Just one more and I can get to him. Dante pulls on reserves of strength his feeble body shouldn't have to hopefully push through the last Bugbear and get to Tyrus.
Bloodstained, hand still glowing necromantic energy and dagger in his fist, Tyrus looks up at the nearby goblin, points a bloodstained finger at it and shouts
"Next!"
The pirates lay low another scattering of goblinoids, with Dante's fellow scoring another good blow against the most recent bugbear to dare try and squeeze through the wrecked timbers of their wall. Luca's vilstrak's strike true, felling the commander once and for all, weakened as it was by wounds magical and mundane. Its howl of pain is suddenly cut short as the creature caves in its skull.
Standing over the rent corpse of their commander, the gory Tyrus points a finger at another goblin and utters a word it cannot understand - but it understands the threat behind it. The goblins nearby shriek and immediately turn tail and run, their screeches of fear reaching their brethren at the other breech.
One hapless goblin still attempts to strike at the strange little acidic blob attacking it. The goblins still remaining in the west flee back to the forest, one carefully stepping through the rapidly-drying grease to get away from the vilstraks. The corpses of their leader and all his bugbear henchmen lie broken and lifeless before the gates, having utterly failed to turn the breach against Dante and the vilstraks' iron defense. In the east, however, things are not going so splendidly, and another pirate falls unconscious to wounds received.
Grease At Gate: 20/20 Rounds
Grease At East: 3/20 Rounds
Logan Embiggenation: 18/20 Rounds
Goblin Morale: +0
Pirates (1 damage to P5; 6 damage to P10)
Dante (7 damage)
Luca
NPC Logan (Embiggened, 23 damage, Unconscious, Stable)
Tyrus
Goblins (G1, 4 Damage; B3, 6 damage)
A dismayed cry goes up from the remaining attackers on the western edge of the gate as they hear the death howl of their commander echo through the forest. Despite their success, it is clear that the defenders have carried the day - even at that moment another trio of humans appear, spared from the battle elsewhere, ready to help contain them. The eyes of the goblins go wild with fear; the bugbears possess a more calculating anger, but their body language shifts - they are about to run, down the the last murderous one of them.
"Get back in here you stupid wizard," Dante yells through the breach. "And good job," he says before leaving.
"To the west," he orders of the men around him as he sprints to the aid of the last breach. His determination soars with their chances of victory and so too does the visage of his ancestor. The weak, feeble Dante is all but absorbed by the image of heavily muscled and armored torso, wielding an enormous blade. They might just survive the night because of Tyrus' fool charge and Luca's unending minions.
The two Vilstraks north of the gate moved rapidly west, apparently trying to get close enough to attack the fleeing goblins, though it wasn't entirely clear whether or not they'd be able to manage it. The tenth one, meanwhile, swooped around from the south to swing at the Bugbear there and stop it from getting close.
for
Meanwhile, since there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, Luca crawled over to one of the injured pirates and began trying to stop his bleeding...
...with a surprising degree of success! Either that or the man's injuries were just easy to close - she wasn't exactly the most well-trained girl around, but this man, at least, was probably going to live unless he was hurt again.
"Alright... Can someone open the gate?"
Suddenly brought back to himself, Tyrus looks for a way in... and realises leaving Logan here is...
Tertius: unconscionable
Tyrus: inefficient
He rushes over the the enormous man, grounds the necromantic energy into the ground and dismisses the spell that renders Logan so huge.
The charge of the newcomers downs a bugbear before it can turn tail as defender from elsewhere on the wall also rush to the dwindling melee. Luca's vilstraks move to intercept the goblinoids in their retreat, while the girl herself checks on the wounded and unconscious pirates lying in the dirt.
Tyrus moves over to Logan and dismisses both the necromantic spell he had used against the goblins as well as the enlarging spell he had given the warrior. The man shrinks back down to his normal size, still unconscious.
Dante, 7 damage
The dust begins to settle and the fearful shrieks of the goblins recedes into the forest. The stillness seems so strange after the cacophony of the battle. Here and there in the camp a man cries out in pain, some of them no doubt unlikely to live through the night. But from the piles of bodies beyond the walls, and those that attempted to force the breaches created by mace and axe in the timbers, it is obvious that the goblins paid far worse in the battle.
