Chapter 16: Won't Get Fooled Again
"Are you sure this is going to work?" you whisper to the dwarves.
"Please Derryth, we know what we are doing," Ari chastises you, "Any pathfinder worth their salt could hit those four from here, we have got this under control."
Bari nods, "Besides, I bet not one of these cave dwellers even knows what a mortar is. They won't suspect a thing."
Gareth moves up and down your lines, trying to get people in place for what will come next. He does not have enough time for anything clever, "As soon as they are within range, fire at will and don't stop until they are dead or broken. If they get inside we are going to take casualties... if they do get inside we will have to fall back into the chapel so be ready."
You all nod as Bari and Ari argue in Dwarven over which round to pick. Finally Bari reaches into the second case and pulls out a bomb. He grins at you, "Willie Pete," before you can ask what he is talking about he slides the bomb into the tube, you cover your ears and the mortar fires...
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The creature lay in hiding, watching, waiting for its chance to attack. The doors had closed and trapped it outside away from its prey, away from its food. Instantly it thought of betrayal. Had its companions locked it outside? Unwilling to share the warm, fresh meat that awaited inside? Rage bubbled to the surface of the creature's mind, it would find a way in! It would eat! Yet it could hear screams coming from within. The screams of its people and then silence. Questions, so many questions, forced themselves into its mind and choking back its rage it began to listen and to plan.
Its plans however are interrupted by a loud crack and a sort of whistle as something passes through the air over its head...
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Today is Abharsair's day of triumph.
Finally the Blues would rule over the Damned and he would rule over them.
In a few short weeks he would even have the numbers to challenge that abomination in the center of the city and in mere months after that he would drive that pretender Alric from the city above and reclaim Muirthemne for his dark goddess.
He calls out again, "Casgair! Neith! Do you yet live!"
The Red calls back, "You can be sure I do Abharsair! Your monsters have not killed us yet!"
"A pity Casgair! I shall have to try harder!" Abharsair chuckles to himself.
Combined the Red and Silver Orders can not have more than ten warriors between them. This battle is over, this war is won but of course Casgair will draw out the inevitable.
"Casgair! If you surrender now I will make your deaths quick! If you force me to waste another day here then you-"
No warning... no chance to prepare... no spell could save the man... he knows nothing...
Except the heat...
Heat and pain....
The last things Abharsair will ever experience.
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You watch the command group through your spyglass, "A direct hit!" you shout.
Cheers go up across your entire line. The four enemy mages are dead.
Or rather three of them are. As the smoke clears you can plainly see that Abharsair and two of the robed figures have been demolished. Their smouldering remains litter the center of the enemy horde. But one of the figures yet stands, wavering slightly as if it is not even there. It raises an arm to hold back the horde but in the chaos less than a third of the Blues follow this order. The rest charge your lines.
You are not the most organized group and you do not have time to maximize the efficiency of your efforts. What you do have though is enough ranged firepower to simply blanket the ground between you and your targets. The bombs from the mortar and the dwarven cocktails tear up the earth in front of the building. On such uneven ground even the Blues have difficulty. Slowed by their numbers and lack of coordination, your archers set to work thinning out their ranks while you and the mages work crowd control.
You and the Lost drive them together with suggestions and compulsions while Christine and Neith slow them with spells of entanglement. As the enemy bunches up the dwarves take advantage hurling cocktails into the worst of them. Their casualties must be horrendous and yet they charge on. Barely twenty make it to the front door. If you were in a wooden structure this would still be a cause for concern but here in the offices of the Smiths, a virtual fortress, there are not nearly enough to force their way into the building.
When they realize this they turn to flee, passing back into your range of fire. The assembled mages switch to direct damage spells and compete to see who can kill the most.
Once again your little alliance lets out a cheer, the divisions of half an hour ago momentarily subsumed by the thrill of victory against a superior force.
Gareth is grinning from ear to ear in relief as he comes up to you, "We did it! I was not sure it would work but we did it! I-"
The veteran notices that you do not look happy, "What's the matter boss?"
Handing him your spyglass you point out the window. As he surveys the battlefield his smile disappears. The single surviving mage has been joined by three others, strangely similar in build and height. They stand before a horde of over one hundred Blues.
The four mages step forward as one and spread out, probably to avoid mortar fire. They speak together, or rather one of them speaks but you can not tell which, "Casgair! I am impressed! You actually allied with those dwarves? I did not think you were capable of such diplomacy!"
Casgair returns to the window, "Who the hell do I have the displeasure of addressing now!"
The mages lift their hands in unison and pull back their hoods, "You may call me Miosguinn! I think you will find that I am more reasonable than my predecessor! I will even give you a choice! Surrender and join with me or fall before me!"
Jori yells, "Mage, what will you do with my people if we surrender!"
Miosguinn raises one hand to his chin, "I am deeply sorry Jori but you and yours will have to join my Order as well!"
Jori laughs, "I am afraid I would make a poor slave, mage!"
Through the spyglass you can see Miosguinn chuckle, "I can respect that dwarf! But if you will not join then you must die! You really should have gone back with Derryth, Jori, but now it is too late for all of us! I can not risk you returning to the surface and spreading word of the Damned, we are not yet ready to fight Alric!"
Neith hisses, "He wants to fight the Emperor? He will get us all killed if we join him."
