Qatala shakes off the spell from the Dretch, and advances to attack the Vermelk demon. However, the lingering thoughts of the horrors the dretch projected in her mind distract her enough to make her miss.
It's spell having failed, the dretch assumes a flanking position with the one who summoned it, and attempts to harry and distracy Qatala.
The yellow demon turns its attention to the new foe, wielding a weapon of cold iron.
The peasant continues to distract Wei.
The brown Vermelk moves to attack Wei from the spot it's compatriot just left. It swings the scythe wildly, and Wei is able to dodge out of the way.
Pathfinders are up!
Yellow -10,1x Inflict used
Brown - summon used
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa -Readied to attack
Wei -13
Qatala -6 (-1 after Zavita's turn)
Zavita - 10 (-15 after Zavuta's turn)
Maruka
Wei strikes forth at the yellow demon once again, scoring a glancing blow.
Zavita lets forth a burst of positive energy. The Vermelk demons recoil and hiss as their skin is singed. The yellow one's bloated body is close to disintegrating, with chunks of burned flesh falling off.
Valyssa, Quatala, and Maruka are still up.
Yellow -27,1x Inflict used
Brown - 7, summon used
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa -Readied to attack
Wei -7
Qatala -1
Zavita - 20
Maruka
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Maruka shouts Be stilled demons! Maruka raises his cane and chants casting Black Tentacles
Maruka shouts Be stilled demons! Maruka raises his cane and chants casting Black Tentacles
[dice=Concentration] 1d20 +4 +3
** spoiler omitted **
You can only cast 2nd level spells (you get a new level of spells at every odd numbered level. (so 1st level spells at level 1, 2nd level spells at 3rd level, 3rd level spells at 5th level, etc). So you have to be level 7 to cast 4th level spells. There should be a list of spells memorized and a list of spells in your spell book on the pre-gen character.
Valyssa - which one are you attacking? Yellow or brown?
Valyssa whacks the brown one, while Maruka casts a spell on his companion and Qatala continues to swing her whip around in a very impressive, but not very effective manner.
Yellow will unleash a full attack on Qatala, while brown will focus on Valyssa, directing the dretch to move around to provide them both flanks as needed. Meanwhile, the dretch will aid one of his superiors in their attacks. Meanwhile, the pig farmer will move and attempt to distract Valyssa.
Attacks on Qatala:
Attacks on Valyssa:
However, the pathfinders prove quite agile, and all attacks miss!
Pathfinders are up again!
Yellow -27,1x Inflict used
Brown - 11, summon used
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa
Wei -7
Qatala -1
Zavita - 20
Maruka
Valyssa and Wei let forth a withering series of blows, which all miss their foes. Zavita decides it is her turn for some healing.
Mean while, Qatala wraps the whip around the leg of the yellow demon, and gives it a good tug. The demon is upended and falls flat on its face. While it is falling, Qatala frees the whip with a deft flick of her wrist, and proceeds to do the same to the brown demon.
Yellow -27,1x Inflict used, tripped
Brown - 11, summon used, tripped
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa
Wei -1
Qatala -1
Zavita -0
Maruka
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Excellent job Qatala! says Maruka. He lifts up his masterwork cane, draws it behind his shoulder and with a loud bang it flies from his hand, piercing the air as it flies toward the Dretch.
Maruka sends his cane flying. It strikes the Dretch square in the face, but seems to do no damage.
The dretch and pig farmer continue to help aid their masters in hitting the group.
Being prone and surrounded, the brown demon will attempt to cast inflict light wounds defensively, but fails.
The yellow demon will attack from prone. As the demon attacks, you notice that the body the demon is inhabiting begins to look dessicated and somehow grow even more pale and sickly looking. After a few moments of the body rapidly degrading, the demon bursts out of it, spattering those nearby with gore.
Pathfinders are up!
Yellow -20,1x Inflict used, tripped
Brown - 11, summon used,1x inflict light wounds used, tripped
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa
Wei -1
Qatala -1
Zavita -0
Maruka
Wei stabs the yellow vermelk in one of its tentacles. Looking like it's had enough, it begins to burrow into the ground, away from your reach. As it does so, Qatala lashes out with her whip, spearing it through the midsection. It struggles momentarily, then drops to the ground dead. Qatala flicks her wrist to free the whip and swings it again at the brown vermelk. It tries to dodge, but finds it difficult while prone, and her whip strikes home a second time.
yellow - dead
Brown - 24, summon used,1x inflict light wounds used, tripped
Dretch - cause fear used
Valyssa
Wei -1
Qatala -1
Zavita -0
Maruka
Maruka, Zavita, and Valyssa still up
Marukas bolt goes wide. Valyssa swings her sword at the final vermelk. She lands a resounding blow, and her sword slices through the vermelk demon from shoulder to hip, and the creature falls to the ground dead.
