Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

[TekHed]

Auran stepped forward when prompted, clearing his throat. This captain was clearly a secular man, so no need to diminish his militaristic vigor with what might be scoffed at as tall tales.

"Plainly put Captain, Tiamat is the greatest and most powerful evil dragon this world has ever seen. It took the combined flights of all of Argonessan to defeat her once, but barely, and she was sealed away under guard by the Council of Wyrms, the keys scattered across Eberron in antiquity. It would seem the Warlord in command of the Darguunian hordes is something of a fanatic, and is seeking to free her from her prison. His forces are already formidable, but with the aid of their Dark Queen, they may well be unstoppable."

[OMG PONIES]

Today had been a difficult one for Roni. It had been one thing to announce himself as The Law--Roni flat expected that from Faien. But then he had used Roni & Vaeri's real name and mentioned his papers before Roni even had a chance to pass off one of his forged identities? The whole idea of being honest and helpful used to make Roni's scales crawl, but this time around he only felt midly itchy. Progress?

Sterngate was to Roni as the Menechtarun was to a trout. The entire time in the fortress, the spellscale had been quiet, leaving the more physically imposing Auran and the more bureaucratically imposing Faien to take the lead. Uniforms? Formations? Orders? None of it jibed with Roni's joie de vivre, but it seemed to be their current reality so he tried to settle in and stare as hard at the floor as he could muster. Finally, as talk turned to Koth, Tiamat, and the plans of the Red Hand, Roni finally felt as though he had something to add:

"Second, what do you mean that this...man...was 'assigned' to the Red Hand by Darguun? Are you sure you can trust him?" Koth looks over at you all discreetly, waiting to hear your answer.

"Hardly," Roni exhales. "I mean, it's not that he hasn't provided accurate information, so much as it would have been much more pleasant to receive that information without various incentivizing behaviors combined with applying vice-like pressure to his ideas of mortality, savvy?"

Auran stepped forward when prompted, clearing his throat. This captain was clearly a secular man, so no need to diminish his militaristic vigor with what might be scoffed at as tall tales.

"Plainly put Captain, Tiamat is the greatest and most powerful evil dragon this world has ever seen. It took the combined flights of all of Argonessan to defeat her once, but barely, and she was sealed away under guard by the Council of Wyrms, the keys scattered across Eberron in antiquity. It would seem the Warlord in command of the Darguunian hordes is something of a fanatic, and is seeking to free her from her prison. His forces are already formidable, but with the aid of their Dark Queen, they may well be unstoppable."

"Aye," Roni adds with far less decorum. "At first it seemed like the artifact we were after was just bunk, but it turns out it might even be a key to this prison.

"Ah, my apologies, Captain Soranna did mention that was a new fortification. Vraath Keep was constructed atop the Dragonmount, if I recall the local name correctly.

"On the nose, Magistrate," Roni adds with a wink, seeming to respond to the curt & solemn nature of the settlement by falling into his old affectations.

I do not possess the capacity for effective long-range scouting, so I have not directly verified the exact size of the force behind Skull Gorge, and on the existence of the second force I have only his word, but I presume you have the capacity here to verify its presence more swiftly than I. On the subject of Tiamat I shall defer to those more learned in the matter."

"Second through fifth, to sharpen the point of that blade. The Red Hand is but one arm of the hobbo forces coming our way. You see, there are actually five Hands, each named after a color since Old Queen T had a bit of a thing for these 5 colors--long, separate story, don't ask. Anyway, The Red Hand--they're your infantry. Black--very hush-hush but could be an intelligence outfit or, given the sorcerous penchant for the color, necromancers. Blue--storm magicians. Green--they're your archers & artillery. And White--lump it all if Koth could tell us anything about them, but the main contingent not yet accounted for would be your medics, amirite?"

What Roni doesn't bother to include is that, while this is 80% straight from the mouth of Koth, the remaining 20% has been hastily filled in by the more paranoid parts of Roni's brain, filling in a strong & compelling narrative while at once painting a picture of doom & gloom. Old Hux would be proud!

