Caell was glad to draw the cold air of the north into his lungs again. He was not afraid of the heights, as the last day had given him some arcane insight into matters of ascending from the ground. He wondered if they would have to go all the way back to Lawton's Glen before finding what they were seeking. It would be strange seeing that place again.

He looked at Opalia as she spoke. He enjoyed her loud optimism. Caell was confident too, even if he didn't voice it. Whatever happened, they had done their best. They had been brave and strong. They had been true to their calling. They had come so far. How could all this turn to failure? With that said, survival was not a requisite of success? As long as they succeeded, their own survival was secondary.

The tribe mattered more than the individual. In this case, the tribe was big; counting all free people of the north.

Caell kept his eyes open, looking down for signs of anything.

Cora stood in the cold wind of the peaks a very different woman than the one who had opened the gate the first time. Far different from the girl who cleared tables and tossed drunks in Lawton's Glan.

She shivered at the prospect of returning, of coming all this way for the fight to be right on her doorstep.

"I'm ready for what comes next. Hopefully Fergus' message was heard, hopefully Grina can warn Heimer III, if only to get people into the tunnels and away from the fighting?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:33, Wed 27 July 2022.

Although Fergus arrived back on the mortal plane in a snow drift up to his eyes, he couldn't deny the relief he felt in his heart. Even the biting wind was a welcome change from the oppressive darkness that defined the spiritrealm.

With Opalia's help, he dug himself free at least somewhat, revealing his companions before a the gray sky. "How much they have grown, Darna. And even old Fergus, I suppose. Can you see Cora? Our Little Mossflower wields the Starbound Blade? And you know what, I don't think there is a better soul to do so anywhere in the Northland."

He dared to hope things might still turn out for all of their alliance, but acknowledged the truth that many of them might also fall in the upcoming days (hours?). Such was the gravity of situation before them.

Whether it be some innate trait of the Quinichiat or her rapport with Nature as anatka, Sikuaq seemed unperturbed by either the wind or the snow atop Windermere's peak.  She was perched lightly in the drifts as she surveyed the magnificent view, the snow barely reaching the ankles of her hide boots.  If only the clouds would part, she pined, thinking of how magnificent a view they would have if they could see all the way to the ground.

When the elder druids began shifting into eagles and Quenya into a cloud, Sikuaq made her choice quickly.  It had all the feelings of a test and she refused to back down, regardless of what she had become in the pursuit of Kinak.  Let the Mother of the Council understand the consequences of her choices; Sikuaq felt sharing that pain was more than justified.  She stepped without hesitation onto the seemingly insubstantial cloud and readied herself for the trip to Lawton's Glen.

The place Valaku and I were headed originally, all those weeks ago, she thought somewhat wistfully.  She'd never been to the South and had leapt at the chance to serve the Council in such a far away place.  But then events had overtaken them and their path had turned away from the border, instead taking them all across the North.  She doubted any on the Council would have foreseen all they had been through.  Sikuaq hoped her companions would survive to tell the tales, that a greater North might arise from the upcoming conflict.  The heat twisting in her belly reminded her that she would not be among them.

On the back of Quenya Sikuaq stood, dwarfed by Opalia but straight and proud nonetheless.  "Let's be about it then," she said impatiently, to no one in particular.

The air was cold enough to burn his throat but after the lifeless winds of the shadowrealm, Arvid drank it back like a parched man in the desert. The sun's face was distant but at least it was light outside. Arvid's first inclination was to join Opalia and Sikuaq aboard the cloud but he waited to ensure there was adequate room before stepping off the mountain face and casting his gaze down to the barren tundra sweeping away from the mountain foot.

One way or another, they would find Garduk.

One did not require a druid's attunement to the natural world to know something was amiss. The world felt wrong. The herds were in places they should not have been at this time of year, making sounds and behaving in ways they should not have.

The Northman and the Quinichiat were familiar with such disruptions. They had experienced them before, when King Gralen's army had marched north on the orcish hordes. Now, united under Garduk and with an evil god at their back, those hordes marched south to exact their revenge. And as before, tribes and clans that played no part in the conflict would pay the price.

