lords!" says Yala. "Little more than raiders with a wide range."
Marten rubs his chin and says, "If we're going to rescue the captives, we need to figure out some way to get them out without being noticed. Otherwise they'll be used as hostages."
Niadroub Kliip turns to Mayor Rezbin.
"Dooes enyone in your town seell megic wands?"
The Magister explains that if they can have a reliable way of having fire or acid magic, that would help against the trolls.
"Odds are that the hostages won't be held with the attacking group, but at whatever stronghold this Armag maintains." Vibenia says thoughtfully. "Are there archers or crossbow users in the village? If so I can lead a small group to harry them as they approach, perhaps slow their advance to allow better defenses." the ranger suggests, considering strategy.
"And yes, any fire or acid that can be gathered for use will be valuable, the trolls will be the most difficult to stop otherwise."
What are you doing?
"Based on what we know, either we need to bypass the raiders and make a surprise attack to rescue the hostages, or we try to defeat the raiders in force and then move quickly to make a rescue before the architect of this operation knows that we are coming," suggests Marten.
Yala remains quiet as she carefully pours small measures of dust into a solution and stirs it.
"While bypassing the raiders to rescue the hostages has its appeal, the risk of the damage they will do if they make it here isn't worth the cost in lives." Vibenia points out.
Waffles offers a suggestion:
"If we know what direction they're coming from, we can set up a prank! A... VIOLENT prank!"
"Yeh mean an ambush?" his arcanist asks.
"Yes!"
Zelera nodded in agreement with Waffles and said, "A violent prank it is!"
.
Colwyn lets his companions discuss the initial strategies because he is too busy suppressing a chuckle. He tries to better compose himself when he feels judging eyes upon him.
"No, no, I recognize that this is serious, especially if our foe has hostages back at their stronghold. But this is just...it's just...," he struggles to both find the words and fight back his smile.
"I was expecting an entire horde. But this invading army is all of 35 men and 6 trolls?" he asks, incredulous. He looks to his fellows, trying to bolster their confidence with a simple reminder. "We can call upon no less than 200 militia from Thornholme, and we have another 100 professional soldiers stationed at Levetown."
"If we can delay this rabble just for a couple days, we can summon our troops and the fight will be over very quickly.
"Zelera. Waffles," Colwyn says, turning solemnly to the pair who have caused him much consternation in the past. "It is now your sacred duty to cause as much frustration, as much anger, as much embarrassment, as much disgust, and as much mayhem for these approaching attackers as possible."
8. Tatzlford Lodge: This large wooden temple is devoted to Erastil. Its substantial communal area has seen frequent use for town meetings of late, as the smaller chamber in the town hall can no longer fit enough people. The temple is overseen by Latricia Evanore.
11. Thrillseeker’s: The newest business to appear in town, this gaudy structure presents a facade promising games of chance and fun. It also serves as a brothel, however, and thus is at the heart of many local arguments.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'll scout the forest on the sides of the river, find an ideal ambush point to strike at them." Vibenia says, slipping out once the decision-making is over to find them a strike point.
The village of Tazlford does have a milita, 25 of the residents are able to fight.
Logs are being dragged out and sharpened, along with sharp stakes to fill the gaps in the walls. Archers are being positioned along the bridge to harry to approaching enemy.
Vibena soon finds a perfect ambush spot a mile up stream from Tazlford. Plenty of cover and several spots where you can attack from the high ground.
.
Waffles doing an invisible flyover reports that the raiding party are in three separate groups. It seems no one wants to get too close to the Trolls and so they are in the lead. Using their noses to scent any ambush.
The Barbarians and Mercenaries are following the Trolls, about 50' behind them
What do you want to do?
"Do we have any way to further separate the trolls from the rest of the troops, even temporarily? Like a wall of fire spell or something?"
"Stoonshep," Niadroub Kliip replies.
"That could definitely be helpful." Vibenia says as the part gets into position. Well-experienced in hunting prey with an acute sense of smell, the ranger utters a few words in sylvan, calling upon nature itself as she makes a sweeping gesture toward her companions, a brief zephyr dancing around each of them, completely relieving them of all identifiable scent.
"And this should allow you to get close enough, without them being able to smell you...or any of us for that matter."
.
"Stoonshep," Niadroub Kliip replies.
"That would be perfect, Niadroub" Vibenia says, starting to get a handle on the arcanist's strange accent in the last few months. "If you stand or crouch on that huge rock outcropping, you can use it to cut off the trolls from the rest of their army, setting up a killbox."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
.
Zelera began to think through what they could do and had a few nasty ideas that popped into mind as they discussed preparations. "I have a couple of ideas but they are going to be expensive since I will need diamond dust for them. I have two different glyph blessings that I can prepare and cast in the path they will approach through when they get here. I can cast one that will detonate and hit several enemies with acid or fire and I also have one that will work like that spell that makes enemies move slowly."
