MINDSCAPE

All of a sudden, you eyes turn toward your mindscape. You see yourself as a glowing entity without any real shape but there is no doubt as to your identity. You are all alone in this dark, cold place; mist seems to obscure your vision. As the fog clears, you see the lanky elf whom you had challenged to a duel merely two days ago; he is transparent and glowing at the same time. His voice reverberates in your head, "Now let's see how tough you are, HALF-MAN." He gestures with his hands and releases a tiny bird. The bird takes flight and starts to grow in size; it takes the shape of a giant roc. It circles around you a couple of times and, suddenly, dives at you with an ear-splitting shriek…

The entity, which is Elric, begins to define itself as Elric focuses his power nexus into psionic power. His voice rings out through the Mindscape "It seems I shall not have to seek you out from the cesspool from which you came." The ground around Elric erupts in a great fury as thousand upon thousands of tiny bones burst forth. The bone shards gyrate with increasing speed forming a wicked semi-circular dome about Elric protecting him from the diving Roc.

The roc makes a pass at Elric just as the flurry of bone shards come into being. The giant bird takes up flight and hovers a few moments as if trying to find a way through the makeshift dome. The beast lazily glides around the dome never taking its wicked eyes of Elric for what seems forever. Without any notice, it dives straight at the dome trying to push through with its shear mass. There is a horrendous shriek and bone shards fly everywhere as the beast plows through. The bird then lazily walks over to the unprotected form of Elric and puts him under one great claw. Laughter sounds out of nowhere and everywhere at once, "You are mine…" [DM note: Elric's mind has been breached]

ROUND 2

Gritting his teeth in pain, Gaigin begins moving forward, one hand slaps at the arrow stuck in his thigh, snapping it off at the head. The other flicks his war mask into position, a full mask of hardwood, carved with whorls and spirals and brightly painted in blacks, blues, reds, and yellows. Continuing his forward momentum, Gaigin lowers his massive spear and breaks into a full charge, bellowing loudly. As he runs, he lowers his head, trying to give as low a profile as possible.

Careless with his rush, the warrior, imbued with mad battle lust, wants nothing more than to get close to the archers. The archers held their shot until he was closer and let go in a frenzy of arrows. One of the arrows went wide coming dangerously close to Koreth and another one was deflected by his armor. Two of the bone tipped missiles found their marks but did not lessen the mad rush of the warrior.

Koreth shrugged off the pain from the slight arrow wound. He grinned at the poor bastards on in front of him, drawing upon his Will. He flooded it into his muscles, hoping to imbue them with greater strength than he possessed as he charged towards the warriors with his shield held fast before him. The noble fighter was rewarded as he felt his Will enhance his strength while his legs pumped rapidly to close the distance. With his shield in front of him, he heard a distinct "chunk" as an arrow stuck fast to it. A second arrow, grazed his thigh and drew red, sticky blood.

The kreen was not used to having his natural armor pierced and the sight of his black ichor made him think twice. As the other warriors rushed to battle, Chit leaped forward in a rush to try and close in with the enemy. Particularly, an elven archer with a smog look on his face who already had another arrow pulled and was about to release. A chatchka flew from the kreen's hand at the same time the arrow was released. The kreen weapon flew wide of its mark but never came back as it crashed against a dirt wall. The elf's arrow, however, hit true again and another wound rewarded the sharp marksmanship of the archer. A second chatchka was released as the kreen kept moving so as to not present a stable target. This one struck the elven bowman in the shoulder and made his second shot go awry. Two other arrows went past the kreen without any danger. All five bowmen were dropping their missile weapons and drawing forth bone long swords as the three heroes closed in.

Something was wrong. Aryus felt it. When his companions were hit with arrows, it only confirmed his fears. Spared from the initial attack, Aryus quickly takes cover around the corner presenting no target whatsoever to any archers. He then scans the area noticing the archers on the roof above and the five warriors on the street far away. When Aryus saw that elf from earlier, he knew exactly what was happening. That bastard is hiring assassins!

"Quick! Someone charge the archers down the street!" Aryus looks to Gaigin and Koreth who are drawing their weapons. He then sees Elric who has also been spared the initial attack.

"Elric! Help me get those archers on the roof. Use your bow or spells!"

Aryus draws his bow and strings a bone tipped arrow, he takes a good aim a one of the archers drawing their bows on the roof. He then mutters a blessing from the wind and fires hoping that it will hit. His sudden appearance is greeted by two arrows as the two bow men were already waiting for him. The air priest only presented himself a target as he released his bow but it was enough for an arrow to hit its mark. The air cleric looked in surprise at first and later in pain as a wooden shaft protruded from his shoulder. He grits his teeth and releases his bow again. This time his arrow hits true as it embeds itself onto the enemy's thigh. He quickly ducks as two more arrows go by the spot he was just standing on.