Casgair lets out an angry grunt and mumbles, "Servitude or death... can't say I like either of those options," he shouts back, "Miosguinn, is it? I will need time to confer with my colleagues!"
"Oh, by all means Casgair! Take as much time as you would like! You can not escape and I am more than willing to wait!" with that the four Miosguinns turn and disappear into the crowd.
You survey the room, "Well people what are our options here?"
Gareth frowns, "We used up most of our ammo fighting the horde off just a moment ago..."
Biliku steps forward, "We have maybe twenty arrows left."
"And my bow," Bigit holds up her weapon.
Gareth turns to the dwarves, "What about explosives?"
Ari nods and sighs, "Right, well we are out of cocktails, we have two mortar bombs, and a dozen satchel charges."
Tyrvard raises a hand, you can tell what he is about to say pains him, "We... we can waste... er use the alcohol from my still to make fire bombs if we can find some bottles and rags."
You mumble, "Hmmm... a bit grim then?"
Jori cuts in, "Then maybe we should take a look at these relics and see if any of them can be of use."
"Look dwarf, you will not get your hands on our relics! So drop it!"
You are about to come to Jori's aid when Christine of all people speaks up, "Lord Casgair, would it be better to lose one relic or all of them? For your people, for mine," she takes Serpent's hand, "We have to be flexible here or none of us will survive."
"Girl, what business-"
You interrupt, "I can't believe I am saying this but she is right. If we fight amongst ourselves we die. It is as simple as that. We need every tool we can get."
Casgair, a little overwhelmed by your strange alliance sputters a little, "While I appreciate what you did for my daughters-"
Biliku interrupts him now, "Father, maybe they are right. What good will the relics do us if we are all dead?"
The Red lowers his head, "Damn it, fine. I will let you search through the relics but be careful with them!"
You nod a couple times, "Okay, we are not completely without weapons and we do still have our magic as well... we might be able to fight back if we have to."
Gareth shakes his head, "Miosguinn has always be fairly cautious or perhaps paranoid may be a better term. He is unlikely to attack us especially after witnessing Abharsair's failure. I think he will probably try and starve us out for a few days and then move in for the kill. Fortunately we still have supplies so we may be able to give him a bit of a surprise there."
Neith interjects, her voice filled with suspicion, "You know this man?"
Thaïs answers, "He was under contract with our expedition to provide magical support. Naturally we had no idea that he was involved with any of this."
It is clear that Casgair is uncertain, "You helped my daughters, fought with us here and I can think of no reason that matters not to trust you. But are we certain he will not attack? With the numbers he has-"
You shake your head, "Most of those Blues are probably illusions. Miosguinn is quite skilled in that field, hence the body doubles while he negotiated. He is probably masking his true numbers to intimidate us. I doubt he has more than thirty followers left."
Neith nods in agreement, "There are definitely spells in effect over the enemy forces. But illusions on that scale would take a lot of power. Miss Derryth does he have that level of skill?"
"No, no he doesn't. I am not sure-" you stop as Nine whispers to you from your pack. Gareth continues the conversation as you drop back a little.
"Dear, he is not casting, I can tell. He is pulling power from somewhere else, something else."
You whisper to her, "Something we should be concerned about?"
"Maybe, I don't know. Whatever he is tapped into is powerful but I don't think it can directly interfere here. Just be aware that wherever his power is coming from it will grant him deep reserves..."
You turn your attention back to the rest of the group. Gareth is speaking, "It looks like he does not know that the rest of us came with Jori. That has to give us an advantage right?"
Brigit nods, "Maybe we could arrange for a face to face negotiation and ambush him?"
"Why not use this opportunity to withdraw?" Neith suggests, "He does not seem to be as aggressive as Abharsair but that does not mean that he is not encircling us as we speak."
"Not again, Neith, I will not abandon my home!" Casgair thunders.
Gareth raises a hand to stop them both, "It is an option we should consider, but it is just that. An option. We should consider them all," he turns to you, "Well boss? What do you think?"
1. What to do? Miosguinn seems willing to wait out the defenders and let them starve. He has given you time, even if he does not know that you (and your supply wagon) are there. The question is what to do with it.
A) Further entrench yourself - you will build up defences and wait.
B) Organize a retreat - now that you have reduced their numbers you try to escape
i) Just your group - you will try to slip away while no one is watching
ii) Anyone that can walk and fight - you leave the children and wounded
iii) Anyone that can walk - you leave the wounded
iv) Everyone - you take everyone with you
v) Everyone and the Relics - you take everyone and carry away the relics as well
C) Negotiate - You see if you and Thaïs can change Miosguinn's mind
i) you negotiate in good faith
ii) you try and lure Miosguinn out and murder him
D) A Trap - Proceed as in A but then pretend to offer battle with the Damned and the dwarves. Have them retreat back into the offices, lure the Blues in and kill them all.
E) Charge! - Proceed as in A but once preparations are complete go on the offensive. You will hit Miosguinn with everything you have in a frontal assault.
F) freeform
Z) Option 9 : Let the severed talking head enter your mind and hopefully give it back after she takes care of the problem.
2. Anti-magic grenades. You think you can weaponize the Heaven Stones and turn them into dispelling grenades. This is a one way process and will destroy the stones when use. If you chose any option that takes time (A, D, E) then you have the opportunity to do so. How many do you want to create?
A) zero
B) one
C) two
D) three
E) four
