Red Hand of Doom 5e (IC)

[Xihirli]

Gaks cast a spell that she'd had prepared every day since childhood, but had only cast once. "Dhuuc Shuul!" she announced, and fog sprung from the back of the army obscuring the retreating party, larger than the one she'd cast for her own and Draal's escape from the Academy of Devastation. She then wheeled her horse, amalgamated from moisture, around to follow behind Zuri about ten feet further back. The plan to fight the dragon involved either Beorn flying or her bringing the dragon down, and she needed to at least be ready to get close.

[Amnestic]

The army is taken by surprise by Freya's invisible form and steed, but the spell incantation and stream of flame that bursts from her is enough to garner their attention. The fireball detonates on the siege engines, damaging seven in total - four ballista, two catapults, and a trebuchet, though none of them appear to be beyond use. Most of their operators fall to the flames, incinerated in but a moment, but there are yet plenty of replacements on hand, and there appears to be no demoralisation from the sudden attack. The erecting of the sleet storm and fog cloud is enough for the horde to see it as a concerted attack, it seems, as a halt is called and steeds are rounded. Far, far off in the distance, with the bulk of the army, the soaring red dragon roars, its echoing cry carrying across the flatlands. It too was taken by surprise, though the explosion from the fireball seems to have more than garnered its attention.

Spoiler: Map

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Freya gets a turn, then it's back to the enemies to take their first proper actions.

[DigoDragon]

Freya

Freya rejoins her group and gets out the Staff of Stormclouds. "When they get closer, I can unleash some lightning. Beorn, you ready? I know you can lead us to glory."

She gives Beorn bardic inspiration.

[Amnestic]

A horn blows among the rear guard, its claxon call alerting any of the army that were not aware of the attack of the impending danger. Its melody calling out a message all on its own. Those inside the sleet storm struggle to their feet and edge their way out, into the trees to the south, back towards the siege engines, or to the north. Some even push into the fog cloud - anything to escape the icy chill of rain and sleet. It's a significant hindrance to some, preventing them from bringing more of their forces to bear. Some of the outrider cavalries push forward, streaming through the fog with reckless abandon in search of their prey. And they find it. A volley of arrows - a mere nine in total - from some of the riders (both hobgoblin and goblin) and some of the infantry is loosed into the woods. Beorn's and Freya's steeds are both struck, ending the magic. The arrow aimed at Beorn nearly spears him in the shoulder, but instead punctures a nearby tree. Freya is less lucky, with two of them grazing her.

More yells and organisation in goblinoid are heard in the distance, though the army itself does not seem to be turning back en masse. You haven't warranted that much attention. Yet. Though still a good ways off, the dragon is getting closer.

Spoiler: Map

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Freya and Beorn's phantom steeds take some arrows, thereby ending the magical spell. The steeds persist for a minute but they no longer move at all, you're going to need to dismount to get anywhere.

Freya also takes 3+6 damage from two arrows. Beorn's cover bonus saves him from taking 9 (barely!) lucky him.

Everyone gets a turn.

[Xihirli]

Gaks brought her horse around and brought it to a stop next to Freya. "Get on," she ordered simply. She then dismounted, jogged north, and uttered a spell before vanishing entirely into the Ethereal Plane.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bring horse over to Freya. Half movement to dismount. Blink! I will be jumping in and out of the ethereal plane for this whole fight! Right now I am invisible and not even able to physically interact with the world. Hopefully I don't fall to the core of the planet through the ground. That would suck.

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri jumps off her steed next to Beorn's dying phantom.

"Take this one. Follow Freya to the southwest into the woods. Ride as fast as you can and I'll try to get Gaks out. Meet us at the rendezvous. Hopefully we get there before the dragon catches us."

She turns and summons 8 giant owls that appear in the sky about halfway between her and the oncoming horde. As they appear she runs to where Gaks disappeared and gives her command.

"Two of you join me, the rest attack the wolves."

Two of the owls fly back to her, while the other six each attack a different worg. Zuri and the two owls move behind trees to keep from getting hit by the next round of arrows.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action: Conjure Animals for owls, each attacks a different worg, with two attacking the closest one.

