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Sisyphean Attempts at Self-Improvement #1097363 added September 14, 2025 at 4:02pm
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The Battle of Kyriel (Part II)
You began the second phase of the Battle of Kyriel down but not out. With 7,000 combatants on each side, Ethelbert’s soldiers trounced Kyriel’s defenders with 2,000 bodies to spare. Combined with the destructive power of the demons (four Balor and two Goristro), it was looking pretty bleak until Korrigan and Riazsa’s storm giant clan joined the fray on your behalf. You get some further good news when it appears that Kyriel’s forces managed to destroy the other Alkiliths and prevent any other demons from coming through.
Riding on Korrigan as he strafed the enemy forces with lightning, Reggie gets an aerial overview of the battlefield, including of Ethelbert himself as he rides with a cavalry unit of Armanite demons straight into the governess’ mansion. Two Balor demons pursue the airborne dragon as he flies around the battlefield.
The other two Balor demons face off against Riasza and her storm giants. One of them takes on Riazsa herself while the other faces off with the three other storm giants. That Balor manages to kill one of the storm giants before he’s stabbed to death by the other two... after which everyone learns the hard way that Balor demons explode when they’re killed. This one incinerates the remaining two storm giants, as well as everything else in a 30-foot radius, with another 100-foot wave of destruction beyond that. With grim resolve, Riazsa takes out the other one, transforming into the living embodiment of the storm and containing the detonation of the second Balor, but sacrificing herself in the process. With her dying words, she tells Thogun to take care of Kinea and her other followers and show them the true Stormfather.
Big-E, Thogun, and Antonio decide to cut off Ethelbert’s advancing forces by taking out two of the three bridges spanning the river in Kyriel so you can quote “300” the problem by funneling them through a choke point on the last remaining bridge. In order to destroy the bridges, Big-E uses his Seashell of Ottô-Tún to sing Dean Martin’s classic “Return to Me” to get Reggie’s attention. He then casts Guiding Bolt at Korrigan to entice him to attack the bridges before just using the seashell to amplify his voice and verbally communicate the plan. Big-E also communicates this from the middle of one of the bridges they want to destroy, which he realizes is an unfortunate place to be just moments before Korrigan explodes the first bridge and comes barreling toward the one he’s on. He and Big-D just barely make it to the safety of one side as Korrigan destroys the second bridge.
The time spent destroying the bridges comes with a cost, though. One of the Balor demons gets a fire whip wrapped around Korrigan’s leg and tries to drag him to the ground. Korrigan proves stronger, and encourages Reggie to hop off - casting Feather Fall to ensure he lands on the ground unharmed - and then takes to the sky, dragging the Balor demon higher and higher in altitude. There’s a massive explosion in the sky as the third Balor detonates, and they’re too high up to tell whether it took Korrigan with him. The fourth Balor returns to the ground to continue directing the destruction of the Goristro.
You quickly head back to Harborcrest to recruit your 100 mercenaries and two stone golems to help hold the bridge while you take on the remaining Balor and two Goristro demons who are rampaging through the southeastern region of the city. You then track down and take on the demons. Thogun, having prayed to Kord for Divine Intervention, gets a vision of himself throwing his warhammer Thor-style at the Balor demon and, when he does so, is amazed as it travels dozens of feet and hits the Balor like a bullet, then carries the demon far into the distance where the Balor self-destructs. Tho’s warhammer then returns to him and, the minute he grasps it, healing energy radiates out from it and heals the whole party entirely. Big-E takes care of one of the Goristro, finishing it off with a mighty swing of his Alerian Sun Maul, and then Antonio kills the other one to the surprise of everyone, including himself.
During the fight between Ethelbert’s remaining forces and your hired mercenaries, you fare much better than you did previously. The combination of the strategic choke point and veteran mercenaries allows you to effectively destroy all 2,000 of Ethelbert’s fighters while only losing about half of your own. It’s a short-lived victory, though, as the sound of galloping hooves approaches, and you watch in horror from your side of the bridge as Ethelbert and his Armanites ride out to the other side of the bridge, bringing with them Azura, Nestis, and Krinn who are battered and bruised from having been dragged through the streets behind the Armanites, each of which towed them on a rope.
Ethelbert addresses Big-E and demands he bring The Well and The Way to him in exchange for the lives of the governess and her valets. He first threatens to kill Krinn if Big-E refuses, and Big-E gives a truly stunning rendition of “Let My People Go” from The Prince of Egypt, which persuades Ethelbert to offer his one and only little mercy by allowing Krinn to go free and join you on your side of the bridge. He then resumes his threats with Nestis and, when Big-E tries to reason with Ethelbert, one of the Armanites stabs your former steward to death with his serrated tail. Ethelbert dumps Nestis’ dead body in a heap on the ground - which Reggie honestly isn’t too upset about - and this time uses Azura as his bargaining chip.
Big-E, left with no other option, casts Compelled Duel on Ethelbert. The elder E is unaffected by the spell, but agrees to duel with the younger E nonetheless. As they move to meet each other in the middle of the bridge, Big-E recognizes this as the moment depicted in the painting in the gallery of the Temple of Riazsa, indicating the fulfillment of her prophecy is at hand. Before the two brothers can engage, Elgin teleports between them in the middle of the bridge, and pleads with Ethelbert as Big-E did... to honor the memory of their mother. Ethelbert grabs Elgin by the neck and hoists him off his feet. He looks over at Big-E and says that since Big-E took their mother from him, it’s only fitting that he take their father from Big-E.
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1,089 words
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