“Alright, everyone, let’s get up,” projected Topher, arms wide and making himself as noticeable as possible. “That’s right, we had a near-death experience, didn’t we? Scary stuff. Yes, please direct all prayers and thanks to Iamai. Yes, the god Iamai, deserving of your worship. That’s Iamai, spelled—Jenn, how’s it spelled? A palindrome? Swanky. Now, get up, help the people around you up, and let’s all go back to town! You know which way town is, right? Yes, it’s that way! No need to look over this way. Just quickly and calmly get moving on back to your homes. Avoid the burning tent—yes, thank Iamai, madam. Yes. No tithes necessary. Oh, don’t worry about what the elf is shooting at. He’s an elf, and their minds are inscrutable. Just keep moving, keep moving….”
Kevin’s longbow outranged the goblins, but it wouldn’t be much longer before they started counter-firing. “There’s more coming than retreated the last time,” he said. “We have to keep them off the civilians, at least until the guard comes.”
“At which point we basically need to hide, right?” Jenn grimaced. “What about the circus people? Aren’t they going to do anything?”
Kryx was giving Topher’s greatsword a few twirls. “Yeah, they started running and packing up the second that fire started,” he said. “They didn’t lift a finger to help then, they’ll only defend themselves if forced, now.”
Kevin fired another arrow. “I don’t have many shots left. Jenn, what’s your best spell for range?”
“Guiding Bolt,” said Jenn. “Forty yards.”
“Our range is similar,” said Linore, who was fashioning a barricade with whatever was available.
Kevin knocked an arrow, aimed down the shaft…
Then stopped.
“Actually, you guys might want to hold off on your big spells,” he said. “We’ve got about twenty Warg riders coming in behind the others.”
Linore squinted into the distance. “Well, shit,” she said.
“I hate to disagree, Kevin,” said Kryx, “but it’s the perfect time for at least one big spell.”
He turned around and caught sight of Topher, still trying to herd those he could toward the town. The space they left behind had more than a few bodies that weren’t dragged away.
“Topher!” he yelled. “Gonna get a bit hazy. Make sure they keep going, then get back here, yourself!”
Topher gave a thumbs-up, which apparently translated, Kevin noted.
Kryx held one hand up, fingers stretched, then brought the arm down as though pressing on a pillow. “In glens of morn’,” he said, snapping his fingers into a fist.
The air began to shimmer, then darken, then fill with a thick, pale fog. It encompassed a huge area, maybe a quarter of a football field, Kevin guessed. There was no diminishing zone around the cloud; it was zero visibility inside, perfect visibility out. It hung in the air like a rippling sheet.
Kryx turned back to oncoming goblins. “Should slow pursuit, and we can retreat into it, if necessary.”
The first of goblin arrows starting sailing in, but distance and cover made them little more than an annoyance. Clanking of armor told of Topher’s approach. “Geez, that’s thick,” he said emerging. “Nice thinking, Kryx. Bet you can get school called off when you—yikes!” He ducked under an arrow.
“Sorry; should have yelled incoming,” said Jenn.
“Topher, mind if I keep using this sword?” asked Kryx.
“Sure, dude. Go nuts.” Topher slid behind cover. “So, we got a barricade, we got Fog Cloud, we got weapons and spells. What else?”
Kevin loosed another arrow. “Each other?” he offered.
Topher snorted. “Power of friendship? More of a bard thing. Hey, anyone else missing Jack right now?”
“He’d just blame himself for not seeing this coming,” said Jenn. “Still, some inspiration would be nice.” She clutched her holy symbol. “Is now a good time for Bless?”
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“Yes,” said Kevin, “but wait a sec. Kryx? Linore? What cantrips are you gonna use?”
“Fire Bolt,” said Kryx.
An attack roll, thought Kevin. Bless would help. “Right. Jenn, get the teens and Topher. You and I’ll be fine.”
Jenn nodded. “Blessings of life upon you!”
“Try to stick with cantrips for the first wave. They’re about forty yards, now.”
“We know,” said Linore. She and Kryx each held a hand out. “I’ll start left, you go right.”
