The ogre and the orc again charge and again pull back in feints.

          Finally both attack and contact of their weapons sounds like a deep bell being rung. In a lighting series of exchanges the advantage passes from the ogre to the orc back to the ogre again. Both trying moves that one would think impossible for them. Neither gaining ground on the other. The ogre stops attacking and spins his staff in front of him. After a few seconds it is barely a blur and the wind it kicks up is blowing loose items around. The armored orc watches for a second before moving his sword above his head, also spinning it. His blade also becomes a blur. They circle each other thus for a moment.

          The orc quickly arcs his blade toward the ogre, the whirling blade slams into the whirling staff and the sound of breaking wood and crunching metal explodes and the force of the rebound throws both the ogre and the orc off of their feet. Quickly and nimbly both get back to their feet, amazingly neither weapon is damaged. The orc starts with a series of chest high cuts and a sweep to the legs all of which are neatly blocked by the ogre. The ogre responds with a sweep and several attacks to the orcs sides and head all of which are just as easily blocked.

          The man with the axe and sword shakes his head as the pale warrior shakes him before moving on. Latok is still chasing the rather nimble old man through the crowd.

          Time appears to be on the ogres side, as newly healed he is fresh, where it seems the armored orc is not. The armored orcs moves are markedly slower and he seems to be much more on the defensive than before. The ogre now concentrating on the attack does not seem to be pressing the advantage too much.

          Mordred’s companion makes a quick arm motion and moves over to stand near another orc. As the pale warrior leaves the man with the axe and sword he continues on shaking others and producing no response. However the man he did manage to awaken looks around and then notices with some surprise that the wound in his side is now bound. After a quick check of the bandage, he grips his weapons and slowly starts to edge toward the door. He is caught up by Magnus, who was not far behind, who whispers something to him. Both glance at the door and the man nods.

          The old man seems to be running out of energy as Latok quickly closes the gap between them and attacks. The old man, obviously tired but still nimble, dodges as best he can, but both know its only a matter of time. Each time the old man tries to use his wand, Latok swings. Each time he gets a little closer to the mark.

          Mordred’s companion makes a quick motion with his arms then moves over to stand near another orc. The priest holds his weapon at the ready, waiting for something.

          Magnus unrolls the scroll he was holding and speaks a rune. The paper glows briefly blue. The glow leaps from the page and arcs toward Latok, hitting him squarely between the shoulder blades. Latok stumbles forward and lands face down. Magnus glances at a nearby stripped corpse before moving back to the rear of the tavern.

          The old man takes advantage of the stumble and points his wand at Latok.

          Again the tip of the wand glows black. The glow streaks from the wand and slams into the prone form of Latok. He hesitates a moment, and Latok does not get up. He cackles to himself then moves to the rear of the tavern. When passing by a defender he give them a little shake in hopes of waking them up.

          The ogres magely companion stands silently in the crowd looking around watching everything.

          Mordred’s companion makes a quick move with his arms and the sound of steel on steel is heard as the orc next to him turns to stare at him with an evil grin.

          The old man shakes the remaining drunk who nearly collapses. He falls to one knee and shakes his head clearing it. He brushes off the old mans attention and looks around.

          The armored orc changes things around as he goes on the offense with a blinding array of attacks with each attack he mutters a word. The words are distinct, but unintelligible. The ogre falls back under the assault quickly blocking blows to the head and sides. The ogre and orc blades lock for a moment and the ogre sets himself and with a shout thrusts as hard as he can against the orc. The force of the thrust knocks the orc well across the room, out of the circle taking out several orcs in the process and clipping the leader human spinning him around. As the human gets up he looks around as spots the globe and is motionless again. The armored orc gets back up and walks back to the ring and salutes the ogre and they continue to fight.

          The ogre leads off with a quick series of attacks first concentrating on the left side then moving on to the right side trying to get in a surprise hit. The armored orc is having a little difficulty in blocking this technique. Several times a loud clang is heard as the ogre scores another hit.

          Mordred’s companion backs away slowly from the orc his weapon in front of him. The orc holding his sword at the ready stalks him. Seeming to be in no hurry for the kill.

          The old man moves near Mordred and attempts to shake him awake.

          The man with the axe and the sword slowly moves through the crowd toward Mordred’s companion. He stops examining two, now bleeding, orcs whom the elf stood by only moments before.

          At the rear of the tavern Magnus again checks on the little man and the other injured humans now standing staring at the globe.

          The old man, failing to wake Mordred starts to move on when he notices his injury. "Priest", he says in an overloud whisper, "There is one here who is in need of healing."

          Mordred’s companion stops his retreat as the sound of a sword leaving its scabbard is heard behind him. He turns to see two orcs standing behind him grinning evilly. "Help!", he yells as the first orc attacks.

          The pale warrior moves to the man with two swords and shakes him.

          The armored orc and the ogre again lock weapons, when the ogre thrust this time, the orc is ready. The armored orc stops pushing against the ogre and as he pushes the ogre overbalances himself tumbling onto the orc. As the ogre falls over him the orc falls upon his back with his feet in the air. When the ogre falls onto the orcs feet, the orc uses the ogres momentum against him. The ogre is sent flying upside down through the air, landing with a thud on his back several feet behind the orc, who quickly recovers his feet and moves in on the attack.

          "Tricks, eh!", the ogres says, "We’ll I have plenty of tricks for you." As the orc attacks, the ogre drops his guard and takes a hit on the arm. He takes his pole and rams it into the orcs now undefended middle and lifts him up off the ground tossing him straight up. The flying orc collides with globe, which explodes in a brilliant burst of dazzling light, momentarily blinding everyone. A loud sickening smack is heard. As the vision clears, the armored orc is seen weakly getting up to his feet. Blood can be seen pouring out of the helm.

          Everyone affected by the globe falls to the ground moaning loudly holding their heads.

          The armored orc raises his left arm and another sword appears to leap out of his arm and land in his hand. "I salute you, ogre. It seems you have rightfully won this duel. As I cannot fight any longer, I submit. Enjoy your victory." He says, glancing around, "for when my men recover their wits, you will again battle for your life." With that he stands holding both swords aloft. Suddenly both disappear, and he falls to the ground.

          As everyone slowly recovers and looks around, the defenders realize that the room has a lot more orcs in it now than they remember...

          Mordred’s companion moves away from his stalkers keeping his attention divided between the three. He jumps back to avoid being hit by an attacking sword. "Mordred HELLLPPPPPP!!!!" The orcs move in on three sides moving faster. Each taking turns to attack and laugh as the elf dodges and dances to keep from getting killed. Already, he has taken as nasty cut on his chest and several smaller bruises on his arm from the mace attacks.

          With the globe gone many of those held in trance awake and realize what is going on. The room seems to explode into action as everyone realizes what has happened. Some of the orcs, were not so fortunate as the globe is destroyed they slump silently to the ground never to awake again.

          "WWAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!", the man with the two swords screams his hatred as he finds himself literally surrounded by orcs. At the ferocity of the scream, several of the nearby orcs move away. That is the only thing that saves them as the man starts laying about him with the swords. Two unfortunate orcs could not get their guard up before their heads were removed.

          The trio of orcs with shield again takes up position at the front of the door blocking that as a potential exit.

          A dark flash shoots through the room and hits an orc in the chest. Two more dark flashes and the orc falls to the ground silent. "Die, Die, Die!", yells the old man as he points his wand at yet another orc and lets loose another deadly bolt. He is soon joined by the priest who keeps away those orcs who dare to get too close with a few well placed blows.

          The dark flashes are joined with lighter green flashes shooting from the tip of the wand from the cook. One poor orc is hit from both sides by a black flash and a green flash. The orc stops moving, standing still for a moment before falling sideways and staying still.

          Magnus moves to the remains of a table and finds his staff near a still smoldering pool of liquid, smelling faintly of butter.

          Mordred, after clearing his head, gets to his feet while looking around. Upon seeing his companion in danger he runs to help. With surprise on his side he easily spears one in the back, before the other two realize he is there.

          The orc with a large scar on his neck looks around. His eyes fasten on Mordred’s companion and he watches for a moment, before giving a snort of satisfaction. His eyes wander until they reach the still form of the Armored orc. He moves quickly to the body attacking no one.

          The pale warrior is again active, silently bring death to the orcs in mass. In the space of a few seconds three orcs fall to him.

          The drunk and one of the other humans seem to have taken the brief respite to heart as they attack with renewed vigor. The human leader has moved over to the ogre and between the two of them they are keeping the orcs at a distance. The orcs, understandably are hesitant to get near the ogre.

          Magnus starts to move tables to the back area.

          Mordred’s companion finally gets his back to a wall and continuously parries the orcs deft attacks. Mordred however is having trouble as he keeps slipping in pools of his own blood seeping from his wound. More than once he stumbles nearly costing him his life. His movements become markedly slower.

          The scarred orc kneels over the body of his commander, then stands up and howls, "Uwelk gen uol tyokl! Repm!" At this the orcs fight harder and slowly start to push the defenders back through sheer numbers. Piercing the gloom the black bolts continue to find their mark as the screams indicate the degree of success.