Howdy,
You hurl many spells on yourselves, then charge the church under a hail of flaming crossbow bolts, but none find their mark.
The Church of St Thosos-In-The-Mire is incandescent with mighty sorceries of the Prophet Rokar. Not a shadow flits near it, and the swamp that gave it its “Mire” name is dry as stone. There are a dozen or so Seshnelan soldiers, then more than that number of more elite guards of St Iames, and then the ten riders of the Inquisitorial Order of the Golden Lance, led by Sir Val�rian Delacroix; all in glittering iron plate, atop iron-barded warhorses. The two stone towers to either side of the church each have the heads, shoulders and tall hats of two Zzaburi peaking over their battlements. As you approach, Delacroix rides forth. His armour bears gold inlays that shine brighter than anything else here, and his shield and breastplate sport the insignia of his order: a Law rune with a flaming golden kontos spear atop it, and burning eye within it. His iron kontos spear is in flames from end to end. His helm's face is like a blinding mirror, sending harsh light back at whomever beholds it, leaving its own features seemingly blank, and this is quite unnerving to many, as that mirror's light reminds them of every Error they have ever made in Rokar's eyes.
Sir Val�rian Delacroix: “Harm to a church official is harm to the church and to Makan. You stoke the flames of your own immolation and damnation, and condemn your people to the fire. I am a man of honour. I see no Baronets or other Talars here to challenge in duel. So be it. There shall be no mercy for you rabble. You shall die before our blades and spears!” He charges, followed by 3 of his knights.
With the fight on, the other soldiers gathered on each side rush each other while magics begin to fly from the tower tops and from within the Church. The sorcerer-knights of the Inquisitorial Order clash their flaming spears to their shields and charge the nearest target of consequence with bold yells invoking Makan's omnipotence.
(I am forgetting plenty of details)
It's a furious fight, with the knights charging back and forth. But first off the bat, (?Aym? I forget) takes out the charging Sir Val�rian Delacroix's horse's leg, and the High Horali must leap off his horse as it collapses. A knight rushes Shrett and wounds him; they trade blows as that horse rushes back and forth. Salima finds an opening and hurries in to fight Sir Val�rian. Sadly, another knight rushes Aym and strikes him through the head viciously, killing him in an instant. The body of the mysterious long-time enemy of the Rokari and defender of the Giranois sinks to the ground for a well-earned rest. Bog sneaks in and fells one of the knights from behind. Some spells rain down from the towers and at first have little effect. Salima deals some fierce blows as Bog comes in to help, and soon Val�rian is dead! The other two knights soon follow, and Captain Gulos joins you to rush the Church doors while Ytor the Sinister covers your back, and the barracks, with other soldiers and some very convincing (indeed, semi-physical) illusionary giant crocodiles that he made erupt from the ground. You come to the doors, where a sole mounted knight stands guard, and he valiantly fights back at you, is unhorsed(?) and then killed by ?Bog? Gulos?. More spells come down, and your weapon-magics mostly vanish under a Rokari Neutralise Magic spell. Your Spell Resistances, too, some drop; but no Rokari manage to overcome the blessings of St Avlor with the iron grip of their Dominate Unbeliever sorceries. Salima provides covering fire as you confront the doors.
The Deacon Thristane d'Ombiri calls out. “You have placed yourself upon the anvil of the wrath of Makan, and shall be duly hammered until you are malleable. If you lose your gusto for brutish assault on the Church, supplicate yourself in the eyes of Makan and you will find that mercy, in speed of dispatching of justice or even forgiveness with due repentance. But once you have done so, rise not again until bidden, or you shall burn in agony, this is certain.”
Gulos smashes a door open and Salima rushes in, to be confronted by a St Iames maceman guarding the doors, but he is little match for any of you. Bog sneaks in, then Gulos, and Bog smashes one's head in while Gulos dispatches another and Shrett rushes in; soon the third maceman is down. The Deacon is an older man with thick, curly, well-manicured greying beard, stout, tower-shaped black hat with a golden Law rune on it, long white fingernails, a golden rod of Zzaburi authority, and a heavy golden pendant embossed with the rune of St Thosos (famed for taming swamps and other flooded lands), which is a blend of Law and Water runes. Bog and Gulos rush him as he (and the Vicar) tries throwing nasty Rokari sorceries of Wrack Heretic, but only mildly wounds Shrett.
Vicar Xavier Outrecourt is a sneering, moustached, pale, tall and thin Zzaburii, normally accompanied by a hairless little dog-thing that he holds (here in the battle, he simply has his staff); with a thin pointed black beard, a smaller version of the hat the Deacon wears, and oversized thick, furred white robes with fine golden trim. He faces ?Shrett, cursing at the vile “frogge-manne”, and does not last long. The hall of the Church is yours.
