"Let us be more precise in our language here.
Kenabres still exists and has many in need of protection.
It would be incorrect for these soldiers to infer that there is no Kenabres to return to.
This choice must be freely made with full knowledge of the facts of the matter."
Cecily nods to Aroden, "Precision in language is very important. Is is their duty to carry out our wishes, so it is our duty to take care with our wishes and in doing so, take care of them."
The Alchemist nods to Cecily as she brow beats him (again).
Human political paths are really confusing. Let me know when you want a bomb throw at any unruly crusaders.
"Ahmose, should you require specific guidance, you have but to ask. I was born into these paths." Her tone is a bit less inviting than it could be, but it's clear that she is being genuine and that she thinks she's being quite magnanimous in extending the offer.
Sergent Dann takes a moment to speak with her people and stops the party from leaving them, "If its alright with you sir. We've changed our minds, you're on an important mission and if we can help, we will."
Cecily addresses the group of soldiers joining them. "Welcome, Sergeant Dann, soldiers. We'll see to it that you're well provided for and healed up. Your captivity must have been taxing, but your strength brings us closer to victory in Drezen, and your enthusiasm is inspiring."
Thawm decides to invite Tandyn to help her use magical detection magic first on their advisors, and then on Sergeant Dann and her group.
"Certainly. It's a fairly routine inspection, but you should know that it can be fooled with a little effort. If it were sufficient, we wouldn't need the inquisitors."
Tandyn seeks out their siege expert. "Aron! Did you hear Aroden's description of Keeper's Canyon? There must be a way to use such terrain to our advantage. Perhaps we can keep them at range. Let's talk this one out..."
You line up your officers, advisors, Dann, and her people, one by one and scan them for evil and fiendish presences, not a single one of them appears to be concerned; with the exception of Lann they have suffered such magics numerous times before. Your divinations provide you no positive results. Lann smiles, his lizard half looks strange with the expression, "No fiendish influence, ha! I don’t know whether to believe your magic is flawed or if my people's history is."
With daylight becoming high in the sky, Irabeth asks, ”Knight commanders, my friends. Shall we camp here or march north further still? We can march today and recover tomorrow, and then move on the two armies stationed there.”
Nurah explains, ”If we march north now and don’t wait, we could make it to Keeper’s Canyon tomorrow afternoon.”
Keeper’s Canyon was once a holding of Drezen, a small town that helped facilitate shipments to and from Drezen. With time and the Worldwounds influence it is very likely a ruin. It is a defensible position, but with your foreknowledge of the armies present it is unlikely that they will take you by surprise.
"I would suggest that we continue marching, if the army's morale is good enough to do so. As with our decision at Valas's Gift, my preference is to move swiftly when we have the opportunity to do so, since we do not know what unavoidable delays may lie ahead. As well, I think it better to fight our battles in daytime, since many of our foes will be able to see in the dark."
Standing in the line of the advisory committee, the Blue Whisper nods his approval.
"Agreed. I think we ought to rest after the next battle." Knight Commander Uhturj suggests.
"Let's carry on and march, and give the demons what-for tomorrow in the canyon then."
"No fiendish influence, ha! I don’t know whether to believe your magic is flawed or if my people's history is."
Tandyn chuckles. "Probably a bit of both, but you've certainly earned our trust."
"We're still in fairly good shape, and we don't know enough about their armies to gauge whether a rest is worth a delay. Either way, we should avoid fighting both of their armies at once. We will need to scout this one out thoroughly."
Keeper’s Canyon, 4th day of marching high noon, distance traveled 126 miles
As you move through the canyon you take the approach slowly, expecting opposition at any moment. Anevia and the other scouts report, ”The enemy consists of two forces, dretches 100 strong and tieflings 200 strong. There are a few shells of buildings left from the town and what remains of a number of piers. The dretches are holding the ruins while the tieflings are out in the open. If we engage one force the other will be able to flank us easily. I saw a demon among the dretches, humanoid with bat-like wings, he is clearly their commander. They are at the ready, we won't be able to get the drop on them with a standard assault.”
Aravashnial provides some insight, ”I believe the demon commander is an incubus. Such creatures delight in inflicting pain and misery on others, more so than their other demonic brethren if you can believe it. They are quite perceptive, if you were thinking about assassinating him, the attempt could fail. But they cannot pierce illusions like more powerful demons.”
Irabeth scoffs, ”I don’t believe either army will pose much of a challenge. Iomadae’s might will be channeled through our army and they will be smote. We should charge.”
