Asura's Story

Asura turns to Ja 'Far and says, "Ja 'far, what would happen if the spellcasters used fire spells to dry up all the water in the lake? Would it kill the elementals?"

Ja 'Far nods, but holds a hand up and points to the quivering mass of liquid still towering out of the water, albeit much smaller now than before. He slows his breathing down and forces himself to stand up straight. "This one will fight to keep the other one from destroying you."

Everyone moves toward the center of the arc bridge. Leaving Aladfar at the foot of the bridge scanning the water, his quarterstaff ready for action.

Torana says, "Since you are an elemental priest, the water elementals can't harm you. If the other elemental should somehow slip past the one you captured, I want you between us and it.

" Ja 'Far gives the mage and unreadable look before nodding as he turns away from the mage Torana adds, "or am I one of those whom you have swore vengeance upon." His only response is a slight shake of the head from the man.

Taking up a position between the group and one edge of the bridge, Ja 'Far turns to the waiting elemental and says, "Delay him until we are out of his reach."

With that the elemental sinks down into the water. The surface of the water begins to churn and broil and waterspouts and crashing waves become common. The group then moves slipping and sliding down the rest of the bridge. At the foot of the bridge, the group moves quickly away from the water only getting a few drops of spray knocked up from the pool. As the party moves toward to exits in the right wall, there is a loud crashing sound behind them and the pool suddenly subsides into silence.

Walking outside they enter yet another long hallway. The hallway has four exits, two of which lead back into the room they just left. The other two lead into a darkened room where a canal seems to flow down the center of the room.

Torana gestures to Ja 'Far, "This place seems overly fond of elementals. If there are any in there, they will not harm you and it will give their presence away."

Ja 'Far shrugs and says, "Not necessarily. They know they cannot harm me, but that doesn't mean they will show themselves until you are in their clutches, but we shall see."

Casting a scathing glance directed at half the party Ja 'Far moves through the doorway, the air whistling as the four-head morning star heads on his morning star twirl rapidly. He looks around, even tastes the water finally he says, "Might as well come on in, I don't see anything and there looks to be another teleport at the end of this hallway.

They enter the room and see he is right. At the far end of the hallway is a fine bluish mist with a thousand sparkles of light suspended just above the canal at the end of the hall, between two large boulders. The canal seems to be filled with clear blue water only four or five feet deep and the water seems to flow from an underground stream, appearing above ground only in this one room. Moving cautiously the party is nearly to the end of the hall, when Aladfar shouts, "Trap." Almost as soon as he says it, There is a grinding noise and the doorway which they entered in is now gone.

A grinding sound ahead is the first indication of more trouble as both boulders begin to roll forward.

A splashing of water from just under the misty portal, signals the arrival of a long greenish visitor. Appearing just between the boulders, the creature rears out of the water like a giant snake about to strike a small bird. The water serpent seems to be blue green and arcs out of the water for at least 10 ft. With long sharp fangs it advances on the party along with the boulders to each side.

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Mirelle begins a frantic prayer.

Asura turns to Ja 'Far and says, "Ummmm...Ja 'Far.....I'm going to let you handle this one!" She brings her sword up to ready but refuses to get nearer the serpent.

Wildstar shouts, "Liquid Heat" and charges the creature leaving the smell of cinnamon behind. His charge is proceeded by a flaming arrow that slams into the creature piercing its armor and producing an ear-shattering roar from the creature.

The creature slows its pace only a little, just enough to ensure that only one person can attack it at a time without risking being crushed beneath the boulders that roll ominously forward.

Silverleaf aims and shoots his arrow flying into the creatures' mouth, producing a moment of craziness in the creatures' actions.

Wildstar reaches the creature and attacks as his bare arms swing in front of him, it is then he realizes that his armor has now disappeared! This realization coupled with the serpents' natural agility forces his blow to glance off of a few scales without doing any real damage.

Ja 'Far stands behind Wildstar, yet he seems in no hurry to attack the creature or make way so that Wildstar may retreat.

Aladfar uses his staffs' special extending power to make quick feints at the creatures head. "Do *something* man, at least let him retreat since he has lost his armor."

The creature strikes its large head diving down toward Wildstar. Not held down by his armor, Wildstar nimbly jumps out of the way of the creature as its head splashes into the water.

The creature raises its head out of the water and prepares to attack again when suddenly the melodious sounds of a flute are heard playing the same tune over and over again. The creature begins to sway to the music.

That is until a flaming arrow pierces one eye, another normal arrow sinks deeply into one of its scales and Wildstars' sword plunges deep between some of its scales and reappears on the other side of the creature.

