The Duergar don't even hesitate. Without a single word they grab the Storm Trooper leader and hurl her over the side of the chasm and into the abyss. Cold. Not a single shred of emotion. They watch her go over the edge and into the darkness of the abyss, never turning their eyes from the spectacle before they turn around to grab the next Storm Trooper, the Drow spellcaster who had remained behind with her to watch their attempt to cross the divide get thoroughly thwarted. Hands made strong by years of stonework and metalurgy and smithing wrap around the upper arms of the Drow and drag him to the edge...
The Starlancer takes off, returning to the chasm where the other two surviving mounts are still wondering what has happened, having never suffered such a thorough disruption to their routine. There is a heated debate, or what at least looks like a debate, as the three creatures circle each other, and slowly begin to snap and gnash their teeth at one another, until the one that Rum had showed mercy to pulls away, flying back up the side of the chasm and rejoining the party only to watch the Duergar throw the mage over, screaming all the way down until one of the other Starlancer's catches him midair for a snack...
Rum looks on with a grim expression on his face, one of revulsion mixed with determination. It was the only sensible choice, he was surprised with how quickly the trooper leader was gone though. He wasn't totally sure they had finished interrogating her.
"Well, that settles that. Before they deal with all of these troops, do we know exactly where we have to go, fellow Remnants and Embers? I have not been privy to all the leader has said", he asks. He uses Embers as he felt a little uncomfortable calling Ro and Greko old friends right now.
When Porkins returns and relays the decision of the other Star Lancers, he simply smiles and pets the back of his neck.
"It is of no matter, you are mighty enough alone", he says in Celestial before mounting up and flying around over the chasm by the remaining troopers.
Greko shrugs “Greko is unsure what is happening. Greko wanted to reunite with old friends and found a tent raked Ro, a flying Rum, Kaede with crazy mask, Jek making shadow monsters, and himself fighting storm troopers.” Greko looks down at his lizard feet and says “Greko hopes Rum can forgive….”
The Duergar keep up their grim work. They mutter a few things, then grab the next Drow, a warrior that had been relieved of his armor and weapons, then hurled him screaming over the ledge into the chasm, before moving back to the remaining Drow and grabbing him by the arms...
Kaede walks over to where Greko is standing (OOC: convalescing?) and whispers just loud enough for the old man to hear "What say you, good sir? Think we can convince these duergar to join us on our journey? Might be good to have a literal army watching our backs!"
"These are strange times, Greko the White. It seems we have all changed in one way or another", Rum replies to Greko.
With only one drow trooper left, he directs Porkins over to it on the chasm side, so it can't be thrown in. He holds his hands up to the Duergar, palms outward motioning for them to skip this one.
"Tell them we need this one, Ro the Red", he says to Ro, before he turns back to the last remaining drow, ignoring what happens to the hobgoblins, orc and elite troopers for now.
"It seems you are the lucky one that will be guiding us to retrieve the Blast Bellows", he says to it before speaking to Porkins in Celestial, "Move this one gently away from the edge. It would be good if you could make it seem more threatening than that though".
With that Porkins snarls and the point of his nose starts to put pressure on the mid section of the trooper, pushing them back, possibly lifting them into the air a short way.
"So, we have a pile of armour and weapons used by our enemy, a guide, and the perfect new mount designed for scouting. Not a bad nights work, fellow Remnants and...well, just Remnants, if that is ok with the other original Remnants", he says, including Ro and Greko as Remnants and looking to the others for confirmation they are happy with that.
"Shall we rest or use the cover of darkness to travel?".
Greko nods to Kaede "Allies are needed now more than ever. If the Duergar want to be free from these troopers then fight with us seems logical.....Greko is ready to do whatever it is the Remnants are doing here. Greko came to aid however Greko can. Perhaps these troopers would like to say something before they are flung off the cliff?"
Rum shakes his head having overheard Greko and Lady Kaede discussing taking the Duergar along.
"I do not wish to be anchored by a slow moving force. They were no match for a squad on their home turf, they will only be a liability when faced with a garrison or more", he says knowing the Duergar cannot understand him.
"If we are to retrieve the Blast Bellows, and give these people back their means of becoming useful in this war, we will not do it by force of arms or outnumbering our enemy. It will be through guile and stealth. And be certain they are doomed if we do not manage to close that portal afterwards", he warns.
As the storm trooper leader goes over the edge, the shadow dog jumps after her. About 50ft down, the dog dissipates into shadows and mist.
