"Not mercenaries per se, but I would like to speak with the Taskhand at some point," Shayone says to the guard as they enter.

The environment inside the gates is familiar, though it feels a bit more depressing than it did the last time she was here -- what little Shayone could remember of it. *New life, new perspectives,* she reminded herself.

But familiar enemies -- "Gibbering mouthers!" Shayone cries out. "Stop your ears if you can!" *I guess talking to the Taskhand will have to wait.*

Taskhand Thelyss nods. "Excellent - you four, join us up here, we take the fight to these foul creatures head-on!"

"Hey! What about us?" Irvan calls.

"You six - follow Corporal Beruz and guard the infirmary. If any more of these creatures somehow slip past us and corner the wounded, they'll surely die. Go, now!"

"You must be joking - someone of my talents should be fighting alongside you, Taskhand, not running off performing guard duty!" Galsariad groans.

"I agree - we're wasted at such a post, let's take the fight to them!" Maggie adds, drawing her hammer and growling, with Irvan drawing his daggers alongside her. Dermot shoots Ayo a distressed look.

"Hey! You heard the Taskhand. We need to protect the wounded. Now, let's go! Move out!" Ayo barks. Her more vocal party members share a look, then relent and follow her lead. Before she goes, she gives all of you a quick nod. "Good luck out there. We'll see you on the other side!"

"Aurora Watch, get to your stations, secure the city, and guide any stray citizens to shelter! The rest of you, with me - attack! For the Dynasty! For Bazzoxan!"

Kalhala looks to Shay as they run, "What do you mean stop your ears?  What are these things?"

Morning stops when he hears Shayone’s warning. He takes off his backpack and tries to quickly tie his bedroll around his head with the rope, to cover his ears. He then looks for a spot in the crumbled buildings to sneak into and get the drop on the monsters.

"Their cries can be debilitating. A silence spell might help, if melee fighters can keep them in the area."

Mornin stops when Shayone points out the monsters' weakness. He looks to the rest of his party, "Do any of you know this magic? Kal and I can keep them at bay. What do they want Shayone? anything we can use to lure them into a trap?"

"They're not really the type to want anything other than mindless destruction," Shayone says. "I don't remember much more about them, it's just hard to forget the noise."

(I don't know if timing a bedroll to mornings head will work, since he did it pretty quick, but it's the best he's got.) He looks at Kalhalla and shouts, "We have to corner them! Limit ways to escape!" He then runs toward the pile of flesh. He runs until he is behind the flesh monster, charging at full speed into some debris, hoping to create some kind of barrier to prevent the monsters from retreating to whatever den he assumes they crawled from. After creating that barrier, he crouches behind it trying to evade the gaze of the mothers.

(to recap: I'm running towards gm1, trying to use movement into debris to create a cascade of debris as well as my action to try and reinforce it without being scene, then bonus action hide)

Mornin is unfortunately not able to scatter as much rubble as he hoped - but he is cutting off the monsters by himself.

Meanwhile, Taskhand Thelyss charges one of the mouthers, brandishing his glaive and staying ten feet away from it. With two vicious swipes, he tears into it with aplomb. He then focuses, and emerging from his form and appearing next to the other mouther is a shadowy form that resembles himself. Shayone recognizes it - an echo. The echo then swings its own ethereal glaive and cuts at the mouther nearest to Mornin.

Seeing what Mornin was tryng to do, Kalhala rushes at GM1, unsheathing his longsword and raising it into the sky, calling upon his crimson rite.  The sword bites into his hand as it starts emitting a glow, and as he reaches the creature, he slashes at it right in the middle.

Shayone casts her sparkling net of faerie fire over the two gibbering mouthers her friends have engaged with, and it seems to take hold. She moves closer but stays back behind the rubble, unsure she can find a stable foothold in the rubble.

Two of the mouthers bite at Kalhala and Taskhand Thelyss, but both are unable to get past their sturdy defense!

The horrid beast begins to warp the ground, but mornin is agile despite the uncertain ground, being used to fighting in snow. But he could not have been prepared for the creatures’ cries. The sound that echoes from the many, many mouths grip his mind. It’s a feeling that racks his mind so intensely that it takes all his effort to merely stand.

