~ Dire Struggle for Dillend: [Archive] [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

Storm listens at the noises coming from the woods intently, trying to tell in which direction they came from. He tries to see as much of the surrounding area with his infravision, although the firelight and heat seems to be interfering a little. While he looks, he smoothly and as quietly as possible removes the large Bastard sword from his back, holding it with both hands in front of him. He kneels in a crouching position with his right leg propped wide, giving him a very ready appearance. Along with his large sword, plus two more and several daggers hanging from his belt, he looks quite menacing.

Looking to Storm, Hannibal waits till the Dwarf looks back. "What do ya think about a little recon? Get you away from this fire so you can see a little better?"

Storm smiles a toothy grin at Hannibal's suggestion. "Ay, ye be readin' me mind!" he says. Storm waits for Hannibal to join him as he moves to the edge of the campsite. He stays low as he creeps, keeping his infravision active as he attempts to see what's making so much noise.

Trusting Storm and Hannibal's senses better than her own, Emma assumes there must be some sort of danger about. As she notices everyone reaching for weapons to arm themselves, she looks to her spear and shield, lying propped up against a meduim-sized rock. Slipping quietly across the campsite, she straps the shield to her arm and hefts the heavy spear in one hand. Following that, she kneels down with the shield held before her and her back to the rock.

"But what is it?" Emma whispers back, "An animal? Brigands?" Her grip on the spear tightens at that last thought. Banditry was not something that sat well with the caste of Anhur.

Crayne is quickly alerted by Hannibal's movements. He rises from the ground with the help of his staff. He quickly looks around in all directions to see if he can see anything of note. He then turns to the group and whispers, "I suggest we move and find some cover. For we are sitting ducks out here in the open!"

Crayne scans the area, looking for some good cover. To the east (the direction from which the noises are coming) lies a row of tall boulders. Crayne raises an eyebrow as he makes out the large rocks by the few rays of amber firelight which reach that far. "A perfect place for some monster to hide...but what about us?" he thinks to himself. Turning his head around, he sees a few other large boulders to the south and west. Two or three in each direction; each large enough for one, perhaps two (if they squeeze) to crouch behind and use for cover.

Crayne looks to Canter. "I'll cover you!" Canter says, reading Crayne's eyes.

In the meantime, Cy puts on his helmet, the only piece of his armor missing at this time (he was due to take the first watch), and limbers up his shield. He watches Storm, whom he knows has excellent night vision and, tries to make out what the dwarf sees. The great range of his bow will not be of much use here. Cy also checks the campsite quickly for good defensive positions in case the enemy has archers (Cy suspects orcs or another maurader race). His eyes roam the area, finding the same boulders as Crayne, each four to five feet tall and fifteen to twenty yards away.

He turns to Canter, telling his fellow fighter, "I'm with you, let's head for those rocks!" He points to the west, aiming to put some distance between himself and friends, and the suspected foes.

Meanwhile, Storm and Hannibal creep east away from the campsite and intrusive firelight. Storm props himself up again, scanning the area. He, too, sees the row of boulders to the east, now about fifteen yards away. But he sees the area more clearly. His eyes roam over the rocks, looking for any sign of intelligent life. He spots a small animal scurrying across the hill off to his left. As he follows the path of the animal, then traces its path backwards. That leads directly to the row of boulders. Then he spots it for sure: the pointed end of a spear sticking out over the top of one of the boulders, waving slightly. The spear lingers there for a moment, then disappears below the top of the rock. Storm smiles, knowing he's just discovered the enemy.

He turns to Hannibal. "Over thar," he points, "behind them rocks! I be seein' a spear!" Hannibal nods and creeps off to the north, trying to get around the side of the boulders for a better look. Storm, meanwhile, cranes his head to look back, signaling to Cy and Edryd by pointing his finger at the row of boulders.

Cy, Canter, and Crayne begin to move as quietly as possible to the west toward the other rocks for cover. Canter looks back to Emma as if to ask, "Are you coming?!" Emma returns his look, signaling that it is her place to stay and fight. She tightens her grip on her spear.

Edryd moves up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Over there," he whispers in her ear, pointing in the direction of the enemy. Emma nods confidently. Edryd returns the nod.

It is just then the first move is made. Suddenly, a wooden arrow comes sailing through the air, whistling as it slices through the cool night. Crayne hears it coming in his direction, and jumps aside. The arrow lands firmly in the earth beside the mage. Crayne breathes a momentary sigh of relief, but a second arrow almost immediately follows, this one catching the mage in the leg. Not a direct hit; it merely sliced through his pants and the skin beneath. (2 hp damage) Crayne clutches the laceration, grinding his teeth, looking toward the rocks in front of him, still ten yards away.

Then more arrows follow, nearly a complete volley. Edryd and Emma cover their heads, the priestess hiding beneath her small shield. She remains safe, but an arrow finds Edryd. Without his armor (he was, like most of the others, about to turn in for the night and therefore removed it), the arrow lands with a thud in the Paladin's right arm. (4 hp damage) Edryd growls in pain, reaching to the arrow with the other hand to pull it out.

Canter then lets out a yelp as an arrow hits him, driving into his thigh. (4 hp damage) He looks to Cy and then to Crayne. "Keep moving!"

1. Here's a rundown on the physical layout of the area: You are in the hills at the foot of the mountain chain, thus, the ground is not too soft, there are a few trees here and there (though certainly NOT a forest!), and there are numerous rocks about, as well as a couple of large boulders. A line of these boulders lies to the east of the camp (running north-south) approximately twenty-five to thirty yards away. Presumably, the enemy is behind these boulders. Two boulders lie directly south of the camp, about ten to fifteen yards away, and three lie to the west, at about the same distance. All the boulders are more or less rounded, are four to six feet tall, and about four feet wide. Thus, one person could comfortably take cover behind a boulder. Two could, but there would not be any room to adjust armor, weapons, load bows, etc.

2. The enemy: Storm has identified the location of the enemy, and the arrows seem to be coming from the same place. How many enemies there are is still unknown. What kind of enemy you are dealing with is also still unknown, though by now you know they have bows/arrows and spears, at the least.

3. Crayne, Cy, and Canter are heading away from the camp to the boulders to the west. (They will arrive during the next round, if they continue moving in that direction.) Storm is about half way between the campfire and the enemy. Emma and Edryd are in the campsite near the fire. Hannibal is off to the north, making a wide arc toward the enemy's location; if he stays silent, it will take 2 rounds to reach the enemy, if he runs, it will take only 1.

