Kingdom on the Brink - Session 38
General Summary
The party prepares for the assault and the construct they found in Kalzoz's Sanctum casts aid on the party and they disperse supplies and consumables, Horatius Dragomir approaches the group and lets them know they discovered several siege weapon sites and asked the party to assault one of them. The group sets out, they deal with some forward sentries, they find the area and the siege weapons are manned by Orogs and Rot trolls provide some defense. Hendred Blesses the party and Duromar sings his bladesong and casts haste, the party moves forward, the siege equipment begins to fire. Duromar, Del Varis, and Gareth start to engage the rot trolls at range and then move into melee. Stormsong takes to the sky and begin to hurl firebolts at the siege equipment and start to set them ablaze, Ashara hits a Rot Troll with an exceptionally critical arrow strike (double 20). Duromar strikes the Rot Troll several times and Gareth uses green flame blade on the other, Duromar gets hit by the Rot Trolls necrotic aura, the Rot Trolls engage Gareth, Ashara and Duromar. Hendred strikes one of the Rot Trolls with a guiding bolt, Duromar and Del Varis disengages from the Rot Trolls and make a break for the siege equipment. Duromar hits the furthest catapult with a fireball, the ballista and other catapult fire at Duromar and Del Varis, which misses Duromar but hits Del Varis squarely in the face with a boulder. Hendred, Gareth, Ashara continue to engage the Rot Trolls but the Troll on Gareth manage to take a bite out of Gareth, Stormsong launches a fireball at another catapult and quickens a firebolt on the ballista which burns it to the ground. Duromar moves to engage the crew and Del Varis moves to attack the other catapult, and destroys it. The party begins to hack down two of the Rot Trolls and focuses on the last one and Duromar launches another fireball which burns the last catapult to the ground, this causes the Orogs to flee, the party quickly strikes down the last Rot Troll. The party quickly makes it way back to the defenses of Strongfare and take position on their section of the wall.
The weaker undead, orcs, and Gnolls fall against the wall and get slain by the party, this goes on for about an hour and Stormsong lights the trees nearby on fire to provide light. As this is going on four gargantuan skeletons (Necrotech) start to approach the defenses, Ashara fires a flare into the sky to get some artillery support. The party uses their limited ability to engage at range to do some damage, boulders that get shot out from over the wall do some damage but is partly resisted. As the Necrotechs close the distance the party unleashes more magical volleys of Guiding Bolts and fireballs, the party does a decent amount of damage but it gets spread out between the four Necrotechs. Del Varis jumps from the wall and holds onto the Necrotech and begin to engage it in melee and begins to swing from bone to bone to dodge its attacks. The Necrotechs begin to the slam the wall and inflict massive damage on the party, downing Duromar, and the Necrotechs begin to bash away at the wall. Del Varis Jumps back on the wall and heals Duromar and Hendred casts several healing words to keep the party fighting, Gareth casts burning hands several times and burns one of the Necrotechs to ash. Stormsong takes to the air and nearly gets felled by one of the Necrotechs and begins to hurl several firebolts, Hendred and Ashara destroy the Necrotech that was attacking the gate. This causes one of the Necrotechs to break away from Duromar and Del Varis and begin to assault the gate, the Necrotech that stayed attempted to assault Del Varis but he dodges both attacks. The party gathers the last of their strength and destroy the last of the Necrotechs, they are exhausted and they call for help to assist and the defense of the wall, the party is relieved of their position on the wall. The party uses catnap and short rests in one of the camps away from the main defenses, Gareth goes to report to the battle staff and gather supplies. He finds out that when they realized the boulders shot from the siege equipment weren't working they switched to barrels of alchemical fire, though they ran out of alchemical fire faster then what they expected. Gareth also finds out there were several holes created in the defenses but are attempted to be plugged by extra troops and sentries, but the party needs to be on the lookout for anything that made it through the defenses. Gareth looks through a nearby tavern and finds two highly flammable alcohol bottles and returns to the party, during this time Del Varis sneaks past the defenses and relays to the group that there's several hundred skeletons being enchanted and begin to take flight towards Strongfare.
