Recoiling with the blow before looking back up at the golem. Grinning at the flood of adrenaline, "Not like it will actually kill me."
Quickly scuttling around to the other side of the massive construct.
Stomach twisting into knots when that massive fist comes down and pulls away with crimson ickor. Personal danger forgotten Morana runs forward to touch Vendran's shoulder.
RAAVEN, GET YOUR ROUND ASS OVER HERE. BRING THE LIZARD, AND PICK UP NATE WHILE YOU'RE AT IT. Grumble thought to his hellish servant.
Grumble adjusted his position and continued his assault on the the Golem.
Then he leaned over and took a massive bite out of the bowman.
And with his magically assisted speed, he used his tail to whip an explosive vial into his hand and and whip it towards the Magister.
I can hear your thoughts. There is no need to yell. Raaven replied with a mental wince.
My pestiferous master summons us, Raaven said to Aurex. They are in the courtyard of the keep.
The Tower - Ground to Level 1 -
Alice's magic enhances the speed of the entire group to the woe of the Mitrans'.
Vedran's fists do little harm to the Golem. Grumble's earthbreaker lives up to its reputation breaking not only earth but rock hard ice! The golem shatters to the shock of the "heroes".
Grumble then takes a bite out of the scout who yelps in surprise and pain as a chunk of his shoulder is torn away with the snap back of Grumble's head.
The magic around the Magister though shields him from the clever throw of the alchemical vial by Grumble and it bounces to the side of the courtyard.
The Acolytes cast spells.
"DROP your weapon beast!", one commands Grumble.
While the other two heal the Magister once more.
CLW
Magister 44/52.
-Scout HP = 15/28
---
Turning around and lashing out at the nearest foe.
As Grumble shatters the ice golem, Soren wavers with her pistol in the air for a moment before a few words of Infernal sputter across her lips.
"Κύριος του Σκότους, εκτός από τον αέρα, ώστε οι προσευχές του φωτός να πέφτουν σε εκκωφαντισμένα αυτιά." With a wave of her off-hand, a menacing glow centers on Grumble Jack for a moment before the air around him feels eerily still; no longer does he hear the sound of ice shards crashing into the floor, or even the huffs of his own breath in the throes of battle. Before the bubble of silence completely encapsulates the half-ogre, she shouts "Go! Their pitiful god will hear them no longer, show them the wrath of Asmodeus!"
The Tower - Ground to Level 1 -
Grumble shakes his head and retains hold of his weapon.
The scout appears resigned to his fate and draws his weapon attacking Grumble as the sound near the powerful combatant becomes eerily silent.
-The Evolved Archon Ranged Touch Attack #1 & 2 v Grumble - Damage -- - Damage
Magister Concentration
---
Magister 36/52.
-Scout HP = 15/28
As the Magister begins to speak, he realizes that he is too close to the silence spell, he backs up and steps on the very alchemical vial thrown by Grumble! The fire explodes at his feet! The Magister yelps and is forced to beat out that fire instead of cast a spell.
The rays of the Archon both strike Grumble though they do little damage to the mighty combatant.
His other foe, the Scout, is unable to pierce Grumble's armor with his longsword.
Vedran meanwhile crushes the throat of one of the Acolytes!
Outside The Tower -
With Aurex still gathering the bulk of the forces of the Keep to Aldencross, Nate and Lothrian race to the Tower to aid their allies. As they look across the water, they see the Lord Havelyn cross the water. His horse riding atop the water! Hanging on his belt are several items that upon closer inspection are the heads of men, men who once served him. His armor is dented and bloody.
He sees you and begins to charge at you, his sword drawn, "Servant of Mitra, I smite thee!"
What in the... Nate stares in disbelief for a moment, then scowls and drops his disguise. He takes out his holy symbol of Asmodeus and shows it. "We are on your side!" He shouts.
Alice stays safely in her corner and casts glitterdust at the archons.
Outside The Tower -
His charge slows to a trot as he looks to the Dragon and the smoke in the sky.
"Is he with your group? I wish to spare the citizens. They are not the guilty ones in this Country".
"Yes, he's with me. Uhh..." Nate holds his head for a moment, wincing. "He's only killed soldiers. There's enough resistance here that he isn't going to bother with killing bystanders when there are real threats around." Nate points ahead of them. "We're going to rendezvous with the others, and he will be meeting us there. Join us?"
Moving so that she can speak again and lifting her hand to send a gout of fire at the archons.