The creature suddenly begins a frenzied thrashing buckling, knocking one too close Wildstar off his feet and under the water. Aladfar who extends his staff so that the human can grab on and be pulled to safety quickly rescues him.

Danyx moves forward and attempts to attack the creature with some success, while Ja 'Far just looks on with contempt. The creatures' thrashings seem to become more and more frenzied as water is splashed everywhere. Ja 'Far and Danyx retreat to avoid being swamped by the waves generated by the creature. Aladfar, being unaffected by the waves generated by the creature, moves forward. He is caught by surprise as the creature suddenly lunges forward and plows into him. The orc/ogre goes down with the creatures twisting around him. Attempts to free the orc/ogre are made more difficult by the fact that the only way to get to hit the creatures sides are from the areas just in front of the advancing boulders. Also there doesn't seem to be anyway to get around the boulders, so precariously the two slice at the serpent, each very much aware of the boulders closing in on them.

The serpents' mouth opens wide, revealing a remarkable amount of flexibility. It opens and opens and opens and opens and a slight tearing sound is heard as the mouth is opened even further. It seems to have Aladfars' expanding staff stuck in his mouth and it seems to be taking the term "open wide" to new heights. The snake frees itself from the ogre just it time to take a couple of more arrows.

The creature has had enough as it retreats back upstream into its lair, leaving the canal as the clear place for the party to pass the two still moving boulders slowly make their way down the length of the hall way. The group starts to move toward the portal when Ja 'Far kicks something hard and almost trips on something. Looking down in the crystal blue water he sees the rather strangely made armor formerly worn by Wildstar.

Wildstar collects his armor and the group moves toward the portal and files in

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As the glow clears Ja 'Far mutters, "Not here again."

They find themselves in a relatively small room. In one wall is a smallish hole with some rope hanging down. Through the hole sunlight streams in from outside. There seems to be a sort of jungle out there.

Torana turns to Ja 'Far and says, "What do you mean 'Not here again.'"

Ja 'Far says, "This is where WE got into this mess." Looking around he says, if we take a left up ahead we will end up in the same corridor where we met. The others lead to nothing and corpses."

Torana says, "You won't mind if we check them out first." With that Fandaliel, Aladfar and Danyx move out into the darkness and disappear. While they are gone, Wildstar tries to dry out his armor and put it back on.

A few minutes later all three appear and after an initial consultation. They agree with Ja 'Far's evaluations. Aladfar adds, "I found a bunch of spider corpses and a wolf corpse.

After following Ja 'Far into a long hallway with many side branches he says, "And down this way is where we met. The back wall is right beyond the wall of light so you can't go back that way.

Following the humans lead, with Wildstar and Fandaliel checking out the side passages, each time finding that they return to the point entry.

When they reach the point at which you originally each other, they realize that the room is different. The passage back has been cut off and a new opening has appeared directly opposite it in where once it was solid stone.

Just inside the new entrance are a dozen silent men in golden plate mail armor. Each armed with silver sword and eyes that promise a painful death. The armored men raise their weapons and move to attack the group.

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Chapter 10: Abandoning

Danyx raises his sword and says, "and now what?!?! May Armegil protect us and guide our weapons!!!"

Asura shouts, "Wait! We aren't enemies! Who are you?"

Silverleaf moves toward the rear of the group drawing his bow.

Aladfar stand ready with his quarterstaff, with Danyx on one side and Ja 'Far on the other.

Ja 'Far starts to twirl his mace.

Mirelle stares at the advancing force a look of fear creeping over her face.

The orc mage begins to speak a rune.

The dozen men move silent as ghosts with military precision deploy themselves to best outflank the group.

The amber haired orc and Fandaliel take up positions on the flanks and draw their bows.

When the distance between the two groups is little more than five feet. Every single one of the silent men raises his sword in a salute. Aladfar gasps in surprise and does a similar gesture.

Ja 'Far grunts and waves for them to come.

With the formalities seemingly over, the men charge. With the shower of arrows from the amber haired orc, Silverleaf, and Fandaliel, four silent men reach the front lines with scorch marks and arrows sticking out of their armor.

Danyx exchanges a few parries with one man before managing to disarm him and send his weapon flying he then plunges his weapon deep into the silent man's chest and is rewarded with a solid left hook that knocks him back a step. A second and third hit sends him sprawling backwards without his sword. The silent man moves in on him ignoring the fact that there is a sword stuck in his chest.

Aladfar uses his staff to parry a couple of blows from those he is fighting. Then he steps back a moment and pushes hard with his staff extended. The attackers take the blows on their swords, but are still knocked backwards into their companions causing a total of four men to crash to the earth. They flail helplessly for a moment before attempting to untangle themselves.

