A Drezen-ing we go, we go, a-Drezen-ing we go
The next morning most of the Army breaks camp and continues the ride north - some dozen of the engineers and carpenters stay back to begin constructing a waypost, in advance expectation of Drezen being retaken, so that Kenabres might send supplies. The Army makes good time, reaching Villareth Ford in late afternoon, where the scouts report a small army of Tieflings and Dretches (a type of blob-demon) are camped. Battle is Joined!
In a makeshift prison, a good dozen crusaders are found, led by Kamilo Dann, a human mercenary. "A mercenary, leading Paladins?" asks the Army somewhat incredulously, but upon meeting her I am certain you, too, would offer to serve under Ms Dann - a more steely-eyed and capable soldier and commander would be difficult to find. The cavaliers join the army, equipping themselves from the stores.
The Paladins sustain no casualties, and only minor injuries; between Kendra, Sosiel, and the Paladins' ability to heal minor injuries, everyone feels tip-top. 2-score Tieflings are captured, and a section of ground is consecrated for their execution - this Army is too small to deal with prisoners, and the Abyssal armies are notoriously unwilling to keep their word and be peaceful when surrendering.
Vig and the other paladins of Sarenrae, however, talk to the Tieflings as they're led to their deaths - some few of them are unrepentant, and even more pay lip service to the possibility of redemption but without any heart or desire for the diffcult work of giving up on their evil ways. Five of the Tieflings are determined to be earnest and honest, truly seeking to rise into their best, most good selves, and are allowed to live - sent back to Valas' gift as guards for the camp being built there. The rest are executed summarily, beheaded, and their corpses burnt on consecrated ground.
As the Army makes camp strange storm clouds approach the World Wound Wardstone Barrier - the clouds break up as they pass the barrier, dropping their rain in the form of eyeballs.
Yes. The World Wound is a strange and awful place. If anything can be said to be constant in the 'Wound, it is that no matter how fucked up shit gets, it is likely to get worse and become more awful. The eyeballs squish in aqueous humor, under the feet of the Army and their animals - soon everyone's boots are covered in mud made from squished eyeballs.
That is not the 'worse' part.
The eyeballs start to move, rolling around from where they've fallen to the ground. Some trail bits of viscera or their optic nerve like horrible tails, but some are clean, as if peeled like grapes.
It's pretty gross and off-putting so far; 'worse', but not quite 'World Wound Worse'.
The eyeballs begin rolling near the river, where they start to stick together, mashing themselves into a giant eyeball. Eyes continue to fall from the sky and roll into the mass - the eyeball is now 5 feet across... ten feet across... and still growing.
There we are.
Kand launches a fireball at the eye, exploding several of the smaller eyeballs on the ground and singeing the giant horror to little affect. Many of the Paladins draw ranged weapons and begin to fire; those bolts and arrows that fly true are subsumed into the growing mass.
Twenty feet across. The growth is slowing now; the rate of eyeballs falling remains constant, while the amount needed to gain a foot of diameter increases.
The rain of eyeballs stops as suddenly as it began, and when the Giant Eye is twenty-five feet in diameter it begins to quiver. The Army moves back, squishing many of the remaining eyeballs that were too slow or too damaged from the fall to enter the Eye-mass.
Suddenly the Giant Eye swivels to look at everyone in the Army, each feeling themselves making eye contact with the monstrosity - and then it quivers, rises five feet into the air, and bounces up up up, moving MUCH more quickly than expected (and looking back, how strange to have expectations for such a thing!) as it flies over the Wardstone Barrier and into the World Wound.
Well, hunh. All things considered, that was not the worst thing the World Wound could deliver. Fucked up and weird, for sure, but no one died or became corrupted or leaked ichor from their orifices or anything.
That night Our Heroes are awakened by a strange noise - a sort of low poof of an explosion, something like <bamf>. Then a strangled cry and a sort of scream - The Party leaps up to investigate, and sees two figures struggling in a tent - as they close there's a sound of spell-casting, and another <bamf>, and the figures disappear. Aravashniel has been taken, kidnapped by Demonic agents in the World Wound, no doubt. With moderately heavy hearts The Heroes bed down again, as does the rest of the camp.
The next day we follow the Army as they cross the Wardstone Barrier into the 'Wound proper. It's a bit jarring, passing through - and both Vig and Torvan scream as strange flashes of repressed memories return - a ritual, and demons, and some sort of shared experience from their youths. The Paladins are concerned, but no evil is detected so the end result is shrug-and-move-on, for the most part.
