The Great Baatezu Army (IC)

[Zaydos]

Reserved to place links to character sheets for my own convenience.

[Zaydos]

The walls in the audience chamber have a thin veneer of stone placed over them, an attempt to relieve mortal allies of their panic at the idea of being trapped in an iron box with “devils” as they so derogatorily call your kind. An amnizu guides you each to your seats, obviously designed with the physical properties of specific Baatezu in mind, and having been set out for the group. Only Chazz’ri’s chair was not designed to accommodate his race, showing how rarely the Baatezu of this fort deal directly with mezzoloths.

A few moments after you arrive a great scorpion-devil enters the room. This is Zathmyr, proxy to Adeonyr a parochial hobgoblin deity worshipped on Kathos. Once an osyluth he was changed by the god’s divine power and now stands on six insectile legs, looking something like a centaur in appearance. He has a second set of arms that end in large pincers, and a drop of venom hangs dangerously upon the stinger on his tail. He wears a bandoleer, made of the tanned hide of humans, and from it hands a whip-dagger and a scourge each with hilts fashioned stylistically after the a scorpion's stinger.

He is flanked by two hobgoblins. One wears grey robes, strange tattoos covering half of his face. The other is dressed in mithril breastplate, a badge of Baatorian green steel welded into a pauldron of his armor marking him as a soldier of Baator.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle stands to salute the newcomers, and then remains silent, unsure of the protocol for the situation.

[dragonsamurai77]

Elbusi watches the newcomers with interest.

[Hat-Trick]

Levii stands and bows deeply to the god as he passes. To be in the presence of a god was an honor, whether it was for such low creatures as the hobgoblin or not, and were to be treated with the highest respect. At least, by his standards.

[Ajadea]

Syhazael salutes the osyluth and sits back down, waiting for the higher-ranked baatezu to speak first.

[Urpriest]

Chazz'ri wriggles in his uncomfortable chair. His eyes wander across the assembled entities, glinting as his gaze passes the hobgoblins. An insectile grin crosses his face.

[Zaydos]

So these are the warriors you will be providing me with? Zathmyr says obviously unimpressed, I would have expected at least gelugons, and if you are going to bring yugoloths into this I would have thought it would be an arcanaloth if anything."

The amnizu bows to Zathmyr, and says with a sound of false-humility, "We are limited by the skills of your summoner, besides these five are special they have shown certain talents that have marked them for attention from above. Besides there is no need to send gelugons for a job that osyluths can do just as well, it would be inefficient."

Zathmyr glares at the amnizu for a moment, an icy stare of hatred and loathing, So be it, the proxy finally says.

The amnizu turns towards all five of you, you may be seated. Now where to begin. On Kathos there is a war raging between the hobgoblin followers of Adeonyr and the remnants of humanity and the elves a special breed of hatred fills the word elves, perhaps indicating a special grudge against them, it is your job to sabotage the forces belonging to the Coalition of Elf and Man, to ensure that the hobgoblin's seize the fortress of Mazlit in the battle they are planning there in 2 weeks. You will be working with Athgar, he points at the hobgoblin warrior, and Draznor he points at the robed hobgoblin will be the one to actively summon you. We believe the eladrin are in the area, though. If you begin to act openly they will have an excuse to throw off their veils for a time and rally in support of the humans and elves, you must not give them this excuse. Thus if anyone amongst them realize your true nature they must be killed before they can spread word of your ability. Now I believe Draznor had a question.

The hobgoblin clears his throat and says in a deep voice, Can I be informed of each of your skills and talents, to best determine how to tactically use you in the morrow? I may be able to provide limited support by means of my magic, or requisitioned gear, so please speak freely.

[dragonsamurai77]

I am Elbusi, master of destructive magic.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"Darle, sir, a skilled tactician and deadly archer at your service. I think you will find me to be quite capable at...seducing the enemy out of their comfortable coalition."

