The party fervently discussed battle strategy, and how best to protect the city from Noctura’s troops when the magical walls’ defenses were down. Talen volunteered to ride out to Greyson Tasson’s estate at Shuri’s suggestion, confident in his capabilities to sneak in and swipe the big ruby. Everyone else would only need to keep the enemy at bay until his return.
Vesper used her mercenary knowledge and noble’s education to strategize with Mayor Podrey on how best to defend the city’s walls and streets.
Sir Hode went to rally the Ironwoods, a guild of skilled smiths who specialize in crafting the magical wooden items the city is known for (and who have some combat skills themselves).
Leaf and Shuri went to the town guard’s main office to take stock of their current plans. Finding it empty, with everyone already out attending to tasks of their own, the two took the opportunity to pick locks and see if there were any useful items hidden within. Instead, they found a prisoner locked in one of the basement cells, contained with bars lined with silver. The prisoner lashed out at them, biting Shuri hard on the arm. The two of them shared a moment of connection in spite of this, having both had experiences with imprisonment themselves. They agreed to free the prisoner so she wouldn’t be trapped should the city fall.
Meanwhile, Talen rode as fast as his horse could carry him (with animal friendship spells to help) toward Greyson Tasson’s estate. There, he encountered none other than Rogers, who was already partway into enacting his own plans to break in and steal the ruby to be delivered to Rosebark. Together the task was barely a challenge, and with ruby in tow, they swapped Talen’s tired horse for two fresh ones and turned back to the city.
Rosebark’s militia was doing a decent job at keeping the invading force at bay, but it was clear they were surrounded on all sides. The party met back up and sped toward a weak spot where one of the walls was close to falling, with reports of strange monsters doing most of the work. Sir Hode reluctantly shared that he had a good idea of what those monsters might be -- the work of Willard, a middle-ranked vampire and one of Noctura’s foremost scientific minds. Willard was known for his magical experiments on all sorts of creatures -- most disturbingly, working with the church of Shar to procure children. Full of potential as young people are, Willard warps them into monstrous tools for war (or his own curiosity).
He unfortunately proved correct, as strange long-limbed monstrosities crawled up and over Rosebark’s wall. The party took out as many as the could on their way up, revealing that the creatures were clearing a path for some sort of war machine. Atop the machine stood one of the invading force’s generals.
Vesper seized the opportunity while he was out in the open, and used her echo knight abilities to teleport on top of the machine beside him and attack. The two went toe-to-toe, Vesper’s agility and magic keeping her even with the clearly stronger vampire -- though not entirely, as he managed to grab hold and bite her once to regain some vitality. With the rest of the party reigning fire on the monsters pulling the machine, they were able to stop it before it could reach and tear down the wall. Rosebark’s militia stepped up to cover fire again, and the party retreated to get medical attention. The vampire general was not yet defeated, but was also forced to fall back.
Talen and Rogers, finally arriving, used the chaos to push through into the city proper without being stopped by guards or enemies. Talen rushed toward Mayor Podrey’s estate, where he could put the gem in the device used to power the wall’s protection magic. Rogers split off to find and aid the rest of the party.
After a brief respite, the party received news that another spot in the wall had been breached, and monsters were now in the streets. They ran off to help, with Shuri using her water genasi powers to snuff out fires as she ran. There they met with the vampire general again, this time with additional forces to back him up. He was able to take Vesper out of the equation this time by using his charm ability, forcing her to stand by while the rest of the party fought. Rogers showed up just in time to turn the tide of combat in their favor, the two vampires focused on fighting each other.
Talen was able to set the ruby in its housing, reactivating the magical barrier that keeps undead out.
The party had pushed the enemies back to the wall at this point. The vampire general was nowhere to be found. They found Rogers, nearly unconscious, near the wall, and knew they had to get him out before the barrier finished reactivating. Vesper and Sir Hode heaved him up and over the wall, then dragged him off into the nearby forest (now empty of enemies) while the invaders fled. Unsure if he would survive in his current state, Vesper pushed Rogers to feed from her. He did, which restored some of his strength -- though caused her to pass out in exhaustion. Rogers assured them he would be fine, and Sir Hode carried Vesper back into the city’s protective field.
With the battle won, everyone collapsed into rooms at the mayor’s house to rest.
