"A good question, Serra. I wish I had an equally good answer. I would expect demons, of course, and their corrupted cultist counterparts. Beyond that, I am uncertain, for creatures like this will use anything, corrupt anything, that they possibly can to accomplish their goals."
Irabeth turns to little warrior, noting his stoicism.
"So it would seem, Se Beagan, so it would seem. I doubt that the master minds of this plan are here, but they will have left protectors behind to guard the shard until they can finish their foul corruption. "
"A good question, Serra. I wish I had an equally good answer. I would expect demons, of course, and their corrupted cultist counterparts. "
Serra presses more, trying to be polite, yet staying on topic.
"Surely your scouts would have descriptions of the demons within? And the humanoidish cultists? How are they armed? Weapons?" Serra asks, rubbing his beard.
"If you suspect that their forces will react to your rouses, surely you have a better picture of what their forces look like and what they can do. If there are flying demons there, it would be good to know that. If they can breathe fire or move about unseen, that would be good to know as well."
Handy Haversack? (low is good)
Serra buys a Handy Haversack (2000gp) and 5 waterproof bags (25gp).
Eli listens to the discussion, more gratified by the questions that anticipate the coming battle than discouraged by the rudeness. Sensing Anevia's and Quednys's reactions, Eli speaks up.
"Excuse their brusqueness, Captain. You have a mission that serves both your purpose, and ours, and I, for one, am grateful that you can put us to good use here. To know of demons and diabolists is more than enough for now." Eli keeps his eyes on Irabeth.
"If you have any suggestions for arming ourselves, I would be glad to hear it. More importantly, I would ask your expertise for our infiltration. Where can we gain access to the Garrison?"
"A surprise attack while their forces are distracted. A clever plan. Let no one say evil will always triumph because good is dumb. I will need to purchase some means of night seeing before we leave."
"I suspect that the largest portion of their forces will be cultists, tieflings, and cultist tieflings, though we have reports of abrikandilu, dretches, mandragora and vermleks as well."
"We have a few potions on hand, and Quednys was able to find a stash of things on his last run that we will be sending with you. Finally, once you find the shard, you will need some way to destroy it. To that end, we have this."
Quednys and Anevia set out items for the groups use during their foray into enemy territory: eight potions of cure serious wounds, four potions of lesser restoration, 10 +1 evil outsider bane arrows, a chime of opening, a small sized MWK bastard sword and a medium sized MWK star knife(both cold iron), a wand of magic missiles (CL 5th, 31 charges), and a wand of daylight (24 charges), and 3 potions of dark vision.
Cole looks at the largess on the table and thanks Irabeth. "Thank you lady for this. These items will indeed help our victory. You are most generous."
Unless there are any objections, he takes the arrows, one of the potions of darkvision, and one of the potions of cure serious wounds.
"We should each take a potion of cure serious I think and store the rest with... how about Kastor?" Cole smiles.
- - -
Later that morning, Cole will get some cold iron weapon blanch and blanch the magic arrows giving them a fine cold iron sheen.
Serra delights in Cole's excellent suggestion and hands Kastor one of the potions of CSW.
"Kastor, be a good squire and pack this away for an emergency. I might call upon you to administer it. You're such a good squire, Kastor...I trust you with this important magic."
Serra smiles as Cole finally sees the good in the squire. Serra himself takes the wand of Magic Missile and the MW cold iron starknife, taking a few air swipes with the latter before stowing it on his belt for easy reach.
He also puts a Potion of Lsr. Restoration in his haversack.
"Does someone want to carry the chime? I can enbaggen it if no one else wishes to carry."
Serra holds out the potion and lets go, but the potion does not crash to the floor. Instead it bobbles for a moment, then disappears.
Grasker will take a potion of dark vision and one of cure serious wounds.
"Perhaps I can find a quick-draw sheath for the wands, and carry the one for daylight in addition to bless weapon."
Serra holds out the potion and lets go, but the potion does not crash to the floor. Instead it bobbles for a moment, then disappears.
Cole shakes his head and wonders at his own sanity. He decides in the end that he saw nothing, and moves on.
