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Way of the Wicked Playthrough - Updated 2023/03/28
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<blockquote data-quote="rchodges" data-source="post: 8483620" data-attributes="member: 7031385"><p><strong>Part 1:</strong> Knot of Thorns</p><p><strong>Act 4: </strong>Burning Balentyne!</p><p><strong>Session 11:</strong> Do Wizards Dream of Electric Cheetahs?</p><p></p><p>“We need to have this discussion.”, Donovan said flatly to the group, as they sat around the largest of the rooms they had reserved at the Lord’s Dalliance Inn.</p><p>“I can make a plan either way, but the actions will be influenced by the survivability you want to see.” Donovan looked at the rest of his family: Bebop and Lucius, who were each sitting in chairs, and Tamsen who was in the bed with him, her arms wrapped around him from behind as he was sitting up.</p><p>Donovan continued, “Put simply, do you want to attempt to save the rank-and-file soldiers of Balantyne, or do you not care about their outcome?” Donovan wrapped his hands together, then put them against his chin, waiting for their response.</p><p>Bebop was first to respond, “Whatever outcome brings the least amount of risk to us is all I care about. Those soldiers can live or die for all I care.” Donovan nodded to Bebop, then looked over to Lucius.</p><p>Lucius pondered his answer for a minute, then began, “You know I’ll follow you anywhere Donovan. I just don’t understand why you were so adamant about saving everyone originally, and then going on a killing spree immediately following that.”</p><p>Donovan touched his fingers to his lips, “I let Havelyn dictate my timeframe and actions. But I’m not doing that anymore. He wants to fight me like a warrior, I’ll fight back like a merchant.” Donovan smirked at the end of his answer.</p><p>Tamsen didn’t say anything, and instead merely continued to stroke Donovan’s shoulders and hair. Of course, no one expected her to say anything, as they were all keenly aware that Tamsen would save or kill whomever Donovan asked of her, with no moral compulsion on the matter.</p><p>Pausing a moment, Donovan went forward with his discussion. “Alright, so it sounds like we’re going to kill all of them.” Donovan clapped his hands together and nodded, as if affirming his thoughts. “We’re going to be very busy tonight, let me go over the plans with all of you.”</p><p>The discussions between the four of them went on for several hours, and day moved into night.</p><p></p><p>As night approached, the group split into two parts. Donovan and Lucius moved over to the north side of the compound, taking care to stay out of distance. Meanwhile, Tamsen and Bebop worked their way back under the tunnels between the Inn and the Keep. The two groups communicated with each other via the link that Tamsen held with all of them. Once all of them were in the assigned positions, the operation was underway. Lucius began by summoning a group of Earth Elementals. Donovan gave the Elementals specific instructions for them to follow with regards to the Keep. They were to move underground for a specific distance, then come up into the Keep proper. The rooms they were to surface in corresponded to the Pantry, the Kitchen, and the Storeroom. From there, they were told to destroy all objects they saw in the room. Donovan’s hope in all of this was that the Elementals would cause damage to the remaining food supply that was nearby the Kitchen. The Elementals began their cruel task.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Bebop and Tamsen went to work on the food stores that were being kept under the Armory. Per Donovan’s instructions, Bebop moved a group of crates and barrels to the other side of the secret door where the tunnel began. Tamsen summoned her dark magicks, and caused the food stocks to be Putrefied. Given the sheer volume of food that was stored here, the process would take some time. Crates filled with foot became rotted and spoiled, and the smell in the vault began to get worse. Once the two of them were finished, they retreated back into the passageway, and pulled the door closed.</p><p></p><p>As the first wave of the Elementals completed their task, Lucius summoned up another group of Elementals. These Elementals were instructed to push directly through the closest walls. This would lead the Elementals directly into the Barracks, which from there they were instructed to attack and kill any individual they discovered in the room. Once the Elementals molded through the Barrack’s wall, Donovan and Lucius began their own retreat from the Keep. While they were unable to hear what was happening beyond the wall, Lucius could imagine that the summoned creatures were shedding a great deal of blood, given the time of evening and the number of soldiers who would be clustered together in that room.