Owl1 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[23] for (2d6+3)[10] +8 for crit = 18
Owl2 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[22] for (2d6+3)[10]
Owl3 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[22] for (2d6+3)[14]
Owl4 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[14] for (2d6+3)[10]
Owl5 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[22] for (2d6+3)[11]
Owl6 AC12 HP 25 Attack (1d20+3)[6] for (2d6+3)[14]

Spoiler: Giant Owl

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Giant Owl
Large beast, neutral
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 19 (3d10+3) +6 for mighty summoner
Speed 5 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR13 (+1) DEX15 (+2) CON12 (+1) INT8 (-1) WIS13 (+1) CHA10 (+0)
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +4
Senses Darkvision 120 Ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Giant Owl, Understands Common, Elvish, And Sylvan But Can't Speak
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Flyby. The owl doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach.
Keen Hearing and Sight. The owl has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or sight.
Actions
Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d6 + 1) slashing damage.

[stack]

Beorn dismounts his fading steed, but rejects Zuri's directions. "You get on after you cast your spell; I can hold out longer if I need to give Gaks room to withdraw."

[DigoDragon]

Freya

Freya casts a fireball and launches it into the fog cloud, but just short enough so the flames burst out and catch those worgs. Then, she mounts the phantom steed with a "Hup hup!" and takes off with her steed, commanding it to dash southwest according to Zuri.

Spoiler: Actions

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The lines are pretty hard to see on the map, but I think I counted distances enough that the fireball is just within 120 feet range. Looking at the four big worgs at the SW edge the fog cloud, if Freya aims the fireball 20 feet north of the right-most worg, the fireball lands just to the right of the four-person grouping inside that fog cloud. This should be enough to catch three of the worgs without incinerating Zuri's owls (and hit a whole bunch of other soldiers in the process, not sure how many reflex saves you want. I'll roll a dozen and we can take it from there?)

The mount will perform a Dash action heading SW, carrying Freya as far as the mount can go in a turn.


Fireball damage: (8d6)[20] fire

Reflex DC 15 for half.

(1d20)[1]
(1d20)[12]
(1d20)[12]

(1d20)[15]
(1d20)[1]
(1d20)[18]

(1d20)[5]
(1d20)[16]
(1d20)[9]

(1d20)[13]
(1d20)[12]
(1d20)[15]

(1d20)[1]
(1d20)[14]
(1d20)[2]

[Amnestic]

Between the owl attacks and Freya's fireball, one of the worgs falls, along with eight more hobgoblins obscured by Gaks' fog, only briefly made visible by the force of explosion before the all-concealing cloud swallows up their singed corpses once more. The army moves with practiced efficiency, unleashing an enormous barrage of arrows and swords against the avian attackers, bringing them all low. To the north, the three goblin outriders loose another set of volleys into the woods, striking the last phantom steed that hasn't retreat and ending its magic.

If the hope was that the siege engines wouldn't be used against you, it's a short lived hope indeed. Though many of the operators were killed in the initial explosion, enough have stepped up that they are now usable, aimed directly at you. The range is a hindrance, as is the lack of clear sight, however they're more than able to bring their weight to bear through sheer numbers and power. Enormous tree-trunk sized bolts are loosed from the ballistae along with rocks from the nearest catapults that crash in the woods around you. They split trees, upheave the ground, send leaves and branches flying all around you. One of them finishes off the last owl protecting Zuri, its body disappearing by magic, its life given up to protect its master, though the druid herself doesn't escape unscathed. Beorn very nearly takes a hit from a ballista, though is saved only by the grace of his oath's magic deflecting the enormous projectile at the last second.

Even now they're reloading another volley which threatens to be ready soon.

Spoiler: Map

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I'm not giving a complete rundown of the hits here but despite rolling pretty poorly for a lot of attacks, the sheer weight of numbers managed to bring down all of Zuri's owls. They absorbed...probably a good couple of hundred damage though, so that's good!

The other phantom steed got a goblin arrow, leaving only Freya's (previously Zuri's) alive.

Zuri took 18 ballista damage. Beorn's shield of faith saved him from taking 28, even with disadvantage due to range.

Freya is roughly 65' southswest of the map border.

[Xihirli]

Gaks shimmered back into existence. "Freya will cover our retreat. We will make it," she said, the logistics of the siege engines and the trees blocking archery entering her head. If they started running right then the cavalry would be their biggest problem, and Freya would be able to offer suppressing fire.
"Full retreat now, delaying tactics soon," she advised, and ran.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dash action toward Freya, and let's see if I VANISH (1d20)[14] 11+ ethereal plane

[stack]

Beorn stays close to the caster, keeping his shield toward the enemy as they draw back.

