Grateful to the halfling for the interruption, Elliot quickly answers him. "Well, yeah. Partly. I'm an Eagle Watch trainee of sorts. And I'm... not going to lie. The situation is pretty bad in there, and I'm very glad to meet some friendly faces who can hold their own in a fight!"
He gestures towards the southern gate. "Judging by your outfits - not dirty or bloodied yet - and with your horses fresh and intact, you only just got here, right? Well... in case you hadn't heard yet, the nothern wardstone exploded. Soon afterwards, there were demons and cultists everywhere. And I do mean everywhere ."
The young man looks away, perhaps sorrowful, perhaps ashamed. "Things are very chaotic even now. I did what I could; my orders were to scout first and to rescue any survivors and repel invaders second if possible. Scouting I could do... but fighting them back by myself... I'm not the best fighter. I had to withdraw and leave cultists and demons to do vile things to innocent people too often."
He shakes his head and appears to steel himself. "So if you all are going in there to take the fight to them, I'm in. I'm tired of just running away, taking potshots and leading them on wild goose chases!"
From up close, the young human seems to have an unnaturally vibrant mane of red hair along with crystal blue eyes. He has a friendly, still somewhat boyish face, and is dressed in light armor with a large brown cloak that has quite a bit of battle damage. His weapons include an ornate-looking coldiron longsword and a crossbow. He would probably be considered handsome by most standards, even if his build was more lithe rather than muscled.
Merixia comes to an abrupt halt as Shogunto nails the cult leader with two well-placed arrows. It takes a heroic act of will to stop herself from sighing wistfully at missing her chance to fight. After all, there are probably plenty more enemies inside Kenabres! And they need to finish quickly if they're to return and escort the refugees by morning.
Sheathing her sword, the cleric turns around to face the new arrival. Wow, he's pretty. And he wants to fight? Excellent. She strides up to him and offers a clawed hand. "Sounds good. There are only four of us against gods know how many demons and cultists in there. I'm Merixia Pentarian, cleric of Ragathiel." Sure, her god's symbol is painted on her buckler, but not many people can recognize it. "Now what's this about the wardstone exploding? And is the Cathedral of Saint Clydwell intact? If anyone is alive and in command over this mess, it'll be either the high priest or his right hand man."
Kyrie rips off a piece of cultist robe and bandages roughly his wound. "Don't beat yourself over it. You did what you could. I'm sorry. I didn't get your name. I'm Kyrie, that's Merixia, and the killer archer who is quiet as a mouse is Shogunto. Welcome." Kyrie shoots the ranger a wink.
Elliot takes Merixia's hand without hesitation. "Wow. She looks tough! ...They all do, actually. Maybe there's hope for us, yet!"
"Oh, you serve the General of Vengeance? Well, I'm glad you're here. If there was ever a time for revenge, I say it's now! And you do look downright fierce, My Lady, if you'll forgive me stating such," he gives her a nod of respect as he continues the handshake, then turns to the halfling as he approaches.
"Thanks, Sir Kyrie. I'm glad you think so. And I'm Elliot-" He pauses slightly longer than necessary. "Just 'Elliot' will do. Like I said, I'm with the Eagle Watch. I can do a bit of everything. I'm okay with a sword and arcane magic, but I'm best at, ah, 'creative thinking' and knowing things. I can also sing pretty well!"
Finally, he inclines his head to Shogunto too. "You ask about the wardstone and the church... I'm afraid I don't know much more than that. There was an explosion, and the barrier that kept out the demons disappeared. Then, the demons started teleporting in like a sudden tidal wave sweeping over a sand castle. I don't know if anyone on our side knows anything more at this point. I'm not even sure if anyone close to the stones even survived. I've been stuck here on the outer edges, mostly distracting cultists and demons so other people could get out - hopefully it made some difference. A fair bit of the city has also been destroyed. I do know the lay of our surroundings, though, and that should help us get inside."
Motioning towards the woman and her child, he then asks: "Should we take them with us? I'm not sure how else to keep them 'safe', for lack of a better term."
Thanks for your help, Elliot. - says Shogunto, sheathing some of the extra arrows he had by hands.
The half-orc absorbs with a heavy heart what the newcomer is saying about the town. Yet, he walks resolute towards the woman and child, and then knees near them, trying to give a smile.
We came from this road, my friends. - he tells them, pointing the direction - And the other survivors from the city are there, camped. You should be able to make it. It's the safer you will ever get at these times.
Finally he stands up again, briefly tapping the skull ram tied to his back.
I guess it's really all about us now... Ready to move in when you are. - completes the ranger.
"Great, Elliott. I agree with Shogun. As for the woman and her child, I think the further away from the city they get the safer they will be. If they stay in the city with us, we won't be able to protect them. Let's check our enemies for orders, supplies, or magic, given your arcane talent, Elliott, before we move ahead further." Kyrie will looks through the bodies for anything of value.
"Yeah, we should definitely take from them whatever might be useful." Elliot agrees. He excuses himself from Merixia and steps forward, muttering an short incantation. Then he closes his eyes and concentrates on the bodies of the fallen enemies.
As he goes through the cultist's other possessions, he slowly offers an idea. "Maybe we should take their robes and symbols with us, too. I might be able to clean them of the blood and fix the tears by magic. It'd give us disguises we might be able to use. It's not very chivalrous... but maybe it will allow us a large tactical advantage somewhere down the line?"
He looks over the others. It's clear that he's unsure and that the notion doesn't sit entirely well with him either, but he does appear genuine in wanting to seize every possible advantage.
Merixia smiles at Elliot as he releases her hand. "Thank you, Elliot! That's a lovely thing to say." Perhaps most women wouldn't like someone to say that they look fierce, but 'fierce' is something to aspire to for a cleric of a battle-focused deity. "I'm surprised that you're familiar with Ragathiel. Not many people are."
With that, she approaches the rescued civilians. "How badly are you injured? Would you be willing to let me see to your wounds?" She needs to look over Kyrie and Shogunto as well, but they're obviously moving under their own power for now. Gods only know what the demon cultists did to these two, especially the child.
The mother and daughter come out from hiding. "Thank you so much for saving us. I am Helen, this is Violet. We thought we were doomed. Those foul cultists wanted to touch me, violate me. But when they turned their head to kill a passing man, I grabbed my daughter and ran. I don't want to think about what would have happened to us...We will be fine, we can walk, and we are not hurt. Just scared. I do ask one thing of you. If you find more of them", she signals to the cultists with her eyes, "KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL!" Violet looks down at the ground upon hearing her mother's statement, but Helen is resolute in her plea. She grabs her daughter's hand, nods in appreciation, and walks to the road leading.
2 MW glaives
2 potions of cure light wounds
2 scrolls of comprehend languages
2 vials of unholy water
2 MW chain shirts
2 unholy symbols of Baphomet
+1 glaive
Potion of cure moderate wounds
Potion of invisibility
Wand of Spiritual weapon (7 charges)
2 alchemist's fire
Chain shirt
"You're very brave, the two of you," Elliot says, after hearing the story. Then he kneels down before the girl and hands her a pack of rations from his bag. "You listen to your mom and take good care of her, okay? Head to that camp down the road and we'll go save the city!"
"Well, this glaive is very powerful, but a bit heavy for me. We also got an invisibility potion, one fairly powerful healing potion, two weak ones, two explosive vials and a Wand of... Spiritual weapon, I think," Elliot surmises, inspecting the gear and trying to read all magical aura's. "Who wants to carry what? I'd suggest giving the healing potion to our swordsman and the wand to our battle cleric, maybe? I could make good use of invisibility potion and an alchemist's fire, I'd reckon. Though, we should take everything with us anyway to arm others or to serve as a disguise, in my opinion."
"Actually... how far away is that refugee camp, exactly?" he then asks. "'Cause if it's nearby and no one needs the weapons or armor, we could quickly ride there and give it to them along with the Baphomet symbols and robes. They'd get at least have a few armed people guarding them, and if a too large group of enemies came by, the guards could claim they were baphomet cultists themselves, holding them prisoner. Maybe they'd leave them alone."
Ah, Merixia's favorite kind of request! The tiefling gives Helen a fierce grin and a salute. "It would be my honor to take righteous vengeance for you, Ms. Helen. May Ragathiel's eyes fall upon you and his wings shelter you."
Once the mother and child are on their way, she walks over to where Elliot is inspecting their haul. "Ooh, wand of spiritual weapon? Nice, I'll take it." Merixia takes the wand and tucks it into her backpack. "Unfortunately, it took us quite some time to get here. We promised to be back by dawn to escort them to Valaes' Gift, so if we want to get anything done in Kenabres, we'll already be pulling an all-nighter. Disguises sound like a good idea, though." She looks wistfully at the glaive, wishing she knew how to use it.
"Hey... Hardal and the prisoners are being awfully quiet over there." She points toward the trees where they were supposedly waiting. "Anyone want to come check on them with me? I'm concerned that the prisoners might have got loose and overpowered Hardal."
"It would be my honor to take righteous vengeance for you, Ms. Helen. May Ragathiel's eyes fall upon you and his wings shelter you."
"Unfortunately, it took us quite some time to get here. We promised to be back by dawn to escort them to Valaes' Gift, so if we want to get anything done in Kenabres, we'll already be pulling an all-nighter. Disguises sound like a good idea, though."
"She does have spirit, that one. Something tells me she'll make it to the other refugees just fine," Elliot comments, also grinning. "And if it's a nearly full day ride, we'd definitely lose too much time, yeah. There's probably lots of people still hiding and trapped in here," he continues, glancing back at the gate and vestiges of good spirits fading.
"Well... if anyone wants to use anything from this, speak now and take it with you. If you're not opposed to disguising yourself if needed, I'd suggest taking at least a glaive and a symbol. Let's load the excess weight on the horses and get ready to move!"
Merixia walks over to Hosilla’s corpse and begins stripping her of her robe, since the cult leader looks closest to Merixia’s size. Unfortunately the whole chest area is soaked with blood. She holds the garment up, frowning. ”I can hide the arrow holes if I put the robe under my breastplate, but the blood might be a problem. Oh well, I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Stuffing the robe into one of her saddlebags, the cleric tucks an unholy symbol into her bandolier and ties the armors and enchanted glaive to her mule’s pack saddle. She may not know how to use one, but given that all of the cultists were wielding glaives, that will probably be an important part of a disguise. ”Okay, let’s move!” With that, Merixia swings herself up into the saddle.
Unfortunately the whole chest area is soaked with blood. She holds the garment up, frowning. ”I can hide the arrow holes if I put the robe under my breastplate, but the blood might be a problem. Oh well, I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
"I think I can take care of that, Lady Merixia. Let me take a look..."
Elliot concentrates on the outfits of the cultists before them, then casts six spells in quick motion. One by one, the blood seems to detach itself from the robe and fall sideways just as the fabric knits itself back together.
Panting slightly from the exertion, he still nods at his work, satisfied. "That should do! They'd have to get *really* close to notice anything wrong with it; enough so to strike at the very least. I'm sure sire Kyrie would appreciate such a chance, no? And dad used to say there was no place for 'parlor tricks' on the battlefield..."
He waits for everyone to finish looting and equipping themselves as they see fit, then moves to the gate to keep lookout, moving in with the others a few minutes later.
Shogunto nods in agreement with Merixia as she says she's ready, then immediately moves back into scouting the area as the group advances. The ranger tries to use his trained eyes for lookup, while at the same time carefully tries to keep the team safe from any traps on the way.
"I like your plan, Elliott, of using the robes to infiltrate, except for one issue. These cultists were all humans and therefore human sized. I do not fit into these robes. And to parade me as a prisoner, I don't think, would fly. Also, these bastards were responsible for murdering my village, so it would disgust me to wear their perverted garb. Let's get moving into the city and see what we can find."
"True, Sir Kyrie, I'm afraid I can't shrink the outfits, and I'd understand if you were reluctant for much lesser reason. I'm hoping that if three of us were to wear them, we might convince our enemies you are a turncoat. That way, we won't have to bind you or such either." Elliot sighs and surveys the amount of destruction beyond the southern gate. "And the gods know there's plenty of incentive to abandon our side for the winning one right now..."
You officially enter Kenabres and start exploring, moving at 30' per round.
As you are passing by a clothing shop, "Fine Fittings", according to the sign on the floor, you hear screams of help, male and female, coming from inside the store.
Trudging through the debris outside, Elliot hears the screaming and halts, then looks at the others and back at the shop. He slowly unsheates his sword and quietly skids closer, preferably to a window or stealthily through the door, to see what was going on. With any luck, they'd be able to get the drop on whatever was inside...
Kyrie shakes his head and smiles. He whispers to Shogun, "He is such a rookie." He grabs the young crusader's arm. "Elliott, let the pros go first." Kyrie stealths into the store moving past him.
Shogunto smiles to Kyrie. As the stealthy halfling quickly moves away, the half-orc turns to Elliot.
I'm not that good! - he whispers, nodding towards Kyrie - Besides, a stealthy group is just as good as its weaker link!
With that said, he moves with the other two, as quick as he can, bow in hands. He would check for traps before entering the building, but the screams inside force their hand to be hastier.
Perception:
The three stealthy characters move inside the store, leaving Merixia outside, to find the store destroyed, especially the mirrors organized around the showroom for customers to try on the latest clothes. You follow the source of the pleas, "Please don't hurt us! We've done nothing....help!" You move closer to the back of the store, where the clothes are stored. You see a couple, in their 60s, sitting on the floor, the man protecting the woman from a horned, hunchbacked humanoid who has a forked, ratlike tail and goat legs. The creature seems to be tormenting the couple, with sneers of "I'm gonna love putting ye both in my belly!" You start to sneak up to it from behind, until you hear the crunching of glass as Elliott missteps. The creature pauses and starts to turn around.....
Kyrie curses under his breath as he hears the glass crunch under the bard's foot, as he flings his chakram at the horned bully!
Shogunto steps ahead, to stay within 30 feet of the demon, and shoots with his bow.
Moving at his most careful pace, or so he thought, he slowly creeps towards the store...
Kyrie grabs the young crusader's arm. "Elliott, let the pros go first." Kyrie stealths into the store moving past him.
"Bwah!- bu- how did you get in front of me??" The young crusader gives a start as the halfling appears out of nowhere, then stares at Kyrie in bewilderment as he leaves.
I'm not that good! - he whispers, nodding towards Kyrie - Besides, a stealthy group is just as good as its weaker link!
He nods slowly, momentarily somewhat relieved, then notices how the Half-Orc also seems to be much better at this than himself.
"What sort of elite unit *are* you guys, and why didn't they try to recruit you yet?" he wonders aloud, glancing back at the Merixia, then following into the store.
Unfortunately, somewhat out of it for having been one-upped twice in quick succession, he doesn't notice the half-broken bottle he steps on just as Kyrie and Shogunto got within striking distance...
Once again, Merixia is waiting with her horse and mule while the others scout ahead. Figures the new guy is good at being sneaky too. Merixia is good at many things, but that is not one of them. The faithful of Ragathiel don't really do stealth. The faithful of Ragathiel kick down doors, swords in hand, yelling "SURRENDER OR DIE!".
She looks at the shop door and sighs. Hopefully one of her companions will have the sense to yell once they've encountered the enemy. Or the enemy will scream when they get shot full of arrows and/or chopped up by an angry halfling with a greatsword. That works too.
Kyrie and Shogunto's ranged attacks strike the demon. Kyrie's chakram slashes the demon across his cheek. The demon smiles as the wound instantly heals. Shogun's arrow strikes the demon in the chest and again the wound partially heals.
Initiative:
Demon:
Elliott:
Kyrie:
Merixia:
Shogunto:
While he studies the target for a weakness, Elliot quickly runs forward to strike and make the most of the remaining element of surprise!
Elliott realizes that the demon, as most of its kind, has damage resistance to non-cold iron weapons. However, it howls in pain as the bard strikes it with his sword.
Shogunto grins, and lets his bow throw rapid shots against his favored enemy.
The half-orc ranger's arrow penetrates the demon's brain, killing it.
The old couple stands hesitantly, with man speaking, "You look like cultists but you just killed one of your allies. Unless you wish to kill us yourself. Other than your halfling friend, who wears the garb of the crusaders. I hope you are friend more than foe. I am Belthis Loumis and this is my wife Nira. We are in your debt, friends.....?" Belthis hopes not to regret his offer of friendship.
Kyrie picks up his chakram and looks at Shogun. "Nice shootin' Tex." He then moves to the couple. "Of course, we're friends. Crusaders all the way. Kyrie Swiftstrike at your service. Thank the gods you two are safe. We heard your screams and prayed we were not too late. Can you walk? The path to the entrance is clear, unless you prefer holding out in here."
An inhuman scream alerts Merixia that the fight has started! She draws her sword and rushes in... just in time to see Shogunto nail the demon with a beautiful headshot. ”Ugh, you guys always do this! Leave some for me next time. Or at least yell to let me know you found the enemy.” Killing demons is always a good thing, but seriously, being late to the fight is getting old. Merixia needs an invisibility ring or something.
Turning to the elderly couple, the cleric offers a reassuring smile. ”Hello, I’m Merixia, a cleric of Ragathiel. Are either of you injured?”
”Ugh, you guys always do this! Leave some for me next time. Or at least yell to let me know you found the enemy.”
Turning to the elderly couple, the cleric offers a reassuring smile.
Elliot chuckles at the cleric's indignation. "Welcome to my world, my lady. Remind me never to get on any of you guys' bad sides! I guess I got a hit in this time, but it doesn't really weigh up against twin shots straight through the skull, no?"
He pokes the prone demon's body with his black sword, then looks at the storefolk. "Sorry for the deception. We... or rather, they," -he points at the others-"Managed to kill a pack of cultists outside and I figured we'd probably do well with picking up these disguises, considering the state the town is in. Do either of you know if there's some form of organized resistance still in Kenabres? We're looking to join up with them."
Scratching his chin, he adds:"Finding survivors this close and easily could mean there's some remnant of crusaders nearby, still fighting them back. Probably best to stow the disguises until we make contact. We don't want to be shot by our friends!"
Shogunto locks the bow back to his back and moves near Merixia, offering some words to the couple.
Belthis and Nira, Erastil be praised. - he starts - As my colleagues put, we are with the crusade, and we will never turn out back to Kenabres. We're here to help.