DAY 791 12:30 AM

In the end, the Highbranch Challengers had managed to put together a team of a dozen volunteers willing to head down to Grassbrook, including their own four members. They had attempted to convince the Scarlet Eagles to join in, considering that they were the only other team of heavy-hitters available, but with Alizz reporting that the Association staff were either safe or 'temporarily resigned' they had chosen to take a more neutral approach. Fortunately, everyone else who had signed up was at least an Expert-tier Challenger, so Nalina at least felt confident that she wasn't leading a squad of green Initiates to their deaths.

The climb down the mountain was safe enough, with occasional torches lighting the way. The army checkpoint at the base of the mountain had double its usual complement, partially due to earlier reinforcements, and partly due to scouting parties falling back there after being cut off from the fort. They'd met other Challengers and citizens heading the other way as well, including a large group that Nalina was fairly certain were the local Valleylands army unit that had been sent to Grassbrook under a diplomatic agreement, as she understood it. She briefly considered trying to recruit their help as well...but aside from a few of them being injured, the proud Rainlander was still not yet so desperate that she was willing to trust her back to a Valleylander soldier while a war was on.

The peaceful part of the trip ended about halfway down the road to Grassbrook. Instead of finding more soldiers or adventurers heading towards the dungeon, the party started finding bodies, and so they were on the alert the first time they were ambushed. To Nalina's amusement, the Domain scouts were no stronger than Expert-tier themselves, and they clearly were not ready for four Supremes to be heading their way along with support. The kobolds and demons were turned into body parts almost the instant they revealed themselves, and Nalina suspected the energy they released as part of the fight was an effective warning that kept further ambushes from trying their luck.

As they reach the Grassbrook town center however, the dwarf can see that things are about to get a little more complicated. Staying hidden in the treeline, obscured by shadows, Nalina softly calls for the opinions of her team.

"Alright - we made it, and the town ain't burned to ashes yet. How're things looking?"

Tinter Gloomroot, whose magic over shadows gives the man the party's best darkvision, offers up his observations first. "Surprisingly good - the barricades across the main routes into the town still seem to be staffed by Rainlanders, and most of them barely look damaged. I'm seeing signs of a few light attacks here and there, but my guess is they're mostly trying to keep the militia pinned down. Perhaps hoping to make sure they don't try to relieve the fort?"

Red scoffs at the idea, as the paladin rests her heavy warhammer across her shoulder. "I'm sure Lady Highbranch isn't that foolish. If the professional soldiers can't help themselves, the militia would just get themselves cut down trying to cross the distance. Hells, if anything the Domain ought to be trying to lure the militia out."

"Well, they're clearly not doing that." Tinter gestures towards other parts of the treeline to both the north and south. "There's Domain units watching the town just like we are, probably ready to rush in if anyone tries anything. Mostly more scouts...but I think I see movement that doesn't align with that of a normal body. There's other tamed monsters in the area."

The other volunteers listen along silently, although a few of them shiver at the idea of there being dungeon guardians wandering around in the dark forest, ready to strike at any moment. Nalina can tell that some of them are feeling less confident now than they were two hours ago, when they were warm and had a mug of ale in their hands, but to their credit no one is suggesting going back. Although as she thinks about it, the dwarf isn't so sure that moving forward is the best approach either...

"Hrmm. Would be good to break through to the town, and see to Lady Highbranch's safety personally...but there's no point in rushing in and getting ourselves pinned down along with everyone else. For the moment we have mobility and surprise on our hands - would be a shame not to take advantage of it, aye?" She grins, and the rest of her party smiles in return. The volunteers are a little more hesitant, but she's sure they'll follow along well enough.

Glory Silverbloom, the party's primary mage, is curious about the details of his leader's plan however. "Shall we stick together or split up? From everything we've seen so far the dozen of us would be overkill by a considerable degree, but there's no telling what else might be hiding out there."

The short-statured spearwoman considers the question. "If they had Supremes as part of the assault, they'd be battering down the fort - or scattering those militia like so many pins. I don't doubt that the Domain has their share in their arsenal, but for now they're either in reserve or hitting more strongly-defended parts of the border. Speed and surprise is our advantage, so we'll split in half. Glory, you're with me and half of these brave souls. Red, Tinter, you take the rest and go south. We'll either circle the town and meet on the other side, or run into something too serious and head back here. If you get in over your heads, rush for the barricades, aye?"

Red nods back. "Aye. At least it's a fairly small town, so that shouldn't take long. Alright, you boys and girls here, you're with us! Keep silent, and strike swiftly only when we give the signal!"

Although she hadn't taken the time to get the names and histories of everyone who had come along, Nalina's group includes a healing priest, an archer, and two swordsmen. Not the most well-rounded group, but fortunately Glory holds enough magic in him for everyone. As they get within range of the first scouting party, the dwarf consults with the Arcane Sorcerer. "Do you see the monster Tinter was talking about?"

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The elf nods. "It's not moving, but I can sense the mana animating the thing. There's a giant stone golem there with them. Wonder how hard it was to move it this far north...hells, that thing would probably be a proper siege engine, wouldn't it? Could stomp those barricades to splinters without even noticing the damn things."

