Report: The Battle of Bastion
General Summary
The town of Gravesend was filled with worried residents, each carrying what they could to safety. If either group of heroes failed in their mission, there might not be a town for us to return to. In the still morning air, there was a palpable sense of discomfort. Until, that is, young Master Jene Dark stood to speak.
I’m certainly not the only one who has taken notice, but the young man has a presence that would be enviable even to the lords in the Imperial City. As he spoke, you could feel our spirits lift. When he finished, the air was filled with confidence. His speech washed away doubt, replacing it with determination. We would prevail this day, if only to prove the young master right.
I stepped aside afterwards to pray at the statue of Unex in the chapel gardens. “By your power, I shall take the field today. With your blessing, we will find times of peace once more. For the people of Gravesend, respite from these endless troubles.”
When I came to join the others, Merchant Vincent Maze and Master Patrick Smith were discussing the final points of our duties once more. While the others moved to end the threat, we would cause a distraction at the old bastion to thin the ranks. “When Gloria disappears, it’s Jene’s signal to move.” Patrick was saying.
Vincent turned to look at me, “Don’t squish her this time, Elron!” He laughed. I did not.
Master Pale Moon had summoned up four skeletal steeds, and one by one Master Patrick Smith, Master Argren Silveraxe, Merchant Vincent Maze, and Master Pale Moon mounted the undead steeds. They were engulfed in violet and purple flames, save for Argren who had the decency to simulate a standard horse. Thankfully, I had taken the proper preparations for my own celestial elk, Sanctity, to join us. There would be no templar riding atop such a creature this day. With each of us prepared, we rode out to seek the lost children and complete our duty. Behind us, my militia followed.
As we came upon Bastion, we caught sight of the two children ahead of us. Even from a distance, we could tell they were lost and frightened. At the same moment, Gloria disappeared and a war horn cried out. Bonemeal and Owlbert, the familiars of two of my companions, caught sight of a horde of goblins moving our way. Further on, they saw goblins moving atop the Bastion to man ballistae. But we had no time to worry about them, as the horde of goblins had spotted the children Tad and Brona, and were moving straight towards them.
Though Sanctity could match the speed of any living horse with ease, the steeds that Master Pale Moon had put together were unmatchable. In the blink of an eye, Master Patrick Smith and Master Pale Moon had each caught up to a child. The little ones struggled on their own to mount the horses, but with a hand they were each up in only a few moments. The two of them carried the children back to the relative safety of the treants that Master Pale Moon had brought along. Monstrous and swampy as they were, at least they offered the children the reality of safety, even if their appearance was nothing short of terrifying. Meanwhile the rest of us moved to intercept the goblins.
Nearly fifty of the green monsters moved towards us, with eight of their disgusting numbers sitting atop giant bats. I moved towards them first, and although six arrows of the bat riders came towards me, they reflected off my armor and Sanctity moved too swiftly to catch us. Behind me, Master Argren Silveraxe rode forward to meet the goblins at my side. Together, we rode into the heart of their forces.
“I’ve seen corpses that look better than you!” Master Patrick cried at the first batrider. The goblin wavered, and while we kept them focused on us, Master Pale Moon commanded Bonemeal to alert us if the treants wavered in their support. From ahead, I watched the militia ride into battle, clashing against the back half of the goblin forces. With better odds, I took Sanctity into the heart of the goblins. Her horns impaled one, while my pike took out too more. With Unex at my side, I summoned her celestial mace. It appeared high in the air, a heavy club with my patron’s visage embossed atop it. It shone brightly with a heavenly glow, intercepting the path of a bat rider with a fierce blow.
Merchant Vincent Maze peeked his head out from the bushes occasionally to fire bolts of flame at the goblins, mostly vaporizing them. From the distance, a resplendent ray of light surrounded two bat riders, with Patrick’s magic dazzling them.
