Redes and Rhymes

         So I wanted to take the time to talk about the Final Encounter. Please remember that all the information you're about to read is unknown to our characters at present. But, I wanted to talk about it in case something serious comes up that we need to resolve beforehand. So please take a look, I know it's long, but please let me know if you have any questions/comments/issues. There are some things that will become clearer over the next few posts, so I may not be able to answer some of your questions, but I will do my best.

         So here's what I have in mind for the Big Battle:

         The Temple at the Gates, and the city and surrounding walls, are built on the southern face of the Sacred Mountain. The meadow also protrudes to the south of the city, on the only level surface for miles around, elevation about 12,000 ft. The edges of the meadow slope gently down to the surrounding forest. The meadow is huge; it's even larger than the city. The mountains around them are very jagged, with sudden cliffs and hidden caves, and lots and lots of trees. The main entrance to the city is through an archway that used to hold a magnificent pair of wooden gates. From the meadow, some of the city is still visible, including the tall bell tower attached to the temple.

         The enemy forces are a combination of goblins, imps, and undead. Goblins are creatures about 3 ft tall, with two rows of tiny, needle-sharp teeth, huge, bulging eyes, long, sharp-tipped ears, and claws that retract, like a cat's. Their skin is very pale, they are bow-legged, and their arms are longer in proportion to their body. They do not need light to see by and they wear only a small bit of cloth about their loins. They smell like rotting flesh. They eat only meat and they're not particular about what kind. They'll even eat each other given half a chance. Imps are smaller, dog-size, but resemble the goblins to include wings. The undead are invisible to all but Tai, Dimitrios, and Mordred. There are no bodies, just spirits, so there's wraiths and ghasts and ghosts.

         They will form up just in front walls before the open archway into the city. Beyarmaa is their leader. The dragon and imps will perch on the walls above. The undead are under Saint Gaenor's command.

         There are roughly 10,000 goblins, 500 imps, and 10,000 undead. On our side, there are approximately 5,000 of the Shrivijayan army, 300 conscripted from the navy, 15 monkey mages, 2,000 mercenaries from the Tang Mines, 350 clansmen from the Blue Grass Plains, our chars, and roughly 9,000 ghosts.

         I figure that our army and navy troops will form the center of our main force. Kiera will be dressed as Princess Marguerite and be in the command section in the middle with the monkey general Merpati. Sargent will lead from the front lines. The undead will break into two groups to either side of the main group, with the left half commanded by Tai, and the right by Mordred. As a bit of sneakiness, I figure to have the mercs and clansmen sneak into flanking positions, under the command of Derrick's friend Halberd.

         Derrick and Dimitrios will be standing to the very front, some feet beyond the front lines. This is a taunt. Dimitrios is there to draw out Raphael, with the goal of separating the dragon from the main fight and giving our troops better odds.

         Metatron is very confident in his superiority. He intends to sit back and let his minions pound us all to dust. He only figures that he has four people to worry about (Margie, Tai, Dimitrios, and Mordred) and he thinks he has them covered. As soon as Derrick transforms, however, he'll have one of those "Oh, s***!" moments and will have to stir himself to active participation. Derrick will be his sole focus; no one else even comes close to matching him.

         Now there are some one-on-one battles going on. The first and most obvious one is Derrick vs. Metatron. If you've seen the original "Fantasia" by Disney, then you kind of know what I envision Metatron to look like. I picture him as the bat-winged, master devil from I think it's the second-to-last feature. Or, a much larger version of the imps.

         Next is Dimitrios and the dragon. It would be disasterous for us if the dragon were engaged in the battle. Aside from the imps, these two are the only ones doing any combat in the air.

         Next is Tai and Saint Gaenor. The ghost angel is going to spend the majority of the battle directing her troops, and she's going to give us as much time as possible to kill Metatron, so she'll try to keep her distance; however, if she gets close enough to Tai to take her out, she will. One plus for our Tai is to remember that the angel really only has the use of one arm. Saint Gaenor is a martial-arts chick, like the comic book character Electra.

         The other one-on-one situation will be between Beyarmaa and Mordred. This will be interesting. Beyarmaa is an angel, too, and her special power is suggestion/hypnotism. She fights with the standard sword and shield but she has a strong aura of despair about her. Those who get too close, or stare at her directly, will either fall under her control or be so over come with fear and despair that they'll run away. She has the ability to extend this aura for a radius of 50 ft, centered on her, so watch out. The effect does lessen with distance, but she can still cause panic even from across the battlefield.

         Mordred can shield our troops from her effects by using his flute. Even if he weren't so already, this would make him a target. He can have a bodyguard if you wish, and remember that if Beyarmaa can get rid of Mordred, she'll wreck our forces. No one else has a hope of standing against her.

         Aside from the main battle, there are two very important tasks that need to be done.

         During the night and while the battle is going on, Marius and Marguerite need to climb the Stairway and unlock the Gates of Heaven. You have a small band of thirty going with you, outfitted with climbing gear. Now Metatron placed half his imps to guard the Stair, but he doesn't really expect an assault. Seeing Kiera disguised as the princess will only confirm that guess for him, so he'll have no reservations about wading into battle.

         The trick is to open the Gates at the last possible minute before Metatron dies. Too soon and he'll charge up there and destroy everything. Too late and the havoc of his death will kill everyone and everything in the meadow. We need the gods to be able to stop the explosion.

         The other task is for Anglis. The timing for this one is crucial. Anglis has to transport the bells and the workmen into the city unobserved. From there they have to install the bells in the old bell tower and ring them. This will break the curse, which is important, but more importantly, breaking the curse weakens Metatron and will allow Derrick to get in the killing blow. The other purpose of ringing the bell is to signal Marius and Margie of when to open the Gates. In order to time everything, Anglis has to keep in touch with what's going on in the battle, and Marius and Margie's progress. Until the bells ring, we in our own small ways must keep the battle going. (I don't really think this will be a problem, but it's worth mentioning.)

         You are in complete control of the person/people you are fighting. Do with them as you will. You are also allowed to control any of the 'regulars' (that's any member of the army), to include the mages, the one healer in camp, any of the support staff, the enemy troops, etc. You can mention what specific people are doing, but in this instance, please stick to only your own char and opponent. For example, if I were Kiera, I could say that I ducked around Metatron and Derrick, or could look up and see Dimitrios and Raphael, etc, but I would not be directly describing what was going on. It'll be easier for those of us at the bottom of the order because we'll know what everyone else is doing, but if you're worried, just post in the forum and we'll all be sure to respect each other's wishes.

         So that's how I see it. I am of course open to suggestions. I do have my add planned out and will start off the battle with Derrick transforming. I will assume that our chars had plenty of time the night before to talk, make preparations, and set out, but feel free to narrate the whole battle, from arrival onward from your own char's perspective (so long as nothing contradicts the main themes, I'm cool with just about anything). Remember, we each have two rounds (2 adds apiece) to describe all that we're going to do in the battle, so make the best use of them.

         Live or die, it's all up to you now. Good luck!