After ensuring everyone is healed, Daria helps to identify and stow the treasure found. She is especially happy about the Restoration scrolls, though it will be several more days before she can benefit from another such casting.
Using her healer’s kit and a familiar poultice, Daria alleviates the worst of Esperanza’s injuries.
"Well that was pretty intense. I hope everyone is all right."
Esperanza waits patiently while Daria works to treat her injuries, then experimentally stretches her bandaged arm before nodding.
"Thank you, my friend. I think the rest will heal with time. Another blow struck against the Ironfang."
With a satisfied grunt, Thorek shoulders a rucksack stuffed with the looted gear. "Indeed--if they give us another week we might just be able to pick them apart one camp at a time. They may well push up their timetable in response to our raiding, though. We should return quickly."
"Give me a few moments to tend to the prisoners," says Daria as she moves to check on those behind the barricades.
Healing and providing comfort as she can to the freed prisoners once they are released, Daria uses poultices, tinctures, and even a Goodberry spell to restore them to relative health for the journey to come.
The two pens full of captives are not locked, but rather barricaded and barred from the outside. Thus, having dispatched the last of the Ironfangs who might foil an escape, you are able to freely release the prisoners. There are a total of 21 captives, mostly humans. While too sick or emaciated to fight, they are capable of travel.
They also direct you to a small chamber between their pens that they saw their captors venture into, transporting additional supplies. At the end of the narrow, winding cave arm, you find a plethora of food and camp supplies.
”Hold a moment,” says Daria, pointing to a spot on the wall. She moves up and manipulates the secret door, interested in what the secret room beyond might hold.
"Oho! What's all this then--there's a few passages leading deeper into the cliff face. A bit of a squeeze but not impossible. Shall we?"
"Worth a look," Esperanza agrees. "But be careful."
" Yeah it's a bit of a fall and we're out in the open. Wanna be invisible? "
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"While I am not particularly agile in my elven form, I can wildshape if needed to investigate this passage," offers Daria, though it seems she would be happy for someone else to try first.
With no one else volunteering, Daria says, "Very well. I will investigate." Ensuring her polymorphic pouch is well-positioned in case she comes across anything worth retrieving, Daria transforms into a badger and half-wriggles half-burrows her way through the small passage.
Daria, presently a badger, burrows through the narrow passage and soon finds herself in a hidden oasis. This jagged chamber, about a dozen yards long, is dominated by a deep blue pool of mineral-rich water.
The water runs deep. Daria can scarcely see the bottom, and she estimates this natural wellspring must plunge down some 100 feet, potentially connecting to other watery caves below.
Perhaps her badger eyes are better adapted to piercing the depths of this cavern wellspring, since Daria dimly spots some shapes lying upon the bottom of the well. A collection of strange bones lies scattered among the rocky bottom, with something looking akin to a staff laid at their center. The brass bindings upon the staff seem to seize upon the faint glimmers of light reaching the bottom, drawing Daria's attention like a beacon.
Sighing as she sees the deep water while she is in a burrowing form, not a swimming form, Daria searches for a solution while she casts Detect Magic (too far away now, but will come into play as she gets closer).
Hitting upon a solution, she transforms into an earth elemental and glides through the rock towards the bottom of the well. As she gets close to the staff, Daria pokes her rocky head out and looks at the body and staff, checking for any threats, be they critter, magical, or environmental.
If all looks safe, she will glide down to the body and inspect it, taking the staff and anything else that looks useful. When she is done, she will glide back to the rest of the party with her loot and transform back into her snow elven form.
Shaking his head in wonder at the Daria's casual shapeshifting, Thorek steps closer to peer at what the druid has found.
"I assume this is more than a fancy stick?" he raises one eyebrow quizzically at the others.
"One would hope," Esperanza says, looking curious.
Daria finds that, thankfully, nothing more than some tiny fish and cave frogs living in the water.
The bones littering the bottom of the well appear to have once belonged to some kind of winged humanoid - Daria suspects a harpy - that may have drowned whilst exploring these underwater caverns.
Daria retrieves the staff, a beautiful piece crafted from bronzewood and fitted with brass bindings. Despite just being retrieved from the deep water where it lay waiting for untold years, it feels warm in Daria's hands.