While Argren and I battled against the center of the horde, Pale Moon and Vincent continued to blast away from afar, but the bat riders were too swift for my spiritual weapon to follow. They began to rain arrows down on us, while goblins started to surround the others behind us.
I shared a look with Argren. “Go! I’ve got these ones.” He smashed an axe through the skull of one goblin, moving to cleave swiftly through a second. I nodded, turning Sancitity towards Master Pale Moon.
Charging through their ranks, two fell upon my spear while I moved to regroup with Master Pale Moon. From above, an arrow struck him while he retaliated with another firebolt. From the distance, I caught wind of Merchant Vincent Maze’s recognizable whining.
“Uh…no, you see. We’re buddies goblin boy, right? Pals with your old buddy Vinny Maze?” He poked his chest. “Vinny Maze! Here!” He kept poking his chest, while the goblins eyes rolled back. The thing seemed to…smile back at him. Truly, the slimy merchant could always rely on talking himself out of every situation.
With another bat rider falling to a firebolt, their forces broke ranks and began to flee. They turned, but as they did a strange symbol appeared and began to glow upon their heads. Eyes glossed over, they turned back to us and fought to their deaths. Thankfully, by this point they had lost their advantage of numbers and it was no difficult task to bring their remaining forces down. Upon my pike, the last of the goblins fell. The firebolts of Master Pale Moon eliminated the remaining batrider. At last, a moment of respite.
It would not last long. We had yet to make our distraction complete, and Gloria had already given the signal. We would need to charge forward, and quickly.
“This way!” Master Patrick called out. He pointed towards a rising valley leading towards the Bastion. I quickly turned back towards the militia and commanded them to take the children Brona and Tad back to the evacuation point. A small number turned back, while the bulk of their forces joined as we lead them forward in into the next battle against the ceaseless goblin hordes. Without a moment to spare, I laid my lands upon Master Pale Moon to allow my faith to cleanse his wounds.
“It was a noble sacrifice for you to protect those children.” I told him. The wounds had cut deep, and only through the power of Unex was I able to restore him to health.
“No.” Master Pale Moon said, unusually forward. “It was noble of you to save me.”
Wounds washed away, we regrouped and began to ride further up into the hills. As we did, Pales heard from young Master Jene Dark, the attack was ready to begin. We were warned of someone riding a strange bug-like creature, and to expect a child of god ahead. It would seem that even in the distraction force, we would be far from safety. A quiet word between Pales and Patrick mentioned a wild hunt, telling us only to be prepared.
There was little time to chat, however, for we quickly became bombarded as we entered the valley. Arrows rained down from the goblins, but I caught sight of their leader in the distance. A goblin king, adorned in red and black with a makeshift crown upon its head. Eyes glazed over, only malice remained inside. If we were to make any progress, that creature would need to die.
Stirring Sanctity onward, I rode past the treants that were leading us to strike at the brain of the goblins’ operations. Unbeknownst to me, they had prepared for this. As I came around the corner of the tunnel, I made eye contact with a goblin sorcerer. In that moment, all I can remember is rage.
I am ashamed to admit the following, but the sorcery of the goblins overcame me and in an instant I was a tool of their hatred. I turned Sanctity back towards the members of my party, a wicked grin overtaking my face. They moved forward to join me unknowing of the affliction that had come over me.
In the next instant, my body lurched forward against my will. I charged and my pike struck the nearest treant in one blow, then the second of Pales’ creature with the next. Though I rode to meet the rest of my allies and unleash my wrath on them, the treants still blocked my way. Seeing an opportunity, my goblin riddled brain sought the power of Unex, returning her celestial mace to strike at Merchant Vincent Maze several yards ahead. Though he was struck, he did not fall and I howled out the only thing I still controlled, a shout of rage.
“I’ll take care of him!” Master Patrick said, but Master Pale Moon was quicker.
