Not a lot of votes. Do you guys need more time discussing this or is it just the plain 'write in' discouraging discussion again?
Just not a chapter that needed much discussion, IMO, though it was a good break point to show the reluctance the people of Sallosh might have to abandon their homes and livelihoods.
 
Alright then.

Vote closed
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 24, 2020 at 3:20 PM, finished with 12 posts and 7 votes.

  • [X] This is a temporary disruption to their lives, but living on these plains have never been safe, this temporary stillness, this short reprieve from the chaotic raids and the nigh institutionalized fear of what lay outside the walls of their chosen city, merely replaced by the frenetic activity of the dead before they go into torpor again.
    -[X] Viserys has pledged to resettle this land, make it a good home for the people still living here and those who might come to live here in the future, but no one will ever be safe to do so until the unquiet dead can either find rest or new life, new purpose, once again.
    --[X] The people here have been living under the threshold of death's door for some time, on some level they already know all of this. There are powers abound who retain life's reason, the memory of things that are not vengeance and are not envy, that do not result in dragging the living world down into the dark with them. Queen Namaaru would not defile their homes--for they are the memory of what was, and what could be once again. (You would invite her to share a few words if she wishes.)
    ---[X] And there are some, who sadly, you must face in battle, for they will find no rest but the blood soaked earth. You do not want it to be Sallosh's people who soaks that earth.
    ----[X] If things go well, the consequences are merely the Crown helping to alleviate any concerns they might have of this occurring once more, through all the powers and resources it possesses, or any financial harm this could have done to the settlers of Sallosh. He asks for their trust and patience.
 
Part MMMDCV: Passage of the Living
Passage of the Living

Nineteenth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

"I know that it will not be easy to believe me," you begin solemnly looking into the silvered square of the mirror that will carry your visage and voice to several of the public squares of Sallosh after several more of them are hastily requisitioned to the task. "I know that when you woke up this morning you could not have imagined such a request or the need for it, but for this brief time it is needed."

Here you pause and motion out the window where the plains are clearly visible behind you and move then to the darkness that heralds the enemy's advance. "Living here was never wholly safe, these past few days have been a temporary stillness, a short reprieve from the chaos and madness that lies outside these walls. I have pledged to resettle this land, make it a good home for the people still living here and to those who might come to live here in the future, but no one will ever be safe to do so until the unquiet dead can either find rest or new life, new purpose, once again."

You can well imagine the surprise and the concern flashing over the faces of your audience here. After all, you had seen both in Vargo's reaction not so long ago. "There are some who remember themselves, who keep memory and purpose of something beyond blind vengeance against all who live. Alas there are also those who do not, those who must be fought."

"And the former may yet aid you against the latter," Queen Namaaru replies, stepping forth from the shadows in the guise of her living self, grand and stately with the echoes of her own legend. She introduces herself, though not by her full tittles, and addS: "This is not my true form, only a mask of sorcery, but not one meant to deceive, but rather to allow you do judge my intentions true without the sight of time's ravages turning you to instinctive revulsion. I do not know you, my kinsmen sundered in time, but I wish that I might have the chance to do so, under clear skies once battle is done."

"I pledge to you that we shall work to preserve the city and all property within it, and with this battle here and now assure that no such request shall ever be necessary again," you add in closing.

***​

The evacuation gets easier after that, not easy of course. You are asking thousands of people to abandon their homes going through a magic door that leads more than a thousand miles away. Some ask to stay, to be given spear and shield to guard the walls, a brave offer but one that would do more harm than good. A militia is already a dangerous thing to count upon it war, the idea of an ad hoc militia is enough to make the Legion's high officer refuse it in one voice instantly.

So it has come to this, the people of Sallosh, with the sole exception of its soldiers and Vargo himself who did not wish to abandon his post, have left for Sorcerer's Deep. The dead are still marching and soon they will be upon the walls of Sallosh, the question now is if you should meet them beforehand to perhaps soften the blow.

Estimated Time to Engagement: 4.5 Hours

What do you do?

[] Wait for the attack

[] Fly to meet the enemy to deal with these beasts and horrors foretold
-[] Write in which whom

[] Write in


OOC: Pretty middle of the road rolls here, but with two mythic characters cooperating you did not really need more.
 
