Session Preface:
As the words of the orc lieutenant hang in the thick smoke of battle, a single voice breaks through the noice, crackling with disbelief.
"No! Vyodaar! Get up!"
The orc atop the wyvern chuckles once more. "Don't think that happens, girl."
Madlyn unceremoniously removes her spear from the chest of an orc who gurgles, choking on its own blood before finally dying on the ground and charges towards the mounted leader. "You monstrous bitch! You die for this, so help me gods."
"gods help you'll need, yes. Come, my wyvern is hungry. You make meal and join dead friend."
Madlyn leaps forward over the body of another orc, her spear fully extended, aimed for the orc's chest. As Madlyn flies through the air, the orc maneuvers so as to be able to parry and deal a swift retaliation strike, but anticipating this, Madlyn feints in midair and drives her spear several inches deep into the neck of the wyvern which lets out a shrill and ear-splitting scream.
Angered by the wound, the wyvern whips its tail around to sting Madlyn, but she effortlessly knocks it aside with her shield. Madlyn then draws the spear from the neck of the wyvern, using the shaft to deflect an incoming blow from the orc rider. Madlyn then takes a step back, countering into a defensive position, watching her target with a burning rage and adrenaline-fueled intensity the likes of which you've not seen in her before.
Opposite her, the orc drops off of her wyvern with a dense thud as the wyvern flaps its wings and rises into the air above her. The orc bears her colossal claws as a deep growl bursts forth from her mouth and she moves towards Madlyn with an animalistic fury, swiping back and forth at her in quick succession. Madlyn lifts her shield just in time as the orc's claws shred through the wooden shield, fracturing it into pieces with splinters flying in all directions.
Watching on as you continue to carve through the remaining orc forces responsible for the corpses of innocent civilians lining the streets, you hear from behind you the voice of Stragri.
"Company, behind us! We'll hold them off, you kill that damned wyvern and its master."
Session Summary:
Battling Sharog the Skewer
At the onset of the battle, Vorothruun conjures the eldritch power of Ragnalla and attempts to banish the orc leader and her wyvern mount from this plane, a tense gambit tapping the last of his arcane resources for the day. While Sharog manages to shrug off the spell, her wyvern is not as fortunate and find itself forced into the Nine Hells while the rest of the battle ensues.
Parathrax and Beldan quickly close in their ranks towards the towering orc, flanking and quickly scoring strikes against her with the divine smiting energy flowing through their respective weapons. In a frenzied rage, Sharog slashes through Beldan's armor and slices a major artery, knocking the dwarf unconscious from a sudden loss of blood. As Velqwen's fighters manage to repel waves of orcs pushing through the southern alleyways, Endriel and Vorothruun focus their arrows and spells towards the orc, rapidly weakening her, providing Parathrax an opportune moment to bring Beldan back from the brink of death. As orcs begin to overwhelm Velqwen's forces and surround Endriel to the north, Vorothruun's eldritch blasts ensnare and ultimately destroy the orc lieutenant, giving the party moments to mend wounds and prepare for the wyvern's return to the material plane.
Shoving a precious diamond into the dwarf's hands, Parathrax barks out "Beldan! Get to Vyodaar. Just do it." After a quick look of understanding, Beldan requests Parathrax to keep a look out for anyone that might see his revival of Vyodaar and take umbrage with the breaking of Avraathe's law against such necromancy. Following a successful completion of the ritual, Vyodaar is aided towards the infirmary by Madlyn and Beldan, the latter of whom returns just in time to help make quick work of the wyvern. Assaulted from all sides immediately upon appearing back into the courtyard, the wyvern only manages to lash out at the dwarf once before finally succumbing to the wounds sustained by the barrage of arrows, spells, and blades. Returning Beldan to consciousness once more, the aftermath of the day's assault slowly sets in for each surviving member of the party.
Battle Conclusion
Smoke rises into the midday light, curling gently as ash drifts intermingled with the last lingering flakes of snowfall. Beams of sunlight gradually pierce clouds overhead, casting silvery shimmers across the Temple courtyard. The rancid stench of blood, sweat, and mostly death carries on the slight breeze, sticking to your skin and filling your nostrils and mouth with the putrid taste of rusted iron.
