Sithelnost - What Comes Next and the Spoils of War

08 Newkolt 349 AC

With the last of the civilians evacuated, Shadow packs away his spellbooks. He takes note of the condition of them, some are his original tomes dated back to his time in Sorcere, the wizard school of Mennzoberranzan, others were claimed from various dungeons or as loot taken from fallen foes.

Each had a history and while some had indeed seen better days, but all were perfectly serviceable arcanabulae - even if they bore the stains left behind by spilled drinks or dinners. Still... perhaps a trip to the Tower of Wayreth was in order. He was no longer an apprentice, after all. "Maybe I could have these bound into a set more befitting Spewer's high opinion of what a wizard's spellbooks should look like. He shrugged, "May not look like much on the outside but it has got it where it counts.”

With his books packed, the drow headed downstairs.
- - - - -
Most of Grotto's companions had passed through Lady Nihriome's great hall. The refugees had all been evacuated.

"Nothing left to see here," he grumbled to himself.

Despite everything he and his companions had accomplished here, his mood remained miserable. That bothered him. He rose and headed toward the kitchen. "Hanseath, guide not my axe but my spatulas this morning! Help me make something to raise our spirits!"

He opened the pantry. Then a cupboard, then the larder, and finally the wine cellar. The dwarf stared into the distance, fuming. "Those bastards."

The Dragonarmy had been thorough.

There was a little flour left in the bottom of one barrel. He found a handful of onions and mushrooms that had escaped notice. There were some dried herbs, a little bit of rendered fat. Stale bread. A handulful of scraps the servants had managed to salvage.

The dwarf folded his arms.

Then he smiled and clapped his hands together. "Challenge accepted. Anyone can cook with a full pantry. Only a master can turn nothing into something worth eating!"

He laid out what remained and added some herbs and spices from his personal stash.

That salted broth could be improved. The thin porridge could be improved. Stale bread wasn't useless bread.

He rolled up his sleeves. "First rule of cooking on the trail, don't worry about what you don't have. Use what you do."

His knife began dancing. Spoons and spatulas whirled with the same determined efficiency Grotto usually reserved for his axes.

"Improvisation on the trail makes you an adventurous eater!" He laughed.

The smell in the kitchen changed. The thin broth became something richer. The porridge acquired herbs, fat, and bits of vegetables. Stale bread was toasted and put to use. Nothing was wasted.
- - - - -
Cedron made his way to the Great Hall. He had washed, changed clothes, and spent a little bit of time clearing his thoughts. He felt considerably better than he had before.

His stomach however, was becoming more insistent on his attention.

As he approached the hall, the aroma of cooking hit him. "Now that smells promising," he thought to himself.

Inside, he spotted Parnitha standing at the table with Ra'ziir, Shadow, and Raven. Lady Eluarna Nihriome was also present.

His eyes lingered on the Wildrunner Commander...

He caught himself. "My timing is awful. Time to focus."

He approached the table. "I apologize for my absence. Our Black Bird of Death actually fell asleep, a minor miracle, since it may have been his first in quite some time."

Raven looked at him and shrugged, "I was tired."

Cedron smiled, "And a good thing that you were. It gave me time to make myself presentable."

"You already were," Parnitha replied, her eyes remained firmly locked on the map although her ears seemed to redden as she spoke.

Cedron was caught off-guard for perhaps a quarter of a second, "Well, in any case, whatever the gracious Lady Nihriome said to him, it worked." He flashed a grin toward the noblewoman, "Perhaps, I shall ask you for pointers before all of this is done, madame."

Lady Eluarna smiled faintly, "Sometimes, a firm hand is all that's required."

Raven kept his thoughts to himself.

At that moment, Grotto returned to the great hall, Ra’ziir, Raven, Shadow, and Cedron were gathered around a table with Parnitha and Lady Nihriome. The dwarf strode forward with a small but hearty feast balanced on one of the few platters the Dragonarmy hadn't looted. He placed it on the table between the gathered elves.

"I don't care if you've already eaten, eat again!"