Whilst tending to the freed prisoners - giving them food and water and preparing them to return to Longshadow - you have time to examine the staff and deduce its properties. With some surprise, you discover it to be a potent staff of fire.
"Hmm...." says Daria, "Can anyone use this Staff of Fire?"
She hands it to whomever thinks they might be able to use it, then prepares to guide the rescued prisoners back to town. She presses them into carrying as much of the helpful supplies for the town as possible. Casting Nature's Path when they are ready, she says, "Let's get back to town."
"Gaius could," Thorek shrugs, and nods in agreement with the idea of returning to Longshadow. "Let's be on our way then."
"Daria can't? Im surprised by that but yeah lets head back to town."
Esperanza nods in silent agreement, taking up a position on the edge of their makeshift column where she can protect the refugees.
Joined by the freed captives, the suddenly swollen size of your group, as well as the lingering fatigue upon the former captives, slows your progress across the Hollow Hills. This is mitigated somewhat by your collective survival and trailblazing skills, but this only goes so far towards closing the distance ahead of you. The canyon that cradles the now-cleared Warbeast Camp lies some forty miles northeast of Longshadow - requiring two days of travel.
According to the Legion's original timetable, as revealed by the intelligence you've intercepted previously, you would be arriving on the very eve of the Ironfangs' assault - if not for the interference you've introduced into their communications. The number of days remaining before the Legion's forces close in upon Longshadow now depends on the quality of the forged documents you disseminated back to the Ironfangs.
As they travel, Daria asks the others, "What other tasks remain for us to fortify Longshadow before the invasion arrives?"
Grimacing as he tries not to think about how he might have merely delivered the prisoners to a different type of death within a besieged city, Thorek turns Daria's question over as he moves to the reinforced walls to survey the town.
Longshadow's defenses are measured in Defense Points, which function similar to Hit Points, and represent how well the town endures the siege. If Longshadow is reduced to 0 Defense Points, it falls to the Ironfang Legion.
Longshadow begins with 50 Defense Points, but this can be increased by addressing some of the areas that Eurydicia mentions.
Each day, you can perform up to three actions to ready the town. Each one represents about 5 hours of work and requires a DC 15 skill check, based upon the task. Attempting these checks without the support of the mayor imposes a -5 penalty.
City Walls - Craft (Stonemasonry), Knowledge (Engineering), Profession (Stonemason). Each successful check adds 10 Defense Points; this benefit can be gained up to 3 times (30 Defense Points max).
Internal Defenses - Craft (Alchemy, Carpentry, Stonemasonry, or Traps), Diplomacy, or Knowledge (Local). Each successful check adds 5 Defense Points; this benefit can be gained up to 3 times (15 Defense Points max).
Militia Drills - Intimidate or Profession (Soldier). Each successful check adds 10 Defense Points; this can gained once with the main militia and up to twice with the reserve volunteers (30 Defense Points max).
Siege Supplies - Profession (Baker, Cook, Farmer, or Trapper) or Survival. Each successful check adds 5 Defense Points; this benefit can be gained twice (10 Defense Points max).
Townsfolk Readiness - Diplomacy, Heal, or Profession (Soldier). Each successful check adds 5 Defense Points; this benefit can be gained twice (10 Defense Points max).
Additionally, you can call upon Reinforcements in the form of freed slaves, allied Chernasardo Rangers, or followers from the Leadership feat. Training freed slaves requires a Peform (Oratory) or Profession (Soldier) check. Rangers and followers do not require a check; however, the Rangers will require 2d4 days to arrive.
Each unit of reinforcements adds 5 Defense Points. You can only gain the benefit from the Rangers or Leadership followers once each, but you can gain the benefit from freed slaves once for each group you liberate. The prisoners at the Ridgeline Camp were one possible group, but there are others that can be freed at other nearby Ironfang camps.
