To avenge (Everyone)

[Ebiris]

The Blade of Endings could deal with anathemic secrecy, but even if she still had it the price is too high... dwelling on that for a moment Afina shakes it off and focuses her mind to the task of planning. "I think we should attack the other targets with small strike teams, then leave Lethe for last to assault with Aurora directly." She looks around the others at the table, "Call it vanity if you like, but I'm not willing to risk Aurora without our generals and elites present, and those are exactly who we need to be leading those strike teams. So we go in and hit those other places hard and fast, wipe out the defenders and raze or plunder all Lixer's assets, then regroup for a mass assault on Lethe. Either Lixer will think we don't know about it and pull back his most vital minions there, or he'll expect an attack and place his strongest. Either way it gives us a chance to massively erode his support base and send a clear message even if we don't kill him personally."

"As for the strike teams, I think we can be fairly flexible in regards to the Empty Crypt and his base on Earth, but given the situation on Gehenna we should send our best infiltrators - make it a clean strike straight at Finality without rousing the other natives. Or else we're going to be sat around this table again in a few months deciding how we're going to punish the Adversary after he gets his revenge for us messing up his city."

[Anastasia]

Adrian nods slightly, "I can support that," he says, "A three fold strike and then a finisher against Lethe at a later time. We do need to leave a reserve force at Aurora, in case Hell tries something while we're away."

"Are you implying they might get wind of it? Misalea murmurs, "Like there is a spy?"

"No." Adrian cracks a smile at her, gesturing, "Just in case they get lucky, or have good oracles or whatever reason may lead to it. No sense wearing good armor and leaving the back exposed."

"Such is only prudent." Morniel declares, "Myself or Gisfal can lead Aurora while the elites see to this plan."

"Yeah, and I can help out," Moonlight calls, "I know we've just met, but I'm good at standing there and dealing with it. Some filthy devil spellcaster cries something and WHAM!" She mimes a punch, "Right to the face!" She giggles after that, "I'm very good that. Smite them in the name of Lathander and leave them rubbing their sore ass when they reappear in Hell."

"Yes." Morniel clears his throat, "Be that as it may, then the next step is to determine what qualities each team needs. Finality will need stealthy warriors who can deal with the undead as well as magic. The Empty Crypt will need people who can survive Vacuum's conditions as well as redundancy in case magic is relied on and those means are dispelled. The ability to strike ghostly creatures is also a premium there. Finally, for Earth, the local conditions alone suggest at least one person able to travel well through Earth's rocks, or someone capable of making unlimited and swift tunnels for travel."

"I'm good for Vacuum, all of that I can do." Adrian says, "As for the rest..."

Assuming no one objects, that means 4 groups to make. Three assault teams and a team to lead whomever stays on Aurora. You don't have to put any  PCs on a particular team, though it does leave the results out of your hands.

[Ebiris]

"I'll take charge for Gehenna then," Afina says. "This'll probably be a smaller squad than needed anywhere else, but I'll want everyone we've got who's skilled in stealth. That'd be Sylvie, the Master, Tannin, and Surraruthru," she says, looking at each as she names them to make sure they're up for the challenge.

"Vacuum and Earth are probably going to call for magic and melee focused groups respectively. Ithea should probably take charge for Earth - she's familiar with it and 27 can burrow. Take the shredstorms as well, they can serve as excavators in a pinch, and the other golems are all well suited for battle in those conditions. That leaves Jaela as best suited to lead the assault on the Final Crypt. Any thoughts on who you'd want to take?" she asks her fellow generals after volunteering them for their assignments.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I had some thoughts for who'd be a good fit where but it's up to you guys!

For Earth I figured Ithea, Moore, golem squad, 27, Baleruk, Balyss, Rosa, and Dana would serve well as a brute squad buffed up by Moore's stuff and with Balyss on hand for healing/transport.

For Vacuum I'd suggest Jaela, Calleigh/Tryll, Hanna, Canderella, Vivantha, Adrian, Meillarberyl, Simmer as a more mage-focused group for dealing with whatever creepy shit's there. Vivantha/Canderella serve the same buffing role as Moore and everyone except Canderella and Simmer can easily deal with incorporeal stuff.

This does leave us with no PCs guarding the base, but we've got tons of NPCs and our army and we're on the positive energy plane so it should be fine.

[Corwin]

"I like this plan," Jaela agrees, nodding curtly at Afina. "Moore's got some useful contacts and could help Ithea with Earth, like he said. That leaves Vacuum to me. I kinda wanted to kill some liches, but if you want a stealth team that's how things are. I agree with your reasons, anyway."

She considers likely candidates for her own strike team, before saying, "It's best to stick with groups that have great teamwork, not just skills. I think our family could handle it with a few volunteers. Candy? Vivantha?" Not dwelling on the specifics right now, Jaela adds, "I do think a person in each group needs to stay in telepathic link, with each other group and with Aurora itself. And a second one to keep each strike team connected between themselves."

Spoiler: ShowHide

I generally agree with Eb's suggestion. I think the Vacuum group would work best with the core of Jaela, Adrian, Hanna, Mirajane, Candy, Vivantha, Moonlight. Yuth, wanna beat up some undead evil together? Mei and Mirima to round the group up, then, if none have reservations.

