Begin Chapter IV

Fionn waves a pair of younger centaurs in lighter armor over to him, saying something to them quietly. The two messengers then trot down the battle line to either side, passing on orders. Then he walks over to where you sit astride Brighid. He says quietly, "The main body of our force is going to attack shortly; we cannot afford to allow more of this horde into the countryside. We have no way to know how many there are down there, but unless I miss my guess, we are outnumbered to a large degree. I do not believe we will be able to provide any support for your mission outside of hopefully drawing the Taig's attention away from the hill. To be honest with you, I am not optimistic at our chances of seeing the dawn if you do not take out the Taig and whatever those vines are." He gives you a measured look, then continues, "I see you have picked up Novice rank in the Leadership Skill since we talked; what is your actual Skill level in it? And do you believe you will be able to face the Taig again?"

You hold your head high and look him straight back in the eye. "I will be alright, and that rhyming asshole will be very, very surprised if it tries for a repeat performance. I am only level 5 in Leadership, though. Haven't had much chance to practice it."

Fionn, for his part, takes you at your word. "Then I will send five of our best with you. Brighid, obviously, will be one; I do not expect that she would follow my orders if I tried to separate you, and she is well-suited for this anyway. You appear to have grown competent enough at Fire Magic to be your own ranged offense core, so I will send Ceirios with you as defensive support, Maeryn for additional ranged support, Cai and Llwyd to help Brighid as front line fighters, and Ysbail as your heavy hitter. If we get lucky, this battle will draw the dakhols away. If we do not, you will need to fight them; we do not have time for me to tell you everything I know about them, but the important things are that they are very strong and take an immense amount of effort to kill. Their fur and hide is naturally resistant to fire, but burning their organs out is the easiest way to permanently kill them. The Taig itself is going to be a powerful mage, at the very least of Wood and Death given the Manikin you fought, but it could possibly have other powers as well, and outside of its magic I can tell you noting. Each Taig is unique." He claps you on the shoulder, then says, "I have heard some of what is going on from Ailis. If the Three Flames indeed light your path, then may Birgitte sharpen your blade, Brigantia grant you her cleansing flame, and Braihan lead us all to a joyful reunion on the morrow." You bow your head in acceptance of his words, and he turns away, giving out more orders.

Over the next few minutes, the ranks of centaur warriors arrange themselves into battle formation. The bulk of the Starchaser forces are heavily armored lancers, with a group of about forty lightly armored archers bearing huge war bows, and a dozen or so mages. Your strike team joins you one by one as the army forms up, and you take a moment to inspect each of them as they join you.

Ceirios is a lush-looking centaur woman. Her breasts rival Brighid's and are far more visible as she is not wearing armor, but she clearly does not get nearly as much exercise as your love; she is heavyset and has no muscle definition to speak of. Her status screen shows that she is a Mage, only one level higher than you are, with Apprentice-rank Earth Magic and Initiate-rank Vivimancy.

Maeryn is a smaller, lean woman wearing hardened leather armor and wielding a war bow nearly as tall as she is. She is a level 16 'Heavy Archer', and between that and the size of her bow you expect her to put out a lot of damage. She is a Journeyman-rank Archer with Archery subskills, but has no melee skills besides Initiate rank in Brawling, presumably used to kick with her hooves.

Cai and Llwyd arrive together. Both are heavily armored and bear shields. Cai is a level 15 Shieldmaiden, using an axe as her weapon and carrying a large tower shield, while Llwyd is a level 16 Cataphract with a smaller kite shield and both a reinforced spear and a mace. They are both invested heavily in Toughness and Endurance.

Ysbail is a hulking woman, both taller and bulkier than any other centaur you've seen aside from Fionn himself. She wears chain mail and rests a massive sword which wouldn't look out of place in a Japanese RPG or anime on her shoulder, and she's the highest level in your party by a fair margin as a level 23 Adventurer. Her Might is a monstrous 44, and with Journeyman rank in Large Swords you see why Fionn called her your heavy hitter.

All five of your strike team members are Neutral to you, which is a relief. You gather them together and give them a brief rundown of your mission and your likely opposition. Ysbail spits when you mention the dakhol guards, but doesn't show any particular fear. As the ranks of the army form up in front of you, you ask each of them for a general overview of their skills and capabilities; you have the knowledge from inspecting their status screens, but you can't see their Abilities or Subskills, let alone their Talents.

"Llwyd and I are best serving as the front line," Cai starts. "The two of us work together well as a pair. Usually, he will charge in first, skewering one enemy and switching to his mace, and I will follow on his heels to protect his flanks. Since Brighid's weapon has a longer reach and she does not use a shield," She nods respectfully to the Paladin, "I would suggest she fight from just behind us and either attack past us or intercept enemies which try to bypass us to get to the rear line."

Llwyd adds, "As far as Skills and Abilities go, we are both proficient enough in our heavy armor that most normal enemies can barely hurt us, and we have an Ability which lets us fight as a paired unit, giving us bonuses for being next to each other and reducing both of our penalties for fighting multiple attackers. I have an Ability which draws enemy attention to me, and Cai has one which allows her to counterattack against enemies which attack her partner. Like she said, we work well together."

