Session 11
We set off along the Krefeld Way, bringing Feole (The idle student) (and his tea-lady) with us.
Along the Way, we find:
- Evidence of a large group of Walking Dead. Any of these that have left the path have been saved by local Spirits (Dogs of the Broken Path?)
- A shrine to The Lady of The White Mountain (who is The Righteous Lady, a lieutenant of SOL)
As we get closer, we see a fire in the distance, closer than the Keep. Investigation shows it to be a small copse along the Way, and there are some Zombie bits in it. Probably set alight by Master Hanson to slow down the Horde.
At the Keep itself, we find the garrison about to be overrun by many hundreds of Hungry Walking Dead (Size 5 Battle group!). Master Hanson's group is off to one side being tailed by 40-60 Zombies.
Tirigan leaves the group and goes to relieve Hanson, while the rest of us pile in to the maddening crowd!
The Tall Man joins Ben on his Cloud, supposing to get inside the battlements, but finds the Horde are already on the Walls!
Ben hurls Shards of Death at the Zombies, in the form of Obsidian Butterflies.
Lady Khensa and Master Sui rush the besieging Horde.
Realising that the situation is dire, Master Sui calls upon all the Glory of SOL, summons every last knowledge from his training, and piles in with horrific force (or would have done, if his dice had not betrayed him!)
Ben realises that a Plague Spirit is trying to insinuate its diseased tentacles into his Aura, and drops the cloud low, the better to deal with it. The Tall Man sends volley after volley of burning arrows into the Horde.
Sui's Bonfire Anima stands bright against the Noon sky, as he and Kensha try to clear the gates, but the Horde is too strong, and the Walking Dead breach the entrance!
The Golden Glow of SOL's Power also emanates from the Cloud, as The Tall Man empties his quiver over and over.
Ben has thrown down a Spirit Repelling Diagram, but the beast has moved away rather than reveal itself.
Seeing Ben's anti-spirit powers activate, but with no Spirit to target, Sui takes this moment to call upon The Old Pacts. No Spirit can easily resist the Summons of A Mid-Day Lawgiver!
"Show Yourself! I am addressing the Spirit that assails this place! You know whence my Authority comes, and I command you! Show yourself!"
Spluttering with anger, the bloated, gnarled, form shimmers into being.
"You will spread no more contagion here!"
The Tall Man unleashes more arrows, guided by SOL's Light, and the quivering Spirit falls back, bent and broken (initiative crash), as Ben caged its Material Form in Golden Bonds.
An unknown Power goes off (not the Tea Lady. No, she is no-one special. Definitely not The Prophet.), and the Plague Spirit is locked inside a Fortune Cookie. The Tea Lady (who surely is still back at the ridge) deftly swaps the cookie with another from her bag.
But the fight is not over! We plunge once more into the Breach, and before long reach the Inner Tower, where the last remnants of the Garrison are fighting with renewed vigour (if little hope).
The Enemy are soon cleared, and the four surviving Guards greet us with much relief.
Much chatting goes on:
The garrison have learnt the Ways of SOL from their Medicant, Schultz, who brought this knowledge from across the sea.
Unfortunately, he has fallen to the Horde, and only his Staff and Amulet remain (no corpse! It must have been eaten by the Walking Dead ...)
Master Hanson is planning on staying at the Keep, a remote retreat for him and his Masters (and Feole) to study, uninterrupted by Worldly Affairs.
It is Prophesied that Feole will create a new form.
I was down to 0 Personal, 4 Peripheral Essence at one point. Chris only slightly more.
Mick threw everything he had at caging the Spirit in one round (instead of two, maybe three rounds).
I was never in too much fear of taking damage, but we were hard pressed to do enough damage fast enough to save the garrison.
