Once again, I must apologize for the hastiness of these notes.  The battle
in which we now find ourselves is a pitched, and hotly pursued one.  We
have made some headway, and are stopped now only for a few brief moments to
regroup and allow Bob to heal our wounds.   Then it is back to the fray.
So, since time is brief, I shall  cease blathering on about nothing and
begin, as there is both good tidings to tell, and bad.  let me tell the bad
first, so that the good may help to wash them away, as the new fallen snow
can cover a battlefield, turning what was ugly and loathsome into something
only melancholy and somber.

   The bad tidings are those of the death of our companion Vedrosh.  He
slipped into death's realm during the time we were chasing Nasha and Olga
through the tunnels.  That seems almost a lifetime ago, although it was
mere days.  Merlaine assures us that there is nothing we could have done.
She had physicked him with her herbs, teas and her skills, and yet the
contagion he caught in that foul orcish moat would not leave his blood, and
finally claimed him.
	What few items of value he had, we wrapped in his cloak, along with his
monies, and this shall we deliver unto the Adventurer's Guild when next we
see one, so that they might deliver them to his next of kin.
	The good news is that Bob and I are no longer addle-brained, and once
again our hands obey our head, and we can use our weapons!  Thanks to
Merlaine's tending, we have now fully recovered from the effects of the
concussions we suffered.
	After seeing to Vedrosh's remains and effects, we then spent several hours
questioning our prisoner, Olga.  We queried her on the numbers of
defenders, and other defenses of the place we are going.   Olga was of
course, a good soldier and would not answer our questions willingly.
However, with the aid of a Rune of truth, we have found out some
information of value.
	We now know that there are about 30 soldiers stationed in the temple, all
well armed and well trained professional mercenaries.  They include in
their company a small unit of medium cavalry.  They employ two mages, one a
mage of Air, and the other a Celestial mage.  We found out from Olga that
the weakest point of entry into the temple complex is from the air.
However, we could think of no feasible means of getting ourselves into the
air to make use of this weak point.  So, the next weakest point is, in
Olga's opinion, a secret door in the rear of the temple.  The current
occupants did not want to waste the manpower to guard it continually, so
they trapped and warded it, and let it lie.  Olga did not know where this
door was, only that it was at the rear of the temple.  Also, we found that
the entire area surrounding the temple is warded against Unseen or
Invisibility type spells, so that if one should use such a spell in the
area...boom.
	We also know that during the day, the Air mage uses the ritual of speaking
with the winds to watch over the valley.  During the evening, Meeshena the
Celestial mage watches, along with a contingent of six soldiers, all of
whom have the witchsight spell upon them.  There are only a few hours in
the late afternoon when the valley is not watched by one mage or another,
and then it is still watched by six soldiers with witchsight spells.    Of
course, now that we are where we are, and have done what we have done, I
dare-say that watch order shall be disrupted somewhat.
	We took one afternoon and evening to rest up, and then it was back to the
caverns.  We prepared ourselves as best we can, for we knew the fight would
be an ugly one.  Bob cast trollskin upon those of us that did not already
have it, and Vasquez cast protection from not only normal fire, but magical
fire as well!  And Brianna for her part, decided that we could use some
help, so she performed the ritual she uses to summon the dire wolves.  The
ritual was successful beyond our wildest imaginings!  For not her usual two
dire wolves showed, but a full half score!  Six dire wolves answered her
summons.  They paced around our fire, growling their threats and
insinuations at her, but obeying her commands.   Several of these wolves
had been summoned before by the Celestial mage in the temple, and so knew
the way through the caverns.  When Brianna ordered them to guide us, they
agreed, but only after Brianna told them that if possible, she would let
them avenge themselves on the mage who had controlled them.  The wolves
sneered, and told Brianna that it would be their pleasure to rend that mage
limb from limb, and thus show Brianna her future as well.
   So, with these fine fellows as companions, we ported back into the
caverns and made our way through to the other end.
	The only trouble we ran across was at the entrance to the valley beyond.
The wolves told us that the entrance was warded, but they did not know with
what, or how it was tripped.
	After a few minutes of examining the aura of the place, we determined the
ward was a fear spell.  Brianna cast a counter-spell upon me and I stepped
into the warded area.  A fear ward it was indeed, for the dread that
overcame me as I stepped forward seemed enough to stop my heart.  So great
was my terror of what lay ahead that I could not take another step, nor
could I turn and run lest the thing I feared come upon me from behind.  So
I stood there, my heart racing faster and faster and the dread getting
blacker and blacker.  One of my companions soon pulled me out of that black
spiral, and after a minute of resting, I could no longer even remember what
it was I had been afraid of.  And so we waited for the hour of three, when
we had been told by Olga that the air mage usually retired from his
watching.
