The Battle for Bannagh Macht Begins

At Fionn's order, about fifty centaurs gallop forward until they are about a hundred meters from the approaching swarm of manikins, then make a sharp turn perpendicular to the front line, stretching out into a single rapidly moving line. As one, the archers draw back their bows, sight, and loose. While the first flight is in the air, they draw and loose again, then again just as the first arrows land. The majority of the shafts slam home into a target, but the undead nature of their enemies means that very few outright die. Many are knocked down by the force of the centaurs' powerful bows, however, and are trampled by the disorganized ranks behind them. The archers wheel and start to zig-zag back up the slope of the hill, firing arrows downslope, until a horn sounds, at which point they split into two wings and gallop to the sides of the army. The horn sounds again and a hundred heavily armored centaurs thunder downhill into the swarm of undead, lead by the imposing figure of Fionn Ironhide.

The sound of the charge is like a continuous peal of thunder. It only takes a few seconds for the wedge-shaped formation of crash into and over the leading edge of their foes. The centaurs use their mass and momentum to their advantage, trampling over the first few ranks and laying about them with heavy weapons. The archers re-form behind the melee wedge and begin to circle the horde as they encircle the Stargazer wedge, firing arrows into the fray. The wedge itself breaks apart as they push out into a rough circle. Unfortunately, the disparity in numbers means that a significant portion of the manikins continue to stream up the hill towards the mages and your strike team.

Before you can muster your team to intercept them, however, the mages act. They begin to chant and the air around them glows, then dissipates as the spells and rituals complete one by one. First, an earth mage tears off an entire chunk of the hillside and sends it raining down in pieces on the manikins and then down into the horde below, disrupting the charge. Then a fire and a water mage both complete their casts; the fire mage sends an exploding ball of fire much like your own Burning Barrage but much larger into a tight group of manikins, while the water mage flash-freezes a couple dozen of them. An air mage raises his hands and sends forth a blinding bolt of lightning which leaps from target to target leaving behind smoking corpses, another mage -- wood maybe? -- causes the vegetation to grow rapidly and entangle a group of grasping vines and roots, pulling them apart in a way which makes you queasy. But it is Ailis who steals the show. Her ritual takes longer than any of the others, and before it completes she is completely wreathed in golden life energy. When her voice finally rises into a climax, the glow shoots out from her in a shining golden globe, washing over the scattered manikins and leaving only piles of shimmering dust in the breeze.

The ritual is clearly not one which Ailis can just repeat to end the battle early, however; she collapses to the ground immediately after casting it. You can tell she is still alive as she is leaning on the staff you gave her and her chest is rising and falling in quick gasps for air, but clearly the ritual component took a lot out of her. You cast your gaze back down to the battle below and see that while the Starchasers have made a huge dent in the swarm of manikins, they are taking losses of their own. You see several dead centaurs and a handful more who have retreated into the interior of the circle. The archers, too, are being chased by some of the faster manikins, including several hulking vine-covered centaurs. Arrow after arrow sinks home in their desiccated flesh, but eventually the archers will run out of Stamina. Grimly you look further down the valley towards the city itself, still partially shrouded in mist. You can't see any reinforcements coming through the city streets, so you call out to your troops, "Alright, the battle is joined and if we want our people to survive until dawn, we need to get moving. We are aiming for the large avenue to the east of the battle. Let's swing wide around the battle itself so that none of the manikins get the idea to follow us, then run hard for the city. Fionn's best chance is for us to kill the asshole controlling all these things."

Seeing your squad all nod in agreement, you grab Brighid around the waist again, pressing Riama between you, and she moves off at a canter. You crane your neck behind you to watch the battle, though once you get down into the valley itself it becomes hard to make out any details. You do, however, see a half dozen or so flying creatures dive-bomb from far above, crashing into the ground amidst the undead and sending clods of dirt and rotted corpses flying into the air. You're not sure what they are, but you hope they're there to help, not to fight both sides. A few minutes later, the sound of the centaurs' hoofbeats change from the soft impact of hoof on soil to the sharp cadence of solid stone. You have returned to the Lost City.