The few unhurt defenders take up positions at the perimeter, in case any goblin is foolhardy enough to still make trouble (however unlikely that may be). The rest see to those too wounded to move.
Your vision blurs and clears again in an instant. The tangles of power that had coiled and released time and time again within you recede and in their wake you feel fatigued, as if you had been pressed beyond your measure. The echo of the screams and the whirling chaos of battle swirl for a moment in your mind - and there is a tiny, tiny piece of you that was almost at home there.
As you review Logan's wounds - thankfully not overly life-threatening - you remember the rush of exhilaration you felt when you unleashed your powers on that hulking bugbear, feeling the life bleed out of it in response to your will. The look in its eyes, this creature of muscle and violence...
It had feared you.
Battle. True battle. Your first, you think. The capture of the ship by Norren's men had been a thing of too much restraint. This had been another - merciless on all sides. You remember each cut, each thrust. Some of those techniques had held a quality very near to perfection. Now you understand the fervor of some of those swordsmen trained by your family, the strange excitement that the best of them showed each time they took hold of a weapon. Perhaps there was just as much intricacy to be found at arms as in the realms of magic.
Luca couldn't remember the last time she felt this tired. Despite the feeling of relief, she was still afraid... an army of monsters had come to attack them, and her own army had helped beaten them back. She didn't even know if they would have been able to hold out if she hadn't had such creatures fighting on her behalf.
Staggering over to the wounded, the girl half-collapsed to the ground and, it a bit of a fugue state, began trying to tend to the worst-injured as best she could. Her hands may have gotten a bit of a help from a guiding entity, even as her remaining Vilstraks pursued the goblins into the forest as encouragement to not come back.
The battle hadn't actually taken that long, all considered... but rest... would be really nice soon.
Once certain he's stabilised, Titus drags Logan to the gate
"You still weigh a fortune, you big stupid lunk" he grunts, quietly but with affection. "tried to be a hero, did you?"
And why wouldn't he? I made him arrowproof and enormous. He killed a number of the enemy single handed. He killed on of the leaders. For all I stand in awe at Luca's abilities, mine aren't bad either. If I'd been able to just make him a little tougher he probably would have killed both leaders and saved us all.
He wasn't wrong to do this... He just trusted my competence too much. I failed him. But I won't fail again.
"I'm not letting you die!"
"Open the damn gate!"
As soon as the gate was open a crack Titus gestured for a Pirate to drag in Logan.
"Luca?" he asks, seeing the exhausted girl tending to a pirate - and doing it well?
I knew she'd be good at this.
The old man, for all he avoids contact, puts a blood stained hand on her shoulder.
"Well done Luca! I think you've saved that man's life! You kept your head, and did the right thing! I'm proud of you!"
He removes his hand and smiles
"Now, let's save the rest of them!"
"Open the damn gate!"
The pirates obey quickly, two of them holding the gate open while another pair bring Logan inside.
"Arrond's Tears! The mad bloke is still alive!" one of them exclaims. "Thought ye were just honoring 'is remains, Mr. Tyrus. And yes, we've got quite a number as needs your attention. Most of 'em probably don't have long."
Norren strides into view a moment later. He is caked in blood and mud, with a prominent wound to the left side of his scalp still slowly oozing. "You held! Damn fine work, you grisly bastards!" He looks to the holes that the goblinoids managed to knock in the walls. "This won't do for long. Anyone who's hale enough to work, gather up some of that extra timber and get these sections replaced! Mr. Tyrus, I'm sure you're tired, but the wounded..." he begins, and then sees that the Tyrus has already begun his work. He nods respectfully.
Luca continued to help the wounded, now mostly helping Tyrus (because, in all honesty, he knew waaaaaaaaay more about this sort of thing than she did). Her hands seemed a little bit slower than before, but she was still managing to contribute at least a bit of help as the wizard worked to save lives.