	We waited a bit longer to be sure, and then made our first foray into the
valley.  The dire wolves would in no wise go out into the sunlight.  We
decided that they would wait in the shadows of the caverns, and then once
the sun was down Brianna could send for them to come to us.  The minute we
entered the valley, we knew it indeed special, for the area is alive with
mana!  The stuff of magic was everywhere.  The valley itself is almost
perfectly circular, and about two miles across.  It is filled with huge
trees of wondrous age and height.  Toward the center of the valley is where
the trees grow tallest and thickest, with the edges being populated by
smaller trees such as aspen and birch.  A clear trail led from the cavern
to the temple ruins, which we could clearly see in the distance.   We
realized that if we could see the temple, then watchers there could
possibly see us.  And so we took to moving with stealth, not striding
through the trees and grasses like nobles at picnic.  Now we used the
stands of birch as concealment, and each small hillock became a place to
crouch behind.
	Thus, it took us over an hour to advance to within 200 yards of the
temple.  The temple itself is coal black, and appears to have been
constructed without mortise, mortar or joint.  It looks as if it were in
the past, all one big block of stone.  The original building had been well
over forty feet high.   There were runes carved all over the outer surface.
Surprise of surprises, I recognized the form of these runes!  There are
examples of them in the Library at my collage.  It was not difficult to
decipher them.  The runes carved into the temple seem to describe a ritual.
It is a ritual that uses deep water and the oil of pressed walnuts.  The
rune for dreaming is also present many times.   At some point in the past
however, a great fire must have raged here, for the upper stories are burnt
clean away, and only a thin remnant of wall speaks to their existence.
	Once I had read what I could of the runes that remained, we looked a bit
longer and were glad of our cautious movements.  For with but a little
spying, we could discern six armed humans standing at various points
amongst the higher positions in the broken walls.   These warriors wore
cloaks of a mottled gray color over their chain armor, and were very slow
in their movements, so that unless one looked closely, they could be easily
missed.
	Brianna also determined that these guards moved from one point to another
with no set pattern, but whenever they felt like it, and that they used a
hand signaling system to communicate with each other;  very clever that,
and very silent.
	We crept to the rear of the temple,some hundred yards away, but could in
no wise discern the secret door that Olga had said was there.  So,
reasoning that a secret door might open out some ways away from the temple
proper if it was designed as an escape route, we split up and agreed to
search as much ground as time and quiet movement would permit.
	Well, either the watchmen were very good at their task, or we were very
bad at ours.   For about half an hour before we were supposed to meet back
at the clump of birch that was our selected meeting spot; a side door of
the temple opened and out rode a man on an armored horse.  Now this man was
not alone, but had two other warriors with him, and these warriors each
held a brace of four war mastiffs, clad in armor of leather.  With a glance
at the watchmen in the ruins, the horse and dog team set of in the
direction of Shali and Merlaine's hiding place!  To-gurrick and I watched
as the dogs sniffed the ground.  It was only a matter of time before they
caught the scent of either Bob and Brianna, who were searching the ground
north of the temple, or Shali and Merlaine, who were still concealed and
watching the watchmen.
	I unlimbered my composite bow, thinking that I was perhaps going to regret
carrying only six arrows so I could carry four battle axes.  I took aim at
one of the mastiffs.  I do not know if my companions know what damage a
pack of mastiffs can do, but I most assuredly do.   Then, as I was waiting
for the dogs to catch the scent, at which point I would lose my arrow, I
had an inspiration.  Working quickly I unnocked the arrow, a Trueshaft
special, and bound one of my illusion runesticks to its head.  I drew back
my bow and let the arrow fly.  The shaft flew well, and landed a quarter
mile away in a thin copes of trees.
	Then I waited a bit, till I was sure the dogs were about to catch the
scent.  I prepared and loosed a spell of Illusion.  The spell was a
success!  And there, in the copes of trees where my arrow-bound runestick
had landed stood a reaver of Azathoth, black robes flying, barbed trident
held high and alight with the unholy fire those cultists use to great
effect.  Well, this illusory reaver was well visible to all.  The guards on
the wall instantly loosed their arrows at it, and I was dismayed to see
that not a one of them missed their mark.  The man on horse and his
companions, looking to where the watchmen on the wall were so busy firing,
wheeled around and headed for the apparition.
	I knew this diversion would buy us but little time, so To-gurrick and I
headed back toward our companions with all speed.  Within a minute we were
once again all together, and decided that since we could see no entrance on
the back wall, that we would take the only entrance we could see, namely,
the small iron door from which the horsemen and dog handlers had emerged.
