Trjega charges #1.
Catie Wolverines herself free of the net. Hooray!
Sarge puts down #3.
Katia turns her (very impressive) ire on #1.
Freyja forgets how to shoot.
Trjega charges #1, bites it, and latches the f~*+ on. Unfortunately, #1 immediately frees itself and turns tail to run.
Gorgon #2 (106 damage, unconscious)
Catie (53/113 hp, +4 AC, haste [7 rounds])
Sarge (129/133 hp, combat expertise)
Freyja (110/110
Trjega (63/76 hp, magic fang [claws], -2 AC [1 round])
Gorgon #1 (102 damage, unconscious)
Katia (57/57 hp, flying)
Warmaze Master #2 (81 damage, unconscious)
Warmaze Master #3 (92 damage)
Warmaze Master #1 (45 damage, -4 attack [9 rounds], fleeing)
Bold may act.
Catie and Trjega both ravage #1 as it flees, but it barely stays up.
Gorgon #2 (106 damage, unconscious)
Catie (53/113 hp, +4 AC, haste [7 rounds])
Sarge (129/133 hp, combat expertise)
Freyja (110/110
Trjega (63/76 hp, magic fang [claws], -2 AC [1 round])
Gorgon #1 (102 damage, unconscious)
Katia (57/57 hp, flying)
Warmaze Master #2 (81 damage, unconscious)
Warmaze Master #3 (92 damage)
Warmaze Master #1 (77 damage, -4 attack [9 rounds], fleeing)
Bold may act.
Katia's card catches the minotaur at the nape of its neck. Its momentum carries it forward a few more steps, and then it falls.
The minotaurs carried some lootz:
- 12x antitoxin
- 3x fire ward gel
- 6x frost ward gel
- 6x mwk throwing axe
- 6x net
- 9x potion of cure serious wounds
- 3x veterinarian's kit
- 3x +1 hide armor
- 3x mwk heavy steel shield
- 3x +1 warhammer
- 3x scent cloak
Over the next minute or so, the statues in this area slowly turn back to flesh and blood. They thank the party profusely, clearly overwhelmed with relief.
With the immediate threat taken care of, the guards begin work on reinforcing the ruined gate, doing the best they can with limited time and resources.
Sorting through the items, Sarge hands two vials each to Catie and Katia, and takes 2 for himself. "We have a surplus of the stronger curative potions, we should each have a few on hand for emergencies, ja?" He offers two of the vials to Freyja, as well.
Now that the threat is over, Catie takes a moment to catch her breath. She does so apart from the others, who are mingling with the civilians and accepting their thanks. She doesn't look very approachable at the best of times, but with the feral mutagen coursing through her veins, it's even worse.
After a few moments of speaking to people, she clears her throat and says to the party, "We should get back to Mayor Crawbert. I think he was trying to tell us something before these minotaurs so rudely interrupted."
|
Katia, having long since returned to the ground, hustles up to Catie. "Uh huh. Hold still." She begins vigorously wanding her ex.
Satisfied with the alchemist's improvement, she moves on to Trjega. She approaches hesitantly and mumbles "Nice kitty" before awkwardly tapping the cat with the wand.
After stepping a good distance away from Trjega (who probably gave her absolutely no reason to be afraid) she smooths the creases in her long, tattered skirt and nods curtly. "Okay, let's go talk to the mayor."
Catie nods, falling in step behind the others. As she walks, the last few wounds on her slowly stitch back together.
The party gets healed up and makes their way back to the eastern gate, where they last saw Crawbert. And, sure enough, he is still there, leading the inexperienced militia members and barely more experienced town guard against the battle-hardened Legion troops. Crawbert's natural leadership skills are on full display, as he pushes farmers and shopkeeps and seamstresses far beyond what anyone would have ever guessed capable. As you approach the gates, you see him take a hob's head clean off with his sword, knock another to the ground with his shield (which Elise, always at the mayor's side, finishes off with an axe to the throat), and turn to give orders to a guard commander, all with practiced ease and finesse. He is clearly singlehandedly holding morale together at this gate, and the defenders are giving as good as they are getting.
