Assault on Spurhorn

"We need to get to the mess hall for the evening meal and then turn in for the night." Bescaylie suddenly stated.

"I have more I want to learn here in the Archive," Fanara whined.

"Commander Pharamol has learned that the Drakelands intend to attack just before dawn tomorrow.  All the defenders must be ready for battle an hour before dawn. He will direct you where to go depending on the need of the defenders.  Let's go now."

The Fanara and Santrel left the Archive with Besaylie, picked up Casia, Jorgen and Amadeo and headed to the Mess hall. Inside Milos was already sitting at a table eating.  He waved the group over and they enjoyed an evening meal before retiring to their chambers.

The heroes awake to a heavy snow squall which reduces the ability to see in the already dim light of the sun on Triaxus.  The group sets out to memorize spells, eat and Fanara goes into her seance. Just as Fanara was finishing, the group heard Commander Pharamol speak in their heads.

"Head to the west most bastion and support the siege engines and defenders there against an initial rush against the western parapets." the voice ordered.

"That is where we were yesterday in the lower level, lets hurry down and head there again," Jorgen yelled in the confusion.

The party made their way to the lower level of the bastion and hurried up the stairs.  Fanara cast enlarge person on Amadeo as they neared the top and Milos cast haste as they broke into the snow. Santrel cast resist cold on the party to hopefully lessen the effectiveness of breath weapons. The six Dragon Legion defenders were lying on the top of the bastion, maybe dead, maybe unconscious, surrounded by an icy floor.  A Frost Drake sat atop the firedrake and two Drakelands barbarians were attacking the each light ballistae. 

The party rushed into action as the enemy attacked the siege engines. The closest barbarians turned to fight as the others continued bashing the ballistae.  The Frost Drake was intent on breaking the firedrake. Amadeo's large size provided greater damage but ranged weapons were difficult to use as targeting was affected by the snow.  Movement was difficult on the icy surface and Jorgen could not charge.

"Remember to conserve your spells," Fanara told Santrel. "This may be a long day of battles!"

Nevertheless, Santrel cast a burning arc on three enemies just as one of them broke a light ballista. The Frost Drake eventually broke off to attack the party, but didn't seem to be able to breath again yet. Although hampered by the snow and ice the party began to take the upper hand. They made sure to kill the Frost Drake early and the barbarians eventually succumbed without any more damage to the siege engines.

Milos channeled healing on the party and the Legion troops who awoke and took their place at the weapons once again. Santrel used mend to repair the broken ballista for the troops.  The party looked around and saw battles at the the other two western bastions and in the air Dragonkin fought Dragonkin. It was difficult to see which was on which side. 

In short order the group was dispatched by Commander Pharamol once again to the eastern parapets to stop an approaching siege tower.  If it reached the walls of Spurhorn the enemy could flood into the interior.  It was the party's goal to at least stop the siege tower if not to destroy it.

Amadeo was still large and the resist cold was still in effect as the party hastened to the eastern walls. They saw two Frost Drakes flying air cover for two sleek, serpentine bodied creatures each with seven heads who were slowly pushing the tower towards the walls. These terrifying monsters were identified as War Hyrdas.  Each head had its own breath weapon. Fanara noted that the siege tower was somewhat unstable and if they could attack the rear wheels, where the Hydra were, it may disable it.  The slope was steep and the Hydra were spending all their strength pushing the tower. 

Jorgen dropped a rope down the wall and Fanara used it to get onto even ground with the enemy.  Amadeo simply jumped off the tower and floated down using Levitation.  Milos followed after Casia fired her Musket with a loud retort at one of the Frost Drakes doing considerable damage. The Frost Drakes attacked using their breath weapons.  Amadeo and Jorgen moved in front of the tower as Fanara used the Wand of Icicle Spears to push up the front edge of the tower.  Amadeo attempted to overturn the tower but was not strong enough to manage it.  One Hydra stopped pushing and came around to start breathing on Amadeo, who shrugged off the cold damage.  After several heads did no damage the Hydra turned to biting at Amadeo.

The other Drake kept up a harassing campaign of flyby attacks on Fanara and Milos. Casia kept firing her bow into the combat and Santrel used a Fireball twisted to Acid on the Hydra. Fanara used the wand the cause another ice spear to try to unbalance the tower. Jorgen moved around behind the Hydra pushing the tower and Amadeo tried to lift and unbalance the tower once again.  This time he successfully toppled the tower to the rear.  The tower began sliding down the slope pushing the Hydra with it.  Jorgen leaped out of the way of the Hydra. 

With the tower picking up speed sliding down the slope the party could concentrate on the remaining Hydra and the Drakes. It didn't take too long for the party to drop these remaining enemies. The tower and Hydra slid off the edge of the cliff and the party could hear it hit the floor of the canyon. Casia cheered on the heroes for their excellent work. Milos continued to channel healing and the party climbed back up the ropes to the top of the walls after the battle was done.

