Ereni's entire body goes eerily still and eyes flat when she first learns from Malenia (or Atreyu or Gandalf) of Vader's apparent fate.
Buried beneath some damned observatory? Sounds about as sure as old Slicefinger Sal, stumbling drunk and slurring his words as he juggled, scimitars sailing up through the smoke of the mess tent. Must be nice to be able to rest like Vader too. Lucky. While we slog on through this shit-mire.
Ereni swallows. "He's not dead." Her voice is strange. Distant. Almost wishful. She turns and strides away without another word, Joy at her heels.
----- Back to the Present -----
Ereni tilts her head to the side as she placidly observes the Tarrasque and its wake of destruction (but hopefully not death of civilians).
"Just need to be within six hundred feet or so to tilt the scales." Her drawl is neutral as she triple-checks the stringing on her Longbow, +3, unnecessarily but out of habit. "Better if closer maybe, but riskier. Dead archer does no damage. Question is, do we want to tilt the scales? Sergeant always said, scrape between an orc chief and hobgoblin captain... don't want either one to win by much. We sure this Godzilla is any better than the Tarrasque?"
Cinder shrugged as she watched the lumbering form of the Tarrasque. "Godzilla didn't kill us when we woke it up, so that's something. We can help if it starts to look bad for our side. As much as I want to see a monster fight, I don't exactly want to be crushed by one." Cinder continued to watch the destruction of Argos for the second time in such a short period. It was a strange experience. She held nothing against the people there, but at the same time didn't feel much of a need to do anything. Instead she much preferred watching the Tarrasque. Whenever it roared, Cinder could feel it vibrating in her chest. The destruction it wrought was beautiful in it's own way. Less fire then she would have liked, but it was a monster, not an artist.
A consistent sound fills the sky as the Tarrasque begins to wade into the northern boundaries of Argos, shattering stone and brick and mortar constructions underfoot the way a person may walk through grass. The bells further to the south and east, in the Chalk Forge and Trade Districts, beat louder and louder, and mages, probably attached to military units in the city, begin to cast lights into the sky close to the port.
The crackling blue energy coming up from the sea, paired with the now floating orbs of light, illuminate the body of a second enormous saurian as it wades up from the depths of the Summer Sea. The monster, Godzilla, roars in the distance.
The Tarrasque, a truly imposing creature within its own right, doesn't seem to hesitate as it wades into the the city.
The circling Roc keeps a respectable distance from either of the two combatants. Below, the streets of Argos appear to be empty. There are no crowds of screaming, fleeing civilians, nor are there any military units moving to intercept the creature.
It looks like Argos was prepared this time...
The enormous bird continues its sortie flying past the Tarrasque and high over the city walls that separate the most prominent parts of the city from the outlying establishments of the rabble. This is where the soldiers are, though it looks like they're confused about what is happening. There are archers and crew served ballista teams stationed along the top of the wall, and trebuchets loading flaming barrels behind the wall. Still, the soldiers keep turning, looking over their shoulders toward the beach, where Godzilla has landed...
And some of the artillery and crew served weapons begin to pivot so that they can take aim at the King of the Monsters...
Godzilla doesn't seem to notice...yet. He does, however, cant his head, getting a good look at the big bird flying overhead. He growls, and blue energy crackles up and down the spines on his back.
Stasolya, all of her long bony legs cramped inside the box attached to the gigantic bird, manages to maintain a position where she can see out, her humanoid torso leaning against the window, as she tries to keep her sprawling hooves off of her companions' feet. A solemn expression sits on her face, the white blaze covering her forehead and nose shimmering pale, reflecting now purple, now blue. And then blue. A lot of blue.
"Beneath the stars as twilight falls The sun's wan light like deathly pall Forces too great for us to ken Must be heeded for him to win."
Leaning out the window, she points towards the Tarrasque, and four blue Dancing Lights, crackling like lightning, swirl out from beneath the roc. They join together into a beam that lights up in a blue glow as it streaks towards the Tarrasque, fizzling out about a hundred feet out from the giant bird.
