Session 10/27/07

 

                After exchanging warm greetings with and Captain Ulverth, Kain and Soranna, the party takes stock of their surroundings.  They notice Cathedral Square has been decked out with multi-colored ribbons and a bandstand platform.  The enigmatic traveling merchant Besha seems to be the perpetrator of the party decorations, and Jack catches his eye as the fuzzy-bearded merchant orders Brindol’s citizens about the square, adorning the Cathedral and some nearby trees with crepe-paper streamers.

 

 

                Besha greets the party briefly, and then busies himself with more decorating.  Meanwhile, Ayotunde’s eyes are drawn to an empty patch of fallow garden.  The young cleric of Shandae feels an urge to plant one of her cherry pits in the ground, and as before, she channels the divine energy of the Earth Mother (via a turning attempt) into the fertile soil after burying the seed.  A new sapling sprouts up before the party’s eyes, growing to nearly three feet tall in a matter of minutes.  An hour later, the tree has borne its first fruit – six ripe cherries which Ayo knows will provide the imbibers with a magical effect equivalent to a Heroes’ Feast.

 

 

                Meanwhile, Kaelin chats up Besha and tells him the story of his “re-imagining” the lyrics to Ulwai’s aria to Tiamat.  Besha seems impressed, and produces a finely carved masterwork recorder from a hidden pocket.  The recorder is made of rowan wood and carved with leaves, bugs and feathers along its length.  “Will you play with us?” asks Besha, pointing towards the bandstand.  Kaelin agrees and makes his way over to the platform, while Besha excuses himself and runs off in the other direction.  He returns a few minutes later, clanking and banging a massive one-man-band contraption that brims with magical artifice.  The old merchant is helped up onto the bandstand by Kaelin and the other musicians, and a crowd of dancers gathers around the square as the band plays a series of traditional springtime tunes.

 

 

                As the music winds down, Captain Ulverth returns to the square with some dire news: the dwarf mercenaries of the Hammerfist Holds that were hired to reinforce Brindol have come under attack by a Red Hand strike force on the south road.  They are transporting four valuable dwarf-crafted trebuchets which are vital to the city’s defense efforts.  Lars requests that the heroes take flight on their owls and move to intercept the dwarves. After several minutes of hastily equipping themselves, the group does as the captain asks.

 

 

                The five riders pass over the walls on owl-back and quickly arrive at the site of the battle.  As they arrive, they see that the dwarves have pulled their ranks tight and are bracing for another assault.  Several dead dwarves lie in bloody heaps along the roadside.  Once the party lands, a combined force of three greater barghests, three elite hobgoblins of the Kulkor Zhul, a heavily armed and armored ogre, and four vile blackspawn raiders bursts from the nearby brush, intent on destroying the siege engines.  Thanks to a fearless charge by Klar and some canny defensive fighting by Kaelin and Jack, all the trebuchets remain intact and the Red Hand forces are routed quickly.  Ayotunde gets into the offensive act too, dropping a roaring column of flamestrike on the head of the skullcrusher ogre, burning it to death before it can ravage a vulnerable trebuchet.  The Hammerfist dwarves thank the group and are able to move their trebuchets into Brindol without further trouble, setting up the four machines in strategic posts.

 

 

                Upon their return to Brindol, the party is greeted by the city’s mayor and principal benefactor, Lord Jarmaath.  He is an aged warrior with a reputation as a fearsome giant-slayer in his time, but now his temples and beard have grayed and his sword arm has weakened with age.  However, his mind is sharp and his knowledge of defensive warfare is unmatched in the region.  He recognizes the party’s valorous deeds, thanking them profusely for their help in defending Brindol.  “And now my friends, I ask you to attend the Council of Brindol this night, so that we might plan the city’s defense together.”  The five companions accept his invitation and walk together with Kain, Soranna, and Jarmaath to his keep in the middle of the city.

 

 

                Upon arrival, Jarmaath introduces Lady Verrasa Kaal, a woman of slight stature but impressive intellect.  He also introduces his lover, the High Priestess of the Walker’s Cathedral, Lady Tredora Goldenbrow.  Finally, a guest from the Tiri Kitor arrives – the Speaker of Starsong Hill, Sellyria Starsinger.  She embraces each of the companions in turn, thanking them again for their help in cleansing the ruins of Rhest of the evil that had come to roost there.

 

 

                The strategic planning meeting goes on for hours, right through dinnertime.  Servants put down steaming bowls of fresh noodle soup, plates of venison medallions in brown demi-glaze sauce, roast pheasant under glass and fresh green salads with crusty loaves of bread.  Throughout the debate, Lord Jarmaath impresses the group with his tactical and strategic acumen, but he also asks for their own valuable opinions on several key details of the city’s defense:

 

 

                First, there is a brief debate about whether the 500-strong army of the Lions of Brindol should meet the Red Hand horde in the fields outside the city.  This idea is quickly shot down by the party, since they know the horde’s composition intimately thanks to the roster documents they recovered.  Jarmaath readily agrees to keep his forces inside the walls, knowing they will take less casualties that way.

