You wait for action for now, as Aurora gathers itself in Elysium. Soon Elena appears before you, "Hi, Gisfal would like to see you in the strategy room."
"Thank you."
Surraruthru heads towards the strategy room!
Three are in here - Adrian, Gisfal and a scribe writing everything said down. "At ease," Gisfal commands, "We're making sense of the battle. Tell us in your own words what happened, from the time you marched out of Aurora until you reached ita gain."
Surraruthru lands on the table, shaking out his wings and stretching his body a bit.
"Mmm.. Well, we entered the fog and advanced. Moore and I took position in the rear to get a better vantage of the lines and to spot where our assistance was most needed. Moore began his music while I waited for a more concrete conflict area to appear in the battle lines. Once the engagement started in earnest, I sent my magic through the Tapestry and empowered the key personnel and squad leaders.
We initially pushed through without much issue, with the Lillends further empowering the lines. Shortly after, the Styx-rain began. We spotted it right away, and Moore sent a runner to Grisfal about it. I figured a strong enough wind or fire could deal with it, but I had not prepared any such spell. I was hoping to dispel it, but we couldn't find a source point for it. It began eating away at our weaker spells almost immediately, according to Moore.
Without being able to do anything about it, we simply dealt with it being present and pushed on. We began to hit the outer rim of the defenses, and the Styx-rain became heavier, and were informed about the flanking forces. We started getting a stream of mentally injured forces from the front lines. The flanking force hit us shortly after that. I sent a Hellball into their formation and ripped it apart for the most part, along with the Lillend's sonic attacks. A couple of Malebranches came after Moore and I, and the retreat was called. Moore separated from the one after him, and I sent a Greater Shout into the face of the one who was foolish enough to come after me.
The Vanguard showed up after that, and things were so mixed, I couldn't send any offensive spells into the lines without ripping apart our forces with them, so I summoned a Unicorn to assist with the healing. After that, we arrived back inside Aurora.
If I may posit, I think the Styx-rain ate away our Mind Blanks and mental protections. The devils had something that took advantage of it. I fear it speaks for them either having knowledge of our normal protections and their strength, or something that was able to simply over power them. Nothing we ran into really posed much of a threat in the scheme of the battle, to be honest. Everything we saw, we ripped and tore apart. I couldn't see the lines faltering anywhere from where I was. To be honest, I was surprised by the call for retreat."
The sound of the scribe recording your words is joined by the sight of Adrian occasionally nodding. It's Gisfal that speaks up when it's over, however.
"What was your opinion of the diabolical strategies and tactics, as best you understand them from your position?"
"I didn't see much due to the fog, but it seemed... Basic. That's not necessarily an indication of lack of skill or planning, but it seemed like a simple flanking and fall back maneuver. Nothing in the force composition was unusual or stand-out from what I saw. No real big hitters or significant threats.
If I could get details about the other parts of the field, I could put together a better picture, but from what I have... It seems like they used fairly mundane forces to bog us down; to have us trod through mud and break against the walls, so to speak, and let the Styx-rain open a weakness that they had planned for. The lack of those heavy hitters leads me to believe that the Styx-rain may have been a double edged sword for them... Perhaps the common thread to their force composition was a resistance to a mind effect? If so, and the Styx-rain hit their forces the same way, it explains why something more powerful or more protected wasn't present.
However, if they were counting on the Styx-rain to be their primary defense, even if it did work, then it was... a significant gamble on their part. It could have been countered with sufficient wind spells or freezing. The fact that we didn't have access to that, didn't have it prepared, reveals either a significant hole in our planning. The fact that we have the level of intellect we do planning these things makes it feel... suspicious."
"That was my impression as well. It wasn't a complex defense because they didn't need a complex defense," Adrian says.
"I think that's enough. Thank you, dismissed," Gisfal says. After a moment he adds, "One more thing. How much strength do you think the devils may have been holding back here?"
Surraruthru cocks his head a bit to look up at the ceiling with one eye, considering for a moment.
"A significant amount. If I'm right in that the forces we encountered had a resistance to an effect that they used the Styx-rain to enable or enhance, then whatever forces they had that did not have such a resistance would have been housed inside the building. Depending on the lay out of the halls and rooms, they could have set the whole place up to be a channelized killing funnel, and would have ensured their forces inside could take advantage of it. Combined with the amount of time they would have to position those forces while we slogged through the rain and outer defenses... They would have been exactly where they wanted and we would have paid for it.
It likely would have been a slaughter, and the deaths would have been... bad."