At mid-day break Nurah, the halfling bard and demonic scholar, approaches the party. "I don't know who to tell this to, exactly, so I'm coming to you - I worry that Aron Kir (the engineer) is up to something. He seems... off, today, somehow, evasive and defensive, not his usual self. We all must rely on each other, here in the 'Wound, you know! I would go to Sosiel about it but... well, sometimes people aren't able to hear things about their husbands, you know."
The party isn't quite sure they know this, actually, and have some questions for Nurah - but eventually take her suspicions to Sosiel and Irabeth. Two things quickly become apparent:
a) Aron has found a source of demonsblood, an addictive drug made out of the blood of demons which Aron's had difficulty with in the past, and took his first dose last night. Sosiel goes to comfort his husband and talk him down, and prepares the restoration and curative spells needed to help Aron break his addiction.
b) Nurah might be a traitor, of some sort, because when she and the party parted ways she got on her pony and rode in the opposite direction. Our Heroes track her, but lose the tracks after finding her pony by the cliff, with indications that she went up deeper into the 'Wound.
The Army breaks camp, and continues. Betrayal, drug abuse, and difficult times - all part of the World Wound experience. The Paladins nod grimly to one another and ride on, jaws set just that much more.
Vig scales the cliffside to do some scouting, and eventually sees a lone figure in the distance, who hails our Ninja and approaches. It's soon apparent that the figure is a demon of some sort, with horns wings and tail, limping slowly as it approaches Vig. "Good sir Hero! I can sense the good upon you and I would like to offer this holy relic for sale! I can tell you are a man of fine tastes and..."
Vig cuts the demon off, "What are you about, demon? Approach and let me see what you have there."
"Good Master - it is a Holy Relic, of no use to one such as me, but perhaps very valuable to a Hero of Good like yourself! I ask merely... five thousand of your gold, yes? For I find myself in need of funds, suddenly, and I feel that we could come to some amicable arrange YURK!"
The YURK is more a grunt or a groan of surprise and fear as Vig quickly draws his blade and pierces the demon's jaw and mouth. With a <bamf> of magic and collasping air the demon and the ivory tube he held vanish, teleporting away. "Perhaps there was a story there", thinks Vig, "but I suspect most stories in the World Wound end in pain, torment, corruption and death."
Good point, Sir Vig. Best not to trust beings of fundamental untrustworthiness.
In mid-afternoon the Army nears Keeper's Canyon, where the dry Ahari riverbed meets the West Sellen river. Irabeth calls for a halt, and sends scouts ahead; Vig, Torvan, and Anevia see a group of Tieflings, numbering a good six score, dug in and entrenched just inside the gorge of the dry river that feeds into the West Sellen.
The scouts return and report this to Irabeth, who decides to send her personal honor-guard, the best-trained small unit in the Army, in a ploy to lure the Tieflings out from their defenses and into a counter-attack by the main Army proper. Our Heroes scale the cliffs yet again to watch and guard the rear. Soon they see the Tieflings laugh wildly and leave their defenses - the plan is working!
One figure stands behind, looking more demonic than the rest, and soon The Party sees why - a pile of trash and refuse shivers, and then a Demonic Drake bursts free! Combat is joined, with the Drake and it's Incubus rider.
It is a hard-pressed and hard-fought fight, but in the end the Drake is slain, and the rider teleports away to safety. The Army is also victorious, and another dozen Tieflings decide to eschew evil and repent, starting the long journey of forgiveness and atonement on their personal path towards the light. The rest get the sword, and the cold comfort of dying on consecrated ground, for whatever that might be worth to their burdened and distasteful souls.
Tired from the pitched battle - four Paladins fell, and their bodies are preserved magically for a return from the World Wound - the Army makes camp. Our Heroes, however, see a treacherous and narrow set of stairs carved into the cliff, and like a cat to a laser pointer Our Heroes cannot resist the call to Adventure! Up they go - to find a ruined and desecrated temple building, of some sort.
Exploring further They discover that the temple is dedicated to Desna, with some statuary and iconography showing that the Black Butterfly also has a presence here, with both heartens and infuriates Vig, the newly-vowed Paladin of the Black Butterfly.
Heartened to see a place once held holy by his patron, and infuriated by it's despoiling at the hands and claws of Demons.
Venturing further in the party is attacked by ghouls! Some of the ghouls are spell-casters! And they have Demonic-Ghoul friends, and a half-demon half-ghoul Inquisitor commanding them! Battle is joined!
After narrowly defeating the Drake, however, this battle is a bit of a anti-climax to The Party's day; they handily defeat all of the undead monsters and demons, and spend some time cleaning the temple and purging it of the worst of the defilements. A cache of healing potions - over a dozen dozens - is found, hidden under a broken altar, which the party distributes (mostly) to the Paladins in the Army.
And thus, as the Army and The Heroes make camp, we draw a close to the day. The first day in the World Wound has seen the Army bloodied but unbowed; the command team personnel halved and with a few casualties, but the Paladins nod grimly and conclude that, all in all, it's been a successful insertion into the 'Wound.
Until the next times, Gentle Reader!
In a makeshift prison, a good dozen crusaders are found, led by Kamilo Dann, a human mercenary. "A mercenary, leading Paladins?" asks the Army somewhat incredulously, but upon meeting her I am certain you, too, would offer to serve under Ms Dann - a more steely-eyed and capable soldier and commander would be difficult to find. The cavaliers join the army, equipping themselves from the stores.
The Paladins sustain no casualties, and only minor injuries; between Kendra, Sosiel, and the Paladins' ability to heal minor injuries, everyone feels tip-top. 2-score Tieflings are captured, and a section of ground is consecrated for their execution - this Army is too small to deal with prisoners, and the Abyssal armies are notoriously unwilling to keep their word and be peaceful when surrendering.
Vig and the other paladins of Sarenrae, however, talk to the Tieflings as they're led to their deaths - some few of them are unrepentant, and even more pay lip service to the possibility of redemption but without any heart or desire for the diffcult work of giving up on their evil ways. Five of the Tieflings are determined to be earnest and honest, truly seeking to rise into their best, most good selves, and are allowed to live - sent back to Valas' gift as guards for the camp being built there. The rest are executed summarily, beheaded, and their corpses burnt on consecrated ground.
As the Army makes camp strange storm clouds approach the World Wound Wardstone Barrier - the clouds break up as they pass the barrier, dropping their rain in the form of eyeballs.
Yes. The World Wound is a strange and awful place. If anything can be said to be constant in the 'Wound, it is that no matter how fucked up shit gets, it is likely to get worse and become more awful. The eyeballs squish in aqueous humor, under the feet of the Army and their animals - soon everyone's boots are covered in mud made from squished eyeballs.
That is not the 'worse' part.
The eyeballs start to move, rolling around from where they've fallen to the ground. Some trail bits of viscera or their optic nerve like horrible tails, but some are clean, as if peeled like grapes.
It's pretty gross and off-putting so far; 'worse', but not quite 'World Wound Worse'.
The eyeballs begin rolling near the river, where they start to stick together, mashing themselves into a giant eyeball. Eyes continue to fall from the sky and roll into the mass - the eyeball is now 5 feet across... ten feet across... and still growing.
There we are.
Kand launches a fireball at the eye, exploding several of the smaller eyeballs on the ground and singeing the giant horror to little affect. Many of the Paladins draw ranged weapons and begin to fire; those bolts and arrows that fly true are subsumed into the growing mass.
Twenty feet across. The growth is slowing now; the rate of eyeballs falling remains constant, while the amount needed to gain a foot of diameter increases.
The rain of eyeballs stops as suddenly as it began, and when the Giant Eye is twenty-five feet in diameter it begins to quiver. The Army moves back, squishing many of the remaining eyeballs that were too slow or too damaged from the fall to enter the Eye-mass.
Suddenly the Giant Eye swivels to look at everyone in the Army, each feeling themselves making eye contact with the monstrosity - and then it quivers, rises five feet into the air, and bounces up up up, moving MUCH more quickly than expected (and looking back, how strange to have expectations for such a thing!) as it flies over the Wardstone Barrier and into the World Wound.
Well, hunh. All things considered, that was not the worst thing the World Wound could deliver. Fucked up and weird, for sure, but no one died or became corrupted or leaked ichor from their orifices or anything.
That night Our Heroes are awakened by a strange noise - a sort of low poof of an explosion, something like <bamf>. Then a strangled cry and a sort of scream - The Party leaps up to investigate, and sees two figures struggling in a tent - as they close there's a sound of spell-casting, and another <bamf>, and the figures disappear. Aravashniel has been taken, kidnapped by Demonic agents in the World Wound, no doubt. With moderately heavy hearts The Heroes bed down again, as does the rest of the camp.
The next day we follow the Army as they cross the Wardstone Barrier into the 'Wound proper. It's a bit jarring, passing through - and both Vig and Torvan scream as strange flashes of repressed memories return - a ritual, and demons, and some sort of shared experience from their youths. The Paladins are concerned, but no evil is detected so the end result is shrug-and-move-on, for the most part.
At mid-day break Nurah, the halfling bard and demonic scholar, approaches the party. "I don't know who to tell this to, exactly, so I'm coming to you - I worry that Aron Kir (the engineer) is up to something. He seems... off, today, somehow, evasive and defensive, not his usual self. We all must rely on each other, here in the 'Wound, you know! I would go to Sosiel about it but... well, sometimes people aren't able to hear things about their husbands, you know."
