Sessions 19-20, 2008-03-21 and 28: The Battle for White Fields

Sessions 19-20: wherein a kingdom is crushed, a king is slain, and a city is buried

Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine

As the huge group flew for the edge of the anti-teleportation shell, Richard, one of the kingsmen, gave the party an update from Westlay. They had conjured a huge rainstorm over the top of the siege camp, which forced the black sands to grow and the yuan-ti to move onto open ground. The armies from Old Westlay joined with those who broke through the stone wall at White Fields and surrounded the Serpenti army, whose clerics lost their divine connection a moment later. The eagles mission is to move to seal the breach in the wall, to ensure the Serpenti clerics can't escape. Unfortunately, a force of five hundred marruspawn launched a strike on Old Westlay, and they would be an additional threat to deal with.

With the help of a tailwind, the whole group got outside of the Serpenti anti-teleportation shell and teleported to the breach in Westlay's wall. Some guards were on top of the wall, and a group of marruspawn and a group of sand golems were preparing to strike from outside. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars took position in the breach while the eagles hovered overhead. Jakob drew a line in the sand and taunted the oncoming enemies with a "bring it on" motion. Nate cast confusion on the middle pack of soldiers, who immediately lost unit cohesion. Two of the golems approached along with one group of soldiers. One wizard cast sandstorm to block visibility, and another turned three of the guards to salt. Flynn began singing with Words of Creation, and Ike fired a series of arrows at the remaining wizard. Lotus used Ice Flowers to hurt and slow the golems. The remaining enemies approached, and one wizard tried to turn the remaining guards to salt, but the guards (inspired by Flynn) let off a volley that took him down. The eagles filled the other two wizards with arrows.

Nate confused another group of enemy soldiers, who joined the brawl with the first group. Flynn un-salted one guard, who joined his friends in shooting at the soldiers below. Jakob punched one golem several times and Ike shot another. One golem moved forward and punched the wall, forming several cracks. Lotus created a tremor that knocked two of the golems over, and the eagles took out most of the soldiers, leaving a few to fight amongst themselves. Nate greased the third golem, which slipped and let its guard down, allowing Jakob to pummel it into a pile of sand. Flynn un-salted another guard, who dragged his still-salty friend away from the damaged wall. Jakob and Ike finished off the next golem, and the final golem failed in its attempt to retaliate against Jakob. Jakob and Ike combined to kill the final golem, Flynn turned the last salty guy back to normal, and the eagles said they could handle the breach from here on out.

Nate teleported the party in to where the main battle was going on. The yuan-ti army occupied an oval area about 1500 feet long and shrouded in magical darkness. Westlay's forces had them surrounded, and the muddy battlefield showed clearly how the battle had gone. Spots of black sand were apparent throughout the area, and yuan-ti made up the bulk of the dead. When the party arrived, those nearby began to cheer -- "NMR is here!" They said groups of yuan-ti psions kept teleporting behind the lines and trying to break through, and that the weakest point was on the east. The party's responsibility was to shore up the line and take out as many yuan-ti clerics as possible before they regained their spellcasting. Flynn hasted the party as they moved to the eastern part of the battlefield.

There on the east, a person Jakob recognized -- his old mentor, Jacob -- stood with a thin line of Westlayan soldiers, between the main Serpenti army and a small group of psions and other yuan-ti. Flynn began singing an inspirational song and approached to where Westlay's soldiers could hear him. Ike loosed five arrows at the nearest psion, killing him with the last critical shot. Nate shattered another psion's mind blank, and Lotus placed a dinosaur stampede atop the yuan-ti strike force. The psion Nate had just hit used his telekinetic ability to pull Ike's bow away, and the others closed in to try to kill the Westlayan soldiers holding the breach. Jakob ran toward Jacob, right over a psion, and stunned a Serpenti cleric. Two more psions attacked, one scrambling Jacob's atoms and the other trying but failing to make Jakob suicidal. Flynn continued to approach and sing, and the army perked up noticeably. Ike drew Fox's Bite and kept shooting at the bowstealing psion, and Nate feebleminded him as well. Lotus shattered the ground under some yuan-ti with Ice Flowers, and her force dinosaurs stampeded over another group. The feebleminded psion stumbled toward Jakob, who tripped and killed it.

