The Battle at
W H I T E W A L L (Lance’s campaign)
The Faction of Brecken Ridge and White Wall
are entangled in an arms race of epic proportion, involving dragons and worse. Of the five dragons, each the size of a city, White Wall now owns two: the green and the blue.
Armies of incredible size and power are mustering, supported by magical arsenals the like of which has never been seen, and heroes such as have not walked the world in an age.
The King of White Wall knows war is
inevitable and much is at stake.
Once again his kingdom is under attack.
Another contingent of would-be defenders
has come to him seeking employment.
He has rejected so many meek,
unworthy and unprepared warriors.
How many have died already?
He doesn't have time to worry about it.
Hopefully this group will be adequate.
Tens of thousands of orcs and ogres and their allies advance on White Wall, screaming for blood. They are met by 400 giants, constructs, a hodgepodge of other forces, and a few amazing heroes who are insanely outnumbered. The armies fight upon a gigantic field 200 miles across. Occasionally the shadow of a dragon as large as a city darkens the battlefield. Often, gigantic black tentacles and eyestalks pop out of nothing into the air, slashing and grabbing at anything in sight.
At the center of it all, the cause of this battle is the slippery figure, the Military Supplier (Shawn's character, not here for this session) of King Leofrig Middleton, (Lance's human warlord, level 16, or at least that’s the level we're at). Among his advisers is The Old B-tch (Carson's character, not here for this session) who knows it all, it would seem. She teaches and guides in a creepy way and is said to consort with the Far Realm.
The King and his advisors watch the battle with interest from within the walls. Among the King's protectors (and arguably the only one he needs) is Hector Custodes (Rob's Revanent Paladin) who as payment for a past failure must defend his King unto death. Oh but that's right, he cannot die. Hector just finished helping the King assess and hire these new heroes and he is about to see how they measure up.
The King's Hero is Esmarelda, the Paladin-Ranger (who is also Sar'in the Dragon Lady Sorceress; Rod's shapeshifter has 5 personalities) who can single-handedly defeat entire armies when near groups of dragonborn. It is said she has never been seen at the same time as her friend, the psion Ethos. Though incredibly powerful, the rumor is that she has an equally powerful Far Realm nemesis. Sar’in defeated another entire army defending one of White Wall's outlying cities just prior to the main battle. Now Esmarelda is slaying all around her, including one of the enemy heroes who had been flying on a griffin earlier.
Among the heroes on the field is Zuzu (Mat’s 1/2 orc fighter) who passed the mustering trials by swearing allegiance to the King after having proven his ability by wounding Esmarelda in a practice fight. Now Zuzu is deep in the field, going after enemy commanders with gusto. It was Madame Eeyahh (P.’s human cleric) who healed Esmarelda after that mustering trial, by smacking her upside the face for being so stupid! This is a woman not to be trifled with, dark in complexion, standing 6'2" tall and made 100% out of attitude. The cleric will patch together anyone else stupid enough to get hurt. Being healed by getting smacked and yelled at might just help in itself.
Burning everything in sight from a safe distance is Rune (Ava’s warforged warlock).
V'Ronica (Kayla's drow ranger) is having a good time fighting this battle. Moving with grace, she avoids injury while her attackers drop all around her. Ruin (Jesse's white elf rogue) is closely associated with the throne room and was an advisor during the mustering trials. He arrived mysteriously by boat, having been sent by the men in black organization. Now, Ruin is out there in the battlefield somewhere, mostly unseen as the enemy drop with equal mystery.
The giant wrangler arrived somewhat unexpectedly from the hinterlands, claiming to be Emperor Kontor Smidge Lokag, G-d Emperor of the Giants (Dave’s goliath wizard). Accompanying him are 200 fire giants and 200 earth titan giants. After initially requesting an alliance of empires, Kontor kneels before King Leofrig because the truth is they are down to half rations. “We were hungry,” he says simply upon being asked why he joined.
Giants do eat a lot, as the carcasses of a herd of sheep consumed the night before battle attest. The giants obey Kontor’s commands without question, as he is their tactician and wizard and also because he possesses the crown of their ancient king, the Eye of the Old G-ds. Kontor found the Eye accidentally while seeking other magical knowledge and spells. He stands nearly 8’ tall (okay, 7’7”) as is normal for a goliath, but his friends among the giants call him Smidge because to them he’s a pretty small giant. In battle Kontor wields a storm spells and a tome that summons nasty creatures such as the Stormstone Fury, which in turn damages foes at a distance with thunder attacks. Because he specializes in ranged magical attacks, in this battle Kontor fights from atop the crenellated white wall of White Wall itself. His giants operate fearsomely on their own, having been given simple guidelines, tactics and instructions earlier (mostly involving who would stand in close combat and who would stay back and throw rocks).
The golem wrangler, Shar-I-Zaard (Jon’s shardmind artificer) brings forth clouds of mechanical spiders that give the orcs and ogres fits, then commands a few very tough looking magical, mechanical soldiers to stand and fight in a straight line in front of him. By the end of the battle, the the strange crystalline artificer is completely untouched.
The battle is fierce but the invisible siege devices of the orc army are not found in time to save one of White Wall’s towers. It falls atop the final enemy commander who is flung beneath it by Esmarelda. But the fall of his tower dismays the king who is happy the battle is won by his army but gives the tower and its former inhabitants a heartfelt eulogy. Kontor, who climbed that very grand tower on his way to the top of the wall, puts his giants to work replacing the original materials where they go, guided by a prolonged illusion from a scroll provided by the king’s wizards, of the tower as it appeared when it was standing. Though many have died, the orcs might be a bit crestfallen because by appearances from a distance, the tower is somehow still standing after all.
