I’ll be doing something a bit different here. There are 7 dogs and 4 Cherubs; I’ll roll separately for what happens to each in terms of survival and defence, then the attack rolls for each will be best 2 of n, where n survived.
The dogs are imperiled by a fall from great height.
Roll 7d6, one for each dog, where:
1 = Splat!
2 = Survives, but seriously injured (out of fight)
3 to 6 = Lands on feet.
Results:
2 dead
2 injured
4 live
Julia Seyllin launches a full-on elemental assault on the Cherubs as they descend.
Roll 4d6, one for each Cherub, where:
1 to 2 = Cooked!
3 = Injured, but non-fatally.
4 to 6 = Fine.
Results:
2 dead
2 live
Now, this ought to be fun.
The Cherubs get into position on the land side of the dock, hulking masses of armor and weaponery with an unsettling child’s cute, pudgy face plastered on. The uplifted dogs stand facing them from the sea side, tails wagging.
With a blast from their arm-cannons, the Cherubs blow up the aging wood of the dock between them and the dogs. Splinters of wood and smoke go everywhere. Support columns collapse and planks are snapped in half. Wood shards are thrown into the air. The dogs yelp back from the explosions moving across the dock.
When the smoke clears, a gaping hole is torn open, a smoking black fissure in the dock a few feet in front of the dogs. With a bark, they leap into the hole as the Cherubs continue firing at the wood right under them, causing them to fall down below the dock in a hurricane of broken wood.
From there things go south with alarming efficiency. Several feet beneath the dock is sand, with pieces of drying seaweed and frightened clams scattered around it. The unnatural gravity of the Andantesite crystal has peeled the water under the dock back, revealing a corridor of dry sea-bottom. On both sides, the water surges in two surreal walls, held apart by tumultuous gravitational forces like Moses parting the Red Sea.
The dogs throw themselves into the hole. They yelp as they are pulled down by the higher-than-normal gravity and hurtle towards the seabed. One lands on a sharp rock which pierces through his belly, coming out bloody the other side. Another lands on his head and is killed instantly. Two more get their legs broken by the fall. The rest pick themselves up and shake themselves awake, dazed by the impact but more than ready to avenge their fallen friends.
The rebels are standing under the dock, inching towards the beach, struggling under the immense gravity, when the dock splinters and burns above them. There is Jacob Eldin, haggard but not defeated, mud and sand covering his shirt. There is Anna Drimoxi, clutching the green-glowing Andantesite, wringing salt water out of her long black hair. And Julia Seyllin, a blond girl in a white dress, leading them ahead.
The Cherubs fall amidst a hurricane of broken wood and dust. Julia sees them and thrusts out her hand, shouting at the other rebels to hide. A beam of whirling fire appears that cuts through two of them. Flesh boils and skin charrs. They flail about as their soft faces and young, child’s bodies burn within their layers of armor, and die screaming, pitiful lumps crying for their mothers.
Celling can see all of this through the hole gouged in the dock. The soldiers with masers have recharged them and have a clear shot. Through the radio link Celling can give a command.
Which target to prioritize?A: Jacob Eldin
B: Anna Drimoxi
C: Julia Seyllin
D: Divide fire between them
Think carefully about the next one. What's holding up the water? Andantesite.What to do about the masers?A: Take the shot
B: Hold your fire
C: Try to get down to the bottom, hopefully safer than the dogs.