Sario will look around at those gathered with her, she will stand strong beside all her new friends.
Merlin watches the kneeing man, along with the area around them. The youth mutters an incantation.
Kelly jumps back from the man, raising her knife defensively.
The man continues to chuckle from his kneeling position on the ground. "Oh, you holdouts will be the best," he says. "Grinding the last shreds of hope from you will be far more satisfying than just running down people in the streets."
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Iomenna's expression darkens, though her flesh seems to glow with an inner brilliance as her blood comes to the edge of boiling into a full-on rage. "I think you'll find that you will be the one being ground down, specifically, I'll be grinding your teeth on that curb over there. Now tell us who you are!"
"What, you think knowing my name makes any difference?" the man says, incredulous. "Forden Casturval - not that it matters. Well, not to you, anyway. My name is known to more important beings, and it's them you should be worried about."
"I only ask so that I know what name to erase from every record of honor. As for your 'important beings,' the darkness only thinks itself great until the light shines upon it and drives it away. And trust me, Casturval, the light shall shine again! Now who or what put up this wall of flames? Was it you?"
"Hold outs? You mean the Knights inside? You cannot get in to attack them more I assume?"
"I mean more idiots who think that this is some kind of 'winnable war.' Reality check: The demons of the Abyssal realms are infinite. You can't beat them because they will never end. The only thing you can hope to do is find a way to live with them - to exist within their realm, either by staying out of the way or finding a patron to protect you. Why do you think the Worldwound's never been closed? Even the gods can't do it," says Forden excitedly.
In a more conciliatory tone he says, "This invasion was inevitable, and eventually all of Golarion will be under their sway. You can hold out with your platitudes for a little while, maybe even years, but eventually the end will come. You're doing a disservice to people by telling them otherwise. Don't you get it? The only way to survive is to recognize that there are more of them and they are more powerful than us. You can't stop them just by cutting them up with a sword."
"I have some allies in the ranks. Enough to keep me protected as long as I'm useful. And keeping an eye on the sad remnants of the Eagle Knights is useful, because honestly waiting for someone to starve is pretty boring and important demons have important things to do. So... yeah. Someone will be back around in a bit to check on progress here. Either the demon who created the firewall, or someone else. But, like I said before, they'll just keep coming. You can't win against them. But I can help you out. Put in a good word for you with my patron, once you're ready to accept the reality."
Merlin knocks the brash man in his jaw with the hilt of his scimitar.
I had friends here! I had a teacher here! People are needlessly suffering! I, swear, by whomever has been my patron, that you and your demons will NOT be allowed to cause more suffering here!
The man falls sideways, catches himself in the dirt, then pushes himself back upright and puts his hands back behind his head. Blood trickles from his mouth and his eyes are slightly unfocused, but he says to Merlin, "See? You're no different. Panic, fear, hate - and you go straight to violence. Really, you should just get on board now, while you still can."
Sario walks over to the man, squatting down beside him the tip of her spear resting on his groin.
"He just knocked you down a peg, he didn't kill you, torture you or steal you away. He kept you alive."
"Which is far more than you deserve betrayer!" Darya says, her voice hard, eyes burning with the divinely fueled wrath of her patron. "How many are supposed to be inside?"
Forden shrugs awkwardly (a bit of a trick with his hands behind his head). "A couple dozen. Some novices, some fully trained knights and paladins. Either they'll stay in there and starve, or the next serious demon that strolls back this way will finish them off. Like I said, it's inevitable," he says.
"So as a self proclaimned agent of the enemy, what reason do we have not to execute you as a war criminal here and now?" Darya says angrily.
"You're just making it harder on yourselves," Forden says. "I can help you survive all this mess - if you just come to realize the reality of the situation. If you kill me, all you're going to do is cement that you're the opposition. Bring down more pain and suffering on yourselves. I can stop that."
You get the impression that, like most wicked people, Forden assumes that what motivates him (survive, gain prestige with the demons, look out for himself) is what motivates other people - a common flaw.
"I have witnessed first hand the destruction of the demons and their betrayal. You will not survive as you think you will."
Sario stands up, her spear still leveled at the man, she draws her shield from her back. Looking over her shoulder to Darya,
"Do you think the flames will harm an avid demonic believer?"
"I am sorely tempted to find out, Sario." Iomenna's demeanor is far from friendly at this point, and she finds herself hard-pressed to refrain from unleashing all of her companions on the wretch kneeling before them. She knows he is right, though, that to torture or to simply execute Forden would make them little better than him and the others like him. She considers her options for a moment, then comes up with a solution.
"Merlin, go find some rope so we can bind Forden and take him with us into the fortress. We will have to force our way in somehow, hopefully before any demons do come along to check on him. Once we're inside, we will allow the Eagle Knights preside over his judgment. Oh. And one more thing." Iomenna tears a strip of cloth from her cloak, balls it up, and shoves it hard into Forden's mouth. "That should keep him from spewing any more nonsense for a while."
Iomenna retrieves the ladders and tools and begins working to remove enough of the tiles from the roof that they can create an opening and enter the building from above.
Darya glares down at the man, shaking slightly with the rage and overwhelming desire to drive his smug, blatantly unrepentant face into the flames.
'And this is the reason for the black wing' a small part of her thinks forcing herself to sheathe the righteous anger.
With Forden tied up and gagged, you are able to get onto the roof via ladder, then remove several of the ceiling tiles. You notice (those of you who aren't resistant to fire) that the wall of fire gives off heat on this side, After you've removed about three of them you hear someone (a woman with a firm, somewhat throaty voice) from below shouting, "Hey! There's someone on the roof!"
Another voice says, "The demons must be trying to break in from above!"
The first voice says, "Hang on... no, I don't sense malicious intent. It could be a rescue!"
There's a chorus of voices from below as people start talking all at once, then the first voice says, "Quiet, quiet everyone! We need to find out who's up there. Hello? Hello on the roof!"
Hearing the voices coming from below, Iomenna calls down, "Hello! Eagle Knights? Yes, we're here to help! My name is Immense bet-Melkiel. My parents both were...er...are crusaders, though I don't know if they're still alive. Several other young warriors and myself, other initiates to the Crusade and the like, have been holding up in an tavern not too far from here. We came to see if there were any survivors that we could get out and that could help us! Thank the Inheritor some of you are alright!"
"I'm Irabeth Tirabade," comes the voice from below. As you remove more tiles you're able to see that the Eagle Watch knights are crowded into a barracks, many of them craning their heads up to look above, some lying on cots with a variety of injuries. The speaker is a half-orc woman with a powerful build and a pronounced orcish complexion. "We've been trapped in here for hours - the windows are too narrow to escape and that magical firewall keeps us from getting out the doors. There should be some rope in the tool shed - do you have a healer among you? Many of us have some healing ability but we've exhausted our resources just dealing with the many casualties we've had already. I don't think some of these people will be able to climb a rope or ladder."
"We found the rope and I can get it up here now. We actually came here in part because we were hoping some of you had some healing abilities. We have a bit of a problem back where we've been staying. Let us get you out of there and we can sort it out on the way back." Iomenna calls down to the others, asking for rope and any tools they might use to construct some kind of pulley system to get the injured out.
Merlin assists as needed.
You start setting up a winch on the roof in an attempt to build a makeshift lift so that you can get the injured out. Merlin, Iomenna, and Sario work on the contraption while Kelly is able to wiggle down into the cracks and see the rooms below - the large barracks area, and the adjoining shrine. (You can go inside the building if you wish, Kelly.)
Darya, Luci, and Azura keep an eye on the prisoner inside the courtyard.
The team is able to lift out a few of the wounded and evacuate a couple of the knights before there is an interruption. As you're working you hear a bone-chilling scream and you see a demonic creature emerging from a ruined building about a hundred yards away, and it spots you on the roof and starts sprinting toward the keep. It has red skin pulled taut over its bony frame and a distended jaw filled with sharp ridges, and it carries a long, hooked spear of demonic make.
