Friday 24th December 356 AC - continued
Brother Ithariel and I advanced toward the wall, he carrying the explosive and I holding a brace of shields aloft. Despite our precautions we both suffered wounds as arrows rained down from the wall, though none so grievous as to hinder our mission. We deposited the device at the gate, surmising that to be the weakest point of the defence and hoping to cause secondary casualties in the battlements above, and beat a hasty retreat. As the bomb detonated we were hit by an invisible force that hurled us to the ground, never have I experienced such a blast & I hope never to experience it again. I swear I can still hear ringing when I don my helmet.
With the bulwark ruptured I rejoined my knights, mounted and commenced the charge. Sir Dominic, filled with the lust of the righteous, spurred his steed ahead of the towards a draconian standing back from the breach. If the vile creature was capable of smiling I'd swear it grinned as it caught the paladin's gaze and sinisterly licked its sword. I forget sometimes that Sir Dominic did not fight as long in the Wars as some Solamnics and he is not always aware of the lizard-men's tricks. As he dismounted and attacked the beast it succeeded in slipping the smallest of cuts past his armour, barely enough to draw blood but more than enough to deliver the poison on its blade. Though the combat had barely begun Noble Sir Dominic now lay in the dirt, paralysed.
Fortunately the rest of the knights and I were close behind and we surrounded the draconian before it could deliver a killing stroke. Sir Bertrum gave his life to slay the beast but slay it we did, though even in death it seemed bent on killing Sir Dominic as it melted into a pool of corrosive ichor about his unmoving form.
By this point the battle was fully joined. We engaged multiple foes, the civilian element of our band attacked targets of opportunity and, our infantry caught up with us and set to with bow and arrow. We swiftly dispatched the scattered human & goblin defenders and Sir Dominic regained control of his limbs before charging off to engage another pair of reptilian foes - perhaps wishing to make up for the disastrous attempt at the first.
As our main party administered Kiri-Jolith's justice to the remaining goblins a deep rumple could be heard from a cave mouth a short distance away. Glancing over we were confronted with the sight of a monstrous ogre led by a draconian and wielding axe & gargantuan club. By the blindfold covering its eyes and the grey hue to its skin it was clear that some foul sorcery was at play in this behemoth, what nature of sorcery we would soon discover.
The monster's guide retreated back into the tunnel from whence it came and left the ogre to charge blindly towards our band. As the miscreation neared our position it became clear that what had been perceived as grey coloured skin was in fact a layer of course stone built onto every inch of the beast.
Before the abomination could reach us the Lady Azshauna twice doused it in flame, to little effect and it barrelled into our group, weapons flailing. It swiftly became clear that ordinary weapons were no match for this beast's stone skin, only an enraged Starsong succeeded in cracking its facade, but we continued the attack as we could only do. Sir Tristram and Sir Tegyr were sent to Huma's breast by the creature's wicked maul.
No doubt fearing for her safety the Lady Azshauna unleashed a great bolt of lightning on the beast with neither a glance nor a care at her surroundings. It breaks my heart to name Sir Lucane and Sir Hector among the casualties, caught as they were between the magician & her target. The ogre continued to swing its mighty weapons down upon us and the elf barely seemed to notice what she had done, I had always been taught that elves value life above all else - perhaps I was mistaken.
While we continued the futile battle with the colossal stone ogre Sir Dominic was fairing not a lot better with his opponents, though he had been joined by Sir Leofrick and Sir Gregory. From what brief glances I could glean of my comrade he swiftly dispatched the first draconian, only to lose his sword to the corpse's stony embrace. The three of them then proceeded to advance on the second, who drew a wand from its sleeve. For a moment the entire group was engulfed in an explosion of flame and when it passed only the solitary foe and the paladin remained standing. Sir Dominic was clearly in distress, burnt & bleeding but the reptile appeared untouched by the heat. The two august knights who had stood by Sir Dominic's side lay upon the ground, burnt to a crisp.
Surely Sir Dominic must truly be blessed to withstand such damage and continue to fight? Within moments of the smoke clearing I witnessed the great knight sweep up the sword of a fallen comrade and force it between the ribs of his countrymen's murderer.
Shortly after, a near berserk Starsong dealt the final blow to the stone-ogre, splitting the rock covering in two to reveal the shrunken & deformed cretin within. We turned, catching our breath, to see six bloated plainsmen swaying towards us brandishing daggers. Without a moment's hesitation Azshauna ended their lives in a hellstorm of fiery death and we found ourselves breathing hard and hearts pumping with no enemies left alive to fight.
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