The Soul Survivors barely had time to catch their breath on the canal bank before Spider Lily gave her orders. Red-robed Cindersworn fanned out across the streets, torches and fire magic setting buildings ablaze along the canal. 

"Spread your fire. Strike fear into all of Ironhelm." She turned Nari north without another word, leaving the Soul Survivors surrounded.

Then combat began.

Forge opened by casting Protection from Energy on Aztlan, choosing fire resistance. He then moved forward and charged his steam fist as a bonus action. Willa charged the nearest cultist with a battle cry — "Y'all can't do this" — laying into him with two non-lethal maul strikes, bloodying him badly before activating her Crimson Rite of the Frozen, taking seven self-inflicted damage in exchange for icing her weapon.

The Cindersworn answered. One acolyte attempted Hold Person on Willa — she shook it off with an 18 on her Wisdom save. A second cast Bane on Anton, Gemma, and Aztlan, forcing them to subtract from attack and saving throw rolls. A third dropped a Silence sphere over the group. Anton, unable to cast Bless, drew his longbow and fired twice at a nearby cultist, clipping him for eleven total.

Gemma, trapped in the Silence, subtle cast Dispel Magic to clear it — triggering a wild magic surge. She rolled a one on the d12, sending her to the full d100 table. The result: for six rounds, at the start of each of her turns, she would roll again on the table and suffer a new effect. The first roll came up as a burst of fire erupting from her in a ten-foot radius — 28 fire damage to anything nearby, with a Dexterity save for half. The Fire Shield reappeared around her. Forge, caught in the blast, made his save and took reduced damage. The surge also spawned a Fire Elemental — hostile, chaotic, and now a problem for everyone.

Gemma, still composed enough to use her bonus action, sent the Dancing Shortsword spinning toward a nearby cultist and hit for five damage.

Anton, moving tactically to get around the Fire Elemental, dual-wielded his Moonblade in shortsword form alongside his offhand weapon and ran down a nearby cultist. He missed the first swing, hit the second for six damage, and hit again on a surge-fueled extra attack — landing the killing blow with a clean thrust through the chest. The acolyte who had cast Bane failed his concentration check and went down with him. Bane was lifted.

Then the pyromancer, positioned high on the elevated steps upon the Sump, brought his hands together and conjured a Wall of Fire straight across the battlefield — splitting the party, Willa cut off on one side, the rest on the other. Each creature within ten feet took fire damage when it appeared: Anton made his save and took 12, Forge failed and took 6 with his subclass’s fire resistance, and Gemma, insulated by her Fire Shield, took six. A nearby tree caught fire immediately.

A second acolyte hit Willa with Magic Missile, and two Cindersworn disciples flanking her landed two longsword strikes for a combined 15 damage. A third cultist ran up and cast Inflict Wounds, touching the back of her shoulder and draining 14 necrotic damage from her. Willa was surrounded and hurting.

Forge pivoted and fired a Guiding Bolt at the Fire Elemental — hitting with a 16 for radiant damage, which the Elemental did not enjoy. The Elemental retaliated with two touch attacks: one connected on Forge for two damage (reduced by his resistance), and the second hit Aztlan for nine damage halved to four by his fire resistance from Forge’s spell.

Cut off by the wall and flanked on both sides, Willa swung her maul into the nearest disciple for 14 bludgeoning damage, knocking him unconscious. She then used her Dragonmind Shard as a bonus action, letting out a mighty dragon's roar. One disciple made his Wisdom save. The other was frightened — backing away in a panic. She swung again at the one who remained, hitting twice for 15 combined damage and leaving him gasping.

On the other side, Forge moved away from the wall's heat, recharged his steam fist, and cast Sacred Flamed at a cultist — the target failed his Dexterity save and took 18 radiant damage, leaving him badly wounded.

Gemma's wild magic rolled again at the top of her next turn. A 50 on the d100: an intense surge caused a burst of flames to erupt from her in a ten-foot radius. She automatically fell unconscious and gained a level of exhaustion. The Fire Elemental, whose effect was replaced by the new surge, dissipated. Aztlan, caught within ten feet of the burst, made his Dexterity save and took only two fire damage. Forge also caught some of the blast. And just like that, Gemma was down — fire still burning around her on the cobblestones.

Anton, seeing Gemma fall, threw his Moonblade in shortsword form at the pyromancer on the elevated steps, hitting once with disadvantage for seven damage. The pyromancer failed his concentration check. The Wall of Fire collapsed. Anton then moved in front of Gemma to protect her, stepped up to a nearby frightened cultist, and held the Moonblade up to flash its light in his face. The cultist failed his Constitution save and was blinded for one minute.

The pyromancer, losing the wall, retaliated by casting Scorching Ray. One ray hit Anton for six fire damage, the other two missed. The second pyromancer then cast Fireball. Forge and Aztlan both rolled saves; Forge failed and took 14 damage. Anton, burning his inspiration, rerolled and hit a 17, taking half. Despite being unconscious, the Fire Shield still protected Gemma from the worst of it.

Forge ran to her. "Stay with us, Gemma. We need you." He spent a Healing Word and rolled a seven. She came back up, exhausted and still on fire, but conscious.

Anton emerged from the chaos screaming, charged the last pyromancer on the steps with his Moonblade, and connected twice — the second hit an opportunity attack against a fleeing, blinded cultist that opened a deep arterial slash. The man staggered off, bleeding out. A disciple charged in and landed a critical hit on Anton's shoulder in return, but Anton's riposte caught him across the collarbone. The man fell dead across the cobblestones.

Aztlan cast Mind Sliver into a nearby acolyte, a psychic spike that rattled the target for one damage, but more importantly imposed a penalty on his next saving throw. The acolyte's Inflict Wounds in return connected for 25 necrotic damage, a yelp that carried out across the street. Willa, relentless, hammered the remaining pyromancer on the stairs twice — 16 and then a devastating 19, leaving him frozen and clinging to consciousness. She then sprinted straight at him.

Gemma, dragging herself back to her feet with exhaustion weighing on her, spotted the disciple pressing Willa and hurled a Fire Bolt for 26 — the blue-flamed kind, controlled, deliberate. It landed. One more disciple, overwhelmed by fear, ran headlong into a wall trying to escape and vanished from the fight entirely.

In the final moments, Anton threw his Moonblade one more time at the last pyromancer, hitting once for 14, and Forge flanked in with a charged steam fist that swung wide, steam venting harmlessly into the night air. Aztlan stepped in and finished the last standing cultist with Forge's warhammer — a clean bash to the skull.

Combat ended.

As Gemma's wild magic finally subsided and her Fire Shield burned out, the Soul Survivors stood in the street — battered, singed, and covered in the same swamp muck they'd crawled out of minutes ago. The fighting was done here. But looking north, the town of Ironhelm told a different story. Smoke poured from a dozen buildings. Flames climbed along the festival thoroughfare. The Greenfall Revel was over.

And somewhere up that hill, Spider Lily had already arrived at Governor Gillendane's manor.