A larger group of yuan-ti, including a pair of abominations, started teleporting in. Jakob punched another psion and then moved next to the preimages. Another psion scrambled Jacob's atoms again, and more yuan-ti tried to approach but got tripped by Jacob's swinging spiked chain. Jacob called out instructions to the soldiers next to him, who swarmed and killed one psion and a pair of clerics. As the new yuan-ti group materialized, the two abominations cast Timeless Body to avoid wounds, and the other pair tried to turn Jakob insane but both failed. Lotus' dinosaurs continued trampling yuan-ti as she cast Drown, killing a psion. Ike shot at the biggest abomination, to no effect, but Nate was able to shatter the psion's mind blank. Jakob killed the other, smaller psion with a flurry of searing blows, psionic fists, and stunning fists (177 hp.)

[The session stopped here and resumed one week later.]

Some yuan-ti tried to flee through a small gap in the line near Jacob, who tripped a pair in the path of the force dinosaurs. Jacob called out to Jakob "hey, come visit me at Jade Feather when this is over. I just got rescued from Senneth's temple down in Mer-Merrshaulk, and I've got business to attend to up that way." His Mithril Tornado slew several of the nearby psions, and Flynn's inspiring words had something to do with him being out of spells. More yuan-ti tried to push through the lines, struggling past the rubble from the Ice Flowers. The abominations cast Crisis of Breath on Lotus, who had to concentrate to keep breathing, and Death Urge on Jakob, who felt the need to do something insanely dangerous. Ike fired a precise shot at the big abomination, and Nate feebleminded the other one, taunting "you're not that tough without your Mind Blank, are you?" Lotus' dinosaurs ran into the main group of yuan-ti and she covered the area with an Entangle spell, but kept struggling to breathe.

Jakob's suicidal urge sent him running into the middle of the yuan-ti army. Luckily for him, his Ring of the Darkhidden meant he wasn't visible within the magical darkness. Unfortunately, he was wading in the black sand the yuan-ti were trying so desperately to get out of. One enemy tried to get Jakob to share his wounds, but failed, and another tried to crush Jacob's mind, but again failed. Flynn moved near Old Jacob, looking for protection from the hordes of enemies, but the inspired allies continued taking enemies down. Flynn felt a rush of wind coming down from above, but stayed focused on his music. The abominations teleported away (the feebleminded one under the control of the other), and the lesser yuan-ti continued to try to find a hole in the line. Ike took down the biggest remaining psion and one of the fleeing yuan-ti. Nate confused a group inside the main battlefield, and Lotus placed a Vortex of Teeth on the opposite side. She fainted due to lack of breath, but Flynn's magic brought her back to consciousness. Jakob tried to get out of the main group, stunning a psion on his way back to the line, and Old Jacob's Ancient Mountain Hammer maneuver took down another yuan-ti cleric.

The line stabilized quickly now that there were no threats outside. The Westlayan soldiers and Lotus' dinosaurs killed several enemies, and several others started killing one another because they were confused. Jakob took down a pack of four enemies who tried to move away from him, and Ike took down the last two yuan-ti who'd broken through the line before he turned his bow on the last nearby psion. That psion threw one of the humans into the vortex of teeth.

Flynn now heard the sound of eagle wings overhead, and heard Boyent's voice call out: "We stopped here to find our inspiration. Sennet must be stopped." A scroll fell from the sky at Flynn's feet, and the eagles flew off toward the middle of the yuan-ti formation. Nate knocked some enemies down with a thunderclap, and Lotus' dinosaurs and piranhas kept shredding the enemies. Jakob dropped another psion, but yet another stepped into view and dispelled Lotus' entangle. Old Jacob again called out instructions, helping Jakob and several soldiers reposition themselves. Now Jakob and Jacob were standing side by side, tripping and throwing enemies aside and laughing about old times. The rest of the Westlayan guard cut down all of the enemies within reach.

