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They came to a fork in the road.
"Aegis, Pssst, Aegis, damnit, where are y.."
"Yes?" Answered the melodic voice from the darkness.
"Where are we going?"
"This way" And he was gone as quickly as before. Grumbling unhappily about elves, pointy shoes and leatards, Farscape continue to follow the archer and his wolf, someone elses wolf, as they found there way through the darkness.

Everyone took up their positions ‘Here goes’ a disembodied voice whispered. Yshania, Bloodstalker and Nippy advanced soundlessly towards the orc, only the occasional shimmer giving away their position. That wouldn’t matter, they needed to be quick and as soon as they attacked they would become visible again anyway, this disguise offered them enough to get as close as possible and soon they were among the cattle. The cows were restless, and their increased lowing indicated that one or two of them were aware of this new presence among them. Yshania stood still, taking a moment to survey their surroundings…they were now in a huge open cavern lit by torches held by sconces on the wall. Four orcs sat nearby speaking their gutteral tongue, three of them bellowed laughter at some joke from one who, judging by his differing attire, was their leader. Fortunately, they were seemingly unaware of the sudden activity among the cattle. Another two orcs wandered among the beasts, one moving out into the corridor and swinging his torch left and right before grunting and returning to the cave. Yshania took a deep breath and chose her moment…and her target. She hoped the others were ready…

No sooner had she started to mutter the words, she reappeared. Initially shielded by the herd of cows, she had time to finish the spell before a surprised yell alerted the other orcs. Done! As the spell hit it’s first target she dodged through the cattle and ran for open space, before unsheathing her scimitars. She did not want to be attacked whilst hindered among a herd of statues. The first cow froze, and the spell bounced from creature to creature. Her positioning had been good as she had caught all but a couple of the beasts at the far of the cavern which remained untouched, and their way was blocked by their sisters…but judging by the bellows of rage behind her, she had not got all of the orc…she had no idea how many she had got as she couldn’t see from where she stood - ready to face her assailants…but at least two were coming after her…

Nippy heard the cows low, they must have smelt Bloodstalker, he mused. Yshania began casting her spell and suddenly she reappeared out of thin air. The casting complete, Yshania ran clear of the cows and due her scimitars, waiting for the orcs to come to her. Nippy saw two running immediately after her and Nippy ran and stopped in their path.

He crouched down on the balls of his feet and waited for them to come closer. When they ran within reach he snaked out his arms and grabbed thier ankles, they fell flat on their faces. Nippy was now revealed and he quickly punched one in the back of it's head. The other groggily stood up.

It shook it's head, trying to clear out the cobwebs. It's eyes gleamed with menace at Nippy, the red pupils trying to bore a hole into his chest.

"You'se in for it now humie, I'm gonna crush your head good. Turn you to goo!"

It's face twisted into a contorted, evil grin, one of it's canines sticking out of it's mouth.

"Oh shut up." Nippy muttered at the creature and dodged a sweeping blow from a club. He flicked backwards, keeping his head away from the blow.

He ran inside the sweep of the weapon and cracked a fist into the face or the orc, he heard a crunch as the ichor seeped out of the things nose, the cartilage broken cleanly. The orc shrieked in pain and dropped his club, holding his nose tenderly, trying to plead for mercy.

Nippy slammed two fingers into the neck of the creature, temporarily paralysing it from the neck down.

"Stay still, and you might yet live."

Nippy moved off, drawing level with Yshania.

"We will see if this orc can give us any information, it might be a useful guide."

"Bloodstalker still hasn't appeared, whats he upto?"

The pixie dust settled on Bloosdstalker, the tiny crystals burning like fire on his skin. Gritting his teeth, he suffered silently and was glad that the initial burning stopped once he was invisible. Following Nippy and Yhania into the cavern, he paid close attention to the shimmering traces the other two left, noting that Nippy seemed to stay close to Yshania.

