As they watch, five more join the group bringing the total to well over ten. One of the new arrivals look like a cross between an orc and an ogre. The other one looks more like a cross between an orc and a giant only twice as nasty.

One of the orcs turns and heads into the darkness disappearing quickly in the shadows.

Another moves back a few steps and draws his bow.

Tel 'gdor immediately moves behind everyone.

A third, oddly enough, takes his arrow and begins to perform some ritual with it.

Ja 'Far takes a deep breath and lets out a mighty roar that shakes the entire building. Everyone stops to look at him. He stands confident and ready to take on the world. He has a strange gleam in his eye as if he knows this is going to be a blood bath but he knows it's not his blood that will flow, but theirs. His companions turn away to face their opponents and an immense feeling of confidence flows through them and their enemies shudder as they realize how much trouble they are in.

Ja 'Far grabs his holy symbol and begins praying.

Dwopr grabs his holy symbol and begins muttering quick prayer.

The orc/giant shouts in common, "Come on fools, I don't have all day fight or get out of my...."

His boast is silenced as Dwopr finishes his prayer and points at the group. The orc/giant looks stunned and the others look around in confusion. As their lips move but no sound comes out.

The orc who performed a ritual with his weapon commits a cardinal sin. He takes his bow and arrow and carefully shoots straight at Ja 'Far's holy symbol. Ja 'Far doesn't even to notice the arrow as it bursts into flames in mid-air and slams straight into his holy symbol. As the arrow hits the holy symbol there is a hissing sound and the arrow seems to enter the medallion itself.

The next orc to prepare to shoot fires his arrow and it slams into the side of Asura's shoulder armor....and much to Asura's surprise it bounces right off.

An orc wearing all black charges along with the livid orc/giant and the orc/ogre.

Another orc in strange armor draws his bow.

Tel 'gdor mutters a spell and four streaks of light come out of the darkness slamming into the orc in all black knocking him backward with each blow.

The orc in strange armor shoots in the direction the of Tel 'gdor who shouts out, "Almost got me. Enough with the damned arrows. No more! You're going to pay for that one!"

The orc who first shot at Asura, moves aside his gray cloak and tries shooting again. He misses this time, as Asura jumps, and tumbles into a roll to duck under the gigantic blade wielded by the orc/giant. The blade seems to be at least 7 ft. in length and rune inscribed, but the orc/giant wields it easily.

Dwopr enters the fray as he attacks the orc/ogre, but a quick eye saves him as he pulls up his shield to avoid a staff that appeared out of nowhere.

Ja 'Far's holy symbol glows brightly and it's design is clearly visible to all.

But that design is only visible for a moment as it is replaced with a stream of water that shoots outward form it striking the foolish orc who tried to shoot the holy symbol, squarely in the chest and knocking him nearly thirty feet straight back. The water seems to disappear as quickly as it appeared and Ja 'Far didn't miss a beat with his prayers.

Asura tumbles inside the orc/giant's reach and attacks with a torch to the face and is rewarded by a backhand that knocks her off to the side and into the wall. The furious orc/giant moves quickly back to the group growling and gritting his teeth. His eyes watering and his face partially burned.

The orc/ogre is having better luck as every time Dwopr tries to attack, it extends his staff straight into Dwopr's face. Luckily Dwopr has good reflexes and seems to have avoided the worst of the blows.

The orc in strange armor shoots again at Tel 'gdor.

He is answered by a string of five small grayish red globes that slam into him, setting his bow on fire and knocking him back several steps.

Ja 'Far stops praying and lets go of his holy symbol, but nothing happens. He begins to twirl his 4-head morning star and it begins to whistle. He moves slowly forward.

From somewhere there is felt more than heard a creaking sound followed by loud crashing and rumbling that shakes the building.

***************

An amber haired orc springs into action as he draws his sword and charges Ja 'Far. Attacking Ja 'Far, with his long sword the orc is neatly sidestepped and counterattacked. The amber haired orc uses his short sword to block the attack. The blade gets knocked away as the first head hits the blade. The second head knocks the blade a little further. The next two nearly wrench it from his hand.

