Seeing no less than five arrows fired directly at her, with only two errant (one fellow just about had his bow restrung when Marika's spell struck him down), Marika can do nothing but watch them slam through her protective barrier, with only one being altered enough to miss her. The first strikes her in the left thigh, a glancing wound, the second looks like it shoots right over her head, but she feels a sharp pain and some blood begins to run down into her eyes from her scalp. The third arrow is the most deadly, piercing her right thigh just below the socket and poking out on the other side. The fourth pierces her stomach on the right side, missing vital organs by inches. Not surprisingly, with two arrows still sticking out of her and blood pouring out of her various injuries, Marika falls to the deck heavily. She is obviously grieviously injured.

With her last conscious thought before blacking out, Marika makes a mental note to remember that archers reload WAY faster than crossbowmen... ::sigh::

Seeing Marika jump to her feet as he hovers over the dead helmsman, Matteo tries to yell out a warning. Time does not stop for the young squire, however, and Matteo is forced to watch as the flight of arrows take their effect on Marika. Even as she drops to the deck, Matteo is already in motion towards her, sheathing his stiletto but leaving his longsword in his hand.

As he reaches her side, Matteo begins mumbling the now all too familiar prayer for healing, concentrating on the main wound in her torso first off. Knowing that his healing might not be enough, Matteo just hopes to heal her enough that she can begin healing herself as well. Once the healing takes effect, Matteo will slide Marika against the hull and into cover, then he will remain kneeling at her side, weapons out and ready for the first borders to arrive.

Matteo's god seems to have an affinity for his fellow clergyperson, as the effects of his healing are indeed quite miraculous. Marika looks at Matteo, blinking, thinking she was going to meet her fair goddess, but comes to realize that she is still among the land of the living. Attempting to rise, though, she finds that even though her condition has improved vastly, she is far to weak to move about. Instead, she tends to her own wounds at Matteo's encouragement with her healing skills. Matteo's magic was indeed impressive, though, and she finds that her three minor injuries have disappeared completely. The more serious groin wound, though, is still open a bit. She snaps the arrow off and pulls it from her, then bandages her leg tightly. She knows that she has nowhere near the strength, though, to fight off any boarders.

You all hear the soft splashing of the swimmers continuing toward the boat. Hearing them approach, Xania jumps up, facing the wrath of the arrows (none of you were able to see the effects of Marika's spell from your position). Seeing that the archers have fallen, she smiles and casts her spell on the swimming fellows. A flash of color erupt from her hands in a wedge. Three of the bald men noiselessly drop deeper into the water. As the rest of the group is alerted to the archers being downed, they rise to deal with the boarding party, now nine men. Not one of them attempts to assist their surely drowning compatriots, though they could surely have been saved quite easily with a minimum of effort.

You all hear a whistling sound, though, and hear Xania cry out, her smile changed to shock. An arrow, which has clearly just bounced off her skull, lands in the deck, and as she falls you see blood erupt from her temple like a fountain. Looking toward the shore, you see a better equipped man has stepped to the edge of the forest and is reloading his bow. The boarders are now less than ten feet from the ship.

Jacobus can't believe Marika's bravery or foolishness as she leaps up to attack. He is shocked to find her peppered with arrows as she falls to the ground. Jacobus also watches Xania jump only to find her brought to the deck of the boat by a further arrow.

Best to stay here until the attackers are aboard, he thinks to himself.

Rhune stands immediately after the arrow from the man at the edge of the forest hits the deck. Even though he seems to far for her daggers, she has to try. Quickly switching her long sword to her other hand she snatches a throwing dagger from her brace and lets fly, praying the Aridiane gives it wings.

The dagger flies through the air and lands on the shore some twenty feet to the front and right of the archer, who turns his bow on Rhune in response. His arrow once again is true, and though Rhune attempts to dodge it, it glances against her right knee. Looking down, though, she notes that the hanging leathers she wears deflected the arrow just enough to avoid any injury. By the merest hint, though. Seeing herself the only target, she then switches her sword back and drops to the railing again to wait for the boarders.

