Aetherys' righteous strike kills off the Dretch, indeed banishing it from Golarion. She moves on to flank the fiery demon. Swayaah, meanwhile, brings the hammer down on the fire-breathing fiend, knocking the hot air out of it.
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Wadi
Krux
Dvalin
Swayaah
Saera
Aetherys
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Fiery Demon (33)
Crusaders (5 left)
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Swoosh! The great sword catches the brimorak off guard as it menacingly moves after Swayaah. Dvalin is behind the great swing, and feel the metal connect to demon flesh, demon bone and demon cartilage. He feels the sword crush the spine of the creature, and slide through the demon's windpipe. When the sword finally stops, the demon exposed in a mess of boiling blood.
Covered in blood from the battle, Sir Ilivan immediately rushes out as he spots a nearby group of approaching demons. Let me fend them off! A last stand in the name of Mendev! Single-handedly, he impales one of them on his lance, but it is only a matter of seconds before he is torn of his horse and killed mercilessly. It is clear that this new group of demons i beyond any capability of the pathfinders.
With no option but to flee with the rescued crusaders, the pathfinders trek back to the river road, and complete their tour. Upon returning to Nerosyan, Venture-Captain Jorsal and a representative of the Mendevian military await the group. Please make a full report, the military leader says, as he sees the absence of Sir Ilivan.
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"Sir Ilivan, no!" yells Aetherys, powerless to prevent the knight from accomplishing a heroic last stand against the demons. Reluctantly, she helps the abducted crusaders run away.
Back in Nerosyan, her mood hasn't lightened up a bit. The elf is still brooding, humbled and saddened at the same time by the loss of the great knight.
"We have good news and bad news. Firstly, we can say that our patrol was successful. We rescued some peasants from the clutches of vermlek demons, then reached Fort Portolmaeus. There, Commander Wardroxan informed us of a recent attack they suffered at the hands of the demons, and that some of the defenders of the Fort had been tricked into pursuit, then abducted by a brimorak demon leading a handful of dretches. Sir Ilivan and we decided to give chase to save those crusaders, which we did. After a terrible fight, we recovered the crusaders, only to find out that a larger band of demons was onto us. Sir Ilivan..." she stops, the words stuck in her throat, unable to finish. "He... he sacrificed himself to give us time to escape with the crusaders." she finally manages to utter in a shaky voice.
Sir Ilivan did a noble thing, Aetherys. You should idealize him, not mourn him.
But I can't... I'm not as strong as he was.
Let it go, sister. Let it go.
Aetherys resumes, her voice becoming steadier at every word, embolened at the thought of the fallen knight's heroism. "He was the most noble soul I've ever met, Sir. The truth is, we should all feel humbled by his sacrifice."
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"Sir, we managed to catch up with the demons fairly quickly; however, we were in an exposed position at some range from them. A fire demon did seemed to be the master of the group and it managed to burn us quite badly before we could engage. While we closed the distance, the evil drenches began slaughtering their crusader hostages; unfortunately we were only able to save the 5. The fight went quickly once we were in melee though, which is also fortunate as another group of demons started rushing toward our position. Sir Ilivan immediately knew they would overwhelm us and rushed to delay them as long as possible while we retreated."
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"Ilivan..." Swayaah quietly speaks as she sees him run off, knowing he is going to die. She weeps as she secures the rescued (and the fallen) crusaders. "I was so mean...Thank you."
Swayaah seems rather pensive as the others give her report. "His body was tired. His mind was worn by the horrors of the 'wound. But his soul awoke. It was pure..." Swayaah trails off.
That night, Swayaah finally realized what she should remember. She dreamed of Sir Ilivan pulling her away from the divs, telling her to "remember herself". It all seemed so simple, now.
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Wadi gives Sir Ilvan a salute, knowing he is sacrificing himself for them. Do not worry, Ilvian. I shall make sure your sacrifice is remembered in song...always.
Giving his report to Jorsal, Wadi nods in agreement. "I really do not have much to add here. Sir Ilvian redeemed himself in my eyes. He is a true hero of the Mendevian Crusade."
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"May he rest in peace forever dreaming of glory and honor. His nightmares are all over now." He bows his head in memory of the valiant knight and remembers him in silence.
Death is not to be feared but embraced when it is glorious. I should strive to be more brave like Sir Ilivan, a half-elf distant cousin perhaps.
"Thank you for allowing me to travel with you. I appreciate your prowess in battle and admire your bravery. Sir Ilivan's memory will be well preserved in our hearts."
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"Sir, no!" Saera watches helplessly as the demons pull Sir Ilivan off his horse and kill him.
Saera quickly reloads her musket and is about to shoot at the new demons, when she realizes she's no match for them. With tears welling up in the corners of her eyes Saera puts her musket in her bandoleer. She quickly moves up to her other comrades, to aid them in getting the rescued crusaders to a safer place.
While the others report the missions, Saera's quiet. Her mind wanders off to what happened with Sir Ilivan. When the others mention Sir Ilivan's bravery, a careful smile appears on Saera's face. "Yes, we should remember him that way. In the end he came through for us."