Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

Verene is relieved to see the remnants of the swarms disperse for anywhere else. The noisy chaos of vescavors bereft of their queen is much preferable to the unholy din of them all massed together. She can see now why Burke calls it the "yammering of the Abyss chorus," for they had sometimes sounded like a swarm of insects and sometimes like a thousand screaming voices.

She is not relieved enough to take down her barrier, though. In case more swarms come for their mother's killers from the outside into this cave, she wants it to be ready for them. Instead she moves up and around the northern end of it in a blur of speed. Her friends seem little worse for wear, and still in possession of their senses, thank goodness. "Excellent work," she begins, but is distracted by the concerning-looking, churning rift.
Knowledge (Planes), heightened awareness: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 15 + 2 = 20
Brief note: night of blades lasts 8 minutes and she'll leave it up for now.

She nods in agreement with Elliot's summation. "This is likely how the vescavor queen crossed in the first place. I would rather do something permanent than temporary — I could shake the earth just here, but it might not be safe..." Her eyes flare white as she looks at the ceiling and all around them, trying to make rapid mental calculations. She is keenly aware that time is short.

Knowledge (Engineering), heightened awareness: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 10 + 2 = 32

Verene is hurrying forward even before she sees a way to accomplish her goal, her eyes still glowing white. She whispers her thought process through the message so that the distance will not matter. "See that hanging outcropping? I have to touch the cavern wall no more than thirty feet from it, where I mean to bring it down on top of the rift. If we fill the entire opening with rubble and solid rock, that will not close it precisely, but nothing will be able to cross without clearing it first, and I hope no demon will deem it worth the effort to dig out. For all they know, there will be no cavern on the other side at all, just a dead end into hundreds of feet of collapsed earth. Pray stay well back, in case I have miscalculated. But be ready to attack — or run, if that thing makes it through before I can cast and is something we cannot handle."

As soon as she reaches a near enough place she begins chanting a spell full of sharp, cracking consonant sounds, and at end of the phrase strikes the wall, hard, with one small fist. She keeps an eye on the rippling rift the whole time: she is unsure if she can finish the spell before whatever that is breaks through, and she needs to be ready to escape. But closing off one more passage between the Material Plane and the Abyss is worth the risk to herself. Not sure where the rift is located on the map, so I just guessed at the right positioning. Move 60, standard to use Wild Arcana to cast earth tremor.

As directed by his sister, Elliot begins rushing to the indicated safe distance, but waits halfway in case something went wrong and the others needed some sort of help. What that was or what he could do, he wasn't sure yet, but damn if he was going to some stupid rock crush Merixia!

...Or the others, of course.

The portal pulses rapidly as the heroes prepare to respond to its existence. Verene, recognizing the weakest points of the cavern, focuses her magic into a spell that will shake the thing down, collapsing the ceiling on the portal.

The earth shudders at her command, shaking and warping the rocks above, and soon the ceiling comes tumbling down with a heavy crash. Choking dust fills the air, and when it gradually settles, the champions realize that much of the rift's cave is filled. Golarion is just a touch safer than it was before.

Verene covers her nostrils with one sleeve and closes her eyes against the stinging dust until it settles. She inspects the half-collapsed cavern with a careful eye, then nods to herself and goes back to meet up with the others.

"Nothing is perfect, but I think the work involved to clear the way will discourage the demons from trying to take advantage of that rift from now on." Her sharp teeth show briefly in a kobold's grin. "Sorry to deprive you of the satisfaction of killing... whatever that was. And good work on the vescavor queen. Is everyone all right despite the swarms?" It had seemed that the gnawing insects had hurt the three front-liners, but not for long, nor had they managed to disorient them.

"Do we think it safe to make a brief search of this place before we leave?" Already she is dispassionately looking over the corpse of the hideous, bloated insect, and casting her magic-detection cantrip to examine the cavern.

"Well done," Azira answers with an appreciative nod to Verene's report on blocking the portal. She briefly examines herself in response to the question of everyone's status and replies, with a sigh, "I'm mostly fine--a lot of little bites but nothing to waste healing magic on--my dress on the other hand will need some of Wulfric's magic when we get back to camp."

"I suppose we could do a quick search on the way out, in the name of thoroughness, but it doesn't seem very likely that the bugs brought anything of use in here... unless maybe some hapless crusaders previously met their end in these caves?"

Breathing easily with the latest threat dealt with by his sister, Elliot grins slightly at Azira's question. "Maybe we can pass it off as modern worldwound fashion? Apparently having strategic holes in your breeches is considered stylish in some parts of the world. Though, more seriously, I'd be surprised if anything useful hadn't been, you know, eaten yet. But now that we're here, we might as well check around. I imagine it won't delay the crusade much - Irabeth has probably already noticed the swarms dissipating and given the order to prepare for departure."

Elliot would help thoroughly explore the cave, scouting around with detect magic alongside Verene and others using it.

Thesius mind races at the sight of the rift, but before he can come to a conclusion of how to deal with the portal Verene has a solution. Quickly he steps back at her behest and he watches as the cavern quakes and tumbles upon itself and over rift.

