You find yourselves on the road to Arwyll Stead after your successful mission within Lastwall. Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik received reports of increased Orc activity in the area of that small border town, as well as murmurs of devil sightings. He asked that you personally look into it, and deal with the potential planar threat, the same way you did when closing that evil rift.
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Anthys walks along, glad to spend some time in Lastwall. While the Society jobs are interesting, pay very well, and will hopefully contribute to his true goals, there is always a bit of guilt at leaving his home country. The threats from Ustalav are ever-present, of course. The orcs are even more of a concern, with their repeated successes in encroaching on Lastwall's territory. Can't let them gain another inch of ground here. Maybe this mission will help push them back.
"Arwyll Stead - I know of that place, or at least the general region. It's in between Vigil, the capital of Lastwall, and the orc city of Urgir in Belkzen. There could also be creatures coming down from the Hungry Mountains to the east."
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Vindlér grunts an affirmative when Venture Captain Besnik asks him to go to Arwyll Stead with his platoon. "Good! Been too long since we've done any proper border patrols, eh, Anthys? I'll be glad to serve my home again."
Vindlér also recalls hearing about the town, and confirms Anthys's description. "Aye, and as you can guess, the townsfolk don't get along too well with their green-skinned neighbors. That whole area is a hotbed for orc raids. Definitely want to keep an eye on watch around those parts."
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Elaril pauses momentarily to consider before spouting a minor flood of information on Arwyll Stead....
1) The border region between Vigil and Urgir is a hotly contested battleground between the humans of Lastwall and the orcs of Belkzen, in addition to being plagued by horrors from the Hungry Mountains to the east.
2) The mining town of Arwyll Stead is one of the numerous border settlements standing between the Hold of Belkzen and Lastwall. It’s named after the Arwylls, a well-known family of Lastwall crusaders and knights who have fought against the orcs for generations.
3) The Arwyll family has been steadily dwindling over past few decades; a knight named Wate Arwyll is the sole remaining holder of the Arwyll name. While the Arwylls aren’t the official rulers of the town, the townsfolk all but revere their namesake family, looking to them for guidance and security in the face of orc savagery.
Vindlér smacks his forehead in recognition, "Oh that's where I've heard that name before. Remember that, Anthys? One of our old commanders said something about Wate Arwyll once. Hah! Totally forgot about that. Of course, I forgot most of what happened that night! Haha!"
VC Besnik just shook his head at Berato's question. "Nope. Just remember devils are weak to silver instead of cold-iron like demons. Good luck!"
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Marcus follows along beside his companions, a small smile coming to his face as he nods along with Elaril's exposition, tucking away the new information about Wade Arwyll. He doesn't speak, preferring to travel in comfortable silence much of the time, but takes comfort in his companion's presence. They have been through much together, and after fighting off undead samurai and hobgoblin hordes, Marcus feels confident in their ability to deal with whatever foes they may face.
The clang of metal on metal and the shrill whinnies of frightened horses can be heard from up ahead. As the dusty road curves around the hills, a scene of battle comes into view some hundred feet away. Panicked horses bolt past, and corpses litter the ground around the road—some are recognizable as human guards or fallen horses, but others are twisted, winged, horned monstrosities with fiendish features. All of the combatants have fallen, except for two of the flying yellow monsters attacking a lone, wounded half-orc woman wielding a bow.
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Elaril studies the flying creature and snaps his fingers together...
"I remember! They are Gaav devils. We will need to be careful here. Not only do they possess many of the usual abilities of devils such as immunity fire and poison, resistance to acid and cold, the ability to see in all types of darkness, the ability to summon more devils, and the ability to teleport at will, these particular devils are resistant to all weapons not imbued with holy energy. Finally they possess some strange forms of attack including noxious breath and strangely flexible limbs. Their breath is pure corruption and can poison and sicken those they breathe on. They are able to swarm over their targets when close to their companions, making it seem as though their attacks come from all angles. They can also hold onto their targets while also holding on to their weaponry."
He mutters some words under his breath and his mouth opens in a silent scream...
The Gaav clutches its head in pain and gets a glazed look in its eyes.
Vindlér's bolt hits the uninjured Gaav devil, making a neat hole in its wing that swiftly closes without incident. The half orc woman neatly disengages while the devils are distracted, making her way behind your defensive wall then holds her bow out, ready to fire on the devils once more.
The devil hit by Elaril's scream hangs in the air, listlessly floating back and forth while the one hit by Vindlér shrieks its vengeance and rushes the dwarf.
Vindlér seems to be not used to receiving charges while holding a ranged weapon as the Gaav slips within reach of him and lands a clean stab, ignoring his defenses almost effortlessly.