Jek watches as the Duergar do what the remnants couldn't. Jek whispers a quick prayer "Bright Lady, please guide their paths in the next life. Hopefully they don't go towards the darkness again."
Jek listens as the others plan. He responds "I'm full of guile! And I'm working on something that can help with stealth. But it's not quite ready yet. I think we need to know more about the base and the people guarding it. How do we get that? The lizard might know something, but how do get the to talk?"
"Good to hear, friend Jek", Rum responds. "More information would be good. We have the trooper there to question further, and I can scout ahead invisibly and try and to capture a red lizard if we think they might know more".
"I suggest right now we move though, before the red lizards realise what has happened and do that strange singing long distance message thing of theirs and give us away. Perhaps use that armour, after all the red lizards would be expecting this squad to return back to base so it wouldn't be too suspicious".
Rum jumps down off Porkins. "Go and eat if you wish, before the last captive disappears into the darkness", he says in Celestial.
He then joins Lady Kaede looking through the armour to see if anything will fit him, and looking to make the necessary alteration to account for his tail.
"If I remain on Porkins a good distance up, it should not have to be a perfect disguise. I have other methods for closer inspection as well, but they are time limited", he explains to the others.
He then looks at Greko, wondering how the lizardfolk will fair getting into disguise.
Porkins wrangles the last of the Drow away from the edge of the chasm, then disappears over its edge, plunging down and down into the darkness in pursuit of that which has been flung over. There are screams, faint and distant, that echo up to the Ardent Remnants from the depths of Hyboria.
The Duergar finish their grim work, but look disappointed when they don't get to fling the last of the Drow over the ledge...
Greko listens to plans of disguises and subterfuge and closes his eyes for a minute. With his eyes closed he points out “The armor has no place for Greko’s tail. No need to worry about Greko. Greko will walk into camp undetected”
Jek looks at some of the armors available, and picks done or the lighter versions. He looks around for a place to change.
"Umm... A little privacy please." With a snap of his fingers, he's engulfed in darkness. When the darkness drops, he's looks like a mini stormtrooper.
He picks up his elven chainmail and stowes it in his bag. He picks up his bag, walks a few feet, then falls backwards. "Whoaoaoo! Argh. Alright, that's too much stuff!" He gets free of his bag, then starts going through it, he starts to throw out some torches. "Why do I have so many torches? That's one.. Two...ten! Ten torches! Anyone want them?"
"Alright, I'm ready now. Let us follow the path the Bright Lady lays before us! Onwards! ... Which way are we going again?"
Rum looks at Greko and then down to his own tail, and then at Jek as the weight of the armour causes him to topple.
"Ok, I will forego the armour as well, fellow Remnants. I will just keep high up. Greko, perhaps you would join me and Porkins on that bat of yours whilst the others travel in the guise of troopers on the ground? When I am not scouting of course".
The march south by southeast is arduous. The strange piping of flutes can be heard in the distance from time to time over the course of the next few days, though the working theory becomes that the Newts haven't recognized what has happened. It doesn't take long for the Ardent Remnants to begin encountering large boulder fields that impede easy movement, but nothing hostile gets close to them during this time. Just the sound of flutes, and the bizarre chittering of the life the lives along the roof of the cavern.
After a few days travel, they can start to see the distant glow or something....something that, upon further inspection, reveals itself to be an encampment around the portal leading off from the Haunted Cavern to the Great Cavern. Even from a distance, the Remnants can see the well defended walls, ten feet high and surrounded by stakes, and the huge boulder piles around the rim of the camp that would no doubt be difficult terrain to traverse. Fires can be seen around the rims, and watch towers are all along the constructed palisades. There are multiple sentries, one per guard tower, looking out and about...
As they travel through Subternia, Rum keeps a watching brief from high up on the back of Porkins. When they camp, he takes the opportunity to speak with their drow prisoner, learning the languages of his new prey. He finds he has quite the aptitude for languages, especially when learning them might become the difference between life and death.
Along with his morning and evening meditation, and his training, this becomes his routine. His training does differ from normal though. He decides after their disagreements at the duergar settlement, that he and Lady Kaede should try and become more familiar with each other. And the best way he knows to do this is through training. He asks Lady Kaede to instruct him in the ways of fighting with more diverse forms of weaponry. At the same time, he is happy to reciprocate if asked. Whilst they train, he asks about her code of honour, so he may better understand her.
When they eventually come across the encampment at the portal between the Haunted Cavern and the Great Cavern, he makes a sweep from the sky on Porkins, the pair scouting invisibly.
