OOC:  Waiting for shadow-cloaks to get in SQUISHING distance, but here's my initiative roll in the meantime :)

20:57, Today: Opalia rolled 12 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

Cora waited until the shadows closed distance and unleashed her blasts, the twin energies of the blade and Gruumsh entwining as she blasted at the shadows.

OOC: attack rolls 16 and 28, 6 and 10 (crit) respectively

Caell started tracing a spell. His fingers drew characters in the air and his lips muttered an incantation. It was not the first time he had cast this particular magic.

Once the evil creatures were in range, Caell finalized the spell and a sphere of radiant light engulfed all the attackers. He was fairly sure, most of them would make it out again, but many would surely be affected.

Casting Sickening Radiance once they are close enough (range 120 feet). At a 30 feet radius sphere, it should affect all. Con save DC 17 or 26 radiant damage and suffer one level of exhaustion, and emit a dim, greenish light in a 5-foot radius. This light makes it impossible for the creature to benefit from being invisible.

Atop the cloud-form of Quenya, Sikuaq stood facing backwards toward their pursuers.  The wind whipped her short hair around her face, but her gaze was uninterrupted as she continued to gauge the shrinking distance between the two groups.  When the shadows drew closer she raised her staff and allowed the flames to dance in her eyes and hair, sparks trailing off behind them like a miniature comet's tail.  And with a word Sikuaq released the power, a bird of flame screeching toward the shadows before pulling up and flaring into a giant ball of flame just as the formation reached that point.

OOC:
Cast Fireball from the staff, 3 charges.  Aim to explode just behind the lead shadow (in the vee) and catch as many others as possible (20 ft radius).
13:51, Today: Secret Roll: Sikuaq rolled 30 using 8d6.  Fireball Damage.  Half dmage on successful DEX save (DC 17).

13:54, Today: Secret Roll: Sikuaq rolled 19 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.  For when it's needed.

Fergus struggled to maintain his grip the eagle that carried him while preparing for the onrushing shadows. First he guided a ray of forgelight from his fingertip toward the frontmost shadow. Then, as they closed in further, he lashed out with his free arm raising a sheet of flame through the shadows on one side of its formation. As quickly as the airborne flames were started, however, they vanished.

Action: While at distance >160 feet, cast Guiding Bolt at lead shadow. Hit AC 17 for 19 radiant damage.
When shadows are within 120 feet, cast Wall of Fire in a line starting with the head of the v and through all shadows on its left side (60 feet in length).
23:03, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 15 using 1d20-1. Initiative.

23:21, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 17 using 1d20+8.  Guiding bolt at lead shadow (lvl 3, 240 foot range).
23:22, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 19 using 6d6.  Radiant dmg.

23:02, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 17 using 5d8.  Wall of fire. Fire damage. Half dmg on a DC 16 Dex save.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Mon 15 Aug 2022.

Ildiko help us, I pray that I am right as well.

Arvid watched the shadows rapid approach with a furrowed brow. He could do little more than stand fast alongside his companions and wait but he squeezed Opalia's hand in his own. Whatever might come, they would face it together.

Initiative 13.
Arvid has no actions he can take at the specified ranges.
13:59, Today: Secret Roll: Arvid Signeson rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

Fergus's Guiding Bolt struck the lead shadow, which screached in outrage, but, foolishly, the swarm kept coming. The next volley of spells was not so forgiving. Caell's sickening radiance vanquished their illusory doubles, leaving them exposed, and the fire and light that ensued ripped through them. Two were incinerated entirely, and the rest, grievously injured, wheeled and retreated, flying back toward the main force.

Fergus should be able to get in a parting shot thanks to his Spell Sniper feat, but I think with their 40' of movement the shadows will be able to outpace you unless you have some tricks up your sleeve...

Fergus expelled a sigh of relief as the shadows turned to flee. Unsure of whether something as non-corporal as a shadow could heal, he looked for one that had been wounded with the hope of eliminating it outright. "Here's hoping one more defeated today means one less to fight tomorrow." Reciting another prayer to The Great Mountain, he unleashed a radiant beam from his outstretched hand.

