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Below-The-Line (OOC) Comments
Friday June 26th, 1998 5:30:40 AM

John says: Back from Canada! What a blast! We got a digital camera before we left... I'll send one or two small pictures when I get it a computer. Gotta go.

Dinner ready. Thought I'd quick respond to the turn.

Anthony says: Jerry I think I lost a turn somewhere. I am WAY lost. PS please send the woldian address seeing as how I have lost it as well.

Jerry says: woldian@usa.net Be sure to send to it and me both. Also if I were you, I'd be archiving your turns so you know which ones you are missing if any. Tell me the turn numbers and I'll send them.

Jerry says: Heard from JK. He is back in Ft. Worth, his new home, until Sunday. He'll be coming up to Wichita Saturday. They head to Georgia to his parents house on Sunday. I think after that he'll be back with us. He said he will barring unfortunate things happening have the message boards up and running before the end of June.

Jerry says: Erin, will you have a computer at college? If so I'd like to have you in the second online group. Tony, are you interested in the second group? Steve is online now, but is as usual having computer troubles getting things to work. Perhaps he can join this second group. I also have a 15 year old Magic player who has impressed me who may join this group. We don't want him in the local group because he goes to the same school that Anthony teaches at. Kevin Wemberly (in and out again Wemberly) for those of you who date back to the first adventure will play in it as well. So it looks like a second group of exes forming plus a few to be added later. I'd like to start them in July.

Plans Within Plans: Turn 15
Monday June 29th, 1998 5:00:40 AM
Gareth fires arrows at the nearest spell caster in an attempt to disrupt the spells saying "You!". He continues to fire until the fighters begin to close. He then draws his sword and does his thing.

Flaust waits for Gareth to respond to the orc's command of "Who?".

When Gareth gives the signal, Flaust casts Entangle, focused on the back of the group of orcs, attempting to immobilize spell casters. If time and distance permit, Flaust will crack off another Entangle at the (presumed) charging group of orcs.

Tiburon begins casting Hold Person ( centering it upon the spellcasters ).

Onrad rushes across the stream his swords singing as he draws them from their scabbards. He attacks #1 and 2 closing with both so as to leave the other fighters free to take the others.

------------------------

Results:

The party gets initiative.

Gareth sees casting from #6 and fires. He fumbles. He spends the rest of the round recovering.

Flaust casts Entangle and the back four have to save. 5 and 7 saves. 6 and 8 are entangled.

Tiburon casts Hold Person and 5 saves. 7, 6, and 8 do not.

Onrad attacks twice hitting #1 for 6 points damage. He misses #2 as he ducks like a sissy.

The Bloody Claws initiative:

#1 attacks Onrad hitting him for 11 points damage. Onrad staggers back mouth open.

#2 attack Onrad and misses as Onrad bravely ducks.

#3 crosses the river and closes with Flaust. He attacks. He misses.

#4 fires twice at Tiburon. He hits and misses. The first arrow is laced with poison. Tiburon saves. He takes 8 points of damage as the arrow embeds itself in his upper arm.

#5 Casts Entangle at the casters in the party. Tiburon saves. Flaust does not and is caught fast.

#6 is entangled and held.

#7 is held.

#8 is entangled and held.

Below-The-Line (OOC) Comments
Monday June 29th, 1998 5:30:40 AM

Jerry says: I need a new character sheet from David Hott.

Jerry says: I did not do actions for those who did not send in a turn.

Jerry says: I'm sure you're wondering why the turn looks so different. I'm experimenting with what I think things will be like on the message boards. Let me give you a run down and some choices to discuss and decide upon.

1) Initiative amongst the party will be done in the order in which they are posted.

2) Both the party and the monsters will use group initiative. If you have a weapon that attacks first in a round, send in your character sheet....[grin] and remind me the first round of every combat.

3) This makes for initiative being a severe advantage or disadvantage as you can see from the above. One whole side gets to go before the other. To mix it up takes time and that's what I'm trying to save here.

4) There are two ways to do spells and initiative. One is like we did things this turn. The other is to say that all melee happens first then the spells. That limits the power of the spellcaster. This combat for the most part eliminates attacking the spellcaster while he or she is casting. We can discuss holding until after the other team goes, but I think it's a bit much to allow holding until a certain caster casts. That then puts the ball in the attacker's court totally leaving the spellcaster at the whim of anyone who holds.

5) It limits everyone to one action and only one action during combat. No if thens. Out of combat, we'll have to experiment. JK will do a short one week thing with pregenerated characters later when we kick off the actual message boards.

6) The DM will not run characters besides his own in this system. This reverts back to the live game way of doing things. Check your House Rules. Anyone may volunteer to play the character of someone who is out of town and receive 1/2 xp for it. The player who arranges for someone to play his character when unavailable or leaves it for someone to play, also gets 1/2 xp.

Criticism is welcome. Just remember that I'm trying to keep the fun and eliminate the DM's time in running the turn to under 30 minutes. This time I had to print out the 4th level character sheets I had received, deal with new THACOS, and use the new method which had only been seen before this in my mind. It took less than an hour including the below the line stuff. Nice from my end. It seemed to still have a game flow that could be enjoyed, but then I'm feeding you propaganda. Be honest and yet fair.

Here's hoping I'm not to be lynched.

Here's hoping the Bloody Claws get initiative next round...hehe.

Plans Within Plans: Turn 16
Tuesday July 7th, 1998 5:00:40 AM
Flaust tosses her combat net onto her attacker, orc #3.

Gareth draws his sword and moves to attack #3 to prevent an attack on Flaust.

Seeing Onrad's reaction, Jus screams and runs, swinging his swords, to help Onrad. Jus attempts to take on both of the Orcs if Onrad needs to disengage.

Tiburon says," Hey! That hurt ! " then he casts Hold Person ( centering it upon the bowman ).

Onrad continues to wail on the orc in front of him allowing Jus to get one. He yells at Jus, "I'll survive here, move on to the casters. We've got to take them out while we can!"

------------------

Results:

The Bloody Claws get initiative:

#1 attacks Onrad twice and misses with both attacks.

#2 attacks Onrad twice and misses with both attacks.

#3 saves vs. the Entangle spell that his compatriot cast last round on Flaust and chooses to remain there and attack the Entangled Flaust twice. He hits with his first attack doing a maximum damage of 14 points. He fumbles on the second attack.

#4 fires twice at Flaust taking a penalty to avoid hitting his comrade and do to the flailing plants. He gets a bonus because Flaust is Entangled. He misses with the first attack and hits with the second for a maximum amount of 8 points damage. It is poisoned but Flaust shrugs off the poison.

#5 Casts Dispel Magic in the area of the Entangle and Hold Person spells and rolls once for each spell. He fails on the Entangle, but dispels the Hold Person.

#6 is entangled.

#7 Casts Blindness at Gareth. Gareth fails his save and sees his vision fade to a greyness before his eyes that prevents his seeing anything.

#8 is entangled.

The party's initiative:

Flaust is entangled.

Gareth blindly moves in the direction of Flaust listening to her voice as she screams from the pain. Gareth then reaches the edge of the Entanglement area and gets caught in the waving greenery and is held fast.

Jus attacks #2 and hits him for 7 points damage.

Tiburon casts Hold Person on #4 and holds him fast.

Onrad attacks #1 twice and misses twice..

Below-The-Line (OOC) Comments
Tuesday July 7th, 1998 5:30:40 AM

John says: I guess my last response was too late. If Jus is here, ignore the last turn and include this one. Otherwise do as you will, but let me know. Sorry about that.