Unfortunately, Kalhala, Nexus, and one of the guards are rendered immobile by the mouthers as well. Thelyss and one of his men have more luck, dealing some more damage to the nearest mouthers as the other two slowly make their way over to where the action is. 

A flurry of activity - Thelyss and Nexus each manage to take down a mouther, and the fight continues as the other two close in on the Taskhand and his men!

Seeing the lights wink out on the two foes she'd marked earlier, Shayone sends more magical darts towards one of the creatures still menacing Thelyss.

Mornin runs toward the rubble at the edge of the center plaza and stands atop it, hoping the high ground will help him in killing the monsters without getting too close, fortunately, his arrow finds purchase in the fleshy mass.

Bit of a recap to bring us up to speed:

You guys started in Jigow during a festival and were one of two final teams competing to become champions of the festival. The other group consists of Ayo Jabe the orcish water genasi, Irvan Wastewalker the human, Galsariad Ardyth the drow, Dermot Wurder the goblin, and Maggie Brighteyes the ogre. You went head to head in a race to get the Emerald Eye, a token that would declare the winner of the festival. Facing off against a giant shark resulted in a secret passage being opened that led to a strange magical artifact. You all touched the artifact and experienced a strange vision: a warrior named Alyxian begged for your help and told you to seek out a temple of evil. You were later awoken by Ayo's party and struck a deal with them: they could take the Eye if you could take the artifact. While Ayo's group were celebrated as champions, you all met with the orcish elder Ushru who told you the true nature of your artifact.

You have recovered the Jewel of Three Prayers, a fabled Vestige of Divergence. He hypothesized that the temple of evil mentioned by Alyxian was in Bazzoxan and suggested that if you seek more information, you should head there. As you made your way out of town, you were stopped by Ayo's group who decided that they wanted to tag along and see what adventure followed in your wake. Both your groups arrived in Bazzoxan, a fortress town built in the shadow of a dark temple from the days of Calamity long past. You found the town it under attack by gibbering mouthers that crawled down from the temple and were roped in by the town's commander, Taskhand Verin Thelyss, into joining the town's defense. Ayo's group, meanwhile, were sent off to guard the infirmary. It was a gruesome battle, but you managed to emerge victorious.

Now that the danger has passed, Taskhand Thelyss heaves a sigh. "Square secure, all hostiles eliminated. Well done, everybody. Prepare the wounded for transport to the infirmary... recover what you can of the dead..." He states with a sorrowful look. The Taskhand approaches all of you. 

"Thank you. It isn't often that those who aren't Aurora Watch to jump into the fray. I also apologize that this gruesome scene was your first brush with our town. Nonetheless, I welcome you here, travelers. My name is Taskhand Verin Thelyss of Den Thelyss, commander of the Aurora Watch in Bazzoxan. If you have any questions about the town or if you're looking for something in particular, I could point you in the right direction."

A bugbear in Aurora Watch chitin armor approaches the Taskhand. "Report from the infirmary, sir. One of those creatures slipped in and started wreaking havoc, but there were no losses. However, a group of strangers from Jigow arrived and said you ordered them to help defend the infirmary. One of them, Ayo Jabe, was grievously ijured as she drew one of the monsters away from the wounded. She is currently in grave condition, but it looks like she might pull through."

"Head back there and see to it that Sautha treats her as she would any of our soldiers. Dismissed, soldier," Thelyss says as the bugbear salutes and rushes off to the infirmary.  

Originally, Nexus was considering asking Taskhand Verin if they'd seen any tieflings in the city by the name of Question; one of her mentors for the cobalt soul whose last known contact was her informing Nexus she'd be here. But the news of Ayo's condition had her bringing a hand up to her mouth in concern, biting back the immediate fretting she felt to ask instead; "Ayo is a friend of mine---Might I get pointed in the way of the infirmary, please?" 

She glanced at the rest of her companions, particularly Kalhala, who she grew up with in Jigow alongside Ayo. Even if the woman wasn't particularly close with Ayo anymore, being childhood friends she still considered herself closer to them than strangers, and the worry was evident in her eyes. "I hope you all don't mind if I do so--I've known her for years."

"Of course you should go," Shayone says. "I hope she recovers."

After she leaves Shayone turns to Thelyss. "We were sent here by the elders of Nexus and Ayo's village, to inquire after a discovery made recently in their town. We suspect it has some connection to the temple here."