The party gathers back up and realize Del Varis isn't there, but the party doesn't have time as Flameskulls begin dive into the area and set the area ablaze with fire. Hendred and Duromar get hit with a fireball and the group begins to spread out, Ashara fires off several arrows but finds the skulls are resistant to piercing damage and Gareth attempts to hit one with a firebolt but it proves to be immune to fire. The Flameskulls begin to attack with fire rays, landing a critical on Duromar, and take to the sky, the martial characters manage to strike several times before the skulls are out of reach and then begin to dodge. The party begins to blast skulls out of the sky and Del Varis uses his jumping ability to strike at them from the ground, Gareth begins to trade magic missile strikes with the skulls and is able to shield the volley that get sent back at him. After several volleys from the party and fire rays from the Skulls the last of the Flameskulls get struck down. Del Varis and Stormsong examine them and realize they'll come back to life in an hour, the party moves quickly and takes the skulls to the local temple to have holy water dumped on the skulls to prevent their return. They also spread the word about the Flameskulls to the rest of the defenders, this prevents most of the skulls from coming back. The rest of the party heals up from the healing doses and gather back up at the camp. Del Varis attempts to get a short rest in but is interrupted when a Boneclaw shadow jumps in the area and begins to engage Ashara. The Boneclaw hits Ashara with a claw and grapples her and but misses with the other strikes, the party begins to overwhelm the Boneclaw but another one appears, they finish off the Boneclaw just as Duromar closes in and begin to focus on the second Boneclaw. The second Boneclaw hits Ashara with a critical strike but the party begins to overwhelm the second Boneclaw but it gets several good hits in before going down. The party gets taken by surprise when a Bonepowder ghoul appears and hits Del Varis with Finger of death which gets partially resisted, The party rushes the ghoul but Ashara misses both times and Duromar gets bitten but Ashara uses her spirit shield to prevent the strength damage. Hendred uses a guiding bolt to light it up and Gareth launches a firebolt at it, Duromar hits back and critically hits with his rapier and kills the ghoul. Stormsong keeps an eye out and reports there some fighting inside the defenses but it's being mopped up, but then she spots more Necrotechs on the horizon and the party fires off a flare for more support. As this is going on Hendred gets a flashback to when the party was in Salwor's workshop and the words "Is one who throws away lives of others worthy of trusting?" The party see an airship rise from Strongfare, it's flying erratically and some barrels fall off it, they explode when they hit the ground in alchemical flames. The party realize the ship is heading towards the Necrotechs and that it's most likely just Salwor piloting it, Stormsong attempts to catch up with it but falls behind and the airship crashes into the mass of Necrotechs and explodes in alchemical flames, leaving nothing moving in the area. This leaves Hendred shaken. The party short rests.
The weaker undead, orcs, and Gnolls fall against the wall and get slain by the party, this goes on for about an hour and Stormsong lights the trees nearby on fire to provide light. As this is going on four gargantuan skeletons (Necrotech) start to approach the defenses, Ashara fires a flare into the sky to get some artillery support. The party uses their limited ability to engage at range to do some damage, boulders that get shot out from over the wall do some damage but is partly resisted. As the Necrotechs close the distance the party unleashes more magical volleys of Guiding Bolts and fireballs, the party does a decent amount of damage but it gets spread out between the four Necrotechs. Del Varis jumps from the wall and holds onto the Necrotech and begin to engage it in melee and begins to swing from bone to bone to dodge its attacks. The Necrotechs begin to the slam the wall and inflict massive damage on the party, downing Duromar, and the Necrotechs begin to bash away at the wall. Del Varis Jumps back on the wall and heals Duromar and Hendred casts several healing words to keep the party fighting, Gareth casts burning hands several times and burns one of the Necrotechs to ash. Stormsong takes to the air and nearly gets felled by one of the Necrotechs and begins to hurl several firebolts, Hendred and Ashara destroy the Necrotech that was attacking the gate. This causes one of the Necrotechs to break away from Duromar and Del Varis and begin to assault the gate, the Necrotech that stayed attempted to assault Del Varis but he dodges both attacks. The party gathers the last of their strength and destroy the last of the Necrotechs, they are exhausted and they call for help to assist and the defense of the wall, the party is relieved of their position on the wall. The party uses catnap and short rests in one of the camps away from the main defenses, Gareth goes to report to the battle staff and gather supplies. He finds out that when they realized the boulders shot from the siege equipment weren't working they switched to barrels of alchemical fire, though they ran out of alchemical fire faster then what they expected. Gareth also finds out there were several holes created in the defenses but are attempted to be plugged by extra troops and sentries, but the party needs to be on the lookout for anything that made it through the defenses. Gareth looks through a nearby tavern and finds two highly flammable alcohol bottles and returns to the party, during this time Del Varis sneaks past the defenses and relays to the group that there's several hundred skeletons being enchanted and begin to take flight towards Strongfare.