 

 

                Second, a spirited exchange takes place between all the participants about where Lady Goldenbrow’s clerics should be positioned.  The two options are to station them throughout the city or to use the Walker’s Cathedral as a central rallying point for most of the clerics.  If they were to be deployed throughout, there would likely be more casualties among the clerics, but if they all stay near the cathedral, more soldiers will certainly die on the walls.  The discussion continues for some time, but the party finally convinces the Council that the clerics will best serve Brindol mixed in with the regular army.

 

 

                Sellyria Starsinger has remained awkwardly silent to this point, despite the fact that she brought two dozen elite Tiri Kitor hunters with her as reinforcements.  Jack notices her silence, and quietly leans over to encourage her to speak.  His efforts bolster her confidence, and he then prompts her to speak her mind so all assembled may hear. 

 

 

“I believe my hunters can serve most effectively as bodyguards for the clerics, if they are to be deployed in the midst of the fighting.  It is even possible that they might escort your clerics back towards the Cathedral, should matters take a turn for the worse along the walls.”  This plan seems sound to everyone, and they agree with Sellyria and Jack’s plan.  The hunters will be deployed alongside the clerics as snipers and bodyguards.

 

 

                Finally, Lord Jarmaath reveals his plans for the companions themselves: “My friends, you have already done much for our city, and truly, for the Elsir Vale and the kingdom of Oberwald.  I have a deployment strategy that I hope you will agree to. I would ask that you remain near the Cathedral during the battle, and I have asked Bridol’s leading arcanist, Immerstal the Red, to prepare three scrolls of telepathic bond.  This way, I and two others may remain in mental contact during the siege and I can deploy the five of you as an elite mobile strike force around the city, moving quickly to where you are most needed.  Frankly, you are the best equipped for this duty of all my assembled forces.  A few timely interventions on your part might just turn the tide of the siege in our favor.” 

 

 

The party agrees to Jarmaath’s gambit, and he summons Immerstal the Red to cast the necessary enchantments.  Immerstal is a cynical, grumbling old fellow who makes no bones about telling the assembled council that the city is doomed.  Though his curmudgeonly manner grates on the companions, Immerstal does his work quickly and well.  The three telepathic bonds are placed upon Lord Jarmaath himself, Captain Ulverth, and Ayotunde.

 

 

                After Immerstal takes his leave (to the regret of no one), Lord Jarmaath tells the party that the merchants and mirabicaries of the city have opened their vaults to aid in Brindol’s defense, and that the companions may choose up to 5,000 gold pieces worth of consumable items to equip themselves before the siege.  With that, the meeting concludes and the party is ushered into comfortable suites within Jarmaath’s keep for a good night’s sleep.

 

 

                Maia 24: The Red Hand horde advances on Brindol and forward scouts report that Azarr Kul’s mighty army will be within sight of the walls by the morning of Maia 25.  It seems clear that the attack will come from the west and south, since Brindol is protected by the Elsir River to the north.  The city’s mood is tense, with soldiers and citizens moving rapidly from place to place erecting barricades, boarding up shops and homes, and preparing the city’s other defenses. 

 

 

                With access to Brindol’s magical resources, Altaer and Ayo come up with a clever plan to aid in the initial defense: Ayo will use two scrolls with symbols of sleep outside the west and south gates, as well as two scrolls of stone shape to reinforce the gates, which are clearly the weak points in the southern and western defenses.  By deploying these enchantments, the party hopes to delay the breaching of the gates and catch dozens or hundreds of Red Hand warriors in the area of the symbols’ effect.  The rest of the party spends the day assisting with the more mundane aspects of Brindol’s defense, coordinating platoons of Lion soldiers, clerics of Jenoic, Hammerfist dwarves and Tiri Kitor hunters.  As evening falls, Besha gathers a huge crowd in Cathedral Square and Kaelin and the rest of the band play deep into the night, gathering more dancers to the square as the moon rises.

 

 

                Maia 25: Morning’s first light reveals the Red Hand, in all its terrible might, has arrived and made camp just outside of trebuchet range along the west and south walls of Brindol, forming a wedge along the southwest corner of the city.  The army is well over 3,000 strong, with giants, ogres and dragon-spawn swelling the ranks of the Kulkor Zhul goblinoids.  Wyverns and manticores wheel about in the skies outside of the range of the bows of the Lions of Brindol, and a massive red dragon can be seen slowly circling the horde high in the sky.  No diplomats or representatives are sent forth by either side, for the motive of the Red Hand is clear: the total destruction of Brindol and the subjugation of all the peoples of the Elsir Vale.