	We made a dash for the back wall of the temple, and reached the position
unobserved, because the guardsmen were still busy filling the illusory
reaver full of arrows.   Just as we were about to round the corner and make
a dash for the side door, Brianna signaled us to wait.  Lo and behold, her
training as a spy had paid off once again, and she had spotted a tiny stone
sill in the grass at the temple's base.  With but a few seconds more
looking, she determined that it was indeed indicative of a secret door in
that section of wall.   Brianna told us that the door was not meant to be
opened from the outside, and that she could detect the wires and gears of a
mechanical trap, as well as the silvered workings that indicated a magical
trap.  She said it would take her but a minute to open the door, but fully
8 or 10 to disarm the traps.
	We could tell from the sounds, and Shali's description ( she was peering
around the corner of the temple, watching the battle with the apparition)
that we would be lucky to have a full minute, for it was not taking our
opponents long to figure out my ruse.  We told Brianna to disregard the
traps and just open the door.  She set to work.  As she worked, we
determined by examining the aura of the trap that the spell stored in it
was of the collage of Enchantments.  Merlaine put a counter-spell for her
collage's special knowledge over the area, making sure of course that she
was well outside the area of effect.
	The guardsmen had stopped peppering the illusion with arrows, and were
looking around, for where there is an illusion, there is a caster.  One of
the bowmen looked about to peer down the wall and spy us, so Merlaine
prepared and launched a spell of sleeping.  The bowman yawned once, and lay
down on the wall, fast asleep.  This distracted his fellow bowman for but a
minute.  It was then that Brianna succeeded in opening the door.  We shall
never know what spell was stored in that trap, for Merlaine's counter-spell
nullified it completely.  The mechanical trap however, proved to be a
grenado filled with a caustic green gas.  The cloud of vapors engulfed
Brianna, and we could tell that it was a nasty one by the way she coughed
and spluttered.  While the cloud was still there none of us wanted to
enter, for we could not see the door Brianna had opened, much less what lay
beyond.
	One of the bowmen had heard the popping of the grenado, and looked down.
He began signaling to the other archers on the wall with frantic hand
gestures.  Vasquez and I, who had been holding our aim with our weapons,
let fly.  Both Vasquez's crossbow and my arrow hit home.  The archer
however, was a tough old merc, and these hits did not stun him, merely
caused him to withdraw from our line of fire and start yelling in earnest
for reinforcements.  Then Shali announced that the dogs and horseman were
now coming this way.
	The gas cloud had cleared somewhat, but we could still hear Brianna
coughing and hacking, for the effects of the gas were lingering.  We did
not have the luxury of time, so we charged in through the open door.  Once
we were in, Brianna said she could close it in but a few seconds.  We took
the time to examine the corridor in which we found ourselves, while
Merlaine watched Brianna work.  She was trying to determine the severity of
the poison gas, which seemed to have ceased its effects, but left Brianna
exhausted and ashen looking and still coughing up blood on occasion.
	The corridor in which we found ourselves had suffered from a great fire in
the past,  the flagstones on the floor, which had once been fine inlaid
marble, were cracked and discolored from the heat, and where there had once
been frescoes on the walls and ceilings, now there were only bits of
colored plaster that clung to charred beams and rotting supports.  The
whole place stank of the smell of old burnt wood and the caustic, burning
odor of the gas.
	We could hear the barking of the dogs and pounding of the horses hooves,
and just before they rounded the corner of the temple, Brianna finally
jimmied the door catches so that the great stone block which was the secret
exit slid closed.  It was with a great relief that we noticed Brianna
beginning to look a bit better, for Bob's trollskin spell had come into
effect, healing her somewhat.
	Bob had made a quick reconnaissance, and found a stout steel door down the
corridor to our left, so we chose to explore to our right.  A ways down the
corridor we found a door, badly burnt but still good, and it was locked.
