Editing 12/06/2023 -- Operation Blazing Citadel

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* Andreas, Thomas, Bloom, Ki, are invited to the cabin of Kynaston. It’s more formal and put-together than Zetian’s, and more ostentatious than Cordell’s. A butler leads us into a war room, Kynaston is seated at the table, draped in a cloak of leaves. He’s still recovering from his wounds at Tpres, and doesn’t seem fully comfortable.
* He asks if we’re the soldiers he sent for, and lists off our names. Andreas says we are, and he says (through a coughing fit) that he’s received intelligence that there’s going to be an attack on Gronne. We are to warn the civilians of the oncoming forces of Firmin. Because of our recent track records, he wants a more trustworthy soldier to preside over us.
** [Brandon] A half-orc steps in, 6’2” and 243 lb (military bulk), a black mohawk, whose skin is a bit lighter than regular orcs (appearing a little drained). Around 30 years old. He’s introduced as Akl, our commander for this mission.
* Akl affirms that he’s received the briefing, and since Andreas has experience, Kynaston points a weak finger at him and declares him Marshal. Kynaston then tosses Akl a book, and says it’s something he borrowed from Zetian, says it’s been useful in defeating the enemies of Althara in the past – Akl notices the book is textured like humanoid skin, and holds it away from himself. He’s instructed to open the book, and opens it face-up away from himself.
** [Athena] Slowly, a hand reaches out – the skin is dark, nails clawed and long, it pulls itself out of the book, Nyx individual, split black/white hair, pale eyes, piercings up the face, translucent at the edges, runic tattoos up the arms. It pulls itself up and flips out, landing on her feet. She says hello :) 
* Kynaston refers to it as “Apparition”, and tells it it’s been conscripted to aid in the defense of Gronne – it says it has a name, and he calls it Charis. It says its name is Charon, and he’s like “yeah, that too.” We are then dismissed, and have our downtime.
** Thomas goes to the blacksmith’s tent, and gets some light armor. Bloom also goes to the blacksmith, and gets Heavy I added to his flail.
** Andreas and Charon go gambling, and Akl gives Andreas to gamble on his behalf. Andreas profits on his own, but pockets the money Akl gave him.
** Akl, Damon, and Thomas go to the Rat Races. King Cheddar is still winning.
** Bloom goes to the Angel Rings, and Koilos goes to the stage.
* We get an excellent position [rolled: 6, 6, 5] and make incredible time, arriving well in advance of the approaching army. Andreas scouts on the hill, and sees a column of soldiers moving toward us, under the banner of Wrast – he recalls Wrast favors wave attacks, and has been known to ride in recklessly and attack the biggest threat. We know Gronne is home to maybe 1k people, mainly satyrs, fairies, and nymphs; they have a pretty nice life in the countryside, and Thomas is reminded of home.
* We’re spotted approaching by a human man with a big, bushy red mustache and equally bushy eyebrows. He introduces himself as Headman Braddock, and asks why Brigade soldiers are here – we explain the coming invasion, and he warns his people, before asking us to help salvage their records from their records hall. We decide to help them in the records hall, and after that, take up position near the old mill, because most of the enemies will be bottlenecked through there.
* Going through the records hall, Bloom makes the rummage check at advantage [rolled: 1, 6] and gets the 6, coming away with an additional 4 intel, with a lot of information on the surrounding local area, giving us a better picture of the way north. Damon changes into his werewolf form, and Akl grabs some shovels – we set up near some barricades and dig some holes. Charon asks if Damon smells anything weird, and he reports smelling rot and decay mixed with blood, and that Firmin’s riders smell strangely metallic. We take position.
** Some rules are laid out – we can retreat anytime, simply by calling that we’re yeeting, but if we leave before the enemy is routed, Gronne will be sacked, and its people will be in danger.
* We see soldiers that once were people, and are now half-flesh and half-metal, with weapons embedded in them. Combat begins, and Charon clicks its heels together to use magical transformation. Akl immediately decimates one of the Gaunt, but gets blinded as he loses a health block. Later on in the combat, Koilos pulls out a crimson red spear – the weapon looks like it’s been through a thousand wars, like blood is encrusted into its very metal. Andreas notices its pale red glow, and that it feels ''wrong'' even to someone who doesn’t know magic. We find out on Koilos’s attack that the enemies have Resist I.
* The top of the next round, more enemies [hate-forged] appear – they’re vaguely humanoid, and have horrific wounds with metal and a spindly fungal substance jammed into them, and carry more human weapons. Their wounds drip some kind of pus or liquid metal. Andreas shouts to Charon and Damon to focus on the new arrivals. The skin of one of the new enemies opens like a mouth, and fires a beam of molten copper at Koilos, which is revealed to give Benefit I against her until her next turn.
* As the enemy forces thin out, we see a rider approaching the battlefield, their horse not fully living, the rider bellowing orders in a language none of us know – Wrast has arrived. As Andreas attacks him, he says “Puny brigadier, puny soldier, forces of Firmin will roll over your people, you will serve and you will die” – Andreas is a little afraid, but readies his shield. Koilos strikes into Wrast with her spear, and Wrast gives a pained sigh, asking what magic this is.
* The hate-forged reanimate after death. It’s fun. Fucking them up bad enough seems to prevent this.
* As we beat the shit out of Wrast, he stumbles back to his feet, pulling out an orb – Bloom attacks him to try to prevent this, and kills him outright, smashing his skull in. Andreas picks up Wrast’s longsword of shearing, and kills the last hate-forged with it. The column halts now that we’ve destroyed their commander, and we hear horns from the village, signaling they’re ready to leave. Charon eats Wrast’s soul, after asking if the others mind if she has a snack. Damon also picks up the faint scent of something similar to his father, mixed in with rot and decay. Andreas urges us to get moving.
* We head back to camp, and the atmosphere is that of elation – Headman Braddock gives each of us 100gp, and morale increases by 3. Kynaston is also very happy with us. Since night is approaching, Bloom goes up to the watchtower to watch the sunset – there’s a rustle of wind, and a chill that goes down his back. He’s greeted by a familiar voice.
** “Good evening, I always do love to watch the sunrise. The hells, they just don’t have one as pretty as the Primordial Ring.”
* Bloom’s funtime friend asks if he’s happy with the arrangement – he says so far, yes, and his ““friend”” says they should be frank. He asks if Bloom is troubled by what he doesn’t know, the things that are happening to him. He asks Bloom if he likes to get ahead of problems, and then asks if he should be called by another name. “Bloom” says he can call it Angel. Its friend is amused by the connotations of them being a devil and an angel, and smiles, with sounds of cracking and breaking. Angel is visibly repulsed by seeing a skull smile, but asks if its problem can be fixed. Its friend says probably not fixed, but that he can give it a nudge in the right direction.
* Angel’s bestie continues to say that they’re (“we’re”) trying to get ahead of their own problems – they usually don’t care about the goings-on on this ring, but the game has changed, and the very concept of despair is at stake – if certain situations are not taken care of immediately, their deals could be rendered meaningless. He’s approaching Angel not only as a patron this time, but also as a representative of the lords of hell; if Angel aids them in tasks, its friend will provide help and answers. He gives it a curled-up piece of paper, says that the times are changing. If drastic action isn’t taken, this might be the last time they change. He then gives Angel a “ta-ta!” and poofs out, just as the sun sinks below the horizon.
** Angel reads the paper, folds it back up, and goes back to its tent for the night.
* Next, Damon goes to talk to Margaux. He says he has a couple questions, and she teases him a bit, saying she thought this was just a friend coming to a friend. She does allow him to ask about the Black Horn, though.
** She tells him she had worked for Kynaston, but ran after the fall of Tpres, she tried to survive in the woods for a time, but eventually found the hospital, and was chilling there until she saw the Black Horn in one of the hallways, tearing apart a rabbit that had found its way in. She also tells him it likes to hunt during the day, when it can see the fear in its prey’s eyes, and that it would mumble words every now and then, though she couldn’t tell whether it was mad or not. She says she appreciates him and his friends coming to get her.
* Damon tells her to let him know if she needs anything else, and she says maybe someone to play cards with, since she’s only been able to play solitaire recently. Her eyes light up when he agrees, and she pulls out a well-used deck of cards and begins to deal him in.
* Thomas finds Headsman Braddock, and asks if his son went through Gronne – Braddock checks the records, and says that he didn’t.
* Andreas sits at the edge of camp with his new longsword for a bit, before taking it to Marie to give her the blueprint. He gets a discount for getting Sheer I in the future.
* Ki hangs in the trees and spies on people :-) 
* End session! Everyone below level 4 gets a level-up.