4. HP Status: Crayne: 7, Canter: 18, Cy: 24, Storm: 27, Emma: 24, Hannibal: 14, Edryd: 17.

5. What do you do now?!?!

Once the volley has passed, Emma rises to a crouched position, her shield still held defensively before her. She spares Edryd a glance of concern, but the wound doesn't look too bad, so she begins to step forward, saying, "We've got to close the distance...make 'em put down their bows..."

She quick-steps toward the boulders, staying low and keeping her shield held before her, angled to deflect any incoming missiles. In her other hand, she holds the war-spear down low, ready to impale the first foe brave enough to face her once she crosses into the boulders. "C'mon!" she challenges everyone, "Let the Blade of Anhur rise again and sweep down our enemies like the wheat of the fields!"

Gritting her teeth, Emma continues to speak as she moves forward, but more softly as if praying to her god. "Anhur, guide my hands, my feet, and my weapon," she says, "Anhur, guard my body, my mind, and my spirit. I sing the song of battle joined...let fate take its course..."

As she approaches the line of boulders, she spots a small break between two of the rocks. Without missing a beat, she heads right through, turning on the first person she meets. In this case, a quick spin to her right brings her face to face with the enemy--a human. Armed with his bow and a short sword on his side, and armored with studded leather, the archer is obviously surprised to see Emma. She takes advantage of this surprise and with her spear slashes at the archer, slicing into his skin.

Hannibal taps Storm on the shoulder and quickly details his plan: "I'm going to head right and flank em', see if I can get a high, clear shot with my bow. I'll even make a little noise so they won't see you close head on."

With a thumbs up, Hannibal breaks into a low sprint, working his way around the Archers position in hopes of finding a clear shot from an elevated position. He is not particularly concerned with being quiet as he would rather draw a little fire off of the group.

Storm listens to Hannibal's plan and moans an agreement as he begins to move off toward the enemy. Storm likes the thief; while not really knowing too much in the ways of tactics, he still thinks Hannibal has a good plan. As Hannibal moves off to the north, Storm takes one of his swords with his left hand and unsheathes another with his right. He begins to move as quickly as he can without making too much noise in the direction of the last rock on the southern side of the strip of eastern rocks, where the enemy is apparently holding up.

He quickly reaches the end of the row. First he flattens himself along the front of the rock, tightening his grip on his blades. Then with one swift movement he slips around the rock. He attacks the first enemy he sees; an archer. He swings his sword in his right hand, striking the archer on the arm. Then he quickly follows up with an attack with the other sword. This time, however, the archer rolls along the back of the boulder, and Storm's blade strikes the rock without hitting the foe.

Meanwhile, Hannibal continues to move in a wide arc toward the northern end of the row of boulders. He keeps his bow at the ready as he scans the area as best he can in the low light for high ground. Spotting a small rise topped with a small boulder, he makes for the spot, from which he intends to shower the enemy with his arrows.

Crayne reaches for his leg and grumbles in pain, "Not again! The price of being famous! I don't know!" he shakes his head as he quickly makes for the rocks to the west. On his way he unsheaths his dagger just in case anybody should decide to attack him. "Bloody good archers!" he again grumbles to himself, "to get through my armor spell!"

Glancing over his shoulder he hears Emma shout in a crazed fashion, and then charge for the enemy. Crayne nods to himself. "Good to see that somebody has drawn the firing away from the mage!" he says this as he looks at Canter in a sarcastic manner.

Cy realizes that the enemy has superior vision than most of the group and will continue using ranged weapons. Since the party cannot really used ranged weapons back, it is tactically wise to take the enemy's ranged advantage away. He calls the fighters together, waving to Canter and Edryd. "Follow me. If we allow them to snipe at us we're dead! If we close, we will have at least an even chance at battle."

Edryd and Canter nod, crouching behind Cy and his medium shield. They begin to move in the direction of the enemy and the boulders.

(43.1)

Faced with the raging Emma, the archer opposite the priest drops his bow and reaches for his short sword. He takes a big swing at her, but she jumps back, just out of reach of the short blade. Behind her, another man attacks her, this one with a crossbow. As if a gymnast, Emma spins aside, letting the quarrell fly past her. "That was close..." she whispers to herself.

The archer opposite Storm does the same, dropping his bow and attacking with his short sword. But the surprisingly agile Dwarf steps aside, blocking the sword with one of his own. Then, another enemy closes in on Storm, this one obviously not an archer. His long sword sweeps through the air, catching the dwarf in its path with a solid hit. (6 hp damage)

Meanwhile, arrows keep sailing through the air. Edryd and Canter remain covered by Cy's large body and shield, allowing the wooden missiles to land firmly in the dirt around them. Crayne, too, finds himself pinned in his position behind his boulder. The boulder blocks the arrows, but doesn't stop the sweat from running down the mage's temples.

Then, suddenly, Cy, Canter, and Edryd find themselves faced with new foes. Edryd grinds his teeth as he quickly identifies the new enemies as hobgoblins. 'Just like before...' the Paladin thinks to himself. Three of the monsters come running from the direction of the row of boulders. The first attacks Cy, who ably block the attack with his shield. The second strikes at Edryd with his short sword, hitting him easily, as he is wearing no armor. (4 hp damage) The third attacks Canter, who is armored just as well as Edryd. The attack is successful, and Canter chokes with pain as the hobgoblin's blade sinks into his side. (4 hp damage)

Peering down the line, Emma sees that the enemy surely outnumbers Rinder's Seven. At least two more archers are still in firing positions, and she can make out at least three more fighters, as well as a few other humanoids which to her look eerily un-human. Deciding that melee may not be the best course of action, she begins to pray to Anhur for help and support, asking for his aid in casting "Hold Person" on the nearby foes. (Casting time 5 rounds)

Hannibal, meanwhile, reaches his destination. With a smile on his face, he calls out in his loudest voice, "I pity you fools for thinking you could attack Rinder's Seven and live to tell about it!" With that, he raises his bow to his chin and lets loose two arrows. The first strikes the crossbow-bearing fighter near Emma, and the second lands firmly in the leg of one of the other archers.

