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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6315988" data-attributes="member: 6692807">The next morning, we woke up and had a long discussion about the sort of magic and defences we would require for our mission. We were very aware that the Ragesians would not only have skilled foot soldiers and archers but also various more exotic allies; devils had already been mentioned and wyverns and their knights were ubiquitous but there were also likely to be trolls, ettins and maybe even giants; as well as Inquisitors of course; many, many Inquisitors. It was with these considerations in mind that we picked our spells, after much discussion and consultation between all of us. Then we cast those which would last a long time before finally leaving our room and approaching Diogenes and the others. We were led to another room by a harassed boy. He was running everywhere and saying excitedly: “The uprising! It’s about to begin!” Once we were in the room with Rantle and Diogenes, the former spread out a map and began pointing: “This the Gate we would like you to defend; if we can slow down the Ragesian reinforcements coming through here, we will be able to bring up your army and attack them from two fronts once we overwhelm the garrisons in the East of the city;  and as we mentioned previously, if you manage to convince to Shahalesti to fight on our side……. So, most of the buildings are stone, and only a couple of stories but there are several towers which are much higher; we have men stationed here, here and here; in addition…..” Rantle went on to point out various defensive features and positions which he had established among the buildings just in front of the Gate. It was impressive; there may have been a little more to him than just being a popinjay. As I watched, he then began to describe the wall and the Tower; I was not paying that much attention; I had grown up in the city and knew that wall and Gate like the back of my hand. “So, the wall is about forty feet tall, with a walkway on its top, defended by crenellations; the Gate and the Gatehouse itself are another matter; the Gate is made of wood while the gatehouse is fortified with stone, with murder holes in the floor; we have prepared a nasty surprise for the enemy……” Again, Rantle went into a detailed and impressive description of the wall and Gatehouse as well as its defensive qualities. I paid more attention to those as we would be relying on them very soon. A little while later, Rantle stopped and said: “Any questions?” Of course, both Victor and Longhelim had several questions, which Rantle answered to their satisfaction and finally we were ready to go. Just as we turned to go, Rantle called out to us: “I will be joining you at the Gate.” We arrived at the Gate shortly after sunrise; we made our way to the pathway on wall and waited; soon there was shouting and noise of battle from the Eastern side of the city; the garrisons were being attacked; or so we hoped! We tensed and waited for the Ragesians to react; and waited and waited and waited……. At one point during this period, I saw figure down on the ground, directing a group of soldiers; he looked vaguely familiar; I sharpened my attention and looked at him closer: “Longhelim, that figure on the ground; the one in plate armour; does he look familiar to you?” The paladin had been looking somewhere else but when he glanced at the ground, he just shook his head: “No. I don’t think I have seen him before.” I looked at him a little longer and then I remembered: “Yes, we do know him; do you remember the last time we were in Gate Pass? We had all just met Torrent in the Poison Apple; we were attacked by a bunch of maniacs with armbands with a black horse’s head on them; and he was the one in charge. I remember it distinctly now.” I turned around to Rantle, who was close by: “Rantle, that figure down there; who is he?” “Oh, that’s Kathor Danava.” My attention sharpened even further: “Danava? Any relation?” “Son, I believe; but before you ask; they have been estranged for years; he used to be an officer in the Ragesian army himself. He has not been in touch with his father for years. He also believes strongly that the Ragesian invasion of the city is unjust.” I nodded; there was very little I could do about this now but I certainly found it very interesting that the estranged son of the commanding officer of the Ragesian army was serving in the ranks of the of his father’s enemies; and there had been several strong indicators that General Danava was not as committed to the Empress as he could be. Still, that was for another time.  Some time later, Longhelim said: “We should put some more of our spells on; we won’t know when the Ragesians will come and we may not have the time to do it once they attack. They could strike us with the devils and follow up with conventional forces.” So we all put up another set of spells, which lasted a few hours but certainly not the whole day; and then we waited again…… It was very tense; we had no idea what was happening in the East but the Ragesians certainly did not seem to be in any hurry to reinforce their garrisons. Then suddenly, we saw a figure running across their rooftops towards us, waving his arms and shouting. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but Victor could; he still had his magical earring which allowed him to seemingly pluck words from the winds at great distances; it was a gift from Pilus, Master of the East Wind: “He’s shouting something about wraiths; about turning one but not before it slew two of his friends; they could be wraiths themselves now.” Longhelim turned to Felix: “Wraiths are of that type of undead; if you are slain by one, then you will become an undead as well. How long does it take, do you know?” The pries shrugged his shoulders and replied: “I don’t know but do you want to take the risk? If we leave it too long then we could be fighting an army of wraiths coming through the walls and floors. We need to go out there and deal with it.”So several flying spells were cast as well as the spell that allowed individuals to walk on air as if it was solid earth and then we sped out from the wall, shouting at Rantle: “We’re going to deal with the wraiths.” As John, Drudge, Felix and Longhelim were flying, they managed to move far ahead of Victor and I; Victor was walking and he was carrying me. Most of my flying spells had gone on other people. As the others outdistanced me, I saw that Felix, John and Longhelim begin a systematic search of the houses which had contained our patrols; as Victor was approaching, suddenly, Felix brandished his holy symbol and thrust it forward into a window. Then he stepped back and shouted: “That’s the two weaker ones gone!” The search continued; Victor and I had almost arrived when