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

After running over to where Gaks disappeared, Zuri looks back and sees that Beorn didn't get on the horse and flee. "Damnit, Beorn. How am I going to get both of you out of here now?"

Then the onslaught starts. First come the arrows, ripping through the trees, small branches and leaves falling all around us. The arrows are quickly followed by the catapults and ballistae that cause the trees to explode. Now branches and trunks fly around along with the leaves. The last steed and the owls both fall to the attacks. Zuri ducks and holds up her shield, but it is too late. Chunks of tree get through Zuri's armor, cutting into her flesh.

She recovers in time to see her friends leave her. Gaks briefly reappears, runs to the southwest, and then is gone again. Beorn lumbers after the wizard, protecting her even though she isn't there. Zuri is left alone. All is lost.

She must escape. But she is too slow to outrun the Worgs. She transforms herself into a riding horse and flees to the southwest, going a little more south than the rest of the party to try to get into thicker woods.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action to wild shape into a riding horse. If the forest is too thick for a horse, then a deer would work better IRL, but there is no stat block for one in 5e.

Then moves 60' SSW to go a little further south than the others.

[DigoDragon]

Freya

Freya continues to push her phantom steed to flee. There's too much distance to do much other than... well, Freya could set the forest on fire to force the enemy to waste additional time going around that to chase her friends. Maybe? Hopefully they aren't too far behind. She casts the spell and throws it, then continues her ride away.

Spoiler: Actions

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Freya will plant one last fireball near the team's last position to give them some cover fire. Let's say 3 squares South of Beorn's position on that last map. It should be within Freya's spell range. The idea is the worgs have to go around the ensuing forest fire. I know they don't have to turn much to get around it, but every square the team can get a lead with counts for something I guess?

Fireball damage if it matters: (8d6)[26] fire

Freya's mount will Dash again, so two moves and she'll be... a long ways away. Hopefully worgs get tired of chasing before the mount's duration does.

[Amnestic]

Huge rocks, gathered to smash city walls, and enormous tree trunks carved as bolts to fell buildings and man alike, slam into the ground around you as you all beat a heavy retreat. Gaks periodically blinking out of existence keeps them from overwhelming her, and your disparate speeds force you to scatter to the four winds. The dragon doesn't pursue, seemingly satisfied to leave it to the worg riders that plow through the forest in search of you, tracking trails and scents.

It's hours before they finally give up the hunt and head back to the army, which by now has moved on to Terrelton to camp for another night. Slowly, one by one, you return to the prearranged rendezvous point. Though you all kept your lives, and killed a number of red hand, it's hard to call it a victory given the intended goal was a failure. The damage from the attack on the siege engines was superficial at best, and they are all still operational for the inevitable push on Brindol. Moreover, they're now aware that you are no longer pursuing agendas solely away from the army's procession, and the chances of a successful surprise attack have narrowed further. The interruption doesn't seem to have slowed their progress any,

The clear night sky with its cool black blanket peppered with starlight would herald a peaceful evening, but even at your distant rendezvous point you can see the plumes of smoke and flickering firelight from the horde's conquest, an unignorable scar on the otherwise serene beauty of the Elsir Vale at night, and you're left to ask yourself what comes next.

Spoiler: OOC

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As you've survived I'll be reintroducing Aetus shortly, but combat's over and there's a chance for IC/OOC discussion on what the party plans to do next.

[Xihirli]

Gaks sat in the center of the team and started chanting out her spell for the bubble camp, otherwise silent until the walls were up.
"Perhaps going to the front and cutting off their scouts would be more manageable."

[stack]

"Could that staff be useful in slowing their advance? Wind and snow could hindering them."

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri nods along as the others throw out suggestions."If we time it when the moon is set, so after midnight with a waxing moon and before midnight with a waning moon, we should be able to fly above them on owls and cast fireballs at them. We'd be too far away for their darkvision and if we just take some evasive maneuvers after we cast the spell, we should be able to kill quite a few before they get to Brindol. After the first day, they'll likely try harder to pursue us, further slowing them down."

"I also like the idea of trying to take out small groups of scouts."