</p><p></p><p>Once the group had completed their onslaught against the Keep, they returned via their different methods back to the Inn. The family sat down at a table, and Lucius went into the kitchen area to begin cooking the fish that had been purchased from the docks earlier that day. During a previous discussion, Lucius had put forward the notion of getting poison glands from some exotic fish, and using that poison to take out some of the more influential individuals in the Keep. Now that the plan had switched to a “siege” mentality, they had no reason to purchase the poison sacs on these fish, but Donovan still intended to pay the fishermen for their efforts, since he had already agreed to the commitment that had been made previously. Donovan was congratulating the family on their individual efforts, and they were regaling one another with the tales that had taken place during their individual actions.</p><p></p><p>After the discussion, Donovan spelled out the next part of his plans to the group.</p><p>“Tamsen my love, I’ve already assigned Kiliketz to night watch duty, and told him to contact you if he sees anyone attempting to leave the Keep. You will stay in Lucius’ room at night, and wake him up if anything occurs so that we can intercept them right away.” Tamsen nodded with understanding at Donovan’s instructions.</p><p>“Meanwhile, we’ll work together as a group within the area during the day to make sure no one comes out. If we see someone, we’ll stop them before they have a chance to resupply.” Donovan looked at each of them to make sure they understood what was being asked of them.</p><p>Lucius queried Donovan, “Don’t we want to question some of these people to see what all we have accomplished in there?”</p><p>Donovan shook his head, “Not until we see someone worth questioning. Otherwise, we have to continue applying pressure to the group. An army is only as good as the food they eat.”</p><p>“Depending on how well things go, I’ll shop around the town and begin creating a buying frenzy on food supplies.”, Donovan continued, to no one in particular.</p><p></p><p>The food and company were both delicious, especially so as they considered that the people inside the Keep were by now realizing that they had no food available to eat. How long would that group be able to go without having food available? Donovan calculated that the situation inside the Keep would become fairly dire after three days. After another week, there would certainly be casualties. And, all of this would have a devastating impact on morale.</p><p>“Your move, Havelyn.”, Donovan thought to himself.</p><p></p><p>The night passed, and the family retired to their respective rooms. Lucius was beginning to feel his connection to his summoned monsters continue to grow. He could picture them in different ways, seeing creatures as more than just the habitats they would traditionally dwell in. As Lucius laid in his bed, he imagined what it would be like if his creatures could swim or fly instead of simply run. A certain glee occurred to him as he began to ponder the possibilities. Unceremoniously, Tamsen entered his room.</p><p>“Hello Lucius.”, Tamsen said, a sly smile on her face. Tamsen dropped the silk clothing she was wearing, revealing her naked form underneath, and climbed into the bed with Lucius.</p><p>“Do you not have any other clothes?”, Lucius asked, somewhat surprised at the boldness of Tamsen. Lucius understood very clearly the function that Tamsen served in the family. On the most obvious level, Donovan was clearly smitten by Tamsen, and she could do no wrong in his eyes. Tamsen also had Bebop under her thumb, and he was a powerful warrior available to Donovan in large part due to Tamsen’s manipulations. For those reasons, Lucius was always guarded when dealing with Tamsen. He could easily imagine getting lost in that woman’s embrace, and become another one of her toys.</p><p>Tamsen smirked at him, “I would be naked all the time if Donovan would allow me to. Why, are you not comfortable being around a naked woman?”</p><p>“I’ve been around plenty of naked women, but usually we’re doing more than just sleeping.”, Lucius responded teasingly, and then immediately regretted that choice of words.