Outside The Tower -
Lothrian nods at the interaction.
"Very well, let us return to the Tower. I shall give those remaining the option to join us else they must all fall".
He trots alongside you and Lothrian to the rear door of the Tower.
The Son of the Apocalypse lowered his head like an angry bull and moved. He was surprisingly nimble for a behemoth. He stepped off the small fountain right past Vedran and went straight through the church doors after the Magister. He muttered something as he went, but it was lost in the oppressive silence surrounding him.
The Tower - Ground to Level 1 -
Grumble's charge widens the eyes of the Magister, a heartbeat later the room and Grumble are splattered with the blood of the Magister. The Acolytes cry out in despair as spells from Alice and Morana silence them both. There is little left of the Wizard to know what or how many of him there were!
The Archon(s) surveys the scene of carnage before it (them) trying to deterine which of your ilk to punish first.
At that very moment Lord Havelyn walks in with Nate and Lothrian. The Lord Commander is covered in the blood of his own men, their heads collected as trophies at his belt.
"Mitra shall know of these deeds. This shall not go unopposed! The Archon cries.
Havelyn draws his blade and strikes down the Archon in one mighty swing, "My new Lord would have it no other way!"
The former Lord Commander of Mitra, now Lord Commander of Asmodeus turns to regard you all, "Now what my new allies?"
Nate's lip twitches as the archon is felled. An unlikely and extremely fortunate ally. I wonder, would we have failed if he was on the other side?[/ooc] Nate looks around at the powerful people gathered. [I]No. I think not.
"I have been out of the loop. Is there anything else that needs to be done in preparation for the horde? Should I call Aurex?"
Alice releases a shuddering breath. "That went better then expected. We still need to make sure those catapults dont do anything."
Grumble came out of the chapel dragging what was left of the Magister out of the chapel by the ankle. He tried to talk three separate times, but no sound was made due to Soren's spell. Eventually he gave up and busied himself looting the bodies and the chapel.
The Tower - Catapult Battlements
Lord Havelyn waves his hand at Grumble, "Loot the bodies of the dead once we are secure".
As the group heads to the Towers, they find the catapults manned by the few Lamashtans that are left. The High Priest, the Mayor and three henchmen. It seems the Archons exacted quite the toll on this band. But then, they did not have Grumble...
The Mayor smiles, "You have the Lord Commander prisoner!"
The High Priest frowns, "No something else is afoot..."
Lord Havelyn grins, "My friends, secure the bonds of our friendship. Kill these cretins".
The Lamashtan eyes go wide!
Alice shrugs. "Nothing personal" and takes aim at the lamashtans.
As the others get prepared for combat, Nate falls to his knees. "Brrgg...aahhh..." His eyes roll upwards into his head and he starts shaking. Next to him, the air shimmers with a glimmer of red...
Caught in a silence spell, Grumble didn't hear a thing anyone said. He could spot the imminent violence about to erupt, so he leaned against the doorway of the chapel to watch.
The Tower - Catapult Battlements
The Lamashtans scowl at the turn of events and attempt to bring the fight to your group but alas with the Lord Commander on your side the fight is a rout and only Asmodeans and the ill now sit within the Tower.
A moment later overhead, the large body of Aurex appears as if out of thin air!
Havelyn turns to your group, "I wish to spare the villagers. The soldiers though must be driven or slain. Let us open the front gates to the allies of our Lord yes? Once the Castle is fully secure we can get to other matters..."
Grumble pointed to the catapults. "Aurex, you wanna break those real quick?"
The dragon Raaven had been happily riding suddenly vanished out from under him leaving him floating in mid air drifting listlessly toward the castle.
He wasn't sure what had happened, but he felt like he should blame his idiot master for it. That just felt right even if it might not be true.
He eventually caught up to the fight in the courtyard just as the last of the Lamashtans died.
He appeared from nowhere in all his round, fiendish glory.
"The bugbear forces are in position. I spoke with them before I was called here."
The Tower - Fallen
Cunning. Deception. Distraction. The tools of the Asmodeans have aided in this victory, the first over the Mitrans in some time.
As Aurex dumps the unmanned catapults from the Tower, Grumble lights the flares to send the Bugbear Army careening towards the drawbridge that the few remaining sentries guarding the ill put up, Soren enjoys the look of satisfaction when these men realize that their own leader has betrayed them.