Gisfal considers, "This doesn't leave the room, but I agree. The first force was most likely a delaying force, and we lacked the power to make and hold the assault needed to circumvent or power through that. They didn't need powerful devils to stop us when our own mind and memories betray."
Surraruthru nods.
"It was a masterfully planned defense. We should adopt it ourselves. In fact, we should weaponize it. A purifying force or something that specifically targets evil."
"Sometimes the simplest strategies are best," Adrian notes, "We have something like that as a defense on the gate and courtyard, but not as an active attack. More automated attacks, especially as we use Aurora as an attacking asset."
"A funnel is easy to set up, the courtyard and entrance hall is set up for it. However, if the devil push that far, we've already gravely miscalculated," Gisfal agrees. "There's been discussions about that sort of weapon before, I think it's due to be brought up again.
"To go out on a dangerous limb, as a suggestion, we could do much worse than Goldenfire, or the embers we collected."
"Let's wait until we have that finished and sorted first," Adrian says, "Last report I heard is that they still needed to go back and finish it."
"Oh? Finish what? The assault?"
"The business with goldenfire," Adrian says, "Nevermind it for now." He glances to Gisfal, "Anything else?"
Gisfal shakes his head. "You're dismissed, Surraruthru."
Surraruthru nods and takes back to flight, heading back to his lair for a bit of rest.
You return. You find Kascha there, curled up on the couch she had brought in. She's also gotten a blanket there and is snoozing away, her gentle breathing the only sound in the room. Her wings wrap around her and are covered by her blanket, her sword resting on the ground besides the couch.
Surraruthru suppresses a snort at the audacity of another making a dragon's lair their apparent lounge, but instead simply finds a comfortable position on his pile of gold to refresh his spells.
Like this you have a peaceful rest, a time to recover after the day's excitement. Kascha sleeps for a time, rising as you finish. "Mmm." She stretches, "Oh, good morning, Surraruthru! What a hectic day that was."
"Indeed. It is... distasteful to have been defeated as such. I made the suggestion to try and find a way to use Goldenfire as a counter or a match for the type of defenses we came on. I feel I should make headway towards that once this business is finished and the Sword of Myr found. Speaking of, shall we check on those dwarves?"
"Yes, let's see if the infirmary made any progress on them," Kascha says. "I hope so, that was horrible."
Surraruthru nods and takes flight, heading towards the infirmary.
The main part of the infirmary is taken up by recovering Styx exposure cases. However, a section has been curtained off, keeping the noise out and giving space for the dwarves to lie. Most of them are asleep, Hanna overseeing them. She's talking to one in a language you don't recognize immediately. His eyes are wide and his body twitches, but he's conversing.
Eyes the other dwarves before landing next to Hanna, waiting for her to finish with the dwarf.
Hanna stops as you approach, switching to Draconic. "They're suffering from intense shock and mental maladies associated with that. Dissociation, madness, catatonia. Tongues is best to communicate with them, since their ability to speak has been damaged. It's a slurry of dwarven, common and various fiendish dialects, to the point of being a new language."
"Have you found out anything about them? Where they're from or what the ritual was for?"
"A Prime Material called Mordaron," Hanna says, "The dwarven kingdom of Bardal. They aren't sure. A madman is said to have come to Bardal and began kidnapping people. He was one of them and he sent them through a portal to that inn. He suspects that since dwarves stopped coming, the madman was killed."
"Or they got what they wanted. Or who they wanted. There might be something significant about one of them, a profile or trait or something. Though that's more for someone with more familiarity to find out. In any case, is there anything you need from me, or that I can do?"
Hanna turns and says something as the dwarf shakes, a hand on his shoulder. He calms as she murmurs words that sound soothing. Then back in the tongue of dragons, "Yes. If you have any questions, he's in a state to answer them."
"I don't know all that much about the Father, so I don't really have any questions. We came across them by chance while going after Secretus. I suppose if he has any knowledge about Secretus, I'd like to hear it, but I doubt he does."
A short back and forth. "Nothing," Hanna says.
Surraruthru nods.
"We were just stopping by to check in. They should probably speak to someone more involved with the Father. In any case, between them and the Styx-rain patients, I imagine this place will be busy for a while. Kascha, did you have anything to ask?"
So, for the most part, I don't think I really have much to do, unless there's something I can do to advance either the sword, grove, or vault things. If there's nothing on those fronts, then either the Hydras or the Spiders for weaving. Or what's-her-name for fashion stuff.
