The 5th Mendevian Crusade (Inactive)

Game Master Brian Minhinnick

She'd been staring up at the sky the entire time, watching and waiting. Liette has had nothing but confidence in Nathaniel since joining the group, nothing but the utmost respect for him and had been coming to trust him as a friend. She had faith that he would return, laughing, with one drake slung over each shoulder.

"Nate."

It's a whisper the moment the body hits the ground,but it quickly builds into a scream. "NATE!" Liette breaks into a sprint, dust kicking up behind her as she runs towards the body, skidding when she tries to come to a stop, stumbling and falling onto her knees beside the mangled remains. At first she reaches out, then she stops herself and clasps her hands over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes, blurring her vision.

"SIGMUND!" Liette cries out for help, reaching out with trembling hands, trying to find some place that she can be of assistance, some part of him that is okay in a blind panic. Helplessly, she paws at his bloodied remains, a charge of energy surging down her arms and exploding out of her hands in a blast of channeled positive energy.

"Hold on Nate, hold on..." Liette squeaks out the words, throat tight and her whole body trembling. She'd lost Faraldur just when the two were becoming friends, nearly lost Abigail shortly after thanks to those riders, and now this -- this is just too much.

Another pulse of positive energy ripples outwards from her blood-soaked hands, and the snow-haired paladin hiccups back sobs between each hopeless attempt to breathe life back into the meat in front of her.

_____
Helplessly expend two uses of channel energy

Abigail looks Liette in the eyes: "He's- I can't-" her words strangled again as the feeling of loss and despair grips at her parched throat.

As the Nathaniels body hits the ground, Kenan at first can't believ it and is paralysed.

Liette's outcry however releases him. With grief in his eyes he walks to Liette and takes her in his arms.

Don't. Don't blame yourself or anyone here. It's painful for us all but we can't give up. We can't loose our determination and trust in the capabilities of our group or none of us will survive these lands. If you let your despair overwhelm you, these abominations haven't just won one victory against us. They will have won two. And I don't know what's your goal. But mine is to fight them and to let them terribly pay for evere step they think they have driven us back.

Over the course of his speech Kenans voice changes. At the begin it is the voice of someone trying to calm another one. But it slowly changes til the end to an angry and vengeful voice.

Viorel arrives with the others at the corpse. "He has passed over. Funeral pyre?" He looks at Kenan as he makes his speech. "Genocide." He notes with a nod as if that would explain his statement. Bloody fool, why did you stay to fight with them. Well rest easy my friend and know this will not go unavenged. The mage thinks as he moves his gaze back to the lifeless body.

Barek blinks at the impact in the distance and does a doubletake when Nathaniel's hat floats to the ground. It seems that was no drake impact..., the morbid thought flits through his mind as he goes to the crater. "Aye," he says in response to Kenan. "We don't let this defeat us, we use it to make us stronger. Give us the will to eradicate these demons from the face of the world."

"Damn it." Crissor growls barely keeping himself from screaming it to the entire Worldwound. He places his thumb and pointer fingers under his eyes to hide his tears. He was left to make his way over to Nathaniel quietly placed his hand on Liette's shoulder.

In a dreamlike state, Abigail walks back to pick up the top hat and bring it back to where Nathani's body lay crushed. She silently gather his limbs around him and transfers it to a sheet of canvas she spread beside it, preparing the body for its final voyage.

Sigmund watches in horror as his thoughtless words are transformed into their terrible opposite when Nathaniel's form plummets from the sky.

He walks forward slowly, as the others rush in, grief-stricken. "I .. I'm sorry, Liette. There is nothing I can do for him. He is with the gods, now."

He kneels and helps gather what remains of the summoner, assisting Abigail in her task.

-passes tissues around-

Once the body is ready, Abigail turns to the others: "We will commit his body to the flames. The enemy already knows where we are. I prefer to honour his death by making sure his body cannot be used and abused."

