The large room seemed small and uncomfortable, packed as it was. Everywhere humans, elves and even an ogre sat, stood or paced in the cramped spaced. Nearly every single one armed to the teeth with both mundane and exotic items. Here a stocky man idly sharpens his axe; there lounges an elf in fine clothing whose platinum ring has caught the eye of a rather plain looking elf. Off to one corner a couple of magi sit heads buried in their books. Around them seems to be an open space as the others give them room. This of course causes crowding in others and generally raises the already high-tension level in the room. The only other one, who isn't crowded, is the ogre. Standing dead center of the room, everyone gives him a wide berth and every eye glances in his direction every now and then.

To make matters worse, there are no windows in the room, which apparently wasn't meant to accommodate this many people at one time. More than one person can be seen with beads of perspiration dotting their foreheads as they sit/stand in full armor.

The doors open and conversation stops. A huge gauntlet is seen pushing the door open. Taking in the figure in a single glance, most of those nearest the door make haste for the rear. Through the portal the figure walks, and the reason for their retreat becomes obvious. Standing easily twice as tall as everyone else in the room, dressed in a bright white outfit with a strange design resembling a sunburst in red on his chest, the figure looks around the room. The grim expression on his face makes more than one place his hand on his weapon. Crossing his arms over his chest he speaks, his voice sounding more like a slow avalanche.

"My name Rasalas. I trust that you are here in answer to the call for *experienced* adventurers. Those of you who don't fit the bill had better leave now, cause I didn't bring the wet nurse along, so there ain't no going to be no one there to hold your hand." He pauses, and locks eyes with the only other ogre in the room. The silence stretches for long moments before he continues his gaze still locked on the ogre, his face betraying nothing.

"In a few moments, your benefactor will appear and this 'adventure' will begin", he says adventure with a slightly sarcastic emphasis. "I am here to tell you what you've gotten yourselves into. There is an old temple in a section of this valley that shall rename nameless for now. I don't know who used to live in this temple, but I was in on the last two missions and they ended in pure disaster. They left behind some pretty nasty traps and guardians. They seem very fond of almost no-win situations. From experience I can tell you that they will toss a few light fights at us to soften us up then the trouble begins. Bring whatever lucky charms you got and pray to whatever gods", he smirks, "you believe in." He stops and cocks his head just a little. A brief expression of listening flits across his face. "All right men!" he continues in a much sterner louder voice. Like a Sargent-at-arms calling his men to order. "Straighten up, shut up and listen up! Your benefactor here is going to say a few words."

Behind his massive legs a figure enter the doorway. The figure turns misty and the mist flows around the massive ogre, as it reaches a point in front of him, it coalesces into the figure of a human. Standing at 6'1" the man dressed in a flowing blue robe, which changes into breeches and shirt even as they watch, takes a long solemn look around. Finally he nods to himself and mutters in an overly loud whisper, "Maybe we can get at least halfway this time." The shirt and breeches changes into bluish scale mail. With a solemn face, he says in a voice that strangely seems to carry a note of humor, "Well gentlemen I know Ras has briefed you by now. My name is Torana and I do plan on going with you. Remember my safety is your top priority. Without me you don't get paid. Now I am loathe to walk all that distance, so I have prepared alternate means of travel." He pauses before continuing, "I didn't expect quite so many, but that is good. It improves our odds as a whole." The scale mail dissolves and reforms into Field Plate complete with helmet. From beneath the helmet comes, "Prepare yourselves for battle. Ras will lead you to the transport chamber. Expect to be attacked immediately. I will wait one-fifth of a candle tick then join you. I expect you have at least made good on securing the entrance." He turns to mist and flows around Rasalas. Part of the mist moves toward his head before going on. Rasalas looks behind him and says, "No, sir it didn't tickle."

Even those who can't see the figure reform behind him can hear the dissatisfied grunt as the figure stalks away.

"Okay everyone get ready, and follow me. You boy! What’s your name?" he points at the other ogre.

"Aladfar", comes the reply, in a quiet sure voice.

