Easthaven

Round 4 Summary

Heeding Tansia’s words, the barbarians try to finish off the few remaining barbed devils, but for all their might the warriors are simply not equipped to handle threats from beyond this world. The wolfmen fare better, but one of them gets wounded (wolfman 1 takes 20 damage, not counting any resistance he might have). Above them all looms one of the hellfire golems. It raises its metal hands and spreads them wide, unleashing a deluge of acid onto a swathe of the berserkers. The awful screams torn from the throats of these normally hardy tundra warriors will always haunt the ears of those who hear, for as they die their souls are lost to the River Styx (Berserkers take some acid damage). Chieftess Tansia's shout of denial is lost in the cacophony. She grips her spear all the more tightly and looks about for heroes to provide help.

More arrows fly down from the two erinyes, and one strikes the blood hunter who once was a cleric (takes 22 damage and is poisoned). The man clutches leg in pain, but straightens long enough to fire a bolt of magical force in retaliation. He grunts as the spell hits the erinyes, then falls to a sit behind some crates. When he checks the skies again a moment later, he sees the troublesome devil fall with two glowing arrows stuck through it. By the time it hits the ground below, the fiend's body is reduced to a pile of sticky black tar.

High in the air with the ground and battle rushing below them, powerful healing flows through Ras' hands down into Aerihykloarara and her bulk shifts with a relieved sigh. Her head snakes around to nuzzle the gnome briefly, and then she leaps back into the fight, chasing down the remaining erinyes like an eagle after a sparrow (Erinyes 2 takes 69 damage).

The freed priests of Tempus move forward. Proud members of the Order of the Broken Blade, many of them walk with limps from old injuries, or manage their spells with but a single hand. Scarred yet faithful, they go about healing and arming themselves with fallen weapons (Four of them cast Healing Word at 2nd level, healing berserkers for 32).

One of the priests passes Natalie and heals some of her wounds (Cure wounds on Nat for 10 hp), but shakes his head at the poisoned arrow. There is nothing he can do about that. Natalie finds the strength to sit up, though the arrow in her side obviously still pains her. She puts a hand to the wound and begins to speak a spell, but then glances around and thinks better of it. With a groan she gets to her feet and makes her way to Zenithral, narrowly avoiding another erinyes arrow. "H-here... Halla would never forgive me if I- Just... here." The young druid puts her hands to Zenithral’s ribs and cures the poison in his blood (Protection from Poison on Zen).Then Natalie jerks, eyes wide, as Druzil melts into view on her shoulder. Its wicked grin widens as it pulls its barbed tail free from the young woman’s throat, and she slumps to the ground (Uncanny Dodge keeps Druzil barely alive, and he deals 32 damage to Nat, enough to kill her). Druzil snickers and flaps its bat wings, staying aloft even as Natalie collapses. "Maybe you should have left the North after all. Then at least you wouldn’t have had to watch so many people die. And to think, none of this would have happened if your dear mother had never summoned me. How’s that for sass, Zenni-boy?" The imp flits away, eager to put distance between itself and these two dangerous half-elves (No longer invisible, and no cover, but in the green zone).

On the field before Vincent, the giant specter dissipates as the two traitors finish it off. Hjollsted spits at Vincent's feet. "I've been a dead man ever since I was struck down on the banks of this very lake three hundred years ago, and I gave up everything to not go to Tempus' halls with a poisoned knife in my back. I took the devil's deal, and my god abandoned me as punishment. And now I will never see those blessed halls!" The disgraced shaman drives forward with a shout, managing to score one minor hit on his quick opponent (Vince takes 13 piercing damage). When Vincent finishes him with a ruined throat, the other two traitors exchange looks and move to flee the battle.

Across the chaotic battlefield, every smack of Ug’s maul against giant flesh is accompanied by the sickening crunch of thick bones. With the aid of his magical belt, the goliath is nearly as strong as these giants, and fights with far more heart. He takes some heavy blows himself (after resistance Ug takes 42), but in mere moments one of his opponents lies broken and dead, thanks to some supporting fire from the crossbowman and musicians(G1 is toast, and G2 takes 34 damage).

One of the remaining giants keeps its head ducked low, still afraid of the great silver dragon not so far away. But when it spies a tiny human boy perched on some rubble, it can’t resist the prospect of an easy kill. It hurls its boulder at the boy with enough strength to demolish stone. When the dust settles, however, the boy sits there still, a cheeky grin on his face. The giant scratches its beard. How could it have missed? Might as well try again. It reaches into its sack for another boulder (Jermsy’s Silent Image keeps G3 busy).

Alalla feels a clip on her own shoulder from a boulder as she runs, coffer in hand (Al takes 28 bludgeoning damage). The blow spins her around and nearly into the waiting hands of a frost giant, but she recovers quickly and dashes between its legs and out into the open battlefield, right up to the nearest golem. She notices the coffer has shown signs of damage, but when she flips it open the black and white cone appears just the same. The strange antimagic falls over the golem, and the enormous construct trembles but does not disappear, nor fall apart. Its movements seem restricted, though this does not prevent it from slamming down at Alalla with its metal hands (Al takes 44 bludgeoning damage).