[Nephrite]

Just stating for the record Moore would like to do a Commune and Divination (if needed afterwards) on the Mineral angle.

[Anastasia]

Duly noted, Moore. We'll cover that after the meeting, probably in that group's thread.

[Anastasia]

"That can work," Adrian says, looking about and waiting for Ithea or the others to comment.

Basically leaving the floor open for comments right now.

[Iron Dragoon]

Surraruthru hums to himself in consideration, staring at Kascha.

"... Well... I guess it's technically far harder for Kascha to die without my being around to guard her... I'll go if it's what's needed. I am stealthy, but I'll need time to memorize the correct spells to deal with the undead, though. This will be my first real fight against a force like this, so I'll have to read a bit on them."

Spoiler: ShowHide

On the team side, I think we're good for Gehenna. I can punch through undead mind-affecting immunity, though I still need to figure something out for DCs, my spells are all good-aligned and give bonuses vs. Evil and Evil sub-type, and I also have a hide from undead stealth item. With Wand as a back up, I can do damage with my spells as a last resort.

Also, I asked in nagging but no one responded. I'd like to know what buffs 6th level Wizard spells gives me access to that won't get overridden by everyone's equipment.

As a note, I'm considering swapping out some of my feat stuff. Noticeably Unsettling Enchantment and Faerie Dragon's Guile. Unsettling Enchantment seems mechanically nice, but I think with the numbers we deal with, -1 AC/ATK isn't as useful as some other feats. I think I'm going to go with just pure stealth instead of trying to boost the SLA; feat slots are just too valuable for me to spend on it. I also have to pick up a few items.

[Anastasia]

Quick note: Due to group sizes, I'll likely be assigning NPCs for PCs to control. Do bear this in mind and note if there's someone you'd prefer to run.

[Yuthirin]

"We can do stealthy! And Tryll can make magic users very unhappy!"

Spoiler: ShowHide

Calleigh & Tryll will go where they're sent, but as they can both be incorporeal, their stealth abilities are superior to most as they make no sound and can hide inside of solid objects.  Tryll can also, over a few rounds, manufacture areas of wild magic.

[Ebiris]

"Alright, you two will be under me then," Afina nods to the smaller fairy-like creature.

I did like the two PCs per team setup but it's good to go with where your skills fit best. I hadn't considered the benefits of incorporeality in stealth and was looking at it from a mirror match vs ghosts perspective/

[Corwin]

I liked the nice symmetry myself, but Yuth makes sense. We can always mix and match on the second wave, when Aurora attacks Deep Ethereal. In any case, let's go ahead and add Mei and Mirima to the Vacuum group to bring us up to 8?

[Nephrite]

Quick note: Due to group sizes, I'll likely be assigning NPCs for PCs to control. Do bear this in mind and note if there's someone you'd prefer to run.

If there's anyone relatively simple, I can do it, but I'd rather not have any casters assigned to me. I have enough trouble keeping track of all of my spells as-is.

[Merc]

"We do," Ithea says in reply to Stille's earlier question, and then muses Afina's suggestion. Though a part of her wants to note that she's skilled at stealth also, there really wasn't a need for her in that team, and she'd definitely fit better as part of the Earth team as Afina suggested.

"I'm fine with navigating Earth, and as for team members...well, if we're trying to improve the intel through Mineral, I'll definitely take Moore. I'd like to take Balyss and Dana as well, other than that...Crystal, Mirima and Rosa would probably work well with us?" Ithea muses outloud. "27 isn't an option, he died on Earth once. I can scout myself and I have means to earth glide though. The shredstorms will be useful, so I'll take them too. Baleruk or Stille are probably the only other ones I can think of as potential members. And that's assuming we could even drag Baleruk away from his hoard."

She still wasn't sure on who to take besides Dana, Balyss and Moore.

Crystal, Mirima, Rosa, Baleruk and Stille all had pros and cons, but Baleruk was the one she felt most uncertain on, as he would add a significant amount of firepower to the team, but he wasn't exactly subtle and she didn't want to give the devils even more time to prepare. She hadn't been joking (much) about concern with dragging him from his hoard either. Lastly...she admittedly felt uncomfortable taking a team with both pixie and dragon to deal with a devil outpost again. The parallels in place? Just the thought of it left a terribly bad taste in her mouth and she struggled not to show signs of unsteady nerves. Not here.


"Can the both of you fly?" she asks Mirima and Rosa both, trying to drive her thoughts towards something more useful to the matter. The two were the ones she had the least experience working with, for all that she thought they might work well together. Everyone else she had named as potential members in her team at least she knew had means to do so. "There's a lot of times where the ground is not as steady as you might think, the landscape may change on you at any moment, and sometimes the only way to travel forward is to go down some chasm. It's not absolutely necessary to be able to fly, but it can help a fair bit."

[Anastasia]

"I can cast fly," Mirima speaks up, while Rosa shakes her head.

"Obtaining such means would be logical before we go." Rosa says.