</p><p>Tamsen rolled herself on top of Lucius, her legs straddling his waist. “Oh, are you saying you want to do more?” Tamsen ran her finger across Lucius’ chest.</p><p>“No thanks, Tamsen. You and Donovan have a complicated relationship.”, Lucius replied, although he felt his body responding to her caress.</p><p>“It’s not complicated at all.”, Tamsen insisted. “I love Donovan, I enjoy whomever else I please.” Tamsen leaned forward, her eyes locked with his. “You only like to play with your dolly?”</p><p>“Eidolon.”, Lucius answered</p><p>Tamsen giggled, enjoying getting underneath Lucius’ skin. She whispered, “Do you want to have a threesome with her? Have you ever wanted to see her with a woman?”</p><p>Lucius eyes narrowed, “Very funny, Tamsen.” Lucius began feeling his pulse speed up, and was unsure how he was going to disentangle himself from her if she refused to stop.</p><p>Tamsen shrugged and sighed. She kissed Lucius on the cheek, then rolled back off him. “Good night, Lucius.”</p><p>Lucius wiped his face with his hands and spoke quietly to himself, “The things I do for this family.”</p><p></p><p>The next morning came, and Lucius awoke to find Tamsen wrapped around him.</p><p>“Mmm, Donovan.”, she mumbled quietly in her sleep.</p><p>Lucius was already irritated, “Is this how it’s going to be every morning?” Lucius pulled away from Tamsen’s grip, simultaneously attempting to wake her up. “Get up, Tamsen! I need to go fix breakfast for everyone.”</p><p>Tamsen whined as she reached out across the bed, “Cuddles…”</p><p>Lucius became more insistent, “Get up woman! Go cuddle with Donovan.”</p><p>Tamsen looked up from where she had been sleeping, annoyed at having already been awoken. She stood up and grabbed her silken clothing, not even bothering to put it on. Opening the door, Tamsen walked across the hallway of the Inn, and back into Donovan’s room. Everyone who had arrived early at the Inn for breakfast was suddenly shocked to have seen a naked woman simply strolling across the hallway.</p><p>For his part, Donovan was already awake, planning out possible moves and actions by the soldiers in the Keep and how he could counter their actions. Upon seeing Tamsen, he smiled and greeted her. “Good morning my love, I hope you slept well. Did anything of…”</p><p>Tamsen cut Donovan off, throwing herself onto Donovan, and wrapping her arms, legs, and tail around him. “Cuddle me, Donovan.”, she said, already falling back asleep.</p><p>Donovan smiled, and kissed Tamsen softly on the forehead, “Obviously, that went well.”</p><p></p><p>The family settled into their usual routine as the morning continued on. The group got wind of a rumor that a Talingarde soldier was visiting with the Mayor of the town. Donovan told the group they would need to go and respond to this, the soldier could not be allowed to gather reinforcements for the Keep.</p><p></p><p>The group headed out to the center of town, where there was a large gathering of civilians around the Mayor’s office. Apparently, there was quite a lot of buzz about the handsome soldier who had come from the North. The soldier left the Mayor’s office and got on his horse without fanfare, then immediately took off to ride to the next destination.</p><p>“Stop him!”, Donovan instructed Lucius.</p><p>Lucius summoned forth a Cheetah, allowing the Cheetah to take on aspects of the Plane of the Air. The Cheetah literally flew out towards the horseman, electricity crackling in its wake. The Cheetah struck the soldier from its midair position, biting and clawing the soldier, knocking them off the horse. As the crowd was struck numb in shock from seeing a cheetah flying down onto the horseman, it began to devour the flesh of the soldier.</p><p>Donovan looked over at Lucius, surprise on his face. “That’s new.”</p><p>Lucius smiled, “It’s been something I have contemplated for a while now.”</p><p></p><p>The group headed back into town, and then further on towards the Keep. On the way, they began hearing the sound of a group headed towards them. Hoping to gain the advantage of an ambush, the family retreated into the trees, and watched the individuals who passed by. A group of eight soldiers were on the way into town, undoubtedly to collect food for the Keep.</p><p>“Surround them with creatures, and end them.”, Donovan communicated intention to Lucius via Tamsen.</p><p>Once more, Lucius called forth the power of his summoned monsters. This time, he called forth a collection of Hell Hounds, surrounding the group at the cardinal points.