Anevia chips in, grinning impishly.
"So we need you to go in and get the Sword of Valor before the demons start calling on their friends. No problem, right? Aron has this map, you've got those fancy powers - Gods know what lurks in there waiting to eat your faces, it all comes together just so. The best part is that with us camped outside, you can head back out if you need to rest up. If we just try to push the army into the Citadel we're gonna lose a lot of soldiers. A crack team is what this calls for. Not a place for a hundred to fight."
She taps on the map.
" So you've got a few options on how you handle this. Also, if you need to bring any of us - well, we've got our own work to do out here, but it's a question of what you think is needed for this mission to succeed. So you tell us what you need."
PC map of the citadel is incoming, but take this time to figure out how you'd like to proceed.
Sarkast remains on watch, blending into the hillside as Anevia rushes back to the army.
The rest of the party sees Anevia riding up alongside the river's edge.
"Lookout party of tieflings! Just six of them, but they were obviously on watch."
Irabeth looks over to the rest of the group, waving her hand over.
"I imagine one of you could take down six tieflings alone - we need a quick, decisive end to the lookouts. If what he heard about a large army waiting for us is true, we don't want them expecting us."
Anevia nods hurriedly.
"They're just a short distance down the canyon, they could be approached from above or below.. although the fall from the top of the canyon is at least a hundred feet."
Anevia leaps down from the tree, swinging on a branch before she neatly lands on her feet. She walks over to Ayesha and slaps her on the back.
"Sometimes the Gods choose us. Trust me, this isn't exactly the person I thought I'd grow up to become."
The tieflings in the pit look up nervously.
"There's a big army that way!" One points northwards.
The other one sighs. "Umestil, that brimorak was our commander, he had us take the ford - it was great! Uh, I mean... not great. Either way I'm not sure who would be in charge now."
Using her own expertise, but deferring to Sarkast's spectacular ability, Anevia assists with moving some underbrush to set up crude blinds and otherwise give tips on how to hide.
"I'll hang in the back as I'm not spectacular at firing into a heated battle. You front-liners will probably want to be in those bushes there unless you want to be near the back to cover a retreat. But we want a good bottleneck."
Anevia scampers up into the boughs of a half-dead beech tree opposite from Sarkast.
Please position yourselves on the map for the ambush. Everyone can take 20 on stealth, with a +4 bonus from the local expertise.
Sarkast and Jinxx wander around the area, and Sarkast suddenly gets a whiff of brimstone. The skilled tracker sees some disturbances that would show a new path being cut through the terrain. But by following his nose, he sees the most telltale sign; hoof-prints which are seared into the the earth. They cross in either direction, but the most recent tracks, which still smell, lead southwards.
Anevia scampers over and grins.
"I bet that means this patrol will come back this way. So we can either follow them, or wait."
Map is updated, dotted line shows the trail.
Anevia gladly takes advantage of the whetstone, although keeps her bow and arrows handy.
Wasting no time, the party head out towards the bank of the Sellen, the sound of Nurah playing some uplifting music for the troops fading out as they descend down the valley and towards the tiefling army. The terrain around here is littered with dying beech and oak trees as the plains turn into badlands across the river.
Anevia leaps over small boulders and scampers ahead of the party, quiet as a mouse. She points to the northwest towards the army encampment, around a mile northwards.
"I spotted that goat-demon patrolling south here. Can anyone around here look for tracks? If we can find evidence of a back-and-forth patrol, we just have to wait."
Sarkast and Anevia come rushing back to the front line of the army, with Anevia calling out breathlessly.
"The Ford has been taken! Everyone... ugh, everyone slaughtered. There's an army of at least two hundred tieflings!"
Anevia waves her hand cheerily.
"Military scouting is a speciality of mine, and I see how fast you can move. I also have two legs this time. Unless you can think of anyone else, it may be just the two of us for scouting work though."
Anevia shrugs nonchalantly and take a swig of a small beer. "No idea unfortunately. We're not quite set up to receive her Majesty but since Mendev is at a state of perpetual war she'll have seen worse, and dealt with worse."
Nilus explains the basic etiquette for dealing with royalty in Mendev.
Basic rules are to not speak until spoken to, stand up when she enters the room, bow or curtsey when approached, do not turn your back to her, don't touch her, and use highest form of address when first meeting her. In this case that's 'Your Majesty', although you can refer to her as "Ma'am" after the fact. That said, although Galfrey takes her office seriously, she's likely to forgive most breaches of etiquette considering the circumstances.