Two men charge Ja 'Far and just as they near him, they suddenly stop turn and run screaming. Leaving a puzzled, Ja 'Far standing there with is 4 head morning star twirling slowly. "Come back here you cowards. You dare challenge me then run away." He charges the rest of the men who start to attack him then run away screaming. The screams are unlike anything you've ever heard they seem to tear at your very soul. Ja 'Far disappears around a corner chasing five of the men who run screaming from him. "Get back here and fight you morons!!!!"

Asura is attacked by one of the men and easily manages to disarm it, but even after dealing it several killing blows the man still advances!

Mirelle's eyes open wide and she screams in fear back away a few steps before collapsing on to the ground and huddling up whimpering something about "chaos" and "evil" and "never resting".

One man manages to get past the front line and charges the prone form of Mirelle. Wildstar drops his armor and moves to protect her.

The orc mage finishes his rune and a multicolored light that seems to be larger than him appears in front of him blocking all view of the mage. The light coalesces into arrows of light, which streak out and hit the man charging Mirelle. The man is knocked back by the continuous streams of magic arrows. With each hit, the arrow gives off a little explosion of light in a moment all view of the man is lost in the light and Wildstar is temporarily blinded. When the light fades, the only thing left of the man is a few dusty ashes and very badly battered armor.

Silverleaf, Fandaliel and the amber haired elf concentrate their fire on the man moving after Danyx, who is slowly getting up. Arrow after arrow smashes into the body. Finally a burning arrow pierces the skull and the man can take no more punishment as he collapses at Danyx feet. ***************

The four men untangle themselves and spread out to around Aladfar.

The presence of Wildstar seems to have a calming effect on Mirelle as her whimpering becomes less and less pronounced.

The silent man fighting Asura manages to get in a few hits, but they do little damage and seem to just bounce off of her armor. Meanwhile the she dances around slashing. She reaches in and scores a hit with her torch the hair on the creature flares up and burns creating a hideous spectacle as it continues to attack. Finally the she gives a mighty swing and the forces that were keeping the creature together depart as bones, and limbs fly off to the side. The burning skull bounces a couple of times and rolls to a stop looking at the party. It watches without comment as the flame claims its skin and eyes leaving a blackened skull.

One of the men turns and moves back toward where Wildstar stands. The man moves quickly and quietly heedless of the remains of his comrade.

Danyx slowly recovers and retrieves his sword. He pauses then sheathes his sword and takes the silver sword from his fallen opponent.

He then moves to help Wildstar.

Silverleaf and Fandaliel continue their assault, this time concentrating on relieving Aladfar of one of his many attackers.

The amber haired orc draws his sword and charges to the front lines to help the embattled ogre.

Before help can arrive Aladfar is hard pressed to hold back the three attackers. Before long he is bleeding from several cuts. Finally he slams one end of his pole into the ground in front of him and it extends upward carrying him with it. With the ogre no longer in front of them the men continue to attack the next targets, Asura and the amber haired orc.

One of the three attackers falls when an arrow puts a rather large hole in his skull and a second arrow knocks it off.

The second of the three attackers has the unfortunate karma to be move under the suspended Aladfar. His staff suddenly shrinking to normal size causes him to fall quickly down and crushes his opponent beneath his great weight. The crash causes a miniature tremor and causes everyone to lose his footing for a moment.

He moans, "Owww. Oooh. Ahhh. If I ever do that again, I'll make sure they're not wearing armor! Owww!"

Wildstar attacks the silent man and seems slightly off balance, because of his lack of armor. The silent man takes full advantage of this and within moments Wildstar is bleeding from several major wounds. By the time Danyx arrives Wildstar has regained his balance and scored a hit on his opponent. Between the two of them and the fact that the silent man seems to only be able to concentrate on only one orc at a time, they quickly cut him to ribbons.

Ja 'Far comes stomping back, his face a mixture of emotions.

Asura and the amber haired orc do a good job of finishing off the final silent man...that is until Ja 'Far gets within ten feet of him. Then the man gives an unholy scream and charges slamming into Asura and knocking her to one side. Before she can retaliate the man has run past everyone and ran screaming into the darkness from whence the party came.

Ja 'Far just looks at the creature as it leaves and says, "They all did that! What my breath stink or something?!?"

Silverleaf uses his staff to heal some of the wounds Aladfar and Wildstar took.

Though they are still seriously wounded at least the bleeding has stopped and the healing has begun.

Mirelle slowly recovers her composure.