</p><p>“Incinerate!”, Lucius commanded the Hell Hounds. All in one action, the Hounds simultaneously erupted fire from their mouths, catching the soldiers inside of a massive gout of flame coming from all directions. The soldiers, unprepared for the attack, were scorched utterly. Burnt flesh and warped metal was all that was to be found from the group.</p><p></p><p>Feeling bolder now, the four began to push closer to the Watch Tower, in order to get a better understanding of what sort of damage had taken place. With Donovan’s keen perception, he was able to notice a figure on the walls of the Keep. An unarmored figure, to be precise.</p><p>“Lucius, the Mage is on the wall! Let’s take advantage of this opportunity!”, Donovan spoke excitedly.</p><p>Lucius called forth yet another one of the Cheetahs tied to Air, launching it with its amazing mobility at the Wizard who was hundreds of feet away.</p><p></p><p>Tacitus was no fool. He had heard of the recent attacks that had been coming from summoned monsters, and had an idea of what to expect. More impressively, he had agreed to continue to provide aid, even as Father Donnagin had continued to bemoan the wickedness and danger of Arcane magic. But nothing in his life could have prepared him from what he saw coming at him from the ground. It was a Cheetah, but not running across the landscape as one might expect. No, this Cheetah was literally hurling itself at him through the air. Thinking quickly, Tacitus fired off a collection of Magic Missiles, then followed that up with a large Fireball. Wasting no time, Tacitus immediately applied Fly to himself, and readied himself to take to the air.</p><p></p><p>Lucius sensed the demise of the previous monster, which prompted him to immediately spawn another one. This one hurtled out again towards the Mage, who began flying away from it as fast as possible, getting out of the creature’s initial attack range. Once airborne, Tacitus continued to zoom around the air, all the while being quickly followed up by the flying Cheetah. Finally, Tacitus flew into one of the larger structures of the Keep, closing the windows behind him.</p><p>“Godsdamnit!”, Donovan cursed. “He got away. Have Lucinda get into the main courtyard area. We need to get some kind of confirmation of how much damage has been done.”</p><p></p><p>Lucius called up Lucinda, who would be able to provide far more information than his typical summoned monsters. Lucius applied wings to Lucinda, and had her fly up to the area where the Wizard had been walking around. As Lucinda moved through, it became clear that the soldiers had been pulled away from the Keep walls, a clear response from the attacks that had been taking place over the last 24 hours. Lucinda continued to relay information back to her master, notifying Lucius of the things she was discovering.</p><p></p><p>As Lucinda attempted to move into the section where the soldiers were typically quartered, she encountered a large contingency of soldiers. For Donovan, this was confirmation that the soldiers were continuing to hold up inside of a small section of the Watch Tower. Lucinda began fighting her way through the soldiers, killing several of them in the process. It was then that Captain Barhold appeared, Great Sword in hand. Knowing that Lucinda would not be able to single handedly hold back Barhold and a half dozen guards by herself, Lucius decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and had her recalled to her home Plane.</p><p></p><p>With that, Donovan and the others decided that this would be as far as they would be able to press into the Keep for tonight. It was clear that Haverlyn was continuing to coalesce his forces into a limited area, unwilling to continue taking losses by being spread out throughout the Watch Tower. As they left, the group felt a searing heat, and flames lapped at their flesh. Looking up, it was clear that Tacitus had taken the opportunity of their withdrawal as a chance to hurl down a Fireball into their midst. Donovan patched up the group, and they began to return to the Inn.</p><p>Suddenly, Lucius had an idea, “What if we take all those bodies that are up the road just a bit, and spread them out around here?”</p><p>Donovan laughed aloud at the suggestion, “How clever, Lucius! Let Haverlyn find a group of his men clearly burned to cinders from a Fireball attack, and we’ll see how he responds!”