John shouted: “Here’s the other one,” as he brandished his own holy symbol. Unfortunately, the rogue stumbled back, calling: “Felix! Help!” The priest strode forward and waved his own symbol almost negligently. I assumed by the lack of consternation that this wraith was gone as well; by this point, we had all met and were just deciding how to continue. John said: “We should go on; see if the Ragesians are following up!” Longhelim just smile and replied: “John, can you not spot a distraction when you see one. They threw that wraith in to draw us out. We need to get back to the Gate as quickly as possible; and don’t be surprised if there is an attack going on when we return!” Thus warned, we made our way back to the Gatehouse with a certain amount of caution, only to find that all was quiet; I was a little surprised and puzzled but quite grateful nonetheless; as Longhelim had intimated, I was fully expecting to arrive into a fully fledged battle with devils. So, we pulled back our allies who had been positioned as advance elements and stationed them back on top of the Gate. After this attack, we became fully aware that these advance elements were little better than fodder for the Ragesians; they would be far more effective as bulwarks in the defence. So, we waited for a little time and then Victor suddenly said: “I hear something! Tramping boots! They’re on their way!” We passed the word to the others and strained our eyes in the western direction of the road. Finally, we saw a phalanx of Ragesian troops; it was roughly a quarter of a century, arrayed in perfect marching order with an officer commanding from the rear, accompanied by a masked Inquisitor. They were armed with swords, bows and wore full plate armour. They looked a formidable force indeed. They were still very far away but marching in perfect step; suddenly our orders to withdraw our advance elements became a very good idea; there was no way that the Gate Pass militia could stand against these disciplined, professional troops. As I was watching and evaluating them, I could hear Rantle rattling on in the background; I wasn’t really paying any attention to what he was saying, but there were several cheers at various points in his oration so he must have been saying something right. As I studied the advancing location, something struck me and I edged closer to Longhelim on top of the wall: “Their discipline and formation are both their strength and weakness; I have a spell that I can cast from here that could hurt that phalanx badly, if not actually destroy it; what do you reckon?” The paladin replied immediately: “Our instructions are to delay them; we’re not expected to stop them so the more you can disable here the less more troops they will have to deploy in this area and the longer it will take them; also, sooner or later, those devils will arrive and we will have our hands full so do it!” Longhelim was right. I cast my spell, disguising it from the Inquisitor, even though he was too far away to counter my magic; it was spectacularly successful. My calculation was correct and I was able to aim my spell in such a way it wiped out all but seven of the phalanx. As soon as I finished, Drudge finished three more of the soldiers with deadly accurate arrow volleys. The final four ran towards the Gate. However, as soon we had dealt with one phalanx, another appeared. I looked at Longhelim with a question and he nodded. So I cast the same devastating spell again; I had two of them. The results mirrored my first casting except that this time, Drudge only had one target at which to aim. Having dealt with him, he switched aim to the remaining soldiers from the first phalanx. So, that was the first two phalanxes finished, but another appeared; unfortunately, those were my two most powerful spells. I saw that the Inquisitor from the third phalanx drew a scroll and cast it at us; a ball of fire seared its way through our ranks. It was not powerful enough to penetrate our defences but it played havoc among the Gate Pass defenders so we called on them to spread and hide in the houses behind the Gate. At this point, I threw my own ball of fire at the phalanx; mine was a little more powerful and again, much of their formation was devastated. Drudge followed up with his own volleys, mopping up. Another formation appeared; it seemed as if the Ragesian commander was determined to bull his way through the gate. This time I cast a spells which resembled an area which contained an icy storm. This did not actually hurt the soldiers but it did play havoc with their formation as they slipped and slid within the spell. Drudge began to pick out the Inquisitors and officers of the formation by this point; as this latest phalanx was struggling, another appeared behind them and rapidly reached my spell. They did not enter but unlimbered their bows; quickly and expertly they strung, loaded, aimed and loosed. A cloud of arrows flew in our direction; the sheer volume of shafts was such that it was impossible to avoid them and I was a little hurt by a few of them although most of them bounced off my defences. Thankfully, Felix healed me and then John shouted: “I can put a spell above us; it will deflect the arrows.” Then he looked abashed: “No, that won’t work. I can only put it in front of us.” Felix then said: “I can put a stone wall shaped like a roof above us; it will give some protection.” “Do it!” barked Longhelim. I saw that both he and Victor were assessing the approaching enemy. Then Victor suddenly said: “Longhelim! Bows!” I watched as the warriors drew their own bows from their equipment. I had never seen either of them use bows but they obviously had some familiarity with them. As the Ragesian soldiers emerged from the stormy spell, more followed, giving both Longhelim and Victor plenty of targets. They did not have Drudge’s expertise but they proved surprising adept with their bows; especially Victor. As I saw more phalanxes appear in the distance, I decided that it was time to deploy another weapon in our arsenal. I shouted: “Drudge, do you want to be invisible. It’ll give you a lot more flexibility!” The ranger just nodded as he was concentrating on his aim and I moved towards him as he fired another volley; it was not necessary for me to check but I was sure that somewhere in the distance, another Inquisitor had fallen. I cast my spell at the ranger and suddenly he was not there. Then I moved back to the my position to see that my previous spell was exhausted so I did something else to slow down the Ragesian; a viscous acidic cloud enveloped the closest newest phalanx to us stopped it in its tracks. They were not exactly trapped but they would be moving very slowly and more importantly, the other formations would be blocked behind them.</blockquote>

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