NARRATOR: (what?)
CIMORENE: (huh?)
NARRATOR: (you're leaving him?)
NARRATOR: (i'm shocked is all)
CIMORENE: (Yup. He's not strong enough to fight the elves yet. She's going to try and talk to them when they arrive)
NARRATOR: (oh)
NARRATOR: Cale:*from a distance*I will if I see him
NARRATOR: Cale:good luck
NARRATOR: *he is gone now*
NARRATOR: (you're up)
CIMORENE: (test)
CIMORENE: (help. Would create light be able to change colors and can I control the light?)
NARRATOR: (hang on...)
NARRATOR: (from what i'm reading you could change the color)
NARRATOR: (but getting it to be bright enough for a beacon to galtaire would be next to impossible. what you can do is only a 20ft radius)
CIMORENE: (damn..... would display of power work?)
NARRATOR: (not sure it doesn't specify enough..)
CIMORENE: (Hmm.... All I need is two beams of light that shoot over the mountain)
NARRATOR: (why 2?)
NARRATOR: (by the way for chris to know and you. you are a little over 1,600 miles from minas tirith)
CIMORENE: (One for each direction that the armies come from. Lovely on the distance)
NARRATOR: (just cast it twice)
CIMORENE: (cast what?)
NARRATOR: (display of power)
CIMORENE: (Sounds good)
NARRATOR: (but all you're doing is an intimidate check with a +10 you realize?)
NARRATOR: *the sun begins to rise*
CIMORENE: (*sighs and tries to think*)
NARRATOR: (can you really intimidate an army by yourself?)
NARRATOR: (hehe)
CIMORENE: (I don't want to do that, Jon... I'm just trying to fulfill my promise to Igiwi to signal the direction of the army)
NARRATOR: (you never said you'd signal the direction. you just said you'd signal)
NARRATOR: (if you want that. help cale)
CIMORENE: (*checks*)
CIMORENE: (You're right..... damn)
CIMORENE: (Does CHange Hue work on flames?)
NARRATOR: (it isn't clear enough to say otherwise, but i'll make it a tn10 to do it)
CIMORENE: (sounds good)
CIMORENE: *she turns and watches the tower, waiting for the signal to appear*
NARRATOR: (observe)
CIMORENE: (16)
NARRATOR: *you notice no flames*
NARRATOR: *you can hear a lot of yelling inside there and some orders being barked*
CIMORENE: *she growls in frustration and stalks back to the door, pounding on it with her staff*
NARRATOR: *you can barely see in the distance a fallen structure that looks like a crushed version of this small tower*
NARRATOR: *you are let in easily*
CIMORENE: *asks the guard* Where's Cale?
NARRATOR: guard:he's in the burning room. *starts going off to someplace fast*
CIMORENE: Burning room? *yells after him* Where's that?
NARRATOR: guard:*scowls*Follow me. *he turns*
NARRATOR: (going?)
CIMORENE: *follows at a very quick pace*
NARRATOR: *he leads you up to another set of stairs to a seperate area on the second floor. *a large circular room that is being filled with wood. cale is in yelling orders*
NARRATOR: *men are running in and out with wood*
CIMORENE: *goes up to Cale* What's going on?
NARRATOR: cale:What does it look like? We are readying the beacon. Galtaire will be warned and soon. Then we will have fullfilled our duty. Why are you here?
CIMORENE: *she grins a little* I came to help.... I cannot abandon my friends, when we are so close.
NARRATOR: Cale:*smiles back slightly*Thank you Cimorene. Then you can help by getting some wood up here as fast as your legs can carry you. Then we have only to light this pyre...*looks up to the hole in the ceiling, the only other way out of the room besides the door*
NARRATOR: *it is a stone room*
NARRATOR: *like the rest of the post*
CIMORENE: *she nods and hurries after the men who are scurrying about*
NARRATOR: *you follow them to a basement filled with more wood than seems humanly possible*
CIMORENE: *grabs a reasonable handful and runs back*
NARRATOR: *there are a bunch of men scuttering here*
CIMORENE: (strength test?)
NARRATOR: (how many pounds you carrying?)
CIMORENE: (Ummm....... ten?)
NARRATOR: (nah, i'll let you get away with it)
CIMORENE: (Good.... lol. Jonny, I can lift ten pounds)
NARRATOR: *you arrive upstairs to see the pyre has grown enourmous. filling most of the room*
CIMORENE: *she throws the wood onto the pile and looks to Cale* How much longer?