</p><p></p><p>Bebop and Lucinda collected the bodies of the soldiers that had been attacked further up the road, then placed their burnt corpses at the center of the Fireball explosion. While Donovan didn’t know if anything would come of it, he was delighted at the thought of the “Detective” Donnagin discovering these bodies and coming to the “obvious” conclusion of what had happened to them.</p><p></p><p> “Oh, that wicked Arcane magic!”, Donovan laughed.</p><p></p><p>Session 11 Ends.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="rchodges, post: 8483620, member: 7031385"] [B]Part 1:[/B] Knot of Thorns [B]Act 4: [/B]Burning Balentyne! [B]Session 11:[/B] Do Wizards Dream of Electric Cheetahs? “We need to have this discussion.”, Donovan said flatly to the group, as they sat around the largest of the rooms they had reserved at the Lord’s Dalliance Inn. “I can make a plan either way, but the actions will be influenced by the survivability you want to see.” Donovan looked at the rest of his family: Bebop and Lucius, who were each sitting in chairs, and Tamsen who was in the bed with him, her arms wrapped around him from behind as he was sitting up. Donovan continued, “Put simply, do you want to attempt to save the rank-and-file soldiers of Balantyne, or do you not care about their outcome?” Donovan wrapped his hands together, then put them against his chin, waiting for their response. Bebop was first to respond, “Whatever outcome brings the least amount of risk to us is all I care about. Those soldiers can live or die for all I care.” Donovan nodded to Bebop, then looked over to Lucius. Lucius pondered his answer for a minute, then began, “You know I’ll follow you anywhere Donovan. I just don’t understand why you were so adamant about saving everyone originally, and then going on a killing spree immediately following that.” Donovan touched his fingers to his lips, “I let Havelyn dictate my timeframe and actions. But I’m not doing that anymore. He wants to fight me like a warrior, I’ll fight back like a merchant.” Donovan smirked at the end of his answer. Tamsen didn’t say anything, and instead merely continued to stroke Donovan’s shoulders and hair. Of course, no one expected her to say anything, as they were all keenly aware that Tamsen would save or kill whomever Donovan asked of her, with no moral compulsion on the matter. Pausing a moment, Donovan went forward with his discussion. “Alright, so it sounds like we’re going to kill all of them.” Donovan clapped his hands together and nodded, as if affirming his thoughts. “We’re going to be very busy tonight, let me go over the plans with all of you.” The discussions between the four of them went on for several hours, and day moved into night. As night approached, the group split into two parts. Donovan and Lucius moved over to the north side of the compound, taking care to stay out of distance. Meanwhile, Tamsen and Bebop worked their way back under the tunnels between the Inn and the Keep. The two groups communicated with each other via the link that Tamsen held with all of them. Once all of them were in the assigned positions, the operation was underway. Lucius began by summoning a group of Earth Elementals. Donovan gave the Elementals specific instructions for them to follow with regards to the Keep. They were to move underground for a specific distance, then come up into the Keep proper. The rooms they were to surface in corresponded to the Pantry, the Kitchen, and the Storeroom. From there, they were told to destroy all objects they saw in the room. Donovan’s hope in all of this was that the Elementals would cause damage to the remaining food supply that was nearby the Kitchen. The Elementals began their cruel task. Meanwhile, Bebop and Tamsen went to work on the food stores that were being kept under the Armory. Per Donovan’s instructions, Bebop moved a group of crates and barrels to the other side of the secret door where the tunnel began. Tamsen summoned her dark magicks, and caused the food stocks to be Putrefied. Given the sheer volume of food that was stored here, the process would take some time. Crates filled with foot became rotted and spoiled, and the smell in the vault began to get worse. Once the two of them were finished, they retreated back into the passageway, and pulled the door closed. As the first wave of the Elementals completed their task, Lucius summoned up another group of Elementals. These Elementals were instructed to push directly through the closest walls. This would lead the Elementals directly into the Barracks, which from there they were instructed to attack and kill any individual they discovered in the room. Once