The Crusaders attack, but don't manage to damage the army. The demons are screaming and fighting with everything in themselves. They rush into the crusaders with a vengeance doing more damage to the army.
"Smite them!" Sverix roars.
The crusader's army gets a good attack on the demons, and does lots of damage to the opposing army.
Sverixalint simply leads by example at this point, tearing into demons with tooth and claw as the fighting continues.
Both armies don't manage to damage each other as they clash again.
Both armies don't do damage to each other as they clash.
A sudden divine rage fills Sverixalint as the battle continues to waver back and forth. They would not fail here. They would not fall here. He would not allow it.
"THE FANGS OF APSU AND THE SWORD OF IOMEDAE!" He roared as he suddenly tore into the demon in front of him, leading a counter-charge straight into the startled enemy forces.
The Crusaders break through the Demon's army scattering it, and earning the victory.
As you search the area you find six units of food and water are stored here. You can also rescue the prisoners, who number just over 200 in all. The majority of them are quite capable fighters, enough to form a Large army on their own if you can find armor and weapons for them somewhere.
After freeing the captives and taking stock of their loses, Sverix gives the rescued and the rescuers and impassioned speech . Once it's clear they've found everything and everyone in the area, he gathers his officers.
"While wounds are tended and the freed captives cared for, I will take a few with me to secure the bridge. Now that they know we're here, we shouldn't give them time to reinforce. Irabeth, prepare the troops to assault Southbank when we return. Now, who will go with me?"
The battle took the entire day you return to your camp with the freed prisoners. They are tired but happy to join you.
The leaders sit around the battle table after dinner and go over plans to attack the only remaining bridge into the citadel.
In order to reach central Drezen and face the citadel’s army, the you'll need to secure the Ahari bridge, as it is the only remaining crossing in town that provides access to the Citadel. The scouts report that the bridge is guarded by feral-looking beasts chained to the bridge’s weakened supports and several tieflings on the watchtowers above, and furthermore that each support has been significantly weakened by structural damage. It might take a minute or
two, but the beasts chained to the pillars could be driven to tear the bridge down.
"I can go. Ranged weapons would be good in this case." Anevia suggests.
Nuarah sits back and smiles, "I wouldn't be help in this situation. I can sing to buff, but not do much at range."
Irabeth suggestes that Aravash also join you since he has ranged weapons as well. He doesn't object.
Sverix frowns to himself as he listens to the report. "It sounds like approaching stealthily would be helpful. I'm not very good at that, though. Unless..." he looks to Aravashnial, "Can you make me invisible, maybe?"
Aravashnia shakes his head, "That's not a spell I know my friend."
As the evening progresses Sverix notices a couple of odd things.
He first notices that Aron isn't acting like himself. He looks as if he's not sleeping well. There are dark circles under his eyes, and it appears something heavy weighs on his mind. He's slow to respond to questions, and he seems to be shaking with cold.
He also notices a slight smirk on Nuruah's face when she glances toward Aron. The halfling bard looks satisfied with herself. The problem with that look is you haven't noticed her doing anything that would put that look on her face. She's helped with maps and logistics. That's about it. She hasn't offered to help you fight or even helped keep the troops spirits up while you were away.
Sverixalint frowns slightly, wondering what was going on. He was worried about Aron, so he approached him and asked, "Aron? What's wrong? Are you sick?"
Aron sighs, and looks into the fire. "I've been having nightmares ever since we arrived here at the fort. They wake me and I'm unable to sleep." Aron is sharpening his blade as he talks. You can see a fine tremor in his hands. "There is a voice in the nightmares that calls me." He looks to Sosiel and Sverix. "I'm afraid."
Sverix nods soberly. "The demons attack us in many ways. Perhaps this is another one." He looks to the more experienced crusaders. "Have you heard of such things? What can we do to aid him against it?"
Sosiel looks at his friend for a long time, and Aron nods slightly. "Walk with me Sverix. We need to speak."
As the two move away from the party, Sosiel sighs. "Aron has demons he fights that the other's don't. He's fought addition to drugs for a long time. He's been addicted to Shadowblood. He's been able to fight his addiction in the past."
He sighs and continues to walk. "I'm not sure but somehow he may have been able to get some of the drug. He appears to be in withdrawal. I don't know how e can help him. I'll need to think on that. I will stay up tonight to make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous to himself. I have worked with him on this for a long time. I'm sad to see he's fallen again. The question is who gave him the drug? It's not easy to aquire."