"Aladfar....", he pauses considering the ogre, "You stay with me. I want to survive this madness." Without another word, he turns and walks out the door. Aladfar follows close behind and then one by one the others arm themselves and follow. The magi hang toward the rear of the group.

They follow Rasalas into a much larger chamber, much plainer chamber. The ceiling however is very high and the room is completely circular. "Magi in the center. Clerics stand just outside the Mage circle. Everyone else spread out along the blue line on the floor" he barks.

There are several circles are engraved into the floor and outer gold circle a middle blue circle and an inner black circle. Just outside the circles stand five magi in purple robes with green and blue arm circlets. Once everyone is ready. The magi spread out and in unison chant their runes. Even to those only vaguely familiar with the magic the rune sounds rushed. Suddenly, a ring of light seems to lift from the golden circle creating a golden wall obscuring everything. Just as suddenly the wall disappears and they are in a chamber similar to the one just left. The circles in this room are next to a one wall. This chamber is much larger, and it seems like nature is trying to reclaim it, as weeds and vines are everywhere. And except for the group the room is empty...if no one counts the nine wolf-like creatures prowling the one side of the room, the dozen orcs, who up to that moment seemed to be hunting the creatures. Also don’t count the moving mound of earth standing next to one of the orcs and the three giant snakes who were watching the battle from a distance only now they are right above the group.

As the group appears, everyone freezes and for a long moment your group is the center of attention. One of the orcs makes a head motion in your direction and the mound of earth sinks into the ground.

The rather plain looking elf mutters a word and in a flash of bluish-white light disappears.

A deep throaty growl comes from one of the wolves and the others form a line to either side of him, growling at orcs and party alike.

One of the giant snakes decides to retreat toward a hole in the wall. While the others hiss at the new intruders.

Half of the orcs barely take notice of the group, the other half quickly begins to form a defensive line.

An elf wearing rather colorful clothes and a hooded cape takes aim at one of the orcs and fires. The arrow bursts into flames in mid-air and slams into the ground as one of the orcs nimbly jumps out of the way.

The tall red headed mage begins to chant a rune...

With a mighty heave the human in all black tosses his axe up at one of the snakes above. The snake seeing the axes moves in an attempt to get out of the way, but it doesn't move nearly fast enough as the axe cleaves its neck from its head.

One of the orcs lets loose an arrow into the group. The arrow just narrowly misses Rasalas, who dodged by the merely angling his head to one side. The arrow continues slamming into an unlucky mage who looked like he had something else on his mind. Apparently he will have nothing else on it ever again as the arrow explodes ripping a large hole in the mage and spraying parts of his innards around him. Surprisingly, he survives, but only for a few moments as he stares blankly at his lifeblood flowing out of him.

Aladfar moves into action as he charges the orc line. Suddenly from his empty hand springs a pole, which he plants into the ground and uses to lift him off the ground and flying into the orc line. Just as he nears the orc-ish line the earth explodes and a wall of iron appears just in front of him. There is a loud clang as he slams heavily into it and falls to the ground. The ground starts exploding all round as walls of iron appear attempting to encircle the group.

A figure fully cloaked and hooded gets a shot off in the direction of the wolves and is rewarded with a yelp before an iron wall cuts off his view.

As soon as the walls begin to appear Rasalas breaks from the circle heading long the wall to one side. Most of the others begin to quickly follow him.

An elf with long amber hair aborts his shot at the now hidden orcs and makes a run for it with Rasalas.

The axe tossed up at the snakes completes a large loop and returns back to its owner’s hands.

The tall human with the strange armor shouts 'Abo Abor Gel’ and his sword slowly begins to take on a bluish sheen.

The third snake has decided to attack but strikes at an area where no is. But just as quickly it calls off its strike, instead moving about as if looking for something its touch searching the air.

The wall stop exploding from the ground forming a rough semi-circle that blocks direct view of the orcs but allows the party to exit from a space from either side near a wall.

The red headed mage completes the rune, but nothing happens.

Suddenly the golden wall is back cutting off some of the party. It disappears a moment later and to everyone’s surprise three ogres appear mixed in with the group. They appear to be wearing armor similar to Rasalas and armed with rather nasty looking weapons. One armed with a sword begins to charge the walls before quite realizing they are there. The other two armed with battle-axes look about ready for a fight.