With all the vermelk dead, the remaining farmer drops to his knees and praises Iomede for salvation, and begs you for his life. The dretch full withdraws attempts to flee the village. As it attempts to do so, you see Sir Ilivan striding. Up the entrance to the village. As he approaches, he draws his sword and slays the fleeing dretch without interrupting his stride. He approaches you and surveys the scene. He addresses the party curtly.
Good work. Back to the horses - we have a patrol to finish.
My concerns are for the protection of Mendev and Golarian as a whole. Qatala I can't afford to worry about every peasant and farmer out there.
He glances past Wei to the three remaining farmers.
Hey, you! You may travel with us to Fort Portolmaeus if you like, just see that you don't slow us down.
The three peasants gather their meager possessions and hustle along, more than happy to be away from this place.
You work your way back through the overgrown path back to your horses, and mount up. Ser Ilivan wants to continue with haste Portolmaeus, but you now have three more people than you have horses. How do you want to deal with this problem? You can leave the peasants behind, try to ride two to a horse (which will probably require some ride checks), let the peasants ride and jog along (which will probably require some fort saves to avoid fatigue before you get to the Fort), or anything else you can come up with.
Once you have worked that out, the party continues on along the River Road.
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Companions, we cannot leave these peasants. We must at least try to take them and I, for one, will attempt to carry one but you are your own moral compass my friends.
Marak hoists one of the peasant up onto his steed and climbs up in front, grappling the reigns. His steed whinneys at the extra burden but Marak soothes his with a few Elvic words
After an unsteady start, Marak and his extra load stabilise and the steed seems calmed by the presence of the wizard. Marak feels the tight grip of the peasant, shaking with fear at his experience with the Vermelk demons and the Dretch Relax my friend, 'tis over, at least for now. Rest. Nothing shall happen to you on my watch
Marak trots on, not noticing anything unusual
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Tchak does the same as Maruka, pulling one of the peasants up on his horse with him... "I hope this works... I'm not the world's best rider... " He pats the horse on his shoulder and whispers to him... "Take heart, you'll be well rewarded when we reach the fort."
after nearly slipping off the horse while pulling the peasant up with him, he tries again.
AS they ride along, he does his best to pick the least strenuous path for the horse's sake.
Maruka deftly hosts the peasant up to ride along. Wei initially has some difficulty, falling off the horse on his first attempt (you'll take some nonlethal that will be healed up by the time you get to the fort), but after watching Maruka's strategy, are able to get both of you situated on the horse. Meanwhile, Qatala happily jogs along the horses, enjoying a brisk workout as a warm-up for what will surely be an uneventful remainder of the patrol.
As you near the fort, Valyssa spots smoke on the horizon. Ser Ilivan confirms that it is coming from the fort, and increases your pace. After a bit more travel, you arrive at the fort. Fort Portolmaeus sits on a tall rock outcropping in the West Sellen River, surrounded by rushing waters on three sides. A stout, stone bridge connects the fort to the river’s eastern bank, with a closed wooden drawbridge protecting the final approach. The keep itself is built of dark stone with tall curtain walls surrounding a squat central keep that peeks out above the outer fortifications. Portolmaeus has been the scene of a
recent battle. Soldiers dressed in the colors of Mendev move around it making repairs, while others use carts to remove the bodies of humans and demons slain in the recent attack.
As you approach, four riders sally forth and approach your party. Ser Ilivan commands you to keep your hand away from your weapons. As the riders approach, they knock arrows and aim them in your direction. Ser Ilivan holds up his hands and shouts to them That the Black Prince might be redeemed
Upon hearing this, the warriors lower their weapons and beckon the party forward. The leader of the patrol takes a moment, staring intently at the party. His gaze lingers briefly on Wei, before moving across the rest of the party.
Greetings. I am Sir Morgan. What is your business at the fort?
Ser Ilivan responds, telling him about your patrol.