Hearing no additional instructions the party moved to the nearest tower and fought with the Dragon Legion against the drakes and dragonkin attacking Spurhorn. The group helped stave off some attack but soon they received another message. 

"General Malesinder has some troops inside the walls and wants to break through into the fortress's lower level. Stop them from breaking into the blockhouse."

Looking to the interior the party could see three barbarians and a sorcerer at the entry to one blockhouse. One barbarian had a warhammer and was preparing to use it on the door to the blockhouse. The other two and the sorcerer were guarding him.

Amadeo took Casia and Fanara and leapt off the bastion and floated down to the interior. Casia fired at the lead barbarian while Fanara took off toward the enemies. The sorcerer cast a spell as the other barbarians closed ranks. Jorgen climbed down the rope and Santrel cast a fireball on the four which did no damage. 

The sorcerer then cast Lightning Bolt which hit Fanara and Amadeo. Fanara cast a Hungry Pit underneath the barbarian attacking the door.  The barbarian clambered away from the pit but could no longer reach the door.  He moved up to align with the other enemies.  Casia and Amadeo either fired ranged weapons and moved forward. Jorgen clambered down the rope and Santrel cast a new fireball twisted to Acid damage which damaged the enemy.  Finally Milos climbed down the rope and his blade showed fire.

The sorcerer then created a Wall of Ice in between the enemy and the heroes.  Casia presumed they were trying to escape.  One end of the wall was adjacent to the keep but the other ended with room for anyone to pass around it.  Amadeo charged the wall and attacked attempting to break the ice. He did damage but did not break a hole.  Santrel took Jorgen behind the line of the enemy with Dimension Door.  Jorgen then moved to attack a barbarian from behind with surprise.  Fanara changed the wall that Amadeo had damaged and broke through.  Casia moved up to move through the hole as did Milos.

The sorcerer now cast Shout at Amadeo, Casia and Fanara.  The barbarians began by throwing Javelins at the heroes.  Santrel cast Magic Missile at the sorcerer but it failed to reach him. Amadeo, Casia and Fanara all moved through the hole to attack the enemies. Fanara was hit by Scorching Ray as Milos channeled healing for the group.

At this point the attacks of the party began to overwhelm the barbarians and sorcerer.  They began to fall one by one and shortly the party had again prevented the Darklands creatures from entering Spurhorn. Now seemingly with some time the party looked for magical items finding several weapons and armor along with other interesting items on the sorcerer.

As they received no new orders directly the group looked around and saw that the battle at the walls was waning somewhat but it was clear the Drakelands were not finished yet.  The enlarged Amadeo returned to normal size and the Resist Cold spell wore off.  Stripping the bodies took some time and after that the group clambered back up the rope to the walls and began to circumnavigate around the exterior once again. As they passed the northernmost bastion they received a message from Commander Pharamol once again.

"Report to the conference room in the Lord's Tower."

The group headed back to the bastion and down to the lower level and up the Lord's Tower.  When they were on the stairs outside the conference chamber they noted the door to the walls of the keep was open.  Outside they saw two seemingly eight legged dragons approach the crossbowmen guarding the walls of the keep.  Then they saw the defenders turned to stone.  A copper dragonkin approached by kept its distance from the black dragons.

Fanara identified the black dragons as Dracolisks, half dragon, half Basilisk.  The fearsome creatures landed on the garden of the keep as the party watched. The copper dragonkin continued to fly around the courtyard.

Casia headed to the door of the conference chamber, opened it and yelled in that enemies were on the courtyard and the crossbowmen were stone.  Commander Pharamol and his dragonkin  Amerenth were in the room.

"I will order the other defenders to the tops of the towers of the keep to help you. Please take care of this problem," he stated firmly.

Casia was slightly miffed at the lack of help but she looked back at the party waiting for a haste to be caste.  Fanara enlarged Amadeo and then cast haste. Santrel cast Resist Energy Acid and Milos cast a prayer and Amadeo headed for the walkway and floated down to the courtyard floor to take after the Dracolisks with his eyes shut. 

The rest of the party made their way out to the courtyard attempting to attack with eyes averted or staying further than thirty feet away from the Dracolisks. The copper dragonkin breathed acid at Amadeo and Casia but the resist energy saved them from much damage.  Santrel cast a fireball on the three enemies which did full damage. The Dracolisk attacked with bite attacks but both soon fell to attacks from Amadeo.  The copper dragonkin headed to Casia and attacked with its glaive. The party had many effective attacks and the Dragonkin fell quickly. This battle was not as difficult and the party looked for magic but only found a masterwork large Glaive.  Milos was providing healing and the party soon heard Commander Pharamol again request their presence in the conference room.

