Then everything happened at once, Tak's hairs stood out at the back of his neck and seemed to tingle his whole body as the young hunter yelled his warning. The whole party was ready for battle as were the rest of the scrabs who quickly went into action. Mandibles clacked together issuing orders, spellcasters and psionicists prepared for the rampage and the other scrabs clenched their sharp claws in front of them. The scrabs had divided their attention between the elves and half-elves of the party who could swear that the image given out by the insect-men had transformed from one of casual indifference to one of utter hatred towards them.

ROUND 1

Gaigin twirled his spear once over his head, muscled-arms working in easy symmetry as he retreated a half-step and held his spear fast. The big warrior was grinning beneath his animalistic mask. A mobile band, completely surrounded and still quite damaged, facing opponents who knew the terrain, could blend, hide, and move quickly, and were of unknown strength and skill. Gaigin had been fighting battles like this for nine years, and felt completely at home. Sure, the Pack was no Caravan, and the Scrabs were no raiding tribe of Elves or Gith, but the principles were still the same, and Gaigin felt confident. Raising his voice, Gaigin began bellowing.

"Form up as best you can, whoever's closest! Break out of this Dragon-Damned circle as fast as you can, stay out of close Melee till you're no longer surrounded! If you can't get out, fight back-to-back or up against a boulder! Do not let your back remain unwatched!"

Hoping someone had heard and was close by him for cover, Gaigin chose his spot and charged. Hastily and bluntly, Gaigin remembered to throw up something in case these beasts knew the Way. Allowing the image of a powerful and well-armored Caravan Argosy, pulled by mekillots and armed by faceless, heavily armed guards. The defense came readily, since the scene was one with which Gaigin was intimately familiar. Hoping his meager defense would be enough, Gaigin thundered forward.

The warrior hurls himself at the scrab who happened to be closest, spear held straight, chitin spearhead aimed for the center of the insect's carapace. Shouting hoarsely, Gaigin braces for impact. The chitin spear-head plunged into a joint in the Scrab's segmented carapace, piercing the soft under-flesh. Gaigin used his momentum to drive the spear deeper, then suddenly released his death-tight grip on the spear's hard-wood shaft. Seeing confusion briefly clouding the Scrabs multi-faceted eyes, Gaigin continued forward a few steps more before hurling himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a collision. Before the warrior knew it, he was outside the circle and behind his enemy. Gaigin laughed beneath his mask as he turned to face his opponent.

The scrab leader was already gesturing with his appendages and pronouncing some incoherent sounds from his mouth. Suddenly, the ground upon which the group stood convulsed and a couple of small cacti nearby withered and smoked into lifeless husks. The floor was stained a lifeless gray as the defiler collected energy for his spell. Chit -Zik was on top of him with a leap ruining the scrab's concentration necessary for finishing the spell.

The kreen was fighting another insect and this was new to him. He tried to rake with his claws and found out that their chitin was almost as hard as his. Two of his claws break past to injure the leader. Both insect come out of the tangle injured and ready for more.

Ptellac was right next to the druid and he also charged with his spear. The point of the weapon raked harmlessly on the beast's chitin. The saurian disengaged quickly and was aghast at the destruction the scrab had left upon the already barren plain.

"Somebody cover me!" yells Mendi as he skips once more in the Mindscape to attack this renewed threat. The elf also cast a mental glance at the two elven figures. He scanned the Mindscape, and saw that the elves were also shimmering. They weren't powerful illusions created by the warlock, as far as he knew... or perhaps they were, but he hoped they were real.

Mendi's fiery form soon began to meld, as the landscape around Mendi became a boundless mudflat in which the elf's mental figure disappeared. Mendi then reached for his inner reserves, and shaped a terrible storm, crackling with lighting, which ran towards the insect in front of him. The scrab tried to hide and quickly shapes what appears to be the ruins of an insect colony, with endless, crumbling tunnels, broken chimneys and dried alleys. The scrab smiled as he became insignificant inside the ruins and almost undetectable. But Mendi's trained mind was soon able to track the shining mental insect that tried to hide in the ruins, and the storm unleashed its power by throwing bolts after bolt of lighting on the scrab. The insectoid is caught by the storm's fury and his shimmering body is thoroughly ravaged by the elf's mental might.

Seeing that she has run out of time, Rayne pulls her attention from the mindscape and drops the sandshark pack. The tortoise blade appears in her hand in an instant and the bone long sword is drawn forth with a predominant swish. Rayne gives a fierce grin to the scrab attacking Mendi. She stands in front of the elf as he attacks with the Way, Rayne goes for a more physical but not less deadly approach. Her long sword flashes quickly up and across in front of the insect hitting the creature's arm and knocking it wide. Another grin comes to the mul's lips as she hears the crack of the chitin and sees her sword is lined with the strange insect's blood.

The scrab was distracted by the mul's sword and it whines and screeches as its deadly psionic attack was thwarted by lack of concentration. It merely tries to counter the mul with its claws but the mul is not there anymore but already circling the beast looking for another opening. She winks at the elf and the deadly team they had conformed against the scrab psionicist.

Tak’ spun around, his target already picked out. In but a fraction of a second, Tak’ had reacquired the insect he was observing earlier - and let his spear fly. The carved rune on the head, and the attached feather made a warbling sound as it quickly covered the ground between Tak’ and its target.

The spear, thrown with all the force of Tak’s enhanced strength, hit square on, impaling itself in the insect’s midsection between two armored plates. A loud clacking nose emitted from the insect's mandibles, which only increased as Tak’ let out a war-cry. His alien halfling tongue echoing through the barrens as he ran towards his target, his spear discarded and two primal daggers drawn. One was of simple bone; the other forged and fused with magic lost to Athas for thousands of years.

<Bloody elves!> Koreth thought as the two elves began their attack. He brought his baazrag helm down over his face and drew his sword. He was still unsure if he trusted Mendi, and now here came two more of the long legged thieves. <Already making plans to steal from us no doubt.> He listened as Gaigin shouted his orders. Surveying his companions, he found Ayrus facing one of the bug men alone. Rushing to Aryus' defense, Koreth charged at the bug man facing him.

The scrab seemed concentrating with its strange faceted eyes locked on Ayrus but the windmage paid no heed to it and charged with his spear. The quickness of the small beast was enough for the half-elf to miss miss his thrust but the insect bounded right into Koreth's upraised sword.

"Try those pincers on me, you kank faced son of a whore!" Koreth cried out, his sword arcing towards the bug man's side. Koreth's blade wedged itself between two plates of chitin with a sickening wet thud. The bug man screeched in pain, ichor running down its side and across Koreth's blade. He wrenches his blade back out, grinning at his foe as he prepares his next attack. He positions himself in front of Ayrus, hoping to keep him from harm. "Stay back Ayrus," he says laughingly "I'll take care of this overgrown insect!"

The elven fighter joined the fray with broad smile on his face as he surveyed his handiwork and his new-found allies. "Now you are going to pay for taking my kin, you piece of erdlu dung. You are going to pay with your worthless lives…" The boy waited for the wounded scrab to take a swing at him with both its claws and readily danced away with a speed characteristic of his race. He then stepped in, fainted an overhead swing and then plunged his sword deep into the scrab's underside. The bone sword pierced the scrab's carapace right between its chitin plates. The sword stood out a full foot from the scrab's back. The boy pulled out his bone blade and the scrab fell forward to move no more. The elf was elated and mad with battle lust as he looked for another enemy.

Elric watches the reactions of the group. The invisibility worked! Slowly sliding his sword belt back on, Elric silently watched the Elf Mage cast her spell. Turning around to survey the plants in the area, Elric checks for the effects of defilement. The warlock nods in satisfaction as he sees that the plants are still alive around the girl. Observations done, Elric gets down the business of combat. With two spells cast so close together from this location, the warlock does not attempt to drain the plant life further. Instead, he draws his swords and step toward the scrabs that are surrounding the male elf. Too late, he reaches the insect just as it slides off the young boy's bone blade. The half-elf quickly turns around and sprints towards another opponent but is mesmerized by another spectacle.

