[Alliance] Chapter Four: Session Sixteen
Appearing Characters: Elissa Cross, General Garr, Baron Geddon, Remnii, Riff, Seria, Tae'shara Sunwatcher, Thrud, Tol'vas Moonshadow, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner
June 13th
As the sun rises, it’s quite warm; the only respite from the heat seems to be the scattered clouds overhead. Elissa is among the last ones to wake (as she normally is), and Tol’vas finds her packing up her things.
Tol’vas shrugs. He sees Riff nearby.
Elissa shrugs.
Elissa chuckles softly.
Elissa glances over in Vel’s direction.
Tol’vas’s expression goes neutral.
Elissa pats Tol’vas’s arm and goes back to work on packing her things up.
Seria and Tol’vas once again cast wind walk, and they take off into the air once more after Remnii once again casts find the path. The group flies over scarce trees and other tributaries, as well as thickets of brambles and low mesas. They soar over a wide river, the sun glinting over crystalline blue water--it’s the Southfury River, which had shared its name with the headland. As they pass over it, they now see a sea of bright red stone
They opt to land for a brief break on the other side of the river.
When they take off again, they soar cacti and more red earth that rises in tall, jagged peaks. Down below, the peaks open into a wide valley, which is likely the Scorched Basin. Remnii’s find the path spell seems to be pointing towards the northwestern edge of the basin.
They land, but there doesn’t seem to be anything notable at first. However, Seria spots three pairs of footprints that seem to lead to a narrow, ridge pathway. One set is a large set of humanoid ones, and two that indicate large wolves. It was likely the path Thrud and her wolves had followed.
One by one, the group shimmeys across a narrow ledge. Elissa almost slips, but Uther is able to grab her before she completely loses her balance. As they look down, they can see the Southfury River flow by the basin a few hundred feet down. Tol’vas had changed into a large wolf spider to navigate easily.
Slowly, the path widens, and they start to see markings in a language no one understands, but they are purposeful. However, as they start to approach, it gets increasingly warmer, almost unbearably so. Seria wild shapes into a incendosaur so she doesn’t need to deal with it.
Riff seems to be struggling, but the rest of the group is, for the most part, dealing with it as well as they could be.
They arrive on a mesa, and they see a stone carved with intricate runes on it. Leaning against a nearby stone--her armor also stripped off and down to her small clothes--is the towering figure of Thrud and her two large thunder wolves laying on their sides, panting in the heat.
Thrud’s head lifts, and there is a small smile as she stands to greet the group.
Thrud smirks.
Thrud gestures for the group to follow her to the shade her wolves are still lounging in. Thrud sits down and takes a drink from her water skin. Her water skin is nearly the size of a barrel in comparison, but she drinks from it as easily as anyone would drink from one.
Thrud takes another drink.
She raises her hammer.
Thrud smiles.
Tol’vas nods.
Thrud nods.
Thrud looks about the group, specifically at the humans.
She reaches into her satchel and withdraws a scroll.
Vel inclines her head slightly, recognizing what is very clearly a spell scroll.
Thrud’s brow furrows.
Thrud nods and hands over the scroll, which Vel unfurls to take a look. To her surprise, she can actually read it, as the text is in a script similar to the one that had been present in the information controls at the Tower of Ilgalar--which she had been working on deciphering after it had been functionally beamed into her mind.
She blinks.
Thrud blinks several times in surprise.
Thrud nods.
As Vel reads the scroll, she notes it’s a specifically tuned gate scroll. It will only summon the two individuals in question: Baron Geddon and General Garr. It also had to be used at a place attuned to the elemental plane of fire, such as this one. It’s also not concentration, meaning the gate could not simply be closed by dropping one’s focus. It would remain open for the entire duration, or until dispelled.
Thrud chews on her finger as she thinks.
Thrud nods and Tae’shara pipes up.
Thrud nods.
Everyone looks to the humans.
Uther points at Tol’vas.
The group settles in to prepare, and as the day wears on into evening, the prepare to face what is to come and pre-buff as many spells as they can. Tol’vas summons a winter wolf as well, using the scythe. Remnii casts magic circle, tracing a circle in the dirt with her staff, and her magic flows into the circle, filling it with molten gold light.
Thrud raises her hammer and nods in Vel’s direction. Vel pulls out the scroll and begins the incantations. Her eyes shine with magic as she focuses her energy through the scroll. There was no way in hell she was going to let this not work, as it was far too important.
