Battle of Five Armies, Part 4: Battle at Mithrilwood Gate

Skye

Skye, Ms. Mattie, and her lady love are all sneaking under the cover of an upcast Invisibility from Harper, through the pre-dawn darkness. They are well into the middle of the gnoll “camp,” which smells of unwashed bodies, rotting corpses, and excrement. They are searching for what looks to be the head gnoll.

While it is likely to be less effective than taking down the troglodyte chief, knocking down the top of the hierarchy early is the most efficient use of Skye’s abilities. She doesn’t imagine the gnolls will suddenly start vying for supremacy, but maybe it will affect morale or the hyena-males response to this pincher attack? Ms. Mattie seems to think so.

An especially large gnoll with a scourge is giggling, holding what may be the cutest little kitten Skye has ever seen, a little ribbon tied around its neck. The kitten mewls weakly, barely heard above the distant chants from the wall. Then the gnoll crunches down. The monster.

Skye starts casting and thrusting before she even knew what she was doing. Thigh via the dick. Lung. Heart. The monster is still up, bleeding profusely. Skye hears a bang, feels something whiz just above her head. The monster falls over, dead, bullet in the brain. Skye hears Ms. Mattie quip, “Well, that was anti-climatic.”

Her lady love starts her bladesong, then summons a beam of silvery light, blasting through a dozen gnolls. “Job’s not done until the horde flees. Keep focusing, ladies.”

Skye tries harmonizing with her lady love’s war chant with a cast of Lesser Spellsong. Spirit Guardians summoned, silvery moths surround the drow as the spell takes hold. Skye moves to the nearest cluster of gnolls and the moths slam through them. A robot appears just outside of her spells effect, which is unexpected. The robot punches the gnoll in front of it a couple of times, which is less unexpected. Harper fires off another beam of light that incinerates a dozen gnolls, followed up by a sudden explosion of the same light. A huge crater is all that’s left, basically bisecting the horde. That was enough to scare off the nearest gnolls; the ones that survived the moths flee towards the north.

Skye finds a couple more gnolls to stab, dropping them with one thrust each (with a little moth help). Mattie fires off an Ice Storm, knocking out the bulk of the gnolls in the area of effect. Harper is running out of targets; she only gets a couple with the beam. She fires off another one of those big explosions, and another large crater is left. That broke the spirits of the foe; they start running away.

Harper: +14 XP (Killed 315 Level 1 monsters, x0.035 penalty [overleveled], Killed 1 Level 9 monster, 0.321x penalty [overleveled], all rounded down at the end)

Party General XP Pool: +38 XP (Killed 315 Level 1 monsters, x0.05 penalty [overleveled], Killed 1 Level 9 monster, 0.45x penalty [overleveled], all rounded down at the end, x2 [2 instances])

Skye drops the moths and watches as the gnolls by the gate are fleeing as well, being pursued by the regular soldiers of the Queendom. Harper keeps an eye on the situation. The ones fleeing north are causing the gnoll front fighting the orcs to break morale, already under duress from Glitterdust’s breath weapon blasts. The battle is all but over. It’s just a matter of mopping up the remnants.

Nyadia

Nyadia is a little surprised at how excited she is. The sortie against the troglodytes was one thing. Troglodyte clans never get too big; when none of them have compulsions against eating the weaker members of the tribe and struggles for leadership lead to mass casualties, they naturally keep their numbers small. Gnolls will at least resist eating each other unless no other prey are available, so the horde of hyena elvenoid monsters in front of them is vast. This is an actual military battle, and Nyadia is the tip of the spear on the front line.

The Nimlith Grove troops have left the doors of the Gate wide, with the melee fighters aligned in front of them. Nyadia sees Josie and Scarlet to her left; she sees three Aelenes to her right. On either side of the harem-sisters are the actual soldiers of the gate, waiting for the enemy to notice and come.

Of course, the melee fighters are glorified bait. They have arranged themselves to allow the ranged fighters to rain arrows and spells from above. Nyadia saw how effective Tina could be; she expects the casters with 9th Level spells to be even more effective at mass slaughter. The goal of the troops on the ground is to survive long enough to let the troops above (and the orc army at the gnoll’s flank) destroy the enemy.