Bri had little trouble picking this lock.  Once the door was opened, it
revealed a storeroom full of barrels of salted pork, fish, eggs, hammers,
crates of nails and tools wrapped in oil cloths.  All of these were fairly
new.  Knowing that our time was short, we hurried back to the stout steel
door.  After fully five minutes Brianna pronounced the lock beyond her
abilities, saying only that it was a marvel of gears, tumblers and
interlocking rotator barrels.  Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting
to be standing around in a corridor too long, we made our way back to the
store room.  There, upon closer examination we found that behind a barrel
of eggs in vinegar ( by the smell of it) there was a small crawl-space
which led out into an outer yard of some sort to judge by the sunlight
showing through.  Also at the edge of this crawl-space, we saw a track
which was by now all too familiar to us, the track of a dire wolf.  A quick
glance out into the yard revealed that it was a burnt out section of the
temple.  Where once there were rooms with roofs and walls, now there was
only a roofless expanse of charred rubble.  We could spy no door in this
burnt yard, so Bob decided to run out and have a better look.  No sooner
did he step out than a half dozen shafts were loosed at him.  Three of
those found their mark, sorely wounding him.   Bob retreated back into the
storeroom with the information that there were archers on the solid walls
surrounding the courtyard, with a clear line of fire to anywhere in that
charred expanse.  To make matters worse, we now heard the distinct sound of
heavily armored men charging down a corridor.   The jaws of a well planned
trap were shutting for sure.  Bob, To-gurrick and I decided to see about
the armored men, whilst Shali, Merlaine and Brianna dealt with the archers.
Vasquez would stay in the storeroom, ready to assist whichever of us
needed aid first.
	The first thing Shali did was cause a wall of thorns to grow from the soil
of the courtyard, thus providing cover from the archer's fire.  Merlaine
then crawled out and began casting spells of sleep upon those archers she
could see.
	The three of us dashed out into the corridor, and saw heading toward us at
a dead run  what looked to be a dozen men and women, all armored in partial
plate, with kite shields and broadswords at the ready.  What's more, the
first four of these were greatly obscured by a shifting array of shadows
that made them deucedly hard to see.  Also, their weapons dripped with
liquid shadow, and wavered as if in a flickering light.  No time to be
subtle, this.  I drew my battle axes and stood in the corridor, prepared to
ward off their blows and give my companions time to do, whatever it was
they were going to do.
	As the first of these warriors reached me he leveled a blow, which It
should have been child's play to evade, and yet the blow struck home.
Confused as my sight was by the shadows, I had not even seen the real
weapon.  And the blow was a solid one, and the blackness of shadow added a
keen edge to their swords as well as making them hard to see.  Another two
blows like that, and I'd find myself in the Halls of the Dead, trying to
explain to Clanggadinn why it was I thought I could hold off a score of men
with enchanted armor and weapons by myself.
	To-gurrick had the right idea, and was bellowing at me and Bob to get back
behind the door to the store room.  And so we withdrew behind that door and
took up positions, with me on one side, To-gurrick on the other and Bob and
Shali in the center.
	The men now had to come at us one at a time;  they were at a disadvantage
and knew it.  The warriors tried to force their way into the room, evading
and pushing forward with their kite shields, hoping to get far enough into
the room to allow their fellows to follow and thus overwhelm us.  But with
me and my great axe on one side, To-gurrick and his hand and a half sword
on the other, and Bob with his spear, or Shali and her main-gauche to
defend the center ground,  their way was not an easy one.  Nor was it made
any easier when Brianna finally got off the counter spell she had been
attempting for some time.  The shadow spells on our opponents weapons and
armor were Celestial in origin, and so Brianna's casting a counter-spell on
the area of our fighting caused those spells to vanish like a morning's
mist.  Now the fighting began in earnest.  Our opponents developed a new
tactic, rather than trying to barge their way in, one would advance to the
doorway and level blows at To-gurrick.  When that man was badly wounded,
another would take his place, and level blows only at To-gurrick.  Thus did
they hope to slowly wear us down, killing us one by one even if their
losses were staggering in the process.
	Vasquez cast a spell which filled the outer corridor with smoke, so that
the advancing warriors could not see as they entered our doorway.  This
made their job of aiming for To-gurrick harder, and ours of aiming for them
easier.
	The tiny storeroom was awash with the sound of steel on steel, the
shouting and screaming of warriors and, as a faint background, the
occasional chanting of a magician.  Smoke filled the air and the scent of
blood was everywhere, sweet and acrid at the same time.
	I seem to have gotten the hang of the great axe, for I struck home many of
the times I swung.   Warrior after warrior charged our door and tried to
ram though, and time after time we beat them back.  One of the first
warriors thrust his sword out a bit too far, and the swing of my axe
removed his sword hand.  That warrior fell back screaming for his
companions.  He was instantly replaced by another mail clad warrior, this
one a woman of great skill with her shield and weapon, but a slash from my
axe opened her arm to the vein and she fell back, to be replaced by yet
another.
	By now Bob had figured out the technique of lashing out with his legs and
tripping an opponent, and he did so with several of these fighters.  One
warrior went down particularly hard.  Bob followed through with a vicious
stomp to the fellow's midriff, and we could all see from the way blood ran
from his mouth that he was injured, and bleeding inside.
