[Horde] Chapter Five: Session-Five
Appearing Characters: Ailen Astravar, Arthak Saurfang, Bru'kan, Nyxxa Murkthorn, Rak'Symma, Ruven Duskmere, Seria, Silgryn Silverwind, Sol'chi, Thisalee Crow, Zar'Kaa
December 22nd
Ruven Duskmere paced in the warehouse as he waited impatiently for the return of Nymecia once she disposed of Reydan’s body.
Nyxxa and Zar’Kaa were rushing to the warehouse as fast as they could, and Seria managed to isolate the area and start to close in on it. Sol disguised himself as Nymecia to try and by some time as he approached the warehouse.
Meanwhile, Rak’Symma was being watched by a doomguard as Ruven continued to pace. Ailen Astravar looked at Symma with brow-beaten eyes that looked shocked and bewildered as well as terrified. Symma had a deadpan, vacant expression as she was pretending to be charmed.
He was trying to get her attention. Symma looked over at him and slowly shook her head, but then allowed her eyes to drift ambiently around the room.
At that moment, the jailer demon told him to shut up and the bars pulsed. Ailen winced and sat back, and the doomguard glared at him, and then back at Symma, but he didn’t seem to have noticed anything strange.
Sol stepped into the warehouse, and one of the arcane sentinels told him to halt, as it was a restricted area. However a sayaad swooped down and informed the sentinel that the “satyr” was who Ruven was waiting for. The arcane sentinel scanned over Sol, but allowed him to proceed. Ruven immediately looked at him.
Ruven scoffed.
Ruven’s allies nodded and set to work as he turned his attention back to Sol.
Sol reported to the group over the telepathic link as he went back outside, and he said he was going to try and get a security badge for one of the sentinels. Meanwhile, Zar’Kaa and Nyxxa had arrived and managed to keep themselves hidden as they got into position. Nyxxa decided to pull a switcheroo with Sol, and she headed back in to inform Ruven people had been informed.
Sol, meanwhile, still disguised as Nymecia, reported to those outside and he attempted to distract one of the nightborne with a pair of sol shades so he could fish for her controller for the arcane sentinels. He found an emblem with the symbol of House Duskmere on it. He got the sense that he would be able to use it to command the sentinels as a recognized member of a noble house, but he couldn’t actually overwrite any orders that were instilled by someone as a higher rank.
As Nyxxa walked into the warehouse, Ruven wanted to know what was wrong.
His eyes narrowed.
At that moment, Arthak appeared at the back of the warehouse and an arcane sentinel attempted to stop him. Ruven barked at them to seize Arthak and get anyone else that had intruded.
Nyxxa sighed.
Nyxxa vaulted off Ruven to take to the sky and soar directly at the jailer demon as her illusion burned away. She carved a solid strike into the demon with her glaives and drew his full attention to her while she picked the lock of the jailer demon’s cage with her mage hand.
The Duskmere Tyrant looked at Ruven.
He pointed at Arthak, while Ruven drew his own phase blade and looked at Nyxxa.
The Duskmere Tyrant pulled out an arcane crossbow and jumped up to a better vantage point as he took aim and fired. A bolt of arcane energy blasted into Arthak’s armor. The second shot grazed his shoulder, but the third shot Arthak was able to deflect aside.
Outside the warehouse, Sol continued to act and said they needed to help Lord Duskmere. The nightborne he was speaking to asked what was going on, and Sol tried to plant the idea in her head that the demons had started to turn on Ruven.
She looked at the nearest arcane sentinel and told it to ensure the door was secure.
The Duskmere Saboteur reached for her badge, but couldn’t find it. She demanded to know where it was, as she had just had it. Sol said they needed to just act, and the saboteur seemed to panic. Sol said that he would go the other way, and he sent her in the direction where he knew Zar’Kaa was hiding.
Sol looked up at the arcane sentinel and said the Legion demons had betrayed them and they needed to act now to neutralize them.
The sentinel turned and looked up at the nearest sayaad, who had stood up just in time to see Sol transform into the guise of the Duskmere Saboteur that he had just sent off.
Meanwhile, Zar’Kaa ambushed the Saboteur with devastating strike. He spun around and struck her again, and then a third time, knocking her on her back with severe bleeding wounds.
At that moment, Seria crashed through the roof of the warehouse as a massive bear with acid dripping from her claws. The Duskmere Tyrant was able to dodge out of the way as she released a gout of acid from her maw, but several of the other Duskmere agents were coated in the corrosive liquid as she then rounded on one of the Saboteurs and sliced into her with her claws.
Arthak strolled into the warehouse, ignoring the sentinel that was telling him to halt. He looked at Ruven and then the man that had just shot him. And then he started to grow as the runes flared across his armor. However, this time he grew bigger as his tusks lengthened and the stone of his hand spread across his body.
He drew Var’gosh.
Arthak released a perfect assault of strikes as he bashed Ruven around with his blade. The last attack was a cleaving death blow that Ruven narrowly dodged just enough to get his arm cleaved off instead of his torso. Arthak then looked at the Duskmere Tyrant.
Another Saboteur slid past the doomguard and slashed at Nyxxa with her dagger. Nyxxa dodged the first strike, but the Saboteur sneered and threw another dagger that cut into Nyxxa’s side. She swirled the dagger around, but Nyxxa managed to block the dagger as she went for the satyr’s throat.
Ailen Astravar climbed out of the jailer’s cage and disengaged so he could try to flee to safety, but then he realized the sheer amount of ongoing chaos, and he decided to cower in a shadowy corner.
Arthak swung Var’gosh down on Ruven again, but at the last second Ruven erected an arcane [Shield], but the sword shattered through it and struck into Ruven. The man was just barely hanging on to life, but the fiery chains wrapped around him and he was left completely restrained.