Cedron leaned forward appreciatively, "Grotto, my friend, you have perfect timing."

The dwarf looked around. "Where's Romulus? I got something special for him."

Lady Eluarna in the direction of the library. "You wizard said something about identifying the properties of several magical items you and your companions have recently acquired. I'm sure you'll find him there."

At that moment, Kysek and Romulus both walked up, "Actually, I have finished my work," the halfling archmage announced.

"Good, then you've got time to eat." Grotto pressed a bowl into the halfling's hands. "Hope this reminds you of home."

The aroma hit the wizard. "Is this bread pudding?"

The dwarf nodded, "Aye. With some onion and mushrooms."

Romulus took a bite. "This is pretty good! It's been years since I've had a proper serving of this."

While the group eats, Kysek explains, "I sent Bubo along the route Ra'ziir and I followed. He'll stay out of sight and watch the Dragonarmy's movements."

Parnitha nodded approvingly, "Good. With any luck, he'll get some intelligence we can use."

Kysek looked down at the map. "I have a feeling they won’t come back here. They'll pick a fresh target."

Raven looked at the map, studying the route Kysek had traced.

Ra'ziir nodded, "First, they have to regroup."

"The camp I saw," Shadow said.

"Hopefully, Bubo can tell us more about it when he gets back," Kysek replied.

Parnitha folded her arms, "Either way, once we need to know where they're going, we may be able to narrow down their next target."

"Assuming they have one," added Romulus between bites of pudding.

"They have one," Cedron assured him.

Ra'ziir looked toward the others. "Let me put this out there, in case it helps with strategizing."

He waited until he had everyone's attention.

"At some point, I am going to summon an Elemental Monolith and potentially cast a spell of flight upon it so that it can help with these dragons. That, or focus it on the ground forces while we fight the dragons. One or the other."

He paused.

"I've never called one before, but it should be a formidable ally."

The Eldritch Knight scratched at his partially exposed chest, where crystal and flesh met. "Beyond that, I can provide the same incantation to let most, if not all, of our contingent fly. Haste as well, of course."

He looked around the table. "We have some of the most ancient and massive dragons I think I've ever seen. Both green and red. That means fire and noxious gas, as we've already witnessed."

He glanced toward the other spellcasters. "What can we do to mitigate those weapons?"

Cedron considered the question. "Protection from Energy. Resist Energy. Both would help, although we'll need to decide who receives which protections."

Grotto nodded. "I can help with those."

"Magics to produce a counter," Ra'ziir continued. "Cold, water, air, and of course earth. But also abjurations that will protect from and resist the dragons' breath."

He placed his hands behind his back and dipped his head slightly toward Parnitha. "Having offered those considerations off the top of my head, with your permission, Commander, I invite the rest of this assemblage to do likewise. We need a plan if we are to be victorious."

Parnitha nodded. "By all means."

Shadow spoke next. "I'm by no means as powerful a caster as you or Romulus, but I too can summon elementals to help us in this battle."

He considered Ra'ziir's suggestion. "And honestly, I never thought of casting Fly upon them. That would allow a great number of summoned creatures to assist us against these dragons."

Spewer stirred on his shoulder. "Assuming they can fly better than you." Shadow ignored the lizard.

"I also have spells that provide immunity to certain energy forms, like fire or lightning. I'd be willing to share those. And I have some mass spells, like Haste and Fly." He looked around the table. "I think it's good that we're trying to strategize how to battle this massive army of evil dragons."

"And I have several Wall spells that can block attacks," Romulus added.

Cedron nodded. "Between the arcane and divine spellcasters, we can provide a fair amount of protection."

"Against their breath weapons," Grotto pointed out.

"Yes," Cedron acknowledged.

"But those aren't their only weapons," Parnitha observed.

"No," Ra'ziir agreed. "They're not."

For a moment, the group fell silent.

Then Raven spoke. "There's something else we need to consider."

He looked down at the map. "The Dragonarmy may be changing its strategy."

Parnitha turned toward him. "What makes you think that?"