With the distance between friend and foe growing by the second, Fergus's attention returned to the fact that he was one thoughtless move away from plummeting hundreds of feet to his death. He stretched out his arms and leaned forward, hugging his avian transport around the neck. "Breathe," he reminded himself. "And don't let go."


Cast Guiding Bolt (lvl 3) at retreating shadow.
21:45, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 23 using 1d20+8.  Guiding bolt - parting shot at wounded shadow.
21:45, Today: Secret Roll: Fergus Glowforge rolled 20 using 6d6.  Radiant damage.

Sikuaq smiled fiercely as the wrath of she and her companions forced what was left the flying shadows to flee back to their master.  One short peal of laughter fell from her mouth before she clamped it shut and suddenly looked over her shoulder toward what she presumed was Quenya's cloudy head. The edges of fire dampened in her hair and eyes, and the anatka looked almost bashful, as though she had indulged in something she should not have, and done so right in front of her elders.

Sikuaq shrunk in on herself slightly, and rode in silence as the airborne group sped off toward the pass that led to the South.

Stormclouds gathered as the shadows retreated. Fergus's parting bolt blasted another from the sky - one fewer for the party to contend with later. The surviving shadows, having learned their lesson, disappeared quickly into the darkness cast by the fast-moving clouds, which, heavy with rain, hung black and low in the sky. They were, if anything, more foreboding than the clouds that had pummeled the Kerit camp with gales of blinding snow just days prior. They had not yet burst, Kinak presumably not wanting to slow the advance of his army, but they seemed aimed at the party and/or the Obsidian pass.

Racing ahead of them, the wildshaped druids bore their passengers up into the mountains of black glass, the eternally burning flame beneath Roda's shrine guiding them like a beacon to a ship upon storm-wracked seas. They arrived to find the shrine shut down: doors barred, windows battened down against the gathering storm. As the party approached, however, wind whipping at their backs, a door was thrown open, and a familiar face appeared.

"Hullo!" Alan called to them. "Hurry now. Got to get this door shut again." He slammed it just as the last of them was through. "Good to see you all again. Wish it were under better circumstances. Positively wicked out there. And the storm is looking pretty nasty, too." He winked.

The hall, always so warm and welcoming to travelers with its long communal tables and meals served at any hour, was empty now. Anything that could be strapped down or put away had been, so that only the empty tables remained, with no chairs to serve them. "Everyone's in the basement," Alan said. "We should be too."

Outside, the wind howled and battered against the barred door like the invading army whose coming it portended.

There was little Opalia could offer to an airborne battle against shadows flitting at the edges of seeing distance, so she squeezed Arvid's hand and waited for any shadow to make a BIG MISTAKE of coming close.  Thankfully, mighty little friends had very good fighting-magics the zapped and blasted the shadows away in spectacular fashion, and when they fled the giantess offered boisterous congratulation, "Good fighting with good magics, little friends!"

Zooming on ahead of the seemingly endless BAD armies at the speed of a gale, the Stormbreakers were delivered to the top of the Obsidian Pass just before the breaking of Kinak's storm.  Opalia hopped off the Anatkloud early to land with a thump of travel-worn boots and bellowed louder than the storm, "BRIGHT SKIES TO LITTLE FRIEND ALAN!  Even when storm and dark gathers, skies are still bright where friends do meet."  The giantess pushed through the lashing rains to grab Alan up into a crushing hug, then set him down to usher all the little friends into the shrine's shelter.

When all were gathered Opalia asked Alan, "Where are FIGHTERS to hold the pass against RED FIST army?  Is Glen of Lawton ready for DARK-SHADOWS and manyest of BAD-ORCS?"  The giantess's concern grew at the growing worry about proper preparations for what is to come.  She asked, "Glen of Lawton does ready for war, YES?  Two days or maybe less than this, before BAD ARMY is here!"

Alan took a few steps back from the enthusiastic goliath, but, seeing that resistance was futile, ultimately went limp and allowed himself to be gathered up into her crushing hug. "It is good to see you again," he wheezed. "We have not yet had a chance to go climbing. Though I doubt I will be able to keep up with you. Unfortunately, now is not the time.

