Bowing to the snow elf, Thorek smiles grimly. "Yes Daria, I believe we shall. Are you good to fly us again on such short notice?"
"Yeah.... Dying certainly has to take a lot out of you though I can't say from experience."
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"My dear friend, it is good to meet you again. There is much left to do, and less time with which to do it, but please let us know if we are pushing your new body too hard. What was the next step of our plan?"
”I may need a short time of prayer to commune with Erastil before I have the spells to facilitate such a transport,” responds Daria, ”But it shouldn’t take too long.”
When Daria returns, Thorek has unrolled his map of the region and is marking on it while speaking with the others.
"...is where we took out the wyvern camp. We've also located a forward siegeworks in the Aloi Valley, near the river here, and then a major supply depot in the village of Ecru which has already fallen." He looks up and gives the druid of nod of greeting as she approaches. "Since you're our ride, Daria, do you have a preference for which to hit first? Strategically, I think the siege works is best since its position on the river makes it the most easily reinforced or evacuated locale, but there may be considerations I'm overlooking?"
"How are we fixed for supplies in town? If we are in good shape, postponing the raid on the supply depot to take out the siege works sounds like the right move," says Daria. She adds, "I have no problem ferrying us and any supplies to and fro, but I would say my days of solo aerial combat are over--We can set down out of sight of the foe and progress on foot the last measure."
"If only there was some way to deploy Thorek and I directly from the air..." Esperanza muses.
"Trickery is more my specialty. I wish I could help you more on that front....," Lily adds contemplating how to handle this situation.
"An approach by foot seems reasonable to me," Thorek nods in agreement, tapping the map thoughtfully.
"Agreed. Let's get moving."
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”Right, get the harness ready,” says Daria as she casts a spell (Ant Haul) and moves a bit apart from the others as she transforms into a snowy white Giant Eagle. The massive creature is shockingly different in appearance than its more temperate cousin, even her wildshaping green dragon breastplate seemingly frosted as well—it seems Daria’s animal forms have changed in some ways to reflect her change in identity…
When the others are loaded and ready, she takes to the air to once again join the fight against the Ironfangs.
Your new old friend transforms into a twist on your usual transportation method, and she carries you westward from Longshadow, across the Marideth River and the intervening rocky terrain. You soon spot the Legion's munitions camp, sticking out like a sore thumb among the otherwise barren terrain. The camp appears to have been erected in the ruins of another town conquered by the Legion.
The town was built on several terraced levels carved out of the rocky terrain. A creek, left polluted by the mines, runs through the middle of town. The sulfur mining, both past and present, have left a strong, rotten egg smell haunting the town.
The camp is largely divided into two parts: the walled remnants of the town, and the water-logged pit mine to the west.
As their little raiding party sets down a safe distance from the ruins of Ecru, Thorek stares thoughtfully in the direction of the depot. "I really ought to get a spyglass to take some of the pressure off of Daria," he thinks aloud. "But for now--we need a headcount and positioning. Can you reconnoiter from a safe distance?"
Nodding, Daria takes off and circles the site well out of bow range, using the piercing gaze of the Eagle to determine as much detail as possible from this distance.
"No heroic last stands this time, mind you."
This entire pit stinks of rotten eggs and sweat, and streaks of bright yellow color the otherwise dull rock. Several rough, wooden ladders lead down to the bottom some thirty feet below, where a few inches of stagnant water have collected into a foul sludge.
Flying over the pit mine, Daria notices the conspicuous absence of any enslaved humans or humanoids. This differs from other Legion-controlled areas, where the local population are pressed into service. Instead, she sees a handful of pale-skinned creatures with bulging eyes, vaguely humanoid shaped, keeping to the shadows of the terraces and tunnels as they mine sulfur under the strict guidance of a pair of hobgoblin engineers.
A pair of particularly nasty-looking goblins stand watch atop the gates of the conquered town's stone walls. Although the gates are barred from within, the walls are quite uneven and wouldn't be very difficult to climb.
An entire troop of hobgoblin soldiers occupies the town, engaged in drilling, gear maintenance, guard duty, and other military obligations.
A pair of hobgoblin alchemists are hard at work here, either assisted or protected by a pair of large, strange constructs made from an amalgam of glass, metal, wood, and other components.
After her aerial recon, Daria returns and reports to the others (see spoilers above). She says, "Given a few minutes to prepare additional spells, I should be able to create quite a bit of havoc with the flammable locations--munitions storage and the processing lab--and cast a spell that will allow us all to walk upon the air as needed for about 10 minutes."
"That'd be useful, yes. I've a trick or two of my own to include--do you think those chemysts would be more inclined to fire, or acid, or something else entirely? Hells, let's do both"
"We do need to split the enemies. We can handle ourselves very well but they can easily overwhelm us."
"I'm all ears, Lily. What did you have in mind?" Thorek kneels down and sketches the camp in the dirt with a dagger, then hands Lily the blade to outline her plan.
