Some of the fountains are shaped like sea creatures that no longer exist on Athas but some of them are simply artistic impressions formed by fantastic impossible shapes. There doesn't seem to be anyone else in the room just as Gaigin starts moaning and waking up. (DM note: Wake up Gaigin as whoever you want Polonius, I will let you choose.)

The hunters had already left the room in chase of the probable leader of the Renegades. The room was quiet now, and Mendi looked around, satisfied to have survived one more fight. "Thanks for the helping hand, Koreth!" The elf bowed lightly, and then crouched above the dead halflings and began to loot them. He then showed his findings to the other; the halfling warriors only had their weapons and some crude necklaces made from what looked like teeth. The elf frowned a bit as some of these looked like humanoid teeth. "Anybody in need of one of these?" The elf then reloaded his crossbow, and turned toward Koreth: "What do we do now, O exalted leader?"

"We'll chase those archers, mumbled the noble with an exasperated look at the elf. Where did you see them flee, Elric?" Elric raises his hand and points in the direction the halflings fled as he walks back and retrieves his bow. Drawing an arrow he prepares for another ambush down the hall.

The noble warrior beckoned the group to follow him in the direction Elric had shown. Around the corner, they found an opened portal from which Mendi could discern some scraping sounds. When the party was close enough to see the interior of the room, they saw nobody inside.

Mendi let the better warriors go before him. He was quite sure the fleeing archers laid an ambush inside. His crossbow on the ready, he followed the other, using as much cover as he could. The elf stays near the opening so he can fire on the archers and reload without exposing himself.

Elric moves silently to the left flank arrow ready, forcing his thoughts to the danger of the halflings. "The room appears to be empty." Turning to Mendi, "The soft scratching we heard must have been a secret passage closing. Do you think you can fin it?"

Entering the room Rayne is awe-inspired by the strangeness and beauty of what is before her. Remembering where she is however, that unsettling feeling begins to crawl its way back into her stomach and she can again feel the building pulsing. Feeling a little repulsed once again the mul shakes her head. <This is all to weird fer me . . .>

Gaigin begins to awaken, but Rayne keeps him slung over her shoulder. Keeping a wary eye around the room and into the hall they just came from, Rayne feels nervous about this place and its strange noises. <what is all this anyway . . . talk of twins "awakening" . . . Strange little halflings . . . I hope we can be done with this soon and be on our way>

The mul readies her wrist razor in her free arm, wishing she had put away her tortoise blade before picking up Gaigin, and prepares herself for another ambush. <just in case . . . > "What do we do Koreth?" Rayne waits for orders and keeps her eyes peeled for those pesky halflings - or whatever was making those noises.

Gaigin moans and opens his eyes, only to find himself staring at an expanse of tanned flesh. For some odd reason he appeared to be slung over someone's shoulder...<<that strange woman again? Really should find out who she is.>> Rubbing his temple, where he felt the beginnings of a lump, Gaigin decided not even to try figuring out what was going on. Tapping the Mul Woman on the shoulder, Gaigin cleared his throat.

"Ahem...d'you mind puttin me down fer a second, Miss. Not that I mind being carted 'round, mind...but it's a gith-spawned inconvenience not bein' able ta see and all."

Seeing the Mul tense and raise her tortoise blade, Gaigin rethought his tactics. "On second thought, if yer busy, I'll just stay here, no need to trouble yerself on my account."

"Well I'll put ye down because yer makin' some sense now, but it ye go back into that "High Templar" garbage again, I may need to be knockin' ye out again. There could be trouble so keep yer eyes peeled and stay behind me - yer in no shape to be fightin' a bunch 'o crazy halflings and whatever else is in this weird place." Rayne sets the ex-caravan guard on his feet and gives him a grin and a wink "Nice to meet ye Gaigin, the names Rayne." With that she turns her attention back to the surroundings and waits for her companions to make a decision. <where'd those little halfling beasts go anyway?> Rayne begins to search about the room for hidden compartments or doors . . . The mul does not find anything unusual where she is searching and suddenly stops as she sees Koreth come towards her and Gaigin.

Koreth gazes about the room, holding on to his will. < Blood and ashes! I hope I can keep this up long enough to deal with those bloody halflings! > He approaches Rayne and Gaigin, seeing that there is some
lucidity in Gaigin's eyes.

"Good to see you again Gaigin," Koreth grins at the former caravan guard "there was a bit of argument over leadership when you left us, but I will relinquish my position once you are fully recovered." His eyes
sweep across the room again, the sculptures catching his eye. Even in the homes of the richest nobles in Tyr had nothing which compared to what lay in this room. < Such beauty....I shall one day have my own estate with great statues. To the silt sea with father and his opinions! I will! >

"We should make a brief search of this room," Koreth says in his authoritative voice "then we should continue our search for those bloody archers...we can't let them get too far ahead, or summon extra help...." He turns his gaze to the room, trying to discern from where the recently heard noises are originating from....