 

 

                Captain Ulverth and Lord Jarmaath are certain the horde will strike at nightfall, so the city’s preparations reach a fevered pitch. The final barricades are put into place and all deployment orders are checked and double-checked.  By dusk, there is no doubt that Brindol is as prepared as it can be for the inevitable onslaught of Azarr Kul’s minions.  The notorious half-dragon warlord himself seems to be otherwise occupied, leaving the duty of Brindol’s destruction to Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn.  As the blue-gray light of dusk falls over the city, Ayotunde gathers her friends around the cherry tree, which now holds six ripe fruits.  Each of the companions eats one and says a blessing of thanks to Shandae, and Ayo places the sixth cherry in the mouth of her friend Kain Ulverth, who accompanied the party into the Witchwood when they first arrived in the Vale.  Ayo then speaks the command word which activates her telepathic bond with Jarmaath and Lars Ulverth.  Finally, each of the companions adorns him- or herself with one of Besha’s ribbons as a token of luck.  With that, Kain takes his leave of the heroes to assist his father along the walls, giving each of them a warm embrace as he departs.

 

 

                As predicted, the horde strikes at nightfall, taking advantage of the darkvision of the goblinoids who make up the bulk of the army.  A series of loud crashes echoes along the walls, and Ayo soon hears Jarmaath’s voice speak calmly and clearly into her mind.  “The Red Hand is using its giants to hurl boulders at our walls.  I’ve deployed a squad of my Lions to the south walls, but I need to you head outside and take care of the threat to the west.  Without your help, they will be able to smash our walls with impunity… our trebuchets cannot target accurately in the dark.”  The five heroes immediately move out into the field on the backs of their owls to engage the giant rock-throwers.

 

 

                As they approach and cast some light onto the darkened field, the array of foes they face becomes clear: two burly hill giants are tossing enormous boulders at the walls while a pair of ettins stands by on defense.  Klar spurs his owl forward along with Kaelin while the others dismount and advance on foot.  The ettins move quickly to intercept them, but Klar jumps off his owl and lays into one of them with his double-axe.  Altaer notices the ettins and giants seem to be moving more rapidly than usual, probably under the effect of a haste spell.  While Klar slices through the first ettin, Kaelin glides forward on her owl and cuts into one of the hill giants, wounding it deeply with her keen longsword.  Jack moves in to assist his friends, and Altaer and Ayotunde support from distance with healing spells and fireballs.  As a raging Klar cuts down the first ettin and moves toward a hill giant, the giant slams into him with a devastating attack.  Already gravely wounded by the ettin, Klar succumbs to the giant’s slam and falls down bleeding heavily.  Only dumb luck and Ayo’s rapid intervention prevent his untimely death.  The giants continue to pelt the walls with boulders, but their single-mindedness allow the heroes to cut them down once their ettin bodyguards have been dealt with.

 

 

                As the battle continues, a hidden sniper starts shooting rapidly and with uncanny accuracy into the party’s ranks.  As they wipe up the Kulkor Zhul sorcerer and war adept that were supporting the giants, the group catches a glimpse of a blackspawn assassin.  The monster looks grim and menacing, with the face and horns of a black dragon and the scaled body of a man.  “Ahhh, worthy foesss!” he hisses, “I am Skather, and I will be the lassst thing you ever sssee.”  Skather peppers Ayotunde with arrows, punching through her defenses and forcing her to spend vital healing spells on herself, rather than her friends.  However, the slippery blackspawn ninja retreats into the darkness just as the last of the Red Hand minions falls.  “You cannot ssstand againsssst the will of Tiamat,” Skather whispers into the wind as he retreats back towards the confines of his army’s front line.  Unable to track the ninja but successful in their efforts to stop the giant rock-throwers, the party re-mounts their owls and returns to Cathedral Square to wait out the next stage of the siege.

 

 

                As the night goes on, the companions hear the clash of battle on the walls and they fight their desire to leave their posts and assist the brave Lions of Brindol, but their dedication to Lord Jarmaath’s plan keeps them at bay.  Around the midnight hour, the Red Hand breaks through the walls and goblinoid troops start pouring into the city.  The Lions and their allies begin an organized retreat towards the barricades and Cathedral Square, but at that moment some of the buildings in the merchants’ district near the party erupt into flame and the silhouette of a large red dragon blots out the moon.  Ayo hears Jarmaath’s familiar voice through the telepathic bond again.  “That dragon is setting the city ablaze!  Do all you can to destroy it!”

