Intet's purpose caused Alex to raise a brow, but it didn't stop her from responding. "Then you seek my brother. He's the one harassing the archers. But if you approach him I give you fair warning that his temper can be a bit short."
When it came time to take her position the dragoness found Aes standing near, though even now the angel gave a warning that she still couldn't do much to interfere with this battle. Alex accepted this silently and pulled her powers into action, and once the initial volley of arrows had passed only one of the damned things managed to circumvent her shield to shatter against the greave covering her knee. It would leave a bruise, but that was largely ignored as the dragonkin prepared to retaliate. She needed to discourage the raiders from entering the town at its weakest point, and a gout of flame would serve that purpose nicely.
But once the column began to turn away from Ochre the breath Alex was taken began to ease. A moment of confusion settled over her as they began their retreat, but after paying a little more attention it seemed like the more prudent course to take. Their horses were nearly blown at this point, their numbers were reduced, and any protracted fight would leave them annihilated even if they caused all manner of havoc for the town. Entering would be a suicide mission, and sending their most valuable resource in to be slaughtered would just be folly.
With the threat retreating the defender of Ochre would probably take a collective sigh of relief, but Alex wouldn't relax just yet. She turned to her Mate and said, "Can you scry on the wayward Crows and see how they're doing?" Whether Aes could or not was accepted, and once the archers were out of firing range Alex took to the air and started to climb. She never left Ochre's perimeter, and as she rose she kept an eye on the riders to see where they were heading before turning to get a better look at the surrounding lands. This attack looked like a scouting raid, and as hard as they pushed their horses their was little doubt that there was anything else to worry over save for the dragon perched on the tower. But even so Alex wasn't going to take that chance. Her duty laid in protecting this town, not in eliminating the threats that approached. If they happened to break themselves on her defense then so be it, but chasing them down would not serve that purpose, and without full knowledge of what was happening around them it might even be foolish. Hell, they'd used Akorvick to draw out their larger threats, so why wouldn't they try the same? And that's what brought her attention to her brother. He had to be smart enough not to pursue the riders as they fled, but then his pride might get in the way of logic. She wanted to see what he was doing and where, and if it looked like he might be a bit foolish then she was going to start giving chase. Ochre could not afford to lose him.
Take flight, survey, chase Akorvick if he starts following the retreat
: HP = 80/80, PP = 64, EP = 19/88, Status = Fine, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 37 EP so far, Upkeep = 7 EP
Aescila: Spent 152/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, alright mostly Akorvick: Grouchy Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
Roko: Still a cripple
Fight Stats
100 militia, 100 lightly armed levy troops
4 catapults
150 Red Crow Mercenaries
20 golems
VS
245 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, contingent of mounted knights with bows (25 men behind Ochre,) squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
Intet would offer a thoughtful tilt of her head, that much was visible, but if her attention refocused on Akorvick as he dealt with the squad of orc riders or not was hard to say from so far off.
"Yeah," Aes replied, and while Alex turned to take to the air she would kneel down, gathering a shimmering puddle of water in front of her to begin her efforts to discern what was going on with the Red Crow scouts. Intet coiled away from Mirabel's tower, weaving through the air like a snake without need for wings, diving up into the clouds and going off in the same direction as the still retreating column of archers. They were galloping down the road, and while that might eventually take them to Therion it wasn't like the city would have much to worry about from twenty five archers and a shaman. The main roads of the richer Crolian region were that way as well, the traveling paths to the Pass of Ghosts leading into Badaria and the elven trails that would take someone up to Gods-Reach, and they might make effective bandits, but if they left the valley at least they wouldn't be threatening Ochre anymore. The only other thing of note in that direction was the sealed tomb that Akorvick had been guarding, and Ria had been hired to break into.
The archers who had been dismounted in the fight were largely either dead or retreating to the woods while trading shots with the militia on the wall, now a losing proposition given how badly outnumbered they were. Some were going down, wounded or dead was hard to determine from the air, but the militia and the remaining mercenaries seemed to have things well in hand. Akorvick wasn't yet trying to follow after the main body; he was only then bringing down the last of the four mounted orcs who had broken off to engage him, slamming the one in his grip repeatedly into the ground while their mount fled into the woods. There was no sign, anywhere, of any further attack taking place or in the planning stages, at least that Alex could see from the air. The ice blocking the river had been broken by strikes from the catapults, and what remained of the shaman's bridge was flowing away to the South without having harmed the city to any great degree.
As she completed her scouring of the area, Alex felt her Mate's mind touch to hers, and as soon as she permitted the contact she felt the dark angel's trepidation. "This is bad," she said immediately into Alex's mind, "find somewhere to land. Anywhere, I'll show you through my eyes."
Whether she elected to obey immediately or make another pass first to make sure that the retreat of the horse archers wasn't some sort of ruse, when she landed Alex would feel Aescila's mind open further to her, and she would see through her Mate's eyes into the pool of placid water that she had formed. The Red Crows had sent their scouts ahead, to add further punch to the crippling blow that Alex and her posse had leveled against the major parts of the orc's forces; that group was supposed to be back in two days, the day before the orc attack hit. It comprised roughly a third of their forces, organized into small groups that could operate independently as was their style, and would naturally be more mobile than any larger portions of the orcish force.
First she saw frightened, exhausted faces, some bloodied and all soaked with sweat and looking as if they hadn't slept in days. Those were only some of the cells, less than half. Next she saw the dead; mouldering piles of corpses left to rot in piles, being fed upon the carrion scavengers with their remaining arms and armor taken from them. Still less than half, leaving a third portion, the one that Alex saw next. The remaining Crows were divided roughly evenly among the sexes, and all of them were prime physical specimens; Alex could tell because each and everyone one of them was naked.
Half, it seemed, had been given to the clanless; raiders of a less disciplined and honorable sort than the normally more capable and better equipped clansmen. All but one of those were female, and if those she saw weren't in the process of being raped they looked either as if they had just been, or had been a while ago and were were expecting it to happen again shortly. Their bindings were all crude and simple and entirely physical, but effective in keeping the captured victims contained in the wagons that were their new accommodations. The one male captive - a human with dark hair - was tied by his wrists to a wooden post, both of his arms visibly broken to contort into the uncomfortable position in which he was being kept and his face and bare chest coated in bruises and cuts to speak of what they'd been doing to him.
The other half were being kept by more troubling sorts, and were divided along more even lines in terms of gender. The men of the captive mercenaries were unchained and seemingly lacking any sort of physical restraints at all, but the dazed, euphoric look in their eyes was clear enough sign that their enslavement was a mental force, and the cause of it was plain to see in Aescila's vision; sirens. Even as they observed, the male mercenaries were being fed upon, moving in a twisting, groaning mass with their jailers as every moment of pure physical pleasure and every drop of seed that they produced led them to surrender another portion of their very souls to a quintet of fae enchantresses at the center of that depraved morass. The female captives were being kept in stocks seemingly grown on the spot from living wood, placed such that they were paired up facing one another, their heads kept aloft and pointed forwards so that they couldn't hang and look away from what was happening to their compatriots while satyrs and gruffs and a pair of armored trolls took it in turns to ravage them at their leisure.
All in all, Aescila's vision accounted for the mercenaries; about fifteen were dead, about fifteen were still running for their lives, and about twenty had been captured by a group of, of all things, faeries that the orcs had apparently somehow brought on board with their plan to take control of Ochre. At the very least with their help the orcs had taken a chunk out of the mercenary company, if they offered further help they might allow the orcs not only to get to Ochre much faster than expected from directions that the defenders were totally unprepared for, and if they joined the battle Ochre's defenders expected advantage of superior magical support might well be reversed. "On the bright side, I can fight them all I want... So long as they aren't Winter," Aes piped in with mock cheer "you're the strategist, what are we gonna do about this? We've got to at least tell someone else, right?"
The archers were retreating, Akorvick was busy with those that had been unhorsed, and no further threats were rearing their heads. All in all it looked like the town itself could relax.
But that retreat was troublesome. The shaman wasn't taking the opportunity granted him, and as he ran down the road leading toward Therion his summoned dragon took flight and followed. A group like that could wreak some havoc, but as a whole they wouldn't do much to Therion or any organized force they came across. And Intet sure as hell wouldn't bother raiding caravans or becoming some bandit's lackey. It was beneath her. So why would she still follow them? The only thing that lay that way was certain defeat from Therion and...
Well shit. "Brother!" She needed to get his attention, especially if some of the riders were still alive. "The shaman may be heading for the tomb!" Because he needed to get moving. He was wasting time with the stragglers, and with how hard the orcs were riding their mounts he'd need to leave immediately just to keep them in sight in case they truly were going to raid that tomb.
But that wasn't the only thing vying for Alex's attention, and once Aes got her message across the dragoness immediately landed and waited to see what her Mate had seen. It did not look pretty. The scouts that were sent to harass the main orcish force was nearly crushed. Some had escaped, and they looked nearly desperate to save their hides. Others had not. Their corpses were nothing more than an offering for the crows at this point, but they weren't the only ones. A sizable group had been captured, and though the clanless were given their share to enjoy as they saw fit the rest faced an arguably more dire fate.
There were fairies marching with the orcs, and they were enjoying their spoils of war. The mercenaries that they were gifted were either enthralled to the sirens and nymphs that fed on them or locked in natural stocks grown from the earth and plants that surrounded them. Gruffs, satyrs, and trolls took turns enjoying the women they held. It seemed like standard fare for what Alex heard happened to those that were defeated, but the fact that they were joining forces with the orcs made this whole debacle even more complicated than it already was.
But Aes could face them. These were supernatural entities, forces meddling in mortal affairs that had absolutely no right to, and the simple act of breaking that one rule allowed her to punish them as hard as she wished. But then Aes added something else. So long as they aren't Winter. Gods, Alex hoped they weren't. If the Lady controlling these lands was allowing her allies to interfere then all kinds of hell would break loose, and no matter how things developed from there Ochre most likely wouldn't survive. But that was only if these invaders were Winter. Let's do that. Alex made her way over toward her Mate as quickly as possible, and on the way she called out to the power laying within her Signet Ring. The spark that answered was the ever familiar warmth of Summer, but instead of grabbing hold of that Alex instead turned toward the natural crispness in the air. It spoke of approaching coldness, of impending snow and long nights broken only be the faint light of a distant sun. Alex was calling out to the forces that lay around her, and in doing so she was contacting the very Fae that said they would not interfered with the battle surrounding Ochre and would allow no other faeries to interfere.