The words echo in titanic, her hair whipping around her face, and the letters in the scroll burn bright hot, and the letters on the scroll melt as if exposed to fire. All the runes start to glow as the magic tripes into the arch. In a spiral formation, a portal rips over, and streaks of fire and sparks come spurting through. Two huge elementals are pulled through the portal--one an amorphous figure of fire, and one a moving pyroclastic flow with two bright burning eyes atop a shifting body of magma. They are massive. As the second one pulls through, the faithful hound that Tol’vas had summoned bites and snarls, and there is a wash of fire as more elementals pour out from behind it.
The entities look at the group and say something in a language they don’t understand. They laugh, and Garr punches his fists together. It seems the wounds that had appeared on Garr subside slightly, and some appear on Geddon.
As soon as they appear, Vel casts slow, the spectral, icy chains wrapping around both Geddon and Garr as well as two other lesser elementals. Geddon takes immediately, but Vel keeps pushing against Garr until they fully take. She then draws her sword and starts her bladesong.
Thrud immediately runs forward and casts chain lightning, the crackling lightning shooting between Geddon and Garr and several of the smaller elementals. A lesser fire elemental swings at Hati, who rolls aside and dodges.
Geddon starts to surge towards the circle and tries to pass through the group inside it, but he is unable to enter. He curses in primordial and stalks around the edge.
Uther swings at Baron Geddon, but the elemental surges out of the way of the first strike. The second strike connects, a surge of holy light washing over Geddon, but it seems to do less damage as some golden wounds appear on Garr as well.
Tol’vas’s faithful hound bites another elemental, and Tol’vas himself uses gravity sinkhole. Garr doesn’t move, but the two lesser elementals get pulled into the center of the sinkhole and crash together. Tol’vas then summons a wolf totem in the middle of the magic circle.
A lesser fire elemental flows through Thrud, and Skoll howls and shoots a blast of lightning another lesser elemental.
Garr moves in on Hati and Seria and slams its arms on the ground. The earth begins to rupture and fissure as magma bubbles up from the ground. It roils up and strikes everyone in the area, filling it with molten light. Vel staggers, unable to maintain her concentration on the slow.
Thrud is starting to get dogpiled by elementals, but her eyes flash as one of them hits, and it is blasted with lightning and sent sailing back.
Elissa moves out of the magic circle and uses all her lay on hands on Thrud, and then quickens a protection from energy on Thrud. The winter wolf closes on Geddon and bites, and it yelps as it takes fire damage.
An earth elemental tries to strike Uther, but is unable to connect through the barrier of the magic circle.
Seria turns into an incendosaur again and she tries to bite Garr, but is unable to connect. A fire elemental tries to connect with Seria with a flaming fist, but she is now immune to fire. It gurgles angrily at her.
A lava elemental gurgles into the ground and reappears near Hati.
Remnii uses mass flash of light to heal several of her allies, and she rounds on the nearest elemental. The light immediately fades from her eyes to be replaced with shadow as she uses mind sliver. It jerks, its mind fried with shadow and holy magic, and it disappears in a burst of flame, its bracers hitting the ground.
An earth elemental burrows under Seria and materializes behind her, next to Vel. A fist appears under the ground and tries to deck Seria in the face, but she only takes the bludgeoning damage.
Tol’vas shifts into his worgen form, and then uses roar. An earth elemental strikes at Uther, but his ice barrier flickers and impales the stony creature, and it crumples to dust.
Vel takes a few steps forward and casts steel wind strike, and she materializes behind Garr, Geddon, and several other elementals, slashing through nearly all of them with an arcane strike before she rematerializes next to Uther and flips her blade into a reverse grip.
Seria attempts to bite into Garr, but her teeth scrape against him, unable to get purchase.
The earth elemental next to Seria and Remnii spins around, smacking both of them.
Baron Geddon swings at Uther and Thrud, and manages to hit Thrud, but Uther smashes the blow away with his hammer.
The battle continues to rage on. Skoll retreats a bit, and Remnii once more casts mass flash of light and once more uses mind sliver on the nearby earth elemental.
A fire elemental connects with Thrud, but she laughs as the damage washes over her.
Uther smashes into Baron Geddon with his hammer, and holy light flashes as he smites. He winds up again and swings a second time with a prayer to the light before bringing the hammer down with another brilliant, holy smite.