Cole spends the day wandering around the Defender's Heart, trying to get a sense of his new home. That afternoon he looks for his father, and checks to make sure Laina has made an appearance. He's not worried for her as he's sure she can take care of herself despite her young age, but this is a dangerous time and place for a teenager - particularly one as headstrong as Laina.
Serra gives his personal thanks to both Quednys and Irabeth, offering each a solemn Lastwall Fist bump as gesture of his commitment towards the mission.
"I'll use these weapons to do what you've asked. We knights have our duty, and I aim to protect the people of Kenabres or die trying."
Serra places the wand, a Potions of Lesser Restoration, and a second Potion of CSW (Kastor has the other) in the haversack.
"One more thing, do we have any maps of the Gray Garrison? Kenabres? Or the area around it?"
Buoyed by his new rucksack, Beagan consults one more time with Amber's Alchemicals and Darian's armory, and he picks up another Holy Scroll as well as a smaller shield to accompany reinforce his "lighter on his feet" feeling.
Trying to accustom himself to the new, lighter-weight gear, he spends much of the day moving around the complex, seeking out Deirdre and other interesting places as quickly as possible, attempting to wrap his mind around moving swiftly and quietly.
Finally, when he's satisfied he can move faster then an over-encumbered rock, he retires to buff his new buckler and his old armor. He carefully paints the Big R's blade and wing on his new, little shield. He even removes his studded leathers, a very rare occurrence, using tools and skills rather than spells to repair and buff the armor. With just a linen shift over his body, his movements sometimes seem tentative and stiff without the familiar and reassuring leather encasement.
"Where did those potions go Sir Serra? They just floated in the air and disappeared. Is this some new magic you have learned on our travels?"
"Before you go, I have one more thing to give you. It will help destroy the shard once you find it." Quednys pulls out a thin rod made of some sort of ivory or stone, with a smooth green stone floating between the fork.
The older man frowns at the discussion between Serra and Grasker, having missed the bobbling, disappearing potion.
"Surely, this is no time for jokes, gentlemen. There is much to do and very little time to do it in."
Quednys pulls out a thin rod made of some sort of ivory or stone, with a smooth green stone floating between the fork.
Serra offers his hand to take the rod. If given, he will turn it over in his hands more than a few times, examining every inch.
"What is this Quednys? What does it do?"
not 1! (Detect Magic.)
Spellcraft
"If no one objects, I'll carry this rod in my sack. It should be safe there; I am a knight after all."
"Surely, this is no time for jokes, gentlemen. There is much to do and very little time to do it in."
Serra gives a look to Grasker, ignoring the jibe as he is still in a pleasant mood from Cole's earlier good idea.
Eli studies the rod as Quednys displays it. "Please, Quednys, continue. How does the rod help us exactly?"
He gathers a potion for the more serious of wounds, as well as one for its restorative properties.
"This is a rod of cancellation. When touched to what remains of the the wardstone, this will draw the last vestige of power from it, severing it completely from the rest of the field." Quednys hands it over to Serra.
"Do be careful with it. It is quite dangerous to magical items."
"Doing so will rob Vorlesh of a crucial chink in the wardstone field’s armor and prevent her from using it against the crusaders unless the demons can manage to destroy another wardstone—Something I don’t think is possible in the short term, for the Kenabres stone has suffered numerous attacks over the past several years that made this final destruction possible. Almost,” she adds wryly, “as if the demons have been planning for this day from the start.”
Serra nods at Quednys' and Irabeth's last words.
"Now about that map? Perhaps you have some sketchings of the Garrison?"
"I am no artist, but I will try to sketch something out for you. To be honest, I had not paid the Gray Garrison a visit in a long while. It was more museum than anything else prior to the Fall."
Quednys does his best, then hands over the map to the group.
"Well done, Quednys. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Won't do to go in blind." Eli smiles at the older man, hoping to diffuse the earlier tensions.
"This seems to indicate a pretty direct entry on the ground floor, followed by a single set of stairs leading upwards... here, then another set of stairs to a third floor? Huh. The stairs can prove useful as a choke point, if we're lucky enough to oppose demons incapable of jumping about through walls and floors." Eli considers the list of creatures Irabeth provided.