Everyone searches the odd room being careful to search everywhere since halflings are small and silent as well. Elric and Mendi with their missile weapons ready peer cautiously about while Rayne and Koreth are ready to close in. Gaigin merely follows the mul finding himself without any weapons and having a hard time just keeping up.

A halfling warrior sprung from what seemed thin air. The archer had discarded his weapon and held two small arrows in his hands. Arms raised, the small warrior issued an ululating cry just when he was on top of Rayne. The mul reacted instinctively and raised her tortoise blade just in time. One of the arrows knicks her arm and the halfling warrior is pushed from the mul. He quickly gets up and is ready to entangle himself again when two twangs are heard.

The two remaining archers shot their bows and were quickly gone down the hall after. From their limited viewpoint, both arrows were aimed at Mendi who had remained closer to the exit. The first arrow sticks itself on the elf's leg who quickly hits the ground. The second arrow speeds over his head bouncing harmlessly off the wall. The elf rolls over to release his crossbow from a prone position, only to find an empty hallway down his sight. The halfling were nowhere to be found.

Koreth barks out orders in the midst of the confusion, "Get 'em critters Rayne. Didn't no one stay posted on the outside?! Mendi, get yourself covered! Gaigin stay down! Elric, see to the archers but don't expose yourself!" The heroes prepare themselves again…

Your actions…

OUT OF CHARACTER

HEALTH STATUS

Remember the scale:

Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining

Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining

Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining

Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining

Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining

WARRIOR GROUP

Koreth (SiW), (SiW) PSPs

Mendi (SiW), (W) PSPs

Elric (SiW)

Rayne (SiW), (W) PSPs H (H)

Gaigin (MW)

Gaigin will recover full hitpoints gradually in 5 days time notwithstanding any magical healing

Not much to add here. if battling then please give me two rounds of actions. I usually choose not to have archers fire into melee for fear of hitting their companions but if anyone wants to do so nevertheless, please tell me so.

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian

The door opens up and an earthly smell pours forth from this room. The room is dark unlike the rest of the building and a faint scratching can be heard from its inside

Aryus loads an obsidian tipped arrow to his bow as he follows his companions after the halfling warriors. Standing before the door, the windmage cautiously peeks inside fearful of another trap. He looks to the rest of his companions and nods to each of them, telling them to get ready.

"Cover me in there, I'll try to shoot them down."

Taking a quick peek, Chit-Zik tries to access the contents of the room, wary of an ambush. When he is confident he isn't going into a trap, he bursts through into the next room.

Ayrus then bursts into the room and quickly scans it for the halflings.

Chit-Zik enters the room ready for a fight. The room's ceiling is low so the kreen discards the use of his gythka relying on his four claws instead.

The halfling hunter followed in behind with Ptellac covering the rear. Both had weapons drawn and were ready for anything.

Although the room is quite dark, the companions enter it with Ayrus in front who was the one who could "see" for them. Faint light is filtered from the hallway through the opening creating an eerie atmosphere. If the heroes were to step any further from the opening, surely they would not be able to discern anything at all. From their viewpoint, however, they can see that the floor and walls are covered by a myriad of fungi with different shapes and colors. One thing that strikes them as odd is that the normal throbbing noise made by the walls in the rest of the building is absent. If the rest of the building was considered "alive", then this part seemed "dead".

Everyone could still hear and a rasping noise was quickly discerned in the far corner of the room. The peculiar noise was followed by a couple of strange noise that could only be someone or something sniffing about the place. Ayrus looked about nervously for any movement as the sound of claws scraping the floor was intensified. Whatever was making it was surely coming closer towards them. Ptellac gripped his spear nervously and shouted, "What do you see windmage, tell us what you see." The pterran trader almost bumped into Chit and Tak as he backpedaled towards the entrance.

Ayrus fine sight finely sees the creatures responsible for making the noises. They were two huge reptiles almost 12 feet long that were quickly scampering over the mushrooms and vegetation going unequivocally towards them. The large creature was quite fast and bellowed out as it got closer to them; its gaping jaws slavered in anticipation. The windmage releases his arrow that bounced off the creature's scales. Ayrus quickly reloaded and gasped in awe as he realizes that there aren't two creatures but just one… with two heads…

Your actions…

OUT OF CHARACTER

HEALTH STATUS

Remember the scale:

Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining

Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining

Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining

Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining

Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining

HUNTER GROUP

Ptellac (W)

Ayrus (SiW)

Tak (W), (SiW) PSPs

Chit (H)

You know this by now. If fighting then give me 2 rounds of actions please.

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian