The Demon horde has so far failed to get a beachhead into the city, being driven back over and over. They rally for one more attempt in their greatest numbers so far...!
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Lady Vulpina fires a bullet into the shoulder of the demon, staggering it slightly. It lurches forward, into the fearsome fist of Yajima! It's skull concaves, and the demon falls to the ground, dead!
You take a breath in the now quiet courtyard. The false crusaders lie at your feet, bleeding out. The barricade stands defenseless, though you see some of the less-than-courageous guards peeking their heads around the corner.
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”I would recommend we stabilize these men if we can, and report them... as well as those who broke ranks. Let their superiors sort them out,” she says, taking mental note of physical descriptions to give in case it’s needed.
She turns to the guards peeking past the wall. ”Do not count on Pathfinders to save you. Your armor and blades were given to you that they might empower you to protect your home and families. Do not squander them.”
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This situation sorted out, you begin to make your way back to the lodge for more orders. On your way out, you see a fleeing citizen with frantic eyes. He pauses for a moment upon spotting Pathfinders helping to defend the city. His face is a mix of fear and hope as he says, “By the gods, thank you for showing up! There’s a woman down the street defending an orphanage, bless her heart, but I don’t think she knows that all the children have already been evacuated... I’d tell her that her help would be more useful elsewhere, but her minions are terrifying. Maybe you can explain! I’ll go get some of the crusaders to help out.” He runs off with little more explanation. You follow his pointed finger and come across an odd sight: a young Chelish conjurer, directing a group of devils to defend a local orphanage. You show up just as the devils dispatch a group of dretches that had been advancing on the building. The devils are teleporting around the area, cutting the dretches in two with their glaives and hooked beards. They are silent as they do so, intent in their work. The orphanage is empty, like the civilian said. The street is wide and open, but the immediate surroundings are devoid of all but the occasional distant onlooker.
The woman looks over at you as the last demon falls. She speaks in a heavily accented voice. "Ho there, adventurers! Do not worry about the children! I have saved them!" She turns to the three devils and snaps her fingers. "Patrol the area! Watch the skies! No demons will approach and live!" They respond immediately, teleporting across the neighborhood, in a rotating pattern. They occasionally look down at you in contempt.
These are bearded devils! Different than demons, they are Elite warriors in Hell’s legions, bearded devils—or barbazus—fight savagely in the name of their infernal lords and command mindless hordes of the damned into battle. They collect and train with their infernally forged glaives among the vaults of Hell’s third layer, Erebus, but inevitably return to the first layer, Avernus, to serve at the side of the dread lord Barbatos.
At attention, bearded devils stand over 6 feet tall (though their squatting battle stances often make them appear shorter) and weigh upward of 200 pounds.
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Vulpina nods at the man's explanation. "Find refuge and stay there," she advises, tearing off with the rest of the party to find the woman.
She smiles as she sees devils tearing demons to pieces. "Effective!" she praises. "We have been informed that the children have been evacuated already-- although with you protecting them, that may not have been entirely necessary. Have you any knowledge to the contrary? If not, I would be happy to double-check to ensure we have not been misinformed."
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The woman looks to Vulpina with a confused look. "The children are gone? Then.." Her disappointment leads into excitement. "Then I must be off! There are surely more children to save!" She pauses before snapping at the devils, looking at Wenjeff and responding in pure, unaccented Chelish. "If the citizens are so uneducated, perhaps they deserve a little fear! They should respect their Chelish saviours!'
Just then, group of local crusaders approaches, shouting angrily and protesting the presence of the fiends. They wave torches and long swords, "OYE! SHE-WITCH! HOW DARE YOU ALIGN WITH OUR ENEMIES! SUMMONING DEMONS TO THEIR AID! TIME TO DIE!" They approach, assuming you are on their side. When you object, they hesitate. One man, long red hair cascading out of his helmet, raises a gloved fist. "I don't want to hear it! If she's truly an ally, then she must dismiss her summoned demons!' It is obvious these crusaders don’t fully understand the difference between demons and devils, but they can tell the devils are under the Katrina’s command.
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The crusaders sheathe their swords, but still stand there, staring down the woman and her fiendish cohort. Their leader looks to the other five and gathers more courage. "Well, we were sent to defend this area! Not her! We won't work with her!" The chelish woman frowns and digs her feet into the dirt.