Fire washes out from him as he shreds his chest open in a massive explosion. The winter wolf disappears in the blast, and Remnii drops to the ground. Geddon disappears, but his bracers drop to the ground.
Uther then runs over to Remnii and quickens a cure wounds.
Uther grabs Remnii to steady her.
A fire elemental flows through Thrud, but Elissa bats it aside as it tries to strike the massive woman.
Garr slams his fist into the earth, and the earth begins to crack and move beneath the group. A fissure opens, but Vel and Tol’vas are able to grab onto the edge and prevent themselves from falling. Remnii and Uther, however, tumble down into the newly torn chasm.
Garr roils forward toward Vel, but Vel looks back towards the fissure and dives for it, running down the wall. She jumps the last bit, landing hard, but she grabs both Uther and Remnii and uses an upcasted dimension door to teleport all three of them back to the surface, safely on the other side of the magic circle.
Tae’shara runs off from the side and flips her hand.
She fires off a dispel magic, struggling to close the portal as more elementals pour through. She twists her hand with a shout, and the portal slams shut.
She gives the group a thumbs up, and then turns around and flings a spell at another elemental.
Uther puts all his lay on hands into Remnii, and she once again comes to, still held by Uther. Remnii puts a hand on his arm and nods, still very dazed and unsure of what happened, but she continues off Uther's compliment to Vel.
Uther then hurls a hammer of wrath at the earth elemental nearby, seeing Seria is surrounded. The hammer cracks into the earth elemental’s back, flashes with bright light, and then reappears in his hand.
Elissa drops her concentration on protection from energy and instead casts aura of vitality and then heals herself. Skoll crunches the nearby earth elemental into dust, and then it claws at the lava elemental--the thunder damage of the strike causing thick chunks of lava to explode off.
Seria bites General Garr, unphased by the fire damage.
Tol’vas uses gravity sinkhole again, and the sinkhole explodes an earth elemental, and the fire elemental is then slammed into the invisible barrier around the magic circle. He then casts shillelagh.
Garr burrows under the earth and appears behind Skoll. His hands form into large balls of molten magma. He hurls them at Uther, and the first one goes wide, but the second one connects and sends him dropping to the ground. Both strikes explode into burning molten fire, burning Remnii and Vel.
Remnii uses mass cure wounds, healing all her allies within range with a wave of holy energy.
Hati brings his claw up and slashes through the lava elemental, breaking it to bits. He then closes on General Garr and bites into him.
Elissa is back in critical condition as several lesser elementals swarm around her. Thrud puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles, and then they disappear in a crack of thunder. They reappear behind Uther, Vel, and Remnii as the elementals are left somewhat stunned.
The remaining fire elemental surges by Vel, setting her clothing alight. Tol’vas smacks it with his scythe. The fire elemental then hits Uther with its fist. Hati runs at Garr and tries to bite him, but Garr smacks him aside, and some elementals swarm on him--effectively removing him from the midst of the battle.
Thrud manages to finish off the fire elemental with two swings of her hammer.
Garr closes on the group, stepping over the fissure. He swings down on Uther with his magma fists. Uther drops, but the remnants of his shield deflects the second blow aside. A lesser fire elemental swings at Vel, who is still on the ground.
Seria scurries around and bites Garr.
Another elemental surges on Remnii, setting her on fire. Tol’vas casts swiftmend on Uther to get him up again, and then closes on Garr to try and hit him. The scythe of elune carves into him, and it seems stuck for a moment, but then he wrenches it out.
Vel gets to her feet and twists her blade into a reverse grip, fire still flickering on her armor.
Arcane magic crackles around her blade and she disappears, materializing around all the remaining enemies as she drives her reversed blade into their backs. She fully materializes on Garr’s back, steam from the heat of the lava combined with her ambient chill swirling around her as her eyes blaze a bright magenta surrounded with crackling, arcane blue. Garr shudders, the arcane energy of the blade driving the sword deep, before he freezes over and crumbles beneath her. Two of the other fire elementals also shudder and collapse, leaving only one more alive, which runs for Remnii.
It misses both strikes.
Remnii’s eyes go dark as she blasts the remaining fire elemental with mind sliver, causing it to shatter and its head to go sailing, as the rest of their companions finish the remaining swarm.