The Great Plains - the Frozen Wastes, to the Francos - did not appear so great from on high. When the soaring druids dipped below the cloud cover, those they bore upon their backs could see nearly the whole of it: Lake Ildiko beneath them, the taiga stretching north to the uncrossable Savage Sea, and the Sawtooth Mountains to the south, beyond which lay Franconia... for now. The difficulty of traversing the plains on foot was what made them seem great. Birds - to say nothing of a cloud elemental! - could fly unhindered above the many hazards and so cross in the space of a day the distance traveled by a Northman clan in an entire season.

Garduk's army, thankfully, was encumbered by the stream crossings, the lack of food, and the thorny brush. With Kinak on their side, however, they were not hindered by storms. The party could see them plainly to the west of Lake Ildiko, circling around the forest there. It was a course that would have taken them dangerously near Guthluthic, except that Brigha had committed the bulk of her strength to the defense of a dwarven fortress that, it was now plain to see, had never been the warlord's target.

From a great distance, and with a forest between them, the party could not make out the full size and composition of the army. There were many orcs, of course, alongside qiqion and other terrors from the Shadowrealm. Yeti-esque creatures towered head and shoulders over their humanoid companions, and some Northmen marched with them as well. Whether they were allies or thralls could not be determined.

Conservatively, the army was two days from the Obsidian Pass, and it would take them at least another day to traverse the pass and fall upon Lawton's Glen. Fergus's Sending having failed, there was no reason to think Franconia or Knutsdir yet suspected the danger they were in.

You could try to fly closer to the army to gather more information, but that would risk being spotted (which might not be the end of the world). Or you could fly south to Lawton's Glen to warn them and prepare a defense, possibly even cutting the army off at the pass. Or anything else your little hearts desire :-)

Fergus gripped the feathers of his winged steed with alk his might, petrified by the prospect of failing to his death. In time, he relaxed somewhat, but never fully. When Garduk's army finally came into view, he rejoiced at their considerable distance from Lawton's Glen... as well as from Farra, Keth, and the orcphans in Ruuldheim.

"There they are," he proclaimed. "They still have a long way to go. Maybe we can head them off at the pass."

"If we attack from above and the sides, perhaps we can cut them off here? Defending in Lawton's Glen is better, but is there a chance we could harry them and pull back?"

Cora paled at the sight of so many enemies arrayed against them, but was torn on if innocent people would need to die for what was the Alliance's fight

Opalia had seen the great plains from the heights of Cragspur peaks on clear days, but never from above in the way that birds do!  It
would be a very terrific flying view, were it not for BAD-GARDUK's hordes marching and despoiling their way across the north.  The giantess roared to be heard over the whipping winds, "NOT GOOD!  Little friends and ANATKAS, we should harry BAD-ARMY war-supplies!  Fly in, make BIG PROBLEMS, then fly away!  A best plan."

If Arvid shared the Anatkloud with her Opalia went to him during the flight and said, "Can you see where KERIT camp is, ARV?  I do worry for great MOTHER SIGNE and rest of KERIT friends."  The giantess peered closely at the lands they flew over, following natural landmarks she knew from the ground in search of the Kerit camp.  She was not worried for her own people in the highest lands, for GARDUK and KINAK would be fools to make the attempt.

---

Survival and Perception to try to locate the Kerit camp from the Anatkloud and see if they're in direct danger of the approaching army.  Using inspiration for advantage on Perception, because Opi really wants to find them :P

• 15:02, Today: Opalia rolled 17 using 2d20+5, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 12,7.  Perception (inspiration).
• 15:01, Today: Opalia rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Survival.

With an unobstructed view across the whole of the tundra, Arvid cast his gaze towards the last location the Kerit had built their camp and tried to surmise where they might have gone had they pulled up stakes to follow the restless herds. Like Opalia, he also fretted for the safety of his people.

"We cannot manage an attack of any consequence on our own," he replied. "Certainly not against the main column and the orcs do not rely on wagon trains to the extent the Francos do."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Mon 01 Aug 2022.

Opi, you can save your Inspiration. I think it makes most sense for Arvid to be the one looking for them, with Opi giving him advantage. His Perception is also +5, so we can keep the rolls.

You can't make out the Kerit from here. They're a much smaller group than this army and maybe are even making some attempt to conceal themselves from Garduk's army. It's also possible they're at Gruundelheim - remember they are vassals of Guthluthic.

