09/07/2024 - Ambushing the Cultists (7)

A Holy Quest

Sam dries himself down and gets dressed, thinking on what he has seen and the powers of the pool. He notices the cold much more as he emerges from the cave, looking around for a dragon in the sky, but none is there.

The others have been continuing to work on their ambush for the approaching cultists. Sam heads over and tells them what he saw. They appreciate the break from the hard work, but they are a little sceptical as to how much help it was to them. Logan suggests he spends more time helping them, but Sam first heads over to the Monastery to speak to the surviving monk, who is being looked after by Brother Gregory.

Gregory tells him when he was young he went into the shrine and had a vision. They are very rare but can be life changing. He wonders if Haelyn is angry at this holy place being defiled and wants to help them. He suggests that the Companions have been chosen by Haelyn to save Prince Edmund now and he recommends that they embrace this holy quest.

Dragon Sightings

Sam then asks the injured monk about dragon sightings. He tells Sam that high up in the Five Peaks dragon sightings are not unusual, sometimes a few times a year. Occasionally they have seen two flying together. One of the other monks made records of the sightings and the colour of the dragons. He reckoned that there were at least five different dragons in the area, based on the differences in size, shape and hue of their scales.

Sam asks if the sightings are documented. The monk gestures towards an area of the library, but there are a lot of scrolls and they are covered in soot, so there is not much hope of finding the records quickly. He decides to leave it for now.

As he goes to leave, Sam is asked by Brother Gregory if he needs his help with the defences. Sam decides to let him stay there, they will call him if they need him. Sam then heads back to the others and updates them further.

Preparing the Ambush

In the meantime, Logan, Banquo and Malcolm have built a barricade at the end of the narrow ravine using stone from the burned down monastery. Then they drag a number of rocks up to the top of the cliff edge, in order to throw down onto the cultists.

Banquo suggests setting up the main ambush area not immediately in front of the barricade, but at the point when the barricade comes into view. The others agree with this and move the rocks to a strategic nook. A large rock further down to block their escape would also help, but they are not sure if they have enough time.

Malcolm suggest using fire and they realise that the monks make alcohol. Some of the wine they make was taken by the bandits, but there is still some left, including brandy, which is more flammable. They put piles of flammable wood in the ambush area, with brandy hidden underneath.

Magic of the Plateau

After that they need to rest, the work has been exhausting. Logan uses his magical abilities to heal some of Banquo’s lingering wounds. He perceives that there is something about the plateau that actually gave his magic an extra boost.

Banquo feels this too and decides to investigate the shrine with its pool. He decides to drink some of the water in the pool. It gives him a funny feeling, putting him more in tune with the magic in the plateau and without his realising, it speeds up the healing of his remaining wounds.

On Watch

Night falls and they decide it’s very unlikely that the cultists will arrive before dawn. They are very tired, but as they start to doze off Brother Gregory warns them they should post a watch, which they do. The night passes though without incident.

The Cultists Arrive

In the morning they add to the rocks and wood in the ambush point as best they can. Banquo prepares a lot of smaller rocks to cause a landslide, with help from Malcolm.

Banquo takes the northern cliff top, along with Sam, who will ignite the fire traps. Malcolm takes the southern cliff top, with his crossbow. Logan mans the barricade with his spear. They watch and wait. The whole morning and midday passes uneventfully. In the afternoon, they are suffering from watch fatigue and almost miss that the cultist have arrived.

Banquo spots them and then tries to signal Malcolm, but Malcolm is answering a call of nature. Eventually, he is able to get his attention, without drawing the attention of those below. Logan and Sam are still in the valley but Logan spots Malcolm’s signal quickly and they get into position behind the barricade.

Scout

The first cultist is a scout, who is well ahead of the rest, who are walking single file through the ravine. Just when the scout should have spotted the barricade, he instead takes an interest in the piles of wood, with the brandy underneath. This annoys Banquo a lot but he realises it’s too soon to start the attack.

The scout doesn’t really understand what the wood is therefore, but decides to carry on. He then spots the barricade and stops again.

Sam realises he needs to be the one to light the fire traps and suddenly runs up to the cliff side. It will take a few minutes for him to get there. He initially forgets to keep his head down, but remembers to do before any of the cultists spot him.

Cultists, Goblins and Guards

Meanwhile, the line of cultists beings to come into view. Banquo sees that there are about 20 of them. At the front are two men in heavy armour, then half a dozen humans in robes, then a well-dressed, bald-headed man in robes who could be their leader, followed by about 6 goblins with a well-armoured goblin leader. They are strung out along the narrow ravine in a line.

The two armoured men stop at a signal from the scout, just ahead of Banquo’s ambush area. Behind him, the robed men begin to bunch up, trying to find out what is going on. They are in a good position for Banquo to spring the trap, but he waits when he sees Sam is still getting into position.

The cultists dither. The scout begins to approach the barricade while the rest of them wait. Logan prepares to attack him.

Attack! Fire! Panic!

Once Sam arrives, he uses his fire magic to ignite a torch Banquo has, who then throws it down into one of the piles of wood. It starts to burn and Sam follows up, using his fire magic to make the flames suddenly flare up. The flames injure about half a dozen of the nearby cultists, most of whom are only wearing light armour.

The scout turns his back to see what is happening and Logan takes the opportunity to stab him in the back, injuring him. He continues to attack the scout and eventually manages to kill him.

Panic breaks out amongst the cultists, which Malcolm helps by hitting the lead cultist in the head and causing him to collapse. Behind him are the two heavily armoured Elite Guards, who are only mildly affected by the flames. Behind the Guards, around have a dozen lightly armoured cultists have been badly burnt and some killed.

The Cult Leader and the Goblins further back are unaffected, but they are trying to work out what is happening.

More Explosions

Sam continues to use his fire magic to get the rest of the flammable material to explode in flames. He comes aware that the robed Cult Leader appears to have some fire magic of his own and is trying to dampen the flames. Their magic power clashes, but Sam is more successful and he is able to cause a further explosion, using up the rest of the flammable material.

Four of the lightly-armoured cultists behind the Elite Guards have been killed by flames and a fifth badly injured.

The goblins behind the Cult Leader start to retreat but as they do they fire up at Banquo with their short bows, but none hit. Banquo sees that one of the goblins is much bigger and better armed and armoured. He assumes he is the Goblin Leader.

Banquo then starts to roll rocks into the midst of the goblins, injuring one of them. Malcolm fires at the heavily-armoured men.

Magical Dual

The Cult Leader now turns his attention directly to Sam, looking angry and vengeful. They attack each other with fire magic. Sam decides to rely on his ability to resist fire to put up no defences and go all-out attack on him, while the Leader chooses a balanced attack. Sam is just about able to overcome the Cultist Leader’s magic and cause his robes to set on fire, but it’s not much of a flame.

The Leader is unable to affect Sam in return and he begins to fear Sam’s power. He begins to retreat.

The Elite Guards are on the other side of the area that was affected by the flames. They have been reluctant to retreat in case there are further explosions, but realise they have no alternative and fall back. Malcolm harasses them with crossbow bolts as they do.

Order of the Cultists in the Valley

• A scout, ahead of the rest.
• A single robed Cultist at the front.
• Two heavily-armoured Elite Guards.
• Five lightly-armoured Cultists in robes.
• The Cultist Leader.
• A heavily-armoured goblin Leader.
• Six lightly-armoured goblins.
• A single robed Cultist at the back.

Total: 18

End of Episode Seven