“Sorry, but we don’t have time. He’s too dangerous.” The masked Runidiri mumbled a quick apology, and unleashed a ball of flames all around me. It engulfed two of the goblins, incinerating them in an instant. The last thing I saw was Sanctity being washed back to the celestial plane, and I collapsed to the ground.
While I laid unconscious, the others moved to take down more goblins one by one. When at last I woke, Patrick was standing over me while I heard the shouts of Pale Moon in the distance repeating endlessly over and over, “Sorry, sorry, sorry…” Barely able to rise up, I took Patrick’s hand before jumping back into the fray. With the help of a treant, I climbed up to the nearest plateau and caught sight of Master Argren Silveraxe with half a dozen goblins surrounding him. Taking two steps forward, a goblin arrow struck true and once again the cold blackness came over me.
When I awoke for a second time by Patrick’s grace, I heard Argren challenging the goblin king. Though he laid several strong blows on the fiend, the crowned beast still remained standing. Nearby, Vincent was unconscious as well. We were losing momentum, and the goblin hordes had blocked off most of the militia in the narrow valley. If there was a time to muster the last of my strength, it was now. With Unex’s might I stood once more and charged the goblin king, striking the beast directly twice with my pike.
At my side, Argren took this opportunity and entered a rage, destroying the rust monster and bringing the goblin king to the ground in one fell swoop. Argren’s axe raised high the goblin king saw his last sight, the raging warrior. Though he crushed the king and his beast into the beyond, he left himself open and three of the goblins’ arrows struck him in the back. It seemed to only enrage the dwarven warrior more, for he barely flinched.
Behind us, Pale Moon brought Vincent back to the battle. Though the tide was beginning to turn for us, we were still outnumbered. I stepped forward to the archers that had just struck Argren from behind, a coward’s attack. We would see how cowardly they truly were.
“Celestine has deemed your lives forfeit!” I cried out, pointing my pike across them as I did. “Flee now, or be destroyed! Flee! Flee for your lives!” My own rage had turned now away from my allies and back to the goblin menace. Three of the archers saw their opportunity and fled. The remaining archer and goblin acolyte failed to noticed that numbers were no longer on their side.
Though the archers had begun to flee, Master Argren Silveraxe had been wounded and did not take that lightly. The closest fleeing archer fell regardless, taken down by his axe. To his side, the acolyte tried to work his magics on Master Pale Moon. I watched as the Runidiri did what I could not, withstand. Now certain that he had been the one to undo me, I wasted no time in ramming my pike through the goblin’s viscera.
Master Argren may have been right to strike the fleeing archers, as they reached the edge of the plateau the same symbol appeared on their heads. Glowing, it turned them back to the battle. Thankfully, they were quickly slain by Argren. At last, respite came.
“Uhh..Sir Elron?” Master Pale Moon came to me, wringing his hands. “I’m really, really sorry. Really. So sorry. But I was worried you were going to kill us all, and I had to do something. But really, I’m so, so sorr-”
I held up my hand, stopping him mid-word. “You did no wrong by me, Master Pale Moon. I needed some respite from myself at that moment. Unex guided your strike.” I gave a short laugh, and watched him drop his guard. “And what a strike!”
Patrick caught up to us then, “We should search the goblin king before moving on.”
“I’ll do it!” A nasally voice replied. I had almost forgotten that Merchant Vincent Maze was still around.
“We’ll do it together.” Patrick added, leaving the rest of us more at ease. They found an enchanted shield and armor on the goblin king, though the manner of the power remained unknown to us. Now was not the time to waste precious minutes uncovering this. We would gather our strength, and move forth.
Patrick and Pale Moon again mentioned their wild hunt. “It may be the right time.” Patrick said. “When we face whatever comes next. After all, Corric was able to return after being killed. Only turned to stone.” He shook his head. “They can regain health, maybe come back from worse. Whether the goblins did it internationally or in error, they made a mistake. He came back corrupted.” Patrick looked at each of us in turn. “When the khasir appears, we must be careful. Collect it, don’t touch it, and bring it back to safety.”