The magi move quickly away from the lone snake and the armed ogres.

Aladfar picks himself up and leans against the wall. The wall seems to tilt slightly away from him.

Beyond the walls the sound of a wounded wolf yelping continues, but it is quickly drowned out by the sound of metal clashing and orcs screaming battle cries.

The snake seems confused by the aniseed dropped by the elf and is still trying to sense the invisible elf's location. He sneaks toward the entrance and see an orc-ish archer standing with what looks to be a mage and another orc dressed in armor, yet wielding no weapon. He also has a large medallion on, but the design is not clear at this angle.

The elf is surprised when the snake suddenly charges him, being chased by the ogres. He tumbles out of the way, but it is unnecessary, as the ogres have caught the snake. However, the commotion has attracted the attention of the archer who is moving quickly toward the invisible elf with a bow knocked and ready. The armored orc with no weapon takes a look at the ogres at the entrance and with a snort, waves his hand in a careless gesture and they fade away. All except one. Seeing this the archer shoots at the lone ogre. The lone ogre luckily manages to duck the shot and retreats. The orc readies up another arrow and moves cautiously past them arrow poised at the ogre, ready to fire.

The armored orc, suddenly, reaches down to the ground and in a dramatic gesture scoops up some of the dirt and throws it into the air. At the same time the earth explodes at the other entrance and the moving mass of earth appears.
Neither the mage nor the cleric seems aware of the invisible elf. The cleric does seem to be slightly distracted, but only slightly. Actually the two seem to be having a rather pleasant conversation. The invisible elf creeps through the opening sneaking around to their rear. With a swift motion he draws his sword and tries to stab the cleric in the back. As he does this however the mage notices him and shouts a warning. The warning comes too late however as the elf shoves his steel blade into the clerics' back. He cries out in pain waving his hands in he air. He actually starts running with the sword still in him, dragging it out of the elf's hands. An identical roar is heard coming from inside the iron wall. The mage starts to speak rune. Recovering quickly the now visible elf grabs a dagger to throw at the mage, but it is too late. The mage speaks the rune and a purple-ish glow appears in front of it. It resolves into three arrows, which slam into the elf knocking him back further with each impact. The third attack knocks him off of his feet, sending his dagger sprawling and leaving him stunned on the ground. He sees an orc come back around the curve of the iron wall and nearly slams into the fleeing cleric. Within moments the sword is withdrawn from the clerics back and tossed aside. The cleric may be too hurt to continue, but others will continue the fight. The mage begins another rune, while backing away from the prone elf.

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The sight that greets the trio beyond the wall can be described as confusing at best. Several of the orcs are having a heated discussion, apparently about their sudden arrival as several of them gestures towards the wall. Of the entire group, only three are engaging the wolves. While two of them are killing the wolves, the third seems to merely concentrate on knocking them out then tying them up. Within moments the three had already slaughtered/captured six of the nine wolves, one of which was wounded by an arrow.

Suddenly, the trio's world changes as they are thrown bodily into the air and fall to the ground with a hard thud. Their weapons slip from their grasp and land a few feet away. As they get up they quickly realize that the argument has ended and the orcs are moving toward them with unfriendly faces.

Recovering quickly the elf with the amber locks scrambles to his feet, drawing his swords just in time to meet the hostile orc attack. An orc wearing rather fine chain mail and wielding a pair of weapons that look very much like short-handled scythe attacks him. For the first few moments the elf is on the defense. Soon he tries his own attacks, but the orc apparently at least as skilled as he is as the two settle in for a long fight.
An orc with a heavy-chained mace swings at the colorful elf, who just barely manages to roll away in time. Leaping to his feet, he again just barely dodges the orcs next attack. He draws his long sword and neatly parries a third attack. Unfortunately his luck ends as he draws his short sword with his left hand and attempts to parry again. Being barely able to hold the sword, it is easily swept aside by the head of the heavy mace, which crashes into his side sending him spinning wildly for a moment. His short sword goes skidding across the floor. He recovers quickly and concentrates on using just his long sword. Though he is favoring his left side.

The third orc, wielding a heavy battle hammer, manages to get a solid hit on Rasalas' back, as he tries to get up. The ogre falls heavily, but instead of trying to move out of the way the huge ogre, still flat on his stomach, swings out with a backhand that catches the orc by surprise stunning him for the few necessary moments for Rasalas to recover.

Another of the wolf-like creatures is silenced forever as the three orcs press their attacks against them. The two remaining ones back themselves into a corner and snap and snarl at anything that gets near them. One of the three orcs calls back to his companions over his shoulder, his eyes never once leaving the creatures.

Now that Rasalas has recovered, he draws a blade so large that in the hands of another creature it may have been a two handed weapon, but not in his. A beautifully forged 8-ft. blade extends from the hilt. The very sight of it makes the orc hesitate to attack. So, Rasalas takes the fight to him. Despite the size difference, there have been orcs in the past that could handle ogres and even best them. This orc, however, was not one of them. After parrying a few shots, the orc attempted to attack and that was its fatal mistake, as Rasalas blade sliced him clean in half from side to side.

The colorful elf has his hands full with his orc attacker, as the creature somehow seems to attack from multiple directions at once. Within a few moments the elf is favoring his left arm as well and a bruise on his right leg. But he was not the only one to suffer, as the orcs' armor has numerous holes in it due to the elf's sword.

The elf with the amber locks is doing only a little better as he fights his opponent who seems to switch fighting styles every few seconds. Just as it seems the elf is making progress, the orc switches fighting styles and deals the elf a small blow, by slicing the outside of his clothing, almost as if he were toying with him.

The last mounful pained howl sounds as the orcs finishes off the last of the wolf-like creatures. The three triumphant orcs turn around and seem surprised to find a battle going on without them. Recovering their composure, two of the three try to flank Rasalas and the other heads back behind the wall of iron.

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Aladfar moves quickly back in an attempt to put distance between him and the archer. That same archer stops at the opening and changes his target.

In one smooth motion, the hooded man draws his bow and nocks the arrow and takes aim at the orc.

The orc archer seeing the movement changes his target and lets the arrow fly.

The hooded man can only watch in horror, as the arrow slams into his shoulder, knocking the bow away from him and spinning him around.

The black clad human again tosses his mighty axe, this time at the orc. The axe sweeps a beautiful arc before it reaches the orc. The orc dives out of the way and the axe smashes it's bow and takes a small chunk out of him.

The elf with the silver necklace examines the situation and begins to stalk the earthen mound.

The red headed mage begins to chant again.

The tall human draws his bow and aims at the tumbling orc. Waiting until the orc stops tumbling, then shooting at just the right moment. The arrow slams into one of his legs knocking them out from under him. The orc falls flat on his face.

A horrid scream is heard from beyond the walls. The sound is mirrored from the mound of earth.

The humans' axe returns to him and he turns toward the screaming mound of earth.

The elf with the silver necklace takes a swing at the back of the mound of earth and his sword slams into it and buries itself into the creature almost as if the creature were trying to absorb the sword.

The mage finishes the spell and a blackish glow briefly flickers around the mage before the area around the creature becomes filled with thick sticky webs.

All combat virtually stops as the webs hinder all the creatures in the area. For a moment, there is absolute silence then a strange sound is heard....the sound of a hiccup coming from one of the fighters. Within moments there is an entire chorus as seemingly everyone also suffers from the hiccups.

The mound of earth, the tall human, and Aladfar break free of the webs easily. Aladfar helps the human attack the earth creature. Though neither is particularly effective with both of them suffering from chronic hiccuping at critical moments.

The creature takes advantage of the distraction to disappear back into the ground without a trace.

The tall human aims again and this time his arrow flies true as it pierces the head of the wounded orc. The orc stops struggling on the ground.