Nurah agrees with Irabeth, ”We should be aggressive here. I suspect the Brimorak commander from Vilareth teleported here to report their failure. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found its body. But there could be reinforcements from Drezen marching south to meet us. If we may be facing three armies not two.”
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The Alchemist ducks behind some foliage (but not mechanically beneficial foliage, but nice ambiance foliage) to mix up some Extracts for 2 minutes.
"Let us get the drop on their leader, if we can. Do we have a way to? And as far as the armies, can the demons or tieflings catch our horses, or respond to our bows? Could we lure them to the canyon where they could not surround us?"
"Their commander can fly and likely teleport. He is guarded by one hundred of those stink demons." Tandyn paces a bit while thinking. "He will get away if he knows we're coming for him. My armor is a bit loud and slow for this. Perhaps I should stay and lead the army this time. If they discover you, you will face dozens of demons in putrid gas. It will block you from seeing the commander if he flies up. Then you must stand against waves of dretches. Perhaps you can use the ruins to help bottleneck them." He looks around the group. "There's a lot that can go wrong here, but I believe you're all capable. If the army attacks around the same time, perhaps we can draw most of the dretches our way."
Tandyn looks around the party again. "How do we feel about this plan?"
Aravashnial says, ”Dretches will blanket the battlefield with noxious clouds if we engage at range and they can summon more of their kind into our midst. Some of our soldiers or their horses will be affected and not be able to pull back effectively if you wish to hit them only with ranged weapons.”
Anevia adds, ”Like the tieflings at the ford they were not armed with bows of any sort."
She continues, "We won’t be able to see when you attack their commander. The larger battle may happen before or after you make your attack. If you are able to get into position you could wait until we can muster our forces. He seemed to move around to “inspire” his troop’s discipline.”
Aron asks, ”Are you sure you want to attempt this? If you use a potion to become invisible it won’t last but a couple of minutes. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to find the commander before then.”
He hands you a smokestick, you can use this to create a cloud of smoke, ”You could use this to signal to us you’re ready to attack but it will draw attention to your position.”
Dorek nods as Tandyn lays out his plan. "I can g-get in close - the s-shadows do as I command." He grins. "They w-won't see me, not even their g-general. I don't think people t-throwing their lot in with the d-demons are likely b-burdened with too much i-intelligence - if we c-cut the head off their army, it will f-fall apart."
After a moment's thought, he raises his eyebrows at Horgus. "I might have an i-idea. Mind if I look through our s-supplies for a minute?" Rummaging through the crusaders' supplies, he finds a roll of canvas meant to keep out the rain on officers' tents. Appropriating part of it for the plan ("It's the d-dry season anyway - don't those h-highborn know anything?"), he fashions a rudimentary tabard of sorts, painting the symbol of Baphomet on its front and slipping it on over his poorly made clothes and chain shirt.
The tabard isn't much good, and the other key element of his cultist disguise - scowling a lot - mostly just makes him look unpleasant. Still, many of the tieflings they had fought at Villareth Ford had little better, and he's likely to pass casual inspection. Returning back to the group, he glances around at the others who will be venturing into the heart of the demons' lair. "C-cecily, you might want to do the s-same. As for you, T-thawm and Aroden, I'm s-sure we can make you some f-fake horns. Perhaps a c-cloak?" He narrows his eye, tilting his head at an angle as he looks at Thawm. "You, T-thawm, I think would make a g-good demonspawn. A b-beggar I knew when I was a s-street fish had b-blue hair - a s-shame you don't have t-teeth like his, though." Finally, he turns to Ahmose. "And y-you, my good f-friend, you... um..." He glances up at Cecily, shrugging. "...B-backpack?"
As the group prepares to set out, Dorek concentrates, stepping into one of the shadows cast by the canyon's walls. As he does so, the shadows seem to flow around him, making it hard to look directly at the strange tiefling. At the shadow's fringe, the inky darkness shifts and moves, almost like spider-like legs of a deeper darkness than the shadows cast by the canyon walls - tilting his head to one side as though listening, Dorek pauses for a moment, then smirks, as one might do on hearing a joke. "My s-shadow says to neither f-fear nor regret. There is a great d-darkness in the hearts of our foes - and a great a-absence between their ears."
Cecily grimaces at Dorek's disguise advice, but wordlessly retreats to privacy and comes back wearing her most ill-treated outfit underneath scraps gathered at the ford. The grimace remains and compliments the outfit well. She's let her hair down so that her horns are more prominent, and she snakes her tail out from underneath her skirts.
"I dont know if trying to hide Ahmose as a grotesque lump would do better or worse for me."
