A Fight for St.Cuthbert

The wooden door opened after Eolar knocked in a strange pattern. An old man nodded at them and Eolar and Elogyn walked in. The old man led them silently down to the basement and lifted a wooden trapdoor in the floor of one of the rooms. They entered a tunnel made of stone which, from the looks of it, definitely wasn't used for a while. Elogyn looked around "Where are we??" The door above them closed and Eolar made his holy symbol glow in a silvery light. "We are in one of the old tunnels that connect some of the more important buildings in Seawell. They are almost forgotten and had been used in old times by the leaders of the churches and councils. We still have the maps in the library, but the tunnels were mostly sealed a long time ago."
"And what are our orders here?" "To wait" Eolar smiled and sat down.

Over the day more and more fighters arrived at the door - alone or in small groups - and were led down to the tunnel. In the late afternoon a group of 20 fighters - humans and dwarfs - were sitting silently in the tunnel around small light sources. After another two dwarfen paladins arrived, Eolar got up. It was already dark outside now and the group got ready. Eolar lead them down the tunnel for 30mins and Elogyn guessed that they must be close to the main temple of Hextor. They stopped and Eolar gave out orders. Finally Elogyn understood what their purpose was. They would break through a wall into the main temple and overwhelm the high priests in a short but effective attack. Eolar said there shouldn't be much resistance as the majority of the guards was sent away and only a small core force was left. The group prepared for battle and moved on silently till they reached a dead end.

After a short preparation and some hand signs, two of the clerics put their hands on the wall at the end and the stone crumbled down as mud. Still moving silently the group went through the basement of the temple and worked their way up. Eolar had distributed maps of the temple and at some corridors parts of the group nodded and went another way. It was all over within 30 minutes. As Eolar had said, there was only a core guard left and they were easily overpowered. They found the high council in the main meeting room debating over a map of an area outside Seawell. It was short but fierce fight. After it was over, they forced the unconscious or bound and gagged priests into a smaller room guarding them well. Eolar sent two of the fighters back to the church of St.Cuthbert to report back. It all had happened so fast and without problems and Elogyn was wondering what all the other paladins and clerics that she had seen the day before, were doing. She had heard that even more had gathered outside Seawell.

At the first light of the next day a few carriages arrived and brought the prisoners back to the church. The temple was locked and Elogyn could see a group of fighters and craftsmen fortifying it. "What are they doing?" "We don't expect the church of Hextor giving up on their main temple. A major attack is expected, but we will be prepared!"
Back at the church Elogyn saw Eolar going to the main council and took the time to ask around for information. She found out that their raid was only a small part of a massive coordinated attack on all temples and meeting places of Hextor within Seawell. And some dwarfs said they are still waiting for word from the attacks outside the walls. She could see prisoners coming in from all over Seawell but also news about friends killed in action reached the church. She could feel a mixed mood in the yard. It was a mixture of excitement, grief and expectation. They were all waiting for some news on the success of the whole battle.

The news arrived later that afternoon in form of a speech by the high council from one of the balconies. The crowd cheered after full success was announced! The united forces of St.Cuthbert and Moradin had crushed the forces of Hextor all along the line. All major council members had been imprisoned and only few others were still being hunted down. It had all begun with a fake attack on some outlying paladin barracks of Hextor, information of which had been leaked to people of Hextor the days before. The plan had been to lure the main strike force of Hextor to this region to then attack all 12 temples in and around Seawell at the same time. The council of Hextor in their arrogance had fallen for it. After news about the attacks had reached the forces of Hextor and forced them to hurry back, they were ambushed by a main strike force half way to Seawell and after a short but bloody battle had been forced to surrender. It would take years for Hextors followers who had tried to undermine and replace the city council, to recover and the church of St.Cuthbert, now the strongest church in Seawell, could now start to rebuild the local government. The position of Boscorm as major was now strengthened and the towns' council backed up by the church. The church was holding all strings in their hands. Order was restored.

A Reckoning

Another group of paladins arrived in the church yard. Eolar looked down at them from the balcony. "The group from Garontyr just arrived" "Good. Soon the strike force is complete. I just got news from Tlondir. He and his dwarfen knights should be here by tomorrow."
Cabal En turned towards Eolar and the other two priests in the room. "Our informants tell me that the priests of Hextor have taken the bait. We will continue as planned." He looked at Eolar and the others. "My friends of the council, in two days Seawell will be in order again and under the protection of St.Cuthbert. The evil forces that try to destabilise our new major will be destroyed once and for all! Come on, the others are waiting!"
On the way to the great hall the four priests were joined by the remaining members of the council. They entered the hall through the small side door and immediately the noise that was audible even in the corridor, died down. Cabal En went to the main podium while Eolar and the other council members took seats to both sides of it.
"Brethren and sistren! Many years have passed since the forces of St.Cuthbert and Moradin were united under a common cause: The defeat of evil and the upkeep of order!" He looked to the left side of the hall which was populated by around 50 dwarfs. "Thank you for coming all the way from the northern mountains my brothers! Both of our churches have fought the priests of Hextor in many battles and many good men have given their lives. Now the day has come to strike back. Seawell is in turmoil and the church of Hextor is feeding the flames to establish their own evil order. Thanks to brother Eolar, we were able to reconstitute the old and respected major in the nick of time. Needless to say that we have his trust. The last step now is to remove the forces that threaten this, as yet, fragile order in Seawell. Tomorrow you will spread out and take your strategic positions within the city. Your group leaders are going to instruct you. The day after, at sunrise, we are going to strike. May the power of St.Cuthbert and Moradin be with you!"

After the congregation, Eolar was on the way to his quarters when Elogyn caught up with him. "Eolar, wait!" He turned round and saw her running towards him. They walked a few steps before Elogyn started talking again.
"You knew of all the plans? Now I know why I barely saw you the last few days!"
"Yes, we worked on the plans for a long time and since the others arrived it was difficult to keep up!"
"How strong do you think they are?"
"They are not to be underestimated! But so far they don't seem to expect our attack. We have a good plan and with the guidance of St.Cuthbert victory will be ours! You are in my group which is leaving tomorrow morning. Get as much sleep as you can get tonight, you will need it!"
"What are our orders?"
"You'll find out tomorrow. But it will be difficult and much depends on our success!"