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The archer precises to the woman: Don't be fool. We are both chelish. We know that we don't need to be notice by others. If you remain here you could have problems. But your help is needed. You should go outside Nerosyan where you can use your magicals without problem. Or you might suffer of it remaining here.
Intimidate:
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The woman looks to you and nods, proud. "Excellent idea. These fools can guard the empty building. The name's Katrina Deckland, by the way. See you around." Spinning on her heel, she runs off - a cohort of devils behind her.
Just then, you see Venture Captain Jorsal approaching on horseback, at a gallop!
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Venture-Captain Jorsal approaches on horseback at a gallop, stopping mere feet away. The captain is visibly worn from the siege, but he still gives a quick smile and a polite bow of his head as he steadies his mount. “We’ve contained the demons within the city, but a new threat comes from the northwest. What we thought was the main army is merely the advance unit of a larger force that’s now on our doorstep. There must be thousands of the vile creatures in the host, but worst of all, they have brought siege weapons to their aid.” He takes a moment, looking off to the horizon. “The dreaded kakuen-taka, the swarm siege towers of the Abyss, now march on Nerosyan. As you’ve already proven yourselves quite capable, I need you to make your way to the northwestern ramparts and aid in putting Nerosyan’s own siege weapons to use. The crusaders are sending most of their troops out to battle the demonic towers before they can damage the walls, so every boulder and ballista bolt we loose against this horde will be an invaluable boon for those taking the battle to the heart of this Abyssal cohort.”
“I am sending our most experienced Pathfinders to engage the enemy commanders directly, and they will be relying on your support. Other agents will try to send you reinforcements, so stay alert.” With that, Jorsal steers his horse away and charges off to bring word to other Pathfinders in the city. You make your way to the city walls, where only a handful of crusaders stand ready. One senior officer approaches the group and directs you to a section of wall where there are not enough crusaders to properly operate the siege weapons. Four artillerists prepare the weapons and offer to remain with you to assist in their operation. The commander gives you basic instructions on how to fire and aim the weapons, and yells to you over the sound of battle. ”THAT BIG ONE THERE? THAT’S FOR THE ENEMY TOWERS! THOSE BIG NASTY BUGGERS! THE TWO LITTLE ONES? THOSE ARE FOR THE DEMON FILTH! GO CRAZY, WE GOT BUCKETS OF BOLTS!”[/B After this explanation, the commander departs to ready more Pathfinders arriving at the walls.
You have a few minutes to look at your equipment. The Huge siege weapon is a heavy ballista loaded with penetrating bolts coated in cold iron and oil of align weapon (good). A pulley system assists in loading a new bolt after every shot. The Large siege weapons are light ballistae that fire multiple bolts in a single shot. Dozens of ammo packs are scattered at the base of the weapons and can be readily loaded into the weapon when needed. These bolts are also cold iron.
So, to be clear. The Huge ballista takes four people standing next to it for five full rounds. The first shot is an exception, requiring only three rounds.
Each time the table successfully fires the Huge siege engine, the Table GM should signal a Courier or the HQ Staff by holding up one finger. As the lower subtier tables accumulate successes, the Overseer GM will announce their effects. The Large siege engines are meant to engage nearby threats, and the PCs can employ them against enemies on the ramparts. These siege engines require 1 full round to reload and can be fired as a standard action. Unlike with the Huge siege engine, which targets enemies beyond the ramparts, a PC firing a Large siege engine must make a ranged attack roll against a target. A successful hit deals 4d6 points of damage that overcomes damage reduction as a cold iron and good weapon.
After you have a chance to examine the area, you see the enemy beginning to swarm in your area! They’ll be coming soon!
Round 1
Wenjeff
Conney
Lady Vulpina
Yajima
Alrik
Denaria
4 NPC Artillerists 0 dmg
Huge Ballista 0 dmg 3 rounds remaining
Left Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining
Right Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining
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"What I would not give for a cannon right now!" groans Lady Vulpina as she looks between the ballistae and the horde below.