Shadowblood is exceedingly addictive and carries some significant disadvantages. Each time a creature takes a dose of shadowblood, it must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or become addicted—shadowblood addiction is a severe addiction. A creature under the influence of shadowblood or suffering from shadowblood addiction takes a –4 penalty on all saving throws against possession type effects made by demons, and can never gain the benefits of protection from evil or similar spells against such effects.
Sverixalint thinks on this for a long moment. Then his eyes narrow.
"Nuruah. She was looking at Aron and smirking. And she was in your tent earlier, right? But... why would she do that? And I mean, just because she's been acting suspicious doesn't mean it's definitely her... but..."
He scowls. "I guess we have to watch her. If it's really her, she must be up to something."
Sosiel looks concerned. "She was sent by the Queen to help. It does look bad for her though. We should watch her closely. I don't think we should share this with Aron, what about Isabel is can she be trusted to watch Nuruah while you are gone?"
"We should definitely tell Irabeth. And of course you should stay with Aron and support him. This can't be easy for him."
Sverix sighs. "I'm sorry, I'm a dragon, it's hard for me to really understand all of this. But please tell me if there's more I can do to help Aron. Now, let's go tell Irabeth."
"A sound plan. I will give it some thought and do what I can to help him." You move back to the leadership group and they look up at you.
"Is everything all right? We are still on for the attack tomorrow, right?" Avash asks.
"We are still going to attack tomorrow, yes," Sverix replies. "Sosiel was reminding me, however, that we should spend this evening caring for one another. We won a hard-fought victory and rescued some comrades who have been imprisoned for far too long. Everyone needs to be cared for. While I'm talking about that, Irabeth, there was something I wanted to talk with you about."
Sverix turns and starts walking, waving with a wing to indicate Irabeth should follow. As he does, he surreptitiously takes a look at Nurah's face, to see if she seems at all suspicious.
Irabeth follows Sverix. He doesn't notice anything unusual about Nurah's face as he walks away.
When they are away from the group she stops and stares down the hill into the city, "Something seems to be bothering you. What is it my friend? Are you afraid we can't take the bridge tomorrow? I'm sure we can Iomadae is on our side. She will see us through."
Sverix shakes his head slightly, before glancing back to make sure they're far enough to not be overheard. "It's not that. It's Aron. He was looking really bad, and then Sosiel told me--he has problems with Shadowblood. And someone must have smuggled him some."
He looks away, a frown on his muzzle. "We're not sure who... but I'm worried it may be Nurah. Remember how she was in his tent without a good excuse? And then when I saw him looking bad she was smirking at him behind his back. But of course that's not enough to really accuse her or anything. So I think we need to discretely keep an eye on both of them to see if we can figure out who's been smuggling Shadowblood."
Irabeth looks serious and nods. "Nurah came highly recommended by the Queen. I've been with you for a long time my friend. I trust your judgement. I'll keep an eye on her while you are clearing the city"
They continue to walk. "We're here for the long term. I hope we can find what we're looking for here. It's a long way a from home. Are you doing all right? Do you have family that you miss? I'm glad my wife is with me on this mission. Though I worry when she goes out to scout" the half-orc says with a wry grin.
Sverix gazes to the south. "My parents are probably worried about me. I was kind of surprised they let me come, actually. Dragon young are a lot more capable and independent than yours, but still, at my age I'm kind of like a... what was the conversion from dragon years to human years..."
He thinks for a bit. "Five years old. It's kind of complicated translating, but I think from what my mom explained I'm kind of like a human five-year-old in terms of physical development. But now I think it must have been inspired by Apsu. If I hadn't come... well, maybe you could have gotten to the Wardstone shard without me, but maybe not. And now, with what's happened after? And with me... well, with me being called as a Herald..."
Sverix frowns as he trails off, memories of the past bringing up an unpleasant present possibility. "You remember how we found out demon cultists had infiltrated Kenabres? What if that's what's going on with the Shadowblood thing? Even if it's not Nurah... could someone really be working with them in the army?"
"It could be someone in the army, but not everyone has access to the tents. We'll keep a close eye out on everyone moving through the area. It's very possible that someone has infiltrated the army or even the leadership."
"I'm glad you are with us, but I didn't realize you were so young. Should you contact them in some way to let them know you are safe?" she continues to walk with the young dragon. "I didn't plan to do this with my life. It's interesting how the gods call us to do something we never planned to do."
