The party continued to watch as the mice and rat sized roaches hit the flames and for a moment passed right on through them, only to die seconds later, ablaze in magical flames. However, it was the dog-sized roaches and the few flyers that caused the party to fear the worst as they passed through the flames totally unharmed!
Ulthok saw the large roaches pass through flame. He knew the last attack had gone well and but he knew he needed time to cast another spell. As the roaches quickly closed on him he released the power of his ring and vanished from sight. The roaches were low intelligence so the Ring of Invisibility would remove him from their attack giving him the time he needed.

Moving quickly to his left so that he wouldn’t be where the roaches may have last seen him Ulthok changed him mind and grabs his Bow of Speed; this would allow him to loose four arrows in rapid secession. At this close range his (+3, 1d8+6) arrows should fly true. The Mage knew as soon as he released the arrows the roaches would be able to see him again. so he planned to put two in each of the closest flyers (3 &4.) As his fingers released the first arrow the Mage reappeared, but as quickly as he released the last arrow he invoked the power of the ring again and vanished once more.

Casting wall of fire in the previous round, the woman watched as the spell-casters worked together to form a ring around them in protection against the approaching creatures.

Haila had smiled briefly when seeing the small to medium creatures burn when they attempted to pass through the fire. The moment of satisfaction was short lived however, it quickly faded to a disappointment when the large animals passed through the ring of fire unharmed.

The women paused long enough to switch spells and was once again ready for the next round. Setting herself in position to not hit any of her friends, she began casting the spell WEB against the flying creatures.

The fire created a disturbance in the air, causing her hair to jettison around her face. Sirene smiled as she watched bug after bug throw themselves into the wall and vaporize. That is, until some of the bigger ones got through.

Cor called out above the din of dying roaches and roaring flames,” Well done, well done in deed. Ring the casters to keep them safe so they can continue to attack the flyers. The walkers are ours."

“"Kith Hora preserve us all," muttered Rayne. Sirene looked to her right to see the elven Ranger close her eyes in prayer. She chanced a look over at Halia, who had a look of immense concentration while she maneuvered out of the way.

Gritting her teeth, Sirene offered up a prayer to the Great Goddess as she prepared herself for Melf’s Acid Arrows. She quickly decided that it would be best to hit multiple targets for the lasting damage. She turned again towards Rayne and began working on the flanking enemies.

Maggot stood at the ready as the group began to work as one under the current danger. Kenji, traveler from a far off land moved in and with the speed of a demon wind. Swords slashed and his dance of death was a graceful.

As Maggot’s mind raced and his own actions began to take shape the old man had a feeling fall upon him as if the Gods had gathered to see the fait of these mere mortals unfold in a far off dark little hole. He whispered thanks to the unknown companion who spoke words of prayer over them. He smiled and continued his movement to the right to cover the distance between Cor, who seemed more knightly now then cleric and Kenji, master of a demon wind.

As the battle unfolded the old man was aware of the magic and arrows that flew overhead but did not give it too much thought. His concern at the moment was to hold the line. So that one day he might see her again.

With both hordes for the main part beyond the surrounding Walls of Fire, it was time to deal with the larger roaches that had somehow gotten through unharmed.

The first to act this round was not a spell caster as was the norm but the Samurai Kenji. Using his Sandals of Speed he was past Cynil, Rayne, and Maggot before anyone knew he had even moved. With his Katana ‘Tetsumeka’ in his left hand, mirrored by his Wakazashi ‘Sashoujoshu’ in his right he shouted “KIAI”!! and attacked the first of three roaches in front of him.(#20)

Using both of his swords in mighty sweeping arcs he easily scored a pair of hits cutting the mutant roach in half. His speed giving him a second attack he closed with the next roach in line, a flyer, (#10) and as he had done with the first, easily brought it crashing down to the ground in three pieces. However again thanks to his sandals he had a last attack left and this time though scoring a good hit upon the next roach (#18 ) he was unable to kill it....

Seeing the Samurai as the closet food source number’s, (#17, #18 and #19) attacked as flyer (#9) and the rest of the mutant roaches continued towards the group. As he used his speed now in defense, Kenji was surprised at the number of attacks as each of the three roaches attempted to strike him four times! However once again his sandals saved him as he was struck only once and this only a glancing blow....

As the roaches on the left moved past the Samurai, the next to act this turn was the Druid/Mage Sirene, the spell of Melf’s Acid Arrow coming quickly to her lips. As the mutant roaches (#10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15 and #16) hit the line of Cor and Maggot to her front, she watched as (#6, #7, and #8 ) of the flyers continued past. Picking her single target for this round, she fired off the spell at the closet of them, (#6) and watched stunned as the Acid Arrow clearly hit, but did nothing!....

Next up was Haila, her only real spell of some worth, the spell of Web, she moved leftward until clear of Conall and Alasdair and cast it out towards the attacking roaches to the left. (#’s 1-9 of the ground roaches #1-4 of the flying roaches) However again as had Sirene’s spell of Acid Arrow the mutant roaches passed right through it as if it was not there. The Web, continuing forward, hit the Wall of Fire behind the roaches and exploded into more flames.

With the last of the caster spells cast, it was time for the rest of the party to act and the first of these was Rayne. Having cast Bless on the party her first round and now Flame Blade this round, the Ranger/Cleric moved quickly to place herself between the three flying roaches (#6, #7, and #8 ), Sirene, and Haila. Only to watch as they ignored her and continued past heading straight for Althena!
Her actions of casting Flame Blade and moving to place herself on guard her total actions for the round she could only watch as the three flyers attacked the Fighter/Psionicist....

The first (#6) came in high, its four attacks a total surprise for Althena, but she was lucky as only one hit. The next flyer (#7) came in at her from her lower right side and managed to score a second hit. However, as the last of the three flyers (#8 ) dove in to attack her from behind, the sword of Cynil met it.

Cynil having watched the spells of her two co-horts fail and having drawn her Scimitar this round, upon seeing the flyers move past Cynil moved quickly to cover Althena and engage the three creatures attacking her, arriving just as did (#8 ). Paying no mind to anything else she used her knowledge of insects and nature to anticipate (#8’s) movement and with her two attacks scored with both, dropping the flyer to the ground dead, sliced through its mid section, gory slim like blood everywhere.....

Now though surprised Althena was still able to fight back, her Vorpal sword ready in her hand and fight back she did hitting the first of the two flyers (#6) easily and like Kenji cutting it in half. However, the second mutant flying roach (#7) she found was harder to hit as it flew upwards to try to attack her from above again next round....

Ulthok though a caster of spells had a different thought in his mind on how he would attack. Deciding not to cast a spell, he instead turned to his Ring of Invisibility and disappeared from view. Moving quickly to his left he brought his Bow of Speed from his back to his hand intending to loose four arrows in rapid secession.

The Halfling Mage knew as soon as he released the first arrow the roaches would be able to see him once more so he planned to put two in each of the closest flyers (#3 & #4.) As he could clearly see, they had moved past the front four fighters and seemed intent on reaching the casters, his fingers released the first arrow he reappeared, but as quickly as he released the last arrow, he invoked the power of the ring again and vanished once more.

Like he had hoped, the four arrows flew true, hitting the two roaches 2x2 and turning them into a spray of slimy goo. Goo that ironically fell to land upon both the Paladins before him. Conall and Alasdair their faith intact and glowing bright could not say the same for their armor, now dripping the guts and slime of not just the stuff from the destroyed hive, but also the two dead flyers....

Finally the fighters time in this battle had come for them to attack and be attacked as Conall and Alasdair faced nine of the Mutant roaches (#1-#9) and Cor and Maggot faced the last six (#10-#16).
For the two Paladins already covered in slime it was just a matter of withstanding this small horde and its many attacks, coming away without a scratch, the heavy armor of each easily a match against the mutant roaches attack.

With their attacks at hand, the fire of faith in their eyes and hearts they gave back better then they had received easily cutting down two roaches apiece (#2, #5, #9, #11) and leaving the rest for the next round (#1, #3, #4, #6, #7, #8 ). To the left of the two holy warriors things were much the same for Cor, but not so much Maggot as Cor’s heavy armor like that of the Paladins seemed immune to the roaches attack, but Maggots lesser armor was not. The Dwarf escaping any harm, the Ranger/Bard took four hits, though painful caused very little damage overall. Returning the favor both of them easily dispatched like the Paladins two roaches apiece (#11, #12, #13, #14) leaving only two alive (#10, #16) for the next round.