Ereni methodically unlimbers her bow and checks her arrows in their quivers. Judging the distance to the Tarrasque. Her drawl is laconic.
"Anyone wants me to hold off once the battle starts, speak now. No one gave the command to hold back in Hagsgate and I ended up putting arrows in King Haggard's throat once he attacked. Sort of regret that now, what with all the undead and the Red Bull's inferno that came from it."
"On the other hand, if you approve of sending our regards with arrows from a distance once it starts, a blessing or inspiration would not go amiss."
Ereni looks at the spellcasters in the group as she says it. Not expectantly, but just making a matter of fact observation.
"That bastard looks harder to harm than a palisade made of plate mail."
"I think we should only engage if we get close enough for us all to engage," Judal says with awe in his voice over what he is seeing. "I'm not in charge but I don't think it's wise to try to grab that thing's attention before we can really give it our all?"
Judal moves to the other part of the basket and points out towards the guards and ballistra lining the city wall. "Can we get closer to them? Look... Look at them. It looks like any minute some of those fools are going to start taking shots at Godzilla. It's nominally on our side but I don't think he'll cotten to taking friendly fire. The best thing we can do right now might be to ensure those guards ONLY attack the Tarrasque."
"Besides Ereni, do you have arrows that can even pierce their hide?" Judal asks honestly unsure. "It may be best to wait until their are wounds that can be attacked. Soft spots..."
Stasolya stops singing and pulls her head back into the roc box. "This is not our fight. We released Godzilla for this purpose, to destroy the Tarrasque, because only he is able to do so. Atreyu has only asked us to ascertain the outcome. These forces are beyond our powers. It may be wise to alert the defending force to what is going on, however..."
Following Ereni's initiative, Malenia pulls the bow lent to her by the archer from a bag on her hip. Tests the drawstring and the limberness of the weapon before also pulling a full quiver from the small bag. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder she holds the bow in her dominant hand, keeping a watchful eye on the two moving mountains. "Uh.....I dont think we should get closer." She points to Godzilla, as the titantic creature watches the Roc that is carrying them.
"If anything, we should move further away for the time being. As Stasoyla said, this is beyond our control" She then looks to instruct their temporary mount to gain a bit more height and distance as it seems the King of the Monsters was giving them a warning.
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Malenia - [Monk - Way of the Jedi] - Auryn: Princess of Destiny
In response to Judal's questioning her ability to damage the Tarrasque, Ereni shrugs.
"Thinking the head and throat shots we're trained for in the Infantry won't do much good here 'gainst that Tarrasque. Damage might be minor, insect's bite compared to what Godzilla gives him, but not nothing - 'specially if you have any magic to help me hit. My vote is to stay 600' away. Any closer and we make ourselves into a target. And we only engage the Tarrasque after the two start going at it."
((OOC: Agreeing with Judal's analysis that it is difficult to penetrate the Tarrasque's thick hide, Ereni is not going to use her -5 to hit / +10 damage from Sharpshooter here. But she will take advantage of having no range or cover penalties out to 600'.))
She turns to Stasolya, attempting to discern whether she (Ereni) is being given a command to obey (which she probably would) or a suggestion to consider. "Don't recall as old Gando or Trey-Trey forbid us from tilting the scales of the battle once it starts."
"I'm all for staying away from it," Judal agrees with a smile. "I'll be suitably impressed you hitting the thing from that distance, damage or no..." Thinking on it for a bit he slowly adds "I could maybe help you aim true a time or two, but nothing that'd hold up for the long run," he adds with a shrug.
((5 Bardic Inspirations per short rest... Though if a chance of melee, being a swords bard, I'll usually b e selfish and use them for Defensive Flourishes to add extra damage and add to my AC...))
"Hey, you think there may be a spot on it's back that it can't reach? I mean I don't think I am that crazy but imagine it... Riding that thing and attacking it from a spot it couldn't reach to matter how bad the itch? Now that would be epic!"