Finally it was over. Dante's whole body shook from exertion and he threatened to heave yet again at the corpses lining the wall. He had always heard of the glorious battles of the past in class and from his own studies. They painted a lovely picture. This was not that picture and he got a lesson in the difference between the real thing and what was written in the book. Instinctively he remembered his breathing exercises. You never knew when you would get a breather in battle so best to be efficient about it.
Dante was about to issue some orders when Norren arrives and takes over. Figures. Just so they didn't forget he adds some more useful tips. "Light some fires beyond the wall and make sure their is a watch at all times. Don't want a surprise while we fix things. Another attack now would end us. Had not Tyrus and Logan not taken down the leaders this battle would probably be lost." After nodding at Norren to acknowledge him goes to help move the wounded. Trying to help heal them might put them in further danger.
Dante kneels down with Tyrus and Luca to help though in an unobtrusive way. He looks at Tyrus, "That was stupid old man. But it probably saved us. You did too," he says turning to Luca now. "You summoned a whole damn army." He then gets a worried look in his eye. "Hey. You don't look so good. Maybe you should lay down and let your guardian handle things. Where is it anyway?"
At Dante's suggestion, Norren shoots the youngster another look of grudging respect and grunts his agreement. A moment later he shouts out the necessary orders.
"Precautions are sensible, but here's a free lesson on goblins, kid: they only have two kinds of running away. One to regroup and let you bleed, the other because they're too pants-shitting terrified to keep fighting. You can tell the difference by when they do it. If they just brought down an enemy or managed to a land some kind of good attack and then they scamper off, it's the first kind. Otherwise, it's the second kind. They won't be back tonight - probably won't have the guts to attack again at all. We're on the offensive from here on in."
Tyrus grins at Dante - not an expression he uses much
"It was exhilarating, wasn't it. I thought those creatures Luca summoned were going to turn on me for a second there..."
"You were incredible Dante. Strategy, Leadership, Swordsmanship... you were born to do this. I always believed everyone has a Talent. I think this is yours."
At Norren: "From what I read goblins are anything but sensible."
At Tyrus: "I just put I what I learned from books to practical use. Big difference between books and battles though," he says belaying his true fears and concerns. "But if that is my Talent then this is yours. A lot of people owe there lives to you today."
Luca vaguely heard her name being called, but after the pirates were tended, she simply fell over, fast asleep - she was exhausted after channeling all the power that had run through her body, and simply didn't have it in her to remain awake any longer. One could only manage great power - with minimal experience, no less - before it became too much for them to handle...
"Thank you Dante. A lot of people owe you, Luca and Logan as well. It seems incredible to me that we survived. I... didn't think we were going to, for a moment there."
"You weren't just quoting books out there. You have a feel for this. I'm not saying you haven't studied, but the first time you put something into play... that's when you truly see what someone can do. You have a gift for war, Dante. Those monsters fell into trap after trap you set, and it killed them. You held the line - something I only know of from books, but I know you did it. You took people you hated, and who hated you, and you had them fighting and dying at your word. You inspired them. Took a mob and made it an army."
"Don't talk down that talent, Dante. If you don't believe in yourself, who will?"
Glad he'd taken the opportunity to rest when he could, Tyrus looked down at the comatose girl. Methodically he checked her respiration and pulse, and when she didn't stir he abused his newfound power to find her a bed in the infirmary.
He carried her up himself, reflecting that while she didn't weigh much more than his children had, he'd been a much younger, fitter man the last time he'd carried someone to bed.
Once she was settled he made his way to his improvised surgery and called for the first of the wounded to be called in. Practicality dictated he should first see the least injured of those unable to fight.
Patient primus was a scared looking young man with a slit in his stomach. A bugbear had tried to disembowel him. While the young man's intestines had not been cut, they had boiled out of the neatly cut abdominal cavity. The young man had tried to hold them in while the fight raged around him.
No quick healings here. He could cut some of the excess tubing out, sew it back together, cauterise the cut, feed it back into the stomach, stitch up the stomach here and hope to fight off infection... but the man wouldn't be able to fight for days till it healed.