Sverix hesitates. "It would be good to contact them... but I'm not sure how. My mother carried me most of the way to Kenabres. She was going to pick me up a couple days later, but then..."
He trails off. "I hope she's safe. I would have been underground still at the time she was supposed to return."
"There are magical spells...I think. Maybe we should ask Avash about that. I'm just a Paladin, and hit things with a sword and yell about my gods power loudly." she grins. "Come on. It's time for supper, and finalizing plans for tomorrow."
"Right," Sverix agrees.
The morning dawns sunny and bright. After breakfast, Sverix, Anevia and Arash head out to the bridge. They arrive an peek at the layout for themselves. They see exactly what the scouts said they would. Four creatures tied to the supports of the bridge, and lots of tieflings to battle. Clearly the supports have been weakened, and if they don't take down the enemies quickly the bridge might fall.
Sverix looks over things then creeps back into cover.
"We'll want to target the beasts first--did you recognize them, Aravashnial? We need to put everything we have into killing them quickly. After that the tieflings shouldn't be as much of a problem. I have a few spells to cast before we start. If you have any preparations to do--maybe summoning something--do them now."
And with that he begins quietly chanting.
Aravash studies the animals, "Those are man eating Aurochs. I don't know much about them I'm afraid." He casts Mage Armor and Shield on himself. "I believe I'm ready."
No ordinary bovine, this hulking beast has bloodstained horns and sharpened teeth. Its eyes show a malign intelligence.
Anevia nods, and raises her bow. "Ready. Attack the creatures first."
She shifts forward and fires her bow at the closest Auroch. Her first attack misses, but her second hits with a thunk. It doesn't seem to do quite as much damage as she thought it would.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Auroch: 16
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
Sverix leaps into the air and flies straight for the nearest beast, diving at its side in a flash. Then he tears into the beast with fang and claw, battering it with his wings if it still stands after that.
The first two attacks tear down the Auroch. It doesn't even have a chance to cry out in pain before it falls. The Auroch's strain against their chains trying to get to Sverix. One of them manages to pull hard enough that the bridge's support creaks ominously but stays up.
There is a voice coming from the other side of bridge. It sounds like spellcasting.
Two of the tieflings on the bridge let crossbow bolts fly at Sverix. Both bolts miss, and they reload. The rest of the tieflings either run down the stairs or hold their actions to fire their crossbows if someone gets in range.
Arabash begins to chant as well. He moves up to hide behind the end of the bridge.
Avebia lets an duo of arrows at the tiefling in purple. Both arrows sink deep He falls dead in the first full volley of the battle.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Auroch: 16
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
Sverix gives the next aurochs the same treatment he'd givent he first.
Sverix moves up to the next auroch in line, and rips it apart with a flurry of attacks.
The auroch's strain again, but are not able to break free of the bridge supports.
The chanting ends, and a hideous creature appears on the bridge. This creature’s bloated frame shudders with each heaving step, yet despite its shape, the thing moves with surprising quickness. It runs down the bridge trying to get to the other side. Then a short creature scurries forward on the bridge.
The orange tiefling shoots at Sverix. He misses by a mile. Yellow reloads and moves closer to where Servix stands. The other tieflings reposition themselves.
Arabash finishes casting his spell, and a Latern Archon appears. It blinks out of existence and appears behind the spellcaster at the other end of the bridge.
Anevia moves up, and leans around the corner of the bridge. She lets an arrow fly at the tiefling in red. Her arrow hits, but doesn't do much damage.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Auroch: 16
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
Sverix leaps into the air and flies over the bridge to the other side (or under the bridge, if there's room), landing near another of the aurochs to continue his bloody work.
The next Auroch is quickly dispatched by Sverix. The last remaining auroch pulls at the chain again, but nothing happens.
The Sorcerer steps back from the Archon, and casts as spell. There are suddenly one more of him. The dretch drops a stinking cloud where he thinks the arrows came from.
Anevia manages to fight off the effects of the cloud but Arabash starts hacking and coughing from the fumes.
The tieflings move up and ready to attack an enemy that comes in sight.
Arabash moves out of the cloud, but cannot do more than that. The Lantern Archon. Two light rays streak at the sorcerer. The first hits, and the second pops the image.