When Rum returns to the others, he has a lot to feed back about the encampment in terms of both structure and personnel. If possible he finds some method of drawing what he saw, either on the ground or preferably on parchment if someone has any to give him.
"Fellow Remnants, the closest edge of the encampment houses four guard towers, as you can see even from this distance, and the walls are 10 feet tall. Three of those guard towers house a single crossbowman. There is a path through the pallisade that is the way in to camp, which runs directly under the second tower from the south. This tower is manned by three troopers. An Orc with a crosswbowman, a trooper I do not recognise and what looks like some kind of war caster".
"Further into the camp, there are two more guard towers that flank the portal. A larger tower has an Ogre trooper and another trooper helping to man what looks like a ballista. The other tower is another manned by a single crossbowman. I spotted four sentries roaming around inside the walls, one a n elite, but there may be more. There is a also a red lizard sitting outside a hut to the south, with a flute on his lap. I suspect it is there to provide some form of alarm, as well as regular communication. We likely need to take that out first. It is unclear if there are any more troopers in the huts, but given that this camp would need to be manned around the clock, we should assume there are at least a similar number again that will take over at some point. I make that a potential 26 bodies".
"There are two catapults and a ballista inside the camp itself, in addition to the ballista the ogre mans. There are spike barriers protecting the approach to the portal itself. Once into the compound, be careful where you tread, there is a path leading south to a ballista that is well travelled, but no sign of anyone heading into the central camp area. I believe this central area to be trapped".
"They have set fires amongst the large boulder flanking the camp, to stop anyone gaining entry from the sides. It is well defended likely by seasoned troops, much like the ones we fought before, but with proper planning we can either go with force, or stealth".
"It is worth saying, there may be another identical camp on the other side of the portal. They may be able to get reinforcements from there, and we have to plan for both sides if we go with stealth. If we go with force, we can take over this side and then plan again".
He looks at each of the other Remnants waiting for comments.
Greko blinks at all the information and smiles "Always thorough! Always thorough! Greko wonders where the portal goes....Greko is still unsure, other than beating up the troopers, what it is the Remnants are looking for. Greko can go find out if Remnants don't know."
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The Duergar don't even hesitate. Without a single word they grab the Storm Trooper leader and hurl her over the side of the chasm and into the abyss. Cold. Not a single shred of emotion. They watch her go over the edge and into the darkness of the abyss, never turning their eyes from the spectacle before they turn around to grab the next Storm Trooper, the Drow spellcaster who had remained behind with her to watch their attempt to cross the divide get thoroughly thwarted. Hands made strong by years of stonework and metalurgy and smithing wrap around the upper arms of the Drow and drag him to the edge...
The Starlancer takes off, returning to the chasm where the other two surviving mounts are still wondering what has happened, having never suffered such a thorough disruption to their routine. There is a heated debate, or what at least looks like a debate, as the three creatures circle each other, and slowly begin to snap and gnash their teeth at one another, until the one that Rum had showed mercy to pulls away, flying back up the side of the chasm and rejoining the party only to watch the Duergar throw the mage over, screaming all the way down until one of the other Starlancer's catches him midair for a snack...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Rum looks on with a grim expression on his face, one of revulsion mixed with determination. It was the only sensible choice, he was surprised with how quickly the trooper leader was gone though. He wasn't totally sure they had finished interrogating her.
"Well, that settles that. Before they deal with all of these troops, do we know exactly where we have to go, fellow Remnants and Embers? I have not been privy to all the leader has said", he asks. He uses Embers as he felt a little uncomfortable calling Ro and Greko old friends right now.
When Porkins returns and relays the decision of the other Star Lancers, he simply smiles and pets the back of his neck.
"It is of no matter, you are mighty enough alone", he says in Celestial before mounting up and flying around over the chasm by the remaining troopers.
Greko shrugs “Greko is unsure what is happening. Greko wanted to reunite with old friends and found a tent raked Ro, a flying Rum, Kaede with crazy mask, Jek making shadow monsters, and himself fighting storm troopers.” Greko looks down at his lizard feet and says “Greko hopes Rum can forgive….”
The Duergar keep up their grim work. They mutter a few things, then grab the next Drow, a warrior that had been relieved of his armor and weapons, then hurled him screaming over the ledge into the chasm, before moving back to the remaining Drow and grabbing him by the arms...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Kaede walks over to where Greko is standing (OOC: convalescing?) and whispers just loud enough for the old man to hear "What say you, good sir? Think we can convince these duergar to join us on our journey? Might be good to have a literal army watching our backs!"
