[Alliance] Chapter Four: Session Thirty-Nine
Appearing Characters: Elissa Cross, Maraad, Remnii, Seria, Tol'vas Moonshadow, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Zevrax
July 30th
Remnii informs the group that she can sense the remains of Ash’alah inside the bramble structure that they are faced with. Vel opts to conjure her [Frost Armor], a pale blue aura whipping around her.
Tol’vas opts to try and conjure help using [Conjure Woodland Beings] and two dryads answer his call. The group starts to approach the brambles, and Seria casts [True Seeing] from her staff. Her pupils slit and get a light blue glow. Tol’vas shifts into his pack form, and it seems he has maintained control over himself.
As they start to approach, Seria sees something dart out from the trees and start to follow Tol’vas. It is walking openly, and it doesn’t seem to be making any effort to conceal itself--it’s a small demonic creature that no one else sees. An imp.
Seria starts to stalk towards it, and then she notices that it isn’t alone. There are more imps huddled among the trees--watching.
Tol’vas sniffs, and he catches the scent of a lot of things. Seria was more right than she realized--they are being watched by more than just a couple things.
Seria winds up with her staff and smacks it into the unsuspecting imp. It goes sailing, and invisibly it shrieks. It smacks into a nearby tree and immediately becomes visible.
The tree starts to creek, and two bright green eyes open and look down at Seria. It’s an ancient.
It starts to lurch toward Seria, and the others can hear other trees move and start to rise to defend the grove. Dozens of moths take off into the air. An axxarian satyr emerges from his hidden state, slashing into Tol’vas with a [Green-Flame Blade].
Vel immediately leaps on the satyr, casting [Heart Strike] as she rips open a bleeding wound in his side.
He starts to laugh.
An imp shoots a [Fire Bolt] at Tol’vas, but it just barely grazes his fur. The imp curses, as it’s now visible. One of the addled shockwing moths darting around the area starts to spark and crackle as it coats a large swath of the group with static electricity. Vel and the nearby ancient seize up as they are both stunned.
Elissa casts [Protection from Evil and Good] on herself, Vel, and Tol’vas, a wind wafting over the three of them. One of the dryads tries to cast [Dispel Magic] on the edge of the grove, but as the magic slams into the brambles, it doesn’t have any perceptible effect.
Another of the addled moths, a sootwing, begins to shake dust from its wings. It drifts down over the group, but whatever effects it has doesn’t seem to take hold.
Maraad casts [Seal of the Crusader] on himself and he swings his hammer into one of the larger ancients. Uther goes for the other one, which is stunned. His hammer ignites with holy fire as he uses [Green-Flame Blade] which splashes onto the nearby rimewing moth, incinerating it. Just then, a satyr leaps out of the shadows and attacks Uther, but the paladin deflects the attack aside.
Tol’vas leaps on the nearest satyr, his fangs exacerbating the bleeding wound that Vel had ripped open in it. Seria casts [Animal Friendship] on one of the sootwings, which seems to calm it.
Remnii ducks under one of the fluttering rimewings and reaches out to the addled ancient that Maraad had engaged with. She casts [Greater Restoration].
She focuses the magic into the ancient, using the power of the Light to expel the corruption within the core of the ancient’s mind. Its eyes become unfocused.
She looks at Maraad.
She starts to run towards the other ancient. One of the treants goes for Vel and gives her a solid wallop that causes a recoil of frost energy. Another imp casts a [Fire Bolt] at Tol’vas, and his concentration on the conjure woodland beings wanes--the dryads disappearing back into the Dream as another imp shoots a bolt of fire at Tol’vas.
Vel is able to shake off the effects of the shockwing and is no longer stunned. Another imp shoots at Tol’vas, and he is blasted out of his pack form. An imp cheers, as the massive wolf had been “slain” and then it turns invisible. Tol’vas casts [Wrath] on one of the treants, and he pats the fire that had smoldered on his armor out.
