gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 203, Part Three - Blast Off!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP1XFlGFogs
When they got back to the fort there was a huge amount of activity going on, not just in preparation for the incoming fleet, but down at the dockside as well: gnolls were swarming all over the hull of the Coaltongue, working under the direction of Alden Wondermaker making major modifications to the vessel. Admiral Smith and his senior officers were watching, perplexed. Uru scampered excitedly up to the others and told them they had used the new technology developed by Pemberton for his dragon-fliers, scaled it up and applied it to the Coaltongue. He went into a huge amount of technical detail but the upshot of it all was this: the Coaltongue could now fly!
This meant that the urgency of evacuation was lessened slightly, but the problem of how to evacuate the whole fort remained. The work on their ship would need a couple more hours to complete. The Danorans would be here in less time than that. If they began the evacuation now, and the gnolls left their posts, it would be impossible to hold off the invaders, and the Coaltongue would be caught in the water. But there was no way they could evacuate Pemberton’s whole force on the Coaltongue alone. Some of their vessels were anchored in coves not far from the fort. Those that could not be teleported out would have to take their chances and escape through the jungle.
They sent the dragon-fliers out to scout out the approaching fleet. It was enormous. If the troop carriers were anything to go by, they must have outnumbered the defenders twenty-to-one. At the centre of the fleet was the Danoran flagship, La Lux du Raison.
Uriel channelled his most powerful incarnation, the druid Talmai and sent a terrible hurricane at the fleet. To his surprise, he found that the Danorans had their own druids now – not as powerful as him, but present in sufficient numbers to repel the foul weather he sent them. He summoned bolts lightning and threw them at the enemy vessels, but they were magically protected against such attacks. Here was the problem with fighting a nation that was allied to the whole world. Would there be a chink in their armour to exploit?
Korrigan took the few demolition charges they still had left, and swam out towards the fleet. He saw a number of submersibles ranging ahead of the rest of the ships but ignored them for now and headed for the flagship. As he neared, he felt that he could sense the presence of Sovereign Han Jierre, although he could not see him – an effect of the Rites of Rulership, perhaps? But when he closed to try and plant the charges, magical electricity coursed through the water, and he was instantly stunned. When he came to, the demolition charges had sunk into the depths. The Danorans weren’t about to fall for the same trick twice! Korrigan decided to try his luck against the submersibles, and was able to scupper two of them with his remaining charges. The rest went on to enact the first stage of the Danoran’s stratagem:
Stage 1 (Insertion & Chaos): The navy pushes towards the Fortress’s Sea Wall but remains out of reach of the cannons in the sea wall bunkers. Submersibles blast a submerged section of the fort’s main gate and enter underwater. They surface, and now that they are inside the fortress, Obscurati-augmented strike teams of the Porteurs de Mort teleport directly into the bunkers along the eastern side of the sea wall, fighting gnolls in close combat. They light chemical flares to illuminate whichever bunkers they’re inside. One group of Obscurati agents take the lighthouse, then place a custom magic item, a wayfarer’s jaunter, on the house’s beacon. This magical device disrupts teleportation that would arrive within 200 feet of the lighthouse, redirecting it to where the light shines. The Obscurati agents aim the beam out into the middle of the Danoran fleet, so anyone who attempts to teleport in and aid the battle will end up splashing in the sea (and the agents can easily escape if seriously challenged).
The unit decided not to be drawn here. By now, their augmentations to the Coaltongue were complete, and it was just a matter of loading everyone on board as fast as possible. Up on the wall, Uriel tried to disrupt the Wayfarer Jaunter but failed. Then he took on ghost form to avoid the attacks of the porteurs and rejoined the others.
Rumdoom followed orders and pulled back too. He had been up on the wall creating ice around the sea wall, but the submersibles had headed straight under it, and the Danoran’s next move would bypass this obstacle too:
Stage 2 (Landing): Half of the fleet approaches at full steam, firing forward turrets at any bunkers along the eastern line of the sea wall that aren’t illuminated by flares. After about half an hour of bombardment, five ships pull up beside the wall, while others form lines behind them, connected with bridges. Troops climb onto the wall. A few escort ships stay at the edge of this formation, watching the skies in case Pemberton appears. The other half of the fleet heads for the sea gate, which is damaged when the submersibles detonate at its hinges. The gate dangles loose, which might hold, but at the same time the eastern fleet is making landing on the wall, La Lux du Raison engages its Lantern Cannon. A blinding flash of light strikes the gate and vaporizes a twenty-foot wide span. The beam travels far enough to also singe parts of the docks on the other side of the sea wall harbour.