Alex had not met any of Winter's forces save for their Queen and her knight, so calling on their aid was a bit of a gamble. Might as well go all in, then, right? Of all the faeries she could have called she settled the armored champions of the sidhe. The summoning was completed the moment she arrived at her Mate's side, and there she waited for the knight to fully take shape before she bowed in greeting. Most likely he would demand to know the reason for his summoning, Winter wasn't known for being the most tactful of the fae, and Alex would answer him. "We seek information." At that she would motion toward Aes's scrying, and if the images still remained she would let the knight take a good look before continuing. "Do you know to which Court they belong?" And this is where Alex's gamble was greatest. She didn't know who these intruders were, and if they were Winter then the price the knight would demand would not be met. There would be no telling what they would demand following that. But if these weren't Winter, if some other Court of even the Wyldfae were meddling in mortal affairs then calling a knight would pay off handsomely. She just needed to get this done quickly before the Shaman and his group were lost or found their way toward the tomb.
Casting Faerie Servant to summon a Knight via the Signet Ring
: HP = 80/80, PP = 64, EP = 19/88, Ring EP = 21/30, Status = Fine, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 37 EP so far, Upkeep = 7 EP
Aescila: Spent 152/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, alright mostly Akorvick: Grouchy Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
245 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, contingent of mounted knights with bows (25 men behind Ochre,) squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
Akorvick was slamming the last of the recently dismounted archers into the ground repeatedly as Alex flew over to deliver her message, and his head turned up sharply. He was in a lesser version of his transformed state, halfway between monster and man, but still she could recognize the momentary shock at the notion of his primary charge being threatened. He tossed the half-unconscious orc aside and took off, beating his wings as he chased after the retreating column of mounted archers. Those foes that he had left behind were still alive, a potential group of captives for them to question... If they could get someone out to gather them up before they roused enough to retreat. There were enough problems surrounding Ochre at this point that there were going to have to be some priorities decided on quickly.
Landing, seeing, and then taking off to meet up with her Mate took a bit of her now momentarily limited time, but as soon as she landed the call that she made was an easy thing. The power used was intense; luring a being of such power and prestige required more than a trivial effort, but one would never have known it by observing how the winter knight that answered her call arrived. A soft breeze drew a curtain of powdery snow from the ground, so small a thing but cold enough to send a light shudder even up Alex's spine. The light flutter of snow wouldn't have disrupted a silhouette from a mile away, much less a few feet, but even as it drifted back to the ground a man was standing just beyond it.
The faerie knight was male, clad in silvery maile plated in blackened ironwood and filigreed with what resembled blue ice. Simple short black hair covered his head, currently uncovered by a helmet, which he kept short but not short enough that Alex could the skin of his scalp. They were pale, almost unnaturally so, and their complexion did not react as it should have to the cold. Icy blue eyes gazed around, taking in his surroundings, and for a moment the man ignored Alex and Aescila. He took in a breath through his nose, closing his eyes as he did so, and then gave a thoughtful grunt before looking at her with thin lips widened into a flat look. He returned her bow with a curt nod and a quick half bend; they were from opposing courts, and she as the one requesting aid due him more deference than he needed to return. All in all, he had done more than might have been expected to return her greeting.
"This is not a social call, I trust," he asked quietly after Alex straightened, his tone placid and cool. When directed to the mirrored puddle that Aescila was playing her scrying through, he watched it for a few moments without speaking, letting Aes pan through several sections of the ongoing abuse before he turned back to Alex and responded with a question; "You understand, then, that if I say it is not Winter, I may be lying... And if I say that it is Winter, you can do little against us without bringing a fate upon yourself far, far worse than those mortals suffer?" He would let Alex respond as she wished before actually answering her original question; "They are unaffiliated. This valley is not of my fiefdom, but clearly those favor simple barbarism and depravity to purposeful arts; I would almost think them Autumn if further intrusion into this region on their part would not result in... Brutal... Reprimand. Regardless; We of Deep Winter claim these lands under our demense, but not all in them call us master... The wyld may do as they please so long as their antics bring us no issues. This lot breech our codes, but not egregiously so; we will not punish them for you, if you want it done so in a timely manner."
There the knight went silent, tilting his head and folding his arms across his chest. He was clearly waiting for further questions.
Alex simply nodded in acknowledgement to the sidhe's warning. He could simply lie through his teeth, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. But there wouldn't be much point to it. If he did say these fae were not Winter when they truly were then he would be exposing his allies to very real danger wince Ales and Aes would attack them with impunity. Any casualties they suffered would then be his responsibility since he misled the pair, and a peak into either of their minds would reveal him for the traitor he had become. There was no way for him to gain, and that's why she accepted his statement that they were unaffiliated.
But this also brought up a problem. Apparently the Wyldfae were given the freedom to act within Winter's domain so long as they did not impugn on Winter's rule. This meant the invading faeries were allowed to march with whatever mortal force they chose since that didn't bother the local enclaves in the slightest. That meant Alex couldn't drag them into this conflict.
This left the knight standing and waiting for any further questions she may have. "I guess I have nothing further concerning them..." And that was the truth. "Do you know of the crypt not far from here?" Of course there were other avenues to explore, and Alex was going to forge ahead. "The orcs recently sent an advance party of mounted archers past here. They gave a passing attack, but once they circled the city they went off down that road." She motioned toward the gate that took them down the road leading toward Therion. "I can't confirm anything since they just left, but of all the things they could find heading that direction the tomb is the only one that seems viable. If they did, how would Winter react to these invaders coming down specifically to open it?"
She would wait for an answer, but once she had it she could wait no longer. "I thank you for your time." Another bow would be given, one to show her gratitude, and following that she would take to the air and start heading toward the tomb. It didn't matter if they dismounted riders managed to escape or if the knight would decide to give chase, she just needed to join her brother. Whatever he was guarding was wrong, and she could not chance it gaining its freedom.
: HP = 80/80, PP = 64, EP = 19/88, Ring EP = 21/30, Status = Fine, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 37 EP so far, Upkeep = 7 EP
Aescila: Spent 147/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, waiting Akorvick: Dragon's Pride X = 8 for +16 Dodge, Resistance and escape Grapple, and +8 defensive Resistance, and +2 Perception Dice, Upkeep = 0, Spent 57 EP, taken 9 damage Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
25 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV)
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
"I do," the faerie replied when queried about the tomb, his tone neutral. He did not react visibly to the news that the orcs may be heading towards it, but he did reply; "It is in Winter's interests that that tomb not be opened, that is why we appointed a guardian for it that could freely deal with mortals that might disturb it. That said, we are in no way responsible for the being laid to rest there; if the sorcerer buried within retained enough power to become a daemon as we feared they might, and the orcs see it unleashed, it isn't our Court's fault. We have had no problems doing our half of guarding it, despite numerous interested parties. We will deal with whatever emerges when it becomes our problem, if the Angelic Court does not deal with it first."
However Alex might react to the knight's explanation, when she bowed and thanked him for his assistance he would return the gesture as he had before, with a slight tilt of his head. There he would pause, however, and unless further questions spawned from his response had somehow irked him, he would hesitate a moment before departing. "There were many seals placed upon that tomb, and memory of what was buried there was quite carefully removed when it was made... Tens of centuries ago. Very few mentions of it should remain outside of Winter's upper echelons and the Angelic court; anyone trying to get into it is either ignorant, or guided by dangerous hands."
With that he would turn, heading directly towards the nearest tree. Normal teleportation out of the valley might be blocked, but apparently the sort that allowed one to step into a plant and out of another was not, as he vanished into it and did not reappear now that his service was done. Aes would watch him go with a huff, and then watch Alex take off after Akorvick with a pensive look, albeit without saying anything to dissuade her.
Akorvick and the archers had gotten a solid lead on Alex already, and she had to make haste to catch up; her brother might not be the fastest flyer, but if the horsemen slowed enough for him to catch up he might be in some trouble against all of them at once. There was no sign of Intet's aspect in the skies ahead as Alex sped down the road, so it was likely that either she was invisible again or had been de-summoned, there was no telling which. Ochre Valley was fairly large, and several tense minutes passed with Alex simply flying through the air with nothing to see and nothing to feel. It took about as long as it had taken her to walk back to Aescila and converse with the faerie knight before she saw anything, and what she found wasn't good.
Alex felt a tangle of magic up ahead, and a few seconds later she came upon Akorvick and the orcs; the latter had stopped and turned, and Akorvick was on the ground. He was only just getting to his feet, though how he'd ended up on the ground wasn't clear; it had happened before she had come upon the scene. The shaman was standing behind two ranks of formed up archers, one dismounted and the other still on horseback, and they were bombarding Akorvick with shafts. He had somehow been returned to his base humanoid form, and had suffered a few grazing shots and a shaft that had managed to sink in shallowly despite his natural armor. When she came upon them he was holding his hands up, keeping them from shooting him in the face, but given that she wasn't exactly being subtle herself they began turning bows toward her as soon as they saw her coming towards them.
(Akorvick is 60 feet from the front line of archers, and Alex is 60 feet from him and thus 120 feet from the archers. Also before I forget; Alex takes 735 Corruption for her lewds with Aes.)
There wasn't much else for Alex to say to the departing knight. He'd given Winter's stance on the whole subject, and all she could do now was hope that they wouldn't need to step in. Gods forbid that necromancer be released as a daemon as the knight feared. Even more so if it became a lich.
With nothing else to add Alex took flight to follow Akorvick and the riders, and after feeling a cluster of magic nearby she found her brother once again floored as the archers turned and struck. He had been reduced to his base form, and as he struggled to regain his footing he had to use his own arms to shield himself lest an arrow manage to strike him in the face. Things were looking somewhat dire for him, but her approach did not go unnoticed. The assault split its attention to try and either ward her off or knock her out of the sky, and in the face of it she simply made a beeline for her brother. He needed some chance to recover, and as she plowed through the rain of arrows and rushed to his side with her shield leading the way she never would have guessed she'd ever find herself in this kind of position. Whoever was running fate must be having the time of their life right now...
But there was more she needed to do as she settled and became her own shield. "Honored elder." Her attention didn't waver from the shafts flying for her, but even so her senses were heightened at the moment. As such she could let her mind's eye roam around and search for any concentrated bundles of magic lingering nearby. "Are you near?" Because right now her concern was centered on the tomb that lay near, and if she could get these orcs to turn with just her words then that was far more agreeable than wasting her time trying to fight against everyone.
I believe Alex has to take her entire turn simply getting into position to use herself as a barrier to let Akorvick recover since her wings only grant her base speed for flight. Doesn't mean she can't start talking.