"And to top it off..." Roni pauses, eyeing up the Captain to see if the big Brelish man can be trusted. Hey, you never know who could turn out to be an elder dragon and sitting member of the Chamber in disguise!

Sense Motive - (1d20+8)[27]
casts Detect Magic

[Fireheart]

Vaeri started to respond when Roni jumped in and elaborated on the various colors and hands.

With a shake of her head, she adds somewhat softly, "And keep in mind that while the Daughter of Khyber remains locked in the Pit of Souls, her ability to reach out and corrupt those around her prison as well as influence her followers is well documented. And it seems that the rivalries inherent in her followers have been subsumed by whatever powers of control this warlord has."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Captain Davoh gives all of you, including the now apparently quite amused Koth, a long-suffering look. "So let me get this straight," he says. "There's a Cult of the Dragon Below in Darguun that's not just a handful of crazy people, but a handful of crazy people with more than ten thousand troops under their control and a thing for rainbow colors that not a single intelligence outfit in the Five Nations has had any inkling of, and they're trying to summon up one of the...what's-their-name, Rakshasa somethings...anyway, one of the most powerful demons out there, who is also a dragon, who's strong enough that she couldn't be killed by an entire continent of dragons at the height of their strength, who can still pull a Dark Six to corrupt things and empower people despite, I repeat, being locked away by an entire continent of dragons...and the only thing preventing this army from stomping its way through Khorvaire and then having their goddess blow the continent to bits is a handful of magical keys and, apparently, Sterngate."

The captain pinches the bridge of his nose. "Tower spit. This is far above my pay grade." He looks over at Roni and looks like he's bracing himself for more bad news. "And to top it off, what?"

Roni

Spoiler

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As far as you can tell, Davoh's reactions are genuine and he is who he seems to be. If anyone in Sterngate is a disguised Chamber agent, it's probably not the captain.

The captain does not radiate any magic himself, but a signet ring on his right hand radiates a moderate Transmutation aura and his rank insignia radiates a moderate Abjuration aura.

[OMG PONIES]

Captain Davoh gives all of you, including the now apparently quite amused Koth, a long-suffering look. "So let me get this straight," he says. "There's a Cult of the Dragon Below in Darguun that's not just a handful of crazy people, but a handful of crazy people with more than ten thousand troops under their control and a thing for rainbow colors that not a single intelligence outfit in the Five Nations has had any inkling of, and they're trying to summon up one of the...what's-their-name, Rakshasa somethings...anyway, one of the most powerful demons out there, who is also a dragon, who's strong enough that she couldn't be killed by an entire continent of dragons at the height of their strength, who can still pull a Dark Six to corrupt things and empower people despite, I repeat, being locked away by an entire continent of dragons...and the only thing preventing this army from stomping its way through Khorvaire and then having their goddess blow the continent to bits is a handful of magical keys and, apparently, Sterngate."

"Yes," Roni says, as straight-faced as he ever has been. "Save, of course, that it's not just the magical keys and Sterngate holding them back. It's also us, and a small contingent of soldiers in Drellin's Fery. But aside from that, yes."

The captain pinches the bridge of his nose. "Tower spit. This is far above my pay grade." He looks over at Roni and looks like he's bracing himself for more bad news. "And to top it off, what?"

"I need everyone to hum." After a moment goes by, Roni realizes that this might not be a completely usual request. "If the walls have ears, I don't want them hearing. So hum please, middle C: Hmm." Roni demonstrates, then waits for his fellows to comply. Once he is satisfied with the level of noise the others generate, he leans in and whispers to the Captain. "I have it on good authority that there are no fewer than three members of the Chamber involved with this operation."

Roni stands back, cutting off the hum with an orchestra director's turn of his wrists.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Davoh's brow furrows for a moment as he tries to think of what sort of chamber Roni might be talking about and why that would be worth obscuring from eavesdroppers, then his eyebrows shoot up as he gets the spellscale's meaning. "And here I thought this situation couldn't get any worse," he growls. "Even discounting the...those reinforcements, and assuming that all of their soldiers are of equal quality to mine, we're still outnumbered around twelve to one. With those reinforcements, and add in whatever hodgepodge of monsters they have with them, the odds just keep getting worse."

The captain slams his hands down on his desk in frustration and disbelief. "Dolurrh, that's more than ten entire legions in this Red Hand alone! A force an eighth the size of Breland's entire army at the height of the War, for a Host-damned cult! If you explained all of this to King Boranel this very minute, and he believed you unquestioningly, and he was able to cut through all the bureaucratic red sealing wax to start reassigning troops in less than a day, and he was able to convince the other nations we weren't gearing up to attack any of them, we might--might--be able to scrape together six, maybe seven legions that could get here in time to do anything about an impending invasion on such short notice." He pauses. "Speaking of which, have you informed anyone else in authority about this?" He waves a hand. "No, stupid question. Of course you haven't, or I'd be hearing it from whoever you told first. That's what I'll need to do next, then. Our Sivis heir is out on patrol right now, but as soon as she gets back for the meeting I called, I'll have her get on the speaking stone and update Wroat on the situation."

Koth's ears twitch at the mention of the fort's Sivis heir. "Sterngate is the first line of defense against a strong enemy nation that could invade at any time, and you let your primary--if not only--source of long-range communications wander around outside the fort for hours or days at a time?" he asks mildly. "I had to; her last two leaves were canceled due to extenuating circumstances. Raiding warbands, mostly, I'm sure you'd know all about that. Giving her light duty on the safe side of the fort is the closest I could come to making up the time without letting her actually leave. And I can't just confine any officers considered to be of critical importance to the fort at all times, or there wouldn't be a single 'marked heir in the whole country willing to be stationed here."

Koth frowns. "That is...unfortunate." "Oh? And why's that, exactly?" asks the captain sarcastically. "One of the many contingencies that...will likely be carried out," Koth says, carefully not phrasing it as that I'd planned to carry out and now my replacement will to the already-irate captain, "involved killing or capturing any gnomes among your forces whenever possible before the attack, in the hopes of removing any Sivis heirs as a possible means of calling in reinforcements. So it is entirely possible that your Sivis heir will not, in fact, be returning for your meeting." Turning to you all, he explains, "I didn't mention that earlier because that's a matter of Darguun doctrine regarding Sterngate, not specifically my own plans or those of the Red Hand. I still wouldn't have mentioned it, as I hate to give up intelligence like that to the enemy, but I would hate to be accused of deliberately withholding information about Red Hand activities if and when their heir fails to turn up."

"That's...not a problem," the captain says, shooting Koth a hostile glance but otherwise remaining calm. "In the event Lady d'Sivis were ever incapacitated, in an emergency we can send someone on--" "--on the lightning rail up to Starilaskur to requisition a temporary replacement until a new contract can be worked out with House Sivis for another full-time placement here," Koth completes calmly. "The lightning rail that is shortly to be sabotaged, mind, and may have been sabotaged already. Or if that isn't possible, your backup plan is to send someone down to Zolanberg to send word from a message station there. However, that lightning rail route, and Zolanberg itself, are high up in the mountains and subject to the occasional out-of-season avalanche. Such as the one that happened to cut Sterngate off from Zolanberg shortly before a major raid over the Seawalls a few months after the end of the War. Whomever you send could be easily waylaid before sending their message and you would be none the wiser for two days, at least." As the captain stares at Koth, unsure of how to react to this detailed knowledge of Sterngate's procedures, Koth quietly concludes, "You, of all people, Captain, should know better than to underestimate Darguul ingenuity."

The captain continues staring at Koth for several moments. "So it sounds like we may not be able to count on reinforcements, or any sort of contact with the higher echelons whatsoever. Fan-frakking-tastic." He then proceeds to take let out a stream of curses vile enough to make a Karrnathi skeleton blush for a solid minute or so, which he concludes with a "First thing after the meeting, I'm going through the training manuals and changing everything!" muttered through clenched teeth.

After taking a deep breath and calming himself, he asks you, "The four of you wouldn't add much to the defense of this fort, so after you filled me in, what was it you were planning to do next?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri's eyes go wide as she realizes that Koth had pretty much cut off many of the Captain's plans for reinforcements.