She can hear the nerves in the ground troops fraying. Outside of the harem, the best among them is probably no more than Level 3, and none of them have any magic. Some will die this day. Some might not be healed in time to be revived. The rare hoppalong soldiers look especially ready to bolt.

Then, she hears them. The drow among the troops start to sing, the war chant to the Argent Dancer rising. Nyadia joins in, clanging flail handle to shield in time of the song’s cadence; Aelene hums along. The horde notices and the wave of hyenas start to run, preparing to overwhelm the defenders under a tidal wave of ravenous fury.

Nyadia meets the first gnoll with a solid hit to the head, followed by a more grazing blow to the flank. Scarlet grazes a gnoll as she slams her glaive into the ground, then the gnoll steps back enough to get out of range as the oread delivers her kicks. Aelene performs four decapitations. Then, Nyadia feels something boil inside her, a lust for **** she never experienced before; her tail grows large. Aelene seems to also be effected as she starts to grow a wolf tail and her scimitar grows large. Josie shreds three more of the foe. Need more!

A Wall of Flame bursts out from in front of Nyadia, roasting a couple of gnolls and injuring several more. Then a giant tornado made of lightning sucks up a couple of gnolls, dead before they left the ground. And, finally, a red hot cloud of ash. Lots of screaming coming from the cloud. Then lots of screaming from the wall and lightning tornado.

The gnolls swipe and bite at Nyadia’s shield, but can’t seem to get past it. Her flail swings are more frantic, sharper. Her foe falls in a heavy flail head blow and she hits another one hard. Scarlet kicks down 2 gnolls, then delivers a heavy blow to another. Aelene’s giant blades slice through 4 more necks. Josie rips apart 2 more. We aren’t doing bad. They can’t handle us!

Then, the dedicated casters start firing spells. The ground rumbles as a large chunk of land to the north is just blasted to nothingness. Mistress? A Fireball burns a few to cinders. The lightning tornado cuts through a swatch of land, zapping some of the gnolls along with it. The first cloud of ash disappears, for another popping up around another batch of gnolls.

Nyadia sends her flail through the stomach of the injured one, then caves in the skull of another with a divine smite. I’m contributing! She smells burning flesh, as Scarlet does the splits and fries a couple of hyena-guys, then hammer blows a third. Aelene busts out a flurry of blows among her three bodies, dropping six of them. Josie guts a couple.

The ground rumbles again, closer. Another Fireball, another fresh cloud of ash. The lightning tornado moves again, sucking up more of the foe. And it looks like the gnolls are done; they flee north. Nyadia starts to chase after them, only to be held back by Aelene as the feeling fades.

Honey: +8 XP (Killed 147 Level 1 monsters, 0.059x penalty [overleveled], rounded down)

Nyadia: +8 XP (Killed 147 Level 1 monsters, 0.059x penalty [overleveled], rounded down)

Party General XP Pool: +35 XP (Killed 147 Level 1 monsters, 0.05x penalty [overleveled], rounded down, x5 [5 instances])

“Hold, good lazzorkat. Let the regular soldiers get some XP. We’ve probably got plenty, given how our Dungeon Mistress spits in the face of that miser Ioun.”

Nyadia nods, then starts to check on the wounded. She’ll save some people yet.

Glitterdust

As soon as breakfast was done, Glitterdust started to head towards the northern front. She uses her innate draconian ability to cast Invisibility. That, plus some use of Bardic Inspiration to boost her non-existent stealth skills, gets her in position well enough. The orcs are expecting her.

She takes the time to ruminate, as she has spent a lot of time doing since the beach. She doesn’t understand why her MtF goddess is always so irritated at her. She is trying to be a nicer dragon. Why doesn’t she give ME a chance?

The way she reacted to her new power, one to show gross boys how majestic life as a sexy woman would be, it’s almost as if she is against anyone being perfected the way she was by the show. That seems mean. Glitter wants to blame those bad influence Mistresses, the ones that can be sexy women instead of gross boys, but choose not to the bulk of the time. They both rejected Glitter’s attempt to show them the error of their gross boy ways. But it’s not just them. Her MtF Goddess seems to care about self-determination. Does she not see that gross boys will not choose the better way without a little push?