: HP = 69/80, PP = 64, EP = 12/88, Ring EP = 21/30, Status = Lightly Wounded, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 44 EP so far, Upkeep = 7 EP Dragon's Pride: Cost = X-2, Upkeep = X-5
+2X Dodge
+2X Grapple Escapes
+X Resistance
+X Resistance Defense
+X/4 Perception dice
Cannot be countered/dispelled
Aescila: Spent 147/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, waiting Akorvick: Dragon's Pride X = 8 for +16 Dodge, Resistance and escape Grapple, and +8 defensive Resistance, and +2 Perception Dice, Draconic Transformation X = 8 for +16 attack/damage/overrun/bullrush and +8 grapple and AV, taken 9 damage, Upkeep = 1, Spent 64 EP Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
25 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV)
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre, Blessing X = 6, Entangling Vines X = 8 (-24 attack/Dodge/Grapple, half movement, Alex and Akorvick cannot take to the air)
Rolls
Alex dives in front of ALL OF THE BULLETS. I mean arrows. The orcs desire to give her their long hard shafts~ Rather than drop her dodge by a shitton, I'll do so for every group of 5 attacks. Not doing that would... Probably leave Alex as a pincushion.
Dodge: 19d10+14+24 = 135, high but not great for what she can do.
Attacks: 103 misses, 102 misses, 107 misses, 105 with 25 on base dice means an autoglance, 80 misses. Then her dodge drops to 130; 93 misses, 119 with 25 on base dice autoglances, 101 misses, 117 misses, 105 misses. Then her dodge drops to 125; 129 hits, 138 hits, 111 misses, 101 misses, 109 misses. Then her dodge drops to 120; 127 hits, 127 hits, 105 misses, 108 misses, 102 misses. Then her dodge drops to 115 for the last batch; 89 misses, 105 misses, 96 misses, 121 hits, 105 misses.
A note; under the normal rules Alex would have been hit by every attack after like the eighth one, which... Would probably be pretty bad. As is, two glancing hits and five outright hits out of twenty five shots. Not bad.
The glancing hits can deal zero damage, and deal min damage. That's 31 damage ignoring 5 AV, her armor is strong against piercing and maybe not represented correctly in the upper portion of her sheet if it's got 22 instead of the 18 you have listed. That becomes 27, plus her 13 natural armor and 1 from Draconic Transformation, so they can't hurt her with the glances and she's got functionally 36 AV against the rest. That means they basically deal 2d8-7 damage, minimum one.
Damage: 3 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 11 damage total.
Maybe less impressive, unless I overdid her AV. In which case she took another 45 damage.
Perception: 5 successes vs ? stealth.
Akorvick gets up, then activates Draconic Transformation X = 8.
"What!? Grrr... What are you doing?" Akorvick grunted as he crouched behind the wall of Alex and her shield, as surprised by his younger sister's sudden defense as she seemed to be. Alex had no time for that, however, as she reached out audibly while seeking signs of Intet's presence with what attention she could spare. Her shield was large, and the rest of her was covered in armor; theoretically Alex need not have done much but stand there and both she and Akorvick would have been perfectly protected. But this was no theory, and the orcs knew what they were doing when confronted with armored shieldbearers, particularly those protecting the line behind them. They shot in volleys, barking quick commands to one another that they obeyed without the need to check for ranking, keeping the barrage coming in waves to keep her constantly on her toes, forcing her to move to keep both herself and Akorvick from being turned into pincushions. They aimed past the edge of her shield towards Akorvick, making her extend in pure reaction lest be hit and ensuring that she never had a moment long enough to think; if she slowed down her defense would fail, possibly catastrophically.
Even with her long-practiced skill and her Pride glowing to reinforce it, feeding into the Insight gifted to her after her adventure into her Mate's psyche, Alex was up against more than a barely tested rabble. They were skilled fighters that knew how to work together, and even with her efforts some of the shots go through in the opening volley. An arrow nicked her brow, leaving a distracting line of blood dripping over her left eye. Another slammed into her boot, below the line of her shield, only piercing shallowly but still uncomfortable. Yet another smacked her in the leg, in the same place she'd been hit earlier, bouncing off but sending pangs ringing from the bruise there. The fourth actually pierced her sword arm at the elbow, going in and out only through a narrow portion of her but still sending a burst of pain running up to her shoulder. The last to touch her in the first volley grazed the cheek opposite where her brow had been hit earlier, less obtrusive and more of a nick.
Akorvick, however, seemed recovered; despite receiving his own share of minor wounds he straightened to a crouch, grumbling, and began to transform behind her. The form of man, marred by scales, became monstrous again as he resumed his cancelled out draconic form. Still, this was not the end of their problems; as he was about to rise to roar in defiance against the orcish lines, a small burst of magic left the very ground beneath them roiling. Vines and roots shot up, coiling around them, and suddenly it became a whole lot more difficult to move. The field of entanglement spread out into the forest, a short ways behind them and all the way towards the column of archers, ending just a few feet in front of them, an obstacle in every direction that would slow them, hamper them, and worst of all prevent them from flying away.
The answer to Alex's query to Intet came not in the form of a voice - Alex could see neither hide nor talon of the elder dragon - but a mental prodding. It was a request, an offer to connect minds, but Alex had best take care; letting an elder into her thoughts was a dangerous thing. Once the door was opened, Intet would decide when it was closed, not Alex. Were she malicious she could force Alex to her knees, to surrender to the orcs, and even with her Pride running there was no guarantee that Alex could stop her. The Elder's wills were vast, even when they were only in their summoned aspects, and her very blood made her naturally beholden to them to some small extent. The choice was up to her; it could be someone else entirely, the simple ping wasn't enough for Alex to gauge much, but the mental contact had had a draconic feel to it without being anyone with whom she was directly familiar.
The armor thing was probably something I forgot to update when I was redoing her stats
A part of her wanted to say 'I don't know.' What was she doing? She made herself the primary target, and as she landed she could feel arrows starting to slip past her defense. A knick, a strike, a ping that had her leg protesting at getting hit once again while her hand clenched around the sword holding it as an arrow managed to slip through her. To make matters even worse a field of roots and vines rose from the earth to hinder them. Alex could feel them coiling around her legs, each step slowing her movement significantly even if they couldn't stop her entirely.
So how the hell did she answer that question? "Getting into position." She rushed herself to defend her brother. Her priority up to that point was simply to make herself into an obstacle that the archers had to work around in order to continue harassing the man that had only minutes earlier been tearing apart their back line. But that rush had ended. She could settle her nerves and take a breath. And in doing so her focus sharpened. The openings the orcs exploited were suddenly far too tight. Any gaps in her defense looked nearly deliberate, a small challenge to get them to test her skill so she could show them just what she thought of these tactics. And even as she started stepping forward, as she spared a moment to tell Akorvick to follow, she simply plowed forward with only one thought on her mind. These assholes aren't going to touch me.
Which made for quite the odd response once she felt that ping flash across her mind. It left her giving one moment of surprise, but that was quickly buried as she had to brush aside yet another assault flying for her head. There were obviously more important things for her to worry about at the moment, but even so she opened her mind and sent out a single question. Honored elder? If Intet was indeed speaking mentally then Alex would forgo using simply speech. Instead she would picture the clearing that surrounded that tomb, the expanding waste of death as the land itself was being drained of every shred of vitality it held to feed whatever malevolent force lay buried behind those copper gates, and once that image was sent then would she speak. Those doors cannot be opened. There was no way to tell whether the shaman was heading that way or not, but they simply couldn't take that chance.
Using Shield Cover to move forward and protect Akorvick with it to close some distance.
: HP = 69/80, PP = 64, EP = 10/88, Ring EP = 21/30, Status = Lightly Wounded, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 42 EP so far, Upkeep = 4 EP, Low on Energy Dragon's Pride: Cost = X-2, Upkeep = X-5
+2X Dodge
+2X Grapple Escapes
+X Resistance
+X Resistance Defense
+X/4 Perception dice
Cannot be countered/dispelled
Aescila: Spent 147/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, waiting Akorvick: Dragon's Pride X = 8 for +16 Dodge, Resistance and escape Grapple, and +8 defensive Resistance, and +2 Perception Dice, Draconic Transformation X = 8 for +16 attack/damage/overrun/bullrush and +8 grapple and AV, taken 9 damage, Upkeep = 1, Spent 65 EP Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
25 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV)
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre, Blessing X = 6, Entangling Vines X = 8 (-24 attack/Dodge/Grapple, half movement, Alex and Akorvick cannot take to the air)
8 Feral Stalkers, 1 2 and 3 are dead.
Rolls
Forgot Alex's reduced upkeep. Whoops. Fixed as of this post, refunded some EP so she's down less now. She moved 18 feet forward, so just under a third of the distance to them. She's 42 feet from their line, and has 35 more feet of ANNOYING GRASS to get through.
The archers on the ground rapid fire at Alex, automissing but keeping her from doing other things.
The mounted archers start circling around, being unimpeded by the shaman's magic. They keep well out of reach of Akorvick.
The shaman summons 2d4+2 = 8 feral stalkers around Alex and Akorvick.
Akorvick attacks three of the feral stalkers that have appeared around them once each.
Attacks: 108, 126, 104 vs a max of 90, he hits all three of them.
Damage: 51, 55, 61 damage. Three of them die.
With her shield set and her stance readied, Alex began to advance towards the line of archers peppering her and her brother, covering the both of them. The orcs who had gotten off of their mounts kept on firing, testing Alex's defenses but proving completely unable to pierce them. Her shield darted back and forth, deflecting and catching shafts that would have gotten around were she simply moved forward. Others bounced against the ground, aiming for her feet, and still others simply went too wide to have ever hit, baiting her unsuccessfully to overextend again.
They advanced, vines grasping at their ankles and legs, tugging at her shield but never strong enough to pull it out of position. Akorvick advanced behind her, growling in frustration as he tore his legs from the obstructing roots, but his fury would have a target soon enough. The mounted archers shifted around the rank of ground based brethren, the conjured entanglement not bothering their mounts in the slightest as they trotted around the edges of the road, just out of reach. Already they were shouldering their bows and taking up the lances attached to their saddles; they were going to circle around, come at them from the rear, and even exhausted their mounts moved quickly enough to make it far enough that if they redirected towards the lancers they weren't going to get there in time.