Sir Morgan commands the drawbridge be lowered, and escorts the party across. Several squires come forth to tend to your mounts, as you are led to the central building where you are greeted by Commander Manaria Wardroxan. After introductions and greetings, Commander Wardroxan relates the previous night’s events with obvious regret. The demons attacked in the dead of night, a mixed group of dretches and schirs led by a terrifying brimorak, a creature of horn, claw, and fire. The wardstone had been buzzing like it is now, and it didn’t seem to stop them. They captured a scout patrol alive and staked them out on the ground in front of the fort. There they tortured them close enough for us to hear. I am ashamed to say that we deliberated on whether we had the strength to retaliate, but as
the screaming and begging continued, I sent our cavalry to put an end to the suffering.
She sighs heavily before continuing, Of course it was a trap. A group of schirs wielding halberds met our cavalry and wasted no time in dragging them from their horses. The dretches then overwhelmed them with sheer numbers, clubbing them into submission. They slaughtered the horses and dragged off the soldiers while we looked on helplessly from behind the fort’s wall. I sent out another party after that, but most of the demons had already withdrawn with our captured men.
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That sounds like the 8th act of Iomedae to me.
Listening to the events, Zavita face goes stern. That was a unwise decision and was obviously a trap. However, I believe I would have done the same thing in your place. You had to act and try to save your men.
Is there a chance that some of the men still live?
After listening to Maruka, the commander summons a few more squires. Please see to these men. They were captured and tortured by demons. Give them food and lodging until we can figure what else to do with them.
Once the rescued peasants have been seen to, she turns and addresses the party. There is a chance that the men still live. Demons are cruel and would be unlikely to wholesale execute prisoners when they could instead torture them and gain some sick amusement first. Please, we cannot spare any men to go after them without severely compromising the security of this Fort. As for the wardstone, they are incredibly complex magical devices. Not that I don't think some of you couldn't be of assistance, but the amount of time would be prohibitive, and thus far the best minds in Mendev have only been able to delay their weakening. Please, go attempt to rescue my men!
Ser Ilivan stands and listens with a hard, expressionless mask on his face. He mutters under his breath Waste of time... those men are already dead... and stalks out of the room without addressing the gathered group.
After the party finishes up with Commander Wadroxan, Ser Ilivan awaits to discuss the issue with the Pathfinders.
This is a fool's errand. Those men are dead already and there is nothing that we can do. This is a reckless mission created by an inexperienced commanders mistakes and guilt. We should finish our patrol and return to Nerosyn.
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Commander, I recognise that you are weary but it might be helpful for us to know a little more about these foul beasts. Did you sense that they were at all vulnerable to any of the weapons your valiant soldiers wielded?
Something's doesn't feel right here Maruka thinks. I wonder if this Commander is telling us everything in the way that it really happened.
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We shall do our best. But before we set out, do you have any supplies for us against these foul demons.
What has happened to you that you would just let men go to be tortured with out any attempt to rescue? Do you not have any decency or are you just a coward? Zavita glares at the man.You are a knight, you are supposed to be valiant and brave. Yes, the mission is important, but what about the lives of fellow men, who share your cause? So guide us along the way, if we save the men or not, we will finish the patrol and head back to Nerosyn. What say you?
As near as Maruka can discern, the Commander the commander is being completely honest. You'd guess to some extent Ser Ilivan is correct that she is a fairly new commander.
All of our soldiers wield cold iron weapons when battling the demons, and they did slay a fair number of the dretches before being overtaken and dragged down.
Please rescue my men. I can offer some meagre aid - a few potions are all we have to spare. Please see our quartermaster to pick them up
You receive two potions of cure light wounds and three potion of shield of faith.
After leaving the Wardstone room, Sir Ilivan listens to Zavita.
I've seen more battles and more men die than you can imagine. I'm not planning to let them go to be tortured and die - I'm against allowing further loss of life to pursue a lost cause. If you insist on pursuing this course, I will lead the way. But those men are dead, and there is a good chance we will be too if we pursue this course of action. I'll tell the squires to prepare our horses. We must make haste.
Ser Ilivan leaves to make preparations. You can pick up your potions and then meet Ser Ilivan at the gate to proceed. The tracks lead into the Worldwound.
I need a DC 10 survival check from someone to follow the tracks.
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Maruka collects the potions from the Quartermaster. I will keep these, but if anyone is in need, just ask. Wei, I think you are right and despite Sir Ilivan's reservations, we must follow them.
These footprints I recognise companions. Two are those of dretches, similar to what we have just seen slain by Sir Ilivan. The third is something different, and I fear it is a Brimorak Demon.