All of the normal suspects show up: Chris (Pawnbroker), Tim (Laerynthe), Nick (Mungo) and April (Patrisha Veka).
The session opens on the 286th day of Abbatine Year 856, in the Low Hot Season. The characters have recently provided information to the bat-folk serving Prince Tonnalk's army, providing directions to a group of Holy City refugees from Abanga's Plaza. They are waiting for troops to be dispatched to eliminate the refugees from their own encampment in an abandoned deyrey hive.
While the characters wait, Pawnbroker sends Living Weapon couriers to other groups opposing Prince Tonnalk's troops, hoping to gather allies to help in defeating them. He is rewarded with responses from two other groups: the Dellemoi Clan adapoi send word they are sending Warleader Eloshan with 100 warriors and 3 powerful magicians, and Taotach Cassand responds personally, leading his 25 partisans. Beyond those groups, Fesh and the 75 Living Weapons from Pellwen's Plaza already traveling with the characters agree to participate.
The characters have previously estimated that all told, Prince Tonnalk has about 5000 men encamped around Paiden. Laeyrnthe and 15 Living Weapons are dispatched to Paiden to watch the army. Once they arrive on the outskirts of the plantations around Paiden they divide into groups of three to await signs of a column of troops leaving to attack the Abanga's Plaza refugees. All of Laerynthe's scouts are in place by the 287th day of Abbatine Year 856.
While Laerynthe watches for signs that Prince Tonnalk is on the move, Pawnbroker prepares for battle. He goes among the Folk, instructing them to manufacture stretchers. He also selects out 24 strong Folk to work as stretcher bearers and 12 more lithe Folk able to run rapidly to work as couriers and decoys.
While Laerynthe and his fifteen Living Weapons are watching Prince Tonnalk's army, Patrisha Veka (who has been spending her time working in the defense of Paiden) spots him encamped outside the city. She flies down in hawk form and talks to him, asking why he is there and what he is up to. He provides convincing answers, so she elects to help him.
On the 288th day, a day after Laerynthe arrived at Paiden, there are signs of movement in Prince Tonnalk's camp: one of the Lecutor's pavilions is being taken down, and a column of troops is assembling. Laerynthe and Patrisha count about 200 troops moving out, along with 8 bat-folk, 30 to 50 hunting breels, 30 beast-masters, and no crocodile-heads. By midday, the soldiers are on their way towards the Abanga's Plaza refugee camp. Laerynthe sent runners back to the characters to warn them, then he and Patrisha followed the Mardakan troops.
Lecutor Chen started his assault upon the Abanga's Plaza refugees early on the morning of the 289th day. Though the Abanga's Plaza refugees were fortified within the plantation house, they were badly outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the Lecutor's men. The Lecutor's contingent of priests raised up a cloud of flames to engulf the plantation house, and his troops and archers picked off fleeing refugees as they tried to escape. His only significant setback (witnessed by Laerynthe) was a stunning assault upon a unit of archers that left the officer wounded. Laerynthe was unable to tell exactly what was attacking the archers in the confusion of the battle, but he could tell that many of the dead were falling like cut grasses, their bodies shrunken and desiccated.
By the end of the fight, at least 75% of the Abanga's Plaza refugees had been killed, while Lecutor Chen lost only nine men, most of them the archers mentioned above. Most of the Abanga's Plaza Folk were burned to death in the plantation house, while the Living Weapons were shot down by Lecutor Chen's archers.
By the time Laerynthe departed the battlefield, Lecutor Chen had detailed groups of his men to sweep the area looking for survivors.
Knowing that battle will be soon on them, the characters and their allies spent much of the time between Lecutor Chen's initial attack upon the Abanga's Plaza refugees and his final mopup operations preparing the battlefield. They decided quite early that the route his troops had originally followed out from Paiden would probably also be the return route, and concentrated primarily upon that region. Specific preparations they made included:
Several of the characters are capable of producing Exceptional Strength points. In addition, each character may generate additional Exceptional Strength points by taking a -2 penalty to their survival roll per point (thus, a -4 penalty generates two Exceptional Strength points). The Exceptional Strength available to the characters is listed below:
Character |
Battle Skill |
Survival Modifier |
Exceptional Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnbroker | 16 | -2 | 1 |
| Mungo | 16 | -6 | 3 + 2 to enemy casualties |
| Laerynthe | 15 | -5 | 2 |
| Patrisha Veka | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Brakan | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| Adapoi sorcerers | N/A | N/A | 3 (1 point each) |
The actual battle against Lecutor Chen's troops is quick and decisive. Most of his troops break and run in the initial assault, suffering 60% casualties while the characters' forces suffer only 5% casualties. A core of surviving priests, beast-masters and the wounded Lecutor attempt to withdraw to the camp around Paiden, but are quickly surrounded by the characters' troops. Pawnbroker negotiates a surrender agreement with the Lecutor, in which he, his four surviving priests, and one beast-master agree to become the characters' prisoners. In return, the characters allow his remaining troops (save for those who fled into the forest where they are hunted by Warleader Eloshan's adapoi) to return to their camp after surrendering their armor and weapons.
Pawnbroker, Mungo and Laerynthe all risked their lives in acts of reckless bravery and (in Mungo's case) savagery during the battle. Both Pawnbroker and Mungo gained permanent +1 Reputations as powerful warriors, while Laerynthe gained a temporary +1 Reputation as the same, for the next season.
During and after the battle, Pawnbroker and Mungo noted that at times their forces were more effective against Lecutor Chen's troops than they perhaps should have been. In many of these places shrunken, desiccated bodies of men in Mardakan equipment were found after the fighting had cleared.
The session ends on the 289th day of Abbatine Year 856. The characters have captured Lecutor Chen and several of his aides, and their troops are in possession of most of his force's equipment. Each of the characters gains four experience points. Patrisha Veka gains an additional two experience points to represent training from the 50 days of downtime her character has experienced.