Grinning, he moved as silently as he could towards the group of orcs, any that wouldn't be frozen by the spell would meet his deadly blade. He wasn't yet halfway towards the four orcs when the spell took effect, freezing the orcs among the cows and one of the group in place, alerting the other three.

"Get her!", the lead orc growled, pointing at Ysh dodging through the cows. The two tore off at full speed, while their leader, unusually intelligent for an orc, made for the exit. Silently cursing himself for being so slow, Bloodstalker ran after him while Nippy dealt with the other two orcs.

The orcish captain threw himself through the opening, BS in close pursuit, but his blade only scraped over stone when he tried to get a hit in.

An orc was suddenly running straight towards Mysteria, obviously having managed to escape her friends. As she took aim, she saw sparks fly where a steel blade met stone, who of her friends was it? It didn't matter, she let the orc come yet abit nearer, then suddenly an arrow was sprouting from his throat and she reappeared, the next arrow ready.

The orc clutched at his throat, his hand fumbling for the dagger at his side, then a blade was run straight through him and a panting Bloodstalker let a quite dead orc slip to the ground.

"Whew, I never knew orcs could run so fast!"

Putting away her arrow, Mysteria grinned, "Running didn't help him much though. Well, let's get into postion.", she motioned back towards the cave.

Yshania remarked to Nippy that they didn't have much time but to go ahead then left him to interrogate his hostage. Weaving back through the cattle she made her way to the three held orc, their frozen faces hideous masks of rage and fear. For a long moment she studied them, realising how lame it was to take their lives here in this way...but enemy was enemy, and in this dark place she felt little compassion. Drawing the tip of her blade from one orc ear to it's other, she watched emotionlessly as their lifeforce flowed from them. She moved to the next, and then the last. There was no triumph, no satisfaction, just three dead or dying orc. The darkness in this hell numbed her...better this way, she was in control this way, though she should have felt sickened. She sheathed her blade and turned to leave the cavern...just waiting for the sign now...

Flanders continued to hover above the drow as they made their way closer to the cave. If the group was still debating the best means to preserving the lives of the cattle, the drow would have a heavy advantage and the element of surprise.

Pondering the most effective diversionary strike, a clang of steel on stone rang ahead in the chamber; the echo resonating to the delight of the patrols' ears. They perked up with excitement and began signaling one another using the silent hand code of the drow. Flanders interpreted their plans with perfection, well versed in the drow hand code. As he moved to strike the lone drow on point, he sent forth a telepathic message to Thantor.

Thantor, this is Flanders. No doubt you received my first message alerting your presence of the approaching drow. They are mobilizing towards you position fast. They have warriors and mages. Mages will blanket your area with true sight, dispel magic, fireball, and chain lightning. Watch for levitating soldiers wielding hand crossbows. Expect invisibility. Working on a diversion; time is short

Message complete, he materialized behind the drow on point. He simultaneously put his left hand around the drows' face while his right hand went for the hand crossbow at his belt. A hard pull and turn with the left hand and a lifeless drow was falling to the ground as he brought the hand crossbow up to fire. He struck one of the soldiers at the rear of the ranks in the thigh. He turned with a snarl and stared blankly at the figure replacing the soldier on point unsure as what to make of him. Flanders hissed and projected a mind blast at the drow leaving him in a vegetative state remaining in a standing position. He was intending to sublime to the gaseous state, however, the melf's acid arrows and a fireball were already on the way.

Eventually, her panic subsided, and Dragon Wench, found herself able to assess the situation ahead. Intuitively she sensed that the Drow were continuing their advance down the passageway, and that the smallish party would soon be upon them.

Quietly she whispered to Gwalchmai and T'Lainya, who were positioned nearby, and indicated with hand gestures what her instincts had conveyed.