NARRATOR: Cale:*grim smile*We may all die this day, but we can do our duty. *looks to you* It is time.
NARRATOR: Cale:*leads you out the room*We must climb to the roof and light it from there.
CIMORENE: *she nods and hurries after him, gripping her staff tightly*
NARRATOR: *the stone door of the burning room looks safe for the potential inferno*
CIMORENE: Are you sure this is safe?
NARRATOR: Cale:It should be still. As I say it has been lite before successfully. It is the only way to get enough flame visible to them from here...
NARRATOR: *as you two head down the stairs you hear sounds of battle*
CIMORENE: Dear spirits...... *grips her staff tighter and runs*
NARRATOR: Cale:*worried now*The attack has begun. We must get up and out fast.
CIMORENE: *is following*
NARRATOR: (going to the front door too?)
CIMORENE: (Whereever Cale is)
NARRATOR: *cale dashes to the front door which has become a war zone between species*
NARRATOR: *elves and men are fighting openly and bloodily*
NARRATOR: *the elves clearly seem to be winning with a brutal and yet elegant dance of axes*
CIMORENE: Cale! What should we do?
NARRATOR: *there is entrance to the front door as the line of men is pushed back on the first floor*
NARRATOR: Cale:*sadly*We sneak behind their line and make sure the fire burns.
CIMORENE: *she nods and holds her staff at the ready as she nudges him on* Run
NARRATOR: *he dashes out the front door behind the elven line of death*
CIMORENE: *follows quickly, ready to defend him*
NARRATOR: *you two reach the outside to find 4 more elves chatting calmly until your arrival*
NARRATOR: *they see you two and pull out axes at the ready with malice in their eyes*
CIMORENE: *she stares at them a moment, then steps forward* Move out of the way.
NARRATOR: Cale:We don't have to go to them. We have to get to the ladder.
NARRATOR: *cale rounds the side of the tower*
CIMORENE: *she nods at Cale and follows, her eyes on the elves*
NARRATOR: *their axes shine bright with the morning sun glinting off of them*
NARRATOR: *they do not challange you but follow at a slow pace*
NARRATOR: *cale pants as he finds the ladder and begins to climb it*
CIMORENE: *waits at the bottom until he is halfway up, then follows, slowly, pointing her staff at the elves*
NARRATOR: *as soon as you point your staff at them they stop in their tracks and look very intently at your staff, whishpering to eachother*
NARRATOR: (climb check)
CIMORENE: (10)
NARRATOR: *your grip is true*
NARRATOR: *cale reaches the top and gets onto the roof*
CIMORENE: (whew)
CIMORENE: *Follows him slowly, her staff never leaving the Elves*
NARRATOR: Cale:*nervous*We have only to light it. *approaches the outer well of the burning room.*he pours an open container of oil into the room*
NARRATOR: *the elves still don't move*
CIMORENE: *watching the elves intently* Do it, Cale....
NARRATOR: *you hear him working at something*
NARRATOR: elf:Strike or be struck!
NARRATOR: *he yells to you in high elven*
CIMORENE: Cale, do it!!!!! *she brandishes her staff at the Elves and behind chanting*
NARRATOR: Cale:*panting*i'm trying!
NARRATOR: *the elves slowly start to move forward again*
CIMORENE: *she moves backwards towards the hole* Move, Cale....
NARRATOR: Cale:Move Cimorene I've done it!
NARRATOR: *you hear a "boom"*
NARRATOR: (swiftness)
CIMORENE: (11)
NARRATOR: (uh oh...)
CIMORENE: (goodie)
NARRATOR: (acrobatics test)
CIMORENE: (13)
NARRATOR: *you cannot even remember how fast it was but you are on your face near the opening and you take 23 damage. you are on fire as well*
CIMORENE: (How the heck?)
NARRATOR: *cale seems to want to help but the heat is too intense by you for him*
NARRATOR: (the thing was a powder keg with no other escape for the flame than that)
NARRATOR: (and it's enchanted;-))
CIMORENE: (at all? I was still barely a few steps from the wall!)
