Dragon's Egg - Act III

[Ireth]

Liadan

When Batos is healed, I shift my hands to hold him steady so Baldhart can pull us both up to the clifftop.

((Not sure what exactly that entails... has she dropped him, or not been able to lift him fully at all?))

He is too heavy for me, weighted down by all the water soaked into his fur. I let out my breath in a frustrated huff, but do not dare give up just yet.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart
I ask Cadell, "Any more motivating tunes?" I realize how that may have come off, given my comment on his drum last night. "I'm serious. Fear makes people panic and get sloppy. Now is not a time for fear. You can help her."

To Liadan, I call out, "You saved him, right? Just get a good hold on him and we'll take care of the rest."

I remain silent. All that is left to say is in my prayer…

 

[Keitsumah]

Keitsumah

Sweat beads on my brow and my arms tremble, but i cling tight to the rope. I can't panic. Not now. Liadan's got him, and i feel relief for that, but batos hasn't called for me. He's still unconscious. He's not out of the woods yet.

Batos

Dead leaves crunch beneath my feet, and i look down, eyes widening in wonder when i see polished boots rather than paws. Where am I? Why am I not a wolf?

Looking back up again, i examine the trees. A forest. A forest in autumn. Light pours down between the leaves, casting everything in warm hues of red, orange and gold. The scent of prey is heavy in the air, and i can hear the patter of hooves. Deer.

Am i dead...? I stumble back against the tree and slide to the ground, looking at my new-found hands. A thin scar traces once palm, and i scramble to a nearby puddle to look at my reflection. At what i see i leap away, a silent howl rising in my throat.

I remember.

I remember everything.

Keitsumah

I look over the edge and my eyes narrow when something flickers around Batos's body. A ghost? Ardoway?

"Brother?" i call down, trying to focus in on the shape. But i can't quite make it out.

It is not me, Keitsu, Ardoway's voice caused me to squeak and whirl, but i do not lessen my hold on the rope. Staring wide eyed, i realize with a rising dread that it isn't him.

If Batos's ghost forms, it is over. Ardoway says quietly, and i bite back a sudden scream of rage.

"He will not die! He won't!"

 

[Ankari]

I retrieve another arrow and set it against the bow. Four more remaining after this one. I take aim at one of the two fish demons cresting the cliff.

The distraction of Baldhart straining with a rope and talking with Cadell turns my stomach like a reawakened fire. Two able-bodied warriors wasting time instead of defending their dear village. I wonder what their gods would say of this? Rather, what words will these two put in their gods' mouth to justify their actions as honorable and just.

I release the arrow.



((Damage))



The arrow screams with the frustration I feel. Perhaps I should give my companions aid in whatever endeavor they feel outweighs the children they blather about when it suits them. The fire spreads through my limbs, begging the release of blade cleaving flesh. Not now. Four more arrows left. And these militiamen are as useful as my companions.

Come Ghendra. Join me in the defense of a village that would shun us.

Four more arrows.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa
I fly toward the screams, praying I'm not too late…

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
Aliron rushes past the fallen fish demon, towards the screams. Switching from sword to bow...just in case.

Bressel
Bressel places the axe blade to the neck of the fallen fish demon and slices the neck to ensure it is dead, then charges after Aliron.
((not sure if this will slow Bressel down enough not to get an attack the same round as Aliron, so if you could make a note if Bressel is close enough to take an action or not.))

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

At Baldhart's suggestion, I bite my lip and think again, trying to recall a song I heard from the crewmen of the Bladnir. Something about a drunken sailor... What was the chorus?

I smile as I remember it -- simple, really, it's mostly one phrase -- and sing out with a will.

"Way, hey, and up she rises!
Way, hey, and up she rises!
Way, hey, and up she rises
Early in the morning!"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The tune relaxes me as I pray, though I should not be relaxed at all. My sword is…

Brynhild,

I now recognize my greatest error of all
I always told the others Nissaa is like a weapon

She truly is powerful
I wondered why she came to me
Blood or not, that tiny woman is stronger than I am in a sense

But she came for me
And saving Batos… I felt your touch so I know you approve…
I learned…

…what I can do without a sword
…why Nissa came for me
…how I must serve you now…
​

 

[Steerpike]

Hall yells at the militia men to hold their ground. They hastily complete reloading their crossbows as the two fish demons gather themselves for attack. Hall rushes one of the demons, but his attack misses. The milita men move to the side, trying to get a clear shot.