Torana looks around and says, "No point in staying here and besides, we are late as it is." He moves down the hall to where it splits into two directions. "Ja 'Far chased those creatures down the right corridor, so we will take the left one."

They follow the corridor that seems to curve off to the right and after what seems like a small eternity they come face to face with the five men who ran away from Ja 'Far. Their reaction is to run away again, back the way they came.

Ja 'Far however seems disinclined to fight them. Instead his attention is taken up by the design one the floor. It seems to be the tiled design of a stylized Anhk, except the tiles are made of pure gold and in the center loop there seems to be a cavity.

Almost without hesitation, Aladfar moves over and digs into his bag. He pulls out a statue of a golden ogre with a club raised to the sky.

The statue begins to glow and Aladfar says, "Welcome home little one. Finally my first task is done." With that he places the statue into the cavity. The gold from the loop seems to close over the space between it and the statue.

There is a rumbling and the inner wall seems to be rotating.

Long dormant dust rises up and soon obscures the wall. After a few minutes an opening appears briefly through the dust. "Yes Aladfar, your first task is done", says a familiar voice. From the dust obscured opening walks out a huge being, but one instantly recognizable as original orc-ogre crossbreed they fought before.

After hearing several gasps of surprise he says, "You didn't think you get rid of me that easily did you?"

He turns to Torana and says, "Four times you've tried and four times you've failed. You finally reached the end of your journey. Your prize awaits you in there. It is guarded but you must go alone. You have shown stubbornness and sacrifice to help those who aren't even of your kind. You help them to help themselves. Now can you help yourself. Do you have what is necessary to survive without them? Do not worry for your comrades. They will be sent to where they will be safe until your return."

Torana turns to Rasalas and says, "I won't ask how you survived or how you got here. But I have my suspicions. But I ask one boon...How goes the battle with my apprentice?"

Rasalas smiles and says, "He does quite well, but at the moment he is trapped in plan of his own devising. What in plan seems brilliant, in execution seems quite foolish."

Torana gives a crooked smile. His robes swirl and change him into a farmer boy with a wide brim hat and old worn clothes. With a confident look he says, "I'll be back in two shakes and then it's on to the final battle and payday for all you who've been looking forward to it." With that he turns and heads into the opening.

Moments later there is a loud unearthly scream and several loud flashes and a rumble that shake the very foundation of the building.

Rasalas turns to the rest of the group and says "Now the end is here for you." The dust suddenly begins swirling up around their feet it quickly rises and obscures vision. Just as suddenly it is blown away and they find themselves in the middle of a near empty square. It is late night and the moon is waning. Behind them is a large white building built like a giant igloo. Over the front entrance is a single rose. The plaza is completely empty except for the group and the large force of about 50 armed men surrounding the plaza. The men are all in red and white uniforms with peculiar red gems in the center.

There is an awful sickening feeling in gut of each and every one of them as they sense the unaccustomed feel of the hostility of the men before them. One of them shouts, "Magic they used magic! They must be in league with the harmonists! Kill them!!!!"

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"Orcs and Ogres in the town!!!" The cry goes up and the men rally to arms. Despite the overwhelming odds they seem reluctant to move very quickly and they all seem to fear the temple.

The amber haired elf draws his two swords and prepares for the charge. Danyx cries, "Stop! We are not! This is a mistake!"

Ja 'Far and his companion each prepare for battle. The telltale sound of his rotating weapon indicates he is more than ready to fight.

Wildstar shouts "Stop we're not in league with the Harmonists!"

Mirelle begins a prayer.

As the 50 soldiers advance the awful sickening feeling nearly engulfs the first few people. Pain, anguish, fear and suspicion, cloud their minds. Distrust of comrades both old and new and fear of the men coming toward them. For the first time in each of their lives they feel that it would be possible to take another human/elf life.

A man shouts, "You betray yourselves! Quickly before she finishes her prayer!"

Fear takes hold as the men move closer and bravery seems to drain out of the group. More than one pair of hands sweats as the group approaches.

As the start to move quickly. Silverleaf and Fandaliel draw their bows, but any can see their hands shake as they hold them.

Through the air there is a strange quivering.....as if great forces are being unleashed! The men stop their advance, fear plainly on their faces. The gems on their uniforms begin glowing bright red.

The leader shouts, "Kill them quickly before its too late!"

Wildstar shouts "Serghu Venom" and takes his place on the front line.

Aladfar extends his staff holding it in front of him like a sword.

The men charge closer, 30 feet...20 feet.....10 feet....and Mirelle finishes her prayer.

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As the men reach their line, the scent of roses dominates the area and strong wind surrounds the group. Some kind of vibration shakes each and every one of them to their very core and men scream in agony as the red gems upon their chests explode into shards that arc like knives both into them and outwards, but when the shards reach others they shatter into harmless dust.

