Devan is very relived when they find the miners and the other survivors. He makes his way to each one, introducing himself and assuring them that he's there to help. He spends a lot of time talking with Ergan Thunderstone and Urick Frostwarden catching them up on the surface situation, and listening to what they have to say. Once they are back on the surface, Devan asks the Samaritans and the town's leaders together for a meeting.
"So, are we ready to make a move against Gromial? I think our only chance of winning this is to cut the head from the snake. So many different races of monsters wouldn't work together willingly without a strong leader, in my experience anyway. If we take out the dragon, then they will probably disperse."
Esaul seems happy to find the miners, but that puts some doubts into his mind. "Don't be ridiculous, Devan. Fighting the Dragon is a lost cause. As is this city, anyway... I'm worried about why did the drow wanted to make the miners hostages anyway... Any ideas?"
" 's my thoughts as well, Devan, he's sure managed to get a wide motley crew workin' for him," Tris says as she picks under her fingernails with the point of a dagger.
"I dunno if we're ready to move on Gromial, but I don't reckon we'll have much choice. But at this point, we could use the mines to shelter the non-combatants, at any rate, and that's better'n nothin'."
To Esaul's cheerful optimism, Tris merely shrugs. "Dunno. Sow terror, use them as bargaining chips, who knows? Now how'd they get in the mines is an issue too: I 'magine the quake opened up a rift that some of the drow could climb on through, but that seems... awful convenient, you know?"
She will ask the formerly-captive miners if the drow gave any hint as to their intentions. Also, she will turn to the wizard again, and say, "Hey, got kind of an odd question for you-- do you speak lizard-speak? I reckon you're a smart fellow, so... you might."
If he says that he does, Tris will ask him to teach her how to say a few words in Draconic: 'friends' and 'thank you'.
Master Thunderstone in his exhaustion will say that he never heard any of the slavers speaking Draconic. The drow spoke Elven to themselves and Undercommon to the orcs and goblins. Although, he does remember the drow speak of a kobold that they had freed to assist them to capture the miners. Evidently, he engineered a tunnel collapse to escape. The drow patrols kept looking for him while avoiding the allip that terrorized the slavers. You get the impression that there are about dozen drow scattered throughout the ancient mines with severe Wisdom damage.
Sixteen hours after the drow combat, you find yourselves reaching the top of the crevasse returning to Fairhaven proper . You had a chance to rest and recover with the miners. Enough miners are experienced climbers to lead the climb, especially using your new Rope of Climbing. You start hearing disturbing sounds half way up: fighting in the streets. Then you clear the top into chaos.
From your vantage point, you can see the front gate is being besieged. Small bands of goblins and lizardfolk are entering the city through mountain trails previously thought unmanageable by organized forces. Some of those raiding parties have made it deeper into the city, but a keen observer will note that numerous groups of Ymial’s army are holding position higher above the plateaus that make up Fairhaven. Ymial’s troops within the city are comprised mostly of goblins that are running free, wreaking havoc, and lizardfolk, who are more organized in their deployment, but are putting forth little effort to engage the citizens of Fairhaven.
A terrified and fleeing group of citizens pass you and proclaim that the town’s front gate is sure to fall, and that Regina told them to flee through the mountain trail while she and a small band of troops confronted Ymial near the city’s center. Urick will take the mine survivors and protect the citizens as they flee. He asks you to find Ymial and put an end to him.
When you arrive at the scene , Ymial is standing in a pool of blood with the corpses of Fairhaven townsfolk and militia members scattered around him. He starts his villain monologue, ”There you are heroes. I’ve heard you’ve met my mother Lomiria. She’s the succubus who you met as Miranda who has controlled Fairhaven until now. But that earthquake killed my father Goramial, so Fairhaven is mine now by birthright.” When he announces this, there is a cacophonic BOOM that echoes through the mountain’s peaks. Shortly thereafter, a wall of water crests at the first of the waterfalls above Fairhaven, and comes crashing down into Fairhaven.
"I knew that cunt was an imposter!" Devan cries angrily. Seeing the water coming he says, "Take cover!" and runs for the nearest building.
Rahaal follows close at Devan and Arend's heals.
"Bugger this," Tris groans as she sees the waterfall coming down. "When I said I missed being by water, this isn't what I meant, oh gods of the world!"
