Episode 71

## The Battle for Oasis

* We kick things off by having each group of characters head to a different segment of the outer wall. The Andy Boys + Isil head to the northern gate, the Claws of Bastus to the southern one, and The Arsonists take the western gate.
* At the battles start a armored figure with light silver armor over black leathers, cloaked and hooded, astride a horse draws to the front of the drow army. Neferta the Honest addresses her and shouts across the battle field and tells her: "Are you expecting an easy fight? You're going to go home here, if you manage to make it out at all, with either noone - or at least for as many as we lose yo will lose twice as many. This is not a war worth fighting."
* The battle begins and the party goes into a skill challenge to hold the gate against the drow vanguard and the acid catapults. The party works together to help the sand elves hold the gate. Godfrey uses his telekinesis to levitating sand bags to throw down at drow riding spiders up the wall and shouting command/warnings to our allies. He and Vahlka work together to throw sunlight beads down into the approaching army. Vahlka hurls an unfortunate spider rider into his buddies and knocks several drow off of the wall.
* The drow break through the gate with their acid cannons and the defensive line is moved back. Vahlka helps direct Godfrey toward a group of officers to attack, switching his monocle to the other eye for him to aim. There's a momentary terror that sweeps over the battlefield - Osyna Bloodeye, sweeps in on her mount. She was the armored figure at the head of the army. She leaps into the combat, supernaturally agile, and disintegrates a sandstalker monk. Olivia + Barkley team up - Barkley makes an illusory duplicate within an enemy unit to cause chaos. They weren't taking her seriously, so Olivia used an illusion to make it apparent that the gnome has.... a live bomb. The drow are distracted now! Sandstalkers knock them down. Hook Ravens pulling Dirga's chariot arrive and mow down some Sand Elven soldiers. Dirga Whitespine, rides through the battle. She loses her mounts, but steals one from her fellow soldier. Osyna rides on. The battle continues.
* Godfrey shouts inspiring words to the sand elves. Lucius uses his smart brain to find a tactical alleyway as he and Olivia concoct a plan. Olivia magically deceives a unit of drow with an illusory officer, leading them into the alley. The party drops crates on them.
* Section 3 of the skill challenge begins as the drow push farther into the city. Our party looks down an allyway and sees....the familiar gnomish figure of Sapphire. She is surrounded by corpses of both sandelves and drow. We consider chasing her but instead decide to pull back to defend the gate.
* Olivia and Lucius lead the party with Investigation checks through the city safely. We meet up with our thieves guild allies - The Black Cat and his gang. The group of us see Osyna charging for the Sunspire. We chase after her. Vahlka chugs a potion of Fire Giants strength and helps the party across the rooftops. Olivia guides with Acrobatics. The rogues are faster than our party and are ahead of us.
* We fought our way to the upper portion of Oasis. Running down roads as the fighting thins, trying to keep up with Osyna. We are stopped by a group of drow soldiers. Among them are Vahlka's youngest siblings Ender and Andromache. Osyna commands Dirga and her soldiers to hold up The Arsonists while she rides ahead to the Sunspire, the Claws of Bastus go after her.
	+ Osyna: *"Dirga, get rid of them. Bring me their heads when you're done."*
	+ Dirga: "*I'm very excited to meet you all. Let's begin shall we?"*
* Olivia hastes Vahlka. Barkley hides and uses Spiritual weapon to harry the soldiers. Andromache rushes in and attacks Olivia with her halberd and Olivia only manages to keep her haste due to Necrotaush's magical ability. Lucius fireballs some poor drow boys. Vahlka uses her fear aura to scare the piss out of some poor drow boys and her little sister and charges into the fray, sword swinging. Godfrey fucks around with the Wand of Wonder and ends up casting detect thoughts on Andromache. Lucius summons a wall of flame that remains for most of the battle.
* There is a flurry of counterspelling that results in Dirga's spell being canceled. Vahlka and Olivia both mock her.
* The fight turns sour briefly as Olivia is hit with a poisonous arrow and knocked unconscious. Both her and Vahlka lose a turn due to losing concentration on haste. Ender's wild magic causes him to attack Barkley, who attacks him back, when she does so Andromache closes the distance between them and retaliates for her brother.
	+ Andro: *"Don't TOUCH HIM."*
	+ Barkley: *"HE HIT ME FIRST!"*
	+ Ender: -attacks again-
	+ Barkley: *"See he KEEPS DOING IT!"*
* Dirga casts Heat Metal on Vahlka's armor while she's lost her turn from the Haste lethargy. Godfrey wakes Olivia up and the bard yells at Barkley to stop attacking the Shadowbane kids. She casts phantasmal force on Andromache and makes the barbarian think she is in a metal box with the word "SAFE" written in large friendly letters on the wall.
* Dirga casts Power Word Pain on Olivia, who is incapable of making the saving throw without rolling a natural 20. Olivia spends the rest of the fight sobbing and in extreme pain. Godfrey pours a potion in Vahlka's mouth to get her conscious who then uses her lay on hands to pick herself up a full 45 hp.
* Vahlka asks Godfrey to cast Fly on her and he does so. She flies up to Dirga and grabs her by her hair and flies up with her, kicking the shit out of her and snarling: "*You're fucking done, you depraved egomaniac."* as she grapples the bard and holds her against her heated armor.
* Ender polymorphs himself into a bird and flies over to Andromache, who is still trapped by the phantasmal force.They are pretty much neutralized.
* Dirga's draegloth latches onto the flying Godfrey and attacks him. In response Godfrey flies the draegloth into the wall of fire and tries to burn it in the spell but its fire resistant. Dirga dispels the fly spell on Vahlka and they both fall and take damage. Vahlka just tavern-brawls the shit out of a low-str bard until the Draegloth gives up on harassing Godfrey and chases after her, picking her up over his head "like Bane breaking Batman" and then biting her - knocking her out.
* Dirga casts Feeblemind on Barkley who fails the save and becomes a manic knife-flailing tornado of gnomish fury with a vendetta against drow toes. Dirga continues mocking us ruthlessly as Olivia squirms in pain and Vahlka and Godfrey go toe to toe with the draegloth.
* Vahlka kills the draegloth and Dirga wails upsetly (because that's her terrible demon son). Vahlka kicks its corpse over onto the other roof top and leaps over, stalking toward Dirga to end this. Godfrey and Lucius sling some cantrips at her to whittle her down.
* Olivia fires an arrow at Dirga who mocks her despite it hitting.
	+ Dirga: *You enjoying your pain right now?*
	+ Vahlka: *I don't know, are you?*
* Godfrey floats over and Eldritch blasts Dirga then takes cover. Vahlka charges at Dirga and cuts her down with a critical Wrath of the Wyrm Queen attack for a massive amount of overkill (She did 74 damage when Dirga had 8 hp.) She intermediately takes her HP total in psychic damage and falls unconscious.
* We talk for a bit and take Dirga's shit including an Instrument of the Bards harp, the Andy Boys + Isil catches up to us and Deacon greater restorations Barkley and heals a couple people. Vahlka is just senselessly thousand-yard staring, Olivia wails in agony for another few minutes. Vahlka throws Olivia over her shoulder and we sprint toward the Sunspire.
* Between games Deacon catches Vahlka as they are running and feels her forehead and tells her she's running a fever. She realizes that she actually broke her bond to Lolth when she killed Dirga and she has a bit of a panic attack. Vahlka is now Lawful Neutral. Deacon warns her that she's likely going to suffer from "psychic backlash" in some time, a few days most likely, but that he can treat it when it does happen.

## Recording

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