All the energy, fear, distrust, hatred, anger drains out of their bodies and the feeling of calm and contentment replaces it. Everything is fine. Then men who were screaming only moments before look quietly around ignoring their wounds.

The ones that remain standing look at their weapons and wonder why they are drawn. All around the courtyard people put away their weapons and stare at their wounds in mild fascination.

From outside the square come the sounds of battle and cheering. People enter the square armed with weapons, but walk calm around and help each man in a uniform to his feet and quietly bind his hands together. When they come to the group of adventurers, the adventurers look quizzically at them not knowing what to do nor really caring.

They look at the group and they say "Look! Ogres and orcs in the city."

"What shall we do?" Cries one.

"But there is also a priestess." One man points at Mirelle.

This seems to decide it for them and they smile and turn away moving away from the temple. One man approaches and says, "We are in the midst of removing the Outsiders from the city! They've come from some far province to overthrow the harmony church and put us under their rule with their strange magic that makes us fear each other. Join us, we are fighting for your lives as well!"

Each adventurer of the group looks around with nothing particular on their minds. The only one who seems unaffected is the young Mirelle.

More uniformed men appear at the edges of the plaza, but one look around and the groups quickly back track. Torana's little ragtag army watches in idle fascination as a group of heavily armed men retreat from three or four unarmed people wearing white robes with a red rose painted on it.

Mirelle says, "Friends, this is indeed troublesome news. While we must prevent these invaders from harming the village, it is not our right to kill them. If you must fight, refrain from causing any permanent harm, even if they do not afford you the same courtesy. The church must learn more about these people before she is able to properly counter the threat that they pose. Any prisoners you capture should be left inside the church under a guard, unless you are told otherwise. I must now confer with my brethren about what is happening in the town."

A man replies, "Perhaps, but getting them inside a church is going to be next to impossible."

Mirelle moves toward the group of four people wearing the robes. "What is happening here?"

Mere seconds later the sky lights up as a bright light nearly blinds all! A dark deep rumbling is heard coming from some point in the sky and a blast of heat washes over them. The event only lasts a few seconds. Then the madness continues.

Danyx says, "WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE???"

Aladfar looks around and shrugs his shoulders.

"Ah revered seeker-sister. It is kind of you to join us here. You must have been away when all this began. These men in red uniforms with their magic gems have been trying to take over the town and destroy our church. They hold us responsible for the peace that binds us all and they are repulsed by it. It is sad really, we have peace and they want to destroy it. The gems they wear destroy any magic near them. It also seems to temporarily stop the peaceful magic of the valley allowing us to kill one another. They are truly agents of Chaos."

He turns to the rest of the group and noting their bemused appearance. He says, "Ah I see you prayed for peace inside of a Sage aura. Do not worry you will return to normal once you leave the plaza area. We must go now. We must check the west side of the city as was the plan. But I beg you to go to the Hydra's Head Inn. We could use some extra help there. The enemy has made it their base and it is protected by strange magic. Some mercenaries tried to take it. They managed to get inside, but we have heard nothing since then." His eyebrows raise quizzically when he sees Aladfar, but he says nothing.

"Peace be with you sister." He says and moves away.

The light that began to fade away reappears again behind the group, out of the light shuffles a bent orc wearing a nearly shredded and burned robe. He looks like he took a short trip through hell. Down one arm is a jagged cut that seems to be trickling blood. In his hand is a peculiar staff that shines with a light all its own. As he steps out of the light. The light fades away completely. Something around his neck glows a bright blue and lighting seems to play across his body. "What!?" He seems surprised by the blue lighting. He turns around facing the while building and says, "Of course, I walked right into a Sage spell." He chuckles and straightens up and gives and involuntary cry as he grips the staff with both hands. "Geez, that is why I hired bodyguards, so I wouldn't have to fight a billion monsters by myself!"

He turns back around and his shoot covered face is obvious to all, with ashes trickling down off the remains of a burned hat. He walks toward the group and wipes the soot off of his face. "Well what are you waiting around for! I go off on my own for a few hours and you guys think it's time to take a break!" With the removal of the soot it is obvious that the bent figure is in fact Torana.

"On ward to kill the Hydra." He pauses for a moment and says, "Why is it always a Hydra with this adventure?" He gives a short laugh and limps forward. The strange blue lights still playing all around him. "There ain't nothing more useless than mercenaries sitting in a Sage spell. They can't fight and they are clueless about anything else to do. Come on it's that way." He points with the staff. Now that he is closer they can get a better look at the staff. It is around six and half feet tall and seemingly made of pure gold. At the top of the staff is a what looks like a stylized Ankh and from inside the loop is a bright white light that seems to both be harsh and bright and at the same time, being soft and muted so one can look at it directly. Every once in a while a piece of the light seems to leave its place and travel down the staff circling it as it goes.