Making a mental note to put a really sharp knife into Ymial's ugly mug at some convenient note, Tris, for now, takes the prudent path of racing after Devan, Arend, and Rahaal. Getting swept away by a torrent of ice-cold mountain water is not in her daily plan. She only hopes that the sturdiest building they can find is, well, sturdy enough.
Seeing the huge wave of water coming in their direction, Esaul unconsciously assumes the spirit of the Frog, improving his and Light's jumping and swimming abilities, but the wolf was never a good swimmer, and a wave such as that was certainly deadly to it. So the hunter decided to ignore the big bad guy, for now. If the water didn't take care of him, he could send some arrows to kill the beast later, but now he had a wolf to care for.
"Light, come!" Ignoring the dragon-like creature completely he ran toward the closest building where he could toss the wolf, then climb, but he knew that was not an easy task, anyway.
After the wolf is save (and maybe next round) Esaul attempts to climb himself, with the help from a monkey spirit.
Rahaal follows over, and -- seeing Tris scamper up so quickly -- says, "Mind throwing me down a rope? I've never been much for climbing" Though she tries a bit on her own as well.
"Never lived much on a boat, have you?" Tris grins down at the other woman, while slinging her knotted rope down to provide an easier climbing surface.
Thondrir prays for Angradd's blessing, then turns to join the others in scaling the nearest building. Surefooted or no, a surge of water of that magnitude is bound to carry the dwarf to a ruin he has no desire to experience.
"I knew that c&~* was an imposter!" Devan cries angrily. Seeing the water coming he says, "Take cover!" and runs for the nearest building.
Rahaal follows close at Devan and Arend's heels.
"Bugger this," Tris groans as she sees the waterfall coming down. "When I said I missed being by water, this isn't what I meant, oh gods of the world!" Making a mental note to put a really sharp knife into Ymial's ugly mug at some convenient note, Tris, for now, takes the prudent path of racing after Devan, Arend, and Rahaal. Getting swept away by a torrent of ice-cold mountain water is not in her daily plan. She only hopes that the sturdiest building they can find is, well, sturdy enough.
Seeing the huge wave of water coming in their direction, Esaul unconsciously assumes the spirit of the Frog, improving his and Light's jumping and swimming abilities, but the wolf was never a good swimmer, and a wave such as that was certainly deadly to it. So the hunter decided to ignore the big bad guy, for now. If the water didn't take care of him, he could send some arrows to kill the beast later, but now he had a wolf to care for. "Light, come!" Ignoring the dragon-like creature completely he ran toward the closest building where he could toss the wolf, then climb, but he knew that was not an easy task, anyway.
Rahaal follows over, and says, "Mind throwing me down a rope? I've never been much for climbing" Though she tries a bit on her own as well.
"Never lived much on a boat, have you?" Tris grins at the other woman, while readying her knotted rope to provide an easier climbing surface.
Thondrir prays for Angradd's blessing, then turns to join the others in scaling the nearest building. Surefooted or no, a surge of water of that magnitude is bound to carry the dwarf to a ruin he has no desire to experience.
Ymial laughs at the chaos and runs toward the nearby building. "Time to clean this town out!"
"Aside from being an evil murderous bastard, you're also an ass," Tris calls to Ymial over the roar of the impending watery doom.
Tris stares at the wall of water a moment, and at the wall of the building. She could try to scamper up herself... probably she'd do alright... but Rahaal, Thondrir, the others... they'll have a hard time of it in the water. Tris feels her old instincts of self-preservation at brief war with her newer impulses.
Hell with it... you only live once.
She throws her grappling hook up to the building's rooftop. "Climb, all of you! Get up there! Don't wait for me!"
Devan is about to object, but then realizes Tris is tough enough and mature enough to make that choice for herself. He nods to her, and then scrambles up the rope as fast as he can.
Esaul climbs up and prepares to get some revenge on the freak!
Then Esaul draws his bow and is about to shoot! But he's out of actions for this round...
With effort -- made worse by her armor -- Rahaal follows Devan up the rope, "Unnngph...ok...mmmmph....huff. I made it. Thank you, Tris!"
Looking around, she thinks, How many citizens of Fairhaven are going to be injured or worse when this wall of water hits? How much of the tender civilization they've been nurturing here will be destroyed?