Now in her snow elven form again, Dari starts handing out poultices of Bull’s Strength and Ironskin to those who are interested as she listens intently to Lily’s plan. She then goes to prepare a few spells in her open slots (Communal Air Walk, Greater Flaming Sphere).
”Fire and Acid sound about right, Thorek, good thinking,” replies Daria.
"The phalanx could be a problem," Esperanza notes. "We'll need some way to disperse them."
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"The phalanx could be a problem," Esperanza notes. "We'll need some way to disperse them."
”I do have an entanglement spell or two that might help with the phalanx,” offers Daria.
"Well. I have an idea. Esperanza how's your hobgoblin.... I know you are really good at lying so I'll disguise you as a hobgoblin and you can divert the forces to a different area. Its worked before but I am a twig who can easily be snapped in two if things goes awry."
"A clever idea, Lily, but I don't speak Goblin at all," Esperanza says, embarrassed.
"No matter, we'll handle this in our traditional fashion then. Daria, when we engage could you entangle as much of the camp as possible? Divide and conquer, nothing we haven't done a dozen times now. Let's bypass the mining pit for now and destroy the munitions supply first."
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After distributing the iron skin and Bull’s strength poultices to those who want them, Daria using an iron skin potion herself and casts a few spells just before the attack—Communal Air Walk and Call Lightning.
If it is a cloudy day—especially if it is stormy—she will consider an air elemental form. If not, perhaps a small avian creature…
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Esperanza gratefully takes one of the offered ironskin poultices, drinking it shortly before they head off into battle.
"Well, Thorek, how shall we handle this? Should we just walk up the gate and dare them to kill us?"
Thorek accepts an Ironskin poultice, but the strengthening
mixture wouldn't override his belt . As he applies it, he nods to Esperanza's question. "Seems only fair, and it generates enough distraction that Daria and Lily can work whatever mischief they like."
Once the group is ready, the dwarf gives Esperanza a nod and strides out of cover and up the road towards the encampment. the dwarf bellows.
Drawing closer to the gate, you realize that the original Ecru town walls were designed simply to keep out predators, not determined invaders. The occupying Legionnaires have rebuilt the fallen portions and reinforced the broken gate.
You also discover that the "goblins" serving as guards atop the gate are much larger than they appeared from the air, standing three times as tall as an ordinary goblin. Their frames are heavily muscled and heavily furred.
One of the two guards takes a step back and casts some manner of spell upon the two of them.
The other steps forward, places his huge, furry hands upon the edge of the gate's parapet, and replies to Thorek's ultimatum.
"I've eaten Kraggodan dwarves. They taste gamey, like possum or skunks. Unless you think you're the rare, one in a million dwarf who can actually put up a fight, get lost!"
Hiding amongst the clouds in Air Elemental form (or perched on a nearby fence post as a small bird if the sky is cloudless), Daria attempts to identify the spell just cast.
She waits for a signal of some kind, trying to get in a position where her medium range spells (170 feet) can affect many of the areas of interest.
"Could you repeat yourself?" Esperanza calls back, glaive held at the ready as she continues advancing. "All I can hear is the squeaking of rabbits, hiding behind a wall and hoping the wolf passes them by."
"Oh? You're approaching us?" jeers the one who previously cast his spell. He taunts you, giving his comrade a chance to prepare a spell of his own once you have drawn closer.
"Oh? You're approaching us?" jeers the one who previously cast his spell.
"I can't cut your head off without getting closer!" Esperanza answers, suddenly launching herself into a running charge at the speaker.
Esperanza's step falters for a moment, but whether through determination or sheer luck, she pushes through the spell and toward her enemy.
With a shouted battle-prayer Thorek surges forward, his armored feet planting on thin air with a ripple of light--like a heat shimmer, bearing the warpriest inexorably towards his foes. The massive, furred goblin's magic washes over the dwarf, gripping his heart in like an icy fist--stupid, stupid, Daria had died only the day before and the best he could come up with was a gods-damned frontal assault?! Thorek groans, but the fire of Angradd still burns him, pushing him forward where his own will might have failed.
"Ok lets just provoke them. That's bound to end well. ," Lily mutters to herself.
With a furious battle cry, Esperanza rushes forward to the fight, hoping to create enough of a distraction for Lily and Daria's more subtle methods.
The sharp head of Esperanza's glaive strikes her foe, but its supernaturally thick hide resists the blade's cut.
The hulking, hairy brutes converge upon Esperanza. The first manages to bite down upon her with its jaws, although she also delivers a riposte to one of his attempted claw strikes.
The other misses with its own jaws by a few inches, only to feel the weight of Thorek's dorn-dergar upon its back a moment later.
Floating concealed in the nearby clouds, Daria chooses to drop a Burst of Radiance below and behind the barghests, hoping the wall itself conceals the spell from those inside the camp. For now, she holds back the lightning waiting at her fingertips and watches carefully to see what response those in the walled compound might have to the combat.
, DC 17 Reflex to downgrade blinded to dazzled for
Hissing in pain, Esperanza gives ground before the monsters' attacks, then moves against the one caught between her and Thorek with a feint and slashing maneuver.