The orc with the heavy-chained mace dances around the colorful elf striking with a speed that seems impossible for such an unwieldy weapon. The colorful elf dodges desperately to get away from the orc. Fumblingly he pulls a dagger out as the orc strikes again. This time the chain wraps around his long sword, the ball just barely missing his face as it goes around his weapon. With a yank the elf is pulled off his feet and his weapon goes flying away. But the elf uses his momentum to crash into the orc and the two go down. The orc drops his mace and beings pounding on the soft side of the elf, as the elf clumsily stabs his dagger into the side of the orc.

All fighting stops for a brief moment as twin screams are heard coming from different sections of the wall. A deep one sounds just on the other side of the wall. The other much higher pitched scream sounds just around the bend of the wall.

The brief moment is soon over and combat resumes.

Rasalas uses his weapons superior length to keep the two orcs at bay, even though they are now on opposite sides of him. The two tumble and dance just in and out of range of the sword, attempting to get in a hit while his back is turned. All the while shouting between each other. Suddenly, one of the two swings his weapon in an attempt to parry the large sword. But the sheer momentum of the ogres' weapon cleaves the orcs puny sword in two. The minor interruption is however enough to throw Rasalas momentarily off balance as he compensates for the hit. The other orc charges in, clumsily throwing a dagger, which hits Rasalas handle first and bounces off harmlessly. He then does a beautiful duck and roll as the mighty blade comes around and passes over his head. The orc comes out of the roll with a flip and lands within a few feet of the ogre, who now faces the other orc. With a mighty push the orc thrusts his sword at the ogres back. But since the ogre is still in the process of turning around as the sword hits, it only catches part of his side instead of the full back, which is no longer available to him. Still the blow is effective as the sword tears Rasalas a new scar that starts at the lower part of his side and continues upward along his back toward his right shoulder blade, where the blade sticks. The orcs momentum won't allow it to stop, so as the blade sticks and the ogre turns, the orc is tossed bodily away from the fight to land several feet away, weaponless. As the battle continues, Rasalas occasionally attempts to try and remove the sword from his back. Each time he gives up, grimacing in pain. While still trying to hold off the lone orc holding half a sword. Each time he raises his own sword his face becomes a mask of pain as the sword in his back digs deeper.

The elf with the amber locks switches his attack pattern from a two handed style to a one hand parry and one hand attack style. The orc not expecting the change in style moves to block the expected second hand attack and the result is an opening which the elf uses, thrusting his long sword in before the orc can recover. The thrust catches on a link in the fine chain mail and pierces it. The orc jumps back in surprise and spares a moment to glance down and assess the damage. Though the hit only caused a superficial wound, the moment to assess it cost him even more as elf manages to catch one of the scythes on a blade and flick it away from him. Down to only one weapon the orc resorts to a defensive strategy placing his back against the wall and edging sideways around it to keep from getting flanked and pinned. The elf with the amber locks pursues.

The colorful elf and the orc stop rolling. The orc lands on top and both lie still. After a few moments the elf heaves the heavy orc off of him, where it lies still, the last remains of its blood draining away. His outfit has undergone a drastic change, as the dominant color is now red with only a few other colors showing through here and there. With extreme effort he gets up wincing and holding his side, his face a mass of bruises and his armor torn in one spot. With obvious effort he moves to pick up his sword and help Rasalas.

The orc that was thrown gets up slowly and looks around. Spying its weapon still in Rasalas back, he gives a short laugh. That laugh is cut off when he realizes that someone is behind him. He turns to the red splashed elf coming to the aid of his companion. The last thing he sees is the elf plunging his weapon deep into his belly.

The orc in fine chain mail, does a quick spin bring his lone weapon in an attack that deflects both of the elf with the amber locks weapons at the same time. Then he dodges back and around the bend of the wall with the elf close behind. They disappear around the bend in the wall.

A quick glance around shows the lone orc that his companions are gone and he is outnumbered. He begins a full retreat, but doesn't get far as Rasalas jumps forward and thrusts his sword at the orc. Given the length of the jump and the length of the blade, that orc, indeed no one in that room could have escaped, as the blade pierces the orc in the back and comes out his front.

Rasalas doesn't get up from his collapsed state on the ground. The sword still sticking out his back slowly pierces deeper into his back, driven by its own weight.