Crazy as it all sounds. I am glad he believes us. she thinks with small sigh. And a part of her mentally snickered at the thought of all the writing the Captain was going to do, once this was over, to change procedures, but that part was quickly cut off at his question.

She looked back and forth between Auran and Faien to answer that question.

[TekHed]

Auran turned to Koth.

"Could there still be time to stop the assault on the Lightning Rail? How many forces were assigned to sabotage it?"

To the Captain, "If there is time, I suggest we take an appropriate contingent to cut them off."

[OMG PONIES]

What were they planning on doing next? Roni was surprised to have had this much of a plan, but he had just chalked it up to the cost of doing business with a paladin and a bureaucrat. They could beat feet back to Drellin's--they probably needed the help more than Sterngate. Or they could make haste and ride the lightning, cutting off whatever the gobs had planned. Or...

What he really wanted to do most now was kick back with a nice glass of rosé, but it didn't seem like that was in the cards...

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"The original plan involved sabotaging the lightning rail the morning before the northern detachment crossed Skull Gorge, as doing so too many days in advance could have alerted Sterngate, if there were any scheduled arrivals in that time that were delayed," Koth replies, and the captain starts taking notes again as Koth outlines the plans. "Which would mean tomorrow morning, as the Gorge crossing was to take place tomorrow night just after sundown. With the bridge destroyed it will take the Red Hand's engineers several days to construct something temporary that can support the crossing--at least two days, I would guess, but probably no more than four--but I don't know whether the new Wyrmlord would wait until the temporary bridge was complete to start the sabotage, or just wait the day or so necessary to inform Kul that I have been 'killed' and receive any new orders. So you could have anywhere between one and four days to stop the sabotage; I would plan for the former, if I were you.

"There were three sabotage crews--again, any of this could be changed by the new Wyrmlord, but I doubt they would deviate from the plans too much this early in their tenure. Three crews, to cut off the 'rail at three points: just north of the Gorge, at the nearest point to the Keep, and at the nearest point to New Cyre," he continues. "Each crew was to consists of a squad of hobgoblin legionaries, a squad of goblin worg-riders, two engineers, and a war adept. That could pose some trouble to you four, depending on how much of a challenge you found the squads at the Gorge to be."

"Six squads, plus auxiliaries," the captain muses. "That's not good." He scribbles down some numbers on a fresh sheet of paper and starts drawing arrows and crossing things out. "I can spare a platoon of regulars, if one of the southern platoons pulls double shifts while they're out..." he says, thinking out loud. "...can't spare any Redcloaks...or Deneiths...maybe a lance of dragoons? No, they'll need to cover for the regulars...well, maybe just one squadron...maybe some Rangers, since we already know what we're facing...." He scribbles a few more things, then puts down his pen. "I'll need to run through some more possibilities after the briefing, but I think I can free up enough forces to match these sabotage crews--if I get more intelligence from him on their capabilities," he says, pointing at Koth, "and if you four think you're good enough to take on a whole squad on your own."

[Sallera]

Faien gives an appreciative nod for the proposed strategy. "The plan seems sound. If the resistance we encountered at the bridge is indicative of their standard combat strength, I have little doubt we can handle it."

[TekHed]

"Keeping in mind that the dragon got away..." Auran added. "They may very well bolster their forces after such a humiliation. In fact I'd count on it."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The captain shrugs. "Oh, believe me, I'm assuming the worst about everything right now, relative troop numbers included," he says, "but I only have so many squads to work with. If they bring four squads and two of these 'war adepts' to every sabotage site, or if they don't send any extras but our squads aren't able to handle their squads, there's really nothing we can do about it that wouldn't compromise our defense here."

He looks over at a clock on the wall, stands up, and says, "Speaking of nothing we can do about it, the next lightning rail won't arrive until half past seven, so we'll have plenty of time to decide how to prevent the sabotage at the briefing. You," he adds with a pointed look at Koth, "shouldn't say anything unless asked a direct question that the others," he gestures at the four of you, "can't answer, and let them do the talking about you otherwise. Not all of my officers are as open-minded as I am about goblinoids." Koth inclines his head in a long nod, in a way that conceals whatever expression he might have had in response to the captain's statement, and then stands along with everyone else to leave.