Shaking her head she calls on Abadar's Just Will, and shouts down to Tris and Throndrir, "Let the blessing of Abadar guide your hands as you climb up here!"
_________________________
"Nay, nay, nay! If ye're tae fall, it nay be ta a deluge!" Thondrir jerks Tris' arms down around his neck and cries "Hold tight, lass!"
He begins attempting to pull himself and Tris up the rope to where the others are gathering.
"Aside from being an evil murderous bastard, you're also an ass," Tris calls to Ymial over the roar of the impending watery doom. Tris stares at the wall of water a moment, and at the wall of the building. She could try to scamper up herself... probably she'd do alright... but Rahaal, Thondrir, the others... they'll have a hard time of it in the water. Tris feels her old instincts of self-preservation at brief war with her newer impulses. Hell with it... you only live once. She throws her grappling hook up to the building's rooftop. The grappling hook sails up. Tris pulls and pulls with the giant wave approaching. Finally it finds purchase and sticks. "Climb, all of you! Get up there! Don't wait for me!"
Devan is about to object, but then realizes Tris is tough enough and mature enough to make that choice for herself. He nods to her, and then scrambles up the rope as fast as he can.
Esaul climbs and prepares to get some revenge on the freak! Then Esaul draws his bow and is about to shoot!
With effort -- made worse by her armor -- Rahaal follows Devan up the rope, "Unnngph...ok...mmmmph....huff. I made it. Thank you, Tris!" Looking around, she thinks, [i]How many citizens of Fairhaven are going to be injured or worse when this wall of water hits? How much of the tender civilization they've been nurturing here will be destroyed?[i/] Shaking her head she calls on Abadar's Just Will, and shouts down to Tris and Throndrir, "Let the blessing of Abadar guide your hands as you climb up here!"
"Nay, nay, nay! If ye're tae fall, it nay be ta a deluge!!" Thondrir jerks Tris' arms down around his neck and cries "Hold tight, lass!!" He begins attempting to pull himself and Tris up the rope to where the others are gathering, but she can't hang up to the dwarf.
With everyone up but Tris who appears resigned to be battered by the tidal wave of water rapidly approaching their island building, Devan mentally commands Arend to grab hold of the rope and pull Tris to the top. As the water clears the nearest plateau wall, Devan and Arend pull Tris with all of their Abadar-inspired might... easily clearing the roof. Tris lies prone on the roof covered with her spaghetti of knotted rope grinning like someone who dodged a shark.
Ymial sheaths his longsword and climbs to the top of his nearby roof using huge claws that dig into the stone building. His laughs maniacally as the wall of water slams into the buildings.
The fifteen foot high wall of water slams into the single story buildings. Several feet of water clear their building's walls and slam into the Samaritans and Ymial like a wave on the deck of a ship in a storm.
success
success
success
success
success
success
fail
All the Abadar-inspired Samaritans keep their balance and feet underneath them except Tris who rests on his back and is bathed in river water. Ymial, on the other hand due to Karmic chance, crashes prone to the rooftop.
As the wall of water continues passed them, the Samaritans look at themselves thinking that that wasn't so bad. Then, they all hear the cracking of the foundations as the buildings become mobile swept along with the current.
Devan pulls out his cognatogen and drinks it. He grimaces at the nasty taste, but immediately feels smarter and ready to take on Ymial. He mentally commands his eidolon to protect the Samaritans. This is it, the final showdown.
"Hey, Thondrir, you want to be big?"
Arend moves closer to Ymial, holding up his claws and shrieking.
Tris yelps as her rope suddenly starts moving upward-- she hangs on for dear life as Devan and Arend haul her up to join them on the rooftop. Sprawling there, she has but a second to catch her breath before the water hits and splashes over her.
Tris struggles upright, fully drenched. Despite it, she's grinning like a madwoman (or maybe because of it).
"If we live, Devan, I'll buy you a drink-- and your bird an earthworm or something," she shouts over the sounds of raging water. Unshaking her grappling hook loose of the roof, she eyes Ymial's rooftop and sends the hook sailing again, to try and lodge it in the chimney of the other building.
"This is just like a boarding action back on the river!" Tris yells.