The hooded elf finally breaks free of the webs and with difficulty retrieves his bow. His hiccups get more severe as he goes on. Without out a backward glance he moves toward the opening where the orc came from.

Within moments nearly everyone is freed from the webs, some it takes longer than others do. Most try one way or another to get rid of their hiccups and their efforts seem to fail.

The elf with the silver necklace tries between hiccups to ask "What (hiccup) is go (hiccup) going on (hiccup)?" The effort nearly makes him choke several times.

The red headed mage again begins to speak a rune, but the rune is interrupted every few seconds as he hiccups.

The human in the strange armor breaks free and after failing to try and stop his hiccups, carefully makes his way toward the entrance, drawing his bow as he moves.

The red headed mage finally finishes his rune and those who look at him actually seem to watch him momentarily turn a blandish gray, the grayness extends to his clothing as well as his skin. The effect wears off quickly and his is back to his normal color.

The others eventually follow merely because there is now an opening in the webs. As they go they notice that the howling of the wolves has stopped and the clashing of weapons has also ceased. In fact, only silence comes from the area where Rasalas and the two elves disappeared.

By the time the group reaches the opening, the hiccups have stopped. And a rather interesting scene greets them.

The orc seeing the once invisible elf backing away from the mage stops just to one side of the mage and smiles evilly. He holds a rather large stone hammer with metal plates attached to ends of that hammer.

The elf looks the mage in the eye and smiles trying to speak the words to a rune he hope will sound impressive. But even to untrained ears, the rune sounds like silly nonsense. The orcs rune however seems interesting...

The mage finishes his rune and a ball of light appears over his head. The light immediately assumes multicolored hues and starts swirling around in complex patterns.

The elf's eyes go to it immediately and he finds himself thinking that the light isn't so bad. Actually it's kind of pretty...he wonders what in the world could have been so important that he didn't notice the ball before. Nothing else matters just the pretty ball of lights swirling. The image fills up his entire view and it is all he can think about.

The elf with the amber locks chases the orc around the bend and runs his sword straight into him as he catches up to the orc. The orc stands motionless, his arms at his side, not even acknowledging that he has been given a fatal wound. Looking around the elf sees what he found so interesting.

Before him is an orc with a major wound in his back that seems to be healing as he look at it, but that isn't important....

He also sees that plain looking elf across the way staring motionlessly back at him. But that isn't important....

He does see an orc mage and another orc with a mean looking war hammer standing and laughing to themselves. But that also isn't important....

What he finds so important and so fascinating is the giant ball of light just above the mage. The swirling ball of light with the multicolored hues. So beautiful that it commands all of his attention. In fact nothing else in this world can be as important to him as the giant ball of light. Nothing else even interests him.

As the hooded one peeks around the corner, the first thing he sees is the plain looking elf just standing there staring across the room.

He also sees on the other side of the room, an orc with an obviously fatal wound, still standing.....and staring across the room.

Next to him he recognizes the elf with the amber locks with a bloodied sword....staring across the room.

Just in front of them is another orc on the ground. With a wound that seems to be rapidly healing.

And in the middle of the room there is an orc mage and fighter with a large mean-looking stone war hammer with metal ends standing and laughing. Just above them is a strange multicolored ball of light that seems to be swirling. He thinks its strangely beautiful and all important. He feels the light taking over his mind whispering to him of beauty and love. But something in him recoils from it and thrusts the voices out. He shakes his head and everything goes back to normal.

Behind him, the human in the strange armor appears, bow drawn. He gives a gasp and his eyes go blank and his arms go to his side. His bow drops to the ground.

As the group nears the opening the hooded elf stops at the entrance and seems to stop completely and for a moment his features go slack.

The human in the strange armor, who enters the opening next to him also has his features go slack.

Though the elf recovers quickly, the human drops his bow and his stands with his arms at his side. His eyes blank.

As the human in strange armor peeks around the corner, the first thing he sees is the plain looking elf just standing there staring across the room.

He also see on the other side of the room, and orc with an obviously fatal wound, still standing.....and staring across the room.

