The Caverns Beneath the Steading

[Setting: The room is very large and opens into the darkness to the south (the direction you were headed); the 12'-20' high ceiling has strangely reflective mineral deposits showing; for the most part (see below) the only light is from five torches bourne by the orcs, a torch carried by Ghotu graver, one by the engineer, and Mog's lantern.]

Blade takes in the scene and decides, for some unknown reason, that the female human is most likely a druid or other outdoorsy type. Based on this unfounded assumption, he determines the fight probably started over the crocodile. Maybe it was her familiar or something. The best way to impress women who had pets or children was to be nice to the pets or children...no matter how scaly or repugnant.

Blade dashes into battle with a long sword in each hand. "Take heart, m'lady. Your prayers have been answered. I shall dispatch these cretins and once and save the noble alligator, thus preserving the fragile ecosystem for future generations."

Blade has no idea what he is talking about. He had heard a Ranger and Druid talk about stuff like that.

As he attacks the orcs, he shouts at them. "In the name of Gaea, I smite thee! How dare you attack such a magnificent creature. The fact that you wear fur only adds insult to the injury that you have so callously inflicted upon Mother Earth and Father Sky."

As Blade wades into the orcs he shouts over to the female, who upon second glance appears much younger than he initially thought. It must have been the poor lighting. "Allow me to make introductions." ....SWISH! .... "The man with the large belly is non-other than Bruce Tyrlan.. " CLANG! "The tattooed, orc with the dental problem, is Mog, he's a shaman." ...SLASH!..."the rather menacing looking fellow in the plate mail is Ghotu Graver "...THUMP! ..."The big, ugly bad ass is Bronk Beareye. An Okay fellow if you stand upwind from him."

"It's true." affirms Bronk.

..."and I am called Blade. Swordsman Extradonaire,"... SNIKT!...."And you are?"

Blade's swordsmanship is impressive, and he even throws in a polite and sweeping bow as he disembowels one of the orcs, Kagor, a brave warrior.

Bibi, coincidentally, is the outdoorsey type, as she was trained in the magic lore of the woodland tribes. She began her spell before Blade began attacking the orcs, and cannot interrupt it until it is finished.

"Blade, you idiot!" Bruce yells as he sees him move against the orcs. "Clearly these are the orcs we have been looking for. Perhaps you ought to use your brain a bit before jumping to save a woman...,"

"Yes. Perhaps I was thinking with my sword again. But, I would gladly raise my sword for any woman. If you know what I mean," answers the irreverent Blade.

Bruce looks at the young girl as he takes aim at the Alligator with his crossbow and says, "especially when that girl is a child." He lets loose a bolt and then unsheathes his axe to begin combat. The bolt strikes the animal behind the front leg and sinks deep into the thorny hide there.

Bibi continues to take aim at the scaly creature, as she was before the bumbling strangers had entered. She casts hold animal and as soon as the spell is cast she shouts "STOP," first at the intruder and again at the orcs.

Bronk yells out in a hearty Rasheman barbarian voice: "I've raised my sword for many a young lass!! But none ever so fine as this!!

"Unfortunately," says Bronk, "while in battle it is very hard for my sword to be raised because my sword. . . is. . . raised. . . ."

Blade cringes at the mental imagery conjured by Bronc's comments. "Now you are just being creepy." He knew that in Rasheman they liked' em young, even younger than the girl that was present, Blade had heard. This was mainly due to the high mortality rate of living in such a godforsaken wasteland such as Rasheman, Blade theorized. He had once heard from an insane fisherman in the seediest dive in Port Yukness that in Rasheman, they had to begin the procreation process very early in order to keep the tribes from dying out from all of the warring and pillaging that occurred there. The smelly mad fisherman even told rumors that the medicine men there provided the young girls with special herbs that made them capable of bearing children at a much younger age than was natural.

[Click the map to enlarge.]

But Blade is in rare form tonight, and is not about to let Bronk steal the attention of the newcomer female, young though she is. As the party enters the room, Mog releases the hood of his lantern to throw light in a wider area, and holds the lantern up high. The torches of the entering party, the lantern, and the orcs' torches all combine in strange synergistic serendipity, reflecting off a chance mineral formations, one shaped like a disco ball, and casting a giant spotlight on Blade from above. Instantly, Blade seizes the opportunity, and bursts forth into song.

"It's not unusual to be loved by anyone. It's not unusual to have fun with anyone. But when I see you hanging about with anyone it's not unusual to see me cry. I wannna die."