She adds the last part in case her companions are tired of her complicated plans.

[DigoDragon]

Freya

"The staff could change the weather, but it can take hours for a big change like snow."

[Xihirli]

"And the owls are risky. They shot our steeds this time, all it did was slow us down. On creatures that fly, shooting our steeds is lethal."

[Amnestic]

Your discussions find themselves inconclusive regarding a path forward and eventually you turn in for the night, perhaps hoping that the morning light will illuminate a path forwards. If the Red Hand hunters are still looking for you, they don't make themselves known during the night.

Day 30, Early Morning

The morning sun and sky promise to be somewhat more cool today, with light cloud cover interspersing the summer sun. While the dawn light doesn't bring any guidance your way, it does bring something else. Not long after the dispersal of the bubble, perhaps half an hour or so, Aetus emerges from the treeline, looking only slightly worse for wear. A few more scars, perhaps, but in one piece otherwise, and with a fancy new cloak (of elvenkind) to boot.

[ProudGrognard]

Aetus

Aetus takes a quick look around, noting the new scars, the bloodied blades and the steely gazes. He almost sighs.

"Dara lass!" (= By the Tree, in elven)

"You have become canny in your forest-walk, my comrades. I have spent many days now trying to track you. And if the signs of the army I saw from afar tell the tale correctly, I am not the only one.

But, Mae Govannen (- Well met, in Elvish)
It is good to see you. I hope you fought well. Better than the giants, for sure."

His face darkens for a bit.

"You are still alive, after all"

[Xihirli]

"We are. We have devoted many days to an endeavor that proved ultimately fruitless." Gaks said so dryly. "It is good to see you, Aetus. How is Warklegnaw?"

[ProudGrognard]

Aetus

"It is good to be back, Gaks. Warkenglaw was strange. The giants are ...different in many ways. They taught me much. They showed me how to hunt dragons. They took down one when I was here, and I helped"

He shows his cloak, which seems to shimmer and change as he sits.

"This was my share. It was made by my people, long ago.

But then the giants decided to harass the army. It was a fatal mistake. The counterattack wiped them out, almost to the last. The few survivors left for cover. There is no more help to come from them."

His face was grim as he recounted.

"This is why I am so glad to see you all well. The giants are not."

[DigoDragon]

Freya

The little bard is overjoyed to see a friend in these trying times. "Aetus!" she squeaks, and risks a hug to let him know he was missed.

"I am sad to hear about the giants. We did our best to find more allies against this army, and fought many battles all over the vale."

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri joins in and runs over to hug Aetus along with Freya.

"Aetus! We are so glad you are safe. And we are very happy to see you. We need help."

[Xihirli]

Gaks lowered her head hearing the fate of the giants. "Hvile som helter."
After taking a few moments, Gaks swallowed and dared ask. "Warklegnaw, is he... lost?" she sounded not only somber and fearful but confused.

[ProudGrognard]

Aetus

Aetus' face splits in an earnest wide grin as he receives hugs. For a second, his hugs tight too. He has missed his companions.

"Harkenglaw survived. He was the one that put together the plan of leaving. I think he will manage to make the clan flourish again. After all, mostly the fighters were gone.

But, I believe I should also take my turn in asking, comrades. Where do you stand? What is the plan? How can I help?"

[stack]

Beorn greets his returning ally along with the others.

In response to his question, he recounts the events since their parting in a brief, dry tactical report. Once done, he sums up "So we need to separate the ghostlord from the horde and would like to delay and weaken the army as much as possible. Or last effort was less successful than hoped."

[Xihirli]

"Having no leads on the Ghostlord, we have devoted much more time to this task than necessary. Now we are debating between going to the front of the army to cut off their scouts and trying our rear assault again. I am in favor of the former."
Gaks seemed much more assertive than she'd been back when Aetus left.

[ProudGrognard]

Aetus

Aetus takes a moment to consider all he has heard, absent mindedly stroking the fire. His companions have become powerful indeed, as he was hunting with the giants

"My heart is always with hunting. Hunting the scouts is satisfying and easy. But there are a lot of scouts. I say we go after powerful energies. Let's take down the dragon. Let me go and scout, and see where their mattress and priests are. Let's go after such targets.

I also fear that now they will be waiting for invisible enemies. Perhaps they will see you coming. Perhaps not."