Disciples to the Forgotten

[thewhiteone]

She sighed, it was definitely going to take a while to get through to her. At least they knew a pair of winged trolls were going to be dropping by.

"Tea totter?" she shook her head, "Gertha my dear friend, I lament the fact that you cannot distinguish the difference between tea and the finest of wines. And I'll have you know elven teas are quite excellent as well. Some of us," she gave a properly snobbish upturn of her nose to her friend, "have a taste for the finer things in life.

She left the cup in the nymph's hands, just in case she was up to a drink later.

Fully extracting herself from the nymph, and took a few swings from her own bottle, she was probably going to need it.

"So are you going to give birth to the little tike, or is it going to cut its way out with the axe that's probably already in it's tinny hands?" she teased the dwarf.

Armor for new born infants... only a dwarf would think of something crazy like that.

 

[cats]

Gertha

IC: "Oh we both know I'll be wearing armor when I deliver, so my child will have to leave threw the proper channels. But I suppose elves are never quite as ready for battle as a dwarf what with spending half your lives confusing wine with a proper drink."

 

[thewhiteone]

Sigh

The age old banter between dwarves and elves.

"Gertha, Gertha, my dear friend... just because we can hear a lone goblin attempting to sneaking up on us from three hundred feet away and you dwarves need the armor to survive a platoon of them from marching up behind you and announcing their presence by clubbing you on the head does not make us less prepared. On the contrary it makes us more prepare and allows us to use this thing called 'ranged combat' to excellent use. Ranged combat? You know killing things before they get close enough to try and hack you to pieces?"

She gave her friend a hug and Blessed her in the name of their goddess before leaving to check on the other survivors.

 

[cats]

IC: The dwarfs final words to the elf were "If you can see well enough to do ranged combat you clearly aren't drinking a real drink."

The guild looked much worse then it was. A casual guess would be 20% of the guild members where fine while another 20% had various injuries, depending on how many members were out maybe half the guild or so lived. Yasaedra was frequented by those injuries. She saw burns both of fire and of acid. The variety of cuts and scrapes were the most astonishing in variety. Claw marks, gashes, lacerations, imaplements, internal bleeding, and ever so many other things.

It wasn't before long that Yasa spotted Tim, with a clip board in hand and looking more frazzled then normal.

 

[thewhiteone]

((OCC: all 0 level spells burned for Cure Minor))

Outwardly, Yasaedra barley seemed fazed by the carnage around her, on the inside, it tore at her. She paused several times, to administer minor aid to five of the worst cases she saw that no one else was attending to yet. She longed to be able to heal more, but since she was likely one of the most skilled combatants and magic users left, plus the fact that there were definitely going to be two unwelcome visitors... she needed to conserve her spells.

Spotting Tim, she made her way over to him.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

 

[cats]

Tim

IC: "Oh its you again? How was the city of Union? I here it it is quite nice on this portion of its astral passage. Something about the street lights giving off a nice shade of blue and just a little bit of green."

 

[thewhiteone]

Oh, right, scatterbrained Tim.

"Union was nice. Now what's the situation with the survivors here? About how many are still fit for combat and how many are badly injured?"

 

[cats]

Tim

IC: Tim looked her in the eyes before relaying his profound answer. "Yes... But that isn't important. What is odd how ever is that the placement of the casualties in comparison to the injuries. You see the most lethal damage is focused at the library where only my floor was spared harm due to a prismatic sphere. But that is none to surprising due to that is where the immortal came personally. Outside that, the temples, the incarum hall, and the psion studios where all hit heavily and lethally. Compared to the barracks, the suites, the mess hall, the armory, smithy, and well every where further away from those four locations where damage is far less. Only massive acid burns, missing limbs, and well the slow death and non lethal stuff."

He waited a bit blinked. "Isn't that fascinating?"

 

[thewhiteone]

"Important, yes... fascinating, no."

Such an attitude toward the death and suffering of so many was very disturbing.

"So they targeted the highest concentrations of those using mystical forces heavily and hit the more conventional warrior types lighter...not that surprising."

