Session Preface:
Tucked away in an unused bunk chamber of the barracks, each of you tend to your wounds and recover your energy in the ways most suited to you. Out the window, smoke rises against the still overcast sky of late morning. While the snowfall subsides, the snow drifts friviously along the ground, pushed to and fro by the winds into shadowed corners, piling up against the walls of the barracks. In the courtyard beyond, the fountain's decorative sprays of water stand statuesque in frozen slivers of light. The dangling icicles shine like a beautiful watercolor painting of a simple, peaceful moment preserved in time amidst the frenzied fury of battle.
Beldan paces longways between the rows of beds, the handle of his hammer keeping a steady tempo of his stride as it clicks against the stone floor. "Guess it's a good thing they're affording us a break, gotta remind myself of that. But this just gets me wondering what them poor defenseless folk further in the city must be thinking. How they must be feeling. Hearing death and destruction all around 'em, absolutely powerless to do a dragon-damned thing about it. Holding their kids close, praying Bahamut's mercy spares 'em. Hoping the outnumbered armies standing between them and those orcs are enough. I feel much better knowing we can bash some skulls and shatter some bones before the orcs get a say in the matter, don't you? Ah, well, sorry, I see you're all trying to rest. I just, well you know I just get restless and I'm just ready to get back to it. 'Ey, Vorothruun, has that voice of yours gotten back to you?
Whether by Beldan's willing it into being or simply serendipitous timing, you soon after receive your next contact from Thava.
"I hope you had a nice break from the action, Vorothruun. Orc mages managed to force open the Barrack's Gate and a unit of calvary riders are mowing down Velqwen's forces left and right. With the gate already open, I'm calling in Silverymoon's forces for reinforcements and centralizing our defenses, but it'll take them time to get there. You're closer, so just keep the area under control until help arrives. And you know, don't die in the process, preferably."
Session Summary:
Surviving the Calvary
Gathering your things and charging forth to the gate, your eyes are immediately drawn to the aforementioned calvary. Astride their massive Aurochs, grand oxen creatures with curved horns the width of thick tree branches, a band of orcs charges through lines of dragonborn soldiers. As you push through the initial defenses, taking the lives of several more orcs along the way, you see one of the Auroch riders notice your approach and call out in an orcish battle cry.
The massive orc leading the charge, with his white tusks protruding into the air as if to mirror his Auroch's, points towards your party with a long, menacing spear and signals to his followers. The battalion turns, their steeds charging towards you through the crowds of Clan Zirthund warriors.
The party quickly charges into the fray, facing rows of the massive calvary and their Eye of Gruumsh riders. The battle descends into chaos as Beldan finds himself surrounded by the Auroch's imposing horns trying to gore him to death while allies Zisilu and Zorvathrax work on taking down their own threats even from the relative safety of a rooftop. Thanks to the dedication of the Velqwen archers and infantry, the orc forces finally thin down to a mostly manageable trickle. With his forces depleting, the obvious leader charges forth, crossing the courtyard in one sprint and leaps up onto the rooftop where Endriel stands, delivering a pair of nasty strikes to the elf. Though Vorothruun is unsuccessful in banishing the orc captain, he does manage to send his steed out of the plane, making his rider an easier target. With the party able to focus their attention on the massive white-tusked orc, they finally defeat him when Parathrax charges behind him and drives his new blade through and across his back with radiant energy pouring through the massive gap torn in the orc's flesh. With the Silverymoon forces arriving shortly thereafter, the party heeds the next call of Thava to go and take on the most recent danger.
Saving the Citizens
"Tiamat take them. Vorothruun, the flying calvary arrived. Just touched down in the temple courtyard. They're dragging citizens out of their homes and murdering them in the streets. I'm sending as many allies as we can spare. Get over there and stop the bloodshed."
As you rush yet again through the city to the central courtyard, you hear the desperate screams and sickening cries of Avraathian citizens well before you can see the source of their anguish.
As you finally approach the courtyard itself, you see the grounds surrounding the Platinum Temple aflame as smoke rises against the still drifting snow and hazy golden morning light. Massive grey-white bats flutter through the air, landing on rooftops, ripping portions of the structures off, and dropping them amongst the smoking ruin of the temple's gardens. On the ground, bands of orcs slam their axes against doorframes and you see helpless dragonborn dragged from their homes and carved into pieces where they cower in front of their own homes. As you descend into the fray, you see the Temple doors swing wide and a single figure approaches, a glowing white staff in hand.
Wearing awkwardly adorned leather armor over his traditional robes, High Priest Porath conjures a white flame in his hand and sends the divine fire towards an unaware orc who is set ablaze and screams out in agony. To your left, Vyodaar and Madlyn the Shield work in tandem to relieve a giant bat's head from its body, the corpse flailing awkwardly as its rider crashes to the ground and is quickly skewered by Madlyn's spear. As she turns and sees you she nods and wipes her brow before rushing to catch up with Vyodaar as they take on a pair of orcs trying to gain entry into another home.
Upon their arrival, the party quickly find themselves pinned in a corner as a battalion of small, nimble orcs mounted on giant bats descend on their location and try to overwhelm them. Vorothruun finds himself surrounded and close to death, but is saved by the return of Vuddrog, Stragri, and Rocreth only moments after their own arrival. Endriel manages to break free of the imposing orcs and using his keen eyesight and the extended range of his longbow to fell several orcs before they can massacre any more Avraathian civilians. Similarly, Parathrax once again calls upon his ancestor guardians to aid in clearing out the courtyard while charging towards his friend Vyodaar who found himself near death after several particularly nasty attacks from the scimitars of the rogueish orc troops. As Parathrax finally relieves the general from danger and defeats the last of the orcs in the courtyard, the moment is interrupted with an even more pressing threat.
Sharog the Skewer's Arrival
A swift shadow with outstretched wings races across the courtyard. As you turn to discover the source, a piercing, ear-splitting screech tears through the courtyard. Overhead, silhouetted by isolated beams of light breaking through the clouds, the draconic figure stretches out its leathery wings and hovers over the battlefield as its rider shouts in a series of menacing orcish grunts and war cries.
With a kick, the winged steed folds its wings to its body and spirals downward, racing towards the courtyard with its claws outstretched like razorblades pouring from the sky. At the last moment as the mount and rider dive down, down, down towards the surface, the creature brakes out of its descent, turning upwards. Using the momentum and sudden change of direction, the creature's tail whips forward with a ferocious velocity as the stinger on the end of its tail pierces clean through the armored chest of Vyodaar.
The dragonborn's chest sinks inward on itself as Vyodaar draws a series of gasping breaths with increasing desperation. The blood oozing from his chest plate takes on a sickly green hue as the wyvern's toxins take hold of his respiratory and nervous system. The wyvern retracts its barbed tail with the unsettling slick noise of wet scales sliding against metal and lets out another piercing shriek as Vyodaar falls limp to the ground.
Looking on with a smile of satisfaction, the rider speaks in broken common.
"Sharog the Skewer kill your leaders. White-Tusks take city. Run or die."
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