The party isn't quite sure they know this, actually, and have some questions for Nurah - but eventually take her suspicions to Sosiel and Irabeth. Two things quickly become apparent:
a) Aron has found a source of demonsblood, an addictive drug made out of the blood of demons which Aron's had difficulty with in the past, and took his first dose last night. Sosiel goes to comfort his husband and talk him down, and prepares the restoration and curative spells needed to help Aron break his addiction.
b) Nurah might be a traitor, of some sort, because when she and the party parted ways she got on her pony and rode in the opposite direction. Our Heroes track her, but lose the tracks after finding her pony by the cliff, with indications that she went up deeper into the 'Wound.
The Army breaks camp, and continues. Betrayal, drug abuse, and difficult times - all part of the World Wound experience. The Paladins nod grimly to one another and ride on, jaws set just that much more.
Vig scales the cliffside to do some scouting, and eventually sees a lone figure in the distance, who hails our Ninja and approaches. It's soon apparent that the figure is a demon of some sort, with horns wings and tail, limping slowly as it approaches Vig. "Good sir Hero! I can sense the good upon you and I would like to offer this holy relic for sale! I can tell you are a man of fine tastes and..."
Vig cuts the demon off, "What are you about, demon? Approach and let me see what you have there."
"Good Master - it is a Holy Relic, of no use to one such as me, but perhaps very valuable to a Hero of Good like yourself! I ask merely... five thousand of your gold, yes? For I find myself in need of funds, suddenly, and I feel that we could come to some amicable arrange YURK!"
The YURK is more a grunt or a groan of surprise and fear as Vig quickly draws his blade and pierces the demon's jaw and mouth. With a <bamf> of magic and collasping air the demon and the ivory tube he held vanish, teleporting away. "Perhaps there was a story there", thinks Vig, "but I suspect most stories in the World Wound end in pain, torment, corruption and death."
Good point, Sir Vig. Best not to trust beings of fundamental untrustworthiness.
In mid-afternoon the Army nears Keeper's Canyon, where the dry Ahari riverbed meets the West Sellen river. Irabeth calls for a halt, and sends scouts ahead; Vig, Torvan, and Anevia see a group of Tieflings, numbering a good six score, dug in and entrenched just inside the gorge of the dry river that feeds into the West Sellen.
The scouts return and report this to Irabeth, who decides to send her personal honor-guard, the best-trained small unit in the Army, in a ploy to lure the Tieflings out from their defenses and into a counter-attack by the main Army proper. Our Heroes scale the cliffs yet again to watch and guard the rear. Soon they see the Tieflings laugh wildly and leave their defenses - the plan is working!
One figure stands behind, looking more demonic than the rest, and soon The Party sees why - a pile of trash and refuse shivers, and then a Demonic Drake bursts free! Combat is joined, with the Drake and it's Incubus rider.
It is a hard-pressed and hard-fought fight, but in the end the Drake is slain, and the rider teleports away to safety. The Army is also victorious, and another dozen Tieflings decide to eschew evil and repent, starting the long journey of forgiveness and atonement on their personal path towards the light. The rest get the sword, and the cold comfort of dying on consecrated ground, for whatever that might be worth to their burdened and distasteful souls.
Tired from the pitched battle - four Paladins fell, and their bodies are preserved magically for a return from the World Wound - the Army makes camp. Our Heroes, however, see a treacherous and narrow set of stairs carved into the cliff, and like a cat to a laser pointer Our Heroes cannot resist the call to Adventure! Up they go - to find a ruined and desecrated temple building, of some sort.
Exploring further They discover that the temple is dedicated to Desna, with some statuary and iconography showing that the Black Butterfly also has a presence here, with both heartens and infuriates Vig, the newly-vowed Paladin of the Black Butterfly.
Heartened to see a place once held holy by his patron, and infuriated by it's despoiling at the hands and claws of Demons.
Venturing further in the party is attacked by ghouls! Some of the ghouls are spell-casters! And they have Demonic-Ghoul friends, and a half-demon half-ghoul Inquisitor commanding them! Battle is joined!
After narrowly defeating the Drake, however, this battle is a bit of a anti-climax to The Party's day; they handily defeat all of the undead monsters and demons, and spend some time cleaning the temple and purging it of the worst of the defilements. A cache of healing potions - over a dozen dozens - is found, hidden under a broken altar, which the party distributes (mostly) to the Paladins in the Army.
And thus, as the Army and The Heroes make camp, we draw a close to the day. The first day in the World Wound has seen the Army bloodied but unbowed; the command team personnel halved and with a few casualties, but the Paladins nod grimly and conclude that, all in all, it's been a successful insertion into the 'Wound.
Until the next times, Gentle Reader!
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