If you would like to take some time to fly toward where you last saw them and try to find them, Arvid can make a Survival check, for that, again with advantage. You'd have to convince the druids that's worth doing, as well, since they're your ride, so I suppose a Persuasion check would also be in order (again, with advantage).

Sikuaq agreed with Arvid.  The army was far too large for their little group to do a significant amount of damage on high-level fly-bys.  But at the speed they were travelling they could certainly afford a closer look, to better understand the forces arrayed against them.

"The Obsidian Pass is where we should meet the army, at least to start," she advised the rest.  The relatively narrow confines of the pass should allow them to blunt the advantage of Garduk's numbers.  "It will be easier to hold there and use Laton's Glen as the fall back position."

"But we should first have a better look at the enemy's forces.  As long as we stay high and move quickly the danger should be modest, and we could learn much to help with arranging our defenses."

"Agreed," Fergus replied from atop his eagle, still gripping its feathers tighter than necessary. "Let's get a closer look, see what they've got, then get out of here and convene with the druids once they can talk again."

OOC: I'm going to assume that communication between Fergus on an eagle and Sikuaq (and the others) on the cloud is possible. If not, he'll point and nod to convey the message with body language.

"Be cautious," Arvid counseled. "The stormclouds are Kinak's to command. High and fast keeps us away from the enemy forces, but close to the elements."

Seeing no sign of the Kerit encampment, Arvid chose to interpret this as reassuring. Hopefully the hunters had noticed the column's approach and uprooted the village well before Garduk's forces approached.

Caell voiced his opinion, but it was not a strong one. "We have spells to block pass. Kill evil creatures trying to cross. Not all. But some, before they reach town."

He had been across it several times before. It was not an easy Journey, practically impossible some parts of  the year.

Opalia scowled at Arvid and said, "Many things STORMBREAKERS have done already, are things less mighty folk would say can not be done.  We are STRONG and have BIG MAGICS!  We can do very much, OPALIA does think."  She very much liked little anatka and little Caell's ideas to hold off the enemy forces at the pass, for that would be a place where even a small force could cause biggest problems for a bad army.

It did seem they were agreed to swoop down to more closely assess the forces arrayed against them, and when they did that Opalia focused on finding opportunities to create disadvantages for the enemy.  It was known wisdom to Skykeeper warriors that it is not purely skillful fighting that wins battles, but also having the strength and readiness to fight!  Even the very best of fighters will lose if they arrive to battle hungry, tired, disheartened, lacking supplies, or too late.  Therefore, when they surveilled the enemy she looked for ways for a small force to inflict such bad conditions upon the bad armies:  Crucial bridge crossings that might be destroyed, mountain roads that might be buried by avalanche, supply caches to be burnt, foraging parties that might go missing, water sources that might be denied.

Any difficulty that may be added to the enemy's journey would weaken and delay their assault.

---

Using inspiration again on a Survival check to look for opportunities like those listed above for a small force to create big problems for an invading army and then escape again:

• 00:32, Today: Secret Roll: Opalia rolled 15 using 2d20+5, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 10,5.  Survival (advantage inspiration).

A closer look at Garduk's forces only made the situation appear more hopeless. A large part of it was comprised of shadowy monsters, such that the need for sustenance, while not trivial, was much less than that of a similarly sized mortal enemy.

There were relatively few of the giant yetis, and they appeared to play an outsized role in the army, carrying supplies and clearing the way of rocks and debris when needed. Were the party to orchestrate an avalanche or some other bottleneck in the Obsidian Pass, these creatures would presumably be instrumental in clearing it.

There was also the matter of Garduk himself, a powerful shaman in the company of magically talented lieutenants. While the party's druids had many ways to manipulate terrain in their favor, they would presumably be contested by similarly skilled casters in the opposing army.

The sky grew darker, obscuring their vision, as stormclouds gathered above and behind them. They had been spotted - it was not easy to hide in the sky from the North Wind. It had seemed Garduk's army lacked air support, but what had appeared to be cloaks on the backs of the warlord and his retinue revealed themselves to be horrible winged shadows which detached themselves and took to the sky, wings beating silently but intently as they bore down on the party.

There are roughly two dozen of these flying shadows converging on the party, but they are still hundreds of feet off, so retreating seems a perfectly viable course of action. Then again, if you were to stay and fight them, Garduk and his other casters would presumably be too far away to intervene.