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The group stands there silently looking around seemingly entranced by nothing and everything. When the orc mage takes off, Mirelle follows and lacking anything else to do, the others mindlessly shuffle behind following the pretty priestess and the mage covered in blue lighting and carrying a golden staff of light.

That is until they reach the edge of the plaza. Almost at once they all shake their heads as if leaving a dream. Upon their return to reality Silverleaf says, "Welcome back, Torana."

Asura moves over to Mirelle and whispers, "What's going on?"

Aladfar looks around and his eyes focus on the staff, "Hold it right there mage!" He positions himself in front of Torana his staff fully extended. The light from the staff seems to come faster now. "This is what you came for! People risked their lives so you could commit sacrilege! Do you even know the power of the staff you hold?"

Wildstar takes advantage of the moment to finish getting back into his armor.

Torana looks up at Aladfar and says, "Yes I do and if you do I suggest you stand a little farther back. Which reminds me..." He turns to the rest of the group. "I would suggest any of you with magic items, give this staff a wide berth unless you are tired of living." Turning back to Aladfar he says, "I know all about the staff that is why I came to get it. If Assyir didn't want me to have it, I would have never have gotten it now would I?"

Aladfar stares hard at the mage then at the staff, finally he nods and turns away, "As you say. But when this is done, you WILL return it."

"Of course!" Torana says.

Ja 'Far grumbles and mumbles to himself before saying, "What happened to your fancy magic clothing mage?"

Torana looks at him and says, "This happened." He points to the staff. "I forgot I was wearing a magic cloak when I touched the staff. It nearly finished me off! But I'm back and I've got the weapon we need to end this little foolishness."

Fandaliel walks over to Torana: "Torana! What was happened? Did you find out anything?"

Torana smiles and says, "It was awful. I think if I had run into one more monster, I would have just leveled the temple and take my chances digging through the rubble." He turns on Aladfar, "That wasn't fair sending beholders and drakes after me *after* divesting me of my bodyguard. If I wanted to fight the monsters alone I wouldn't have bothered!" He notices Wildstar putting his armor on and says, "Now he decides to wear armor? Was he carrying it the entire time we were in the temple?"

Fandaliel walks over to Ja Far and says, "There is yet one more thing that needs to be taken care of. Human. Ja'Far. What you said to Wildstar.... Well, let's just say that I am tried of waiting for you to strike. Yes, I killed two of your, as you say, children. But I will claim that it was in self-defense! If I hadn't killed them, they would have killed my friends, or me! Having this grudge going on weakens the group...."

Fandaliel takes his bow in the left hand and an arrow in the right hand, holding both of to the sides. "I can't speak for the rest of the group, but...I give you your shot now. I'm tried of waiting. You may try to kill me now.... or be ready to forgive. So... what do you say?"

Ja 'Far smiles and evil grin and says, "You are safe here, from all except me! I accept your gift fool!" In the blink of an eye, his 4 head morning star connects with the unresisting head and body of Fandaliel and the elf goes flying sideways to land in a heap on the ground motionless.

Ja 'Far charges the helpless form of Fandaliel only to be stopped by the extended pole from Aladfar as it connects with his chest.

Ja 'Far is knocked back several yards, but quickly rolls to his feet. "Stay out of this, your time will come bastard!"

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As Ja'Far gets back to his feet, Asura yells, "Ja 'Far, stop it! This is neither the time nor the place for this!" Watching Ja 'Far he moves closer to the others.

Danyx unsheathes his sword and moves to put himself between Fandaliel and Ja 'Far yelling, "I knew we couldn't trust this beast, this abomination of nature. Evil creature, I was waiting for this moment! Ja'Far, you'll pay this one hard! "Watch the other human, comrades. He has behaved much better than this one, but is also one of this nasty race!"

Ja 'Far ignores Danyx outburst turning toward Asura he laughs and says, "Fool, you were nothing more than a tool to be used in my vengenace and now you shall be more useful now than ever before. Tel-my-set 'Gho!"

Asura gives a gasp in shock as her world seems to go blurry and she seems to lose control of her body. Bones extend from what seems to be her helm, running down the edges of her armor, covering her completely. In seconds the armor is covered with an extra covering of bones.