Moving around the fortress is much quicker with Davoh leading the way and waving you past checkpoints. You soon reach the mess hall and wait a few minutes as officers trickle in, one or two at a time. The captain sits stiffly, looking up at the door hopefully as each officer enters; shortly before four o'clock, a junior aide enters with a note clenched tightly in her hands and makes beeline for the captain, who reads it, dismisses her, and slumps in his seat. "That," he murmurs angrily so only the four of you and Koth can hear, "was a memo from Lady d'Sivis's commanding officer. According to him, she was killed by a sniper this morning, after which Darguul forces harried them for hours, likely to prevent them from reporting that for as long as they could. So we're without our speaking stone operator, as predicted. Keeper take those bastards."

The next two and a half hours are a long and drawn out debriefing session with all the officers of the Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Operations divisions, fifteen in all. The first ten minutes consist of a long and impressively foul-mouthed rant questioning the competence, intelligence, and parentage of everyone present. The next ten minutes are spent convincing everyone there that Koth isn't a Darguul spy, a Karrnathi spy, a spy for his cult, or any other kind of spy--a difficult task, to be sure, particularly since the captain isn't entirely convinced himself that Koth isn't a spy. The remaining time involves the four of you telling your story in great detail, repeating some parts and expanding on other parts until everyone is convinced that have extracted as much information about this cult and its plans from your recounting as is possible, as well as Koth explaining the capabilities and organization of the cult's forces both in general and as they relate to the upcoming sabotage plan.

Finally, you're sent out of the room as they all discuss classified force details for another half-hour, accompanied by some soldiers to keep an eye on you so you don't try to listen in or (in Koth's case) sneak away. Captain Davoh comes to retrieve you afterwards, saying, "We've sorted out our three strike forces as best we can under the circumstances. Only question is, do you four want to help out with the nearest site or the farthest site?"

[Sallera]

Faien straightens up from relieving a cramp in his leg; briefings that long weren't something he had taken part in in several years. Still, it was good to see that the fort's organization was working effectively, if not necessarily efficiently. "The farthest, I think, would be best. I would rather be able to check on the other two on our way back."

[OMG PONIES]

"The original plan involved sabotaging the lightning rail the morning before the northern detachment crossed Skull Gorge, as doing so too many days in advance could have alerted Sterngate, if there were any scheduled arrivals in that time that were delayed," Koth replies, and the captain starts taking notes again as Koth outlines the plans. "Which would mean tomorrow morning, as the Gorge crossing was to take place tomorrow night just after sundown."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Roni asks. "Let's beat feet, friends!"

"I'll need to run through some more possibilities after the briefing, but I think I can free up enough forces to match these sabotage crews--if I get more intelligence from him on their capabilities," he says, pointing at Koth, "and if you four think you're good enough to take on a whole squad on your own."

"You can count on us, Cap," Roni chimes in with a salute that comes across as more sarcastic than intended.

"Keeping in mind that the dragon got away..." Auran added. "They may very well bolster their forces after such a humiliation. In fact I'd count on it."

"Yeah, I hope that dragon comes back," the elder spellscale continues, shadowboxing the air. "Let me finish what I started!"

"We've sorted out our three strike forces as best we can under the circumstances. Only question is, do you four want to help out with the nearest site or the farthest site?"

Faien straightens up from relieving a cramp in his leg; briefings that long weren't something he had taken part in in several years. Still, it was good to see that the fort's organization was working effectively, if not necessarily efficiently. "The farthest, I think, would be best. I would rather be able to check on the other two on our way back."

"I agree with the magistrate," Roni nods in assent. "Plus, if anything unexpected happens it's best for the locals to fall back here for reinforcement. We'll manage on our own. Right, everyone?" he says, looking to his companions for reassurance.

[TekHed]

"Indeed," Auran patted the young spellscale reassuringly on the shoulder. "We shall do our utmost, or perish." he said unreassuringly.

[OMG PONIES]

"Well, I mean, there are more than just those two options, right?"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"No, there really aren't any other options," Captain Davoh says, with no trace of humor in his voice. "Do anything less than your utmost, and this fort might fall, and our nation--both of our nations," he adds, glacing at Faien, "fall with it." In a more sympathetic tone, he continues, "I hate to involve civilians in military matters, much less heavily rely on them, but I don't have much of a choice, since you've already involved yourselves. The four of you have faced more danger in the past few weeks than most of my troops have in the past two years, so I'm sure you can rise to this challenge."

The captain then excuses himself for a moment and returns with a uniformed half-elf in tow. "This is Sergeant Tolis, he leads the unit of Brelish Rangers to which you'll be attached. He'll take you down to the lightning rail stop, where you'll be able to meet the rest of his unit. May the Host watch over you. You four, dismissed; Koth, come with me." With that, Davoh heads off to make his own preparations and hand Koth over to the soldiers who'll be keeping an eye on him while you're gone, and Tolis escorts you down to the rail station. The half-hour it takes for the lightning rail to arrive is filled with introductions and discussions of capabilities and passes relatively quickly, then you all board the lightning rail as the current situation is explained to its conductor and its passengers and cargo are offloaded in record speed.

The lightning rail departs at twenty minutes past seven o'clock and rushes northwards at speeds that would get the conductor excoriated in any other circumstances. It pauses briefly to let off the first strike force, then the second strike force, and finally your own force, before continuing on to Starilaskur with some Sterngate officers on board to pass along warnings of the impending attack and gather reinforcements if possible. The spot where you disembark looks basically like every other spot along the lightning rail line for miles in either direction: nothing but short grass for a few yards on either side of the line, then many more yards of higher grass, underbrush, and scattered clumps of trees beyond that, with a continuous gentle downward slope from west to east. The setting sun gives you enough light to see your surroundings, but within an hour or so the only light available will come from the flickering sparks of the conductor stones.

"All right, let's get to it," Tolis says once the lightning rail is out of sight. "The Captain said you four know the enemy best, so I'll follow your lead here. How do you want to play this? Patrols, stationary ambush, use somebody as bait...?"

Spoiler

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The forces at your disposal are as follows:

Sergeant Tolis, half-elf mystic ranger 5, two-weapon combat style
Corporal Tarbin, shifter warblade 3, White Raven focus
Specialist Dorian, human focused specialist abjurer 3, prohibited schools Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy
Specialist Strella, halfling cleric of the Sovereign Host 3, healing focus
Privates Bastian, Daniel, and Joramy: human ranger 2, archery combat style
Privates Alfred, Leric, and Rowan: human knight 2, sword-and-shield style

[TekHed]

*Interlude*

Once introductions had been made and they all had a quiet moment to themselves aboard the railcar, Auran took the spellscales aside.

"My friends," he began in a solemn tone.

"I cannot find the words to express how astonished and grateful I am that you have come so far with me on this journey. You have fought and risked everything for a fight that was never yours to begin with. It is a testament to your faith in the Great Dragons..."

He paused, inhaling through his scaly nostrils.

"We haven't had the chance to slow down for some time but I've been meaning to speak with you. Before we arrived at the Mastermaker's I received a vision from Bahamut in my morning meditations. He admonished me that I must reign in the greed for gold that runs through our draconic veins...that I should rely not on the magic of mortals, but that only in the purity and strength of belief would I be able to avoid the temptations of Tiamat whence I face her again."

He removed the ornate belt girding his waist, engraved in the likeness of Siberys itself. This he held out to Vaeri.

"Take this. It will heal you if ever I am not by your side."

He then removed his vest, as blue as his azure eyes. It had buttons to close the slits where his wings had fit through.

"And this...it will bolster your resistance against fell magics."

To Roni, he presented a small crystal.

"Place this upon your weapon or your lyre, and it will spring to hand with but a thought..."

Then, with great ceremony, he undid the clasp of his platinum necklace, emblazoned with the sigil of Bahamut, and placed it around Roni's neck.

Placing a clawed hand over the Quickwing's shoulder, he added in a most sincere voice.

"I am so proud of you young Bard. You have a moral fortitude beyond even your own reckoning, though I still sometimes catch sight of your inner struggle. This phylactery will aid your conscience in the dark trials we are yet to face. May it give you the strength to do what is right, no matter the cost."

Spoiler: OOC

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Yay, time to give stuff away!

Vaeri gets a Vest of Resistance +1 and a Belt of Healing, since she doesn't have one.

Roni gets a Least Crystal of Return, and Auran's Phylactery of Faithfulness. It's fudging a bit, but I thought it would be cool if it worked for everyone, not just Paladins...i.e. if you wear it it will act kind of like a very subtle emotional Jimminy Cricket, kind of a "what would a Paladin do?" reminder. My reasoning is that it would be cool to role-play with Roni's character arc of increasing moral maturity. And I figure, with such presentation, he can't really refuse...

Since none of the others can use it, I'll have Auran give his Wand of Lesser Vigor to the Fort to support their efforts a slight bit, as well as trading in his masterwork weapons for non masterwork equivalents.

[Sallera]

Faien gives the terrain a cursory survey, although he gives no indication of liking what he sees. "Hm. I am worried most about being detected by one of their scouts without seeing them in return; we would have little chance of noticing if they simply chose a spot far enough away to work. They should not be expecting us, but that does not mean they won't take standard precautions while in hostile territory. Our main force in the trees, do you think, with a screen of our best scouts a little further out?"

[OMG PONIES]

*Interlude*

As the railcar charges onward, Roni is struck by the boredom: field, field, field, tree. Field, field, field, tree. The tedium of it fades into a gentle rhythm, nearly lulling him to sleep. That is, until Auran speaks up.

"Thank you, Auran," he says. "But this fight is ours...and not just because I'm the numptie who lost the Rod in the first place. This is about more than just faith now--it's about protecting people. Innocent people, who didn't do anything worth getting killed over. People who just want to enjoy their lives. People like us. Protecting them? That's always right."

As he speaks, the young spellscale can't help but feel his new phylactery emitting a gentle warmth.

*Back to the Action*

"Aye, magistrate," Roni says with a nod. "Best to keep the aces close to the chest."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The sergeant nods at Faien's suggestion. "That works for me." Turning to his squad, he begins issuing orders: "Daniel, Rowan, Bastian, Leric, you're on patrol, hydra formation. Alfred, Tarbin, you two and I will join Faien, starburst formation. Joramy, Dorian, you two hunker down in that copse over there. Strella, you stick with Vaeri and Roni." Those assigned as scouts salute and begin stalking quietly through the trees while the rest form up as ordered.

Map

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The brown area under the lightning rail is dirt and gravel, and the pale green areas on either side of the lightning rail are short grass; there are no special mechanical effects for either area. The bright green area is tall grass and underbrush; characters who crouch or go prone in the area gain concealment. The dark green areas are areas of trees and undergrowth.

The NPC coloring is as follows:
Light gray: knights (Alfred, Leric, Rowan)
Dark gray: archers (Bastian, Daniel, Joramy)
Orange: officers (Dorian, Strella, Tarbin)
Brown: Sergeant Tolis

Everyone please indicate where you'd like to start off on the map.

[Sallera]

Faien nods sharply, taking up a position near the centre. Prepared for mobility as he is, he could redeploy the core officers a few dozen yards in any direction at a moment's notice, should it prove necessary, although such an occurrence coming to pass would not be the best sign for their plans.

Spoiler

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Faien's group will hide in the round forest section forward of Dorian and Joramy.

[Fireheart]

Interlude

Vaeri blushes furiously as the Paladin compliments her. "Thank you." she stutters, "I appreciate it." to his gifts.

And adds to Roni, "And what is family not for, if not to help when one of us does something stupid." She offers a slight touch to her brother to let her him know her thoughts are good. "Besides, I came out to see the worlds...this is certainly one way to do it!" She glances outside the window, "Though I would have thought it have more than trees."

Spoiler: OOC

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OOC: Yeah, I won't object. Vaeri's a little frail if she actually gets hit my things. Thanks Auran!

Back in the Action.

"Would arial scouting help any? She asks with a glance at both her and Auran's wings? Keeping low to the trees, I know. She says whimsically.

Spoiler: OOC

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Assuming that will get vetoed, she'll place herself near wherever Strella is.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Aerial scouting...huh," Tolis says, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Actually...I think it would, quite a bit. Sterngate doesn't have anyone with flight spells or any flying mounts to train with, so it didn't even cross my mind to plan for that. Also, and please don't take this as an insult, but I've never heard of anyone with your, er, features..." he says, gesturing vaguely to indicate Auran's and Vaeri's obvious draconic lineage "...that was smaller than an ogre with wings that actually worked, so I didn't want to make any assumptions." He clears his throat. "Anyway. If you can keep close to or within the canopy and you're sure you won't be seen, then yes, I would certainly appreciate any intelligence you could gather from the air. It'll make our scouts much less vulnerable targets, if nothing else."

Map

Spoiler

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I've put Vaeri and Auran off to the flanks of your group for now to give you guys a bit more coverage, but of course if they go scouting and happen to spot something they can be relocated.

If there's any additional preparations you'd like to make, go ahead with those, otherwise I'll move ahead with the random encounter rolls things that go bump in the night entire wing of great wyrm dragons next scene.

[TekHed]

"Very well." Auran nods, as they make their preparations. Once everyone is in position, he takes wing with Chiaravaeri to scout from the skies.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Auran and Vaeri

The two of you hug the treetops as best you are able, flying slowly both to evade notice and to ensure you don't collide with any trees. Flying out in overlapping arcs, you quickly fall into a pattern, one of you flying north to south over a particular area, then the other flying south to north to look for anything the first might have missed, and continuing outward in this fashion as long as possible.

Evening fades to sunset fades to night while you are doing your sweeps, leaving the area lit only by the crackling bluish glow of the conductor stones behind you and the soft many-hued light of three full moons and five waxing moons overhead. Your arcs pass slower and slower as you go due to the diminished light and the increasing length of each arc, and two hours after you begin your reconnaissance, you've found no sign of any saboteurs and return to the others. The Rangers are relaxed and confident about the situation, but it's obvious that they don't believe for a moment that one aerial sweep will be enough. The two of you rest while the scouts are sent out on foot, then take to the air for another round of aerial scouting after they return. This process repeats itself several times until it is long past everyone's bedtime, the Rangers are beginning to sound a bit grumpy, and everything from the past few hours is blurring together.

Then, suddenly, an hour or so before dawn, Auran hears something, a rustling in the grass--several rustlings, in fact. Vaeri has to make one or two more passes before she can make out the rustlings, but soon enough she confirms it: something or someone is out there. You both discreetly circle the area where you heard the noise and can just barely make out several figures creeping slowly and stealthily through the long grass, crouching to keep a low profile and moving from one clump of tree to another to avoid the moonlight giving them away. As it turns out, the noises you heard were made by the worg-riders Koth mentioned--five of them that you can see, traveling in an arrowhead formation off to the right of the group--and you can make out eight other figures in a loose circle but can't make out their features or uniforms. The worgs are sniffing around curiously as they go along, but the breeze is blowing towards you and you're far enough back that your scent apparently hasn't carried to them; the dismounted figures show no sign of noticing your presence.

Everyone

The sergeant isn't pleased by the news when Auran and Vaeri report back, and he calls back the members of his squad for the debrief. "Worgs? Five of them? Tower spit. I hate worgs," Tolis groans. "All right, scouts, all of you shift to the northern side to head off the flank, everyone else stick to the same positions." Turning to you all, he asks, "I don't want to just sit here and let them come to us, 'cause the way they're moving they might manage to avoid us entirely, so is there anything you can do to either blast 'em before they know we're here or funnel them right at us?"

[Sallera]

Faien frowns slightly and shakes his head. "My abilities at range are limited. I will be of little help until they or we close."

[Fireheart]

"I am some good at range," Chari says," but not for a lot of damage." She pauses and thinks for a second, "how dumb do you think they are?" she asks. "It seems silly but dancing lights is a spell that has quite a range - something like 160 ft or so for me. If they would follow them...I could lead them close to here."

[TekHed]

"I too am a melee fighter." Auran admitted.

"But perhaps we can "stumble" upon them, and flee, leading them into our trap..."