Cy, Canter, and Edryd, still find themselves occupied with their new enemies, the hobgoblins. Fortunately for them, the shower of arrows on their position suddenly stops, thanks to Hannibal's trusty bow. Cy strikes at his enemy, sinking his blade into the monster's hide. Canter, too, successfully attacks, though neither his nor Cy's foes fall. Edryd fights off his agressor, but does not score a hit.

Crayne, however, is still pinned behind the boulder he is using for cover. Arrows continue to fly past him, a few actually striking the rock's other face.

Storm, now in his classic battle fury, lets loose a string of strikes at his two opponents. He attacks the fighter, missing with the first blow and scoring a solid hit with the second. He also takes a poke at the archer, though in his efforts to defend himself against the fighter, the attack on the archer fails.

(43.2)

Continuing her prayers, Emma soon finds herself under attack. Both the archer at the fighter close in on her. She continues the sacred words, as she desperately tries to evade them, but to no avail. One of the fighters' crossbow quarrells finds her shoulder (3 hp damage), and the archer's sword, too, strikes her. (2 hp damage) She does her best, however, to continue her prayers.

Removing Hannibal's arrow from his skin, the archer hit by the thief reloads his bow, now aiming at Hannibal's position. "At least I drew his fire away from the others!" Hannibal tells himself as he faces two arrows streaming through the air in his direction. He manages to avoid the first, but the second one hits him. (3 hp damage)

Storm faces off against his attackers, trying to battle both the fighter and the archer at the same time. The archer stabs at him, but Storm blocks the blow with one of his swords. But the fighter lands a hard blow on the Dwarf, and Storm can begin to feel the familiar feeling of his own blood leaving his body. (5 hp damage) He refocuses his energies, however, vowing never to surrender.

The three fighters facing the hobgoblins continue their battles. Cy and Edryd manage to block attacks headed in their directions, but a hobgoblish blade find's Canter's exposed skin, opening up a new wound. (3 hp damage)

Seeing Emma under heavy attack (and otherwise occupied), Hannibal trains his sights on the figher and archer near her. Letting off one shot toward each, he looks down to see the results. The fighter is unhurt, but the other arrow struck the archer, who stumbled backwards in a bit of a daze. Emma, meanwhile, continues casting...

Cy takes a big swing with his sword, and with a brilliant shot, drives his sword deep into the hobgoblin's neck. As he removes he sword from the monster, he knows he's killed it. The warrior then wastes no time, running as fast as he can toward the boulders and Emma's position. "Whatever it be she's up to, it'd better be quick!" He mumbles to himself.

Canter, then attacks his foe. He stabs at the hobgoblin, driving his blade clear through the monster's torso. With a quick in-out, movement, he removes the sword, letting the hobgoblin's lifeless body slump to the grass at their feet.

Edryd continues to fight against his hobgoblish foe. He, too, scores a hit, opening up a deep wound in the monster's hide, yet he does not manage to kill it.

Storm, meanwhile, decides to go after the biggest threat first. Concentrating his efforts on the fighter, he strikes at him with both his swords. One blade misses, but the other hits. The fighter, however, is unfazed...

1. HP Status: Crayne: 7, Canter: 11, Cy: 24, Storm: 16, Emma: 19, Hannibal: 11, Edryd: 13.

2. Positions: Currently, Emma is through the boulder line, but is under heavy attack as she continues to cast "Hold Person." Cy is headed her way and will bring relief during the next round, and Hannibal continues to fire on the area from his perch. Canter, standing over the body of his dead foe, has begun to head toward the end of the boulder line, near Storm's position. Edryd is still squaring off against a hobgoblin. Storm is fighting hard against a fighter and an archer at the south end of the boulder row. And Crayne is currently taking cover behind a boulder to the west, pinned by an archer's arrows.

3. The enemy: Emma would estimate that there were at least ten bodies behind the boulder line, though it was hard to tell due to darkness and the attacks she was facing.

4. Please send your intended actions for the next TWO rounds. (That way we can keep the battle moving at a brisk pace.)

Suddenly, Emma's spell begins to take effect; a timely display of Anhur's power on the battlefield. Instantly, the fighter near her with the crossbow and two other nearby archers are frozen in their tracks, unable to move by themselves. The archer nearby, with her blood on his short sword, however, manages to avoid the spell, stepping up and attacking the priestess. His blade cuts into Emma's skin, and Emma can feel the warmness of blood reaching the surface. (2 hp damage)

Meanwhile, the archer near Storm attacks the dwarf with his sword successfully. Storm is beginning to feel battered, but far from beaten. (2 hp damage) The fighter nearby, seeing the archer's successful hit, follows up with a strong blow, landing his sword hard on Storm's armor. (4 hp damage)

Another fighter, at the same time, closes in on Hannibal's position. He growls to himself, "Lousy bowman, hitting my men..." He kneels next to a small rock and levels his crossbow in front of his hardened face. With the flick of a finger he lets the quarrell go, which whistles through the air toward Hannibal. But the thief hears it coming, and can just barely make out the missile in the dim light. He jumps aside, allowing the quarrell to stream past him and land somewhere in the darkened hills behind him.

Canter, after dispatching the hobgoblin, soon find himself under attack by a human fighter. "They seem to be everywhere..." he murmurs to himself as he sees the fighter running toward him. The fighter swings at Canter with his longsword, landing a blow on the leatherman's son. A small wound, really, but enough to get blood flowing. (2 hp damage) "I can't take much more of this..." Canter thinks to himself.

Another fighter follows this one, heading right for Cy. He successfully attacks, his blade striking the warrior's armor with a loud "clang!" Cy grunts with the hit, but does not allow himself to stumble. (5 hp damage)

Meanwhile, Edryd continues to be attacked by the menacing hobgoblin. The creature slashes at the air with its sword, but Edryd meets the attacker's blade with his own, blocking the attack.

Crayne, not appreciating being shot at by arrows shakes his head in dismay. He pokes his head around the rock, and his eyes grow wide. A hobgoblin was right on the other side of the rock, ready to surprise him! Crayne smiles to himself, knowing that he'd spoiled the creature's surprise. And when the hobgoblin jumps in front of the mage and attacks, Crayne jumps aside, letting the monster's blade strike the rock instead of his own skin.