He sees you coming and waves you over, but, again, he is interrupted by the stupid opposing army doing something uncool. Shouts of "morlocks!" come from atop the city walls, mixed with screams of surprise and pain. As Crawbert turns to look up to the ramparts, several city guards are thrown over the edge, 30 feet to the ground below. Crawbert turns to the party. "Get up there!"
You can't see much from down here at ground level, but it is clear that the defenders on the ramparts are getting more than they can handle with the morlocks. You remember from your previous encounters with morlocks that they can swarm . You wouldn't expect a bunch of morlocks to give the guards any more trouble than hobs or bugbears, so you're unsure right now why things seem to be going poorly.
Troop (0 damage)
Morlock caster (0 damage)
Catie (113/113 hp)
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, magic fang [claws])
Katia (57/57 hp)
Sarge (133/133 hp)
Bold may act.
Catie rushes toward the stairs to get up to the ramparts as quickly as she can.
Sarge is too old for this running up stairs shit. He pops Catie's extract off his belt and chugs it, then takes to the air, drawing his blade as he awkwardly tries to maneuver himself.
Freyja points at Catie. "Defend!"
Then she starts running to the stairs, jealous of all the flying folks.
Trjega jogs alongside these slowpokes.
The morlocks kill some more dudes.
Troop (0 damage)
Morlock caster (0 damage)
Catie (113/113 hp)
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, magic fang [claws])
Katia (57/57 hp, flying)
Sarge (133/133 hp, flying)
Bold may act.
Catie hustles up the stairs, then stops, considers, and downs an extract.
Sarge flies right up to the big bad and slaps him in the face. Hard. With his sword. The sharp part.
Freyja charges up the stairs, then up to the top of the opposite tower from the morlocks, giving herself an advantageous vantage point.
She points at Sarge. "Defend!"
Trjega rushes past Catie and launches herself at Sarge's target.
The troop sees Katia's attack coming and, with dizzying speed, open up a gap in their formation that the cone of fire erupting from her hands fills a split second later. Plenty of morlocks on the edges of the gap are burnt to a smelly crisp, but Katia knows it could have been much worse .
The gap in the troop immediately refills, however, as dozens of morlocks crawl over the dead like they are not even there. They surround and engulf Katia, and she feels the tearing and puncturing of hundreds of teeth and claws. It's uncomfortable .
The caster easily swats away both Sarge's sword strike and Trjega's bite, but Sarge can see in its eyes that it knows that these newcomers are trouble compared to the mook guards they had been murdering a few seconds before. It holds Sarge and Trjega at bay with its morningstar while it whispers a quick incantation, and then the entire rampart is enveloped in darkness. Sarge and Trjega can hear it moving away from them, but they have no idea where it went.
Troop (27 damage)
Morlock caster (0 damage)
Catie (113/113 hp, fiendishly wrathed)
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, magic fang [claws])
Katia (36/57 hp, flying)
Sarge (133/133 hp, flying)
Bold may act.
Catie, snarling with the vile magic coursing through her blood, leaps into melee with the giant morlock, completely ignoring the magical darkness around her as she tries to rip its flesh with her horrific fangs.
Cursing at the sudden darkness, Sarge reconsiders, then hustles up the stairs to his east to aid Katia instead.
Freyja calls Trjega back to her; she knows the lynx can't see in total darkness and wants to keep her out of harm's way.
Fortunately, when the caster moved away, it exposed the troop to Freyja's wrath; she rains down hell.
Trjega freezes in surprise when the light goes away, but then she hears her master calling her, and bolts toward the sound of it.
The claws and teeth continue to tear at Katia until she is out of their reach . Sarge and Freyja get immediate revenge, however, felling an incredible number of morlocks in a matter of seconds. The remaining morlocks come to their senses and disperse . Sarge takes a few more down as they flee.
The caster notices the troop's utter destruction and spits what you can only assume is a curse.
While it is distracted for a split second, Catie opens a nice gash across its arm, and it hisses in pain. To its credit, it stands and bangs with Catie. It reaches out, touches Catie on her arm, and whispers an incantation, staring Catie in the eye and grinning a fanatical grin the entire time.
