Lazur listens to the end of the report and the says "A hundred miles away. If we could get that flying boat here we could carry many people there."
I can get us there as a group easily enough. If we can the boat through I would want to make sure its flying capabilities worked here, they may be specific to the Plane of Fire
Mira makes herself visible and addresses the messenger, Where is this invasion happening and just who is invading. Quickly man, lives may depend on this!
The exhausted mayor flashes Trer a look, not appreciating the enthusiasm in this particular moment.
"Fire giants, apparently."
The guard adds. "And more. Monsters. We've a magic messaging system between here and the farming settlement to the north. They evacuated as much as they could but some stayed behind. There's always been rumors of creatures living in the old volcanic tunnels, but they usually kept to themselves--"
"--Busy killing each other, according to scout reports," Mayor Bergan adds. "But if the tunnels filled with lava, they all would flee. And apparently they are coming this way. The storms and earthquakes left little of our farming land, from first reports. But if fire giants scorch the earth..." he trails off.
Senator Orteza quietly approaches alongside Liber. "What of wyrms? No report of a magma dragon, by chance?"
Lazur pauses "Hundreds of fire giants and monsters. We can't take on that many at once. Small bands yes but that many...". He whistles "Anyone got a clan of dwarves in their pocket? We are going to need help or good tactics and maybe a rest. How long to they get here or to the first decent group of people?"
Lazur pauses "Hundreds of fire giants and monsters. We can't take on that many at once."
Well, that sort of depends on how many hundreds we are facing. I reckon I could take on several dozen and Trer can probably get the rest
Mira has a rather feverish grin on her face, she seems rather overconfident and flushed with a desire to take on the next challenge.
"If the finger wigglers are still good to go, then so am I!" Trer states proudly. "A hundred's a lot, but if we're smart about it, we can rout them." She shows a surprising level of tactical awareness, in contrast to her brash usual personality. Then again, some of her most famous exploits involve feats of incredibly brawn, but coupled with a base cunning; like hiding from a dragon in it's own horde, and then outlasting it in a battle of endurance.
"We don't need to kill them all... just give them a bad enough bloody nose that they change course. If the lava is subsiding, they might be willing to head back to their homes soon enough."
"I still have a few cure spells prepared, as well as two more cones of cold, not to mention a good few lower level spells. I additionally have one high-level spell prepared in the case that I am the only one left standing. I should be good to go." Krowys monotones.
Meanwhile Liber is talking to Orteza, "So there has been reports of a magma dragon somewhere near, then?"
Mayor Bergan gapes at the people so casually claiming they could take on a hundred fire giants and looks to Mara, who nods at him. "These people--the Mighty Trer, Ariston of Varan, Krowys the Translator, Lazur Anil and... I think Mirabelle is here somewhere... are responsible for doing what Zax and I failed to do... they planeswalked and fixed the machine. If they say they can do it, I would trust them."
Bergan Regal takes this in and nods back. "This city has... had... tremendous resources, but we used every last source of teleportation we had to help get the people to safety. We understand someone got word to the mainland and the good Senator pulled a number of favors to get additional help... including the dragon protectors of the Free Coast. Even the Empire sent the Hippogriff Cavalry to help, since tidal waves threatened to spread as far as to the province of Mekhat. If the cavalry hasn't left we might entreat them to transport some of our warriors... but that would take some serious begging, and even then..." He sighs, mopping his forehead. It is a cool spring evening but he is worked up. "The casualties among our militia and constabulary are high as they worked to get the people to safety, and Kardak is badly wounded... and the rest are exhausted. But we could try to find people who would be willing to help. Onyx, you should go." A short elf in dark armor who seemed to be blending into the shadows until his name was called looks up and simply nods. Bergan continues, "If you are so capable, presumably you can fly or teleport yourselves about a hundred miles north of here?"
Orteza answers Liber's question, and loud enough for the others to hear, "A decade or so ago, I heard... rumors that a magma dragon had settled into the mountain. Some... associates of mine saw to it to investigate, but did not return. Nonetheless subsequent reports indicated no presence of the dragon, but if you all are going and the denizens of the mountain all moving south, you should be warned of the possibility. I will of course ask the Free Coast dragon protectors to join you and take volunteers to contend with what is up there..." He adds with some annoyance, "Though the brine dragons are capricious bastards and already returned to the sea, and one of the bronzes is diving to rescue the ships that sank, so that leaves really one left to help, which will," he looks at the party meaningfully, "Be happy to help, I am certain."
