"It probably isn't worth it." Dary says thoughtfully. "For one thing, to pull this off will require binding it. Elementals this size are about as easy to control as a 4 yr old, meaning not at all. They get exited easily and want to run around burning things. They even get bored if they only get to burn the same thing all the time, which means constant vigilance or it'll escape and start setting fire to anything and everything it can. We didn't save people just to put them at risk of dying in a fire." she says leveling her gaze on the enthusiastic Merlin.
"Aside from which it'll be miserable the whole time. You'd need a Magic Circle turned inward in the short term and something stronger like a low level Planar Binding spell to keep it here long term. Pretty much imprisonment and slavery, not to mention requiring resources we don't have. And I can thing of far better uses for binding and planar magic when we have roaming demons to worry about." she continues with a frown looking to Iomenna for her assessment of the information.
Iomenna largely remains quiet while Merlin and Sario discuss how to lure the creatures back to the Heart. She gives the occasional thoughtful grunt to show she's listening, but, as their efforts take longer and longer, her concern grows. When Darya delivers her estimation of the elementals' behavior, her concerns are verified. "I'm glad you know a bit more about such things than I, Darya. As for what to do with these little ones, I'm afraid we don't have the time or the resources to keep them, much as I'm sure it would be a boon to have them in the forge, Merlin. I don't think we can keep them, and we certainly can't leave them here to do as they will. I'm afraid we'll need to...send them back to wherever they were summoned from." She hefts her hammer once again and looks down at the "laughing" creature in the quenching bucket, a look of pity and sadness in her eyes. Yet her tone is firm and confident. She has made up her mind.
Merlin sighs in understanding. The youth looks a bit sad, but he nods to those more knowledgeable.
I understand. Maybe someday, I will be able to attempt such a boon.
He looks at Iomenna's facial expression, and the movement of her hammer.
Not for nothing, but if we just left them alone, they may be useful in clearing the field around the Heart, so that we can have a better view of approaching enemies.
He shrugs his shoulders.
In sieges, the defenders always have a cleared area around the walls to prevent surprises.
We could have those still at the Heart begin digging a moat around it. They can work in shifts, while we are out.
Sario will walk over to Merlin, putting a hand on his shoulder understanding him.
"Think you can coax them all out of there so we can look around?"
Merlin smiles at the druid.
I suppose that we could remove then one at a time, and deposit them in a vacant building of our choosing that would be, somewhat, controllable.
Merlin look at Sario.
Want to go quickly scout for a recipient?
The building that they're currently in is made of stone; it just has lots of contents that are made of wood and paper. Alternatively, if you wanted you could easily set them loose to burn down one of the other buildings that you already scouted (the leatherworker's, or the other empty building that you checked on the way to this one).
Defender's Heart is on a hill so it has a pretty good view of the surrounding area. The main line-of-sight problem is a building just to the north at the base of the hill, which is between D.H. and the massive hole in the wall nearby. This means that if demons or something came flooding in through the wall they could use that building as cover. It appears to be a two-story shop of some sort, but you haven't scouted it yet.
Sario will nod to Merlin,
"Of course, watch my plants and I will be right back."
Sario finds some shadows and moves 20ft away form the group looking for a new home for the elementals.
As Sario walks off to do some scouting, Iomenna turns to the others, "Alright, so while Sario is checking around for a new place for these little ones to burn down, let's see if we can't salvage anything from the building. None of you happen to resist burning, do you?" Iomenna glances hopefully at the aasimar for a moment, then goes on. "Otherwise maybe Merlin could keep small spots in there clear for us while we check things out? Do you think you could keep up that kind of pace, Merlin?"
Merlin nods with youthful confidence.
Luci had kept quiet for a while; she didn't know enough about elementals to comment nor did she have a clear idea on whether fighting the elementals wouldn't be seen as an un-paladin-y act. Although she could help but give Darya a look as she explained about them.
"So where'd you pick all that up? Wasn't that cute wizard's apprentice, was it?" she asked, smiling.
She got serious at Iomenna's suggestion. "Tieflings and aasimar are both resistant to fire so we could go through in relative safety. Not promising anything, though; never put it to the test against flames this big."
Kelly is relieved that the consensus seems to be that there wouldn't be uncontrollable fire things living with her after all.
"I'm pretty sure I burn easily, so if it's allright, I'll stay right outside."