"You're going to want to bite on this" he explained, holding out a thick stick. "Probably better we tie you down as well. Without surgery you'll die, but during surgery you'll probably want to."
Patient secundus had broken a leg in a swing from one of those butcher's blades the bugbears used. Armour had saved it from amputation, but still left them unable to walk, work or fight.
Easy enough to align the bones, stab some sterilised pins in to hold it, add a thick splint, bandages and a litle alchemical cement. Of course, if it wasn't removed in a day or two the pins would start to rust and the patient would die screaming or lose the leg to gangrene. But by that time the healing should have started enough for a true cast.
"Ah - some good news. We should have you back in the fray by tomorrow!" the woman looking up at him didn't seem cheered by the news.
And so the night went on.
Dante leaves the impromptu infirmary to oversee the wall repairs. He will certainly not be needed to aid the wizard in his work.
With Dante overseeing the repairs, new timbers are put up in the palisade in short time.
Dante proves amiable enough with the rank-and-file of Norren's crew, especially those who had seen him fight during the seige. More than one of them looks at the young man as a worthy peer, and a few of the younger ones seem to look up to him.
A few unhurt men and women take to the platforms to keep a watch on the now-fully illuminated treeline. That done, Dante heads to get what rest he can.
Tyrus works through the night at his healing arts, carefully triaging the worst cases immediately. Both skill and luck are with him that night, and he manages to save nearly every life that could possibly be saved, though many of them will need days of recuperation.
Some of them, however, are beyond the help of ordinary medicine, and Tyrus does what he can to ease them. Most bear it stoically enough, but one young warrior takes the news badly. "Gods, it hurts, he says, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain. Even the numbing herbs Tyrus tries to give him do little for the man. Before Tyrus can turn away, the doomed patient grabs his sleeve. "Just end it, surgeon. I'll take my chances on the next life." He hands Tyrus a dagger from his own belt.
At some point in the night, Luca is brought to a bed. Whether she walked or was carried there, she cannot remember. In the morning she feels mostly recuperated, but there is a part of her that feels strangely... overstrained. The once solid connection to the strange power, which she was always dimly aware of though fearful to acknowledge, felt a little more tenuous.
Not long before Noon, Norren comes round.
"I'm taking a band of the hale fighters to delve a bit into the tunnels, see if we can't collapse a few more of them. With the numbers they lost last night the goblins'll have trouble contesting us."
He turns to Dante. "My people say you fought damn well last night, you and your friend Logan both. He needs more time to rest up, but you seem fine enough. If you want to come along, I'm sure you'd be handy. And you," he says as he turns to Luca. "Neither I nor my crew know what the hells you are, or what it is exactly that you do to get those creature here fighting for you. But if you can do that again, I'd love to have you along. On the other hand, I'd like to send Tyrus back to town with the worst of our wounded - his skills are too damn valuable to risk out here any longer. I know you few have preferred to stick together."
Dante is suiting up his leather armor when Norren arrives with news of a push into the tunnels. He straps on his scimitar, something seems odd. Did I always have this. Oh well. and nods to indicate he will come along. He then looks to Luca who still seems a bit wobbly. "You fit for duty?"
Luca's mouth felt as parched as a desert that hadn't had nourishing rains in years. A few minutes of combat had driven her to exhaustion... and... and they wanted her to get up and do that again? Did they not understand how dangerous that was? She didn't even feel stronger than before, she felt wea-
...
Wait. Her power felt... weaker?
"I'll go!" she said, scrambling out of bed only to trip and fall flat on her face. She groaned a bit as she stood up again, rubbing her nose. She wasn't entirely happy about the idea of being separated from Tyrus, but after the show that her monstrous minions had put on the day before, the pirates probably wouldn't want to push her anytime soon. They didn't know her limits. Besides, underground seemed like a place where the stone men would be most comfortable. They could scout much further ahead, trigger traps while people who mattered were at a safe distance, and so on. She'd just have to carefully try and balance things...
Norren seems surprised by Luca's rapid agreement to come with the attackers. "Glad to see you're willing to help. We'll make sure you stay safe."
