After all, we'll likely be working alongside The Silver Wolf!
◊ Also, I must do this in 25 turns, but I don't think there will be much rush.
After hearing Niime on the matter, the mysteries of Bern's dragons are slowly unfolding. But first, Roy must take down Roartz, who is awaiting Roy and his troops in a fortified estate in Bulgar.
Wait what. How the fuck is an indoor chapter fog of war? Did they just rip out all of the lights and torches? Suddenly that time limit seems a bit more troubling. Preparations were fairly simple, and the party is normal, save for Astol's inclusion, both as eyes and to claim the treasure. I also give Lugh the Bolting so he can snipe dangerous foes, though Astol is going to need to guide his shots, and I give Ellen the hammerne to restore his tome should it run low. I also give Clarine the energy ring from last chapter to boost her fairly low magic (12 at level 10 valk is certainly not high). And so we go...
Roartz curses his fate, and learns that the remainders of the Djute clan will assist us once they secure the Murgleis, and Roartz's spirits are lifted, because he thinks he can hold out that long. How very wrong he is.
Niime then warns me that there is likely more danger than expected due to enemies who can hide in the wall to strike from the shadows. After she mentions this, they talk a bit about dragons, and the Ending Winter comes up. Roy says that legend states it "twisted the laws of nature", causing day to become night, and summer to become winter. This also allegedly caused Dragons to start taking human form.
Now that she's joined the party, Niime is a pretty strong unit. Level 18 Druid with good magic and skill, decent speed (though hindered by low con and heavy tomes), and solid luck and resilience. Her health and defense makes her really fragile however, so she needs a lot of cover. I won't be using her. She does come with a physic though, which is nice for healing assistance.
The party charges headlong into the enemies, not wanting to let them form any sort of coherent defense. Lugh sadly can't reach the berserk staff wielding sage that Astol sees, so someones likely to get afflicted before Lugh zaps him.
Grr, underestimated Roartz's defenses. He has a pair of bolting sages lying in wait as well, and I'm also going to need to fend off foes from both sides while dealing with these goons. The berserk inducer hits Astol, who gets calmed by Ellen, before Lugh destroys a bolting sage. I send the trio of terror (Dieck, Clarine, and Rutger) down the left passage, while the rest of the party heads right, towards the treasury. The bolting guy zaps Astol, and he gets Berserked again, and Ellen and Niime fix him right up, while Lugh destroys the second Bolting sage. Dayan also ran in, saying he would destroy the presence of Bern here by himself, not noticing us apparently. Dayan joins us when Sue talks to him, and he's an okay nomad trooper. He's well rounded with his stats, an at level 12, he still has a bit of room to grow. I'll be keeping him out of danger since I need him alive to get the Gaiden chapter. Astol opens up the first door, and Lance and Geese take down the enemies guarding the room. The berserk user wastes his final usage, and Lugh accidentally destroyed the wrong sage (he could see two, and I accidentally shot the one without the bolting tome). I decide to just let the wan waste his shots, and have Niime fix up Astol whenever he gets shot, since Lugh has more important targets at the moment, that being a killer ballistician that threatens my progress.
I notice the fog of war doesn't dissipate, and while I'm curious what's going on, I won't look this gift horse in the mouth. Roy dodges another bolting strike like a boss, and Ellen fixes up the Bolting so that Lugh can incinerate the ballistician. Which he does, with a thoroughly gratuitous critical hit. Astol dodges the final bolting strike, and then opens the treasury door, while Dieck's group double back to the treasury themselves, having removed any enemies who might have struck from behind.
Astol opens the door, and the party piles in, Geese crushing the tiny myrmidon with a swordreaver and preparing to do the same to a wo dao swordmaster. Astol then heads towards the door to Roartz's room, and picks up an axereaver along the way, while Ellen heals Geese of his wo dao wounds, and Lance stabs the offending party, receiving similar wounds to Geese's in the process, which Niime cures. Astol opens the door to Roartz's room now, and will proceed to grab the treasure as we purge everything within the room. Once the room is cleared, Astol steals a nosferatu tome and Dieck's group finally begins to catch up. Astol also steals a sleep staff (notably, my second one), and I decide who shall kill Roartz. Since I have a fair amount of time (as of this writing it is only turn ten), I allow Astol to finish stealing, and he claims a Blue Gem, a Guiding Ring (YES!) and a dragonshield. He delivers the guiding ring to it's new wearer, and Ellen promotes to bishop. Sadly, I can't feed Roartz to her due to not bringing any light tomes.
As it stands, Roartz is far to powerful for someone so cowardly. He has strength and defense in the 20's, and passable, skill, speed, luck, and resilience, with his health breaking 50. I throw Geese at him with a killer axe, and see what happens (notably, a miss, a miss by Roartz, and then a hit). Dieck, Clarine, Sue, Lance, Percival (who could have killed him if he hadn't missed twice, darn low skill), and finally Lugh came in to finish him, allowing Roy to conquer the throne on the 15th turn.
Roy then states that their next target is Bern, but Merlinus tells him of the skulduggery that the Djute clan is getting into in the ruins housing the Murgleis. Roy decides to delay the trip to Bern, heading for the ruins posthaste.
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