Act 4: The Rescue - Fire and Death

6:01 AM, 16th of April, 422
245 Bosquet Street, Feuilledor

BOOM!

Konrad and Steve wake up to the sound of the loudest explosion they've ever heard. It was distant, but powerful enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. Already, they can hear the panic it's causing among the fairies and the refugees in the building.

"What was that?!" Breeze exclaims, sitting up from atop what should have been Mihai's pillow.
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6:01 AM, 16th of April, 422
The Parliament, Feuilledor

BOOM!

Mihai and Fedler wake up to the sound of a distant explosion that is loud enough to wake up the whole city. Immediately, Fedler sits up, reaches for a dagger in her nightstand, and searches the room for the source of the danger, heedless of her nudity.

"Mihai?"

"Probably the enemy army showing up. Time to go find out." Steve gets up and secures his pack to his back and looks over at Konrad. "Do you need help getting into your armor?"

Konrad wakes with a start clutching his chest where his heart is, feeling the scar beneath his hand. He begins to don his scale mail. "If you can give me a hand, it would not go unappreciated. Breeze, where is everyone?"

Steve moves to help Konrad into his armor.

"Um, they're camping outside of town, just south of here," Breeze answers. "It's not far."
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Realizing what is happening, Fedler places the dagger back on the nightstand and puts her clothes on. "This is bad. Is Marcus in town yet?"

"Do you think we could convince one of the Toothpicks to get a message to Mihai?"

"I'm betting that explosion will get his attention well enough, but I also bet he heads to our friends. We should find out what we can and do the same."

Just as Mihai and Fedler finish putting their clothes back on, they hear loud banging on their door. "Ma'am! Commander Reeves is requesting your presence at the war room!"

Fedler exchanges a glance with Mihai before she shouts back, "Coming! Go warn the rest of the staff!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The man outside the room runs away. Then, one of the windows in the bedroom opens and Jacob flies inside. "Fedler! Mihai! It's Bellelarmes's army! They've begun their siege on the city."
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"I can go warn Mihai and Fedler!" Breeze says. "What should I tell them, though?"

"Nevermind, just stay with us. If Mihai is safe, Jacob can help him."

Caught off guard, Fedler isn't sure how to react to Mihai's request, but she nevertheless complies while Jacob looks on with curiosity. A few seconds later, Mihai hears in his head, "...calling, calling out to you. Calling, calling out to you."
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"Okay then. Let's go see the others!"

Breeze, Steve and Konrad exit their room and find the hallway packed with frightened refugees who are asking the fairies what is happening. The adventurers can hear one of them answer. "Please, calm down! From what we know so far, there's an army on the east side of the city from where the sound came from! We have sent scouts to gather more information, so—"

BOOM!

BOOM!
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Jacob looks outside the window, his gaze drawn east.

"We need Marcus here. He has to take command of the army before Edward launches a counteroffensive on the Bellelarmes."

"Yes, I can," he answers before putting the orb in Fedler's bag. "But if you're staying here, then I must go get Marcus. This can't wait."
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The refugees become even more distressed, as they've never heard this kind of sound before. The closest thing that comes to mind for Konrad and Steve is the sound of a canon firing at an enemy ship. But this is way too loud to be that.

Focused on their current objective, the three adventurers make their way through the throng of people and then out of the building. They can see that the Toothpicks are ready for battle, which is a comforting sight for several of the refugees here. Unfortunately, they must leave the safety of the sanctuary for the camp where their people have stayed the night. People from all walks of life are gathering in the streets to exchange information and find out what is happening. Breeze takes the lead.

"This way!"
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The three of them arrive at the edge of the city where their retinue as well as dozens of Lofellian refugees have set up tents here. Unlike the refugees however, the Myrzen warriors are preparing to battle and have already donned their armors and picked up their weapons.

Kaja notices the three party members and says, "You're here! Do you know what is happening?"

They can also see Florolf standing next to her, his ears low.

"The Enemy has arrived from the east, but that fell booming is louder than cannonfire. Where is Blackcliff?"

"In his tent, putting his armor on. Pawel is helping him." She points at a tent in the back.

Not far from there is also Femke, an expression of anxiety on her face. The instant she catches sight of Konrad, she runs up to him.

At the same time, Fluffle descends from the sky and flies to meet the party members. "Breeze! Steve, Konrad!"

"Fluffle! Are you all right?" Breeze asks.

"I'm fine. I just went to scout ahead."

"I asked him to," Kaja says.

"Yes! And there's an army—thousands of them I think—and they have giant canons firing at the city! I mean, giant not just for a fairy, but for humans too!"

Konrad grabs Femke's hand. He starts calculating. "How many cannons? Are they forward-facing? Are they mobile?"

Steve adds a few questions of his own. "What kind of ammo are they using? And how long does it take the crews to load and fire?"

"Um, there were five canons, all fixed in place and placed three hundred feet from each other. They're all facing the city, but I think they have some kind of platform that makes them rotate. But I don't know how long it takes for them to reload; each crew shot only once. There were three shots so far, all but the first two missed the walls and hit the houses instead. The cannonballs exploded and now the houses are on fire!"

BOOM!

BOOM!

"I think they're testing their aim!"

"Steve, do you still have that magnesium?"

Steve smiles, seeing where Konrad is going with this. "Yeah, I still have it. We barely used any of it. Should be close to 5 pounds worth. How long do you need to rig the explosives?"

Konrad lets go of Femke to get to work. "For five cannons, around 10 minutes. Can the walls hold for that long, Tom?"

He starts to prepare what he needs.

By now, Marcus—or Tom Blackcliff, as he's known by the other people here—has finished donning his armor and has joined the rest of the group. "The walls have been reinforced with woven runes over the centuries, so yeah, they should. It's the people in the line of target we should be more concerned about. I can't delay any further; I need to speak with Edward. Jacob is still at the Parliament?"

At the same time, Kaja orders two of her men to bring Konrad some gunpowder as well; the red mage knows it will make the bombs even more effective. Femke lets go of his hand and helps him prepare an area where he'll be able to work.

Florolf watches with interest, but he still seems frightened by the sound of the canons firing in the distance. They've started firing again.

"Where do you want me?" Fluffle asks.

"And me?!" Breeze adds.