+ + + + +
Defense Points:
Base: 50
Gaius and Flopsy: +5
Eurydicia: +5
Siege Supplies (1 of 2): +5
Militia Drills (1 of 3): +10
Townsfolk Readiness (1 of 2): +5
Internal Defenses (2 of 3): +10
Liberated Munitions +5
Current Readiness: 95 pts
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Base: 50
Gaius and Flopsy: +5
Eurydicia: +5
Siege Supplies (2 of 2): +10
Militia Drills (2 of 3): +20
Townsfolk Readiness (2 of 2): +10
Internal Defenses (3 of 3): +15
Liberated Munitions +5
Freed Nirmathi slaves +5
Chernasardo Rangers +5
Current Readiness: 130 pts
Lily is going to support the military exercises since she is ill suited to lead the training.
Upon their return, Esperanza throws herself into the last of the preparations for the town's militia, though it seems like the anxiety of the coming battle may be throwing her off.
Daria makes sure Gaius gets the Staff of Fire to help aid in the town’s defense. She asks him to identify their unknown magic items as well, then turns her attention to making poultices and (eventually) getting her negative level eliminated.
Most of her time, however, is in the form of an earth elemental using Stone Shape to repair the city walls, though she is hopeful others can help her focus her efforts to the section of wall where they are most needed.
Thorek joins Esperanza in putting the militia through their paces--in particular teaching the difficult art of the pike-hedge to the newly liberated ex-prisoners.
Thorek calls the training off early--no sense exhausting the militia before they've even had the chance to come to grips with the foe. "Keep your formations, don't lose your nerve, and trust your comrades. If you watch each others' backs we'll come through this. Now go on, get some rest if you can. Tomorrow we finish this."
Rather than taking his own advice, the dwarf marches up the steps of the newly-repaired walls and plants himself on the parapet overlooking the approaching foe, drumming gauntleted fingers on the stone and counting the campfires and they light up one by one.
Daria searches for a priest who can use one of the scrolls of Restoration on her. Otherwise she keeps making healing poultices for the town defenders’ use during the upcoming battle.
Among the defenders and citizens of Longshadow, Daria finds a priest able to make use of the scroll and restore the last of the power she lost during the reincarnation.
This is a timely boon, for by the day's end, the Legion forces dispatch a reluctant emissary to the town.
...
A lone human swathed in rags and iron shackles approaches Longshadow’s north gate, waving a flag of parley and bearing a scroll. He squints in the light of the setting sun, but begins to read in a wavering voice.
“People of Longshadow! You face the host of Kosseruk, lord of the war maze, emissary of the Ironfang Legion, she whose horns...whose horns shall pierce your walls and mercifully...redden the river with your blood!
"You infest this place, which...m..my mistress desires. In her mercy, she offers you this one chance: throw open your gates. Cast down your arms. You will serve her. You will serve the Legion, in this place you call home and at these forges you so lovingly built. And your children will live to one day know freedom. Resist, and you will die. Do not think your deaths will be honorable. M...m...my mistress...will crush you beneath her hooves, grind your bones into the earth, and what remains will rot. There is nothing you false heroes can do to stop this.
"Be wise! Are your lives, your families, your friends, truly worth this spit of land and the false hope you cling to? Kosseruk is a generous mistress, but her displeasure shakes the hills and brings tears...brings tears even unto the gods."
The enslaved emissary seems nearly in tears as he finishes reading the ultimatum he has been commanded to deliver, likely on pain of torture and death.
...
Upon a hill some thousand feet distant, where the Legion’s forces are assembled, a single hobgoblin holds a shining spike of black aloft, then drives it into the ground. For a moment the army falls silent, and then the ground begins to rumble. With a thunderous crack, the stones part and a shaft of obsidian reaches into the sky, growing and twisting into an ominous tower. The echo of a thousand iron-shod boots echoes from an arch in the monolith’s base, and from the darkness steps a woman of impossible stature, swathed in gleaming bronze.
"Longshadow!" she bellows as an army pours from the opening in the tower behind her. Her voice carries like thunder across the hills. “The sun has set upon your pink faces because it was my will to gift you this one last moment of beauty. But now the sun is gone, and this night is the domain of monsters!”
Thorek rumbles in wordless, grim anger as the unfortunate messenger shakily delivers his missive. He opens his mouth to answer when the tower of obsidian roars up from the ground. The exiled dwarf stares hard at the tower, strategies and counter-strategies whirling around in his mind.
"Why deploy it there, and why now? They could have sprung up inside our walls...is this a mark of our success, or should we be expecting a second tower?"