He sighs. "Anyway, whatever you do, I would urge caution. Assess what is happening--as Ariston says, even if their tunnels are filled, they may be able to return. Of course I would not wish to deny the Mighty Trer her appetite for a good workout, but for anyone who isn't her, I would not want anyone to take undue risks if the monsters can be routed or convinced to return home. Perhaps if the adventurers here and General Onyx could meet with me, we can come up with a further plan of action while you, Mr. Mayor, attend to the needs of your people."
He gestures for you to follow him over toward the sodden remains of the memorial garden near the Sanctum. "Unless you have any other questions for the guard?"
Lazur shakes his head at Orteza's question and follows him quietly to the garden.
Mira removes her invisibility, suddenly appearing about 10' in the air. No, none for. I just need a better idea of where we need to get to in order to get us there. Is there a village or settlement or landmark we can fix on for my teleportation. Our plana excursion was hectic but I still have plenty of magical reserves left. However, if they are bands of giants then they may well be amenable to negotiation as well.
The guard next to Bergan nods. "The Ram's Tears, the waterfalls pretty much straight to the north."
Orteza ushers you toward the memorial garden nearby, in its sorry state of fallen statues of past city heroes and founders. The dark-clad elf called Onyx appears to be following along. Orteza looks somewhat annoyed at his joining you, but does not ask him to leave. Instead he introduces you.
"Ah. It appears General Onyx is joining u- you. The general is the head of the Ramsmouth Militia and the mayor's bodyguard. I have a proposal. If your group--is there something we can call you as a group, by the way? It might make communication easier."
He pauses. "Anyway, if you can teleport to the Ram's Tears and assess the situation. Send word to me via this feather token with what you see--and if you decide to act immediately or wait for us--" he offers you the communication item, "--And in the meantime, I shall treat with the dragon and with the Hippogriff Cavalry to assist us. If the Cavalry can transport General Onyx's men, they can work on evacuating any fool in the area and setting up fortifications. It is not densely populated, but there are barley fields and sheep farms in the region, run by the type of folks who don't tend to run even when they should. If Virdiv'ort'exal can join you he shall either assist in combat or run interference as needed. Sound good?"
"I do not like waiting," Onyx said, "But I suppose we must. And if these people saved our city, then I am at their service." He gives you all a stiff bow.
Krowys nudges Liber, remembering that she looked at the atlases. In turn, she responds, "I reviewed atlases in a library before coming here, the name does sound familiar."
Krowys, meanwhile, attempts to come up with a name... and fails. "Even though I know a good many languages... I can not think of a consolidated name for our group at the moment. Perhaps one will come, but as of now nothing comes to mind. Bands of giants might also be prone to negotation... but I do not speak their language, as I focused primarily on the human and planar languages, but Liber can translate if necessary for any of you."
Krowys turns to Liber and makes a note, in speak-with-master, "Remind me to purchase two ioun stones later to remedy this issue. I heard one variety is useful with languages and linguistics."
Liber hands Krowys the two remaining cones of glass, and the two of them are ready for whatever combat may arise.
Lazur smiles and looks like the cat that ate the canary for a moment "I didn't there there was a language I knew that you didn't. I am proven wrong now. I speak giant. I need a few minutes and then I will be ready to go. I want to prepare a few things. It's good we were just on the plane of fire as we still have that resistance." Lazur pulls out a couple beads and concentrates for a moment and then takes two extracts and puts them in a vial. He looks up from his work and says "Ready to go."
"One can only learn so many languages. I plan on purchasing two ioun stones whenever I get the chance to remedy this issue. As for why I have not purchased said ioun stones already, there are concerns that tongues translation isn't accurate enough for translation of legal documents, which is why I am needed multiple places."
