Turn 70 -- Cleansing the Cavern

Hearing the declaration from Ramor, Gnore stands and draws his bastard sword, "Well it seems that the ambushers have become the ambushed while we who rest come to their rescue, eh?"

"Ah don' know what they'd do without us. Precious little, Ah imagine," responds Ortho as he strides forward to lead the other companions into the cavern.

As they enter the cavern once again, they see Ramor and his men spread out before the cavern while Kersath, Talimar and the others crouch behind boulders or stalagmites. Ortho strides forward just outside the reach of the wyvern watch spell, then with hands on hips, he calls forth in a loud and mirthful voice, "Hey, bootiful! Yeah, you Scarface! Are ye surprised yet? It's very important to me that ye be surprised. A friend o' mine promised ye would be."

"Ye know, ye really should announce yerself afore sneakin' up on me! Ah might get upset. Lucky fer you Ah'm in such a good humor. Now, be good lads an' drop yer weapons afore Ah'm forced to cast a Hold spell on ye an' tickle ye til ye gets a hernia from bein' unable ta laugh."

The men across the way grow angry at the taunts from the dwarf, the anger visibly rising on the visage of Ramor. He is about to respond to Ortho's speech when Druckner, having had enough of the waiting, rises from behind his boulder to level his crossbow at Ramor and fire. Unfortunately, the bolt sails high and misses the scarred man. Taking the lead of Druckner, Kersath fires a round from his hand crossbow at Ramor as well. Again, the bolt sailed wide and missed him.

As the men level their shields to protect themselves and take up defensive positions, Ras produces a flask from his pack and lights it from a nearby torch. He then launches the flask to the back of the men. As it lands a yard or so beyond the fighters, it explodes sending oil and flame at the backs of the men. Three of the men scream as they are seared by the flames, one runs forward and is struck by the wyvern, paralyzing him instantly. Ramor and two of the other men are knocked forward and to the ground.

In one blinding motion, Kre steps out from behind a large stalagmite and draws forth two daggers. Originally intending to strike the halfling in the group, he now realizes that the little thief has taken the confusion of the explosion to disappear into the shadows. Quickly recovering, Kre sights another target and whips both daggers at one of the men trying to throw his burning cloak off his back. Both daggers strike the man, one in his upper left arm while the second buries into his left thigh.

"Hey Dain, care to test your dagger throwing?" asks Kre as he sees the mage drawing forth two of his daggers, preparing to enter the fray.

Seeing the fallen Ramor before him, Talimar attacks him viciously with his longsword. The scarred fighter is quick to recover though and fends off both blows from the elf. One of the men who was in line next to Ramor takes the opportunity afforded with the now tripped wyvern watch spell to launch an attack on Kersath. The dark elf is quickly overwhelmed by a horrible stench coming from the man. Kersath manages to counter both attacks from the man. From the back of the chamber, Gnore and Randor both move forward to engage the enemy on the front line.

On the right flank of the companions, Druckner takes a hard blow from the sword of the fighter before him. The man gives a wicked smile as he feels his sword cut deeply into the torso of the dwarf. From the back, Dain is sighting in an opponent to throw his daggers at when he notices a movement in the shadows behind him. He turns just in time to avoid a blow to his back from the vanishing halfing. He is not as quick to recover from a second blow though as he feels the halflings dagger draw blood from his right forearm.

To the left, Garth has moved forward swinging his mace in a deadly arc before him. He engages one of the fighters but is unable to land a blow on the veteran warrior. The smelling man engaged with Kersath tries to attack him once again but has no better luck than his first volley.

Screaming an old elven curse, Talimar renews his attack on Ramor. The large warrior merely laughs as he avoids the blows from the emotional elf. He also manages to sneak in a blow of his own, opening a deep gash to the right side of Talimar. Seeing another warrior step before him, Kre attacks the man with a dagger in each hand. ColdHeart bites deep into the mans right side as he screams from the pain but he sidesteps the other blow from the dagger in Kre's left hand. One of the fallen fighters from before regains his feet and launches a series of blows at Talimar as he is engaged with Ramor. Tal avoids the mans first blow but after receiving the blow from Ramor is unable to stop the fighter's sword from cutting deep into his right thigh. Talimar drops to one knee as the pain rushes over his body. His sword point drops momentarily.

"How do you like the kiss from ColdHeart?" asks Kre as he pulls the dagger from the side of the man before him, watching the pain and horror on the warriors face. Unfortunately for Kre, one of the mans comrades takes the opportunity of Kre's gloating to land a blow from his longsword to the side of the young half-elf. Kre recoils from the pain and takes a step backwards so that he can better defend himself from the two men.

Rather pleased with the damage done by his exploding flask, Ras draws forth his daggers and launches them at the stinking fighter engaged with Kersath. The first bounds harmlessly off the man's shield while the second flies through and buries in the hip of the man who screams from the pain. Gnore takes this momentary distraction to swing a vicious series of blows at the man. The first comes across the mans mid-section, under his shield and opens a deep gash in his stomach. The return blow is much clumsier and the man blocks it with his sword.

As Randor moves behind Druckner and begins the drawing in of energy to cast a spell, another halfing steps out of the shadows and cuts the priest across his back with his dagger. Randor luckily is able to turn in time and avoid the second deadly blow from the halfing. Angered at the sneak attack, the Hand of Tyr brings his mighty warhammer around in a series of blows. The first lands on the halfling's left shoulder, a sickening crunch signifying the breaking of the little one's shoulder. Letting the weapon bounce off the shoulder, Randor brings it around one again and drops it onto the head of the stunned halfing. His skull fractures from the force of the blow as blood flies into the face of Randor, the halfling falling to the ground as life slips away from him.

Now recovered from the blow suffered him, Dain and the halfing before him circle one another, each seeking an opening. The mage reacts first and is able to bury his dagger into the left leg of the halfling. The little thief ignores the pain and attempts to return the blow but Dain steps out of the range of the little one. The takes the opportunity to run from Dain and disappear into the shadows once again. Back at the front, Druckner swings a series of blows from his mighty battle axe at the human before him. The first misses as the warrior steps out of the way of the mighty dwarf but the man steps onto a loose stone and slips to one knee. Druckner takes the opening and lets his axe fall, opening a deep gash in the mans chest before he falls to the ground unconscious from the force of the blow.

Seeing now that Ramor is engaged with more opponents than himself, Kersath renews his attack on the leader. Ramor sidesteps the first thrust from the dark elf but is caught across his thigh by the return blow from Kersath.

Realizing the battle lost, Ramor decides it would be better to fight another day, "Retreat!" he yells to his men as he himself begins a hasty retreat. Garth, Ortho, Kersath, Kre, Ras, Gnore and Druckner each try to land a blow to the men but they are unable to before the warriors turn coat and take off running south down the cavern. Ramor, the smelling man fighting Kersath and one other human appear to be the only ones leaving the field. The other laying dead or unconscious before the companions.