The Liberation Of Holitze

Maire' reaches into her pouch and produces a pinch of fine sand. She begins to mutter words in a strange tongue and wave her hands around. She then tosses the sand in the direction of the orcs.

Everyone watches to see what happens. To everyone's relief, all five orcs drop to the ground immediately, and start to snore.

Everyone waits for a short while to see if there is any reaction from elsewhere to the orcs' sudden attack of tiredness, but everything in the village is still.

The slave who witnessed Jihan's ascent up the tree is trying to signal something to him. He is nodding in the direction of the tavern itself. He nods three times in that direction, stops, and then repeats the action a second time.

'Either that guy's got Parkinson's Disease, or there are another three in the tavern.' Says Jihan.

Jihan stays in his position high in the tree to act as look out for the others. Corrow and Maire' remain hidden in the safety of the clump of the trees.

Winnacer, Xavier, Yaz and Darius creep from the position in order to deal with the sleeping orcs. They keep a low profile as they pass under the windows of the tavern so that the three orcs inside will not disturb them before the sleeping orcs are dead or incapacitated. The slaves are a little alarmed at the goings-on unfolding in front of them, but manage to keep calm, understanding that any panic from them could jeopardize the rescue attempt.

Yaz takes the elven bowstring that Jihan gave him, and carefully ties up the closest of the sleeping orcs. Now the party will have a captive to interrogate after the encounter. While he is doing this, Xavier, Winnacer and Darius quickly slit the throats of the other four orcs.

Winnacer whispers to the other three to come over in order to plan their attack upon the three orcs inside the tavern. Darius, however, has other ideas.

The little goblin looks an even more strange sight than he normally does, as he is dressed in a coat of orcish chainmail that he took from the encounter in the clearing. The coat of chainmail is far too big for him and drags on the ground as if he is wearing a bulky dress.

'DIE ORCKY SCUM, DIE!' screams Darius as he pulls forth his shortsword and charges into the tavern, with his normal lack of subtlety and forethought.

Cursing Darius' impulsive actions (again) Winnacer, Xavier and Yaz charge in after him.

There are indeed three orcs there. One of them is wearing a cloak and has a number of symbols on his armor. From the fact he is dressed identically to the sargeant in the clearing combat they guess that he is the leader of this band. Two other orcs are with him.

Darius goes charging towards the sargeant with hatred burning in his eyes. Enthusiasm alone, however, is not enough for Darius to be successful and he manages only to slash the air above the sargeant's head. Winnacer, seeing that the goblin is no match for the skills of the sargeant draws 'Old Bohavia' and attempts to take out the sargeant before he has chance to damage to the goblin. With Darius in the way, however, it is impossible for Winnacer to get in a good shot and neither of his first two attacks gets anywhere close to the orc.

Seeing that there is no room to join the combat with the sargeant and that the third orc is behind the sargeant and the second, both Xavier and Yaz go for the second orc. Xavier's aim with his bastard sword is true, but the orc's mail takes most of the force of the blow, leaving the orc only scratched. Yaz rushes over to finish off the scratched orc but, in his haste, manages to trip over a barstool which sends him sprawling to the floor.

The orcs manage to work out what is going on and strike back. The sargeant strikes out at Winnacer seeing him as the more threatening of the two. He strikes out with his broadsword, but Winnacer parries the blow easily with his shield. The second orc strikes at Xavier with his broadsword, but the Saxon veteran easily manages to avoid the blow.

The third orc does not rush into combat. He has a large ram's horn hanging from his shoulder. He pulls the horn up to his mouth and starts to blow into it. The room is filled with the powerful blast from the horn, at a volume that sets everyone's ears buzzing. Whether they wanted to attract the other orcs' attention or not, the alarm has now definitely been sounded.

Jihan, hearing the alarm doubles his efforts to keep watch for the summoned orcs.

Darius lashes out at the sargeant again. Much to everyone's surprise, especially Darius', he manages to find a chink in the sargeant's chain and pushes the shortsword into the sargeant's flank. The sargeant bellows in agony as the sword pierces him. Such a terrible wound would surely have killed a normal orc, but sargeants are always chosen from the toughest of the bunch. Winnacer tries to finish the job that Darius started, but his attempt does not find a way through the sargeant's armor.

Xavier tries to finish off the other orc, but his blow simply bounces off the orc's mail. Yaz, somewhat embarrassed at his less than heroic start to the combat, retrieves his scimitar from the ground and hauls himself up.

The orc sargeant strikes back, determined to get his revenge on the goblin, but it is not to be as Darius ducks his head as the sargeant's sword passes just over it. The second orc strikes at Xavier and manages to land a not insignificant blow to his leg. Xavier knows, however, that he can stand another couple of such wounds however. The Hornblower joins the combat. Seeing the sargeant in trouble, he tries to maneuver his halberd to get an attack on the goblin. Although halberds are vicious weapons on the field, they are poor weapons for fighting in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the tavern however, and the orc can find no way to hit the goblin.