Walking far better than she once did, Anevia limps to the five of you as you sit for breakfast. The young woman can barely contain her excitement.
"The Queen! Queen Gallfrey is coming here, and if the news I received is correct, it is to speak directly with you! The message has asked that she meet with you in a place where you are comfortable so uh, get ready. She's going to be here tomorrow!"
Anevia limps in on some far better crutches. Irabeth is up almost immediately to help her into a chair.
"I unfortunately don't have a bag of magic goodies, but you brought me home to Ira. I fully intend to go along with yo--"
Anevia trails off as she sees a glare from Irabeth.
It's early afternoon.
Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Anevia leans over Dejik's shoulder. "The Tower of Estrod is a ... well, a tower. It's a library and a research laboratory that the city owned but hasn't really been used much for the past couple of years. Topaz Solutions is just some herbalist's shop. Some fellow named Aigon ran the place."
Anevia winces, shifting her weight a bit. She leans on Dejik as she speaks.
"I can't guarantee what's in either of them; they could be rubble like Nyserian Manor was or contain a grumpy balor. But one of them is just a store, the other is a fairly big stone tower. So if you want to go to the smaller one first, it'd be Topaz Solutions."
Moot point then!
With the group finishing up their shopping, Anevia limps over to them, a huge smile on her face.
"Thank you so much for bringing me back to Ira. I would have died down there if I hadn't have met you. I need to stay here, and I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to not be slowed up. Please let me know if there is anything I can do."
Anevia leans heavily on Irabeth and smiles at the group.
"Ira, this is Ronan with his eidolon Jinxx, Sarkast, Bellis, Dejik of Iomedae, Nilus of Shelyn, and of course Ayesha. The group I've travelled with has changed quite a bit but these brave souls have saved my life many times over. There are a lot of tales to tell of our journeys."
Anevia explains that she doesn't know too much, but Areelu Vorlesh is a terrible witch-demon whose cruelty and power are enough to scare many veteran crusaders. The group gather their belongings, and make their way northwards.
After another good hour of picking through ruins, Anevia lets out a shout of joy. A stone structure that shows Kenabres' most resilient and popular inn stands in the distance. She begins hurrying along, white-faced from the pain in her leg. As she approaches, a voice calls out from one of the windows in the second floor.
"Halt, who goes there?! Come no further without identifying yourselves!"
Anevia groans and shouts back.
"It's Anevia Tirablade!"
There's a momentary pause. "A-Anevia? We all thought you were dead! OI! EVERYONE! ANEVIA'S BACK!"
She smiles back to the group and beckons for everyone to approach the inn. After a moment the front door bursts open and a burly half-orc woman rushes forward towards the group. She almost bowls over Anevia in a huge embrace.
Anevia smiles at Dejik. "You have a kind heart, when many others would turn bitter after suffering such an injury. We need everyone we can like you in the crusade."
She picks up her walking stick and waves it vaguely at the group.
"Lead on! Defender's Heart must be close. The rumour of Areelu Vorlesh scares me."
Jinxx scampers back, the magical fear having worn off.
Anevia limps over and thumps the half-orc's corpse with her walking stick.
"One of the villains and rogues that Ira captured, I assume he escaped from jail and sought his revenge. Foul wretch!"
After calming herself down, Anevia limps over to the edge of the wall in the bedroom. Her fingers find the edge of some unseen hatch, and she opens a secret niche.
"Oh thank the Gods, there's a note here. We had always promised that if going to a dangerous place, we'd leave a message for the other here." Anevia also lays out several potions.
"Three potions of cure moderate wounds, and four of invisibility. Anyways... note." She unfolds it and reads the note. "My love, I pray to the Inheritor for your safety. If you find this note, I am at Defender's Heart. Use the password 'Silverstrong' so they know you are friends."
Anevia smiles brightly at the group. "Thank you friends. I have hope once more. Let us make haste to Defender's Heart after we get this corpse out of my house. He may have some valuables, too."
Oh for the love of God I made a map and then realised there was one int he book.
Anevia nods enthusiastically at Bellis and the group make their way to the door with Sarkast in the lead. Sarkast carefully listens at the front door, but hears nothing. Anevia frowns as she sees the door to the house is unlocked, but pushes in nonetheless.
"Ira? Ira are you here?!" shouts Anevia into the house. No answer comes.
"Well, that's neither good nor bad..." says Anevia as she looks around the place.