NARRATOR: (too close)
CIMORENE: (Oh good grief)
NARRATOR: (you weren't looking back while you approached. cale dropped in his burning kindling and cleared out)
NARRATOR: (you are in a bad situation all around)
CIMORENE: (Ok, I'm almost Injured)
NARRATOR: (my apologies then. you're up)
CIMORENE: *she gets thrown, and may be burning, but she's still gonna cast her damned spell* Change Hue!
CIMORENE: (whew...... cast with a 17)
NARRATOR: (let me know what you roll)
NARRATOR: (nice)
NARRATOR: *spell goes off without a hitch*
CIMORENE: *the flames suddenly turn a bright violet*
NARRATOR: (turning the pyre violet then? cool)
NARRATOR: *the spike of flame goes up higher than you can tell*
CIMORENE: *she throws off her burning robes and smothers them, ignoring her nakedness so she can dowse the flames on her robes*
NARRATOR: (that's right. you gave melendar your cloak)
NARRATOR: (whoa)
CIMORENE: (*shrugs* Is my hair on fire?)
NARRATOR: (i'll let it not be this time)
CIMORENE: (Good. her hair hides most of her nakedness then. Are the flames out?)
NARRATOR: (yes)
NARRATOR: *cale had time to get in front of you too*
NARRATOR: *cale has drawn his mace*
CIMORENE: *throws her robes back on and stands, wobbling a little. She puts a hand on Cale's shoulder and yells in high Elven* I wish a parlay!
NARRATOR: *cale seems perplexed*
NARRATOR: elf:*to others*interesting. *to you*We accept!
NARRATOR: Cale:*to you*What is going on?
NARRATOR: *the elves climb back down the ladder*
CIMORENE: *she heads to the edge of the wall, speaking softly as she goes* Get down to your men and try to incapacitate as many of the enemy as you can. As few casualities as you can. I'm going to speak with the leader and stop this idiotic battle.
NARRATOR: Cale:*clearly confused*I will try. *he heads down before you quickly*
NARRATOR: (climb check)
CIMORENE: Let him pass! *in High Elven*
CIMORENE: (11)
NARRATOR: Elf:he will not be harmed!
NARRATOR: *you climb down as well as you went up*
CIMORENE: *she stands before the Elves* Who is your leader?
NARRATOR: Wulf:*to you*Hello again Cimorene.
CIMORENE: *she smiles a little* Hello, Wulf.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*looks to the flame*The violet indeed.
CIMORENE: *she nods* Wulf.... your people are being decieved.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*laughs. the other 3 join in*What are you talking about?
CIMORENE: Your women. The ones who were raped. You were decieved.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*deadly serious now*If you believe that, then it is you who are decieved and not I.
CIMORENE: No. They were raped, but not by these men. There was a demon among them.... one that can change shape.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*falters slightly*No. It was no demon that did such a thing to them. It was filthy men!
CIMORENE: It was a dindair.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*his eyes turn to slint*What proof do you have?
CIMORENE: If it were truly these men, I would have slaughtered the guilty ones myself.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*smiling*That job should be done by now
NARRATOR: Wulf:Perhaps, though, you have a point. You are our kin
NARRATOR: *the other three seem to be trying to run to the same conclusion; you are just so much cleaner than they*
CIMORENE: *she frowns* They were not guilty. There was only one who freely admitted to being with one of your women, and I have six men who attest that she and he had feelings for each other.
CIMORENE: He is dead.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*holds up a hand*Yes. She and one other mortal did have such feelings and that is no issue.
NARRATOR: *wulf frowns*
NARRATOR: Wulf:He was to be spared...
CIMORENE: The demon manipulated this entire battle to get you to destroy this outpost so that the great army can raze the city of Galtaire.
NARRATOR: Wulf:The demon then?
CIMORENE: And the demon murdered the man.
CIMORENE: The demon masqueraded as one of the party who suppsoedly raped your women, and one other was a spy for the approaching hoarde.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*his face grows slowly in anger and you feel his aura give off hate*
NARRATOR: Wulf:*dark smile*where is the one who got away now?
CIMORENE: He was running North, to warn his master, last we checked. The armies will be here in less than two days to detroy Galtire. Then they will take this mountain and all that lives within it.
NARRATOR: Wulf:I care nothing about the future at this moment. *with burning eyes to you*He will be found and die a horrible death this day, I swear it.
NARRATOR: Wulf:*to the other 3*We hunt filth, friends. Be ready.
