[Alliance] Chapter Four: Session Twenty-Four
Appearing Characters: Arthas Menethil, Elissa Cross, Pythas/Aryn, Remnii, Seria, Tol'vas Moonshadow, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Zap Rusthammer
June 18th
The group sees a reasonably well-armored elven druidic warrior with two battle axes riding upon a gunmetal grey thunder lizard, it’s spines crackling with lightning. They also see a goat-like elf hiding in the shadows nearby as well as further reinforcements, and the new group starts to close in on the party.
One of the deviate sentinels cuts into Arthas, poison dripping from her blade. She feints, and ducks back out of range.
Tol’vas, who had dropped out of his dire wolf form, uses [Shillelagh] and swings in with the Scythe of Elune. However, the skeleton seems to be resistant to the slash.
The deviate sentinel keeps trying to fire at Remnii, but they continue to get redirected to Zap. Seria grabs the tauren skeleton and starts to break through massive bones with her claws, and then strikes through its ribcage with her tail, which crumbles it to pieces. She starts to scuttle forward to close with the approaching reinforcements.
A deviate sentinel fires her longbow at Arthas, two arrows sinking into his flesh, while another sentinel fires at Elissa--however those shots clink harmlessly off Elissa’s shield.
Uther uses [Lightning Lure] and yanks a deviate sentinel from her perch on the cliff, which drops her unconscious to the ground. Uther winces, realizing he might have gone a bit too hard.
A druid of the fang closes on Arthas, and his hand transforms into a serpent’s mouth as he strikes at Arthas.
A wild-eyed tauren druid emerges from the shadows up above, and her eyes flash bright red as she casts bright red mist into Uther’s face using [Poison Spray]. He is able to cover his nose and mouth, resisting the spell.
The shadow skeleton continues to go for Tol’vas, striking into him twice with its scimitar.
Arthas tries to return assault as he drops the flametongue axe and grabs his blood axe. He swings twice at the druid, and then drinks a potion.
The satyr continues to lurk in the shadows, but Seria sees it.
Vel drops her bow and grabs her sword again as she races along the wall and then launches herself off of it above Arthas, using [Steel Wind Strike]. She manages to drop a deviate sentinel and the sentinel captain while severely injuring the skeleton on Tol’vas.
Zap fires off at the tauren druid while commanding Nutters to go aid the group with Arthas. Remnii follows after Nutters and uses [Mass Flash of Light], healing Elissa, Tol’vas, and Arthas.
Elissa uses [Aura of Vitality], and an aura of breezy wind picks up around her.
The thunder lizard continues to lumber forward.
He brings his weapons up, readying an attack. The nightmare skeleton continues to attack Tol’vas, cutting into him again and again even as Remnii’s magic healed up his wounds.
Arthas goes all in on the druid of the fang, laying him low and kicking the night elf aside. He rounds over to the nightmare skeleton, leaving it in critical condition.
A deviate sentinel pops out and fires at Vel, one of her arrows grazing her. The other sentinel captain runs at Vel, cutting into her twice with the poison of her moonglaives. A deviate sentinel shoots at Zap, both shots grazing him.
Elissa heals Tol’vas with her [Aura of Vitality] and manages to bring the nightmare skeleton low. She then goes for the sentinel captain on Vel, but the night elf is able to deftly turn the attack aside with her moonglaive.
Zap fires at another sentinel captain, grazing her shoulder.
A buzzsaw comes out of the mechanical squirrel’s chest and he goes for the sentinel captain, clipping her leg with the saw.
Tol’vas casts [Rejuvenation] on himself.
Uther casts [Lightning Lure] on the tauren druid, yanking her down into the water and on top of the fallen deviate sentinel. The massive thunder lizard charges and gores Seria, knocking her prone. He then stomps her, crunching into her carapace. Pythas strikes at her while she’s down.
The tauren herald of the fang reaches out and attempts to grab Uther’s face with a hand covered in bright red veins, but Uther ducks out of the way and her hand plants against the wall.
Vel uses [Frost Strike], ice coating her blade as she cuts into the sentinel captain, but the woman is able to turn around and parry her second attack. Vel quickly drinks a potion.