She'll head out quietly with the party, trying to stick close to the people who actually know how to sneak, only occasionally muttering about how much she hates this.
"Not all tieflings have horns, do they? I shall simply wear a cloak with a hood. I think that distance is our best defense, and we should drink the potions of Invisibility when we get close. I'm not going to be able to fool anyone by sight, but I might be able to present myself as a defector if I am questioned."
Aroden follows along with Cecily, trying to stick to the shadows.
Torn between commanding the army like her father used to and making sure that the force sneaking behind enemy lines, Thawm makes a few noncommital noises.
Watching other assemble disguises, she eventually pouts and puts up her hood.
"I'll be a 'defector' too, I guess."
She... isn't much for sneaking...
Patiently waiting for the others to decide on the plan, Ahmose smiles as everyone begins heading out to Stealthily advance on the demonic army.
Better bring popcorn because this will be da bomb!
The Blue Whisper does drink his Mutagen prior to following along...
The assassination team picks their way through the low dead grass, rock outcroppings, and sparse shadows as the sun hangs high in the sky. They stay low to the ground as they approach the army of dretches the incubus is leading.
When the team reaches about 200 feet from the edge of the army they see a figure with silky ebony skin rise up above the masses. His majestic black wings sprout from his lithe yet smoothly muscular frame and the incubus sounds an aggravating war horn.
After the horn sounds both armies begin to march!
Lann nervously informs Tandyn, "Hey, uh, chief. I think they've been found out. What do you want to do?"
Surprise! round
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"Eep!" Thawm explains.
Paused in his stealth, stepping as if he were the Pink Panther caught in that annoying spotlight, the Alchemist cringes at the nervous shuffling of steel booted feet around his position.
He takes out an Extract of Expeditious Retreat and drinks it!
After looking at the barren terrain between them and the demonic forces, the Blue Whisper swears.
Crap! Any druids in the house!?
The incubus commander effortlessly flies toward the assassination team looking at them with interest. He draws a serrated blade, curved and half as long as he is tall. The demon carries it effortlessly.
Surprise! round
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Aroden casts Haste on the party.
"I am not casting this spell so that we can close faster for melee...let's prepare."
Cecily grins as she feels her movements accelerating and is leaning over to begin sprinting when Aroden's words catch her up. With a mild pout, she slips her wand of Mage Armor out of her belt with her tail and then casts the spell on herself.
Through fate or Cayden's whims Ahmose grabs at a beverage tinged with alcohol, its labeled shield in Draconic script but the taste of burnt coffee on his lizard lips tell him a different story. He feels his heart quicken as time slows down in his perception and his ability to move quickens. Unfortunately for Ahmose he's grabbed the wrong extract and its effects are overrode when Aroden casts his spell.
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Thawm sees Cecily getting ready to go, and decides ladies first.
Thawm casts Protection from Evil on Cecily.
Dorek glares at the incubus as he nears with blade at the ready, raising his own swords in a defensive stance.
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"Knights of Kenabres, grab your bows and follow me! Not long ago my friends set off to take the enemy commander by surprise. They will signal us somehow when they reach him. It could be a smoke stick. It could be green clouds. Whatever it is, we will be firing at the army outside the ruins and then cutting our way to victory. You should know that... is that a horn? That must be our signal! For Kenabres!"
Not seeing any druids stepping up to plants trees in this expanse of wasteland without proper foliage, Ahmose sighs.
Feeling the Extract begin coursing through his veins, the Blue scaled kobold prepares to make it through these Asshat dretches to the real prize!
Then the Alchemist notices Aroden casting Haste on them. Smiling even wider, Ahmose shrugs.
Reminds me of that one after hour party I attended in Taldor. Cocaine and free basing espresso beans. What a night.
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The dretch army flings noxious fumes and summons more demons to engage the knights but the valiant defenders stoically defend against the puny demon's attacks easily.
The knights retaliate against the tiefling army snapping bow shot after bow shot. Each arrow seems to find the heart of a tiefling killing them instantly. The tiefling's cohesion is nearly instantly broken as scores upon scores of their lives are ended in mere seconds. Any that are not dead or mortally injured flee.
Ahmose just states daggers across the open area between them and the prize. The Alchemist takes out an Extract of Blur, drinks it and Stealthily Strides 30' forward....
The incubus fixes its gaze on a point ahead of Ahmose and concentrates on it intently.
Round 1
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Aroden moves up while drawing his sword. He uses a swift action to activate his Righteous Medal of Clarity, then casts Burst of Radiance on the Incubus, counting on the damage to disrupt whatever spell it is casting.