Akorvick lashed and roared at them, but retracted as the archers immediately started targeting him, leaving him growling in frustration and drawing in a deep breath. She had done as she'd planned; None of the orcs touched her again... Yet, but they could well be facing a mounted charge from behind shortly, and the line of archers had moved up such that she and Akorvick were going to be stuck fighting them with the vines entangling them even when they did reach the firing line. Another problem was all too quick to pop in a moment later too, ensuring that they weren't going to redirect into the woods to avoid the lances and arrows easily.
Many dangerous creatures populated the woods of Donevrion, and many of them were related, to an extent, to the shorn weed and the alraune. The very ground around them erupted, with a small and efficient burst of the shaman's energy, with a cadre of one such creature. The feral stalkers, as they were called, were an offshoot that had split off from the main line; entirely monstrous, they resembled nothing so much as male lions made from plant material. These particular specimens sported manes of vibrant flowers in pink and white and red decorating their otherwise dark green animal frames, and each roared as they emerged from the ground, emitting a sound like a distant, distorted echo of the roar from the creature that they so resembled. The creatures were a near constant nuisance in the woods surrounding her own home, and at least once a month some hapless local would return days after they were expected gravid with a clutch of seeds or reporting that they had been made to carry such to term before the plant-beasts had released them.
Akorvick roared and lashed out again, slashing at two of them to his left quickly and one behind using his tail. The latter was crushed, its head impacted into its torso as it died brutally under a powerful blow from his tail. The former two were nearly decapitated under the reaving blows of Akorvick's claws, leaving Alex splattered in ichor, a mix of brown and light green, and chunks of plant matter from behind. He had halved the threat on their right flank and quartered it on their left, but the plant creatures remained around them, further trying to pin them in place.
Opening her mind to the elder nearly stunned Alex merely by the greater dragon's presence. Intet was an ancient dragon, nearly as old as Donevrion itself; she had been born as a daemon from the very first souls to walk Donevrion that were sufficiently substantial enough to become sentient and taken her draconic form from the creatures that walked the world then. Her presence and power were nearly incomprehensible, equivalent to those of a god, and for the first few moments Alex's mind could concentrate only on trying to realize fully the sheer metaphysical potency of her spiritual ancestor's existence. Those few heartbeats came and went, however, and when she had recovered enough Alex sent out her mental image of the tomb's entrance, and the death hex that left the area around its entrance unable to support life.
For a few more heartbeats Intet was silent, seemingly contemplating what she'd been shown. Then, in her mind's eye, the greater dragon leaned down, looming over her, and a note of mirth rang through Intet's voice; "What makes you think that they want to open those doors, hm? It is a necromancer, a magus of the black arts, twas' buried there. Only a fool looking to steal lore would look to opening that tomb, and neither clanned orc nor faerie would even desire such power. What else relates to that tomb that your enemies might seek, hm hm?"
The going was slow, the various vines and roots clinging to her feet and ankles needing to be either unraveled or town by sheer brute strength for every step she took, but there was nothing the archers could do to stop her. She was simply a slow, unstoppable force that refused to let herself come to any harm.
But that didn't mean her opponents didn't take notice. The mounted archers started moving, their own horses unhindered by any of the terrain working against the dragons, and as they started circling they traded their bows for the lances hanging from their mounts' flanks. They were obviously going to charge the siblings from the rear, and Alex wouldn't be able to stop them. Not with the unmounted archers continually firing. To make matters even worse the ground erupted around them, and each eruption a beast made entirely of plants appeared. They resembled large cats baring manes of leaves and flowers, and as they roared and prepared to pounce Alex remembered hearing about theses pests as they harassed the occasional villager back home.
Then there was the aspect. Her mind opened to Intet, and in that moment she realized just how grand they truly were. Intet herself was a creature nearly as old as life itself, a great spirit who gained a mind of its own and chose to create a body that resembled the dragons that ruled the ancient past. One might even argue that she was a god, one that might be even older than those that still remained, and simply connecting to such a vast existence would have left Alex floored had she not been preoccupied with keeping herself alive.
Thankfully that moment of weakness was nothing more than a moment, and once it passed she was free to transmit her message and wait for the Elder's response. And that response was... odd... Intet seemed amused at Alex's fear, and what followed revealed that Intet herself knew what lay there and why the shaman was riding to meet it. No true orc would ever consider opening the door to the kind of dark power that lay sealed within that tomb, and under that revelation she asked Alex what else would draw him to those doors. I do not know. There's nothing else of interest there. At least nothing I've been shown. That leaves the door itself, the boulder used to bolster its defense, and its guardian that stands behind me. Unless he's...
One moment. The sight of all those orcs and all those stalkers vying for her attention was a little distracting. There were just too many things demanding her attention, and some of those had been summoned right before her eyes. Well two could play at that game. Her perfect defense was dropped to giver her a moment to concentrate on her Signet Ring, but instead of reaching out to any of the fae she followed the shaman's example. Her mind sought out the creatures created from corrupted plantlife, and as they began to answer her call she directed them to appear behind the line of archers that remained to harass her and her brother. Then her attention shifted to answer Intet. If he has no intention of opening that door then I'm willing to stand down for parley. I'm fairly certain I could even convince my brother since he's claimed these lands as his own. Would you be willing to make that offer, honored elder? I would do so myself, but the last time we crossed I managed to cause some serious harm to his allies. Another picture was sent, this time of Alex herself as a dragon as she tossed the corpse of a true dragon and used it to crush so many knights that were rising to face her. That didn't exactly engender all that much trust, but a word from an aspect would. Especially since Alex wouldn't be able to hide any sort of deception from Intet. And as if to prove that she sent one last message, one that would connect with the creatures she summoned as they finally broke free and prepared to join the battle. Capture them.
Using the Signet Ring to cast Summon Nature's Ally. Going for either
1) Pack of Alraune A group of 2d6 alraune, in a random assortment of normal alraune, dryads, and siamese alraune will come to the character's aid for the cost of 2 EP per alraune.
2) Pack of Feral Stalkers A pack of 2d4 + 2 wolves or feral stalkers will come to the character's aid for the cost of 1 EP per creature. Wolves must be fed after combat, and feral stalkers may be fed or be allowed to seed someone.
Ria said it was too cold this far north for alraune, so if they're not available then shift to the stalkers. Either way she wants them to capture the orcs in front of her, a couple sent specifically to secure the shaman while the rest focus on the archers to stop all that bombardment.
: HP = 65/80, PP = 64, EP = 6/88, Ring EP = 11/30, Status = Lightly Wounded, Infertile until tomorrow, Dragon's Pride X = 12, Draconic Transformation X = 1 with wings, spent 46 EP so far, Upkeep = 4 EP, Low on Energy, Luck Manipulation from Intet ( Alex takes a a -4d10 + 8 penalty to damage and all d10-based stat rolls. ) Dragon's Pride: Cost = X-2, Upkeep = X-5
+2X Dodge
+2X Grapple Escapes
+X Resistance
+X Resistance Defense
+X/4 Perception dice
Cannot be countered/dispelled
Aescila: Spent 147/210 EP, 30 EP ring is full, waiting Akorvick: Dragon's Pride X = 8 for +16 Dodge, Resistance and escape Grapple, and +8 defensive Resistance, and +2 Perception Dice, Draconic Transformation X = 8 for +16 attack/damage/overrun/bullrush and +8 grapple and AV, taken 23 damage, Upkeep = 1, Spent 66 EP Ria: Fine Angelle: Fine
Anowyn: Still a babby
Roko: Still a cripple
1 normal alraune
3 dryads (14d10+3 Dodge, heavy round shields, 14d10 grapple) one has taken 1 damage, two has taken 5 damage. Grappling dismounted orcs.
1 siamese alraune
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
12 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV, 12d10 Dodge) three of whom are grappled
13 dismounted archers with the same stats, four of whom are grappled
1 shaman, with horsemen behind Ochre, Blessing X = 6, Entangling Vines X = 8 (-24 attack/Dodge/Grapple, half movement, Alex and Akorvick cannot take to the air)
8 Feral Stalkers, 1-6 are dead. Aspect of Intet
Rolls
Alex summons 2d6 = 5 alraune as she moves forward. She's 18 feet from the archer line.
She gets one normal alraune, three dryads, and one siamese alraune. The siamese one is super tentacly, dryads are tough and made of wood, the regular one is just... A regular alraune.
The siamese and the normal target the shaman, with the siamese also targeting another archer .
The dryads try to start grabbing archers.
Dryad Attacks: 97 vs 61, 65 vs 64, 90 vs 67, three of them are grappled.
Alraune Attack: 72 vs 101, misses the shaman.
Siamese Alraune Attacks: 104 vs 85 for random archer, 85 with a max of a glance vs 96 for the shaman, miss.
Akorvick continues mauling the dumb plant cats.
Attacks: All higher than their max possible Dodge.
Damage: 66, 65, 60, three more die.
Alex's Dodge for later reference: 97 this round.
The orc riders get into position to charge, taking their whole turn to do so.
The two remaining feral stalkers try to grapple Alex.
Attacks: 69, 61, both miss.
Five orcs shoot at Alex, four try to free their grappled fellows with melee attacks.
Shots: 109, 107, 114, 123, 114; Alex is hit because of the entangling debuff. Only dropping her Dodge by groups of attacks.
Damage: 35, 34, 38, 38, one damage again after her AV.
Stabs: 90 vs 95, 86 vs 80, 79 vs 79 68 vs 80, two misses and two hits.
Damage: 31 and 26, minus 26 AV, one takes 1 damage and the other takes 5.
The shaman uses the line version of Star Beam, X = 10, to hit Alex and Akorvick.
Attack: 101 vs Alex's current Dodge of 87 + 15 = 102 and Akorvick's 30, she gets missed and takes nothing because Evasion, but Akorvick gets tagged.
Damage: 7 x 10 = 70, 70 - 56 = 14 damage to Akorvick.
Intet waits until the end to hit Alex with Luck Manipulation. Alex takes a a -4d10 + 8 penalty to damage and all d10-based stat rolls.
The wild entanglement under their foot only proved more obnoxious as Alex tried to block the next volley of shots; no less then four pinged harmlessly off of her armor, piercing her first layer of defense as the distraction of communing with Intet left her unable to stop everything as she had before. Fortunately, the number of shots sent her way were a far fewer now; at her call a small cadre of plant-kin appeared behind the enemy's lines, and suddenly more than half of the archers were turning their attention to their rear in one way or another. Three of the alraune that answered her call were dryads, mutants with oaken skin, each carrying a roughly hewn wooden shield to add to their impressive defense, one was one of the oddest - a siamese - that had been born bonded to another plant creature living within her, and the last was one of the more run of the mill sort; it was the latter two that went for the shaman, both of them trying to pin the startled robed figure so that they couldn't work their magics as devastatingly.