A bridge to be crossed at a later time--for now, the foe is before them and their challenge could not go unanswered.
"You must be Kosseruk!" he roars back from the battlements. "It's good to have a face to pair with your litany of failures! Your camps are smoking ruins, your supply lines in tatters, and your vanguard decimated! A wiser commander would know when she is beaten, but I'm glad you came anyway so we can kill you properly!" Thorek leaps up to straddle the crenelations, making him clearly visible to defenders and attackers alike. "Longshadow stands strong! Longshadow defies you! Throw whatever strength you can muster, Kosseruk, you will break here! For now you face Thorek Ironspark of Kraggodan and the Hemlock Harriers!"
Lily just does a double take at Thorek taking charge and hastily follows behind him. Patting him on the back she slightly trembles at the sight of the tower.
"I know he's trying to assure the town we'll be fine but you know listing all of the enemies failures might just make them angrier at us.," she thinks to herself as she readies her bow.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Having done all she could to prepare for this combat, by making and passing out as many extra healing poultices she could to the rank and file militia, Daria says to the party members, "Right, here is my reserve of supplies in case we are separated."
She hands each party member 2 ironskin poultices (+5 natural armor for 8 minutes), 1 bull's strength tonic (+4 strength for 8 minutes), 1 Neutralize Poison tonic, 1 protection from energy poultice (absorb first 96 points fire damage for 80 minutes), 2 cure moderate tonics (2d8+8 healing), and 1 lesser restoration tonic (1d4). She has loaded them for each party member in a convenient bandolier.
"We have prepared as well as we can. Let us trust each other and the good people of this town and we will prevail!" she encourages.
Banners and pennants flutter atop the hastily rebuilt city walls. Gray-and-green-cloaked Chernasardo Rangers stand upon the towers, working in small fire teams to lead the militia archers. Eurydicia stands in one of the plazas at the head of a militia company comprised of refugees and slaves you have rescued; reinvigorated by rest, food, and shelter, they are ready to repay the Ironfangs for their treatment. Gaius and Flopsy argue about the best place to position themselves at the start of the battle.
Two hours after sunset, the booming sounds of war horns ring out across the valley, and the ground suddenly begins to tremble with the trampling force of hundreds of hobgoblins charging toward the town. Arrows rain out of the dark sky, embedding in shields, clattering off stone walls and slate roofs, and finding gruesome purchase in the flesh of unfortunate souls.
How effective are Daria's healing poultices during this phase of the battle?
Lily calmly speaks out to the soldiers,"I know some of you are afraid of what's about to happen. I know I am but just know that if we work together we will get through this all. We've accomplished so much already and Im not about ready to let the enemy hurt you."
"Steady now, hold your fire unti--ay!" Thorek's attempts to steady the wall-guards near him is interrupted as he has to leap to cover to avoid a volley of arrows, rather ruining any calming effect he might have had.
"Have heart!" Esperanza shouts, standing atop the battlements where she can see and be seen by their troops. "Come the morning, we will still be here, and they will be broken upon our walls."
The sky glows orange as the next volley of arrows comes streaking out of the night carrying burning embers. As they rain down from the dark sky, they begin to catch roofs, walls, and other wooden bits alight. Thankfully, though, the citizens you've trained quickly respond to these fire threats. Bucket brigades make quick work and keep any of the fires from growing much larger than a mere campfire.
Meriam Kems, the usually cheerful halfling scout, comes running along to report a new development. Her hunters along the southern walls report that a huge, hulking is fast approaching the southern gate.
"He looks like a giant - 20 feet tall, at least - with a mouth full of big nasty teeth!" she announces, sounding more baffled by the creature than frightened. "Weirdest of all - they say he's got this strange third arm growing out from his armpit, right here," she says, gesturing under her own right arm.
Whatever the creature, it's likely meant to be a living battering ram to punch through the south gate and gain a foothold inside the town for the Legion.
"A three-armed giant? Mayhaps a troll or suchlike, they're prone to mutations. Have fire and acid at the ready--and a few archers with flaming arrows just in case. When we bring it down, they can torch the body if all else fails."
"I agree," says Daria, "I will roll a ball of fire around in front of him and seek to keep him away from the gate."