Tensely, Dragon Wench crouched slightly, hugging the wall as she moved forward. Notching a poison-tipped arrow, she wished that she had more skill with the bow, and hoped that her aim would be true. Unfortunately, their enemy's high magic resistance made spells ineffective as a form of long range weapon. Then, she smiled slightly....perhaps magic did not work well against the Drow...but they were vulnerable to attacks from sword spiders and invisible stalkers..... a mental check list confirmed that she had a sufficient number of summoning spells memorized, and resolutely, eyes finally adjusted to the dark tunnels, she waited.....feeling the inevitable excitement of battle....the rush of adrenalin.... as she contemplated the forward march of their quarry...


{OOC, please let me know if this does not work }

Yshania caught an echo of instructions but all she could make out was diversion , she squinted at Thantor 'Now!' he hissed as he began rapidly relaying what he knew...none stopped to question his source. Yshania beckoned Vivien and Jenna to help with the dispel magic, they would need this to work. Yshania moved to the very back of the cavern, Nippy and Bloodstalker got into a flanked position, Yshania made a quick mental note that Bloodstalker was choosing his ride...going for the prettiest? she mused...

As the combined dispel magics released the cattle from their stupor, Yshania cast summon animal. Three wolves appeared, and under her command began circling the cattle, worrying and nipping at their ankles. In the glow of the torches, Yshania caught a mischievious look in Vivien's eye as she began to chant haste. Suddenly, chaos errupted as the wolves spun in dizzying circles around the cattle...Yshania almost applauded before yelling 'backs to the wall!'. A thunder of hooves as the manic herd set off in the direction intended...Nippy and Bloodstalker grabbed around the necks of their chosen beasts, and half ran half fell to keep up...

BS wrapped on arm around the neck of the fast mving cow he had chosen to ride. For a moment, he hung in a perilous position, as the cattle had begun moving before he had a chance to secure his hold. A few seconds later, he finally managed to hook his leg across the back of the animal, in essence hanging on by an arm and a leg across the side of the cow. At least this way, no one could see him hanging on, so hopefully the advantage of surprise would be preserved.

Unfortunately, he had also lost track of Nippy. He could only hope for the young warriors sake that Nippy had thought better of his first choice of a ride. BS hadn't had the chance to tell him that the cow he was walking towards wasn't a cow, but rather a bull.

Any such concerns were lost as he had to reach out with his free boot to kick a cow that had wandered to close to his ride. It wouldn't do to wind up sandwiched between to of these animals. He grinned in spite of himeslf as a muffle curse greeted the sudden lurch of the kicked cow. Well, at least now he knew where Nippy was........

As the chaotic events unfolded, Thantor was busy assisting in setting up the next phase of the operation. Having already ascertain that no one needed healing and having cast Defensive Harmony (carefully excluding Bloodstalker), he now cast Animate Dead. Oddly, the creatures did not appear in their regular armor but instead sported ten gallon hats, bandanas, and spurs. Their weapons, fortunately, still looked quite lethal as Thantor deployed them amongst the cattle, directing them to ride the animals in a fashion similar to Nippy and Bloodstalker. Turning quickly to Yshania, he asked, "Any swarming spells in your repertoire, like Insect Plague or Creeping Doom?" She was unable to answer him, however, as Vivien's Haste spell hit the wolves, sending them spinning and the party against the cave wall. As the cattle cleared the cavern, he yelled, "Spread out and watch for fireballs," then ran forward after the thundering herd.

Above the din, she yelled to Than 'I have them all! - and..erm..nice summoning!' Her thoughts tripped back to the tunnels beyond Gwalchmai's bedroom - how bizarre that trip, yet there in that animated time warp she had met friends. Maybe she would hold off coaching Than's summoning, maybe there was a sliver of that same unreality that was creeping in here and distorting...'well! at least it wasn't the seven dwarves with pick axes, or the three bears on speed' she summarised D )

way to go simbul

Flanders eyes grew as wide as a cowboys' on the brink of ropin' his first doggie at a rodeo. Only, he held no lasso and these were no doggies but full grown cattle rumbling down the hallway towards the room. Where the drow, mere seconds before, had a plan of action and total of control of the situation, had been usurped by a stampede of cattle.