A rumbling growl, something like a convoy of wagons with broken wheels, fills the air between the Roc and Godzilla before the monster turns its attention toward Argos and continues its way ashore. Brick and mortar are destroyed as it storms the beach, crushing buildings with its huge feet and tail. From the ground, far ahead of Godzilla, the defensive line the city's defenders had readied in preparation for the Tarrasque continues to spin weapons one hundred eighty degrees. Barrels of pitch and oil get loaded into whatever empty trebuchets are left, and it appears all the ballistas are ready. The defenders look like they're just waiting for one of the creatures to come into range.
More than a few of them look nervous as they begin to realize that they're directly between the two behemoths.
The Roc banked back around, away from Godzilla, away from the shore and back toward the Tarrasque. Just like Godzilla, it was now making its way along the road, smashing buildings as it went. It came within range of the defensive wall before Godzilla did, and then some of the trebuchet's unleashed. Flaming barrels arched through the air beneath the Roc's altitude, leaving smoking trails behind them before they rained down around the beast. Fires erupted all around it, but only one barrel managed to strike it, and it hit it directly in the face. The Tarrasque roared as fire billowed off its head, but it otherwise didn't seem effected.
The Roc began to glide over the defenders in the center of the city and several of the ballistas tracked its movement, but it was too high to engage. It beat its wings, getting them a respectable distance above the Tarrasque, which craned its head up toward them and began tracking their movement.
The Tarrasque roared...and Godzilla roared in the distance in challenge...
"They need to get out from between the two," Judal insisted to nobody in particular. "They need to stop aiming at Godzilla and just focus on the Tarrasque!" But they were too far to even make shouting effective, even if the guards would listen. Judal looked around at the other members of The Answer looking to see if they had any.
Ereni agrees with those who wish to warn the defenders of Argos, despite not having been there when some of the others witnessed the havoc wreaked on the city by the Kraken weeks earlier. Much of our life, she herself might have been down there on the walls. Landing seems risky to her, though.
Better to keep our distance, like a mouse from a mastiff. A vast, rampaging, world-ending mastiff about to fight another creature its size...
"Anyone have a way to deliver a message from distance? I'm good up to a couple hundred paces [yards] with my arrows. But I'm thinking they might not notice if I just tied a little note on a string. Imagining they are a mite too distracted for that."
Malenia's focus shifts from the roaring monsters below them, the sound of their titanic steps dull's as her eyes find the distant mountain range. Lost within this new fog, this layer of gloom that seems to have gripped the entire continent, she sought out her home. Any sign that her small corner of the world had been changed by the actions taken by so many, herself included. She took in a sharp breathe as a familiar sensation crept over her, a sense that the Haligtree still stood, untouched by the changing landscape.
"I....can....." Her words faltered as she broke her attention away from the familiar and comforting presence she sensed. "I can, but not from this distance." She is of course referring to her ability to communicate nonverbally over a short distance, an ability she had used quite often with the Answer. It of course was not the Message they were in a position to send.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Malenia - [Monk - Way of the Jedi] - Auryn: Princess of Destiny
Judal is already digging through his kit when the question is asked. He tosses through things even as things fall out accidentally - a smooth round stone that says "I think they're on to us, we better hit the road," in a conspiratorial voice, another more oval bluish rock that calls out "Nevermore!" when they hit the ground. In but a moment though Judal pulls out a big, thick journal and flips through it until he finds a blank page. Haphazardly he rips out the page and holds it out to whoever takes it...
"Here! Write a note. Something that'll tell them to clear the convergance point of the monsters and to NOT attack Godzilla," he shouts out while also digging for a pen and some ink so the message can indeed be written.
"Ereni, give me one of your arrows," he insists. "I can cast upon it so that it calls attention to it and the note... So they know to look..."
Once he is given the arrow, Judal casts his spell. While casting Magic Mouth upon the shaft of the arrow voices the message the spell will repeat endlessly one it has been shot and hits the ground: HERE! COME HERE! A MESSAGE FROM ATREYU AND GANDALF! TIED TO THIS ARROW HERE! COME HERE! The message will repeat on an endless loop at the top of it's "voice" until the arrow is retrieved and the note removed from it.