Within this kaleidoscope of whirling blades, cast magic and dying bugs, no one had thought to hamper the last of the flyers (#1, #2, #5, #9) from reaching their target, once more Althena. Coming in high and from behind, as if guided by a higher degree of intelligence, the first flying roach (#1) was able to score a deep hit while the second (#9) actually landed upon her,gaining a critical hit, its mandibles thrusting into her throat. The last two flying roaches (#5, #2) were unable to gain a hit this round. The surprise and pain from the attacks, and the acidic nature of the creatures saliva intense, Althena fell to the floor on the verge of falling unconscious.....

This round over and the most important of the party down, but not dead, the next round of battle would soon be upon them. The target of the attack now clearly known.......

(OOC: Ok here is this week’s post as promised. I hope it’s as good for you guys & gals to read as it was for me to write . Next post, next Sunday the 18th so get your posts in early, as it’s a day short posting week.New map coming later today)


Brief summery of Melee Round One. Ground Pounder Roaches left: 10
Flyers Left: 5 (All around Althena)
Kenji: Light Damage
Maggot: Light Damage
Althena: Medium Damage, However she took a critical hit and was bitten and got injected with roach saliva dropping her to the ground almost out cold but she made her save so she is not unconscious yet.

Cor saw many of the creatures die in the flames but the larger ones and especially the winged ones made their way through the fire storm. The fighters took out a couple of them but the mages were less sucessful as their spells seemed to have no effect. Ignoring most of the party, they attacked Althena and struck a mighty blow. "Protect Althena!" Cor called out as he headed to her side. Ready with a heal spell if needed, Cor checked on her condition. He intended to use his body as a shield over her if he could manage it.

As the Cleric Knight Cor moved back to cover the attack on the Lady Althena the old man knew that his withdraw from the battle must be covered and it was up to him to do so, as Cor withdrew Maggot moved to his left to fill in the line and cover the removal of Cor form the line.

With the dance of death now started and moving along nicely Maggot knew his targets and watched them with all his being knowing the two that he faced was all that stood between him and her. Moving to the balls of his feet the old man glared at the two bugs, “Come my pretties said the spider to the bugs,” Maggot then smiled and thought ‘not the same as flies’ then he began do sway just a bit and “but die all the same you will.”

"Alright ya all, quit standing and gawking! Magic appears to do little to the flyers so we do this the old fashioned way. Stay out of Kenji's way so he can move freely. Ulthok do your sneaky thing. Everyone else close in and protect Althena."

Ulthok was ready to dance for joy when he saw his arrows fly true and dispatch the hovering bugs into a spray of goo. Then as the airborne mess plummeted down over Conall and Alasdair the Mage was glad that he was invisible and they could not see him laughing. Ulthok dearly cared for his companions, but they were Paladins after all.

But the laugh was short lived as the magic of the ladies had failed them. He saw the remaining flying roaches move past the fighter and the other spell casters straight at Althena, as if guided by some unseen hand.

Cor was the first to note that these creature seem immune to magic.

"Protect Althena!" Cor called out. "Alright ya all, quit standing and gawking! Magic appears to do little to the flyers so we do this the old fashioned way. Stay out of Kenji's way so he can move freely. Ulthok do your sneaky thing. Everyone else close in and protect Althena."
Cor then moved to Althena’s aid as the bugs attacked her, but the bugs reached her first. Their attack had hurt her and she crumpled to the ground. As she lay there they hovered preparing another attack.

“Save My Lady!!!!!........Use your weapons……………… Scimitars and swords, they can cut them to shreds……attack those closest to you”, Ulthok shouted to the casters, “I’ll do what I can to those on the far side of Althena.”

Once again the skilled thief prepared to drew four more of his precious (+3, 1d8+6) arrows. Ulthok knew his supply of these fine weapons was limited but there was no better use for them than to save Althena; for without her, their mission was lost.

The invisible Halfling moved to his right as he faced where Althena had fallen. He hoped to avoid any of the casters stepping in front of him and blocking his shot. Drawing closer to the fray the move should add to his chances of hitting those foul monsters.

Ulthok prepare his bow and took aim on the rear two flying roaches (9 & 5). Again he was intent on putting two arrows in each. If he could succeed again as he had before he would gladly beg Althena’s forgiveness for spraying her with goo.

