Firas scowls and scans the room for a moment before eventually hanging his head in frustration. He wipes the demonic blood from his blade and sheaths it, then kneels down beside George and searches his person for his healing wand.
After Firas channel, and all these healing we should be:
Tetsu 57
George Full
Coop 57
Firas Full from Fey Foundling.
I have lots of Oracle CLW, so after the enervation wears off I should be able to top everyone off.
After taking some time to heal, there are still bodies littering the broken chapel as well as the foul malaise of the desecration magic. Outside, all seems quiet and normal.
"Good to see you back on your feet, George, and thank you for the healing."
Turning to tetsu he bows, "I apologize. In my bloodlust for the demon I was remiss in my protection. Please forgive me."
Firas helps Coop finish carrying out and burying the bodies, doing his best (which to recall the Sarenrae funeral rites.
Afterwards he spends time cleaning the chapel, making up for the lack to proper tools with brute force and determination.
"If we still possess a scroll to reconsecrate this place, I would ask that we do so," Firas asks of George.
Each of contributes the best we can. Just glad your new blade was able to hit so well. George looks around the chapel after the bodies are removed.
This is it. Last one, until we resupply. Before the duo came in I noticed that this place is fouler than the Citadel. That was just vandalized. This has been deliberately desecrated. Undead clerics have been praying, conducting services and probably rededicated this hall to their master. It would be best if we took a few hours to manually clean, repair and probably pray before I use the scroll. The more foulness we can remove, the less the magic has to overcome. That should give allow more spiritual energy to bring it back to the light.
Assuming we are able to put in some labor time, George will use the scroll. The Church on Cumberland Road is ready for service.
Tetsu looks at Firas, her voice still that same otherwordly sound. It is not your job to protect the girl. That is mine so your apology is not warranted. I left her to her own devices to see if she could step up and take care of herself but my actions were obviously ill-timed, so for now, she sleeps and I am in command.
She then turns and starts helping to clean up the shrine.
Firas looks around again, but is confident that beyond the cache George had previously found, there is nothing else to be discovered.
The group then spends a few hours clearing and cleaning the place, to make it presentable again and make a small dent in the ruin that had been wrought.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET BACK TO THE CAMP."
Coop utilizes a consecrate scroll and is able to dispel the desecrate effect, clearing the foulness from the chapel. Now the temple stands and a silent monument to times past.
With the temple resanctified, Firas bows and gives one last prayer then turns to leave with the others.
The group heads back down to meet up with the Knights. As they arrive there is a lot of commotion in the camp. One of the scouts sees you and approaches.
"There was a group of demons that teleported into our midst and attacked. They managed to injure many of the knights and even kill a couple, but they have been defeated. Folks are pitching in healing magic and supplies to aid in the recovery, so we can get everyone back on their feet quickly."
Coop nods wearily.
"HAD SOME OF THAT OURSELVES. FULL OF TRICKS, THEY ARE."
The paladin found his healing blessings had been exhausted for the day as he attempted to lay his hands on a wounded soldier, but he turns to George.
"I can wield one of those wands if it will make for faster work."
Before George can reply his eyes go wide and opaque as he scans the area for further evil lurking about.
Ahhh. We got the infernal healing and those potions we found. And with this army I don't want to try the wand.
George will try to gather information while he plays soothing music on a small drum. Seeing if this was the same group of demons that showed up late to the chapel. After getting things more calm, he tracks down the rest of the group. Looking to see that they are alone.
Strange timing, I think. The first time we leave the camp, they get jumped. Demons that could have come at any time. If, and I hate to say it, someone is communicating with the demons, they could easily have gotten here that fast.
The heroes are quickly directed to where the slain demons lay. A trio of Incubus'. Nearby the victims are being treated and healed as quickly as possible.
"My friends, I believe that my Lady is warning me that the need of these men is very great indeed. I fear that the wounds of the incubi cannot be allowed to fester. We should hold nothing back until their wounds are mended." Firas says to the others as he offers up the potions he carries to the nearest wounded.
Am out of cure potions. So sorry
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Firas falls to his knees and raises his head and his hands to the sky, "Your servant is ever grateful."
Rising, he comes to his allies and shows the brighter glow coming from Radiance, the blade once wielded by Yaniel. "My friends, our efforts have not gone unnoticed. I believe I have had a vision of Iomedae and she has rewarded our deeds today by empowering my blade. More assurance that our path and our quest is righteous!"
He hugs the group en masse then dashes off to share the good news with the soldiers.
With the chapel blessed, and the injured knights tended to, the remainder of the evening is left to solemn reflection of those that were slain. With concerns of them raising as undead due to the foulness of this land, they are each given to a funeral pyre instead of burial. And so ends the eighth day.
Marching the next day in the gorge is a mostly silent affair. Around midday there is a report that comes in from the scouts.
Green fog ahead, should we wait it out or press on?
"I am in agreement with Coop. There are risks in either case. As long as the men are ready to press on, we should not let a little fog stand in our way. Especially as we have no way of knowing how long it may last. We don't want to find ourselves faced with the same decision tomorrow."
Continuing forward about another half mile further into the gorge, the scouts rush back in a panic.
"This pass is blocked! There's no way we can safely get that.... that.... thing!"
As they gesture towards the western area, you can easily make out a shifting cloud of green. What's more... you can also hear it now. The droning buzz of a massive swarm of insects.
Aron is with the other leaders and frowns deeply upon taking notice of it.
"Vescavors. Nasty infernal bugs. Swarm like that, there's gotta be a queen around here. We're already too close with the army for their safety. If we try to run, it'll just draw their attention. Best chance to survive is send a small group to kill the queen. The brood should leave if there's nothing here to protect. Hate to say it, but you guys with your special blessings are likely the best candidates for this task."
Sosiel looks contemplative for a moment, but nods in agreement.
"It would seem that we may have gotten ourselves into a sticky situation. This gorge is the best and fastest route to Drezen. If we were to backtrack, it could add days to the trip, and they will most certainly know we're coming by then."
"Then it seems our course is clear. We will hunt down this queen and slay her, opening the path for the army to continue on."
"Anyone see things differently?" he asks of his fellow adventurers.
Agreed.
"OKEY-DOKEY"
shield (12 minutes)
mirror image (12 minutes) [3 images]
lead blades (12 minutes)
alter self (6 minutes)
+4 if Local or Religion (swarm)
+4 if Local or Religion (Queen)
I worry about that green fog. Most stories about green fog have either dragons, or fairly high caster.
For the Queen, they are more advanced that the swarms, having much the same resistances to fire and electricity, as well as magic. Plus, they gain the ability to heal herself and the swarms quickly (fast healing). The queen emits a high pitched whine that can cause confusion. Finally, a queen can spit acid, which while damaging, also contains pheromones that drive the swarms crazy and will specifically try to feast on whoever was hit with the glob.
Ahhhh, Desna’s piss in a cup. That luck went sour. That fog… is not fog. Those are enough swarms that they are visible from here. Maybe cold will work, but that is just from the list of things I remember that will not. Marching through that is going to be a death sentence. Maybe killing the Queen will let them depart. She seems to be able to control them with scents.
George looks over at Firas. Our weapons are going to be mostly for decoration against them. And our armor will not stop them. We might want to value speed and stealth over steel. Bring it with, we might be able to suit up before meeting the Queen. But do you have something lighter for travel?
In that same, otherwordly voice, Tetsu offers a possible course of attack. Perhaps I can have the girl distract them by attacking with her bow from a long range, drawing them away from the entrance. This would allow you to sneak past them. If I can manage to disperse them momentarily, then I will have the girl join you.
Firas seems hesitant but eventually nods to George, "It is strange that I will be safer out of the armor than in, but I cannot argue with your logic. I will stow it for travel. I will wear the chain shirt we found in the temple as a half measure for now."
The paladin starts at the disturbing voice emerging from Tetsu, "Still not quite used to that... Yes, that could be a wise approach. Your skill with both the bow and blade is quite impressive."
Turning to the group as a whole including Sosiel and the other advisors, "Do we yet know where she lairs? I hope that we do not have to wade into that... mass and just hope we stumble upon her."
The other leaders dispute the decision, but acquiesce and follow orders. Reversing the knights back the way they came, elicits much grumbling from the troops (-2 morale). In total, it takes backtracking two full days (day nine and ten) to find a sufficient path to allow the knights and their supply train access up onto the cliffs. With no clear paths to travel on, it takes a further three days (eleven thru thirteen) just to return to near the spot where the knights had been previously. After the second day of the return trip, scouts report in, having spotted a pair of demons trailing the knights. They became alerted and teleported away.
Dawn of day fourteen, it's a rough march through wild terrain, but after a mere four hours Drezen comes into view in the distance.
As the army gets closer to the gates, the scouts up front send notice that the demons they had spotted previously were atop the gates and teleported away again.
The leaders convene.
Sosiel shakes his head. "We will need to do everything we can to retrieve the Sword of Valor quickly. Hopefully they have not figured out that is our target, but I worry that if they are so brazen as to let us spot them before escaping, they may be trying to bait us into poor positioning. We will need to try to get a lay of the land and plan our next moves carefully."
Anevia and Aron both offer up their services to scout inside the city. Irabeth is clearly nervous about the prospect of sending them, but waits for input from the others assembled.
"I don't like these calculated actions of the demons. The abyssal horde is not normally known for such... finesse. I fear that someone--or something--very powerful and very clever is leading them. I share your caution, Sosiel. I completely agree that we need to familiarize ourselves with this battlefield immediately."