New Frontiers #103

[GM Mad]

New Frontiers #103


The Duke’s procession to Elcadan City has been attacked! A woman looking very much like Wendy, a wench who Validar is very familiar with has appeared. With her were four zombies who looked very much like former members of the Seekers! Ivy uses her priestly powers to put down the zombies, neutralizing that threat. Wendy then casts a powerful spell that turns Sir Corley into stone and slays many of the cavalry.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, a Cloudkill is spotted moving in from behind the formation! Hovering over the bank of lethal fog is a flying ship that is keeping pace with the cloud. Dusk flies high over the ship, it’s eyes relaying all that it sees to Lyonessa. Via her Message spell, Baron Validar is kept appraised of what is transpiring.

The Blackhawk looks much like any other cargo ship, with the exception that it is aloft. The apparent captain of this ship is a human male wearing black leather armor. There are numerous other crewmen on deck and several of them are armed with crossbows. There is a half-elfin male wearing black robes, standing near the bow of the ship. Oddly enough, there is what appears to be a furnace on the middle of the deck and a fire glows within it.

On the ground before the ship, Sherra judges the distance between her and the ship and speed of the Cloudkill. The cloud is only moving around 10’ a minute, so it is rather slow. Moving ahead of the ships path, Sherra begins to rise up thanks to her Boots of Levitation. If she’s timed this right, she’ll be high enough to clear the Cloudkill before it reaches her…


Back on the ground, Baron Validar reaches Wendy quickly thanks to his Boots of Speed. His Warblade slashes into twice, sending the wench falling backwards.

"You will pay for all you've done, you soulless hag!" Validar shouts as he attacks the wench.

“You really know how to charm a girl!” Wendy taunts back. It’s clear that while the sword did damage to her clothing, it failed to penetrate her skin.

Five Magic Missiles streak in courtesy of Chareos, but once more they fail to do any damage to Wendy.

“As charming as all of this is, I’m afraid that your stony companion was correct. This was just a diversion and you completely fell for it.”

With a malevolent grin on her face, Wendy simply vanishes! It was an act of will; no spell or other magic was invoked. The cavalrymen ride up to surround her, but Wendy is already gone. Ivy didn’t even have a chance to begin casting her Silence spell.

[GM Mad]

Back at the main procession, Baron Validar’s squires, the Lady Sara Ebonov and Lord Flint Jordana start the procession quickly moving again. Sir Acerion and Duke Relon begin to ride off with the procession. As they do so, a crow flies surprisingly close to them and then suddenly veers off as if repelled by something. For a brief moment, Sir Acerion senses the presence of monstrous evil in that crow.

Squire Moonshadow rides up along side the carriage.

“Hold on tightly, ladies!” He cries out. “We’ll be picking up speed!”


A head of the procession, a Wall of Fire springs into existence! Those cavalrymen and their mounts caught within the fire itself are gruesomely burned to death! The wall is some twenty feet high and over one hundred and fifty feet wide. Squires Ebonov and Flint are forced to change course to avoid riding into the fiery wall.


Through Dusks’ eyes, Lyonessa sees the half-elf in the black robes complete the casting of a spell right before the Wall of Fire appeared.

“Hold yer positions, lads,” the captain calls out. “We’ll be havin’ cargo soon enough!”


Completely unnoticed, Sherra rises up underneath the ship. Her timing was correct and she was high enough to clear the cloud. Grabbing a line dangling over the side of the ship, Sherra holds on as she’s pulled along with the Blackhawk. Numerous voices are heard on the deck above. Glancing through an open porthole, Sherra sees that most of the cargo hold is comprised of cells. Chains and shackles are strewn about. There is no mistaking it. The Blackhawk is a slaver ship!


Back in the carriage, Myveria lets out a startled gasp. Lyonessa glances to her left and is surprised to find that the woman who looks like Wendy just appeared beside her!

“Well, aren’t we the clever ones?” Wendy remarks in mild surprise. “So you’re not who I was expecting, but you’ll both do nicely in their place!”

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Okay, we are all over the place here. Validar, Rek, and Ivy are roughly in the same area. Chareos isn’t far away from them. Sir Acerion is riding off with the Duke. Wendy just appeared in the carriage with Lyonessa and Myveria and Squire Moonshadow is riding close by. Sherra is along the side of the Blackhawk, holding on to a line.


Current Hit Points:

Validar: 48 of 88


Now what?

[Lyonessa]

Lyonessa:

Back in the carriage, Myveria lets out a startled gasp. Lyonessa glances to her left and is surprised to find that the woman who looks like Wendy just appeared beside her!

“Well, aren’t we the clever ones?” Wendy remarks in mild surprise. “So you’re not who I was expecting, but you’ll both do nicely in their place!”

In the carriage, Lyonessa was so focused on sending a magical message to Validar that she gasps louder than her sister at the sudden appearance of Wendy.

"Moonshadow!" she cries out, knowing she might not have a chance to do anything else before this woman does something horrible to them. If Lyonessa has another moment, she will cast her fastest spell, Command, and tell Wendy to 'sleep' in hopes to buy them some time.

[Ivy]

Ivy:

Things are transpiring at such a rapid pace, that Ivy’s hard pressed to keep up. The woman who cast the spell that hurt so many vanishes before Ivy can begin to cast her own spell. She’ll hold off using any of her spells for now.

A crow buzzes the procession, but then moves off. A Wall of Fire erupts just ahead, burning more of the cavalry!

Ivy hears a cry from back at the carriage! It sounded like Lyonessa!

But as she does look back, Ivy sees the Blackhawk floating over a sickly looking bank of fog. The sight nearly dumbfounds Ivy. She’ll stare at the ship, wondering just how that is possible!

[Chareos]

Chareos

Five Magic Missiles streak in courtesy of Chareos, but once more they fail to do any damage to Wendy.