Next to him is the elf with the amber locks with a bloodied sword....staring across the room.

Just in front of them is another orc on the ground. With a wound that seems to be rapidly healing.

And in the middle of the room is an orc mage and fighter with a mean looking large stone war hammer with metal ends standing and laughing. Just above them is a strange multicolored ball of light that seems to be swirling. He thinks its strangely beautiful and all important. He feel the light taking over his mind whispering to him of beauty and love.

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Taking aim, the hooded man points and shoots, the arrow flying true. The laughter of the orc mage is cut short as the arrow plows into him. The orc fighter takes one look at his companion and charges the attacker.

The red-headed mage takes one look at the human and starts backing up. Aladfar and the others quickly join him. Leaving only the hooded one in sight.

The hooded one retreats back a few steps and defends himself with his mace. But he is quickly out-matched by the sheer strength of the orc. Though he manages to get a few good hits, within moments, he is battered back and down until he is pinned against the wall.

Aladfar comes to his rescue as he extends his hand out and a staff leaps out from his palm. The staff lengthens until it is nearly a dozen feet long. After about ten feet the staff slams into the head of the creature.

The bright light from around the corner has died and the human with the strange armor falls down first then begins to wake up as if from a long dreamy sleep. For a moment he slumps to the ground holding his head.

From around the corner comes a bright quick flash of light.

The orc is stunned and that allows for the removal of the hooded one back inside the semi-circle for protection. But the orc quickly recovers and moves after his prey only to find Aladfar blocking the way. They face each other for only a moment, before the orc backs up. Passing the human in strange armor, the orc swings his hammer sounding a loud clang as metal tip of the hammer hits the armor knocking him down and sending him sprawling before disappearing behind the wall.

Silence rules this side of the battlefield. For a brief moment there is no sound at all. It is so quiet that it seems unreal. The bodies of the dead orcs and the wolf-like creature litter the area.

The silence is broken as in the distance there is the twang of a bow and the thud of the impact. There is a growling challenge. The brief clash of weapon against weapon. The crash of armor on the ground. Just around the bend in the wall there is a thump as if something heavy hits the ground. For a brief moment there is the sound of water crashing upon a beach.

Before the blood splashed elf lies the giant ogre, sword still in hand, still piercing the back the orc that tried to flee. He lies on the ground as the orcs sword still working its way deeper into the ogres back.

The colorful elf moves across the floor and pulls the sword out of the back of Rasalas and checks him. He is relieved to see that Rasalas is only unconscious. For a brief moment all sounds of battle cease. The they flair up again and judging from the sound of falling earth, the walking earth mound is back. The colorful elf sits quietly trying to recover while trying not to aggravate his wounds.

The hooded one crosses his hands on his chest and whispers his prayers, but even that little bit seems to take an effort from him. A moment later a pale green glow envelops his hands. The glow seems to travel from his hands to his body the glow seems to surround him for the briefest of moments. It seems as if his body absorbs the glow. He lets out a sigh and he seems a little stronger now. Still in no condition for a fight, but much stronger.

The two magi look at the opening fearful of what may happen.

The others wait as if looking for an answer.

The elf in the silver necklace, it seems has had enough and he charges out around the wall sword in hand. Seconds later the sound of battle starts again.

The human in strange armor gets up from the ground and charges out of sight, apparently joining the battle.

Aladfar is not far behind him.

The man in strange armor gets up and sees a battle unfolding. The elf with the silver necklace has charged a trio of orcs and is not having a good time of it. As the mound of earth has returns just before he reaches the orcs.

A motion to the right catches his attention, but as he looks he sees nothing but shadow.

To the left, the elf with the amber locks, staggers and falls.

With the mound of earth in the way, he his frustrated because he doesn't have any decent targets to shoot at. So picking up his sword, he charges in and helps the elf. A moment later he realizes that the ogre Aladfar has joined him as well.

The mound was handily trouncing the lone elf. But when joined in the attack by the man in strange armor, the creature had to divide its attentions, shifting the balance in their favor however slightly. Hacking at the body of the creature, rocks and stones fly everywhere, but the creature doesn't seem to get any smaller nor slow its attacks. The man in strange armor ducks as a large round object suddenly juts out from the mass at his head. The ogre smashes at the creature with his pole but the only effect it seems to have is to distract the creature. With three people attacking it, it seems more confused and it's attacks less frequent.

