Robby, Zach, Brett, Roddy, Lance, Carson, Phil, Shane and Marshall finished up the Battle at Shady Cliffs yesterday (Sat. 6/11, 12-6). I had left all the minis set up from last time, and the cards were all in order. Zach's new rogue, Timmy, is 7th level and deadly with throwing daggers. Marshall added a fearsome orc barbarian, "Donkey Kong," to the party. Brett played a new sorcerer, and those fireballs were helpful. The New Rotalia Militia needed all the help it could get in the push against the elves, because they were definitely in a tight spot.
The Purple Order Army of the Sonaeed elves had the upper hand at the start of the day, having just decimated the calvary and archery units. The lizardmen and orcs had the advantage in numbers, the undead were guarding the army's underground fort entrance, Jaramonians were intermingled into units, each armed with four longswords, and mongrelmen provided an unpredictability to the battle. A charmed adult green dragon, two giants and a good number of high-level elven and drow spellcasters and Eldritch Moon Knights threatened to quickly finish the battle through their decimating large-scale attacks. Other monsters commanded by the Elves of the Purple Order included a wide array of persons and creatures that had been charmed into duty. Orbalator, a hobgoblin colonal, was a 15th level fighter, and threatened the King himself. Arjona the Devout, a 16th level elven priestess of the Purple Order (and a general) was among the enemy caster corps. It seemed the bad guys had the fight sewn up, and would soon be enslaving all of Aarde, which they feel should rightfully belong to them. Blip the Forsaken, a 10th level goblin rogue, enjoyed the benefit of a couple good sneak attacks after being ignored, unseen and underestimated. Liko of the Dead (the vampire) had ordered his unit of undead to hold their ground and defend the rear flank, but felt confident their services would not even be required.
But the party and the New Rotalia Militia had a few surprises still in store, and a bit of luck. Though surrounded by lizardman warriors and with his calvalry unit decimated, Revan (Roddy's paladin) seemed untouchable, and steadily removed evil from the left flank of the field of battle, and a few clerics with him kept healing and melee bonuses coming for everybody. Taito (Carson's drunken master monk) along with the trolls Big Cap and Little Cap, and the half-ogre rogue Thumbs, had managed to keep the orcs on their side of the river, leading an advance on the right flank. These things do not happen without fire support. Flegol (Shane's ranger) was on dragon duty with his bow, and his units of spearmen, archers, and Buddy Nagel (the Kobold cleric) strategically picked off a few tough casters and other opponents. Geena (Penny's dwarf fighter/archer, played as an NPC) also picked away at the dragon, as well as at least one of the Eldritch Moon Knights. She was effective. Joseph Prax (Robby's 7th level cleric to St. Cuthbert), along with a few low-level cleric followers attended to the wounded and provided very helpful bonuses amounting to important tactical support. "El Diddy"/Dante Blackmorg (Lance's fighter/rogue) laid claim to "Lance Mountain," one of several cliffs and hills on the table. Socrates (Phil's fighter) and the dwarven heavy catapaultists directed a rain of death on the rank-and-file Gleen's Tribe lizardmen and orcs, opening up the field just behind enemy lines. Gendar the Magic (Brett's sorcerer) proved helpful in nailing bunches of bad guys with offensive fireballs and magic missiles. On this account, the gnomish battle mage Spontaneo proved useful also. Donkey Kong (Marshall's orc barbarian) proved to be an outstanding warrior, once cleaving through half a dozen or more lizardmen who had surrounded him. Last but not least among the player characters, Timmy Darkwood (Zach's rogue) confronted the dragon and uncovered the enemy general (the priestess), knocking her out with a sap at the very end so she could be questioned, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Mick the Gangly found himself stuck in the big fight with Orbalator, who with AC 28 and over 130 hp just wouldn't go down. Henderson led the Brach's Tribe Lizardmen across the Shady Cliffs River, and was among the first to penetrate enemy territory.
Two crucial events helped turn the tide, one by design and one by sheer luck. It was hoped that The Mandrake, a mysterious beholder mage, had been previously turned to the cause of the New Rotalia Militia by agents of the King, and that turned out to be the case. After surveying the field of battle and considering which side to fight for, the "eye tyrant" floated invisibly behind the enemy, with his anti-magic cone emanating from his main eye and preventing a large amount of enemy spellcasting from taking place. He turned one of the giants to stone, though one of the enemy casters managed to cast a Stone to Flesh soon after. With his telekinesis eyestalk, he redirected a couple of the giant's boulders. Besides wreaking havoc with his main eye and 10 eyestalks, the Mandrake finally succeeded with a Charm Monster on one of the giants. But why was the other giant running away? Oh yeah, Telpin, (npc) the lowly gnomish bard, had pulled off a near-miracle of luck with his Wand of Dominate Monster and took control of the adult green dragon to have it breath its acid gas on the undead unit, disolving them into a final oblivion, except for Lido the vampire, who was then slain by heavy catapault fire and followup troops.
I awarded 6,000 xp, and 6,000 gp. I think just about everybody levelled up. Remember, henchmen only get half xp, and I did not award experience last time, so that is included in the 6,000. There will be opportunities at New Rotalia and/or Moporia for the purchase of magic items. Due to a crippling civil war years ago, Gorchimata (which in the campaign set 500 years earlier had become known as Magic Island City) is no longer a center of magical item commerce. Depending on the item you are thinking of buying, availability should range between 30% - 70%, but we will roleplay all magical item purchases at the start of next session.
Thank you to everybody for being patient during this battle; I know the turns were long. I also know that without index cards and miniatures, a battle this big and complicated would be nearly impossible to play. I honestly did not have a predetermined outcome for this fight, and it could easily have gone the other way. If not for the party, it would have.
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