"Well that's an ugly face alright." Linnes goes at a careful pace and draws her blade; readying her shield to intercept and blow.
As the teamsters get the wagons ready to depart, Jasper jumps in the rear wagon, Emerald the second one, and Malin huffs and puffs as he runs to the lead wagon. A burst of drumbeats comes from the woods to the right playing a martial tune and marching sounds can be heard from the woods to the right of the rear wagons and blood curdling orcish war cries. From the woods nears the right of the lead wagon orcs emerge with javelins in had ready to throw at an opportune moment. Further up the road, archers emerge and fire at the lead wagon, three out of four arrows hit and explode in a burst Edoom and Antonio confirm is alchemical flame setting the right of the lead wagon on fire. Near the squad of archers, another four emerge with falchions and are itching to charge into battle. You notice they seem to waiting for something. Those of you that know orcish tactics know the visible orcs are short of the typical five squad warband with support troops such as scouts.
The scout takes a shot at the Linnes with a javelin, but the warrior had masterfully anticipated this move!! A shot on target is masterfully deflected by his skill and armor. Blood continues to gush from the scouts side as he can't move further.
Emerald orders the wagons to cut left into the forest.
PARTY TO GO IN ANY ORDER
Edoom takes a deep breath and loses another arrow at the injured orc in an attempt to take him out... then takes cover behind the nearest wagon to await the onslaught.
Bow
Arrow (Or Arrowhead to be precise).
"No dummies here. Something is leading them. They're using alchemist fire".
Linnes realizes that this doesn't look good and considers her options.
"I guess I'll keep close then."
She dashed back to the carts; hoping she can help.
Antonio eased his way stealthily through the trees until he hit the tree line. Getting line of sight on the SE orc, he was disappointed to realize that he was out of range to target a vital organ.
Hearing the shouts and roar of a fight to the NE, he decided to take his shot anyway, as they were all out of time.
He aimed his crossbow and fired.
for a possible piercing damage.
Morag clambers back up onto the nearby wagon, keeping low.
Peering over the piles of supplies she spies a group of orc near the burning wagon.
Extending her hand she utters a series of arcane syllables, causing an explosion of enchantment to envelop the three orcs there.
Maria continues her chanting and sermonic harmony, reciting scripture from memory and adding her own flair when it came to it. She hadn't gotten into a real fight, just spars on the occasion with the local church to keep herself practiced, so this thrill of battle excited her to some extent while also terrifying her. She'd fall back on her faith, keeping with it as she chanted away.
Emerald begins and inspiring song that helps Edoom's arrow down his target and leave him motionless and probably dead on the floor. The sleep spell hits and three orcs slumber to the ground.
The paladin rushes into the mass of orcs by the lead wagon, a sweeping arc of her weapon blazes with light. The orcs around her are vicously wounded and in vicious retaliation strike her down.
Jasper hurls the largest of two beads from his bracelet, engulfing the orc and the remains of the paladin in a fiery blast as the forest nearby catches fire. One of the orc archers explodes in a secondary fireball as his alchemical vials also burst and explode. Two orcs stagger out of the blaze and surrender, they are completely unarmed. They will die if not healed soon as they are burned and bleeding. The forest to the north burns out of control as the fire continues to spread.
Malin smiles "Well done. We have prisoners."
Jasper colds asks "We saving these two? They killed that paladin." Indicating the orcs almost dead after the fireball.
COMBAT OVER
Edoom grunts in satisfaction as his target goes down. That sermon actually helped me concentrate. I'll have to thank Maria for that and perhaps learn more.
He then turns to calculate the viscous battle ahead only to see that it's pretty much over but for the two injured orcs. Wow! Didin't expect that. Shame about that holy warrior... but they do tend to die in that manner".
He rushes forward... "Wait! Don't kill them yet. We need to find out more about who commands them".
Linnes runs over and does her best to check over the Paladin; wondering if she was dead or close to death.
Linnes runs past the orcs to see to the paladin. The fallen warrior had been hit with many falchions then in an explosive fireball. One eye had melted completely and the entire body was blackened. Linnes is fairly certain there was no saving her.
One orc surprisingly stops bleeding and sits down, the other is in very bad shape and continues to bleed. The sleeping orcs are quickly restrained by the caravan hands and Jasper, Emerald, and Malin.
Linnes frowns at that.
Yeah; I guess we'll have to bury her... The woman shrugs; being used to death and the look of some messed up looking corpses.
Morag looks up from where she was laying low on the wagon, and seeing hostilities dying down , hopped down.
She advanced to where the sleeping orcs were being trussed up by the merchants, "Hmm, glad that enchantment worked! Now then, I'm all for being merciful, but I don't think they would have extended the courtesy to us. Is there a bounty on these sorts?" she asks.
Edoom looks at Morag and shakes his head with a smile. He pulls her aside to speak quietly. "It has nothing to do with Mercy. We need to find out if they are working alone or are part of a larger organized group. They seemed a little too organized for a typical bandit group. You're free to carry out your justice once I get some answers".
Edoom stalks to where the bandits are being held. He uses Mage Hand to pick us a handful of forest debris and rub it into the healthier ones face.
"We can do this the hard way... or we can do it the easy way. Who commands you, and where is your group based? If you have any hope of surviving you will speak now and do not hold back the truth".
Intimidate
Maria ends her litany reciting and takes a breath, a little exhausted after belching out for a bit. She'd move towards Edoom's side, looking down towards the bandits with a little bit of a grimace, "I can't heal the injured and the Paladin... I'm not sure if I can do little to anything at all," she says to the group, not sure if smothering dirt on someone was a good way get information from people. It seemed more childish if anything else.
Morag scowls at Edoom's back, but then follows the magus. The satchel at her side wriggles and a small lizard head pops out.
"What's that Archie?" Morga asks the lizard, "Don't worry , they're harmless now. Why don't you go see..."
The lizard hops out and moves cautiously until it stands in front of the orc that Edoom questioned.
With a smirk, Morag extends one her right hand, it's fingers clutched in a awkward array, the tendons standing out in sharp relief. With one eye closed, the other starting intently at the orc, Morag exerts her will and a dark pall settles over the orc for a moment, before disappearing.
"Have a nibble, if you want , Archie..." she suggests, and the lizard moves forward , chomping it's jaws, green poisonous saliva dripping out onto the ground...
Linnes looks over and laughs...
"Nah; allow me; mister elf... Linnes says as she walks towards the orcs. They made me helpless, no one... makes me feel helpless... She says menacingly.
After checking the SE orc and looting him, Antonio hustled up towards the caravan when he saw the firball *whoomph* rise over the wagons.
Startled, he moved more stealthily inside the tree line; only to find the battle is over.
"Excellent shot fellows!" He proclaimed cheerily, emerging from the tree line.
He stopped and frowned when he saw the fallen paladin. Except possibly for that... He thought to himself wisely, looking at the shooter with some caution.
The orcs are searched and one potion, many suits of leather armor, many falchions, many javelins, and many pairs of soft leather boots are found. One orc has a drawing of Malin, Jasper, and Emerald in order with bounties by them. 400, 200, and 100 respectively. Emerald scoffs "I am worth less than anyone it seems."
The fire rages out of control and the caravan prepares to mount up. Jasper, Emerald, and Malin continue the funeral and Jasper tears up as his body double is laid to rest with the others.
"What do we do with these orcs??"
Mangled, burnt corpses of the orc raiders litter the roadway. The orc captives say: "The priests of Hanspur promised us rich rewards to raid this caravan. Two more bands are looking for you."
"Hanspur you say"?
Know: Religion (Untrained).
"Maria. What do you know of thie Hanspur... and why would they be after this caravan in particular".
Morag tucks her lizard back into her satchel, "Good boy, Archie, you scared them good..."
She then joins the others a the forest fire lit funeral, answering the question of what to do with the orc, "Let them burn..."
As to the nature of the bounties, she raises her eyebrows, asking Jasper, Emerald and Malin, "What did you do to piss of these Hanspur priests....two more bands..."
Linnes sighs and looks for a good burial spot for the paladin. "...Shame..."
As the funeral is concluded, the caravan resumes its journey. The orc captive is hurt badly.
"If you heal me and let me go, I'll tell you who is leading the hunt for you."
She frowns, "Local deity, minor in comparison to larger faiths but still present. Followers are rather diverse, but I wouldn't trust them for a lone walk. Most folk just offer a small tribute and not much more," Maria says with a shrug.
"If anything just common bandits, just more into their faith than others."
The orcs are secured as the caravan prepares to move out. The forest will probably burn a while, and Jasper blames the orcs for making him set the forest ablaze.
A careful watch is set that night as Malin explains they are going to push hard to make the fort by the next day. Luckily the night is uneventful and the path begins to head towards the Sellen River. The single gate to the fort is opened as your wagons enter an outpost with the a set of coins engraved on what appears to be a large lake. This appears to be a somewhat unofficial symbol with a link to both the church of Abadar and House Lebeda. This outpost of about thirty men under arms seems to be at an extremely high alert.
A large man wearing a helmet with a large white swan on it approaches your group as the wagons are secured and the horses are stabled.
"Orcs surround us and constantly harass us. You must stay inside the gates."
You realize you left two weeks ago, and Pharast is almost over. The nights are still chilly, but not uncomfortably so.
"Well I mean if you want us to; I won't object." The woman says as she breathes in the night air... tasting fall with every inhalation. "We should resupply while we are here; how far until our next stop?"
"Twist my arm will you? Well all right." Said Antonio, saddlesore after the last week riding.
Stretching a little, Antonio looked around for some place to slake his thirst.
"Don't suppose you boys have a tavern hearabouts?" He asked the guard.
"You won't get a complaint from me," Maria says with a bit of a dumb smile to the guards at the gate. It felt like things were moving quickly, even if she had been gone roughly for almost two weeks. Two weeks of travel on the road with strangers for a reason she really didn't understand other than money.
After a discovering a burned caravan, surviving an ambush, and one night to rest and recover spells, you hurried with your prisoners to the Fort on the Sellen River. It is 29 Pharast 4710 and the weather is getting warmer and warmer. The guard captain takes you to a large table in the Bloody Axe Inn, a two-story building with an entire second story dedicated to basic rooms as your prisoners are secured.
The warrior in his mid thirties spreads a map on a large table in the tavern, and shows you the route you took to skirt the border of Pitax and Mivon and arrive at this fort. He seems agitated and explains: "Brevoy is making some play for the Riverlands, and it has Mivoy and Pitax concerned. Our deals with the Merchant League of Mivoy has been profitable for both sides, but it appears the Merchant League is wavering in their support of our continued trade agreement. One of my spies infiltrated a meeting where Hanspur priests seemed to be advocating for plundering the trade routes rather than take smaller, steady profits. Although the Merchant League agreed to maintain the agreement, Houses of Mivoy that wanted to raid an occasional caravan were told to keep it to themselves, but make sure the tithe on the plunder made it to the Merchant League."
He draws a breath "So, our enemy includes orc warbands and now Mivoy mercenaries. We have been under siege conditions for weeks and have the vital resupply we need. We just need to hold on a little while longer."
Edoom sits back at the news and a thoughtful look comes upon his face. He rises and begins to pace about the room.
"Well we are trapped here as well as you are at the moment. What can we do to help alleviate the situation? And you mentioned 'hold on a little longer'. How do you expect the situation to change"?
"I hate to be the bearer of such news but I'm rather unsure," she says standing by Edoom before giving a glance towards him and the rest of the group, "We've been rather bargained with coin against our own partial will and now we are to be stuck here?"
She takes a gulp, "I hope I have enough prepared for sermons."
As the war council continues, there is an occasional crashing sound as a large rock lands withing the walls. "Damned Mivoy catapult, they will be closed to breaching the walls soon. I will have you hold here in the Broken Axe and we will make each building a strong point. If holding the walls becomes too much, my men will fall back to each individual building.
My orders put the safety of the caravan first. You must make the last trip to Willip which is here."
On the map Willip is just about 8km to the south. A scout comes in and whispers to the captain.
"There is Bloody Hand banner seen among the enemies, and they are definitely going to come tonight. If you like, we may can slip you out if you want to avoid the fighting and get to Willip."
Antonio plunks his wineglass to the table.
"Slipping out seems good to me. Can we do that with the horses and wagons?" He asked the council.
"Quite the dilemma. Do you not expect any reinforcements? You yourself just stated that the caravan was the priority... so I guess that is the decision".
Something is fishy here. Why is this caravan so important that there is a bounty on the leaders, and this military leader is convinced it is most important.
The captain listens to your plans carefully and the scout casually mentions "You are talking to number 56, show some respect."
Jasper looks surprised at this revelation. Emerald adds "I can inspire the troops with my bardic music, and Jasper can use his bow from the walls. This druid here can heal any wounded and get injured troops back in the field."
Mivoy has a Dueling list ranked from 1 to 100. To advance you have to beat the person above you in a duel. The top of the list leads the country. 56th best is not shabby. Think Chronicles of Riddick to some extent.
The captain nods and gets a determined look saying: "We are outnumbered about two to one by my count. No reinforcements expected and getting the caravan away is too hard. Charging earthworks to get to the catapult against orcs was never an option, especially at night and this fort was not expected to withstand siege attacks. Count Jasper and Emerald have some resources, and obviously you can add to the defense too. I am rotating my men to disguise our numbers, and this fort looks less defended than it is--keeping you in here helps disguise our strength and adds to that. There are no windows, but there is a trap door in the last room on the right that leads to the roof. Now I will add to our defenses personally."
As he turns to the scout, the scout hands him an aldori sword in a scabbard. This sword is made of cold iron, and as the captain draws it two entwined pikes (carnivorous fish) adorn the length of the blade on both sides and heatless flame begins to burn along the blade and shed light brighter than any torch you have seen. As the scout buckles the scabbard on the captain's side, he breaks into the first smile you have seen on him.
"We ready to hunt? Or we sneaking you out?"
He looks to Antonio. "That better not be an aldori sword if we are sneaking you out!!"
Morag steeples her fingers, considering their predicament, "I'm for continuing to Willip...it is what we were engaged for, after all. This fort seems to be a losing concern...no offense." she says to the guard captain.
The woman frowns. It's up to the escort; as far as I'm concerned... I'm not paid to think so it's best to not. She keeps the rest of her comment to herself; but she seems almost sad she is going to miss the fighting... almost.
"I guess I'll follow you all, if it's best that I help you all," she says still unsure of what she exactly was doing. It was somewhat annoying, cast around to whomever needed it. There was a word for it, but she at least didn't mind the company doing it all that much.
The battle begins in earnest, and from what you can tell, the earthen works seem to be highly resistant to catapult fire. So much so that an occasional boulder makes into the fort and hits one of the wooden buildings with greater effect. The door to the center of the fort is propped open.
Emerald sings an inspiring song, and the orc drummer you heard earlier in the forest begins a martial tune and orcs rally around a Bloody Hand banner.
The tavern is converted to a hospital as wounded soldiers are brought in with burns and arrow injuries. Any healing aid provided by you will restore them back to the battle quickly.
Morag and Linnes in the confusion of the treatment of wounded soldiers, finds they were handed a water bottle and a note.
After you help or watch the treatment of wounded the siege seems to be going much in the defenders favor for the next hour. Then two explosions are heard and the fort is fighting hand to hand. The savage orcs seem to be hard to bring down, despite the superior tactics of the defenders. The Captain is fighting with his guard at the gate (south on map) when the scout arrives and quickly shouts:
"Captain say you need to sally out and hold the orcs coming from the breach."
Edoom is both surprised and stricken by the chaos of mass combat. He was no stranger to combat, but more of a skirmisher not a full-scale assault and defend action. He seemed unsure of what to do and mainly scurried from one area to another, seemingly arriving just after things were resolved, then moving on to the next. He was willing to help... just needed guidance on what to do.
Finally with the pronouncement to sally out and hold the orcs at bay he had direction. Though he didn't have the time to establish relationships with the people in the fort he sympathized with their plight and saw how hard they fought for their beliefs.
"I'll go. Who is with me"?
Antonio sighed and put down his wineglass.
"Ah well. I'm in. I'm in." He said, putting his lute away.
Order of Action
Edoom and Antonio
Enemy
Party
There is an explosive fireball which greatly thins the orcs as they breach the wall. The leading elements move forward as the archers on the tower keep firing to keep the breach to a minimum. A half orc half ogre leads the breach team!
At the gate a huge mist is obscuring the fight, but a cheer goes up as the captain emerges with many sword cuts after a duel with the opposing swordsman leader. He is about to rejoin you when he sees another orog enter the gate and returns to his fight.
Morag scowls at the note then tucks it into her belt, thinking to herself, "We've got some turncoats inside the walls....", before turning back to tending the wounded.
When Edoom asks for help sortie-ing out , Morag quips, "I'm not the type to sortie anywhere..."
She lifts her head when the explosion outsides the walls of the fort...
Linnes completely ignores the note; reasoning that the orcs likely will not care that they are holing up and there has to be ways they could set this place ablaze if the rest of the city falls. She aids a few soldiers with what time she has and sallies out as well; Longsword and Shield in hand.
Well; might as well actually do what I'm good at... She says wryly as she sizes the battle for an opportunity.
"Sheyln, protect those that dwell here, guard us in our times of struggle," Maria begins to call out, bringing forth her Glaive from her side, like a staff it had served before it was needed to defend herself from yet another barbarous event. She did not stay with Edoom for this, instead with Morag and Linnes, not one to join rushing into combat. She was a speaker at heart, using her divine ability to rally those around her.
"If we don't go out to meet them, they'll just burn us out." Antonio said cheerily.
"Let's go out, pick a partner, and let's dance!" He said, before darting out the doorway.
Looking around and spotting Orc yellow, he leveled his crossbow and fired.
for a possible piercing damage.
Edoom steps out in the center grounds and fires an arrow at the running orc drummer with the banner.
The orc drummer/bannerman and two orc scouts begin to run. One of the scouts his hit with a light crossbow shot as he runs by.
The orog advances with his entourage of orcs hefting a mighty axe. "Get back inside, didn't you read the note you dwarf buggers!!"
Party up in any order
Linnes walks up and opens up the door herself; hoping that the door opens in a way to provide cover as she carefully takes a look.