Darius strikes again at the sargeant, determined to finish him off. This time, however, the sargeant's mail protects him. Winnacer, however, has no problem finding his mark upon the sargeant and plunges 'Old Bohavia' deep into the sargeant's chest, killing him instantly. Xavier tries to finish off the orc that he is fighting, but his blow lands wide. Yaz tries to make up for lost time and launches himself at the Hornblower. His scimitar, however, does not manage to pierce the orc's armor.

The orc in combat with Xavier tries to strike again but misses Xavier by a mile this time. Hornblower tries to bring his halberd into contact with Yaz. As Hornblower is a little way distant from the others in combat and does not have to worry about hitting a friend, he is able to swing the halberd properly, which connects with Yaz in a terrible way. The blade of the halberd easily slices through Yaz's leather armor and causes a gaping wound in his chest. Yaz is very much down and losing blood fast.

Seeing the party's main healer go down causes alarm amongst the others.

'Maire' cries Winnacer 'we need you in here fast,'

Just as Winnacer says this, he hears the cry of a hawk. Jihan has seen an orc approaching from the east.

As Jihan sees the orc running for the tavern he lets fly with one of his arrows, which flies well over the head of the orc. He loosens a second one in quick succession, but it too goes a long way wide of the orc.

Darius leaps over the body of the fallen sargeant to attack Hornblower, but his shortsword falls a way short of connecting with him. Winnacer, seeing that Hornblower is tied up with fighting Darius, falls to his knees in order to tend to Yaz's wounds. Xavier once again strikes the orc, determined to finish with this orc in order that he may be ready to deal with any others that may have been alerted. His blow is an almighty one, hacking off the orc's head with one blow.

Hornblower is the only orc left alive in the tavern. He attempts to deal with Darius who is facing him, but the clumsy polearm is no match for the nimble goblin, who easily sidesteps Hornblower's attempt to catch him.

Outside, the orc rushes past Jihan's position in an attempt to get to the tavern where the sound of fighting can be heard. Jihan loosens off a couple of shots at the hastily departing orc, but his position in the tree is uncomfortable and the arrows fly way off target.

Darius tries again to kill Hornblower, but once again his swing is way off target. Seeing no other orcs entering the tavern yet, Xavier charges into the fray. He just manages to catch Hornblower off guard, although the cut is not so deep. The orc tries to strike Xavier, and very nearly hits him, but Xavier is just too quick for him so the halberd fails to cause him any damage. Winnacer finishes bandaging up Yaz. Winnacer is no expert in these matters, but his dressing will ensure that Yaz's condition will not worsen until Maire' can see to him.

Outside, Jihan has opportunity for another couple of shots before the orc leaves his line of sight before entering the tavern. Yet again Jihan's shots fail to hit the orc. The first is on target but fails to pierce the orc's mail. The second flies way off in the opposite direction.

Darius strikes at Hornblower again, but narrowly avoids hitting the orc. Xavier again manages to find his way through Hornblower's defense, but causes only another minor scratch on him. Winnacer, seeing the angry orc still very much alive, wades into the combat hacking wildly at the orc - so wildly in fact, that 'Old Bohavia' goes flying from his hands. The orc tries again to rid himself of Xavier , but Xavier again just manages to avoid the orc's blow.

Jihan loudly gives the cry out the hawk, three times as he sees three more orcs approaching from the south. He fires at the orcs twice, but again his shots are wildly off target. Two of the orcs continue towards the tavern while the third, who is armed with a short bow, ducks behind the building in order to get into cover.

Darius again swings at Hornblower, and this time his strike connects with the orc, although the damage, yet again, is not severe. Surely the orc cannot take much more of this punishment, however. Xavier swings at the orc again, but this time his bastard sword does not manage to pierce the orc's armor. Winnacer dives under the table in order to retrieve 'Old Bohavia'.

As Winnacer picks the ancient longsword from the floor of the tavern, the first of the orcs from outside rushes into the 'Thug and Succubus' and takes a swing at him with his halberd - the clumsy weapon, however, avoids Winnacer though. Hornblower strikes out again at Darius this time. Once again, his weapon nearly hits, but Darius manages to avoid the weapon just in the nick of time.

Jihan prays to Prirodna for guidance as he yet again tries to take out some of the orcs running towards the tavern. His first shot misses, but his second shot strikes home. He is disappointed, however to see that the arrow just nicks the orc. An arrow then hits the tree that Jihan is hidden in - the orc with the bow is starting to shoot at him. Another shot is then fired from the orc. This one finds its mark, hitting Jihan firmly in the side. Jihan immediately falls both unconscious and out of the tree just a couple of paces away from where both Maire' and Corrow are hiding. Maire' immediately gets to work on bandaging up the fallen Jihan.

Darius again strikes out at Hornblower, but tries a little too hard. It is now his turn to see his sword flying through the air away from him. Distracted by Darius' actions, Xavier fails to hit the orc. Hornblower strikes back at Xavier, but his blow is far from accurate.