The though of cultist tieflings brings a shudder through the Gnome. "There would have to be something rather powerful to keep so many different demons in line."
"Well, I mean, I think at least their names sound bad.... They must have their own version of Treerazer." The news just keeps getting worse.
He looks the other way when Grasker questions Serra about... him and checks his bow for damage.
Cole lends his knowledge to the discussion of the various demons we may encounter on the trip. He'll try to aid Eli in his thought process, but if that's not possible he digs up whatever he knows and shares it independently.
For each +5 over the base knowledge check needed, pick one general bit of information.
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Serra studies the map of the Sepia Gray Garrison, rubbing his beard, and thinking.
I like having a beard to rub.
He ponders what to say, what the knightly thing to do would be in this situation. He hitches up his armor, pulling up the links around his belly and smooths his ruffles from his underarmor, trying to look knightly.
"Today is a special day. It seems to me that today is a very special day," Serra says aloud, forcing his voice to reach all ears in the room. "Today, we have decided to take the fight to the demons. Today, we have birthed the movement to a new Kenabres, one free of demons and their kin. We take the fight to *them*! Today, we welcome a new dawn, a new age, and new beginning..." Serra pounds his fist into his hand to make his point. "Today is our Birth Day. Today is our *BIRTH DAY*!"
Serra looks around, studying every face in the room.
"And to all of you, as we remember why we are here, I say
Serra leads some huzzahs of today's 'Birth Day'.
Eli thinks on the Vermlek, the only of the four he hasn't directly encountered.
Looking up from the map, Eli takes in Serra's grandstanding. He is seriously delusional. He waits for the wind to die down, before heading out to gather more supplies for the siege.
Grasker observes wryly "It is not so much that he took leave of his senses than his senses took leave of him, taking potions of healing on the way out."
"Still it is a special day. The cultists have felt the wrath of the righteous and thanks to Irabeth we have plan to undo the demon's terrible plans."
Defensive Abilities Defensive Abilities abandon flesh, flesh armor, negative energy affinity; DR 5/cold iron or good; Immune electricity, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 14
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
3/day—mass inflict light wounds (DC 16), spider climb
1/day—gentle repose, summon (level 2, 1d4 dretches, 50%)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Abandon Flesh (Su)
As a swift action, a vermlek can abandon an inhabited body, crawling hideously out of its host and leaving behind an empty sack of skin and bits of gristle. In so doing, it absorbs much of the body’s flesh to heal itself, restoring 2d6+3 hit points. A vermlek cannot later reclaim this body with its inhabit body ability.
Flesh Armor (Su)
When a vermlek wears a humanoid body (see inhabit body, below), it treats the dead flesh and muscle as armor and gains a +3 armor bonus to its AC.
Negative Energy Affinity (Ex)
A vermlek is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy as if it were an undead creature.
Eli imparts what he knows to the others regarding vermleks. "A nasty bit of demon. It can bring more to the field of battle, so we shouldn't grow complacent if we isolate one or two of them. Be ready for it to flee its costume."
"There doesn't seem to be an indirect path to the Garrison." Eli considers their approach. "What if we were to pose as fleeing cultists, newly abandoning our post at Estrod? We could even bring Faxon with us as evidence that Estrod has fallen." Eli looks amongst the band for thoughts.
After visiting with the merchants of the Heart, Eli tries to locate a good bottle of applejack, or two, and a place along the wall that gives him a vantage on the skies above. He will plant himself for awhile, before retiring to his bunk.
Cole checks on the family before leaving...
Klarah is asleep when Cole visits his father, but again there is no sign of Laina. " She hasn't been back since she took off. If she were .... " his eyes fall to the sleeping woman. "I can't imagine what her life might have been like after her mother's .... injury. Every now and again Klarah is nearly herself but nothing she says is very reassuring. I think she's been this way for quite some time. Years, possibly. " The older man runs his hand through his hair and sighs.
"Just keep an eye out, ok?"
Cole decides to spend a part of his afternoon hunting for his wayward niece.
