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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7880486" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 250The Battle for Flint, Part ThreeKorrigan had taken out the Parity Lake lantern; Conquo had destroyed the one in the Ayres.  Shortly after Leon’s return to the square, both the Cloudwood and the RHC lanterns winked out too, courtesy of Gale and Stover Delft.  That threat to the city had been thwarted; now they needed to finish off Harkover. Korrigan ordered everyone to the North Shore gun battery.   Rumdoom was already there.  Leon fetched the others. The city defence squads soon shrugged off the influence of the hivemind when they saw all the Heroes of Flint gathered together, and they prepared to defend against the dragon. Their hope was to draw Harkover to them, open fire on him with the guns, then bring the Coaltongue down from above the clouds. So they made the dragon aware of their location and waited.Moments after they issued their challenge, Harkover began burning the city, scouring the rooftops with his dragon-breath.Change of plan:“Get us on the Coaltongue,” Korrigan said to Leon.  And to Admiral Smith: “Prepare to engage!”*Too weak to fight on himself, Uru strapped himself into the cockpit of the Sunfish, to bring the Tyrant’s Eye to bear. They were taking a great risk, using their ship this way, as it was the only means of getting to Axis Island in time to stop the ritual, but there wouldn’t be much point in doing that if they left their people to burn.Harkover began evasive manoeuvers as soon as they drew near, strafing the deck with fire bolts, keeping clear of the brand. Uru got off a solid hit with the Tyrant’s Eye, limiting the dragon’s options even further. Korrigan then transformed into a bolt of Avilona and struck at the dragon with his radiant sword. This seemed to have an effect: Harkover thrashed and bit at the ghosts that formed a halo around his head, but he couldn’t harm them. The ghosts dug their incorporeal talons into his head and he stopped resisting.“Loyalty!” he roared. “For two centuries my loyalty to my ruler was absolute. Now Nicodemus rules, and yet you disobey! I shall bury you for defying my liege.” He chanted, swept low to the ground, and tore an entire building free from the earth. Then he hurled it across the city at the king, carried by streaks of golden magic.Korrigan dodged aside.From the Coaltongue, Conquo threw Rumdoom at the dragon.  Rumdoom struck with a thud, and clung on, Invoking the Icy End of the World, harming both himself and Harkover.  Harkover sent out more firebolts, before Leon appeared in the air alongside him and imposed a curse of mouthless muttering.  Now they learned how Inacht became known as the ‘hex-eater’ – the dragon ate Leon’s hex, in a single snap of its enormous mouth! Then it breathed consuming fire on Leon and Korrigan.   Both were hurt, but Rumdoom’s Icy End prevented the dragon from healing. Harkover flew clear of it.“Nicodemus is not your liege!” cried Korrigan.  “He is your slave-driver.  But I’m not going to hold it against you.”  And so Korrigan focused his next attack on the ghost council, drawing his symbol of the sun, and wielding against the possessing spirits. For a second it seemed as if it had worked, and Harkover came to his senses: “My king!” he cried.  “The world is under threat! The great capitals of the nations of Lanjyr and… Sentosa! Nicodemus seeks to conquer the enclave as a gift to Kasvarina!” But once again, the ghost councillors gained sway, recovered from the power of the symbol, and took control of Harkover. He gnashed at the king and strafed the deck of the Coaltongue with bolts of fire. Conquo threw cannonballs back at him.“Can anyone else bring radiance to bear?” cried Korrigan. At that very moment, a bright light appeared in the sky.  It streaked towards them and brought the fight to the dragon straight away. It was Linia, the angelic warrior they had rescued from the Vault of Heresies! She struck the beast with her radiant greatsword. The ghosts quailed.  As she fought she said, “Your majesty, I bring word from yourselves in the Gyre. They have chosen planes to bond with and ask that I relay their choices to you.”“Now is not the time!” said Korrigan.  “We must first rid our friend of possession!”Linia struck again.  “It is no good!” she said. “There are too many ghosts.  You could fight them for hours and still they would cling to him. You must defeat the dragon itself.”“Then we will rely on the Blood of Ostea,” said Korrigan, “and hope that he survives.”At that, Rumdoom let go of the dragon, activated his Icon of Avilona, drew the Stone of Not, and pronounced a fiat on his next blow.  Knowing it could not but strike true, he invested it with all the strength that he could muster, and augmented it with the power of the tyrant’s teeth. It was indeed a powerful blow and Harkover roared in agony. Blood curled down his face from his eyes, but he smiled and glanced at what remained of the cursed Cauldron Hill. Though his next words were a whisper, they were perfectly audible nonetheless: “May the witches of the hill now take their vengeance with my aid.”  Rumdoom groaned when the foul curse struck him, flagging in mid-air, feeling as weak and powerless as he did years ago when he first stood atop Cauldron Hill. The great red dragon laughed and circled like a vulture. “I have deprived you of your power,” he crowed, “now I mean to deprive you of your life.”While the dragon was distracted, focused on Rumdoom, the Coaltongue had swung around with incredible alacrity. Leon had urged Smith to fire the brand, but he weapon could not easily be brought to bear. Harkover was very well aware of the danger and kept clear of it. Uru, denied a target for the tyrant’s eye, had switched his efforts to turning the ship at speed. All of sudden, Smith had his target and fired.  The brand struck Harkover squarely and tore a chunk out of one of his wings; the dragon roared in pain and frustration at having allowed this to happen. Now his left foreleg dangled uselessly, and he no longer fought with cunning or reason – enraged, goaded by the ghost council, he crashed into the Coaltongue and thrashed about him with claws, fangs, wings, tail, seeking to do as much damage to the ship as he could. But this was a mistake.  At close quarters, the unit had the advantage. Conquo, Rumdoom, Gupta, Quratulain, Linia, Leon and Korrigan all rained blows and spells upon their dominated friend. One, last, desperate trick remained to the dragon. He turned invisible, and remained so, even as he attacked, doing tremendous damage to the ship. The fight raged on as they sought to force the dragon off the Coaltongue.At last, they succeeded, and Korrigan clipped Harkover with a final blow from his Holy Avenger. Unconscious, the great dragon fell, sustained by the Blood of OsteaBut no one was in a position to save him.All were exhausted.He fell.When he crashed into the ground, even the Blood of Ostea could not save him.Harkover Lee was dead.End of Last Session Report of 2020Merry Christmas, and a Happy new Year!</blockquote>

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