“So uhhh… about that khasir. Where is it now?” Vincent brought all eyes to lie upon him.
Master Pale Moon spoke first. “Vinny, can we trust you?” He answered himself before Vincent could respond. “We know we can’t, actually. There’s the whole deal with that cursed coin…”
“What?” Vincent interrupted. “What coin?”
I could only glare at him. The last time I had chastised the merchant Vincent Maze for a cursed coin I had done nothing but make myself look weak and foolish. For now, I kept my mouth shut.
Patrick pointed to the distance. It had only been a shadow before, still doubt could be linger but no more. A gigantic, monstrous bat. More demon than bat, in truth. Patrick had drawn our eyes to it, and now turned to face Vincent. “See that giant bat? It will kill you.”
“The bat is the khasir, Vinny.” Pale Moon added.
“When the spirit god is killed, it reverts back into a stone.” Patrick finished.
Vincent, unsurprisingly, did not take this seriously. “Now it’s a bat? Apparently it’s dangerous, I get it. Sheesh…”
I stepped away, tired of the merchant’s antics. Checking in with the militia, I found them to still be standing strong. “In the next battle, stay strong. Let us take the first step into the fray, this Hir’eek is not one to be taken lightly. May Unex and Celestine watch over us all.”
With Sanctity left behind, I had no choice but to move forward on foot. Several of the skeletal mounts had been left in the wake of the last battle as well, so I was not alone. As we moved to meet with our final foe, Patrick looked over at us. “Give me a chance to talk to it first. If that fails… we’ll have our wild hunt.”
We came to the edge of a large cliff, looking up at the corrupted god in the body of a giant bat that was Hir’eek. It sickened me to see such a thing, an abomination. We would end it here and now, no matter the cost.
As we came upon the foot of the cliffside, we prepared ourselves for the battle to come. It seemed that Master Argren Silveraxe had missed Patrick’s request, as he charged in full force in a fierce rage. Hir’eek came down from above, issuing out an ear-shattering shriek as swarms of bats chased after it. It had its sights set on the raging dwarf, and swooped down to chase after him. Red lightning erupted, lighting up Argren. Credit to him, the dwarf stood his ground, still raging in pain, prepared to strike with his axe at the moment Hir’eek came into range.
Treants lurched forward at the command of Pale Moon, swatting at the swarms of lesser bats while Patrick Smith stepped up to speak. “The goblins did this to you, not us. They should be your target! Let us be!” The shriek from the giant bat proved that his words, albeit true, had fallen on deaf ears. There would be no solution without blood.
Patrick teleported away, reappearing next to Pale Moon. Though his words hadn’t changed the mind of Hir’eek, at least he had brought the fell beast down into the range of Argren. His axe flashed up, striking true against him.
I moved up beneath the nearby grove of trees, my pike pointed upwards to strike quickly and decisively against any bats foolish enough to approach me. They swarmed, in numbers that even I couldn’t hold back. I looked forward towards Master Argren Silveraxe, but he had Hir’eek down upon him. Merchant Vincent Maze was standing at the edge of the battlefield, shooting off firebolts from a safe distance. Meanwhile, Master Pale Moon and Master Patrick Smith shared a look. It was time. “Time to awaken something ancient.” Patrick said.
“Something primal.” Pale Moon added. With that, they began their wild hunt.
Patrick’s body grew to ten times his normal size in an instant. Monstrous teeth erupted out as his arms shrank back. A tyrannosaurus rex, green flesh and open bone showing, held together by undeath and willpower alone. Patrick had been transformed, and his wild hunt had started. With a mighty roar, he raced forward and crashed into Hir’eek. Tail smashing into a swarm of bats, teeth gnawing into Hir’eek, he drew all attention unto himself. He choked back a chunk of flesh from Hir’eek, before vomiting it back up in humanoid form. A zombie, made of tyrannosaurus refuse, now shambled forward. Truly their wild hunt was a sight to behold.
