"Are we heading to the Golden Garrison of Greed now?" West asks.
"Sure! We need to cleanse the shrines as soon as possible," Kallie agrees. "I hope Old Haanshu and Mr. Patch haven't been taken in by the traitors. It could get messy."
The great feline form continued along as Galatea talked.
”I don’t know if I can. Or…I don’t know if I want to…” he added as his eyes stared forward at a point in the distance, his pace increasing just enough for he and Thalanir to pull away a bit from Galatea.
"Ms. Patch, actually. Karrigan is a woman," West clarifies. She and East promptly lead you to the northern complex, which is far more imposing than the jailhouse to the south.
The Golden Garrison of Greed is a rather apt name for the place. Its most obvious feature is a massive gate about twenty feet in length that prevents any passage upriver. The gate is made of golden bars, each one adorned in twisting runes and pictures of peacocks. Most of you could only fit your arm through the bars, but this also means the waters can flow through the gate without issue. Two bridges (one to the north and one to the south) connect the two halves of the fortress.
As you approach the Golden Garrison, you soon hear a raspy, gravelly but still distinctly feminine voice call out to you.
"Hey, you two! What's going on here? Who are they?" You all get a gut feeling that the unseen woman is talking to West and East specifically. Somewhere on the western side of the fortress' southern bridge, you hear snorting coming from an arrow slit.
"Hello, Karrigan! These fine folks are Hira Dos' entourage," West replies professionally. "Lady Dos recently returned from her mission."
"...And where exactly is Hira Dos?" More snorting.
"Uh..." West says, looking through your ranks. Unable to spot Hira, she turns to Kallie for an explanation.
"That's classified," Kallie says bluntly. "She's on a special mission. But regardless, we're here to settle the dispute between you and Old Haanshu. It's gone on long enough."
She leans in toward the arrow slit to whisper to the snout. "Haanshu or his gobbos aren't listening, are they? I don't want it getting back to the bugbear that our orders are to side with Patch."
"They aren't. Not if we speak at this volume, anyway," Karrigan says. More snorting. "Still, good ta hear Her Eminence finally sent some people ta help us with those potion-sniffing thieves! On that note, just who are you folks? As snakes-for-brains over there said, I'm Karrigan."
Leaning in to speak quietly, Croq confides, "Potion-sniffing thieves is right! Her Eminence tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but she's learned that they have intentionally corrupted the shrine and perverted its function. They don't know that Her Eminence is onto them yet but they are wiley so time is of the essence here.
"She needs you to attack them by surprise and take them all out. We're here to make sure her will is carried out faithfully, and can aid you, though I haven't personally worked this area since the traitors got their toehold, so I'll need you to show us on a map where they are, and where their primary targets might be. Then, it's all about demonstrating to Her Eminence who are the Truly Great ones in her employ, who deserve the greatest rewards. Are you ready for the challenge?"
"We're here to offer support as well," Kallie adds hastily. "If you think you need it, obviously. Personally, I'd just love a chance to watch the Karrigan Patch in action, but it'd be a greater honor to fight alongside her."
Jaya tries to stay out of the way, the questions she has for Cai'nan, or regarding Karrigan's part in these schemes rather too blunt not to interfere with Kallie's wiles.
"Alright. Come on inside, and we'll speak face-ta-face," Karrigan says. "You'll have ta leave the serpent outside, though. It's too cramped in here for them!"
A moment later, a wereboar opens the front door for you and ushers you inside. Put simply, you quickly discovered that the place is a pigsty. For example, the wereboars have literally made the entrance room their garbage dump. The smell is almost unbearable (or actually is outright if you have an enhanced sense of smell). Mold has started to cover the gilded furniture and walls.
Thankfully, the barracks where Karrigan meets with you are somewhat more tolerable.
"In case you don't know the full details, Haanshu and his goons stole an heirloom of ours: a fancy pair a' magic armbands. Glad ta hear Zurea actually took my grievances seriously! I figured she was too obsessed with inspecting that fancy golden peacock statue of hers," Karrigan explains. She pauses for a moment before adding, "Say, what exactly did Haanshu do ta it ta warrant Zurea sending so much firepower ta help us?"
In the meanwhile, one of Karrigan's kin provides you with a general map of the Golden Garrison, albeit with the details one room missing.
Before heading inside, Cai’nan takes an opportune moment when the lit hosts are not focused on him to use a spell to shrink the snake into a small figurine, which he tucks away within his armor on his forelegs.