Unfortunately, while the dryads managed to snag a trio of the archers, dragging them to the ground with fields of weaving tentacles while they fended off the swords of their nearest allies with shields and sheer resilience, the shaman managed to pull away, moving to put themselves on the line while another fighter got in the way of the plants. The siamese was a veritable forest of tentacles, however, and the one to interpose between the shaman and the alraune merely ended up being grabbed themselves, hoisted into the air with dozens of squirming appendages trying to bind their limbs. That left Alex more or less free to block the attempts of the plants attacking her directly; the lions pounced only to bounce off of her shield, roaring in frustration even as they tendrils lashed out to grace her arm and shoulders without finding any meaningful purchase. Akorvick was a cyclone of violence at that point, pruning down another three of the things while Alex fended off the other two, ignoring the few arrows shot his way entirely.
The knights, in the meantime, made it far enough to turn and set up their charge; they would be upon them shortly, plowing into them from behind. A charge like that could be devastating, and while neither she nor Akorvick were militia types who would break and run at the sign of a charge it would not be a good thing to be hit by any of those lances. The coordination of the orcish lines was certainly less than it had been a few seconds earlier, but even turning for a moment could well leave her peppered with arrows from behind. In the meantime, however, the shaman was seemingly growing desperate; they went after Alex and Akorvick directly. A hand was stretched out, and from it lanced a beam of twinkling blue and gold light; the burst of stellar energy lanced towards her, and Alex had no choice but to get out of its way or suffer its full power. Akorvick was not so lucky; preoccupied as he was, the beam washed over him, causing him to roar in shocked pain as he pushed himself away just slightly too late. His draconic nature and transformed state allowed him to resist the brunt of the attack, mostly, but his hide was both blackened and covered in frost where the beam had touched him.
Intet's presence suggested mirth as Alex admitted to not being sure what else the orcs might be going this way for. The dragon's mental tittering rumbled through Alex's subconscious, reminding her distinctly of her father. Her amusement took on an impressed tinge as Alex displayed her slaying of another dragon. "You've just touched upon it, little one~ Think! What else do you know about that place, hmmm? Who is honor bound to protect it should anyone try to open the doors, should someone be stupid enough to risk that type of foolery? Who is one of the bigger obstacles between these orcs and fulfilling their plans for this quaint little vale? Who fits both categories, and took the bait when it seemed the orcs might be heading for the doors? What's more... Who would follow them out if they went out on their own?" Intet played back the image of the dragon falling into the orc lines to Alex, her amusement growing with every passing moment. A moment later Alex felt the Elder casually toying with the very strings of probability, and suddenly anything and everything that she wanted to do became all the harder; it wasn't a direct attack, nor something that her ability to resist magics could help her with. Suddenly the arrows and tentacles were getting a little bit closer to finding their mark, her movements just a little bit more sloppy, her footing a little less sure. "They do not seek parley, little one... They seek to take you two out of the equation."
The arrows struck. Minimal damage. The stalkers attacked. They were brushed aside. The shaman threw magic at the pair of dragonkin. It didn't reach her. Her summoned allies were wreaking havoc on the archers' line, and only a couple of the stalkers remained to mount any kind of harassment at the dragoness. And they were finally within range. Akorvick should be able to reach them now, and he would turn these orcs inside out now that he could finally grab them. All in all things were looking starting to look up.
But Intet was still within Alex's mind, and following that bit of mirth at seeing a full dragon being felled by a half she made her presence known. Alex could feel something shifting around her, and a moment later everything became harder. The arrows were now flying at a tighter, more unpredictable pattern. The tentacles she'd brushed aside earlier were now weaving in strange paths, and as she moved to protect herself her body seemed less fluid. Less dynamic. She couldn't even seem to get some proper footing even with the vines and roots actively seeking to bog her down. It felt like fate itself was conspiring against her, and with the revelation that followed Intet was quite pointedly making her point.
A bout of frustration swept out of Alex once she realized what had passed, but even if the world seemed to be turning against her a bit of that frustration was saved for herself. And that was because she'd been naive. She'd been so focused on what lay within that tomb that she didn't even consider the possibility that the shaman would use to set a trap, and that oversight let her walk right into it. Gods, it was nearly a complete reversal of what they'd done to the dragons and the knights. That led to a rueful chuckle at the irony of it all, but beneath that something else started to well. The orcs had fallen for their earlier trap, and they responded with their own. Alex was going to fight like hell to survive it, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of respect to the shaman. At least I know where I stand, now. Thank you for humoring me, honored elder. At that Alex would start pulling away from their connection. There was no way she could break it, not when Intet could hold it so effortlessly, but it would be a silent request to have her mind as her own once again. There were other things she needed to worry about.
Like the improvised cavalry that had taken position at their rear. They'd finally locked themselves into place, and they were preparing to run through the siblings in a glorious charge of utter violence. They were the greatest threat they faced at that moment, and neither Akorvick now Alex would be able to withstand that kind of onslaught. But that didn't mean Alex was helpless. The archers and stalkers were still a threat, but with Akorvick so close he could occupy their attention while she turned and shifted around him. A moment was taken to make a request, a subtle "Keep them off of me." spoken under her breath for him alone as she started to gather her power. The pools that were her rings were tapped once more, and with her reserves somewhat restored she started focusing on her flame. It started burning brighter as she took in a breath, and as she did she noted the position of each lance ready to skewer the pair of them as they started to charge. A moment was taken to measure their distance and how spread they were, and once she felt she could she could target the lot of them she let loose. Dragonfire poured out of her maw, a single roar giving way to the dragonic flame as it instantly started to spread. She poured as much of herself into this blast as she dared, and once it finally died down she waited to see how it fared. There was no telling how Intet's spell would affect her attack, but with her focus set on strengthening to its full potential it should have at least taken them off their horses.
First up, drink the energy out of her rings. Should be 11 EP from the Signet Ring and 10 from Aescila's Gift for 21 EP restored.
Then we're using Dragon's Breath at X = 8 with maximization from Harmful Spirit
Dragon's Breath: Cost = X (2d6 - 1) * X Heat/Fire Damage
Harmful Spirit: Maximize the damage roll by paying X/2 extra EP
Dragonborn: Dragon's Breath ignores Fire resistance and treats Fire Immunity as if it were 20 resistance, unaffected by Warding
As for range, I imagine the 30 ft, 90° cone is my best bet, but if it can be narrowed and hit them farther out then go for it. Will delay turn to allow them all to fit, and if any of the stalkers can be fit into that mess (if Akorvick hasn't killed them) then go ahead and roast them. Just gotta hope she actually hits.
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs (Ebon Trident)
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
21 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV, 12d10 Dodge)
1 shaman Matat, with horsemen behind Ochre
Rolls
Luck Penalty; Alex takes a -24 penalty to everything this turn.
Alex's Dodge: 105 even after the two big penalties she's taking.
Akorvick is going to have the same spell cast on him.
Akorvick's penalty: 22
Then he's going to try to finish off the feral stalkers.
Attacks: 56, 71 with an autohit, 60 vs 43 and 47, one takes both claws and the other takes the tail.
Damage: 34, 43, 42; all of them do still die, but barely.
The archers all try to cut down the alraune, who in turn are trying to grab people. The already grabbed people are trying to escape grapple while the alraune try to pin them, which they can do on top of trying to grab new people because they're tentacly.
Attacks from alraune: 105 and 63 vs the shaman's 83, the regular alraune has successfully grabbed her. 92, 100, and 89 vs assorted archers with dodges of 70, 63, and 55 respectively; three more are grabbed. 90 vs 46, the siamese does grab one of the archers though.
Alraune vs Orc Grapples: 113 vs 76, 86 vs 70, and 83 vs 73 respectively; the dryads pin their archers. 75 vs 84, the siamese loses the first guy that they grappled.
Archer Sword Swings: 95 and 86 vs 84 and 96, one hit.
Damage: 32 - 26 = 6 damage.
The shaman, panicking, drops Holy Fire X = 10 on themselves, using the emanation version with +10 range to make sure they get all of the alraune. Alex and Akorvick are hit too, but will probably take nothing from it.
Attack: 92 vs 79, 91, and 94 for the dryads, 50 for the regular alraune, and 71 for the siamese. The other orcs cannot be harmed by it because it's holy fire. One of the dryads blocks it and takes half.
Damage: 2 * 10 = 20 damage; I'm not even bothering to roll dodge for Alex and Akorvick, it goes through no one's AV except for the ones with no AV.
That only leaves the lancer's charge; this is basically make or break for the orcs. Five are going to ride by hit Alex, five are going to hit Akorvick, and one each are going to target one of the dryads. They are going to use Powerful Charge. But Alex has her flame breath first, I'll roll for the orcs in four groups to save me some time.
Alex's Attack: 35 vs 59, 57, 61, 53; all of them Dodge. 42, 53, 50, 45 for their horses, who also avoid half of the damage.
Damage: Maximized to 88, minus 24 from the luck debuff means she does 64 damage. Halved goes to 32, not enough to kill any of them. Orcs have 16 AV, horses have 5. None of the charging line goes down.
Lance Attacks on Alex: 129, 138, 137, 130, 140; all five attacks aimed at her hit.
Lance Attacks on Akorvick: 151, 118, 131, 138, 132; none were auto miss and his Dodge is so bad that they all hit.
Lance Attacks on Dryads: 103 with max of a glance on base dice, and 142 vs 74 and 81 respectively; both hit.
Damage: 60, 62, 63, 62, 65 minus 47 each from her AV; Alex takes 77 damage and goes down. Akorvick takes 61, 71, 71, 59, 66; minus 48 each from his AV means he takes 88 damage. That brings his damage taken up to 111, but he doesn't quite go down. The dryads take 54 - 26 = 28 for the glance and 60 - 26 = 34 for the full hit.
----Next Rounds----
The orc riders line up for a charge at the back of the alraune. The dryads grab the rest of the hapless dismounted guys, leaving them captured, and people start getting pinned and choked out. The siamese pulls two of the riders off of their mounts. Akorvick gets out of the annoying grass field and goes for one of the riders, who he will kill lets say. That leaves nine riders charging the remaining alraune next round; they all go down.
Akorvick uses Iron Body to get more AV; he needs to take out the entire squad on his own now, which... Theoretically he could do. He won't leave Alex, which would be the smart thing to do at this point. Intet doesn't do anything; she has done enough. Unfortunately, the dismounted ones can all just dogpile him and then put the boots to him until he gets KOed, and there's not a whole lot he can do about that.
