Animosity VII, Azyr Asunder - Part 6

Knowledge and theft

Plotgibber had been true. The human wizard was accompanied just by two scores of militiamen. Vyzorak had observed them for three days, the wizard supervising the operation, some of the militia operating the air pumps provided by Wolfram Industries, the rest diving into the clear waters of the Vitrian Well. Seven of them never made it back. The others emerged encased in their metal suits, carrying four glowing orbs. Inside them, even from the distance, images could be seen forming in an endless repetition of what the divers saw.
The wizard was now studying them, surrounded by guards.
It was time to strike, before he could learn anything useful.

Two pickets of militia stood at the edges of the Wolfram camp.

Vyzorak split the Coven of the Purple Flame so that every militia group could be engaged at the same time.

Bellowing a challenge to the wizard, Vyzorak stampeded toward him, the militia quickly jumping to intercept his advance.

The rest of the Coven sprang forth too, rasing surprised shouts of alarm, warning squawks from the gryph-terriers and a few pistol shots.

While on the left flank the fight stalled, on the right, supervised by their captain, the Wolfram militia quickly recovered their with and got the upper hand.

In the centre, Vyzorak and Kleok opened a bloddy path for R'tecfar and Zirithinion to launch themselves upon the orbs, the wizard's arcane bolts washing over R'tecfar's armour.

Vyzorak was charged from the right and pinned in place, but many a militiamen fell under his staff and horns.

Inklineilis was brought down, marking the collapse of the Coven's left flank.

And yet, even if Kleok was mauled by a gryph-terrier, R'tecfar and Zirithinion ganged up on the wizard creating an opening for Iridios to come forward and grab another orb.

Bleeding from countless wounds, Vyzorak struggled not to give into a furious rage. He instead lowered his head and pushed trought the militia, headed for the last orb. As he grabbed it, the Coven run for the cover of the Snarl undergrowth.

Though this time all members of the Coven had survived, the number of seriously injured fighters was growing. Still, it had been a well worth effort. During their retreat, Zirithinion had fallen into an abandoned scorpid nest which the Coven could put to good use to move quickly around the Snarl. While crawling away from the battlefield, Kleok had been able to snatch an explosive devices carrying the Wolfram Industires mark. And Vyzorak could sense the mixture of arcane and technological power within the orbs as he studied the images contained within them.
Soon, that power would help him bring forth the Plotgibber into Azyr.

***

I continued to play the Rat Hunters campaign, this time using the Ironweld Armoury scenario. Again, it was a tense solo game with half of the Coven taken down and the rest badly wounded, so I've definitely found a better way to play solo games.