This beam was a real threat to the Coaltongue and they wondered how long it would take to recharge. It wouldn’t be safe to take off until they established if there was a window.
Having disappeared some time ago, Pemberton and Pardo returned just in time to embark. Pemberton was dressed in a sharp linen suit. This was really him, not a duplicant! He was furious, fulminating and clearly itching to fight instead of flee.
Gupta wondered if the gathered Danoran forces ought not to have created a hivemind by now, and just as she thought this, one began to coalesce:
When the Danorans finally reached the fortress, their combined desire to conquer Axis and begin a fifth Yerasol War had unforeseen consequences (for them, at least). High above the battlefield, a growing cloud of protoplasmic energy roiled. Starting as a small mote, this tiny spark of nascent thought-energy began to grow. Unlike other hive minds, though, this one didn’t get a chance to mature, because Sovereign Han Jierre targeted it with the Lantern Cannon.
And here was their window: two minutes between shots! They gave orders for take-off. The Danorans watched agog, as the Risuri flagship took to the skies.
Stage 3 (Raze): The Danorans take no chances and thus no prisoners. Scout squads sprint through the fortress with orders to locate Pemberton or the party, then light flares and teleport away. Once flares are lit, the fleet launches mortars at those locations. Additionally, lookouts who inserted earlier on the island outside the fortress watch likely escape routes. They light flares if they spot large groups heading inland, which brings in more mortar fire.
(Later, the unit would learn from Pemberton’s gnolls that their retreat had been covered by the deep faen. Acting on Rumdoom’s orders they attacked every Danoran they could find, ensuring that many more of Pemberton’s subjects won free of the island.)
As for the Coaltongue, the Danorans responded to this surprising turn of events with a weapon they had brought to deal with Pemberton: they fired a huge chain, tipped with a piercing grapple into the hull of the airship. Another followed, but Uriel magically ‘undid’ that, allowing Uru time to steer the ship aside and dodge it; and Rumdoom’s ‘fiat’ refused to allow a third grapple to pierce the hull and it fell away, harmlessly. But the first chain held the Coaltongue in place while the Lantern Cannon recharged…
Pemberton turned turned to Korrigan and said, “Well now, this is one hum-dinger we have here. By the looks of things, our friends down there came with toys to use against me. I so hate to disappoint them, and more, I’d hate to lose this fine ship I spent so much time on. I do believe it’s time to join the rodeo.” Turning his back, he stripped off his jacket and pants, then handed them to Pardo to fold. “I’ll leave it to you fine folk to get this new-fangled ship unstuck. I’ll deal with those ruffians below.” With that, Pemberton leaped from the side of the ship. Moments later, Gradiax the Lord of Steel flew once more.
Uriel and Rumdoom headed belowdecks to deal with the one that had hit home. Quratulain stood guard over Uru. Gupta peered through the sights of her rifle, searching for Han Jierre, while Korrigan leaped off the ship to support Pemberton.
With the king of Risur’s keen military mind and commanding presence to bolster and protect him, Gradiax was able to strafe the deck of every nearby ship, causing the crew to scurry for cover. There would be no more artillery, or any other weapon, brought to bear on the Coaltongue while the dragon remained in the air.
Belowdecks, Uriel and Rumdoom found that an Obscurati steam-walker had somehow teleported aboard to defend the grapple-point. Uriel stepped back and let Rumdoom deal with it. It didn’t take long.
Meanwhile, Uru pushed the jet-portal to its utmost, and the chain snapped. The Coaltongue was free. As soon as she began to move, Gradiax performed a graceful pirouette in mid-air and flew back onto the deck, transforming into his human shape as he came into land. Korrigan was close behind him.
By now, Gupta had Han Jierre in his sights. She realised it would be pointless to shoot, but could not resist a parting gesture, hoping that it would overcome the flagship’s arcane defences. It worked, and the Sovereign was suddenly jolted by a bolt of lightning empowered by the titan of Thunder himself. In return, Gupta was struck by the infernal wrath of the Jierre bloodline; painful, but well worth it.
The Coaltongue flew off into the non-existent-sunset.