Its grin fades as Catie resists the hell out of the spell. Her skin momentarily blackens and she feels pain course through her, but the morlock's expression tells you it should have been much worse .
Troop (89 damage, dispersed)
Morlock caster (7 damage)
Catie (105/113 hp, fiendishly wrathed)
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, magic fang [claws])
Katia (36/57 hp, flying)
Sarge (133/133 hp, flying)
Bold may act.
Catie's grin is almost feral as she opens her fanged mouth and whispers hoarsely, "My turn."
With the horde of morlocks dispersed, Sarge has no recourse but to hop into the air, bank slightly north, and fly directly into the darkness. He nearly topples over when he bumps into the big morlock, but at least he knows where it is now.
Freyja calls into the darkness. "Guys! I can't see it!"
Catie tears the morlock's chest into bloody ribbons. Sarge rushes headlong into the dark. He feels the business end of a giant morningstar pass through the space his head had been a moment before, then crashes into the morningstar's wielder. His wild sword swing misses badly.
Then it screams in defiance and swings twice at Catie, but both miss.
Troop (89 damage, dispersed)
Morlock caster (7 damage)
Catie (105/113 hp, fiendishly wrathed)
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, magic fang [claws])
Katia (36/57 hp, flying)
Sarge (133/133 hp, flying)
Bold may act.
Catie goes ham on that mofo.
Sarge calls back, "Nein, I cannot see it either! I suppose... fire just above my voice?" It's more likely to net him an arrow in the back of the head than in the enemy, but he doesn't know what else to offer her.
It ded. So ded.
The caster falls, but the darkness persists.
With the morlocks down, there is a lull in the fighting. The guards on the ramparts, visibly relieved, continue to fire arrows down on hobs outside the gates, but for now, you have a moment to catch your breath.
Mayor Crawbert comes up the stairs behind you. He can see the remains of the morlock troop, but the caster is hidden from him in the darkness aura. Still, he can see that this fight barely caused the party to break a sweat. "That was weird. Was that weird? Does Kosseruk have nothing stronger? Why wouldn't she have sent those morlocks as part of another offensive? She has to know you all are here and would wipe the floor with a handful of morlocks." He pauses for a few moments, a confused look on his face.
He looks out on the fields beyond the wall and Kosseruk's camp beyond. The fields are still overrun with hobgoblins and other creatures. "What I was trying to say before was that we -- er, you -- need to bring that tower down before more reinforcements come. But a direct assault is suicide, even if you all have weakened her forces." He looks to the sky. "Dawn is in a few hours. If she pulls her army back again, maybe you will have a chance then? In any case, heal up and get some food and some rest. We can handle things here for now. We will call for you if it gets dire again."
Catie plucks up the morningstar and wraps it up in her cloak. The aura of darkness immediately vanishes.
She ceases concentrating on the anger burning through her, and with a few deep breaths, it finally begins to recede after about a minute. Her jagged fangs shrink back down, and the claws simply become brittle and shatter, falling to the ground in small paper-weak chunks of dead nail. Surprisingly, it leaves her actual nails neatly trimmed and healthy.
Sarge, unaware the morlock is dead, hacks into empty air after it falls, then steps forward and kicks with his boot. The body he hits doesn't react, so he backs up slightly, blade still raised defensively. The sudden influx of torchlight makes him flinch and blink. He sees Catie swaddle the morningstar and nods. "Good thinking, fraulein."
When Crawbert comes up and expresses his concerns, Sarge rubs his bestubbled chin thoughtfully. "It could be she is running out of specialists to throw at us. That would be good news, were it not for the fact that she has a seemingly endless horde of foot soldiers. We can only do so much, ja? We will rest and make an attempt at the tower at dawn. I am pleased that tonight went better than last, however. It is good for morale." He nods to the ladies and excuses himself to get help exiting his plate mail.
Catie snorts. "You should talk. You're covered in blood."
She puts a hand to the side of Katia's neck, where the unhealed wounds are worst, and rubs her unique, foul-smelling salve into the wounds, which tingle and burn as they rapidly seal up.