"Well done. That does seem to be the best plan of action at this time. I'll make note of the location so we might check back in on it later and properly dispose of it if we get the means to do so," he says while retrieving his pen and journal. Quickly he jots down some notes to allow him to map the complex better at a later time.

"It does seem unlikely anything was left behind. It did not seem like the cave complex was that much bigger then what we have already seen so it should hopefully be a quick endeavor. If we find it is not, then we can call off the search and note it for further exploration after more pressing matters are dealt with."

Thesius would likewise invoke Detect Magic to aid in the search.

"Excellent work, Verene." Merixia smiles down at the currently reptilian wizard. "The vescavors would have eaten most things, but maybe there's an adamantine weapon somewhere. We are close enough to Numeria for adventurous Numerians to come fight demons, after all. I doubt that even vescavors could eat adamantine." She enjoyed using Thesius' adamantine morningstar to break doors down in the Kite. It would be nice to have one of those for herself.

Disappointingly but unsurprisingly, the search of the caverns comes up with only the directionless and dying vescavors - if there were any valuables or other objects of interest, they have long since been devoured by the swarms.

On their ascent to the surface, the pained shrieks of the vescavors grow louder, and it becomes rapidly clear that the swarms are dissipating and going their separate ways. None seem terribly interested in attacking the crusaders, fortunately.

When they get back to the Knights of Kenabres, Irabeth greets them with a pleased nod. "I knew you all could handle it. Well done!" She looks them over. "And only a little worse for wear, at that." It's clear she's talking as much for her soldiers' benefit as for theirs.

"Thanks commander - it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Between Verene's and Merixia's magics and the martial prowess of the others, I don't fancy the demons' chances," He smiles proudly, trying to act as calm and nonchalant as possible upon realizing they were meant to put up a show for the men. "But enough idling; shall we be off? I heard we were planning on actually reaching the city today, right? No time like the present!"

Verene remains cheerful when nothing of use is discovered in the caverns. Mostly, she had wanted to remain underground until the killing of the queen had its desired effect and the greater mass of the vescavors were not so loud. Indeed, she looks far less strained by the time they return than she did when they set out, having changed back to her human form once they were out of the cavern and the kobold's superior darkvision was no longer useful. The endless, sanity-wearing shrieking is still grating, but the volume is lowering by the minute as the disorganized vescavors scatter without a queen to hold them together. She says, both for the benefit of Irabeth and the command staff, and any interested soldiers who might be listening: "Indeed, it is mostly good news. Elliot's idea to find the vescavor queen while invisible worked perfectly — with some help from a sound-muffling spell from Merixia. He, Azira, and Thesius together destroyed the queen, and we all bombarded the swarms of vescavors that came to defend her with magic or holy water until the few survivors dispersed. It seems the larger number above is scattering too, just as we hoped.

In grimmer news, there is still a small Abyssal rift at the very back of that set of underground caves, which is likely how the vescavor queen was here at all. We lacked the ability to seal it permanently, so we filled the portal itself with rock and rubble by collapsing part of the cave and ceiling on top of it. It should hold for a time — at least long enough for the army to be long gone. If anyone can cast dimensional anchor, dimensional lock, dispel chaos or dispel evil, we think that would close it for good. Or, perhaps the Crusade could send someone later, if we succeed in retaking Drezen. No one was hurt or disoriented badly enough to need the healers, so I think we are ready to continue, as Elliot says."

I don't think I've ever seen two people post on the *exact* same second. Now that is a special kind of ninja post! Fortunately it seems either post still works just fine :)

Thesius takes a deep breath of the perhaps fresher are of the open Worldwound as they ascend from the caverns below while allowing himself to revert back to his natural form. The caverns were expansive, but it felt good to not have something blocking him from the open sky.

Upon their arrival back to camp, he nods in agreement with the sentiments brought forth by Elliot and Verene.

"I've made notes of the area and the caverns below so we can hopefully more effectively deal with the rift at a later time. I applaud Verene's ingenuity, but will breath easier knowing it has been sealed in a more permanent fashion."

"When," Azira interjects as Verene nears the end of her report, "when we succeed in retaking Drezen, the crusade can send someone to seal the rift."

Once Verene and Thesius have finished their reports she offers, "once Wulfric has heard the full report I can dispatch him to share it amongst the soldiers while we travel, if you wish, Commander?"

Verene smiles slightly and waits out the interjection with unimpaired good humor, but neither corrects what she said nor contradicts Azira. Confidence is all well and good, but a chance is not a certainty. At least one skeptic is needed in their little band of gods-touched zealots to keep everyone's feet on the ground.

One day I’m going to grow wings, specifically so that I don’t have to keep my feet on the ground.

I did think about it being slightly ironic that Verene has already learned and used a spell specifically to let people fly, including Azira.

Irabeth listens thoughtfully as the champions report. "Good work getting rid of the queen, and dealing with the rift. Azira's right in that we should seal the rift after we retake Drezen. None of our people have the ability to cast any of those spells at the moment." She rubs her chin.

She nods gratefully at Azira. "It would be a great help for morale, I think, if Wulfric shares the news of your victory."

I'll move us on either later today or tomorrow. I'm a bit out of it, for which I apologize.

Wulfric wastes no time working some simple magic to mend and clean Azira’s dress and equipment when he sees the state of her. He listens with a mix of awe and anxiety to the report of their daring assault on the caverns and, when given leave, merrily trots off to pass the tale of their victory through the camp.

perform- oratory (take 10): 10 + 11 = 21

I figured taking 10 would be easier than trying to figure out how many rolls to make to tell everyone.

No worries. I hope you get to feeling better.

"Will we be starting our assault on Drezen as soon as we arrive? Hopefully we can make a foothold before it gets dark."

Wulfric's efforts are rewarded with a smattering of applause and a great deal more smiles and congratulations.

Irabeth shakes her head at Thesius' question. "I don't know, but I don't think so. Drezen is - was a town that was centered on the Citadel of the same name. It's possible the demons razed the entire thing to the ground except the fortress, but I don't think that's likely. The tieflings and cultists have to live somewhere, after all."

Aron approaches the group. "The Commander's right. We're going to be facing a siege, I think. We'll have to secure the settlement before we go after the Citadel."

Moving us forwards.

About ten minutes after the vescavor queen was killed, the last of the swarms dissipate and the column continues its journey to their destination - come what may, the Knights of Kenabres are as prepared as they will be.

Within a few hours, the riverbed rises at a noticeable slope as they grow ever closer to Drezen, rising up out of the Ahri Gorge, and a stink of smoke and grime drifts towards the army - sign of the fallen city of filth and horror.

Anevia, Aron, Korryn, and the First Children all volunteer to scout out the settlement before the army gets in sight. Irabeth hesitates, but agrees, calling the column to a halt. It takes another two hours before the scouts return with a report.

Irabeth calls the command staff to her side. After a couple crusaders set up a table, Aron unrolls a map of Drezen as seen in the geographic map link and takes out a stick of charcoal.

"Report." Irabeth says.

"Well, I scouted out the northeast," Aron circles a part of the map, "Paradise Hill, it used to be called. I can tell you this much - it's not a paradise any more, except maybe to demons." His brow furrows. "It looked like there were a lot of ram-headed demons there, and I think I saw some prisoners. If we could hit that, we might be able to free them and get some reinforcements."

"It's also the right thing to do." Sosiel says.

"How many demons are there, if you had to guess?" Irabeth inquires.

"A lot. Probably somewhere more than a hundred?" He shrugs. "It could be more, could be less. I couldn't risk getting too close."

"Alright. That's likely a job for the whole army, and fighting in the streets is never ideal." Irabeth sighs.

Giving everyone a chance to ask about what Aron saw before continuing with the scouting reports.

Slightly Earlier
After the scouts tell them that Drezen is near and the bulk of the army will be waiting for a time on their team to reconnoiter and report back, Verene pickets Mouse, sets up her quick-pack table on a relatively flat patch of riverbed, and starts work on the pearl of power Elliot requested and brought her materials for.

Spending a block of two hours on item creation here, if that's okay, GM. Verene can spend a total of four hours working on magic item creation on the same day we do any adventuring, in order to net two hours' worth of progress. She needs a total of four hours' worth of progress to complete this particular item, if she increases the DC to work twice as fast as normal. She can set the caster level, so will set it to 6, making the Spellcraft DC 16 (5 + CL 6 + 5 to work faster), well within what she can achieve by taking 10 on Spellcraft for 25.

Early Afternoon, Starday, 13th of Rova (IX) 4713
Once alerted that the scouts are returning, Verene quickly restores her tiny rune-carving implements and pouches of arcane powders to their proper places before folding up the quick-pack table. She gathers with the others around the map of Drezen to listen to what the scouts reported.

"Ram-headed demons? That sounds like schirs. They are far more dangerous individually than the dretches the army has faced so far," she observes. "A direct attack against superior numbers of them would likely result in significant casualties." She saves her questions for after all the results of the scouting missions are known.

Thesius listens intently to the report. He had not really thought about prisoners being found, but it made an unfortunate sense.

"Maybe a diversion could be made to lure part, if not all, of the beasts into a more advantageous area? A rescue party sweeping in after their departure?" he offers. "Albeit, further reports may take precedence."

Moving on to the next report.

Aron nods. "That's the name. I'd forgotten." He folds his arms with a sigh. "And I'm not sure how many we can lure away - it'd depend on the strategy we use." The siege engineer looks at Irabeth, who nods thoughtfully.

Rather than responding, however, she keeps her counsel and looks to her wife. Anevia takes the charcoal from Aron, leaning over the map in turn. "I went along the south side of the riverbed." She points at another part of Drezen. "There's a huge number of cultists and tieflings here. About four hundred combatants, all told, but there're some kids that I saw. Not a lot of elderly, though." Her tone is dark.

"That's Southshore." Aron supplies, though he, too, looks somewhat upset.

Anevia nods, accepting this. "I don't know how organized they are, because I didn't see any obvious commanders, but I suspect they're mostly a mass of combatants rather than any sort of disciplined force... but they do have a large number of supplies - weapons looted from crusaders, if I had to guess."

Irabeth frowns, but waves at her to continue. Anevia circles another part of the map, this one further to the west - a bridge. "This bridge will also be critical if we want to get across the riverbed easily - whether we're going north or south, we want this place under our control. I saw a handful of guards there, as well as some sort of nasty-looking bulls, all chained up."

Anevia looks at the champions. "That's something I think you all might want to handle. It's not suited for a large number of troops." Irabeth inclines her head in agreement.

"Lastly," she circles a point in the southwest, "I saw a fair few nasties in the cemetery here. Ghouls, from what I know of undead. I think they're coming from a tomb inside the graveyard, but I couldn't get close."

"That will be a problem." Sosiel points out. "They'll feast on the dead we leave behind and possibly raise even more ghouls from the injured. We'll want to handle them as soon as we're able."

Anevia nods. "Right. I think they likely outnumber us two to one."

Another chance for questions.

"A large but disorganized force with useful supplies seems like a good target, if only to keep them from organizing and using those weapons against us. If the army fought that force first and took its weapons, perhaps we could even use them to outfit the prisoners being held by the schirs." Looking at the map, Verene can see that both Paradise Hill and Southbank are roughly between the army and the bridge over the Ahri (Ahari?) riverbed that is being guarded by chained bulls, and that all of them are between their force and the ghoul-infested graveyard. Marching their army straight between two enemy armies and past the bridge to deal with the ghouls first does not seem feasible, nor does leaving the riverbed to circle around through the Worldwound. "On the other hand, would this Paradise Hill be a good defensible place to set up our camp for the siege? And where can the six of us be of most use to the army's tactics?"

Irabeth nods. "Striking Southshore preemptively might help us secure weapons to arm the prisoners, to be certain." She folds her arms. "But if we want to get to Paradise Hill from there, Anevia's right - the bridge would be key to taking one from the other."

"From a strategic standpoint, attacking Southshore first is probably the best idea." Sosiel acknowledges. "But I believe that the prisoners should be our priority."

Irabeth nods again. "I will take it under advisement. But we still have other reports to hear." She looks at Korryn and the First Children.

Korryn answers. "Well, we went with Aron for a bit, then moved past the castle." She bares her tusks. "It's got four watchtowers, outside of its main structure, and a wall surrounding them."

"Those would've had catapults back in the day, with a full field of view against besiegers." Aron supplies. "And it would give archers the chance to rain down arrows on the enemies who breached the wall." He pauses. "No idea whether the siege weapons would still be there now, though."

"Aye. I didn't see anything like that, but I couldn't risk getting too close." She cracks her neck. "On the far side it's mostly ruined houses. Saw some tieflings or cultists here and there, but nothing like what Anevia says." She nods at the other woman."[/b]

Irabeth sighs, gazing down at the map. "It seems there are two - or perhaps three - prime targets for us. Southshore, Paradise Hill, or the bridge over the riverbed." She points to each one as she identifies it. "Aron, what do you think our chances of setting up a defense in Paradise Hill are?"

The siege engineer frowns, concentrating. "They're pretty well dug in there themselves. It should be reasonably easy to settle in if we get rid of the demons."

"So, if the army goes for Paradise Hill, would it be worthwhile for the six of us to first try to infiltrate the watchtowers and sabotage any working siege weapons that are still there, so that they cannot be used in support of the schirs from above?" Verene asks. "That seems like a job for a small and mobile group."

"While I agree with Verene on the towers, I also think we should try and save the prisoners first. That seems to be the most time-sensitive issue. We're not pressed for supplied at present, I think?" Elliot glances at the command staff, trying to make sense of the best move. "As a bonus, that seems to get us an easily fortifyable location. If the prisoners are forced to fight right after freeing them, somehow, we could probably outfit them with the weapons and armor we took from the tieflings and schirs, even if they might not be as good as crusader equipment."

Aron rubs his chin. "Perhaps just the easternmost one. I don't think the others would be able to fire into Paradise Hill, and even that one might not be able to, depending on whether the siege engines are still maintained."

"Are the prisoners capable of fighting, Aron?" Irabeth asks.

"Maybe." Aron shrugs. "I couldn't see more than a handful, but they all seemed like veterans, if that's what you're asking."

The Knight-Commander nods. "Very well. Your thoughts?" She looks to the others.

Azira considers the options for longer than she’d hoped to. Eventually she reasons aloud, “the bridge is a natural choke point- much easier to defend than to assault… if our strike team could fly there and secure it while the army took the area next to it, we might be able to take and hold it more easily than once the enemy has settled into a defense… however… I’m inclined to agree with Elliot… the opportunity to not only save lives but potentially bolster our ranks as well by securing the prisoners before they can be executed feels like it should be our first priority.”

Thesius holds his chin while contemplating the revelations. "Based on what has been found, it would seem Paradise Hill should be our initial destination. Not only will it give us a potential base of operations that is defensible, but possible reinforcements and the chance to save innocents."

"I would think we should prioritize the bridge over the siege weapon. As mentioned it will allow us to further secure what will likely become our home for the time being. The siege engine could be dealt with after by making good use of invisibility along with flight or levitation."

"If they have not been executed yet, I suspect they will not be." Aravashnial muses. "However, I am forced to agree with others that we should work to save them as soon as possible."

"I think the bridge isn't a bad choice." Aron says. "Especially since we don't know that the siege engines are still there, let alone intact. It is a risk, though... I doubt the demons care enough about their own to hold fire if they see us taking Paradise Hill."

Irabeth considers this input. "Do you recommend a simultaneous strike, then?" She asks the heroes.

"No one is currently in danger at the bridge, correct?" Verene says. "I would favor a simultaneous strike on Paradise Hill by the army and on that eastern watchtower by the five of us from the air, just to avoid the risk that the army will be bombarded from above. If there is nothing at the watchtower, we would fly back and reinforce the army against the schirs from another angle.

"Here is my reasoning. In broad strokes, the schirs seem like the strongest opponents outside the citadel, so it would be better to take them on while the knights are fresh, and for the five of us to help as much as possible. At this point, Elliot and Azira each could cut a swathe through a large number of schirs without trouble, I think, especially if the other three of us were on hand for healing and support. The hilltop position is a reasonable one for the army to fortify and begin the siege. The prisoners they are keeping may be able to help us in further battles, or at least, no more of them will be killed waiting for rescue. And Elliot is right that we have already collected considerable equipment from the previous two engagements with which to outfit any who are combat-capable.

"I would not recommend trying to take the bridge until we have defeated at least the schirs and the human and tiefling cultists. If we succeed in taking the bridge before we have done that, we must then hold it from potential attack on two sides: not only against the forces camped outside, but also any reinforcements sent out from Citadel Drezen itself."

She folds her hands before her monkish robe's sash. "That is my advice, anyway. I have about half my spells still available today, and between those spells, the scroll I scribed, and the Wardstone's power, I can give flight to myself, Azira and Thesius and still make us invisible once more for the approach. So, if we choose to attack today, I am prepared."

Fully buffed, Elliot and Azira could fight a hundred schirs by themselves without breaking a sweat. I'm not joking. Mechanically, they can each kill one or two schirs every six seconds basically forever. Schirs have no ranged attacks, would only hit them on a 19 or 20 in melee, and they both have plenty of healing available. We should send them in and give the knights a holiday! But in-universe I think we're not supposed to believe that's true — that they could be overwhelmed.

“is there any way for us to check the state of the siege weapon beforehand? If we can remove it as a factor or not will allow us to better plan.” As he speaks he turns to his companions to show he is addressing them in particular.

Ah, mechanical dissonance with what the narrative should be. And yes, I think the notion that they could solo an army (at least right now) is not something that should be a thing you think IC.

Irabeth nods slightly at Verene's thoughts. "That's possible, certainly. Ideally, they won't try to attack us from within the Citadel, but we cannot be certain of that." She sighs. "It will be difficult to get across the riverbed without taking the bridge, however. I'm not certain whether or not it'd be worth the risk."

Aravashnial looks to the diviner at Thesius' question. "Are you capable of scrying the area yet?" He asks. "It is yet unclear to me the might that your encounter with the wardstone has given to you."

"Or, while I would hate to put our friend into danger, would Thamryis be able to determine the state of the siege engine? If we can cross that off our list of worries, I think a all out strike on Paradise Hill to the bridge would be worthwhile. If we can swiftly remove the threat, we can then secure the bridge while reinforcements are trying to muster."

Irabeth nods slightly at Verene's thoughts. "That's possible, certainly. Ideally, they won't try to attack us from within the Citadel, but we cannot be certain of that." She sighs. "It will be difficult to get across the riverbed without taking the bridge, however. I'm not certain whether or not it'd be worth the risk."

I'm kind of confused by what Irabeth is saying here. Looking at the map, isn't there a different, unguarded bridge slightly to the east, running north-south over the riverbed between the schirs and the cultists? It looks like the guarded bridge is only blocking us off from the interior walled portion of the city, so we don't have to deal with it until we want the army to go in there, and in fact it doesn't help us to do so until we're ready for that. Am I wrong here?

Aravashnial looks to the diviner at Thesius' question. "Are you capable of scrying the area yet?" He asks. "It is yet unclear to me the might that your encounter with the wardstone has given to you."

Verene looks to him and shakes her head in regret. "Unfortunately not, and not for lack of trying. As a rule, I think if I would be incapable of memorizing the spell in the normal way, I cannot use the Wardstone's power to cast it spontaneously. This came up before, because if I had been able to scry for specific people while we were looking for survivors in Kenabres, it would have helped tremendously. And I knew that the information gained by scrying from a distance has meant the difference between victory and defeat for many a military campaign. So once we were told we would be sent on this mission, I bought a mirror designed specifically for the purpose from the Queen's quartermasters before we left. Through research and my own jotted ideas about how to construct such a wide-ranging and versatile divination, I can tell that every method I could come up with to do it would be pages and pages, far too long and complex for me to memorize in the ordinary way. And no matter how long I simply stare at the mirror and try to weave the Wardstone's power through it to make it show me something, it stays blank. My mind just isn't strong enough yet to touch and control all the possibilities the power lets me see. But I also think I am very close to grasping this one. I will keep trying, and eventually, I will crack it." Her voice holds no bombast, only calm certainty, as though she is saying that of course the weather will eventually change and bring rain.

Trying to talk about character levels and spell levels in an in-universe way is hard! All Verene is saying here, of course, is the mechanical fact that scrying is a 4th-level spell, and she can't cast 4th-level spells even with mythic power until wizard level 7. But I think we must be very close to level 7.

"That does not help us right now, of course. Thamyris could, if he is willing, fly up to the watchtower and check if it is manned and if there are siege weapons there, but I am not sure he could tell us if they were operational or not, supposing they exist but are old." To Thamyris, who has been perched on her shoulder half-hidden by her hair, she says, "What do you think, my dear? I will not make this decision for you. I can make you invisible and armored, though there are certain demons, including schirs, that can see through invisibility, so you must still be as stealthy as possible once up close, and keep well away from the schirs' position at all times."

How far are the watchtowers from our army's current position or Paradise Hill, GM? Her invisibility will last a maximum of eight minutes. Verene wouldn't want him to do this if we are far away enough that there is no chance he could run from something that started pursuing him and we could ride to the rescue. Thamyris can hustle at a rate of 800 feet per minute for up to one hour without a problem or run at a rate of 160 feet per round for up to six rounds without a problem. I think that means he can move at 400 feet per minute while using Stealth without a penalty. Unfortunately, she can't make him faster with longstrider or expeditious retreat, since those only apply to land speed.

Irabeth looks at Thesius thoughtfully. "We'll still need to take care of the towers before we attack the Citadel itself, of course, but if there aren't any siege engines - or even if they're only in the southernmost towers - we'll be able to hit Paradise Hill more easily."

Oops. I totally missed that second bridge. You can assume it's guarded, but probably not as much as the Ahari Bridge.

Thamyris shrugs as best as the bird is able to. "Yes..." He muses aloud. "Maybe? Some demons might be in the sky."

Uh, I honestly have no idea how close the stuff is to itself, there's no scale on that map. I'll say it's probably about somewhere above 1000 feet away.

"I see." Aravashnial sighs, nodding his commiseration. "Unfortunate, but unavoidable for now. Perhaps we can work together to discern it in the future."

"It seems," Azira offers, hoping to help move a decision along, "that we have some consensus about the army assaulting Paradise Hill first. I agree- that lets us hit the schirs while our army is still at its freshest, it allows us to free the prisoners right away and start their healing so that, some of them at least, can bolster our ranks, and it seems like the most defensible position for our staging grounds moving forward. The only question, then, is what task our strike force should undertake. Seizing the bridge between there and Southbank would stop any reinforcements from coming, although, it would also cut off the enemies' escape route, which is a double edged sword. It would also ensure we have an avenue for advancement after the hill is taken; if they destroy that bridge we'd be stuck encamped on the hill, burning through food and water, until we could build boats or another bridge to move the army across."

"The watchtower could be helpful to secure if it prevents them from firing siege weapons at us, although, that exposes us to attacks from the army manning the keep. Of those two, I'd vote for the bridge. There is this other Tower, or fort, or whatever on the top of the hill... we could use flight and invisibility to land on top of, or inside, that and fight our way down and out: that saves the army from having to lay siege to it, and could be a nice boost to morale when they see it taken? That would be my second choice if the bridge doesn't seem a high enough priority, though, obviously, the decision is Commander Tirabade's to make."

"Sending us to the inside of the tower where the knights can't easily go is a good idea, as is taking that bridge so they cannot destroy it and cut off our approach," Verene agrees. "I suppose the little tower is where they're holding the prisoners, too. But I mislike the thought of leaving the cavalry on open ground vulnerable to catapult stones while the schirs are already dug in. So how about this? At the same time the army makes its attack, we five invisibly fly up and take out any creatures or weapons in that eastern watchtower. As soon as that is done, we fly back as fast as we can go* to fight our way down through the tower on Paradise Hill itself, to rejoin the main body of the army. And finally, when the army is hopefully victorious and can spare the soldiers to hold the bridge after taking it, we make for the bridge just south of the hill, and dispatch whatever guards are there.

"We would not be able to hold the watchtower against all the forces inside the citadel, of course. The idea would just be a surgical strike to disable the siege weapons as quickly as possible and then leave, hopefully before they can respond. The adamantine morningstar might come in handy again for that. Bear in mind, I cannot give three of us flight, and make the group invisible, and make Thamyris invisible for safer scouting. So if we are sure we want to be flying and make our approach invisibly, I would rather not send him at all." She scratches his neck feathers absently with one finger. The reminder of how many demons can fly makes her uneasy, which he no doubt senses through their bond.

Verene looks to Irabeth for a final decision.

*Slowest should be Merixia at a 50' fly speed and medium encumbrance, so if it's 1000 feet between the two places, that means just seven rounds at a 3x 'run' will get us between the watchtower and Paradise Hill.
Side note: the Ahari riverbed is actually dry, right? The problem with sending the knights across it is not that we'd need boats, it's that the horses and heavily armored warriors would have trouble going down and up the steep sides. The problem remains essentially the same, but if the bridges do get destroyed, we could still maybe dig out a flatter path, or something. Easier than constructing boats, anyway.

Oops, sorry I missed this before.

"I see." Aravashnial sighs, nodding his commiseration. "Unfortunate, but unavoidable for now. Perhaps we can work together to discern it in the future."

"I would be grateful for any help," Verene says with a smile, which falters under a momentary and unexpected flash of guilt. Letting Aravashnial regain his spells and his dignity as a wizard in private for a few days is one thing, but despite her words about wanting his advice about the Wardstone's strange and unexpected powers, it has now been over a week since then, and she has not sought him out at all on this journey north.

She has not been ignoring him on purpose. She thinks not, anyway. It's just that there has been so much to do, between the travel itself, setting up and breaking down camp each day, camp chores, command meetings, these recent intrigues with Aron and Nurah — and every spare moment not spent on those has gone to preparing her own spells or creating more magic items. It is not as though they were friends or even nodding acquaintances before the fall of Kenabres, though she had known him by name as Elliot's mentor. And he has no doubt been busy as well. Not that you checked. And yet, you made time for Janis and Gunvor, and Nurah, and Irabeth, and your friends, on the road. So why not him?

She doesn't know. Verene shakes off the discomfiting turn of her thoughts and adds with an even brighter smile, "Every puzzle has a solution, and two heads are better than one, after all."

"Your plan sounds good to me, Verene. I prepared shield of wings this morning, so I can fly myself to the tower." Merixia frowns, tail waving slowly as she thinks. "While I agree that rescuing the prisoners should be our priority, I don't like leaving a graveyard full of ghouls, especially as night falls. I would recommend setting extra sentries tonight, and maybe equipping them with holy water." If she was an evil cultist with a bunch of ghouls at her disposal, she would absolutely send them in for a nighttime attack as soon as possible. There isn't much that will tank morale faster than watching your comrades sicken, die, and turn into slavering cannibalistic monsters.

The Ahari riverbed is, in fact, dry, and that is exactly the problem with crossing it, yeah.

Irabeth considers Azira's suggestions, but it is Aron who speaks first. "Citadel Drezen," he points at the map, "is a right proper fortress. I don't think you ought to attack it alone - even if you can kill a lot of demons there, more might flee and attack our troops or rally the remaining forces outside of it for a hammer-and-anvil strategy. We need to clear out the town first. I also wouldn't want to build a bridge under these circumstances, to be honest... sabotage and attacks are hardly ideal." He shrugs. "I think it best if we claim the bridges rather than risking them being destroyed."

"Taking out the tower on Paradise Hill is a good idea, though." Sosiel says, gently correcting his lover. "She wasn't speaking of the Citadel itself." Aron flushes, but the Shelynite covers for him by continuing. "And Lady Tal-Shirin is also correct that we don't necessarily want to cut off their escape routes... they'd fight harder. Of course, that's only for the mortal warriors. The demons who break and flee will likely teleport away."

"I agree with Verene's plan as well. Fighting in urban environments is not ideal, but our paladins are more than a match for that, even if we have to dismount to do building-to-building. I don't like it, but I have faith in our people." Irabeth decides. "But I think that checking the watch tower might be a good idea nonetheless..." She frowns, rubbing her chin. "I won't ask you to risk your familiar if you don't think it's safe enough, but I'd really like to know what's in those watch towers - or at least the easternmost one - before we attack."

"That's another good point." Anevia says. "How do we coordinate our attack with them taking down - or at least engaging, I guess - the watchers in the tower? Depending on their numbers, you might be able to clean it out and destroy any siege engines, too."

Aravashnial offers Verene a wry smile. "Indeed."

Irabeth looks to Merixia. "Ghouls are not foes I'd like wandering about either, but they're the furthest from us at the moment, so preparing is the best we can do, as you say."

A bit of catch-up...

"If they have not been executed yet, I suspect they will not be."

"Um, with respect Master, is that not a fate worse than death, to be kept as a living slave to the demons and cultists?" Elliot answers, surprised. "Who knows what horrors are being inflicted on them, hour by hour, and to what end? Besides, I feel we can't discount the possibility of some sacrificial rite already being prepared."

"At this point, Elliot and Azira each could cut a swathe through a large number of schirs without trouble, I think, especially if the other three of us were on hand for healing and support."

The magus stand up straight at this despite blushing at his sister's praise. He might have objected outright at such a bold claim on his behalf, but... "If I had the support of each of you, the same as I had in the fights with the opposing armies, we had ample prep time and we fought as a coordinated team? Then... yes, I *think* I could kill quite a few without much risk to myself. For a short while, at least. The issue, though, is that my Wardstone Power will run out after a few minutes at most. Channeling it into Eclipse is very taxing, which might not be as visually apparant as yours or Meri's infused spells. If we find ourselves grossly outnumbered, we should probably settle for crippling their morale and think of ways to force an escape route in that timeframe. Taking out an entire enemy army with just the five of us is probably pushing it for now."

He listens as Verene and Aron take over and underline the importance of securing the siege towers first. "An infiltration though? That should be doable. I think Azira has a point, but it does sound like making sure siege weapons cannot fire at us while the army rescues the prisoners is the most logical and safe first step. If we need to, I could probably scout the top flying invisibly instead of Thamyris, though it depends on the exact distance."

Glancing at the Aron Kir, he adds: "What sort of siege weapons would there be here, exactly? If there are catapults, they should be on top of the roofs to fire and clearly visible from the air, correct? Or did the past crusaders have more advanced ones that aren't as apparent or potentially vulnerable from above?"

Elliot can fly for at most 6 minutes each day. If he shrinks to small, he has an okay stealth mod of +12 before adding the +20 from any invisibility if relevant. Though if there's something very dangerous there I guess it's arguable we'd rather risk the familiar over a party member? Either way it seems the plan is decided, I am fine either way. .

"I need to give back the holy water to the quartermasters. Thank you for the reminder, Merixia. Oh!" Verene's expression brightens suddenly. "I also forgot that you can also make Thamyris invisible using the Wardstone's power, Elliot." Meaning, actually I the player forgot!

"If you would consent to do that — or if you happen to have that spell ready, Master Aravashnial — then I would still have enough spellpower for us to make a flying and invisible approach afterward if it is necessary." She considers. "There are other options too. If the scouts could bring me in close enough — say, within seven hundred feet of the watchtower — without being seen, I could put an invisible sensor above it that would let us see and hear anything there. I could also ask some insects to explore for us — but that could take a considerable length of time, and they can only report on static objects and buildings, not creatures that move around. On balance, I think sending Thamyris is the best idea. I would want us to approach with him as close as is safe first, of course."

Does this sound good? We approach as close to the watchtower as we dare, Verene gives Thamyris mage armor, Elliot gives him invisibility, he scouts it out and (hopefully) reports back and then we go into whatever battle plan based on that?

Aravashnial smiles bitterly at Elliot. "You are correct, but death is an end that is much harder to return from than most fates. As I said, however, I concede that we should strike at Paradise Hill first."

Aron rubs his chin at Elliot's question, but looks to Korryn before answering. The half-orc shrugs. "If they're there, they'd be on top of the towers, yeah."

He nods. "I believe there'd be catapults, but likely ones with full range of aim - they could fire at any location in- or outside of the walls. There were probably more than four towers, too, back in the day..." Aron trails off.

"Three are ruined now." Korryn answers his implicit question. "So it's just the four in the front of the Citadel's outer wall that we'd have to worry about."

Aravashnial shakes his head in response to Verene. "Alas, I did not prepare that spell today. I shall be sure to do so on the morrow, in case you need it of me then."

The scouts look at one another. "Bringing you that close is... not exactly ideal." Anevia says. "Unless you've gotten good at sneaking since last I saw you do it, it'll be hard to make sure we're not seen. Maybe if we disguise ourselves...?"

Which the scale does give bonuses to when bluffing evil creatures, I think.

Aravashnial shakes his head in response to Verene. "Alas, I did not prepare that spell today. I shall be sure to do so on the morrow, in case you need it of me then."

The scouts look at one another. "Bringing you that close is... not exactly ideal." Anevia says. "Unless you've gotten good at sneaking since last I saw you do it, it'll be hard to make sure we're not seen. Maybe if we disguise ourselves...?"[/ooc]

"Thank you, Master Aravashnial. Though we have been sneaking rather a lot lately, I am still no great shakes at it. In that case, we should just get as close as you think safe before casting the spell. Even getting within a half-mile of distance would give him plenty of time to go and return within the spell's duration, I think. But the mage armor lasts an hour, so there is no reason not to apply it now." She takes out the armoring wand and taps Thamyris gently with it. A bird-size translucent breastplate shimmers into being over his round chest for a moment before vanishing. "There. All ready."

Azira nods, pleased that a plan has been settled upon and action is drawing nearer. "I have holy water I need to return as well," she remarks. "Since the army, presumably, isn't planning on employing stealth, we could check with the quartermaster while we're there and see if there's a thunderstone or a flare arrow available that we could use to signal with once any potential seige weapon has been dealt with?"