"Viorel, can you consume his body with your flames?"

She places herself at a distance deemed safe by Viorel and raises her arms, asking her companions to join hands with each other: "As we stand together, forged as a group, made stronger by the bonds that unite us, we recognize the valor of each individual. But our community is tested, and Nathaniel has been singled out; he is leaving our community for the last voyage.
Erastil, I commit his friendship to you...
Iomedae, I commit his courage to you...
Pharasma, I commit his soul to you..."

Her voice trails off and her shoulders slump a little. The recent calamities have taken their toll on her.

Can faith save me?

Pushing away from Kenan's embrace, Liette refuses to be comforted. Eyes red and puffy, she wheels about and shoots an accusatory look at Sigmund, then Abigail. "No," she whimpers, looking back down to Nathaniel's body. "No it-- no! I've-- I've seen--" she can't speak through the sobs that bubble up from within, and it's then that Liette collapses onto her knees at Nathaniel's side.

She reaches out, as it to pull what's left of him closer, but stops herself. She's lost so many people since coming into the Wound, and for all that she was raised to be a soldier she never experienced loss like this until now. A perfect record and flawless combats against the riff-raff that emerged from the border couldn't have prepared her for the true horrors.

She doubles over, hunched across Nathaniel's body, and cries for each person she was unable to save.

If only she had been smarter, she chides herself. If only she had been a better tactician.

The barbs and stinging words are directed all inward now.

Whoops, Abigail posted the same time as me. You can just slide my post before hers, chronologically.

Since his first thought of response was something in the nature of can fish swim, the mage decides to remain silent. Instead he pulls out a flask of alchemist's fire and soon a spell is cast two beams of fire hitting the corpse and setting it ablaze. He stares in to the fire. Rosa, Torin, Cinderfang, Faraldur and now Nathaniel. 5 lives and how long have we been here? This can't continue like this if there is to be any hope in winning this war. These skirmishes into enemy territory will not be enough, we need to start working with longterm goals.

As though reading Viorel's mind, Abigail moves to Sacha as the ceremony ends and works on his saddle, setting her bags right: "I need to leave this place of misery. Where are we going now?"

Crissor kneels beside Liette, letting her grieve but seeing her torment he gently speaks to her. "There was nothing we could of done, don't torture yourself for his death." With that he sits quietly and watches the fire, taking out his waterskin, and starts to softly sing a bit. "He sings songs that remind us of the good times, he sings songs that remind us of the best times...don't cry for me, my dear neighbor, we get knocked down, but we get up again"

The sad expression changes to one of anger. "Like I said earlier, genocide. Each and every one of the giants of the clan man women or child slaughtered to the last one, same result with their friends the sand drakes." The face changes again now to more thoughtful one.

"If you are speaking of actual direction, we basicly have two options either go ahead with the plan and clear an area for the wardstones or we retreat to the keep. The first one has the advantage that we have a launching point to begin our assault, also if we play our cards right, we might be able to gather additional hands to our cause. The latter has the advantage of our enemies having hard time assaulting us with concentrated forces. In the imidiete future I say let's continue traveling and be on the lookout for easily defendable location and rest there and be ready for our enemies attack, because eventually they will do so." Viorel explains.

Silent the entire time once Nathaniel's body has been lit ablaze, Liette stares down into the flames with a vacant, distant expression that has her mind much further away than her gaze could reach. Gloved hands are kept clenched into fists at her side, a few bristling lengths of hair poking out between her knuckles. Not her own.

As members of the crusade say their words for Nathaniel, Liette has no words. Her reddened, puffy eyes can't look directly at anyone and her tense posture refuses to allow her to relax. Showing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, the young paladin turns away from the fire with jaw trembling and walks away while Viorel is trying to come up with a plan.

Today she isn't a tactician.