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Passage of the Living

Nineteenth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

"I know that it will not be easy to believe me," you begin, solemnly looking into the silvered square of the mirror that will carry your visage and voice to several of the public squares of Sallosh after several more of them were hastily requisitioned to the task. "I know that when you woke up this morning you could not have imagined such a request or the need for it, but for this brief time it is needed."

Here you pause and motion out the window where the plains are clearly visible behind you and show them the darkness that heralds the enemy's advance. "Living here was never wholly safe, these past few days have been a temporary stillness, a short reprieve from the chaos and madness that lies outside these walls. I have pledged to resettle this land, make it a good home for the people still living here, and those who might come to live here in the future, but no one will ever be safe to do so until the unquiet dead can neither find rest or new life, new purpose, once again."

You can well imagine the surprise and the concern flashing over the faces of your audience here. After all, you had seen both in Vargo's reaction not so long ago. "There are some who remember themselves, who keep memory and purpose of something beyond blind vengeance against all who live. Alas, there are also those who do not, those who must be fought."

"And the former may yet aid you against the latter," Queen Namaaru replies, stepping forth from the shadows in the guise of her living self, grand and stately with the echoes of her own legend. She introduces herself, though not by her full titles and adds, "This is not my true form, only a mask of sorcery. Not one meant to deceive, however, but rather to allow you to judge my intentions truly without the sight of time's ravages turning you to instinctive revulsion. I do not know you, my kinsmen sundered in time, but I wish that I might have the chance to do so, under clear skies once battle is done."

"I pledge to you that we shall work to preserve the city and all property within it, and with this battle here and now assure that no such request shall ever be necessary again," you add in closing.

***​

The evacuation gets easier after that, though not easy, of course. You are asking thousands of people to abandon their homes, going through a magic door that leads more than a thousand miles away. Some ask to stay, to be given spear and shield to guard the walls, a brave offer but one that would do more harm than good. A militia is already a dangerous thing to count upon in war, the idea of an ad hoc militia is enough to make the legion's high officer refuse it in one voice instantly.

So it has come to this, the people of Sallosh, with the sole exception of its soldiers and Vargo himself, who did not wish to abandon his post, have left for Sorcerer's Deep. The dead are still marching and soon they will be upon the walls of Sallosh. The question now is if you should meet them beforehand to perhaps soften the blow.

Estimated Time to Engagement: 4.5 Hours

What do you do?

[] Wait for the attack

[] Fly to meet the enemy to deal with these Beasts and Horrors foretold
-[] Write in with whom

[] Write in


OOC: Pretty middle of the road rolls here, but with two mythic characters cooperating you did not really need more. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
[X] Make a sortie against the enemy and their flying beasts, all dragonriders on their mounts including yourself, with the air force engaging at maximum distance possible with Beetle Bombs against targets spotted from afar and Manticores and Moonchaser-class vessels making use of their steam cannons. They have specialty rounds for striking incorporeal foes as well.
-[X] To whit, engagement should include: Amrelath with Legendary Proportions, Relath, Varys riding herd on Balerion, Viserys in True Dragon form utilizing Legendary Proportions, 9x Adult Mind Dragons, 2x Very Old Myrkdreki Dragons, 8x Fiery Dragonbeasts, 30x Heralds, The Harbinger, Moonchaser, Dawnstar and Duskrunner, 27 Type-A Wyverns, 12 Type-B Wyverns, 5x Manticore Fighter-Bombers.
-[X] If there are foes which the Air Force does not find as much purchase against, even with Energy Siege Shot and specialty ammunition, again from either high altitude to deliver payloads or from afar using long-range weaponry, they will hold back while the three air ships continually attempt work wrestle with the weather effect using their Weather Control consoles.
--[X] Viserys and Zathir will open the fight by attempting to defray or quell the storm exactly as they did before, having spent at least one hour resting spells.

