Lilly just starts yelling out loud,"All right. I really need to learn how to fly. Or run very fast this stair case is getting ridiculous.
Esperanza and Lily continue to dash up the stairs with the rest of the party, more volleys of arrows from the phalanx clattering and smashing against the sides of the tower behind them.
Daria hears no more spells being incanted from the guardians just ahead, so perhaps they have run out of preparatory spells to cast.
Marching up the stairs, Thorek pauses right at the the top and invokes a final blessing before the killing starts. "Once more unto the breach," he says softly, giving Esperanza a nod as he channels the divine blessing to her next.
Hearing Thorek's heavy boots and armor clanging just outside the door of the command post, Kosseruk draws a scroll and casts one more spell upon herself to prepare.
Because I forgot them earlier:
Esperanza crosses the threshold of the command post and moves to threaten the commander and her bodyguards.
One of the bodyguards summons a spiritual weapon to strike at Esperanza from behind, while the other calls upon their god's power to enhance the potency of his own strikes. However, Esperanza manages to gracefully dodge all these attacks.
Daria drops another bolt of lightning onto the troop that has followed her around the corner.
She then swirls her way over to join the battle on top of the tower!
Using the additional speed from the Blessing of Fervor, she moves over the far spellcaster and moves over it, enveloping it in her whirlwind.
Lily runs up to the top of the tower. "Finally. The top. I can finally attack," Lily says while reaching the top.
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One last bolt of lightning from the sky forces the phalanx to break ranks and retreat among their own encampment in a mockery of an organized withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Daria's whirlwind buffets one of the guardians against the black stone walls of the tower.
Storming up to the top of the stairs, Thorek lets out a shout and falls upon the bodyguard battling Esperanza with a mighty strike of his dorn-dergar.
Thorek delivers his opening strike upon one of the Ironfang bodyguards.
Kosseruk pulls out one more scroll, evading a swing from Esperanza's glaive as she chants its text, and the commander unleashes a fireball right beside where Lily stands.
Esperanza also lays into the wounded guardian with her glaive, but she takes a nasty hit during the counterattack.
The other guardian begins swinging his flail at Daria.
Faith and fury see Thorek through the wave of fire that washes over him before the dwarf redoubles his deadly assault on Kosseruk's bodyguard!
Lily carefully concentrates upon seeing the battlefield. Calling out to her allies,"Finally something that I can outsmart. Heads up you two."
Taking careful aim she shoots at the hobgoblin not to wound but to give her allies an opening.
Avoiding the attacks thanks to her elemental form’s nimbleness and her warding enchantments,
Daria moves over the guardian and tries to suck it into her whirlwind. If successful, she flies out of the tower and over the open plain, releasing it to fall to the ground far below before rushing back to the battle (BOF for extra movement and double move to drop the guardian from a great height).
damage
If unsuccessful, Daria whirls away to the back of the fight and reaches out to heal Esperanza (BOF for +2 ac and reflex).
...
Thorek unleashes a devastating barrage of steel that ultimately leaves the first of the Ironfang Guardians an utterly broken heap of flesh and bones upon the floor of the command post.
The other guardian manages to resist the pull of Daria's whirlwind this time.
Lieutenant Kosseruk unleashes her own pent-up might upon Esperanza, dealing several terrible wounds to the Shelynite.
Esperanza delivers a slash to the minotaur commander, but the wound does not go as deep as it should. Instead, you see a similar small wound open on the commander's bodyguard.
The remaining bodyguard casts a new spell, growing to match Daria's size, then moves to flank the party.
"Heh," Thorek scoffs as he sees matching wounds bloom on Kosseruk and her bodyguard simultaneously. "Two for the price of one." Stepping up beside Esperanza, the warpriest joins her assault against the minotaur commander.
"Mayhap you give a bit of ground, let her taste Angradd's flames," he suggests to the wounded tiefling, as the golden flames wreathing his armor seem to almost reach out to Kosseruk like hungry serpents.
As badly as Esperanza was hurt last time, Daria hits her again with the wand, healing her once more!
Lily moves up a bit to get a better shot at the minotaur hoping that her shot aims true.
Lily sinks her arrow into the minotaur commander's frame, also goading her into leaving herself vulnerable to Thorek and Esperanza.
Falling into tandem with Esperanza and Lily, Thorek follows the tiefling's slash with a shattering blow of his own while Kosseruk's attention is divided.
"Take your eyes off of us at your peril!" he warns the minotaur grimly.
Esperanza and Thorek continue to heap damage upon the commander, only for half of it to be shunted over to the remaining bodyguard.
.....
Kosseruk pounds at Esperanza with her warhammer, receiving another slash from the Shelynite in retaliation.
The remaining guardian steps away from Daria and moves back towards his commander, preparing to cast another spell upon her.
The last guardian rushes to lay healing magic upon his commander, but Daria pummels the enlarged hobgoblin priest into submission before he can make it there.
Draining charges quickly, Daria continues to heal the beleaguered Esperanza!
As Kosseruk's remaining bodyguard falls Thorek lets out a victorious shout before redoubling his efforts to lay low the minotaur commander herself.
"FOR LONGSHADOW! FOR PHAENDAR!"
Lily continues firing distracting shots towards her enemy allowing her allies to exploit the situation. "Lets keep on putting pressure. I'm pretty sure he can't take us all out," Lily yells while knocking another arrow.
"Break, damn you!" Thorek bellows at the minotaur.
Kosseruk current AC 28
The minotaur commander turns aside both Esperanza and Thorek's opportunistic attacks, then she turns her momentum into a new wave of attacks upon Esperanza. She lands two blows from her warhammer upon the Shelynite warrior.