John says: My first impression on the first-come, first-initiative was not positive. But thinking about it, it would be even nicer if when someone logs in to post their turn they are able to read what the other characters have already done that turn (since their earlier submittals would mean their character's turns would have already been performed). This view would help prevent the common occurrence of duplicate or nullified actions (the later is especially frustrating as Jus' experience in the Tavern Brawl demonstrated to me). This would also give the spell casters more flexibility in "complementing" the fighters rather than getting in their way. Then again, it also effectively gives all spells immediate casting times. I guess I have to hold me final opinion until it is tried a few times.

Jerry says: Yes, I agree that seeing the other's turns will help.

John says: In regards to the test site: I suggest a text block for "below the line" comments should be added to aid in the automatic response generation. Maybe we should do a requirements analysis and see what the interface requirements are. ;)

Jerry says: I'm not JK, but I would think that the simpler the message board the better it will work. Just draw your line after your move and write what you want to below the line.

David says: If people do not send in turns, and the result is going to be no action is taken by that character in a combat situation, then IMO that character should get a smaller experience point value and the ones who do should get more.

Jerry says: Not sending in turns during a combat can be deadly as is shown by this turn.

David Hill says: On my attack with the net, does the orc lose all armor-related AC (only having dexterity plus magic)?

Jerry says: What attack? You were entangled last turn. :) Hmm...how big is your net David? JK can you help me here? Anthony? No time to look it up tonight.

Plans Within Plans: Turn 17
Thursday July 9th, 1998 5:00:40 AM
Jus moves in spell range to the real Orc spell casters, planting his swords into the ground. He then casts Color Spray, attempting to catch as many of the spell casters as possible.

Tiburon cast Command at Orc 5 saying ," Sleep ". He then uses the rest of the round drawing his sword.

Flaust will crouch (as much as possible) and use her healing prof. on herself to stop the bleeding.

Gareth attempts to break free from the greenery and attack #3.

---------------------

Results:

Gareth gets first initiative.

Gareth is held fast.

The Bloody Claws get second initiative:

#1 attacks Onrad once misses.

#2 attacks Jus once and hits for 8 points.

#3 misses his attack due to his fumble and also fails his third save vs. the Entangle spell and is held fast.

#4 is held.

#5 moves to his right and casts Sleep on Tiburon and Gareth. Neither, due to their Constitution giving them a HD of 4+3 succumb.

#6 is Entangled.

#7 moves to his left and casts Blindness on Onrad. Onrad fails his save and is blinded.

#8 is Entangled.

The Three get third initiative:

Jus having to choose between #5 and #7 chooses the lower number by default and casts Color Spray on him. He saves.

Tiburon Casts Sleep on #5 who is not affected.

Flaust tries to crouch, but cannot move. Flaust tries to use her healing proficiency on herself, but cannot move.

Gareth struggles against the plants that hold him. He is held fast.

Below-The-Line (OOC) Comments
Thursday July 9th, 1998 5:30:40 AM

Jerry says: FYI, the Entangle Spell says and I quote: "....holding them fast for the duration of the spell."

David Hott says: Hey! Gareth ALWAYS get first attack with his sword (Sword of Speed). i.e. Initiative or no he gets an attack on #3 BEFORE the Blindness spell.

Your rule not mine.

Jerry says: Yes, but I said below the line a few days back that anyone with automatic initiative would have to be responsible for telling me so the first round of EACH and EVERY combat. The onus is on you and you were told. I gave it to you this round since you FINALLY got around to doing as I asked and informed me of Gareth's situation. (Responding tone for tone....Nice is nicer Daave [grin])

David Continues: Also, are you saying that in the segment where #7 is 'unheld' he is then able to cast a multiple segment spell and have it go off the SAME segment he gets UNHELD? I don't think so. If everyone on one side goes before the other side then #7 should be able to do nothing at all but get unheld. IMO, of course. Also, did Gareth fail his save for the Entangle also?

Jerry says: Ok you have a point here. I was looking ahead and making a call. Since when the message boards are up, and as John deftly put the other day, you will be responding to the posts that are ahead of you, it makes sense to allow characters affected by previous posts to act with that knowledge. Initiative within the party is in the order posted. If this is so, then the monsters may act in their order of posting as well, which in this case is 1-8.

However, where David, although he doesn't realize it, is correct is that we are not yet on the message board and therefore should not be allowed to act on previous posts until the party can do so.

Now if you guys want to go with things as David has put them above once we get on the message board that's fine with me, but I think that it does away with a very interesting new set of strategies that I'd like to see explored.

I do NOT apologize for this mistake. We are as I said when I began this adapting. You guys know me well enough to understand that I make things right when they need to be made right. You DO NOT have to YELL at me or take a TONE to get your way. Common knowledge has always said that using all caps online is considered shouting. The only thing ELSE I have to say about this is that it is very interesting to me that I have been able to once again get David interested enough in a role-playing game that it elicits such a response. One DM point for Jerry the Master DM of the Universe.

Since we were using "group" initiative his actions did not happen in the same segment but the same round. For the last two rounds, we've been having spells go off the same segment as the fighters blades. Why complain now?

Ok until we hit the message boards all of one side's initiative will be considered to happen at the same time preventing anyone from reacting to another of the same side. I'll undo the spell that #7 cast last round. Therefore Gareth is not blinded and that spell has not yet been cast. We will continue to ignore the "after the fact" rule until we are comfortable with the changes. Gareth however did, by his own choice, enter the entangle zone and yes, he did miss his save. So he is Entangled for the duration of the spell.

David says: Gareth will use hero points to resave against any spell attack.

Jerry says: Kudos to David who roleplays for real trying to do what most of you would not have knowing that they were caught. New rule: you may use a hero point to reroll a roll you failed the following round. You will still be subject to the situation (in this case Entangled) for one round until the reroll is made, assuming that it succeeds.

Jerry: rerolling Gareth's save using his hero point.......sorry still caught. :(

David Hill says: Don't know what I was thinking -- forgot about the Entangle spell when I submitted that last turn.

Jerry: Everyone please be patient as we enter into this time of transition, voice your opinions, but be nice about it if you wish the same in return.

Jerry: I have seen the message board and it looks nice and works well. I've asked JK to put 5 of them up and select ours. Then we can just chat and practice on it for a week or so until everyone is comfortable. JK is in Georgia visiting his parents so it may be a week or two until he gets it up for you to experiment on.

Jerry says: I hope everyone is having fun. That's the important thing.

Below-The-Line (OOC) Comments
Saturday July 11th, 1998 10:59:58 AM
The following is the beginning of the Message Board Game. All "Below The Line" material has been left to email. The role-playing suffers a bit as we begin this new format with the toughest thing to play or DM that there is: adventuring party vs. adventuring party. This necessitated some long complicated entries from the DM which also hurt the role-playing. I think the entries after the battle will show the worth of the new format

DM
Saturday July 11th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Correction from last round: Tiburon cast Command instead of Sleep on Orc #5. The Orc saved and the spell had no effect.)

Tiburon
Tiburon walks towards Orc #7, watching for writhing grass as he goes and taking special care not to walk into the Entangle. As he gets within 10 yards of Orc #7, he casts Command and tells Orc #7 to "Die."

Jus
Jus takes a quick look around and gauges if any of the orcs are within 10 feet of each other, taking special note of the spellcasters. He then casts Grease under as many of the Orcs as possible, or one of the spellcasters if only one can be "caught."