"Did someone write the note?" he asks, a bit frantically. "Quickly, we must do what we can to warn them while we still have a chance..."
"Don't know that we can fly low enough for your mental message, Malenia. Unless we want to risk becoming lunch for a lizard." Ereni looks pained and worried at the plight of the doomed men and women below her attempting to hold the city.
She turns slack-jawed as Judal begins emptying his pack. But once commanded, Ereni promptly hands over a magic arrow and, if no one else does, she herself grabs the notebook and writes with the poor penmanship and diction of an orphaned child soldier whose education ended at thirteen.
IN THE NAME OF THE KID-LIKE PRINCESS. URGENT FROM COMMANDER ATREYU AND GANDALF! SECOND BIG FAT LIZARD "GODZILLA" COMING FROM SEA TO COMBAT TARRASK RIGHT NOW. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT THE DAMN THING. DO NOT GET CAUGHT BETWEEN LIKE CHUMPS! RETREAT LATERALLY DOUBLE-TIME! WHEN CLEAR, KEEP DISTANCE. DO NOT ATTACK GODZILLA! IT HAS TO BEAT THE TARRASK.
She barks for the Roc to descend to roughly 600' above the defenders of Argos. Affixing the note once Judal hands back the arrow, she stills her breathing. She scans across the defensive line below for a wooden or other such surface. One that would be accessible to those they wish to receive the note, and in which an arrow would penetrate and stick. Assuming she finds one, she lets fly the arrow with the note and Magic Mouth.
Ereni attack roll to hit accessible wooden target 600' below with the arrow bearing the Magic Mouth and note: 31
The arrow screams from the Roc's basket, down through the air, and sticks into part of one trebuchet's frame. There's a moment where the Answer can see the artillery crews below look confused, then a flurry of frantic movement while a couple of soldiers pull the arrow free, then more frantic movement as they try to summon someone. Another soldier comes trotting over, reads the note. There's a pause, some confusion, and then they look to the sky.
A couple of more soldiers trot over. They stand in a gaggle with the note.
The Tarrasque doesn't wait for them to get theirselves in order. The monster roars again as the flames die away on its face. Its maw crackles purple...
The breath weapon seems to be a variation of some sort of scream. Purple energy tears through the air between the Tarrasque and the defenders. Golden rings of power radiate up and down the length of the attack, and the wall is vaporized by the shear force of the assault. Block, bricks, stone and mortar are hurled into the air and women and men who were prepared for a fight to the death are suddenly granted their end as the attack rakes back and forth over a section of the wall. A few of the ballistas are fired, but the shots are sloppy and misplaced, clearly a last ditch effort to get the Tarrasque off of them.
They fail of course.
The gaggle of soldiers trying to figure out what to do with the message are showered with debris. One grips the note in an iron grip and turns his eyes up toward the Roc...
"Admittedly, that could have gone better," Judal says in an otherwise bright and optimistic tone. "But let's not lose sight of our successes, eh? We did work well together in a time crunch. We did succeed in delivering a warning to those foolishly standing between the great beasts. We did, ourselves, avoid being a casual casualty of the conflict and become an afterthought to destiny..."
"So, teachable moment teaches that there is only so much we can do, yes? But my own stubborness and determination shrugs at that lesson and will continue trying despite the futility of it. One can only know they will not succeed by trying and finding out..."
Judal looks around at the others and is almost visibly trying to will them to not be disheartened by this utter and complete lack of success. He still hold out hope that their message will get some to flee and listen... But wishes it would have been a more successful effort.
Stasolya, watching the destruction wrought by the Tarrasque from the box's window, stands with head bowed. As Judal speaks, she lifts her head and turns to look at him, smiling sadly. "When death finally comes for you, Judal, even if it be at rest in your bed, will you speak so? What will you point at then as your merit?"
"My death?" Judal asks with a small chuckle. "Perish the thought... I am too pretty to die. But if such a tragedy as my ending did ever afflict our world, I will move on to the next adventure looking to do my best. What other position has merit at all?"