Suddenly a wave of rock knocks them out of the way. They get up and scramble to their feet to see that the rock mound is now behind them and the orcs are in front of them and the orc trio seems well prepared. The mage confidently taps a wand in one hand giving the trio an evil look. The fighter takes a few threatening swings with his hammer which is now glowing. The other armored orc, with the medallion, playfully tosses a strange box up and down, he grins as if he sees victory.

Behind them the mound turns into a rock wave and surges toward their backs.

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From behind the wall, the human in all black cautiously makes his way toward the battlefield.

Shouting his war cry, "ADUBILETH AN GILTHONIEL DRIMASTAR!", the elf with the silver necklace charges the trio of orcs.

The orcs note this charge and smile at each other. One nods his head and the armored orc tosses the black box in the elf's general direction. The elf easily dodges the box which hits the ground behind him. But the elf reaches the orcs a bit sooner than he thinks and not at all as he expected.

The box hits the ground and explodes, the force of the blast hits the elf knocking him off his feet and the remaining distance to the three orcs. Stunned, he seems helpless as the orc with the war hammer lifts him to his feet with one hand, and laughs at him before tossing him to the wall. The elf barely regains control of his limbs enough to move out of the way of the orcs hammer as it takes a chunk out of the old stone wall. Still shaken the elf makes a dive for his sword and grabs it just as the orcs second blow connects to his side. The elf nearly doubles up from the blow but still retains his grip on his sword. He just barely manages to parry the next attack so that it misses his head and stumble to his feet. Now on his feet and back to his senses he attacks the orc with a fury and nearly gets his head crushed. Though he manages to wreak incredible damage on the orc, but the orc manages to get his own hits in and in the elf's weaker condition, he eventually falls. The orc, who isn't doing that much better, stands over his downed opponent and howls. As he raises his hammer to shatter his opponents skull, the shadows come alive as the plain faced elf, with a really big bruise on his eye, drops a rope around the orcs neck and pulls tightly. Within moments the orc is dead.

Just before the explosion the human in the strange armor runs and jumps to the side avoiding the return of the mound of earth. The explosion only catches him partly and he is knocked back a few paces.

Bracing himself to meet the incoming earth wave, Aladfar is completely unprepared for the explosion which catapults him straight into the earth wave which collapses as he hits it. The wave flows into the ground and the earth is silent. Aladfar lays with his head partially buried.

The elf with the amber locks charges the two remaining orcs. But it seems the orc mage was waiting for a target as he points his wand at the elf and it flashes briefly and several red streaks appear from it and shoot out toward the elf. The streaks grow as they travel and turns slightly gray. The elf dodges the first one, but the next one hits him square in the chest and explodes. As he is falling back, he is hit by three more of the streaks which explode. He collides with the iron wall with a loud clang and slides down onto the ground unmoving.

The human in strange armor recovers and grabs his bow. Taking careful aim he shoots at the orc mage. His arrow flies true as it implants itself directly in the orcs back. The orc turns around a look of shock on his face and in perfect unaccented common he shouts, "AGAIN?!?!" He starts to reach for the arrow and begins to cough up blood. After a moment or two he manages to pull the arrow out, but he is weak and in a sitting position now as he turns to point his wand at the human.

The shadows move again and the plain faced elf is gone from the scene.

The armored orc looks around and gives a mighty roar. The roar is so loud and ferocious that everyone stops and stares at the single orc. He stands proud and defiant and there is a strange glint in his eye. A sense of dread seeps into the bones of all who watch. Everyone takes and involuntary step back and he takes a step forward. Most unconsciously hold their breath waiting to see what he does.

The orc turns toward his companion and with a warning growl directed at his enemies, sinks into the very ground leaving no trace of him or the orc mage.

For a moment everyone stands staring at the spot, then someone remembers to breathe and gasps for air. This breaks the spell binding everyone.