[1d20+1] = 11+1 = 12

The first bolt whistles past Hall, glancing harmlessly off the fish demon's shoulder.

[1d20+1] = 18+1 = 19

Damage [1d8] = 6

The second bolt catches the fish demon in its muscular neck, causing a spray of black blood. The creature does not go down.

Ankari fires off another arrow, catching a fish demon full in the chest just as it begins to move forward. The creature tumbles back over the cliff and out of sight.

Just above the water, Liadan tries to pull Batos up enough so that she can hold onto him while others haul the rope to the top of the cliffs, but the wolf is too heavy. She can hold him above the surface to keep him from drowning, but hanging onto the animal as they're lifted from the water seems to be too much.

Baldhart calls to Cadell to begin a song to lend them all strength, which he does.

In the tunnels below, Nissa flies ahead of Bressel and Aliron. She emerges into a larger room, with her two companions at her heels. The smell of blood is on the air. The room is roughly rectangular, and three children are huddled with a woman along the far wall to Nissa's right. A man lies dead on the floor, disembowled, the tear in his gut still steaming in the cold air. The fish demon is in the middle of the room, three village men, two somewhat elderly, attempting to grapple the thing to the floor. They have a hold of the creature, but even as Nissa enters, the fish demon rams a claw up through the throat of one, its claws penetrating into the underside of the man's jaw. The villager falls with a spray of blood, leaving the other two men, on hanging haphazardly from the creature's back, the other with his arms wrapped around the demon's legs, trying to bring it down.

To Nissa's left, a corridor extends to a set of stairs, and she sees the quick figures of a couple of fleeing villagers heading up the stairs into the darkness.

Back up top, the fish demon Hall rushed lashes out at him with a clawed hand:

[1d20+2] = 19+2 = 21

Damage [1d4+2] = 1+2 = 3

The creature's claws find their way through Hall's armor, digging into the flesh of his torso.

((3 HP damage to Hall))

At the tunnel entrance, the fish demons have managed to put out most of the flames, and two wait by the entrance to the tunnel as a group of four more make their way up the rocks to the tunnel entrance.

In the distance, north of Arendal, there is the sound of movement through the trees, as though a large group advances on the village. Strange barking sounds drift into the village from that direction.

 

[Ireth]

Liadan

Cadell's voice fills me with hope, and I try once again to lift Batos.

((If Baldy's prayer is still working, that's a 15.))

Finally! I get a good grip on the wolf and hold him close to me, ignoring the chill as the front of my dress is soaked.

"Now, Baldhart! Pull!"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart
I shout to militia men, "Drop oil onto the flame! The fire buys time for everyone inside!"

((Exalt is included. If prayer is in effect, that's 17.))

I readjust my grip, but it's not much better than before. To be on the safe side, I won't ask the others to let go.

I continue my prayer to Brynhild as I use not my sword, but my strength, to save a life.

I am a weapon.

I know how I must serve you, Brynhild.

The same way I'm serving my friends now.
Not with steel. With strength.

I was wrong when I called Nissa "weapon."
It's me. I'm the weapon.
I'm hers.
I'm Yours.

Point me at an evil entity, and I'll kill it.
Point me at an innocent, and I'll protect her.

Like my sword did for me, I'll do all I can for You.
The only difference: when I fall, I'll still be Yours.

Thank you for Nissa. No matter how things turn out from here,
I have hope. I'll fight for You and for the innocent without regret…





​

Nissa
I regret that we were too late!

"Alin! Hostage situation! Don't miss!"

I leave it to the elf to trust his aim or let his bow's magic guide his shot. I will prevent a death, if I can.

