World War II - The Vanguard Issue #5 Battle of the Queens!

Admin wrote:OOC Last chance throw of the dice chaps. The balance is at tipping point. Whatever you each do in the next round determines the fate of the pirates...

OOC:

Ok reviewing our progress, we seemed to have really failed to grasp this one! So we need to change tactic. I didn't realise we could dispel the undead, I was rather hoping the transmutation would be more effective and wide reaching. Ok so its time for me to call on my dark power so I can cast a wide enough spell to take control off and dismiss the undead of equal or greater power. So lets make the rolls to do that!

Frostbite could see how they were being chewed to pieces, those with silvered weapons, would grow tired and exhaustion would take them, things were desperate. But a sudden thought occurred to him, never before had he used the dark power to gain the sort of control that brought these things from their graves. Could he requisition the power to reverse the process. He shivered and not from the cold, the thought of these creatures filled him with a deep loathing and dread. They had to go.

"Ok my friend, we need to try something these people will call magic, we've got to dispel these undead!"

Sj

OOC: Oh crap its down to this, a dice roll! Better let Paul do it I think mate :-D

IC: " I'll buy you some time, we need to save those men they'll get cut off and flanked before we know it" sentinel knew this could be a one way trip.......not for the first time. He then bound into the air then almost instantly striking a clump of undead fists first, like lightening striking a dry tree on a hill top, working around to the flank the silver weapon welding pirates up the front sending the undead skeletons reeling.

Silver Sentinel rose into the air, then dived down, dragging a clump of undead with him! He rose, fists swinging and chopping, pounding the zombies and skeletons into the ground.

Some stayed down. Many rose again.

Frostbite looked about - the Pirates were about to panic and break! Most of their efforts were wasted as they attempted to kill what was already dead flesh! He reached inside to summon the Dark power...

OOC No mention of points so I'll assume you play it safe. With Dark power level 3 whatever you get is multiplied by 3 anyway. So I figure... what, 7 points? Roll of 4,4 plus 4,3 for Frostbite, plus ego (15). Roll of 10,1 for Dark Power. No problems there. Dark Power points 6,5,4,1,8,2,9. 35 points x 3 =105. Frostbite summons the ability to somehow control the undead... It's a form of magic (necromancy) which costs him 40 points for grade 1, then another 45 for 3 more grades. I'll assume 20 points go on ego then.

Frostbite rose into the air, and the sky seemed to darken about him! He thrust his arms out, and his voice seemed to carry across the forest!

"Things that walk, but do not breathe,
That even blades cannot cleave,
Heed me now, dare not to leave,
Or your souls will burn, and forever grieve!"

The attacks stopped.

OOC Roll of 9 plus boosted ego (35) for Frostbite. Roll of 8 for The Dark Queen (plus her ego).

The pirates sagged back, wounded, exhausted, terrified. The Undead stayed where they were, transfixed by the powerful Necromantic magic that Frostbite commanded! Somewhere inside of him knew that his command was fleeting, and would last only a few moments. That the Dark Queen could raise these things up and command them to attack was some indicator of her power and the challenge ahead, but right now Frostbite was in command! He turned to look at the pirates. Warm, vibrant life! Ready to leech and rend, to tear and draw their... He blinked. The magic was affecting him somehow! Whatever he was going to say or do to the Undead, it would have to be quick!

OOC Grade 4 Necromancy, so it's spells to do with the dead. No specifics, just choose an effect and we'll see if it works. At this grade you'd be the equivalent of a 20th level Necromancer I should think in D&D, if they have those in the 4e game.

One of the pirates, lying on his back and moments away from having his throat torn out, looked at the icy floating figure. "About bloody time!" he spluttered, terrified. "Ah, has anyone got a spare loincloth?"

Admin wrote:OOC Grade 4 Necromancy, so it's spells to do with the dead. No specifics, just choose an effect and we'll see if it works. At this grade you'd be the equivalent of a 20th level Necromancer I should think in D&D, if they have those in the 4e game.