He asks various passers by and the guards where she might have gone and hunts the grounds for her. He's not in a panic, but he is concerned, and a little annoyed that his time is being spent thusly. He does stop for a quick drink in the dining area, but then continues his hunt.
Cole thinks he sees her a couple of times, but when he gets closer, she has disappeared into a crowd. At one point, he's almost certain he saw her go into the Mess Area, but he is stopped before he gets very far, he is stopped by a very crabby looking Kimroth Otai (owner of Defender's Heart and the primary person running things in the Mess area) .
"I've sent a bag for ye group to the gate. It's all we can spare at the moment, so it'll have to do. There's nothing here for you."
Cole thinks he sees her a couple of times, but when he gets closer, she has disappeared into a crowd. At one point, he's almost certain he saw her go into the Mess Area, but he is stopped before he gets very far, he is stopped by a very crabby looking Kimroth Otai (owner of Defender's Heart and the primary person running things in the Mess area) .
"I've sent a bag for ye group to the gate. It's all we can spare at the moment, so it'll have to do. There's nothing here for you."
"I don't want any food just now, I'm after my niece who I think is inside. Excuse me."
Cole attempts to move past the man, politely but firmly.
The large bulky man, used to dealing with drunks and other socially maladjusted people, has no problem stepping in front of Cole, his arms crossed.
"I don't think you understood me. There is NOTHING for you here. I don't care one whit who you think you are or what you think you saw that you think is yours for the asking, be it your "Niece" or whatever else you think you have a right to, this is still *my* place, not Irabeth's and I say who comes behind the bar. And that ain't you!"
Cole's keen sense of hearing picks up the scrape of chairs behind him as several patrons find their feet in support of the barkeep. The weight of the gaze of nearly every person in the place falls upon his back.
From behind him, a quiet but firm voice suggests, "You better go, now."
Cole takes his measure of the man, and tries to guess how many arrows it would take to fell the tree. More than I care to waste...
He takes a full step back out of respect and comments, before turning to leave. "Your place. Got it. But I'm sure you enjoy the protection that Irabeth provides, don't you?"
He smiles as he turns and heads to the gate to collect what provisions have been provided.
Ely is able to find one bottle of applejack in the Mess Area,though it takes him some talking to get it. The people seem on edge, though who would blame them with the way things are.
*****
At the agreed upon time, small strike forces begin to gather near the gate. Additionally, a large contingent of mongrelmen are also gathered, waiting for their chance to fight against the demons like their ancestors. While the group recognizes several of the men from beneath the city, most are new to them, ones called from deeper within the earth to fight for this just Cause.
Irabeth meets you there, for any last questions you might have before you go.
"There doesn't seem to be an indirect path to the Garrison...What if we were to pose as fleeing cultists, newly abandoning our post at Estrod?"
Serra's head picks up at Ely's idea.
"That could work, Ely. I could probably talk us in. How many of them bad holy symbols do we still have? A few of those and a visit from from Serraling and we'll be inside pretty quickly, I bet."
"I think we have three symbols of Bapho-meh, one of Discard-me, and 12 folk charms. And we've got names of particularly nasty cultists, Hosilla and Faxon at least, and a password, too, right?"
Looking over himself. "If we're sneaking, I was going to leave my big shield of Calistria behind. However, if we're walking straight up to the place, maybe I wouldn't have to. The Lady of Stings is finicky enough that she supposedly sometimes consorts with Demons, but some say that's just to lull them into a false sense of security before getting her revenge. She can be tricky, that one. I don't know what they'd make of a Calistrian Gnome." Though eventually they'd probably want to do what cultists do... He shudders.
"But they probably wouldn't like to see a Holy Mount glowing with the Big R's mark." An idea runs through his head. "Amber has a Holy Writing that allows me to call Xanthos with extra-short oblations. I'll purchase that from her, and if we think Xanthos would give us away, he could stay with the Big R' until we need him."
"Disguises and guile to get us in the front door huh? I like it - works for me. Good idea."
Cole will gladly take one of the unholy symbols and wear the nasty trinket when the time comes.