---[X] PCs Present for Sortie:
-[X] Dany, Lya, Vee, Sir Richard, Waymar, Tyene, Teana, Malarys, Rina
-[X] Melisande, Zherys with Ceraxes, Benerro, Nettles with Sheepstealer


[X] Order of Battle + Supply Distribution
-[X] The Sathari army will take the Right Flank, with the prior arrangements made to quell enemy mages attempts to harm your forces while yours focus on attack and supporting effects with their spells slots.
-[X] Viserys will empower the entire force's weapons with Magic Army.
-[X] Dany and Malarys will organize the ground forces magical protections, including measures described by @Goldfish, including preparing circles of mages with x50 Consecrate scrolls and x30 Symbol of Healing scrolls. Titan's Tools can be used to prepare the field at Ser Gerold's discretion.
--[X] Engineering crews working with Titan Tools will arrange the additional defenses raised around Sallosh to funnel Undead enemies into prepared killzones, each of which will be constantly bathed in the damaging light of Celestial Brilliance banners (1d6 damage to Undead per round), lined with continuous Consecrate effects (+3 bonus to Turn Undead, -1 penalty to saves, attacks, and damage to Undead), and multiple Symbols of Healing (2d8+5 Positive Energy damage on Undead) arranged one after the other so that when Undead leave one of the 60 foot area of effect they will immediately enter another.
---[X] Our Forge-grown Plant servitors will use their Entangle SLAs to turn approaches other than the killzones into nearly impassable obstacles for groundbound Undead, making them easy pickings for our forces while encouraging others to brave the killzones if they wish to make any forward progress. Entangle SLAs will also be used to hinder any large masses of Undead who seem likely to break through a killzone when our forces are not positioned to repel them.
---[X] Archers with quivers of Grave Marker Arrows will use them to herd lesser Undead into the killzones.
-[X] Additional scrolls for things like fireball and other similar Area-of-Effect type spell scrolls ordered Level 1-3 will be taken from the armory and dispersed among your mages, allaying some of the issues with limited spell slots. This will allow everyone to prepare the most optimal load-outs as they can without having to sacrifice too much offensive ability.
-[X] Distribute the following spell scrolls among our mages who can use them to ward or enhance themselves and our forces in their vicinity.
--[X] x50 Recitation: +2 luck bonus to AC, on attack rolls, and on saving throws to everyone in 60 foot radius for 42 seconds.
--[X] x50 Mass Aid: +1d8+5 Temporary HP, +1 Morale bonus on attack rolls and saves vs Fear effects to everyone in a 15 foot radius for 5 minutes
--[X] x30 Archon's Aura: Hostile creatures must make a Will save or take a -2 penalty to AC and their attack rolls, 20 foot radius centered on caster, 5 minutes
--[X] x50 Absorbing Barrier: Every ally within 40 foot radius gains DR 20/Magic until the barrier absorbs 140 points of damage, 7 hours
--[X] Majority of the heavy horse will be set up on the left flank, with half of the light horse, the other half positioned in the reserves and perhaps a quarter of the Lancers as well.

---[X] The Siege Company will engage from platforms beyond the first battle lines.
----[X] Dany and Malarys will prepare another 80 Celestial Brilliance banners to distribute among the Legion, allowing for some overlap. It will be fiendishly difficult to engage them without being under that constant effect.
-----[X] Dany will use her 1/day Hallow effect in the center with Death Ward centered by the effect.
------[X] Brilliant Barrier charms will be strategically distributed to help herd overwhelming amounts of undead away from flagging areas, allowing them to at least reorder or withdraw as calmly as possible, hopefully allowing for defense in depth.
-[X] You will position the majority of your draconic flying forces in the center, Relath and Amrelath guarding the Left flank, the Wyrmlings healing your Heralds, with constructs mostly concerning themselves with dealing with aerial threats while your heavy hitters attempt to turn their more powerful breath weapons against the enemy on the ground. Position of Valyrian Dragons will depend on Riders' location.
--[X] Myrdreki will be with the reserves until the battle has progressed sufficiently that assassination attempts might be made, though they will be looking for opportunities more than trying to force one.
---[X] Mind Dragons not explicitly assigned to any one group of PCs acting as communication hubs, will be dispensed at Gerold's discretion to help coordinate forces.
----[X] Dragonbeasts will act as the vanguard.
---[X] The Manticores will act as mobile artillery, keeping within optimum engagement range for their Steam Cannons and engaging harder targets, or keeping constant pressure wherever the enemy seems strongest on the field.
----[X] The Moonchasers will hold with the reserves and will not get into close engagements with the enemy, focusing on keeping their thirty cannons constantly firing with AoE munitions and doing as much damage as possible deep within the enemy ranks as they can reach, which serves as a side effect of forcing the enemy to move to engage head-to-head thanks to the sheer volume of fire.
--[X] 1st Legion will hold center, 8th Legion will hold the Left Flank and the 9th Legion will act as a reserve force. The local Legion garrison will be folded into the reserves.

[X] Strategic Assets
-[X] (Outsiders) 1x Hadhayosh (CR 20), 23 Veteran Erinyes, Yrael, Azema, Mereth
-[X] (Dragons) Amrelath, Relath, Viserys, 9x Adult Mind Dragons (CR 15), 2x Very Old Myrkdreki Dragons, CR 15, 8x Fiery Dragonbeasts - Advanced Fiery Gigantean Half-Dragon Drakenbeasts (CR15)
-[X] (Fey) 2x Orphne Fey-Lords, Soft-Strider, Glyra & her Troupe
-[X] (Arcanums) Aradia the Huntress, Diana the Sea Sprite, Nuri
-[X] (Companions) Dany, Lya, Vee, Sir Richard, Waymar, Tyene, Teana, Malarys, Rina
-[X] (High-grade Minions) Melisande, Zherys with Ceraxes, Benerro
-[X] (Mid/Low-grade Minions) Nettles with Sheepstealer, Liomond Lashare (Warblade 13), Alyssa Crowl (Ranger 13), Danar Crowl (Bard 6/Lyric Thaumaturge 7), Thoros of Myr (Paladin 10), Chun Ting Lo (Monk 9), Ser Criston Storm (Human Paragon 3/Fighter 5/Occult Slayer 1), Ceria "Storm" (Favored Soul 8/Sacred Exorcist 1), Ser Denys Trainer (Rogue 1/Alchemist 8), Morwyn and Tuin - the Drow assassins
-[X] (Assorted) 10x Guardian Nagas, Nirah - Champion of Yss - the Voice of the Timeless One (CR 20)


[X] Leftover Assignments
-[X] Hadhayosh will take the left flank.
-[X] Bahro will be with the right flank.
-[X] The 23x Erinyes and their more homicidal counterparts will be lead by Mereth in groups of around six or more, generally acting as a rapid reaction force, with Mereth herself supported by Yrael and Azema. They will have Grave Marker Arrows which they will use to herd the undead into optimum position.
-[X] Fey will be with the reserves, waiting for opportunities to act.
-[X] Arcanums TBD
-[X] Companions TBD
-[X] Melisandre, Zherys with Ceraxes and Benerro TBD
-[X] Nettles with Sheepstealer will be guarding the Left Flank, Liomond, Alyssa, Danar and Thoros will be present in the center with Gerold's command cadre. Vargor and the Misfits will be with the reserves. The Drow brothers will as well, waiting for opportunities to act.
-[X] The Guardian Nagas will be dispersed in pairs along the center. Nirah is TBD.
--[X] 15 Advanced Plant-Imbued Sea Drake, 20 Plant-Imbued Shadow Creature Cat (w/+4 Racial HD), and 20 Verdant Ravens [Advanced Plant-Imbued Giant Raven (w/+4 Racial HD)] will be dispersed around the front lines, ravens carrying cats, utilizing their Sunburst SLAs against masses of undead, as well as their Entangle SLAs.

@Goldfish Not sure how to position PCs.
 
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@Goldfish The majority of my plan is good, but could use some work, like what PCs are doing, their load outs, and who is grouped with whom, both for the sortie, and the main battle. I encourage you to cannibalize it for the most part and I'll merge votes.
 
@Goldfish The majority of my plan is good, but could use some work, like what PCs are doing, their load outs, and who is grouped with whom, both for the sortie, and the main battle. I encourage you to cannibalize it for the most part and I'll merge votes.
It's too early to say exactly what PCs will be doing yet. We need to see how things look before we engage.