the Elementals molded through the Barrack’s wall, Donovan and Lucius began their own retreat from the Keep. While they were unable to hear what was happening beyond the wall, Lucius could imagine that the summoned creatures were shedding a great deal of blood, given the time of evening and the number of soldiers who would be clustered together in that room. Once the group had completed their onslaught against the Keep, they returned via their different methods back to the Inn. The family sat down at a table, and Lucius went into the kitchen area to begin cooking the fish that had been purchased from the docks earlier that day. During a previous discussion, Lucius had put forward the notion of getting poison glands from some exotic fish, and using that poison to take out some of the more influential individuals in the Keep. Now that the plan had switched to a “siege” mentality, they had no reason to purchase the poison sacs on these fish, but Donovan still intended to pay the fishermen for their efforts, since he had already agreed to the commitment that had been made previously. Donovan was congratulating the family on their individual efforts, and they were regaling one another with the tales that had taken place during their individual actions. After the discussion, Donovan spelled out the next part of his plans to the group. “Tamsen my love, I’ve already assigned Kiliketz to night watch duty, and told him to contact you if he sees anyone attempting to leave the Keep. You will stay in Lucius’ room at night, and wake him up if anything occurs so that we can intercept them right away.” Tamsen nodded with understanding at Donovan’s instructions. “Meanwhile, we’ll work together as a group within the area during the day to make sure no one comes out. If we see someone, we’ll stop them before they have a chance to resupply.” Donovan looked at each of them to make sure they understood what was being asked of them. Lucius queried Donovan, “Don’t we want to question some of these people to see what all we have accomplished in there?” Donovan shook his head, “Not until we see someone worth questioning. Otherwise, we have to continue applying pressure to the group. An army is only as good as the food they eat.” “Depending on how well things go, I’ll shop around the town and begin creating a buying frenzy on food supplies.”, Donovan continued, to no one in particular. The food and company were both delicious, especially so as they considered that the people inside the Keep were by now realizing that they had no food available to eat. How long would that group be able to go without having food available? Donovan calculated that the situation inside the Keep would become fairly dire after three days. After another week, there would certainly be casualties. And, all of this would have a devastating impact on morale. “Your move, Havelyn.”, Donovan thought to himself. The night passed, and the family retired to their respective rooms. Lucius was beginning to feel his connection to his summoned monsters continue to grow. He could picture them in different ways, seeing creatures as more than just the habitats they would traditionally dwell in. As Lucius laid in his bed, he imagined what it would be like if his creatures could swim or fly instead of simply run. A certain glee occurred to him as he began to ponder the possibilities. Unceremoniously, Tamsen entered his room. “Hello Lucius.”, Tamsen said, a sly smile on her face. Tamsen dropped the silk clothing she was wearing, revealing her naked form underneath, and climbed into the bed with Lucius. “Do you not have any other clothes?”, Lucius asked, somewhat surprised at the boldness of Tamsen. Lucius understood very clearly the function that Tamsen served in the family. On the most obvious level, Donovan was clearly smitten by Tamsen, and she could do no wrong in his eyes. Tamsen also had Bebop under her thumb, and he was a powerful warrior available to Donovan in large part due to Tamsen’s manipulations. For those reasons, Lucius was always guarded when dealing with Tamsen. He could easily imagine getting lost in that woman’s embrace, and become another one of her toys. Tamsen smirked at him, “I would be naked all the time if Donovan would allow me to. Why, are you not comfortable being around a naked woman?” “I’ve been around plenty of naked women, but usually we’re doing more than just sleeping.”, Lucius responded teasingly, and then immediately regretted that choice of words. Tamsen rolled herself on top of Lucius, her legs straddling