Back to Dante: "And you?"
"and nods to indicate he will come along."
Norren doesn't like Dante either.
Most bear it stoically enough, but one young warrior takes the news badly. "Gods, it hurts, he says, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain. Even the numbing herbs Tyrus tries to give him do little for the man. Before Tyrus can turn away, the doomed patient grabs his sleeve. "Just end it, surgeon. I'll take my chances on the next life." He hands Tyrus a dagger from his own belt.
Tyrus freezes. He's killed few enough men, and only in the heat of battle, with magic. Stabbing a young man to death?
"I can't... you will get better. I know it hurts. I truly do think you'll recover. The pain will pass..." Tyrus stumbles to a stop, unsure what to say or do.
It isn't like I haven't considered suicide myself. Do I have the right to make this decision for him?
"The pain will ebb. If you still want me to do it in 24 hours, I'll have you killed as painlessly as I can. Can you hold on one day?"
I'd like to send Tyrus back...
"Reasonable, Captain. All of my preparations are expended. I am, at this time, an old, fat man with a knife. I'd be more useful tending the wounded, or preparing a stock of analgesics and alchemical remedies."
The wounded man groans long and loudly. "F*&% one day! Do it, please! Anybody!"
"I am, at this time, an old, fat man with a knife."
Norren smiles grimly. "And old fat man with a knife, who has saved the lives of a lot of my people in the last few days. You have no idea how much I wished for a man of yours skills." Then he leans close, speaking in a whisper for Tyrus only.
"When you get back, tell Kris I said that 'it's time to show you.' He'll know what I mean."
To Dante and Luca: "Excellent. The harder we hit them now, the easier this will be to wrap up. Gather anything you need from the supplies we have on hand - we set out in an hour."
Other than a bit of food for the trip - and whatever else it was suggested she carry - Luca didn't have much to bring. Her powers seemed to have mostly recovered, so she was ready to go and hopefully help to defend the others once again. The Void, however, did take a minute to call up her Eidolon - it could carry the gear.
Not hearing the comment to Tyrus, Dante straps up his armor and grabs his bag. He is ready to go for the most part. He checks out the available gear for anything useful? "You mentioned causing cave ins and flooding. I assume we will need picks and shovels."
Looking for:
Grappling Hook
Pick
Shovel
Alchemical Items?
-Stonechipper salve for rocks
-glowing ink to marking tunnels
-acid
-fire
-tanglefoot
-antitoxin
-thunderstone
-smokestick
[ooc]I'm afraid I'm not going to allow you to use Weapon Finesse with a scimitar. You're a dual spellcaster and warrior, you can't expect to be amazing at either one out of the gate.
Dante finds plenty of picks and shovels - it looks like the pirates are strapping one or another across their back in preparation for their sapping duties. He also easily finds a couple grappling hooks and plenty of sturdy hemp rope. When asking the quartermaster about alchemical items, the man produces a single smokestick and hands it to him. "Captain said you can take whate'er ya need, though why you'd want that in dark tunnels is beyond me."
There's a haunted look on Tyrus' face after the Captain's comment.
"I'll.. I'll do what I can, before I go. Then I'll go, if you think that best. Let me just try to patch up the least injured - the more injured can return when I do. I still recommend giving as many as possible a full day or two of rest to recover, but I understand the exigencies of war."
After Dante hands over his alchemical wish list
"I could make most of these for you, with time. If you can send a list back after this, perhaps we can see what we can do."
He adds, impulsively
"Luca, wait... I'd like to send Torble with you. He doesn't like to be away from me, but he does like you. " he looks at Norren, then away "I don't agree with sending a young girl into a mess like this." he pauses "But your Talent makes you irreplaceable. You're a brave girl to do this thing... Torble will do what he can to make sure you make it back to me alive. Hopefully we can get you a place where you never have to do these sorts of things again."
Dante sighs at the smokestick. Really? This is all they have? Or do they just not want to give me anything. Oh well. I am sure Tyrus can change things. He knows a bit about alchemy right.
At Tyrus' offer he looks at the smokestick and back. He smiles. That would be amazing. Thank you."