So I am going to roll a d3. On a 1 or a 2, Akorvick loses, on a 3 he actually pulls it off. Aaaand drum roll..... A one. CAPTURED.
Alex gains 6 XP, and you can pick your mutation from Aes's shenanigans now. Akorvick, she, and the siamese alraune do all survive though. The other alraune were slain and the shaman couldn't save them.
"Win or lose; I bid thee good fortunes little one," Intet replied with a brief note of solemnity to her still amused replied, and perhaps to Alex's surprise she allowed the connection to close fully and gracefully rather than leaving it open as an additional way to distract Alex... Which was good, because she had enough on her plate at that point. Akorvick grunted in acknowledgement of her request even as he mauled the two remaining stalkers, tearing one apart with his claws and hammering the last down with his tail. Even with his brutal savagery, it seemed that Intet's magic was working to inhibit him too; solid blows became glancing, strikes and grabs slipped, and his footing nearly disrupted his attacks.... Nearly, Alex was able to concentrate fully on turning towards the oncoming charge of the riders. They were lining up into a pair of lance formations, centering on each of the dragons while a flanker on either side, too far to threaten them without serious overcrowding, kept off to the side to target the dryads.
They began moving even as the alraune behind were picking off more of the archers, binding them in tentacles one by one and either lifting them of pulling them to the ground. The first that the dryads had grabbed were bound, their arms and legs pinned and weapons forced from hands unable to fight off so many grasping appendages. Normally the sight would be a disturbing one; what followed was normally unpleasant in a manner distinctly different from the carnage of battle, but they'd been instructed only to capture, not to start molesting them. The shaman didn't manage to keep out of their grasp this time either, and in a desperate move managed to let off a burst of white fire that washed outwards from her. It was a hasty thing, however, and even with a fair amount of power shunted into it the burst of holy flame washed over the assembled alraune and orcs.... And did little more to the former than it did to the latter, leaving the shaman's energies practically wasted even more than had been the case with the beam that they had fired at Alex and Akorvick.
The other two alraune aided in grabbing the orcs, leaving the line of dismounted archers almost entirely pinned down; things were going well on that end. They had only one major obstacle left, and it was charging down upon them even as Alex prepared to unleash a gout of draconic flame upon them. It all came down to this, and unfortunately between Intet's weaving of the strands of fate and the vines tugging at her feet constantly trying to force her to the ground, Alex's breath was spoiled. It was almost the exact opposite of what the shaman's white flames had done mere moments prior as Alex's flame breath washed across the oncoming orcish charge, at least in terms of how the execution failed. Where the orc shaman's power had formed poorly and thus done nothing even though it hit every target squarely, Alex's breath was perfectly focused to be as destructive as it possibly could be but simply didn't hit properly. A perfectly timed and placed vine lashed at her neck at just the right moment. The first burst of her flame hit, spanning across the orcish line, but even as intense as it was the flame's touched the men and their horses only briefly. Their mounts nearly panicked under them, but the orcs charged them on through sheer force of will, and the first were upon Alex and Akorvick just as her misplaced gout of flame petered out.
The first lance hit Alex squarely in the shoulder before she could get her shield up, leaving the arm carrying her primary defense suddenly going nearly limp. The second and third lances hit her at nearly the same time, one in her left side and the other in her hip. Agony rang through her with every shot, draconic scales and enchanted armor parting and shattering alike under the sheer weight of the spears being driven into her by horse and armored fighter. The dual hit forced her to stumble, blood pouring from the brutal wounds, but even as their riders turning and pulling the weapons free of her the next two were hitting, one in her thigh and the other in her collar. The second pair of hits put her down, her blood pooling under her; the hits would have killed her if she was fully human, and even her supernatural heritage might not stop her from bleeding out or dying from shock. Alex's vision tunneled as she felt her back hit the ground, her armor punctured in multiple places, the awareness of what was going on around her dimming.
As her consciousness faded, her flared Pride fading, she watched Akorvick take the next barrage of lances. She saw two of the dryads take bad hits, flinching and bowing under the hits but continuing to fight, pinning the shaman and many of the archers. She saw the siamese alraune drag two riders from their saddles before they could get away, saw Akorvick finally break free of the accursed grasping vines - which were creeping over her body slowly but steadily while she passed out - and tear down another... Saw the remainder get their horses back under control and start to turn them, preparing for another charge. How it went she didn't get to see; Alex's vision went black, her mind went blank, and for a time she knew no more.
-------
Alex woke up cold. She wasn't in pain, or at least not in severe pain; she had either been out long enough for her injuries to heal naturally due to her draconic heritage, or someone had healed her. It was very, very unlikely that she was dead. She was, however, fairly uncomfortable, and not only due to the cold. She had been bound, her elbows tied to her knees and her wrists and ankles bound to the floor by chords of living wood that had seemingly been grown from the same material as the room in which she found herself. She was also naked; hence the cold, and the end of her tail had been tied to her hair, ensuring that she couldn't full lower her head or use her tail to try and protect her sex. That put her, essentially, face down ass up, free for any passersby to see and to use as they wished, though she at least wasn't being raped yet. What was worse was the sensation emanating from a wicker band that lay around her neck; she could feel plainly that her essence had recovered and was at full strength, but she couldn't reach out and touch it. Her magic was well and fully cut off, her soul bound as securely as her body, and while she could test that bond as surely as she could test her physical ones she could also feel the tiny thorns pressing just barely against the delicate skin of her neck.
She was in a tent made from living plant matter, likely via magic, and she also wasn't alone. There was a small bench that looked as if it could be folded up securely with its contents, and kneeling in front of it was an orc that Alex would recognize both as an orcish woman, and as the shaman that had managed to lure her into the trap that had put her here. The red robe she wore had strands of bright, glowing blue woven into the fabric by way of filigree. The hood was down, revealing a long braided ponytail in vibrant crimson red - a common hair color for orcs - coming from the back of an otherwise nearly shaven head save for a slightly raised line that spanned from the nape of her neck to just above her brow. There was a source of warmth near her, likely a fire, and she was humming softly to herself while grinding something with a mortar and pestle. She took no immediate notice of Alex waking up, her back being turned, unless the half-dragon moved or made some sort of noise, though after a few moments she would give a relieved sigh, dump the contents into a simmering pot, and then turn to Alex anyway.
Whether she was made aware of Alex's return to consciousness early or not, the shaman would finish her alchemical work before she turned her full attention to Alex, shifting on her knees to look over the half-dragon for a moment with a confident smirk. "You did not go down easy!" said the woman, her voice bright, telling of youth, and carrying the weight of how much Alex had impressed her. "It was really touch and go the whole way, especially when you called up those alraune! I thought we were collectively screwed when you turned to breath fire on the chargers, but I guess Elder Intet kept up her end and made sure you couldn't do much with it. Still... Wish she'd just blocked it entirely; Burn wounds are tough to heal fully even with power, and by the time you and your brother dropped I was totally tapped out!" She then planted her hands on the tent floor in front her and bowed low, going so far as to touch her head to the floor as a sign of respect. The shaman remained prostrated for a few long seconds before rising back to her more comfortable kneeling position.
"My name is Matat, shaman of the Ebon Trident clan, and I am truly sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances!" she continued brightly, pausing to let Alex have a chance to speak.
Her flame failed. A vine had grasped her neck, and with Intet's spell wreaking all kinds of havoc with her fate Alex could see her flame fanning in haphazard paths that let the orcs and their steeds charge through with minimal damage. That vine also left her struggling to take to her feet, and before she could gather the strength to even rise properly the charge was upon her. One strike to her shoulder left her shield arm numb and useless. Another pair struck her side and the opposite hip leaving her reeling as she was nearly brought to the ground. Two more followed, one in her collar and one for her thigh, and as they passed Alex simply couldn't hold herself up anymore. Her body spun with the impact, her landing leaving her watching as the charge continued past her brother and her plant allies and prepared to turn even as the vines and roots reaching around her prone form and binding her to the ground. Her vision began to fade even as she was being buried, and all that could cross her mind was a single, undignified Fuck...
------
A wave of discomfort greeted Alex as she began to rouse, and an attempt to shift to make herself more comfortable revealed that such was impossible. Her knees and elbows were bound together, and her hands and feet were securely held by more insidious roots grown specifically to keep her in place. She tried to turn her head to get a better look at herself, but the pinch as having her hair pulled and the uncomfortable tug against her tail said those were just as bound as the rest of her. It left her unable to look nearly anywhere but at the backside of the orcish woman working at the bench before her, but what she could see only confirmed what the rest of her body said. She was completely nude. She'd been defeated and dragged to some unknown tent in some unknown location, trussed up and ready for whoever passed by to relieve whatever pressure they demanded of her. Thankfully that hadn't happened, but there was a giant yet that meant she wouldn't be untouched for long. The sheer indignity of her position almost made groan in frustration, but as her Pride was starting to flare a band wrapped around her neck came to life. It cut off whatever ties she held to her replenished spirit, and though she was recovered she was effectively bound both physically and spiritually as a prize for whoever the hell thought they could claim her.
For a moment Alex considered just going all out. As trapped as she was her spirit was completely bound. Not when she had the blood of a dragon coursing through her. All she needed to do was bolster her spirit enough to break through whatever barrier was keeping her sealed, and then she could rise to her full draconic glory and start wrecking this entire camp before she left to rejoin her family. But the barbs on that collar pressed against her neck, and she didn't want to test to see what they would do if she started truly flexing her metaphysical muscle. And certainly not with the shaman standing right there. That left her with nothing other than simply sitting where she was and staring at her captor as the woman continued humming to herself and continued whatever alchemical work she was pursuing.
Thankfully (or was it unfortunately?) that didn't last all that long. Whatever the orc was working on was finished, and when she turned toward the bound dragoness she seemed to brighten with an odd mix of confidence and respect. What followed was a burst of praise of all things, and that led to a rather deep bow of acknowledgement followed by a proper introduction. It left Alex flummoxed, and as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on her natural instinct was to fill the silence that followed with her own introduction. "Alexandra Alistar, daughter of the dragon Aureus and Knight-Errant to the Court of Summer." Another bout of silence broke out, and unless Matat decided to fill it Alex would break it with the one thought that managed to break through her confusion. "What happened?"