The Ram's Tears you say, big waterfall, should be enough to get us there. General Onyx, if you are coming with us then it would be useful to know what you will bring to any conflict. As for a name for us, well, there are so many options. The Band of Blades, The Harbingers of Doom, The Unbowed, The Unbroken, Trer's Tremulous Troopers, so many options. Let us think on it.
With that Mira starts gathering everyone together in a circle. Now, remember everyone, teleportation can be disorientating, when we arrive take a moment to centre yourself, I dont want anyone chucking up over my nice new shoes.
Mira promptly vanishes, activates her two usual wands, and greater teleports the group to the waterfall, aiming to land at the base, at the edge of the pool.
General Onyx replies to Mirabelle, "I am the milita general," as though that is an adequate explanation of what he is capable of. He is dressed in dark, highly mobile looking armor, with a symbol of clasped hands on a tabard over the armor: the symbol of Pirs, god of labor and community.
"As the Senator suggests, I will fly in once I have gathered the means to do so and the remains of our combat-capable militia, and you've reported what is happening. That means you've got to buy us about 20 minutes." He blinks once. "I know that is an eternity on the battlefield. But if Mara has faith in you, so do I. May the Plowman's hands guide you straight."
He and Orteza depart.
Once you gather yourselves, you teleport, and despite Mirabelle's warnings, the confusing rush feels almost pleasant compared to the wrenching nature of the planar portals you were traveling through earlier.
You find yourself in a bizarre landscape, as though the Heavens and Hells had collided. Crystal-clear water rushes from great heights at the foot of the island highlands, splitting into many cascades falling into a broad lake before consolidating into a river roaming south. In places, it looks like the water cuts straight through rapidly cooling lava--an oddity of nature or perhaps an effect of the Machine trying to return things to order. At the top of the falls, you can see where the lava had pushed through the mountains into the valleys (it went deeper south east of here, the shape of the highlands here slowing its progress where you stand). The land smokes and the air smells twice as sour, and yet on the other side of the lake, the grass is green and early spring flowers, though sodden, try to assert their presence.
You stand, roughly, at the edge of the lake, on the far side of the waterfalls.
Great clouds of steam and debris rise up from the highlands and approach at rapid pace toward the falls. As your eyes adjust to the pre-dawn twilight, you realize there are massive figures moving toward you--dozens, indeed, at least. Giants as well as other, oddly shapped beasts. Gouts of flame fly up on occasion and you realize it is coming from the creatures, not the remains of the lava flow. Their cries and growls form a singular cacophonic voice of doom.
Lazir looks at the panorama before him and whistles. Focusing on the giant creatures he says "Those guys aren't running towards us but away from something. A dragon maybe? See anyone we could talk to?"
"What would cause Giants to run? A dragon seems likely in that case, since it does not seem to be the remnants of the disaster itself causing them to flee," Krowys deadpans while looking at the surrounding panorama with Liber on his shoulder.
"I don't want to get Trer's hopes up... but maybe it is a kaiju. In any event, we need to get eyes on it." The cleric starts walking towards the racing horde of giants, while debating the correct terminology.
A horde of giants? A gaggle of giants? No, a quorum, a mob?
"A wot? In any case, I should break out the big guns for this, right? Try and give me a heads up before we go in."
Dont get too far ahead Ariston, I will see what can be seen from the air
With that Mira takes to the air invisibly, looking to get a better idea of what is behind the line of advancing creatures and what they might be beyond the obvious giants.
She also scans the landscape, looking for a natural bottleneck that the fleeing creatures might be heading towards where they could, perhaps, talk to them as they slow down.
The horde moving toward you is still a ways away (it is so huge it can be seen from a fair distance). You're at the base of a water fall, and there are no clear paths up and into the higher lands to make an easy approach. Some of you are flying and this should not be difficult, but how you approach and by what means may be relevant to both your ease of access and how the creatures perceive you, so more detail would be helpful.
There is a fair amount of ash and smoke flying up and around the approaching creatures, and it's still quite dark outside, so making out the specific species that make up this collection of monsters is not possible until you get quite close--and seeing what is behind it is from where you stand impossible.
The fire giants are obvious because they are fiery and gianty, and they'd definitely live in a place like this. But as for everything else, it just seems more like a singular mass of living magma and reptilian limbs, but they probably are--hopefully are--some different creatures. You can safely guess there are no planar entities here, as they'd likely pop off from whence they came when disaster struck.