“As charming as all of this is, I’m afraid that your stony companion was correct. This was just a diversion and you completely fell for it.”

With a malevolent grin on her face, Wendy simply vanishes! It was an act of will; no spell or other magic was invoked. The cavalrymen ride up to surround her, but Wendy is already gone. Ivy didn’t even have a chance to begin casting her Silence spell.

Chareos’ eyes go wide in shock as his Magic Missiles slam into Wendy but still her Stoneskin holds! His eyes narrow as he wonders just how strong this mage is. The wench disappears and is no more; Chareos looks around and soon spots the Cloud Kill then the ship rising above it. Within moments a Fire Wall erupts to their front!

Quickly putting two and two together he realizes there is a mage upon that ship, and what’s worse they are out of reach of their own weapons!! The temptation is great to fire off a Fireball right above its deck but then he sees Sherra hanging from a line from the ship.

Weighing his options quickly in his head, Chareos knows the choice he has to make. With a Cloud Kill and Fire Wall in place they will surely die or perhaps be captured. Chareos will cast a Fireball centered over the ship hoping to damage those upon it.

“Validar I can get one or two of us up there but will take some time! A thing we do not have!”

[Xander Churr]

Regnak

Running past Ivy and taking her arm, “Ivy, Stap out of it!! You act like you never seen a flying ship before?” he says evenly, though the humor is apparent. He must admit it is a strange sight indeed but not at one's own peril!

Trying to buy his companions and himself time, Regnak will cast a Wall of Fog and center it on the Blackhawk's deck in an attempt to blind those upon her deck, especially if there is a mage upon its deck!

[Validar]

Baron Validar -

The attack has been well thought out and the ambush has multiple layers. Validar issues some commands and they all seem to be twarted.

The hag appearing as Wendy survives his assault, apparently a StoneSkin keeping her from harm.

“You really know how to charm a girl!” Wendy taunts back. It’s clear that while the sword did damage to her clothing, it failed to penetrate her skin.

Five Magic Missiles streak in courtesy of Chareos, but once more they fail to do any damage to Wendy.

“As charming as all of this is, I’m afraid that your stony companion was correct. This was just a diversion and you completely fell for it.”

"You cannot survive my blade forever, soulless hag!" Validar shouts, frustrated by the power of her magicks. "As for your schemes they have not succeeded yet!"

However, Wendy disappears. Judging by the fact that she didn't cast a spell and used what appeared to be simply an act of will, Validar is sure they are facing one of the Deville sisters. The only question is which one.

Validar sees the crow appear and veer off as if thwarted by Sir Acerion's protection. That seems to continue in their favor at least. The Duke and Duchess are safe.

However, Validar then sees the procession caught in the Wall of Flame. There must be another mage about, most likely on the deck of the flying ship. A number of the cavalrymen are killed in the flames. Validar's squires get the procession to veer off their original course and away from the Wall of Fire.

"Ivy! Can you do something to eliminate either the Wall of Fire or the Cloud Kill?! Or at the least get the normals here some protection?" Validar shouts.

"Squires! Continue skirting the flames and get the group away from this trap. The Cloud Kill cannot catch you if you do not dawdle!"

Validar hears a scream from the carriage and he guesses where the hag likely disappeared to. He will head over there as quickly as his magickal boots will take him. "Cavalry! Clear the Wall and the surround the carriage! Be ready to attack if the hag remains. Stay in skirmish formation!"

Chareos speaks up with a suggestion. “Validar, I can get one or two of us up there but will take some time! A thing we do not have!” The mage begins casting a Fireball at the ship. That is exactly what Validar would have suggested.

"I am not sure who we can spare," Validar responds, as he rushes to the carriage. He is the best choice to go, of those that remain, but if he does, then the situation down here may get out of hand. Sir Corley is out of commission and Sir Acerion is busy protecting the Duke. Validar is needed in two places at the same time.

"Give me one second to see if I can smite that hag!" he says, reaching the carriage. If the Deville witch is inside, then attack, otherwise, he will allow Chareos to take him to the Blackhawk.

They need to be able to do some damage to the witch, but they canot risk the Duke to send Acerion after her. Validar decides to have Chareos return to the ground attack if need be once he is deposited on board.

Another turning point, in another pivotal battle is reached...

[Ivy]

Ivy:

Running past Ivy and taking her arm, “Ivy, Snap out of it!! You act like you never seen a flying ship before?” he says evenly, though the humor is apparent. He must admit it is a strange sight indeed but not at one's own peril!

“Actually, no I haven’t,” Ivy mutters as Regnak passes by.

"Ivy! Can you do something to eliminate either the Wall of Fire or the Cloud Kill?! Or at the least get the normals here some protection?" Validar shouts.

Validar’s call forces Ivy to focus more. She’ll look between the Wall of Fire and the Cloudkill. Both enchantments are too large to completely dispel. The Cloudkill is the smaller of the two, so less of it will remain. Ivy casts Remove Magic at the Cloudkill, seeking to leave on a 10’ wide wedge of the cloud.

[Acerion]

Sir Acerion:

A head of the procession, a Wall of Fire springs into existence! Those cavalrymen and their mounts caught within the fire itself are gruesomely burned to death! The wall is some twenty feet high and over one hundred and fifty feet wide. Squires Ebonov and Flint are forced to change course to avoid riding into the fiery wall.

"Not a fate worthy of those noble men," Acerion says grimly and looks to his own squire who has remained close to him should he have need of her. He says nothing else, but notes her expression.

"The enemy seeks to eliminate our options," Acerion says to the Duke, "but they will find us not so easily caged." The paladin remains ready with shield and lance should there be an attacker he can dispatch.