The group continue on northwards, and thankfully as they get away from the rift the destruction seems to have abated. Bodies are still seen littering the streets but things are quiet. After another hour of walking, Anevia lets out a shout of joy. She points down to show a little brick house on the left side of the road which appears to still be standing.
"Oh thank the gods my house is still upright. Hopefully Irabeth is there or left a note or something." She starts limping forwards in earnest.
Anevia looks unhappiily as people spring joyously over the rift.
"Heh. Anyone have a pair of wings or a fly spell handy?"
Anevia listens to Sarkast with a dubious expression on her face.
"I... I don't think that would work for me. I can't hop across a tightrope."
"Are we ready? The sooner we can set out the better. We have a lot of ground to cover and it's my turn to be impatient!" she smiles as she speaks. "From what the librarians told me there's a rift we need to somehow cross. We can either circle around through the inner city, or strike out for it and try to find a way over."
It's late afternoon coming on for evening, although you're unsure when you actually woke up. Probably very early. So you can go for a few more hours without before your exhaustion became significant in game terms.
Anevia makes a face at Nilus. "I'm not the type who enjoys being left behind, but my leg would thank you. I can wait here if it will help you visit the manor more quickly."
Anevia shakes her head, looking over Aravashnial.
"Of course you're a Riftwarden, it makes perfect sense." She looks over at Sarkast. "It isn't feasible to go to my house and back here, not in the same day. Let me... do you have a map of Kenabres here?"
One of the librarians recovers a book and and opens it up to show a map. "Sorry about this..." She rips out the page, ignoring the gasp of horror. Anevia limps back over to Sarkast and motions the rest of the group over. She carefully numbers several spots on the map and jabs her finger on the number 1.
"We are here. Far south of the city. As you can see, we've actually been heading south -away- from Defender's Heart and my house. They're a good distance from here. There is also the Nyserian Manor nearby - a cultist safe house we should investigate."
She shrugs and makes a sweeping gesture with her hand.
"To be concise - everything is north of here. I will go where you go and follow your wisdom on what path to take. But the question I would ask myself is if we rest now and strike out north, or if we strike out north and then rest. I obviously have my preference, but we also haven't slept since Neathholm and the less we talk about my leg, the better."
Please see the handy map so you can plot your route.
NPCs haven't gone. I'm going to say they've both delayed to be in the initiative block with most of the PCs.
"Get back from me you maniac! Aravashnial can you summon something or make your useful for once in this fight?"
Anevia yanks out a shortsword, dropping her bow. She slashes out at the madman attacking her.
Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Anevia and Aravashnial have fairly formal goodbyes, and Aravashnial can be heard muttering "twit" on his way out. Anevia limps over to Sarkast.
"I know the city better than most. Here..."
She begins drawing in the dirt with her crutch. She draws a large semicricle with an X in the top and bottom of the semicircle.
"We are here," she taps the southern X. "In the outer circle of Kenabres; the gate district. Defender's Heart is in this district - a goodly ways north. But that may be our only place to rest. My house is directly on the way there. You know my opinion."
"That said, we are very close to Nyserian Manor and Blackwing, both are southwest of here. We can investigate a safehouse and take Aravashnial to Blackwing. So..."
Anevia produces the note that was held on Hosilla, the cultist of Baphomet you fought in the mongrel caverns.
"This note contains the location of three cultist safe houses. I'd love to find the other crusaders if there are any, but these safe houses must be investigated. We might find out how the wardstone fell and prevent it from happening elsewhere."
Anevia limps over to Dejik, speaking breathlessly.
"Those vile things... are you okay? How did you shoot like that? I mean - your poor eyes!"
Anevia smiles wearily. "You are too kind. I've been dragging my lame self after this group for several days and do well so far. We've agreed to visit my home after Horgus, simply because I don't want to have the argument."
Horgus scoffs at Anevia, but she ignores him.
Belthis, the shopkeeper speaks up.
"We've been hidden away and so don't have too much information. You're the first friendly faces we've seen, so I have no idea where the crusaders are holed up though. That said, I've heard that some of the crusaders have gone mad and they're causing as much mayhem as the demons though!"
Anevia limps over, speaking up.
"And.. we have the locations of three safehouses for the cultists of Baphomet! Please, we need all help we can get to ferret them out! I fear they are responsible for the wardstone failing."
Anevia leans exhaustedly against the doorframe.