Iomenna turns to Luci with a look of mild relief. "Oh good. I didn't want to make any assumptions, but I'm glad I wasn't totally off. Hopefully between Merlin keeping the larger flames at bay and your natural resistance, we can keep you safe enough not to be hurt in there. Would you give it a try? Even just long enough to have a look around to see if there's anything of value inside?"
The fire-resistant party members toss the tower. As expected, it's full of ledgers, books, papers and ink - much of it badly burned. It looks like this was an accounting house of some sort, which handled contracted work on finance and copying. Much of the material is scorched and damaged.
You are able to salvage a good crate's worth of papers and books, but it would take quite a while to read them and a scribe to make sense of them. Doubtless much of it is just numbers for businesses that no longer exist, but there might be clues buried in it that could lead you to other supplies, survivors, or buildings elsewhere in the town.
You salvage a few other odds and ends like a cloak that mostly escaped being burned and a map of some of the landscape around the city.
The full search takes about an hour, and Merlin is able to use his magic to douse enough fires to keep the area under some semblance of control. If you stacked some rocks in front of the door you could probably keep the elementals inside indefinitely.
Merlin happily makes a home for the fire creatures.
With the crate of documents recovered, Iomenna assists in building a barrier in the doorway in which to contain the elementals. She then finds a spot nearby where they can leave the crate until they return and can take the whole thing back to the Defender's Heart. Once the work is done, she turns to the others, a smile on her face, "I'm glad we were able to salvage those documents without having to harm the elementals. I'm sure they don't mean any harm. They are just doing what is natural for them. Come on, let's work on clearing the rest of the buildings here and see if we can find any more survivors that will join our cause."
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Fortune favors you, as you proceed through another building with a few grisly remains of people who were slaughtered, but the next structure as you travel in a circle around Defender's Heart proves to be a furniture-maker's shop, complete with his large stores of wood and extensive carpentry tools, including a standing lathe and planks of many different kinds of wood. Though there is no sign of the furniture-maker, the building shows the disarray of having some of the lesser minions of the evil forces having come through it but found little reason to stay, as there was nothing worth breaking and nobody there to kill - the business owner must have fled the establishment when the invasion began.
You make your way northeast, confident that the areas around Defender's Heart are secure for the moment, and your next stop is a bit more forbidding: The remnants of the barracks of the Eagle Watch knights!
"Hey, I know this place," Luci remarked as they looked around, "Dad's been complaining about this guy for years. Apparently he's been undercutting Dad's prices and selling stuff that just doesn't hold together. Materials are fine, craftsmanship holds up to the casual observer but... ah; that bench there? If it's anything like the other ones he's sold, that'll collapse in about six months. Same thing from Dad; it'd last ten years under the fattest backsides in town. He may be cheaper than Dad, but not by that much!"
"Might grab his accounting books as well while we're here; if he's survived then I want to make sure he stops ripping people off."
"The paper might also be useful for our selves."
Sario will help to cart the supplies back to Defender's Heart, she will take a few scraps of paper and start to plan out a garden for them to grow their own food.
Iomenna chuckles quietly at Luci's concern about her father's business and his competitors. She is relieved to hear such ordinary talk in the middle of such an extraordinary situation. Her mind, meanwhile, is busy planning how they might best use the carpenter's stock of wood. Could they build barricades? Extra beds? A more secure stable for Merlin's makeshift smithy? Time will tell. For now, they have to find the Eagle's Watch barracks and see if they can find any more survivors to help them in their ongoing fight for survival.
Merlin helps with transporting the materials to the Heart.
He then readies himself for the barracks...
Kelly steels herself for the unknown. She mutters to herself, thinking aloud.
"Could be useful armaments in there. But then it's like a small fortress. Who knows who could be holed up in there."
As the last of her new friends goes out the door, Sario realizes she needs to be with them to help. She tucks her designs away, grabbing her pack and spear and rushing out after the group.
Upon arriving at the barracks she feels a bit scared at what just may be inside of this building. Sario readies her short spear, whispering to the group "I can summon a little mouse to scout for us, I cannot talk to it though." Sario blushes a bit.
"It's possible that would be a prime target for attacking forces. If it's still standing it would mean the Eagle Watch faced them away from there. I guess we'll see what we find. Darya says thoughtfully.
When you reach Eagle Watch Keep, you realize it's more than just a barracks. It is a fortified military structure in the northeast quarter of the city. In a sense, it projects force and order for the entire outer quadrant there, keeping the outskirts of the city well-protected and policed. Or at least, it did.