Seria struggles with the thunder lizard, Skum, pinching and stinging and managing to grapple him. Remnii continues to heal Tol’vas.
The tauren herald of the fang uses [Cure Wounds] on the unconscious deviate sentinel, and some of her wounds knit back together as her eyes open again.
Arthas manages to bring the sentinel captain low and slams her against the wall, knocking her unconscious.
Zap moves into a better position and there is a wide puff of dust as he blows his dust of sneezing and choking. Skum, Pythas, and all the immediate enemies aside from the herald of the fang start to cough and wheeze.
Zap tries to back off, and the tauren makes a wild swing, hitting him in the chest. Meanwhile Nutters runs to harass the retreating deviate sentinels.
Elissa heals Tol’vas and then runs after the deviate sentinels as well
She tries to hit the deviate sentinel, but is unable to do so.
Pythas is able to overcome the coughing, growling angrily as he gets his bearings. The newly healed deviate sentinel is coughing and choking and starts to try and run.
Remnii returns to Zap’s side.
Suddenly, Seria starts to feel somewhat dizzy and nauseous. She’s poisoned, and she doesn’t know why.
Suddenly, leaping over the the coughing and choking thunder lizard, is a horned elf that is drawing a broken moonglaive. He is cackling, and he slams down into Seria with his horns. She is knocked to the ground, and he starts to try and carve open her scorpid form--knocking her out of her wildshape.
Uther cuts into the herald of the fang, landing a good hit, but she catches his hammer on her horn on the next blow. Skum continues to cough and wheeze, and starts to run around in circles in a panic.
Vel tries to use [Toll the Dead] on the deviate sentinel engaged with Nutters, but she resists. The sentinel sweeps at Nutters, who catches her blade and laughs. In anger, she kicks the mechanical squirrel in the face and his head spins around.
Seria uses [Protection from Poison] from her staff, and she feels her body try to work on fighting off the poison, but it doesn’t leave entirely. She then turns into a scorpid again.
The satyr’s face goes dumbstruck for a moment.
Pythas looks at Seria with hatred. Tol’vas runs back to Remnii, Uther, and the others. His eyes lock on the satyr and he casts [Wrath]. However, the spell goes wide. The herald of the fang uses [Lesser Restoration] on the coughing sentinel captain.
Arthas looks at Nutters.
Arthas goes to back up Elissa and checks the deviate sentinel with the butt of his axe, dropping her unconscious.
Tol’vas casts [Sunfire], targeting Skum, Pythas, and the satyr, and a pillar of flame opens up. Pythas seems to have been able to move Skum out of the way, but the satyr takes the full brunt of the spell.
He swings down at Seria twice, and then he kicks her. Bleeding wounds open up on her. The sentinel captain uses [Faerie Fire] on Uther, Tol’vas, Zap, and Remnii--and crimson butterflies cling to Uther and Remnii.
Elissa heals Arthas and then runs forward, appearing on the bridge up above the cluster of enemies and hops down next to Seria.
She strikes twice into the herald of the fang. The satyr continues cackling as he carves into Seria. Zap brings the herald of the fang down with a shot of his gun, and then he fires at the satyr.
Skum continues to cough and choke, and the choking deviate sentinel falls unconscious.
Remnii runs to Seria’s side and heals her. Meanwhile Vel emerges on the bridge up above, also rejoining the fight. Seria gets to her feet and slashes at the satyr. He cackles as he leaps over her claw and lands straight in her other claw. She drives her stinger into his gut, and he continues to laugh.
He starts to cackle, and dark energy wafts into Seria. However, he looks up just in time to see Uther’s hammer come down on his skull, and the demon goes limp in Seria’s claws. He then closes on Pythas and knocks into him.
He strikes at Uther with his axes and then kicks him in the face, knocking him into the water. Vel tries to [Sapping Sting] Pythas, but he resists the spell.
It appears that each time Pythas attacks, the thorns dig further into his arms. Zap fires twice at the sentinel captain, and she is backed into a corner. Arthas runs by Vel and leaps to attack Pythas. He manages to knock Pythas off of Skum, and the druid splashes into the water.