Once inside, he lets out a low, frustrated growl at the smell, but otherwise remains near the edge of the room, quietly watching.
Cai’nan's actions put a strain on Kallie's concentration, but she's determined to ignore him in favor of the mission.
She shakes her head with forced disappointment at news of the the theft by the hobgoblins. "Theft amongst allies. See, it's gotten worse than we've already feared. The Shrines have been corrupted. We're still trying to figure out how far up this goes, but the evidence so far is bad. We have to shut them all down so they can be purged of the corruption. Tell me: where is the closest shrine? Not with Haanshu, is it? Since if it is... that's your answer, right there."
"...It's on his side of the fort," Karrigan grumbles. She takes a moment to look over you and your allies. "Alright, I've got a score ta settle with Haanshu, so I'll accompany y'all myself. However, the hallways are pretty narrow here, about two people wide. There're also lots of smaller choke points.
"To avoid traffic jams, I'm thinking we keep my people in reserve. I mean, y'all brought two medusas and two big armored tigers. That alone should tear through Haanshu's goons. Throw in your two were-warriors and... I'm guessing the other three of you are mages? Old Haanshu's a very dead bugbear."
Kallie's mouth twists for a moment when the mercenary wereboars decide to let she and her friends do the fighting. Typical. Well, at least Karrigan's willing to lift her blade.
"Yeah, it'll get crowded down there, I'd imagine." She reaches out to clasp hands with the wereboar leader. "Glad at least you're coming with us. We'll let you get the first crack at Haanshu to settle that score. Just tell your people to stay alert and be ready to cheer us all when we come out with the bugbear's head on a pike." She smirks
Aurealia follows the others, smart enough to let Kallie and Croq do the talking. Besides, she's fighting back her gagging at the smell of the place, and rather distracted.
Acknowledging the cramped spaces, Cai’nan lets out another low growl. His body begins to shift, shrinking in stature and form. He raises up onto his hind legs, his fur giving way to crimson scales. His feet and hands end in dark, obsidian claws. His eyes glow with an inner, unsettling menace. His slender tail becomes more reptilian, flicking back and forth in anticipation of the hunt.
Jaya's typical abjurations have already been settled upon her in a protective mantle, so with the sand flowing on those workings, she is eager to rejoin battle.
Cai'nan's new form isn't any less human, but it still feels less like him in some nebulous fashion. "Just superstition though. Krodha was friendly and warm, even devoted."
Croq gives a toothy crocodile grin, singing a new Good Hope onto her allies (including Cheshire, her loyal friends the medusae, and her new wereboar friend...and even Cai'nan's snake, if it can get a tail close enough for the blessing).
Then she hops back on her carpet and surfs on in. Just as the group readies to open the door, Croquelle starts to Rock!
After some additional discussion, it's determined that you will attack from the north, while Karrigan and the medusae will circle around and attack from the south. Given how limited space will be, Galatea decides to have Cheshire "protect" Karrigan and reinforce the south, where she'll likely have more "elbow" room. Before sending the tigress with the leader of the wereboars, Gali casts a couple buffs on her animal companion for good measure.
Shortly after kicking the door open, Karrigan charges in with her twin short swords already drawn. Not seeing Old Haanshu present, she growls in frustration and moves to attack the nearest hobgoblin instead. Unfortunately, she ends up tripping on the table in the center of the room. While she manages to avoid toppling over, her swing misses by a country mile!
Cai’nan lowers his head and lets out a screech before rushing the one to his left . He leaps upon it with primal savagery, trying to sink tooth and claw into it!
__________
All of Cai'nan's attacks easily hit their mark. However, instead of tearing the hobgoblin to ribbons, Cai'nan quickly discovers all his attack encountering serious resistance. It's also like he's trying to carve into solid stone or metal...
Jaya peers down the corridor and sends a single bead of fire flying just into the open door behind the hobgoblins, ripping through their ranks in a sudden fiery explosion!
As the smoke clears from Jaya's fireball, Kallie first looks to see if the hobgoblins are still alive. If it seems they still have fight left in them, she targets the one in the back with unnatural lust for the one in front of him. If the spell takes hold, she sends the residual energy to the one next to him, compelling him to embrace the hobgoblin in front of him.
Aurealia moves up and sweeps the feet out from under one of the hobgoblins, proceeding to stab it as it bounces off the floor.