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
"These are strange times, Greko the White. It seems we have all changed in one way or another", Rum replies to Greko.
With only one drow trooper left, he directs Porkins over to it on the chasm side, so it can't be thrown in. He holds his hands up to the Duergar, palms outward motioning for them to skip this one.
"Tell them we need this one, Ro the Red", he says to Ro, before he turns back to the last remaining drow, ignoring what happens to the hobgoblins, orc and elite troopers for now.
"It seems you are the lucky one that will be guiding us to retrieve the Blast Bellows", he says to it before speaking to Porkins in Celestial, "Move this one gently away from the edge. It would be good if you could make it seem more threatening than that though".
With that Porkins snarls and the point of his nose starts to put pressure on the mid section of the trooper, pushing them back, possibly lifting them into the air a short way.
"So, we have a pile of armour and weapons used by our enemy, a guide, and the perfect new mount designed for scouting. Not a bad nights work, fellow Remnants and...well, just Remnants, if that is ok with the other original Remnants", he says, including Ro and Greko as Remnants and looking to the others for confirmation they are happy with that.
"Shall we rest or use the cover of darkness to travel?".
Greko nods to Kaede "Allies are needed now more than ever. If the Duergar want to be free from these troopers then fight with us seems logical.....Greko is ready to do whatever it is the Remnants are doing here. Greko came to aid however Greko can. Perhaps these troopers would like to say something before they are flung off the cliff?"
Rum shakes his head having overheard Greko and Lady Kaede discussing taking the Duergar along.
"I do not wish to be anchored by a slow moving force. They were no match for a squad on their home turf, they will only be a liability when faced with a garrison or more", he says knowing the Duergar cannot understand him.
"If we are to retrieve the Blast Bellows, and give these people back their means of becoming useful in this war, we will not do it by force of arms or outnumbering our enemy. It will be through guile and stealth. And be certain they are doomed if we do not manage to close that portal afterwards", he warns.
As the storm trooper leader goes over the edge, the shadow dog jumps after her. About 50ft down, the dog dissipates into shadows and mist.
Jek watches as the Duergar do what the remnants couldn't. Jek whispers a quick prayer "Bright Lady, please guide their paths in the next life. Hopefully they don't go towards the darkness again."
Jek listens as the others plan. He responds "I'm full of guile! And I'm working on something that can help with stealth. But it's not quite ready yet. I think we need to know more about the base and the people guarding it. How do we get that? The lizard might know something, but how do get the to talk?"
"Good to hear, friend Jek", Rum responds. "More information would be good. We have the trooper there to question further, and I can scout ahead invisibly and try and to capture a red lizard if we think they might know more".
"I suggest right now we move though, before the red lizards realise what has happened and do that strange singing long distance message thing of theirs and give us away. Perhaps use that armour, after all the red lizards would be expecting this squad to return back to base so it wouldn't be too suspicious".
Lady Kaede somewhat begrudgingly doffs her existing armor, stuffs it into her backpack, and dons a properly sized set of storm trooper armor.
No peaking at a royal lady as she disrobes!
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum jumps down off Porkins. "Go and eat if you wish, before the last captive disappears into the darkness", he says in Celestial.
He then joins Lady Kaede looking through the armour to see if anything will fit him, and looking to make the necessary alteration to account for his tail.
"If I remain on Porkins a good distance up, it should not have to be a perfect disguise. I have other methods for closer inspection as well, but they are time limited", he explains to the others.
He then looks at Greko, wondering how the lizardfolk will fair getting into disguise.
Porkins wrangles the last of the Drow away from the edge of the chasm, then disappears over its edge, plunging down and down into the darkness in pursuit of that which has been flung over. There are screams, faint and distant, that echo up to the Ardent Remnants from the depths of Hyboria.
The Duergar finish their grim work, but look disappointed when they don't get to fling the last of the Drow over the ledge...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Greko listens to plans of disguises and subterfuge and closes his eyes for a minute. With his eyes closed he points out “The armor has no place for Greko’s tail. No need to worry about Greko. Greko will walk into camp undetected”
Jek looks at some of the armors available, and picks done or the lighter versions. He looks around for a place to change.
"Umm... A little privacy please." With a snap of his fingers, he's engulfed in darkness. When the darkness drops, he's looks like a mini stormtrooper.
He picks up his elven chainmail and stowes it in his bag. He picks up his bag, walks a few feet, then falls backwards. "Whoaoaoo! Argh. Alright, that's too much stuff!" He gets free of his bag, then starts going through it, he starts to throw out some torches. "Why do I have so many torches? That's one.. Two...ten! Ten torches! Anyone want them?"
