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====== Summary 328: Ramalia-Handra War - Waves 1&2 (2023-09-22) ======
[[giraine|Giraine]] [[summaries-2023|Summaries]]
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You position yourselves around the base of the Ropes bridge near the barricade; Ahappi nearby on shore closer to the Outcasts’ Guild. You’ve cast lots of magics, Shrett summoned a Shade, and Fraud created a Guard Against Chaos circle around your position – which turned out to be rather helpful, as you could take refuge in it.
 
And so the broo horde comes. There mostly are Fens broo rabble; better equipped, with armour and weapons, and using simple magic, but still not a threat for experienced warriors unless outnumbered. Handra defences deal with these fairly easily, but they play their role as cannon fodder. The “elite” of the broo horde is still numerous, and better equipped, and knows Thed magics (Crack & Fumble spells; sadly of which they didn’t get a chance to use against you; Crack breaks a non-magical thing and Fumble makes you fumble your next physical action!). All broo sport Chaos features; these are broo that have survived and been selected by their own and Ramalia to strike fear and death into the heart of Handra. A giant broo strides forth over the mud: A huge elk broo, SIZ 30 or so, wearing layered, mismatched pieces of bronze armour and carrying a spear, axe and hoplite shield. Its head has ugly tumorous growths like sprouting brains, and a very long, slimy tongue lolls out of its foaming mouth. There is also an undead broo nearby: A plodding, fairly fresh corpse of a mottled green crocodile-broo. Its feet end in great paws and it carries a pitted great axe. Crocodiles are not uncommon in the Noshain River and estuary, but a broo had to mate with one to breed this monstrosity! There is a Broo shaman/priest of Thed amongst the horde near you, sporting a pincer, three tongues and four horns, many ugly Chaos-deformations, and a dagger wickedly glowing ugly green with a Chaos enchantment (it ignored all armour always). There is a Disease spirit, taking the form of a grey ghostly woman with whisps of foetid malaise sloughing off of her. And amongst them, moving at incredible speed while levitating over any surface, is a Ramalian knight in ancient iron chainmail, with iron broadsword and target shield, and many active sorceries (he has Bypass Armour, Castback, Haste, etc…) – you soon learn that indeed this is Sorc, the artificer of this new broo legion.
 
These are the foes nearest you. There are many more, and many defenders. The horde moves toward the shores, most of the broo coordinated well by having Mobility magics to speed them forth, if they don’t have other means. Ahappi shrugs off a nasty Fumble spell from the priest. Shrett fires a Silencing arrow at the priest and, to its surprise, stops its magical attacks, but it doesn’t seem wounded. Eventually it makes it to the shore and Ahappi slays it after a brief fight. The spirit and the undead broo head for the bridge. Soon the Shade envelops the latter, but Sorc Banishes it. Ahappi engages some of the tougher broo and wipes them out one by one with the Stinging Spear; soon even the terrible Giant Broo falls, without even making it into town. Its 9m-long lashing tongue doesn’t even manage to grab him. Ahappi kills one broo with a huge sheep-head, and another whose essence strikes at him as he spears it, threatening to mirror the wound onto him, but he weathers that Death-energy. The undead broo leaps onto the bridge but is stopped by the anti-Chaos circle, so it takes time wandering the edge until Shrett comes to engage it; and after several blows, trips it and hacks it down. Sorc speeds onto the bridge with his flying magic and engages Fraud in a well-matched duel, trading sword blows (and using his magic to avoid being tripped). Fraud invokes a Spirit Block to keep the spirit off him, so Boamund becomes its victim, and that does not go well—it slips inside him and he feels its sickness beginning to seep into his flesh, slowly but inevitably. Bog faces off against elite broo near the southern base of the bridge and despatches them one by one, stopping them at the barricade. And so finally, Boamund comes to face Sorc with Fraud, and Sorc has been disarmed of his sword, but grabs it back just in time to be wounded in his head and then have his head cut cleanly off; he dies defiantly. And with him, the assault on the Outcasts’ Guild utterly fails, and the broo horde along this shore falters, being pushed back into the mire and cut down, soon with many of them fleeing into the New Fens. Handra has won this start of the battle, but at some cost—there are some losses.
 
New signals go off from distant shores, and magics rain down onto the Mournsea Bay in response. Surprisingly now, in many spots the remaining river or sea waters turn into thick sheets of salt that extend as bridges from shore to shore, some of them curving to rise well above the mud and waters; even shaped with stairs and walls. Roaring warrior-berserks and shambling undead cross them, urged onwards by wizards. Some larger patches of sea freeze or catch fire, or land-bridges rise forth from them. In other places, enslaved dinosaurs slog across the muddy bay, precariously bearing platforms with siege engines or archers or wizards. Handrans rush to bolster defences and send barrages of missiles and spells down at invaders. The Wooden Shields navy engages some invaders where it can, and bears the brunt of ranged attacks. You, and every being in the region, now feel what the Hero Wars are.
 
You fight your way through debris, bodies, scattered fights and crowds to the residential area on this island, hearing little news but the raging battle there and at the bridge nearby are evident. About 15 minutes total have passed, so your shorter-duration spells fade. You find places around a courtyard near the southwest shore and face the Ramalian troops who have come. Many have come via rafts hidden by Phantom Sight, crossing to tactical points and offloading; these Ramalians appear as they reach shore. They are near the residences as you come. There are a bunch of fierce Urain berserks with hand-axes and broadswords, and then a War Lord of Hell Helper, sporting a sinister maul and plenty of magics, with a large Shade nearby. And there is a wizened old Church of Damned (Malkion the Guilty/infernal sorcery) wizard in dark robes, with a magicked iron dagger and a firm staff. You’re in a central area, with Shrett atop the nearest house and Fraud further southeast at the end of one passage through the houses from the shore.
 
The berserks rush around the buildings, eventually making it into some to bring slaughter. Three make it to you; one to Ahappi, and that one promptly gets run through; and two rush Fraud, pressing him with a rain of attacks but he slashes one down and soon gets the other. Shrett hits the wizard and impales his chest, but he is unaffected by the Silencing spell. Similarly, Bog has prepared his new Sever Spirit curse, tries it at the sorcerer and that slides off his strong Spell Resistance. The War Lord throws a Fear spell at Shett, yet his Blessing of St Avlor stops that magic. The wizard unleashes a powerful burst of wracking necrotic energy at Bog, Boamund and ?Ahappi. Bog easily rolls away; Ahappi goes prone then gets up; but Boamund takes a crippling wound to his leg and goes down, with Bog pulling him to safety around the corner until Boamund can Heal Wound on his leg and rise again. The wizard ducks back around the corner, appears back to cast a smaller Diminish SIZ spell on Shrett and fails, then he escapes for a while. The War Lord rushes the main group and faces Bog and Boamund together, fearlessly, but Bog’s maul is stronger than his, and he dies with Boamund’s freezing sword piercing his chest and Bog finishing the job. Good thing, too, as that maul had a Seal Wound spell that stopped healing; and he had a Shield 13 which made critical hits very helpful! A large, dark winged shape bolts over the City, leaving screams in its wake. It flies over the battle here and spits down a gob of hissing spittle before it continues onwards. Shrett just barely leaps away from the splash of acid atop the house he is perched upon; it would have sorely injured his leg. Now just the wizard is left, with Ahappi and then Bog pursuing berserks into the houses to end their terror. Shrett leaps off the house to join the chase, with Fraud leading it and Boamund coming around back. The wizard is waiting at a far corner, spell prepared, and stops Fraud in his tracks with a Dimnish SIZ spell that shrinks Fraud into the depths of his armour and clothes. He reappears at the other corner of that house to throw a Wrack spell on Shrett, who eludes, closes, and cuts his head cleanly off with a deft sword-strike! (The wizard had removed the impaling arrow, and had a Chaos feature of regenerating 4 HP/round, so he was unwounded; but very very weak in physical defence)  
 
And so you have victory! These two fights have cost you, though. You have eluded death with not only skill, but luck too, and have suffered a bit. This is true of Handra, as well.
 
You hear news from messengers running through the streets as you head for the next location (the bridge nearby), carrying Fraud’s gear in a sack and other means, and he is carried along, too, as he remains at SIZ 1. Northern reaches of Handra cry out in celebration. Word spreads that allies have heeded the call for help: from the northern shores, magisaurs wearing old bronze armour swim across the Mournsea Bay, calling forth more waters to re-flood that side of town and let the navy through, while buoyed up by logs and such. They quickly come for the water-bourne forces in that side of town, throwing Water Rune and exotic dragon magics as they go. This is a very rare and fearsome coordinated military effort by the swamps’ intelligent dragon-dinosaurs, proving their friendship with the defenders of Handra. It makes a big difference up north. Elsewhere though, things are not as good.
 
Ramalian forces have broken into the city in pockets, remaining stymied at other points. Handra’s army of The Solemn Crusade Against Ramalia is rushing around to stop them. Battle is raging all along the western and southern sides of the City. The din of battle changes its tune, with echoes of cries and clashing bronze bouncing off the walls and water within and near the City. Ramalia has broken through. The fight is street-to-street, and danger lurks at every corner. 
 
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RPG Campaigns

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