It is a 10' radius burst, but the Incubus may be too high above the Dretches for the effect to catch any of the weaker demons. If so, he will just hit the Incubus.
The demon is dazzled by Aroden's spell but the light also burns it's flesh foiling its concentration.
Thawm casts more protective magic, this time on herself.
"Ahmose?" she asks as she steps in front of Aroden, hoping that he doesn't do anything unsafe.
Dorek steps forward alongside Thawm, readying his blades for if the incubus or any of his demonic minions approach.
In a thunder of misshapen footsteps the dretches run towards the assassination team without any apparent regard for their own wellbeing.
Round 1
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Round 2
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Ahmose turns back to see everyone behind his current position. He looks forward at the disgusting hoard of dretches stampeding in his general direction.
The Alchemist pulls out a Shield Extract, drinks it and Flies (Stealthily ) 15' up into the air and 15' forward.
The Blue Whisper flips the Incubus the finger to test a theory....
"Eep."
Cecily says to her team, quietly, Let's take the potions now, I think. But if you get caught up, and we're overrun, get out. I'll defend you."
She then puts her wand back on her belt , slips her Potion of Invisibility off her belt with her tail , drinks the potion , steps behind Aroden , and then places a hand on Aroden's shoulder.
The handsome demon disappears and with a pop of air directly above and in front of Ahmose reappears. He grins at Ahmose menacingly while holding his falchion.
b]Round 2[/b]
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Ahmose (for now) continues to direct his middle finger at the demon now flying above him....
Provoke this!
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Aroden casts Fly on Cecily using his bonded item (touching her arm where she is touching him on the shoulder), then moves back 60' (single move with Haste).
"Careful, Ahmose!" She shouts at the little blur right in front of and just below the incubus.
She starts following Aroden back, but then decides to try and see if her new trick can prevent Cecily from getting trampled.
She creates some water, heating it at the same time, creating a small fog cloud.
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Dorek scowls at the oncoming army, leveling his blade at the incubus at its head. "Bah! Let them come! Be there one demon or a thousand, our spirits will not break! They may kill us, but they can never kill the hopes and dreams of Mendev - nay, of all of Avistan! Come, my friends, and let us show these beasts what true courage looks like!"
There is a pause as Dorek waits for a response but receives none. "Friends?" He cranes his head, searching for his allies. "...G-guys?"
He looks at Ahmose for a moment, then back down at himself. Then, he looks at the enormous horde of dretches. After some quick mental calculations, he turns around and charges into the fog cloud. "C-come back! Don't leave me to d-die here! W-wait for me!"
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The field of battle is blanketed in innocuous and noxious fog banks obscuring most of the battlefield. Many of the dretches advance on where your position was but they dumbly don’t realize that you have moved or are invisible. Yet other dretches begin summoning more of their kind by staring off into the distance vacantly.
Round 2
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Round 3
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Ahmose sniffs. The Alchemist takes out a handkerchief and ties it around his lower face.
Your friends stink.
The Alchemist then seems to be pondering his next bit of shananagins....
.... having had plenty of time to consider the consequences of his actions (used to it), the giggling Blue-scaled Kobold Flies 30' straight up (finger still positively pointed at the incubus) and drops a bomb on him!
The first time she encountered the Dretch stench, it assaulted Cecily's senses like nothing had before. This time, with the righteousness of the gods within her, she barely noticed as the noxious fog poured in.
A trailing wisp of fog is the only thing that marks her passing as she rises, quiet and invisible and lifted by Aroden's magic, toward the enemy commander. As she moves, she begins to weave through the air in the way she knew Terendelev to, preparing to strike. She lets her sense of loss turn her heart to ice and shatter into razor shards.
When she gets within grasping distance, she tries to wrap her arms around the demon and wrest him from his comfortable vantage!
"You think your army can save you up here?" she asks, suddenly in the language she doesn't know how she knows, as her claws become visible and the rest of her fades into view in turn, arms in the midst of snaking around the Incubus's body.
Ahmose easily goos up the incubus but this is a situation he seems to be used to and manages to keep his wings clear enough so that he doesn’t fall or is hindered in any way. The burns he suffers are only mild.
Cecily invisibly flies up to the incubus and grabs ahold of him, revealing herself in the process.
The handsome demon struggles against Cecily’s might, growing more and more frustrated as it fails to break free.
Round 3
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Thawm pops out at the back edge of her not-so-toxic cloud, missing Dorek but spotting Aroden.
"Oh hi." she says.
She casts Protection from Evil on him.
"Did you see Dorek? I didn't give him Protection from Evil yet. Also, I think we need to avoid getting surrounded." she suggests.