The orc in strange armor drops his burning bow and reaches around for his sword and shield. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out and he charges. As he charges he seems to moves at a speed unbelievable with such bulky armor in a matter of moments he joins the amber haired orc attacking Ja 'Far.

Now facing two opponents, Ja 'Fars eyes narrow and he flashes a wicked grin and he twirls his weapon in front of him. Each time the pair advance he dances first one way then the other, never attacking. As time goes on his grin just gets larger and larger.

Asura chases after the orc/giant, who seems to be trying to say something, but nothing comes out. The orc/giant turns to face the orc.

A look of cold fury comes upon the face of a surpassingly pretty orc female. Her face darkens, and her mouth is set in a grim line. She opens her mouth...and nothing comes out. She seems puzzled.

One of the taller orcs starts to move back sorting through several scrolls he has in his hand. His lips move, but nothing comes out.

Tis an spooky battle that his fought with steel crashing upon steel, but not a sound is heard. But a strange rhythmic rumbling is felt, through the stones.

The gray clad orc shoots out into the darkness, with little indication of success or failure.

A hooded orc joins the fight raising his bow and readying an arrow. Taking careful aim he shoots at Ja 'Far, but his arrow is shattered in the twirling of heads.

Dwopr charges the orc/ogre and at the last moment changes direction dodging off to the side. The orc/ogre's staff shoots over his shoulder and Dwopr hits the arm holding the staff.

With a grunt of pain, the staff falls to the ground shrinking to the size of a normal wooden staff. Dwopr begins pummeling the orc/ogre who can only retreat. After a dozen hits, the orc/ogre jumps back and delivers a quick punch to the midsection of Dwopr who crumbles and falls back. The orc/ogre takes advantage of the respite to make a play for his staff. Dwopr sweeps his legs out from under him and the orc/ogre tumbles forward. His hands close upon the staff and he moves over to a wall setting himself for protection.

The gaily clad orc, who was struck by Ja 'Fars holy symbol, recovers and grabs his bow, he tries to shoot, but collapses in pain. Within moments the hooded orc is at his side, his lips move, but nothing comes out.

The orc in all black gets up and charges Dwopr. As he nears Dwopr he stops and just stands there.

Dwopr noticing the orc standing next to him, turns his attention from the orc/ogre just long enough to swing his club full against the unprotected head of the orc in all black. With a sickening crack the mace connects and blood spurts outward covering Dwopr. The orc in black falls limply to the floor.

The orc/ogre takes advantage of Dwopr's turning away and his staff expands catching the Dwopr full in the back, knocking him several feet forward and flat on his stomach.

The orc/giant attacks Asura who dodges and charges in again. This time the orc/giant is ready and as she gets in close, the orc/giant sweeps his foot out and catches her in the midsection. She goes flying several feet backward. She has a relatively soft landing as she slams into the amber haired orc.

A blast of cold air enters the room and a dark shape streaks across the battlefield to slam into the far wall. A strange orc takes a few steps away from the wall and falls onto his hands and knees gasping for breath. On him frost tinges the sides of his cloak.

It happens so suddenly that all on the battlefield stop for a moment in fright. Getting used to fighting a silent battle the sudden return of sound of metal clashing and heavy armored bodies moving around is quite a shock. A moment later the battle resumes.

The tall orc shouts, "Finally we can do something!"

A scream is heard as a ball of fire appears almost on top of an orc mage in all black. The mage's clothing quickly begins to catch on fire.

A moment later everyone hears the giant creaking and cracking and the chill in the room intensifies as a pair of walking icemen enters into the room from down the behind the orcs. Eyes of the clearest blue survey the battlefield. Ja 'Far laughs aloud. "Now you die!"

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The orc mage in black screams pitifully as he rolls along the ground being chased by the large ball of flame that sedately follows him.

