Mid-battle in a frozen woodland, with archer towers lining the perimeter, the party continues their march towards victory. The bone piles scattered around the area have been destroyed, as have the inhabitants of said bone piles. A quarter of the archers have been killed, leaving 15 to go. Although they’ve lost just over half of their allies, they are clearly going to steamroll over the remaining enemies. Well… they WERE going to steamroll over the remaining enemies… However, the birds of prey they’d noticed earlier have suddenly descend upon the battlefield. With wingspans of over 150 feet, these things rival the largest dragons any of them has ever even heard of, let alone seen.
They all come to the realization that perhaps this is the Rocs’ territory. It now makes sense why the tower ladders are all on the forest side. Typically, these would be positioned on the protected side of the towers; it seemed odd that they were all facing where the party had entered from… unless this IS the protected side, and these archers are to protect the Rocs from outside the necropolis grounds. Well, that’s a little unfortunate.
Incomprehensible whispers fill Farron’s mind, stunning him for several seconds.
The Roc near Aran, grabs him in its talons, preventing him from moving. The Roc bites Aran with its gigantic beak and ensures its protectors can also attack Aran without issue.
Farron summons a Force Cage around the Roc near Qarzdaq, effectively removing it from the battle! Not a moment too soon either…
Qhortho Fey Steps to the top of a nearby tower, shatters the archer, then jumps down on top of the Frost Giant Skeleton at the base. The precision strike coupled with Qhortho’s weight is enough to destroy the skeleton. He then Fey Steps from tower to tower, shattering the archers with his Valyrian Greatsword.
Meanwhile, Aran kills the Roc holding him and manages to kill the other enemies surrounding him. Seeing Qhortho popping between towers makes him want some of that action. He rushes towards the closest manned archer tower, climbs the ladder, and kills its tenant. When an Animated Breath and Coldlight Walker appear at the base, he gets a short running start and leaps to the next tower, killing the archer there upon landing.
Farron, Simon, and Qarzdaq continue landing strikes on the scraps left behind when they can, but they continue to be held captive by whispers that saturate their minds…
Fucking Dorleck…
They restrict using their limited remaining spell slots knowing more enemies will need to be dispatched soon. Once all of the archers are killed, they expect to see more of the Animated Breaths and Coldlight Walkers. And then there’s the damn Deathlocks and Deathlock Wights that they expect to appear once Dorleck decides to bounce.
We end this session on Day 960, still mid-battle and just about to start Round 16. None of their previous battles, in all their lives, have ever gone this long. And this isn’t quite at a close.
The currently remaining enemies are the gigantic Roc (still in the force cage), 4 Animated Breaths, 4 Coldlight Walkers, and 7 Skeletal Archers, but with more enemies to enter, they’d better get their shit together. With their resources and health dwindling, their time is running out. Further, only one ally remains alive.