Tombs of Scoria: Episode 89

__NOTOC__
== Synopsis ==
The armies of Drekis march towards Dragon Peak with the support of the Brothers McGary. A prepared ambush strands a portion of the army, but the Brothers slay a number of mountain giants without issue, and help dispatch Scoria's ground troops, saving a thousand soldiers in the process. However, back home, Drekis suffers a heavy loss as Scoria attacks Wikkthronrarenta directly: Shine and Arc Sombar defend Wikk Keep valiantly, but Arc Sombar perishes in the attack. Further, the assassin Sophie escapes from the dungeons of Wikk Keep. With the army directly before the Wyrmwood, Imrik retrieves Shine, and the two clear a path through the Wyrmwood directly towards the entrance to Scoria's lair. With the armies of Drekis at their backs, and no where left to run for Scoria, the Brothers and Shine stand before the precipice of Dragon Peak, ready to end the War for Arcadia once and for all.
==Recap==
===Beginning of the End, April, ===
The armies prepare for the assault on Scoria's lair with McGary Brothers. They provide for the defense of Wikkthronrarenta from their hoards of magical weapons obtained from Glacia, and leave behind to lead the defense of the capital; Shine is also instructed to defend the capital until the Brothers are ready for the final fight. 
The Brothers pick out specific armaments to give to their personal guard and the , who are set to accompany them in Scoria's lair. Imrik sets his to activate at a command word, and sets his to . The Queen says she will lead the Brothers and armies of Drekis from the front to Dragon Peak, reasoning it is the safest place in all of Arcadia.
On the night before the armies of Drekis are set to embark, the Brothers attend a dinner with the Drekissin elite. The Queen pulls Imrik aside for a conversation, addressing him as Arc Wizard of Mistrya. The Queen, a spellcaster herself, understands the nature of Imrik’s , but she expresses concern that the masses of Drekis will perceive the Steed as an undead creature. She requests that Imrik only use the spell in a life or death situation, else, she asks that he not use the spell, wishing to avoid the optics of undead affiliation as the empress of Arcadia. Imrik is annoyed, but he understands and obliges the Queen.
General Mameyo, the general who formerly held an immense grudge toward the McGarys, addresses Anton as High Cleric, and the two shake hands. The General admits he was suspicious of Anton, as he assumed Anton’s joining with Velthara was out of enmity towards the Queen. General Mameyo says that with time, he came to see that Anton only ever acted with the best interests of Drekis at heart, and he apologizes for the initially harsh judgment. 
Tyrael addresses the assembled elite crowd. Tyrael expresses that for all the adventuring they have done, collecting powerful magical items on a journey spanning dimensions, the fates of himself and his brothers are now intertwined with that of the soldiers of Drekis. Morale is high, and Tyrael succeeds in presenting a unified Drekissin front to light applause. The mood is festive and light as the Brothers field some inconsequential gossip and rumors surrounding them from the moderately inebriated crowd. The rest of the night is spent talking about dragons, Dragonbane Weapons and Shine. 
The Queen introduces Tyrael to a prospective advisory staff who will assist him in ruling over Mistrya, as well as the heads of noble families who are set to be granted lands in Mistrya; Tyrael accepts them all at face value. Despite the high morale and good mood, later that night, Anton, on his own, pays a visit to say farewell, knowing that the Brothers McGary may die in the final battle against Scoria.  
=== The Final March ===
April 3. The armies of Drekis embark from Fen Den, standing 20,000 soldiers strong. Anton suggests sending a detachment of soldiers to Bridgelight to place objects along the bridge to prevent Scoria from teleporting away, which is met with agreement. Rwalwikk is completely abandoned as rats scurry through what was once a lively city. As the armies cross the empty city, Anton detects movement from Scoria, flying over Vayle and later over the Drakken Wastes. Scoria then crosses over the Shallow Sea and presumably begins attacking the outskirts of Bergshire over the course of several days. The Brothers choose to ignore Scoria’s movements and march on. Imrik spends 5 castings of to repair the bridge at Bridge Gate, and the armies move on to Halfhill.
While the armies are in Halfhill, Scoria conducts a similar raid in northern Drekis, and later that night, the armies of Drekis see the orange glow of the flaming destruction left in Scoria’s wake from over a hundred miles away. The resolve of soldiers hardens as the men and women of Drekis are reminded of what they are fighting for.
Imrik flies ahead of the army to scout the condition of the bridge in Evermond. Imrik observes Evermond in complete disrepair as he approximates the amount of Fabrication needed. Imrik finishes constructing the bridge. As the armies prepare to cross, soldiers guarding Imrik spot a cleric of Voraci standing on the other side. The cleric signs a cross along the bridge and begins crossing the bridge in a neutral manner. A soldier goes to discern the intentions of the cleric, and returns saying the cleric acts as a representative of the Empire of Voraci in Solum, and wishes to speak to Imrik. 
The Brothers convene and go out to meet the cleric. Tyrael sees a spell active on the cleric but sees nothing otherwise untoward with the Ring of Seeing. The cleric introduces herself as , stating she came to Arcadia as a representative to meet the people of Arcadia but was imprisoned by the lord of Evermond. She requests a return to Solum, stating such assistance would go a long way in establishing good relations between Drekis and the Empire of Voraci. Tyrael states he is willing to help, but that it will need to be later after the current operation. The cleric, pleased with her reception, reveals she also came to Arcadia looking for the cleric Zarthan, who is wanted by the Empire of Voraci as a deserter for having stolen Invisibility wards and escaping to Arcadia to serve Scoria. The cleric states the Empire of Voraci wants its stolen wards returned.
