The Revenant stooped in a dark corner of the Empath Abbey, the daemon Baerron Jael seeing all that the corpse saw. With the forces of Paws and the Great Council weakened from previous battles, the reigns of Justice's recapture fell into the green hands of Antos of Yew. The daemon knew a little of the man. He was not a strong combatant, but he held a deep well of knowledge on arcane subjects. No doubt he devised a plan to combat the corruption of the Shrine of Justice (see here: Breaking the Fourth Seal). The daemon steepled his fingers and watched as the forces of Yew and its allies gathered... A large force heeded the call of Yew, too large a force to ignore. The previous battles had bought the daemon enough time to nearly break three of the four remaining Seals and this was an excellent opportunity to further weaken the forces of the Lightbringers. Through the eyes and ears of the Revenant, the daemon plotted the path Antos took; firstly to the prison of Yew where a prisoner was taken into custody, and then to the outskirts of town. A minor altercation broke up and the Lightbringers moved south to the Yew cemetery where the undead rose up and waylaid the group, buying the daemon enough time to set up his own ambush at the Yew crossroads... The ambush was swift and severe. The undead and the daemon felled numerous of the Lightbringer forces in the initial onslaught. A swift spike of pain, however, crumbled Baerron Jael and he fell from his horse. He blinked and saw crimson around the peripheral of his vision. Someone knocked him from his horse. He scrambled to gain his feet while the Lightbringers were scattered and fending off the throng of living corpses. The daemon spat a chunk of lung. He would need a little time to recover himself before wading back into battle. He scrambled away from the scene of the battle and conjured a Magic Eye to follow the Yewish forces. Once they recovered from the ambush, they pushed on down the road to recover the prisoner who had escaped during the battle. A journal was found on the prisoner. The prisoner's death was surrounded by mysterious circumstances, but it was clear that he had knowledge of something that Antos wanted. The Lightbringers, after clearing the fort of its brigand populace, marched back north along the road in search of... Emps? Baerron Jael sniffed the air. Indeed there was something strangely unfamiliar on it. The Emps were supposed to be extinct for hundreds of years... Could there really be some left hiding in the Deep Forest of Yew? The daemon guffawed. The Bloodrock Clan Orcs once more pleasantly surprised him. A mist of blood sprayed from his nose as he snort-laughed. Those Orcs were clubbing the Emps to death! Such vile creatures, those silver flea-ridden monkeys. The Lightbringers quickly moved against the Orcs as the last of the Emps were butchered, their entrails hanging from the limbs of a Yew tree. The Orcs left a large trail of blood that Antos was quick to follow after the Orcs were pushed back. The blood trail ran west towards a small ruins where a large grove of twisted and corrupted trees taken root. It appeared Antos discovered what he needed for the Shrine of Justice... Baerron Jael readied himself to hasten to the Shrine of Justice. He smelled the scent of Orcs upon the wind as well, they were heading in the same direction. They would be ready by the time Antos' forces arrive, and so would he. The battle was not a quick one. Orcs assaulted the Lightbringers from the south of the Shrine, Undead from the west. With the lake and waterfall to the north and ocean to the east, the Lightbringers had nowhere to flee. Baerron Jael gleefully cut down numerous of their number, and witnessed the Bloodrock Clan similarly partake. Although suffering extreme losses, Antos gathered his remaining forces and summoned forth the power to begin cleansing the Shrine of Justice. The Shrine was lost to the daemon and he withdrew while the Orcs and humans continued a waning battle. Enough damage was inflicted upon the Lightbringers that they will be impaired in future campaigns. The daemon witnessed the withdrawal of Antos' forces and followed them with a Magic Eye. It was within the daemon's grasp now to break three of the four remaining Seals. =================================================================== =================================================================== =================================================================== =================================================================== OOC Note: Another very fun set of battles - a huge thank you to Antos for leading the good guys; Vish, Xegg, and the rest of the orcs for their brilliant contributions, and Pegbyter for making it all possible. Things did get rough a few times due to some people drylooting adventurers and other interference, and thankfully there are some solutions that will help things go smoother and quicker in the future and offer a bit more security. Thank you all who came and participated. I believe there were trophies given out, so if you did not get one, do speak up!
You know, every now and then, something helps us, for the most fleeting of moments, to feel that same sense of wonder -- that tangible sense of being a part of the fantasy world of Britannia -- that we felt when we first played on the old production shards in the 90s. For me, @Baerron Jael, it is your maps. Thank you for being who you are, and doing what you do. my schedule has not permitted me to take part in more than a few minutes of these events. But your posts make me feel a part of them nonetheless.
