Sario's blast of water forces the hound back 5'.
Merlin howls in pain, as the fire roars over him.
Yet, determined, the youth recalls some of his training from the military about dodging attacks.
He then yells, Saranae shield me!
Merlin steps between the hound and Sario, holding his scimitar and shield with courage.
Iomenna rushes forward and takes up a position behind Kelly. Her height gives her some small vantage above the halfling's head, but still causes her to doubt her aim somewhat. Determined not to let her friends suffer any longer and to make sure they reach any survivors inside the barracks as soon as possible, Iomenna steadies her aim and fires her crossbow at the hound. Once her shot goes off, she drops the crossbow, ready to move in and engage the beast in person at the next possible opportunity.
Taking careful aim, Darya fires a shot over Sario's shoulder into the vile hound, immediately dropping the crossbow and drawing her blade.
Kelly springs into motion, circling around behind the beast, staying just out of range until the last moment before getting in close.
Iomenna's bolt misses, but Kelly and Darya both keep the hell hound busy with their attacks.
Luci moves in past Sario and brings her sword around in a whipping strike at the hell hound with Kelly keeping it busy from the other side so it can't defend effectively.
Luck is not with her, though; she stumbles and barely avoids a nasty scrape.
Azura moves up by Darya and starts to sing, a lilting Celestial melody like a hymn.
The hell hound snarls and snaps at Luci with a slavering bite.
Luci's earlier stumble proves dangerous as it gives the beast a chance to sink its fangs into her!
Merlin grimaces as he swings at the hound.
;
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Iomenna pulls the hammer from her back as she steps forward to attack the hound. She finds a position next to Merlin and, driven on by Azura's inspiring melodies, strikes down at the beast with a righteous roar.
Merlin gashes the hound, but Iomenna finishes the job. Her earthbreaker slams straight down on its head and crushes its skull and spine. Smoke spits from its mouth as it is spattered into the ground, as if Iomenna were driving a nail into a board.
Re-reading her sword, only to see Iomenna's hammer reduce the hound's head to a fine paste, the paladin relaxed (though not before kicking away the piece of rubble that she'd slipped on).
Darya lets out a low whistle at the power and utter fury of Iomenna's blow. "Nicely done." she says picking up her crossbow and reloading it.
Iomenna raises her hammer from the flagstones of the courtyard and gives the weapon a sharp flick to cleanse it of the hound's fiendish remains. She lets out a hard sigh and nods at Darya. "Thank you, Darya. With any luck, that'll be the worst of what we face today. Luci, are you alright? That bite didn't look like it felt too good." Once she's assessed the situation, Iomenna moves over to retrieve her crossbow and reload it.
The shocked youth looks on the splattered mess that was a hound.
Well done, Iomenna.
Merlin then continues to prod around the area, as the others regroup.
"Guess I cannot take it home with us?" Sario smiles at the group, she moves up to the hound kneeling down beside it and praying over it to return to the earth.
"Could've been worse," she replied to Iomenna's question, "at least it couldn't burn me."
With the hound dead, you are able to creep forward a bit more to see what else you can find.
A wall of intense, vibrant fire roils to the south and east, facing the stone walls of the building. While the stone is scorched, it has not cracked and burned away. Oddly, you can feel no heat emanating from the wall.
A man stumbles out from a small room on the northeast side of the compound. He wears a slightly scorched ill-fitting black cloak over a dirt-and-sweat-stained tunic and hose; his boots are caked in bloody mud, and his hands are likewise spattered with dried blood. "Oh gods, more survivors? Are you real? You're... you're not with the demons, are you?" he says in a panicked voice.
"No we came from inside the city, we are searching for more survivors to help out. How many of you are in there?"
"I'm not sure... that wall of fire, some demon conjured it, it's blocking the barracks. None of the surviving Eagle Watch can get out. I was... I wasn't in the barracks, but... there might be people still barricaded in some of the other buildings?" says the survivor.
Iomenna lays a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "We are certainly NOT with the demons, my friend, and we are very glad to see you here and alive. Now, let's take a look at this fire here and see if there's anything we might be able to do about it." She moves toward the wall of flames and looks to see if there is some magical component to it.
Darya listens carefully as the man speaks, alert for any sign of deception.
Iomenna is pretty sure the wall of fire is magical, but doesn't really know much about that kind of spell.
Darya isn't able to get much of a read on the fellow - could be in shock, could be faking, could just be naturally awkward.
Iomenna stares into the flames, a quizzical expression on her young face. "Well," she says, "It's definitely magical. Although I guess it would have to be if a demon summoned it." She raises a hand to feel the heat of the flames, and quickly decides she'd rather not test it. Regular fire is bad enough, fire summoned by some fiend must be really bad. She turns to the survivor and asks, "There wouldn't happen to be any tunnels connecting to the rest of the keep would there?"
Unfortunately, I am unlearned in magic, really.
"Shouldn't we be feeling heat from here though?"Darya asks puzzled. "If I was this close to a campfire or fireplace, or even a torch for that matter, I'd feel some semblance of heat."
The survivor says to Iomenna, "Tunnels? No, I... I don't know about that. The Eagle Knights would know, it's their fort. I was just... I happened to be here when everything went awry; I didn't live here."
Kelly looks up at the bedraggled survivor. "I'm Kelly Littlekettle. Have you been out here all alone? How did you survive?"
"The demons seemed focused on attacking the Eagle Knights here, like they knew what they were doing - going after the best fighters and holy warriors. I hid over in one of the side buildings, and I was lucky there was some food storage - just over there, northeast side - and after they conjured that wall of flames, they moved on. I guess fortune smiled upon me?" says the survivor.
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"Let me check something," Luci remarked, searching for a piece of wood in amongst the debris and throwing it into the wall of fire to see what happened.
