Rel's Faded Glory III: Glory Reborn (FINAL UPDATE 6/22 - SHE'S DONE, BABY!!)

[Rel]

With the brave band of Paladins all dead, Bale howled in victory and charged forward. Before him scattered the Dragonkin who soared off chasing the Dire Owls and Hawks. The only minion to keep pace with Bale was the Lizard-Thing who vanished and reappeared at the left hand of his evil master.

It was time to act. Bale was pulling away from his minions and the companions wanted to keep it that way. Speaks stepped forward and from the marsh and thicket he conjured a cloud of Insects to Plague the Orcs, Giants and Blood Ferals who struggled forward after their master. Just behind him his friends prepared for their roles in the coming confrontation with Bale.

Marcus, having healed himself somewhat in the moments since the battle first started, landed next to Cathal and performed an minor ritual that would allow him to Shield the wounds of anOther. So warded, Cathal lowered the necklace over his head and his Body became as Iron. The belongings he still wore seemed to merge with his newly metal body and he knelt to retrieve the things he had need of in the coming fight, most importantly the Bloodstone Blade.

Marius puzzled his way through a scroll that Lazarius had prepared and wings sprouted from his back as he plied the magic to Alter himSelf. The others held their ground, awaiting their moment to strike.

The Shining Lady swooped in to confront those who continued to follow Bale on the near side of the thicket wall. Here flaming sword slashed at one of the Giants leaving a terrible wound. Beneath her the Blood Ferals ceased attempting to fend off the plague of insects that they were beset with and dove into the River of Blood to escape.

Bale glanced back to see that his troops were coming under attack by this lone Celestial. With a snarl of contempt he gestured with his left hand and unleashed his foul power upon her. It was as though her body was turned inside out. She died a merciful instant later, her form dissolving in a cloud filled with motes of light. Marcus cried out at the loss of an avatar of his lord as the others came to understand and fear how mighty was the destructive power that Bale wielded.

Bale and his army continued to push toward the island unabated.

 

[Rel]

Just a quick note to give some perspective on this battle thus far. If it seems like the PC's are not doing very much except continuing to layer on the protective magics then you're right. The confrontation thus far has taken place at extreme range. It is only at this point that Bale has approached closer than 3-400 feet.

The entire strategy of the party was to let Bale's rage and desire for destruction lead him out away from the bulk of his army who are having to struggle to and through the thicket wall to follow him. Their hope is that Bale can be isolated so that they only have to worry about being slain by him rather than having enemies at every side.

I'm hoping that I've managed to paint a fairly vivid picture of the action but if there is anything that you don't understand then I'm happy to answer questions to clarify things.

 

[Rel]

Battle raged in the skies above as the Dire Owls and Hawks clawed and bit at the Dragonkin. Whenever one of the scaly beasts strayed too close to the fortifications a swarm of arrows and javelins surged skyward to attack it. But this encounter was merely a sideshow. The fate of those who stood against Bale was about to be decided as he charged forward to within a hundred paces of the island.

Speaks transformed into a huge bear as Lazarius vanished from view. Cathal struggled to use one of his own enchantments on himself but found that is Iron Body made magic very difficult. Marcus was in prayer, focusing his will for the task ahead. Marius and Magdar fired arrows at the Dragonkin circling overhead with the Imperial neatly skewering one in the head. With a smile he slung his bow and readied himself for close combat. His took his rapier in hand and felt the reassuring presence of the Black Blade in the other. Win or lose, it would drink its fill of souls today.

Suddenly Bale was nearly upon them, barely more than a dozen paces from where they stood. He towered over them to a height of nearly thirty feet and with a bellow and gesture he called the fires of heaven down upon them. Meteors Swarmed down upon the island, charring wood and scalding flesh. The magical wards against fire that they had placed upon themselves saved them from the worst of the blast but they still felt the wrath of Bale upon their skins.

In the next moment, the minions of Bale were among them. The Lizard-Thing appeared from nowhere within twenty feet and the Dragonkin dove down to land among them, lashing out with their long spears.

Lazarius popped into view as a Bolt of Lightning leapt from his fingertips to blast Bale. Blood boiled from the godling’s flank but he did not slow. Cathal and Marcus moved together to engage Bale directly. As they went, Cathal managed to get one final protective magic into place that he hoped might Shield him from Bale’s might. Marcus continued applying healing magic to himself knowing that he would share in whatever wounds the Brigante withstood.

Marius took to the air on his new wings and a thrust from his sword took down one of the Dragonkin who were alighting among them. From his vantage he saw Bale rush forward wielding the shattered remains of his mace and slash at Marcus, staving in part of his armor and nearly knocking the warrior from his feet. Things were about to get ugly.

Trying to thin out the other attackers, Ilrath, Magdar and Speaks all charged the Lizard-Thing in a rush. Axe and tooth sought weak places in the creature’s thick scales and Speaks’ ursine jaws attempted to plant a Kiss of Death on its hide. The Lizard-Thing proved resistant to such magic and slashed Speaks in return. The two great beasts were now locked in a titanic struggle.

A pair of Treants joined the low altitude aerial battle that Marius and the Dragonkin were now engaged in. Branch and spear traded blows with Marius trying to stay clear of the worst of it, swooping in to flank the Dragonkin and provide a telling blow with his rapier whenever possible. One of the Dragonkin dove in toward Marius, leading with his deadly spear but just before his blow could strike home a flurry of glowing Magical Missiles struck him dead from the sky. Lazarius nodded to Marius and turned his attention to the other minions who were starting to catch up with their master.