[Urpriest]

"'An army must be known like one's hands, and used as freely.' Rashivagh, I believe, though I'm somewhat rusty with hobgoblin poetry. I'm known as Chazz'ri, and my business is killing." he pats his sheathed kukris, "Just give me something big to sink these into. If it's got enough brain to fight back, all the better."

[Hat-Trick]

"My name in this incarnation is Levii, I am a warrior by trade, although I am adept at disguise as well," the excruciarch said standing again, only to bow.

[Zaydos]

Hmm, a battle caster could be useful in the final battle; once it has come to that it will be too late for the eladrin to reinforce, the hobgoblin muses, two erinyes will also be useful, humans have a quite understandable fondness for them. As for the excruciarch you say you are skilled at disguise, I have heard your kind produce auras of pain can they be supressed? Also, he turns towards the amnizu, would I be incorrect in assuming that a yugoloth might could act openly without allowing greater eladrin to pierce their veils?

The amnizu looks at the hobgoblin and says, That question will have to wait for Lord Nergoron to arrive, he should be here soon.

And perhaps he will be able to tell me why you could not spare me one of the Lamenting Angels this tower is known for, Zathmyr says bitterly.

Because their special powers have no function on the planes where Law and Evil do not hold sway, a mighty cornugon says entering. A scar, from a hallowed weapon no doubt, marks his face. Two amnizus follow close behind him, pitiful courtiers for this diabolic colonel. He carries a spiked chain made of Baatorian green steel wrapped around his shoulder, and two battle-axes hang from a belt on his waist. My apologies for being late, he continues, I got caught up in a minor skirmish upon the River Styx on Gehenna, my marraenoloth guide had been bribed by tanar’ri to bring me into an ambush and I had to attend to securing the prisoners first. For a moment it seems like the cornugon has finished when he turns to one of the amnizus and says, Xyros fetch the maps.

OOC:
@Hat-Trick
before you go check FCII, it doesn't say you can, but I'm ruling that they can because otherwise they'd kill their torture victims too quickly.

[dragonsamurai77]

It is an honor, Lord Nergoron Elbusi said, bowing deeply. My axe and my spells are at your command.

[Ajadea]

Syhazael stands and bows to the cornucorgon before sitting again and turning to Zathmyr. "I'm Syhazael, warrior, healer, and sorcerer." She shrugs slightly. "Some of my abilities followed me when I died."

[Hat-Trick]

Levii is about to answer the question when Lord Nergoron enters and instead smiles behind his iron mask and bows towards their commander.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle bows low this time, keeping her wings pressed tight to her back.

"It is an honour, my lord. I am, as always, at your disposal."

[Zaydos]

Nergoron nods back at your group and proceeds to walk to a chair carved from the bones of some great prime material beast and then quite heavily cushioned before sitting in it.

As I said the Lamenting Angels would be just any other erinyes on the Prime, their powers only function on Acheron, Baator, and on Gehenna. It is a rare Lamenting Angel that can make her mourning heard on the Gray Wastes, and there is no reason to send one to Kathos., he pauses, a long tongue flicking out from his mouth to moisten one of his eyes, When the maps arrive we will have more ability to plan, but the current situation is that on the continent of Laphmyr the hobgoblins have extended throughout the former Grand Empire of the North, and the free lands to the south, driving elves and men into the old mountains of Tangild. Tangild is home to several ancient dwarven fortresses, warded against magical destruction, one of which is the dwarf fortress Mazlit which guards the main pass into the valley the mountains ring. If you could reach this valley you could destroy the very heart of the Coalition capturing their women and children and holding them hostage, correct?

Yes the diabolist says.

So it should be simple, four troops go in kill the commander, open the gates and you've won, but Nergoron lets hatred show on his face, whether a fake show of patriotism or an intentional revelation of inner feeling is questionable, there's the problem of the eladrin. We are working on a means to determine how many of the thrice be-cursed heavenspawn there are within your petty battle, but have so far failed. The most powerful is a single ghaele eladrin who is powerful enough to be most limited. So far that is all we know. This ghaele could potentially disrupt our plans without calling reinforcements, the others would only be a problem if they contact Arborea. As such be careful, we suspect there are a total of five eladrin working within or near the battle. Any questions before the maps arrive?

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"Will we have any other resources or assistance, Lord?" Darle asks politely, her hands folded in her lap and her back erect against her chair.

[Zaydos]

Though their magical talents are limited the hobgoblin mages of Kathos may be able to lend you aid, also Athgar one of my own planar servants will be accompanying you, he gestures offhandedly at the hobgoblin warrior introduced earlier, If you have any specific requests it is best to state them now.

[Hat-Trick]

Levii finds it rather audacious to ask for assistance and supplies, but does not indicate it any more than making a sour face behind his mask. Levii asks, "Would you have us report in or wait until the job is done for debriefing, Lord Nergoron?"

[Zaydos]

I will not be handling the debriefing myself, but you have no need to clutter our libraries with mundane reports. If something extraordinary happens then you might should make a report.

[Zaydos]

After a few moments the amnizu returns with three maps unrolling them on the grand table.

The first is a simple map showing the entire world and its three continents. It doesn't show much in the way of terrain features but only political boundaries. One continent is a solid red, ruled completely by hobgoblins. The second is mostly red with a small patch of green, the Coalition holdings. The third is a mix of colors, populated by yuan-ti, wemics, shifters, thri-kreen, and goblinoids.

The second map is just the second continent. Still low detail it shows sites of insurrection against the hobgoblins across the continent, and the ring of mountains where the current battle is fought.

The third map is only of the mountains and the surrounding lands. It has several mountain fortresses marked, including the fortress of Mazlit that you are supposed to be attacking. It also shows relative strengths of both forces; the hobgoblins are numerically superior but the positioning of Mazlit give the defenders a significant advantage.

[Ajadea]

Syhaezael looks at the second map. "I suppose the first order of business is to distract the eladrin. Drag them on some wild goose chase, and that's one problem gone. I'm no expert on sieging anything, but I'd figure that a few good whacks will bring the wall down, whatever it's made of."

[Zaydos]

Spell-hardened stone, possibly harder than the walls of this tower, Nergoron says, Though its warding against disintegration is weaker and it lacks this fortress's wards against teleportation.

[Hat-Trick]

"Without the teleport dampening, we could pull off surgical strikes and sabotage if we had better knowledge of the fortress layout and troop distribution," Levii notes, musing to himself aloud. He adds humbly, bowing to Lord Nergoron, "But, my untrained mind may have missed a tactical oversight obvious to those better informed."

[Zaydos]

If you were spotted and any witnesses survived the eladrin would be alerted to your presence, also we do not have blue-prints of the keep or a map of its interior.

[Ajadea]

"I don't think spell-hardening will matter. I have put holes in adamantine before." Syhaezael says vaguely, not even bothering to take her eyes off the maps. "Can't we just charm one of the humans into making us a map or something?"

[Zaydos]

That should be well within your capabilities, unfortunately the natives have not already done so.

[Zaydos]

Unless there are any truly pressing questions, it is time fore me to oversee the interrogation of my new prisoners first hand, Nergoron says rising from his chair, You will be leaving in twelve Sigilian hours, amuse yourselves during that time, I hear there's a new batch of soulshells that need careful reduction to larval forms.

[dragonsamurai77]

Elbusi heads to where the Soulshells are.

[Ajadea]

Syhazael heads out to see the soul shells. She takes her time, doing a couple aerial backflips above one of her favorite torture stations. Below her, the barbazu drag in the new soul shells. She grins and waves in a manner that would better fit a small excited child than a millennia-old devil. "Hey, Semmekor, nice haul!" she calls, landing gracefully next to the amnizu running the torture station.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle stays behind to study the maps, looking for any tactical potential.


Intelligence check to determine a potential strategy: [roll0]

[Zaydos]

Try as she might Darle is unable to find anything useful.

Going to have to say that's a failure; there are supply lines on the map, a note as to wear the civilians are (past the fortress) and a note that the fortress employs clerics to produce food in case of siege.