Lawton's Glen is aware of the danger, thanks to you." The acolyte smiled at Fergus. "And the King has been made aware as well, though he will need time to gather his army. What were forces were marshaled in town are already ascending the pass. I ran ahead to warn everyone here and help them prepare."

He lowered his voice. "Truth be told, I do not think this place will hold. It is a shrine, not a fortress. It was meant to be open to all, not locked down and defended. Our hope is only to buy time for the main army to gather."

Then he lowered his voice further yet. "That is no mere army of orcs, is it? That storm... it is not of this world." The young man's brown eyes were wide and fearful. "What are we up against?"

Caell had changed somewhat since they last had met. He gave Alan a nod. "Shadow and death, and living servants bent to death's will. Many servants."

He looked back in the direction they had come. "Some are flying. We should keep watch in case they come through air. And when army comes, maybe we can hold them back long enough for good army to come help. We have mighty weapons."

"We do not need to hold it for long. This will not be a siege, a siege we will lose against an enemy who controls the weather and whose forces are tireless. When you say people are below, are there people who can't fight? The storm is already fierce . . . "

Cora looked around, even her orcish skin growing cold in this bitter weather

"I don't know if those here can flee south. I don't know if the King's forces won't simply find a dead pass when they reach Lawton's Glen. But those who are here, are the kitchens and stores well stocked? Might be we'd all do well to get something warm in us, before we lie cold on the mountainside."

She could feel Gruumsh's voice, his eye. Like a horrid father, waiting to see which of his children will emerge victorious from a fight.

"If you're listening One-Eye, a victory for Garduk is a victory for Hrom, and that means your wife and sons lose all. Witness what comes next, perhaps a new footstep of your blood will be made here."

Alan's eyes widened in his round face. "I would not say we can not fight, but... we are humble priests, not warriors. And our current guests, they are... accustomed to comfort. They carry weapons, but only for the hunting of docile creatures. I do not think they would be much use in a battle, if they could even be convinced to take up arms."



This question lifted the young man's spirits, for he was happy to have some means of being helpful. "Aye, food we have. That is the function of these shrines, to ensure there is always food and shelter for those in need, should they be taken unawares by a storm. As, I suppose, we all have been!" He attempted a weak laugh, but it was clear his heart was not in it.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Sat 20 Aug 2022.

The giantess boomed, "HA!  You are a funny ALAN.  ANY mountain is a fortress while a SKYKEEPER stands upon it.  OPALIA is here, and so this pass will hold."  Her declaration was delivered with unassailable confidence in hopes to give heart to the god-mans, although Opalia had her own doubts.

She then announced, "We must bring folk of strength and craft from here and from lands around.  We have not much time, but with WORK and DOING we will make GARDUK pay in blood for each step across OBSIDIAN PASS."  Opalia peered out at the shrine doors and windows battened down against the fierce weather, which would present difficulty for this work.  There were many whose lives would depend upon the defense of this pass, and Opalia would not let them perish because the weather was not comfortable.  The pass must hold as long as possible, and it was the duty of its defenders to expend every effort to do so.

---

OOC:  Did we catch sight on the way in of how far the foremost elements of the invading army are from here?  Ballpark guess how long we have before they start arriving?

Also, a Survival check to gauge the severity of this storm.  Is it really dangerous enough to have to hide in cellars or are these Francos overreacting, from a Goliath's perspective? ;P

• 08:42, Today: Opalia rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Survival.

Opalia would like to spend whatever time we have between now and the enemy's arrival on a project to fortify the Obsidian Pass: dig trenches and make chokepoints, set wooden spikes, build palisades, reinforce natural defensive positions, etc.  As much of that as possible with the time, materials and workforce that can be recruited to the effort!

"I will come back soon. If any of them kill me down there . . . give that person my sword. We might have an unforeseen hero."

Cora took her leave of the group then after Alan's clarification, dropping her pack in the kitchens and descending to the cellars, elven chain glinting faintly as she arrived at the door. Closed or open, she did not enter the cellars yet, not seeing fit to terrify people who'd been told orcs were coming down on winter winds.

"I am Coragahk, of Lawton's Glen. I have been North, and I have seen what is coming. Are there any among you who can fight? Any who can help us prepare if you cannot fight? There are fires to stoke, traps to lay and reinforcements to make."

OOC: used inspiration and everything. 12 on Persuasion . . .

"Alan, you have been tasked with maintaining the trails along the mountain pass in the name of Roda, is that not so?" Arvid asked speculatively. "Do you think you could instead help us to sabotage those upon the North face in order to buy time while our defenders assemble?"

When they alit upon solid ground once more, Sikuaq let those who were familiar and comfortable with the priest lead that conversation.  This was the extent of her travels south with Valaku, and they had spent one night only at the shrine.  Then the path had led back into the North, leaving her with scant knowledge or influence here.

Instead she turned to the druids who had borne them here.  Addressing Quenya as the undisputed leader of the bunch, she ducked her head and asked, "What will you three do now?  Will you stay here with us, to help bottle up the pass, or do you have other plans?"

Fergus looked to Alan hopefully. "If there is a narrow passageway, I could erect a wall of Kann's forge-fire and run it through the line of them."

The young priest blanched at the suggestion. He surely had the necessary knowledge, but for the faithful of Roda, the trails were sacrosanct. You might as well ask a Kerit shaman to yank the stars from the sky. It might be necessary, but it would be a hard sell.

Let's do a Persuasion check for this. It would be at disadvantage, considering how strongly he feels about trade routes, but then again the stakes are high enough for all options to be on the table. So we'll call it a flat roll.



"There are many! The road is narrow and steep." Mass killing, it seemed, was more palatable to Alan than desecration of the road.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:23, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

Two more priests of Roda, clearly more senior than Alan, greeted Cora with wary nods when the half-orc descended into the basement, which was warmed by the Eternal Flame which burned just beyond and could be seen through a sort of window in the rock wall. More worried yet was the half-elf Cora recognized as Qastàru Canton, a high-end wilderness guide and outfitter who operated out of Lawton's Glen. He had made a fortune wooing wealthy Franconians with promises of daring and adventure in the Frozen Wastes, but clearly they had bitten off more than they could chew this time. The group with him, six men and two women, looked positively terrified, though several of them did volunteer themselves as potential fighters, shaming Qastàru into raising his own hand.

"I can fight," volunteered a Northman who had been singing a song of bravery to the frightened group when Cora arrived. He looked, for lack of a better word, "fancy", by Northman standards anyway: his hair was pulled back into a ponytail that shone with oil, and his beard was gathered into three tight braids. He was not handsome, but he made up for it with a charming smile.

Cora, this is optional, but if you'd like, you can make up and describe up to three other actually useful people who could be on site as well.

"We will stay and fight." The Elder Druid's answer was clipped, hostile even. "I have a deal to enforce, after all. What of you, anatka? Do you have other plans?"

You get the impression her hostility stems from Sikuaq's use of the Fireball spell. Presumably, Quenya recognized the source of that power as something other than the natural world from which the Quinichiat typically draw their magic. Exactly how much she knows or suspects remains a mystery.

Sensing his host’s reluctance, Arvid was quick to offer reassurance. ”I swear to you I will help to make right again, whatever we despoil. After the danger is passed.”

20:41, Today: Secret Roll: Arvid Signeson rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Persuasion .

Opalia clapped a big hand on Alan's shoulder and said gravely, "Little ALAN has not yet seen what many enemies march to us.  If we fail to defend OBSIDIAN PASS then BAD-ARMIES use nice roads to smash RODA shrine, raze and burn Glen of LAWTON and kill ALL.  No good souther-folks will be safe, anyplace.  All dead, ALL ruined."  The giantess gestured to the door and the steep, narrow mountain pass beyond it and declared, "We must stop BAD-ARMIES here.  HERE is STRONG.  We break good-roads and build walls NOW, so that GOOD-FOLK can be alive to rebuild later, YES?"

After that grim pep-talk, Opalia said, "We gather to build defenses, but FIRST... HOT-TOADIES.  Come, ARV and friends!"  The giantess grabbed Arvid in a companionable hug about the shoulders and bade the Stormbreakers down to the cellar where everyone was taking shelter, where they might have a drink as they coordinated planning to defend the Obsidian Pass.