((So if I can't use that 23 from my PM, so what? I rolled a 22. Nissa was destined to put on a Band-Aid. Hope the guy isn't already dead!))


I tear off a piece of the fallen man's clothing, then give the ground a tap with my torch. Red glowing ash falls onto the cloth, helping to solder the wound as I apply the crude bandage.

Trusting Alin to kill the enemy, I say to the woman and children, "I am Nissa van Donk, a valkyrie. That you can see me should not bring you fear. I have come to protect the children of Arendal." I look at the man with me adding, "I may have saved him too, but…" pointing to the dead one I add, "…one of my Sisters must come for him. Sorry for your loss.

"Death isn't the end. He may be a loved one, and my saying that may bring you little consolation, but you see me wings and all. So you know the truth: he now enters a world without pain. The rest of us will see that his sacrifice is not in vain."

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
Aliron hesitates quickly taking in the situation. flips the bow back on his back, slips out the Celexa's sword.
backstab Scimitar [1d20+7] = 18+7 = 25 ;damage [1d6x2] = 4x2 = 8 (+4(basckstab)+1 elf, +1level, +1 sword)
The Unseen Servant
Aliron twists the blade and rips it free.
"Never come after children." Aliron screams at it.

Bressel
Bressel rushes in behind Aliron(with weapon change I think they might act close to the same time.)

great axe to hit [1d20+3] = 20+3 = 23 ;damage: [1d12+3] = 3+3 = 6 (str)
Bressel swings his axe into the side of the Fish demon, the blade sinks deep.

"More demons are coming, get everyone out of the caverns. Find a new hiding place, the gnolls could arrive any time."
Bressel tells the remaining people.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa

I smile as a hear the sounds of the men's blades, and the splash of blood hitting the rocky floor. When Bressel mentions gnolls, I tell him,

"The gnolls claim they will not harm us. It's possible that Gisla agreed to a truce with them and accepted their help. I hate to say it, but we should not attack the gnolls."

I make sure the bleeding has stopped before going on, "...though you know as well as I do that the gnolls assist us for one reason."

I'm glad Alin didn't waste his magic arrow on a weak demon. He may need it for Ghendra, despite what most of the people here think.

Never come after children. Maybe he'll tell Ghendra that when he shoots him for sniffing out Burnbright's hiding place.

 

[SeverinR]

Bressel pauses, then looks at Nissa,
"Did anyone warn them of the field of spikes? They need to enter by the road or along the sea side corridor."
(Walk on the dock side.)

 

[Ankari]

One more fish demon to clear before I charge into their lines below. I grab another arrow, set, and let fly.



((In case I hit))

 

[Steerpike]

With Cadell's song urging her on, Liadan is able to pull Batos further from the water, wrapping an arm around the wolf's soaked torso and gripping him tightly enough so that he won't fall as he is pulled to safety. Baldhart and others begin to haul Liadan and Batos toward the top of the cliffs, managing to get the two of them some twenty feet or so above the surface of the water. They continue to pull at the rope, muscles burning.

As she pulls, Baldhart yells at the militia men to heave oil onto the flames below, but the militia men are focused for the moment on the living fish demon at the top of the cliffs - the one that just injured Hall. Ankari fires a shot at this creature, but his arrow glances off the thing and and ricochets into the ocean. The militia men shuffle side to side, lining up their next shots:

Crossbow [1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10

Crossbow [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14

[1d8] = 7

The first militia man's shot glances off of the fish demon in much the same way as Ankari's arrow, but the second bolt catches the monster in the gut, doubling it over in pain. The creature puts one arm forward, steadying itself momentarily, then pitches onto its face and does not move.

In the tunnels below, Nissa enters with Aliron and Bressel at her heels. Assessing the situation, Nissa heads for the wounded man, trying to help him. Aliron and Bressel move in with melee attacks. Aliron's scimitar and Bressel's axe strike at almost the same time, cutting the fish demon down in a pool of black blood that fills the chamber with a pungent odor.