Imrik oversees the sabotage of the bridge at Bridgelight and stations a detachment of soldiers to guard the obstructions. At Highmeadow, after a brief deliberation with Tyrael and one of the mayors, Anton tries to ferret out any war crimes committed by Drekissin soldiers against Mistryans.
=== Attack on Wikkthronrarenta ===
The next day, Anton detects Scoria flying straight for Wikkthronrarenta. Anton alerts his brothers. Shielded from the eyes of the soldiers, Imrik, Tyrael, and Anton scry on Wikkthronrarenta, where they observe Shine and Scoria circling, climbing ever higher in the sky attempting to take a higher position for attack. Scoria suddenly abandons her climb and dives down towards Arc Sombar’s tower in Wikk Keep. The Brothers contemplate teleporting back to defend, but decide to adhere to the army’s original plan and observe the events unfolding.
A streak of lightning erupts from the tower, contacting Scoria, but the bolt is reflected back at the tower by Scoria’s Ring of Spell Turning. Scoria melts Arc Sombar’s tower with her fire breath, as volleys of ballista fire and magical arrows provided by the McGarys penetrate Scoria’s scales, causing significant damage. Scoria, unprotected by , teleports away to Vayle. The Brothers tell no one what occurs.
=== Highmeadow Bridge ===
Later, whistles sound the alarm across the army. After most of the army crosses the bridge, the bridge is destroyed as the underlying river floods, as if an upriver dam was broken, cutting off a thousand soldiers from the rest of the army. Hundreds of orcs descend upon the stranded soldiers, supported by two dozen trolls, and mountain giants hurling boulders from a prepared ambush spot up on a nearby ridge. Within 10 minutes, the Brothers arrive at the scene of the battle, calling archers to support the cut-off soldiers. Imrik casts and on the Brothers and they fly up to the mountain ridge to confront the mountain giants. 
Combat Start: 
Anton casts , and commands 3 cave bears to attack the trolls. 
Tyrael slashes at one giant, damaging more than half of its HP. Imrik unleashes a volley of arrows, killing the wounded one and gravely wounding the other. 
A giant hurls a rock at Imrik; Imrik loses 1 Stoneskin. 
Another giant stomps towards Imrik and attacks, but misses due to Imrik's Displacement. 
Tyrael dodges 2 attacks, losing 2 Stoneskin charges, then kills the wounded giant before him. 
Imrik flies away from the giant and releases another volley, killing the giant instantly.
Anton joins the fray, wounding the giant by half HP. Tyrael and Imrik finish the giant. Anton arrives at the battle, and is struck by a giant's club; he is sent to the ground rolling, but is unharmed as he loses 1 Stoneskin. Anton hesitates and considers letting the sole remaining giant escape, but Imrik slays the giant without hesitation in another flurry of arrows. 
Combat end.
Within two minutes, the Brothers McGary rip apart the mountain giants and return to the battlefield unscathed. With the help of the Brothers, the army cleans up the rest of Scoria’s troops, suffering about a hundred casualties in total. Imrik the bridge and the army continues on. The army makes its way to the edge of the Wyrmwood without further issue. Imrik examines strange-looking devices, which he assumes are the wards stolen from the Empire of Voraci. They clear out the area free of wards and set up a Teleport spot, and reinforce their own camps with anti-invisibility wards. 
Murmurs from the army begin as the soldiers start to worry the march had been too easy, but Imrik assures the soldiers that Drekis has sacrificed much to pick apart Scoria’s resources. A lowly ranked captain, Captain Roy Martinez, seeks out Anton, asking him to claim vengeance on Akuba for their efforts against Drekis. Anton tells the captain to win the war first and to seek him out afterwards; the captain promises to do so. A messenger arrives from Drekis conveying a message: against all odds, the assassin managed to kill one of her interrogators and escape from Wikkthronrarenta. The brothers discuss the plan to deal with Wyrmwoods. In the night, the goblins harass the army, disrupting the sleep of the army’s spellcasters and unsettling the rest of the soldiers. Anton stays awake, unfazed by events. Tyrael tries to lift the soldiers' spirits with a story of the time he fought against the undead armies of Drexl in Glacia, but Tyrael only manages to demoralize the soldiers, who realize Scoria is a greater threat than the legendary necromancer.
=== Clearing out the Wyrmwood ===
The next morning, Imrik back to Wikkthronrarenta to retrieve Shine for the final assault on the Wyrmwood. He asks whether Arc Sombar is okay, and Shine shakes her head and informs him Arc Sombar perished in the attack. Imrik is stunned by the news, but buries his feelings and quickly turns his attention back to the Wyrmwood. 
Imrik decides Teleporting is too dangerous and flies back with Shine atop his spectral steed. Anton clears out goblins in the woods and makes idle chatter with the soldiers, before Imrik and Shine arrive in the night. Over the course of the next day, Shine clears a path towards the ground entrance of Scoria’s lair with minimal effort. Shine and Imrik are able to scout Dragon Peak, where they observe Scoria’s troops massed before the entrance. While the army could take the entrance without any doubt, the Brothers confer on how much personal involvement they will risk in order to reduce the casualties.
Category:Tombs of Scoria Episodes