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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 421618" data-attributes="member: 41">At last, the turn is tabled!Fourteen:  The Vital Process - -Neutralize, Distract, and Disable.(or, “Les hommes saints d'armée, Batman!  Nous sommes tous qui vont mourir!”)When the party returns to the surface, suprisingly enough, they find a companion waiting for them.  (Surprising because this is the first time their numbers have been bolstered without immediately preceding casualties.)  And who should it be but Anton Flamehair, a brash, foul-mouthed, loud-talking-soldier of a wizard with a love for horses (platonic, of course), strong drink and evocations.  An old adventuring companion of Egil, Jespo Crim and Esril, Anton Flamehair of Almor has come looking for his Countrywoman.   He takes an immediate shine to Pris, and this seems to ruffle Jespo’s feathers.   Of course, it could be a manifestation of Jespo’s fireball envy, or simply an old wizards’ rivalry resurfacing . . .The party doesn’t have long to get acquainted before Andras (Hommlet’s resident mage) tells the PCs that he and his crystal ball have discerned that Willam of Willip has returned, and is flogging a dead horse into a bloodthirsty frenzy; or more specifically, is once again readying the Shieldlanders for an assault on Heydricus and the Forces of Evil.  (Egil comments, “Hey, Heydricus!  You’re famous!”)  Sir Willam is marching on Hommlet in one day’s time, with 200 Shieldlanders, and they have fire in their eyes.  It seems the fiend impersonating Lady Marie has wormed its way back to Hommlet.The PCs wrangle and debate about what course of action to take, and in the end, devise this devious plan:Hommlet’s civilian population is led by the druid Jeru Ashstaff to the nearby Kron Hills, where they seek sanctuary with the gnomes there.  The PCs, and any remaining classed NPCs (Andras, the new Canon Calmiir, The stonemason, etc.), lead a small band of 40 well-armed skirmishers into hiding in the woods.Then the PCs poison all the ale at the brewery.Egil and Ren Qi observe from a hidden vantage point as the Shieldlanders arrive in the deserted village, and begin sacking the town.  Egil and Ren Qi watch with malign glee as Shieldlanders begin to choke and die, and none of them can tell why.  After a chaotic struggle, Sir Willam and his knightly cronies manage to restore order to the panicked Shieldlanders, and organize a thorough (albeit fearfully sober) razing of Hommlet.The PCs, meanwhile, have set up their small force in an ambush.  As the shadows of twilight lengthen, the Shieldlanders are marching back to Knulb.  Sir Willam is, of course, in the rear, surrounded by his knights and archers.  The PCs surprise the villains with a fireball (or two), destroying Willam’s archers, and decimating his knights.  Ren Qi and Egil sneak around both flanks, while Heydricus and Rose attack Willam directly, with arrows and magic missile spells.Egil is mobbed by wererats, but soon discovers that by rolling enough critical hits and using the Cleave feat, any obstacle can be overcome.  Ren Qi remains hidden and tails a group of rogues who are also attempting to remain out of sight.  Andras calls a wall of fire into being, and cleanly divides the opposing forces into bite-sized chunks.  The Shieldlanders’ already shaky morale begins to waver, then break, and a full-scale rout is underway.  Sir Willam attempts to flee by shapechanging into a wren, but a pair of dispel magics from Jespo Crim and Anton return the wren to its true form, 40 feet in the air, dropping the black-skinned, white haired demon head-first to its death.  It’s Thag, after all! As a parting insult, one of the assassins travelling with the Temple retinue fires a crossbow bolt into Andras, killing the old mage instantly.  Unfortunately for him, his assassination attempt reveals his presence to Ren Qi, who closes the distance using blinding speed, and performs a Sneak Attack assassination of his own, sending the wretch to the Abyss with one well-placed blow.Meanwhile, Heydricus and Rose have convinced one of the fleeing “knights” that he can’t hope to outrun their missile range before he runs out of hit points, and he surrenders.Prisantha the Enchantress steps to the fore, and one missed Willpower save later, this ‘knight’ is spilling his guts to his new best friend, and counseling her to flee before Heydricus the Wicked sacrifices her to the Old One.  It seems that, according to Shieldlander belief, Sir Willam was “resurrected” and returned to his faithful, to help them fight against Heydricus, and his demonic associates.  The Evil forces had wisely disguised their lies with truth - - they blamed the failure of the military attack on Veluna, the burning of Knulb and the recent proliferation of undead on the presence of the Temple of Elemental Evil.  True enough, but they held forward the Temple’s chief agents as Heydricus and his adventuring companions.  You can tell some of the people some of the truth, some of the time . . . but refugees are stupid.   The Shieldlanders have incessantly harried and assaulted the party, thinking of course, that they were fighting evil the whole time.Prisantha develops a devious plan.  Using a change self and philter of persuasion, and with the aid of her new Shieldlander friend, she travels to Knulb and begins her own recruiting in the refugee camp.</blockquote>

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