A clear sight to the bugs was open so Ulthok nocked and released the first arrow, again the act broke the power of the Ring and he appeared to all in battle stance. The first was followed by three more in rapid succession as his Bow of Speed lived up to its name. His fingers released and the fletch of the last arrow slide past the Bow on its errand of death and with that the Mage again called upon his ring and vanished from the enemies sight.

Haila watched as each spell failed against those who passed through the flames. It only took a moment to realize and she cursed herself for not realizing before casting the web spell.

The human turned towards the nearest insect while withdrawing her sword of combat dancing. Wielding her weapon she swung it a couple times to get used to its weight again, before advancing towards the nearest creature and she slashed towards the insect.

Conall felt the holy power coursing through him as he held his shield and sword in his hands. Next to Alasdair, and next to Cor, he felt a sense of unity with them. And he would need it against the swarm that had overcome them right now. Too many of the Insects were closing in and around them, but the fights seemed to be going in their favour... Or so he thought, until he heard a scream.

Glancing backward towards those he had been trying to protect, he noticed several of the insects surrounding Althena and Cynil, and Althena had dropped down to the ground. Too many of the insects were nearby Cynil and Althena in order for them to be able to fend them all off. Conall gave out a shout to his brothers in god to the side of him, and said, "Watch your side here! I'm going back to help out with Althena and Cynil, they seem to need a bit of aid!"

With that, Conall stepped away from the creatures directly in front of him, and ran back to the two women, one down one in need of assistance. With a mighty battle cry, and holy determination, he attacked with his blade, hoping to assault enough of them so that he could be viewed as a larger threat. He was, he just needed the bugs to know that to give the others some time to either fight back, or get away.

Even as the calls t o action rang out, Sirene spared a precious moment as she realized their magics were ineffective against these damnable creatures. Around her, her allies were rallying already, with cries of action and strategy as they mentally regrouped.

"Protect Althena!" Cor called out. "Alright ya all, quit standing and gawking! Magic appears to do little to the flyers so we do this the old fashioned way. Stay out of Kenji's way so he can move freely. Ulthok do your sneaky thing. Everyone else close in and protect Althena."


“Save My Lady!!!!!........Use your weapons……………… Scimitars and swords, they can cut them to shreds……attack those closest to you”, Ulthok shouted to the casters, “I’ll do what I can to those on the far side of Althena.”
Drawing her scimitar, she advanced on the closest (1) and swung, praying to Mnemosyne that her aim be true and her hand strong.

"Alright ya all, quit standing and gawking! Magic appears to do little to the flyers so we do this the old fashioned way. Stay out of Kenji's way so he can move freely. Ulthok do your sneaky thing. Everyone else close in and protect Althena."

He grunted in agreement.

He proceeded to slice 17 and 18(if the boots are still activated as well 19) with Tetsumeka and Sashoujoshu.

He hoped that Althena would not fall this day and focused on the enemy.

Rayne's race to protect Althena failed to reach Althena before the flying roaches first attack. Rayne could see them Gather about Althea, all attacking at once. Rayne flew across the ground at top speed to get in range of the Attacking roaches before they struck again. Years of ranger work had kept her nimble and need gave her extra swiftness. She closed the distance and whirl her flaming sword at the flying roaches, (1 and 2)

Rayne dances her own dances weaving to attack and defend.

The good news for the party, having successfully made use of Walls of Fire and their melee skills, was that they had reduced both the smaller roaches beyond the firewalls and the larger roaches with those same walls by half their numbers.

However, the bad news from this last round was the party having seen Althena fall to the floor yet again........

The first to act again this round thanks to his sandals of speed was the Samurai Kenji. Having finished his three attacks from last round he easily moved into his four for this round, both Japanese blades dripping greenish insect blood. Moving to angle himself to hit all the roaches before him, he started with #17 and easily scored a critical hit with his Katana carving it not only in half but also into three pieces. His Wakazashi moving equally as fast hit #18 and finished what had been started the round past.

With two out of three of the roaches before him dead, he concentrated his last two attacks against #19 and was not surprised at the ease in which it joined the first two in death. The roaches having no chance to strike back died almost boringly before the Samurai warrior. With one round of super speed, left he turned and moved to rejoin the rest.......

The next to act this round was the Knight Cleric Cor, who having seen Althena fall rushed to her side to administer aid and protection. The spell of Heal ready upon her lips he at once saw that it was not the spell most needed. The spell needed was not one he had access to and even if the Heal he were to cast the roaches poison would kill her anyway. It was a testament to Althena’s spirit that she had not fallen unconscious as the poison entered her veins. However, without a Neutralize Poison spell she would not be so lucky this next round.......

