The infiltration of Axis Island continued as the Squad made their way along the valley road towards the fortress.
First they passed by a village, trying to be stealthy but largely failing. They spotted an industrial facility of some sort, and were in turn spotted by another patrol of the Duchess’s soldiers. Gruul was able to convince the patrol to leave them alone.
Next, the Squad was hit by a planar fluctuation similar to the one that had killed the marines. This time is was harmless, however, and they merely found themselves standing briefly in an other-worldly landscape similar to the ones that the skyseers had seen in their visions.
An upturned wagon full of guns proved to be a magical trap that could have been purpose-built to lure Aleric. He took some cold damage but came out of it with a rifle.
A very large mechanical construct resembling a headless iron statue went stumbling by. Since it was far larger and more powerful-looking than any of Aleric’s bots, the Squad let it stumble on by. Uraesco detected the “sound” of voices in his mind as the device passed.
After giving up on stealth and relying on perception to warn them of trouble, the Squad made better time, and after a couple of hours they reached the fortress, where they faced the problem of how to get past the outer wall. They had two passwall scrolls, but they had to find the specific spot where the wall’s wards were weakened. Aleric spotted a place where the wall had been repaired, and they used the passwall scroll to enter the fortress.
The Squad made their way across the interior of the fortress to the sea wall. With the help of a silence scroll, they were stealthy enough not to attract attention. On the way they spotted a stable that was under guard. They managed to get onto the sea wall and almost out to the lighthouse before they were challenged.
Aleric disguised himself like one of the guards at the stable and the others pretended to be repairmen. They managed to fool one guard but not a second. Combat ensued. Several guards went down quickly but the one proper soldier proved to be much tougher, and a wizard took potshots at them from the lighthouse. Gruul was down by the end of the fight, but he was quickly revived.
The Squad opened the sea gate and signalled the armada with a faerie fire-enchanted bullet. Then they set up barricades, traps, and wards to hold off waves of guards and soldiers that had been alerted by the gunfire on the sea wall.
After ten minutes of frantic fighting and barricade-buliding, Risuri ships entered the harbour and began to attack the fortress’s seaward defences. Siege engines were set up and marines swarmed over the outer wall. They quickly reached the Squad.
While the Duchess’s forces were being routed, the Squad was able to rest for an hour. They were healed by medics and were able to identify the magical medallions they found in the sea cave. Captain Smith came to congratulate them (but pointed out that the fight wasn’t over yet), and he summoned a patrol of four soldiers led by Corporal Glassman to guard the Squad.
Suddenly, there were gunshots and screams and a tremendous ball of fire as a Risuri ship exploded into flame. A humanoid figure with a flaming sword (or whip?) leapt from the ship to the top of the sea wall, surrounded itself with a cloak of shadow, and disappeared into the general melee. Malachai recognized the powerful fey warrior from his vision, although no-one could identify who it was.