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Siege Weapon Firing Mechanics: Each weapon requires a crew to operate. The Huge siege weapon requires a crew of four (it’s currently crewed by four NPC artillerists), while the Large siege weapons only require a crew of 1. To load and fire a siege weapon takes a full-round action, and the character must be adjacent to the weapon. It takes 5 full rounds to load, aim, and fire a Huge siege engine, but because the weapon is already loaded when the PCs arrive, the first shot only takes 3 rounds to aim and fire. Each time the table successfully fires the Huge siege engine, the Table GM should signal a Courier or the HQ Staff by holding up one finger. As the lower subtier tables accumulate successes, the Overseer GM will announce their effects. The Large siege engines are meant to engage nearby threats, and the PCs can employ them against enemies on the ramparts. These siege engines require 1 round to reload and can be fired as a standard action. Unlike with the Huge siege engine, which targets enemies beyond the ramparts, a PC firing a Large siege engine must make a ranged attack roll against a target. A successful hit deals 4d6 points of damage that overcomes damage reduction as a cold iron and good weapon. No proficiency is required to use either ballista type.
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The four men begin to crank the large wheel back, pulling the rope taut.
A few dozen yards to your left a ladder hits the wall. Atop the ladder are two demons! Each is a tall, muscular humanoid with the head and hooves of a demonic goat. A ragged hide covers patches of their bodies, usually around the forearms and lower legs, with a crestlike patch running down from the creature’s crown to the nape of its neck. The demons are 7 feet tall, though they are stooped and so appear shorter. They hop off the ladders and swing their halberds in large arcs. They cut two peasants in half and stalk in your direction!
Just as you prepare to fight off the demons, an enormous fireball comes flying in from thousands of feet away! The lucky shot strikes the huge ballista! The wood is burnt but not broken, but two of the peasants are incinerated in the blast! The two remaining men look around frantically! "Help! We can't turn the crank on our own!"
Round 2
Wenjeff
Conney
Yajima
Alrik
Denaria
2 NPC Artillerists 0 dmg
Huge Ballista 25 dmg 2 rounds remaining
Left Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining
Right Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining
Purple Demon 0 dmg
Green Demon 0 dmg
Lady Vulpina
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Vulpina nods at the four crewmen, turning her back and moving to the left ballista. ”I should be able to manage this,” she says, lining it up with the wall.
Four becomes two, however, and she groans. ”Wenjeff, Denaria, one of you—we need a good shot on these smaller ballistae! Someone else help Conney, and the rest, keep the demons from breaking them or our crew!”
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Unable to reach the fight, Alrik mans the huge siege engine for the moment leaving the smaller more precise units for the others.
"It's all very well firing this huge bow but I'd rather be hitting things with my axe."
He looks longingly in the direction of Yajima and Hippocrates before looking hopefully in the other direction. Seeing nothing he returns his attention to the target.
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Yajima's brave charge collides with the demon with a sickening crunch, though the infernal protections seem to absorb part of the blow. Denaria, with a precise eye, sends an error into the demon's shoulder. (And one pinging over the edge of the wall into the streets below.) Denaria hears a deep voice in her mind, speaking in her native dialect. "Your arrows burn...So does my halberd..." The demon-goat smiles with malice.
Round 2
Wenjeff
Conney
Yajima
Alrik
Denaria
Lady Vulpina
2 NPC Artillerists 0 dmg
Huge Ballista 25 dmg 2 rounds remaining [Conney & Alrik]
Left Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining [Wenjeff?]
Right Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining [Lady Vulpina?]
Purple Demon 0 dmg
Green Demon 31 dmg
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Wenjeff's first arrow flies over the parapet but the second strikes true, sinking into the demon's flesh. His loyal steed follows up with a rake across the thing's chest, creating a small cut.
The two warriors crank on the ballista, pulling the rope back! With a resounding CLANK it falls into place. One man with fierce beard looks to Alrik. "OYE! PASS ME THE BOLT!" He points to the large bolt beside you, standing in a barrel.
The heavily wounded demon, that Yajima identified as a Schir, swings his rusty halberd around at the monk with both hands. The blade cuts along Yajima's chest, making a small cut. Though blood does not immediately pour from the shallow wound, you can see the area around the blow begin to darken...
From the rusted, diseased, blade you contract gray pox! A frightening disease that causes weakness, gray splotches on the skin, and eventual catatonia. Nothing seems to be affecting you...yet.
The second demon takes a large swing at Harpocrates, who easily deflects the swing with a talon.
Round 3
Wenjeff
Harpocrates
Conney
Yajima 29/34 HP
Alrik
Denaria
Lady Vulpina
2 NPC Artillerists 0 dmg
Huge Ballista 25 dmg 1 round remaining [Conney & Alrik]
Left Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining []
Right Ballista 0 dmg 1 round remaining []
Purple Schir 13 dmg
Green Schir 31 dmg