The Chain 02: Beginning of the End

Planning on the Road

The team begins by making a plan about their plan of attack on Rosehall. After some deliberation, they decide to send in the Karnathi soldiers along the river with their undead making an amphibious assault. The senior officer "A" team will approach stealthily from the north and head straight to City Hall to cut off the head of the beast. The remainder of the Chain break into groups to assault the city from the periphery and quickly and silently take out as many patrols and scattered groups of Warforged.   The spy network reports to Meow/Pow that the Warforged seem to be searching for something in the city and patrols are light. Also, a concealed campfire is seen off of the road, with several humanoid figures trying to keep themselves hidden from the city.  

The Assault on Rosehall begins!

  The A team sets up in a copse of trees to the North of the village, and wait for a sky write signal from Caelia. When it comes, it's time to ROLL OUT!   Time for a skill challenge!   The team weaves through the cobblestone and dirt streets of Rosehall. They narrowly avoid one Warforged patrol due to the keen eyes of Meow. Forging ahead, Peacock spies another group in the middle of tossing a house. The team quickly dispatches the a group of warforged (including a winged soldier) and learns through Meow's shapechanging trickery that 'the relic isn't in this quadrant'. Before they can question the last foe, Rook kills it and encourages her team to hasten their way to the City Hall.   Seven creates a bit of a distraction by knocking over a pile of crates. He almost gets caught himself, but manages to get back to the group without being caught. Fuller attempts to impersonate a warforged with his newly won arm blade, but woefully fails. Two groups of the constructs set up in the direct path to the City Hall and Fuller leads the group down a side path for a more indirect route. Finally, Rook uses her impressive athleticism to get the rest of the team onto the roof of the City Hall as they sneak around the back.

Up in Flames

  The team finds some windows near the edge of the roof and see inside a City Hall in strangely ordered disarray. It looks as if the intruders tossed the place and then subsequently used the building as a base of operations. Several work benches have been set up with some basic construction taking place. In one room, the former mayor's desk is covered with papers. The main square in front of the city hall is bustling, as the warforged invaders scramble to deal with the swiftly advancing forces. Many of the warforged were in the process of building a shrine to the Lord of Blades in the central fountain in town. The rubble of the former statue of King Gaius IV lies scattered on the ground.   The team hastily puts together their resources to build some fire bombs to throw through the windows, and then STRIKE! As the fires catch inside, the Warforged Commander exits the building.   "Soldiers, report! How many of them are there?"   "Maybe 500, with 1000 undead attacking from the river."   "That can't be right, we were told it would be at least 10,000! Where are we with the relic?"   "It was just found in the southern region" - gestures to a group hastily carrying a crate into the square.   At that, the Chain groups led by Hawk and Chip break into the square and a fight breaks out. The Warforged are quickly overcome and as the group catches their breath, Meow warns Hawk about what they overheard from the enemy. "Commander, it's a trap!" He gathers some information from the A team, then turns with a concerned glance to address the soldiers as the ground begins to rumble.   "We're leaving. Now! We fight our way to the road, and if we get cut off that way, we go to the docks. Send out scouts to warn-" At that, the ground erupts under Commander Hawk and he disappears with a spray of blood and gore. A huge metallic worm shoots vertically into the air, taking the remnants of Hawk's body with it. It is huge- at least 10 feet in diameter and 50 feet in length- and that's just the part the team can see. As it slams back down to the ground, panels open along its length and warforged soldiers begin pouring out.