Since his brain trust has handled the strategizing, the baron quickly moves to do what he does best.
With Vibenia's magic masking his scent from the advancing trolls, Colwyn scales the rock face beside the waterfall and stealthily finds a vantage point to snipe at the coming invaders.
.
Zelera prepared the two glyphs setting the warding one to explode with acid and placing it where she expected the trolls to start spreading out at. She then placed the slowing glyph closer to the water where the enemies would have to enter it.
Marten and Yala are doing their best to remain concealed among the rocks.
How deep/fast is the river?
Zelera, what's the AOE size on your glyphs? Need to know if I should be on the far side of the river :)
Warding is adjacent to trigger so you are fine. If you want to be that close I can attune it to up to 2 people basically for free and up to 10 people for an extra hours casting time. The range is within 60 ft. Assuming we have the time I will attune it to not affect any of us.
Ok, no problem, my hope is to draw them toward me so that they trigger the wards as they go. This looks like it should work.
.
You soon see the hulking shapes of the 6 Trolls approaching the ford. They seem to be eager for bloodshed, knowing Tazlford is getting close. The rest of the raiding party seems to have let them get further ahead. Probably because no one wants to be close to hungry Trolls.
.
No Scent & cover for the party. They don't see anyone. :(
There is an arcane flash as they Trolls blindly step into the field of the Glyph and are sprayed with acid.
You have a surprise round on them as they howl. What are you doing?
Holding her position, Vibenia focuses, mentally reaching out to the natural world, the powers of nature that affect the elements, plants, animals, and the very wilds around them. Resting a hand on Dusk's, back, running her fingers through her companion's bristling hackles as he focuses on the approaching trolls, she channels raw elemental power from The Green into him, his fearsome slavering jaws beginning to dip caustic acid that sizzles as it hits the ground.
Colwyn welcomes the trolls into his domain by delivering an arrow upon the troll at the rear of the formation, making his first combat use of Skybolt.
Having turned invisible when the trolls drew near, Waffles waits for them to pass and then casts grease on the trail behind them in preparation for the approaching soldiers.
Hoping that the trolls have a healthy fear of fire which will spread them out a bit, Niadroub Kliip drops a flaming sphere in their midst.
Yala takes a tiny vial in hand, ready to gulp it down. She edges slightly closer to the troll formation.
(DC 16 Ref save for half)
Marten casts divine favor and prepares for the troll onslaught with Falling Leaf in hand.
Zelera heard the angry trolls as the acid glyph exploded and smiled viciously as she began to move up to a better range.
Colwyn puts an arrow deep into Blue.
Niadroub drops a Flaming Sphere on Yellow.
That is convenient. Everyone goes before the Trolls.
Not yet ready to give away her position in the tree cover, Vibenia casts another spell, natural magic thrumming through her crossbow, drawing upon the primal forces of mass and gravity to affect the force delivered by her arrows.
Colwyn releases a volley of arrows from atop the waterfall, aiming at the rear ranks of the trolls and working his way forward.
Colwyn's first shot finishes Blue. He then puts two more arrows in Red.
Vibenia boosts her bow.
Marten, Zelera & Niadroub. Plus companions to act.
Xelera moved a little closer while staying just inside the tree line and was delighted when she saw the trolls still all clustered together. She prayed for her god to bring down his flames on the monsters to show them the folly of messing with a trickster.
Yala takes a step forward, drinks a tiny bottle and belches fire. Sadly the blast is only large enough to encompass the nearest single troll.
(DC 16 Ref save half)
Marten moves up after the hail of fire and acid to anchor the front line against the same troll that just took the brunt of the blast.
Changing his plans now that he's made contact with the enemy, Niadroub Kliip casts create pit beneath one of the rear trolls.
His flaming sphere continues its attack.
Meanwhile, Waffles snickers mischievously as he casts silent image to cover his earlier grease spell, so that the groundcover looks like it did before the faeriedragon's first spell.
Zelera batters the Trolls with fire from above. Killing Red.
Yala scorches Yellow. Then Marten hacks into him. Yellow blinks in shock as he is hit by a sword while his feet are burnt off by a Flaming Sphere
Magenta howls in shock as he drops into the hole that opened under his feet.
Orange lurches forward to kill Marten triggering the Slow Glyph.
All three Trolls are hit by the Slow and having moved cannot attack.
Green had stepped forward to join in the attack but stopped by the edge of the pit, he yelps as he falls on top of Magenta. Crushing the life out of him!
Everyone can now act again. Put them out of their misery.
Marten pivots to his remaining foe and hammers the troll repeatedly.
Yala moves to a position from which she can once more belch fire on the troll.
(DC 16 Ref save half)
On Vibenia's command, Dusk races forward, bolting across the stream to sink his fangs into the troll battling Marten, sizzling acid eating away at the bite wound.
Hot on her companion's heels, Vibenia sends a volley of crossbow bolts at the embattled troll.