	After a time, our opponents called a withdrawal.  We had mortally wounded
several of them, and several more of them were occupied with dragging the
wounded out of the battle area.  Shali, always the quick mind for a
situation, called to us that there had to be only about ten men in the
corridor, for no commander would spring a trap ( for that is what this
surely was) and leave an exit unguarded, and there were several exits to
cover.  Shali called for a charge, that we had them on the run and now was
no time to waver in our assault.  And so, badly winded, but with a fierce
shout and my heart soaring, we surged out into the corridor.
	To-gurrick was first into the fray.  As I emerged from the smoke filled
corridor, I saw that they had anticipated this sallie of ours, and left a
rear guard.   One man, evading for all he was worth with his shield was
between us and our quarry.  To-gurrick charged and slammed his shield into
this man several times, but the warrior held his ground, retreating only a
little at a time.  The corridor is very narrow, so none of us could get
around To-gurrick's bulk to aid him.  We had to watch as our enemies
retreated into the distance.   The rear guardsman withstood repeated
attacks by To-gurrick, eventually withdrawing to a bend in the corridor
where there was a burnt wooden door.  This guardsman then slammed this
burnt door shut and made a dash for the steel door that his fellows were
holding open for him down the corridor.
	To-gurrick would have none of that; he lowered his shoulder and slammed
his bulk into the door, shattering it to splinters, and catching the
guardsman with his back turned.  When the warriors behind the steel door
saw that, they slammed the door shut and locked it, leaving their fellow
warrior between two very unpleasant masses of steel.
	This warrior quickly assessed the situation, dropped his sword and raised
his arms, surrendering.  To-gurrick raised his sword, intent on severing
the man's head from his shoulders, but Shali shouted not to kill him, he
could be made to answer questions later.  So, never one to waste a stroke,
To-gurrick brought the pommel of his sword down upon the man's head, and
the warrior toppled to the ground, out cold.
	We raced for the door, but to no avail, they had had sufficient time to
lock it.  A hurried council was held and a plan adopted.  Bob and Shali
dragged a large timber up to the steel from the storeroom where we so
recently had fought.  While they were about this, Vasquez cast a spell upon
the steel door, and within a minute the entire portal was glowing red hot;
and as everyone knows, hot metal is softer metal.
	Once the door had reached a nice cherry red color, To-gurrick and I hefted
up the beam and began using it as a battering ram against the door.  Such
was the strength of this door that it took us the better part of five
minutes to batter it down.  And when we did eventually cause it to come
crashing down, another surprise awaited us, for the portal was warded.
	The instant the door parted from its hinges, the entire corridor was
engulfed in flames that were a bright, almost searing black in colour.
Such was the heat of these flames that the few bits of plaster remaining on
the walls charred and burnt to ash instantly.  Praise be to Vasquez for
making us immune to magical fire!  If it were not for that, To-gurrick,
Vasquez, Shali and I should probably have died right then and there.
But there was more!  While we were immune to the damaging effects of the
mystical fire, we were not immune to the black fear that came with it.  So
it was that we were all crazed with terror, our only thought being to get
away from that corridor of flames.  To-gurrick, being much faster than I,
threw me to the floor and trampled over me in his haste to exit the
hallway.
	Fortunately, we were able to shake off the effects of this fear before we
got too far down the corridor, or before To-gurrick trampled any other
party members.  Once we had recovered ourselves, we cautiously entered the
room beyond the door.
	Obviously, this is the bedroom of the Celestial mage, for the walls are
adorned with tapestries made entirely from silk, and done only in varying
shades of black and gray.  One tapestry was of the night sky, with bits of
quartz worked in where the stars would be, and the other was an abstract
design of some sort.  There was a grand bed, with sheets and comforters of
black satin and silk, and a writing desk.  On the desk were several books.
These books all had titles such as "the flowers of evil" or "the dark night
of the soul" or "dark ships in the forest" and they all seemed to contain
poetry of a black and morbid bent.  But we did not tarry to read these
books, for there was also in this room, another door.  Much like the first
one, this door was of steel  with a most intricate lock.
	Not wanting to waste time dragging another beam from the store room ( as
the one we had been using was badly damaged by the blackfire) , we used a
different method with this door.  Brianna covered the area of the new door
with a counter spell of her collage in case of any more wards.  That done,
Merlaine began to chant and in a few seconds, lo and behold, the lock began
to move and the door to open!
	The fact that what was behind that door was unpleasant was announced to us
by the flight of arrows that entered the room just as the door opened.