Norren nods. "Whatever you think best, Mr. Tyrus. I've left Verrick over there - " he points to a heavily muscled and even more heavily bearded man "as my lieutenant in charge here, but he'll follow your orders where the wounded are concerned. Soon as you've done what you can in the short term, he'll pack you off with some rowers back to the ship."
Luca looked at the tiny little acid creature, then at the waist-high eldritch monstrosity that had a bag slung over its body. "...Okay." What? It's not like she was going to object to anything that might help keep her safe, regardless of how small and cute it was. She wasn't really looking forward to crawling into tunnels, either, but at least they were going as a group instead of crawling about on their own.
Norren and the attack party set out, while the men and women left back at the camp work on burning the enemy dead, burying their own, and strengthening the defenses. Tyrus uses all his skill and whatever supplies are on hand to see to it that the battle from the previous night can claim no mores lives after-the-fact.
It takes several hours for Norren and the rest to cut through the forest to the foot of the island's low mountain chain, following the tracks of the goblins who had fled. They come across a spot where a great deal of goblin blood covers the ground, which itself has been churned up. The tracks shift direction slightly further ahead.
"Hmm. Did in one of their own, looks like," says Norren's tracker. "Slowin' 'em down, maybe."
The signs seem to point to a leadership squabble amongst the fleeing goblins. There was a disagreement over the way to go, and the weaker one lost the argument and its life.
I'm assuming that you would have went ahead back to the ship and the town at the end of that day. Tell me if you do anything else.
"Um... I think 'why' they did it might be more important than what happened. Like, if they have a new leader, they might not be planning to gave in just yet." Luca suggested timidly. "They could've just abandoned anyone who was too slow. Um, i-if necessary, I can call something that can scout the path ahead and probably not be noticed..."
Dante makes no comment because he is unsure of what transpired. Goblins. It could be anything. Two may have just been fighting over food.
"I'd rather save your powers for more dangerous places," Norren says to Luca. "I've got men who can scout the forest well enough." He glances back down to the goblin blood churned into the earth. "This lot went off west, but the main tunnel entrances are to the east. Maybe they were trying to lead any pursuit into a trap... flog that. We stick to the plan."
After nearly another hour of hiking, the group comes to a gaping maw leading into the side of the mountain, shored up by crudely-cut timbers. Another similar entrance can be seen a stone's throw away. There are no goblins to be seen anywhere in the vicinity.
"We're going in," Norren says. "With luck, the goblins're too scared from last night to contest us much. Maybe we can find some of the prisoners they took. Maybe some of them are still alive. Let's go get our brothers and sisters, back, eh?"
There are grunts of agreement from the armed people all around. Norren turns and point to Luca and Dante. "You stick to the middle, lass. Dante, you can take point or rearguard, it's up to you."
Dante considers the situation. He analyzes the supports for structural weakness.
And then the group in total. His eyes wander over the men an settle on Luca's companion. "Luca? Your guardian can see in the dark right? Can you send him ahead of us? Our noise should cover its footsteps and it should be able to give us the greatest interval of forewarning." He then turns to Norren. "I'll take point."
Luca shook her head nervously. "I-it doesn't like going that far away." she explained. Indeed, the creature had never been seen more than a hundred feet away from her at any given time - whether this was personal opinion or some restriction on its part was unknown. She put Torble on top of her head a moment later, giving the little critter a better view as they made their way into the tunnels.
The supports are old, and placed in a serviceable if not particularly efficient manner. Knocking them out will be necessary to collapse the tunnel entrance to any significant degree.
Several of Norren's fighters also draw torches, and between that and Dante's magic the tunnel is well lit for nearly a hundred feet ahead. Norren and Dante walk up front, as the tunnel quickly narrows to the point where only two men can walk abreast. It widens and narrows unpredictably after that.
The first fork in the tunnel comes after several bends and twists, with one path leading up and to the right, the other slightly down and left. Norren looks to Luca.
"If one of your creatures can look ahead and find any trace of humans, it'd be mighty useful. If not, we take a guess."
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