Flaust
Flaust commands Orc #7 to "Faint."

Gareth
Gareth continues to struggle to break free of the spell and attack Orc #3. He yells, "Get those casters!"

Kat
Kat recovers and casts Pit under any orcs groups together. If there are no Orcs grouped together, she engages in battle using her staff or casting Magic Missile on a spell caster from cover.

DM
Sunday July 12th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Round 4) Gareth struggles mightily, but is held fast by the Entangle Spell along with Flaust and Orc #3. Orc #1, seeing that Onrad has been blinded, strikes to decapitate him. Onrad hearing the stroke and ducks, but not enough. Orc #1's blade hits him in the side of the head for 8 points of damage. Orc #1 swings again, slicing downwards. Onrad, keeping his cool, dives to the side avoiding the second stroke. Orc #2 breaks from Onrad and moves across the stream to attack the also blinded Tiburon. Orc #2 buries his sword in Tib's stomach for 8 points of damage before Tiburon can move. Tiburon bends over double for a moment and then straightens with a look of surprise on his face as Orc #7 casts Light directly in his eyes. Tiburon rubs them and blinks to fight off the spell to no avail. He also is blinded. Tiburon centers his mind and straightens with a look of determination on his visage. He turns in the direction the Light spell came from and shouts his Command Spell, "Die!" Tiburon is left to wonder whether he was successful or not. Flaust holds on her own Command Spell seeing that Tiburon has been successful. She yells out from the area of the Engangle Spell, "Got him!" Suddenly Tiburon can see once again. Orc #4 struggles to move but is unable to even blink verses the Hold Person spell. Orc #5 casts Web on Jus. Jus saves and dives and rolls clear of the spell. The web is centered directly behind Orc #1 and Onrad, between them and the second Entangle Spell further back containing Orcs #6 and #8. Jus retaliates and casts Grease under Orc #5, however, he also saves and reaches the edge of the spell by the end of the round. The Grease spell is positioned on the Orc's side of the stream to the party's left and the Orc's right. Kat gets behind the cover of a sparse group of trees and casts Magic Missile on #5 doing 8 points of damage. Orc #5 spins toward Kat and sets her face for revenge.

Jus
Jus dismisses the Grease spell and throws a small, fuzzy object at the feet of Orc #5. This small, insignificant object suddenly turns into a large, very unhappy bear. Jus yells to the bear -- loud enough for the Orc to hear -- to attack until the Orc lays on its belly and puts its hands on its rear, or until the Orc is dead. Jus then turns his attention back to Orc #1 and prepares to cast another spell. He occasionally glances back to the bear, awaiting to tell the bear to sit on the Orc's hands and legs when he prostrates himself. "Hopefully we'll get at least one live prisoner this day." Jus thinks to himself.

Flaust
If possible, Flaust will call upon her laying upon hands ability to cure herself. She shouts to Kat and Jus, "Got a Dispel Magic handy?"

Nonam
Another orc walks into the clearing near #5 and yells, "ENOUGH OF THIS!!! BLOODY CLAWS, YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR TREACHERY AGAINST THE DARK LORD. EITHER FALL ON YOUR BLADES NOW OR FACE HIS VENGEANCE WHEN WE RETURN YOUR MISERABLE HIDES TO HIM!!" Then he begins to toss a rock back and forth between his hands menacingly. As he does so, the stone begins to glow with power.

Tiburon
Tiburon attacks Orc # 2.

Gareth
Gareth continues to struggle to get free of the vines. He tries to move back away from the spell. If he can't move he just waits in position to attack #3 when the spell disappears.

Onrad
Onrad, finding himself rolling on the ground for his life struggles to his knees and crawls a step or two and playing hurt while listening for the upcoming stroke from Orc #1 and the writhing plants he knows is back there somewhere behind the web. He uses these sounds to try and orient himself. If he gets initiative he will hold and spring forward to overbear Orc #1 into the webbed area. If the Orc gets the initiative, he will attempt this maneuver when his opportunity comes. (Onrad will use a hero point to reroll if he misses.)

Kat
Kat drops her clothing and walks out of the sparse tree area. She then casts Seduction II and grunts a word of submission in Orcish directed towards Orc #5.

DM
Monday July 13th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Round 5-The Three gets initiative) [Edited turn: 11:20AM Tues.] The Grease spell disappears as Jus summons a bear from a bag. Orc #5's eyes widen as he hears the instructions. The Bear charges the Orc and attacks Orc #5 missing. The Orc chuckles and turns to face across the river with a dismissal wave of his hand. He mutters something in Orcish about a "Falsity." Nonam then walking forward gives his speech and once again the Orc's eyes grow wide. He stutters for a moment and then recovers. He demands, "Password be?" Before Nonam can answer, Kat comes out of the sparse area of trees sans clothing and casting her Seduction II spell. For a third time in the space of a minute, his eyes grow wide. He seems to fade for a moment and then he mutters something about what mam said about "good girls." Orc #5 then becoming more angry at Kat than he was when she hit him with a Magic Missle pulls out a wicked looking wand and says a word under his breath. A glowing ball shoots forth headed for the area between Nonam and Kat Tiburon and Orc #2. It suddenly explodes: a Fireball! Kat saves and takes 7 points damage. Her skin turns a bright red as she screams! Nonam does not save and takes 14 points damage. Nonam looks down to see some of his metal items melting searing his skin as they do so while some of his more flamible possessions completely bursting into flame. Orc #2 also takes 14 points of damage and watches as his sword melts in front of his eyes. (Tiburon rolled an in or out and was just outside the area of effect.) The grass in the area of effect catches on fire...and so does the sparse grouping of trees. Flaust tries to Lay Hands on herself, but can't move to touch herself. Tiburon calmly attacks Orc #2 and misses. Orc #2 drops his melted sword and draws two daggers. Fighting two-weapon style he attacks Tiburon twice hitting both times and once critically for a total of 5 points damage. He repositions himself out of the burning area on the other side of Tiburon without breaking contact. Gareth and Flaust bide their time. Onrad clears his mind after the low roar of the fireball and when he hears the whistling of Orc #1's blade descending, he dives toward it making solid contact and driving both of them into the web. Onrad's overbear causes Orc #1 to overextend with his sword missing Onrad's head by a hair. Onrad is held fast in the web. Orc #1 makes his save and finds that the webs closer to the ground are at half-strength where he is. Onrad maintains his overbear for now.

Jus
"Ouch!", Jus winces seeing the Fireball go off. He shudders for a moment realizing what probably would have happened to him. Jus then quickly pulls out his bow and takes aim across the stream at Orc #2, being extra careful not to hit any of his own party (5HP). The bear lets out a roar of frustration and attacks Orc #5 again. (Claw 6HP/Bite 8HP).

Flaust
Flaust waits to see the outcome of the fire.

Nonam
Nonam calmly steps out of the fire so as to make himself look more formidable (while hoping that he doesn't burn to death) and says, "You dare to ask me for a password. Have you no idea who I am. You have been warned!!! PREPARE TO FACE THE DARKLORD'S JUDGMENT!!!" He then casts lightning bolt at #5. Suddenly lightning appears from nowhere and strikes #5 full in the chest (23pts). The massive electrical charge causes all the orc's hair to stand on end before it passes through his body. Nonam then says a quiet forboding voice, "You were warned."

Gareth
Gareth attempts to grab his bow for a shot. If he can't he continues to wait for the spell to dissipate focusing on Orc #3.

Kat
Kat recovers her clothing and grumbles under her breath about what she was thinking casting a chr based spell with a chr of 8. She then prepares to defend herself with her staff.

