Siax
fired arrow after arrow, beside him Idris shooting beams
of diving power, after the two retreating aquatic knights. The knights
were dexterous and hard to hit but by the time the barrage had ended one of them
looked severely injured. Before they could finish it off the gates of Leilon swung shut,
blocking view of the retreating knights.
Without hesitation Idris strode to the cultists who had surrendered and started to question him. However it quickly became apparent that the man knew little, seemingly just a pirate who had joined the cult in search of better pay. What he did know was that the attack was lead by Tempest, a powerful priestess of Talos who could summon the very water to do her bidding and that she was dong some sort of ritual with the hostages taken as a component. Idris and Effie, having been satisfied that the man knew nothing else of importance, seemed willing to let the man go, and after a disbelieving hesitation for a moment, he dashed away inland, promising to change his ways. Watching the retreating figure, Pine recalled to the group how a lot of pirates tended to be superstitious, but how worshippers of Talos were even more so, due to the fact that their God's attempts at courting the goddess of ill-luck, Beshaba, had been turned down. This could mean that relatively common superstitions such as broken mirrors, flocks of birds in a port that flew from left to right, and seeing yourself in a crowd would possibly terrify the average cultist.
The group took stock of their situation and readied to move on to the town while Pine called for the skills of the bard, Tarbin Tul, who seemed eager to help the group on this grand adventure. While Pine could bring the dead back to a semblance of life to answerer questions, it was important that they would not think of the questioner as an enemy. It was thus that Tarbin Tul brought forth his great oratory skills and asked the following questions:
-
What is the most important information that you know about the former tabaxi
cleric that serves the Dead Three?
He must not be allowed to be taken by the dead hand - if it looks likely then we are to disregard our order to capture it alive and instead destroy it. -
What are your cult's orders in the Mere of Dead Men?
None -
What are the top three weaknesses of the cult of Talos in the region of the
Mere of Dead Men that an enemy might exploit?
- Our leader and her second in command argue often - they have stopped working together and hate between them has blossomed.
- Our ships can not enter the swamp, they get stuck. Our might diminishes the farther we are from the shore.
- Sovendahl Erkinze told me he is tired of Fheralai's leadership. He thinks that the days when the cult raided traders was better than this obsession with the Mere of Dead Men. He holds power in the cult and would be open for a discussion.
-
Tactically, what practical adaption could be implemented that would make it
the most difficult for your cult to take over and control Leilon?
Let the dead hand take over the city and turn all the villagers to their soldiers. -
What are the names of any cult of Talos members that hold a fragment of god
power?
I..I think it's Fheralai Stormsworn and Gadrille The Reef-Reaver
Reaching the wall, Siax's keen eyes making sure they were not ambushed, they found the town deserted. It was clear that Leilon was more ruin than town in any case but no movement could be seen. Smoke could be seen coming from the docks so they headed that way.
As they drew closer the distant chanting became stronger. As they moved past the center of town, the guards warned them not to get too close to the broken tower there, one whose architecture was very much like that of Icespire Hold, pointing out a statue of a running woman, and telling the group that anyone that got about 300 ft from the tower got turned to stone. Vegetation in the area had taken over the dilapidated tower and its surroundings, but no other life could be seen, only statues, broken or still standing. Idris, always willing to test things, tossed a gold coin towards the tower, and mid-flight it lost its sparkle and dropped, heavy, to the ground.
Almost to the docks Pine, still invisible, and more watchful than usual, was able to pick out the feeling of eyes upon them, and quickly spotted some hints of an ambush. He warned the group, unseen, and the group were ready when the ambush was sprung. The leader of the ambush offered to let them walk away rather than fight, but Idris, desperate to save the citizens of Leilonfrom what was likely going to be a watery grave, would not stand for such a thought. As combat broke out, a loud clear voice of the leader filled the docks. "Welcome, interferers," she called, even as her fanatical cultists battled the group. The battle raged with the cultists, these ones particularly fanatical in their approach to combat making them difficult to deal with. Siax deftly climbed the nearby roof and fired arrow after arrow, lending support from above, while Idris desperately fought off several of the crazed berserkers. He was backed up by the mysterious Arya who not only brought fire to bear as she had before but healed Idris's wounds as they formed, once even absorbing the life essence of the nearby vegetation to keep the Paladin conscious. It seemed this new member of the party had hidden depths to what they could do.