"I do not believe it is wise to attempt to fight a Kaiju, Ariston. " Krowys deadpans. He hasn't heard much of Kaijus, but what he has heard is absolutely terrifying. Even though he speaks in the usual deadpan voice, you can tell he shudders at the mere notion that it could be a kaiju.
"That doesn't sound like a Neenian word," Trer says. "Wot's a Kaiju?"
"I have only ran across them in a few translations, but to paraphrase one author: they would easily 'make mincemeat' of us."
Ariston pauses while Mira scouts, giving him plenty of time to indulge Trer's curiosity. "'Kaiju' refers to a few massive monsters. Some walk on four legs, others on two, and all are said to be at least 100' long or tall. I think one of the lizard-like ones is said to be 300' long. They generally sleep for decades or centuries. But when one awakens, it destroys or eats everything in its path."
I will be back soon Mira says from up in the air somewhere as she flies upwards and ahead, clearing the waterfall. As she does she reviews her options for halting or at least slowing down the giants...
Hmm, I dont have much is the mass blockage available today, tentacles and pits dont cover enough ground, maybe something conjured from shadow or a mass suggestion to hold up a bunch of giants. I suppose I could polymorph something into a large blockage for a time...
As she flies forward she keeps a eye out ahead of her, scanning the approaching creatures and the local terrain to get a sense of the lay of the land. She is also totally ready to activate her contingent dimension door if she needs to run.
As the others discuss the definition of "kaiju" (coined in Sheenosek and etymologically sourced from both Neen and Androsi words), Mira flies up over the falls toward the monsters to get a better look at things.
What approaches is chaos. A legion of fire giants, perhaps about two dozen strong, plus occasional glimpses of some kind of insectoid creatures burrowing through the stone and kicking up clouds of debris (DC 26+ Knowledge (dungeoneering): vemeraks, perhaps?).
Swarms of bats and other mundane critters not terribly alarming on a usual day save in numbers further obscure getting a better view. The creatures are generally bent on moving away from the mountains but also seem to be swatting at and attacking each other along the way, or getting in one another's way.
It does look like some of the fire giants are trying to shout orders to one another. Some are moving into different directions as the mountain pass they move through divides, each scanning the area. Are they looking for a place to hide? To stand and fight?
Further in the distance she can make out a vast creature with wings wide as the mountains it is flying through, bony and sinuous and glowing with unholy light. Some kind of undead dragon, perhaps? Getting closer to check would be extraordinarily dangerous. If it weren't enough it seems to be flanked by smaller (relatively speaking, likely still massive given how far away you are) flying creatures you think could be magma dragons, but are bipedal. There are at least two, but could be more.
Mira takes one look at the advancing horde and promptly turns round and begins flying back to the group as fast as possible. Nope, nope, not dealing with that lot, at least not on my own. Maybe if we can marshal a whole College of Archmagi. Ariston, I'm coming and I've found a use for your Miracle!
Swooping down to the group she decloaks and blurts out a hurried description of the mass of chaos descending on them. The giants are definitely running from something, probably the freaking massive undead dragon and its friends behind it. Really, you would think Orteza would mention something like this. We really must have quite stern words with him when we get back. If we get back. What I can say is that the General and all of his militia are unlikely to be able to help with this. They wont even slow them down, they'll just get trampled over. We need a plan. If we can organise the giants we might at least get them safely out of the way. Not sure about the other things. We need to do something to get their attention and try and talk to them. The I think we need to find somewhere vaguely safe we can divert them to. Anyone got any ideas?
Lazur looks at Mira and very calmly says "What exactly did you see? How many dragons and how big? Were you able to identify them? We have the feather token to send Orteza a message but we need to be specific."
Krowys has heard of various ways a dragon could be undead but he'd need to see it to know what it could be. Orteza had mentioned a possibility of a magma dragon but that he'd not heard of its continued presence here. Best guess that perhaps it died but something caused it/allowed it to become undead.
Just as a reminder, there is farmland (sheep farms and barley fields) directly to the south of you which is probably what they want the cavalry to be protecting.