The elven sorceress had again spread her thin hands towards the ground smiling in bliss as the energy filled her being again. She quickly stuck her hand into her pocket and came back with a gooey, white substance. She quickly molded the lump and seemingly spread it in a wide circle twirling madly about, her long dark dress and hair doing their best to keep up with the girl. She finished that motion and her hands drew arabesques in the air as she pronounced the arcane words, "Ci'cl d'olor, mant'los alejaaáá y'con peav'lor" A light circle was sprinkled on the floor that glowed for one second and then hazy smoke sprung forth. The smoke was sweetly intoxicating and appeared to provide little protection against the crazed insectman fast approaching the elven sorceress. The scrab stopped dead in its tracks and screeched forth its discontent not daring to come any closer than 10 feet towards the girl inside her smoke cage. The young girl giggled and quickly went about trying to gather more energy for her next spell.

ROUND 2

Outside the circle, Gaigin was at less of a disadvantage, though his spear remained stuck in the scrab's carapace. Pulling his gnarled, heavy club free from his belt, Gaigin whirled it over his head and swung heavily, aiming for the beast who held his spear fast.

The blow landed hard and fast...and off target. The hard club deflected harmlessly off hard chitin as Gaigin retreated, struggling to regain his balance. The scrab raked its claws on the warrior's side and drew blood but Gaigin smiled and twirled his club at the beast, "I'ma coming for yee, kank-face midget."

Ptellac bounded in with his spear to try and skewer the insectoid but bumped into Chit instead. The scrab leader sucked up precious life giving energy from the ground and the circle of death expanded as both kreen and pterran again felt queasy in their stomachs. The scrab leader pointed towards them and warm, sticky fluid spread over them quickly forming into a deadly web. Both companions fell down wrapped up in a neat little bundle finding breathing even hard to do under the circumstances.

Mendi was still lost in the mindscape as the glowing figure of the scrab appeared once more. The scrab gestured wildly and suddenly Mendi's mudflat changed and turned into millions of small scrabs. He suddenly found himself all alone in a vast plain with small insects crawling everywhere his eyes could see. The terror of the situation made the elf scream as the insects began to crawl up his body; each one biting and stinging him. He was soon covered and could do nothing but scream which was also was cut short as the insects entered his mouth. (DM note: Mendi's mind is opened). Needless to say, the elf's action for the round was thwarted and all he could do in the real world was stare at the real-life scrab in utter terror.

Rayne didn't quite understand what was happening but she knew she needed to act and fast. She swung her sword again at the armored insect who proved to be to quick. The insect ducked underneath the swing and crawled on the floor with amazing speed getting away from the mul as it turned around and faced the elf trader once again.

Ayrus was still the target of the scrab although Koreth and Tak had both drawn ichor from the insect. The insect again went into the mindscape and saw a faintly glowing air cleric. The beast increased in size to four times its original girth and slumbered over to the air cleric. It took the air cleric with one of its claws and squeezed him into senselessness. Back in the real world, the air cleric clutched its head but still, somewhat dazed, attacked with the spear. The weapon skidded on the hard chitin plates bringing no harm to the scrab.

The halfling hunter bounded up the slope, still carrying on his ululating cry. His black hair trailed behind him, the white streak a disconcerting blur. Tak’Nak’Raq was going into battle once more, and he was telling the world that his foes faced not only him, but all 22 previous chiefs of ‘Nak as well. A tradition went into battle with Tak’, a long line of honor and history tempered by savagery.

His spear thrown, Tak' took but a moment to safeguard his mind from attack. In the mindscape, a forest sprung up, trees huge and towering - the undergrowth thick and green. Hidden in his forest home, protected somewhat against attacks in the mindscape, Tak' now set about removing his foe with more physical tools.