Raven pointed toward the locations of the recent battles. "Look at what they've been doing. Attacking cities, farms, settlements. Taking whatever they could salvage for their war effort."

He looked around the table. "But they had to leave enough standing to loot."

Kysek nodded slowly.

Raven continued. "Red dragons don't leave forested communities intact. They incinerate them."

He tapped the map. "With those dragons available, they don't need to take cities anymore. They can burn them."

Lady Eluarna's expression darkened. "The forests..."

Raven nodded. "They don't have to defeat every Silvanesti soldier. They just have to burn enough of the forest to force the Speaker of the Stars to surrender."

Parnitha stared at the map. "By threatening everything we're trying to defend."

Cedron leaned back. "That would explain the concentration of dragons."

"It might," Romulus agreed. "Although we shouldn't assume their intentions until we have more information."

Raven nodded. "Agreed. But we should prepare for the possibility."

He studied the map for another moment. "Which brings me to Tarithnesti."

Parnitha looked up. "What about it?"

The swordsman looked at the commander, "Pull the defenders out."

She stared at him. "All of them?"

"Yes. We have approximately forty-one defenders left, all of them are scouts or wildrunners, the Beacon is spent. If they show up with anything more determined than a pair of angry goats, that Tower will fall. Unless those of us standing around this table commit to holding that city ourselves... the soldiers remaining can't hold."

Cedron frowned. "You're suggesting we abandon the city?"

"I'm suggesting we stop pretending we can defend it." Raven pointed toward Sithelnost. "We've evacuated the civilians here. We're not going to hold this city either. Tarithnesti is in no better position."

Kysek studied the map. "You would send them to Silvanost as well?"

Raven nodded, "We need every experienced soldier we can get in a position where they might actually make a difference."

Parnitha remained quiet.

Raven looked at her.

The Wildrunner commander considered the map for several seconds. Finally, she nodded. "I agree."

Romulus finished the last of his bread pudding. "Before we decide anything else, there is something else you should know."

He reached into his belongings and produced several pages covered in his neat handwriting. "I finished identifying the magical equipment recovered after Flight Marshal Chomax's defeat at the Tower of the Protector."

That drew everyone's attention.

Grotto leaned forward. "Anything good?"

Romulus looked at him. "Quite a few things, actually." He consulted his notes.

"Two suits of enchanted armor. One human-sized suit of full plate with a fourth-degree enhancement. The other is draconian-sized plate armor, with a fifth-degree enchantment."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Draconian-sized? Not very useful."

"Perhaps not immediately, but we strip the enchantment and place it elsewhere," Romulus acknowledged. He continued.

"A heavy steel shield, also fourth degree, with improved fire resistance."

Ra'ziir looked up. "Fire resistance?"

Romulus nodded. "Quite substantial, actually."

"That could prove useful against the reds," Shadow observed.

Romulus continued down the list.

"An Amulet of Natural Armor, basic enchantment. Four rings: a Ring of the Ram with eleven charges remaining, a Ring of Feather Falling, a Ring of Protection with a second degree enchantment, and a Ring of Fire Resistance."

Grotto grunted appreciatively. "Not bad."

"Weapons next," Romulus continued. "A heavy lance, moderately enhanced, named Skybreaker."

Shadow’s hand toward the spot on his chest where he'd been impaled by the weapon.

"A longsword, same level of enhancement, named Ashwing."

He turned the page. "A flaming greatsword moderately enhanced but capable of being drawn with great speed; , a Composite Longbow - minimally enhanced, constructed for someone capable of drawing a bow requiring considerable strength."

"How considerable?" Kysek asked.

Romulus pointed at Ra'ziir and Raven, "Close to what they can do."

Kysek nodded.

Romulus continued. "Two cloaks. One of Resistance, second degree, and one of Elvenkind. A Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, fifth caster level. And finally, a Necklace of Fireballs, Type Four."

Shadow looked toward him. "How many charges?"

"Three gems remain. One produces an eight-die fireball. The other two produce three-die fireballs."

Romulus lowered his notes.

Grotto looked around the table. "That's quite a haul."

"Yes," Romulus agreed. "It is."