Opi, you can again save your inspiration. Presumably everyone would be looking for these vulnerabilities, so I used your roll with advantage and applied the party's highest Survival modifier to it to account for that.

"BAD-GIANTS do very much work for BAD-ARMY.  Stop the biggest ones would be good!"  Opalia suggested above the howling winds.  She wasn't sure what to do about so very many shadows, which did seem a problem.  She did wonder if shadows could move in sunlight, however.  Perhaps making much-brightness would keep them away?

At some point it seemed that their observations were noticed, and the storm darkened around their flight as dark cloaks came after them.  The giantess pointed at shadowy pursuers flitting along some distance behind and stated the obvious, "DARK-FLYERS!  We do fight them, little friends?"

"It would be good," Arvid agreed in principle with Opalia. But practicalities would appear to dictate otherwise. "But they are interspersed through the main host. I cannot see how we might engage the giants without also suffering orcish arrows and Kinak's thunder."

"We carry a message of urgency. If we fail to rouse Lawton's Glen to war footing, our sacrifices will be of no meaning. And now they bring the fight to us," Arvid said, pointing at the approaching shadows.

"I'm sorry, Opalia. You are braver and stronger than anyone I know. I have seen how it pains you to turn away from a fight. But I cannot in good conscience counsel this. We should fly South, and return with an army to meet them at the pass where Kann's might is as great as Hrom's."

"That is how we will win."

At the sign of being spotted, Fergus gripped his avian carrier even more tightly, still petrified of plummeting to his death. "They've seen us. We need to fall back and make a plan."

He had never considered whether a giant eagle was faster than a shadow. Until this moment, it had never seemed important at all.

"I want so badly to do what I can to turn the tide. But throwing myself pointlessly into the horde . . . there'll be a time for that later. For now, I think Arvid has the right of it."

Cora looked back at the approaching shadows, eldritch aurora dancing across her hands

OOC: if the shadows look to be gaining, will start preparing actions to fire, but only once it's "need to fight, can't run" situation

Fergus saw the makings of a spell flicker on his niece's hands and chose to do the same. "All right Kann," he mumbled, still gripping too tightly on the feathers of his ride. "What have we for flying shadows?"

OOC: Fergus will prepare to cast Guiding Bolt, but only if it looks like their pursuers are getting too close.

The anatka watched the pursuing shadows closely as well, one hand clutched tightly about her staff as the dark shapes detached from the army and soared toward them.  She also agreed that fleeing was the best choice, especially given they'd seen what they needed to see.  The damage they could inflict on the host would only be minor, and should one of them actually fall?  Sikuaq did not want to even consider it.

"Time to make for Lawton's Glen and begin readying our defenses."

As Arvid spoke Opalia stared down from the sky at the armies of very many orcs and shadows and bad-giants, and brooded.  Opalia had almost never seriously questioned Arv's wisdom in their long years of friendship, but she did now.  He was wiser than her in most everything, but her every instinct as a warrior was against this.  This was a crucial time to act to harm the enemy long before they reach the battlefield.  This is was the time to ACT, not to FLEE!  But yet, she may be wrong as well.  Perhaps to reach the Glen of Lawton sooner would be the best way to harm their enemy.  Sometimes dire circumstances demand hard choices.

Opalia looked back to Arvid with a grim smile and said, "You are wise, ARV, and I do trust you.  I do hope that you are right."  The giantess then turned to ready for the pursuing shadows.

The party fell back, drawing the flying shadows after them until they were far enough from the main army and its spellcasters that the heroes could be certain their attackers could receive no support. Valaku studied them as they came and reported to his allies: "I have heard of such creatures. They are ferocious, but not so many as they seem. Many of them are illusory, though I am hard-pressed to say which. Best not to let them touch you," he concluded, adding, "Perhaps that is obvious."

Everyone please roll initiative, but we won't need it immediately. The nearest shadows are currently 160' feet from you and closing by 80' per round. For the purposes of AoE spells, they are spread out in a V formation, like geese, that is roughly 60' wide and 30' deep. For now, you can act with regard to initiative and have the following options:

1. If there's anything you'd like to cast before they draw so near to you, either buffs or spells with range >160', you can do that in addition to your action for this round.

2. Use any spells or abilities with range of at least 160'.

3. Prepare an action for when a target gets to 80' from you (if your action requires a shorter range than that, it will have to wait until next round).