Once the wood enters the wall of fire, it is very nearly instantly turned to ash.
"So much for it being an illusion."
Iomenna's held breath bursts out in a dismayed gasp as the stick erupts into ash. "That was a good thought, Luci. Guess we'll have to find some other way." The young woman begins to look around the courtyard. Hoping to get a better view of the keep from a higher vantage point, she moves to the gate tower and climbs its steps/ladder to take in their surroundings.
Merlin continues to peer around for any danger as the others continue poking around.
From above, Iomenna can see that there's a lot of damage to the walls; the area that's cordoned off with walls of fire looks like it has some structural damage on the southeast corner. With a serious hammer and some time you could possibly break through it, or undermine it with a shovel and some sapping gear, or perhaps pour vinegar on the damaged wall and then light a fire next to it and wait for the stone to break.
Iomenna can also see across the way to the other roof, where there's a damaged ballista with two corpses next to it. Both corpses look like their chests exploded.
Iomenna descends the stairs again to rejoin the others. She reports what she saw from above and makes her recommendations, "Right, so it looks like our most likely point of entry would be the southeast corner. The wall is pretty banged up over there, so we might actually have a chance of breaking through, though that will open up the keep for any demons that wander by from that point on. Before we do any of that, though, I think we should check out these food stores that our friend here mentioned, and any other buildings this side of the fire. See if we can't find any spare weapons or gear." She pauses for a moment, then carries on, "One other thing, those dead men by the ballista...it's almost like their chests...exploded. Or something exploded out of them. I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to deal with that, but let's be on our guard alright?"
Sario will listen intently as Iomenna talks, looking around the area as she mentions the different points of entry.
"Maybe once we clear this place out we can see to the two people on the ballista. Finding anything of use first might be the best idea, we don't know if we will get the chance to move it back if we venture into far."
I like the idea of having a ballista on the second floor of the Heart.
Or set up in the common room as a last defense to the front doors?
"I agree. Let's check everything on this side of the fire first. I think the kind of demons with power to do something like this might be resistant, if not immune to fire so they can just walk through the wall of flame anyway. If they're going to enter, they already did so it might not make too much of a difference safety-wise with breaking down the wall." Darya suggests. "Maybe if we find a ladder or something we can bridge the rooftops."
Azura hugs herself and says, "I'd rather not explode, if it's all the same."
Your searching of the accessible areas finds that the large section along the north wall is a stable with several stalls. All are empty; the horses, like their masters, died in defiance of the demons.
In the northeast, near one of the stairs onto the walls, is a foundry - used for weapon and armor repair and shoeing of horses. (Exactly the sort of set-up that Merlin was hoping to build at Defender's Heart.) It's damaged; tools have been sundered and the forge itself has a massive divot in the stone sidewall, where something immense smashed a fist or weapon into it. Some parts may be salvageable (another 1 BP) if you can get them out, and there you also find a pair of ladders. Doubtless the various tools for maintenance of the fort were kept here - in addition to the ladders you discover a pair of shovels, as well as some simple stonemason's tools (trowel, chisels, hammers, etc.).
With the ladders you're able to get up on to the roof. The roof is angled with wooden beams supporting ceramic tiles and stonework, designed to repel siege weapons. Using the mason's tools you could probably remove some of the roof shingles if you took the time.
The survivor says nervously, "Where are you staying? I don't think it's safe here. I think the demons had a special hatred for all the crusaders and paladins."
Sario will help with collecting the items, she will then whisper to those around her so that the survivor cannot hear her.
"Should we trust him? Humans can work for the demons, I am not saying he is or did but we should be weary is what I think."
"We'll know in a moment." Darya says seriously, turning her gaze onto the man, her eyes glowing golden as she stares into his soul.
Merlin helps gather any supplies for the Heart, but remains silent.
"I think we'll have to get to know you a bit better before we tell you where we live." Kelly answers the survivor, "I'm sure you understand, considering the circumstances."
In a single fluid motion, Darya draws he sword leveling the blade with the man's chest. "You will place your hands behind your head and kneel. Now!"
Without taking her eyes off the man she speaks over her shoulder, knowing that at least Azura, and she was betting Iomenna from the signs of angel blood, would be able to understand what she said."
ክፉ ነፍሱ ውስጥ ጥልቅ, እና ወይም አማካይ ሰው ኃጢአት ደካማ አይደለም አለ.እውነተኛ ክፉ."
Luci's sword was in her hand shortly after Darya drew hers. Sadly, Celestial was a language that she had never leant (not for any instinctive aversion, more from simple procrastination) so she didn't know what she said, but it wasn't hard to guess from context.
Either way, she moved to guard the survivor, making sure that he would have to go through her if he tried to flee from Darya.
Iomenna is just coming out of one of the buildings with an armful of equipment when he sees a flash of steel as three of his companions draw their blades against the stranger. She drops what she's carrying and looks around for a moment, dumbstruck, then pulls her hammer from where it's strapped to her back as Darya calls out the man's evil nature. "You've made an unwise decision to deceive us, evil one. Now do as Darya told you and kneel!"
Sario will turn at the words from Darya, leveling her short spear at the man, eyes scanning the area for other evil beings.
Hearing and understanding Darya's words, Merlin drops anything being held, draws his scimitar, and approaches the stranger.
Kneel now! Or forfeit your existance!
The man slowly goes down to his knees, and a large smile blossoms on his face as he does so. He raises his hands and puts them carefully behind his head, as instructed, and says, "So you're one of them too? One of those who gets feelings when doom and destruction are coming? Excellent. We'd been hoping to ferret you all out and finish you off at once, and coming here just means it'll be that... much... easier."
He actually can't suppress himself from a short evil laugh.