You split into two teams, one for each tower. Bog and Shrett go left; Gulos goes right. Salima continues shooting arrows at the right tower, then dashing back into the Church to reload. Inside the double sets of doors to each tower there is another St Iames maceman. Bog smashes the door, Shrett charges in and bashes the maceman down. The guard tries to get up, but Bog crashes into Shrett from behind and pushes him down atop the man, pinning him, and soon he surrenders. Bog leaps over the pile and rushes the staircase, using a Fear spell to send the second maceman who was blocking the stairs running screaming up the staircase.
Two Zzaburi are atop the tower by the cowering maceman: Knower Vauquelin the Steady (Rokari Zzaburi and Healer), who had escaped Humbertsville; a calm-faced man in thick white-furred robes with a silver Law rune pendant sparkling from a necklace on his chest, and straight blonde, square-cut hair and beard that stand firmly in the breeze as he holds onto his white-ash staff tipped with a Fertility/Life rune. He stands watch over another Zzaburi, who props himself up on his staff, praying. He is Knower Bothe, a blonde man with a full beard where the upper lip is shaved. clean, but the connectors from the beard to the mustache are left intact. He wears a tall golden hat with a Bronze Plate at Front, a richly embroidered vest, a long-sleeved blue-black bobe, and elevated shoes. His constant sneering scowl has dropped, as he asks Makan for the Solace he deserves. As Bog rushes the two, the Healer stand defensive vigil, condemning the creature of darkness for its perfidy, which just makes Bog angrier. The two sorcerors soon lie in bloody messes, and the St Iames soldier too. Shrett comes up in time to see the end of it.
At the other tower, Gulos hews his way past the two macemen to the tower top. One Zzaburi, again who escaped Humbertsville, comes behind the second guard and tries a spell on Gulos, to no effect. He is Reader Estien de Laurentiis, Ward of Dawn; worshipper of St Iames. He is a serious, salt-and-pepper bearded middle-aged man in good half-plate armour under white robes with the Law+ Light rune symbols of St Iames; also emblazoned with Seshnelan heraldry on his shining shield. His flanged mace gleams with an inner power. But he is no master warrior like Gulos, and lacks the unrelenting fury of the de facto New Arvonesse leader, too. He falls under Gulos's sword, too, and Gulos charges the tower top. Knower Kallyra is there: a light brown-skinned woman, badly scarred from what looks like burns, who wears an obviously fake ginger beard, with a moustache that extends downward from the corners of the mouth combined with, but not connected to, a goatee that is separated into two braided strands. Her curly ginger hair is cut in a bob, mostly hidden under a tall white hat with a bronze Zzaburi plate at the front. She ineffectually holds up her staff in defence and he guts her.
With enemies around the Church vanquished; the barracks and stables being quickly cleared out by the colonist forces; the battle soon is calmed. Some turn their attentions with unleashed fury onto the Church, while others look to St Thosos, hearing the din of ongoing battle, and run for the front gates and walls.
Gulos, drenched in blood, leaves the Church. He and Ytor briefly stay behind to oversee things as you set fire to the Church, joined by Ahappi who surfs in on his undine. Gulos and Ytor don't do anything about the inevitable looting in the Church-Gulos stands back, watching from a distance, arm resting on his sword point-down into the ground, looking weary. He sighs to Ytor and says, “It's their moment. Who am I to stop them?” Pausing with a sigh, then: “So much war and death. I loved it once. Now, I age, and yearn not for it. There might be hope for a quieter life back at New Arvonesse someday. Mayhaps I can find a lovely wife to hump, although children interest me not. I could grow fat like Guilmarn. Maybe just a little rich, too. There's money to be made again in this free land. Plenty of trade on those opened seas, and I would look the other way if a bit of privateering brought in some cash.” Ytor chuckles deeply and malevolently. They walk away from the battle together after a short while, talking softly to each other. Having defeated the hated Seshnelans, Gulos seems to be entering a new phase of his life. Ytor finds it all very amusing.
The Church is going down in flames as you depart; bodies piled behind you including that of Aym Alamyn. Shrett has one maceman as prisoner, but that is about it. And so the final battle for the town slowly comes toward an end. Boamund is in a frenzy of bloodshed all over town, sparing no Rokari he finds. Sir Bonetrial guards the Baron and Orsattus heads out with Fraud to find any worthy targets. Fraud has one in mind…
See you next week -John
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