She still targets any hands, fingers, toes and heads that come over the side.

Ullar also now know that his handaxe won't be used for cutting down grabling hooks, so he removes his brand new sword from his scabberd and takes position.

When the attackers board, Jacobus moves to Marika's side and tries to defend her as best he can, he also tries to avoid being the target of the lone archer on the shore.

Urak, seeing the new maiden struck down so cruelly, treats her with his healers skill while remaining out of the path of the archer. He is able to staunch the flow of bleeding by applying pressure and a crude bandage, but she remains badly injured and unconscious.

Suddenly, the boarders, almost in unison, reach the edge of the ship and begin drawing themselves upward. Jacobus and Matteo hold their ground in defense of Marika, while Urak does similar with Xania. Asif and Ullar, both needing plenty of room to work with their weapons, mark their positions one the outside edge of the intrusion. Rhune leans over the edge to stab at the nearest man. He moves his hands quickly enough to avoid having his fingers chopped off, and then throws a leg over the side. Almost identical tactics are used by the other eight.

Ullar, smiling, draws back his great sword and swings it at the right most fellow. His strike is truly hideous, though, missing by several feet. It appears that in the time since the arena, he has lost his touch with his weapon of choice. The fellow and his next neighbor, expressionless, grab the daggers from their teeth and engage him.

Asif has no better luck, as both his flashing scimitars manage to avert their naked targets, and the left most pair do the same as their brethren, advancing with their knives in hand. Meanwhile, the archer on the shore helps him a bit. Surely aiming at Asif, his arrow falls short and slices over the shoulder of the first man, leaving a red trail where it flew by. The hit man does not react other than to press the attack.

Rhune, seeing that she is left with five opponents, backtracks toward the cabin to even the odds a bit. One man doggedly pursues her, while a pair each move toward the downed ladies.

Amazingly, Ullar gets another chance before the men get close enough to stab at him. His target jumps out of the way, but Ullar manages to catch him with the flat of the blade along his knee and whack the hell out of him. The man, clearly in very bad shape, does not fall to the deck, though, but lunges forward instead, obviously in great pain, though his expression does not change. His blow just glances off the protective magic Marika laid upon Ullar. His partner's stroke flies above Ullars dodging head. Ullar's skill with the blade begins to show now, though, as he reverses the great sword and brings it back around at the other man, cutting a thin red line across his chest. However, like the other man, he continues to fight, even though the wound is terrible.

Asif's bad luck continues, as his first scimitar somehow manages to slip from his hand and slice his toe. His second blow is close, but the bald target dodges it. Asif notices that the toe injury is quite minor, but he is pressed too close to regain his second weapon. One man swings a wild strike over Asif's turbaned head, while the other does the same but with a bit more accuracy, his blow creasing Asif's helm and knocking it off his head. Fortunately, the helm protected his temple from the blade of the dagger, but the blow still has him a bit dizzy.

Rhune stabs at her opponent before he comes into range, and her thrust is true, taking him in the stomach. Ignoring his surely fatal wound, though, the man lunges forward with his last strength, missing Rhune by quite some distance as he falls to the deck, holding his intestines in his hand. Seeing the Urk outnumbered and in trouble, Rhune moves to assist him.

Jacobus and Matteo each take on one boarder, standing next to each other to defend their charge. Jacobus attacks with his brand new sword and his strike mimics Rhune's quite well, taking his man in the stomach as well, though this fellow falls to the deck, clearly dead by the time he hits the ground. He then looks up in time to see another arrow fired by the man on the shore. With amazing quickness, he dodges the arrow, which misses him by inches. Unfortunately, his attention drawn by these two things, he does not notice the steps of the man behind him, who stabs down at Jacobus' back with a vengeance. However he may speak of the gods, though, they are surely with him now, as the nasty blow catches on a metallic stud and is deflected from doing him any harm. Turning to face the new opponent, he sees that it is one of the new oarsmen picked up in Arezzo. this fellow moves much differently than the boarders, though, quickly, and he has a deadly look on his face, not the vacant one of the boarders.