Sario leans her head down the hole, "Does the ballista work? We are going to need it"
Kelly slips through the roof and drops into the building. "Hello, I'm Kelly Littlekettle. How many of you are in here? Do you have any supplies we could take with us?"
One of the soldiers that you rescued says to Sario, "The ballista was damaged, maybe we can repair it? But it will take a little time or some magic!"
Irabeth says to Kelly, "I've got a dozen troops fit to fight and eight more who are too injured to go back to battle but still alive. Since this is the barracks area there's some food and weaponry - and the chapel is connected over on the west; there's some holy water in the font, a holy text of Iomedae, some holy symbols, and some odds and ends from people who were in there when the attack happened. Folks were fleeing and running to battle all over the place before the firewall went up."
"We should bring all the food and weapons we can carry." Kelly says, "And the holy items too."
"Uh...what is that?" Iomenna's eyes grow wide as she spots the horrifying creature advancing toward the keep. In her panic, she calls down to the knights, "Lady Irabeth, some kind of demon has spotted us and is running this way. What should we do?"
"Uh...what is that?" Iomenna's eyes grow wide as she spots the horrifying creature advancing toward the keep. In her panic, she calls down to the knights, "Lady Irabeth, some kind of demon has spotted us and is running this way. What should we do?"
"Get me out of this room and ready to fight," says Irabeth grimly.
Iomenna throws a leg over the wall and braces herself in place with her legs, then grabs hold of the rope Kelly used to descend into the building. "Grab hold, Lady Irabeth. I'll try to pull you up."
Two of Irabeth's soldiers help lift her from below - quite a feat for a muscle-dense half-orc in heavy armor - and Iomenna struggles to pull her up, but keeps slipping on the loose roof tiles and all the construction dust.
Sario will rush over to help out Iomenna
Merlin steps closer to the demon's approach. The grim youth readies his shield, as he announces, Shield your servant in your faith!
.
Sario digs her feet in and tries to help Iomenna haul the armored knight up on the travois. It's slow work and the rope keeps slipping in your hands!
The demon runs all-out in your direction!
Merlin stands at the ready. His scimitar swinging easily in his hand.
I could use some help here.
Iomenna calls on her reserve of inner strength to give another strong pull on the rope.
"What the hell's going on up there?" Luci asked, hearing more commotion coming from the rest of the group. "Darya; I'll keep this guy covered. If you need me up there too, I'll, I dunno, break his leg or something to keep him from running." She was only joking, but there were some situations where a paladin was perfectly within her vows to do that.
"I'll keep him covered," says Azura. "I may not be a warrior, but even I can deal with a man who's already bound and gagged. Go save the day!" She leans over to give Luci a quick peck and then pushes her toward the commotion.
"Alright, just be careful," she said before running for the others.
Darya races alongside Luci, seeking the fastest way to whatever threat the others were seeing.
Kelly looks around in the barracks. "Is there a ladder or something in here?"
One of the soldiers says, "No, otherwise we'd've gotten out that way - but can't you get your friends to pull you up once they get Irabeth out?"[b/]
Another one of the soldiers returns from the chapel with six crystal vials and offers them to Kelly. [b]"There's holy water in the basin, this might be helpful if we need to face down more demons!"
Alongside Luci, Darya races to climb up onto the roof, determined to get to the other side to face whatever horror approaches.
Sario will drop the rope back down into the opening, shouting down the hole "Who is next?" We have to hurry"
Suddenly, the military youth begins to grow. His size towers over the others. A determined look etched on his face.
Oh, boy!
A humanoid creature whose size increases to Large has a space of 10 feet and a natural reach of 10 feet. This spell does not change the target's speed.
AC 17 melee +3 (1d8+5/18-20x2) 10' reach
The giant Merlin looks at the monster with a divine fire in his eyes.
Kelly accepts the holy water, then moves to help ready the wounded for movement. "Let's get everyone out of here!"