One of the hobgoblins dodges the worst of Jaya's fireball. The other three take the full brunt of the fiery blast. However, you quickly discover that hobgoblins naturally resist fire apparently?
Kallie's spell doesn't take hold at all, though she gets the feeling that this is just a standard (if frustrating) instance of her target powering through and shrugging off the magic. Meanwhile, Aurealia easily trips her opponent. However, much like with Cai'nan, she discovers that attacking the hobgoblin is like attacking a boulder and encounters significant resistance to her strike.
Croq surfs in over her sibling's head and attacks the one Aurelia just tripped, giving them a mighty whack with drumstick. As she does, she continues to sing out a rousing battlesong.
Called from the afterlife by Croq's electrifying battlesong, Sir Roderic manages to land a hit on the downed hobgoblin, only to discover that hobgoblins are apparently immune to negative energy too?! Even the mighty Drumstick proves unable to fully punch through the hobgoblins' unusual resilience. Still, the sheer solidness of Croq's hit leaves a nasty welt on her foe's head.
East and West charge in after Karrigan. Following Kallie's orders polite recommendations, they unleash their petrifying gaze on the hobgoblin that Karrigan isn't actively targeting. A second later, an eerily realistic hobgoblin statue takes his place...
Galatea hustles after the melee crew and then casts a spell on the least injured hobgoblin. She lets out a silent cheer as she sees her target begin to frantically pat his eyes and then panic. Meanwhile, Cheshire rushes into the southern room after Karrigan. Under orders to protect the wereboar, she zeroes in on the unpetrified hobgoblin who is clearly threatening the life of the nice boar lady and bites into his arm, only to discover that she might as well be biting into a tree trunk.
The hobgoblins who aren't blind quickly rush into action. Drawing their weapons, two focus on Cai'nan, while the prone one attacks Croq in retaliation. They manage to draw blood against both.
The surviving southern hobgoblin attacks Karrigan, but her armor absorbs the hit.
A creature resembling a cross between a werewolf and a bugbear steps out of the northeastern room. The things that stand out about him the most are his piercing red eyes and his leather apron full of alchemical tools and materials. He frowns upon seeing the sorry state of his men.
"Miss Patch put you up this, didn't she?" the creature you presume to be Old Haanshu says with a sigh. He nonchalantly casts a spell on his warriors. "Even if you defeat us, you do realize that she'll just backstab you, yes?"
Karrigan unleashes her full fury against the unpetrified hobgoblin. Most of her attacks are nullified by her foe's unusual resilience, but she doesn't seem to care. After all, with Cheshire and the medusae backing her, her victory is all but assured.
Cai’nan continues to savagely rip at the hobgoblin he is fighting, trying to get a firm grip on it to more easily rip it to shreds!
__________
Jaya sighs. Evocation through such defenses was functional, but these foes scarcely seemed worth that kind of effort. Still, that didn't mean she had to watch, or allow this lowly fiend to attempt to shift the battle in his favor.
Kallie grits her teeth and fumes as her spell is thrown off. Sloppy. Should be taking this more seriously, she chides herself.
The resistances the hobgoblins are showing are too powerful for normal abjurations, she surmises.
Gripping her rod of bouncing spell to augment her magic, waits to see if any of the goblins resist the blinding effects of Jaya's glitterdust.
Old Haanshu grunts in annoyance as he gets covered in glitter dust. However, he manages to close his red eyes at the last second and avoids being blinded. Meanwhile, only one of his soldiers appears to be blinded by Jaya's magic.
Aurealia sidesteps and snakes her polearm around Cai'nan to trip another of the hobgoblins, stabbing it as it hits the floor.
Frustrated by their resilience, Croq channels all of her rage into two powerful blows.
Meanwhile, the spirits of the Roderics continue to wail in time to her song, despite the hobgoblins' unnatural resilience.
Aurealia easily trips the barely alive hobgoblin near Cai'nan and then swiftly stabs her foe in the neck. He drops like a sack of potatoes and begins bleeding out. Meanwhile, Croq lands another solid hit on her opponent, but he barely manages to withstand it. Frustrated, Croq really throws her back into her second swing, which utterly pulverizes the hobgoblin's head!
The door to the southeastern room bursts open, and three more hobgoblins shuffle into the northern barracks. They aren't as heavily armored as the ones you've been fighting, and like their boss, each one is also wearing an apron filled with various alchemical reagents and tools. Speaking of whom, they look to him for orders.