Uther gets to his feet and swings down at Pythas once, and then twice. With the second swing, a halo of radiant fire surges through him. Pythas starts to cough up blood.
In a panic, Skum runs by the deviate shambler that had appeared, and collapses onto the ground, unconscious from the lack of oxygen.
The deviate sentinel swings into Remnii, poison coursing through her veins, but the second strike bounces harmlessly off Remnii’s horn. Tol’vas backs Remnii up, swinging with his scythe, but the sentinel captain parries it aside.
Remnii uses [Mass Flash of Light], healing all her allies (sans Vel). She then uses [Mind Sliver] on the sentinel captain.
The deviate sentinel being harassed by Nutters starts to run, and Nutters clips her with his buzzsaw.
Seria closes on Pythas and holds him down with her pincers before driving her stinger into his chest. He’s just barely alive.
He starts to convulse. Zap fires his gun at the deviate sentinel captain, and she is blasted away from Remnii and splashes into Arthas.
Nutters starts to chase after the sentinel.
In desperation, the sentinel swings at Nutters. Meanwhile, the deviate sentinel captain drops from the spirit guardians just as Uther pulls his hammer back. With a sad expression, Uther grits his teeth and brings it down on Pythas’s head. The vines pull themselves out of his body and fall apart.
He falls limp as the light leaves his eyes--a soft smile across his face.
The last threat that remains in the deviate shambler. Arthas tries to outflank it, driving his axe into the shambler once and then twice--carving vines off in every direction.
Elissa heals Vel with [Aura of Vitality] and she attempts to stabilize the sentinel captain, but is unsuccessful. However, Remnii is able to stabilize her with [Spare the Dying].
Vel uses [Toll the Dead] on the shambler, and vines start to wilt from its body. Seria starts to grapple the shambler. Seria feels the last of the strange sickness leave her body as the poison on her fades.
The shambler swings at Arthas, who takes the hit without a wince, and Vel hits it with another [Toll the Dead] as Uther and Arthas carve through it. The shambler sinks into the ground.
Nutters comes around the corner, his paws caked with blood.
The battlefield fades into silence. Tol’vas goes to examine the place the satyr had been. He is very dead, and he looks to be wearing a makeshift version of the druidic robes, and there is a druidic focus on his person, but he has nothing else notable.
He repeatedly uses [Wrath] over and over again into the corpse until there’s nothing left.
He’s growling angrily and continues to burn the corpse with magic. Elissa grabs his hand.
Tol’vas moves away from the corpse.
Elissa respectfully puts the slain bodies against the wall out of the water.
The look in the direction Pythas had emerged from, and they can see a shiny floor in that direction. Zap seems intrigued and goes to look, followed by Vel. The entire floor seems to be caked in blood, and there is a ritual circle drawn in blood beneath the torches. There are implements of torture, like whips and chains, on small benches nearby.
At first glance, it would look like some sort of ritual summoning circle, but it’s more likely to be a flagellation chamber--one that belonged to Pythas. There is also a large skeleton that had been picked clean. It’s serpentine in nature, and upon further examination, it seems to be the skeleton of a dragon.
Vel’s tattoo is still glowing.
As the group starts to head in, Zap seems to be getting confused. He starts to get frustrated as the passages bleed into each other.
They continue, and there are three passages. One is to the left, and one that branches into two passages to the right. Vel starts to head towards the right, keeping an eye on her glowing tattoo and the environment around them as Arthas lights his flaming axe.
At the far edge, Vel can see a huge tree. There is a trickle of water running down it, but there is a bright green, algae-like glow coming from it. She can almost see a face--a large head at rest. It’s boughs are poisoned, and its leaves shriveled.
Vel squints.
Tol’vas looks closer, and he sees an ancient protector--one of the more common types of ancients. However, it seems addled, and it has not yet recognized their presence. There is a weight in the chamber. Tol’vas relays as much.
The creature’s face starts to shift, and its eyes open. Sorrowful red eyes blink.
