Fight the Real Enemy!
	Escape? Perhaps Not

Asif, Guiseppi, and Kenishiro with the mage: The old man whose spell protected you all appears in front of you by magic. "It appears there is some sort of magical force field around this building. I attempted to magic my way out and was deflected. However, there is another way. My charm protection spell is still active, and if you three stand near me, I can turn us all invisible and we can walk out of here with noone the wiser. What say you? Time is short." Asifs stares at the strange figure, his mind fighting with comprehension. Some words do emerge with meaning. Asif nods his head. "Comprehend I, worker of heka you be. Heka strong in Arabia. I shall trust, but betray not us, or die. This I swear by the prophets!" Seeing that all three have some sort of problem hearing or understanding him, the mage sighs exasperatedly, "Come close!" When the three comply, he waves his hands a bit and speaks some babble. Suddenly, all four become invisible. The unseen voice begins, "Now slowly walk toward the door. Link your hands so that you do not leave the area of the spell." Then, after a bit of delay, "Grab hands! Walk!" Then the man positions Kenishiro and Asif to either front flank, with Guiseppi behind. He will link their hands together himself if they fail to understand, then push Kenishiro from behind in the direction of the exit. The communication handicapped, clumsy mob moves forward slowly, waiting until all the others have moved through the doors. Kenishiro moved forward slowly, not wishing to break the old man's spell by stumbling or walking too fast. As he walks forwards he sees the wounded Rhune and unconscious Silus. Torn between doubt and honor he speaks softly, hoping the old man can hear him. "They hurt... we help, hai?" The man's voice is heard, urgently, "What do they mean to you? If you merely keep quiet, we shall get out of here with our hides intact, and that's all you need worry about! Now be silent!" Outside.... Meanwhile, the aim of the crossbowmen proves deadly to Rhune as well, with one bolt slamming into her right shoulder and the other hitting her in her left buttock. The shock of both blows spins her around and she falls to the ground very near to Silus. Rhune falls to the ground her longsword clattering from her limp hand. She lays there like a limp doll. While Silus wails in agony, Rhune appears to be unconscious. Silus feels pain like he has never felt before. Looking around him quickly, he knows that he is unable to carry on and that he will surely be the subject of another volley from the crossbowmen, which will send him to meet his maker's glorious embrace. He looks down and sees the unconscious form of Rhune lying next to him. Although Silus is surely going to die, perhaps she might have a chance to live. Fighting off the pain, he begins to cast. As he says a quick prayer to his god, he lays his hands upon her right shoulder and finishes the words of the healing ritual. As he does so, his hand begins to glow with holy light, which transfers to the unconscious form of Rhune. The power of the light flows into Rhune, whose injuries seem quite a bit better off. Unfortunately, she is still unconscious. However, she now appears to be in no danger of remaining that way forever. Meanwhile, Marika seems to have convinced Ullar that his plan to create chaos has not worked the way it was supposed to, and both of them run out into the light, past Teague and Sam and behind Krige. Immediately out of the door, Marika begins casting, throwing a pinch of fine sand into the air. She is quite satisfied to see two of the crossbowmen drop, one of them dropping his crossbow in the process, though sadly neither of them takes the plunge from the skywalk. The other two hesitate and duck onto the skywalk to reload. Meanwhile, the high hat of the Cult Bishop has emerged onto the skywalk, and he appears quite pissed off. He raises his cross and begins intoning. The situation as it stands: Asif, Kenishiro, Guiseppi still in the forum chamber, invisible along with the old mage. Silus and Rhune are lying in the center of the clearing, Rhune unconscious and Silus terribly wounded and unable to walk. Teague, Sam, Krige, Matteo, Urak-gor, Ullar, and Marika are in something of a crowd right outside of the doorway. The crossbowmen are reloading, the Bishop is casting, the African guards and the functionary are still standing in confusion. Sam, seeing the Cult Bishop rise on the skywalk, looks around to see if there are any ways he may reach the skywalk. Seeing that it is possible to reach the skywalk from the outer wall that you all are outside of right now, he tries to climb it to reach a position that he may launch an arrow at the Cult Bishop's Head. Sam sizes up the wall to the forum and briefly attempts to find purchase. However, this does not appear to be his strong suit, as his fingers are unable to find even the briefest hold. He makes no progress. Ullar is pissed now. Being shot in his tigh and in his chest didn't improve his self-control in any way. With a determent look in his eyes he steps forward to those in the crowd outside the doorway. "We will have to get them all out. I cannot stand here, watching them while they are being slaughtered!" Ullar tries to convince people in the crowd/group who are able to do some long-range attacks (in any form) to shoot at the crossbowmen at his sign. "When I lower my right hand, I will run for the center for the clearing, trying to pick up both Rhune and Silus. Please, try to fire as much as possible until we're back in safety. Leaving them there as 'easy' targets is NOT an option to me." "I'm not happy with the Bisshop standing there, high above us. Try to aim at him, but if you are in no position to hit him, just aim for anyone who is standing along with the Bisshop." Matteo, seeing the success of Marika's spell, tosses out his own, yelling "Sleep" in a commanding voice in Italian. One of the Genoese, who was lining up a shot on Sam against the wall, obliges Matteo and drops to the catwalk as well, joining his two fellows. Urak-gor, who has drawn his beautiful bow while attempting to persuade the crowd, now brings an arrow to bear and fires it at the other crossbowman on the walk. The first shot is dead center, but narrowly caroms off of the walkway the Genoese is laying on. The second finds it's way to the man, but glances off his chainmail armor, not harming him. Teague, meanwhile, analyzes the situation and takes off running across the clearing, ignoring Ullar yelling after her. The crossbowman who so narrowly avoided the orc's arrows lines up a shot on the fleeing woman and looses it, hitting the spot she was a second earlier. One of the crossbowmen at the window sees this and takes his shot, this time overcompensating and hitting the spot she would have been a second later. She hardly notices as she crosses the clearing in just a moment, reaching the edge of it and freedom. Marika glances over her shoulder, worried about the old craftsman and the two outlanders, who she had thought were close behind her group. They seem to have vanished. Perhaps they found another exit... Seeing Ullar eye the door's hinges, Marika tells him, "Wait." She closes her eyes and reaches beneath her cloak to grasp something hanging on a thong from her neck. "Minerva, protector of the wise, grant this man thy sanctuary," she intones softly, and reaches up to touch Ullar's forehead. Her eyes snap back open. "Go help them, we'll cover you!" The huge warrior looks at Marika with a total expression of surprise. Then a faint smile appears on his face. Softly he whispers to Marika: "Thank you, milady!" His next action is lowering his right hand, while spurting forwards, sidestepping occasionly to make it a little harder for the crossbowmen to determine what his goal is, but never letting down his pace. Marika smiles a little nervously at the puzzled African guards as she reaches down and picks up a rock by her feet. Krige runs to Rhune, putting his sword back in the scabbard as he runs. One of the crossbowmen at the window fires a shot which glances off the heavy ring on Krige's left thigh as he runs. The remaining two crossbowmen begin to take aim on Ullar, then appear to change their mind and retarget Krige, one bolt flying overhead to the right, the other planting itself in his right shoulder, staggering him and obviously injuring him greatly, but he continues on. As the bolt hits Krige, he cries in pain:" Argh.... Lord of the Wood help us!!!" Reaching his fallen comrades, Krige begins drag Rhune away from the clearing. Upon reaching Rhune and Silus, Ullar the gladiator kneels down, picking up the body of Silus, swinging it over his left shoulder. Seeing that Krige has already grabbed Rhune, Ullar lets him, keeping pace with the weaker, more injured ranger in case he takes another shot. Even with the strength Ullar possesses, the weight is heavy, sweat dripping from his face. "I'm going to take you back to safety Silus, so please use your uttermost strenght in assisting me to get there" Ullar says with an unexpected calm in his voice. When Ullar tries to drag him away, Silus shouts up to him from where he lies in a pool of his own blood: "Don't be a fool, man. I'll just slow you down and then we'll both be done for. Save yourself, then at least one of us will live." Nonetheless, Ullar ignores him and begins heading for the exit. Suddenly, the effects of the Bishop's spell take hold, as roots rise up from under the hard earth and grab at the group's ankles. This happens in most of the center of the clearing, narrowly missing the dashing Teague and not catching Marika, Sam, Urak-gor, or Matteo, who are still near the entrance. Both Ullar and Krige, however, are held fast, and you all see that the crossbowmen at the window are lining up, seemingly all at Krige, who surely cannot take even one more blow before falling. One seems to shake his head and lines up at Ullar. "You will never take us alive!!! I will fight till death!" - shouts Krige as he takes his knife out of it's sheath and begins to cut roots with it.

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	Benjamin Lomax

This page was last updated on 20 January 2001