As the party members move, the spotlight moves, and Blade begins dancing and spinning, moving to stay in the spotlight wherever it goes.

"It's not unusual to go out at anytime but when I see you out and about it's such a crime. If you should ever wanna be loved by anyone.. it's not unusual; it happens every day. No matter what you say you find it happens all the TIIIIIIIIIMMEE!"

Everyone stops fighting and starts dancing to the groovy music. From somewhere is heard screams and giggles like giddy schoolgirls at a Ricky Martin concert.

A few of the orcs throw their bras and panties at Blade. Blade wipes his brow with them, theatrically inhales through one deeply while rolling his eyes in pleasure, and throws them back into the crowd to the glee of the audience.

Suddenly the music stops, and the melee begins exactly as it left off.

Clowny, the Cosmic Cartographer, makes note of the incident and from a darkened hallway out of view of the others. He stifles a burp caused by the greasy breakfast burrito he had earlier that day and vanishes. He had other realms to visit as well.

"Hmm...." Bronk says with anxiety. "That felt odd."

Bibi, amazed by the performance, thanks The Goddess that her spell was successful, else they would have been torn apart by the rhino-sized lizard while they had listened to the handsome warrior.

She says loudly in the common tongue, "I've cast a spell that will hold her rigid, but I can only hold it for a few minutes. I also heard noises down this passage behind me. I think there are more of them."

The subterranean lizard crouching before them is the color of the stones of the caverns, with rough thorny hide that resembles rock. It's splaying feet have five long suction-tipped toes, and its wide jaws have upper and lower rows of canine teeth.

Bibi, who has been living with the orcs since she escaped from the giants a few days ago, was traveling with the orcs to trade with the troglodytes--food from the steading in trade for water from the springs in this area of the cavern, occupied by the trogs; and this time to gather the trogs to enlist them in an escape from the steading. Their group was attacked by the lizard as soon as they found the trogs.

Krulek had just returned to the orc's caverns the night before, and to the amazement of the gathered orcs, he led nearly all the orc slaves and laborers from their slave quarters in the steading basement. A majority of them were well armed and armored, with the weapons and mail of their bugbear handlers. Pick axes and hammers they had as well, taken from the tools they used in their endless labor of furthering the basement, which meant digging through stone. All told, Krulek returned over one hundred fifty orcs to those gathered already in the caverns in hiding, who themselves numbered nearly seventy. Since the orcs had accepted Bibi, their good fortune was hers. She still had her own pursuits to think about.

The orcs and troglodytes immediately move to attack the party to avenge their comrade slain by Blade.

Before any melee is started, Bibi and those near the passage behind her hear a noise. They hold up their torches and see another lizard, this one slightly larger than the first (about 14' long head to tail) and crawling along the ceiling at a great speed. Behind it are two smaller lizards of the same variety, all scuttling along the ceiling using their suction tipped fingers. They move into the room and prepare to drop on the party. The large one moves above Bronk but does not drop down, instead hanging with its hind feet attached to the ceiling and grasping at Bronk with its front feet and its bite. One of the smaller ones moves to Blade, slithering down the wall. The other one, the smallest, stays on the ceiling. The baby lizards are as big as great danes or mastiff hounds with shorter legs and thick tails and impressively developed teeth.

Bronk and Ghotu, who is nearby, immediately go to work on the lizard attacking Bronk. Their first strokes open wide gashes into the lizard and cause it to fall to the ground before it can make an attack. The two warriors then finish the animal off with axe and halberd.

Blade, now warmed up from his dancing, stabs the smaller lizard as it approaches, piercing it until his sword point touches the stone beneath the animal. It shriekes in pain and slowly slithers away.

After the lizards are dead or gone, two of the orcs place themselves between Bibi and the party, as if to defend her. The other orcs and troglodytes are about to attack the party.

[Click here to post your actions from this point. First you must fight the orcs and trogs, or avert the fight. Second, the lizard that is held can only be held by Bibi's spell for about 10 rounds total, which is only a couple minutes. Something must be done about it. Third, please determine what your next actions should be--try to go with the orcs, or continue to wander separate. If separate, whom does Bibi go with? What do you say to each other? How much do you tell each other of what you are each doing there? What questions do you ask?]

By the way, check out the Trophy Room for running totals of all the creatures killed, experience points earned, and treasure gathered so far on the adventures of the . . .