[Sherra]

Sherra:

Completely unnoticed, Sherra rises up underneath the ship. Her timing was correct and she was high enough to clear the cloud. Grabbing a line dangling over the side of the ship, Sherra holds on as she’s pulled along with the Blackhawk. Numerous voices are heard on the deck above. Glancing through an open porthole, Sherra sees that most of the cargo hold is comprised of cells. Chains and shackles are strewn about. There is no mistaking it. The Blackhawk is a slaver ship!

Sherra knows full well what kind of ship this is as she looks into one of the portholes. While never a slaver herself, she often had to deal with such scum due to her old captain's acquantances and dealings. With no time to linger on the past, she continues to climb since it seems that no one has noticed her.

Once she reaches the side, Sherra will slip over the side and onto the deck, preferably at a raised vantage point. Still using her armor to her best advantage, she will begin to seek out the leaders. If she can find the captain or the mage she will look to take them out quickly, targeting the mage if she spots both of them. She will try to fire her bow, using magical arrows, from a concealed spot, or maybe near an unaware crew member to hopefully throw the crew into confusion as to just who their attacker is.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

The Deville sisters have attacked the Duke’s Procession towards Elcadan City. Their apparent goal was to kidnap the Duke and Duchess, but that has been foiled thus far.

A Cloudkill drifts in from behind the group, while a huge Wall of Fire appeared before them. Squires Ebonov and Jordana lead most away from the Wall of Fire, riding parallel along it. Once they clear the wall they will begin to head to the south once more.

Hovering over the Cloudkill, keeping pace with the cloud itself, is the Blackhawk. It has the appearance of a cargo ship, but one that can fly! Sherra has discovered that it’s a slaver vessel as she hangs on the ship's side. Climbing higher, she reaches the railing.

The Blackhawk has a single above-deck area; there is no elevated fore or stern castle to this ship. A large furnace sits in the middle of the deck. A bluish fire burns within it. Close to the stern the ship’s wheel sits, but no one is currently piloting the vessel. Sherra can see about a dozen men standing at or near the bow of the ship. Most seem like typical slaver sailors and only two stand out. The first is a human man wearing black leather who seems to be the captain of the vessel. The second is a half-elf male wearing black robes. He stands right at the bow and seems to be a spellcaster of some type.

Sherra hops the rail with ease. Everyone’s attention is toward what is transpiring on the ground below, so her actions, coupled with her natural stealth go unnoticed. Taking a somewhat concealed position; Sherra grabs her bow and begins to take aim.

Just then a fog bank suddenly engulfs the front of the ship! Sight of her targets is lost! It’s clear from what the men are saying up front that they didn’t expect that either! Sherra fires blindly into the fog and her shaft hits someone, but she’s unsure just who.

Just as suddenly as the fog rolled in, a ball of fire explodes just above the bow of the ship! The Fireball engulfs the bow and all those close to it. The fog bank evaporates from the explosion. When the fog and fire clears, Sherra can see that all but the two significant crewmembers she noted earlier are down and presumably dead. The captain, rolls to his feet, cursing like a sailor. The half-elf is woozy and discovers that his robes are on fire and frantically works to put them out.

A few moments later, something new attracts Sherra’s attention. There are voices coming from the hold where no one had been when Sherra looked just a little bit ago!

[GM Mad]

The action is chaotic on the ground to say the least. Regnak casts Wall of Fog and it engulfs the Blackhawk, obscuring it from sight. Chareos follows this up with a Fireball that engulfs the bow of the flying ship. Ivy is momentarily stunned to see the flying ship, but shakes out of her stupor with help from her companions. The priestess then casts Remove Magic and it takes away three-quarters of the Cloudkill.


Things are equally chaotic within the carriage as Wendy just appeared inside it, startling Lyonessa and Myveria. Lyonessa calls for Squire Moonshadow’s aid and then casts Command. The spell doesn’t seem to have any affect upon Wendy.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” Wendy taunts arrogantly. “Did you honestly believe that such a simple enchantment could stop me?”

From out of nowhere, a blade is thrust into the carriage from outside! It passes directly in front of Myveria and Lyonessa to reach its target! Squire Moonshadow just stabbed Wendy with his longsword.

“Be gone, vile temptress! These ladies are under my personal protection!”

The thrust is made, but once more the steel fails to penetrate Wendy’s skin to cause her harm. However that protection has just seemed to vanish, as Myveria blasts Wendy with five Magic Missiles! Each of the five enchanted bolts slams into Wendy, doing her harm!

“You’ll pay for that, you witch!” Wendy growls. “I’ll see you flailed alive!”

At that moment, the carriage door beside Lyonessa is hurtled open. Baron Validar is there and he drives his Warblade straight into the chest of Wendy! This time the weapon penetrates her skin and is driven through her torso. Wendy stiffens up from the unexpected attack, but it does not kill her.

Not satisfied with that, Validar withdraws the Warblade and then drives it home a second time! Blood erupts from Wendy’s mouth, but its clear that she’s far from dead. Wendy reaches out, placing her hand over Validar’s as they grasp the Warblade.

“I will not be denied a prize!” Wendy declares, spitting blood. “You’ve become quite the annoyance. You’ll do nicely.”

With that, Wendy and Validar vanish!

[GM Mad]

Close by, Sir Acerion rides next to Baron Relon. Thus far all he’s been able to do is guard the Duke, having his innate Protection from Evil field keep him safe from the sisters. An evil-looking cloud appears in the sky overhead. The next thing the knight knows, there is a downpour of some kind of gelatinous-like liquid!

The downpour hits the Knight’s anti-magic area and simply winks out. This spares Sir Acerion, Duke Relon, and those close to them any harm.

But those further away are not as fortunate! The globs strike the ground, men, and their mounts and then begin to eat into them as if the liquid was acid! Cries of agonized pain fill the air from the cavalrymen and their mounts caught in the effect. A few are silenced permanently.

