Brief Recap: Last turn, the party continued fighting bugbears and attempting to free slaves. Humphrey began commanding bugbears to die, while Bronk, Bibi, and Mog also fought with bugbears. Ghotu lead wargs into the bugbear camp. The human slaver captain (whom Humphrey had earlier commanded to serve Humphrey and to attack the bugbear camp with his men) also arrived and was attacked by bugbears. The human slaver captain's fighters were not with him, except for a few personal guards.

Emancipation Proclamation: Battle Royale!

Ghotu rides toward the party, realizing he must not lead the wargs into combat with his friends. However, he also doesn't want to let the wargs eat this horse. So he turns the horse left so it is not heading directly toward the party, and he leaps off to land on a bugbear nearby, hoping his horse will continue to lead the wargs away and yet escape itself. Ghotu's plate armored body flattens the bugbear, and Ghotu rolls off and finishes it with his axe, splitting its skull as it tries to free its dagger.

The horse slows after Ghotu leaps off, no longer having a rider to spur it. But as the wargs close in, Bibi's lightning obliterates the lead warg behind the horse. The lightning frightens the horse so much that it breaks into a fresh sprint out of the camp. The warg struck by the lightning bolt is reduced to a smoking black spot. Charge from the powerful bolt dance on Ghotu's armor for a moment before dissipating. [Ghotu is still several meters from the party.]

Meanwhile, Dravma moves stealthily from cover to cover, trying to make his way to the human slaver captain before he is engaged in combat by anyone. Omni-fal smiles on Dravma this day, for no combatants engage the half-orc cleric. He finds himself hiding behind a torture post (equiped with bloody spiked shackles) erected by the bugbears, a scant few meters from where the human slaver captain fights for his life against several bugbears, trying desperately and insanely to reach Humphrey, calling, "MASTER!" Dravma waits until the human sinner is facing away from Dravma before making his move. When the human does turn away, Dravma quickly but stealthily moves toward him, two-handed sword level. He drives the point of the five foot blade into this sinner's back, penetrating a good six inches before twisting the blade and wrenching it out with both hands. A gout of bright red blood tells Dravma he hit the artery he sought, Omni-fal be praised. The slaver captain turns as he falls to his knees and recognizes Dravma from his caravan. "You!" he gasps just before a bugbear knocks the human's helmet off. The bugbear quickly grabs the captain's hair in one clawed hand, and with the other uses a long curved dagger to slash away the human's scalp in a single swipe. Dravma watches as the newly exposed skull quickly cover itself with blood. The slaver captain's face constricts in agony, and he falls face first into the dirt. The bugbear howls in victory, slinging the bloody scalp in a circle above its head.

His mission accomplished, Dravma slinks away into the night away from the fray.

Bronk and Mog move to protect the slaves, Bronk swinging his halberd in wide arcs that decapitate one bugbear and wound another. A jet of light bursts from Mog's outstretched hand, striking a bugbear that was about to slay a slave struggling to rise.

The carnage is great. Several of the slaves have been butchered by the bugbears before they could sufficiently free and arm themselves. However, the toll on the bugbear camp is even worse. Scores of the creatures lay dead, particularly near where Bronk and Bibi started their assault.

Humphrey adds to this number, walking toward where the slaves are still gathered, and slaying a bugbear with only a word and a gesture--pointing at it and saying, "You, bugbear, DIE!"

Several slaves still live, more than half--numbering at least 45 slaves. Bibi recognizes some of their garb as that of forest people, but not that many. She also sees some of the forest people among the slain.

At that time, a bugle is heard, and horses come pounding toward the bugbear camp. Bibi, from her lofty position, turns and sees the human camp of slavers has partly mobilized, and at least twenty horsemen ride toward the bugbear camp, weapons drawn. She then looks to the north, where the orc camp is. That camp, by far the largest of the three, is also mobilizing, though slightly more slowly than the humans did. Warg riders already approach the bugbear camp, and many orcs on foot also run to where the fight is happening. In all, at least a hundred fighters, warg riders, and orcs make their way toward the party. Bibi fears the company will be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. If the company does not move quickly, they will be surrounded by a ring of steel. Though the company members may be able to survive such an onslaught, she seriously doubts that any of the slaves will walk away from such a scene. The company is simply too few to protect them all.

"We are too few to protect them all!" Humphrey yells, as he watches a Bugbear die. He turns to the next five Bugbears that come his way and says, "You, Bugbear, protect me."

He then looks up into the sky and yells, "Bring me a lightning storm!!!" His hair blows violenty (from some unseen wind) as he yells this.

As he does this and they gather around him, he pulls the crown from atop his head and places it in its satchel. He then yells to the party. Bring the slaves in close. I am going to put up a ring of fire to hold them off. He then reads a scroll, Protection from Fire 15' radius. After this, he casts a wall of fire around the perimeter, [assuming he can do all this in the few rounds of approaching combat]. He then prepares to rain fireballs down on the approaching attackers. [Note: His nipples get hard as he does all this]

Posting Instructions: The forest is kind of dim, as it is pretty dense overhead.

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