Rahaal breathes a sigh of relief as she sees the Tris hauled up. "That was a heroic act. Thank you."
Then looking over all the Samaritans, she booms,
__________________
"Hey Ymial, you're lacking some holes so the water could get in you!" Feeling angry and funny at the same time, the inspired Hunter moves a little to the west and shots one arrow at the fallen creature, unsure if he hit or missed due to the amounts of water engulfing the monster. "Light, stay!"
____________________
!
"T'would be me honor, boy-o!" Thondrir responds to Devan. As he does so, he bows his head and intones an ancient, dwarven benediction. A gush of heat washes over him: a waft from Angradd's forge, showing favor to Thondrir in his hour of need. His armor seems thicker, his axe blade sharper, as he levels his gaze at Ymial once again.
"Ye've terrorized yer last, beastie! Face ye now th'full fury o' me axe -- th'blaze o' th'Second Forge! There be nay water enough ta quench this fire!"
Devan pulls out his cognatogen and drinks it. He grimaces at the nasty taste, but immediately feels smarter and ready to take on Ymial. He mentally commands his eidolon to protect the Samaritans. This is it, the final showdown. "Hey, Thondrir, you want to be big?"
Arend moves closer to Ymial, holding up his claws and shrieking.
Tris yelps as her rope suddenly starts moving upward-- she hangs on for dear life as Devan and Arend haul her up to join them on the rooftop. Sprawling there, she has but a second to catch her breath before the water hits and splashes over her. Tris struggles upright, fully drenched. Despite it, she's grinning like a madwoman (or maybe because of it). "If we live, Devan, I'll buy you a drink-- and your bird an earthworm or something," she shouts over the sounds of raging water. Unshaking her grappling hook loose of the roof, she eyes Ymial's rooftop and sends the hook sailing again, to try and lodge it in the chimney of the other building. "This is just like a boarding action back on the river!" Tris yells.
Rahaal breathes a sigh of relief as she sees the Tris hauled up. "That was a heroic act. Thank you." Then looking over all the Samaritans, she booms,
"Hey Ymial, you're lacking some holes so the water could get in you!" Feeling angry and funny at the same time, the inspired Hunter moves a little to the west and shots one arrow at the fallen creature, unsure if he hit or missed due to the amounts of water engulfing the monster. "Light, stay!"
"T'would be me honor, boy-o!" Thondrir responds to Devan. As he does so, he bows his head and intones an ancient, dwarven benediction. A gush of heat washes over him: a waft from Angradd's forge, showing favor to Thondrir in his hour of need. His armor seems thicker, his axe blade sharper, as he levels his gaze at Ymial once again. "Ye've terrorized yer last, beastie! Face ye now th'full fury o' me axe -- th'blaze o' th'Second Forge! There be nay water enough ta quench this fire!"
Ymial takes Esaul's arrow between his shoulderplate and backplate while struggling to his feet and roars in reply. He stands up on his drifting rooftop and inhales with the sound of a forge bellows. Then with the inheritance of his father, he breathes fire in a devastating cone toward the Samaritans.
7 fire damage if saved
fail
save
fail
save
fail
As the flames die down and the pain recedes, you notice two things: first your building has drifted and collided with Ymail's building.
The second thing you notice is the end is coming quickly. The floating buildings are pouring into the next plateau . You have 18 seconds before you go over the new waterfall!
"Cayden preserve us," Tris shouts as she sees the upcoming ledge of the waterfall. They have but a handful of seconds before they go over that roaring watefall. Even if they can kill Ymial, Tris doesn't give anyone good odds of survival if they all go over that plunge.
She looks around desperately, scanning for any possible building, or better yet, a rock formation, that might still provide a stable anchoring point in the midst of the chaos of roaring water.
"Ah, bugger this," Tris says with reckless cheer, dropping her rope. She runs along the slipper, sloped roof, past Devan, forward, and hurtles into space to leap to Ymial's boat. Nobody ever got famous by hidin' in the back. As she leaps from the roof of their building to the roof of Ymial's 'boat', she whips her sword up from its scabbard.
Points for style, anyway. Tris lands, booted feet skidding on wet wood-- next to Ymial-- and drives her rapier at the bastard's side.
Sadly, despite Tris's excellent skills at leaping, she is less good at stabbing.
With blistering, blackened skin on her face and arms, Rahaal glares at Ymial with fierce determination.
Seeing that that most of the Samaritans are as badly burnt as she is, she continues to speak in inspiring tones, weaving a spell of blessing into her words as she does so.
___________________
sermonic performance 9/11 rounds left
channel 7/7 rounds left
spells spent today bless
bluff duration 29/30 rounds left
Arend burns away and disappears in a the roiling waves of flame that Ymial spits onto the group. Devan grimaces as he feels his friend's pain, and then begins casting a spell on Thondrir to increase his size to that of an ogre. He looks around desperately as he does so, searching for some route to safety for the Samaritans.
"It's not the foe I'm worried with, you know!" He looks past the foe, and releases two quick arrows at him, but his mind is elsewhere, thinking about what could they do about it. If only he had a Charizard...
____________________
!
!
Thondrir remains where he stands, waiting for Devan's spell to take hold. He charges his axe with righteous energy, white runes flaring to life once more amid a peal of a smith's hammer.
"Cayden preserve us," Tris shouts as she sees the upcoming ledge of the waterfall. They have but a handful of seconds before they go over that roaring watefall. Even if they can kill Ymial, Tris doesn't give anyone good odds of survival if they all go over that plunge.
She looks around desperately, scanning for any possible building, or better yet, a rock formation, that might still provide a stable anchoring point in the midst of the chaos of roaring water. "Ah, bugger this," Tris says with reckless cheer, dropping her rope. She runs along the slipper, sloped roof, past Devan, forward, and hurtles into space to leap to Ymial's boat. Nobody ever got famous by hidin' in the back. As she leaps from the roof of their building to the roof of Ymial's 'boat', she whips her sword up from its scabbard. Points for style, anyway. Tris lands, booted feet skidding on wet wood-- next to Ymial-- and drives her rapier at the bastard's side. Sadly, despite Tris's excellent skills at leaping, she is less good at stabbing.
With blistering, blackened skin on her face and arms, Rahaal glares at Ymial with fierce determination. Seeing that that most of the Samaritans are as badly burnt as she is, she continues to speak in inspiring tones, weaving a spell of blessing into her words as she does so.
Arend burns away and disappears in a the roiling waves of flame that Ymial spits onto the group. Devan grimaces as he feels his friend's pain, and then begins casting a spell on Thondrir to increase his size to that of an ogre. He looks around desperately as he does so, searching for some route to safety for the Samaritans.
"It's not the foe I'm worried with, you know!" He looks past the foe, and releases two quick arrows at him, but his mind is elsewhere, thinking about what could they do about it. If only he had a Charizard...
Thondrir remains where he stands, waiting for Devan's spell to take hold. He charges his axe with righteous energy, white runes flaring to life once more amid a peal of a smith's hammer.
The Samaritans desperately search for something useful. At best, they see other floating buildings further upstream where they could leap to delay going over the waterfall. Otherwise, they should get as far away from buildings that will surely break and become deadly in the churn at the bottom of the falls.
Ymial smiles as the Human female gracefully lands at his feet solving the problem that he was internally debating. He slides his longsword from it scabbard directly into high guard and sweeps down at Tris. It's almost as if he particularly favors killing Humans.
The current attempts to push Ymial and Tris's building beneath the Samaritan's building. Ymial and Tris struggle to maintain their balance. Both continue to stand with sneers.
pass
pass
You have 12 seconds before you go over the new waterfall!
Tris screams as the blade finds her ribs, piercing right through her light armor. She staggers back, weaving with the raft's motion, then finds her footing once more.
"That the best you got?" she spits at Ymial. She makes as if to pull back, then stabs again with her blade.
The injury bit deeper than Tris wanted to let on. Her attempted attack is only an object of scorn for Ymial, so badly does it miss. She can only pray her companions do better.
That would certainly be the end of them all, but if, just in case, they found an exit out of this nightmare, any unconscious ally would certainly die below water. So he would not leave Tris to battle alone, and Thondrir would certainly be needed to help her flank the creature, so it remained to him the task of healing her, which he took immediately, approaching the samaritan and touching her lightly on the shoulder. "Devan, can't you summon like a whale or something?"
____________________
!