End of Session
DM's Note: I accidentally omitted the part where Gradiax gets clipped by the Lantern Cannon. Now there's no reason for him not to join in the fight against the Godmind in Cherage. I think I might try to use this error to my advantage, to remind the PCs that Pemberton isn't a selfless hero all of a sudden just because he's allied with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP1XFlGFogs
When they got back to the fort there was a huge amount of activity going on, not just in preparation for the incoming fleet, but down at the dockside as well: gnolls were swarming all over the hull of the Coaltongue, working under the direction of Alden Wondermaker making major modifications to the vessel. Admiral Smith and his senior officers were watching, perplexed. Uru scampered excitedly up to the others and told them they had used the new technology developed by Pemberton for his dragon-fliers, scaled it up and applied it to the Coaltongue. He went into a huge amount of technical detail but the upshot of it all was this: the Coaltongue could now fly!
This meant that the urgency of evacuation was lessened slightly, but the problem of how to evacuate the whole fort remained. The work on their ship would need a couple more hours to complete. The Danorans would be here in less time than that. If they began the evacuation now, and the gnolls left their posts, it would be impossible to hold off the invaders, and the Coaltongue would be caught in the water. But there was no way they could evacuate Pemberton’s whole force on the Coaltongue alone. Some of their vessels were anchored in coves not far from the fort. Those that could not be teleported out would have to take their chances and escape through the jungle.
They sent the dragon-fliers out to scout out the approaching fleet. It was enormous. If the troop carriers were anything to go by, they must have outnumbered the defenders twenty-to-one. At the centre of the fleet was the Danoran flagship, La Lux du Raison.
Uriel channelled his most powerful incarnation, the druid Talmai and sent a terrible hurricane at the fleet. To his surprise, he found that the Danorans had their own druids now – not as powerful as him, but present in sufficient numbers to repel the foul weather he sent them. He summoned bolts lightning and threw them at the enemy vessels, but they were magically protected against such attacks. Here was the problem with fighting a nation that was allied to the whole world. Would there be a chink in their armour to exploit?
Korrigan took the few demolition charges they still had left, and swam out towards the fleet. He saw a number of submersibles ranging ahead of the rest of the ships but ignored them for now and headed for the flagship. As he neared, he felt that he could sense the presence of Sovereign Han Jierre, although he could not see him – an effect of the Rites of Rulership, perhaps? But when he closed to try and plant the charges, magical electricity coursed through the water, and he was instantly stunned. When he came to, the demolition charges had sunk into the depths. The Danorans weren’t about to fall for the same trick twice! Korrigan decided to try his luck against the submersibles, and was able to scupper two of them with his remaining charges. The rest went on to enact the first stage of the Danoran’s stratagem:
Stage 1 (Insertion & Chaos): The navy pushes towards the Fortress’s Sea Wall but remains out of reach of the cannons in the sea wall bunkers. Submersibles blast a submerged section of the fort’s main gate and enter underwater. They surface, and now that they are inside the fortress, Obscurati-augmented strike teams of the Porteurs de Mort teleport directly into the bunkers along the eastern side of the sea wall, fighting gnolls in close combat. They light chemical flares to illuminate whichever bunkers they’re inside. One group of Obscurati agents take the lighthouse, then place a custom magic item, a wayfarer’s jaunter, on the house’s beacon. This magical device disrupts teleportation that would arrive within 200 feet of the lighthouse, redirecting it to where the light shines. The Obscurati agents aim the beam out into the middle of the Danoran fleet, so anyone who attempts to teleport in and aid the battle will end up splashing in the sea (and the agents can easily escape if seriously challenged).
The unit decided not to be drawn here. By now, their augmentations to the Coaltongue were complete, and it was just a matter of loading everyone on board as fast as possible. Up on the wall, Uriel tried to disrupt the Wayfarer Jaunter but failed. Then he took on ghost form to avoid the attacks of the porteurs and rejoined the others.
Rumdoom followed orders and pulled back too. He had been up on the wall creating ice around the sea wall, but the submersibles had headed straight under it, and the Danoran’s next move would bypass this obstacle too:
Stage 2 (Landing): Half of the fleet approaches at full steam, firing forward turrets at any bunkers along the eastern line of the sea wall that aren’t illuminated by flares. After about half an hour of bombardment, five ships pull up beside the wall, while others form lines behind them, connected with bridges. Troops climb onto the wall. A few escort ships stay at the edge of this formation, watching the skies in case Pemberton appears. The other half of the fleet heads for the sea gate, which is damaged when the submersibles detonate at its hinges. The gate dangles loose, which might hold, but at the same time the eastern fleet is making landing on the wall, La Lux du Raison engages its Lantern Cannon. A blinding flash of light strikes the gate and vaporizes a twenty-foot wide span. The beam travels far enough to also singe parts of the docks on the other side of the sea wall harbour.