At that moment, an arcane sentinel barreled into the doorway, and a translocation energy wafted over Arthak and Seria. Seria was teleported away, and the arcane sentinel then slammed its fist into Arthak and dragged him out of the warehouse.
One of the Duskmere Spellblades that were outside leaped off the rooftop and levitated down as she fired a [Fire Bolt] at Arthak, but it went wide.
The sayaad that was “controlling” Rak’Symma issued a command to stop the intruders, but she rushed over to Ruven.
She retrieved a potion from Ruven’s belongings and fed it to him so he didn’t die from the severe bleeding that Arthak had inflicted.
Another arcane sentinel conjured a sword made of arcane energy in the air and started to attack Arthak.
Another Saboteur saw Ailen escaping the cage, and she attempted to seize him with a [Hold Person]. Ailen panicked and kicked a crate back at the Saboteur, interrupting her focus and she shouted for the others to stop him as she then hurled a dagger at Nyxxa and missed. The Saboteur whistled at the manasabers and commanded them to go attack the giants.
The jailer demon clawed at Nyxxa and then hurled his cage at her, but she leaped up and landed on top of the cage, completely unharmed.
One of the Spellblades by Arthak cast [Faerie Fire] over him. Glowing butterflies landed all over him, illuminating his form. She found a weak point in his armor where her blade chipped through.
The nearby Saboteur tried to use [Hold Person] on Arthak, but as the runes formed around him, he stomped his foot and the runes were dispelled. A manasaber blinked over to Arthak and tried to tear into him as another arcane sentinel raced past Arthak and headed for Seria.
At that moment, Symma stepped forward and the shackles on her fell to the ground. She flew over the doomguard, and then she raised her hand and used her turn ability. The jailer demon and the sayaad were all forced to flee.
Symma then attempted to cast [Windfury], but one of the spellblades was able to rip the spell away with a [Counterspell]. She harnessed the magic and instead cast [Lightning Shield] and blasted various enemies back from her.
The mage hurled several arcane blasts at Rak’Symma.
Ruven used [Blink] to escape the flaming chains, and he also hurled several spell blasts at Rak’Symma, but she was able to resist the compulsion of the spell.
She fired off a [Lightning Bolt] through Rak’Symma and Nyxxa, but they both were able to duck out of the way, and only a Duskmere Saboteur was harmed by the blast.
The Duskmere Mage that was outside hurled a blast of scintillating fire at Seria, and it exploded in a [Fireball] of arcane and fel fire. Seria roared, seemingly unphased by the blast.
Another Saboteur leaped onto a manasaber and rushed at Seria as a Spellblade continued to focus-fire Rak’Symma from a distance. A second Spellblade rushed at Nyxxa and used [Mirror Image] on herself before attacking, oblivious to the fact such illusions were completely ineffective against the satyr.
The sayaad on the outside that had not been turned flew over to the mage on the outside and pointed at Sol.
The mage looked over at Sol.
Meanwhile, another of the mages inside the warehouse attempted to grab Ailen Astravar. Ailen dodged out of the way and shoved debris at her. The mage grumbled angrily, her attempt to use him as a hostage utterly failing. She barked at the nearby Spellblade to get him, and she was much more effective as she pulled him into a chokehold.
She looked at Symma.
The doomguard, meanwhile, turned to Nyxxa and slammed his hoof into the ground, creating a shockwave that erupted around them.
The Saboteur that was fighting Zar’Kaa attempted to magically restrain him so she could get away, but he was able to break the spell. The Saboteur slashed at him and then retreated back around the corner.
She saw Sol wearing her face.
Meanwhile, Seria tore into the Saboteur that had chased after her.
Sol used [Arcane Barrage] to break through the back door of the warehouse in an explosion of splintered wood. He then released a [Reverse Gravity] inside the warehouse and the area immediately surrounding the open door.
Most of the room immediately slammed into the ceiling, including Ailen. He started to scream in terror, and Nyxxa launched forward to try and intercept him. She was able to do so a mere matter of moments before he struck the ceiling.
But then the ceiling broke, and everyone sailed further into the air, along with a terrifying amount of debris
Several blocks away, Thisalee and a contingent of Duskwatch led by Silgryn had started to arrive.
Arthak met the arcane sentinel that was still grappling him with a series of barrages. He then charged up the magic of his [Devastating Hand] and blasted the arcane sentinel with it. The construct was blasted out of the antigravity field and plummeted. It crashed into the ground and began to spark and glitch, very heavily damaged.
One of the Spellblades that had not been caught up in the antigravity field reached out and felt the tug of gravity, then decided to just leave. The sayaad that had not been turned looked up at the mess that occurred.
She slipped into the ethereal and disappeared.
Ruven cast [Fly] on himself and decided to try and fly. Sol reached out with a [Vortex Warp] and hurled Arthak at him. Ruven was just narrowly able to avoid Arthak’s wide swing. Rak’Symma harnessed the winds and attempted to force him to the ground. She slammed him into a piece of debris, but he was able to kick free, blood now streaming down his face.
Nyxxa, with Ailen clinging to her back, teleported forward.
She cleaved into him, cutting into his eye, and Zar’Kaa positioned himself in the winds that Symma had created, and he hurled his spear. Ruven was impaled, and Zar’Kaa teleported to him.
Zar’Kaa’s body was wreathed with magic as he charged up in that moment of intensity. As he wrenched his spear free, he saw Ruven’s body tumble downward and collapse into the water. However, a coalescence of magic, sickening green fel energy, pulled from the spear and from Ruven. Though the spear was pulled from the corpse, it was still impaled in his heart, as suspended in the air in front of Zar’Kaa was a twisted shade of Ruven Duskmere.