Tol’vas walks into the chamber, and gets a better view of the room. It looks to be a shrine of some sort, and there is a broken, circular well of stone that is shattered and covered in bright green lichen. The spring water in the defiled moonwell has leaved out and created a pool that soaks through the earth, and feeds into the ancient.
There is a flicker along the edge of the room.
She draws her sword.
As Tol’vas looks to the ancient with sorrow, the ancient pulls one of his roots up from the ground.
A bright red sphere of light appears and blasts Tol’vas with a blast of energy. Another winks into existence next to Elissa, and another next to Seria. However, they both miss. A fourth materializes next to Tol’vas and zaps him.
Arthas runs in swings into one of the deviate wisps--destroying it immediately. Tol’vas casts [Shillelagh] and slashes through one with his scythe. Zap shoots it, and it promptly winks out of existence. He fires another shot, and the wisp winks for a moment, the light around it stuttering. Nutters tries to hit it, but the wisps dodges around his fist.
A new wisp appears next to Arthas, zapping him with radiant energy, and a second appears next to Tol’vas and zaps him as well.
Seria claps her pincers down on the wisp in front of her, and then drives her stinger through it--it disappears. Uther gets between a wisp and Tol’vas and with a flash of light from his hammer, the wisp evaporates. He swings again, and a second disappears in another flash of light.
Vel swings at the wisp next to Elissa but it dodges around and she instead blasts it with [Toll the Dead]. It disappears from the spell.
She moves on, straight into view of another wisp that appears, and it zaps her with pure life energy. She hisses in pain, flinching away. Remnii casts [Mind Sliver] on the remaining wisp.
Elissa closes on the ancient and swings twice into its barky body. Some of the poison in its boughs rains down on her and sizzles as the bright red acid coats her body. The ancient swings down at Elissa and Arthas, and Elissa is able to deflect the blow away from Arthas, but the heavy blow leaves her momentarily winded.
Vel uses [Toll the Dead] on the deviate wisp, and it just barely holds on and turns invisible as Vel cuts into the tree. Zap fires at tree, but it seems to be fairly resistant to the damage of the bullets. Seria skitters by the group and starts to pry at the ancient’s bark with her claws and jabbing it with her stinger.
Uther hurls a [Fire Bolt] at the tree and it starts to screech in anguish and whirls around at Vel, Arthas, and Elissa.
Arthas swings into the side of the tree with his flaming axe and cuts right through it, the fire catching through its branches and spreading rapidly.
It crumples into burning kindling. Vel looks horrified, her eyes wide as the anguished screams still carry in her mind, and her sword drops from her hand and clatters to the stone.
Elissa approaches her and picks up the sword.
Vel snaps out of it and takes the sword Elissa held out.
She sheathes it and edges away from the burning corpse of the ancient, Elissa sticking close to her side. Her tattoo had stopped glowing.
He slumps against the wall with a tired sigh.
Meanwhile, Tol’vas looks at the desecrated moonwell. He knows they can only be built in certain places, and the water is not as strong as the Well of Eternity, but the power inside it isn’t to be denied. It’s functionally holy water, and normally such waters have restorative properties. However, this likely does not have those qualities given it’s desecrated state.
Tol’vas explains what he knows.
Tol’vas sighs.
Vel starts to leave the chamber and sees another land bridge. Beyond it is inky black darkness. However, there is a light underneath the bridge. Zap holds up his lantern of revealing, but it doesn’t cut through the inky black darkness.
As Uther approaches, however, the light of the coronet above his head pierces through the darkness.
Down below, he can see a tunnel that leads further in. Uther starts across, the others follow close behind. As soon as they cross over, the magical darkness is replaced with regular darkness. Tol'vas looks down at Zap seeing he's a dwarf.
They suddenly hear bleating laughter echoing through the tunnels. It sounds… pleasurable. Tol’vas immediately starts to head in that direction. Vel sees another large pool of stagnant water, and she notes all the algae and stagnant water is fake. Underneath the illusion is beautiful, pale blue water.
Her tattoo starts to glow again.
Tol’vas stops, and a small light appears on the far side of the pool above the stagnant, seemingly corrupted water. It’s pale blue.