Against her will she pulls out her sword and immediately attacks a weaponless Wildstar who had just finished getting back into his armor. Despite a few seconds warning, Wildstar seems unable to avoid the swift attack and in the blink of an eye the courageous human is without an arm, before he can back up, bringing his armored arm between him and his attacker. The shock of losing an arm causes him to collapses in pain, His blood oozing out of him the only thing he can do is put his remaining armored arm over his face to protect him.

Aladfar and Silverleaf moves over toward the fallen Fandaliel as Ja 'Far charges Danyx.

Torana shakes his head and says, "Must this always happen?" He moves over toward Wildstar and Asura.

The amber haired elf moves toward Fandaliel and picks up his bow. Aiming towards Asura, he shoots. Upon leaving the bow, the arrow bursts into flames. The burning arrow soars through the air and hits her in the back of the head. Unfortunately the arrow fails to penetrate very deeply through the bone armor, and she doesn't even slow her attack.

Silverleaf checks over Fandaliel and breathes a sigh of relief at finding him alive. Using his staff he touches it to the elf's head and a reddish orange light covers the orcs head and arms. The glow fades and orc recovers slightly. He tries to move but cries out in pain.

Danyx charges Ja 'Far and tries to sidestep him to get to Ja 'Far's flank. But Ja 'Far tries the same maneuver and end up face to face weapons clashing. Ja 'Far quickly falls backwards, yanking hard. Danyx is pulled off his feet and sent through the air several feet to land on his back hard, but he keeps his grip on his weapon.

As Ja 'Far starts to get up Aladfar extends his pole slamming Ja 'Far in the back. Ja 'Far flies through the air landing on his stomach only a feet to the left of Danyx. Danyx seeing his opponent lying only a few feet away, tries a desperate attack extending himself and slashing at the prone human. Ja 'Far rolls away sensing the attack, but not fast enough that he avoids it completely as Danyx sword slices into his arm.

Both regain their feet as Aladfar tries to maneuver around Ja 'Far.

Ja 'Far takes a deep breath, opens his mouth and lets out a bone chilling roar that seems to pierce the very heart and soul of everyone touching a primal fear and exposing all to a glimpse of his true power. They realize he is toying with them.

All battle stops as everyone stares at Ja 'Far.

Some men come from around the corner to stare in disbelief. They run fleeing and screaming.

The first to recover is the possessed Asura. Instead of finishing off Wildstar, she charges Silverleaf while avoiding Torana who tries to hit him with the staff. As the mage misses a blue spark momentarily appears between the staff and the bone armor.

Silverleaf seeing the charging woman raises his staff in defense as she levels an over head swing at Silverleaf. Deflecting the first blow then a second blow.

The amber haired orc fires at point blank range two quick flaming arrows that hit the bone armor, cracking it, but only to be stopped by the metal armor beneath.

A third attack by the woman results in the shattering of Silverleaf's staff, followed by a massive explosion and a bright white light.

The explosion knocks nearly everyone off their feet, except Aladfar who seems shaken but okay.

"Enough with you human!" Aladfar charges the prone orc and kicks him solidly in the side. Ja 'Far sails a good twenty feet landing back into the plaza area. He slowly gets up and realizes he in now inside the realm of calming magic projected by the Harmony temple.

Danyx gets up next and turns to see the bone covered Asura getting up.

Torana raises to one knee and tosses the staff at Asura. She never see's the staff coming as it touches his back. The little white lights that drifted down the pole suddenly swarm around the woman and she screams a high pitched scream.

The armor begins to change color from bone white to bright yellow to blood red and finally it explodes that blinds everyone. Sending everyone flying again.

***************

When the smoke clears Torana raises his head and looks around. Nearby he sees the prone form of Mirelle battered and bruised. A few feet away he sees the amber haired elf, face and body peppered with fragments of bone and steel. Blood slowly leaking through a dozen different places. The body hideously burned and recognizable only by a few colorful scraps of cloth that identifies the remains as Fandaliel. The motionless form of Wildstar lies in a pool of his own blood. Aladfar stands in a nearby building. The force of the blast, enough to knock the ogre into thick brick wall forming and ogre sized and shaped dent in the wall. Danyx attempts to get up but is too weak to do much other than roll onto his side and survey the devastation. The sound of footsteps approaches and through the settling dust, Ja 'Far walks unharmed by the blast through the remains of the group. He walks to the center of the blast area where the body of a young human woman lies. He picks up the woman up by the hair and lifts her up to his eye level. Though her face is covered with blood and dirt you can still see that at one time she was quite attractive. "Asura Heavenstar", Ja 'Far growls, "You have done your job quite well. I am surprised you still live. I have no further use for you. Now the children can rest in peace."