Devan's spell completes and Thondrir grows to giant size. He then decides there's not a whole lot he can do in this situation, and that the town they'd set out to save is being destroyed anyway. Shrugging in frustration at the Samaritan's imminent doom, he draws his crossbow and fires it at Ymial.
There are also random flotsam and jetsam floating near the buildings that one or two people could hold on to.
"Thanks," Tris wheezes to Esaul as some of her injuries close. Perhaps a doomed gesture in the long run, but it is a wonderful thing, to have friends in your last hour.
As Throndrir gets ready to charge into battle with Ymial, Rahaal taps him with the wand, causing an infernal warmth to fill him, in anticipation of any injuries to come.
_________________
Thondrir surges forward, heedless of the churning flood that threatens to drown them all. If he dies today, he'll do so smiting a creature born of two evils to ruin. It is a heroic charge, but the unstable nature of their "raft" throws the dwarf off balance, pitching his swing off so that it only harmlessly rakes across the creature's scales.
>
Tris screams as the blade finds her ribs, piercing right through her light armor. She staggers back, weaving with the raft's motion, then finds her footing once more. "That the best you got?" she spits at Ymial. She makes as if to pull back, then stabs again with her blade. The injury bit deeper than Tris wanted to let on. Her attempted attack is only an object of scorn for Ymial, so badly does it miss. She can only pray her companions do better.
That would certainly be the end of them all, but if, just in case, they found an exit out of this nightmare, any unconscious ally would certainly die below water. So he would not leave Tris to battle alone, and Thondrir would certainly be needed to help her flank the creature, so it remained to him the task of healing her, which he took immediately, approaching the samaritan and touching her lightly on the shoulder. "Devan, can't you summon like a whale or something?"
"Thanks," Tris wheezes to Esaul as some of her injuries close. Perhaps a doomed gesture in the long run, but it is a wonderful thing, to have friends in your last hour.
Devan's spell completes and Thondrir grows to giant size. He then decides there's not a whole lot he can do in this situation, and that the town they'd set out to save is being destroyed anyway. Shrugging in frustration at the Samaritan's imminent doom, he draws his crossbow and fires it at Ymial.
As Throndrir gets ready to charge into battle with Ymial, Rahaal taps him with the wand, causing an infernal warmth to fill him, in anticipation of any injuries to come.
Thondrir surges forward, heedless of the churning flood that threatens to drown them all. If he dies today, he'll do so smiting a creature born of two evils to ruin. It is a heroic charge, but the unstable nature of their "raft" throws the dwarf off balance, pitching his swing off so that it only harmlessly rakes across the creature's scales.
The Samaritans continue to search for something useful. There are also random flotsam and jetsam floating near the buildings that one or two people could hold on to.
Ymial looks away from the bleeding human female to the larger threat of the extraordinarily sized dwarf. He bashes with his heavy shield and swipes with his cold iron longsword. Both carom off the dwarven heavy armor.
The current again attempts to push Ymial and Tris's building beneath the Samaritan's building. Ymial and Tris struggle to maintain their balance. Ymial withstands the wash, while Tris just loses her balance.
pass
fail
You have 6 seconds before you go over the new waterfall!
Rahaal winces when she sees Throndrir miss, but she continues to call out encouragement, extolling Throndrir and Tris in particular to persevere.
Then she cranes her neck at the approach of the cliffs. "Devan, Esau has a good point. A few dolphins to help keep us afloat if we go unconscious in those falls might not be a bad idea!"
_________________
Thondrir steels his resolve and bellows out a mighty "" The entirety of his waraxe flares a hot orange as it sheers through Ymial's scaly hide like a knife through butter. An eruption of ichor and shattered scales follows the path of his axe, and the enormous dwarf readies to come about with another wrathful strike.
"What do I look like, the Undine at Ocean World Absalom? Fagh! Whatever...dolphins it is," Devan grumbles pointing into the water and making a couple arcane gestures. He calls out in the celestial tongue and some glowing blue portals open just under the surface of the water.
Three celestial dolphins appear swimming gracefully along side the crumbling building. They then stick their heads out of the water and seeing the predicament the Samaritans have themselves in, laugh uproariously. Unable to do anything else useful, Devan reloads his crossbow. Dolphins....Why did it have to be dolphins?