None of them hit us, but several came close.  As we peered around the
corner of the door, we saw a most distressing sight.  There was another
burnt out corridor, perhaps thirty feet in length.  At the end of that was
a room that had been so badly damaged by whatever fire ravaged this place
that almost the entire floor had fallen away and lay in a heap forty feet
below in what used to be a sub-cellar most likely.  All that remained of
the wood floor now was a narrow edge around the room.  On the edge farthest
from us, we could now see four archers, who were busy nocking arrows, and
behind them two mages.  The timing of the mages was superb and they were
finishing their spells just as we peered around the corridor.
	The first mage got her spell off, and there was a brief and intense flash
surrounding me, but nought else.  Once again, I was most glad of Vasquez's
preparations, for I suspect that what hit me was a spell of whitefire, but
I was immune to its effects.  The other magician, an ancientlooking man,
completed his casting, and nothing happened.  Perhaps this was due to the
fact that almost all of us, the instant we saw two incanting mages, had
actively resisted the magics that they hurled at us.
	The mages began incanting again, and the four kneeling archers drew back
their bows.  For my part, I unlimbered my composite bow, Vasquez prepared
her crossbow and Bob his short bow.  I hate archery battles, especially
archery battles where I have but five arrows!
	We fired our arrows and bolts, I and Vasquez scored hits, but their chain
armor protected them from much of the damage, and Bob's arrow was deflected
completely.
The two mages than cast again, and while the old man failed to get his
spell off, the woman launched a searing bright ball of energy at Brianna.
The ball impacted and burst in a shower of harmless sparks.
	Merlaine thought she recognized the effects of that spell  and rolled
under the bed and began her own incantations from floor level.   Meanwhile,
To-gurrick had no ranged weapon of any kind, and was almost bursting with
the anger and shame of having to hide behind the door "like a cowardly
village fish-monger,"  as he put it.  So, to appease his lust for the
fight, To-gurrick grabbed the heavy brass candlesticks off the writing
desk, and charged down the corridor.  Upon reaching the burnt out floor he
hurled the sticks at the archers.  He missed, and since he knew we were
about to fire, he stepped to the side rather than block our shots and
spells.  As he did so, he fell through the floor, which had been much
weakened by the burning.  We heard the crash he made as he landed, some
forty feet below in the rubble.
	The archers meanwhile, had obviously been instructed to fire at anyone who
looked like they were casting a spell, and so to a man they aimed at
Merlaine.  Even though it was an almost impossible shot, as she was down a
corridor and under a bed, one of them scored a hit on her and interrupted
her spell.  Then the mages cast again.  This time the ball of energy the
woman threw did not dissipate harmlessly, but hit Brianna,  burning  her
badly with its energy.  The old man again failed in his casting.  I dread
to see what spell he was attempting, for if it was so difficult, it was
bound to be unpleasant, and most probably lethal in the extreme.
	Now the fight was getting desperate.  Bob had abandoned his bow and
overturned the bed, using it as cover from which to fire behind.  Merlaine
attempted and failed at a spell, and was the target of the archers almost
continually.  Shali, realizing that we needed to get across the burnt room,
had tied a rope to herself, and was busy tieing the other end to the
upturned bed.  And me, my arrows spent, retreated around the corner.
Shali took a few seconds to cast a spell and give some of her own energy to
Brianna, for  the wounds from other mages spell had left her too exhausted
to cast any spells of her own.
	Brianna put this energy to good use, and incanted and launched a spell,
just as the mages across the room completed yet another casting. Luck was
with us and neither of them succeeded in their attempts.  Brianna however,
succeeded in hers admirably, for one of the archers dropped his bow and
began to scream hysterically, unnerving his companions.  I must say I
smiled at that, I know just how he felt, and was glad of it.  Vasquez too
had given up on her crossbow  and started incanting.  Her efforts met with
considerable success.  When she finished her cant,  the entire far end of
the burnt room erupted in a ball of flame, catching all four archers and
both mages within its blast.  So intense was the heat that we could feel it
from forty feet away.  When the smoke and falling debris cleared, we beheld
both mages, stunned and badly burnt, being hustled around the corner by two
of the archers, themselves looking badly scorched.  Of course, true to
form, they left the remaining two archers to guard the corridor and deny us
access while they got the mages to safety.

	It was at this juncture that Brianna informed us that her pet Dire wolves
had left the cave, as it was now dark.  She said she had received mental
impressions from them; impressions of running through dark woods, hot on
the trail of humans, then impressions of a fight and much blood, most of it
their quarries.  Her Dire wolves were she said, ecstatic.
	We now redoubled our efforts.  Shali, her preparations complete, ran down
the corridor and leapt across the gaping hole intending to land on the
other side than To-gurrick had fallen through.  Alas, this side was weak
also, and Shali crashed through the rotten timber.  But as she had the rope
tied around her, she did not fall as far as as our orcish warrior, but
swung in the air, 25 feet over the rubble.
	But we had forgotten about the other dire wolves, the ones whose track we
saw in the burned out courtyard.  Obviously, the hostile Celestial mage had
been as busy as Brianna with her summoning rituals.  These three wolves had
snuck up on us, and now charged, leaping from behind.  Instantly, Vasquez,
Brianna and I were in close combat with the horse sized creatures, all
flashing fangs and smelly fur.
	Brianna had been in bad shape to begin with, and was in desperate straits
almost immediately.  Vasquez was holding her own, but had no real weapon
with which to fight the creature other than her cestus, which had studs of
silver worked into the leather.  And I, I had only my silvered hand axes.
I decided to gamble.  Preparing my runewand instead of my hand axes, I
began a spell.  Now, I had thought that concentrating while being attacked
by a rampaging troll was bad, but just you try to concentrate on
maintaining proper breathing and get the correct tonalities in a chant
while a 300 pound hell dog is trying to rip your leg off; that my friend,
is difficult.
	Perhaps it was the knowledge of just how desperate a situation we were in,
or perhaps not.  Somehow I managed to maintain my concentration through the
preparation and then the casting.  And when my spell of banishment was
completed, it was with great pleasure that I shoved my runewand into the
snout of that great black beast.  What joy it was to hear the monster howl
in agony and then vanish with a loud bang of displaced air!  I did not even
mind that he left me covered with an ichorous black slime which crawled and
flowed like oil, and seeped back into the ground.
	When I stood up, I realized that the battle was far from won.  Brianna was
evading with her daggers, while Bob was repeatedly stabbing the beast that
beset her with his silver tipped spear, but still, Brianna had taken a
mauling.   Merlaine was in the midst of the fray as well, her silvered
scimitar flashing and coming up covered in black ichor again and again.
But the Dire wolves were dealing us great damage as well.
	It is much easier to concentrate when one is standing upright and not
beset by a mutt from the nether planes, and so that is what I did.  Once
again I incanted a spell of banishment and then with a fierce shout brought
my runewand down upon the head of the Dire wolf that beset Vasquez.  That
beast as well vanished in a most satisfactory manner, with a bang and lots
of ichor flung hither and yon, much of it landing on Vasquez.
	It was Bob who dealt the last wolf a blow with his spear so well placed
that it momentarily stunned the daemon dog, and Brianna did not miss the
opportunity and plunged both of her daggers deep into the creatures flanks,
with the now familiar bang and flying goo effect that we were all so glad
of seeing.
	That nasty distraction taken care of, we could now turn our attention back
to Shali and the archer, who throughout our fight had been lofting shaft
after shaft at poor Shalorian.
	Hoping that Shali had found some way of saving herself from becoming a
pincushion I unlimbered two of my axes and charged out to the end of the
corridor.  I saw to my dismay that the rope was slack, and the archer was
busily firing down into the pile of rubble! It was then I realized that
To-gurrick had obviously not been killed in his fall as we all thought.
For from the pit came an orcish curse, and then a piece of rubble hurled up
and came near to striking the archer.   I grinned, for as the archer had
been distracted with To-gurrick's thrown rocks, Shali had managed to untie
the rope and drop the rest of the way into the pit.   Shali's acrobatics
skill saved her from any injury upon landing.  She of course, instantly
took cover, and began to work her way around to the other side of the room,
intending it seemed, to climb the walls there and come at the remaining
archers from below.
	When I got to the end of the corridor, I hunkered down and used my buckler
to help ward off the archers arrows, for he now perceived me as a greater
threat than To-gurrick, and I dare say he was right.  I hurled one of my
axes at him, but it buried itself in the wooden floor at his feet.  He, no
slouch with the bow got an arrow past my defense, and though my armor
warded off most of the wound, it still hurt.  Another axe I threw, and
missed and another arrow he fired, this one went in deep as I was
exhausted, and did not dodge quickly enough.  My third axe did the trick
however, for just as he looked up from nocking an arrow, the blade struck
him square on the helmet, with force enough to shear the metal through and
take an ear off with it.  With a scream the archer fell.  His companion
grabbed him and dragged him back through the door, slamming the wooden
barrier shut.  I felt the soothing power of Bob's trollskin spell begin to
repair some of the damage I had suffered at the hands of those well placed
arrows, and was glad of the long ago placed spell.