Flanders began an evasive series of actions to be out of spells and harms way when time itself began to slow to a crawl. He had an a brief instant to recognize the time stop but not discern the caster. When the spell expired, he found himself in a better position and watched as the acid arrows and the fireball exploded but missed their target. Clearly, the spell was cast by a 'friend'? Long swords drawn, he hugged the walls scanning around the room. Chaos ensued. The drow patrol scattered, the magi invisible once again. Globes of darkness erupted all around at various heights, some soldiers began levitating, and then three skeletons rode into town bringing everything to a halt, all eyes on them.

From her perch above the drow, Simbul felt a pang of regret that she could not use her beloved silver fire. But, knowing that it would disrupt the cattle as well as tip her hand too soon, she cast Time Stop instead. In the short respite of time she had, she deployed Invisible Stalkers amongst the drow, then cast Summon Hakeashar, adding to the confusion. Content to allow her Simulcrum to rain down Magic Missles to further disrupt the casters, she recast Improved Invisibility and hovered over to Flanders, levitating him out of the path of the oncoming spells as the Time Stop period ended. Since she was invisible, this gave the impression that Flanders had the power of levitation, making his already formidable presence appear even more intimidating. Setting him down in a strategically advantageous position, she once again took up an aerial position.

"YEEHAAW!" A loud yell erupted from within the cattle as Nippy and Bloodstalker erupted from thier hidden spots. They took the drow by surprise, who looked in awe at the cattle, the strange skeletons and a strange figure levitating in the air.

This period of disruption did not last long, quick harsh and controlled commands hissed from a hidden source and the drow warriors rallied, and began to fire bolts at the two targets that could be hurt by them, Nippy and Bloodstalker.

One bolt flew straight towards Nippy's face, but his hand shot up quickly, grabbing the bolt from thin air. He snapped it in two and dropped it on the floor.

"Let's get 'em boys!" Nippy shouted and he ran towards a drow, who saw his approach and drew a fearsome looking longsword. Nippy ran in closer to the drow and it's mouth twsited into a cruel smirk, it had assumed that Nippy was charging in carelessly, leaving himself open, but Nippy had other ideas, he grinned back and slid forwards, keeping himself low and away from a lethal cross-slash from the drow weapon.

He quickly righted himself and twisted his leg around, trying to wrap the drow warrior around the knees and bring him to the floor. The dark elf had little time to react, he jumped sideways, keeping clear from the trip.

Nippy stood up and broke into a fighting stance, his right leg locked forward, immovable, his arms were up, one guarding any attacks, the other his strike arm, ready to snake out and cause damage to the drow.

Nippy lashed out with his left hand, the drow reacted instinctively and dodged to the right were his mouth was met by a rock hard fist. It recoiled back, a thin trickle of blood opened where Nippy had split it's lip. It muttered a few words in drow that he didn't understand and suddenly all was black around Nippy. He couldn't see anything.

He panicked for a short second, but his training took over quickly. He closed his eyes and began to listen, hearing the scuffling of feet and sounds of battle around him. He tuned into the closest sound and heard the drow walk forward, laughing at the human it had trapped. Nippy suddenly lashed out with his foot, aiming a high kick into the drows sternum. He was rewarded with the sound of breaking bones, he had broken at least a rib of the drow.

It cursed in undercommon and it's breathing was shallow and rapid. It was in a lot of pain. The darkness cleared from Nippy and he saw his opponent struggle to stand. Nippy slammed his hand into the drows throat and heard the cartilage break. It had fallen.

Nippy looked on at the battle, trying to find out where to aid the best...

Responding to the chaos of the situation, Dragon Wench looked into the dark. In quick succession, she chanted her summoning spells; within moments two large sword spiders and several invisible stalkers appeared amongst the Drow. She smiled, enjoying the thought of the dark elves being attacked by the very creatures with which they had allied themselves.

Because she, as yet, had no clear sight of the Drow, Dragon Wench stayed her arrows, not wanting to inadvertantly hurt her friends, or, she grimaced somewhat, the cattle. Instead she moved carefully ahead, gripping her sword and prepared to strike.