"I might suggest one of us feign injury, and allow two others to carry them towards the front gate. They're less likely to believe they have a force amassing, rather an injured bird hobbling towards them."
When all are ready, the party sets out for the walls of Old Kenabres, and beyond them, the Gray Garrison. The diversionary strike forces fan out, taking the war to areas far away from the entry point the disguised warriors plan to use.
The tops of the walls crawl with tieflings and cultists as the group approaches, only to thin as the diversion forces go to work. Not everyone leaves their post, however, and two tiefling guardsmen continue their patrol from the top of the wall.
The mirror has always been unkind to Serra in that it fairly reflected what Serra looked like. It reflected every blob and every sag, and every pound was cataloged and noted. Nothing escaped the mirror...whatever passed Serra's lips on the way to feed his expansive guilt.
However, in preparation for the mission today, Serra stood in front of the mirror, his hated foe to better present how Serraling might look as a demon cultist.
He holds up various unholy symbols, trying to imagine which one might be the right one for Serraling when the time comes. Thankfully, the mirror responds as unkindly as ever, giving Serra a good picture of which unholy symbol will work best with his armor and ranseur.
Eventually he settles on a simple Baphomet...selecting it for the pointy horns and a general 'brood' of the piece. He practices a few general demonic gestures in case they come in handy to flashing to scouts or the like on their approach.
Just got to get in the doors, we do. The team will take it from there.
* * *
Serra returns Kastor's smile with a grin of confidence that he does not truly feel. Even a proud and brave knight sometimes faces the jitters...and such jitters are what Serra feels right now.
"Cole, let me know when we are within 10 minutes journey of the Garrison. I shall apply the gifts of the dragon then," Serra asks, trusting the man to lead on.
In Defender's Heart:
Grasker would look for the strange old man he mistook for a supernaturally aged brother, and not finding him perform some shopping before turning in. He will find someone able to sell or make a mask to complement his cloaked, gloved look. He will find some cloth to cover the distinctive magic shield.
That morning:
He changes up spells and casts Undetectable Alignment on himself.
On the way to the Garrison:
Grasker will hide his holy symbol inside his shirt and keep radiance sheathed. He will walk with his old non-magic sword out as a decoy.
The tops of the walls crawl with tieflings and cultists as the group approaches, only to thin as the diversion forces go to work. Not everyone leaves their post, however, and two tiefling guardsmen continue their patrol from the top of the wall.
I think the plan was for Cole to warn Serra ~5-10 minutes before we arrive so he could get into character. Then he'd talk our way past the walls/guards/etc. to get into the complex (Serra not Cole I hope to god).
There was also some talk of a wounded character being carried in by others, but no one seemed willing to play the victim...
When Cole indicates that the party is about 5 minutes out, Serra will review how the party looks and the 'plan'.
"Remember, let me do the talking. I'll get us in the door, I hope. From there, we'll have to do what seems best. We're just cultists returning back. We have our unholy symbols and we know about the their plans to an extent...let's see what else we can learn," Serra reviews, going along with Ely's plan.
"Remember not to take anything I say too seriously...I got to make them believe we are who we say we are. Deception is our ally here."
With that, Serra takes out his draconic scale and invokes the power to become Serraling, tiefling knight.
As Serra uses his scale to change, the form he had in mind becomes twisted and bent, his mind circles, trying to hold onto his old form and instead he remembers meals past, his mother's song, and one of his favorite foods.
Serraling's new form is that of frog's legs, forked tongue, and fiendish tail. His proud horns have a swirling umbilicus in each.
As Serraling turns his head from side to side, the wind pushing through the umbilicus on his mighty horns, emits a low and distressed whistle. Serraling frowns...not just getting in the mood, but also because he not yet used to this new form.
This is not a good omen.
* * *
Serraling hops along, barely deigning to slow his hops as the bounces to the Grey Garrison. If he catches the eye of one of his fellow tieflings, he will give them a sneer, a lick of his lips with his forked tongue, and the Baphomet hand gesture.
He hops along on his frogged legs, ranseur in hand, and unholy symbol in view.
Bluff - evil