[Hat-Trick]

Levii resigns himself to the training grounds to practice on some the lower caste devils, as is his usual form of entertainment. Unlike many of his brother excruciarchs, he finds little fun in tormenting a helpless prisoner (of course his definition of little is stretched within such a statement), preferring to shatter the hopes and bodies in true combat, that is worth eternal damnation.

[Urpriest]

Chazz'ri watches the others leave with an amused expression on his face. If the hobgoblins return to their home plane he looks desultory and heads off into the fortress to look for amusement. If they stay in the fortress he follows them and attempts to engage them in conversation, mostly hobgoblin-appropriate small talk.

Chazz'ri makes sure to have all his weapons affected by keen edge and himself buffed with see invisibility before the departure time.

[Zaydos]

The hobgoblin diabolist talks to Chazz'ri quite freely. He seems very curious as to the nature of the yugoloth command chain and the nature of their forces. The other hobgoblin remains quite no matter how Chazz'ri attempts to engage him in conversation.

[Zaydos]

After a few hours, everyone but Chazz'ri is called to meet without the hobgoblins or Zathmyr. You return to the same chamber as before where a gelugon, recognized as Asamns one of the quartermasters of the tower.

Good to see you all, he says as you enter, I have certain additional orders for your group as well as these.

He holds up the papers, which a quick glance over show to be some sort of army orders.

Reylew is the leader of the coalition forces and also a paladin of unblemished virtue. Make him choose law over good if you can. Helping the goblins will aid us due to the tithe of souls they are paying us, but if we can net his soul as well, the fiend's mandibles click together in the ice devil equivalent of a smile, so much the better. If this proves impossible than kill him and take his sword, the Sword of Legithos. It is not at full power now, but should it be taken to Solania and restored by Jazirian it could be a formidable weapon against our kind.

[Ajadea]

"Sounds interesting." Syhazael comments, biting her lower lip. She is stained with blood, presumably from the soul-shells, though she does not seem to notice this, or care at all. "So he's in Mazlit, right? If so, I'll have to have a chat with him. I'll be heading there anyways. We need a map, you know."

[Zaydos]

You will each be given a map when it is time for you to depart, the map we showed you earlier is currently being copied for your use; is their anything else you will need?

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"I have a thought. Might an attack on the civilians beyond the fortress draw their soldiers away from the walls exactly when they might need them. Say, before a surprise attack by your hobgoblin forces with their superior vision?"

[Zaydos]

That is very likely, although for a force of 5 or 6 humans they'd never draw sufficient forces from the wall. For a group of 5 or 6 devils they'd send only their elites, and the eladrin would come. So if you have a means to transport a hobgoblin force there, I believe it would be an excellent strategy.

[Hat-Trick]

"What if an Eladrin were attacking?" Levii asks in curiosity, a sadistic smile crossing his masked face. "I am equipped well enough to masquerade as one of their kind, if only for a short while."

[Zaydos]

"That would almost certainly confuse Reylew," the amnizu concedes, "But would also certainly arouse the eladrins' suspicion. For an eladrin to remove the Veil and attack humans for no apparent reason, and then not be recalled to Arborea might even insight suspicion of fiendish involvement from the humans as it involves breaking cosmic laws. Eladrins that openly interfere in the affairs of mortals when fiends are not are drawn back to Arborea and left unable to return to the Prime for years."

[Ajadea]

"One celestial attacking another of their own free will is a good way for the offending celestial to get kicked down here." Syhazael points out. "Just a thought. More to the point, Darle's idea about a double-pronged attack is tactically sound, but how are we supposed to transport the required amount of hobgoblins there?"

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"We could use illusory hobgoblins...

[Ajadea]

"That might work. Um...you can make illusions of things, right?" Syhazael asks, frowning. "I've never figured out how, myself."

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"Most Erinyes can make minor illusions. If we could get a single hobgoblin capable of making more into position, we could assemble an illusory strike force of elite hobgoblins. Maybe we should file a requisition request for an item that can create illusions?"

[Zaydos]

"If you say what kind of items you will need we can see what can be done. Remember, though, the more resources you spend the worse it will look for you."