"Friends is an odd choice of words, but I'm sure they were happy to help. We... we don't know these two though, but certainly appreciate their timing."
Anevia gestures to Niles and Bellis.
Anevia looks around resolutely. She closes her eyes, brushes aside a tear and looks to the group.
"My wife Irabeth and I have a small home in eastern Kenabres. I.. I'm desperately worried about her."
"This area used to be covered in rubble - the mongrels must have cleared it out to work with the cultists. Over there, look! A ladder. Follow me!"
Anevia starts limping forwards as quickly as she can, forgetting the pain of her broken leg in her excitement.
"Horgus, wait!" shouts Anevia. She starts to hobble after him but yelps and almost falls over. She lets out a groan.
"That stubborn bastard, he's going to get himself killed. Well, hopefully he won't get far and we can catch up to him once he's calmed down."
What do you do? The gear remains unclaimed.
"Irabeth is my wife, I've mentioned her before," says Anevia unhappily. "She sold her family sword to Kandro Nyserian, a noble like Horgus to help me. She tried very hard not to tell me but I put together and now Nyserian may be in league with these cultists! Ugh! Are we done here, can we continue?"
Anevia's eyes go wide as Horgus speaks. She cuts off Aravashnial.
"You... you bankrolled Kandro Nyserian to buy Irabeth's sword?! That.. I don't know if that's a good thing or not!" She leans against the wall, mute. "I don't know whether to hit you or thank you."
"Move aside, let me try!"
Anevia moves in and fires an arrow of her own.
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
After Rowena's arrow strikes and Ayesha's splashes the water beside it, the large fish tries to dive out of the way. However, the final arrow from Anevia slams into the base of its head, killing it instantly. The fish struggles and goes still.
End of Combat
From what Sarkast could tell, the water has a current but is not too deep. It should be fairly easy to swim to the secret door.
Anevia just looks at the ladder in confusion.
"The ladder just leads straight down into the river, and I don't think the mongrels breathe water or anything. Why one earth would that be there?"
The temple is a couple of hours back the way you came. Neathholm is only a half hour's walk however. I'll sort out what Thora was carrying and how it could get spread amongst the group in a bit.
Anevia kneels sadly by Thora. "Poor dear. I... my heart lies with continuing to the surface, but she fought valiantly and I could not deny her rest in such a lovely temple."
Meanwhile, Anevia has been reading the note. Her eyes widen.
"This reveals the location of three safe hosues for the Templars of Baphomet! We can destroy the cult once we get back to the surface! I have to take this to Irabeth and the Eagle Watch. The safe hosues are... Nyserian Manor, Topaz Solutions, and the Tower of Estrod. Passphrase is "I have new material for the archives." We have to move!"
Anevia actually speaks up. "Keep the holy symbol - the more evidence the better. We can destroy them properly once on the surface, but for now we need to... ugh. Prove that Aravashnial was right and that there is a cult of Baphomet working beneath Kenabres."
Aravashnial simply smiles.
"And me! I'm not going down any ladder like this!"
Anevia stares at the pit in horror.
"We have to go down! If they have a prisoner there we need to rescue her. Didn't one of those scales you got grant the ability to levitate? That may be a good way to descend without getting caught on a rope ladder."
Anevia looks over the bodies, white-faced.
"Oh Goddess, Irabeth may be in danger... we need to keep moving. The cultists may have struck at the true crusaders during the attack!"
Anevia makes her way over to the chasm and haul up a rope before hooking her good foot into a stirrup, shouldering her bow, and hanging on tight.
"Alright, lower me down!"
The group has created three ways to cross the chasm.
- Make a DC 10 jump check.
- Make two DC 5 climb checks.
- Get lowered down. This is a DC 12 strength check which others can 'aid another' on. Anevia will require somebody to make the initial strength check and for others to help.
Anevia sighs miserably. "I'm really [i]good[i/] at climbing when I have both legs. Lower me down, that seems best. Although a sling sounds pretty fun..."
Anevia limps her way over to Sarkast, eyeing his gear warily. "So... what kind of ideas do you have? No way I can climb that."
"Hear that? He called me well-mannered. I may make a lady after all." Anevia bites back a yelp of pain as she begins limping along with the party.
Anevia stops her arrow and lets out a cheer.
"Nicely done Ayesha! Uhm. Now I suppose we need to figure out what to do with him."
"Three!"
Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Anevia's arrow flies alongside Sarkast's spear, and the two slam solidly into what is now revealed to be a creature.
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