"We now have an enemy in this realm. It wants to destroy us and it has shown it has the means to do so. Plus we have this weapon of dread to destroy, of which the enemy knows... Viorel, I must disagree with you. I recommend we regroup away from this place, deal with loose ends and disappear from the enemy's radar for a bit. Then we'll be able to head out again and strike at them!"

Plus, meta-wise, we can introduce Nathaniel's new reincarnation.

"You mistake my intention. I meant by immediate future, as in today. We are not in a position to sleep so care free anymore. Yes we could try to head straight towards the keep at maxium speed, but our enemies are faster than us. I for one don't want everyone exhausted when they catch up to us. Of coarse there is the possibility that we have enough of a headstart but I seriously doubt it. Their domain is closer than the keep and the drakes are roughly twice as fast as us and they don't have to worry about the terrain. The giants on the other hand we might be able to outrun depending on if somebody is on our trail and how far they are." He then get's an idea and takes the maps he has been making out starting to investigate them. "I wonder."

Good call on the meta issue.
Maps stuff: We are at south end of 5F, right? Does any of the nearby areas that we do have a map of have terrain that would block vision from the sky? Forest or something of that nature.

"As painful as Nathaniel's death is, it has made one fact extremely clear. We cannot afford to continue to clear land in this area. Dealing with the dangerous denizens while being hunted by drakes, demons, and giants is suicidal. We should make best speed to Clydwell. Viorel, can you summon mounts for us? Abigail, can you Wind Walk? We need to travel swiftly and be wary of further ambushes."

"No Sigmund. This prayer is far beyond my power. I have other means of travel though, and I can ask Erastil for the grace to fly or walk on air, but they don't last very long."

Turning to Viorel and the others: "I would prefer leaving as fast as we can. They are on our trail, and I'm not sure we are ready to face them. But one thing is for sure, if we can't flee, then we need to find the best place for us to make a stand. We'll need cover from those drakes. If possible, from air, but also from under, as they've done before. And we'll need weapons to use against the giants. I can provide for a few of those if I can have some time to pray."

Air Walk is 90 minutes. Wind Walk is level 6...

Travel Map

North end of F4 actually. The pink dot is you guys. Only terrain you've seen so far is the desert, swamp and then the plains to the south. The swamp is thickly enough overgrown that it's almost entirely shielded from the sky. Then again is has its own dangers. You also don't know how big it is yet.

Abigail looks over Viorel's shoulder as he scrutinizes the map. "Mmmh... Same distance from the Nail than from Kenabres, no? We can always use the swamp to protect us from the skies. I can prepare some blessings that will help with the water..."

She stops then, waiting to see what the others will suggest.

Crissor starts to follow Liette, but turns away to give her space, watching the embers of the funeral pyre. Humming the rest of the farewell song before turning to Viorel. "I refuse to allow or take part in the slaughter of children Viorel...finding the giants leader and striking him down, fine. But the slaughter of children is absolutely off the table."

"The fact that Nathaniel's death made clear, is that we should not go off alone to battle a flock of drakes. Still, if the decision is to return to the keep, I will not object. It seems that we are close to a stronghold, according to the map. Also there is land near the keep that needs claiming. That and the two we have done will allow for a wardstone giving us better positioning to stage our revenge."

The fact that Nathaniel's death made clear, is that we should not go off alone to battle a flock of drakes.

Lol. Best Barek quote ever.

"Not a spell I know, conjuration school is not my strong suite." He notes to Sigmund. He goes through the maps again in hope of finding a better option hoping that he overlooked something. "What do you think happens to the children, once their parents are dead? But if that is what it takes let's leave them alive, give them a chance."

"I saw one possibility, it's a risky one but if it works we would have a significant advantage. We head back to the swamp, it's closer to the enemy. But the drakes can't overwatch it. And it is not easy to see during the night. We enter the jungle not venturing too far, wait for the night fall and head out. We travel trough the night, another risk, but it will take a long while untill we can be found again. I am not too fond of that plan but it is a possibility we have. That being said first we should decide if we try to complete clearing the areas for the wardstones before returning or returning and then claiming the area. My opinion is that the latter is the more prudent choice, back at the keep we can resupply and gather knowledge about our enemies. Of coarse we can also attack without claiming the areas."