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----- Flashback to earlier in Skyloft -----
Ereni's entire body goes eerily still and eyes flat when she first learns from Malenia (or Atreyu or Gandalf) of Vader's apparent fate.
Buried beneath some damned observatory? Sounds about as sure as old Slicefinger Sal, stumbling drunk and slurring his words as he juggled, scimitars sailing up through the smoke of the mess tent. Must be nice to be able to rest like Vader too. Lucky. While we slog on through this shit-mire.
Ereni swallows. "He's not dead." Her voice is strange. Distant. Almost wishful. She turns and strides away without another word, Joy at her heels.
----- Back to the Present -----
Ereni tilts her head to the side as she placidly observes the Tarrasque and its wake of destruction (but hopefully not death of civilians).
"Just need to be within six hundred feet or so to tilt the scales." Her drawl is neutral as she triple-checks the stringing on her Longbow, +3, unnecessarily but out of habit. "Better if closer maybe, but riskier. Dead archer does no damage. Question is, do we want to tilt the scales? Sergeant always said, scrape between an orc chief and hobgoblin captain... don't want either one to win by much. We sure this Godzilla is any better than the Tarrasque?"
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Cinder shrugged as she watched the lumbering form of the Tarrasque. "Godzilla didn't kill us when we woke it up, so that's something. We can help if it starts to look bad for our side. As much as I want to see a monster fight, I don't exactly want to be crushed by one." Cinder continued to watch the destruction of Argos for the second time in such a short period. It was a strange experience. She held nothing against the people there, but at the same time didn't feel much of a need to do anything. Instead she much preferred watching the Tarrasque. Whenever it roared, Cinder could feel it vibrating in her chest. The destruction it wrought was beautiful in it's own way. Less fire then she would have liked, but it was a monster, not an artist.
A consistent sound fills the sky as the Tarrasque begins to wade into the northern boundaries of Argos, shattering stone and brick and mortar constructions underfoot the way a person may walk through grass. The bells further to the south and east, in the Chalk Forge and Trade Districts, beat louder and louder, and mages, probably attached to military units in the city, begin to cast lights into the sky close to the port.
The crackling blue energy coming up from the sea, paired with the now floating orbs of light, illuminate the body of a second enormous saurian as it wades up from the depths of the Summer Sea. The monster, Godzilla, roars in the distance.
The Tarrasque, a truly imposing creature within its own right, doesn't seem to hesitate as it wades into the the city.
The circling Roc keeps a respectable distance from either of the two combatants. Below, the streets of Argos appear to be empty. There are no crowds of screaming, fleeing civilians, nor are there any military units moving to intercept the creature.
It looks like Argos was prepared this time...
The enormous bird continues its sortie flying past the Tarrasque and high over the city walls that separate the most prominent parts of the city from the outlying establishments of the rabble. This is where the soldiers are, though it looks like they're confused about what is happening. There are archers and crew served ballista teams stationed along the top of the wall, and trebuchets loading flaming barrels behind the wall. Still, the soldiers keep turning, looking over their shoulders toward the beach, where Godzilla has landed...
And some of the artillery and crew served weapons begin to pivot so that they can take aim at the King of the Monsters...
Godzilla doesn't seem to notice...yet. He does, however, cant his head, getting a good look at the big bird flying overhead. He growls, and blue energy crackles up and down the spines on his back.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Stasolya, all of her long bony legs cramped inside the box attached to the gigantic bird, manages to maintain a position where she can see out, her humanoid torso leaning against the window, as she tries to keep her sprawling hooves off of her companions' feet. A solemn expression sits on her face, the white blaze covering her forehead and nose shimmering pale, reflecting now purple, now blue. And then blue. A lot of blue.
"Beneath the stars as twilight falls
The sun's wan light like deathly pall
Forces too great for us to ken
Must be heeded for him to win."
Leaning out the window, she points towards the Tarrasque, and four blue Dancing Lights, crackling like lightning, swirl out from beneath the roc. They join together into a beam that lights up in a blue glow as it streaks towards the Tarrasque, fizzling out about a hundred feet out from the giant bird.