Seria had been assaulted by a shockwing, which she hits back with her staff. She then casts [Moonfire] on the satyr on the opposite side of the restored ancient, and he curses loudly. A treant swings at Seria, but she blocks it with her staff.
A shockwing lands on Vel and jabs her with its proboscis, trying to feed upon her blood. A treant also tries to hit her, but Elissa imposes disadvantage with her shield as she bashes it away. Maraad, meanwhile, smashes another moth into the ground before swinging around and crushing a second one as he moves to back Remnii up.
The satyr that Seria had lit up with moonfire closes on her and slashes into her with his scythe. The sootwing that Seria had charmed takes off into the air and flutters around. The two rimewings nearby watch, and also leave--landing on some nearby trees.
The satyr engaged with Uther slashes into him twice. Remnii uses the distraction to try and duck behind the satyr to get to the ancient.
Remnii reaches out and touches the ancient, trying to push through to this ancient as well, but the diamonds crumble and it doesn’t seem to take effect. Remnii curses quietly, realizing she was unable to reach the creature. An imp shoots fire at her, but it goes wide.
Elissa uses [Consecration], and a burning glyph that looks vaguely like a sunflower appears beneath the group, holy energy surging through many of the enemies as her concentration on protection from evil and good drops.
The bleeding satyr is still gushing blood as it tries to attack Vel. The attack glances off her arcane [Shield], and it growls as it disengages--but it’s still bleeding profusely.
Another addled sootwing takes off and flies away while the cured ancient comes fully to its senses, and then sees the nearby satyr.
It slams its fists down as the satyr curses, dodging around one fist but getting smacked with the other. Meanwhile, Uther swings twice on his fellow, the light of his hammer causing the satyr to flinch away. Uther casts [Green-Flame Blade], and obliterates the satyr with a final hit that shatters one of his horns.
Uther looks at Remnii, who flinches at the horn breaking.
A treant strikes at Vel, but misses, and it takes a blast of holy damage from the consecrated area. The still-addled ancient slams his fist into Uther.
The Axxarian trickster manages to staunch the bleeding from heart strike and attempts to hide, but does a poor job at it, as he leaves a trail of blood in his wake. More moths start to flutter away, but a new shockwing closes on Tol’vas.
Remnii tries to purify the corrupted treant one more time with [Greater Restoration], and she manages to break through the corruption. It reels back, grabbing the sides of its head. An imp pokes its head out from a tree to shoot a [Fire Bolt], but it misses, as does the imp that shoots at Vel.
Seria gets to her feet and punches a satyr in the face with [Wrath], the life energy singing his bare chest. She then uses her rapid regeneration ability to start to mend some of her wounds together.
Vel sees the trail of blood and uses [Blink] to follow it, reappearing behind the satyr as she casts [Heart Strike] again, reopening the bleeding wound.
The satyr cackles.
Meanwhile, the satyr engaged with Seria manages to knock her down again and slash her with his scythe.
Maraad slams into the satyr with his hammer and sends his broken body sprawling across the earth. He gives Seria a nod, then moves to close in on the treant, knocking it back ten feet.
Uther looks up at the ancient that had come to his senses.
He then runs for the treant and smashes into it with his hammer, shattering it.
Meanwhile, Vel cuts into the trickster with another [Heart Strike] and then pirouettes around him, driving her blade into the nearby imp and immediately impaling it.
The satyr raises his scythe and starts to cast [Hideous Laughter], but the blood continues to gush out his wound and he falls to the ground, bleeding out. Meanwhile, Seria explodes an imp that had just turned invisible with [Wrath].
Uther grabs the remaining treant and lifts it up so it’s exposed.
The treant tries to flail back and hit Uther, and it manages to conk him hard in the head. Maraad swings his hammer into the treant, sending it sailing into the woods. Seria also kills the last imp, and Vel bites into the downed satyr behind the tree, feasting on its blood and healing. She cleans herself with [Prestidigitation], and returns to the group.