CIMORENE: The rest of this outpost is free of guilt. You are slaughtering innocent men!
NARRATOR: *wulf says no more and runs to the front door*
CIMORENE: Wulf wait!
NARRATOR: *the other follow*
NARRATOR: *other 3*
CIMORENE: *chases* You have to call the elves off!
NARRATOR: *you reach the front to find the other 3 going inside already*
CIMORENE: *follows*
NARRATOR: *withing a minute the attack is called off*
NARRATOR: *the elves march out. cleaning the blood off their axes*
CIMORENE: *she stares at the elves being called off, almost in shock, then hurries around, yelling for Cale*
NARRATOR: *you find him in a corner with 1 other man and melendar behind a desk and a few chairs as a barricade*
NARRATOR: Melendar:*to you*I knew you would come*smiles*
CIMORENE: Cale! Melendar! *runs up to them*
CIMORENE: It's over! The Elves are leaving!
NARRATOR: *melendar sits back against a wall*
NARRATOR: Cale:*laughs bleakly*Excellent! Then we are all that remains of the post!
CIMORENE: What?
NARRATOR: Melendar:They were very fast and very efficient...
CIMORENE: *she whirls, her horrified eyes taking in all the carnage*
NARRATOR: *the third survivor is in shock*
NARRATOR: *the halls are trashed and the walls lined with blood. The bodies are strewn all over*
NARRATOR: *it was a blood bath. the men never had a chance once the door was breached*
NARRATOR: *you can tell melendar was the only reason the other two survived*
CIMORENE: *she falls to her knees, covering her mouth with both hands*
NARRATOR: Cale:*to you*They would not listen to me...
NARRATOR: Melendar:*with a great sigh he makes his way over to you*You did all you could, love. *he crouches over you and wrapes his arms around you*
CIMORENE: *she slams her fist into the ground* I took took too long....
NARRATOR: Melendar:*seriously*Cimorene. All you did cannot be taken back. You did what had to be doen. If you hadn't followed Cale, he would be dead too and perhaps I and this other poor soul.
NARRATOR: *the other man is still paralyzed with fear*
NARRATOR: Cale:*to melendar*You surely exagerate my lord...
CIMORENE: *she stands, her fists clenched* For this, he dies. For this..... this carnage.... Liun Ruth dies.
NARRATOR: Melendar:*stands with you and speaks wearily*All in good time. There is another matter below us that needs to be tended to. We must combat this and swiftly.
NARRATOR: Cale:*to you both*Yes, the army. What are we to do as just 4?
CIMORENE: *she turns to Cale* Forgive me. I failed your men.
NARRATOR: *cale is absolutely speechless and seems to be denying what has happened for the moment*
CIMORENE: We can't leave them like this..... *she gestures to the men* They should be given a proper burial.
NARRATOR: Melendar:*to cale wearily*We must not give up. We will fight however we can. *to you*Yes. A proper burial *he slumps to a wall uncontrollably*
NARRATOR: *cale tends to the catatonic man*
CIMORENE: You men rest.... I will begin the clean up...... *she goes and begins piling bodies together*
NARRATOR: *it is a tough process but you make a mound of corpses*
NARRATOR: *it is getting onto real morning and the fire begins to die down slightly*
CIMORENE: *she stands wearily, then calls to Cale* Would you like to say anything?
NARRATOR: Cale:*walks up and says to you*Can I have a moment alone with my men?
CIMORENE: *she nods and moves away to check on the comatose men*
NARRATOR: *melendar is sitting tired next to the man trying to talk to him*
NARRATOR: *the man does not move*
CIMORENE: *she touches Melendar's shoulders and casts Healing*
CIMORENE: (cast with a 13..... and healing test is a 25)
NARRATOR: *he seems to regain some strength visibly*
NARRATOR: *melendar sits up now and turns to you. he just looks at you tenderly*
CIMORENE: *she smiles weakly at him and turns back to Cale*
NARRATOR: *cale is downstairs...*
CIMORENE: (ah)
NARRATOR: (man melendar has had a really really rough day)
CIMORENE: (So has Cimorene)
NARRATOR: (hehe, ya)
CIMORENE: *she kneels in front of the comatose man, touching his face and casting Healing*
NARRATOR: Melendar:*knowing what you're doing*I would have but...
NARRATOR: *melendar sighs helplessly*
CIMORENE: (it's cast with an 11, and the healing test is 26)
NARRATOR: *the man starts to move his head around and upon seeing you two screams*
NARRATOR: man:Captain! captain! more of those things!!!
NARRATOR: *cale runs up with his weapon drawn*
CIMORENE: No..... no, it's Cimorene, friend. It's Cimorene and Melendar, remember?
NARRATOR: Cale:*to the man*It is alright, private. These two are friends.
NARRATOR: man:*starts crying*I'm so sorry!*he lunges into you and sobs*
NARRATOR: *melendar looks down at the man with a look of ultimate pity and sadness just for a moment*
CIMORENE: *catches him with a surprised look on her face, then cradels him tenderly, whispering soothing word in his ears and stroking his hair*
NARRATOR: *after a few moments the man comes to his senses again and goes down with the captain for the burial*
NARRATOR: Melendar:*to you tenderly*You did not fail this place. Some of us have survived!
CIMORENE: *she nods grimly* But not enough, Melendar.... not enough....
NARRATOR: Melendar:There never were enough to war with the army below. What are we to do about them?
NARRATOR: *he shakes his head*
CIMORENE: About who? *is very tired*
NARRATOR: Melendar:The army on the ground.
CIMORENE: We fight them with everyting we have
NARRATOR: Melendar:*nods affirmitavly*Of course. *sighs*We should devise a strategy soon and get a good rest tonight.
CIMORENE: I agree..... I only hope that the others will forget this place...
NARRATOR: Melendar:*a tear in his eye*I hope they do not. Any memory is a good thing, i've learned...*trails off*
CIMORENE: *she hugs him tightly a moment, then headsa downstairs for the burial*
NARRATOR: *the two give a gondorian salute to the pile of corpses and turn to you*
NARRATOR: Cale:We dig then
CIMORENE: *she bows to them* We can either bury them, or send their spirits to the heavens with fire.
NARRATOR: Cale:*muses that idea*We can put them in the very fire they labored to let kindle.
CIMORENE: I like that idea
NARRATOR: man:A fine sendoff if you ask me
NARRATOR: *the man seems composed....... enough*
CIMORENE: To the roof?
NARRATOR: Cale:I will start bringing them to the door. The fire will be out soon enough and we can start over with a new one then. We will then proceede to make a fire with their flesh.
CIMORENE: *she nods*
NARRATOR: man:*to cale*to honor the victorious dead...
CIMORENE: (can I assume that takes several hours?)
NARRATOR: (ya we can skip all of that)
NARRATOR: *the cremation goes off fine and to plan and the soldiers are sent off*
NARRATOR: (what strategy is devised?)
CIMORENE: (With purple fire)
CIMORENE: (We don't have one yet)
NARRATOR: (you have an army on both sides of this mountain)
CIMORENE: *she looks at Cale* There are two armies converging on the city as we speak, one from each side of the mountain. What are the Captain's orders?
NARRATOR: Cale:*seems to snap out of grieving instantly*We fight them, of course. This moment has hardly been planned for, but we have a couple of resources. We have in the basement a couple of catapults to fire off the mountain down upon them. After we exhaust our ammunition we can either retreat to the city, let your magic*you and melendar* work on them, or fight them head on until we join the dead.
CIMORENE: You mean to fight them from here?
NARRATOR: Cale:Yes, we can aim the catapults from either side of the mountain and send a barrage at both armies from the safety of the cliffs. No return fire can possibly harm us.
CIMORENE: *she nods* Yes.... but someone has to warn the city about the dual threat
NARRATOR: Cale:I am opend to suggestions at this point...
NARRATOR: Cale:Then someone must go to the city with all haste. If no-one else, then I shall go but I would man the catapults against the hoard if i could...
CIMORENE: *she nods* I will go.
NARRATOR: Melendar:We will go
NARRATOR: *cale seems sad*
CIMORENE: Melendar.... we cannot leave Cale and his man undefended.
NARRATOR: Melendar:What are you suggesting? That I let you walk away from me? What can harm them up here in any case?
CIMORENE: The Elves.....
NARRATOR: Melendar:You settled that already Cimorene.
NARRATOR: Melendar:If nothing else they will protect these two or leave them be.
CIMORENE: *she looks at Cale* You're ranking officer. YOu decide who goes.