his waist. “Oh, are you saying you want to do more?” Tamsen ran her finger across Lucius’ chest. “No thanks, Tamsen. You and Donovan have a complicated relationship.”, Lucius replied, although he felt his body responding to her caress. “It’s not complicated at all.”, Tamsen insisted. “I love Donovan, I enjoy whomever else I please.” Tamsen leaned forward, her eyes locked with his. “You only like to play with your dolly?” “Eidolon.”, Lucius answered Tamsen giggled, enjoying getting underneath Lucius’ skin. She whispered, “Do you want to have a threesome with her? Have you ever wanted to see her with a woman?” Lucius eyes narrowed, “Very funny, Tamsen.” Lucius began feeling his pulse speed up, and was unsure how he was going to disentangle himself from her if she refused to stop. Tamsen shrugged and sighed. She kissed Lucius on the cheek, then rolled back off him. “Good night, Lucius.” Lucius wiped his face with his hands and spoke quietly to himself, “The things I do for this family.” The next morning came, and Lucius awoke to find Tamsen wrapped around him. “Mmm, Donovan.”, she mumbled quietly in her sleep. Lucius was already irritated, “Is this how it’s going to be every morning?” Lucius pulled away from Tamsen’s grip, simultaneously attempting to wake her up. “Get up, Tamsen! I need to go fix breakfast for everyone.” Tamsen whined as she reached out across the bed, “Cuddles…” Lucius became more insistent, “Get up woman! Go cuddle with Donovan.” Tamsen looked up from where she had been sleeping, annoyed at having already been awoken. She stood up and grabbed her silken clothing, not even bothering to put it on. Opening the door, Tamsen walked across the hallway of the Inn, and back into Donovan’s room. Everyone who had arrived early at the Inn for breakfast was suddenly shocked to have seen a naked woman simply strolling across the hallway. For his part, Donovan was already awake, planning out possible moves and actions by the soldiers in the Keep and how he could counter their actions. Upon seeing Tamsen, he smiled and greeted her. “Good morning my love, I hope you slept well. Did anything of…” Tamsen cut Donovan off, throwing herself onto Donovan, and wrapping her arms, legs, and tail around him. “Cuddle me, Donovan.”, she said, already falling back asleep. Donovan smiled, and kissed Tamsen softly on the forehead, “Obviously, that went well.” The family settled into their usual routine as the morning continued on. The group got wind of a rumor that a Talingarde soldier was visiting with the Mayor of the town. Donovan told the group they would need to go and respond to this, the soldier could not be allowed to gather reinforcements for the Keep. The group headed out to the center of town, where there was a large gathering of civilians around the Mayor’s office. Apparently, there was quite a lot of buzz about the handsome soldier who had come from the North. The soldier left the Mayor’s office and got on his horse without fanfare, then immediately took off to ride to the next destination. “Stop him!”, Donovan instructed Lucius. Lucius summoned forth a Cheetah, allowing the Cheetah to take on aspects of the Plane of the Air. The Cheetah literally flew out towards the horseman, electricity crackling in its wake. The Cheetah struck the soldier from its midair position, biting and clawing the soldier, knocking them off the horse. As the crowd was struck numb in shock from seeing a cheetah flying down onto the horseman, it began to devour the flesh of the soldier. Donovan looked over at Lucius, surprise on his face. “That’s new.” Lucius smiled, “It’s been something I have contemplated for a while now.” The group headed back into town, and then further on towards the Keep. On the way, they began hearing the sound of a group headed towards them. Hoping to gain the advantage of an ambush, the family retreated into the trees, and watched the individuals who passed by. A group of eight soldiers were on the way into town, undoubtedly to collect food for the Keep. “Surround them with creatures, and end them.”, Donovan communicated intention to Lucius via Tamsen. Once more, Lucius called forth the power of his summoned monsters. This time, he called forth a collection of Hell Hounds, surrounding the group at the cardinal points. “Incinerate!”, Lucius commanded the Hell Hounds. All in one action, the Hounds simultaneously erupted fire from their mouths, catching the soldiers inside of a massive gout of flame coming from all directions. The soldiers, unprepared for the attack, were