The hammer fell hard and fast on the heart of the Mitrian order in Golarion.
Knowing surprise was their only friend, the Knot made ready for their assault. The Bugbear horde & minions of the Shroud ready themselves, hidden behind the mountains, less than an hours ride from the Watchtower guarding the entrance of the vale as the sun set, the light of Mitra fading away as darkness filled the Vale.
Wasyli rushed ahead of the attack, cloaked in invisibility, undetectable alignment & his own shadow sorcerer ability to use the night shadows to hide in plain sight. And armed with a devastating device. A stone with Silence cast on it. Using magic to fly over the long wall & float up behind the Tower, Wasyli landed, hidden in shadow and magic by the massive gong on top the Watchtower.
Meanwhile the rest of the Knot rushed forward, behind them a dozen vampire spawn in bat form rushing, their black wings flapping furiously in the cold mountain air.
The Knot blaze over the top of the watchtower & decent onto the guardians of the watchtower, while below them, vampire spawn turn gaseous and slip through the arrow holes all along the front of the Watchtower. The sounds of battle soon ring through the tower.
The full might of the Knot easily destroyed the guardians. Soon after the magical beasts fell, the captain of the watch tower rush to the roof, only to fall as swiftly as the guards to the might of hell.
The Knot rush down through the levels of the tower & witness the carnage wrought by the vampires. Many soldiers didn't even get out of their bunks as the night beasts destroyed the rank & file of the Tower. Even the holy warriors of the tower stood no match.
In a matter of minutes the Knot controlled the Watchtower proper. Leaving only the clay golems guarding the lower level tunnel.
With vampire spawn manning the gate levers, the Knot gathered their full strength & entered the lower level. Led by the adamantine mace wielding Emmerick & backed by sling wielding knot members with adamantine sling bullets, the Knot wouldn't even be stopped by the Golems and vanquished them quickly.
Though, the Knot did suffer one loss. Emmerick loyal nightmare steed was seriously hurt and it's wounds refused to heal. Not wishing to risk it, Emmerick left the Nightmare behind.
Still, the Knot held the Tower from foundation to rooftop in less time than it took for the Bugbear horde to rush from their hiding place to the open gates.
The town of Sanctum's first warning of their doom was the Bugbear horde rushing out of the Watchtower, with a Medusa riding a zombie silver dragon high above the Watchtower of Saintsbridge. The militia & soldiers rushed to meet the enemy. The Battle of Saintsbridge was joined.
Sir Dallidan the Bold, Knight of the Alerion order, blindly charged ahead of the lines of Talerian soldiers, leading the spearhead of a phalanx of knights in full barding toward the disorganized lines of Bugbear. Fear begins to grip the shaggy northern monsters, until the Knot acted. Arcane and Divine fireballs filled the air, in their wake left a devastated line of knights with a broken spearhead. The charge broke up before even reaching the bugbears, the monsters charged forward, emboldened by the might of their Ninth Knot allies.
The horde rushed across the open field toward the lesser Saintsbridge. Along the way the Ninth Knot spots a coordinated group of archers raining fiery arrows among their army. The forces of Hell rush to ask. Emmerick takes a couple devistating rounds of arrows from the Captain of the archers, but in the end, the fires of hell burn bright that night and fireballs rain down and destroy the nest of archers before even the fast moving Brother Summit can even reach the fallen Captain.
Moving forward a fire oracle of Mitra returns to the Ninth Knot their own medicine. In fireball form. Quick communal resist energy fire from Mardus softened the blow. A flurry of ranged attacks, both magical and mundane take down the fiery winged oracle of Mitra.
The Knot marches forward with their horde slaughtering the yeomanry and common soldiery of Talengarde. Then their forces encounter an obstacle, a tight cluster of dwarven soldiers, lead by their Thane. The Knot hesitates for a moment. A golden opportunity has presented itself. Looking to use up the wild and hard to control savage Drugar, the Ninth Knot find a perfect opportunity to spend the force. Throwing the Drugar at the dwarves, a slaughter by far the most brutal is unleashed. In the end, only the Drugar Prince & one body guard were left alive, and barely at that. With ever dwarf, from Thane to foot soldier all dead.
The horde surges forward and stubbles upon a group of monks, cracking skulls & snapping necks. The Knot throw their vampire spawn upon them & push on. The monks devastate the blood sucking fiends, but ultimately fall, drained of blood, on the battlefield.
The Knot pushed forward, in the dead of night unsure of their troops success. But always sure they were gaining ground.
Finally they arrived at the bridge head of the greater Saintsbridge. And standing guard at it's entrance are a pair of Shield Archons.
Without missing a beat, the Knot rushes forward, knowing their troops will do little against the celestial guardians. Yvainne unleashes her hounds & they burn the Archons nearly to ash. With a couple swift strokes of Mace & Blade, Quell & Emmerick reduce the soldiers of heaven to nothing but burnt flesh & scourged steel. It seems the gifts of Dessiter have proven themselves.
The Knot rushes ahead of their horde across the Saintsbridge, only to be waylay-ed by flying knights on celestial griffons. A combination of fireballs, breath weapons, arrows & readied steel, bring down griffon & rider alike, though not without some wounds. Emmerick among others took some savage charges from lance tips.
Pushing ahead the Knot arrives at the other bridgehead. Beyond open fields and the wall-less town of Sanctum. Between them and victory stood a ragtag group of soldiers, knights & priests of Mitra.
Yvainne is quick to unleash her hounds again. But before they have a chance to be useful, the area is doused in Holy Smites. The first strike from the priests of Mitra nearly destroy the dogs of hell and Yvainne is forced to have them flee. The battle is joined after that, with some of the Knot still blinded from the holy light. The footman rush forward & engage. Steel clashes with steel. Prayers to Mitra are invoked. Curses are intoned. And blood mist full of negative energy fills the air.
When the sound of battle stop, it is the Knot that stands triumphant over their slain foes.
The Bridgehead secured, the hordes rushes forward.
The Knot has to do everything in their power to contain the unbridled savagery of the bugbears. The northern monsters manage to burn a small set of traveller's inns & warehouses on the far side of the river before the Ninth Knot reign them back in. Still, the town proper of Sanctum is spared that night as the forces of hell amass on the far banks, Bugbear eyeing the innocence & unprotected township beyond.
As dawn comes & the sun starts to raise, light fails to shine in the vale, as the sky fills with storm clouds. Darkness clings to the Vale as the first snow flacks of winter begin to fall. And the greenery of the Vale is covered in a cold blanket.
Perhaps this is merely a sign of an early winter. Or perhaps Asmodeus watches the deeds of our villains and is well pleased...
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