Siege of Hrorilad

31st of Shar 358

We arrived to the gates. There are soldiers and guards preparing themselves for battle, lined up along the walls. The door that we entered is now blocked with a huge, wooden beam. We met General Faust, a rugged person who looks worn and has a scar over one of his eyes. Fathom calls to him, asking what the enemy looks like. After Fathom and Hornet explain the situation, General Faust explains that evacuation of the city is underway and that they will keep an eye out for the necromancer and Slaughter. Ferryman asks how much the walls can take, if they have any magical protection on them. The walls are tough but have no magical protection. Fathom says we should try and spot the necromancer and Slaughter ourselves. We will have to fight with all we got for this. We all make our way to the top of the wall.

As Fathom shoots down at the sea of undead, I looked out amongst them. I was trying to find the necromancer or Slaughter or both of them. I couldn't see them in the horde. I had a thought pop into my head. Where would the most advantageous place to be during a siege? Almost immediately, I thought inside the walls. I turned around and looked down at the soldiers gather below us. I saw a hooded figure with visible tusks standing amongst the crowd, going unnoticed. I pointed it out to the others and as soon as I do, the necromancer and two nearby soldiers fall to the ground, unconscious. We jump down the wall, landing next to her, with Hornet teleporting next to General Faust and leading him to the necromancer. We try to tie her up but Hornet takes the lead and ties her up instead, twisting ropes along her fingers and over her mouth. They put a blindfold over her eyes.

We don't know how long she has been in the walls or how she got inside. Ferryman had a suggestion but before he could explain, the necromancer's eyes snap open. There is a slight glow from behind the blindfold and she doesn't seem to resist. Ferryman and Fathom seem to cast a spell of some kind and Hornet leans in and whispers something to her, putting their dagger to her throat. An illusion of a man appears, summoned by Fathom, seemingly from the insides of the necromancer's mind. I don't know how to describe how he looked, the image was blurry but he had a glowing red scar and white paint on his face.

The necromancer started to struggle and Fathom yanked the blindfold off of her, saying she has bigger things to fear than the person in her mind. Fathom tells her to call off the horde and moments later, the banging on the gates stops. She had relinquished control over the undead. Pushing more for answers, Fathom asked where Slaughter was. She seemed too scared to think of where they are. He is trying to calm her down, but there is blood coming out her eyes and nose.

Hornet picks a dandelion from the road below. They remove one of their gloves and lowers her blindfold. They speak in a soft, quiet voice; it was hard for me to pick up on what they said to her. They grabbed the dandelion with their unprotected hand and within 5 seconds, it is reduced to ash. They pour the ashes over her face, saying that if she doesn't help us, she will be the flower. Her demeanor calms down and the look on her face changes. She is now laying still in a pool of her own blood. Fathom, with his blade, lifts her by the chin and asks again if she will tell us. She remains unresponsive. Ferryman motions for him to stop and whispers something into her ear. She seems stunned but the bleeding has stopped. Fathom uses some of the healing ointment on her and then puts the blindfold back on her. He hands her over to General Faust.

In the distance, we hear screaming and fighting. We begin to head in that direction. After some time, we arrive in a street of residential houses. As we turn the corner, we see a soldier at the edge of Slaughter's blade as he yanks it out. We stand about 15 feet away. Hornet approaches, making three duplicates of themselves. They put themselves between Slaughter and the rest of us.

Now is a good time to use a spell I had learned. I approach behind Hornet and think of where to touch for this spell. I decided to poke them in the butt, I'm not sure why. I casted Protection from Evil and Good. I then began to change my form. I felt fur grow all over my body and my entire figure begins to grow in muscle mass. A snout grows from my face and I let out a snarl as I turn into a brown bear.

I feel behind me as Ferryman backs away. I feel a zip of energy pass over me as a blast hits Slaughter. The creature seems amused then strikes the ground with his weapon. A blast of energy comes out from the ground. I am knocked out of my bear form and am knocked prone, as is Fathom and Hornet.

Fathom shoots a bolt of blue energy at Slaughter. He deflects it out the air and shakes his head at him. In retaliation, Fathom shoots another bolt, this time the bolt being made of a light energy. It hits and knocks Slaughter a bit off balance. He stares directly at Fathom through his skulled mask.

Hornet approaches, now 10 feet from Slaughter. They take their meteor hammer and slams it towards him, but as it moves through the air, he raises his cleaver and knocks it out of the way. I heal Hornet from afar and give an icy stare to Slaughter. Ferryman sends out another blast over our shoulders. I look back at him and he is further away then before.

A smile grows on Slaughter's face. His eyeless mask looks down at Hornet, then to Fathom. He steps back, breaking the light energy connection between him and Fathom. He then moves right up close to Hornet, towering over them. He pulls his cleaver out from the ground. From his toothy maw, a long tongue comes out a licks across the blood on the blade. His blade starts to glow with a red magic and he attacks Hornet. He instead attacks one of their duplicates. He tries again and again but can't seem to hit the real Hornet. He seems angry.

Fathom casts another bolt of energy towards Slaughter. He then grows in size. Hornet attacks again with their meteor hammer, barely missing this time. They try to attack with their fists, one punch hits and the other misses.

I rush forward, once again changing my form into a panther. I snarled as I tried to attack with my sharp claws. I missed and moved back, waiting for my turn to strike again. Ferryman fires over our shoulders another blast of energy. Slaughter is very injured but he seems unaffected.

Slaughter begins to raise his blade and a sphere of fire begins to surround the tip of his cleaver. He slams it in front of him, directly onto Hornet. A large sphere of flames surrounds me, and I am knocked out of wild shape once more. Nothing remains of Slaughter except his blade, slammed right next to Hornet.

Fathom runs over to Hornet, slapping the burn scar they received from the blow with the last of the healing ointment. Hornet regains consciousness and moves their arms in front of their face. The ropes that once cover them begin to disintegrate into a fiery ash. A look of anxiety and fear grows across their face. They begin to gasp for air and crawl quickly backwards until they hit a wall, warning us not to come any closer. Fathom tosses some of his rope over to them. They disappear as soon as they grab it. I hear yelling from the rooftops between Fathom and Hymn about how they need ropes and how they should go to Cyric to get it fixed. Ferryman casts a mage hand to give Hornet a blanket. I hear crying from the roof.

Fathom comes back down and I heal his wounds. He tries to use his sword to contact someone but I'm guessing it didn't go well as he is no longer able to speak proper words and is incoherent. Hornet shouts from the rooftops to let them figure this out. Ferryman and I take Fathom back to The Bloody Hammer and we are about to head to rest.

I hope Hornet will be okay in the morning. Same for Fathom. I am glad I am here to see another day. Good night, journal.

Next journal →