 

 

                The party braces for conflict as the great red dragon Abithriax swoops towards them with a murderous gleam in his golden-black eyes.  The large dragon is Wyrmlord Kharn’s personal steed, but Kharn is not astride Abithriax at the moment.  With a rush of air and the sound of beating wings, the mighty dragon calls out a thunderous challenge to the heroes: “Come and roast in the flames of Abithriax’s rage!  Your end is at hand, and your precious city will burn to the ground with your corpses!”  With a rushing intake of breath, Abithriax blasts the party with his flaming breath, badly burning several of them.  Jack, Klar and Kaelin ready their blades against his thick hide, and Altaer and Ayo stand in the rear rank with spells at the ready.

 

 

                Seemingly ignoring the flashing, spinning weapons of the party’s melee combatants, Abithriax lands in the square and tramples directly over Klar and Kaelin with his bulk, making straight for Altaer.  His hide seems enhanced by invisible force, so Kaelin dodges to the side and readies a scroll of dispel magic, which he targets directly at the dragon. 

 

 

Altaer targets an orb of cold right at the dragon’s face, and the blast of frosty energy grievously wounds him.  Just as Abithriax stomps over and grabs Altaer in his clutches, Kaelin manages to dispel the dragon’s two protective enchantments!  However, even as Jack summons a huge, slavering megaraptor with one of his fey gifts, Abithriax launches himself airborne again, taking the struggling Altaer with him.  Now badly wounded, it appears that the dragon may be leaving the battlefield. 

 

 

Jack’s megaraptor claws ineffectually at Abithriax as he, Klar, and Kaelin desperately slice at his matte red hide.  The dragon turns about and begins another dive towards Cathedral Square, and the group hears him take another deep breath in preparation to blast them with fire again.  The megaraptor longjumps up almost fifteen feet to claw Abithriax, and this time its huge claws strike true.  However, the blow was not enough to free Altaer.  A searing gout of flame bellows forth from the dragon’s inside, burning Altaer’s flesh as he screams in agony.  “Now you fall at last, scion of Azra!” cries Abithriax, as he tosses Altaer’s burning body at one of the stained glass windows of the Walker’s Cathedral.  The sorcerer’s body smashes into the glass and bounces off the iron frame of the window, falling to the ground broken and still and accompanied by a cascade of multicolored glass shards.  Abithriax flies away from the battlefield at top speed, his booming draconic laugh echoing back towards the party.

 

 

Ayo moves over to Altaer and expends her magical ribbon, praying to Shandae for the strength to heal her friend.  As she channels her power through her limbs, Altaer’s wounds and burns miraculously close and his body twitches with a spark of life.  Too far down the street to see what has occurred with Ayo and Altaer, Klar and Jack watch helplessly as Abithriax flies off into the distance.

 

 

Kaelin feels a slight breeze blow through his hair, and draws out his composite longbow.  Nocking an arrow and targeting almost blindly, using the moon and starry night sky as a bright backdrop to see the dragon’s outline, he calls out a prayer to Gwardo the Dissident.  With a careless grace, Kaelin lets fly a single arrow, which speeds towards the fleeing and grievously wounded Abithriax, striking true behind the dragon’s left ear and passing through his brain and out the front of his skull through his left eye.  With a roar of surprise and anguish, Abithriax falters and falls out of the sky, his dead body crashing into the burning cityscape.  Thanks to Kaelin, the mightiest dragon on the field is no more.

 

 

Despite this great victory, there is no rest for the party, as Jarmaath’s voice rings out in Ayo’s mind once again.  “Wonderful!  Somehow you’ve managed to defeat the dragon!  But his flaming breath has caught the city afire, and we need your help to put out the flames.”  The party immediately sets to work, organizing bucket brigades or putting out the spreading fires with cold magic in Altaer’s case.  As they work, a sudden strong breeze begins to blow, and they hear the familiar and hated voice of Ulwai Stormcaller on the wind.  The hobgoblin bard, true to her name, has called on a storm to help spread the flames.  Ulwai doesn’t show herself, so the group simply redoubles their efforts to help Brindol’s citizens put out the fires. 

 

 

An hour or so later, after some panicked, sweaty and difficult firefighting, all of the fires have been extinguished and the party reforms its ranks near Cathedral Square.  For the first time, Captain Lars Ulverth contacts Ayotunde through the telepathic bond, and his voice sounds choked with grief.  “There is general fighting in the streets now, and a large combined force is headed your way, down along the Dawn Way towards Cathedral Square.  And… be on the lookout… my son Kain fell to the arrows of a hidden sniper.  The enemy may be anywhere.”  Stricken by the news of the loss of their friend, but filled with renewed purpose, the companions position themselves near the final barricades along the Dawn way and prepare to hold out against waves of Red Hand attackers intent on storming the Walker’s Cathedral.

 

 

Azarr Kul's Ambition