The party gathers back up and realize Del Varis isn't there, but the party doesn't have time as Flameskulls begin dive into the area and set the area ablaze with fire. Hendred and Duromar get hit with a fireball and the group begins to spread out, Ashara fires off several arrows but finds the skulls are resistant to piercing damage and Gareth attempts to hit one with a firebolt but it proves to be immune to fire. The Flameskulls begin to attack with fire rays, landing a critical on Duromar, and take to the sky, the martial characters manage to strike several times before the skulls are out of reach and then begin to dodge. The party begins to blast skulls out of the sky and Del Varis uses his jumping ability to strike at them from the ground, Gareth begins to trade magic missile strikes with the skulls and is able to shield the volley that get sent back at him. After several volleys from the party and fire rays from the Skulls the last of the Flameskulls get struck down. Del Varis and Stormsong examine them and realize they'll come back to life in an hour, the party moves quickly and takes the skulls to the local temple to have holy water dumped on the skulls to prevent their return. They also spread the word about the Flameskulls to the rest of the defenders, this prevents most of the skulls from coming back. The rest of the party heals up from the healing doses and gather back up at the camp. Del Varis attempts to get a short rest in but is interrupted when a Boneclaw shadow jumps in the area and begins to engage Ashara. The Boneclaw hits Ashara with a claw and grapples her and but misses with the other strikes, the party begins to overwhelm the Boneclaw but another one appears, they finish off the Boneclaw just as Duromar closes in and begin to focus on the second Boneclaw. The second Boneclaw hits Ashara with a critical strike but the party begins to overwhelm the second Boneclaw but it gets several good hits in before going down. The party gets taken by surprise when a Bonepowder ghoul appears and hits Del Varis with Finger of death which gets partially resisted, The party rushes the ghoul but Ashara misses both times and Duromar gets bitten but Ashara uses her spirit shield to prevent the strength damage. Hendred uses a guiding bolt to light it up and Gareth launches a firebolt at it, Duromar hits back and critically hits with his rapier and kills the ghoul. Stormsong keeps an eye out and reports there some fighting inside the defenses but it's being mopped up, but then she spots more Necrotechs on the horizon and the party fires off a flare for more support. As this is going on Hendred gets a flashback to when the party was in Salwor's workshop and the words "Is one who throws away lives of others worthy of trusting?" The party see an airship rise from Strongfare, it's flying erratically and some barrels fall off it, they explode when they hit the ground in alchemical flames. The party realize the ship is heading towards the Necrotechs and that it's most likely just Salwor piloting it, Stormsong attempts to catch up with it but falls behind and the airship crashes into the mass of Necrotechs and explodes in alchemical flames, leaving nothing moving in the area. This leaves Hendred shaken. The party short rests.
It is late at night on the 16th day of Nyroth
Notes
| Male population | Female population | |
| total | 425,100 | 423,600 |
| under 15 | 106,800 | 106,900 |
| 15 - 55 | 213,100 | 211,300 |
| over 55 | 105,200 | 105,400 |
| sick/injured - 20,000 | Malnourished - 50,000 | Mage initiates - 451 |
| Professional fighting force - 129,000 | ||
| Healing doses - 248 doses (dose equals 1d4+1) | Dead 11,300 |
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