	With no immediate threat visible, I stood at the edge of the burned out
floor and watched Shali gingerly pick her way through the unstable rubble
pile.  There were rats down there, that had obviously not had a meal in
many days, and they eyed our companions hungrily.  Whenever they showed any
inclination at boldness however, To-gurrick hummed a rock at them and they
instantly retreated.   Shali soon made it to the other side, and climbed up
the ancient and mold covered walls, then wrapped her arm and leg over the
flooring and hoisted herself up.  She had achieved the other side, and now
occupied the position the archers had been so vigorously defending!
	It became obvious how the archers and mages had so readily crossed the
burned out expanse that we had near died trying to cross, they had a long
stout plank that fit across the gap, and had of course pulled it over after
they had gotten safely across.  Shali lowered this plank, and now we too
can readily cross this expanse of a pit.  Then we used Shali's rope to get
To-gurrick out of the pit.  He had taken a bad mauling, and been knocked
out in his fall.  Bob's trollskin spell had eventually brought him around
however, but he was still in bad shape.
	The last thing we had to do, was let Brianna's dire wolves in.  For she
said she had been receiving mental communication from them, indicating that
they had vanquished whatever, or whoever, it was they had found out in the
forest, and were ready to come in.  So it was that Brianna and I went down
the corridor, back less than a hundred feet, to the secret door where we
had first entered this now bloody temple, and let in our own dire wolves.
	Indeed it seems they had found quarry, for every one of them had a wound
of some sort upon its hide, although none looked really serious.   The
minute they were in, I again wondered about the company we keep.  For the
first thing they did, was sniff the air.  With a wide grin the pack leader
looked square at Brianna and said. "Good, they are afraid!  Fear and blood,
the night is a good one!  Now wench, you will let us hunt the mage, or I'll
tear out your throat where you stand!"
	Brianna, having slain one dire wolf very recently with only her daggers,
and some help from us, looked that huge hell mutt in the eye and replied,
"You'll do no such thing, until I give my permission, and don't hold your
breath on that score!"  then, hoping perhaps to mollify the beast somewhat,
she indicated the body of one of the slain mercenaries that lay only some
few feet away leakinga slow stream of blood. "Perhaps you'd like to have
dinner while we prepare for our next battle?"
	The wolf grinned, and then regurgitated a bloody and smelly mess which
contained what looked like a bit of a hand, and several partially digested
eyeballs at Brianna's feet.  This foul thing then licked it's chops and
said "no thanks, we've already eaten.   But we mean to hunt again, soon
wench!"   With this the wolves stalked off to prowl restlessly around the
once ornate bedroom which we were now using as a hospice for ourselves.

	And so now we sit, whilst Bob attends to us, applying poultices and
incanting his magic over them.  Merlaine checks our wounds for our
infection and glares at the wolves whenever they approach her too closely.
Many of use are tired from casting magics, which can be only healed with
time and sleep, neither of which is close at hand I fear.
	Bob does not think it worth the risk to replace our used trollskin spells,
for he is still new at that spell, and I admit, that twice during his
healing spells, he has mangled the casting and almost did himself injury.
Also, it being a more advanced spell, requires Bob to use some of his own
energy, even in this mana-rich area. The fatigue and strain of this fight
are showing on all of us.   Yet we must press on.  Shali tells us these
mercenaries are using a classic strategy of fall back and delay.
To-gurrick says that in orcish, this is known as Tra-chok..or, the strategy
of cowards.  They both estimate that we have wounded most of them, and that
if the dire wolves did indeed encounter the mounted warriors and dog
handlers outside, then we have slain a good half their number.
	Ah, I see it is time to go.  Bob has done what healing he can, Merlaine
has pronounced our wounds clean as they can get in these conditions.  The
direwolves tell Bri that they know which way our quarry has gone, as they
can smell the trail of blood they left.  We have scavenged what arrows we
can of our own stock, and some of of our adversaries as well.  I have taken
a few brief moments to let some of my strength flow into my runewand, as I
used its stored energy to banish the two wolves, and now it is time to go.
	We have gained a room, and paid dearly in blood and pain for it.  But not
as dearly as our enemies, and that is the point.  To-gurrick says that that
is why orcs will someday rule the entire world.  Because humans, mountain
folk, elves and all the rest, hate to pay the price of blood and death, and
will do so only sparingly, whilst the orcs, spend freely of this coin,
taking much joy in its paying.  Be that as it may, it is time to put down
the pen and take up once again the axe.  I think To-gurrick just tried to
make a joke, he gets along with the dire wolves much better than any of us,
and just now I saw him pat one on the head and say "Let's go shopping eh!?"
to it, at which the wolf grinned.   That joke, I think, loses something in
the translation.



				By My Hand,
            			This 14 th Day Juno
				The Year of Our Lady 540.


						           Drashak Khea Milari