Ereni methodically unlimbers her bow and checks her arrows in their quivers. Judging the distance to the Tarrasque. Her drawl is laconic.
"Anyone wants me to hold off once the battle starts, speak now. No one gave the command to hold back in Hagsgate and I ended up putting arrows in King Haggard's throat once he attacked. Sort of regret that now, what with all the undead and the Red Bull's inferno that came from it."
"On the other hand, if you approve of sending our regards with arrows from a distance once it starts, a blessing or inspiration would not go amiss."
Ereni looks at the spellcasters in the group as she says it. Not expectantly, but just making a matter of fact observation.
"That bastard looks harder to harm than a palisade made of plate mail."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"I think we should only engage if we get close enough for us all to engage," Judal says with awe in his voice over what he is seeing. "I'm not in charge but I don't think it's wise to try to grab that thing's attention before we can really give it our all?"
Judal moves to the other part of the basket and points out towards the guards and ballistra lining the city wall. "Can we get closer to them? Look... Look at them. It looks like any minute some of those fools are going to start taking shots at Godzilla. It's nominally on our side but I don't think he'll cotten to taking friendly fire. The best thing we can do right now might be to ensure those guards ONLY attack the Tarrasque."
"Besides Ereni, do you have arrows that can even pierce their hide?" Judal asks honestly unsure. "It may be best to wait until their are wounds that can be attacked. Soft spots..."
Stasolya stops singing and pulls her head back into the roc box. "This is not our fight. We released Godzilla for this purpose, to destroy the Tarrasque, because only he is able to do so. Atreyu has only asked us to ascertain the outcome. These forces are beyond our powers. It may be wise to alert the defending force to what is going on, however..."
Following Ereni's initiative, Malenia pulls the bow lent to her by the archer from a bag on her hip. Tests the drawstring and the limberness of the weapon before also pulling a full quiver from the small bag. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder she holds the bow in her dominant hand, keeping a watchful eye on the two moving mountains. "Uh.....I dont think we should get closer." She points to Godzilla, as the titantic creature watches the Roc that is carrying them.
"If anything, we should move further away for the time being. As Stasoyla said, this is beyond our control" She then looks to instruct their temporary mount to gain a bit more height and distance as it seems the King of the Monsters was giving them a warning.
Malenia - [Monk - Way of the Jedi] - Auryn: Princess of Destiny
In response to Judal's questioning her ability to damage the Tarrasque, Ereni shrugs.
"Thinking the head and throat shots we're trained for in the Infantry won't do much good here 'gainst that Tarrasque. Damage might be minor, insect's bite compared to what Godzilla gives him, but not nothing - 'specially if you have any magic to help me hit. My vote is to stay 600' away. Any closer and we make ourselves into a target. And we only engage the Tarrasque after the two start going at it."
((OOC: Agreeing with Judal's analysis that it is difficult to penetrate the Tarrasque's thick hide, Ereni is not going to use her -5 to hit / +10 damage from Sharpshooter here. But she will take advantage of having no range or cover penalties out to 600'.))
She turns to Stasolya, attempting to discern whether she (Ereni) is being given a command to obey (which she probably would) or a suggestion to consider. "Don't recall as old Gando or Trey-Trey forbid us from tilting the scales of the battle once it starts."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"I'm all for staying away from it," Judal agrees with a smile. "I'll be suitably impressed you hitting the thing from that distance, damage or no..." Thinking on it for a bit he slowly adds "I could maybe help you aim true a time or two, but nothing that'd hold up for the long run," he adds with a shrug.
((5 Bardic Inspirations per short rest... Though if a chance of melee, being a swords bard, I'll usually b e selfish and use them for Defensive Flourishes to add extra damage and add to my AC...))
"Hey, you think there may be a spot on it's back that it can't reach? I mean I don't think I am that crazy but imagine it... Riding that thing and attacking it from a spot it couldn't reach to matter how bad the itch? Now that would be epic!"