One of the pirates, lying on his back and moments away from having his throat torn out, looked at the icy floating figure. "About bloody time!" he spluttered, terrified. "Ah, has anyone got a spare loincloth?"

OOC:I would have tried this much sooner had I know such a feat was even possible! Since there is no such thing in the old GH rules I never thought to ask. I think I will ask from now on.

Ok here is the deal, I don't know what this kind of power affords me, but I want to dispel the souls and banish them from returning, so the dead cannot be used, or at least this fresh supply of bodies. Since we are in the wilderness, I am hoping that buy's us a temporary reprieve. So in effect I want to reverse whatever she did to animate them and make it permanent.

If such a feat isn't possible then I suggest the clump together in a nice great be pile and I blow the lot to smithereens.

I'm open to other suggestions, however ;-)

Sj

OOC: Unless you send them to return to the dark queen & rip her limb from limb before they crumble into dust.......or do you think she'll rise as a undead version of her former self SJ?

I think sentinel would prefer the blowing up option as he hasnt got to blow anything up in a while ...sniff...sniff :'(

OOC The only limit to the powers and effects you can call on are your imagination and supply of Dark Power points. Feel free to surf through the D&D players handbook or whatever and come up with a power (after all D&D 4e 1st level characters are virtually superheroes ) that suits the situation, just call it along the lines of a superpower rather than Mordenkainens Fabulous Exploding Underpants or whatever.

Frostbite concentrated. He could 'see' the souls within the lifeless shells, and that included the incorporeal ones too! With a shout, and chanting ancient, forbidden words long forgotten by the minds of decent folk, he invoked dark powers to open a gate into the world beyond unlife... and sent a compulsion for the undead to go to it...

And they did.

Silver Sentinel continued to hammer away with his fists, feeling his energy build up inside again. Soon he'd be able to... He paused. The Zombies and ghouls in front of him crumbled into dust! All about, the dead fell away, or melted like mist!

In moments, the Pirates were left alone in the silent forest, exhausted, terrified, bloodied and cleaved.

Sentinel and Frostbite gathered with Merissa and her Pirate Captains. "We're gettin' a head count Cap'n. We lost plenty o good sailors, including Scarlet Rob."

Merissa glanced up at the name, but nodded. She turned to the Vanguardians. "You came through. Finally. Shame so many of us had to die before you called on your magick! Necromancer, Wizard, Knight, Sorcerer... is there nothing you two are not?"

"We reckon on around a hundred dead, an' two hundred ain't leavin' this place soon. Of those..." said the Captain, voice trailing off. "Out with it!" she hissed. "Th' wounds are festerin' already Cap'n..." muttered the Pirate.

Cursing, Merissa sagged onto a fallen log. "Leave liquor. It will ease their final hours. Wizard... can you fire this place?"

"Captain!" hissed one of the Pirates. "These are out men!"

"They are corpses, ready to rise and turn on us!" she replied. "Would you have them rend your throat in the night! Tell them the truth if you will. Most will want not to return as one of them!"

She turned to Sentinel and Frostbite. "Unless you two can cure the men, we will despatch them. That leaves... around 950 or so remaining. Trust me though. We will fight this Dark Queen like devils, and carve our legend in her hide!"

The Dragon landed, and morphed into human form, having circled the battlefield in case it became overrun. "If you round up the Pirates, I can ... despatch them."

OOC Unless you want to try something to save the pirates, the dragon will torch those gathered with its breath weapon. A cruel fate for such brave warriors, but better that than they rise to feed on the living! After that, we'll wrap this part of the adventure and move time on...

Admin wrote:The Dragon landed, and morphed into human form, having circled the battlefield in case it became overrun. "If you round up the Pirates, I can ... despatch them."

OOC Unless you want to try something to save the pirates, the dragon will torch those gathered with its breath weapon. A cruel fate for such brave warriors, but better that than they rise to feed on the living! After that, we'll wrap this part of the adventure and move time on...