Took Tight and Warped for mutations, and my sheet should be updated
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs (Ebon Trident)
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight
green boar rider
21 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV, 12d10 Dodge)
1 shaman Matat, with horsemen behind Ochre
"You got stabbed by a bunch of lances!" Matat explained rather unhelpfully, her voice just slightly deadpan. "I did already know your name... Your brother woke up first. Started out with demands," she continued in a return to her brightened tone, before adopting a passable interpretation of Akorvick as she grunted; "Let us free immediately! I'll tear your heart out and eat it! How dare you attack me in my domain! If you do anything to my sister I'll burn you until not even your soul is left!" Matat gave a roll of her eyes, and when she smiled her cheeks dimpled pleasantly, further emphasizing the notion that the woman sitting in front of her was fairly young. "To be more thorough in explaining... Well, after you hit our column, we realized that we were dealing with something more dangerous than hapless, easily broken militia and some mercenaries. We had to do something drastic, so I called in some... Well, you're probably not going to get out of here before we take the town, so there's no harm in telling you that I contacted some wyldfae. Winter wouldn't have anything to do with us, I guess because you're Summer? Faerie politics are a bit beyond me, and I didn't ask... The "NO" was pretty definite.
"We told them about our dragon problem, they told us about your brother and the tomb at the edge of the valley, and I came up with this plan to lure him out. If he's in charge of guarding it, he'll have to come after us if we're going towards it, and I figured... You know, sibling bonds and stuff, you'd maybe follow. I wasn't sure I was going to get both of you, and when we did I wasn't sure that we could TAKE both of you... But we did."
She clapped her hands together and then rubbed them, smiling at Alex conspiratorially. "Now you're ours! Technically not my tribe's directly, but I was instrumental enough in bringing you down that everyone agreed that I'd have my turn. Hooo boy is Sengin going to be jealous.... He wanted you for himself you know! Was going to keep you, try his weird Abaddonian toy out on you and try to make sure you'd never want to leave him! Heheheheh, he was a little too obsessed for my liking, it's probably good we caught you intead of him or the Dogs. So... I suppose I don't have to explain what's going to happen to you now that you're awake, right? The, ahhh, position that you're in probably says enough to give you a pretty good idea, but I guess that I ought to ask what you've heard about what we do with people that we capture.... Dispel or confirm some notions, maybe." The shaman folded her hands in her lap, smirking, and her ensuing reactions were fairly intense as Alex was allowed to explain what she imagined she was in for.
Whatever might ensue from that conversation, however, it wouldn't last much longer. Another orc came in, one of the black clad archers who was now sans his helmet. He was grinning and actually blushing slightly, but when he saw that Alex was awake his grin broadened and morphed into a leer. "She's awake huh? About time... We've been stuck listening to the other tent for the last two hours. Boy's got stamina... Not that he's got a choice. Shall I gather the rest, tell some of the ladies that have had their turn on dragonboy that it's their turn to keep watch?" he said, speaking to the shaman who turned practically scarlet at the implication.
"Yeah... Just give me another few minutes," she said, and the man simply nodded and left unless something that Alex said prompted him to stay, perhaps responding to something that she said. Once he was gone, Matat turned back to Alex and continued in a somewhat resigned tone; "So... I guess the other big question is.... How cooperative are you going to be? I mean, I'm not untying you, but... Whether or not you're going to play nice can make your stay here a lot easier, or a lot harder. We're not going to keep you forever regardless; It would be waaaay too much trouble, and when we get through this valley we sort of agreed that letting you and your brother go with some oaths would be easier than trying to jail you long term. Would be a shameful way to treat a dragon too, even one that we'd beaten and claimed by right."
The first unhelpful answered was itself answered by a roll of the eyes, but before Alex could clarify Matat went on to explain what she knew and how she learned it. Akorvick was still alive, and he was still being his pompous self, but that made Alex wonder what happened with the alraune. They couldn't have fared that much better than she did when the lances struck, and a sense of guilt was starting to swell as she realized she called on their aid only to end up getting them run down and captured. Or worse. But Matat continued, and Alex learned that the orcs themselves had approached Winter and gave them the same response Akorvick and later Aescila had received. "It has nothing to do with me. Akorvick asked for their aid earlier when you first started approaching the valley, and they gave him the same answer. Winter just doesn't like meddling with mortal affairs." It also revealed the 'secret' that the Wyldfae had helped them, but Alex chose to let that pass for now. No need to let them know that their faerie allies had already been exposed.
Some more explanation followed, and that led to where Alex sat at that very moment. Property of Matat. At least it wasn't Sengin. Alex was sure that was the name of the knight that went and cut her wing off during the first ambush, and from what she heard she had to agree. If that man was that obsessed that he'd be willing to use mind control then she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
Instead she had to deal with the shaman and her randy followers. Matat pretty much confirmed this, though Alex was given the chance to voice what she thought would happen so the pair of them could get to the truth of the matter. So she took it. "I'm guessing I'm to stay planted here as it were while everyone who wants to gets the chance to enter this tent and use me as they wish."
After a bit one of the archers entered, and once he realized Alex was up and about he suddenly became quite excited and basically confirmed what she'd originally guessed. There wasn't much time before this sexual gauntlet started, but before it did Matat had one final question. "I don't have much choice in the matter, do I? But if I do I guess that depends. What happened with the alraune? You haven't said anything past being surprised." Following that Matat would see Alex starting to tense, and though her head was effectively pinned to her tail it didn't stop her from trying to pull the two apart. "Where's my gear?" The pressure kept mounting even as her voice strained with obvious pain as the roots of her hair were being tested to their limit. "And why does this collar have so many thorns?!" It was really starting to bother her, but at this point she refused to give up. Being bound and held like this was demeaning in the worst way, and unless Matat turned and did something specifically to stop her then Alex was going to reclaim at least that small bit of dignity even if she had to rip her own hair out to do it.
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs (Ebon Trident)
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight (Sengin)
green boar rider
21 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV, 12d10 Dodge)
1 shaman Matat, with horsemen behind Ochre
"...Huh... Well, still beyond me, but that their business I guess. Faeries," the shaman replied with a shrug when Alex revealed that they had had as much luck in dealing with Winter. Alex's ensuing simplistic explanation as to what was about to happen to her caused Matat to let out a coughed giggle, but then tilted her head. "Heheheh... Planted... Well... I guess that you're not wrong, but it's a little more complex than that," Matat replied, leaning back slightly. "You see, everyone took part in bringing you down, so everyone gets a shot at, ahh... Claiming your lineage? I'm sorry, I just don't want to be vulgar about it yet. You're probably in for enough of that within the next hour."
Cue the entrance of the orc, then his ensuing departure. Alex's next question before she started trying to free her hair left Matat's expression going promptly downcast, and she shook her head sadly. "One of them made it," she revealed, genuine regret in her voice, "the rest... I'm sorry. I had to call up everything I could from my emergency supplies just to save you two and our own, by the time I got to them the rest were... Too far gone. She's doing alright though, I guess her kind are durable. She was a good sport about it, told us how to properly honor the rest, didn't seem to mind when, ahhh, a few of the men took out a bit of frustration with her. I hope the climate here won't mean that that leads to a shorn outbreak. We let her go a couple of hours ago.... Hey! Don't do that!"
Matat ignored Alex's question about her material things, as by that point Alex was trying to tug out her own hair in order to free her tail. She had only just stressed her hair to its limits by the time she realized that her inability to see had led her to miss a couple of bindings; her tail had also been bound to itself, the connections loose enough that she hadn't felt them in the position that she'd woken up in but tightening the more that her tail tried to tug free. It locked her extra appendage into that position by a web of strands, forcing it to keep itself curled and upright, and ensured that her maximum extension wouldn't let her tail pull free of the ties to her hair but would be even more painful and uncomfortable. "That's not going to work... You're, ahhh, not the first person with a tail that we've had to deal with. It's not my work, but they insisted," Matat explained with a frown.
The young shaman sighed, shifting to hands and knees and crawling forward until she was beside Alex, and out of her line of sight. She tugged, not terribly hard but hard enough to pull Alex's tail back into its original position, relieving a bit of pressure on her hair. After a moment of further tugging she sighed, and adjusted a few things; the pressure on Alex's hair eased a little bit, making her position a bit more comfortable even if she allowed the dragoness to move her tail or head all that much more without paining herself. "Your gear is in a chest in another tent... Mostly. Your armor was really busted up, but that's your problem. Everyone that touched your armor or your sword immediately pulled away and said that it didn't like them, so I assume that you put a lot of work into your equipment? No one uses a shield in this group, and we wouldn't deprive a knight of her signet ring. You'll get your stuff back once we've taken Ochre and you've given your word not to try to turn around and take it back. The exact phrasing of that isn't up to me, I'm not that clever, but it'll be better for everyone involved if you just go with it when the time comes," she answered finally once she was sure that Alex wasn't going to continue trying to tear out her own hair just to move her tail.
With that, Matat crawled back into position and turned back to Alex, giving a sigh and frowning at her. "It's faerie make, hence the thorns. You try to use magic, it stop you. Don't test it, I'm told that it hurts," she answered Alex's final question, then sighed and sat back, simply observing the dragoness for a few moments before she abruptly turned around. She did another thirty or so seconds of work on her alchemical work, and then took a small glass and poured a pair of potions into it, swished them around for a moment, and then turned back to Alex and crawled towards her. "You're going to drink this. Are you going to do so willingly, or am I going to have to use a ring gag?"
As much as she tried to pull and tug her head and tail in whichever direction she could the fact that the latte was a lot more constricted she could see left Alex simply straining her hair and nothing else as a sharp pain blossomed and refused to give way. There wasn't any leverage to do anything more.
The dragon let out a grunt of pain and annoyance at this, but Matat approached and relieved the pressure by moving Alex's tail back into its starting position. A second later a little more adjustment was made. It gave Alex the ability to actually move her head a bit, and though it wasn't much she could at least stretch her neck a bit and cause a few cracks and pops to sound before she seemed to visibly relax. "Would have preferred a little more, but thank you." Matat seemed to relax as well now that Alex was done struggling, and the answers to her questions were finally answered leaving Alex to store away that nugget that her gear was nearby and didn't interest any of her other captors. Should make retrieving it easier down the line.
A few more critical looks led to the shaman turning toward her workbench, and when she returned she had a mixture of potions and a question/threat. There really wasn't much Alex could do at this point, so she used what room she had to nod in acceptance. "What do they do?" would be asked, but that wouldn't stop her from drinking them once the concoction was brought to her lips.