You can make a sense motive check to read between the lines there (DC 20) if you make it
Requisitioning and using expendable items will look bad on your resume; daily use will look much better.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Sense Motive: 1d2-+16

"Does anyone among us have Wizard or Sorcerer powers? They could use a scroll of Permanent Image to create a quite realistic illusion of a strike force, especially if we impersonated hobgoblins and actually started to strike down civilians."

Ed: (after reading spoiler) "Or perhaps a more...renewable resource would be more appropriate. An item to give Permanent Image every day, if one exists."

[Ajadea]

sense motive: [roll0]

"I was a sorcerer as a mortal. I think. Regardless of the origin, I have the required mark to utilize such items." Syhazael shrugs. "I do not study spell-work extensively, but my sorcererous magic is rather more powerful than most marked individuals, and I could likely cast a permanent image or two if given a source for the spell. A specialized item would work, but I believe scrolls are more likely to be available on such short notice." Promotions could wait. Screwing with paladins until they landed their dead, fallen, holier-than-thou arses down on Avernus? That was something distinctly fun.

[Zaydos]

We will see about the scroll, the amnizu says ending the briefing.

Two hours later you are all called together to set off, a great swirling red portal opened for the occasion. Two amnizu are there to act as your guides, and give you a scroll of permanent image.

[Urpriest]

Chazz'ri grins.

"Ooh, nice portal. This leads to the camp? Any chance it's been overrun by the enemy while we've been talking? Be fun if we had to start fighting right after stepping through. Guess I'm likely to have to settle for fighting later today instead. Oh well.

[dragonsamurai77]

Elbusi steps through the portal, extremely bored and hoping to have a chance to blast something soon.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle steps through the portal backwards, saluting to those behind her as she does so.

[Ajadea]

Syhazael bows and takes the scroll of permanent image. She tucks it into a hidden pocket in her belt as she steps through the portal, a wide smile on her face.

[Hat-Trick]

Levii holds his chain in his hand, paranoid at Chazz'ri's statement, although he appears calm, if only for the lack of any visible face to deduce emotion. He steps through slowly, trying to keep alert.

[Zaydos]

The portal leads to a goblin war camp. Tents have been erected within a make-shift wooden wall and within that wall a second, more permanent, stone wall is being constructed. In the distance (1+ miles) you can see a fortress built where it spans a mountain pass.

Goblinoid soldiers are lining up for dinner as you arrive.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"How many of us can masquerade as humans once we make it into the fortress?"

[Hat-Trick]

Levii grasps his mask and slowly lifts it onto the top of his head, instantaneously changing his hidden features, build, and apparel to that of an average human. "I can, at least with my mask. It would be better if given time to prepare a mundane supplement."

[Urpriest]

"I can kill any human who sees me. Does that count?"

[Ajadea]

"Sadly, no." Syhazael says, sighing. "On both counts. Chazz'ri, murdering everyone you see is not the same thing as disguise. And as wings are more than a bit difficult to hide, I cannot disguise myself as a human. Unless the eladrin posted here are exceptionally stupid, they would not be fooled if I posed as a deva either." She stretches her white wings out for a moment, making the bits of soul shell on them even easier to see. She plucks a stray feather and folds her wings again. "Of course, most eladrin are very much mistaken about the nature of chaos, so there is some hope that they are, in fact, idiots."

[Ajadea]

Syhazael waits for a moment, then, seeing that no one else seems to have anything else to add, she says scathingly "So, does anyone have any sort of actual plan, or are we to stand here all day?"

[Urpriest]

Chazz'ri looks behind him, seeing if the hobgoblin diabolist had emerged from the portal yet.

[Zaydos]

The hobgoblin stands there, "Shall I show you around the camp? Although it might not be wise for all of you to move openly."

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle responds by crafting an illusion of a hobgoblin to completely obscure her own body.

Using Minor Image for that. I'm now invisible within my giant hobgoblin persona.

[Zaydos]

Darle

Darle responds by crafting an illusion of a hobgoblin to completely obscure her own body.