The ground was closed, and the battle was joined. Tak's initial thrust with his Sloth tooth dagger rattled off carapace, and the agile halfling ducked a swinging pincer in the firsts seconds. The life dagger struck cleanly, the strong and sharp blade puncturing chitin as if it was mere leaf. Plunging the point deep into the scrab, before its frantic writhing threw it off, Tak' grinned evilly, knowing that while his ancestors were eternally peaceful, they certainly knew their craft when creating daggers.

Koreth growls a dwarven battle cry as he swings his blade at the bug man he had chosen to fight. The blade whistled through the air, and the creature's pincer lashed out to counter.

The creature's pincer snapped down on his blade, deflecting it so that it only skittered across a chitin plate on its side. Koreth wrenched the blade, which did not slide easily out of the creature's grasp. Bringing his sword back into a defensive stance, Koreth growled at the bug. The noble warrior swung again and this time his blade was quicker, and it cracked the chitin of the creature's chest. A resounding crunch echoed from the blow as the creature reeled back from the strike. Its pincer closed down on the warrior's blade as it fumbled and pushed it away, wrenching Koreth's arm.

"What do you look like on the inside bug man?" he said coldly as they circled each other, searching for a weakness to exploit.

The young elven boy saw the scrab trying to get at the sorceress and went into action. He swung his sword high over his head while yelling his battle cry. He quickly closed the distance separating them and stepped into the scrab for a crack at its head. The agile creature ducked and lashed out with its claws. The first claw drew blood and a gasp from the elven boy. The scrab struck again and this time the claw fastened on the boy's free arm. The elf tried to wrench his arm free to no avail as the grip was just too strong. With nothing left for him to do, the elf swung his bone blade hard on the creature before his life was over. The sword connects admirably and the creature's shoulder plate cracked under the bone blade. Still the elven boy fought but could not free himself from the scrab's claw grasp.

The girl's giggles had vanished as she sees her kin struggling in the grasp of one of the hated insectmen. She gestured with her hands drawing intricate patterns in the air and silent words left her delicate mouth. She seemed to draw more energy from the land but her face was strained as if her efforts were taking a toll on her. Her long black curls were plastered with sweat on her angled face but she still kept an air of innocence about her. The energy came slow but the scrab was busy at the moment trying to render the warrior in front of it. The elven preserver relaxed as the familiar warmth enveloped her being and her face suddenly turned fierce almost wild. She brought forth her hands with such force that it seemed that she wanted to throw something from her fingertips…and something did leave her delicate hands. Three bright darts sped from her fingers and dug deep into the scrab's carapace leaving fist sized holes in it from where white, viscous liquid seeped towards the ground and black, thick smoke rose to the sky. Still the insect did not let go of the elven fighter's arm; its claw was now thoroughly covered with elven blood.

Elric was right behind the young elf and frantically yelled out, "Out of my way, you better duck!" The young elf threw himself on the ground but his arm was still held in the vice-like grip of the creature's appendage.

The warlock appeared before the scrab and the young elf with Tempest screaming through the air to slash down onto the scrab's arm. The sharp metal blade of Tempest slices cleanly through the scrab's appendage. The hard chitin separates with a harsh cracking sound. Elric takes time to flash his ever-present grin at the young elf then launches into another attack routine against the scrab. His bone blade finishes the creature off and the young boy finally pries the scrab-less claw loose of his arm. His arm bleeding profusely, the young elf manages to smile back to Elric; he picks up his sword and goes looking for another insectmen still standing…

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

Gaigin (W) Scrab 4 (W)

Mendi (H), Mind opened Scrab 1 (SiW), (SeW) PSP

Rayne (W)

Ayrus (W), (MW) PSP Scrab 2 (SeW), (W) PSP

Koreth (H)

Tak (SiW), (W) PSP

Chit (SiW), BOUND Scrab leader (W)

Ptellac (H), BOUND

Elric (SiW)

Male elf (SiW) Scrab 3, DEAD

Female elf (H) Scrab 5, DEAD, Scrab 6 DEAD

GENERAL

Alright, good round. Please provide with two more rounds of actions, please.

WATER SITUATION at the end of the 12th day (i.e. I haven't discounted water for this day yet)

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian