| Fight the Real Enemy! | |
| Chasing the Rabbit Down the Hole |
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You hear some rapidly spoken words in some unknown language, and Marika and Silus find themselves unable to move. Before you can react, you see that the perpetrator has vanished into one of the smaller tunnels littering the area. Only the soles of his feet do you catch. You hear shouting in the same unknown language. Jacobus lets you know that the voice is not traveling toward the surface, though, at least for now, and the straightest path to it would be down the tunnel that he has dug. However, there is no way that you could beat him there carrying the two frozen members. Jacobus watched as two of his new companions froze dead in their tracks "It's the priest, it's the priest!!" he repeated. Not actually wanting to confront his captor, he pretends to find something interesting in the surrounding rock formations. As some members of the party set off in pursuit Jacobus begins to see if he can help with the frozen members of the party "I've had this done to me before, it's not permanent but extremely weird." he tells the others. Once again it seems to Rhune that they must separate the party. She is loathe to do this again, but if they are to stand any kind of chance they have to beat the creature to the guards at the entrance. She looks at Marika and Silus and reaches out to touch both of them lightly. Her expression is one of absolute concern, "We have to stop them first. We, I, someone will be back. Promise." she whispers to them both, her voice filled with the sorrow of having to leave them in the first place. She turns to look at the others, "We need to beat the creature to the guards, but i don't like leaving them alone." She sighs. Drawing her long sword she turns to head down the tunnel. She is limping a bit as her hip is still rather sore. She wants to get this over with and quickly so that they can come back for Marika and Silus. Ullar, not feeling comfortable at all in this tunnel-complex sighs deeply. "Ehm.. can't we go on Jacobus? I think that staying here is not really going to be very effective. I think Urak and I can push Silus and Marika forward in the tunnel, on a blanket. I've got one, anybody else has one as well?" Ullar peers around, looking for any lightbolts above the heads of the fellow party members :-) Sadly, no lightning bolts or bulbs appear. The sweet sound of drawn steel echoes in the confines of the tunnel. The dim torch light ripples down the red blades of Asif's drawn scimitars. Delighting in the ever increasing recovered strength, a wide grin crosses his face. His hawklike eyes glare down the passageway through which the magical assailant has fled. He addresses the party. "The best kindness is done quickly efendi. He who stands before me and the light of Aten is worthy of death. COME let us rid this place of darkness!!" As soon as Sam can see the soles of the spell-caster's feet, he is off down the tunnel with a flash, after the perpetrator. "I'll catch you, you fein! Mewahahaha. " Sam lets loose a cynical laugh, which is almost comical due to his non-cynical nature and natural lack of intimidation. Sam will not listen to any attempts to make him return to the party and he will run until he no longer hears footsteps. Marika meets Rhune's gaze, then her eyes dart urgently after the fleeing assailant. Rhune nods and turns to head down the down tunnel after the fleeing assailant. As Sam darts past her she quickly grabs the halfling, "Silence, Sam. Let me and Asif go. You stay and protect Marika and Silus," she whispers to him. She nods to Asif and then darts down the tunnel. Asif follows her in swift pursuit of the mystery assailent. His hawk like eyes focused on the hunt of an illusive prey. Sam gives Rhune an upset look as she darts down the tunnel, in the destination he had planned on. With a sigh he draws his short bow and steps backwards into the shadows... disappearing from view.
Rhune sighs. This was exactly the thing they didn't want to have happen. But it can't be helped at the moment. She quickly slashes at the man in front of her with her drawn long sword. She keeps her eye open for the first possible chance of slipping past this man. She keeps low so that Asif has a chance of striking over her head. Asif confused momentarily by the sight of a women wielding a sword, recovers quickly and begins in dealy earnest a frenzied dance of death with his blades above the head of Rhune. In a style unusual for Europe, he answers each blow of his enemy with one blade while seeking openings in his enemies guard with the other. Unfortunately, Asif has nowhere near the room to wield his deadly dual-bladed style, particularly as Rhune is taking up much of the room in front of him. Though she ducks down, both fight awkwardly at best, and Asif is limited to attacking with short stabbing motions, not particularly effective with a scimitar. The guard lunges again at Rhune, with more efficiency this time, but the quick lass is able to dodge the blow once again, and replies in kind, missing badly. Asif's strike is even more badly aimed, as he is clearly quite disturbed by the confining conditions. Asif strikes again, though, determined to show his mettle, but the blow dances off the guard's chainmail, failing to pierce him, Rhune is similarly unable to get past the man's shield, which he holds in front of him as a warding device and blocks half the tunnel with it. The guard's return thrust is true, sliding in between Rhune's ribs very near to the heart. She falls like a stone and the guard withdraws his weapon. In the darkness, Asif is unable to see Rhune's condition or the face of his opponent, but in the close confines, he knows where to strike and knows that whatever Rhune's condition, it cannot be helped until this man is dead. Asif strikes again, this time with somewhat more room, but still unable to use his two-weapon style, and his blow is once again off target. The guard's response, another flail in the dark, is similarly off the mark. Knowing that the young girl is surely bleeding to death under his very feet, Asif redoubles his efforts, but is once again repelled by the man's