"Target the lizard!" Old Haanshu instructs them, clearly seeing Croq as the biggest threat present.
In just a couple seconds, the trio mix quickly together multiple cocktails of what's clearly some very volatile chemicals. They then hurl the stuff straight at Croq. The drummer screams in alarm as each one manages to hit her...
Karrigan's opponent is rather anticlimatically turned into another garden ornament. The wereboar leader lets out a slightly frustrated sigh at her kill being stolen, but she nonetheless rolls with it. The medusae themselves move to reinforce the north, though they refrain from opening the door so that Karrigan can lead the charge.
Moving closer so she can heal you if necessary, Galatea casts a spell on Old Haanshu, but he pretty easily shrugs it off. The 'bugbear' frowns, clearly and easily recognizing what Gali just tried to cast. To the south, without any obvious enemies nearby, Cheshire just searches for any possible danger to the nice boar lady she's been asked to protect.
More hobgoblin warriors enter the fray, two to the north and one to the south. The one to the south moves to confront Cheshire. Meanwhile, the two to the north move to hold the line against your melee fighters. You now understand why Karrigan, for all her obvious contempt for Old Haanshu, refrained from outright attacking his forces; they (did) outnumber hers about 2-to-1!
The wall of hobgoblins take swings at Croq and Cai'nan. The blinded swordsman misses Cai'nan by a country mile, while the other's swing bounces off his thick armor. However, Croq ends up taking a nasty gash across the leg!
"How about you four Slow down and cease this foolishness?" Old Haanshu says as he casts another spell, this time on Galatea, Aurealia, Cai'nan, and Croq.
Galatea briefly flinches but ultimately shrugs off the magic.
"Deal with that mook, kitty!" Karrigan orders Cheshire before moving to open the door to the northern barracks. She grins wickedly upon seeing two dead hobgoblins and then Old Haanshu seemingly backed into a corner. Even though there's a hobgoblin in her way, you can tell that she plans to carve through him to reach her nemesis.
"Do you really think Zurea is going to overlook your betrayal, Patch?!" Old Haanshu growls. Initially, he keeps his composure. However, you can see his red eyes widen in fear as he sees West peaking over Karrigan's shoulder...
Croq hisses in crocodillian rage as her hide gets burnt and blistered, but she manages to turn a shoulder against the worst of it, and to shrug off Old Haanshu's witchery.
"Ha! YOU are the traitor. Why do you think we're assaulting you? Those who stand against you will be rewarded by her emminence! And it's not too late for your soldiers to denounce your treachery and come to our side!"
As she banters, Croq attempts to surf over the heads of her foes, closer to Old Haanshu herself.
Growing more and more frustrated, Cai’nan continues trying to tear his way through this front line, starting with the one on the end of the line.
Aurealia lashes out at the most wounded enemy with her hook, trying to finish the job Croq started.
Cai'nan viciously tears into his blinded opponent but finds his unnatural resilience difficult to overcome. Meanwhile, Croq manages to nearly down her foe thanks to two solid hits, one of which near caves in the soldier's head. Aurealia seizes this opportunity and successfully neutralizes the badly wounded hobgoblin by stabbing him in the neck after tripping him!
This could take a while. Let's sow a little chaos, Kallie thinks, pulling three nutshells out of her spell component pouch and casting a spell, adding a portion of her power to boost its strength. Putting the epicenter of her spell directly upon Old Haanshu, a burst of mentally confounding magics wash over most of the hobgoblins.
Still loath to expend too many resources on such foes, even bolstered as they clearly were, Jaya instead reaches up to empower Aurealia, briefly unlocking the Wrath within her soul.
Kallie's potent magic swiftly decimates the ranks of Old Haanshu's forces, including the big boss himself. All of sudden, professional discipline gives way to mass confusion and bewilderment. Karrigan's red eyes widen in shock.
"What's going on?" West asks the wereboar leader.
"...I think your centaur friend just broke their brains," Karrigan mutters.
Kallie's medusae buddies promptly start cheering on their best friend.
One of the hobgoblins... bombardiers (that seems like an apt name for them in your mind) is left unable to do more but stand around like a buffoon and babble incoherently. The other one, though, manages to focus his mind momentarily. Turning to his unaffected companion, they quickly reach the same conclusion.