Everywhere you look, members of the various military force tend to the wounded. A dwarf clad in silver regalia frees a trapped civilian from beneath a wooden beam. A member of the Platinum Order carries a Scaler who clings to life towards the barrack's infirmary. An infantry of Clan Zirthund stitches closed a deep, oozing wound across the stomach of a Talon's archer whose chest rises with desperate, shallow breaths.
High Priest Porath kneels, his white robes drenched in blood, soot, and mud, speaking quietly to a child. A Talon exits a collapsed building, locks eyes with Porath and exchanges a grim, solemn shaking of his head. Porath nods before turning back to the small girl who watches on in naive confusion. She asks the High Priest a hushed question before he gently picks her up, shields her face from the view of her destroyed home, and carries her inside the Temple to provide her a small reprieve from the day's heavy toll.
As you watch the exchange play out, your attention is interrupted by a deep, barking cough and the scraping of metal against stone approaching from the east. Favoring his left leg, Justiciar Bronzeroar approaches, his armor covered in enemy and ally blood alike as well as several new dents and gashes. The weary leader removes his helmet and looks over each of you with a bittersweet expression of gratitude and loss.
"The orc forces are retreating, finally. I'm told we have you defeating their general to thank for that." Bronzeroar spits, a thick glob of blood mixing with the mud below. "Those monsters took so many of us. Good soldiers. Great men. Innocent civilians. We will not stand for this assault to go uncontested." The Justiciar pauses once more, watching the rising smoke and falling ash. "Take care of the suffering as you are able, but make sure you rest and seek care yourselves. For this evening, the war council will reconvene. And if I have my way, tomorrow, we march. We will teach their coward of a king the depth of Bahamut's justice with his head on the end of a pike."
Checking in on Allies
Parathrax
Prior to meeting with the War Council, Parathrax takes the opportunity to check in on a number of the allies the party fought alongside during the battle. First seeing to Beldan's recovery, the two express mutual respect for one another's bravery and honor. Beldan speaks candidly, telling Parathrax, "I've known you most of your life. You're growing into a great man, an important part of Avraathe. And I know you want to shy away from that, but lean into who you are meant to be. This would have gone much differently if not for you leading the charge alongside your brother and Endriel. I'm proud to have fought alongside you." Beldan then takes his leave of the courtyard to go and find a new "shitty day regular" drink to serve for a day such as this.
Making their way to the infirmary to check on Vyodaar, the party stops at Parathraaj's home where Parathrax aids his father in bandaging what seems to be a broken bone in his arm. Parathrax extends the healing power of Bahamut to his father, who nods graciously, having spent all of his on Vorothruun earlier that morning. The two discuss their equally measured brashness and stubbornness in battle before Parathrax takes his leave.
Arriving at the infirmary, the party finds the regular staff entirely overwhelmed with members of the Platinum Order stepping in and providing healing and medical services as they are able despite their own exhaustion and lingering injuries. Parathrax follows their lead, providing comfort and the last of his healing energy towards an individual with a nasty scar to his head and another whose leg has been lost in the day's battle. Making his way through the makeshift infirmary beds strewn about hallways and courtyards, Parathrax finds the curtained off quarters where Vyodaar lays unconscious but stable and breathing while Madlyn holds his hand, still obviously upset.
Parathrax and Madlyn discuss the battle and what future plans might be decided by the war council. Madlyn strongly expresses her desire for vengeance and volunteers for any retaliation force being assembled. Parathrax responds with both understanding and advice towards caution for dwelling on such emotions before taking his leave of the infirmary and heading towards the War Council where he rejoins the others.
Endriel
During this time, Endriel takes a moment to seek out companions of the Spellguard and his Harps.
Finding Madlyn in the infirmary shortly before Parathrax's arrival, the two Harpers exchange their experiences in the fight and briefly discuss the political tension Avraathe will likely face in rebuilding after another war with a new population of refugees to consider yet again and how the Harpers might begin to aid the city without bringing themselves to High Priest Porath's attention once more. Madlyn notes the encouraging sign of Silverymoon coming to the city's aid at such a critical time and Endriel reveals Jerym's role in their arrival. As their conversation concludes Vyodaar wakes momentarily and Endriel takes his leave of the two.
On his way to find Durth in the Workman's Ward, Endriel sees the familiar blue and silver garb of a member of the Spellguard and is pleased to be momentarily reunited with Ren Wiseoak, a training partner on Spellguard Isle and fellow Harper. The two embrace in the traditional arm clasp and share their experiences. Ren details the sheer size of the orc horde as seen from beyond the wall and some of the political details of Silverymoon's mobilization.