Her prayer completed, Emma ignores those that are affected by her "Hold" spell and wades into the battle once again. With a sudden inspiration, she decides to use the held victims as additional cover from any archers that might try to target her...ducking behind them and then thrusting with her spear to keep up the melee. Fending off attacks with her shield, she shoves the nearest fighter (the one with the crossbow, who was just frozen by her spell) over the edge of the boulders, letting him tumble down the rocks and into the firelight.

"Oops," she says, looking back at her other opponents with a wickedly triumphant smile. Hopefully, the fall will injure him further, she thinks to herself.

"C'mon ya dogs! What's a matter? Can't handle someone my size?" she resorts to taunting her opponents again and again, partly to keep them off-balance, and partly to let her friends know where she stands in the darkness. She then re-directs her attention to the archer whose shortsword bears her own blood, giving him a murderous glare. He would be next. By Anhur's will...and her own...

Emma presses the attack on the archer that managed to wound her. She's tempted to hurl her barbed spear right through his studded leather armor, but realizes she has no backup weapon, her flail and broadsword still lying next to her blankets. Gritting her teeth, she ducks behind another of her "held" victims in an effort to misdirect the archers, re-emerging on the other side and lashing out with a quick thrust of her weapon.

"Surprise...," she murmurs as she executes the attack with just the correct precision that the combat-instructors trained her to do back at the temple. Her spear connects with the archer, slicing into his skin and opening up a visible wound.

Crayne faces off against the hobgoblin. Staying on his toes, he keeps himself out of reach of the monster's sword, while slowly maneuvering himself around so he faces toward the rest of the battle. Then, smiling, he begins to intone the words of the arcane magic and casts a stream of colors that spring forth from his hand. The stream of colors are beautiful, shaped like a fan, the reds clash into the greens and the bright yellows merge together with the greens. The darkness is suddenly attacked by this mirage of colors, which Crayne also hopes might effect the archers sights for the present. After firing off the spray Crayne quickly dives back behind the shelter of the boulder and hopes to himself that the spell has the effects that he so desired.

The colors diffuse through the area, brightening up the battlefield for a moment. The hobgoblin opposite Crayne, as well as the one attacking Edryd, immediately fall to the earth as if they had suddenly fallen asleep. Edryd, seeing his opponent fall, turns in Crayne's direction, and though he can't see the mage behind the rock, smiles to him and nods his head in thanks. He turns back to the hobgoblin, and runs his sword straight into the monster's face, clearly killing it. He then looks up to see Storm's current predicament, and takes off running to the dwarf's aid.

Also affected is the fighter attacking Canter, who is blinded by the light. He cries out into the night, raising his arms to his face and rubbing his eyes. Canter quickly takes advantage of his adversary's blindness, landing a crushing blow with his sword. The soldier screams in pain, and falls to his knees, blood seeping through his chain mail.

After being hit a number of times, Storm gets quite angry. He lets out a big guttural growl before turning to the fighter with the long sword. He pauses for a second, focusing his anger on this man in front of him, and then yells loudly right at him. He then turns right toward the man and presses his attack solely on the fighter with all his Dwarven fury. He presses hard into the man, trying to get him to stumble backwards or get intimidated and trip. He swings his sword at the fighter, missing with his left, but striking hard with his right. The blow not only sinks into the figher's skin, but causes him to stumble backwards, exactly as Storm had hoped, his back against the boulders.

Cy, realizing that he is outnumbered, charges towards Emma's position realizing that the priestess can, despite her beliefs in how the world is, inflict a lot more trouble if she isn't tied up. "Milady, now would be a good time to make something happen!" he calls to her as he barrels into the archer in front of her like a runaway freight train... but with a lot more control. He pins the archer to his shield side and at the same time attacks the fighter who followed him across the battlefield with his sword. The fighter, however, blocks the attack with his own sword.

As he attacks the fighter, Cy surveys the effects of her spell with an approving now, and speaks to Emma. "Milady, getting yourself hurt isn't a very good idea. You will find I make a passable wall."

"I much appreciate that..." she replies, turning her attention toward her adversary, the pinned archer.

Hannibal, at the same time, scans the area below and in front of him, his eyes searching for the source of the crossbow attack. He quickly identifies his target and cocks an arrow. His first shot flies past the fighter, landing in the grass beyond him. The thief then reaches toward his back, grabbing a second arrow. With a quick exhale, he fires the arrow upon his enemy. The arrow flies straight and true, striking the fighter hard in the stomach. Hannibal smiles at his success...

(43.4)

Finding himself pinned back by Cy's shield (and the strength behind it!), the archer facing Emma, lets out a yell at the priestess. Partially in an attempt to scare her, but also out of frustration. Emma merely smiles at him, taunting him as he tries in vain to push past the shield. She then lunges at him with her spear, driving the weapon through the archer's armor and right into his heart. The archer quickly goes limp, and his lifeless body slides down Cy's shield to the bloody ground.

The fighter attacking Cy swings his sword again at the warrior. But Cy evades the attack, pushing it away with his blade. Cy counterattacks, placing himself in front of Emma and moving away from the now-dead archer. His counterattack scores a hit, his blade connecting with the other man's skin. Also attacking Cy is another hobgoblin. But the creature's attack is nothing against Cy, and he knocks the hobgoblin backwards with a quick kick to it's chest.

As Edryd approaches Storm's position, the archer who was attacking the dwarf spins around and rips a quick attack on the Paladin with his short sword. Edryd, however, manages to meet the archer's sword with his own, and the clashing of the two metal blades echoes down the line of boulders. He tries a counterattack, but the archer is quick to dodge the attack.

Storm, however, finds his hands full as he defends himself against the figher's attacks. He quickly moves his two blades through the air, rapidly blocking, parrying, and knocking away the soldier's repeated attacks. Storm then notices a brief opening in the fighter's defenses and launches himself at his enemy. His blades swoop through the air, slashing into the fighter with all his dwarves might. The fighter is quickly killed, leaving a trail of blood on the boulder as he slides down in his death. Storm looks up at the sky, letting out a loud battle cry. The sound of his voice fills the night. Then he lowers his head, looking around the area for his next victim.

Hannibal soon finds himself under attack by crossbow quarrels again. This time, however, he is unable to avoid getting hit. The missile hits him in the arm, driving itself into his skin with a sharp pain. Hannibal clenches his teeth, reaching for the wound instinctively. (2 hp damage) After pulling the quarrel from his skin, he gathers his strength, and launches two more arrows at the approaching fighter. Both arrows, however, do not meet with their target.