She slaps a little onto her own wound, which does the same thing.
"Now that that's done, we should take the mayor's advice and get some sleep." She opens her mouth, as if to say something else, then snaps it shut, glad the overly pink hue of her skin masks her flushed cheeks.
Catie gives her a pained look, then sets her jaw. "And how would that end any better than last time?"
There is an agonizingly long silence between them, during which Catie has time to regret the harsh retort. "Look," she says, trying to be as soft as she can, "I appreciate that you still find me attractive. Gods know I feel the same way about you. But you... don't settle down. It's not in your nature. I do. Or, I plan to, anyway. I want someone who wants the same thing as me. Anything else would just be wasting both our time. Besides," she adds with an awkward arm slap, "I'm your doctor. There's gotta be some kind of bylaw against that."
After another moment of no response from the witch, Catie sighs. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." With a sinking ball of iron in the pit of her stomach, Catie turns away from Katia and heads back toward the inn.
|
|
Katia feels like she's been punched in the gut. Is that really all she is? Some femme fatale to woo strangers into her bed for a little fun and nothing more? Once upon a time she'd loved Catie. But fear had made her pull away, fear of caring for someone deeply enough that their betrayal could hurt her. The way Father's betrayal had hurt. The way Dellan's flight from home had hurt. The way Mother's death had hurt. The way that vile old man Father had sold her to had hurt.
Is she never going to feel connected to anyone again? Ever?
As bowstrings sing behind her, the soldiers of the battlements waging an all-out war at her back, she stares into the long, grim shadows of the self-titled city before her, unmoving, as night carries on around her.
Freyja briefly considers pretending she didn't just hear what happened between Katia and Catie, but she sees the distress on Katia's face and reconsiders. She walks up to Katia, takes her arm, and says, "Come on." She leads Katia away from the walls and toward the inn. She is silent for a while, deep in thought.
Sympathy? Or tough love? I didn't think this through! She looks at the carnage around her and the din of battle in the distance and sighs quietly to herself. Tough love it is.
She stops and pulls Katia to the side and takes her hands. "Katia. Look around us. I love you and I am sorry, but now is not the time to complicate what is clearly already a complicated situation. I understand. You are scared. I am scared too. This whole thing is f#~+ed." Her eyes begin to tear up but she angrily blinks them away. NO! Not now! "But we can get through it together if we don't distract each other. We need you, Katia. You have come back from your coma with a fire in your eyes that wasn't there before. We need that. Are you with us?"
Oh gods I hope I chose right.
|
|
Katia seems to collapse a little under Freyja's words, but eventually, she nods numbly. She hasn't felt this foolish since her school years, when she told Accio Tasmana that she fancied him and in response, he made fun of her frizzy hair. She'd decked him, of course, and vowed to never let a man make her feel stupid again.
She hadn't banked on a woman doing it.
When they reach the inn, she gives Freyja's shoulder a small squeeze. "Goodnight," she mumbles, and makes her way upstairs.
She flops down on her bed, and without a single conscious thought her Harrow deck is in her hands. She stares at the ceiling as she absently shuffles the deck, until eventually sleep offers her respite from her brain, the cards splayed almost artfully across her stomach.
When she wakes, they are no longer on top of her, but rather in a neat stack on her bedside table. She has long since ceased questioning the strange events that surround her deck.
Sarge's head barely has a chance to hit the pillow before he is shaken awake. Though it feels like it has been mere minutes, the sunlight streaming through the window tells a different story. Sarge looks up to see who has awoken him and sees Elise, who says, "Reinforcements. Hundreds, and they keep pouring out of that damned tower. And it's after sunrise, but they keep coming." Her face and demeanor are calm, but her eyes tell the real story: things are bad and the party is needed. Once she is certain Sarge is awake, she says, "I'll get the others up," and hurries out of the room.
A similar scene plays out in three more rooms.
Sarge blearily rubs his face, nods, and hustles out of the room to wake the others before recruiting someone to help him put his armor back on. "Let us see what all this ruckus is about, ja?"
Once everyone is dressed, he leads them off toward the main gate.