"Alright, I'm ready now. Let us follow the path the Bright Lady lays before us! Onwards! ... Which way are we going again?"
Rum looks at Greko and then down to his own tail, and then at Jek as the weight of the armour causes him to topple.
"Ok, I will forego the armour as well, fellow Remnants. I will just keep high up. Greko, perhaps you would join me and Porkins on that bat of yours whilst the others travel in the guise of troopers on the ground? When I am not scouting of course".
The march south by southeast is arduous. The strange piping of flutes can be heard in the distance from time to time over the course of the next few days, though the working theory becomes that the Newts haven't recognized what has happened. It doesn't take long for the Ardent Remnants to begin encountering large boulder fields that impede easy movement, but nothing hostile gets close to them during this time. Just the sound of flutes, and the bizarre chittering of the life the lives along the roof of the cavern.
After a few days travel, they can start to see the distant glow or something....something that, upon further inspection, reveals itself to be an encampment around the portal leading off from the Haunted Cavern to the Great Cavern. Even from a distance, the Remnants can see the well defended walls, ten feet high and surrounded by stakes, and the huge boulder piles around the rim of the camp that would no doubt be difficult terrain to traverse. Fires can be seen around the rims, and watch towers are all along the constructed palisades. There are multiple sentries, one per guard tower, looking out and about...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
As they travel through Subternia, Rum keeps a watching brief from high up on the back of Porkins. When they camp, he takes the opportunity to speak with their drow prisoner, learning the languages of his new prey. He finds he has quite the aptitude for languages, especially when learning them might become the difference between life and death.
Along with his morning and evening meditation, and his training, this becomes his routine. His training does differ from normal though. He decides after their disagreements at the duergar settlement, that he and Lady Kaede should try and become more familiar with each other. And the best way he knows to do this is through training. He asks Lady Kaede to instruct him in the ways of fighting with more diverse forms of weaponry. At the same time, he is happy to reciprocate if asked. Whilst they train, he asks about her code of honour, so he may better understand her.
When they eventually come across the encampment at the portal between the Haunted Cavern and the Great Cavern, he makes a sweep from the sky on Porkins, the pair scouting invisibly.
Stealth: (9,
5)+12=21Perception: 11+11=22
When Rum returns to the others, he has a lot to feed back about the encampment in terms of both structure and personnel. If possible he finds some method of drawing what he saw, either on the ground or preferably on parchment if someone has any to give him.
"Fellow Remnants, the closest edge of the encampment houses four guard towers, as you can see even from this distance, and the walls are 10 feet tall. Three of those guard towers house a single crossbowman. There is a path through the pallisade that is the way in to camp, which runs directly under the second tower from the south. This tower is manned by three troopers. An Orc with a crosswbowman, a trooper I do not recognise and what looks like some kind of war caster".
"Further into the camp, there are two more guard towers that flank the portal. A larger tower has an Ogre trooper and another trooper helping to man what looks like a ballista. The other tower is another manned by a single crossbowman. I spotted four sentries roaming around inside the walls, one a n elite, but there may be more. There is a also a red lizard sitting outside a hut to the south, with a flute on his lap. I suspect it is there to provide some form of alarm, as well as regular communication. We likely need to take that out first. It is unclear if there are any more troopers in the huts, but given that this camp would need to be manned around the clock, we should assume there are at least a similar number again that will take over at some point. I make that a potential 26 bodies".
"There are two catapults and a ballista inside the camp itself, in addition to the ballista the ogre mans. There are spike barriers protecting the approach to the portal itself. Once into the compound, be careful where you tread, there is a path leading south to a ballista that is well travelled, but no sign of anyone heading into the central camp area. I believe this central area to be trapped".
"They have set fires amongst the large boulder flanking the camp, to stop anyone gaining entry from the sides. It is well defended likely by seasoned troops, much like the ones we fought before, but with proper planning we can either go with force, or stealth".
"It is worth saying, there may be another identical camp on the other side of the portal. They may be able to get reinforcements from there, and we have to plan for both sides if we go with stealth. If we go with force, we can take over this side and then plan again".
He looks at each of the other Remnants waiting for comments.
Greko blinks at all the information and smiles "Always thorough! Always thorough! Greko wonders where the portal goes....Greko is still unsure, other than beating up the troopers, what it is the Remnants are looking for. Greko can go find out if Remnants don't know."