She thought for a moment.

"You said the more outlying areas weren't hit as hard? What about the druids, rangers and nature revering clerics? Do we know how hard they were hit?"

Switching mental tracks, "Were any of the shrines in the temple left untouched? Any shrine's caretakers spared from the slaughter?"

 

[cats]

Tim

IC: "Oh I see where your going! We'll have to search long and hard to find all the books checked out of the library... Wait... We can save time getting those books back just by Resurrecting those that had books checked out. That way we don't need to search dead bodies. Such a bothersome activity. Well I assume so I've never tried. Any how hand this to Gertha she wanted it. I need to go back to library and see who had books checked out. Certinaly no rangers or druids, they have such dirty hands."

Tim hands the clipboard and starts to walk off.

The correct answer to Yasaedra's question is those outside were hit or miss, likely depending on if and who attacked them as the attackers entered and left. All of the shrines were hit pretty bad, but only Bacoob's care taker and those shrines closest to it were killed standing in there shrines.

 

[thewhiteone]

The callousness of this man!

Oh lets just Resurrect everyone so I can figure out who checked out what book...

Not that she wouldn't want to be able to bring everyone back from the dead...it just was not looked very kindly on... and it was also wrong to take so many from their just reward or punishment.

She accepted the clipboard, and began skimming the information.

From the looks of it, perhaps forty percent of those estimated to have been on site lived, about half though were severely to critically injured.

Boccob's shrine and those in the immediate surroundings were utterly obliterated.

What was this guy thinking?!?! To antagonize so many deities at once! Especially risking the god of magic's ire... while true that was very hard to do without destroying magic items, killing his cleric inside his shrine was not going to put him on the gods good side.

Yasaedra began organizing the survivors, coordinating them and establishing response teams in case of attack. They and the others were informed that a pair of trolls, capable of flight at the very least, probably magically armed, were going to be showing up with hostile intent likely within a few hours, a day tops.

 

[cats]

Questioning cannon fodder

IC: "Um, excuse me Miss," stated a non-discript, nameless npc. "I understand that you are likely in the top four or five in power of those that remain here. But no one put you in charge and we are in no condition to fight. But despite that you have us fighting an enemy we know little about to save some one who was murdering our ranks not half a day ago. Perhaps your emotions are getting the better of you."

He paused for only a moment before continuing. "I know alot of us are fine with your plan. I personally am fine if they want to blindly fallow you, but blindly fallowing the immortal is how we ended up like this to begin with. A number of guild members are with me on this issue. So why should we help this demon nymph if we gain nothing from it?"

 

[thewhiteone]

She listened attentively to the man as he listed his concerns. He did have a point of her having no actual authority over him and the others. But this is a crisis, a leader is needed, and she had a task set before her by Eilistraee herself. She would not fail her or these people.

“The trolls are coming here, whether I want them to or not. Even if she is slain or leaves, this will be the first place they look for her. We will have a fight regardless of how ready we are.”

“As you say, I do not have the authority over you unless you give me that authority, but…as one of the most powerful here and we are in a crisis, it is my responsibility to do what I can to help everyone here survive and recover. With power, comes responsibility.”

"In a crisis, someone has to organize the people, coordinate their efforts for maximum effectiveness, even if they have no binding authority over those whom they are managing."

She paused, looking deep into the man's eyes before continuing, “As for the girl, would you not want help if it was you? To be caged like an animal, to have demonic essence forced into you. Forced to become a mindless killing machine when they tell you to, against your will? She wants nothing to do with what she has become or what she has done, it is my duty to try and help her. Plus, as little as she likely knows, she is the only source of first hand information we have on the inside of those who betrayed us.”

"I am asking you and the others for your help, not demanding it."

 

[cats]

Cannon Foder

OOC: I will be away for thanks giving, and until sunday in all likely hood.

IC: "That is all fine and good for you, but I am not getting payed for this nor is it me. But I see your point the trolls will be comming here, and I want no part of that. I am out of here, the tower or castle will have use for me." With that he walks by the injured and the others and leaves from view. Some of the others fallow but most stay.

The groups do as told... more or less. Hours pass and soon night fall is on the academy. (Post what ever it is you wish to of done with your time.)

The nymph had not moved, although Gertha was now else where in the school.

 

[thewhiteone]

Yasaedra doubted either the tower or castle would have use for these, they turned their back on the academy in its time of need, such persons are of little use to the guild.

It wouldn’t surprise her either if they were put to death for abandoning their responsibility to the guild. She had neither the authority nor time to deal with them, she had work to do.

She spent much of her time organizing the survivors, who tended to the wounded, who searched for survivors through the rubble, who was on guard for attacks…

A few small groups out to look for survivors among the druids and nature orientated deity shines.

Yasaedra also spent some time tending to the wounded through mundane healing, keeping her magic in reserve if needed. Her skilled hands mended wounds and set broken bones. She was careful to have plenty of alcohol on hand for those using such methods to clean the wounds and their tools.

She was overjoyed to discover at least one of the young incarnate students she helped coach had survived. Josia was an azurin, a human touched by incarnum while still in the womb. The young man had been brought to the academy a very young age, his parents not knowing how to deal with his powers.

Since his arrival five years ago at such a young age, merely 7, he has become the most promising incarnate for his age even amongst his fellow azurins. It had taken Yasaedra over twice as long as he had been alive to get as far as he was.

He had been lucky to survive with just a crushed foot that an armor clad orc stepped on as it bubbled about in pain from the acid he had spat into its face.

She checked on Gertha and they nymph girl, finding Gertha had left and they girl was still just as she Yasaedra had left her. The drow gently scooped up the fey, carrying her in her arms. She left to inspect the temple, bring the girl to Corellan Larethian’s shrine where she might be soothed some by the elf god’s presence…and look for Vanya’s body.

The carnage was as bad as she had been told, bodies had been dragged to the side or to their deity’s shrine if it was known. She found Corellon Larethian’s shrine with no trouble, she had been there often enough. There was no one attending to it, if they still lived, the clerics and acolytes were out tending to the wounded.

And there was Vanya’s body.

She laid the nymph down gently within the shrine, before going over to her beloved’s body.

Her lithe body lay still, disemboweled by blade, dried blood every where, her beautiful face frozen in shock.

Yasaedra laid down beside her, cradling her lover’s cold body, and began to softly weep into those long golden strands.

 

[cats]

Trolls

OOC: Put to death? That is hard ball.

The first troll has ten class levels giving it cr 22. The second has 9 making it cr 21.

Is your weapon adamantine

IC: Yasaedra laid there for some time. The nymphs tears masking the drows own. Eventually however the drow had stopped and a young recruit rushed in short of breath.

"Yasaedra... The court yard is under attack. The trolls... They have wings... And one has horns... We need your help there!"

...Court Yard...

In the courtyard stood a pair of war trolls, big lithe trolls bred for war ages ago by cunning wizards capable of healing any wounds but acid, they were smarter, stronger, and faster then ordinary trolls able to daze unwary foes with a single blow. This set of war trolls were particularly tough.

One was a half black dragon possesing its parents cunning, power, and immunity to acid. About its face, a seemingly ghostly figure, stood of Zanith the black death great wyrm of legend. Its fingers were tipped with sharp claws, though it fought with fist and heel like the monks Yasaedra had seen so often. Oddly enough it did not dodge blows, instead it took the opportunity to strike its attacker back with a mighty fist. (Half black dragon [mm1] war troll [mm3], monk, Dragon Decendant [dragon magic])

The other had thick green scales covering it and the wings of a green dragon. It would breath a cone of acidic vapors every twelve to thirty second. In its hands it caried a great mourning star that hummed with electicity. Those striking him found themselves stung by acid. (war troll [mm3], dragon shaman [phb2])

The stationed troops were doing there best to hold there own, inflicting several wounds on the trolls. But the uncarring trolls simply continued to unhindered to swat, smack, and bash the less durable oponents. Several fresh bodies layed on the floor.