Upon seeing the battle scene Elric’s mind raced as he ducked out of sight. Making a quick battle plan, Elric dropped to one knee, the fingers of his right hand lightly touching the ground. The touch was unnecessary; Elric could, if he chose, draw the force from as high as waist level though now was a time for speed and efficiency. His fingers brushed the ground slightly; he could feel each individual grain of sand, then the force began to flow into him. Elric’s left hand dug into one of his many pouches, returning with what appeared to be the hide leg of a jumping insect. The soft whispers of his arcane art could be heard, "Anoch ai akrammachamari". The leg in his hand glowed briefly with the infused power then faded into a translucent amber light which settled about Elric’s legs before disappearing all together. Showing his head only slightly to see where his opponents stood, the warlock received two arrow shots which shattered harmlessly on the back wall.

Ducking low, hoping to avoid the next flurry of arrows, Tak’ ran into the next street, shielding himself from both sight and bow fire from the five warriors down the street. Four tall warriors stood on a building not 15 yards from where he now stood. Three of them carried bows, but Tak’ was not interested in them. Tak’, whilst running, reached deep into his Will, feeling the strength and internal fire of it fill him.

Huddling in a small doorframe, trying to provide both protection from any more bow fire, and to make himself appear less of a threat. Tak’ poured forth his Will, shaping it as the tribal shaman Wek’Lo’Raq had showed him, fashioning it into a harbringer; one, at once, both unstoppable and natural.

The elf they faced had boasted of his mastery of the Way, and if the volume of his boasting was indicative of his ability, he would be a powerful foe. But he had not taken the initiative, and Tak’ was preparing an almighty attack which would test even the most schooled master of the Way.

Pouring forth his Will, Tak’ prepared a rainstorm in his mindscape, precious water filling his nexus rapidly. Releasing it, Tak’ channeled the huge volume of liquid towards the elf, adding the insane roar of a flash flood, the image small trees were being carried along at breakneck speed, and frenzied froth at the front. While not common to the tablelands, such a sight had been the last many halflings had seen in the Forest Ridge during monsoon season. Tak’ watched the awesome power of nature crash it’s way with impossible speed and strength towards the elf, exhausted at merely creating such a harbringer. He almost pitied the elf who would have to face it.

In their mindscape, both the elf and Elric saw the newcomer with different reactions The elf raised his hands and hastily called forth the same bramble wall construct that protected him so well in the Golden Tower. His eyes betray fear as he sees the onrushing rapid coming towards himself; he seems to be surprised by this harbringer and is not sure if his bramble wall will stand up against it. There is a great noise and confusion as the giant wave crushes into the bramble shell splitting the wall in a million pieces. As the water clears taking away the brambles, the elf is left "mortally wounded" from the experience.

While Elric smiles as he recognizes Tak and the damage that the halfling's harbringer inflicted upon the elf psionicist, he still had to cope with his own troubles as the giant roc raised its head and gave another ear-splitting screech. The bird opened up its huge beak and struck at the fairly unprotected Elric. Elric's mind had been breached so he only has his natural protection and was not able to bring up any other defense. The bird strikes past the weak defenses and leaves a great bloody gash on the half-elf's body. The half-elf outcry in his mindscape is carried over into the real world as he experiences immense pain from within. He raises both hands up to his head screaming his lungs out as blood starts to slowly drip from his nostrils…

ROUND 3

Reading a harbringer again, Tak' also erected a mental defense, expecting a response from such a vicious mental attack. Still perfectly still huddled in the doorway, Tak' spontaneously grew a huge forest in his mindscape, hiding himself deep within, away from the prying eyes of the elf.

Summoning more of his nexus for another attack, Tak' created a Sloth, a huge, impossibly fast beast from the depths of the Forest Ridge. With its huge maw, and long, sharp teeth, it was the bane of halflings, and soon the bane of his opponent. The Sloth racing forward, sidestepped with agility not expected of such a massive creature. The Sloth roared, and leapt, its mouth open and ready to savage its prey.

Elric's frightened looks turns to surprise as he helplessly watches as the giant roc takes flight and looses itself in the dark, gloomy mindscape. Frighteningly close, he sees the weakened elf suddenly draw forth fog and mist all around him. All it took was a moment and the elf was well hidden from Tak's beast. The savage sloth cried forth its rage and Elric thought his head was going to crack under so much pain. The wild beast went into the misty haze after the elf. Everyone involved waited for what seemed a long time hearing the beast growl but not seeing anything else. A hoarse scream was issued from the elven thief which sounded like music to Tak's ears. The fog cleared and the savage sloth was feasting on the defenseless elf. [DM note: The elf's mind has been breached]

The three archers on the roof strained themselves to try and hit their hidden targets. Ayrus and Elric were around the corner and Tak was right beneath their own building but well covered underneath a doorframe. They came dangerously to the edge of the roof trying to get a good shot; their arrows knocked and waiting for either Elric or Ayrus.