"Lazur is right. You need to be specific. What did it look like, Mirabelle? It could be anything from a zombie juvenile, to a great wyrm that turned to lichdom, based solely on "undead dragon". I need more information, and going to see for myself would be unwise."
"Most importantly, is it still stabbable?"
There really wasnt that much time to take a look at what is coming but that dragon is enormous.
It was hard to see details (remember in addition to the chaos the area is still somewhat smoky), but Mira knows the creature was glowing and had creatures accompanying it. This suggests an intelligent undead, like a lich or a draconic abomination known as a Ravener, both of which would be powerful spellcasters in addition to keeping many of the draconic abilities in life. It might have even been some kind of spectral creature.
You can speculate based on what Orteza told you it is probably a magma dragon in origin. Mirabelle could add, if she chose, that the creatures she saw might have been half-magma dragons, given their coloration and wings. It's also possible that they were cherufes, but cherufes aren't winged. Unless they are half-magma dragon cherufes...
Given the creatures had been living in the volcano until it erupted without issue and now its inhabitants are running for their lives, you can infer that either the volcano itself awakened the creature, and/or dislodged something that was keeping it sealed away from the world.
To be 100% certain you'd have to get close to it, and in the meantime all of the creatures, including the dragon, are moving toward you (still miles away, but fast enough it isn't going to take terribly long for them to get there).
Ariston blinks - twice. "Uh... OK. We have a giant dragon that may be undead and a bunch of smaller dragons. And they seem to be driving giants and some underground creatures before them. Well, I've got no idea what to do. Maybe, if we kill the big dragon, we'll be able to scatter the others? Can we convince the giants to fight with us so they can return to the caverns?"
"But is it still stabbable?" Trer asks again with a somewhat desperate tone to her voice.
Mira glances over into the distance...Stabbable, yes, sure. Cherufe's are massive magma based reptilians. Ravener's are, well, just all kinds of awful. If its also a Lich and an ancient Magma dragon then its all kind of horrendous.
"A lich Ancient, or worse, Great Wyrm, dragon would be the most unfavourable of those options. Both of them, liches and raveners, are generally corporeal, and we may even be able to dispatch a ravener, depending on the base dragon; thus, they are stabbable. If it is a lich Great Wyrm, I would HIGHLY advise against attempting anything by ourselves. If it is such, to put it colloquially: we are f&~!ed."
Trer blinks slowly. "Sounds delightful. We still gotta do something though. I haven't even used my ace in the hole!"
Lazur whistles and says "Ok here is what I suggest we tell Orteza, 'There is a very large undead dragon, maybe lich maybe reavener, probably magma based with at least two cohorts, maybe magma dragons, that are driving all the giants and beasts south. We have a few minutes until the reach us.' How does that sound?"
"That sounds like a plan," Krowys responds.
He pauses for a minute, considering a possible plan to deal with the dragon beyond merely smacking it as hard as possible. After a few more seconds, he arrives at an answer, "I believe the two of us," emphasizing two and pointing at himself and Liber, "have a method to deal with the undead dragon, as we have a few cold spells and healing spells remaining. Both of these groups of spells are effective on an undead magma dragon, regardless of the manner in which it arrived to undeath. Liber can also deliver touch spells if needed."
Liber gives a clawed thumbs up, agreeing to the possibility of being in harms way, before responding, "Here's hoping it's merely a zombie, or a ravener that became undead relatively early."
Trer shrugs. "You guys said I could stab it. Usually works. You've seen I can stab pretty hard and good at this point. If it was just me, I'd hide in a crevasse until it flew overhead, fly out myself, and stab it a bunch of times. Since you folk are here, I'll just try and draw as many attacks to me as I can, and you guys can be the heavy artillery, ok?" She claps her hands together. "Now. How do we use our things and get there before they all run out?"
Lazur uses the bird feather token to send a message to Orteza. As you continue to discuss/prep, you receive a brief, hastily written reply: "On my way. Will send cavalry to farms but no further north."
You can't make an exact prediction of time of arrival but the terrain is rough even the fliers will be somewhat slowed by the fact that there's still a lot of smoke and steam in the air. You have somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. If you want to make overtures to the fire giants and set up some kind of defenses, you need to do it now.