A rumbling growl, something like a convoy of wagons with broken wheels, fills the air between the Roc and Godzilla before the monster turns its attention toward Argos and continues its way ashore. Brick and mortar are destroyed as it storms the beach, crushing buildings with its huge feet and tail. From the ground, far ahead of Godzilla, the defensive line the city's defenders had readied in preparation for the Tarrasque continues to spin weapons one hundred eighty degrees. Barrels of pitch and oil get loaded into whatever empty trebuchets are left, and it appears all the ballistas are ready. The defenders look like they're just waiting for one of the creatures to come into range.
More than a few of them look nervous as they begin to realize that they're directly between the two behemoths.
The Roc banked back around, away from Godzilla, away from the shore and back toward the Tarrasque. Just like Godzilla, it was now making its way along the road, smashing buildings as it went. It came within range of the defensive wall before Godzilla did, and then some of the trebuchet's unleashed. Flaming barrels arched through the air beneath the Roc's altitude, leaving smoking trails behind them before they rained down around the beast. Fires erupted all around it, but only one barrel managed to strike it, and it hit it directly in the face. The Tarrasque roared as fire billowed off its head, but it otherwise didn't seem effected.
The Roc began to glide over the defenders in the center of the city and several of the ballistas tracked its movement, but it was too high to engage. It beat its wings, getting them a respectable distance above the Tarrasque, which craned its head up toward them and began tracking their movement.
The Tarrasque roared...and Godzilla roared in the distance in challenge...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
"They need to get out from between the two," Judal insisted to nobody in particular. "They need to stop aiming at Godzilla and just focus on the Tarrasque!" But they were too far to even make shouting effective, even if the guards would listen. Judal looked around at the other members of The Answer looking to see if they had any.
"Should we land and try to direct the guards?"
Ereni agrees with those who wish to warn the defenders of Argos, despite not having been there when some of the others witnessed the havoc wreaked on the city by the Kraken weeks earlier. Much of our life, she herself might have been down there on the walls. Landing seems risky to her, though.
Better to keep our distance, like a mouse from a mastiff. A vast, rampaging, world-ending mastiff about to fight another creature its size...
"Anyone have a way to deliver a message from distance? I'm good up to a couple hundred paces [yards] with my arrows. But I'm thinking they might not notice if I just tied a little note on a string. Imagining they are a mite too distracted for that."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Malenia's focus shifts from the roaring monsters below them, the sound of their titanic steps dull's as her eyes find the distant mountain range. Lost within this new fog, this layer of gloom that seems to have gripped the entire continent, she sought out her home. Any sign that her small corner of the world had been changed by the actions taken by so many, herself included. She took in a sharp breathe as a familiar sensation crept over her, a sense that the Haligtree still stood, untouched by the changing landscape.
"I....can....." Her words faltered as she broke her attention away from the familiar and comforting presence she sensed. "I can, but not from this distance." She is of course referring to her ability to communicate nonverbally over a short distance, an ability she had used quite often with the Answer. It of course was not the Message they were in a position to send.
Malenia - [Monk - Way of the Jedi] - Auryn: Princess of Destiny
Judal is already digging through his kit when the question is asked. He tosses through things even as things fall out accidentally - a smooth round stone that says "I think they're on to us, we better hit the road," in a conspiratorial voice, another more oval bluish rock that calls out "Nevermore!" when they hit the ground. In but a moment though Judal pulls out a big, thick journal and flips through it until he finds a blank page. Haphazardly he rips out the page and holds it out to whoever takes it...
"Here! Write a note. Something that'll tell them to clear the convergance point of the monsters and to NOT attack Godzilla," he shouts out while also digging for a pen and some ink so the message can indeed be written.
"Ereni, give me one of your arrows," he insists. "I can cast upon it so that it calls attention to it and the note... So they know to look..."
Once he is given the arrow, Judal casts his spell. While casting Magic Mouth upon the shaft of the arrow voices the message the spell will repeat endlessly one it has been shot and hits the ground: HERE! COME HERE! A MESSAGE FROM ATREYU AND GANDALF! TIED TO THIS ARROW HERE! COME HERE! The message will repeat on an endless loop at the top of it's "voice" until the arrow is retrieved and the note removed from it.