"Terrible matchup for blades, as well. Suppose that makes this easy, then - Glory, you start with trying to blast that thing down. You two with me, we'll take on the squishier ones. Cleric, you stay back, and you with the bow, keep him covered." The volunteers nod, and Nalina soon gets to leading the swordsmen forward. She keeps to stealth as long as possible, but the other Challengers are hardly trained for such a thing, and so she's not disappointed when the scouts suddenly notice their arrival. Instead the Undeniable Spear lets out a yell as she picks up the pace - to an extreme degree, leaping forward and planting her spear in a demon's chest.

The yell is Glory's signal to open fire, and so he does, with spells of a simple nature but powerful results. Arcane blasts are one of the first offensive spells many mages learn, but their output is usually limited by the mana reserves and efficiency of the spellcaster. In Glory's case, the mage is able to hurl massive balls of energy with the same drain that a newbie caster would need to launch a pebble-sized attack, and three of them slam through the forest in the direction of the golem. The first blows apart a tree which was blocking the way, with the added benefit of showering the nearby Domain soldiers with splinters and tree limbs. The following two manage to shatter the monster's right arm before it even begins to move.

As the swordsmen focus on finishing off the scouts pinned by branches and large pieces of singed trunk, Nalina keeps on the move, going for the enemy's mages. There seems to be a relatively common form to these teams, from what she's seen - a focus on light archers, with one or two melee specialists and two or three magicians. No dedicated healers, as far as she can tell. Yet despite the enemy team being entirely composed of combatants, none of them are able to so much as slow her down. One dagger-wielding rogue leaps at her, only for the green-scaled kobold to find himself impaled through the neck. His body gets tossed at a demonic mage, interrupting her casting of a shield spell, and before she can recover she finds Nalina's spear tip stuck inside her heart.

Even the volunteers don't have much trouble thanks to surprise being on their side...at least until the golem finally gets moving. The monster swings around, extending its good left arm, and one of the Challengers is foolish enough to try blocking it with her shield instead of dodging. The woman flies through the air, fortunately landing in a bush rather than against a tree, but her partner is looking rather exposed as the monster turns its attention on him.

Only for its next swing to be blocked by chains of force, which clasp on to the golem's arm and work to bind it against its chest. The creature seems too unintelligent to realize exactly what just occurred to it, instead pursuing its attack, stomping its way forward. That leaves it rather vulnerable to tripping when the same chains lash on to its ankles, and the crashing sound it makes as it falls to the ground can probably be heard all the way in Grassbrook.

Its stony form would still be difficult for even Nalina to tear apart, but with the rest of the scouts taken care of she doesn't need to. Glory is free to approach and begin blasting the monster at his leisure, which he does efficiently. Taking careful aim, repeated arcane blasts slam into the golem's head until nothing of it remains, and the rest of its body crumbles soon after.

"Good work - except you, lass! You still alive in there?" Nalina peers towards the crumpled foliage.

The human in the bushes grumbles. "I think I shattered my arm..."

"Wow, really? Wouldn't have imagined it. Cleric, see what you can do, but be quick about it. The next party down the line might've noticed all the commotion, and surprise might not be on our side for long." The dwarf grins as she inspects her enchanted spear, bloodied but still unmarred. "Not that I expect it to help them much..."

1:30 AM

Despite their efficiency, it still takes an hour for Nalina's team to meet back up with Red's on the other side of the town. Moving without being caught became increasingly more difficult, especially without Tinter's shadow magics on their side to help them, and their lack of stealth had its consequence. The volunteer archer had taken an arrow in the eye, killing him instantly, and the wounded woman's hastily-healed shield-arm was damaged again more thoroughly in a following engagement.

Still, Nalina has to say that the math said it had all been worthwhile. Four parties had been found and dispatched, taking out perhaps three dozen Domain soldiers plus one additional dungeon monster. It seemed to be a minor one by guardian standards, an oversized wasp apparently, but Nalina considers herself lucky that they were able to find it and kill it before it took to the sky. With demons, draconics, and now dungeon monsters in the mix, there's no denying that the Domain has a very solid advantage in aerial combat, and the dwarf can't say she's looking forward to the Domain eventually pressing that particular advantage.

For now though, the woman has good cheer in her expression as she greets the paladin and her team. "Red! You all made it? We lost one, I'm afraid."

The Deliverer of Balance smiles slightly, but it fades quickly. "I suppose we had an advantage, the shadows being on our side and all. We did run into one...kind of lizard? It had an armored back, and a heavy tail with spikes on it. Almost got poor Thag here, but with Taliar's grace I was able to spare him from the blow. Perhaps we overestimated the impact these monsters would have on the war?"

Glory shakes his head. "Although the distance may be great, it should be remembered that any dungeon creation we kill here simply revives back at its home, ready to be sent forth again in another wave. Mortal soldiers lack that advantage. Besides, I get the impression the Domain is yet holding back its strength. I'm not sure we saw a single combatant above an Expert-tier tonight, although I would expect at least a few Masters in an operation of this scale."

Tinter nods in agreement. "It's probing attacks, for certain. Perhaps to see what the town has in its defense...perhaps they're even encouraging people to flee the town, rather than stay and fight. The Domain no longer practices the large-scale slavery it once did, but as I recall it did prefer leaving civilians alive rather than massacred."

"With any luck, the people of Grassbrook will never need to find out what the Dragonlord has planned for them." Nalina grips her spear, and turns in the direction of the town. "Now - it's time to present ourselves to our lady, and see what further use we may be..."

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