I couldn’t stand by from beneath the trees while they took the fight to the forefront. I ran out from beneath my cover, taking a few bites from the bat swarms around me to join Argren and Patrick the tyrannosaurus rex. With my pike, I struck several piercing blows into the giant bat but little seemed to affect it. Pale Moon moved forward, and soon we were all surrounding Hir’eek, striking relentlessly and with every ounce of strength that remained to us.
All of us, that is, except the merchant. Vincent Maze had remained at the edge of the battlefield, content to lob firebolts lazily with no sense of urgency. But I had little time to worry about him, as Hir’eek let out a deafening screech, shaking all of us backwards. He swooped down to take a bite out of me, but my faith in Unex shielded me from it. Pales recovered quickly as well and caught Patrick’s attention with a, “Hey you!” before throwing a potion into his mouth. Now encouraged and named ‘Death Rextrick’ by Pale Moon, he moved with an unholy haste and fury. Biting, scratching, snarling. Thank Celestine this wild hunt was on our side.
Master Argren Silveraxe though, had been taking the brunt of Hir’eek’s strikes and it was this shriek that finally brought the stalwart warrior down. Swarms of bats moved closer, their numbers lessened by a lucky blow from the merchant Vincent Maze. I made a swift move over to Argren, laying my hands upon him and returning life to the weary dwarf. “The time for respite is not yet here, Unex demands we defeat this foe before our rest is earned!”
A second wind upon us all now, we clashed valiantly against Hir’eek and its swarms of endless bats. Fire balls were met with red lightning, strikes and slashes by shrieks and claws. I moved as swiftly as my body would allow, but in the heat of battle mistook bats leeching off my back for an old wound. I noticed too late, peeling one off but falling unconscious to the other. The last thing I saw was the monstrous Patrick taking another bite out of Hir’eek.
When at last I woke, I could barely hear. All around were only sounds of muffled cries and shouting. There was a ringing, then a numbness. Finally I realized where I was, in the arms of a treant. I moved carefully to my feet, looking back to see Patrick and Pale Moon screaming. I couldn’t hear their words, but their anger was unmistakable. Hir’eek was nowhere to be found. Neither was Vincent Maze.
Eventually they came over, a badly wounded Argren beside them. Speaking loudly, they told me what I had missed. Shortly after I had fallen, Hir’eek had as well. Master Pale Moon had his treants take Master Argren and myself to safety, while he and Master Patrick moved away. Hir’eek grew in brightness, before exploding in a terrific shower of noise and red lightning.
What happened next, was even more terrifying. I would have stated disbelief at the tale, had my own experiences not aligned too closely to the story. Hir’eek fell to the ground, reforming into the stone khasir. From nowhere, Vincent Maze stepped forward. The khasir gleamed in his eye. Without hesitation, Pale Moon threw every last ounce of magic he had into a fireball to consume the thieving merchant.
“Vinny disappeared right after.” Patrick told us. “I told him he’d lose everything, Gravesend would never let him back in. I even told him he’d lose all his gold. But he didn’t return. He only tried to mock innocence after Pales hit him, but then he turned invisible right after it was clear we weren’t buying it. We searched, but there was no sign.”
The rest of our trip back was quiet. Although the militia was in good spirits, it would be difficult news to relay that we had failed in our mission. Betrayal. Should I come upon the face of Traitor Vincent Maze again, he would regret it. If he was fool enough to approach Gravesend, he would find there were many more enemies for him now, his greed had finally gone too far.
Scribed by Elron Cartwright, Templar of Celestine
Adventuring Party: Elron Cartwright, Pale Moon, Vincent Maze, Patrick Smith, Argren Silveraxe
Date: 01JUL22
Report Date
01 Jul 2022
Primary Location
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