Crayne peeks out again from the behind the rock. Seeing that his spell achieved its desired effect, he smiles. He then moves to the nearest hobgoblin (the one which attacked him), and pull out a dagger. He drives the dagger into the creature's hide. He can begin to see blood appear in the wound, but the hobgoblin appears to be still breathing.

Canter, his opponent still blinded, strikes again. This time he drives his sword deep into the man's shoulder, opening up another wound and causing the blinded soldier to scream in pain.

(43.5)

The archer facing Edryd then strikes out at the Paladin. This time, his attack is successful, his blade slicing open Edryd's skin across his chest, cutting through his shirt. (2 hp damage)

The fighter approaching Hannibal smiles to himself as he closes the range. Now, he jumps out at the thief, armed with his longsword. He takes a quick swoop through the air, but the agile Hannibal jumps, letting the blade sail beneath his legs.

Recovering his sight, the fighter squaring off against Canter jumps to the attack. His blade hits Canter hard, opening up a deep wound. Canter cries out in pain, feeling a little dizzy and faint. He stumbles backwards, trying to keep his sword up in front of him.

The hobgoblin, after being rejected by Cy, then turns on Emma. It chuckles, apparently thinking that a woman would be easier prey. But its assumptions are soon proven wrong, as Emma skillfully blocks its short sword with her spear. "You swine!" she shouts at the hobgoblin, "What made you think you could beat me!"

Then, suddenly, a new sound is heard across the battlefield. Galloping. Out of the darkness to the east rides a tall soldier, mounted on horseback and heavily armored. He careers onto the scene, reaching down with his sword and with a swoop, pummels Storm hard on the dwarf's back with his blade. (3 hp damage) "You should never have accepted this mission! Rinder's Six!" he mockingly calls out at his enemies. He spits as he says the last two words. "You know you will never win! You will never defeat the great Kingdom of Caerloon!" He spurs his horse, and begins to head up the line of boulders toward Cy and Emma.

1. HP Status (after the first half of 43.5 [the enemy's attacks]):

Crayne: 9, Canter: 3, Cy: 19, Storm: 7, Emma: 20, Hannibal: 9, Edryd: 11

2. Positions:

Crayne is currently kneeling over the almost (but not yet) dead body of an unconcious hobgoblin.

Canter is facing off against a fighter in front of the line of boulders. He is badly hurt and not stable, but neither is the fighter, who was severely injured by Canter when he was blinded by Crayne's spell.

Cy and Emma are behind the row of boulders, at the northern end. Cy is dueling with a fighter, while Emma faces a hobgoblin.

Storm and Edryd are also behind the row of boulders, at the southern end. Storm is standing over the dead body of the fighter he just killed, and was just whacked upside the head by the new, mounted, loud-mouthed enemy. Edryd is fighting against one of the archers.

Hannibal is at his high-ground firing position, but is currently under attack by a fighter.

Two archers are standing still behind the boulders, frozen in their places by Emma's spell. One fighter was also affected by her spell, but Emma tossed him over the boulders in a show of strength, so he is currently in a frozen heap on the other side of the boulders. These held enemies will soon reanimate, however, when the spell wears off.

The new, mounted, loud-mouthed enemy is riding his horse quicky up the row of boulders toward Cy and Emma's position.

3. This turn covered rounds 43.3, 43.4, and the first half of 43.5 (the enemy's actions). Please send your character's intended actions for 43.5 and 43.6, and 43.7 (if you think you can plan that far ahead in the chaos of battle!).

This is getting really exciting!

And almost deadly...

Storm watches as the fighter he just killed slinks down on the rock in front of him. As he sits there dying, Storm delivers a hard kick to the man's toe, adding insult to injury. He leans down and yells something in Dwarven in the man's face. If Cy is close enough to hear, it sounds something like "die you dirty bastard!"

He stands breathing hard over the dead fighter and looks around. He sees the other archer who attacked him caught in melee with Edryd. Storm begins to channel his anger toward this man again, who did also wound him, but before he moves he sees the man atop the horse hit him with a sword. Storm reels from the blow and lands with his back against the large boulder. He steadies himself, noticeably injured quite a bit. When he gets his composure back, he peers around the rock. He sees this man riding galantly upon a horse yelling at him and his friends, preaching their doom and allegiance to Caerloon. Storm stares at this man for a second, and suddenly becomes absolutely furious. He feels personally insulted at this man's actions, and uses that to do something about it.

Hearing the horse coming in their direction, Emma spares a glance at Cy to see what he would like to do. Facing a warrior on horseback is not the most favored position for any foot soldier. In fact, at her temple, it fell right up there with charging a line of pikemen with nothing but a sword, in terms of foolhardiness. Seeing him engaged with his opponent still, and noticing that the hobgoblin in front of her has yet to be wounded, she finally comes to her own decision.

"Anhur bless this strategy...," she murmurs.

Thinking that she can handle the hobgoblin later, she decides to work her way around Cy's adversary planning to strike him from behind. Hopefully, Emma thinks quickly to herself, he'll be distracted enough by Cy he'll never expect her to circle around and attack him from behind, especially if he thinks she's occupied with the hobgoblin. Such an attack might finish him off, she thinks. Maybe then, Cy can face the mounted warrior while she keeps the hobgoblin busy.

Cy apprently has other ideas, though. He shouts to Emma, "Your spear is long and can break his charge! Set it, hit him, and roll out of the way! I'll handle these two."

Emma looks back at Cy, giving him a concerned glance. He might be able to handle both the fighter and the hobgoblin...and she might be able to handle the mounted horseman, especially if she could unseat him from his saddle...but that would leave the 'held' archers untouched, and the spell would be wearing off soon. Besides, she really wasn't armored well enough yet to stand off the horseman for very long. She had better stick with her original plan...

"I've already got this brute!" Emma shouts back at him, moving quickly to bring herself in line behind Cy's opponent as well. She feints with her spear to distract the hobgoblin for a mere second, then pivots on her feet. Reversing the grip on the spear, she attempts to strike a hard blow to the warrior's blind-side in an effort to free her partner. The warrior blocks her attack skillfully, but she was effective in distracting him long enough for Cy to break away. "...And this one, too!" she finishes saying, "See to the horseman! I'll clean things up here..."