As Anevia comes into view from the cloud, the four tieflings let their bolts fly. They continue to be terrible archers, and only one attack hits her
Anevia decides to take the chance and run to the other side of the bridge and get back into cover.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Auroch: 16
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
From his position below the bridge, Sverixalint is only vaguely aware of what's going on up above it. He hoped the other two were doing all right, but he had one more target to kill before he could help them.
Not wanting to use more of his limited supply of power, he simply walks over to the last beast and takes a bite out of it, figuring even if it survives it won't be pulling on the bridge when he's right next to it. Not for the first time today, he pushes to the back of his mind the question as to whether or not it's safe to eat fiendish animals...
The last Auroch falls to the ground dead with one attack from Sverix.
The sorcerer sends missiles flying at the archon, and it shimmers a little but stays in this plane. The dretch flies up and casts a spell on Anevia. She shudders but shakes off the spell.
The two tieflings on the bridge reload, and move forward to the edge of the bridge. The two on the walkway send bolts down at Sverix. One hits for The two on the other side of the bridge run toward the fight.
The last tiefling who hasn't attacked sends a bolt at Anevia, and he misses.
Arabash continues to puke.
Anevia leans around the corner and lets two arrows fly at the dretch. Both attacks hit, but only some of the damage goes through. "Sverix get up here. We could use some help." She yells.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Dretch Damage:
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
With the taste of warm blood in his mouth and his allies' danger on his mind, Sverixalint roars as he takes to the air and flies up onto the bridge. He judges the distances carefully, inhaling as he comes to a landing, and then calls on his odd connection with Terendelev to exhale a blast of ice that washes over several of the tieflings and the dretch.
The light blue manages to avoid the worst of the fire, and is still standing. The red can't get out of the way and falls. The green is saved from the fire by the rock wall of the bridge.
The sorcerer sees the dragon land, and he sends Scorching rays at him. They get past his resistance to spells and does damage to him.
The Dretch moves forward, and takes a swipe at Anevia. His attack misses.
The three Tieflings load and let arrow bolts fly at Sverix. All of them miss.
Arabash continues to retch on the ground around the corner. Anevia takes a step back and lets and arrow fly at the dretch. It hits but doesn't seem to do any damage. She curses loudly.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Dretch Damage:
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
Sverix snarls in irritation at the sorcerer and charges them, his fangs snapping with deadly intent at the sorcerer's head.
Sverix's bite is very effective on the sorcerer.
The sorcerer takes a step back, and casts Scorching Ray again. They both hit him, and make it past his spell resistance. One of them hits extra hard.
The archon flies up and takes three attacks at the demon. One of them strike
The dretch claws and bites at Anevia his bite and one swing of the claw go raking across her causing damage.
The blue tiefling moves away from the center of the bridge, and reloads his crossbow. The other four who are on top of the bridge. Attempt to acrobatics down around Sverix. They draw shortwords as they land. They are amazingly acrobatic creatures and all land on their feet.
Arbash continues to retch.
Anevia takes a step away from the dretch and lets an arrow fly at the tiefling who just ran around the corner. Her attack misses.
Initiative Avebia: 24
Initiative Sverix: 17
Initiative Sorcerer: 9
Dretch Damage:
Initiative Tieflings: 8
Initiative Arabash: 7
+6
Sverixalint snarls in pain, but keeps the pressure up on the sorcerer.
The sorcerer falls under Sverix's attacks. The rest of the tieflings are dispatched quickly, and the bridge belongs to the Crusade.
You find on the sorcerer a potion of cure moderate wounds, wand of dimension door (9 charges); Other Gear amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, and 125 gp.
The tieflings have shortswords and crossbows.
Aravash walks up coughing and choking still. "That was horrible. Everyone all right? I hate dretches. They stink."
Sverix winces a bit. "I'll need to spend a bit of time patching up these burns, but I'll be okay. Let's get back to the others and let them know the bridge is clear."
He spends some time with his wand of cure light wounds before moving on.
Our hero makes it back with his companions to the army camp. Sosiel heals everyone up as needed.
"Tell us what happened? Does the bridge still stand?" Irabeth asks.
Sverixalint thanks Sosiel for seeing to his friends' (and his own) wounds.
"It was a hard-fought battle, but the bridge now stands without its fiendish guard," Sverixalint declares. "We can move more freely now. Are the troops ready to move out? I think we should strike at where they're keeping the equipment from the crusaders we've rescued next. They will feel better with weapons in hand and armor on, I think, and we will have need of their aid."