11 - 10/9/25 : Quod Periit, Periit

 

"I promise you, warchief... I will fight the enemy with you unto death. And when the crusaders bellow their battle cries at the gates of Iz, the voice of the last of the Sarkorians shall be among that great chorus."  

Ulbrig Olesk

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  Paralictor Derenge formally petitioned for an alliance between his Hellknights and the Fifth Crusade. The Knight-Commanders deliberated amongst themselves and decided to call for a council on the matter, meeting in the main strategy tent.   The general consensus seemed to be that allowing the Hellknights to join the march would be beneficial, though there was the risk to morale stemming from the conflicting values of the two forces. Seelah in particular objected to the presence of Hellknights, but Satomi was able to convince her to back off on her insistence for the good of the crusade.   With all opinions settled, the Knight-Commanders returned to Regill and informed him that they agreed to his proposal on the grounds that both forces be held to their own rules and codes, and not those of the other. The Paralictor found this an acceptable arrangement and pledged his force of heavy Hellknight cavalry to the crusade, as well as his services in personally accompanying the Knight-Commanders on missions. Once he dispatched messengers to retrieve his scattered scouting units to a rendezvous, the Hellknights would travel alongside the crusaders to Drezen.   Haliel then requested permission from Regill to speak freely, and asked to continue directly serving the Knight-Commanders for the duration of the Fifth Crusade. Regill, after hearing the approval of his new allies, agreed to this proposition and officially discharged Haliel to enlist with the Fifth Crusade.   With their new allies gathering their forces, the crusade continued its march to Drezen. As they rounded the northern end of the Shudderwood, Ulbrig approached the party and reminded them of his intention to investigate the village of Currantglen with him, where he hoped to find some remnants of Sarkorian civilization; or, failing that, to find a Stone of Voices that would allow him to reach out to other distant Sarkorian settlements.   The party honored their prior commitment and joined Ulbrig at Currantglen, which they found to be long abandoned. Unfazed, Ulbrig tended to the land in the center of town to get a feel on the natural balance of the place. His conclusions were grim, as the land itself seemed to be 'sick'. As he shared his observations, this natural imbalance manifested in a quartet of elementals, driven mad by the Abyss-stricken land.   A tense fight followed, with the party contending with a crazed elemental of each of the four primary elements. They were able to prevail with some wear and tear, but remained hale overall. After the battle died down, the group witnessed a spectral wolf appear before them. The wolf looked to Ulbrig and then proceeded up a pathway to a nearby hilltop, as if to guide him, before disappearing. Ulbrig guessed the wolf to be an ancestral Sarkorian spirit, and decided to follow it.   At the hilltop, Ulbrig found the Stone of Voices that he sought, and attuned to it. He used the stone to call out to the other stones throughout old Sarkoris, but received only silence as the answer. As the stone died down from Ulbrig un-attuning himself from it, the last Sarkorian slowly came to realize the truth; his people were all gone, lost to the Worldwound or the ravages of two centuries.   Watching Ulbrig's former confidence and boisterous insistence on his peoples' survival fade, the party tried to reassure their companion, encouraging him to keep living for the sake of the memory of his lost people. Ulbrig's sorrow was soon mixed with righteous anger and conviction, and he swore to the Knight-Commanders that he would fight the demons with them to the bitter end.   Ulbrig asked to remain behind in Currantglen for a time in order to properly honor the departed according to Sarkorian tradition, but promised that he would catch up to the army when he was through - a simple task, given his ability to transform into a griffon. The party agreed to give him the time they needed, and headed back to the camp to resume the march.   A few days later, the army approached the canyon known as Leper's Smile. This rocky pass was the only way through the Sarkorian Steppe that could accomodate the army's passage; without it, they would have to circumvent it to the north, adding weeks or even months to their journey. Such a delay would stretch supplies to nothingness and allow the demons to regroup after their defeat in Kenabres, and thus the canyon was a necessary part of their march.   However, as the army drew closer, they realized that Leper's Smile was swarming with a large cloud of insect-like creatures, amassed in a large cloud over the pass. As Elseth observed the cloud from a distance in the army camp, she noted a distant but pungent sickly-sweet smell in the air.   Anevia soon returned from her scouting mission and identified the insects as vescavors - demonic insects that were known for their ability to devour nearly anything. A swarm so large would surely decimate the army, destroying both flesh and steel alike and bereaving the crusade of soldiers and the arms they needed to wage war. However, the army could not simply bypass Leper's Smile, and were they to return to traveling in a different direction, the swarm was sure to take notice and attack them out in the open.   A strategy council was convened, and Anevia shared her expertise on the vescavors and their many daunting strengths. She did note that the creatures were part of a hive mind led by a queen, and slaying the queen would undoubtedly force the swarm to disperse. However, approaching the queen in her cavernous lair was suicide while the greater part of the swarm remained overhead.   The council settled on a bold plan to handle the situation; a distraction team - large enough to catch the swarm's attention but small enough to remain mobile and not unnecessarily endanger the crusade's numbers - would be dispatched as outriders to bait most of the vescavors away from the canyon, leaving the queen vulnerable within her lair in the canyon. A small strike force would then be able to rush the canyon, fight their way through the remaining vescavors, and slay the queen before her swarm could be recalled to defend her. Doing so would disperse the swarm and allow the army to make their passage.   Paralictor Derenge volunteered himself and his heavy cavalry for the distraction task as a matter of duty and Hellknight pride. He believed that they would be able to outpace the swarm on their mounts and endure their attack with their heavy armor, assuming that the strike force acted quickly and slew the queen in short order.   The Knight-Commanders accepted Regill's offer and gave the Hellknights the grim task of acting as bait for the vescavors. Hearing this, Sosiel volunteered to accompany the Hellknights, believing his healing magic would aid their survival against the odds. Sosiel's aid was welcomed, and the distraction team was formed.   The task of slaying the queen in her lair naturally fell to the Knight-Commanders. After deliberating over which of their companions to bring along into Leper's Smile, the group settled on an unlikely candidate; Woljif, whom they believed would be useful against a large and vulnerable target like the vescavor queen. Despite Woljif's heavy reluctance and protests, the young trickster acquiesced and prepared himself to accompany the commanders into the heart of the swarm.   As the forces split to prepare for their mission, Anevia pulled the commanders aside for a moment to deliver some grim news. She and her scouts had discovered traces of vescavor queen pheromone spread on various surfaces throughout the army camp, and the pheromones being carried on the wind was likely what had attracted the swarm to the canyon in the first place. Anevia took this as sure indication that there was a traitor amongst the crusader ranks. To her shame, she had no leads on who the perpetrator could be.   The party agreed that something had to be done, and Satomi had the idea of tasking Wenduag with assisting Anevia in seeking out the traitor. Wenduag, delighted with the prospect of hunting done someone who had backstabbed her commanders, agreed to do her utmost to bring them before the council to face harsh punishment.   With these concerns settled, the party prepared themselves to set out for Leper's Smile, as the Hellknights began their charge into what could easily be their deaths...