“Through skies of fire,” they said in unison, each rocketing forth a mote of flame like souped-up roman candles. Linore’s nailed a goblin between the eyes, leaving nothing of its face but ash. Kryx’s struck his target center mass, inciting a yelp of pain but barely any break of gait.
Towards the middle of the group was one goblin yelling at the others. Unlike most of the goblins, who had a litheness and a skittish look to them, this one had well-formed muscles and a commanding presence.
Probably at his orders, each flank sent goblins wide, off to round the Fog Cloud. “They’re going for the townsfolk!” said Jenn. She moved her hand in a circle. “Wrath of judgment, fall.”
Light fell from the sky and burned one on the outside of formation.
“Thin the flankers!” said Linore. “Shaken them and they’ll think twice about a huge mob of people!”
Other goblins kept closing.
“Through skies of fire—“
“Wrath of judgment—“
Kevin let fly his last arrow.
A volley struck the barricade around them.
“Through skies of fire—“
“Wrath of judgment—“
Kevin fired a goblin arrow back at them.
More arrows came in, Linore was nicked in her arm, Jenn took one full in the shoulder.
“Through skies of fire!”
“Argh! Wrath of judgment, fall!”
Another arrow sent back.
A dozen more came in.
The goblins reached them.
Topher stood up and swung his glaive wide over the barricade, beheading one goblin and causing two more to fall on their asses, prompting Kevin to leap out, stab one in the gut and roll back to cover. Jenn clobbered one with her mace.
“Through skies of fire! Riders are here!” called Kryx.
They were indeed, yet they didn’t engage. The rider at the lead of the group was calling out in goblin. He motioned the pack to stop.
Topher obliterated another goblin and Jenn walloped a second one enough for Kevin to finish. Two more goblins vaulted the barricade, one to die on a greatsword and one to stab Linore in the arm.
She winced, eyes filled with rancor. Her hand shot to the goblin’s throat. “From the rage of storms!” A burst of blue electricity coursed into the goblin, yet it held its grip on its sword. It raised its blade to bring down again, but Topher got a quick jab in before it struck home. It fell, lifeless.
The large goblin roared at the others and turned to face the warg riders. It spoke confidently, a back and forth starting between the two leaders. Most of the goblin archers changed course and ran around to get to the other side of the fog. Some riders were about to follow them, the the lead rider seemed to call them off.
Three remaining goblins tried to focus down Topher. He took two hits from their spears before howling and bringing his glaive down through one.
Kevin tried to get around to help his friend, but was cut off by another goblin. He leapt back to avoid a hatchet swipe then pounced forward, scoring a painful, but not mortal, hit.
“What are they doing, discussing tactics?” growled Kryx. He brought the greatsword down on a goblin about to stab Linore. For his trouble, another goblin got a stab on him. He flinched in pain. The Fog Cloud seemingly reverberated in sympathy, but he managed to maintain it.
Jenn blocked a spear then counter-swung with her mace. It missed. “Need healing?” she called to Linore.
“I’m fine. From the rage of storms!”
“I don’t know about you, but that fog looks pretty inviting!” said Topher. “Think we’ve stalled enough?”
The lead rider seemed to be screaming at his necklace. In a rage, he yanked it off and threw it, spouting something likely coarse after it. The necklace seemed to yelp as it flew the air.
“Kill what we can, disengage if those riders get involved,” said Kevin. He finished the goblin between him and Topher, stepping over it to flank one engaged with the half-orc.
“Great Glendalka! Topher, it’s you!” came a voice.
Topher and Kevin shared a brief look, not sure where the voice came from. With a backswing, Topher turned the goblin Kevin had distracted into giblets. Kevin did a thrusting dive on the last one by Topher, sinking his rapier into its screaming mouth and out the back of its head.
The girls and Kryx finished the ones by them. They were about to start casting at the riders, but the tense standstill between the two goblin leaders gave them pause.
“It’s Voeg! He’s gone mad! He’s going to help them attack the surface world! I’m down here!”
Topher looked down. That voice was coming from the necklace. He knew sentient magic items weren't unheard of in D&D, but certainly not common...
He reached and picked up the object. It was a small vial of mist, hung from a bit of chain.
“We have to stop them! We can't let anyone else get hurt!”
Topher blinked. He knew that voice.
“…Yik?”