Using Minor Image for that. I'm now invisible within my giant hobgoblin persona.

What about your wings?

[Urpriest]

"Do I need to hide? I thought the big Cornugon said the Eladrin might not unveil if they only heard about yugoloth mercs. I mean, if you want to hide me away in some tent then fine, but this camp's a pretty happenin' place. Be a shame to miss out on the fun."

[Ajadea]

Syhazael hastily removes the worst of the soul shell bits from her wings, leaving dark red stains on her ragged white feathers. "Terribly sorry, but that's the best I can do for now." She smiles apologetically. "Anything particularly urgent you need to ask about, or can I go and get a map of Mazlit now?"

[Cogidubnus]

What about your wings?

Fold them against my back? That was the plan. I mean, wings have to be pretty compactible anyway, or doors would be a probelem.

[Zaydos]

"Do I need to hide? I thought the big Cornugon said the Eladrin might not unveil if they only heard about yugoloth mercs. I mean, if you want to hide me away in some tent then fine, but this camp's a pretty happenin' place. Be a shame to miss out on the fun."

You'll probably be fine, it's the others I'm most worried about, the summoner says.


Syhazael hastily removes the worst of the soul shell bits from her wings, leaving dark red stains on her ragged white feathers. "Terribly sorry, but that's the best I can do for now." She smiles apologetically. "Anything particularly urgent you need to ask about, or can I go and get a map of Mazlit now?"

Feel free to go get a map, the hobgoblin say. They don't know the interior, but the exterior is that of a large well defended keep. It has three layers, possibly four layers, of walls and directly behind the first layer is a serious of barracks. Beyond that they are uncertain, they suspect it has several forges and underground farms.


Fold them against my back? That was the plan. I mean, wings have to be pretty compactible anyway, or doors would be a probelem.

You can fold them up but you'll still have a large bulge on your back which would go through an illusion of a normal hobgoblin quite easily.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

Darle notices her wings sticking out, and frowns in annoyance. "Damn. Forgot about that. How's this?"

Her illusion changes, become a cloaked hobgoblin with a serious hunchback.

[Zaydos]

Darle

Darle notices her wings sticking out, and frowns in annoyance. "Damn. Forgot about that. How's this?"

Her illusion changes, become a cloaked hobgoblin with a serious hunchback.

That also explains your slowed movement (as it takes a standard action to move/control the illusion each round)

[Ajadea]

Syhazael goes to get a map. She looks at the map of Mazlit and frowns. "Do they send out patrol groups? If so, do you know what their patrol paths are?" she asks the nearest hobgoblin.

[Zaydos]

The hobgoblin, a corporal, looks at you, "I'm not completely sure, but they do send out patrols from time to time. Their discipline isn't strong enough for us to have found a definite pattern, but they most often send out troops during the day. Let me see your map," he points to a few marks on the map, "we've encountered their patrols at these points, I'll refrain from guessing their actual path, though."

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"Do you think we could extract any useful information if we captured one of their patrols?" the hunched hobgoblin asks the world at large.

[Ajadea]

"A charmed scout will likely see no harm in obtaining a map of the inside of Mazlit for their friend," Syhazael says. "The more foolish ones might even tell us about their strategies."

[Hat-Trick]

Levii Watched as the others fiddled with their disguises as he set his own using his mask. As conversation of Strategy came up, he glances at the map, but does not give any input at the moment, only frowning at the idea of charmed guards handing out information so easily.

[dragonsamurai77]

Elbusi sits impatiently. He cares not at all for the talk of strategy and disguise.

[Urpriest]

Chazz'ri follows the summoner until he is dismissed or given orders. If dismissed, he'll mingle with the off-duty hobgoblins.

[Zaydos]

Chazz'ri is very quickly dismissed.

One hobgoblin does answer Darle's question saying that a captured patrol could very well have useful information, but usually after the interrogation their mind is not complete enough to serve as a good cartographer.

[Cogidubnus]

Darle

"I have...different interrogation techniques to you, I suspect," Darle replies, smiling.