The hooded orc prays and a soft gold/green glow envelops his hands. Placing them upon the colorful orc the aura encompasses the orc and he relaxes.

The Asura picks himself up and moves to the side of Ja' Far.

One ice man moves slowly through the group heading for Ja 'Far.

The orc in strange armor seems to practically leap up from the ground and shouts, "Kithgar's Liquid". He is knocked sideways as the four heads of Ja 'Far's weapon smashes into his side one after the other.

The pretty female orc begins to pray.

A tall orc mage reads a scroll and it flashes bright white.

Struggling to his feet, the orc that was tossed against the wall stands...and disappears.

The gray clad orc fires yet another arrow blindly into the darkness that hides the Tel 'gdor.

The hooded orc moves over toward the orc/giant and says a quiet prayer. Within moments, the burns are healed.

The tall orc mage gestures in the globe of fire burning over the orc mage in black, then toward one of the two giant icemen. The flames seem to take on a life of their own as they cross the distance, turning into a flaming tentacle striking one of the icemen. The iceman screams and a blast of cold air rushes toward the globe. As suddenly as it appeared the globe of fire is extinguished...as is the screams of the mage in black. An orc with a silver necklace is knocked off his feet and rolls on the ground for a little while.

The amber haired orc picks himself up off of the ground.

The colorful orc picks up his water soaked bow and readies an arrow. With some difficulty he shoots, but his fingers seem to slip as the arrow shoots almost straight up. In the air the arrows begins to burn an a cloud of smoke comes from it. It falls harmlessly shattering on the ground.

The orc/ogre moves closer to Dwopr and even though he can get a shot in before the orc gets up. He waits while Dwopr rolls to one side and gets up, before attacking again. This time the orc/ogre keeps his distance using his pole to keep him at bay.

The orc/giant moves forward joining the orc in strange armor and the amber haired orc in attacking the pair of orcs.

The pretty orc finishes her prayer and nothing happens, incense she shouts, "ENOUGH!! By the great goddess Tara do I compel thee to end this battle. We are in Her realms, and according to Her decree, none may cause strife within. If you dost persist in this foolhardy combat, the full fury of Tara shall destroy you and all that you do hold near. War has been banned within the valley, and the human race shall obey this law, or suffer the consequences!"

A strange wind blows through the temple, the smell of roses replaces that of fire, smoke, burning flesh & leather. For a moment all is quiet as no one moves. A moment later battle resumes, as it seems everyone has ignored her decree.

Orc in gray shoots another bow out into the darkness after Tel'gdor who whispers, "Shit that was close!" Then he shouts, "Okay, you bastard! Now it's your turn!"

The hooded orc moves to a safer position and pulls out his bow and arrow.

The orc in strange armor quickly recovers from the blows delivered to him and though he favors his right side, he quickly manages to get to the flank of Ja 'Far.

Ja 'Far and Asura seeing themselves outnumbered start to move further back.

The amber haired orc moves forward favoring the Ja 'Far. Watching closely he thrusts his short sword between the twirling heads of the morning star. The result is that his sword is violently wrenched from his hand and flies off to the side where it bounces off the orc/ogres armor.

The orc in strange armor takes advantage of the distraction to thrust his sword scoring a hit on Ja 'Far. The orc/giant turns to attack the first ice man approaching the Ja 'Far.

With a mighty swing his sword slices through the air and slams into the creature sinking deeply into it. The creature responds and the 8 ft. blade is suddenly covered in frost and ice. The orc/giant lets go of the hilt suddenly as if it had burned him.

The colorful orc nocks another arrow and shoots at the second ice man. The arrow begins to smoke furiously in mid air and shatters on impact with the iceman.

Dwopr retreats, slowly moving away from the orc/ogre and closer toward the orc in strange armor.

Five grayish-red streaks of fire shoot out of the darkness, accompanied by a shout from Tel 'gdor, "Try these arrows on for size!" The streaks of fire shoot for the gray clad orc, who tries to jump out of the way. The balls of fire strike him in mid-air knocking him backward. Each one slamming into him. After the last one hits. He is still for a moment. Then he strainingly and with a lot of huffing and puffing, raises himself up to one arm. He stays there for a moment then falls onto his side. The front of his shirt badly burned and on the edge of his cloak a small flame burns.