Still, with a little sliver of dawn rising to the east, the orcs are marching in formation. She has permission to dragon as soon as the first blow she sees is struck. The orcs give Glitterdust conflicting feelings. On the one hand, they are generally feminine in nature; on the other hand, giant futa cocks. Still, they are fighting for her goddess, so she must at least tolerate them.

The two forces collide and Glitterdust goes dragon. She swoops into the air, preparing to rain down destruction. The orcs cheer as they see Glitter in flight. The dragon does a fly-by at the optimal height to blast away at a huge swath of gnolls with her psychic breath, then follows up with a psychic scream that pops 10 of them, as the orcs start hacking and whacking at the nearer ones she injured. Glitter feels the power of her breath recharge, so she does the same again, only to feel a similar amount of psychic torment from behind her. The orcs stop for half a second to watch the explosion, then gets back to hacking.

Her breath doesn’t recharge again, so she dive-bombs into the midst of the gnolls, crushing several under her feet, then double cast Psychic Scream. The gnolls start running away, into the relative safety of the orc troops. Glitter turns around to see the craters. Wow. MY Goddess is impossibly strong.

Party General XP Pool: +9 XP (Killed 180 Level 1 monsters, 0.05x penalty [overleveled])

Glitter watches the south, how the gnolls flee, pointedly avoiding her. Most of the orcs pursue. Some remain to guard their caravan. One in particular walks straight up to Glitter.

“So, you are Aranel Tyalangan’s pet dragon? Much bigger than I would have thought. Once my troops have finished routing the gnolls, you are to escort us to the gate.”

Harper

Harper is being treated as a guest of honor, along with War Marshal Reeza, at this impromptu celebratory feast. The orcs brought out meats from their larders and the troops at the gate raided much of the remaining fresh foods (with Aelene’s permission). As the Knight-Commander, Aelene is hosting the party. As much as Harper would like to help, the high elf insists she sits and takes it easy. So, as the meal portion of the evening winds down, she sits, a glass of drow mushroom wine (which is way better than what the name suggests) in hand, and talks to Reeza.

“So, how is my sister treating you, War Marshal?”

The orc snorts and downs her mug of grog. Harper would not associate orcs with grog, but it’s a normal drink for them here. The sea elf supposes that, as a mostly nomadic society of raiders, distilling would be preferable to just brewing, just to cut back on travel weight. Harper hopes that Reeza actually intends to become respectable by embracing civilized society. The orc finally answers, “I have sworn the oaths of marriage to the elven gods and placed the first of my many eggs inside her to incubate. She is... resting.”

“I hope you two will find love with each other in time. A political marriage must be tough to navigate.”

The orc grunts in response, then makes a motion for a refill. A smaller orc tops off the War Marshal, and Reeza drinks half of it. “You a lightweight, elf?”

“I drink to savor the taste, not get drunk.”

Reeza barks out a laugh, “I’m glad I’m not in your harem then. I expect you to support me with your mother, elf.”

Harper takes another sip, savoring the flavor. It’s almost a more umami version of scotch. Almost. “Aye, that I will, Reeza. As long as we can continue to get along, I’ll look after my sister-in-law.”

Reeza slaps Harper on the back, being surprised at just how firm the sea elf remains afterwards. Harper nods, then stands to find some of the others. The elven troops are playing a lovely song and Harper would like to dance. Aelene and Skye are dancing together, the former a little stiff, the later confused by the courante steps; they look like they are enjoying themselves regardless. Tina is showing off some magic to a crowd of orcs (somewhat bored) and gate troops (pretty excited); Josie is watching Tina, bemused. Mattie is trying to cheer Glitterdust up with meat and whispers of something. Scarlet is trying to teach Daphne some basic dance moves, with limited success. Nyadia is talking with some of the drow soldiers, thanking them for starting a song before the battle; when she notices Harper standing alone, the lazzorkat waves her over.

