D&D: the Siege of Ironforge, part II

Just behind the great gates of Underhall, dwarf suburb of Ironforge, there was a huge room, filled with all sorts of fighters: humans, dwarves, halflings and elves. They were gathered around a table where the generals and chiefs were peering at a ghostly image of the battlefield in front of the gates.

"Johan, priest of Hieroneous, and Willem, paladin of Ehlonna" said the Dwarven Chief - Mariel caught Willem's eye, and nodded - "will each take a portion of the cavalry and flank the enemy. Sir Jean, meanwhile, will charge with the remainder of the cavalry forward, straight into the heart of the enemy forces."
The Chief looked at Grimm.
"I will lead the dwarves on foot, and follow sir Jean, straight ahead. I've seen Bebeliths, numerous demons and of course masses of gnolls, trolls, and the usual rabble. There's also a Pitfiend in there." Grimm paused and looked at Sir Jean, "If we go in to take him out, we should work together, and it'll be tough."
Sir Jean merely nodded, and then the Chief turned his attention on Melvin Grootvoet, who also had a seat at the table. "What about you, Melvin?"
"Wellll..." Melvin mused, "...if you have a war chariot I could use, and a driver, I could bombard the enemy with fireballs and cones of cold where needed. And if you have a second mage to come along, we could mark where the mages in the towers should place fireballs as well. A quiver of crossbow bolts, cast a Light spell on them, and shoot them in the fray as markers. Should work like a charm."
The Chief thought for a moment, and nodded. "Discuss it with the head mage, and I'll get you your chariot and driver. Take along a small and light third person, so you'll be manouverable. Mariel?"
Mariel, with her helmet on the table, studied the image of the soon to be battlefield. "It looks like we'll be needed most here." She poked a finger at the center of the fray. "I'll join with the cavalry and Grimm. If any of us gets severely wounded, I can make sure they make it back to safety and receive healing."
"Will you be going on horse?"
"I wouldn't expose Para to such a battle. She's not used to wearing armour, so it would impede her movement. A ride from Melvin will be fine, though."
Melvin nodded at her and smiled mischievously.
"With those kinds of foes against us, I might need a better weapon than my regular waraxe, chief." Grimm said.
The Chief nodded. "I'll get you something. Do you want to say a few words to the troops before we go?"
Grimm stood. "Are all your axes sharpened?!"
The dwarves cheered. Grimm sat back down. Then Melvin stood up.
"My fellow halflings, you know what to fight and you know what to cook!"
The Chief looked at Mariel, and she stood on her chair.
"Folks of Ironforge. Today it is not just the battle of the dwarves, or of the elves, or of men, today it is all of our battle! It will not be the first or the last battle, and not even the most important one. But it is today's battle, and we will win it! May our Gods be with us,"
"kick some ass," Melvin broke in quietly.
"...and kick some ass!" Mariel finished. There were cheers, and the men dispersed. Sir Jean dashed off to his horse, and Melvin went to the Mage's tower, while the Chief got Grimm a much better waraxe.

Mariel moved towards Willem, the paladin of Ehlonna that would lead the left flank. "Are you ready?" she asked him, and he replied that he was. He mounted his horse, and Mariel placed her hands on his head carefully, and blessed him before the battle.

The chariot was ready, so were the troops, and Grimm took it upon himself to open the big gates of Underhall. He stood in front of his troops, and started walking. The dwarves were the first ones out, and then Melvin in his chariot and the cavalry. The pounding of the hooves were a mighty thunder, and soon Melvin and Mariel in the chariot charged past Grimm. In the distance, the pikemen raised their lances, waiting for the cavalry to spike their horses on it. Melvin shot two arrows with light on the pikemen, and then cast his own fireball in their midst as well. Only a few pikemen remained alive, and the horses waltzed over them as if they were nothing. The cavalry split up, and parts charged the Bebeliths, while others branched off towards other foes. As soon as the cavalry was clear, Mariel cast Flame Strike, but in stead of the divine fire from the sky she had expected, fifteen of the Bebeliths just fell over, dead.

Then Sir Jean reached the main spider, a huge beast, and raised his lance. The lance must have penetrated critically, right into the heart, because after only a few slashes the huge beast fell over and disappeared with its minions.
Mariel jumped off the chariot and was soon joined by Grimm, and together they walked on into battle. Melvin kept marking groups of enemies, and the fireballs seared from all sides.

Suddenly there was another group of large demons upon them. Grimm hacked and slashed, and Mariel tried to do some damage as well. While Mariel had cast Righteous Might on herself, Grimm's Enlarge (Courtesy Melvin) had some more effect, since he is more accurate with his weapons. Where Mariel missed two times out of three, Grimm did critical damage.
Soon there was another demon lord in front of them. He was much larger than they were, and Mariel healed Grimm somewhat before Grimm struck the demon lord across the chest. The being was really pissed off now, but luckily he didn't try to get hold of Mariel and focused mainly on Grimm. Wounded slightly, Grimm kept at it, until they heard the sign for retreat echoing from both flanks of cavalry. The demon lord was badly wounded (Mariel accounting only for the slight scratches there), and Grimm finished him off before he would retreat. When the demon lord fell, his minions screamed in rage, and it was definitely time they went.
Right that moment, Melvin's chariot stopped 50 feet behind them, waiting for them to jump on and ride back to Underhall.
Grimm looked at Mariel, and nodded. Mariel quickly cast Sanctuary on herself, turned and sprinted back to the chariot. It took Grimm slightly longer, and luckily the demon who tried to bury his weapon in Grimm's back missed. They climbed onto the chariot and rode back to Underhall.

To be continued....