Calling upon her last top level spell, Daria channels as much healing into Esperanza as she can!
”We are so close! Defeat their commander!” encourages Daria, her voice whistling like the wind in her Air Elemental form.
Fearful for Esperanza's life, Thorek adjusts his grip on the dorn-dergar to shorten his reach as he steps in closer to his companion in the hopes of screening her from the minotaur's fury.
Thorek and Esperanza unleash one last flurry of attacks, and they finally bring down the mighty minotaur commander of the besieging army. Although this is a significant victory, Longshadow is not safe yet.
You must find a way to close the gates on this magical tower to cut off the flow of reinforcements for the Ironfangs.
A chest with the army payroll sits beneath the table laden with maps, which themselves presumably hold great strategic value once you have more time to analyze them. A heavy tome also sits on a lectern in the corner of the command post, where it has escaped the chaos of the battle.
"Great. I have no clue how to close this thing. Maybe that book might have something about how to stop all of this.... What ever this is?," Lily says while frantically flipping through the pages of the book.
While Lily reads the book, Daria returns to her normal form and searches the bodies of the Minotaur and his two allies, looking for any items of use or clues how to shut down the magic gate.
"We could fill it with dirt and rubble, maybe?" Thorek muses, standing on the edge of the tower looking down. "Not sure that'll stop it from moving it around though, that kind of magic is beyond my ken."
"I mean anything is worth a shot. I've never heard of or seen anything like this before."
Turning away from the tower's parapet, Thorek helps Daria to pat down Kosseruk, looking for something that might be the key to controlling the tower--a crystal, a rod, an amulet, anything that might be useful.
You follow up your battlefield victory over the Ironfang commander with an extremely efficient scouring of the command post.
Book on Lectern = Tome of Clear Thought +2
Kosseruk:
Potion of Blur
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
Scroll of Dismissal
Scroll of Gaseous Form
+2 elysian bronze breastplate
+1 heavy steel shield
+1 thundering warhammer
Belt of Mighty Constitution +2
Cloak of Resistance +2
Bandolier
8 electrum horn rings (worth 20gp each)
Ironfang Guardians:
+2 chainmail (x2)
+1 heavy steel shield (x2)
Masterwork light flail (x2)
Cloak of Resistance +2 (x2)
Gold unholy symbol of Hadregash (x2)
344gp
Chest:
2,200gp
1,500gp worth of gems
The maps and tactical markers on the table, as well as those tacked to the command post's walls, provide information on Ironfang troop placements in this region, as well as those near Phaendar.
In addition, the maps highlight another important location in the region: the Valley of Aloi. This nearby valley is marked with various notations indicating that Kosseruk has operated from the reclusive location for weeks, prior to launching this assault, and that the tribe of morlocks who have allied with the Ironfang Legion call the valley home.
Lastly, and most troubling, the maps indicate some underground connection between the Valley of Aloi and the relatively close dwarven Sky Citadel of Kraggodan. In particular, there is one faded leather map of several Darklands tunnels that may connect to the sky citadel's lower levels. There are also notes that indicate that the Legion succeeding in penetrating the city several years ago, but it offers no hint about why.
”I can change the stone of the archway to mud, but I will need to rest and pray for the proper spell,” offers Daria as they discuss options and take the loot and papers.
"Not sure we have that sort of time. If you can keep them off me I could shatter the archway--it'll be faster than waiting for new spells, but it still won't be quick."
”We’ll cover you,” says Daria, moving towards the archway entrance
Some quick, stealthy reconnaissance reveals that the phalanx you dispersed on your way up the tower was the only set of defenders assigned to the gateway set in the strange black tower.
As you watch the gateway set in the eastern face of the tower, you observe that a small regiment of a couple dozen rank-and-file hobgoblin troops march out roughly every five minutes. They do not tarry long and instead quickly march to join the continued assault on the weakening walls of Longshadow.
If you time it right, you can set upon the gate's archway after one of the troops has marched out and complete the task before the next one approaches.
Lily futilely tries to kick and push over the gateway trying to destroy it. "Sigh.... I don't think Im going to do anything about this. Thorek you want to take a try at it," she says while punching the gateway.
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After waiting for the latest troop of hobgoblin soldiers to march out from the magical tower and join the ongoing assault against Longshadow, you slip forth and set upon the archway supporting the gateway leading into the seemingly extra-dimensional space within the black tower. Thorek and Esperanza lend their might to hack, smash, and pull at the archway until it collapses.
You notice that, straight away, the entire tower begins to crack and crumble now that the archway has been destroyed. Within a matter of three hours, the tower collapses into a mass of smoldering obsidian sludge. The resulting implosion draws the attention of the entire remaining Ironfang host - although the immediate cessation of reinforcements once the archway was destroyed led many units to wonder if something was amiss.
Once they realize their commander has been slain, their reinforcements and supply line have been cut off, and their central fortification has been compromised, the forces of the Ironfang Legion embark upon a partially organized retreat into the hills surrounding Longshadow.
You have achieved a great victory! Longshadow suffers few casualties and relatively little damage beyond its gates and defensive walls. The people cheer for you as the saviors of the town. Vendors can reopen their shops with days, and they permanently offer you a 10% discount on all goods and services they offer. Mayor Crawbert offers you a permanent home in Longshadow to use as a base of operations or to help relocate other survivors.
The merchants of Longshadow, the surviving priesthood of Abadar, and the mayor himself pool their resources to provide you with a reward of 12,000gp. Navah, the reclusive wizard whom you aided and recruited to the cause, collaborates with the smiths of Longshadow to craft a breastplate of command for you as one last reward for your heroism.