The ancients completely uproot themselves from the ground.
They start to walk away from the grove.
She points at the bramble.
The Ancients stop for the briefest of moments.
They pick up some fallen trees and hurl them at the bramble. They punch right through the bramble, tearing them asunder and clearing a path for the group to enter.
Seria goes over to the moths and she offers a ration to them. The charmed sootwing and several others swarm all over her hand, consuming the ration immediately.
Elissa casts [Speak with Animals], as does Seria.
Other moths start to flock around the slain entities in the area.
Tol’vas pats Elissa on the shoulder.
The moth looks at Seria as they start to flood over corpses.
Uther touches his jaw, fully realizing the pain from when the treant busted his nose.
He points at his bloody nose.
Remnii casts [Cure Wounds] on Uther, and also casts a [Mass Flash of Light] on her other allies. Tol'vas approaches the remnants of the brambles--most of which had been cleared in an opening, though there were still some tangles blocking their path.
He casts [Blight], his eyes glowing a dark green as moisture starts to move out of brambles into his hand. He feels a pang of sheer rage through his mind, at the people that corrupted this place. For the briefest of moments, Seria sees his eyes flicker red, but then it’s gone, and the brambles wither and crumble away.
The group steps in, and they see a putrid and twisted representation of what the grove should have once looked like. The trees are overgrown with brambles, and the pathways are strewn with the decaying corpses of night elves and beasts. The plants have withered, and there are bright green vines choking what little plant-life has survived. The trees are twisted, blackened, and broken, and the twisted sections of the bramble are to the north, but they can hear chanting in eredun with an occasional bleat bleeding in.
He moves deeper along the path, and he hears a voice.
Two figures step out of the shadows, and a third remains partially hidden. They are sentinels in various degrees of injury.
Seria scowls, her eyes honing in on the women.
Tol’vas looks back at the group.
Seria starts to cast [Moonfire], and all three of the night elves scowl.
Seria feels a presence in her mind, but she shakes it off. Tol’vas feels the same thing, but he also resists it.
He starts to run at the women, and a hail of arrows launches at him from the trees. There is an uncomfortable feeling in the air, as if it's stifling. Uther swings at the closest sentinel, and she tries to make a convincing shriek of fear, but Uther realizes it’s a ploy. He swings again, a veil of holy fire wreathing his hammer that he then slams into the disguised succubus. Her body is singed away, revealing her true form as she is destroyed.
He quickens a [Green-Flame Blade], striking into the woman that had just spoken. Maraad charges in, and the succubus is narrowly able to avoid his hammer.
Various moths take to the sky and rimewing flutters over the group of succubi and paladins, a gale of freezing air coating them. Elissa casts aura of vitality on herself and heals Seria a bit. Suddenly, they hear a howling deeper in the bramble, and fire starts to ooze out of the center of the trees. A large darkhound emerges, flanked by others, burning the bramble as they go.
The largest of them howls, and Remnii shudders, fear gripping her heart. Remnii looks back, clearly afraid.
Her eyes settle on Vel, and she looks grateful as she backs up behind the arcanist and runs for Maraad. She breathes a sigh of relief as she gets close to the other draenei.
The remaining succubi vanish, and slips into the ethereal plane. Seria feels an anger boiling within her, as does Tol’vas, replenishing their strength. Seria turns into a tiger, letting the rage fuel her. However, the stripes on her tiger form are jet black, and there are cracks of red starting to eat their way into her stripes. She starts to prowl towards the darkhounds.
More sootwings flutter down and fiery embers streak off their wings, singing Elissa and Tol’vas far worse than any others had. Elissa, meanwhile, is overwhelmed with the electricity from a shockwing.
Vel moves to back up Seria and casts [Slow] on the entire pack of darkhounds, icy chains wrapping around the majority of them.