I think it is time to get back to the keep. But I don't think that traveling at night through the jungle will be a good idea. Most of us can't see well in the dark.

So seems like the plan is to cut through the swamp to try to avoid pursuit on the way back to Kenabres/Clydwell. Can I get people to yea or nay that? Also please comment on your opinion of traveling through the night, all in character preferably. Once I'm seeing a clear majority I'll move things forward.

"The swamp is full of... well, other nasty things. I'm worried it will slow us down and use our strength. I say we make for the fastest path, keep our strength if they manage to move fast enough to cut our retreat."

So I guess that's a nay.

"Like I said not a plan I am fond of, it's a high stakes gamble. I am just laying out the choices. My preferred method is to head to the keep to catch our breaths and come up with a plan of attack."

Standing away from the others, Liette quietly watches the horizon under the pretenses of keeping an eye out for more enemies. The truth of the matter is that she just can't bring herself to care about discussing strategies, for as much as she tried to plan for the unforeseen they've still lost so many people along the way. The burden of failure, she feels, falls squarely on her shoulders.

With her back to the discussion, Liette scans the horizon with unfocused eyes. She is neither searching nor really looking at anything, all of her focus is turned inward.

"I don't want to go back into the swamp, nor do I want to travel at night. We just started exploring today - we broke camp less than an hour ago, and we've already dealt with two attacks in that time. To travel at night, we'd need to walk all day today, then continue on into the night, or we'd need to rest now, and then set off at dusk. Both ideas are unsound. One puts us at a disadvantage, and the other gives our enemies more time to catch up to us. The keep is likely several days away. We make as much progress as we can on foot today. Tomorrow, Viorel summons enough horses to get everyone mounted, and we race for the Keep. We just need to stay far enough ahead, long enough to reach the safety of Clydwell's walls. The longer we stay here and bicker, the greater chance we all die."

The shivers at the idea of being on a horse again considering his luck with them but then sighs out loud. "I have to agree with Sigmund's plan it seems the way to as much as we can and then get to a defensible position."

"I told you that I do not posses that spell. I am a not a wizard who can change what their mind posses after some time, my spell casting is not something you learn by studying, it is engraved in my blood. Unless someone happens to posses a scroll of said spell, I won't be casting it. That detail aside, the plan of action is sound." There is some irritation in his voice, mostly because the situation is already rather stressful.

"Ah, I had misunderstood you, Viorel, for I must admit to being uninformed in the ways of the arcane. I thought you meant 'not a spell I know, today.' I had assumed you would be able to conjure such a spell tomorrow. Iomedae gifts me with the magic I need when I ask her, and I thought your magic must be similar. It looks as though we will be making the trek on foot."

"Then let's be on our way!"Abigail offers, hoping to stir some movements and keep her companions' mind away from the loss of a dear friend and reliable companion.

She messes Sacha's golden pelt and gives it a small nudge forward.

As the conversation turns towards movement, Liette looks over her shoulder and watches the others gathering their things, preparing to disembark. Her feet feel heavy, heart doubly so, and as she looks to the flickering fire plumed with smoke that was once Nathaniel's body she grows tense and sick to her stomach. Exhaling a shuddering sigh, she tries to clear her head, swallowing dryly afterward.

Rubbing one gloved hand at her brow, Liette slowly begins to turn, scuffing her boots at first as she walks. Eventually, the gunslinger's pace picks up, but her spirit doesn't. It's obvious that of everyone, she'd taken the loss of Nathaniel the hardest. When she catches up to the others, Liette keeps close pace beside Abigail and Barek, the sole companions left from the time she began here in these wastes.

