12.29 - A Clockwork Conspiracy, Ch. 5

In the darkened grove of the Sanctuary, Eliana and Riven find Pim and a wounded Barksdale fighting for their lives beneath the Bownson memorial against swarms of Clockwork Horrors. Nearly overwhelmed by the saw-wielding archanotech spiders, the heroes are luckily joined by Elfriede Simbledon, who descends from the open dome on wings of arcana to begin devastating the death robots with powerful magic. Bolstered by the arrival of the Sage of the Reach, Riven makes it through the chaos of steel claws and sawblades to Barksdale’s side and restores him to enough health to bring him back to his feet. Pim continues to smash clockwork right and left with his rippling mousey muscles, and Eliana struggles to stay out of reach of their attacks, her archery skills a bit rusty from infrequent use. Finally, as a natural dawn begins to break, Elfriede finishes the fight by summoning the arcane essence of daybreak into the heart of the desecrated temple, cleansing it with radiant fire and leaving the last of the horrors in a twisted mess of molten steel.   The heroes have little time to recover as they grimly reunite beneath blood- and oil-spattered trees: Mayor Stonegrowth may have been secured in the Longsnout vault and Gildenwerd’s mansion destroyed, but the Black Dragon Guildhall is no more, the town garrison destroyed in flame, the main force of the garrison slaughtered, the Ogre Gate undefended and open wide to the south, and a menacing archanotech ballista still peers down from the roof of the town hall—Last Rest still remains in the tightening grip of this Clockwork Conspiracy, its tiring heroes the only thing standing in the way of Hephaestus’s ascension.   +2 Songs of Glory: Riven, Eliana, Elfriede / Pim levels up to 4