"Word from Avraathe's officials arrived about the same time as your Harp. Truth be told, according to mom, and this doesn't leave your ears, but after some of the aggressive, closed-off trade codes passed by Avraathe, some of the Silverymoon's officials weren't going to send enough soldiers to be of service, at least not given the scope of what we saw here."
"But Jerym went and found the Harpers and we got the full story of things. He gave everyone the details and really made a case for the city. Talked about the good folk he'd met. Said even though there was something insidious lurking here, said Silverymoon would be remiss if they let another situation like Sundabar take place. That seemed to do the trick. Good man, that one."
Finally, Endriel bids farewell to Wiseoak and combs through the Workman's Ward for his half-orc Harp, Durth. Exploring the main thoroughfares, it becomes clear the Scalers deployed here were not sufficient upon discovering the orc's discovery and use of the kobold tunneling network leading to the mines. Soon thereafter, Endriel discovers Durth drinking solemnly alongside his mining shift workers in the Lost Cart. Upon sitting down to speak with him, Endriel discovers Durth's pair of black eyes, a broken cheekbone, and a series of bruises and gashes along his arm as the half-orc holds it with obvious discomfort.
Durth admits he didn't plan on taking part in much of the fighting, but when a pair of orcs broke down the door of the house of a family kind enough to let him hide with them, he used his pickaxe to try and fight off the orcs to buy enough time for the family to escape. Durth recounts the events through coughs and wheezing breaths. "Got lucky, more than anything. I got one of 'em in the gut, tore 'em up good and all. Did nothing but piss 'em off. They threw me against the wall, beat the shit out of me, left me for dead. Guess I learned a thing or two about performin' from Count."
Realizing he needs to part ways for the War Council meeting, Endriel helps Durth make his way to the infirmary to receive some much needed medical attention before rejoining the others to discuss the day's results.
Vorothruun
With a moment to himself, Vorothruun seeks out Thava to discuss the recent events as well as the lingering and troubling absence of the Augury. Vorothruun notes the convenient timing and circumstances of its disappearance and wonder whether the orcs might possibly possess it or if the battle indicated any abnormalities in the orc's battle tactics which might provide insights. Thava responds, sharing:
"I haven't learned anything about it unfortunately, no. I check on it every once in a while - at least I did before becoming the central cog in the communication channels. Every time I scry it, it's the same. Still glowing and pulsing with life. Someone or something is obviously using it. But it's surrounded by darkness, always shroud in shadow. It's light reflects off of some dark, jagged stone surface. I guess, now that you mention it, could be an orcish stronghold or cave network. But how would the orcs have gotten it? What would they be using it for?
As for whether anything was out of the ordinary from today's battle... I don't know. Besides of course the orc's use of war machines, but that's been well established as a result of their leader's uncharacteristic intelligence. I'll reach out to my contacts in the Talons leadership and see if someone more directly involved or more experienced noticed anything peculiar."
The War Council Reconvenes
Within the meeting, Supreme Commander Vergraks opens with requesting a report from each faction represented. Among the discussions, it is revealed that while total casualties are not known, it is believed a near majority of Platinum Scales fell during the assault, while the Talons and Platinum Order fared better and Velqwen's forces were crippled by the onslaught of siege towers, but managed to survive thanks to the aid of Silverymoon's forces.
The table then turns its attention towards the next response with members like Justiciar Bronzeroar and High Priest Dradke championing retaliation and others such as General Maldur and Speaker Zorvathrax suggesting more defensive measures. With those gathered split on the matter, the party speaks up and presents a third alternative of sending out Silverymoon's forces to quickly deal with the lagging and retreating orcs while a small strike force goes to the stronghold for scouting and if possible, a chance to take out their king and stop the full war from breaking out. The two sides agree this is a suitable compromise and after ironing out a few of the details, it is agreed the party will gather a small unit of 10 Platinum Order members and any of their allies willing to join them and will make for the King's stronghold to the east the next morning.
The party retires to the Library of Libations following the council's conclusion, sharing the news with Beldan and inviting him along for the mission, which he heartily accepts while pouring each of them his new "shitty day regular," a dark dwarven ale with a shot glass full of his moonshine vodka floating at the top.
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