Sigmund or Viorel, draw a line on the travel map using the poly line tool of the route you're going to take back to Kenabres. Left click to start the line, right click to add points, then left click again when finished. Shift+ctrl+up arrow key will move anything you draw to the top of all the other objects. PLEASE don't delete anything.

Travel Map

I went up with "straight" line, seemed to make most sense given the circumstances.

09/06/4712 08:15

There is no sign of the drakes in the sky as Viorel charts the quickest route back to the keep. Not wanting to delay in this terrible place any longer than they need to, they head out as soon as their gear is ready. Viorel figures that if they make good time, they should be able to reach the border to the next hexagon demarcated on their map around this evening as they stop to rest.

The group is mostly silent, locked into their own thoughts of death. In more than a few cases thoughts of sadness and anger also abound. The desert terrain stretches on around them to the edge of their vision. The sand pulls at their feet with each step, and coats their skin with each gust of the furnace hot wind. The air at the edges of their vision shimmers with waves of heat, inviting their minds to play tricks on them. If it weren't for their magically created water and protection from the elements, they would all likely be dying of exposure and thirst right now. It is easy to see why some Qadirans worship Sarenrae as a destroyer. The angry eye of the sun beats down on them relentlessly, making the stifling air difficult to breathe.

09/06/4712 10:15

Two oppressive hours pass in this way before they come across a dried up old river bed that twists away to the south east. There are strange bulbous outcroppings of igneous rock emerging from the sand surrounding the bed. Some species of pale abyssal grass is growing all along the river bank. Its blades are as sharp as any forged from iron, and the group finds it is best avoided if they don't want nasty cuts on every exposed bit of skin.

Travel Map

They are winding their way down center of the bed when they hear the familiar sucking sound of a demon's teleport. A cloud of sulfuric smoke drifts away from a spot in front of the group, revealing a demon. It is a massive, black, two-tailed scorpion with a woman's torso rising from where its head should be. Her otherwise pretty humanoid face is marred by several pair of glittering compound eyes which study the dusty group cooly. She hefts an oversized battleaxe in her meaty hands.

Begin Surprise Round

The scorpionesque demon in front of the group says, "You should have left our territory when you first had the chance. But no, you had to run around slaughtering the Children. Now the Prophet's angry. Me and my sister have been looking for you all morning, since you were so rude to our hounds. Our kins' blood must be avenged. Lucky me, looks like I'm the one who gets to eat you. Hehehehehehe." She snaps her fingers and six duplicates of herself spread out from her body and begin to mirror her movements.

End Surprise Round
------------------------------------
Begin Round 1

The scorpion demon and her six copies rush forward towards Barek, holding her axe held in a low guard and waving her tails above over her back. Once she's close enough she lashes out, throwing all her momentum into a tail strike. The bulbous stinger catches him in the chest, sliding in a half inch or so between two ribs and pumping a huge gout of clear toxin into the wound. Barek shudders as the poison fills his chest cavity, weakening him by the second.

_______________________________________

3d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 1) = 6

Initiative:
Scorpion 20
Party 19

Sting: 1d20 + 27 + 2 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 27 + 2 - 5 = 34 Hit
Damage (includes Barek's DR): 2d6 + 20 - 4 ⇒ (4, 4) + 20 - 4 = 24
Barek fort save vs DC 28: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27 Fail, unless hero point
Con damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3 Take 1d4 more con damage every round for the next 6 rounds unless you make the save once.

Any square on the map that has the grass has special rules. Moving through them at more than half speed causes anyone not wearing heavy armor to take 2d6 points of slashing damage.

If you roll an attack on the demon and hit, roll a % dice. Since she's got six images at present that means you hit on a 83+, anything else destroys an image. If you miss by five or less, you also destroy an image. If people who act before you have destroyed images, divide 100 by the number of images left when you act and then subtract the result from 100, rounding up. That result is what you need to beat on your d100.

Knowledge (Planes) to identify this demon.