The duo swiftly mix together several cocktails of what Croq just learned is some very volatile stuff and then hurl everything directly at Kallie. Miraculously, the enchantress' magical defenses withstand each and every attack. However, three of the explosions end up causing a bunch of splash damage that threatens to catch Jaya in its midst!
the medusae scream in alarm after seeing a barrage of bombs fly toward the best buddy Kallie.
Somehow, the babbling hobgoblin they target resists joining the statue collection.
Galatea curses under her breath and moves to heal Croq's burns.
"Woah!" she cries in surprise at the sheer potency of the spell.
Meanwhile, Cheshire lunges at the hobgoblin before her. One of the tigress' paw swings goes wide, but the rest of her teeth and claws land solid hits. However, to her frustration, Cheshire finds her damage heavily blunted once again.
Kallie's spell leaves the remaining hobgoblins in the north room unable to meaningfully act. Meanwhile, the warrior to the south desperately tries to attack the big, scary tigress tearing him to pieces. However, Cheshire's defenses, both mundane and magical, easily block his attacks.
Old Haanshu stands in place like a buffoon and starts babbling incoherently.
Karrigan unleashes a whirlwind of attacks against the bumbling hobgoblin bombardier in front of her. This time, she embraces the power of Croq 'n Roll, which greatly augments her strikes. However, her opponent's unnatural resilience really takes the sting out of her strikes. Still, you can tell that she plans to carve a path regardless straight to her nemesis...
Aurealia hops up on to the bed and whirls her polearm above Cai'nan's head to attack the hobgoblin closest to the wall, trying to sweep its feet.
Aurealia easily trips the blinded hobgoblin, sending him tumbling to the ground. As the grunt falls, Aurealia's polearm leaves a nasty gash in his side. Even with his unnatural resistance, it doesn't look like the blinded goon is long for this word.
Cai’nan lets out a screech and again lunges atop the hobgoblin at the end of the line. He sinks his claws and teeth deep into its flesh, their sharp points sinking deep into arteries. Blood sprays wildly across the immediate area!
He stands up atop the fallen corpse, letting out a battle screech that sounds ravenously unsettling.
___________
Gali's magic washes over her, and Croquelle is restored to full health. Croq continues to belt out a Glorious Song of Battle, while turning to the next standing hobgoblin and battering them with Drumstick.
Croq lands two solid hits against the nearest standing hobgoblin. While the warrior's unnatural resilience blunts some of the damage, the sheer power behind Drumstick still leaves him noticeably injured. The hobgoblin immediately focuses on Croq with a mad gaze, and he quickly readies his blade to attack her.
Scorched by the hobgoblin's return fire, Jaya simply vanishes.
Kallie's magic results in mass disarray among the hobgoblin bombardiers. One of them starts throwing bombs at his own boss, one of which leaves Old Haanshu slightly burned. Another throws explosives at Karrigan, but she largely shrugs off the one explosive that hits her. The hobgoblin bombardier with his wits still about him panics and decides to just attack Cai'nan (aka the big, scary dinosaur who just ripped his friend to shreds). However, his panicked aim causes him to miss throws.
Another two statues quickly join the ever growing collection...
Galatea vanishes from sight once again. Meanwhile, to the south, Cheshire continues to relentlessly attack the hobgoblin warrior before her. A barrage of teeth and claws leaves him badly wounded, but to Cheshire's dismay, the guy simply refuses to die! Enraged, Cheshire quickly pins him down to make sure her foe won't just run away.
The surviving hobgoblin warriors attack Croq and Cheshire, the first driven by madness and the second by fear. The first warrior manages to slice Croq along the shin. However, with the power of Croq n' Roll constantly healing her... Meanwhile, Cheshire's foe gets within a hair of actually hurting her, but Gali's protective wards hold strong.
Old Haanshu snarls and quickly lashes out at the treacherous subordinate who dared attack him!
"Finally. I've been waiting for this chance for weeks!" Karrigan says as she steps into the northern room...
The path to their leader now clear, Cai’nan lowered his head and raised his foreclaws before letting out a menacing screech and lunging at the bombardier in the back, the one clearly calling the shots.
——————
Falling further into her raging frenzy, Croq barely pays attention to who she's swinging at.
Her first mighty swing hits the ceiling, and she barely manages to not drop it. Her crocodile teeth grate together at the shock but she keeps on swinging, undeterred.