In the conference chamber only Jarilne was sitting with the Commander.

"You have been very successful in defeating the Drakelands enemy.  We thank you greatly for your help." Commander Pharamol stated.

"We are in awe of the ability of the Legion to repel these great enemies. Our help is just a small part of the battle to save the keep," Casia responded.

"Is the battle over?" Jorgen wondered.

"I do not think the General Malesinder is finished with us yet today. This is merely a short respite as the afternoon begins," the Commander answered.

"We will continue to add our efforts to the defense," Fanara added.

The discussion continued for some time as Pharamol and Jarilne queried the group about their tactics and spells.  Jarilne was extremely interested in the spells that Santrel had shown. The talk took place for about an hour when suddenly Jarilne gasped.

"Shatha reports being under attack from multiple enemies.  She has lost her rider and saddle and is trying to make it back to the fortress in the northwest. She needs help desperately." Jarilne stated with fear in her voice.

"You must head to the northwest area of the courtyard and help out Shatha," Commander Pharamol ordered.

Santrel indicated he had two scrolls of Dimension Door which if he and Fanara used would get the party to the area in the shortest time. The party decided to use this scrolls rather than trying to run through the underground of the fortress to get to the courtyard. They gathered and then disappeared, reappearing next to the northwestern bastion. Above the group noted a lethal dance of wing and claw played out in the skies above Spurhorn. Drakes and dragonkin slashed and tore at each other's wings to knock their foes from the skies. Mortally wounded dragons fell to their deaths, their shattered bodies lying broken and bleeding upon Spurhorn's battlements.

Then a silver Dragon Legion dragonkin, lacking both rider and saddle, struggled valiantly to fight off a group of Drakelands dragonkin. A gold enemy dragonkin blasted her with its fiery breath weapon, while a blue one barreled into her, driving her to the ground in Spurhorn's northwest courtyard and knocking her unconscious. Three dragonkin, gold, blue and white flew down to land, the gold moving near the downed silver.

Milos cast a prayer as Santrel moved among the group giving them resistance from cold. Amadeo, again enlarged by Fanara moved forward to attack the gold as Casia fired at it and then moved up next to Amadeo.  The white dragon breathed on a Santrel, Jorgen and Fanara who shrugged off the cold.  The blue then lined up Santrel, Jorgen and Milos for an electric breath jolt. The gold attacked back on Amadeo and Casia while Fanara moved toward the Blue.  Jorgen stepped back and fired at the White but the snow was hampering everyone's ability to attack.

The White moved up and attacked both Santrel and Milos.  Santrel cursed his sister for leaving him as he was hit by a tremendous blow from the glaive and he hit the ground.  Milos took a lesser blow but the party was now concerned.  Milos followed up with a Channel, hoping to get Santrel out of danger.  He noted that the siver dragonkin Shatha also moved slightly. Fanara cast haste as Amadeo and Casia continued their attacks on the gold. The Blue moved and lined up Amadeo and Casia for his breath weapon.

Jorgen charged the white and inflicted his additional damage.  The white was then disoriented and bewildered. The white attacked back on both Milos and Jorgen.  Shatha flew up and breathed on the gold and then she flew out of range but closer to the white.  Fanara, Amadeo and Casia continued hitting the dragonkin but these monsters seemed much harder to defeat.  Meanwhile the battle continued overhead with dragonkin continuing to fall to the battlements.  Milos moved up and attacked with his fiery scimitar. Fanara was busy again with the blue and Shatha did a flyby attack on the white but took more damage from its counterattack.

At this point the heroes began to take control of the battle.  The gold was the first to fall as Casia struck.  Amadeo moved toward the blue attempting to get in flanking with Fanara. Jorgen continued attacks on the white as did Milos, finally Casia moved to flank with the two and the white fell to their attacks. Fanara and Amadeo then finished off the blue.

The party gathered for healing from Milos. Shatha joined them thanking them profusely for saving her life. No magic was found with the dragonkin only the fine glaives they attacked with.  Looking up they saw the battle was ending as the DarkLands attackers were fleeing in a disorganized retreat. The Legion still was wary on the battlements.

After the healing was finished the party again heard Commander Pharamol call them to the conference room. Upon entering the party saw most of the leaders in discussion.  The room fell silent as the group entered and Pharamol congratulated them on saving Shatha and defeating three dragonkin.  Their exploits will be remembered for years in Spurhorn.

"The enemy seems completely confused and disorganized.  Hope is that they are so demoralized and lacking in number that the siege will be broken.  We see some of the enemy fleeing as is deserting," the Commander relates.  "This is certainly partially because of your efforts."

DM's Notes: The party earned 18,667 XP for the defense of Spurhorn and now have 112,062 and are at 11th level.