chainmail. Suddenly, he makes an aggressive move toward you, but finds his foot caught by Rhune's body, and he falls awkwardly forward, right onto Asif's scimitar, which plunges into his chest and through it, ripping it from Asif's grip as the fellow falls to the ground and onto Rhune, who has not moved or made a sound. Asif looks down, heaving the man's body off the girl, and amazingly finds her in stable condition, breathing regularly. The sword must have missed it's target, or she would surely be dead, and the bleeding does not appear to be bad. Asif snatches some of his tattered clothing to make a bandage. However, he now must decide whether to stay with the injured girl or go after the guard that fled. With his remarkable speed and being unarmored, even with the guard having a head start, there is a chance Asif could catch him, but the woman might be left to die. Meanwhile, those standing about in confusion in Jacobus' clearing wonder what to do with Mareka and Silus. As Asif and Rhune take off toward the entrance and Sam vanishes, they mill about, listening to the shouts of the little fellow gradually fading away. They are not bored for long, though, as they start to hear smallish footsteps approaching, seemingly from all sides, and very quickly, the group is surrounded by little figures wielding picks. The odds are roughly two to one with Silus and Mareka out of the action, and the gnomes seem to have paired themselves off with one opponent each, emerging from at least four smaller tunnels into this clearing. Those of you that are quick will be able to act before the gnomes, but find yourselves hesitant. The lamplight reveals the neutral expressions of the gnomes. Not quite the same blank expression on the face of the crowd at the forum, but they seem disinterested in their actions enough to make the observant ones about you consider whether they are truly in control of their actions. However, the sharp and nasty picks they wield seem just fine with their objectives, and thus you have no choice but to defend yourselves. When the gnomes congregate around them Jacobus steps forward "Ahh My friends don't be alarmed these are friends of mine just coming to collect me for a great adventure" he tells them his arms outstretched "What did I tell you about me being a great hero ? They're here because I am requested to undertake a great mission." The gnomes look with blank stares at Jacobus. Though never overly friendly to Jacobus, they have never offered him harm in the past. That appears to be about to change. Jacobus frowns and looks at the approaching gnomes unsure about what is wrong, he begins to back away "Err friends, if you'll just let us past we'll be on our way and you can then go back to your beautifull rocks." He pulls the dagger he was given from his loin cloth and moves back towards Silus and Marika, "if this is some devious plan of yours, now is the time to act !!" None of the party members react, and Jacobus realizes this is not a plan made by any of those here. He is not surprised. Matteo draws his stiletto as two of the gnomes move towards him. Taking a step back to place himself next to Urak, Matteo looks about him for a way out, but sees that the gnomes have them surrounded. "Ambush!!!", Matteo belts out with surprising volume to Asif Rhune and Sam, "Run if you can!" Seeing that the gnomes were making no threatening moves, (If you didn't count being surrounded and outnumbered two to one with weapons threatening), Matteo stands his ground and readies himself for what is to come. "Stick with me, Urak.", he whispers to the Orc. "We live or die together!" Frowning in dismay as the small creatures, features studiously blank, surround the small party, Urak-gor cannot help but remember the massacre at the forum. What was perhaps considerably more alarming was the fact that whoever had enscrolled these poor creatures might still be nearby. Tucking his staff in the crook of his arm, Urak offers Matteo a lopsided, rueful grin and a wink. Truly, it was good to have found a friend who was not of the People. His eyes darting rapidly around the room, Urak asks himself one question. What would Speaker do? The duty of the shaman was to protect his people. That much was clear, laid out in a pattern of oral tradition that went back to the beginning of time. These adventurers, were, in a sense, his people. So he should protect them. Right. Easier said than done. Clearly the weakest of the party were Silus and Marika. Held by some fell design, they were clearly at the mercy of any hostile agency. His mind torn between the two, he finally chooses. Muttering a silent apology to the odd rebel priest, Urak shifts his drum around, and begins tapping it. At first, the notes are hesitant, but Urak quickly finds his rythym, and the beat accelerates rapidly. In tune with the drumming, he begins to sing. His voice, while untrained, is strong, and years of long practice enable him to easily match his chant to the quickening rythym. "Ar-ag-hah-hah, Ar-ag-hah-hah, Inig-ne-ga-ro, Malka-za-go Ar-ag-hah-hah," his voice thrums on steadily, "Marika-ne Inig-ne-ga-ro, Ar-ah-hey-za" His hands practically a blur as he beats on his drum, Urak's spirit reaches out and beseeches the intercession of Malka-za-go, protector of the hunters, with the local spirits. While the chant repeats, some small corner of his mind cannot help but feel guilty that he could not do more. Speaker-with-Storms could have encompassed the whole party and freed these creatures, his spirit-voice was louder than a thunderclap and stronger than the great oaks. But Urak-gor, was not Speaker. He could only try to do his best to help one person at a time. As he continued echoing the chant to completion, he could only pray to Grunish-za-thel that he would have enough time to complete it. The gnomes in front of Urak ignore the drumming and chanting and raise their picks to attack him, which would surely disrupt his spell. When the one called Urak begins chanting Jacobus moves to defend him, an usual show of bravery on his behalf. |
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| Benjamin Lomax |
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This page was last updated on 20 January 2001 |