“Mistr..., sorry, Tyalangan, surely you wish to thank some of the soldiers who risked their lives for so long.”

Slightly annoyed at Nyadia’s greeting but glad to be of service, Harper goes through the small crowd around Nyadia. A thankful word, an ear to listen to stories, she gives the soldiers her attention. She resolves to ensure some extra bonus pay gets here. While it won’t make up for all of the suffering they experienced while on duty, it will help them take care of families back home. It’s the least she should do. Soon enough, the troops walk away to enjoy the party.

Nyadia, however, remains. “You care for them, Harper, or was that a show?”

“They are my people. I care for them. I care for you too, my little kitten.”

Nyadia smiles. Whether she is happy that Harper cares for the people she is to lead or care for the lazzorkat, the sea elf is unsure. Still, Nyadia stands up to stay by Harper’s side. Harper squeezes the lazzorkat’s paw, a slight smile on their faces.

“Thank you for what affection you can spare for me, Mistress.”

It hurts that she wants to think of me in those terms. Harper squeezes Nyadia’s paw tighter. Nyadia must have picked up on some subtle change in Harper’s expression, for her ears droop a little. “Sorry, Harper. I am trying. Are you about ready to retire for the evening?”

“Would you like to dance for a song or two first?”

Nyadia looks surprised, “You would dance with me?”

Harper smiles. She nods, “Of course. Afraid you’ll step on my toes or something?”

Nyadia leads Harper to the cleared space that serves as the dance floor. The two start. Nyadia is an instinctually good dancer. It is a bit of a challenge to figure out who is leading, but the struggle between the two of them is kind of fun. Nyadia’s fur is so soft; it’s glow highlights how cute Nyadia’s face is. Her contented purr once Nyadia finally lets Harper lead for the next song is soothing, too. When the song ends, the two of them start to head to the officer’s quarters prepared for the harem.

The troops have 3 rooms in the officer’s section of the barracks for the harem. Harper spent the last night in one with her 3 elves, as most of them were heading out together for the battle. Tonight, room assignments are a little looser. Harper peeks her head into the open door among her rooms and sees Honey quietly reading by herself. Hey, there she is.

“Mind if Nyadia and I join you, Honey?”

“As you like, Mate.”

Harper comes in, with Nyadia behind her. Closing the door, Harper asks, “You okay?”

“Just too loud at the party. I am enjoying this book.”

Harper pulls out the DM tablet. Between all of the spare XP the group earned during the siege and their personal efforts, the sea elf can get both of them to Level 20 (and her a couple of more levels). She asks, “Ready to hit the level cap before we retire for the evening, you two?”

Honey closes her book and Nyadia nods. Nyadia goes first. She gets some more HP, SP, an extended aura, some Level 5 spells, and a few bard spells, including Faerie Fire to help with her aiming. Honey does not actually take her spell selections at the moment, noting that she sees her spell list as complete. Harper leaves the spots blank for now, but knows that she can fill them in later if Honey changes her mind. Harper has never seen Honey as animated as she was when the sea elf describes the Timeless Body feature, which, in effect, increases Honey’s now wish-extended life by 10 times. The Spell Sniper feat, and improvements to Wild Shape are also appreciated.

Harper takes two more rogue levels. Her feelings are a little torn about that. The extra expertises are appreciated, as is the bonus HP and sneak attack damage. Uncanny dodge is not super useful, as her Personal Space transformation basically gives her an acceptable substitute for it (so long as she has the SP to spare). She isn’t particularly looking to add more women in the harem, but, if it happens, the next levels are going to be better.

But those are thoughts to worry about later. For now, she has two beautiful women to share her bed with. Harper lays on the bed and beckons them to join her. Nyadia gets into position first, sitting on Harper’s face, “Is this okay, Harper?”

“Of course, Nyadia. I enjoyed pleasuring you last time. Remember, say ‘volcano’ and I stop. Honey, did you want to taste me down there first?”