As Asura looks weakly around she realizes for the first time that Ja 'Far is not human, but in fact an orc. Her eyes cleared she glance around in your limited vision and sees her other companions were not orcs, but in fact humans and elves, except for Aldafar who was an ogre.

Then he does something truly odd. He takes the body of the woman known as Asura and moves over to the woman known as Mirelle. Standing over both of them he gives a small prayer to someone known as Solutious. The sound of moving water suddenly comes from the surrounding area as if a flood were occurring. His hands glow bright blue and the aura passes from his hands to both of the women. Though only Asura recovers enough to moan a little, Ja 'Far nods and says, "You will live. My fight was not with the innocent only with the guilty." He turns and picks up the golden staff, he watches as a piece of light detaches from the main light and slowly makes its way down the staff. Turning to Torana he says, "This was truly a potent weapon. I should take it to keep you from using it against us in the coming war, but I think you won't be keeping it that long any way." He plants the staff in the ground and with one last look around he sinks slowly into the ground disappearing.

When the orc is gone, people come from out of their houses nearby and look around. Torana moves over to the staff and leaning on it says, "Please help my friends, when they revive take them to Toran's chandler shop."

With that he moves away carrying the staff muttering, "Must hurry." Passing nearby a building, he touches the staff to one side of the building and a spark appears. Flames seem to pop up and run in a line from that point in the center of the wall to the next wall and to the next until it touches nearly every building surrounding the plaza. As the mage moves into the darkness, each one of them feels a sense of peace and safety fall over them. That familiar feeling that they've known sense birth that says, "I'm safe here."

As Asura falls back into the darkness as you see a woman coming over to check on her.

Sitting in peace looking around a field of roses, she almost wonders whether she is dead or in a dream.

The answer comes suddenly as noises appear from all around and the scene disappears in a blast of light and sound that seems louder than thunder from the sky.

Awakening to the sound of someone snoring very loudly. She looks around to find herself with a dozen others on the floor of a good-sized room. Another man wakes with a start only to lean over and smack the snoring sleeper in the head, "Wake up, blast you and take that outside!" This outburst in turn wakes up still more people and soon the room is filled with cries of "Keep it down!" "Where am I" "Am I dead yet" "Yes, this is your own personal damnation, Now shut up!"

The commotion attracts someone from outside and the door opens and bright morning light shafts through the doorway blinding all.

A deep voice says, "Alright sleepy heads, the fight is over! Get out here and join the party." One by one he helps the people get up and pushes them through the doorway. It is then that she realizes that all of her armor and equipment is gone and she is dressed in bleached white breeches and shirt.

As the group is walked outside several people wait outside nervously. Every now and then a woman runs up to claim her husband or children greet their mother now returned. But one man, a very large burly man with short black hair but a friendly expression looks around picking people for a different reason. As he gestures for her to come to him, she realizes the group he has chosen were comrade-in-arms, then briefly her enemies. After Asura joins them, he begins counting. "Yes I think that is it, the others were too far gone to save them. My name is Coros. Toran said to make sure you get to his shop when you woke, so I'm here to escort you." As Aladfar mentions the missing clothing, Coros says, "There is not much I can do there, most of you your clothing was burned and otherwise ruined beyond hope. The remains of your weapons have gone to the forges to be made anew. Come this way. When we began the revolt yesterday, no one expected that Toran's group had survived. He had tried many times before, but when he didn't return, we assumed he was lost for good. If it weren't for him, we would have lost everything. We had defeated the Outsiders' forces, but the Marshall himself had some kind of magic that made everyone follow his orders. Nothing we had could stand against it, until Toran came with that crazy staff of his. Lighting flew from that staff hitting everyone and we thought he had killed them all, but they seem unharmed today. Then the Marshall tried to take the staff and Toran gave it to him, but the staff caused his magic uniform to explode nearly killing him. Rather than be captured he took his own life and now the nightmare is over. We have sent word to other towns, and hopefully no one else suffers from the yoke of these Outsiders."

After several minutes of walking they find themselves in front of a dirty rundown shack that looks it would collapse if Aladfar sneezes on it. Hanging from a wall, is a dirty sign that says, "Chandler". Coros says, "Here is Toran's place. Personally I don't know why you risked your neck for us. I mean it's not like Toran could ever pay you for your services, but I'm glad you did." With that he turns and walks off into the distance.

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"And That is how I came to be here with you today. I hope you can forgive me for the pain I have caused while under Ja 'Far's control."

Fin.

** Narrators Note: **

This ends Asura's explanation of how Ja 'Far controlled her. We now return you to the rest of tempest.

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