Nissa manages littles more than to cover herself in blood. The attack on the man tore through most of his neck and upward into his jaw. Despite bandaging, he is beyond saving. By the time Nissa addresses the woman and children, she looks like some vengeful seraphim right out of a nightmare, floating in air, covered in blood, and wielding a flaming brand. The children shrink further away, wide-eyed, but the woman shakes them each in turn, yelling "Run! Run!." The children find their feet and head for the stairs.

The flame is out down at the tunnel entrance, and the fish demons scramble into the caves, calling out their hateful hisses as they enter the dark passages. From where Bressel and Aliron stand, they hear the distant hissing and recognize it for what it is. More of the enemy are approaching.

In the village of Arendal, a group of gnolls moves swiftly into town, following the main road in. At point, a large specimen of the race, thick with muscle and rising to a height a full head above his comrades, who are tall in and of themselves. There are seven gnolls, all told, the leader being flanked by three warriors on either side.

As the gnolls enter the village, the leader is barking commands to his warriors, though the words are incomprehensible to others. The lead gnolls scans the village quickly, then locks his eyes onto the cliffside where both Ankari and Cadell stand in relative close proximity. He heads that way, his warriors trailing him.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa

Guiding a soul is so much easier than saving a life. No mess. No time limit. I'm really not used to frightening children. I think this guy has more blood in his neck than I do in my entire body.

Hmm... does this body bleed? Maybe I'll find out.

I say to Alin and Bressel, "Well... we did need the woman and children to run. We should fall back as well. I'll get some more oil and come from behind as soon as I can."

With those words, I fly from the cave.

Spoiler: GM

((@SP, if ceilings are high, Nissa flies over the fish demons hoping her fly-by distracts them enough to slow their advance. Her destination: the nearest rooftop. She'll grab as many bottles of oil as she can - that's likely just one, unless she can grab Baldy's "purse" (stairs) and store 2 or 3 bottles - whatever she can carry and still fly.

The "purse" is either Hiljikki's or it's the shaman's leather bag that held the tome. I lost track of which one she had on her, but I assume they're about the same size.))

Baldhart

The last thing I want is for those child-murdering sons of bitches to save our asses!

I pull the rope as hard as I can--

--Literally. I feel the adrenaline surge. My fists become rocks. The load I carry is light as nothing.

"I can handle the rope," I tell Cadell and Keit. "Get in the fight!"

 

[Keitsumah]

Baldart almost rips the rope from my hands, she has pulled so hard and so suddenly. At her suggestion, I nod in agreement, then turn and run toward the village.

Then i spy the Gnolls.

"Baldart, Cadell, I have not had my chance at them. Maybe words would do more than tricks, and you both know I am no trickster." i call back to them, then look at Baldart pointedly. "Brynhild wished for us to defend the innocent, so it may be a test for us to try using words, rather than deeds. The gnolls with get their due some day, but it may not be now, nor may it be our time to end them. Give me this chance and I may be able to send them off, and at least save the rest of the villagers. Just keep your head down and this might work."

I don't wait for them to respond, and instead stride directly toward the gnolls, head high, eyes locking deliberately with the Alpha's. Despite his immense size, i refuse to cower, and come to a stop not ten feet from them, my body language half hostile, half relaxed. I have not yet made a decision on whether they are enemies or not -or so says my body, when my mind knows full well that they are no kind folk to trust heedlessly.

"State your intentions. You have invaded my Pack's territory, and now we are under assault by water demons. Are they merely hired fighters, or do you intend to help us defend our land?" I hide a small insult by mentioning that the water demons may be mercenaries. Clearly the gnolls would never do such a thing, but i hope to get a strong reaction from them.

Plus, in my position, i must play the role of Alpha meeting Alpha, and not being aggressive shows weakness. If i am to have any hope of handling them, i must equal them.

And if not by strength, then by wits.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Keit, the gnolls will get no trouble from me."

But I won't put my head down for them...

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

I sigh and move to follow Keit. Ghendra trusts me; with luck I can keep things smooth.

"Keit, the gnolls mean us no harm. I have their leader's word that they will harm no villagers without provocation." I look to the gnolls, catch Ghendra's eye and incline my head to him.