Aegis and Farscape went sprinting down the narrow tunnels. The Orcs had been alerted by something, though they had no clue as to what it was. As far as they knew, it was only a small group of orcs that had seen them, and they couldn't have raised the alarm this fast. Beside them, Fang ran along hapily, eager to sink his teeth into more orc flesh. The three rounded a corner, and Aegis came to a ksidding halt, and grabbing a hold of Farscape just before he went careening off the edge, into a deep pit.

"What in the abyss?" muttered the ranger, peering over the edge, and into the darkness. He felt Farscape tug on his shoulder. He looked over to the man, who was pointing upwards. Aegis looked. It was the sky! This pit opened up out of the ground. Above them, they could hear the sound of battle.

"What do you suggest?" asked Farscape, not sure himself as to what to do.

Aegis went to the cliff face, and felt the wall, searching for hand holds. "We can't scale it. Too smooth. Besides, Fang would have to be carried." Farscape nodded. "We have to find a tunnel leading upwards. My bet is that those sounds of battle are coming from the DF's."

The three turned back from the edge, and began to make their way back into the tunnels. They were both stopped by the gutteral calls of an approaching orc patrol.

"Damnit!" Aegis swore under his breath, and drew Sunfang. Fang growled deeply, baring his teeth, and Farscape drew his own sword.

As the first orc poked his ehad around the corner, Fang had already leapt, and was sinking his teeth into the orc's neck. The creature gurgled, and spat up blood. The other five orcs with the first took a startled step back as they saw Fang attack. As they looked back up the tunnel, they saw the sight of the lilthe Ranger, and bulky warrior leaping towards them, weapon drawn, weilded viciously. Within seconds, the second two orcs lay dead at the pair's feet, a pool of blood already forming where they stood. Aegis continued on with the assualt, spinning, and baring his blade towards the mid section of the orc behind his first victim. This one tried to block it with a crudly made wooden axe, but was shattered by the finely sword, and continued to pass through it's abdomen with ease. Fang leapt at another orc, raking into it's face violently. Farscape took one solid swing, and cleaved the last remaining orc in two. The three didn't slow one bit.

As soon as the last orc dropped, they were already taking off down the tunnels, searching for path upwards...

"Nicely done Aegis. I must admit, if I have to be stuck in a winding series of dark, dank orc infested corridors, your the elf to do it with"
The elven raised a quizical eyebrow at Farscape, and smiled gamely.
"I am glad you think so. Come, up we go"
"You to Fang, your a very good wolf, yes you are, yes you are" Grinned Farscape as he ruffled the beasts ears. The 3 companions ran up a steep corridor, following the light from Sunfang. Suddenly Aegis stopped the party. "Farscape, do you hear that?"
"Yes, drow." Grumbled the holy warrior. "Somewhere to our left, about 40 paces..."
"Closer to 36"
"Thanks Aegis" Grinned Farscape. "I appreciate it"
"You are very welcome" Chuckled the Ranger.
Taking advantage of the range, Aegis strung his bow, and Farscape unsheated his hatchet, Redemption. "Stay here Fang, we'll be back" Spoke Aegis softly to the Wolf. "Let's go Farscape"

The cattle stampeded off, with the summoned wolves in close on theit rear. Mysteria snatched a torch from the wall, she had had enough of running through pitch dark tunnels, that was only something for dwarves, and ran down the tunnel. She lost sight of the wolves, but she could still hear their howling. Suddenly, she heard an answering howl and she skidded to an aprupt halt. Was it Fang? Though distorted by the caves, the howl hadn't come from ahead, but rather, yes! The wall to her left was crumbling to the floor and with one move she laid open a small, twisting tunnel. Presently, she heard the soft padding of paws on stones and softly called out "Fang?"

Seconds later, she was burried under a very happy wolf trying to lick her face away. "Get off, Fang, you're not exactly light." She shoved him off herself, then gave him a closer look. His fur was bloody, but he was unharmed, but where was Aegis? Thought jumbled in her mind, not all very pleasant. Was the ranger wounded?... perhaps even dead?... no, Fang wouldn't be there in that case.. but the elf had to be close and they'd probably be glad for any help they could get.

"Where's Aegis?", Fang ran back to the hole he had come from, looking at her expectantly. Did he want her to come with him? Had Aegis sent him? She decided that no, Fang would be trying to drag her by her boots in that case. Time was running away, there was a battle upo ahead, quickly she took her decision. "Go, go get Aegis!", she told Fang and as the wolf ran back into the tunnel she ran towards the battle.

Fang was disappointed as he ran down the tunnel again. First Icy Water told him to stay back, then he heard some fellow wolves and found this little tunnel. He'd been so happy to meet his pack leader again, but he only got sent away again. Pawing through the narrow tunnel, he finally came to the place Aegis had left him at and picked up the ranger's scent. "Get Aegis!", she had said, so he would do just that, get Icy Water and then join his pack again with hin.

As Farscape and Aegis run up the winding corridors, the knight accidently dislodges a piece of the wall.
" Shoot" He mutters, watching it tumble angrily down the hallway.
"Shhhh" Scolds Aegis. "Be silent"
**********************************


The rock went hurtling down the narrow corridor, careening off the narrow walls, raisng quite the din. Eventually, even the orcs in the lower quadrants heard it. Sending a patrol out to investigate, the 4 orc on patrol were instantly goo-ified as the fist sized rock, traveling at terminal velocity (-9.8m/s+). When the others came to investigate the "Splat Gurgle" all they found was limbs, a lil torso and much gore.
The stone continued down the path trailing entrails...





OOC. Sry, this needed a bump. pg 3 is wack ppl!

...But while the warriors fought off thier enemies within the murky tunnels corrupted from the evil within, a woman -or what one would immediatly think was a woman- stood above the very ground just above the stampeding cattle. She fixed her ears intently to hear the noise of the chaos, but never did she expect to here cows underground.

This woman was a mutation. She wasn't special or different: those words would mean that what she was somewhat normal, which she wasn't. She knew this fact, pondered over it, and hated it more than anything.

She was not human or elf or gnome. She wasn't a tiger or woodland being. She wasn't an Ishiatorian, though she did have some of that blood in her veins, but she did not feel worthy to call herself one.

Her ears continued to adjust, which was easy for ears of her type. They were not on the side of her head as a human's were, but they wre somewhat long like an elf's. However, they were triangular, and located on the top of her head. Her eyes were sparkling blue, but more almond-shaped than an almond itself. This woman, whose name was Aquarimarachan Calligo, was part human and part Ishiatorian. She had fur of white and black all throughought her body. She looked almost human, but was not. Some may even call her a Were-tiger, but that would be incorrect. The truth was, there was no name to describe the creature by.

Aqua-chan was a Druid and a Thief by nature. Her strength was great compared to humans, and her heritage tied her closer to the creatures of the wood. Years of living in the shadows of the world had tough her stealth, which was natural to her because she was cat, after all.

But no training in her life could prepare her for such a powerful fight. Careless as she was, she stood nearby the opening of many underground caverns. She didn't even think to make sure that the exit would remain unused for a time, and her fate was sealed by that careless mistake. In the chaos, several Drow emerged from the opening of the underground caverns. They were fleeing -probably from the warriors that were wiping them out from within. When the Drow saw her, they attacked as a first instinct, brutal and vicious.

Aqua-chan didn't even know what had happened until she found herself laying on the ground, bleeding. The Drow fled when she fell, leaving her battered form completely limp on the rocky ground. Blood dripped from her mouth, and spots of red blotted her vision.

An emotion she had felt many times in her past -during her time of abandonment from the Ishiatorian, during the long time of slavery when she was sold the the same Drow that just attacked her, during the time she was on her own in Fearun- that same feeling overcome the eccentic beast.

Fear.