220 orcs including; decimated group of clanless, contingent of blue serpent banner archers, remnants of mounted knights with bows, squad of strange berserkers, contingent of red grinning standard orcs, three contingents of black banner elite orcs (Ebon Trident)
2 dragon knights
glowing greater knight (Sengin)
green boar rider
21 mounted archers (12d10 + 4 to hit and 2d8+19 base damage that ignores 5 AV, 12d10 Dodge)
1 shaman Matat, with horsemen behind Ochre
"You're welcome," Matat replied flatly to Alex's thanks, not so much gruff as apparently thinking about something else. When it came to the subject of the concoction that she intended to force feed the dragoness, Matat gained some pink to her cheeks again and awkwardly explained; "It will, ahh.... Make sure that you are at the right time in your cycle... To, aahhh.... Become a mother. The mix will ensure your fertility, basically... And eventually your compliance once we get going." With that, she would press the clay cup to Alex's lips and tip backwards, letting her drink it gradually and comfortably but stopping only if Alex attempted to spit it out. It was only about two or three mouthfuls, and when it was all down Matat turned briefly to put the cup back on her work table. There were many varieties of fertility altering potions known to the people of Donevrion, Alex herself had imbided one just yesterday... As far as she knew. Some varieties would negate the potion that she had already taken, and some would not; if it were still in effect it might protect her... But there was no way of knowing for sure whether her protection would hold, or even if it was still strong enough in her system to be working.
Then she quirked an eyebrow at Alex, however, and asked; "Do... Dragons even have a monthly cycle?" She didn't; her draconic heritage had meant that she had never had to deal with the discomfort of menstruation, and the assorted problems that came with normal human biology. She healed from all things - including birth - far quicker as well, and as such her natural fertility was essentially consistent at all times. If Alex replied as such, Matat would give a jealous pout and frown at her for a moment, before finally rising from her knees with a huff.
"Well, it really doesn't matter. The medicine will make sure that your body is ripe for us. I... Guess that we're going to start soon," she said, color rapidly creeping into her cheeks while the potions that Alex had been fed began to take effect. It wasn't long before Alex felt a tingling in her belly, focused at two points to either side of her womb, and a moment after that she felt a warmth which quickly blossomed outwards and left her lightly thrumming with arousal. Fog flooded her head, making it difficult to focus, and the urge to start fidgeting to let out some of her sudden agitation was stymied by her bindings. In mere seconds the warmth burning in her belly had erupted into an intense need to breed that, despite her lack of building or arousal or her Mate's aphrodisiac cum, was stronger than any that any of her previous partners had brought her to. She had heard of this sort of effect before; the more animalistic residents of the Hidden Village sometimes suffered from it, the periods of Heat that forced them to isolate themselves lest they jump on and rut whoever happened to be closest at the time. Women without the ability to magically grow a cock could handle it a little bit better so long as they kept away from any prospective mates, which for the moment was enough to keep it from becoming truly uncomfortable for Alex... But that wasn't going to last long. From what she'd been told by her neighbors, the mere sight or the smell of a virile male was enough to drive them into a frenzy over a very short period of exposure, and eventually the male archers were going to show up.
For about a minute Matat simply stood there, glancing around nervously as color crept into her pale green cheeks while Alex was left to stew in the medicine's effects. She looked at Alex for fleeting moments, at the leafy flap that marked the tent's entrance, at her work bench; seemingly anywhere she could without any actual purpose. The orc was fidgeting a fair bit, quite apparently very nervous for what was about to transpire, but after a while she reached into a pouch at her hip and started fumbling around in it. Eventually drew something out that Alex didn't get a good look at, and then froze for a moment before dramatically bending down and lifting up her robe. She was wearing an underlayer, a thick wool shirt and long johns to keep the Crolian cold at bay, which she stripped out of to reveal that other than that was was wearing little more than a loincloth and some cloth footwraps, the latter of which for the moment she kept on. Her stripping revealed the figure that had been hidden beneath beneath; the orc shamaness had a fairly well toned musculature, with fairly well developed muscles on her arms and legs and visible abdominals. Her chest was fairly small, her breasts being perhaps just enough to fill a hand comfortably with dark green aureola, but her hips were wide and Alex got a sidelong view as the shaman was shifting around that suggested that Matat was sporting plenty of meat below the waist.
Even despite her bold moves, she was hesitant again, folding her hands and then refolding them repeatedly over her crotch and using her arms to partially cover her chest while the scarlet creeping over her cheeks. "I've uhh... N-Never really done this sort of thing before," she admitted nervously, still fidgeting. By that point the drugs she'd drank had taken full effect, and the need to breed was raging in the dragon's core, but with only Matat around she could keep it under control. The lack of prospective partners was helping keep her head somewhat clear, but Alex didn't have to wait for one of male orcs to step into the room for that to change. Matat finished fumbling with her hands and revealed what she'd pulled from her hip pouch, a familiar golden band that she slipped onto her index finger. "Hmmm... I bet you've used this to have a lot of fun before," she said, eyeing it for a moment before Alex saw her activate its magic. The shaman's loincloth glowed and bulged outwards as a cock formed, and even though she couldn't see it directly, the mere fact that it existed in her presence was enough to force her drug-enhanced sex drive into overdrive. When Matat wiggled out of her loincloth and it was exposed to her eyes, even still soft it the sight alone was like a full hit of Aescila's aphrodisiac laced cum.
Matat smiled sheepishly at her for a moment, partially covering the summoned member with her folded hands. "This... Is new, it feels weird! Uhm... I guess.... I mean, I guess I'm supposed to do this?" she murmured, finally unfolding her hands and running one of them over her conjured cock. She shuddered slightly, hesitated, and then slipped her fingers back along the upper portion until they met the tip. Then they curled around to grasp the fattened purple bell-end, causing Matat to let out a shocked gasp at the sensation. Her fingers slipped back down, to the base, and she began to stroke herself to full hardness. The whole show was practically hypnotizing, thickening the fog in Alex's brain until it was nearly impenetrable; the drugs left her heart pounding, her body thrumming with inconsolable need. The drugs seemed to have heightened her senses, because it seemed like she could see every detail of the rapidly growing tool that Matat had sprouted, could detect the subtle change that it had made in the shaman's scent, and both were made to practically dominate her thoughts.
Alex had another handful of minutes alone with Matat as the shaman teased herself to full hardness before the other orcs started arriving, and then the urges raging through her loins got all the harder to resist. Five of them came in at first, four men and a woman; the latter was walking slightly bow legged, and the four of them seemed to be joking about something. It was getting hard to concentrate, and most of their words - in orcish - went in one ear and out the other like so much meaningless noise. Alex would note that they paused, and one of the men said something that made Matat blush and look away from them with a bashful smile after looking the shaman up and down, but couldn't discern much of anything else that occurred in their conversation barring a few words. Akorvick was mentioned once or twice, but not by name, and she caught the words "watch" and "patrol" and "scouts" among their conversation before the female came forward. She grabbed Alex by the hair, looking her in the eyes with a triumphant leer, and when she forced the dragoness to look upwards a bit further she was considerably less gentle than Matat had been. "I was the one that finally put you on the ground," the orcess declared confidently, "too bad I don't have the equipment to take my right to first pass at you. I'll just have to trust that my brethren will do a good job of it for me! How ya feel about that, huh? Ready to get knocked up?"
Alex had an opportunity to respond, if she could, but the conversation was brief. The orcess let go of her hair and went to the men she'd come with, who were steadily undressing. The tent was heating up rapidly; it was either the presence of so many bodies or the heat growing in her core, it was hard to tell which. The place filled quickly as the male portion of the archers filed in, coming in pairs or groups. The conversation bubbling around her was excited; Alex heard a few promises sent her way for what they were going to do to her, but much of it was lost into the fog clouding her mind as most of her concentration was drawn to the cadre of toned, fit men who were about to take it in turns to breed her. She was an event, apparently only rivaled by what was going on in the other tent where her brother was being kept.
Eventually, Matat cleared her throat, and despite how loud the room was the orc men - now eleven strong - rapidly went quite and turned to the bashful shaman. She cleared her throat again, blushing, but after taking a moment to center herself she turned to Alex and folded her hands in front of her again. "I believe that our... Prize... Is ready. Remember your order; those who struck her down will be first to plant their seed in her... After we make sure that the medicine has taken hold," she declared, at which point a pair of the orcish men stepped forward. There were many apocryphal tales about orcs being well endowed; wives tales told with blushes about how much more impressive they were by totally inexperienced Badarian and Crolian girls more often than not. Alex was getting an eyeful of the truth to that; not a man - or woman - here was under nine inches, and most were between ten and eleven. They would be deep, very deep, and the lust burning in her core only led her to long for it despite that she was far from a consensual participant.
One of the orcs approaching knelt in front of Alex, his member pointing at her face. "Didn't have to gag her? I'm surprised... Figured her pride would have her fighting us every step of the way," he said, glancing at Matat, who shrugged and replied; "She took the medicine willingly. If she bites I'll gag her, just be careful at first!" Undeterred, the orc in front of her pushed the fattened head of his cock against her lips. Even just the smell of it was sending her hormones going crazy, every breath drawing in fresh bursts of pungent masculine pheromones that sent equally powerful bursts of lust rising in her belly courtesy of the drugs she'd been fed. A taste of it would, undoubtedly, only be even more intense a hit...
The other to approach went behind her, and let out a hearty laugh as he smacked her ass, sending one of her bubbly cheeks jiggling. "Not a problem back here... Damn if this one doesn't have an ass on her though!" he said with some amusement, and spent the first moment that Alex was doing whatever she thought best with the orc in front of her playing with her backside, smacking and shaking and squeezing for his amusement. After a moment his hands were replaced by his cock as he squatted down, bouncing his hard, thick shaft against her rear cheeks. gradually drawing it closer and closer to her sex with every bounce. It was slippery, a glob of lava hot pre landing against her pale skin in some places and something cooler left where they didn't. The lust burning in her core was almost unbelievable at that point, and the very idea that something would finally sate that lust left her womb throbbing with need; when his helmet brushed against her defenseless petals the burst of excitement that poured into her thoughts were momentarily the only thing that she could think of, but after that first teasing brush he slipped upwards to press his tip against her tight pucker. The orc wasted no more time, his rod easily slipping into the half-dragon's tight ass with a low groan. The burst of pleasure from that penetration was the first relief that she'd felt since being drugged, but it wasn't nearly enough. It was the wrong hole to truly sate her, but it would be enough to leave her coasting by... For now. The first thrust only had the orc halfway into her, but he pulled back just slightly, and the second left her feeling his balls resting against her quivering folds and the full pressure of his pulsating member resting against her perineal sponge.