Ysbail speaks up next. "Don't worry too much about me. I can take a hit almost as well as those two," she gestures at Cai and Llwyd, "and I've killed a dakhol on my own in the past. I'm not eager to repeat the experience, mind you. I'm best fighting one on one against elite enemies -- or better yet, two or three or more on one --or destroying groups of little ones. Fionn must be real serious about this mission for him to send me with you instead of helping against that horde down below. I also know a few Metal Magic spells, but they're all only usable on myself."

Ceirios chimes in with a cheerful voice, "Well, I am not sure I'll be as useful as the rest of this lot, but I know a couple healing rituals and can give extra defense to the whole group. I can also summon a lesser rock golem and cause areas of earth or stone to turn into mud or sharp spikes. Not all at once, mind, I do not have enough Concentration for all of that. And I am useless in direct combat, if an enemy gets to me there is almost nothing I can do about it so I will be relying on the rest of you to protect me."

You turn your eyes to Maeryn, the last one to speak, and after a moment which stretches on a bit too long, she finally says, "I shoot things. They do not usually get up afterwards. Keep the enemies off of me and Ysbail and I can compete to see who kills the most." The Adventurer laughs and raises a fist to accept the challenge. You figure that's about as much as you're likely to get out of the smaller centaur, so you take a quick moment to explain your own abilities.

"For my part, I will mostly be functioning as ranged support. I have strong Fire Magic attacks, especially against undead and corrupted creatures, and they are all usable from at least ten meters away. I also have a healing ritual which can cure Wounds of Minor severity and one which quickly heals everyone close to me over time at the cost of my Stamina; I can keep it up for about thirty seconds if I'm not doing anything else which drains my Stamina. I'm not completely helpless in melee, but I'm nowhere close to the four of you," you indicate Brighid, Cai, Llwyd, and Ysbail, "so I will be sticking back with Maeryn and Ceirios.

"The reason why I'm leading this strike force is primarily that I know where we're going. About a week ago, I infiltrated Bannagh Macht on a quest from the Council and discovered the central chamber we're headed to. How I got out is a longer story than we have time for at the moment, but suffice to say I have a personal stake in this beyond just cleansing the city. Once the battle begins in the valley below, Fionn is going to open a route for us to get into the city. We will, I hope, have a clear shot down the main avenue up until the entrance of the underground section of the city. I am not going to plan for our enemy to be incompetent, so I expect us to have to face the two dakhols and maybe more at that point. Once we get past them, it's another straight shot to the central chamber where the Tannath Taig and its corruption wait for us. It has the ability to control all of the vines in the chamber and direct them to do many different things all at once, with immense strength. Everything I encountered except the dakhols is very vulnerable to fire, but aside from myself and Brighid I don't know that there's a way to exploit that."

Brighid speaks up, "Actually, there is. I have a spell which will cause everyone's weapons to deal a small amount of fire damage. It is not much, but it will help."

"Excellent!" You agree, then say, "Once the Taig's minions down there are fully engaged by the main force, we will run around the fight and run full speed for the city. When we get there, we will slow back down to a walk. Time is vital, but the Taig can sense creatures inside the city and we will not do anyone any good if we run straight into an ambush. It took me a few hours to find the hill last time, but I know where I'm going now, plus Ailis's new sun has burned away much of the fog, so even at a cautious walk it should only take us ten minutes or so to get to the hill, and another two or three minutes to get to the chamber within, ignoring time spent fighting." You look around at your squad, specifically looking each in the eyes. "I know that I am not just a stranger, but an outsider who is currently flaunting one of your biggest taboos. I know you all can see my Mark, and I assure you, I consider myself a Starchaser just like the rest of you, and have made several strong oaths to protect and serve our people. Does anyone have any objection to this plan in specific or to following me in general?"

None of your squad says anything for several seconds, then Ysbail speaks up. "Fionn trusts you enough to put you in charge of this group, and Brighid trusts you enough to let you fucking ride her like a horse," You feel Brighid shudder very slightly under you, "I respect both of them, for different reasons but respect them all the same. As long as you don't start acting like a total pile of shit, I'm fine with everything you've said so far. Your points make sense." She eyes the glimmering crown of light atop your head. "Don't be thinking we're your subjects or anything and don't try to micromanage the fightin' and we'll do fine."

Just then, Fionn calls out, "Ailis, if you and your cabal would kindly eliminate these mists for us and give us some light to fight by?"

You spot Ailis, carrying her new staff, together with a group of other unarmored centaurs, presumably the other mages. She lifts the staff into the air and all ten of them begin to chant in unison. Golden, silver, and red streamers of light gather around them in thicker and thicker flows, then Ailis practically shouts the final phrase of the ritual and a new sun is born overhead. At first, it is tiny and barely sheds any more light than the moons, but it quickly grows in size until it provides just as much light and heat as the real sun and burns away the mists in the valley below. There are easily a thousand vine-covered beasts, centaurs, and other humanoids below, and as the sun blazes in the air they turn as one to face the hillside the Starchaser army is standing on. Coolly, Fionn calls out, "Archers! Advance in skirmish formation and fire at will. Warriors! Prepare to charge!"