Assault on the Grey Garrison Part 2
Campaign Log of Autec the Landbound, Day 9
I'm growing tired of dretch and the foul clouds they summon. I've asked Sitzva if he possesses any magic capable of rendering them tolerable, but nothing back thus far. I only mention this because moving up the stairs to the second floor of the Garrison proved quite difficult after Pax sprayed them down. Ugh.Fortunately, everyone was in reasonably good health and weathered the volley of tiefling crossbow fire upon opening the door at the top just fine. The 10 ft. wide hallways and wide doorways end up costing them dearly in the brief scuffle as Pax and I have no trouble maneuvering. Learning to cast Reduce Person was a good decision and we easily pierce deep into their formation. Ralan followed up with a charge and Kesh with some well placed shots to end the battle quickly.
We set off in a random direction, having no idea where the wardstone fragment may be. We first find and cleanse what appears to be a map/logistics planning room of some sort. Cultists of Baphomet are waiting to greet us with glaives, but Katsa hyponotizes them long enough for our volley to end their scheming. We quickly jam all the relevant looking papers into our bags and press on.
Too fast, perhaps, as a trapped door fireballs both the party and our ranger complement. We should really not all stand in a clump in tiny hallways. Doors are hard! And so is our luck, as the room doesn't even contain anything more exciting than an already emptied strongbox and some barrels of water.
The next room at first appears to contain nothing but gnawed upon humanoid remains and dirty straw, but we are quickly greeted by a peryton. The massive stag-headed bird of evil struck hard from above, diving and swooping back out of reach before we could retaliate. A tanglefoot bag brought the beast down in a tangle of dark feathers and we ended its thrashings in a round. Ralan's smite ability to pierce the damage resistance of our foes is, literally, a god-send.
We next come upon a room containing three human-headed abyssal flies, seemingly being used as couriers by their demonic keepers. They engage us by spitting thin streams of acid while blanketing the room with darkness. We retaliate with a wand of daylight and three arrows thud into each one as our rangers let loose. They fall shortly thereafter and we gather a few, hopefully important, documents.
Kesh unlocks the next door in the hallway for us and we move cautiously into a thoroughly burned out library. As we enter, a halberd wielding goatman shimmers into existence and gores Pax. Sitzva identifies it as a Schir type demon and warns us away from its poisoned weapon. Unable to get clear shots into the room, our rangers shuffle around while we lay into the thing. It delivers some nasty strikes to Ralan, Sitzva, and I before our combined might brings it down. We expend some Wand of Cure Moderate Wound charges before breaking down the door across the hallway.
An alabaster basin filled with entrails fills most of the next room and six human zombies fill the rest. We let them come at us single file through the small doorway and take our time carefully slashing them up with no damage to our side. We continue through the fetid room and find a set of stairs leading downward, past the first floor and into some sort of basement. Peering around the corner, Kesh spots a bat-winged minotaur wielding a greataxe and seemingly unaware of our presence. Seemingly overcome with rage at the desecration of this once holy place, Ralan charges in and trades massive blows with the towering brute. After a third blow from the enormous axe he nearly falls, but calls upon the blessing of Iomedae and manages to close some of his gaping wounds. I Haste a good portion of the party, Katsa unleashes a dazzling Burst of Radiance, and Kesh leads the ranger squad in a furious volley-loosing 4 arrows in six seconds. Sitzva forces healing energies into our flagging paladin and we rally, dropping the minotaur just in time for me to Open/Close the now unguarded door.
Inside, a scythe-wielding, tattooed elf woman glows with the fell, enhancing magic the minotaur was buying her time to put in place. Behind her, a large metal cage contains what must be our goal, the wardstone shard. Fortunately, with our Haste still active, she poses no threat and doesn't land a blow before being grappled by Pax and swiftly pin-cushioned.
The party takes a moment to rest and recover as Katsa and I discuss what to do about the shard. Not knowing what will happen, I volunteer Pax to whap it with the Rod of Cancellation and everyone else leaves the room. What a trooper she is, always willing to potentially explode for the, ah, more mortal members of the party. While that doesn't happen, something else even more unexpected does.
In a massive rush we are all shunted mentally through time and space, viewing the lifetime of the wardstone system in mere seconds. Simultaneously, we become aware of a malign presence that we *know* is the demon-witch, Areelu Vorlesh. She casually snuffs the lives of our mongrelmen rangers but is unable to bring the same fate upon us. As the golden light swirls around the room it suffuses our bodies, bolstering us with burning, holy power. That same power overcomes the corrupting influence of Vorlesh's magic and lashes back at her furiously, scourging the flesh from her bones and the membranes from her bat-like wings. The ruined witch manages to sever her connection with the failing wardstones and teleports herself to safety, but not before creating a portal through which five Babau demon's emerge.
Enhanced beyond mortal means by the wardstone's energy, we annihilate the assassin demons with nary a scratch. While the rush of power swiftly fades, I sense that we have changed forever and are truly in the hands of fate now.
(OOC) With the defeat of the Garrison we are now Mythic Tier 1. For those unfamiliar with this additional system, each tier we are granted a Mythic path ability depending on our chosen path. I went with Guardian for the ability to spend a mythic point (we have 5/day) to give Pax an immediate move+attack. I also got the path ability Burst Through which lets me charge through allies and overrun enemies to get at a charge target. Mythic points can also be spent to Surge, adding 1d6 to any d20 roll.
Due to various activities performed while assaulting the Garrison (primarily Ralan's obsessive shrine cleanliness) we are granted a vision of Iomedae and her blessings as we embrace our Mythic destinies. This blessing takes the form of a permanent +5 hp, +2 to a skill of our choice (UMD for me), and a bonus feat (Spirited Charge). This feat also marks the true beginning of my build, granting 3x damage on a mounted charge with a lance. While Pax won't be large enough to ride full-time for another few levels, my Enlarge Person (Pax) and Reduce Person (myself) spells allow me to be mounted with a high uptime and incredible mobility. Let the rocket-tag begin.
Also, my apologies for the lack of updates - we're back on schedule and I've got a back-log to get to work writing up. Expect more very soon!