Both icemen momentarily stop and weird moaning comes from their open maws.

The tall orc mage's clothing suddenly catches fire and within moments his form is consumed in giant leaping flames. The second iceman turns to see the bonfire. As he watches several smaller flames appear in front of the bigger flame and they shoot out slamming into the second iceman. Upon impact each flame burst into a fireball. With those hits the iceman opens his mouth and an unearthly moan is heard as a cold wind envelops the battlefield.

The second ice man charges the tall orc mage's bonfire. The creature is so driven it completely ignores an orc as he appears from nowhere and slams his sword into the back of the creature. The offending orcs sword sinks in a little before breaking off a chunk of ice and sliding down to the ground.

Ja 'Far weaves back from the hit he took, he turns towards Asura and almost collapses in her arms. He recovers quickly and blocks an attack from the amber-haired orc.

Dwopr gets close enough to attack the orc in strange armor from behind. A couple of powerful blows and the warrior falls to his knees. Dwopr moves between the orc in strange armor and his companion and the three turns to face the entire group.

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The gray clad orc rolls over and starts fumbling with his waterskin. He finally manages to get it open and pours some over his burns, screaming in pain. He uses the water to douse his burning garments and begins to wrap his burns.

The ice man moves onward toward the orc mage's bonfire. The colorful orc just barely manages to get out of the creatures way as it charges mindlessly toward the flame. The bonfire begins to change color from a orange-reddish toward a more blue whitish color, again several little bits of flame seem to appear in front of it and shoot out at the ice man. With each hit the creature gives that same strange moan.

The orc that attacked the iceman from behind recovers his balance and lifts his sword up and attacks it again with slightly better results this time as he manages to chip a large part of the creatures side off, but it still ignores him. The creature gets only a few steps more before collapsing and going inert. It soon begins to melt.

The amber haired orc takes advantage of Ja 'Fars' moment of weakness and attacks again and again, but this time Dwopr is at his side and he soon finds himself on the defensive.

The orc/giant lifts his massive gauntleted hand and says, "Give me back my sword!" He smashes his fist into the side of the creature and loud cracking and snapping is heard.

Asura seeing her chance drops her torch and charges the orc/giant. He tries to get his hand out of the iceman's side, but he is too late as she is upon him, she tries to jam a small black box down the giants throat, but he thrashes violently and she misses hitting the ice man nearby instead. For a moment all is silent, before a loud deep boom emanates from her hand.

The first iceman practically falls apart. The orc/giant is knocked to the ground where he slides/tumbles to a stop down the hall, well behind the orc mage's bonfire. Asura flies backward through the air to disappear in the darkness where Tel 'gdor hides.

A shockwave of force slams into everyone in the battlefield. An orc with a silver necklace is knocked against the wall. The amber haired orc is knocked towards the Ja' Far and Dwopr. Unfortunately, the two are knocked backward as well. The orc in strange armor begins tumbling along the ground.

An orc is knocked on his side. The colorful orc, who was trying to get back up is knocked down again. The pretty orc is knocked back towards the burning mage, The hooded orc falls as well.

The orc mage's bonfire presents an odd sight as the entire fire leaps up off the ground and flies backwards turning into several blankets.

The gray clad orc is dragged along the ground, he comes to sudden stop when his head collides with a wall.

The orc/ogre seems to be the only one not thrown far.

As everyone gets to their feet, Asura comes charging back in with Tel 'gdor right on her tail and this time they brought a friend. The first hint is a sort of raspy scraping sound. Next is the multiple hisses. Finally they see it. A giant green five headed hydra burst into the light just to one side if the hall. Upon seeing so many of them it pauses for only a second before charging the prone form of the orc in strange armor and Ja 'Far who seems more intent on clearing his stomach than with any real danger.