Those who do not understand sylvan just hear a light, sing-song voice. As Vel sees it up close, she can see a faint image of a kaldorei face with bright blue eyes wreathed with bright light.
There’s a gentle waver in her voice. Tol’vas nods.
The wisp shoots forward and circles rapidly around the group.
Tol’vas translates the conversation for the group telepathically.
Tol'vas continues to translate via telepathic bond.
The wisp swoops around the pool, revealing the illusion and the beautiful blue waters below momentarily.
The words are translated telepathically.
As she has watched the wisp, she notes creature has seemed genuinely good and earnest.
The group agrees that seems like a great idea.
The wisp disappears.
Zap and Vel start to creep up to get a jump on the situation. Inside the cavern, there is almost a dozen satyrs who are drinking, inhaling some sort of substance they’re burning over a fire, and a multitude that are all over each other carnally in groups. There is a quiet sound of a string instrument being plucked, and there is one female satyr playing.
In the background, Tol’vas uses [Mark of the Wild] on himself and Uther, and then starts to shift into his massive pack form. The influence of Elissa’s aura helps to buffer himself, and he nods to the group--seemingly still in control.
The wisp suddenly becomes visible in the midst of the satyrs, and Vel sees it smile softly, and then it glows brightly. There is a rupture of energy, and three satyrs are gone. The light looks like a [Mana Burn], a [Banishment] spell, and a [Dispel Magic] all at once.
And then the wisp is gone.
Zap opens up with a shot at the nearest shadowdancer, which Vel follows up with a strike of her blade coated with the chill of [Frost Strike], and then she retreats up onto the wall.
He puts his arm around Zap, but Zap shakes off whatever magics the satyr had tried to use. Seeing it didn’t work, the satyr growls.
Arthas charges around the corner and readies himself. Remnii follows and swallows heavily, casting a [Mind Sliver] at the shadowdancer. The deviate piper casts [Mirror Image] on herself.
She dashes behind the male satyrs, taking a safer position as others start to flee--some of them pulling themselves out of others--in a clear attempt to lure the group deeper into the caverns.
Tol’vas also lopes around the corner with a snarl and immediately bites into the shadowdancer. He forces him to the ground and starts to gouge him with his massive claws.
Tol’vas then howls, using [Roar].
Seeing her opening, Vel races along the wall and leaps into the midst of satyrs, using [Steel Wind Strike]. She kills the shadowdancer and two others before materializing next to another with a hiss. The satyr grins down at her.
He exposes his neck to her, as if offering for her to sink her fangs into it, and Vel just grins, displaying her lengthening fangs as she resists the effects of whatever magic the satyr had tried to use.
The satyr curses, realizing the magic hadn't been able to ensnare her. Zap then runs in from under Tol’vas and shoots the satyr twice, dropping him down to the ground.
The satyr cackles as he falls to the ground.
Uther breaks the last satyr that hadn’t fled apart with a powerful strike of his hammer.
Tol'vas pauses, realizing what Uther had meant. Then growls.
Uther climbs on top of Tol’vas.
Tol’vas sighs heavily over the telepathic bond.
Tol’vas just grabs Zap in his teeth and throws him up onto his back.
Arthas runs in as well.
Nutters scurries after him, as does Tol’vas with Uther and Zap on his back. Tol’vas bites into the piper, but she laughs as he destroys one of her mirror images.
The piper starts to cackle, and her eyes light up with deviousness. It’s [Hideous Laughter]. Tol’vas snarls in her face and she curses as she disengages from him.
As the satyr reveler with the bullet wounds are in his death throes, Vel leaps on him, digging her fangs into his throat and drinking thick, green blood from his body as she drains the rest of his life from him. She can feel warmth flood through her, her blood running hot as the life essence speeds the regeneration of some of her wounds. As she stands, she uses [Prestidigitation] to clean her face off and starts to run.
Remnii catches up to her, giving her an apprehensive look upon witnessing what Vel had just done.
In the next chamber, Uther swings his hammer into the satyr piper and shatters another one of her mirror images. Some of the plant life in the next chamber comes to life, including the trees as a number of treants animate.