scorched utterly. Burnt flesh and warped metal was all that was to be found from the group. Feeling bolder now, the four began to push closer to the Watch Tower, in order to get a better understanding of what sort of damage had taken place. With Donovan’s keen perception, he was able to notice a figure on the walls of the Keep. An unarmored figure, to be precise. “Lucius, the Mage is on the wall! Let’s take advantage of this opportunity!”, Donovan spoke excitedly. Lucius called forth yet another one of the Cheetahs tied to Air, launching it with its amazing mobility at the Wizard who was hundreds of feet away. Tacitus was no fool. He had heard of the recent attacks that had been coming from summoned monsters, and had an idea of what to expect. More impressively, he had agreed to continue to provide aid, even as Father Donnagin had continued to bemoan the wickedness and danger of Arcane magic. But nothing in his life could have prepared him from what he saw coming at him from the ground. It was a Cheetah, but not running across the landscape as one might expect. No, this Cheetah was literally hurling itself at him through the air. Thinking quickly, Tacitus fired off a collection of Magic Missiles, then followed that up with a large Fireball. Wasting no time, Tacitus immediately applied Fly to himself, and readied himself to take to the air. Lucius sensed the demise of the previous monster, which prompted him to immediately spawn another one. This one hurtled out again towards the Mage, who began flying away from it as fast as possible, getting out of the creature’s initial attack range. Once airborne, Tacitus continued to zoom around the air, all the while being quickly followed up by the flying Cheetah. Finally, Tacitus flew into one of the larger structures of the Keep, closing the windows behind him. “Godsdamnit!”, Donovan cursed. “He got away. Have Lucinda get into the main courtyard area. We need to get some kind of confirmation of how much damage has been done.” Lucius called up Lucinda, who would be able to provide far more information than his typical summoned monsters. Lucius applied wings to Lucinda, and had her fly up to the area where the Wizard had been walking around. As Lucinda moved through, it became clear that the soldiers had been pulled away from the Keep walls, a clear response from the attacks that had been taking place over the last 24 hours. Lucinda continued to relay information back to her master, notifying Lucius of the things she was discovering. As Lucinda attempted to move into the section where the soldiers were typically quartered, she encountered a large contingency of soldiers. For Donovan, this was confirmation that the soldiers were continuing to hold up inside of a small section of the Watch Tower. Lucinda began fighting her way through the soldiers, killing several of them in the process. It was then that Captain Barhold appeared, Great Sword in hand. Knowing that Lucinda would not be able to single handedly hold back Barhold and a half dozen guards by herself, Lucius decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and had her recalled to her home Plane. With that, Donovan and the others decided that this would be as far as they would be able to press into the Keep for tonight. It was clear that Haverlyn was continuing to coalesce his forces into a limited area, unwilling to continue taking losses by being spread out throughout the Watch Tower. As they left, the group felt a searing heat, and flames lapped at their flesh. Looking up, it was clear that Tacitus had taken the opportunity of their withdrawal as a chance to hurl down a Fireball into their midst. Donovan patched up the group, and they began to return to the Inn. Suddenly, Lucius had an idea, “What if we take all those bodies that are up the road just a bit, and spread them out around here?” Donovan laughed aloud at the suggestion, “How clever, Lucius! Let Haverlyn find a group of his men clearly burned to cinders from a Fireball attack, and we’ll see how he responds!” Bebop and Lucinda collected the bodies of the soldiers that had been attacked further up the road, then placed their burnt corpses at the center of the Fireball explosion. While Donovan didn’t know if anything would come of it, he was delighted at the thought of the “Detective” Donnagin discovering these bodies and coming to the “obvious” conclusion of what had happened to them. “Oh, that wicked Arcane magic!”, Donovan laughed. Session 11 Ends. [/QUOTE]
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