Anthys' hammer impacts with significant force against the devil, letting everyone hear the crack of bones beneath the skin. As he resets more crackling can be heard, as though the bones are re-knitting, albeit slowly.
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"I thought these things were supposed to be weak to silver," Vindlér shouts in anguish as the devil he shot flies back at him, completely unharmed, and pierces him through with its claws. "Guess we'll try another way."
He backs off from the devils and slots in the next bolt in his clip. Raising the crossbow to aim at the same target, he calls out, "May Abadar crush you with his divine judgment."
The half orc moves to get a better shot at the devil before loosing an arrow.
Her injuries seem to be taking a toll on her as she can't quite draw a bead on the flying monster.
The devils advance once more, stabbing with their spears at Vindlér and Anthys.
Anthys smashes the Gaav demon to the ground where it twitches and curls around itself in death. The half orc woman calls out while drawing a bead on the other one, "Dont...let...escape!"
The electricity courses through the Gaav, causing it to twitch and smoke to come from its open wounds. The devil drops to the ground, dead along with its comrade.
The half orc woman breathes out a big sigh of relief before turning to you all. "Gratitude. Name...Vegazi." Her Taldane is broken and she seems to struggle finding the right words.
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"My name is Anthys," the warrior says evenly. "Can we escort you to your home?"
Obviously he is wary, though not hostile. She's a half-orc and we're on the border of the Hold of Belkzen. He does know of half-orc paladins of the Inheritor like Irabeth Tirabade, but then again he also knows that orc tribes sometimes put half-orcs in charge for their greater intelligence.
She shakes her head in the negative. "Not home. Arwyll Stead." She gestures at the corpses interspersed with the Gaavs. "Take back. Important."
Among all of the remains are a half dozen Gaav devils, one tiefling woman, and five humans. While the humans were killed by the devil's spears the tiefling was killed by multiple slashing attacks.
Three of the humans looked like they were scouts in light armor and looked ready for maneuverability. The fourth was a priest of Iomedae, his holy symbol still clutched in his hand. All bear equipment adorned with the mesa and sunburst symbol of Arwyll Stead. The final human not only has the symbols of Arwyll stead, but the Arwyll family crest as well. His gear is also better made than the others.
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Anthys looks at the bodies. He sees the Arwyll family crest.
"Oh no... Wate Arwyll? Last of the family? We must bring the bodies back to Arwyll Stead. Yes Vegazi, please come with us."
He looks at the tiefling woman, with the multiple slashing wounds. So she was on the side of the devils? he thinks. Anthys points to the tiefling and asks the half-orc, "Enemy?"
He turns to Vindlér, "You speak Orc, right? You may have an easier time talking to Vegazi than we do. By her speech she might have been raised among them, but it looks like she fought on the side of Wate Arwyll and this priest of Iomedae."
Anthys looks around for some branches to fashion a travois.
Vegazi nods, "Sister. Attack men, don't know why."
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Anthys finds the potion. I could offer it to Vegazi, but Vindlér is hurt too. "Berato, can Torag's power heal both Vindlér and Vegazi? I think it is too late for the others."
He looks at the note. "I think we should open this. It might give some clue as to why Wate Arwyll was attacked or what this group was doing."
He will open the letter if nobody objects.
Some of the cuts and abrasions on Vegazi close with Berato's power, but she still looks rather injured. She briefly stops gathering the bodies and turns to thank Berato for the help.
The note reads as follows:
Wate,
The attacks on the borderlands around Arwyll Stead have obviously become more frequent and purposeful. I fear what the orcs of the Hell's Fury tribe are plotting_it can't be good, judging by their diabolical company.
My scouts and I have still not been able to locate the squad that went missing last week. As we discussed, I will continue searching along the banks of the Path River for any sign of our missing comrades before rendezvousing with you in town tomorrow morning.
_Terrin
P.S. We are not alone in our search. I spotted an elusive hunter tailing my party for the past few days, though she is clearly benign, since she has had ample opportunity to kill us in our sleep. She hasn't made her presence known in a little while, and I would not be surprised if you spotted her as well.
Searching the tiefling corpse reveals several items. On a necklace of black feathers are three feather tokens, two bird and one whip. She was also carrying a scroll of see invisibility.
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Anthys offer his wand of CLW for Vindlér or Berato or Marcus to use on Vegazi.
"We should meet Terrin in town tomorrow and offer our aid."
He addresses Vegazi. "So you were born to the Hell's Fury tribe, but are working against them? You said this one was your sister, but you fought against the devils and it looked like she fought on their side. Do you know what the tribe plans or wants?"
"Is the target for the message specified when the feather token is created, or when it is used?"