A Falling Son
| A Falling Son | |
|---|---|
| Date | 7/6/23 |
| Storyteller | Doug |
| Tier | Master |
| Player Characters | Serene Leyvald, Femi, Hiromi, Sade Mrysky, Satori, Zeal |
| Rewards | 300 exp, 1500 gold, +1 resilient breastplate, Crown of the Fire Eater, Potion of Quickness (Formula), Scroll of Fireball (Level 3), 2x Anglerfish (Vehicle) |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Zeal |
Log
Things were different this time. Very different. We all signed up for this job knowing the severity of the dangers awaiting us, and were prepared for a hit-and-run if necessary. The Kodama had different plans this time. Their army was ready. They had fused into one massive entity adorning a deer skull with glowing, green eyes and boasting a formidable gaunt form. They were looking for bloodshed. We no longer needed to weaken their supply lines, the goal was to take the castle in its entirety. If we did not clear the way ourselves to keep the army's presence a secret, they would eventually reach the castle and take it themselves, no matter the cost. We knew the greatest tactical advantage would be to take the castle without revealing the army's approach, and so we resolved to deal with Kai and his forces ourselves.
Taking the two Anglerfish vehicles once more, we managed to arrive at the same time. Taking a day for Satori and Hiromi to scout the place out, they found that there was a lack of ogre presence. They likely did not have enough time to replenish their forces, given that we chose to return here to finish the job only a few days later. More concerning was that Kai and his oni guard were spending their time openly waiting. Waiting for us. He was just reading books of some sort, letting his guard down. We took advantage of this and positioned ourselves to assault him, and the front gate, from the north and the east. The army was still a day away, and would not be there to help us if we needed it. This was a do-or-die fight.
Serene was the first to strike, soon followed by Sade. Both pressured Kai and forced him to turn into smoke to retreat, carrying a disappointed look and accusations of us "cheating". For all the legacy of this Will Breaker clan I've heard so far, I never thought such a dreaded clan would have their sons taught to cry about fairness in a fight to the death. Thinking we would have an honorable duel with scum like him was a display of abnormal ignorance. Despite this, he was no pushover in a fight. He drew an ethereal katana from his head, and once Bakus rushed him he struck out with a devastating blow. While Bakus was forced back, Serene, Sade and I faced off against the oni guard and the encroaching ogres. A different oni guard than last time, but he died all the same.
While Satori scaled the wall to try and flank Kai, the "Little Master" rained fire down on us from where the ogres and the oni guard had held us at the entrance. These blows were unfortunately especially devastating for Serene, but she held on as best as she could in the face of such intense firepower. Satori scaling the wall drew the attention of an incensed Kai, who tried to fight him with the assistance of an ogre up on the wall. Serene was soon to join him via a leaping potion while Sade and I pushed through the enemies at the gate, with the support of Femi and Hiromi. Femi was also having to deal with distant kobolds firing at her, while Hiromi was forced to focus on keeping our more injured members alive. Somewhere along the way Satori also knocked out the teeth of a glutton and impressed the deceased glutton's wife, but that isn't relevant, aside from the fact that she escaped with a severe wound from me.
During his fight with Satori and Serene, Kai ignites his entire body and faces off against them with an exceptional ferocity. Once I am able to join them Satori declares that we need to capture him, which only seems to enrage him further. He nearly killed Serene. If not for Satori and I making a risky move to stop his finishing blow, that would've been it. As Sade scaled the wall to help Hiromi in saving Serene, Kai once again turned into smoke and fled, leaving us all horribly sickened. Femi has been summoning creatures to draw the enemy's attention and especially protect us from the barrage of the kobolds, of which they are now well-fed and far more accurate than last time, but the kobolds soon bring her down as well. This forces Sade to move away to help Femi, while I do my best to pursue Kai's fleeing form with the assistance of a summoned staircase from Satori.
The final part of the fight was a blur to me, but from what I remember Serene rushed by as I was blocked off by an ogre glutton. She dealt the final blow to Kai with the assistance of Hiromi's magical cold to stop his regeneration, and I was far too worn down from the fight to handle the ogre glutton by myself. It swallowed me whole, but the others got me out in time to prevent suffocation. For that, I am grateful.
The rest of the forces retreated now that their leader was dead, which means nobody should be aware of the Kodama's forces moving in to occupy the location and prepare for the final battle. The next time we step into the grove, we should expect it to be with full intention to face off against Aku and the remainder of his forces. Aku himself is different than we had gleaned from the broken Kodama's memories previously in the Unbroken report, with a more bestial appearance and his white mane of hair instead being a cloak of dirty white fur. His katana was instead a twisted, deformed halberd boasting a black energy that was reported to have been previously found on an ogre in the grove, allowing him to deal a devastating blow to someone with it. We know this because Aku appeared in an ethereal form when Satori performed burial rights for Kai, pushing the ethereal katana back into him, reducing his body to dust, and acknowledging that he had died a warrior's death. For all the scum that he is, at least it seems that Aku cared about his son. I can only hope this will make him vulnerable when the time comes, as we cannot allow him a single mercy for all the horrors he has inflicted upon the grove with such a degree of pride.