That said, I'm compiling a bit of extra stuff to add to your vote. Gimme a minute.
 
@Crake, we've also got 15 Advanced Plant-Imbued Sea Drake, 20 Plant-Imbued Shadow Creature Cat (w/+4 Racial HD), and 20 Verdant Ravens [Advanced Plant-Imbued Giant Raven (w/+4 Racial HD)] which Vee, Lya, and others who were coming to join us for the battle could have brought with them. I wouldn't expect any of them to join in heavy fighting, but each of them has a 1/Day Sunburst SLA and 3/Day Entangle SLA. With an 80ft radius burst at Long-range and a minimum of 9th caster level, each of those can fuck up a lot of Undead. Each Verdant Raven can easily carry one of the Shadow Cats, and the Sea Drakes can fly on their own.

Also, we've been stockpiling Greater Black Tentacles spell scrolls and have 20 of them available. They should be distributed among our Arcane spellcasters who are going to be engaging the enemy as part of the assault. Each spell will have a range of 210 feet and the 120ft radius of the effect will absolutely obliterate every Undead in that area unless it's very high level or it's lucky enough to escape quickly.

We also have 16 Superior Invisibility spell scrolls. Those should be used on Companions and other high power PCs immediately before the battle, especially those able to attack at range. They'll allow 15 minutes each of complete Invisibility so long as everyone stays out of any True Seeing effects' range of 120 feet.

We also have got 2,000 Grave Marker Arrows to distribute among our forces. Mereth and every Erinyes that's part of our forces should have at least 20 or 30 of them to use to herd lesser Undead around the battlefield for maximum effect.

There are 62 Brilliant Barrier charms in stock right now. I see that you mentioned them in your plan, but left the number out. This is enough to distribute them quite thoroughly.

[X] Crake
 
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It's unfortunate that we didn't have time to gather items for this; I've been stockpiling stuff for the fortress project that'd work wonderfully for this. There are a few spells that we could still use to some degree though.

Earthfast - level two, but it's an instantaneous duration spell that doubles the HP of a stone structure and increases its hardness to 10. 25 cubic feet /CL at a time, but that's still enough to reinforce the walls in a way they can't dispell.

Runic Marker - permanent blast glyph based land mines.

Mass Minor Reversion - not so sure on this one, but it's a 24 hour buff that applies contingent healing to its subjects. The mass version only does 1 creature /CL, but we could still cover mages and other high priority targets.

Absorbing Barrier - Oldie but a goodie; 40 ft radius sphere, 1 hour/CL duration, soaks ranged attacks. It does this by giving everyone in range DR 20/Magic against ranger attacks, when 20 points /CL (up to 200) of damage have been blocked by this DR the ward breaks.



If we need to use the walls we could probably reinforce them all and cover the tops with AB fields in time to rest up for the fight. Deploying the RM mines might take too long though.

On the personal buffs end, I think we should add the following if we don't already have them:
Undeath Ward - This has come up before, but to make sure we don't forget it I'll list it again. Undead with fewer HD than our CL can't enter the 10 ft radius of the barrier. Undead with HD at least equal to Viserys' CL Dan make a will save to breach the barrier, but take 3d6 damage if they are successful.
Shining Scales - Pimpin silver glow, +5 armor bonus, and natural attacks count as good and silver for the purposes of bypassing DR. It also allows us to discharge the spell to inflict a -4 penalty on any evil creature's reflex check against a single breath attack, as well as preventing them from using evasion against it.
Archon's Aura - 20 ft radius aura, hostile creatures must make a will save or take a -2 penalty to AC and their attack rolls.
Life Shield - undead who deal damage with a melee attack take half of it back in PE damage. 5 damage / CL up to 50 before it wears off, and it's calculated on final damage done after all protections are applied.
Deceptive Redundancy - lets us make an opposed CL check to both stop a successful dispell and make it look like it worked.