Winnacer, locked in combat with the new arrival, is suddenly presented with two more orcs coming through the door towards him. He lashes out angrily at the three of them, but manages to hit none. The three orcs all try to get a hit on Winnacer but all miss in the chaotic combat - one of them manages to lose the grip on his spear while he does so.

Darius rushes over and picks up his sword. Xavier misses hitting Hornblower totally. Hornblower also manages not to land a blow on the Saxon. Now it's Winnacer's turn to lose his grip again on 'Old Bohavia' sending it skimming across the floor. Being faced with two angry orcs, he draws his other longsword, waiting for a lull before getting 'Old Bohavia' again. The two orcs try to land blows on Winnacer while he is weapon less, but one misses him totally and the other's blow is parried by Winnacer's shield. The other orc fumbles on the ground trying to find his spear.

With his shortsword back in hand ,Darius tries again to finish Hornblower, but the orc is saved by his armor. Xavier's blow is also way off target. Hornblower comes closer to hitting Xavier, but the Saxon is still protected by his mail.

Winnacer lashes out at the two orcs facing him, furious with himself for losing his grip on 'Old Bohavia' again. In the swirl of steel, he lands a good blow on the first orc facing him, and a deadly blow on the second who was previously injured by Jihan's arrow. The injured orc strikes back, but the pain means that his blow is not accurate. The other orc has now picked up his spear, but fails to get a blow through the swirling steel that Winnacer is brandishing.

Darius yet again manages to miss Hornblower, but Xavier, determined to finish him gathers up all of his strength and hacks downwards on the orc, cutting him in two. Winnacer is similarly successful, as he pierces the injured orc in front of him, killing him. While he is doing so, however, the other orc armed with a spear, manages to thrust into Winnacer's right arm, causing a reasonable amount of damage.

Darius and Xavier are about to come to Winnacer's aid when another two orcs come screaming through the door.

'How many of these cursed creatures are there' shouts Xavier. 'The peasant woman said that there were only ten, but we have dispatched that many, yet still they come.'

Darius launches himself at the first of the new arrivals. The plucky goblin manages to inflict just a small wound on the orc, but it was obviously the runt of the litter, as it is still sufficient in order to dispatch it. Xavier strikes at the other, but misses. Winnacer lashes out again wildly, enraged at the wounding that he has taken from the spearman. In a fury of whirling steel, he lops off the head of the spearman and carries through to hack into the side of the other orc in combat with Xavier, killing it.

Xavier is impressed. 'You're learning the stuff of combat very fast, young knight' he says.

But there is no time for further back slapping. Two more orcs burst through into the tavern.

Invigorated through their recent success, the threesome hack into the oncoming orcs with fury. With the two burly fighters facing them, the first orc does not see little Darius standing there. Seeing his chance, the plucky goblin plunges his sword up into the orc's groin, killing him instantly. Not to be outdone by a goblin, Xavier hacks into the other, slicing him neatly in two.

Yet two more orcs come through, having to climb over the wall of their fallen comrades to get into combat. Darius by now is frothing with rage and excitement, on a massive adrenaline rush through seeing the orcs who caused him so much hardship in the past being scythed like grass in front of him. He whirls his sword around like a man (or goblin) possessed, striking down yet another of the orcs. Xavier too is under the influence of total battle lust, having not had this type of feeling since the Battle of Lake Roga. He feels that he could conquer the entire Nyemetz army single handed. Throwing all of his weight into his attack on the second orc, he hacks the creatures arm off, sending it to join the wall of Nyemetz dead.

'Hey you two' says Winnacer with mock anger 'Save some of this scum for me!'

His wish comes true, as yet another two orcs burst through the door. This time Winnacer is the first into combat with them, lashing out at the pair of them. His blows glance off the armor of one of them, but the other goes down as the longsword pierces the orc's gut. The other orc is slightly more elusive, as it manages to avoid the blows of both Xavier and Darius. The orc tries to strike at Winnacer with his axe, but Winnacer is easily able to dodge.

Winnacer and Xavier both fail to hit the orc, but there's no stopping Darius, who plunges his sword through the orc's mail and adds him to his mounting list of kills.

The three brave warriors are panting as they hold their weapons loft waiting for more of the Nyemetz scum to enter the tavern. One more orc comes through the door, but when it sees the massive pile of dead orcs on the floor and three fighters with blood on their blades and fire in their eyes, it throws its halberd to the ground and runs as fast as it can.

'Don't let the bastard escape' cries Winnacer as he sets off in hot pursuit. The orc is fast, but so are Darius and Winnacer, who both get a chance to take a swing at the quickly departing orc. Winnacer having the longest reach gets the first blow in. It is a mortal blow, lopping the cowardly orc's head off at the neck. The decapitated orc's body falls to the ground with a dull thud.

Exhausted by the rigors of the combat, the three warriors wait to see if there are any more Nyemetz left in the village to deal with. However, at the death of the last orc, the crowd of slaves starts to cheer at the top of their voices.

'You've done it!' one of the slaves shouts jubilantly '. There were twenty Nyemetz here - you've killed the lot of them!'