This beam was a real threat to the Coaltongue and they wondered how long it would take to recharge. It wouldn’t be safe to take off until they established if there was a window.
Having disappeared some time ago, Pemberton and Pardo returned just in time to embark. Pemberton was dressed in a sharp linen suit. This was really him, not a duplicant! He was furious, fulminating and clearly itching to fight instead of flee.
Gupta wondered if the gathered Danoran forces ought not to have created a hivemind by now, and just as she thought this, one began to coalesce:
When the Danorans finally reached the fortress, their combined desire to conquer Axis and begin a fifth Yerasol War had unforeseen consequences (for them, at least). High above the battlefield, a growing cloud of protoplasmic energy roiled. Starting as a small mote, this tiny spark of nascent thought-energy began to grow. Unlike other hive minds, though, this one didn’t get a chance to mature, because Sovereign Han Jierre targeted it with the Lantern Cannon.
And here was their window: two minutes between shots! They gave orders for take-off. The Danorans watched agog, as the Risuri flagship took to the skies.
Stage 3 (Raze): The Danorans take no chances and thus no prisoners. Scout squads sprint through the fortress with orders to locate Pemberton or the party, then light flares and teleport away. Once flares are lit, the fleet launches mortars at those locations. Additionally, lookouts who inserted earlier on the island outside the fortress watch likely escape routes. They light flares if they spot large groups heading inland, which brings in more mortar fire.
(Later, the unit would learn from Pemberton’s gnolls that their retreat had been covered by the deep faen. Acting on Rumdoom’s orders they attacked every Danoran they could find, ensuring that many more of Pemberton’s subjects won free of the island.)
As for the Coaltongue, the Danorans responded to this surprising turn of events with a weapon they had brought to deal with Pemberton: they fired a huge chain, tipped with a piercing grapple into the hull of the airship. Another followed, but Uriel magically ‘undid’ that, allowing Uru time to steer the ship aside and dodge it; and Rumdoom’s ‘fiat’ refused to allow a third grapple to pierce the hull and it fell away, harmlessly. But the first chain held the Coaltongue in place while the Lantern Cannon recharged…
Pemberton turned turned to Korrigan and said, “Well now, this is one hum-dinger we have here. By the looks of things, our friends down there came with toys to use against me. I so hate to disappoint them, and more, I’d hate to lose this fine ship I spent so much time on. I do believe it’s time to join the rodeo.” Turning his back, he stripped off his jacket and pants, then handed them to Pardo to fold. “I’ll leave it to you fine folk to get this new-fangled ship unstuck. I’ll deal with those ruffians below.” With that, Pemberton leaped from the side of the ship. Moments later, Gradiax the Lord of Steel flew once more.
Uriel and Rumdoom headed belowdecks to deal with the one that had hit home. Quratulain stood guard over Uru. Gupta peered through the sights of her rifle, searching for Han Jierre, while Korrigan leaped off the ship to support Pemberton.
With the king of Risur’s keen military mind and commanding presence to bolster and protect him, Gradiax was able to strafe the deck of every nearby ship, causing the crew to scurry for cover. There would be no more artillery, or any other weapon, brought to bear on the Coaltongue while the dragon remained in the air.
Belowdecks, Uriel and Rumdoom found that an Obscurati steam-walker had somehow teleported aboard to defend the grapple-point. Uriel stepped back and let Rumdoom deal with it. It didn’t take long.
Meanwhile, Uru pushed the jet-portal to its utmost, and the chain snapped. The Coaltongue was free. As soon as she began to move, Gradiax performed a graceful pirouette in mid-air and flew back onto the deck, transforming into his human shape as he came into land. Korrigan was close behind him.
By now, Gupta had Han Jierre in his sights. She realised it would be pointless to shoot, but could not resist a parting gesture, hoping that it would overcome the flagship’s arcane defences. It worked, and the Sovereign was suddenly jolted by a bolt of lightning empowered by the titan of Thunder himself. In return, Gupta was struck by the infernal wrath of the Jierre bloodline; painful, but well worth it.
The Coaltongue flew off into the non-existent-sunset.
End of Session
DM's Note: I accidentally omitted the part where Gradiax gets clipped by the Lantern Cannon. Now there's no reason for him not to join in the fight against the Godmind in Cherage. I think I might try to use this error to my advantage, to remind the PCs that Pemberton isn't a selfless hero all of a sudden just because he's allied with them.