Cynil moving to engage flyer #7 had been going over everything that had happened since entering the mountain. The closer they had moved towards this evil sword the more she started to realize a pattern and found herself shouting it to the others as she attacked. Not realizing perhaps in the craziness of battle that the rest of the party had also more then likely come to the same conclusion.

“Be aware, since we entered this mountain, the closer we get to that damned sword all attacks by most of the creatures we have encountered have been directed at Althena! We must protect her over ourselves!”

With her words spoken and her attack underway she watched as her first swing missed but her second did not cutting through the flying roaches left wing and into it’s mid section, effectively killing it. As it dropped, she moved to help Cor with Althena if needed.........

Maggot saw Cor move to help the fallen Althena and quickly moved to cover the gap left behind. Facing the two ground roaches before him he awaited for them to move, which they did at the same time! As he moved to counter #16 he was able to score an easy hit with the flame blade cutting it in two, however he noticed something he had not the round before. Though the roach had died, it had died without being burned. Clearly, the magical nature of the flame was doing no harm but the impact nature of the cutting blade was. As he turned to face the second of his two foes he felt a sharp pain sear through his side as the roach scored a critical hit! The old Bard/Ranger’s luck continued to get worse as he failed his save vs. the poison and was knocked to the ground out cold!........

Alasdair seeing Maggot drop and roach #10 free to move towards Althena shifted his attacks to include #10 in his three attacks this round. The sun blade moving quickly easily caught #10 as it turned away from Maggot and without a sound sliced and diced it. His shield lashing out and down he caught #7 at its mid section and smashed it paste. However, the Paladin was not yet finished, having a 3rd attack this round. Moving inhumanly fast he caught roach #6 as it tried to pass through the gap between Conall and he. The sun blade slashing forward pierced the roach right through its mutated mouth and out through it’s head. A wicked almost evil smile on his face, quickly hidden, as he slid the roach off his blade he moved backwards to help protect Althena........

Conall seeing his right flank cleared of roaches knew it was up to him to finish the last three before him and with the Holy Avenger in his hand and his faith burning in his breast he tried his best. Having no choice but to attack #4 first, as it was closet to passing him by, he like Alasdair was rewarded by a clean, though gooey kill. A quick shift of his feet and with roach #3’s miss he brought up his shield then once again struck with the Holy Avenger to cut deeply into the roach killing it also. However, unlike Alasdair, he did not have the speed or the attacks to stop roach #1 as it quickly scurried past him, headed for Althena........

However, he need not have worried as Haila found herself in its path and it being the closet enemy to her, she attacked! Her sword of Combat Dancing giving her its bonus she scored a clean side running slash cutting open the roach along its length, killing it. With its death, the last of the large ground roaches was dead and only four flyers remained........

Ulthok having remained invisible when not attacking again had his bow of speed ready. Appearing once more he loosed four arrows spaced two for two against the flying roaches #5 and #9. As it had been the last round so it was again this round, as his well-placed arrows all found their targets as the two flying roaches fell to the ground dead. Satisfied with his killing he watched as the last two of the party also attacked........

Sirene ahead of and just a fraction faster moved before Rayne and struck out at the first flying roach in front of her #. Her aim a little off she was still able to score enough of a hit to drop it to the ground, clearly not dead but hurt and dazed........

Rayne seeing #1 fallen and not knowing it still lived quickly moved past Sirene and with her sword striking true on #2 for all intents finished the fight within the parties Wall of fire protection. With the fight over Sirene dispatched the dazed roach at her feet and for the moment silence descended on the group however, it did not last long.

A scream as if in rage roared from the roaches beyond the walls and they lunged once more in a united charge into the Walls of Fire desperately trying to reach the party within only to die as they had before. In minutes it was over the hundreds, thousand’s of the smaller roaches dead, burned to a crisp. Mass suicide or something more?

This time the quiet that descended did not go away and the only sound left for the party to hear was the burning of the magical flames surrounding them.........

(DM OOC: Ok that’s this weeks post hope you enjoy it I did Lol. As you can see, Takley has wasted no time in posting as Kenji so again please let us all welcome him, Lady Dark, and Gboy once more into our group. Good posting everyone!
Next Post Next Sunday)