Cy Groans in frustration. With his short weapons and heavy armor, he is no match for the agile and powerful horseman, he thinks to himself. The only way to even the odds is to fight on the ground. Therefore, the pragmatic mercenary leaves the Priestess to her battle, turns, and faces the horseman. He calls to the horseman, "Come down and fight on my level. You're too tall for your own ego!"

Storm growls to himself, then, forcing himself to remain as quiet as possible, runs as fast as can while doing so after the horseman. The horseman is not gallopping too fast, and Storm easily catches up (since he's wearing only his leather armor) and leaps through the air toward the horseman. At the same time, however, and with a very nasty and brutal manuever, Cy steps to the side of the horseman's advance, blocks his attacks with his shield, and swings his sword at one of the horses legs, striking the animal very hard.

The horse screams in pain as Cy's blade sinks into its leg, buckling forward. Storm then lands successfuly on the horseman's back, but soon finds himself thrown forward (while clinging to the horseman!) as the horseman is thrown off his animal, over the horses head. Both Storm and the horseman hit the ground with a loud thud. (1 hp damage from the fall to Storm). The horse, falling under its own weight and being carried forward by its own momentum, is knocked to the side while it falls by Cy's blow. Its leg buckles, and its heavy body falls toward Cy, who finds himself caught underneath as the horse falls on top of him. (4 hp damage)

Crayne looks up from his kneeling position and turns toward the horseman, looking across the battlefield and through a gap in the line of boulders. Crayne grins, a menacing grin. Looking down at the unconscious form that lies before him, Crayne decides a risk is what is needed here, for his friends lives are at stake. He focuses his mind once again, focusing his energies on the figure on the horse, and begins to cast his magic. Crayne stands tall with his robes swaying in the wind behind him. His arms are raised into the air, with one hand carrying his large oaken staff with the shooting star pointing at the rider. He shouts words of ancient speech and unleashes a surge of invisible energies that shoot towards the rider and strike him in the mind. Opening his eyes again he instantly turns and stabs the unconscious creature through the throat.

Then Crayne runs toward Emma, Cy, Storm, and the horseman, shouting, "Friend! We are your allies! Drop your sword and come here!"

Meanwhile, Hannibal presses the attack with his bow, showering his assailant with his arrows. He does his best to stay out of the reach of the fighter's long sword. His first arrow sails wide of the fighter. Dodging the man's blade as it cuts through the night air, Hannibal readies and fires a second arrow. This one hits the fighter in the thigh. "Aarrrgh!" the fighter calls, pulling the arrow from his leg with a violent yank. He takes a quick look at the wound and then looks back up to Hannibal, his eyes narrowing to just slits. "I'll get you, you little..."

Edryd faces off against the archer. He thrusts and parries with his sword, trying to outmaneuver his enemy. Edryd soon finds his longer sword an advantage over the archer's short sword. With a quick move, he stabs at the archer's chest, poking his sword through the archer's light leather armor. The archer winces in pain, stepping back from Edryd, but too late to avoid the blow.

Canter, feeling really bad by now, looks around him quickly for his friends. His eyes wander the battlefield, his vision growing blurry. He sees the figures of Cy and Emma through the gap in the boulders. He sees Storm leap through the air, seemingly twice. And he sees the figure of Crayne running toward him. Not realizing that Crayne is heading toward the horseman and not to his own aid, Canter smiles and presses a desperate attack on the fighter. He lunges forward with his sword. Though he, too, is badly injured, the fighter manages to block the blow.

(43.6)

After being struck by Edryd, the archer grinds his teeth, getting his second wind. He aggressively attacks Edryd, striking the Paladin with his sword, drawing Edryd's blood with the blow. (4 hp damage) Edryd then moves back in to attack. He strikes the archer solidly; the fatal blow. The archer spits a mouthful of blood at the paladin, some of which actually lands on Edryd's clothes, and then falls to the ground. Dead.

Hannibal continues to find himself under attack by the fighter, but is agile enough to keep away from the fighter's blade, jumping from side to side and placing himself on the other side of a tree. All the while he attempts to ready another arrow, just waiting for the right moment. The moment arrives and Hannibal lets loose two arrows. The first misses the fighter, as he ducks under it. But the second strikes him in the shoulder as he comes back up.

Storm jumps to his feet, finding the horseman right in front of him. The dwarf quickly re-draws his two swords, and with one fluid motion strikes the horseman very hard, hitting him with both blades. The horseman is beaten down by the force of the blows, and is obviously hurt by them. Crayne continues to run toward Storm, calling "Wait! Stop!" But Storm, in his battle rage, fails to hear the mage.

Cy shoves the injured horse's body off him, a trail of the animals blood drawn across his chestplate. He then turns on the downed horseman and executes a quick attack. He seizes the opportunity while the enemy is down on the ground, and skillfully drives his sword into the warrior's side, obviously opening up a deep gash in his skin.

It is then that Crayne finally arrives, slightly out of breath. "Stop!" he calls to his companions. "He is our friend, now, right?!" He looks quickly at Storm and Cy as if to tell them without words that Crayne had cast his spell on the horseman. The mage's eyes then settle on the horseman as he tries to discern whether or not the spell took hold. The horseman stands himself up, but then buckles over, his hands reaching for the wound at his side. He says nothing, but groans as he steadies himself on a nearby boulder.

Emma, meanwhile, returns her attention to the hobgoblin, spinning the spear back into a defensive posture and then giving ground so she can retreat toward the immobilized archers. "Come on, you filthy beast!" she yells, knowing full well that the hobgoblin might not even be able to understand her words, but at least there's no mistaking the note of challenge in her voice. She needed to keep his attention or else she wouldn't be able to leave Cy and get to the archers in time. She just hoped the mercenary would be okay without her...

But Emma not only has the hobgoblin, but the fighter as well to deal with. She sees out of the corner of her eye the fighter prepare to attack, his blade glistening with blood in the dim firelight. She jumps back (toward the held archers, as was her plan), just out of reach of the blade. But in her effort to avoid the fighter, the hobgoblin manages to strike her with his sword, slicing into her skin just above the belt. (5 hp damage) Emma winces in pain but continues backstepping toward the two held archers, knowing that she must draw the attackers away from the horseman (whom she does not know is charmed). As she steps back past the first held archer, she stabs at him with her spear. She purposely does not kill him, but strikes him hard enough to guarantee that he cannot effectively attack once her spell has worn off.