Harper doesn’t wait for the nehtaliante’s answer and starts to lick around Nyadia’s vulva. The tiger-girl grabs a fistful of Harper’s braids with her paw. The sea elf loves the sound of her purr, the taste of her juices. Honey buzzes from the table she was sitting at into the space between Harper’s legs. An aroma of honey intermingles with the scent of Nyadia as Harper feels Honey’s proboscis starting to prod into her sea cave. The suction begins and Harper’s eyes flutter for a few moments. Once she gets used to the sensation, she digs back into Nyadia with her tongue.

The purring tiger starts to grind on Harper’s tongue, so the sea elf inserts it into the tiger’s den. Honey, fully inserted, starts to thrust. Harper’s hips buck, trying to get Honey’s slurping mouthpiece in deeper. When Honey starts to hum, Harper goes cross-eyed and loses focus again for a second. Nyadia grinds harder; she’s getting close. A curling of her tongue, and the sea elf causes the lazzorkat to fall apart.

When Nyadia returns to the land of the living, she gets off and scoots behind Harper. They watch the nehtaliante work, Harper’s head and back resting on Nyadia’s sextuplet of breasts. This is nice.

Honey kisses Harper’s cervix and that pushes her over the edge. Honey drinks deeply from Harper’s juices, then gently rests on top of Harper’s breast. Harper offers Honey a head pat, saying, “You two want to try something new?”

“What are you thinking?” Nyadia rumbles behind her.

“I eat out Honey and you eat out me.”

“I’d prefer you fill my spermatheca again, Mate.”

Harper looks up at Nyadia. I’m not sure if she’s ready to watch something like that. “I can’t do that every time, Honey.”

Honey flips on her back, her four arms spread out, on the edge of the bed. “Very well, Mate, I understand.”

Not absolutely sure if she does, Harper twists to lean into Honey’s vaginal opening, lifting her hips up for Nyadia. Harper kisses Honey along the abdomen, keeping an eye on Honey’s stinger, as she feels Nyadia’s tongue lap at the sea elf’s folds, still sensitive from Honey’s ministrations. Honey’s exoskeleton is surprisingly yielding; Harper would have thought that it would be like kissing fingernails. Honey twitches at Harper’s efforts, asking, “What is the purpose of this, Mate?”

Harper stops and considers for a moment. She asks, “Your people don’t do foreplay? Acts to stimulate you to get you ready to mate?”

“The males do not understand such things.”

“So, I should just dive in on you?”

“Unless you need this ‘foreplay’ to prepare yourself to do so.”

Nyadia’s tongue feels so good, so Harper is willing to dive in if Honey is okay with it. The sea elf starts to nibble, lick, kiss on Honey’s labia. Honey tastes like, well, honey. A strange flavored honey that vaguely reminds Harper of barbecue smoke, but honey nevertheless. Honey shifts her body, hinging at the joint between her thorax and abdomen. Harper feels Honey’s eyes on her, hears the buzzing of her wings, feels the air circulate over her skin. “It feels different than when you filled my spermatheca.”

Harper pulls back just long enough to ask, “Good different or bad different?”

Honey’s antennae twitch. “Just different.”

Nyadia sticks one of her paw fingers into Harper’s sea cave and it stretches her out almost as much as three of her other girl’s fingers. She starts to focus her lapping on Harper’s clit. Harper moans into Honey’s wasp colony, then plunges a tongue inside it. Honey actually starts to squirm now. Duly noted. Honey needs penetration. Harper tries to find the right spots to make Honey really squirm. Nyadia finds one of Harper’s and she feels herself buck on the lazzorkat paw. Nyadia purrs, “I can see the appeal of this, Harper.”

The way she is panting into Honey, Harper knows she’s not going to last very long. Honey starts begging, “Deeper!” When Harper pulls out (understanding that she physically can’t get deeper), Honey moans in disappointment; Harper empowers a succubus kiss and places it directly into Honey’s clit. They both cum at the same time.

When the world returns, Harper finds herself in Honey’s lap, being lifted up by lazzorkat paws. She smiles, “Thanks, both of you. Honey, sorry I had to cheat.”

“My orgasm needs have been met, Mate. Your effort was acceptable.”

High praise.