"Did someone write the note?" he asks, a bit frantically. "Quickly, we must do what we can to warn them while we still have a chance..."
"Don't know that we can fly low enough for your mental message, Malenia. Unless we want to risk becoming lunch for a lizard." Ereni looks pained and worried at the plight of the doomed men and women below her attempting to hold the city.
She turns slack-jawed as Judal begins emptying his pack. But once commanded, Ereni promptly hands over a magic arrow and, if no one else does, she herself grabs the notebook and writes with the poor penmanship and diction of an orphaned child soldier whose education ended at thirteen.
IN THE NAME OF THE KID-LIKE PRINCESS. URGENT FROM COMMANDER ATREYU AND GANDALF! SECOND BIG FAT LIZARD "GODZILLA" COMING FROM SEA TO COMBAT TARRASK RIGHT NOW. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT THE DAMN THING. DO NOT GET CAUGHT BETWEEN LIKE CHUMPS! RETREAT LATERALLY DOUBLE-TIME! WHEN CLEAR, KEEP DISTANCE. DO NOT ATTACK GODZILLA! IT HAS TO BEAT THE TARRASK.
She barks for the Roc to descend to roughly 600' above the defenders of Argos. Affixing the note once Judal hands back the arrow, she stills her breathing. She scans across the defensive line below for a wooden or other such surface. One that would be accessible to those they wish to receive the note, and in which an arrow would penetrate and stick. Assuming she finds one, she lets fly the arrow with the note and Magic Mouth.
Ereni attack roll to hit accessible wooden target 600' below with the arrow bearing the Magic Mouth and note: 31
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
The arrow screams from the Roc's basket, down through the air, and sticks into part of one trebuchet's frame. There's a moment where the Answer can see the artillery crews below look confused, then a flurry of frantic movement while a couple of soldiers pull the arrow free, then more frantic movement as they try to summon someone. Another soldier comes trotting over, reads the note. There's a pause, some confusion, and then they look to the sky.
A couple of more soldiers trot over. They stand in a gaggle with the note.
The Tarrasque doesn't wait for them to get theirselves in order. The monster roars again as the flames die away on its face. Its maw crackles purple...
The breath weapon seems to be a variation of some sort of scream. Purple energy tears through the air between the Tarrasque and the defenders. Golden rings of power radiate up and down the length of the attack, and the wall is vaporized by the shear force of the assault. Block, bricks, stone and mortar are hurled into the air and women and men who were prepared for a fight to the death are suddenly granted their end as the attack rakes back and forth over a section of the wall. A few of the ballistas are fired, but the shots are sloppy and misplaced, clearly a last ditch effort to get the Tarrasque off of them.
They fail of course.
The gaggle of soldiers trying to figure out what to do with the message are showered with debris. One grips the note in an iron grip and turns his eyes up toward the Roc...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
"Admittedly, that could have gone better," Judal says in an otherwise bright and optimistic tone. "But let's not lose sight of our successes, eh? We did work well together in a time crunch. We did succeed in delivering a warning to those foolishly standing between the great beasts. We did, ourselves, avoid being a casual casualty of the conflict and become an afterthought to destiny..."
"So, teachable moment teaches that there is only so much we can do, yes? But my own stubborness and determination shrugs at that lesson and will continue trying despite the futility of it. One can only know they will not succeed by trying and finding out..."
Judal looks around at the others and is almost visibly trying to will them to not be disheartened by this utter and complete lack of success. He still hold out hope that their message will get some to flee and listen... But wishes it would have been a more successful effort.
Stasolya, watching the destruction wrought by the Tarrasque from the box's window, stands with head bowed. As Judal speaks, she lifts her head and turns to look at him, smiling sadly. "When death finally comes for you, Judal, even if it be at rest in your bed, will you speak so? What will you point at then as your merit?"
"My death?" Judal asks with a small chuckle. "Perish the thought... I am too pretty to die. But if such a tragedy as my ending did ever afflict our world, I will move on to the next adventure looking to do my best. What other position has merit at all?"