Session Log 2023-12-01

Ignis battled the still-burning zombie of Byrix of the Emerald atop the Golarth wall. Behind him, Angitt fought to drag her unconscious lizardman friend away from its assault with her burned arms. The dragon was still limping from the blast damage inflicted by the Hitchit, earlier, allowing Ignis get ahead of its movements and slice one shoulder nearly all the way off. In its thrashing, it knocked Angitt and her ally to the floor.

Far below, in the warehouse district plaza, Ekkels and the engineers were able to liftoff the Ignis - the second hot-air balloon - to try and blast the looming zombie of Urtholon of the Emerald. Robin, watching from a nearby warehouse roof, made an illusory duplicate of the balloon to confound any potential attempt to dodge or destroy the weapon.

She used another illusion - a crude puppet - to warn Klaitos of the rider atop the larger zombie. Klaitos, still standing in the hole he had opened in the Golarth wall, acknowledged the warning, but could not make out the figure himself. Instead, he created a new envelope of calm air amidst the gale to keep the Ignis from slamming into the wall as it rose.

The other Ignis continued to press his advantage, tracking the zombie dragon's impaired movements. As it stumbled on its now-useless limb, he leapt in close, heedless of the now-roaring flame consuming it. He slashed through its neck, and its head toppled to the ground. The rest of its burning bulk fell a moment later - atop Ignis, who had drawn too close.

The other dragon reared back its head and bellowed a throat-ripping volume of black ash down at the two balloons. Klaitos was able to guide the real balloon out of the way, and Robin made the illusory one evade a little below it. However, Klaitos was in the line of fire behind the balloons, and was unable to repel the sheer volume of ash with a hasty barrier of wind. He felt it pass through him ethereally, leaving him drained as though he had not rested for days.

Ekkels saw Klaitos get hit by the blast, and raced across the plaza to join his friend. He climbed the stairs inside the Hangar wall and passed by several soldiers that had likewise been exhausted by the zombie dragon's breath weapon. He leapt the gap in the broken stairwell to join Klaitos's side in the makeshift window.

Ignis, pinned beneath the noxious burning zombie dragon's body, called for Angitt's help to pull him free. She grabbed the lizardman's metal mace in her burnt hands and used it to lever the corpse partway off. Ignis pushed free, covered in soot. She immediately demanded his healing magic, and chugged the liquor, ignoring the burning head of Byrix thrashing and writhing off to the side.

Her hands and arms were restored, though she swayed a little with inebriation. Since her original weapon was damaged by the Hitchit's explosion, she told Ignis she was going to move to the next wall-mounted ballista. She slung the lizardman over her shoulders again, and carried him and his mace south along the wall.

The zombified Urtholon suddenly dove from the sky to loom before the hole where Klaitos and Ekkels were perched. It breathed forth a narrower gout of the same breath weapon, but Klaitos was able to deflect this smaller blast with his wind magic.

Both balloons now in range, the ballista operators positioned along the wall fired flaming bolts at both the real and illusory Ignis. Between the distance, the suddenness, and the confusion, none struck the real payload. Ekkels saw the balloon drifting past his and Klaitos's aperture, and borrowed Klaitos's storm magic to hurl a bolt of lighting at the metal basket. The strike ignited the oil barrel, blasting the dragon's flank and splashing burning oil in all directions. He and Klaitos ducked under the spatter as the side of the zombie caught fire.

Robin, still watching from the warehouse roof perch, finally got a good look at Urtholon's rider. Illuminated by the burning of his zombie mount, she could make out a black-scaled part-dragon wearing ornate armor.