April 2005
It was a battle epic in the basement of orc hell. A party dispatched by the Company of the Fallen Rose killed an orc shaman and awakened a sleeping hoarde who began to charge from below. As the din approached, the party turned to run: the odds were terrible. At least twelve orcs and uruks ensued, with battle trolls lumbering along as well. In a heroic move, Bodin cast a stun cloud- three levels over his skill- and overwhelmed the rough-hewn hallway. His party rallied behind him, inspired by his bravery, and the battle was on. Orc after orc took critical hits in the cloud, but a few sustained minor blows only- and stumbled through with a couple of growling wargs and two nine-foot trolls in tow. One troll let out a battle cry that shook the hall. Rilindor drew on his elven strength, Bodin’s inspiration, and with great precision (and a 66 on the dice), shot his arrow through the palate of the troll, right into his medulla. The troll groaned and fell. Kharu-Khuzad, also inspired by Bodin, dodged the falling body and- though a cleric- plunged into the battle.
On the other side of the hall, her twin Khal-Khuzad was mustering every bit of anger he possessed, and with a war hammer in each hand, frothed himself into a frenzy, plunging into the orcs with fervor. Athran drew his dagger, which turned into the Scimitar of Thunderstriking, and set to work on drawing more troll blood. With a thunderclap he struck, each blow bringing an impact critical to the troll until it lay lifeless before him. Under Rilindor’s orders, Bodin cast Bladeturn on his spell-weary comrades and prevented many troll blows. Bodin’s blade lusted for orc blood, so he slashed through several, its mithril spewing sticky black mess in the hall.
With the stun cloud delaying the crowd, Rilindor drew arrows to shoot the foes before him. The dwarf twins in front of him were of worry: he could shoot them if his aim were untrue. He rolled perceive the battle, and overended. He overended again. With a war whoop, he perceived every intricate detail of the battle before him, barking the details to his comrades, inspiring them to add precision to each swing, strength to each blow.
The stun cloud finally broke, and two enrobed figures emerged, chanting and aiming at Rilindor and Bodin. They resisted bravely, and Rilindor took aim at one with his arrow. He shot, but hesitated on the second arrow: Kharu, fighting an orc to the death, was moving and could have accidentally been targeted. Athran continued to fight, working his way toward a chanting figure. His scimitar dripping, he aimed for the heart, but to the horror of his comrades, a warg lunged through the air with a terrible growl. As if in slow motion, the warg bit into his eyes through the corneas. One eyeball was sliced clean in half. Blood trickled down from his wounded eye and his empty eyesocket like a martyr crying for justice.
He stumbled, yelling to his party to stay back, valiantly swinging at the foe in front of him, though he could not see. There was no time to lose. Khal continued his frenzy, striking at every foe in front of him. He took swift justice on the mangy warg who pierced Athran’s eyes; Kharu sentenced the other warg to death. Two arrows later, Rilindor felled a wizard, and the second fell not long after that. Bodin finished the orc melee and Khal stuck a final blow to the foes.
With all the foes gone, Khal turned his frenetic eyes to his party. Understanding the challenge before them, they parried his advances, yelling for him to stop. Rilindor shot him with too much force, groaning at the error. Finally, the frenzy subsided and the party heaved large breaths, assessing the damage. Kharu ate some herbs to heal and looked at her comrades, selflessly thinking of her comrades. Her brother Khal was badly hurt, with more negatives than Athran’s blindness. Rilindor was unhurt, having resisted the damaging spells of the wizards. Surely, the din of this battle had emptied the orc warrens and more were on the way- perhaps hundreds. There was no time to lose. Bodin went to Athran’s side to lead him through the halls. The exhausted party moved on, desperately needing rest but finding none.