Meanwhile, Canter finds himself reeling in pain and the scene spinning around him. He can hear voices and yelling, and sees occasional shines of steel in firelight. But his world is muffled and numbed. His energies spent on the last attack, he is in no condition to avoid the fighter opposite him. The fighter raises his sword high up in the air, and allows gravity to aid him as he uses all his strength to bring it crashing down. The sword finds Canter's skin on the top of his shoulder. The blade cuts deep into Canter's skin, sending a stream of blood into the air as his bodies collapses beneath him.

At first, he could feel the intense pain in his shoulder, and could barely make out the bloody smiling face of his enemy looking down upon his own dying face. Then, for Canter, all went black.

1. HP Status:

Crayne: 7, Canter: 0, Cy: 15, Storm: 6, Emma: 15, Hannibal: 9, Edryd: 7.

**NOTE:** In my game, characters do NOT automatically die when they are reduced to zero (0) hit points, as Canter has been. In this campaign, a character at 0 hp falls unconscious and will lose 1 hp per round. When the character reaches -10 hp, he or she is dead. If Canter's wounds are bound and attended to, he will stop losing 1 hp/round, but will not gain any hit points. If a "Cure" spell is cast upon him, he can be raised to 1 hp. He must then have at least one good day of rest before additional healing may take place. A "Heal" spell will affect him normally, as per the spell's normal effect. This rule (known in some books are "Hovering on Death's Door") will apply to all PCs in the party throughout the game.

2. Currently, Emma is retreating through the two held archers (the held fighter was thrown over the boulders) with a hobgoblin and enemy fighter in tow. Storm, Cy, and Crayne are standing near the northern end of the boulders, facing the downed (enemy?) horseman. Hannibal is still off to the north, squaring off against the fighter who was attacking him, though the fighter has been hit badly by now. Edryd is standing over the body of the archer he just killed, at the southern end of the boulders. And Canter's dying body is laying in a heap about half way between the row of boulders and the smouldering campfire, his assailant stumbling away slowly (also badly injured).

3. It appears as if the horseman was successfully charmed by Crayne's spell, based only on the fact that he has not attacked. Though that may be only because he's just sustained a large beating, or because he wants to surprise Cy and Storm and spring back up to the attack...

4. What now? The next turn will be 43.7, and will start with the enemy's actions. What will your actions then be?!?

Emma finds herself being stalked by both a human fighter and the pesky hobgoblin as she wades past two of the archers held in place by her spell. She has already ensured that one of them will be unable to fight when he is freed, but as she sidesteps toward the other, she sees the hobgoblin's blade. Jumping aside, she deflects the blow with her spear. The fighter, however, has circled around the other side, and strikes the priestess hard with his blade, opening up a gash in her side. (7 hp damage)

Backing carefully away, Emma's eyes continued to watch the hobgoblin and warrior closing in upon her. Although wounded, she had never felt more alive. This was what the religion of Anhur was all about. Defending yourself against an evil attacker. Striking a blow for justice so that evil would never have a chance to spread and affect those that you were sworn to protect. Now THAT was something worth dying for...

Curiously she begins to smile at her adversaries. They had no way to understand, but her inner faith was what really fueled her attacks. No matter how this skirmish turned out, she would still emerge victorious in Anhur's sight. If she died fighting them, she would be assured a place among the holiest warriors in the afterlife. And if she managed to defeat them, she could continue her work and service in this life. She won either way.

"C'mon," she urges them both, "None of us can live forever!" She lashes out with her weapon, spinning it from one opponent to the other. "Look around you," she tells them, "Can't you feel Anhur's presence? He's coming for one of us. This is his battlefield now."

Moving around the 'held' archer that she had wounded, Emma tries to put more distance between her and the hobgoblin. He was the fresher of her two opponents, having no injuries to speak of. At least the other warrior had been wounded by Cy a couple of times already. Hopefully, he would be slower to react...for she still needed to finish off the archers before her spell wore off, and to do that, she needed to move fast.

Concentrating on the longer reach of her spear and her nimble feet, she moves quickly in order to make them both chase her. Then, she turns and runs for the remaining archer, striking again to insure he'd play no more part in the battle at hand. Finishing that task, she turns once more to parry the attacks of the two that continued to chase her.

Peering past them both, she can see that the horse was down. Good. Hopefully, Cy and the others were doing well. She just needed to hold off these two attackers and it would all soon be over. "Your friend seems to be having a bit of trouble," she says to the wounded warrior as their weapons clashed again, "In fact, all your friends seem to have left you behind...except maybe this beast by your side. Anhur's claiming them one by one. And my friends will be here soon. Are you ready to be next?"

As if to punctuate her question, she lashes out at the fighter with her spear. The fighter, on his toes, knocks the shaft aside. He looks directly at Emma and smiles, "Your Anhur won't be able to save you when I get to you!"

Cy, a few yards away, decides that Storm can handle the downed fighter who is more than likely (according to the mage, charmed) out of the action. He quickly surveys the field. He the moves towards Canter's killer. As he leaves, he calls to Storm, in dwarven, "Keep an eye on this man. If he makes a hostile move, kill him. I'll finish cleaning up this mess."

At the same time, the fighter standing over Canter's lifeless body turns his head slowly toward the action on the other side of the boulders. He looks down at Canter once again, and wipes some blood on his shirt. He then takes a few steps, stumbling toward the boulders. Perhaps delerious from his wounds, he keeps his bloody sword drawn as if to attack the nearest enemy.

Vaulting past the boulders, Cy rushes up to the stumbling fighter and engages him. He swings down with his sword, but the fighter manages (miraculously) to raise his own sword in time to block the blow. Cy is unfazed, however, knowing that this enemy doesn't have too much longer to live. Still, a smile does not cross his face. Considering that he's not feeling very happy himself, Cy thinks this battle could have done with one leader, he is now developing that cold and calculating demenor of "lets get this over with."

Crayne looks at Storm, "Stop! Please!" Crayne says as he moves towards the fallen warrior and begins to speak with him, "It is me Crayne! We are your friends! Now call your men off and no more will be said of this matter!" Crayne smiles at him.

Storm stands right over the downed horseman, still a little angry at the embarassing blow that the man landed when he arrived. Yet, he understands what Crayne has done, and stands at the ready with his two swords poised in front of him. Hearing Cy say something to him in Dwarven, Storm, still looking at the man on the ground, responds in Dwarven with something that sounded affirmative ("yeah" to Cy). Storm then glances toward Crayne, looking for conformation that the man is indeed charmed.