Some of the globs hit the carriage. The roof of the carriage stops them, but just for a moment. A large glob eats through the roof and then falls inside in-between Lyonessa and Myveria. It hits the floor of the carriage and eats its way out. More globs hit the carriage and it begins to disintegrate.

Squire Moonshadow is struck and he can’t help but scream as the acid begins to eat his flesh!


Elsewhere, Baron Validar and Wendy appear in the hold of the Blackhawk. The two are still in contact, Wendy touching Validar’s hands, while his Warblade is embedded deep in her torso. However, a wall of bars is now between the two. The Warblade and Wendy’s arms are passing through the bars.

“It was your parents who were supposed to be here,” Wendy hisses. “But you’ll do instead.”

With that, Wendy will try to let go of Validar and step back, pulling the Warblade out of her body…

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Chareos, Regnak, and Ivy were too far away from the Acid Storm to be struck by it. Unfortunately, Lyonessa, Myveria and Squire Moonshadow are right in it! The acid has not actually struck Lyonessa and Myveria yet.

Sherra is on the deck of the Blackhawk, while Validar is in the hold


Current Hit Points:

Validar: 48 of 88


Now what?

[Validar]

Baron Validar -

The battle starts to turn a little in their favor. The ebb and flow of combat always has moments where one side and then the other has momentum and the advantage. There are many turning points in each battle, whether individual, group or large-scale. Validar recognizes one now. The enemy has managed to score some minor successes and the tide must be turned against them or this fight will be lost.

Now that the initial surprise of the ambush has worn off, the Guardians begin to respond. As Validar rushes to the carriage where the Deville appearing as Wendy is likely to have appeared, he sees Regnak cast a Wall of Fog at the flying ship and Chareos follows up with a Fireball. The combination should have proved effective, masking the arrival of the Fireball with the Fog.

Ivy meanwhile manages to eliminate most of the Cloudkill and the main group manages to start clearing the Wall of Fire.

Chareos offers to take someone up to the Blackhawk, but Validar's first concern is to stop 'Wendy' from continuing her mischief.

"Give me one second to see if I can smite that hag!" he says, reaching the carriage. If the Deville witch is inside, then attack, otherwise, he will allow Chareos to take him to the Blackhawk.

Sir Corley's squire, Moonshadow, is already there, thrusting his blade into the carriage. “Be gone, vile temptress! These ladies are under my personal protection!”

The lad has courage to be certain, Validar sees. The Baron reaches the opposite side of the carriage. Screaming can be heard and it seems that 'Wendy' has finally been hurt. That means that her Stoneskin spell has been eliminated. The time for removing her is at hand.

Validar hears 'Wendy' threaten the sisters inside once more. “You’ll pay for that, you witch!” Wendy growls. “I’ll see you flailed alive!”

"You are the one who will pay, hag!" Validar thrusts his Warblade into the carriage and skewers the witch in the torso. "Let's see how you like some of the pain you enjoy dishing out!"

Validar rips the blade from her torso and drives it home again using all of his considerable strength. The Blade penetrates through his target and into the cushion of the seat behind her. Validar watches with some satisfaction as blood spews from his hated enemy's mouth. "I will not rest until you are destroyed, hag!"

'Wendy' still has some life left in her, however. She graps Validar's hand on the blade. “I will not be denied a prize!” Wendy declares, spitting blood. “You’ve become quite the annoyance. You’ll do nicely.”

A moment later, Validar finds himself not in the carriage, but in the hold of a ship. The two are still in contact, Wendy touching Validar’s hands, while his Warblade is embedded deep in her torso. However, a wall of bars is now between the two. The Warblade and Wendy’s arms are passing through the bars.

“It was your parents who were supposed to be here,” Wendy hisses. “But you’ll do instead.”

"You'll find that I am far more than an annoyance, soulless hag," Validar retorts. Obviously, they were teleported here by the Deville witch. Quickly taking stock of the situation, Validar grabs 'Wendy's' arm with his shieldhand, slamming her tight against the bars between them. This should keep her from casting most spells as well. Seeing that she wishes to pull away, the Baron will do his best to keep her from accomplishing this task. He will put downward pressure on the hilt of the blade, which puts lifting force on the tip of the blade emerging from her back, making it difficult at best to pull the blade out, and hopefully causing her considerably more harm.

"You may have made a fatal mistake this time, Deville," Validar says. "I wanted to be close to you and you have given me just that very opportunity." Validar will hold her arm fast and then pull his Warblade out and strike again and again. "You will never harm my parents! They are under my protection!"

If all goes well, Validar will be able to 'kill' the Deville hag right here.

[Sherra]

Sherra:

Sherra hops the rail with ease. Everyone’s attention is toward what is transpiring on the ground below, so her actions, coupled with her natural stealth go unnoticed. Taking a somewhat concealed position; Sherra grabs her bow and begins to take aim.

Just then a fog bank suddenly engulfs the front of the ship! Sight of her targets is lost! It’s clear from what the men are saying up front that they didn’t expect that either! Sherra fires blindly into the fog and her shaft hits someone, but she’s unsure just who.

Taking note that there isn't much in the way of cover, Sherra is a bit concerned until she sees that no one is even remotely alert for boarders. She smiles as she hops over the rail and finds a good niche to conceal herself in. As she takes aim on the magic user, everyone is suddenly enveloped in a fog and it makes her remember using a spell off of one of her scrolls. Deciding to take the shot even though she can no longer see, she is rewarded by a satisfying thunk. That's when the fireball explodes.

Just as suddenly as the fog rolled in, a ball of fire explodes just above the bow of the ship! The Fireball engulfs the bow and all those close to it. The fog bank evaporates from the explosion. When the fog and fire clears, Sherra can see that all but the two significant crewmembers she noted earlier are down and presumably dead. The captain, rolls to his feet, cursing like a sailor. The half-elf is woozy and discovers that his robes are on fire and frantically works to put them out.

A few moments later, something new attracts Sherra’s attention. There are voices coming from the hold where no one had been when Sherra looked just a little bit ago!

Sherra is definitely glad she didn't sneak up closer. As the flames and fog clear, it's apparent the crew is down to just the leaders. Noting the half-elf struggling to put out the flames on his robes, she will fire two shafts into him, hopefully ending his struggles.

Hearing some commotion below, Sherra will begin to make her way towards a hatch or stairwell to investigate below deck. She will make sure the magic user is down before she leaves though. If the leader has some fight in him, she would rather take him coming down the stairs anyway where his combat options are limited.

[Acerion]

Sir Acerion:

Close by, Sir Acerion rides next to Baron Relon. Thus far all he’s been able to do is guard the Duke, having his innate Protection from Evil field keep him safe from the sisters. An evil-looking cloud appears in the sky overhead. The next thing the knight knows, there is a downpour of some kind of gelatinous-like liquid!

The downpour hits the Knight’s anti-magic area and simply winks out. This spares Sir Acerion, Duke Relon, and those close to them any harm.

But those further away are not as fortunate! The globs strike the ground, men, and their mounts and then begin to eat into them as if the liquid was acid! Cries of agonized pain fill the air from the cavalrymen and their mounts caught in the effect. A few are silenced permanently.

Acerion reflexively raises his shield as some sort of strange liquid begins to fall from the sky. His protection is more than enough for whatever foul magic is at play here and nothing gets through. Unfortunately more of those brave cavalrymen are caught in the downpour, and even the carriage is hit. Thankfully Ivy and some of the others are too far away to be in danger.

"Stay close," Acerion says to those near him, making sure his squire as well as the Duke are within his protection. "I can only imagine that we are not in the clear yet."

As he has been doing all along, Acerion will remain vigilant for whatever next attack against him or the Duke may come. He lowers his shield back into position and instructs his squire to keep an eye out as well.

[Ivy]

Ivy:

Ivy manages to remove some of the Cloudkill, making it a much smaller threat now. The cries of the cavalrymen reach her ears next. Some kind of liquid fell from the sky and it burns those who it touched! Dashing closer, Ivy tries to gather those suffering around here.

“Come closer so that I may heal you!”

Ivy will then start casting Cure Light Wounds through her mace to cover everyone close to her. Hopefully she’ll be able to keep this up to prevent any more of these brave men from needlessly dying.

[Chareos]

Chareos

The action is chaotic on the ground to say the least. Regnak casts Wall of Fog and it engulfs the Blackhawk, obscuring it from sight. Chareos follows this up with a Fireball that engulfs the bow of the flying ship. Ivy is momentarily stunned to see the flying ship, but shakes out of her stupor with help from her companions. The priestess then casts Remove Magic and it takes away three-quarters of the Cloudkill.

A dense fog holds to the ship as a smile comes to his face and he utters the last words of the Fireball spell. ‘They won’t know what hit them,’ he thinks to himself as the fireball erupts in a fiery mass. The cries of agony and death are soon heard as his spell takes its toll.

Close by, Sir Acerion rides next to Baron Relon. Thus far all he’s been able to do is guard the Duke, having his innate Protection from Evil field keep him safe from the sisters. An evil-looking cloud appears in the sky overhead. The next thing the knight knows, there is a downpour of some kind of gelatinous-like liquid!

Chareos' eyes widen as the spell drops acid upon his companions. He has heard of such spells but never imagined the spell would be so horrific. “Where is Argent when you need her?” he asks silently to himself. The ship still flies ahead and now a spell wreaks havoc with their force. Looking to Regnak, “See to the ship, I’ll be there in a moment.” His eyes never leaving the acid cloud, Chareos will cast a Dispel Magic centered on the carriage. (avoiding the Cloud Kill if needed)

[Xander Churr]

Regnak

The action is chaotic on the ground to say the least. Regnak casts Wall of Fog and it engulfs the Blackhawk, obscuring it from sight. Chareos follows this up with a Fireball that engulfs the bow of the flying ship. Ivy is momentarily stunned to see the flying ship, but shakes out of her stupor with help from her companions. The priestess then casts Remove Magic and it takes away three-quarters of the Cloudkill.

Looking to Regnak, “See to the ship, I’ll be there in a moment.” His eyes never leaving the acid cloud, Chareos will cast a Dispel Magic centered on the carriage.

“See to the ship? Are mad? What am I supposed to do, throw sticks at it?” he looks at the mage in surprised shock. “Well Jallazari said it wouldn’t be dull, I must remind myself to thank her…,” he says dryly as he moves off.

Think, think….his eyes narrow as an idea comes to him, and by Mystera it’s a long shot!!! Rek will attempt to cast a Web spell from the side of the ship to the ground, hopefully in doing so making a makeshift anchor and ladder for those who can climb it.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Having been ambushed on the way to Elcadan, the Guardians are fighting back and making progress. A good number of the cavalrymen have been devastated by the powerful magicks that have been invoked this day. The Prismatic Spray killed several, while others were burned by the Wall of Fire or were victims of the Acid Storm. Those close enough to Sir Acerion were spared the acid’s touch thanks to his field of magic resistance.

Things are bit direr inside the carriage. The acid landed on the roof and has begun to eat its way through! At the same time, the acid is burning into Squire Moonshadow!

“We have to get out of here before that stuff falls on us!” Myveria says, grabbing ahold of Lyonessa’s arm.

Outside the carriage, Chareos casts Dispel Magic and his enchantment is true. The acid in the immediate area of the carriage vanishes, freeing those in contact with it from any further damage. Ivy comes closer and casts a cure spell on her mace, which is then transmitted to all those in the immediate area. Many of the men and their mounts were saved.


Not too far away, Regnak casts a Web in an attempt to slow the Blackhawk down. The webbing phases into existence underneath the vessel, connecting it to the ground. The Blackhawk continues to move forward, stretching the webbing. There is a noticeable lurch to the ship as the Webbing is drawn tight. But then the strands begin to snap and the webbing collapses, fading back into the nothingness that spawned it.


Sir Acerion and those near him keep their eyes open for the next sign of trouble. Squire Ebonov spots something.

“Over there, my lord!”

Looking in the direction Sara is pointing, you can see something happening in the sky off to the west. Ten sparkling and twisting objects appear in the sky. They look somewhat familiar but no one can place them just quite yet. The ten objects are not coming any closer. In fact they all seem to impact something else in the sky! In the spot that the missiles first appeared, a female now hangs in the sky.

This strange occurrence is followed by another magical blast of some kind. What appears to be a silvery spray of magic erupts from seemingly nowhere. The spray engulfs the target struck by the earlier missiles. Another woman appears in the sky at the origin point of the spray. Once the spray has passed, the target struck by both attacks seems to have vanished.

[GM Mad]

On the deck of the Blackhawk, Sherra watches as the Fireball took out most of the crew. Only the captain and the ship’s mage remain. Sherra fires more arrows; two of them are embedded in the half-elf mage and he goes down. The captain spots Sherra and curses. He draws his sword and begins to rush forward! The ship lurches, sending the Captain off step.

The captain takes three steps and then suddenly freezes right in place! Turning, Sherra sees a familiar face appear out of thin air near the strange furnace in the middle of the deck! It is the Inquisitor of Mystra Serena!

“Good to see you,” Serena tells Sherra. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be frozen for a while. In the meantime, I’ll take control of this vessel.”

Serena seems to be concentrating on the strange furnace. While the Inquisitor is doing that, Sherra heads down into the ship’s hold.


Down in the hold, a very different struggle is taking place. Wendy just teleported in with Baron Validar. The Baron is in a cell with Wendy outside of it. However, the two are touching and Validar’s sword is puncturing Wendy’s body.

"You'll find that I am far more than an annoyance, soulless hag," Validar retorts. Obviously, they were teleported here by the Deville witch. Quickly taking stock of the situation, Validar grabs 'Wendy's' arm with his shieldhand, slamming her tight against the bars between them. This should keep her from casting most spells as well. Seeing that she wishes to pull away, the Baron will do his best to keep her from accomplishing this task. He will put downward pressure on the hilt of the blade, which puts lifting force on the tip of the blade emerging from her back, making it difficult at best to pull the blade out, and hopefully causing her considerably more harm.

“Unhand me,” Wendy growls in response. The ship lurches but neither notices it much.

"You may have made a fatal mistake this time, Deville," Validar says. "I wanted to be close to you and you have given me just that very opportunity." Validar will hold her arm fast and then pull his Warblade out and strike again and again. "You will never harm my parents! They are under my protection!"

“Those are your last words!” Wendy threatens as she struggles to get free. “Now you die!”

Wendy speaks a Power Word, just as Validar pulls his blade out and then in a quick motion thrusts it upwards once more. The enchantment leaves Wendy’s lips a split second before the Warblade rips through her throat. The Warblade erupts out of the top of Wendy’s head and she begins to go limp. At the same time, the Power Word tears through Validar sending him backwards a few steps. The pair begins to fall and hit the deck of the ship about the same time. Wendy’s body vanishes a second later in poof of sulfur.


That is the scene that Sherra finds upon descending into the hold. Validar is lying on the floor, his sword a short distance away.

[GM Mad]

Back on the ground, the two women who appeared in mid-air earlier come flying closer. Once they are close enough you can see that they are Argent and Lady Sallavarian! The pair land close to the Duke.

“I apologize for my lateness, Your Grace,” Jallarzi states. “Things have gone very well in Elcadan and much of the city does happily await your arrival. We sent a force out to join up with yours for the ride into Elcadan. We saw the Wall of Fire spring into existence, so we made some preparations and came to help. I believe we forced one demoness to vacate the battlefield. Where is the other one?”

The riders who had circled around the Wall of Fire led by Validar’s squires return, their ranks reinforced by additional riders. Among them are followers of Heironeous, Helm, and Mortidus. Among the riders is Crysania and Warton, the High Priest of Heironeous in Elcadan that Sir Acerion met earlier. Riding with them is Galfrey Kaarne, the High Priest of Mystra in Elcadan. Both men, and the other faiths present here swear their support and allegiance to the new Duke.

The battle seems to be over for now. Elcadan awaits.


GM Notes:

Serena can bring the Blackhawk under control easily as she is familiar with using Spell Engines. She can slow the vessel and bring it down to hover just above the ground.


Current Hit Points:

Validar: -12 of 88, deceased


Now what?

[Validar]

Baron Validar of Pyris -

Seeing an opportunity to defeat the Deville hag, Validar grabs his nemesis and pulls her roughly against the bars. He slams her head against the iron. While that does not faze her much, she is unable to pull away from Validar's considerable strength. Pressing down on the sword hilt only serves to make it impossible for her to pull off his blade. A stalemate of a sort. Validar grimaces under his helmet at the stench of pure evil which wafts off her body.

“Unhand me,” Wendy growls in response. The ship lurches but neither notices it much.

"You may have made a fatal mistake this time, Deville," Validar says. "I wanted to be close to you and you have given me just that very opportunity." Validar will hold her arm fast and then pull his Warblade out and strike again and again. "You will never harm my parents! They are under my protection!"

“Those are your last words!” Wendy threatens as she struggles to get free. “Now you die!”

Validar has the sense that she might be able to complete her threat. He acts as quickly as he can. She cannot move to cast spells, so that limits her abilities somewhat, but many spells require only a word. And the hag has already exhibited innate powers that require only thought.

"I should have cut your throat the first chance I had!" Validar shouts. He rips his blade from her abdomen and thrusts it upward as he hears an arcane word escape the hag's lips. The baron's eyes narrow as he sees the magickal blade slash through her neck and explode upward in a spray of blood, brains and gore.

The satisfaction is fleeting as a strange feeling washes over him. He finds his limbs go weak and his strength rushes from his body. As blackness threatens his very existence, he can see the Deville disappear and the faint smell of sulphur fills his nose and is gone. There is only blackness and then...

...light?

[Xander Churr]

Regnak

Not to far away, Regnak casts a Web in an attempt to slow the Blackhawk down. The webbing phases into existence underneath the vessel, connecting it to the ground. The Blackhawk continues to move forward, stretching the webbing. There is a noticeable lurch to the ship as the Webbing is drawn tight. But then the strands begin to snap and the webbing collapses, fading back into the nothingness that spawned it.

Regank looks on hopefully as his Web spell anchors to the ship. For a moment it may just hold but then the ship lurches and the Web begins to snap, folding down into nothingness.

Well at least it hampered those on it for a moment; if anything it showed him what not to do.

Acerion’s squire call to the sky draws his attention as sparkly things light up the sky. “What in Mystera’s name?” he asks as his eyes squint to try and better take in the sight. Argent and Jallazari have arrived and soon land. Rek looks back at the ship and sees it dropping closer and closer to the ground…

“The ship is crashing!”

[Lyonessa]

Lyonessa:

Things are equally chaotic within the carriage as Wendy just appeared inside it, startling Lyonessa and Myveria. Lyonessa calls for Squire Moonshadow’s aid and then casts Command. The spell doesn’t seem to have any affect upon Wendy.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” Wendy taunts arrogantly. “Did you honestly believe that such a simple enchantment could stop me?”

"There is always the chance," Lyonessa says, "but it was more to buy us a few seconds..."

From out of nowhere, a blade is thrust into the carriage from outside! It passes directly in front of Myveria and Lyonessa to reach its target! Squire Moonshadow just stabbed Wendy with his longsword.

“Be gone, vile temptress! These ladies are under my personal protection!”

Lyonessa smiles at the timely arrival of Moonshadow. Then her sister hits Wendy with magic of her own. A low level spell and it does do damage. Lyonessa however resists the urge to goad their enemy on.

At that moment, the carriage door beside Lyonessa is hurtled open. Baron Validar is there and he drives his Warblade straight into the chest of Wendy! This time the weapon penetrates her skin and is driven through her torso. Wendy stiffens up from the unexpected attack, but it does not kill her.

Lyonessa yelps as the carriage door is violently flung open. Thankfully it's Validar, and his blade seems more than enough to finish Wendy off. Before that can happen, she grabs the baron and they vanish.

Some of the globs hit the carriage. The roof of the carriage stops them, but just for a moment. A large glob eats through the roof and then falls inside in-between Lyonessa and Myveria. It hits the floor of the carriage and eats its way out. More globs hit the carriage and it begins to disintegrate.

Squire Moonshadow is struck and he can’t help but scream as the acid begins to eat his flesh!

“We have to get out of here before that stuff falls on us!” Myveria says, grabbing ahold of Lyonessa’s arm.

A gasp escapes Lyonessa's lips as a glob of acid eats through the roof and hits the floor near her foot. She turns to see Moonshadow in pain, but her sister grabs her arm. They do need to go, but she doesn't want to leave Moonshadow to die. Then suddenly the acid is gone. She's not sure how, but she says a silent thanks to Mystra.

Looking out, she sees riders approaching and some familiar faces. There isn't much time right now for reaquantinces though. Lyonessa will convert her Forget spell into a Cure Wounds spell to cast upon Moonshadow. Hopefully the magic will be strong enough.

[Ivy]

Ivy:

The situation continues to change rapidly. Chareos appears to have removed the threat of the acid. Ivy casts healing magic through her mace and many are thankfully saved.

Something happens in the air far away. A spell battle of some sort is in progress. The casters turn out to be Argent and Jallarzi! They arrive to speak to the Duke. The riders return, their forces bolstered by many faiths.

“I apologize for my lateness, Your Grace,” Jallarzi states. “Things have gone very well in Elcadan and much of the city does happily await your arrival. We sent a force out to join up with yours for the ride into Elcadan. We saw the Wall of Fire spring into existence, so we made some preparations and came to help. I believe we forced one demoness to vacate the battlefield. Where is the other one?”

“Your arrival was most fortunately, Lady Sallavarian. We have many wounded. Sir Corley was transformed into stone. The one demoness was here among us, but she vanished. I heard word that she was in the carriage next, but from there I do not know.”

Ivy spots Elspeth among the new arrivals. She’ll warmly greet her friend and then go about seeing who needs to be healed. When she hears the warning that the flying ship is crashing, Ivy will urge everyone around her to move away to safety.

[Argent]

Argent:

Since her departure from the group, Argent has been using her Crystal Ball to check in on them from time to time. Thus, it was known that they were on their way to Elcadan. So with the situation more or less stable, a group was dispatched to meet them along the way. The Wall of Fire alerted them to potential trouble ahead. Flight and Invisibility spells were cast on her, Jallarzi, and Serena so they could go to help while the rest of the riders continued onward.

Jallarzi spotted a spellcaster up in the air and we double-teamed her. Argent first hit her with two Magic Missile spells chained together with a Spell Sequencer and Jallarzi finished her off with Silver Shards, a spell that can be devastating to demons. The demoness vanished after that, so she most likely fled. After that, we joined the main group. While Jallarzi speaks to the Duke, Argent flies closer to Chareos.

“Hi! Miss me?”

Argent and Jallarzi have arrived and soon land. Rek looks back at the ship and sees it dropping closer and closer to the ground…

“The ship is crashing!”

“Serena went up there to check things out,” Argent offers. “Perhaps it’s only just landing. I can go check to make sure.”

With that Argent flies up to see what is happening on the ship.

[Serena]

Serena:

While Argent and Jallarzi fly off to intercept the distant spell caster, Serena moves closer to the Blackhawk. Clearly it’s under the power of a Spell Engine, a magic item that Serena is familiar with. The ship itself is nothing special. In fact it needs a good cleaning.

She sees someone on the ground trying to use a Web spell to stop the ship and has to wonder just what they were thinking. Strong individuals can break the webbing, so a moving ship weighing thousands of pounds should to come as no surprise that this would not work.

Flying closer, Serena can see Sherra firing arrows at a half-elf in black robes, while a man in leather armor rushes towards her. The Spell Engine is in the middle of the deck and untended to. Casting Hold Person on the man in leather armor, Serena lands close to the Spell Engine.

“Good to see you,” Serena tells Sherra. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be frozen for a while. In the meantime, I’ll take control of this vessel.”

Serena concentrates and will take control of the Spell Engine. She’ll slow the ship and have it move closer to the ground. This kind of hulled vessel can only land on water, so she’ll have it hover a few feet above the ground.

[Chareos]

Chareos

Jallarzi spotted a spellcaster up in the air and we double-teamed her. Argent first hit her with two Magic Missile spells chained together with a Spell Sequencer and Jallarzi finished her off with Silver Shards, a spell that can be devastating to demons. The demoness vanished after that, so she most likely fled. After that, we joined the main group. While Jallarzi speaks to the Duke, Argent flies closer to Chareos.

“Hi! Miss me?”

“Hi,” he says looking up at the floating Argent. “Always, my love.” he says meeting her gaze and smiling. “In fact, I was thinking about you just moments before you arrived!”

“Your arrival was most fortunately, Lady Sallavarian. We have many wounded. Sir Corley was transformed into stone. The one demoness was here among us, but she vanished. I heard word that she was in the carriage next, but from there I do not know.”

“Has anyone seen Validar? The last I saw of him he was headed for the carriage as my Fireball lit up the sky.”

“Serena went up there to check things out,” Argent offers. “Perhaps it’s only just landing. I can go check to make sure.”

Assuming someone will say he disappeared:
“Wait a moment, my dear. If this demoness vanished and Validar is nowhere to be found, what if he was taken? It is not like him to leave the battlefield,” he states to those whom last saw Validar. “That ship may hold more than our friend Serena.”

[Acerion]

Sir Acerion:

Sir Acerion and those near him keep their eyes open for the next sign of trouble. Squire Ebonov spots something.

“Over there, my lord!”

"What is this?" Acerion says as he trains his eyes skyward. A battle perhaps, waged by invisible combatants. It is nothing that Acerion can sway the outcome of given his current duty, but soon it seems everything is in fine order.

The riders who had circled around the Wall of Fire led by Validar’s squires return, their ranks reinforced by additional riders. Among them are followers of Heironeous, Helm, and Mortidus. Among the riders is Crysania and Warton, the High Priest of Heironeous in Elcadan that Sir Acerion met earlier. Riding with them is Galfrey Kaarne, the High Priest of Mystra in Elcadan. Both men, and the other faiths present here swear their support and allegiance to the new Duke.

The battle seems to be over with the timely arrival of Jallarzi, Argent and a reinforcement of riders. Among them are some familiar faces in Crysania and Warton.

"Good to see you again," Acerion says to Warton, bowing his head respectfully to the High Priest. "You ride with fine company this day."

To Crysania the paladin says, "Hello once again Crysania. I take it that things went well given such a large reception arriving here?"

“Has anyone seen Validar? The last I saw of him he was headed for the carriage as my Fireball lit up the sky.”

"I have not, Chareos," Acerion replies. "I lost track of him during the battle. It is not like him to be missing however."

Acerion will keep an eye out for his missing friend. He sees no sign of him anywhere and can only wonder where he has gotten off to. The paladin wonders if maybe he has been captured as that seems to have been the theme of late.

[Sherra]

Sherra:

On the deck of the Blackhawk, Sherra watches as the Fireball took out most of the crew. Only the captain and the ship’s mage remain. Sherra fires more arrows; two of them are embedded in the half-elf mage and he goes down. The captain spots Sherra and curses. He draws his sword and begins to rush forward! The ship lurches, sending the Captain off step.

The half-elf falls from her arrows, but the captain spots her. His mouth is foul and Sherra can't help but reply, "No wonder your bed is most always empty, with such a mouth as that."

Not able to easily get below deck with the captain charging her, Sherra prepares to fire her bow before he can close the distance to her. The ship lurches and immediately thereafter the threat is completely removed.

The captain takes three steps and then suddenly freezes right in place! Turning, Sherra sees a familiar face appear out of thin air near the strange furnace in the middle of the deck! It is the Inquisitor of Mystra Serena!

“Good to see you,” Serena tells Sherra. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be frozen for a while. In the meantime, I’ll take control of this vessel.”

"Well, a most welcome surprise," Sherra says smiling, "but I could have handled that buffoon."

Sherra will take the advantage and head below deck since Serena has things well under control now. What she finds below is a puzzle indeed.

That is the scene that Sherra finds upon descending into the hold. Validar is lying on the floor, his sword a short distance away.

Sherra will approach cautiously, trying to determine the nature of the cell that Validar lies within. Once she sees that he doesn't look like he's merely sleeping or dazed, Sherra will quickly but carefully attept to get to him, picking the lock if need be after she determines if there are any traps.

If she can get in, she will try to see if Validar is alive and whether a healing potion will be of any help. Sherra doesn't think it will be useful if she finds no vital signs. If she can't get in for some reason or is unable to bring Validar around, she will quickly return topside and inform Serena.

[GM Mad]

Post Closed