Marcus continued to provide healing for himself and Cathal as the Brigante warrior confronted Bale directly. His first slash with the Bloodstone Blade struck home but the magic did not overcome the power of the godling. But for the first time it seemed to register with Bale that a mighty weapon was being brought to bear that could possibly hurt him. With a cry of rage, he lashed out with his broken haft and left a gouge in Cathal’s iron skin.

Fire pierced down from the heavens as Flame Struck close to Marius, incinerating a pair of Dragonkin. He looked up to see Great Root standing inside the eastern tree line. Animals of every description flooded past the Great Guardian of the Darkwood and dashed to battle Bale’s army.

Speaks saw his old friend had arrived at last and delivered a vicious series of claws and bites to the Lizard-Thing. At first he thought that his attacks had driven the creature from battle as it recoiled in mass of scale and blood. But a moment later he understood that the beast was only buying itself room to unleash a brutal assault on their minds. Pain shot through the heads of those who had attacked it and the Mind Blast left Ilrath and Magdar stunned.

Just as they were losing a pair of their warriors, Bale was gaining a pair of his own. Two Giants had outdistanced Speaks’ swarm of insects and pounded their way to join the melee that took place at the island in the marsh.

 

[Old One]

<chanting>

Go...go...go...go...

Good stuff, Rel...keep it comin'!

~ OO

 

[Rel]

<chanting>

Go...go...go...go...

Good stuff, Rel...keep it comin'!

~ OO

Look for one more post, probably this evening when wife and daughter go to swim class. And thanks for the encouragement.

 

[Look_a_Unicorn]

*Does the happy-lurker dance*

Awesome stuff!

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Thought it was time I dropped in again to say how much I'm still enjoying this tale.

And the climactic fight, so far ... truly excellent . Keep up the good work, Rel!

One question, re Capito and the paladins swooping in and getting minced. Had the party not communicated their plan to let Bale outdistance his followers, or were they trying to get the glory ... or had you planned it all along to get rid of Bale's mace before he hit the PCs?

OK that's three questions .

 

[Mark Causey]

So, would now be a good time to start reading this series?

 

[Cathal]

Thought it was time I dropped in again to say how much I'm still enjoying this tale.

And the climactic fight, so far ... truly excellent . Keep up the good work, Rel!

One question, re Capito and the paladins swooping in and getting minced. Had the party not communicated their plan to let Bale outdistance his followers, or were they trying to get the glory ... or had you planned it all along to get rid of Bale's mace before he hit the PCs?

OK that's three questions .

Oh, no doubt, we told repeatedly Capito of the plan, and he made the decision, himself, to charge ahead--something about valor, striking down the unholy, etc. Meantime, our own paladin (the wise and mighty Marcus) knew that discretion is the better part of valor and stood his ground with those whom he knew could help him defeat the BBEG at hand. [Capito was the "Spanker" and Marcus was the "Planker", if you remember your recent St. Cuthbertian history lessons]

From a metagame standpoint, there's probably some DM ex Machina activity on the whole mace thing(which Cathal called the Mourning Star, briefly), but you never know with Rel at the helm.

 

[Rel]

One question, re Capito and the paladins swooping in and getting minced. Had the party not communicated their plan to let Bale outdistance his followers, or were they trying to get the glory ... or had you planned it all along to get rid of Bale's mace before he hit the PCs?

OK that's three questions .

Who is Capito? I can't seem to recall...oh yeah, that guy!

Capito and the Paladins of St. Cuthbert knew of the party's plan and made no objections to it. But Capito was listening to a higher power and his own conscience about when was the moment for him to strike. In the end he understood that he had the only weapon that could destroy Bale's weapon of utter destruction (the Mace Capito was given as the Right Hand of St. Cuthbert was also a Rod of Cancellation). But the only way he had of delivering it was to charge out ahead of the others.

The Paladins also understood that the man they followed had an important role to play in this affair. They joined in the charge to try and assure that none of Bale's minions could stop Capito from getting to his target. They knew that doing so likely meant their own deaths but that was considered a trivial matter.

I think that at first the PC's thought that Capito was being a showboating glory-hog or possibly even defecting to the other side when he charged out ahead. Because of the prophecy they'd been told, they had braced themselves for him to turn to the "dark side" the whole time. It wasn't until the explosion that left Bale with the shattered haft of his mace that they understood Capito's Sacrifice. And there was a round of almost reverent "Ah ha!"'s since they now understood why only one of the Hands of St. Cuthbert would see the shores of Celestia. At least that is my impression of what they knew and when they knew it. The players themselves might have a different recollection.

As to whether this was the plan all along, I'll just say that being a GM or a god has its advantages. Perhaps St. Cuthbert knew all along that nobody stood even a chance against Bale so long as he wielded a Sphere of Annihilation on a Stick. Perhaps knowing that, he sought to put a weapon that could counter Bale's in the hands of a follower. Perhaps he chose someone whose dedication to the Order had forced him to make tough decisions his whole life and who had purged any sense of fear or doubt from his psyche, making him a rather arrogant jerk.

Or maybe they just got lucky and the right person was in the right place at the right time. Who's to say?

But the real question is "How would things have played out if Marcus had opted to take up the Mace rather than the Shield when the Shining Lady offered him the choice? Would he have been destroyed? And did Capito get a choice too or did he have to take whatever Marcus left behind?"

OK that's three questions .