Session Log 2023-09-26

Klaitos, with Ekkels aboard his backpack, raced south. They hurried to reach Captain Caegron and the contigent he was taking to subdue the mob at the southeastern Gate Tower so that they could recruit ballista-operators from among his militia to aid the balloon-bomb assault on the dragons. They decided to race around Lord's Town rather than try to breach the upper-class stronghold.

Meanwhile, the gate-storming mob halted before the sight of the illusory zombie army summiting the towering walls of Golarth. Ignis took advantage of their disorganization and fear by issuing an order to retreat. The giant woman with the ballista attempted to counter his orders, but the common sense of fleeing the undead horde won out, and so she could only glare at Ignis and leave with them. Torrix and Ignis followed after them, both to escape the climbing undead and to monitor the instigating faction of the near-battle.

Robin slid down the lift-rope after them, but missed the glaring woman. She followed after Ignis at the tail of the mob, lurking at a safe distance to see what he would do next. As she headed to the Plaza of Legends, she dropped the visual component of her massive illusion, leaving only the sounds of the horde - the mob had already been turned away, and she wanted to follow them out of the range of her magic.

Klaitos was too unfamiliar with Golarth to find the Plaza of Legends in the umbral darkness, and so climbed the wall of Lord's Town for a vantage from which to plot his course. He and Ekkels were reprimanded for their trespass by a figure in a regal gown and a gold mask, but ignored her to jump down and hurry onward.

They heard the sounds of the Lord's Town gate opening behind them, and Ekkels caught a glimpse of some skulking pursuer. As they reached the Plaza of Legends, Klaitos could see Caegron's forces arranged against the mob, blocking their passage through the path of obelisks. Beyond them all, a teeming mass vanished suddenly from the walltop.

Ignis saw a small militia force, led by a giant Captain, holding a line ahead and halting the mob in the plaza. The captain demanded the lawless rioters stand down, but the encroaching undead and general anarchy of the besieged city meant his orders were met with jeers and threats. Ignis circled around the group and jumped into the no-man's-land between militia and mob. He pled for rational cooperation instead of needless combat. Robin, at the back of the mob, watched the giant woman reach for her ballista.

The Captain eyed him with scorn, at first, and then disdainful recognition. He identified the man as Ignis Fireheart, traitor to the Torch and wanted terrorists with a bounty on his head. In the surprised silence that followed, Robin dropped the illusion behind her and cast another, imitating the captain's rough voice and calling for all present to disperse and return to their homes.

Most of the mob took the order as an opportunity, fleeing into the streets and putting distance between themselves and the apparently overtaken wall. However, the giant woman rallied the rest, reminding them that their homes would be their graves in the besieged city, and calling on them to survive or die. She punctuated her declaration by firing a bolt into the captain's side, knocking him back. The situation rapidly devolved into open combat, allowing a gleeful Torrix to batter the nearest rioter to the pavement.

Ekkels lost sight of their pursuer, right up until Klaitos was attacked from the shadows by a short figure in a silk mask. He evaded the strike, but the figure retreated into hiding. Klaitos tried to sense the assailant's presence stirring the airflows, but was foiled by the persistent westward wind. Ekkels strained to make them out in the darkness. Neither wanted to be delayed here - they could see Caegron had been injured up ahead - but the unseen assassin from Lord's Town was too great a risk.

Ignis was jumped by a yellow-scaled lizardman and suffered a brutal maceblow. He summoned his fire magic; the lizardman grinned and let a spark dance between his teeth in response. He attempted to blind his attacker with a flare, but his opponent moved quickly enough to avoid the stunning burst.

Robin watched the giant woman load her ballista for another shot, and decided to sneak up to try and sabotage her. The woman's keen eyes spotted her coming, and she turned her weapon on the "rat in their midst". The bolt tore Robin's shoulder, but spared the captain, who rose to his feet and lumbered into the fray with a greatsword to rival Krotokos's maul.