"No, nothing that can't wait," Kascha says, "Oh, but I have questions for you and Baleruk. It's about the tenth draconic rune in transmutations and evocations. Do you...?"
You're in a weird spot, since we're waiting on Jaela and Afina's missions. I have some more fluff things or you can just pause and wait for that to finish out. Fluff stuff would be the hydras (a worthy project, admittedly), spiders or Bubbles.
> roll 1d3 1 hydra 2 spider 3 bubbles
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 1 > [d3=1]
So be it.
You find the hydras in their icy pool. To your surprise, you also find Bubbles there. She's leading them along, "Now up and then down. When emerging from water, speed and a decisive strike are critical, so that you take advantage of the moment of surprise. Don't be afraid to make a big splash, get water everywhere. Land bound opponents might slip on it." She's walking about the edge of the pool and gesturing.
The hydras reply in a chorus of yes ma'ams and swim down then burst up, sending cold water everywhere.
Silently closes his eyes, trying to fend off the headache he knows is going to come his way from this before shaking his head and moving to the edge of the pool.
"Hello. Seems like you're all having a fun and productive time."
"Of course I am," Bubbles says, "Surru, these are an absolute treasure. I've met cryohydras before, but they're all so," she leans in to whisper, "Boring. This is a refreshing change of pace."
"I'm glad you're finding enjoyment in their presence. If you don't mind, and the Hydras want, I'd like to spend some time helping them learn more. They're still new to... everything."
"Certainly, dearie. Do have fun with them," Bubbles says, heading off and away at your request.
Surraruthru gathers the Cryohydras around, intending to try and explain the subjects they're curious about in detail, and help prepare them for a regular as-normal-as-they-can-get life in Aurora.
Do you recall what skill check you used for teaching before?
You asked for Oratory or something, I think, but I subbed it for Diplo. I was planning to train out of Diplo since I don't use it, but I figured that was more of a when-we-level thing, unless you want to go ahead and approve me for it and I'll just swap it real quick.
You're not in downtime, so no retraining. Make a Diplo check.
> roll 1d20+33 Diplo
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 45 > [d20=12]
Right now it's mostly battle tactics and working with the army. "We weren't part of the battle," Blue says, "We're still learning about organization and armies. We're also trying to figure out organization. It's hard, but they say it's useful. Is it?"
"It is. A way to think about it is this: if all of your heads acted separately, you'd never be able to get anything done. But since they're all you, and they all work in concert, you're more effective. And if you and your family hunt together, to steer a school of fish in a specific direction, or towards a trap, then you get more food. An army is the same way. If everyone did whatever they wanted, it'd be chaos. But if they all act together, they can accomplish things together that they wouldn't be able to do alone."
Ice pipes up, "That sounds like how Sir Cresiel described it," she says, "And about how important order is over chaos. All our heads have to work in unison, or nothing gets done." A murmur of agreement goes through the hydras.
Surraruthru nods.
"That's a good way to think of it as well. He's speaking on a far greater scale, though. He's talking about actions in life and rules of the world and universe. Be careful of too much order, though. If you institute too many rules, then personal freedom ceases to exist. As an example, if the rules say you can only have one type of fish, but you don't like that fish, then you don't get a choice in it. Like Blue found out about Ice not liking that one fish. A little chaos, a little freedom, is what makes us each who we are."
"So enough rules to help but not too many to strangle?" Blue summarizes, tilting all of his heads to the side.
"Exactly. Rules should be a framework for how to behave. Don't steal other's food, don't take someone else's home, but it shouldn't dictate to you what kind of food you're allowed or what kind of home you can have or where. That's very simplified, but it seems like you understand the core of it."
Nods all around from the hydras.
Hydra's ethical alignment influenced largely towards neutrality with a slight tilt towards law. Anything else you wanna do with them right now, Surraruthru?
I dunno, some combat stuff, I guess? Not really anything else besides just trying to the them to Gestalt.
They'll gestalt naturally as they pursue learning paths. You can influence what they gestalt as with the proper training. Combat stuff's fine, anything in particular or just general practice?
Probably some monk stuff and general stuff.
Sure, diplo again.
> roll 1d20+33 Diplo
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 42 > [d20=9]
The lesson goes well enough and you instruct them. They manage some basic martial arts - mostly learning to strike more skillfully with their heads, headbutts as much as bites. It's a bit of progress, slowly figuring it out as well as how to teach.
Other than just continuing this, I don't have much else. Assuming I've found out as much as I can about Secretus.
Lemme pause you for the sec then, pending hashing out the other two rooms.