He smiles at Soren as the bridge is lowered, "Let the Bugbears slay the infirm. I do wish to spare the villagers, after all if we've no one to rule what good is taking a Kingdom? Have Lothrian don his disguise one last time and convince the remaining soldiers to take a stand against the Bugbears while he convinces the townsfolk to flee south".
Lothrian nods in agreement and heads back to Aldencross.
---
Aurex sits upon the Battlements roaring in triumph as a single rocket flies into the air and bursts in a shower of red sparks.
In their thousands, they Bugbears stream over the landscape. They are not completely without siege equipment though they no longer need it of course. Groups of shaggy murderers drop their great tree trunks to force down any doors or gates that may yet stand between them and much sought slaughter. The battle for Balentyne has been won by the Ninth Knot but the slaughter is well underway.
Morana breaks the seal given the group when the Cardinal pledged them with their assignment. Within moments, Tiadora arrives bearing a small but heavy wooden box with a small hand-written note.
“Our lord smiles upon your success. Here is a token of my esteem. Use it to rest, recover and strengthen yourselves. Other commands will come when the Knot is needed. Your work has just begun. – A.”
She smiles, "Come we..." She frowns as if she just noticed the Lord Commander standing behind your group, "What is he doing? Alive?"
"Ask her," Grumble said, shooting a clawed thumb toward Soren. He busied himself with looting the chapel and the keep.
Nate slumps against the wall, hands on his head as the slaughter gets underway. He almost looks physically ill.
Slaughter. Triumph. Kingdoms. Aurex looks at the box of platinum ingots. And a horde. Plans are well underway. The dragon crashes down next to the party, shooting a glance in Nate's direction with a snort before looking at Tiadora. "Meet the newest amongst the faithful of Asmodeus." Aurex says with more than a little amusement.
"It appears we were not the only ones here with our hearts veiled. Our actions here have brought the truth to light. The commander is one of us."
The Tower - Fallen
Tiadora grins, "Fascinating..."
She hands a letter to Soren who reads it aloud.
“Our lord smiles upon your success. Here is a token of my esteem. Use it to rest, recover and strengthen yourselves. Other commands will come when the Knot is needed. Your work has just begun. – A.”
"Take what you want and return to me. Soon".
Post looting bliss, your group returns to the Courtyard just as the Bugbear Horde bears down upon the Keep. Between the Horde and the fires lit by Alice and Morana, the Keep is well and truly fallen.
Tiadora asks your group, including the Lord Commander, to join hands. Once the group does so, the Knot arrives at a location on a promontory where you can see a waiting ship docked along the banks of the nearby lake.
From the promontory, you can see the great bugbear horde surging towards Aldencross. Tiadora remarks, “I have seen no evidence of any army gathering to meet the horde. It seems Zadaria has also succeeded at her mission and has assassinated the commanders. Truly, a great achievement.
Making matters worse for poor Talingarde, small bands of creatures unaligned with Sakkarot approach the breach, eager to take advantage of the chaos. How could these beasts know already about this break in the Watch Wall? Someone must have told them". She grins.
"While you may feel at home Grumble for your allies, it is probably best to leave. This region is about to become very dangerous.
Still, this will not be enough. Balentyne may be broken but Talingarde is yet strong. Soon word will reach the south. The Heartland and the great cities of the Cambrian Bay will marshal their armies. They will meet Sakkarot on the field and it will be far too close to a fair fight. We must do something about that. Come, my lords and ladies, your ship awaits. Try not to burn this one.”
Lords. She called you lords. And lords you are. Lords of death and destruction. Lords of evil. Do you remember Branderscar? Do you remember being held down and branded like animals? How far you have come and how
long yet the journey before you. Tiadora is right. This is only your first steps along the way of the wicked.
When its clear the keep is truely theirs, Alice abruply sits down, hands shaking. "I'm glad that is over. There were a few times I thought they had us for sure."
She gives Morana's leg a few pats. "I'm glad you had my back. Would have been a gonner otherwise."
Aurex nods in approval at Tiadora's words. Perhaps this was not a foolish alignment after all. He looks at Nate and narrows his eyes. How much longer will you hold though? He wonders.
"Am I going to need to go in disguise again?" He inquires of Tiadora.
Raaven unfolded from an octopus back into his natural form, somehow disgorging a large, now rather wet sack from within him as he did. He dropped it on Grumble's lap and said "Call me when you reach your next destination. I have my own matters to attend."
Then the disgusting ball of teeth and spite vanished again and headed toward the fallen keep.
Smiling at Alice and nodding, "Glad you were there too."