Events+of+Alturiak+10+1374+DR

Pounce of the (paper) Tiger
The gate that had stood open all day and night vomited a constant stream of dretches, set off by the occasional Arrow Demon or Hezrou. As it did so, the pack of four Goristro clambered over the wall. They took up a station that they held until the gate had finished its business.

Around each goristro a clump of around a thousand dretches, urged forward by Hezrou, and supported by Arrow Demons formed. It would take time for the tribes to marshal, but at the crawling pace of a dretch, that wouldn't be a problem.

The company had plenty of time to ready a plan. It was clear to them, seeing the ranks of Demons lined up on the walls, that the teleporters would remain behind, until the battle was joined. In the meantime, the goristro were the only force capable of holding the clumps of demons together. Under their umbrella,

The Battle of Shaarmid
The company decided the goristro would be their target in the margin of minutes they had to act before the battle was joined. After it was joined, it would be largely out of their hands, a matter that could ony be decided with the blows of a thousand arrows and swords. They would engage each goristro in turn from the Demon's left flank to their right.

The company teleported next to the Goristro on the army's right flank; Calie shouted a word, and it was banished.
 * A Shadow of Luck**

After several attempts to enspel the second, Dacker arranged for Kethiel to be next to a goristro. Kethiel's blow proved to be deadly, and in a shower of gallons, and gallons of blood, its life expired. Maybe it was luck.
 * The Sword of Death**

The company had a harder time at the third goristro as Lia was forced to abandon a wounded Curled Feathers and assume dragon form to fly over to it, while the rest arrived in a flash as dacker colocated them. They let fly with a slew of spells, Jesús from on high with flamestrikes, and wore it down, slowly. Again, Kethiel came low, and with a sweep of his sword, it was dead, again.
 * A shower of Spells**

The company's resources ran thin, though rejoined by Lia, who had dispatched a wounded Curled Feathers away. Kethiel and Dacker faced the beast on opposite sides, while Calie deprived it of its sight in a single utterance.
 * The telling blow**

A line of Vrocks tried to teleport in. Anticipate Teleport thwarted them long enough for Lia to drop a force wall in their path, so their formation was broken up. Variska, protected by a Globe of Invulnerability, blasted the Vrocks with Cyclonic Burst. The injured ones retreated, three others 'ported together to begin the Dance of Ruin. Variska, Callie and Dacker went to try and stop them, and succeeded in destroying one and damaging another. Then the Lilitu arrived, along with the last Vrock on the field to restart the Dance. The Lilitu dominated Variska, forcing her to turn on the party. She very nearly destroyed Callie with Chain Lightning, then hammered Dacker with an Orb of Sound, but then Lia used her Incantatrix hoodoo to steal the Domination effect, even as Dacker finished a second Vrock, ending the Dance.
 * The Distraction**

As the fourth Goristro fell and the Dance was ruined, the Nalfeshnee and Lilitu decided they'd had enough and fled (presumably for the Abyss). Immediately, every Demon able to teleport did so, and the Dretches and Rutterkin were cut down by the Shaarans -- leaving Shaarmid open, with only their Tiefling technical support left to deal with.
 * "They've Abandoned Us! Flee!"**