Aryus concentrates on magic. He opens his hands and energy rushes up to his body. Barely able to control it, the mage issues forth a bright bluish light and aims at the roof edge right beneath the archers feet. The mage is rewarded by a sharp crack as part of the roof fell down onto the street. One of the archers falls down immediately with a dull thud after the 20 foot drop. The two others start a macabre dance to avoid falling onto the street below. They both fall down but one of them falls toward the roof and avoids any further damage; the other joined his buddy on the street.

Taking advantage of the confusion and with a lightning quickness, Elric streaks toward the building on his left. In four quick steps he has almost reaches the side, where he uses the magical strength in his legs to leap to the top of the building. His swords whisper from their sheaths as he lands before the rogue elf. "Now we meet on my terms, Elf!" Hard bone blades whistle in the air as Elric charges into his attack routine. The elf rogue draws forth a wicked looking curved dagger and awaits Elric's charge. He yells at the last bowman left on the roof, "Get up and help me finish off this bastard!"

The human assassin quickly gets ready and faces Elric. The elf rogue swings his dagger at the half-elf who quickly ducks underneath. As he gets ready for his own attack, Elric is hit from behind by the human who grunts in battle lust. Without meaning to, Elric retaliates toward the man who drew blood and cuts him in a downswing at the upper arm. He then sees his hated elven enemy and strikes at him. He hits true and his bone blade is met with soft flesh, which it rapidly slices through leaving a crimson streak in its path. Elric’s attacks are blinding fast as he uses his quickness to insure a strike against the Elf to disrupt any further use of the Way. The half-elf whirls around into a defensive position as he faces the only two thugs left on the roof.

Ignoring arrows that glance from his armor or whiz past, Gaigin merely runs faster, as he reaches the three men ahead, he thrusts his spear out, aiming dead on for the first man's heart. The spear hits true as it pierces both carru leather armor and flesh underneath. The man squeals in pain as he clutches a thick shaft of wood deep within his body. Gaigin ducks underneath a clumsy swing of a bone sword. He then, whips his pretty cutter from its place at his belt, where he had set it that morning, releasing it from it's canvas wrap at last. A viscous, serrated bone-bladed battleaxe, it's fine handle wrapped in leather and decorated with feathers. Axe in hand, Gaigin readies himself to slaughter the ambushers.

Koreth quickly closed the remaining distance. He looked to Gaigin, moving to protect his left flank and hoping he would do the same. Koreth kept to Gaigin's left, so his shield would protect his left side. "Whoreson bastards! Have you no reason! Run, and do your elf patron no more favors lest I split you neck to arse!" Koreth grins, quickly selecting a target. The man curls his lips back showing two gaping holes where his teeth should have been. He raises his sword and waits for the maddened noble warrior. Koreth grips his shield tightly, it's straps digging into his palm. He rushes forward, his sudden burst of speed catching his opponent off guard. He slams into the warrior with a loud crunch, sending him spinning to the dirt. When Koreth disentangles himself, he sees another slight hit on the side of his head, no doubt from the assassin now sprawled on the dirt floor.

The kreen draws forth his gythka and goes straight for the elf who twice had wounded him. Zik slams into the elven archer, weapon first. His gythka slashes into the archer´s abdomen, when the elf buckles over, the kreen snaps of a piece of the elf's shoulder. The kreen unconsciously chews on whatever piece he has bitten off as the elf sees his worst nightmare come to life. The other warrior swings hard on the kreen's head and connects with one of the antenna that does not know move anymore.

Your actions…

OUT OF CHARACTER

Here is the situation as it stands right now.

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

There is small group at the end of the street:

Gaigin (SiW) W1 (SeW) W2 (H)

Koreth (SiW) W3 (W)

Chit (W) W4 elf (SeW) W5 (H)

At the roof:

Elric (SeW) mind breached Psionicist (SiW) mind breached W6 (SiW)

At the bottom of Elric:

Tak (SiW) (SiW for PSP)

Ayrus (SiW) W7 dead W8 (SiW)

We'll go two more rounds again.

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian

Here is a little sketch.

I I P I I

I W8 TI E W6 I I

______ I W7 I I I__________

A

W1 G W2

K W3

C W4

_______ _____________ __W5_________

I I I I

I I I I

I I I I