Matteo flashes forth with both his weapons, catching the fellow in the fleshy part of both arms. However, both injuries were minor, and the fellow is still able to fight, though his blows lack strength. His dagger laces into the strap holding his mail along the left shoulder, amazingly cutting it. At an odd angle, Matteo's armor slips off him and hangs among his legs, tangling him. However, the leather strap was enough to protect him from the edge, so he is still unharmed.

Urak is in the worst condition, having to face two opponents and guard the newcomer. He does his best, lashing out at one of them with his staff toward the man's legs, but misses badly. In return, the first man slashes wildly and misses, while the second one stabs into the armor, but does not penetrate it. However, Urak finds that the armor has a gaping hole from the slash, and will do a poorer job protecting him in the future.

The two men facing Ullar both stab at him again, the first missing badly, but the second has better luck, managing to penetrate the magical shield, which deflects the blow enough that it only glances off Ullars right ribcage. Ullar is now a bit upset at not having felled these opponents as of yet, and brings his great sword around once again, but has the poor luck to slip on a wet spot on the deck, banging the hilt of the weapon against his own knee, resulting in some rather terrific pain.

Both of Asif's opponents stab at him, but Asif dodges their crude stabs with ease. Calling upon the spirits of his homeland, he brings his scimitar up and down, cleaving clean through the left knee of the first man and on through the right calf of the second. Both fall to the deck as their blood pumps out with abandon. Asif then seizes his second scimitar and turns to the others.

Asif yell angrily at his fallen opponents. "By the Great ATen face thy God, foul infidels!!" OCC - Happinese is the Dervish dance of death

Jacobus is now engaged with the oarsmen, who stabs nastily at him with a dagger he must have either concealed or kept below decks. Jacobus unlikely leaps to dodge the blow, when then lands quite firmly in his right foot. As the unkempt fellow draws it forth, Jacobus feels woozy as he sees his own blood decorating the deck. He attempts to lunge at the fellow, but his balance is off and the man is very quick himself, dodging the blow with ease.

Matteo's opponent summons up his remaining strength and slashes widly at his head. Dodging, Matteo does not feel the blow, but feels the wetness as the stroke gashes his forehead. He blinks away the droplets of blood that begin to drip down into his eyes. Occupied with that, though, he has the exceptionally poor luck to lose the handle on his longsword, which arcs into the air and drops cleanly into the water. However, the other fellow also watches the weapon take a dive, and does not see until too late that Matteo has plunged his secondary weapon into the mans gut. He falls to the bloody deck.

Urak's pair of opponents engage him furiously, stabbing at his face of all things. With the edges of both weapons coming from either side, a moment's hesitation in deciding which way to turn is too much, and one lands in his cheek, the other barely glancing his ear. Briefly worried, he sees that the cheek wound is not that severe, though it hurts like hell and will impede his already rough speech a bit. He flails away with his staff, but once again misses horribly.

All is not lost, however, as Rhune attempts to sneak up and stab one of the bald fellows in the back. It is not to be, however, as she misses him badly. Calmly, he turns to face her.

Urak looks with horror, though, as an arrow from the treeline archer, clearly meant for him, flies over his head and hits the defenseless and unconscious Xania in the left calf. She begins bleeding anew, and you know that she won't be able to bear much more even if left alone.

All of you note with some fear, though, that the sleeping archers on the shore have now arisen and are refitting their bows with new arrows. Things are taking a bad turn.

Ullar, seeing that unless he deals with these men quickly, he will be a pincushion, attacks once again with his hefty blade. He thrusts with both hands and skewers his uninjured opponent. However, his second opponent marshalls his strength and smashes his dagger through the magical protection. Ullar feels the spell fade as the dagger approaches his face. However, there was just enough remaining in the spell to deflect it away from a fatal stroke. Instead, it slashes across his broad chin, a rather nasty cut but not much more. Ullar's reverse stroke, slowed by having to withdraw from the body of the first opponent, misses the second.

Asif, seeing Jacobus engaged with a nasty looking fellow close by, lends a hand. As the fellow sees Asif coming and witnessing that last marvelous stroke, he appears to have lost his appetite for the fight, and turns and dashes for the opposite bow. Jacobus has a clean shot at his spine, but the injury to his foot clearly throws him off and he misses once again. The fellow dives neatly off the bow and into the water. Both Asif and Jacobus dive for cover from the impending arrows and begin crawling to assist their comrades.

Bursting with the great rush of adrenaline from the battle, Asif loudly taunts the fleeing enemy in a mixture of Arabic and Italian words. His words drift across the wide expanse of the river. His words echoeing , like an Inman calling the faithfull to prayer from a mosque. As he does he waves his scimintars in an expression of wild chalenge."YALL!! IGRI! IGR! Flea bitten Dog. En-nar beyulah hell. Igri Igri!!

Occ - translation - "Quick Run Run flea bitten dog, the fire of hell burns. Run Run !!!"

Asif gradually realizes the danger and drops down to the deck and goes to aid Jacobus with the wounded.

Matteo, seeing his opponent gone, draws his second sword and moves to assist his brother Urak. He slashes at Urak's opponent with his sword and cleaves neatly into his right leg, half-severing it. The man falls dead to the deck. Urak cannot move past him in time to help with Rhune's opponent. That man, however, takes a nasty blow from the lady herself, as she thrusts into his ribcage. It is a terribly injury, but the fellow does not fall. He stabs at Rhune and only her leathers once again keep her from injury.

Knowing the hail of arrows is coming, Asif and Jacobus drag the injured ladies against the deck to keep them from harm of an errant arrow. As Asif pulls Xania, he sees that another arrow has landed close to her, and Asif almost swears that the fellow on the shore is aiming for her prone form. Once there, Asif rips some cloth from his robe and bandages the brave lass, who appears in rather bad shape.

Ullar's remaining opponent keeps him from diving for cover by stabbing at him once again. His blow against Ullar's now unprotected form is true, penetrating Ullar's left shoulder. Ullar is now very weak. As he draws up his weapon for another stroke, two arrows fall from the sky, one barely creasing his temple, but the other lands firmly in his chest. Ullar, apparently fatally wounded, does not fall, but with some deep well of strength, he brings his sword around and neatly decapitates his opponent. He then roughly falls to the deck, still conscious, but in terrible shape.

Urak, Matteo, and Rhune surround the last of the boarders, who slashes wildly at Matteo, just nicking his chest and drawing a touch of blood. Rhune, however, is much better, as she cleanly misses the boarder and lunges striaight on into Matteo. However, she manages to pull the blow enough that he dodges most of it, only being taken with a glancing blow to the left shoulder. Matteo chooses which of the two to kill easily, and his knife, aimed wickedly at the man's groin, steals his life away. However, another half dozen plus arrows come their way before they can celebrate their victory. Urak is hit squarely in the left knee, crashing to the deck. Matteo is hit firmly in the left shoulder, very near to the spot Rhune so recently opened up. He also falls to the deck. Rhune also is hit in the fleshy part of the right thigh, but only glancingly so. She drops to the deck, purely voluntarily.

The situation as it stands. After the healers among you have tended to each of your wounds as best they can (non-magically), only Xania is unconscious, terribly injured. Ullar is almost equally terribly injured, but is conscious and able to fight, a stubborn bastard. Of the others, Matteo and Urak are badly injured, Marika, Asif, and Rhune only lightly so. Jacobus is at almost full strength. Only three spells have been cast so far, Marika and Xania's M-U spells, and Matteo's CLW.