A satyr then steps out down the corridor, wearing a mockery of high elven robes.
Flames coalesce in his flames, and he hurls it at the main group--the fire exploding in the midst of them. The entire grove ignites. There is an earnest sob of pain as Remnii drops to the ground, her ribs broken from the impact of a large piece of shrapnel, and burn scars start to roil on Tol’vas’s skin.
Many of the moths take off to hide on the roof of the thorns. Vel sees more of the stripes on Seria’s back legs fill with red, her eyes burning with hatred for the darkhounds. She roars and leaps for the darkhound alpha. She knocks it prone, tearing into it with tooth and claw.
Vel looks between Seria and the group that just got burst with flames, and she grits her teeth and uses [Steel Wind Strike], slashing into two of the darkhounds to try and decimate the pack.
Maraad nods, and Uther claps him on the shoulder and they [Thunder Step] directly next to the satyr hellcaller. Uther swings immediately into the demon.
The massive inferno spider that had also emerged in the chaos shrinks and sputters, the hellcaller’s control on it waning. Uther swings again, bringing the hellcaller to his knees and spiking his hammer down into the satyr’s skull.
One of the nearby satyr thornbearers curses and fires a hail of thorns at Uther and Maraad.
Tol’vas transforms into his pack form, and there are red roots and brambles all over him. His eyes are burning bright red, and he can no longer tell friend from foe.
Meanwhile, a darkhound launches at Seria, digs its flaming maw into her flank. Another darkhound breathes fire at Vel. The darkhound alpha tries to whip around Seria, but Seria bites in response.
Remnii sees the crazed, giant wolf behind her. She gets to her hooves, weighing her options as it dawns on her that Maraad and Uther are missing. She casts [Death Ward] on herself, trying to preserve her own life.
A darkhound bites Seria, drawing her out of her wildshape, and she realizes that she was losing control in the animal form.
Maraad swings at the satyr behind him, and promptly obliterates it. He puts a hand on Uther’s shoulder, holy light radiating around them.
Another darkhound bites at Vel, but she parries it aside.
A satyr closes on Remnii, slashing at her, but she rolls aside. Meanwhile moths start to flock after her, but they are also unable to hit. Darkhounds continue to bite at Seria. A succubus appears above Uther and brings her whip down, but he deflects the strike with his hammer.
Tol’vas looks at the menagerie of targets and snarls, biting into one of them. It is fortunately the satyr, which he starts to tear into with extreme savagery. The edges of his fur had started to turn black.
A darkhound bites at Vel, but she deflects it with [Shield]. Another thornbearer fires a barrage of thorns at Uther.
Vel starts to dance around the darkhounds, evading their bites, and she runs for Seria. She sees Tol’vas in the distance.
She grabs Seria and uses [Dimension Door] taking them back to the core group, and then she flings a rock at Tol’vas.
She’s trying to direct him at her and the darkhounds, as the alpha runs behind her, its bite glancing off her [Shield] spell.
She then realizes Uther isn’t there.
Remnii weakly points further up the corridor, where Uther and Maraad are still entrenched in combat. Maraad hurls his hammer at the succubus, exploding in Light as the succubus collapses to the ground.
Another darkhound runs after its alpha, breathing a cone of fire over the group. Seria chugs a potion. She then casts [Wrath] on the darkhound alpha. Fortunately the other hounds are slower do the continued presence of Vel's spell.
Another satyr then emerges near Uther, also wearing ornate robes--though fancier than the destroyed hellcaller's.
His eyes go pitch black, and something starts to connect with Uther’s mind. However, the paladin resists. Meanwhile, the rogue inferno spider bites the nearest satyr, boiling its blood as it pumps fiery venom into it. Remnii uses her channel divinity, healing Seria and Elissa and then she uses gift of the naaru on herself.
Uther continues to cleave into the engaged satyrs, heavily wounding one of them as the battle closes in.