Now, the ground is pitted with holes and divots. Ash coats several areas where bushes and grass burned, and ballista bolts are stuck in the ground. The walls themselves bear scars and smashed holes. A few bodies are strewn about the field, many bearing horrible wounds or missing limbs and with their armor rent and torn. War dogs with spiked collars also lie dead on the field, a good half-dozen of them, as well as at least one horse that you suspect was a paladin's sacred mount.
You thought maybe you should expect a siege, but the demonic forces apparently had other ideas. They do seem to have gone forth to somewhere outside of the city, after all - at least, the main body of their army. Laying a full siege was not their plan, it seems, or perhaps they had no plan - demons being notoriously chaotic, after all.
The front gate is riven but has been barricaded hastily with wooden posts stuck in the ground, though a slow and careful approach could squeeze through them. No troops remain on the walls - they must have gone into the deeper defended parts of the keep. The towers at the corners seem to bear ballistae that were savagely attacked and are now unmanned.
The whole area is suspiciously quiet, though you do hear the occasional scream or demonic chortle from somewhere inside.
Sario looks around as they approach the building looking for any demons or someone waiting hidden to strike at those who approach the building.
"have any of you been in here before? Seems like either the demons gave up or the defenders retreated to far into be of any fun to the demons anymore."
Approaching with shield and sword ready, Merlin scans the rubble ahead of them.
"Doesn't mean they all left. If the defenders retreated inside I'm sure some of the demons pressed in and could be continuing to do so now. Either way we need to go in, they either need saving, or to know they aren't alone in the city." Darya says looking at the barricade.
Peeking at - and through - the barricade, you see that it is a hasty attempt to replace the iron gate that once guaded the entrance, but which is now on the ground inside, bent and mangled. Through the wooden chunks that fill much of the front gate you can see an interior courtyard, likewise strewn with corpses, though mostly of minor demons and of some additional horses and war dogs (many badly wounded or even mangled). There are few humanoid bodies - either the Eagle Knights have taken few casualties, or the bodies were eaten or moved. This could be a good sign, as perhaps the Knights were able to remove their wounded and dead from the field?
"All the dead animals, such a loss. They died to protect their masters and those they loved."
Sario will squeeze through to just inside the door, she will keep her short spear leveled just incase something is left alive and watching.
Sario slips through the rubble. From here she can see a bit more of the courtyard. Part of the southern wall was smashed through, and there's an unarmored dead human body to the north, near a small series of low chambers (probably a kennel).
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Merlin moves along beside Sario, watching her back...
Kelly slips through after her friends, coming up beside Sario. "Whatcha lookin' at?" she whispers.
Sario points at the dog, her voice a whisper "Something is wrong with it."
"Sure, it's hurt." Kelly replies. "Or do you mean besides that?"
Merlin keeps himself between the dog and Sario, as they creep closer.
The soldier looks over the still animal as they near it.
Iomenna is stunned into silence at the sight of the destruction wrought upon the might keep. She stands back and takes in the sight of the barricade, then moves up behind Sario, Merlin, and Kelly. "Be careful, Sario. I wouldn't trust any animals we see out and about in the city, especially with all these dead fiends around." The young warrior stows her hammer and draws her crossbow, training it on the "dog," just in case it turns out to be corrupted in some way.
The strange dog rises to its feet slowly as Sario gets close. Most dogs would let their tongues hang out casually - it's how they cool off, after all - but this one keeps its jaws clamped shut; it doesn't even growl. It just stares at the druid for a few moments, then smoke seeps out from the corners of its mouth.
Azura hangs back behind the warriors and says, "That... looks like a bad dog."
Sario drops into a crouch, both her hands touching the ground she slowly raises them into the air, mumbling something foreign. What ever roots or plants that are left in the court yard spring up around the dog grasping at his feet.
Iomenna curses under her breath as the hound reveals its nature, then pulls the stock of her crossbow more tightly to her shoulder to steady her aim.
Luci moved up with the others, her sword at the ready as soon as she'd seen what the dog was.
Darya moves forward quickly .raising her own crossbow and readying to fire on the fiendish hound.
The hell hound moves up to the edge of the fallen gate and, as you might expect, belches a blast of fire at the group!
Sario manages to dance out of the way of the largest blast of flame, only getting scorched by a bit of the blast.
"Bad Dog, you shouldn't play with fire"
Sario quickly uncorks her water skin and mumbles a few words, turning the water skin upside down she unleashes a blast of water at the dog.