Onrad
Onrad tries desperately to just hold still and keep the Orc beneath him using the strength of the webs that hold him still to helps him hold the Orc in place. He listens carefully to try to keep some idea of his bearing.

Tiburon
Tiburon remains in combat with Orc #2. Hi sword suddenly whistles thru the air at the Orc , who manages to duck out of the way ( a 3 ) . Tiburon tries the return backhand stroke and slashes Orc #2 ( a 19 to hit and a 6 for damage) across his chest.

DM
Tuesday July 14th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Round 6-Players get the initiative) The fire burns slowly, sputtering with the grass still wet from the recent mist. It increases it's radius by spreading to the creek, engulfing the grove of sparse trees entirely, and expanding halfway to the area of Entanglement. Orc #5 fails his save vs. Nonam's Lightning bolt taking the full 23 points of damage. He blinks once and collapses to the ground, a charred mess. Kat remaining within the area of burning grass, takes five hit points of damage as her feet turn black, smolder from the flames and begin to catch on fire. Tiburon winces as the flames expand past where he and #2 are dueling. #1 attempts to squirm out from beneath Onrad, rolls a 15 and moves about two feet towards the creek now 3 feet away. Orc #2 attacks Tiburon once with each dagger missing with an 11 and hitting with a 16 for 7 points of damage. Orc #3 is Entangled but watches the fire closely. Orc #4 is still held. Orcs #6 is Entangled. Orc #7 comes to consciousness, rises to his feet in a daze and surveys the situation. Orc #8, also Entangled screams at #7 to set the Entangled grasses on fire. Orcs #1 and #6 take up the chant.

DM
(Round 7- The Bloody Claws get the initiative) Orc #1 crawls another two feet and is 1 foot from the edge of the Web. Orc #2 takes 3 points of damage from the spreading flames burning him through his leather shoes and he withdraws from Tiburon back to the far edge of the creek to escape those flames. (His position at the edge of the creek will give him a +1 advantage if anyone closes with him.) Orc #3 waits as the flames get closer and closer. He growls in frustration as he realizes that Gareth will be the first to be freed by the flames. Orc #4 is still held. Orcs #6 and #8 scream at Orc #7 to light the grass on their side. Orc #7 rushes to the edge of the web, pulls out a flask of Greek Fire and tosses it on the web. The flames continue to spread reaching the edge of the Entangled area and eventually reaching Gareth's position. He grimaces as the flames burn his skin as they pass over him dishing out 4 points of damage as the plants that held him fast are deep fried.

Jus
Seeing Orc#5 turn to ashes, Jus sends the bear to kill Orc#7; with everyone being freed, the odds are too dicey to try and take prisoners. The bear runs at Orc#7 screaming along the way. The Orc's eyes grow big as the bear rears up on his hind legs and sends a flurry of attacks at him. Luckily, the Orc avoids all but one paw (rolled 4/15/10) which catches him fully across the chest for 6 points of damage. Jus eyes Orc#1 and decides he can wait a bit more before interceding for Onrad; although he does start moving slowly that direction (avoiding what is left of the web). Jus again takes careful aim on Orc #2 (-1 to hit to avoid Tiburon) using his +1 Flight arrows this time. The first arrow just catches the Orcs side (rolled a 15) causing 3 points of damage. Just before he lets his second arrow fly, Jus takes another glance at Orc#1 and loses his concentration (rolled the dreaded 1). He fumbles, but luckily neither the bow nor the arrow broke (rolled a 14 and a 3).

Flaust
Flaust breathes. Oh, and she blinks her eyes every once in a while. Did I say she breathes?

Nonam
Nonam, now saying nothing but wearing a look of intense hate and a mane of fiery red hair (which looks very out of place on an orc) casts magic missle. The air in the clearing becomes charged with magical energies as three glowing bolts appear and scream toward their victims. The first bolt streaks toward #1 and strikes for 4 pts of damage. Another bolt flashes toward #2 and hits him for 5 points of damage. The third and final missle races toward #7 and strikes him for 3 points of damage.

Tiburon
Tiburon circles to his right until he reaches the creek. He then begins to cast Heat Metal upon Orcs 7 & 2.

Gareth
Gareth moves toward Orc #3 with a glare saying "This is gonna sting a little..." making sure not to get entangled by the vines wating to get in range to hit him before he can break free.

DM
Wednesday July 15th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Final results of Round 7) Kat takes 1 point of damage from the flames. Gareth takes 2 as the flames roll over him.

DM
(Round 8-The party gets initiative) The flames on the west side of the creek expand through the rest of the entangled area freeing Flaust and Orc #3. The flames burn out in the original area where the Fireball hit and this ring of "extinguished flame" begins to expand.

Gareth
Gareth attacks Orc #3 with a mighty blow (automatic hit due to entanglement, 14 hp Damage) moving quickyl between Orc #3 and Flaust to prevent a cowardly attack.

Jus
Jus quickly looks over his bow and notices the noc on his bow came loose. He quickly tightens it, recovering from his earlier fumble. Unfortunately this took some time and he is only able to get one shot off at Orc #2 -- cleanly missing (-1 to avoid Tib, rolled 10). The bear screams in a rage, frustrated at missing these fat lazy targets. He tries again, terrifying Orc #7. He strikes with both paws, but is unable to take advantage of a critical hit (rolled a 20 then a 2 for paw 1, and a 17 for paw 2; 4 and 1 for damage). Everyone within earshot can hear the Orcs ribs cracking as the bear lifts the Orc off the ground in a massive bear hug (dam 7) . Not yet finished, the bear's bite catches the Orcs shoulder, tearing it open and letting the blood flow free (hit 18 / dam 4). He then drops the Orc to the ground, daring him to retaliate.

Nonam
Nonam begins to wade across the creek. His ultimate goal is a position above orc #6 (AB5). As he moves, he tries to get an idea of how badly each of the orcs is hurt.

Flaust
With regret, Flaust dodges out of the flames and away from the combatants, laying hands upon herself for 8 points of healing. She then begins scanning the area, looking for downed orcs that might be saved.

Onrad
Onrad tries to be patient being held and blind. He continues to listen to the battle around him to try and keep abreast of what is happening.

DM
Thursday July 16th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Final results of Round 8-The Three's actions) Gareth takes five points of damage from the fire as it continues to burn around him. Flaust also takes five points from the flames. Orc #3 takes 3 from the burning grasses as he continues to make his stand against the mighty Gareth.

DM
(Round 8-Bloody Claws initiative) Orc #1, who is slightly wounded, escapes the webbed area and heads for Flaust. The orc reaches Flaust, but doesn't get there in time to attack him so he stands over him on the eastern bank. Orc #2, who is severly hurt, leaves his vigil on the eastern bank and races over to Orc #5 and grabs the wand from his unmoving hands. He points it at the entangled area where his two compatriots are and mumbles. A fireball makes its dull explosion amongst them. Orcs #6 and #8 both miraculously save and takes 9 points of damage each (saves of 15 and 17). The entangled grasses do not save and burst into flame. Both Orcs are freed. Orc #3, who is moderately wounded, rises and strikes at Gareth rolling a 16 and hitting him for 4 points of damage. Orc #4, uninjured, remains held. Orc #6, slightly injured from the fireball, casts Hold Person on Gareth and Flaust. Gareth saves mightily rolling an 18. Flaust rolls an 11 and also saves. Orc #6 curses saying some truly awful things about Alemi. Orc #7, severely injured, seeing no need to light the web now draws a flail and moves to attack Tiburon. The bear rolls an even for the break of closure in combat and the result is even. It growls his frustration as #7 gets beyond his read for the moment. He rolls an 11 missing him dropping the flail as he realizes that someone has heated his metal possessions. He screams, smoke coming out of his armor as it blisters the orc for four points of damage. Orc #8, slightly burned, casts and a beam of light shoots out towards Gareth. Gareth once again saves with a 16 avoiding the Light spell aimed at his eyes. Orc #8 also curses and spits.

DM
(Round 9: The Bloody Claws get the initiative) Gareth strikes #3 twice rolling a 4 and a 7 missing both times. Orc #1 attacks Flaust hitting with a 15 for 5 points of damage. Orc #2 fires the wand at Kat, she being the only one not engaged by a Bloody Claw. As the wand fires, it lets loose a small plume of smoke. Kat makes her save rolling an 18 and takes 10 points of damage. Kat falls to the ground charred and unmoving. Orc #3 strikes twice at Gareth rolling a 7 and a 4 missing both attacks. Orc #4 is still held. Orc #6 casts Command at Gareth saying, "Die!" Gareth fails his save rolling a 6. Using a hero point, Gareth rerolls his save and rolls a 9 again failing. His eyes roll up in his head and he falls to the ground unconscious. Orc #7 makes a morale check with his armor searing him and rolls a 6 succeeding. He attacks Tiburon attempting to overbear him and burn him with his own armor. He rolls a 7 and Tiburon easily steps aside. Orc #7 takes 6 points from his searing armor and falls unconscious into the stream where a huge "Hsssssssssss" and a burst of steam hit the are where his armor touches the cold water. Orc #8 casts and fires a Lightning Bolt at Tiburon. Tiburon saves with a 16 and takes 9 points of damage. His body is driven back with the bolt like a rag doll landing awkwardly. He doesn't move. Orc #8 yells to The Three, "And now you die!"

Jus
Seeing the spells go off, Jus takes a quick look around the battlefield. His eyes go wide for a moment, then he recovers and quickly sends the bear to kill the orcs on the other side of the web. "Nonam!", Jus yells as he takes a bead on an Orc, "Tend our fallen, NOW!". Jus then takes two shots at Orc#2 and hits once solidly (19/2) for 5 points of damage.

Bear
The bear goes after Orc#8, barely missing the Web due to Jus' haste in his instructions (gave 50/50 chance and rolled out). The bear totally misses the Orc, stumbling over itself at the last moment (rolled claw 4/claw 1/no roll).

Tiburon
Tiburon lies unmoving on the bank of the stream.

Flaust
Flaust flings her combat net at Orc #1 (THAC0 14, rolled an 11, and hits {armor being ignored}), pinning him to the ground. She attempts to make her way to Kat.

Gareth
Gareth lays unconscious dreaming that he is dead and trying to explain to Gargul, God of the Dead that he's not done yet. The God just laughs at him.....echoing laughter....echoing...

Onrad
Onrad screams out in frustration, "Someone light this sucker! I'll kill 'em blind! I"ll kill them all. Come on you spawn of evil! Set me on fire!!!!"

Kat
Kat lays unconscious undreaming.

Tiburon
Tiburon's chest slowly rises and falls as he sees visions of the paradise that Domi ensures for all his faithful.

Nonam
Nonam says in a calm dangerous voice, "Now you've made me mad." Nonam then casts a lightning bolt which hits #6 & #8 for 28 points of damage each (save for 1/2). After the spell, Nonam uses the rest of his movement to get near orc #2.

DM
Friday July 17th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Final results of The Three's actions in Round 9) Orcs #6 and #8 both save vs. the Lightning Bolt rolling a 16 and 17 respectively. They take 14 points of damage each. The bear rolled even and so was hit by the powerful bolt and fails his save rolling an ll. It takes the full 28 points of damage.

DM
(The Three get first initiative for Round 10.) Onrad is freed from the webs as they go up in flames from the fireball cast by Orc #2. Kat, Tiburon, Orc #5, and Orc #7 all remain down. Gareth comes to consciousness and fights the cobwebs from his head. Onrad takes 1 point of damage from the flames. Jus takes 3 points of damage from the flames. Orc #6 takes 5 points of damage from the flames and falls fried to a crisp lightly to the burning and writhing grasses. Orc #8 takes 4 points of damage from the flames.

Flaust
Flaust runs over and casts cure light wounds on Kat for 6 points of healing.

Nonam
Nonam advances on orc #2. Once near him he casts 'burning hands.' Flames shoot forth from Nonam's fingers and engulf the orc in flames for 13 points of damage. The orc screams in agony as he attempts to save for half.

Gareth
Gareth reengages Orc #3 and hits him (14) across the chest with a great arc of his sword as he smiles and says "Miss me?!" (15 dmg)

Jus
Jus drops his bow and runs over to Orc #1, attempting to engage it while Flaust takes care of our fallen companions. Pulling out his swords, he swings and misses (2h/6h).

Bear
The bear attacks Orc#8 striking with both paws (16h/19h/7h - 5d/4d). He then picks up the Orc in a much too-tight embrace inflicting an additional 6 points of damage.

Onrad
Onrad screams out in rage, "I'm still here!!! Come on you ugly Orcs! Come kill a blind guy!!"

Tiburon
Tiburon continues dreaming of Godsland and the glorious wars he will fight there with Domi.

DM
Saturday July 18th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Results of The Three's actions in Round 10) Kat rises wearily to her feet with Flaust's help. Orc #2 saves against Nonam's Burning Hands spell, but falls to the ground anyway the combination of damage taken being too much for him. Orc mumbles something in Orcish that sounds like, "I hate bears," and collapses in the bears arms unconscious.

DM
(Round 10 Second Initiative: The Bloody Claws) Orc #1 is trapped in the net. Orc #3 attacks Gareth rolling an 18 and doing 5 points of damage. Orc #4 moves as the spell on him wears off toward Jus. He attacks Jus missing him. Orc #6 screams out, "Emergency plan two!" and runs for downed Orc #5. When he arrives there he takes a small satchel and then runs a bit further to the north. Orc #3 breaks immediately from Gareth who rolls odd and takes his attack on the fleeing Orc hitting him with a 15 for 16 points of damage felling the orc into two pieces. Orc #4 breaks from Jus who rolls even and does not get a break attack. Orc #4 runs a short distance before his movement ends. Orc #1 looks at his departing friends and with a mighty effort, he rolls a 15, cuts his own throat.

DM
(The Three get first initiative for Round 11) Everyone on the East side of the creek takes 3 points of damage from the flames.

Jus
Jus casts Phantasmal Force. He creates the illusion of four dark skinned elven bowmen lying in the grass just outside of mid-range bowshot, spread about 10 feet apart in Orc #6's path. They rise when the Orc enters mid-range and each fire two black arrows at him. Jus has the elves drop back into the grasses as the arrows go flying unerringly to the Orc. Jus hopes the Orc doesn't notice the elves dissappear as he concentrates on making the arrows strike their target (this due to area-of-effect).

Bear
Without any commands to the contrary, the Bear continues mauling Orc #8 (auto hit, damage 1/6/4/6).

Flaust
Flaust runs over to Tiburon and binds his wounds. Fearing a wide area negative effect (WANE) spell, Flaust prepares to cast her carcass (Casting Time: 1 seg., Duration: 1 round, Components: S, M) over Tiburon to protect him from damage.

Gareth
Gareth races to engage Orc #4 and #6 and attacks #4 hitting him (12) with a swift down stroke (16 dmg) yelling "Stop them!"

Nonam
Nonam cast magic missle. Three bolts streak in a soundless fury at Orc #6. They strike him for a total of 14 points of damage.

Onrad
"Come on you ugly brutes! Bring it on! Your mother loved elves! Can't you even get up the courage to fight a blind guy! I'll even put down one of my swords! Sissies! You mother was an elf!...uh, no offense Jus."

Kat
Kat looking around at all the devastation and then looking down at herself, collapses upon the ground in a depressed and weary state. "Oh, dear Kat. What have you done? Those burns may not come out with a simple polymorph spell and a healing potion. Girl, what have you done?....sigh" Then she notices Tiburon. "Tib? Hey everyone! Tib is down. She races toward him pulling half-burnt bandages from her backpack and binding his wounds. Then she begins to push on his chest trying to get his lungs to work. Breathe! Come on Tib! Breathe! If you don't open your eyes, you can't see how ugly I've become. Come on man! Breathe! Pantheon please save him, please!" Tears burst from her eyes landing on his parched lips as Kat totally dedicates her final bits of energy towards one goal, Tiburon breathing.

DM
Sunday July 19th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Round 11 Second Initiative: The Bloody Claws) Flaust begins binding Tiburon, and quickly sees that she may be too late to save him. Luckily, Kat arrives to help. As the two of them tend all his wounds, maybe with the help of Kat's prayer, Tib's pulse slowly steadies. Orc #6 easily avoids any damage from Jus' illusion, but succumbs to Nonam's spell in a quick and fiery death. Orc #4 pauses by his fallen comrade just long enough to pick up the satchel. This gives Gareth the opportunity he needed to close with him and strike. The Orc grimaces with pain from the deep slash across his back, then gains control of himself; a look of grim determination coming over his face. He begins running again. Gareth swings at the Orc as it breaks away, but is unable to score another hit. The Orc is going as fast as it can, but most of the party judges they could overtake him within a few rounds.

DM
(Round 11 First Initiative: The Bloody Claws) The Orc slows his running and struggles with the satchel for a moment. Suddenly, everyone hears a loud crack like a nearby lightning strike, but nothing is seen. The Orc continues running.

DM
(Round 12: Second Initiative Begins - The Three) Tiburon breaths.

Flaust
Flaust says to Kat, "Help me move Tiburon over to those trees over there..."

Nonam
Nonam takes a quick glance at Tiburon but decides that the fleeing orc should be his primary concern. Thinking quickly he decides that he only has one chance. He reaches down and picks up what he assumes is a wand of fireballs from the fallen orc. Then he tries to remember what the command word was (he makes a perception check by 14 - rolled a 4). Hoping he remembered correctly, he points the wand at #4 and mutters a word under his breath.

Gareth
Gareth gives chase and closes when the orc stops and messes with the satchel and hits him again (18) with a cross stroke (13 dmg)

Flaust
Flaust winces when she sees what Nonam is doing.

Jus
Jus drops his pack and begins sprinting towards the Orc.

Bear
The bear munches contentedly.

Onrad
"Come on you chickens!" ::pant, pant:: "I know you're out there! Come on and fight me! I..." ::pant:: "Dare ya!"

Kat
Kat assists Flaust with Tiburon shedding silent tears at all the violence and it's repercussions.

Tiburon
Tiburon's visions of the eternal peace he would have with Domi begin to fade as one of the minions looks at his clip-board and says," You're name isn't on MY board... go back to where youbelong. It's not your time yet."

DM
Monday July 20th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Results of The Three's actions in Round 12) Flaust and Kat pull Tiburon to the relative safety of the burnt and gutted trees. Tib's breath is ragged, but he still lives. Nonam leans down to pick up the wand and quickly drops it. The wand is MUCH hotter than it should be, even considering the grass fire that swept through. Nonam then notices that the tip of the wand is still smoking. He reconsiders his actions, especially when he can't quite recall the control word the orc used (he does remember the orc mumbling something unintelligible). Gareth realizes that the Orc is 120' away, too far to catch up and attack. He runs full tilt ahead arriving beside the orc with his blade at the ready. Jus is about 60' behind Gareth.

DM
(Round 13: First Initiative - The Three)

Flaust
Flaust says to Kat, "We've got to see if any of the fallen orcs are still alive." She then quickly looks to see if any orcs can be tended to -- providing First Aid, if possible.

Tiburon
Tiburon breathes.

Gareth
Gareth with grim determination delivers two crippling blows to the orc with his sword (12,11) severely imparing his ability to do anything (12, 16 = 28 dmg)

Nonam
Nonam hopes that Jus and Gareth can take care of the orc as it's too far away for him to do anything about now. Then he frowns at the wand but moves away from it just the same. Then he begins to seach the orc bodies for spell books, scrolls, and other magic items. While doing so he says, "Hey Tiburon, maybe you should drink one of your healing potions, or wait til we teleport back and maybe they'll heal you up for free. Course, maybe it wouldn't look good for a priest of Domi to look so beat up, or would it?"

Kat
Kat Kisses Tiburon fircely, wispering under her breath, "Thank Pantheon and Domi you are strong!" then seein that the Orc with the pouch is too far awway for her to catch she looks around for a Orc that is alive. If she finds one she will bind their hands and feet and then cast cure light on them for 5 pts of healing.

Tiburon
Tiburon continues to breath in his unconcious , un-healed state.

Jus
Jus runs the remaining 60' to catch up to Gareth and the orc. He attacks with both his swords, scoring a solid hit with his short sword (3h/16h - 6d).

DM
Tuesday July 21st, 1998 10:59:59 AM
(Results of The Three's actions in Round 13) Gareth's first stroke catches the Orc in the shoulder, damaging him badly. Jus' short sword adds his mark to he tattered remnants of the Orc's back. The orc, though severely wounded, does not turn to fight. Flaust and Kat start to check all but the Orc Gareth and Jus are chasing. They quickly surmise that the one that lay in two pieces by the stream is beyond help. The one the bear is chewing on is not much better. No orcs have survived. Nonam begins collecting anything he may deem magical and of interest from the Bloody Claws. He looks up after calling to Tiburon and sees him lying, unmoving and by himself, just inside the copse of trees.

DM
(Round 13: Second Initiative - The Bloody Claws) The orc makes one more attempt at running away. He digs in his heals and puts as much speed as he can in his step. If he can just get away this time, he knows he will make it! Gareth has other ideas. As the orc attempts to breakaway, Gareth's second stroke catches him in his side (rolled odd, Gareth gets break attack; second attack rolls noted in Gareth's turn are used). The orc turns to curse Gareth before he dies, but only has the time to look into his eyes. The last orc falls dead. ------------------------- DM Welcome to the Adventurers of The Three. To read what has gone before, please visit the library. The valiant and very wounded party has taken the first step to foil the plans of the Dark Lord by stealing the last minute plans intended for his army which prepares to attack the frontier towns of New Elenna. The Three now race home to have some substitute plans made which they will deliver taking on the form of the Orc band, the Bloody Claws, that they just defeated. Hopefully these false plans once delivered to the Dark Lord's army will set them up for defeat by the much smaller New Elennian forces.

Flaust
"Guys, I heard something beyond the hill that sounded like an explosion..." She goes back over to check on Tiburon.

Onrad
"Hey! Everything's gone quiet! What's happened! Did someone cast a silence spell on me? No I can hear myself. Hmm....may be some still sneaking around." Onrad lowers himself to the ground and begins striking out in a random direction.

Gareth
Gareth picks up the dead orc and his satchel and takes him back to the battle scene. "We must take the bodies back with us. We don't want anyone or anything to get the idea they are missing. I think in our current state we better get back to headquarters and maybe from there we can figure our what's going on over the hill." And with that he piles up the bodies except the one the bear has. He says "Jus, would you mind calling off your bear so we can get what's left of the orc?"

Kat
Kat tosses the ring of mass telaportation to Flaust and tells her to begin passing it around. She then casts the 5 pts of healing on Tiburon. Kissing him again to make sure he is OK now.

Jus
"Oh yeah, the bear. I forgot." Jus calls the bear back to the bag. The bear suddenly disappears. "Cool!" "I guess we had better get the orcs back as soon as possible for their post-mortum interrogation. We can go through their belongings when we get back." Jus walks over to where the bear was... recycling... the orc. "Ugh, I hope there is a finger left somewhere around here. Do you suppose we have to put the ring on ever piece?" "Oh, Flaust, I think that explosion came from that satchel," Jus says, pointing to Gareth. "I just hope he didn't do anything severe to the orders!"

Tiburon
Tiburon sits up, puts a hand to his head and says , " Who turned on the real bright light ?" He looks around, sees the look of concern on the nearby Kat's face and says with a smile, " Thanks Kat, I didn't know you cared so much ."

Onrad
Onrad, hearing the party discuss things, figures out, no help to anyone else (grrrrr), that the combat is over. He lays his charred and wounded body down in the charred and wounded field, leans on one elbow and waits for the 'seeing folk' to finish 'seeing' about how the OPPONENTS fared. Onrad rapidly grows extremely frustrated with his condition. He HATES being handicapped. The frustration shows in his face as his anger grows to a boiling point.

Jus
Jus takes another look around to see if anything else needs taken care of before they go. "Kat, why don't you start passing the ring around; you still have it, right? I still think we need to hurry; I don't know for sure, but I bet the minds of these orcs have to be read soon after their death." Seeing Nonam searching the orcs, Jus asks, "Find anything worth keeping, Nonam? I sure hope this was worth it!" Jus sees Onrad and goes over to him. "Boy am I glad to see you alive! I mean, sorry to see, err... I mean, its too bad that your sight hasn't returned yet. I'm sure it will pass soon. For a moment there, I thought that orc was going to skewer you. Quick thinking to push him into the web!"

Tiburon
Tiburon says , as he slowly stands," Is everyone else O.K.? What happened after I fell ? Has someone 'seen ' to Onrad ? "

Nonam
Nonam looks intently at Onrad for a moment and says, "Guys if Onrad's sight has not yet returned then it means that the orc who cast the spell is probably still alive. It is generally the nature of spells that their effects dissipate after the caster dies. This spell may not work that way, but I believe there is a good chance that this is the case. It seems to me that it was the seventh orc who cast the spell, so let's check on him again." Nonam walks over to Orc #7 and checks for signs of life once more. He also checks to see if the orc possibly possessed an item which permitted him to cast the spell.

Gareth
"No time to talk about whatifs right now, if he's alive fine but it makes no difference right now. We must complete this phase of the mission now! We can let headquarters clean up the mess when we get there. I have a bad feeling we will be seen. We must hurry. Everybody ready?" And with that he motions for the ring as he stands next to the bodies.

Nonam
"Gareth, if one single orc is still alive and we leave him here, then we have failed our mission. I think that we can spare a minute to ensure our success." With that Nonam continues his investigation.

DM
Wednesday July 22nd, 1998 10:59:59 AM
Nonam examines the unmoving body of Orc #7 and finds that he is indeed not breathing. He turns him over and sees a glowing band on his third finger that seems to be pulsing energy into the dead Orc. As the ring pulses, the wounds on the Orc heal. The ring has a skull on it. The red eyes on the skull seem to have a live of their own and blink once looking at Nonam calmly.

Onrad
Thanks guys. I'm ok. I've just had my pride wounded. I....hate.....being like this. Jus, promise me something. If I ever become an invalid, helpless beyond repair,...promise you'll do me. Kill me." Onrad takes a death grip on Jus' arm. "Promise me!" Tears stream down his face as he struggles with his pride. He turns and covers his face.

Gareth
"What do you mean not take them back. We're taking ALL of them back right now. They may still be of use and even if they're not we must not leave them to be found. That would be bad - especially if the orc hoard found out before we got there!". With that, Gareth finishes piling the bodies with the party and says "How do we need to put them so we take them back with us?".

Gareth
"Bind that orc with the ring (Orc #7). Flaust pass me the ring when you're ready ad Onrad - I promise you I will help you anyway I can to regain whatever you may lose in our adventures together. I already thought that was part of our vow anyway."

Jus
"If I recall, we're to put the ring onto the dead orcs' fingers to pull them back with us. Since clothes and possessions go with us, I suppose we could put all the orc pieces together to send them back together." Jus goes over to Onrad. "Onrad, I swear I will do you honor if it ever comes to that. Its as close to your wish as I can get."

Jus
Jus takes his turn with the ring, slips it on a finger of each orc, then passes it onward.

Gareth
Gareth puts the ring on and passes it on.

Tiburon
Tiburon waits for his turn and places the ring on his finger. " Hey guys, why don't we take that glowing ring off of the finger of the Orc."

Onrad
Guys, yaknow how I sometimes know things and you never believe me when I do? Well I know from the mage that taught my brothers and I when we were young that rings like that only work on the living. We'll have to carry the dead to teleport them. Honest. It does no good to slip a finger on something that has no life force.

Gareth
Gareth picks up 4 of the bodies and puts them on his back. "Everyone, grap a body. We must not leave them here. If someone needs help maybe you guys can throw another one or two on top. I doubt I can bend down to pick up more."

DM
Thursday July 23rd, 1998 10:59:59 AM
After everyone has puton the ring, The Three simply find themselves back in the conference room at General Livermore's Headquarters in Floating City. A clerk, half asleep, immediately comes to attention--and consciousness, and goes running into the next room. "Hey everyone, they're back! Get the medics! Get the General! Get some food! Get....get everything! Immediately the party is "assaulted" by friendly help as Priests heal everyone back to full hitpoints, the General and his staff debrief, the code breakers begin to examine the satchel, etc. A prominent Brother of Domi, named Jandar is brought in to cure Onrad of his blindness. The last thing some of you remember is a Nap Spell being cast on the casters to rejuvinate their spells. By the end of the hour, one thing is certain, all the Orcs are dead, their souls did not go to Gargul, God of the Dead, due to the fact that none of them were reachable with the Speak With Dead spell. Orc #7 was regenerating till the eyes on the ring saw where it was. Acting like an intelligience, the ring began to work in reverse causing Orc #7 to become a pile of dust in the corner before anyone could remove the ring. Time passes. The casters awaken. The only noise is the soft conversation of the mages and generals as they examine the satchel afraid to break the seal.

Flaust
Flaust spends time in prayer.

Jus
"We'd better go through the orcs' possessions, too; see if there is anything we could use." Jus proceeds to help anyone prepare for the next stage, however he can. Jus grabs one of the people helping, "Does Roscoe have any new info we could use?"

Gareth
"I think we should give Roscoe the information we have. Can you guys tell us what that loud crack of lightning(?) was when the orc opened the satchel? I hope it was not a signal to the enemy. And why didn't you guys tell us that orcs could cast spells? These guys were tough. The first one I fought was almost my equal in sword handling and they had spells and weapons we didn't! And then they had 2 emergency plans! I thought orcs were dumb ugly animal type creatures? Guess I was wrong ... and that ring! What's going on here? Somethings not right."

Nonam
Nonam memorizes spells and waits for someone to tell him what's going to happen next.

Tiburon
Tiburon chuckles when Gareth finishes and says," Hey Gareth, Orcs probably think the same thing about us." Tiburon then sits in prayer to rememorize his spells.

Jus
Hoping someone identifies the orcs' belongings while he is busy, Jus goes and memorizes his spells.

Kat
In shock Kat slumps into a corner. She refuses to let the priests wash the gore off her as she finally rises, checks and doubble checks the party making sure everyone is ok. As she fusses over everyone, she begins mumbling about the unpredictability of powerful mages and spell casting orcs, and her own stupidity on the battle field. When she hears Tiburon's question she answers: "Orcs are genrally stupid however when they are touched by a master wizard lord they do tend to gain some smarts and some unexpected powers." i hope now everyone will understand what I was saying before we left about me being scared. I know something of the Dark Lord and we SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING IN HIS GARDEN!!!!" she screams as she colappses in the corner weeping.

Gareth
Gareth checks out the orcs for items and gets a complete list if they have already been searched from the crew. He looks especially at the sword, sheild and armor of Orc #3. "I think we need to make our things look like theirs. These guys were probably well known by the hoard leaders." When the General, Valdor, or Roscoe become available he asks "What's next? Let's review the plan now that you know more... or do you?"

Nonam
"We're not playing in his garden, we're pruning it." Then Nonam says, "I don't think we should have any conversations in front of that ring." Then he puts on some gloves and carefully takes the ring that orc #7 was wearing, and he drops it in a sack which he produced from his backpack for the purpose. Then he finds an errand boy, gives him the sack, and says, "put this somewhere safe for me until our mission is finished."

General Livermore
The General speaks stating the facts as he knows them. "We found the following things on the orcs. Orc #1 had damaged chainmail and a good shield. He carried a blood red sword, nicked with the same strange set of red eyes on it as was on Orc #7's ring. These eyes have not opened. He had 3 days rations, two daggers, and a long bow with 20 arrows. The quiver has a poison well in the bottom. Orc #2 had the same basic items as #1. He had a brooch with the strange eyes, open and blinking. Orcs #3 and #4 had the same item as well. Their set of eyes are on the inside of their shield. Orcs #5 and #6 carry Rings of Protection AC5. Each had a traveling spellbook with a set of glowing red eyes on them. Orc #5 has a set of blood red dice. Orc #6 has a blood red potion. Orc #7 and 8 were equipped with chainmail and shield. Both carried footman's flails as well as slings. They both carry holy symbols of the red eyes configuration. Both of these eyes were blinking and seeming to observe all around them. Orc #7 had a smoking wand. Orc #8 had a nonsmoking one. It is on the table for you to peruse. We feel it can be identified. We know nothing new except for the obvious. It seems likely that the Dark Lord now knows of at least some of our plans. Also, we only have until the middle of the night to affect the actions of an army that is over 5 times bigger than ours! I have cancelled the Black Blades part in the protection of Edenmoor leaving that to the Red Tigers. The Black Blades now move to try and intercept any second delivery group that The Dark Lord might send. They are without magical disguise and it remains to be seen if they can accomplish this. Our spies near their army encampment, report that there is no undue activity. No special envoys have arrived and the general's tent, which they have now identified remains calm."

DM
Friday July 24th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
On Nonam's orders, all the items with the eyes on them are removed.

General Livermore
"I hereby order this office to be vacated and headquarters moved to a new location within the hour. Oh, ahem, I have a message here from the High Lord Mayor that Valdor, Roscoe, and several others of the Gold Dragons had gone to attempt a mission against the Dark Lord."

Messenger Boy
"Once the items were stored away in a safe, the eyes that were open closed. A mage checked and none of them now Detect Magic."

Flaust
Flaust, finished with her preparations, readies herself to be transferred to the next mission location.

Tiburon
Tiburon completes his prayers and prepares himself for the next phase.

Onrad
Onrad still pretty shook up from the previous venture, begins to pace getting himself ready for the action to come. After about five minutes of this he calmly turns to the group and says, "I'm ready. Let's do this thing."

Gareth
"I think you should get you casters to make our stuff look exactly like theirs now that we have the EXACT items. Any luck on forging the orders or breaking the seal on that satchel? I beleive we are ready for the next segment."

DM
Saturday July 25th, 1998 10:59:59 AM
KABLAM!! A thunderclap comes from the planning room. Two figures come into the room both of them with hair standing straight on end, smoking from head to foot and covered with ash.

Fireball
"Cough, ahem. Very unusual. I've never run across that variety of explosion before. I'll have to study this. Yes, Yes....definitely have to study this."

Kumal Faast
"We got it open. Now it's up to you guys." He bows, turns to leave, and with his back turn says, "Good Luck." Then he leaves pulling the mage with him.

Fireball
"Hold your breakfast, Kumal. I have one more thing to do. I....hereby declare that..." He then says some words that no one understands, waves his hand and blows some soot from his shirt on everyone. "Good day!" He takes Kumal's arm and follows him out. "My breakfast was fine! Burnt toast, burnt eggs, burnt bacon....."

DM
The party now looks exactly like Orcs 1-7 of the Bloody Claws. Equipment, weapons, glowing eyes and all.

Jus
Jus asks the General, "General Livermore, would you be able to spare someone to identify the wand. We have already memorized our spells for tonight, but that wand may be useful." Jus asks Nonam, "I know that normal Ring of Protections don't work together, but do you think this AC5 would work with my +1?"

Kat
Kat sits sill in her corner silently crying, waiting till she and all her new friends can rush off to die.

Nonam
Nonam's hair turns pink as he stares at the door Fireball exited, "Do any of you realize who that was? I'm impressed." His hair quickly turns back to its normal black and he says, "You're reading my mind Jus. I was wondering if a ring of protection AC5 would work with Bracers of Defense. It's an odd rating for a ring. They are, as I'm sure you are aware, generally rated on the plus-minus system. While bracers are generally measured on the AC system. My guess would be that this ring doesn't provide the protection against magic that a normal protection ring would and only offers protection from a physical attack. My guess would be that this ring will work with your other ring and that it will not work with my Bracers AC6, but even if they don't work together the ring is more powerful than my bracers... hmmm seems I'm rambling so onto the point which you may as well learn this from me as anyone. The only way to discover the truth of a hypothesis is through experimentation." Then Nonam looks down at one of the rings to make certain that it has no eyes on it, and then he puts it on. "Well we'll find out soon enough..." Then Nonam gets a bemused look, and, as his hair turns blue, he says, "Kat, don't you worry honey, I shall protect thee from the evil of the night with my undying love for you."

Gareth
"General. What is the next phase? How do we begin?"

Jus
Jus begins to put the second ring on and hesitates. He looks over to Kat for a moment then walks over and crouches down beside her. "Kat," Jus whispers, "we'll do this as a team. We'll make it." "And we need you to dance upon the rubble!", Jus chuckles, "And to help keep Gareth, Onrad, and Tib in line." He takes Kat's hand, holding the ring it in front of her left ring finger, "Would you take this ring." He winks at her then laughes, trying to pull her to her feet. "Well, you're welcome to it if you want. You or Flaust; it won't help me any."

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