Nearby, Merodach rolls to its feet. "You’ve had enough of that trinket, tiefling!" It closes its clawed fist, and similarly Alalla feels the pit fiend’s powerful mind close about hers, seizing control of her body and locking her muscles in place (Al fails the wis save against Hold Monster and is paralyzed. Can reroll with stuff if she wants). Its bat wings bring it close behind her, then Merodach plucks the coffer from her rigid fingers and directs the cone away from the golem. The construct continues to tremble and appears weaker, but without the sustained cone it is likely to recover soon (Golem 2 suffering from -2 AC, already included in the statblock to come. Also its immunity to non-magical weapons has been demoted to resistance).

Round 5 Player Phase!!!!!







and FRIENDS (thank goodness)

There are a lot of individuals not specifically called out at this point, like: Lord Ulbrec, Morrugh, Isherwood, Saki... whatever. If they end up becoming significant I'll add them. But if you want to call out instructions to anyone who should be here... they're around.

Round 5 Summary

Natalie gasps as light streams out of her into Zenithral. She holds a hand to her throat, where there is only healthy skin. "Thank you! I - " She sees Icasaracht burst from the lake and all words leave her. Her eyes follow the undead dragon's every movement as it draws closer.

The Dale’s combined armies move forward, zombies first, to bury the remaining barbed devils. The devils die without fear, for they know that soon they will only be reformed in the Nine Hells. With their last breaths, they fling hellfire at Ug (ug takes 38 fire damage, and barbed devils are dead).

Tansia holds up a hand to keep the army from advancing too soon on the two deadly golems, hoping that the heroes will destroy them swiftly. She is completely unaware of Druzil skulking behind her with poisoned tail raised until Zenithral’s arrow impaled the little imp, the impact driving it forward and to the ground in a tangled ball. The imp tries to spit one final curse as it turns to black sludge. "Bene tele-" Tansia cuts the phrase short with a boot through the fiend’s skull (he dead).

The true battle happens ahead in full force as the companions fight upon Easthaven’s rubble. Swords, axes, arrows, and even a raging goliath fall on the two golems. One of the towering constructs breathes out a cloud of awful poison that covers Vincent and Ug (Vince and Ug each take 54 poison damage). The other golem swings its hand and a whip of lightning crackles around Ug, then zaps outward to several of the other companions (Ug takes 18, Al and Reo take 25, Vince takes 12). But these heroes are both determined and powerful, and soon one of the golems topples-

-and then a wave of flame rolls over the battlefield as Merodach unleashes a mighty fireball, drenching himself, the golems, and the closest companions in roaring flames (Already taking into account resistances: Al takes 14, Ug takes 28, Reo takes 7, and Vince takes NONE). The golems seem to soak up the flames as glowing runes appear all over their metal bodies - some in Giant and some in Infernal (Both golems heal for 28). The homes and shops that were crushed under the weight of the fallen crystal tower also catch fire, and suddenly the ground itself is aflame (those who start their turn in blue zone will take 2d6 fire damage each round. Can be negated by making a DC 13 check of your choice that makes sense, such as Acrobatics or Athletics, or even Arcana to stifle the flames, just whatever. Making this check costs no action).

But even this sudden conflagration is small compared to the druidic wrath that Ras calls down on the frost giants still lurking in the Temple of Tempus. The firestorm rages across the broken walls, scathing each of the three giants still there just as they hurl their boulders (Two of them fail and sone save for half). Two of the flung rocks go wide, but one of them finds its target and comes crashing down on Reòthadh (Reo takes 28 bludgeoning unless he Shields). Apparently tireless of their own awful music, the blood hunter musicians continue to play, and their magic conjures more fire to sear the giants (G1 takes another 18 fire damage).

Once Ras has finished his spell, Aerihykloarara attacks the erinyes with everything she has - which, coming from a dragon, is a lot. The devil is cunning, however. It lures the silver dragon higher and higher into the air, and just before Aerihykloarara crushes the life out of it, the fiend slices Ras free from his seat and kicks him in the chest, sending the gnome toppling off the dragon and down to the ground below (Even at disadv from fear, erin 2 just barely beats Ras in a grapple contest). Aeri’s jaws crunch down, reducing the erinyes to slime (Erin 2 takes a ton of damage and dies), but notices too late that her rider has fallen. She whips herself down into a dive and tries to catch Ras, but she is too slow. The small druid crashes through the burning roof of a toppled house (Ras takes 34 bludgeoning damage and is prone).

Merodach’s steady wingbeats keep the pit fiend just above the fray as plumes of smoke rise. The mighty fiend is as fearsome a sight as ever (DC 21 Wis saves vs fear needed from Al, Vince, and Reo. Ug is immune). It turns the antimagic coffer toward Alalla, trying to cover her in its odd light. "I hear this trinket does more harm to you than to me!" (Al must make a DC 14 dex save or be caught in the antimagic cone, which for her means dropping to 0 hp and start dying. Success means she dives out of the way. Merodach is no longer using it to protect himself from magical stuff elsewhere)