Frostbite didn't care for either option, but he was aware that the power he drew upon was power reality altering even. What these folk called magic to him, bent the laws of physics and made them irrelevant - they might as well be magic.

Looking about he could tell that there was an air of resolve mixed with despair, what could he do to relieve their suffering and ease their passage from this world?

OOC:
I had a look on a D&D wiki and there is a magic user spell called Heal its epic level, so major powerful but it says, "with the heal seed channel positive energy into a creature to wipe away disease and injury. Such a spell completely cures all diseases, blindness, deafness, hit point damage, and temporary ability damage."

If that is so then I want to take some of the dark power and use it to open a gateway to positive energy plane and channel that energy via this spell into the lives of all those affected here to heal them. Then the dragon can eviscerate the remaining bodies to make sure they do not come back for us.

I want to make a point that there is a benefit to fighting with us, as I think this is important to the whole army. People still die, but they can die well and live well. So I'll do all the necessary elements and see what you think.

The website for the spell listed is here http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Heal_(Epic_Spell_Seed)

Sj

OOC Well you have Magic Grade 4, and anything you cast will be as if you're a master mage.I would have restricted it to Necromancy, save that there really aren't many necromantic spells and the magic that most wizards cats is a mixture of all schools. Therefore...

"I'll need..." said Frostbite looking about. He felt the power sliding from him, draining away. "Not much time! Move away from the fire! A container! A pan!"

A pirate started, then offered the pot of stew that was now ruined. Frostbite tipped it out, ignored the protests, and blasted ice into the container, filling it. Then he hung it over the fire, where it immediately started to melt. As it did, he was chanting, a long dead language from a time when Dragons couldn't speak.

Raspandarr was impressed. "I recognised some of the words - I am a spellcaster - but much of what your friend says is beyond me." it said to Sentinel. Making strange hand gestures and shouting at odd points in the chanting, Frostbite finally grabbed the dagger from a pirates sheath, then de-iced and ran it over his finger, letting the blood drip into the fire below the pot. His time was nearly up...

The flame flared bright white and men leapt back, making the sign of the protective horn!

Then Frostbite felt the dark power leave him. They were left with a pot of clear liquid, freezing cold despite the roaring flame beneath it. "In fer a penny." grunted a pirate, and stuck his finger in, pulling it out to taste. "Water. Huh."

"Oy! Look!" said another pirate.

Eyes widened as they saw the pirate who'd sampled the water found his wounds - scratches, bruises and the odd bite - close and change colour! In moments, they were gone! He grinned, and groaned. He reached into his mouth, then pulled out a gold tooth, covered in blood. "Maybe not that... huh!" He probed with a finger then gave a bloody smile, a new tooth in the place of the one that'd just been pushed out! He grinned again, then pumped Frostbites hand "Ye're a devil spawned wizard I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw, but you've done alright be us, thus far!" he said. "You an' your armoured mate who fights like an army!"

The pot of precious healing water was handed out to those wounded, whether they were slight or severe, and as they were doing so, Merissa nodded, impressed. "If that stuff works on everyone like it did him, our numbers, and morale, aye, will be boosted considerably. Care to share the recipe for the spell? Also... " she smiled "Know that there's always a place for the pair of ye - aye, and your grumpy dragon - with my fleet!"

OOC Next post will have you heading towards the final battle - good vs evil, for the fate of Albion!

After helping the sick and helpless scattered over the battlefield to frostbites magic remedy sentinel joined frostbite at the top of a hill and surveyed the damage.

"You've saved a lot of lifes he2re today I dont need to tell you......but there is one more thing Joe...er" sentinel now lowered his voice to a whisper "...could your magic potion stop my hair loss?"

Admin wrote:OOC heh Watch out for a new issue tomorrow chaps. It will be the final chapter of your adventures in Albion. You might think you've had it easy so far - use the Dark power, blast a few bad guys, job done... This one? You'll have to rely more on your 'normal powers' than ever before...

"Oh dear, I can see this being challenging!"

Sj