Possibly
Warding Gems - fills 1 gem/ 3 CL with healing energy that can be drawn on as a free action to regain 10HP. No creature can have more than 5 in orbit of them.
Body Ward - soaks physical ability damage
 
@Crake, can you add this into your plan under the section where you mention the Consecrate and Symbol of Healing scrolls?

--[] Engineering crews working with Titan Tools will arrange the additional defenses raised around Sallosh to funnel Undead enemies into prepared killzones, each of which will be constantly bathed in the damaging light of Celestial Brilliance banners (1d6 damage to Undead per round), lined with continuous Consecrate effects (+3 bonus to Turn Undead, -1 penalty to saves, attacks, and damage to Undead), and multiple Symbols of Healing (2d8+5 Positive Energy damage on Undead) arranged one after the other so that when Undead leave one of the 60 foot area of effect they will immediately enter another.
---[] Our Forge-grown Plant servitors will use their Entangle SLAs to turn approaches other than the killzones into nearly impassable obstacles for groundbound Undead, making them easy pickings for our forces while encouraging others to brave the killzones if they wish to make any forward progress. Entangle SLAs will also be used to hinder any large masses of Undead who seem likely to break through a killzone when our forces are not positioned to repel them.
---[] Archers with quivers of Grave Marker Arrows will use them to herd lesser Undead into the killzones.
 
@Crake, and can you add this under your section that talks about distributing offensive spell scrolls to our mages? We've stockpiled a ton of scrolls and now is as good a time as any to use some of them.

@BronzeTongue, I think that Archon's Aura and Absorbing Barrier are the best options from your recommendations for now, especially Absorbing Barrier.

A lot of these are short duration, but they can affect dozens or hundreds of allies per casting and can always be recast if necessary.

EDIT: Removed Bless and Blessed Aim scrolls from those shown below, since everyone will be benefiting from the Lord's Banner of Victory effect, which is stronger and doesn't need to be recast.

-[] Distribute the following spell scrolls among our mages who can use them to ward or enhance themselves and our forces in their vicinity.
--[] x50 Recitation: +2 luck bonus to AC, on attack rolls, and on saving throws to everyone in 60 foot radius for 42 seconds.
--[] x50 Mass Aid: +1d8+5 Temporary HP, +1 Morale bonus on attack rolls and saves vs Fear effects to everyone in a 15 foot radius for 5 minutes
--[] x30 Archon's Aura: Hostile creatures must make a Will save or take a -2 penalty to AC and their attack rolls, 20 foot radius centered on caster, 5 minutes
--[] x50 Absorbing Barrier: Every ally within 40 foot radius gains DR 20/Magic until the barrier absorbs 140 points of damage, 7 hours
 
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@Crake, we should bust out Cloud and Zephyr for this fight. Having Tyene and Waymar aerial will make them a lot more versatile in the coming fight.

Also, with the minions, are any of our Dragonlords available or are they all busy? That extra firepower certainly wouldn't hurt.

[X] Crake
 
@Crake, we should bust out Cloud and Zephyr for this fight. Having Tyene and Waymar aerial will make them a lot more versatile in the coming fight.

Also, with the minions, are any of our Dragonlords available or are they all busy? That extra firepower certainly wouldn't hurt.

[X] Crake
They'll both be benefiting from Wind Walk spells for rapid movement and redundancy, while Tyene would be using her Geniekind spell for perfect flight maneuverability. Riding his Griffin pal wouldn't be bad for Waymar, but he would probably be better off with a Fly spell as his man tactical movement option. The Griffins aren't chumps, but the kind of stuff Waymar and even Tyene can shrug off with only minor issues would obliterate one of the Griffins.
 
@Crake, we should bust out Cloud and Zephyr for this fight. Having Tyene and Waymar aerial will make them a lot more versatile in the coming fight.

Also, with the minions, are any of our Dragonlords available or are they all busy? That extra firepower certainly wouldn't hurt.

[X] Crake
Zherys will have Ceraxes, and Varys will be herding Balerion. I will include Nettles + Sheepstealer in a moment. Think Saenena is busy, so no Korzion, don't want Rhaella here, and Maelor is in CoB so no Melys. Think that does it for dragons, unless Teana finally tamed Grey Ghost, that's up to @DragonParadox though.
 
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