Pine attempted to move past the cultists while his invisibility still held, but was spotted and then grabbed by the veteran who quickly summoned the cultist zealot who had first spoken to them. The Zealot was a man of such strength that Pine was unable to escape his grasp no matter how much he squirmed or his armor labored to help him. "You know," the veteran said conversationally as he pinned Pine down on the ground, "if you surrender, there's a place for you." Pine made no reply except for attempting twice more to get out from the man's grip, once by a spell, but then by focusing the power of his aura to shove the man back and away from him giving him just enough space to stumble back.However unnoticed by some Effie proved herself no mere contact as she slew a few of the berserkers and then quickly made a beeline towards the chanting cultist. The combatants were far too distracted to stop her and she made it to the docks where she could see Tempest, the Tiefling priestess of Talos. With a quick swipe of her rapier she channeled the weave and created a bubble of silence around the ritual site. Outraged Tempest attacked her, but the ever nimble Half-Elf hid under the rotting docks.
Battered and bruised to the cusp of death, Idris managed to finish off the last of the cultists surrounding him, calling out "Tempest! I'm coming for you!" before charging the veteran near Pine. The veteran seemed delighted in the sight, taunting Idris with news that they had taken great pleasure in raiding the Doryu's family's ships.Due to his beleaguered state Idris swung down his sword too slowly and would have missed. That is if not for the demon inside his blade Eefendruphunka mustering her strength and focused her will into it and changed the trajectory of it to compensate for Idris's state. "We've travelled too long for you to go to sleep now!" she told him, and the blade fell hard upon the zealot. Sadly it wasn't enough to finish him off, and after being stopped from going to help Tempest, he turned upon Idris and laid him low. He was about to slay the young paladin when Arya sent healing flames coursing through his body, restoring him and brining him back from the brink.
In a shocked daze at his victory was snatched from the zealots hand he did not notice the blow that ended his life, Pine having the time to channel the energies of the spirits that had protected him countless times before.
Meanwhile Effie was still alive but only just. Although Effie hid with the skills any assassin would be proud of, the priestess commanded a nearby cultist to attack, and then summoned a huge swathe of black tendrils of water that found and started to choke the half-elf. Barely clinging to life, she managed to wiggle her way out of them, hiding once more in the shadows under the pier, only to be beset by a swathe of piranhas. Although they were prolific, by skill and luck Effie managed to avoid all their attacks by staying so still that they couldn't find her, miraculously managing to hold her concentration on the spell of silence.
This all gave Arya, Siax, and Pine time to race over now the last of the other
cultists had at last been defeated. With a huge wall of water that came
crashing down on the Priestess and her minion, Arya managed to break the
priestess's concentration, and fling them both to the ground, while Idris sent
blasts of power at her, and Pine stepped in and both cultists took retribution
from the Three in the form of Pine's spirit guardians. Bloodied, barely
clinging to life, the priestess of Talos attempted to get up, only for Siax's
arrows to find their place, lodging deep in her body. She stood there
for a moment, a thread away from death, and her voice still resounding, she
dedicated her life to
Gadrille The Reef-Reaver, before releasing the built up energy from her previous spell, energy
surging through her and she dropped dead on the pier.
Following where Tempest had looked Siax's keen eye spotted a ship with golden trim sails. Upon it he could see a woman with long white hair and extremely expensive clothing, looking mightily displeased. It was hard to tell but it seemed something large was beside the ship as the waters swelled around it. He has little time to pass on that information though, as between the ship Leilon, the dying Tempests spell had roused the waters into a massive wall intent to crash into the town.
This group had only been working together for a few days and yet it seemed they had done so for years, such was their teamwork that followed. Adaptability seemed to be their hallmark, for within seconds half the tied hostages had been released from their bindings and broguht closer to the docks; where Arya surrounded by a glowing light she said would protect them, stood. Seconds more and the last were within its light, with Idris physically carrying two of them through the rough shallows.
When the vast wave hit, all but Pine, who had melded into the stone of the island, were battered and bruised, barely clinging onto life, but astoundingly still alive thanks to Arya's healing aura. Even the settlers had survived being cocooned by the immense plant growth Arya had summoned, held on by ropes and protected by the others. Climbing to the shore, bedraggled and hurting, the townsfolk huddled together to rest and heal now the danger seemed to be over. Effie dried off her instrument and started to pluck a tune, a known salve to the soul, while the exhausted folks rested. Idris knelt down and prayed, bringing healing to all those around. It seemed the town was saved.
I truly believe that I have stumbled upon what I was looking for. It is destiny for a storyteller of my skillset to encounter what appears to be a legend in the making. The lack of hesitation in assaulting the cultists, the powers at display...Oh once I figure out how to make them more marketable we could be looking at the new hot thing from Waterdeep to Luskan! Did I mention that none of the hostages died? That is already going to do wonders for the introductory tale...Hmmm how about "Making a Wave".... No..no... Maybe "Breaking the Wave?" Mmmm too aquatic focused.. Aha, THE LIGHT OF JUSTICE is perfect as not only were there lights in the fight (that I observed from a distance) but also establishing them as a contrast against the murky swamp. By the Gods Tarbin you've done it again!