As the party adapts to this strange and unusual class of foe, they begin to tear through the enemy forces.
Sybil's sword punctures a critical component of the larger machine, and it stops resisting Ozzan'gac's grip. The elemental is able to release it, and it falls limply away.
Almost simultaneously, Ciel is able to overcome the attackers' superior armor and finally kills her target with a flurry of arrows.
She is able to get one more hit into a different target, which is then ended by Fleshbane's ruthless electric attack.
Viss's and Menek's targets only fare slightly better; they are heavily damaged but they retain their ability to fly.
The remaining enemy forces pull back, retreating toward the much larger swarm of forces above. Reinforcements loom in the short distance, but it makes no matter, as less than a minute later, the party reaches their destination. Hot on their heels are Scraw, Jonna, Shirox, and Pillari, all of whom were able to evade capture and destruction.
The thick cover of the expansive forest proves too much for any would-be pursuers to overcome. Though hoverbikes can be seen patrolling overhead, for now the situation is under control.
Relatively speaking.
The Raven Queen's Observatory still floats above, a grim reminder of what they had failed to protect. It would seem that the enemy has captured it and made it their own, rather than obliterating it.
Another unusual fact quickly arises, once the party has had a moment to catch its breath: This place is bereft of magic.
The idea is so foreign that it's difficult to process at first, but it remains true. The air, water, plants, and animals all around them are fully mundane. On any other plane, even the most barren deserts were rife with magical energies and mana currents, ripe for manipulation by any wizard or cleric of minimal skill.
Here, the only sources of magical energy are the party members and their equipment.
Compounding the isolation is the realization that right now, no one feels connected to the deities they serve. Asmodeus's grip on Ciel's soul is loosened; the Asgardians have been disconnected; Fleshbane no longer feels Zerome's meddlesome influence on his actions. Even in this natural, wooded area, Melora is silent to Viss's feline ears.
Crickets begin to chirp. Nightfall looms.
((Magical spells that work over long distances don't work right now. That means no message-sending, no teleporting, no plane-shifting, or anything like that. Think of it as though those spells require wi-fi, and in this place you don't have a signal.
Any magic that only affects the area around you is fine and will work without trouble.
Oh and also: Welcome to the actual start of the campaign!
))