Nathaniel cast another illusion, placing a huge NMR logo, complete with sound and discouraging text like "we're in ur camp killing ur selves", above the battlefield. The yuan-ti who were visible were clearly shaken (-2 penalties) by this. Flynn looked at the scroll, and sang out "I've been pardoned, oh yes, I'm no longer exiled!" Ike shot down four more enemies and then got distracted by the logo, firing his final shot harmlessly away. Lotus' dinosaurs continued stomping on guys as the allies fired their bows at whatever targets they could see. Jakob and Jacob discussed strategy while taking out a few more enemies, and Jakob started roaring out taunts at the shaken yuan-ti.

Suddenly, the abomination/psion reappeared, this time with another group of allies, clearly hoping for one last shot to break the line open. At that moment, there was a bright flash -- a Sunburst in the middle of the yuan-ti formation. A hail of arrows came down on a target somewhere below, and with a loud crack, four yuan-ti and four dead-looking eagles became visible in that area. Ike positioned himself with the rest of the party, and Nate cast Daylight on Jacob's chain, helping the allies see and shoot more enemies. Ike fired several shots at the big psion, and Jakob stepped next to him. Nate cast confusion, which affected most of the lesser yuan-ti the abomination had brought along. Lotus cast Arc Lightning, which sparked across a group of enemies. Several psions tossed lines of flame at Flynn, who found himself seriously wounded. The abomination cast Microcosm on Jacob, but his Iron Heart Surge let him break out of the false world the psion implanted in his mind. Jakob punched and clawed at the abomination and one of his allies, and the rest of the Westlayan soldiers combined with Ike to kill the remaining psions within range.

Nate cast Veil on the yuan-ti who were flying above the middle of the battlefield, making one of them look like Ike and another look like Nate. Several waves of fire came out of the darkness and shredded the two of them. Lotus' dinosaurs started plowing a path into the middle of the battlefield, and Jacob, Jakob, and the Westlayan soldiers finished off whoever they could. Ike fired several arrows at the yuan-ti who now looked like him. (The party had 152 kills to their credit by now, including one champion and 17 elites.) Nate pulled the sending stones and tried to get instructions from Joanna and Boyent; Joanna said the battle had turned and that the line needed to be held, but Boyent couldn't be reached. Jakob picked Flynn up and started running around the battlefield, and Flynn's song inspired the rest of the troops to press the attack. After another minute of fighting, the remaining big psions and clerics gathered up and teleported away, and another minute later, the last remaining Serpenti troops in the area were dead.

Within minutes, word came as to the location of the psions and clerics: they had joined the attack on Old Westlay, sealing it in stone much like they'd done to White Fields. But this time, a huge blue dragon/marruspawn halfbreed joined the battle, covering the city with a sandstorm two miles wide. Korethean, Derex, and Proudbeak were trapped inside, along with the rest of the city's population -- and the remaining yuan-ti and marruspawn were killed by the sandstorm itself. Over the next few minutes, it became apparent Boyent had died in his strike on Serpenti's champion cleric, but the strike had succeeded. All five of the yuan-ti's champions had been killed in the war, three directly by NMR, one by some eagles who found him stumbling around feebleminded, and one by Boyent.

The next morning, a group of Woodling Druids came to the battlefield and buried all of the black sand. All of Westlay's clerics who were outside of the buried capital got to work on curing those who still had the disease. The storm over Old Westlay continued, its duration unknown. Abel took temporary stewardship of the throne of White Fields, and Joanna and Kerastrix joined him in trying to find allies to help out -- perhaps dwarves or druids could tunnel in to the city or stop the storm.

The party reached level 13.