Crayne leans in, peering at the man as he sits on the ground. The warrior looks up at the mage, and then a smile crosses his face. The warrior then reaches for his sword and stands up. Storm gets ready to jump at him, but then the warrior sheathes his sword. "So good to see you again, Crayne!" the warrior exclaims. Then, a pained look crosses his face and he looks down to one of his wounds. "But call off my men? Gosh, the general would be very unhappy if I did that!" He chuckles and shakes his head. "But for you, old Crayne-ie, I guess I'd have to." He then looks around, seeing blood on the boulders, and hearing the clash of weapons. He looks upon Emma stabbing at the fighter with her spear. A concerned look crosses his face. "But my men, they'd be killed if they stopped fighting! Look at the way she's attacking him," he points toward the duel a few yards away. "She looks like she's going to kill him! And that man is coming to help her!" He motions toward Edryd's figure, which can be seen running toward Emma. "I can tell that one to stop," the charmed warrior says, looking toward Canter's killer, now facing Cy. "Loran!" He calls, "Why don't you stop what you're doing and come over here and meet my friend Craynie!"

Meanwhile, the fighter opposite Hannibal, after getting hit again by one of the thief's arrows (in the previous round), turns on his heels. He sheathes his sword and begins to run down the side of the hill, fleeing Hannibal's attacks. Looking past the fleeing enemy, he can only hope that his comrades can hold on. Already Canter is down, possibly dead, he thinks to himself, and Storm and Cy are badly injured. Turning back to the task at hand, Hannibal drops his bow and draws his sword, beginning to spin and juggle his blade with masterful ease.

Suddenly, an uneasy feeling comes over Hannibal as he looks upon the retreating fighter. He looked familiar somehow, the face maybe, or the look in his eye...then it hits him. "BERNIGAN!!!" he screams with complete rage as he recognized the man "Die!!!" Hannibal, in a sort of blood lust, raises his sword and charges down the hill. With rage in his eyes and a newborn fire in his belly, he attacks. With his momentum from the downhill sprint, he jams his sword with extra force into the man's back. With the impact, the fighter stops in his tracks and turns his head up to the blackened sky. His eyes are wide open, his jaw dropped as low as it will go. As if in slow motion, he drops to his knees. Hannibal skirts around him, looking into his eyes as the man dies a slow and bloody death in the hillside. In a few moments, his body is limp, face down in the grass. Hannibal gives his sword a yank, and with one motion removes it from the fighter's back and resheathes it. His face, however, shows not a satisfied image, but rather one of confusion.

(43.8)

Suddenly, Emma's spell wears off, and the held archers awaken. They both immediately drop their bows, clutching their writsts in pain. One calls to the charmed warrior, "Daran! What's going on? Have they surrendered?"

The held fighter, having been thrown over the boulders, leaps to his feet, his sword drawn. He rushes towards Storm and Crayne, ready to attack, but stops in his tracks as he sees his leader, Daran (the charmed warrior), putting his arm around Crayne. The fighter is in total shock, his eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. "Wha??"

Cy, facing off against the fighter (Loran), ignores Daran's call for cease fire. A strong sense of justice fills Cy as he glances past Loran to the bloody, lifeless body of his companion, Canter. Filled with rage, he drives his sword deep into Loran's chest. He can feel the weight on the blade increase as Loran's legs no longer support him. Cy pulls back on his sword, and Loran falls to the ground, dead.

The fighter attacking Emma, however, presses his attack, unaware of the goings on with Daran. He thrusts his sword at the priestess, who jumps back, avoiding the blow. Just then, Edryd arives at her side. Edryd quickly jumps out in front of the hobgoblin, who attacks the Paladin with its short sword. But Edryd blocks the blow. Emma smiles as she breates a small sigh of relief that now she only has one enemy to worry about. She jabs at the fighter with her spear, this time connecting the sharp head of the weapon with an unprotected joint in the fighter's chain mail. The fighter grunts in pain, blood seeping out of the wound. Edryd attacks the hobgoblin, and with one mighty swing of his sword, drives his blade fells the hobgoblin.

Hannibal, giving one last look to Bernigan, begins to jog toward the boulders, his sword at the ready.

Seeing the hobgoblin fall, Daran shakes his head. "You know, Crayne, maybe you're right." He then raises his voice, "Okay, Ben! Hold your attack!" Ben (the fighter attacking Emma), gives a confused glance back toward his leader, Daran.

Parrying a jab from Emma's spear, he surveys the scene, seeing Loran fall to Cy, the hobgoblin dead in front of Edryd, the two archers confused, as well as the fighter. He then makes up his mind. He calls to his comrades. "Don't listen to him! That mage has done something to him, or maybe this one here has affected him! Let's fall back! Fall back!"

The archers, clutching their wounds, and the fighter, his sword still drawn, nod in Ben's direction. Seeing their leader act so strangely, and so many of their party killed, a hasty retreat seems to make the most sense. Perhaps Rinder's Six was really what the rumors made them out to be. The fighter and the archers then grab what they can and begin to run away, to the east (the direction from which the attack began). One of the archers, his hamstring severely bruised, falls to the ground as he tries to run. The others don't wait for him, putting as much distance between themselves and the battlefield as possible.

Ben, meanwhile, works to extricate himself from Emma's attacks.

Daran shakes his head and steps back from Crayne. "They're not listening. I didn't say retreat! This is not good. And we didn't kill you. The general will be very upset..."

1. HP Status:

Crayne: 7, Canter: -2, Cy: 15, Storm: 6, Emma: 8, Hannibal: 9, Edryd: 7

2. Currently, Crayne and Storm stand with Daran, who is definitely charmed (for now). The unheld archers and fighter are fleeing the battlefield, though one of the archers has stumbled. Cy stands over the dead body of Loran, just a few yards from Canter's lifeless body. Hannibal is en route to the scene behind the boulders, and will arrive during the next round/turn. Edryd is standing over the body of the hobgoblin. And Emma is still opposite an enemy fighter (Ben), who appears to be backstepping as if to flee.

3. WHAT NEXT? Do you follow the fleeing enemies, cutting off their retreat? What about Daran? What will you do with him? Emma, will you continue to press your attack on Ben, or will you let him get away? What about Canter?

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