Still in Tyr
Knowing that they had to defeat Ardoth, the group prepared
the House for their absence. Because of the increased threat of House Vordon
and the Tunnel Boys, Zarnian had Aein hire eight guards for the two weeks they
could be gone. Leaning on contacts, Ohzon asked Horchada for troops and he sent
10. So did Caro’s noble girlfriend. Zel and T’Clickchr along with the House
guards were going to stay behind while everyone rode out to save Searchion from
Ardoth the Douche. Using a wounded caravan as a cover story, everyone prepared
to go. However, before the trip, Jocco was dropped off at the estate of the
Templar of the Wells. While not completely impressed, the templar was at least
happy that he allowed Ohzon to live. Then, word came that a large contingent of
Esticles troops were on the move.
They Shoot
Kes’trekels, Don’t They?
Everyone mounted up, and started to prepare to leave, even
though Cael and Bay were injured. Despite this, Cael transformed into a
kes’trekel so she could see Ardoth’s troop movement. While she was flying she
did see him with four crodlu riders, four kank riders, four half-giants, and a
huge shimmering void. Then, Ardoth tried to shoot her out of the air with an
arcane bolt. While this singed her feathers, and literally scared the poop out
of her, she avoided serious injury. While there was a massive amount of
conjecture about what Ardoth was concealing, everyone rode ahead. While they
were riding, Zarnian noticed that they were being followed by three riders. She
thought about just shooting, assuming them to be Ardoth’s men, but instead they
were members of the Veiled Alliance. Everyone, with the possible exception of
Cael, was staggered to learn that the Veiled Alliance were actually huge
wussies that would rather hide at home than use their awesome powers to try and
make a positive change. They were only willing to fight if it was safe to do
so. With a groan, everyone rode on, separate from the Alliance, eventually
losing sight of them.
Searchion the
Baptist
Eventually, by riding through the night, everyone got to
Searchion’s camp before Ardoth. Though Searchion’s ranks had swollen to almost
200 people, not all were well. About 60 were too weak and infirm to fight. Most
of the 200 were parched and hungry. Only 40 had real weapons and armor taken
from soldiers killed in the desert. The some were armed with sharpened sticks,
etc. Only three were elemental adepts, which were not the best odds. Knowing
that we needed more firepower, Ohzon flew up to the peak of the mountain to
speak to the elementals. They wanted to know what Ohzon was going to do to get
them on his side, and while he was bargaining, they brought the sounds of
Ardoth torturing and killing an entire village. The elementals agreed to join
the fight against the defiler. Ohzon flew down and started to tell us what
happened, when suddenly the wind started whipping. Through disarranged bits and
pieces, the elementals played the sounds of the village’s demise for everyone
to hear. The group rode out and cleared the three closest villages, bringing
everyone back. It was not enough as Ardoth found another village to kill.
The Night Raid
Bay, Barok, and Zarnian went out at night to see Ardoth’s
position and harass him if possible. The situation was very dangerous. At night
the undead war beetle was visable, crammed with undead. Another 40 undead (many
of them fresh) guarded the perimeter. Though Bay was hopeful of an attack,
Zarnian was positive it would be suicide. In the middle of them trying to
decide what to do, Barok recognized two of the half-giants as the ones who
raised him from childhood. Bay managed to get the battle staregy out of the
woman’s head, which was kill villages until Searchion came for the battle.
Forcing Ardoth’s
Hand
Once the trio got back, the plan was made to set up in the
middle evacuated village. One every roof, a few people set up with slings and
rocks, while those villagers with armor set up inside the buildings as a
strikeforce. A nearby rocky outcropping provided some cover for the rest of the
strike force of villagers and Sky Followers. Some of the Sky Followers,
including Searchion and his three adepts volunteered to walk around and work in
the village so it would look occupied. Then, it was a matter of waiting for
Ardoth and the war beetle.
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