Attack on Silvanost - Part 6 and Aftermath

01 Newkolt 349 AC

Kysek shakes his head. “Damned dragons!”, he states boldly. He then pulls the wand of lightning bolt from his pocket and unleashes it upon the green he blasted with cold. The bolt strikes the dragon at the base of its wing and while the beast falters, it does not fall.

Shadow races after the green dragons as fast as he can. His fingers fly through a series of arcane gestures, culminating in a cry of "βολίδα!"

An orange bead appears in his open palm and he hurls it towards the fleeing wyrms. The bead streaks through the air, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake before exploding between the two flying reptiles. Both dragons dip precariously, dragging their bellies across several rooftops before pulling up and making it out over the city wall.

Raven cuts and kicks the wall until he makes an opening large enough to climb out of the collapsed building. Once the hole has been made, he sheathes his sword and crawls out, dangling for a moment before dropping to the street below.

Ra’ziir flies toward Raven’s location with the grappled dragon rider. About twenty feet before reaching the ground, he drops the rider and immediately casts a spell to enclose the rider in a widowless cell of force. Mentally, he says to Raven “Maybe this one can provide some useful intel…”

The rider who landed with a wet crunch, sits up. He gets to his knees and clutches his silvered amulet and, in what is undoubtedly a prayer calls out, "Dark Queen Takhisis! Hear me! I am beset by those who would oppose you! Bless me with your favor and deliver me from captivity!"

The rider touches a hand to his chest and black energy flows from his fingers in corsucating bands. An agonized cry of "Nooooo," escapes his lips before he crumples into the road, leaving behind only a blackened husk.

Ra’ziir dispels the force cage spell with a wave of his hand as he lands next to the husk. With a booted toe, he taps the rider’s head as he scans the remains for any clues…

“You can certainly try.” He says aloud before launching himself back into the air to find a new target.

Romulus crawls up onto the counter and drinks his most potent healing elixir. Once again, melted skin begins to scab over. The scabs flake away within seconds to reveal new flesh beneath. The archmage gasps for breath as the pain starts to subside.

Cedron seeing Romulus yet again in dire condition amd reaches out, concentratingon his telekinetic ring to lift the halfling and draw him into the extra-dimensional folds of his cloak. He takes a deep breath and pulls pit another of his rapidly dwindling supply of scrolls and reads from it. Magic flows once more, restoring melted flesh and muscle.

Agnes will use the potion Arthur gave her to help heal Lorraine. The ancient elven woman whimpers in agony as the bones in her arm straighten and realign but she remains unconscious.

Arthur lowers himself onto a slab of broken stone, his chest rising and falling in ragged, smoke-laden breaths. He wipes the sweat and ash from his brow with the back of his hand, then turns to Grotto. Despite his exhaustion, his eyes hold steady.

Arthur reaches out, clasping the dwarf’s arm with a firm, grounding grip. His voice is hoarse but gentle.

“I know it’s tearing at you, Grotto… gods, I feel it too. These people need you as you are, not as anger would twist you. Justice will come, I swear it,… but until then, the greatest honor we can give the fallen is to keep the living safe. We go this brother.”

He releases Grotto’s arm slowly, the compassion in his touch lingering longer than the words.

Arthur’s gaze drifts then, softening as it falls on Ag’nesallynn. She steadies Lorraine’s head, carefully tipping the potion to her lips. His voice drops, softer, threaded with gratitude and the quiet ache beneath it.

“Thank you, Ag’nes… She wouldn’t be here without you.” His eyes linger a moment longer, holding hers. “When this is over… we’ll talk, like I said. My feelings haven’t changed.”

He exhales hard, a shudder in the breath, the exhaustion eveident, before pushing himself upright again, stumblimg a few steps his armor heavier tham normal, forcing his weary body back toward the work of the wounded.

Grotto continues to help the wounded and dying. Lorraine finally awakens and sends for the scarred dwarf. Her arm is still swollen and one of the healers has rigged her a sling. The aged elf asks Grotto to walk her through the mass of injured, her good hand resting on his shoulder for balance.

A FEW HOURS LATER...

In the aftermath of the attack and the burning of the House of Healing, Lorraine and her surviving acolytes have moved into the old temple of El'i and are tending to the wounded but they are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of victims and loss of their supplies. They find themselves are being forced to tend only those who are likely to survive. While the official numbers are still being tallied, estimates place the number of those slain at a few dozen over 3,000 with more than an additional 12,000 injured.

Elves from House Shaper sift through the rubble in search of those trapped beneath collapsed structures, their efforts hampered by the fires still burning throughout the city. Smoke and falling ash choking the elves as they attempt to find and rescue survivors. A few hours after sunrise, Ornforithalas and Tephysea's son is pulled from the wreckage, still alive and wearing a ring Kysek recognizes as belonging to the boy's mother. The Knight of the Barrie Grange furrows his brow for a moment and recalls the youth's name, Respen.

Cuinar Elar walks the streets in a daze, the Council Chairman overcome with grief as the very situation he had tried to prevent has come to pass.

Just before noon, an armored figure appears on the eastern bank on the Thon-Thalus, flanked by a dozen similarly armored warriors and a half-dozen wizards. One of those dragonmen, clad in heavy black plate armor and carrying a massive wave-bladed sword over one shoulder, stands protectively nwarby. A flag of truce flutters in the breeze in the breeze. A voice, amplified by magic carries across the frozen river.

"I am Flight Master Chomax, leader of the Third Red Flight of the Red Dragonarmy. I have come to speak with Lorac Caladon and present terms for the surrender of the Silvanesti nation lest more violence be visited upon its people."