Fight the Real Enemy!
	Marikan Calvary

The ex-gladiator moves towards Marika and Silus and stands still, wondering what this little people want from him. When Urak starts chanting, Ullar moves his head around, looking for any aggresive movement of the gnomes. If, however, nothing happens, the big fellow just stands still, waiting to see if anybody responds on his 'shoving' plan. Jacobus backs off towards the ex-gladiator "Be careful my friend, these are the other prisoners and they don't seem to be their normal cheery selves, be careful!!" Jacobus stays close to the big warrior. "We may have to delay your plan until we deal with this immediate situation." Ullar nods towards Jacobus. "Perhaps YOU can do the talking with them? I don't speak gnomish, nor do they know me. And my big appearance is mostly not really something which appeals to those little fellows" he says, with a bit of a covered smile on his face. Jacobus looks up at the warrior and grins "What makes you think I can speak Gnomish ??" He then turns back to the advancing Gnomes "Now come on fella's we're all friends here, all we want to do is leave the mine, is that too much to ask ?? Look at all the beautiful rock for you to mine, if I leave it will give you all the more !!" "I'm useless at mining, granted I'm bigger than you fella's but my hearts' not really in it, come on guys I've got to get out of here, let us past!!" "While I'm down here, my business empire is being swindled from me." Jacobus glanced sideways on at Ullar "well, it's not quite an empire more like a small venture, a very small venture, but it means a lot to me." he adds quickly. The gnomes do not appear to be talkative at this point, as two more have taken Ullar as an opponent. Somewhat too late, Ullar realizes that he is weaponless. In gladiator style, though, he bashes at the gnomes with his buckler, knocking both little fellows off their feet and several feet backward. One stirs, the other does not. Ullar goes after the fellow that is rising, attempting to bash him with his buckler, but misses badly, mostly due to the fact that he must duck down in order to even take a step forward. Ullar attempts another blow at the little fellow but misses badly once again. This time the gnome takes a measure of revenge, swinging his pick around at Ullar's left ankle. Fortunately, the spiked point misses, but the center ball of metal clangs into the ankle, stinging it, though Ullar has faced far worse. Ullar raises his shield to bash away at his remaining opponent as the little fellow rears back with his pick to take another hack. However, before either action, the gnome falls to the ground and his pick clatters to the floor. With Jacobus defending one side and Matteo the other, the gnomes are unable to get in a blow, but do not appear to be concerned. Urak's spell is finished before they launch a five on two assault on Jacobus and Matteo in any regard. Matteo also appears to have cooked up another one of his spells, and speaks in a magically altered voice, "Sleep!" However, the small target of the spell looks on with uncomprehending eyes and continues his assault. Too late, Jacobus informs Matteo that most of these fellows don't speak or understand human speech. Doing so, he lunges at the nearest one, and stabs him. His uncomprehending stare turns to one of sadness as he falls to the ground, dead before he hits the floor. Jacobus is deeply saddened by having killed one of the gnomes, he had spent several weeks down here with them and felt a perculiar bond with them. The others each attack as pairs. One firmly lands his pick in Jacobus' left thigh, opening up a gushing bloody wound that weakens him badly. The other two attack Matteo with intensity, one smashing into his chest but deflected by the mail thereon, the other landing just above his left groin area and penetrating deeply. As the little fellow rips it free, blood shoots out from the wound, and Matteo is dizzied by the pain. Remarkably, he stays up and conscious, though he and all of you are cognizant of the wound being surely a terminal one. Seeing that he has no other option, Matteo quickly casts a healing spell upon his injured private area, and his diety provides him enough in the way of magic that he is able to close the punctured artery and the wound enough to continue fighting, but the pain remains. Remarkably, though, he is able to ward off the blows of both of his opponents even while hobbled. Jacobus, meanwhile, saddened to have killed the first little fellow, is unable to summon the heart to stab another, jabbing half-heartedly at them as they continue their attack. Both miss badly, though, as Jacobus has clearly shifted to a more defensive stance. A thought crosses his mind. "Let's go back through the hole in the wall, that way they can only attack us one at a time !!" Hoping that the others follow Jacobus beats a retreat to the hole, pulling Silus as he goes "Cover me" he calls to Urak. Matteo switches the stiletto to his left hand and draws his sword in one fluid, practiced motion. Knowing that the tunnel gives very little room, Matteo will fight defensively, using the stiletto to parry and only thrusting with his longsword. Seeing Jacobus move towards the tunnel he will edge that way, but stops as the pain intensifies. "I'm sorry, my friend. I won't be able to make any getaways. If needed I may be able to hold them off for you to run." Urak spares the newcomer a quick glance before sweeping his staff into his hands. Matteo had been injured yet again, and, remembering the wounds that still seemed to plauge the Squire in the hallway, Urak feels a chill settle in the pit of his stomach. How many more hurts could the valiant human take before falling? Urak could only pray that Grunish-za-thel, Father of the People, could lend his stubborn strength to this brave man. If only the party was not continuously outnumbered! But ifs will not change fate, and as the gnomes ruthlessly prosecute their attack, he realizes that there seems to be only two ways out of this debacle. Flight or victory. Flight is no doubt wisest, but the grevious wounds his companions have suffered leave little doubt that not all would survive such a choice. That just left victory. Throwing back his head, he lets loose a mighty bellow - his best impression of Thraka's war cry. As his staff blurs into the intricate defensive pattern known as the 'Knot of Garug-fen' he moves to defend the injured Matteo. If his companions could not run, then Urak-gor, by the honor of his father's name and the strength of the People's spirit, would not either. Matteo's thrust against one of his small opponents is true, skewering the little man's thigh and dropping him to the ground. As he falls, the bearded fellow backs off and attempts to pull himself up to return to the game. Urak, meanwhile, swings a low sweeping blow with his staff which smashes into one of his opponents legs, lifting him up into the air and casting him against the wall, where he falls lifeless to the floor. The other two facing each are unable to respond, as they raise their picks but fall to the ground without acting. Nonetheless, the last fellow rises on one unsteady leg and attemtps to engage the entire group by himself. One swift thrust from Matteo ends that, and the creature's life. As the gnomes each pair off against Urak and Matteo, Jacobus pulls Silus towards the hole, far enough until he has pulled him out of immediate danger. He sighs deeply as he watches the two warriors valiantly stand against the ensorcelled gnomes. Jacobus glances down at the small dagger he holds. "Oh well I'd go insane if I stayed here anymore." he said as he moved to stand next to the two warriors. "If I die here, it'd better be worth it in the afterlife !!" Yet another pair have sought out Krige as an opponent, and one lands his spike firmly into Krige's right calf, sinking it into the muscle. As Krige bellows in pain, the pick remains implanted in his leg, ripped out of the grasp of the gnome. Angry, Krige drops his longbow, which he still holds, and draws his longsword to skewer the little mongrels with it. Targetting the larger one, Krige does just that, cleanly striking through the little fellows stomach and dropping his bloody body to the floor. The other, weaponless, calmly reaches down for the pick of his fallen friend. Krige attempts to skewer him as well, but has no luck this time. The gnome misses as well in return. "Argh!!!! I will kill you!!!!!" shouts Krige in fury. Then he blindly attacks weaponless gnome, not paying attention at pick lodged in his leg . Krige's wild swing has an unintended effect, as it sweeps over his opponents head and the momentum carries it toward Ullar, off and to the left, and it pierces his armor and bloods him. The opponent is unable to react, though, as he drops to the ground before he can respond. "Uh! Damn me!!! My fury blinds me!!!" yells Krige. Then he runs to Ullar to help him. The final two target Kenishiro, unarmed and unarmored and very large, surely an easy target. This does appear the case, as both are able to land their picks deeply into his solid form, one in the groin area and the other in the stomach. Both are terrible, nasty wounds, each capable of felling a normal man, and Kenishiro falls to the ground heavily. Those nearby can see the lifeblood leaking out of him with every passing moment. The two casually walk over him toward the figures that Matteo and Jacobus are defending on the other side. Ullar, occupied with felling his remaining opponent, has left enough room for these two to penetrate the circle and approach Marika and Silus. Both look briefly at Marika, then decide Silus is the preferable target, and they cut him down with two efficient strokes to the right side. Still held in place standing, his eyes close and the blood flows freely down his side and leg. At that point, the spell on Marika and Silus wears off, leaving Silus to fall quickly to the floor. The two gnomes look once again at Marika, then split off to attack Krige and Ullar. As Marika regains control of her muscles, she finally utters the cry of horror which has been echoing in her mind since this bloody battle began. Her agonized gaze flits back and forth between the wounded figures of Silus and Kenishiro and the ongoing fight. With no time to debate, she reaches a decision quickly, hoping that the goddess will forgive her if it is the wrong one...but there are more wounded than she can save single-handedly, and if she does not help end this slaughter, surely more friends will fall. Marika reaches into her pouch for the parchment bundle she had prepared earlier. "Xe-miam fiel obdormio jan!" she chants, tracing the shape of a mystic sigil in the air with her staff...er...tree branch. As the incantation is completed, she rips open the little parchment bundle, sending a spray of sand arcing toward the ensorceled gnomes... The two gnomes that so mercilessly cut down Kenishiro and Silus fall along with the four of their comrades already engaged elsewhere to the effects of Marika's mighty spell. As Matteo strikes down the last remaning opponent, she turns her attention toward Kenishiro, who is very close and even closer to death. She quickly applies her healer's touch and magic to keep him from death's door. However, his spirit proves as resistant as before to her magic and his condition is still quite grave. Seeing, however, that he is not dying at the moment, Marika turns her attention to Silus. However, much to her shock, and the shock of all the others, when she looks through the hole, Silus has disappeared. He surely was in no condition to move himself, and the blood on the floor proves he was indeed here, but he is here no longer. Leaving the mystery for the moment, Marika turns her attention to the gnomes lying about. Six are asleep as a result of her magics, one of those badly injured by Ullar's shield bash. Another is unconscious from Ullar's bashing, leaving four who are quite dead.

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	Benjamin Lomax

This page was last updated on 20 January 2001