Map

Round 1, go!

"You made a huge mistake, I have been itching to find something on wich to unleash my anger." He takes a quick glance around noting that they are a bit too far from each other. "Abigail get closer so I can cast my spell, others hold your ground untill that." The mage yells. He tries to scour his memory for information on their opponent and as it comes to him he yells again sharing the information.

Not that it matters but Viorel's perception modifier is +18
Knowledge planes 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30
Ready action to cast haste as Abigail moves so I can use it on everyone
EDIT:
Spells: 1st:4 2nd:5 3rd:0 4th:4

Noted and macro updated on the perception Viorel.

Viorel doesn't recognize this demon, which probably isn't a good thing.

Abigail spurs Sacha to move up to Barek and stand beside him.

As Sacha moves forth, she asks Erastil to bless her companion.

Cast Divine Favor on Sacha.
Move to AA-AB/16-17 beside Barek.
I don't think I have enough movement for a claw attack from Sacha...

Hands: Holy Symbol & Shield
AC 28 (+7 armor, +1 dex, +3 shield, +7 Sacred) [sacred bonus drops once struck in combat]
HP 25/67
Conditions: Aura of Heroism Str Damage (5)

Too much good RP after Nate's death, not enough healing up! Still over half wounded. When Liette used her 2 channel energy on his body, did it heal the rest of us any?.

Sigmund scowls at the demon as she lands, and his response is swift. He bolsters his allies and launches a dispelling word to strip away the demon's defenses.

Aura of Heroism - LAST ROUND OF THE DAY. Dispel Magic.

Dispel Check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

EDIT: Realized NO SR on dispel Magic. Removed Roll.

Too much good RP after Nate's death, not enough healing up! Still over half wounded. When Liette used her 2 channel energy on his body, did it heal the rest of us any?.

Oh yeah it is an AoE and I did mark them off...

Kenan Challenges the Demon and fires 5 Arrows against the Demon.
The first 2 let 2 Demons fade. His third chosen target seems to be the real deman as 2 of three fired arrows hit solid flesh.

Flurry, Clustered Shots, Precise Shot, Hasted, Heroism, Reckless Aim, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Far Challenge
Arrow #1: 1d20 + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 = 30 Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 1 Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 = 21
Arrow #2: 1d20 + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 = 38 Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 31 Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 = 24
Arrow #3: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 = 32 Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 85 Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 = 20
Arrow #4: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 = 18
Arrow Hasted: 1d20 + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 15 + 1 + 2 + 2 - 3 + 1 = 29 Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 85 Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 6 + 1 + 6 = 23

Total Damage: 20 + 23 - 15 = 28
Total Damage if Mirror Image is dispelled: 21 + 24 + 20 + 23 - 15 = 73

New Target Value for Miss Chance: 75+

"We don't have time to play with you." Crissor growls, slipping forward to stand beside Liette and Sigmund and calls out while drawing his arrows."Erastil grant me the power to smite this evil stain upon the world." Then hoping to add even more kick he holds out his bow and focuses on his bond with the weapon causing it glow bright white.

step to x16, smite, and last use of divine bond to add holy to the bow.

Need Liette and Barek.

How does Viorel's 30 not figure it out? That means it's either a CR 21+ or of Tarrasque level rarity and CR 16+? Yikes.

Use Hero Point to pass the save. :(

Barek roars through the sting of the demon, his heroic will forcing the poison out of his body as he enters a rage, steps forward and attacks.

5' step to AB 18
Full attack w/ Good Cold Iron Weapon

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21

Attack w/ Haste & Heroism & Demonbane: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 22
Image: 1d100 ⇒ 53

Attack w/ Haste & Heroism & Demonbane: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 14 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 28
Image: 1d100 ⇒ 2
Damage: 2d8 + 22 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) + 22 + 2 + (1, 6) = 33

Attack w/ Haste & Heroism & Demonbane: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 25
Image: 1d100 ⇒ 50