Deren mumbles some mutterings to himself and while only a few occasional words are heard, the meaning is quite obvious: "Knew we shoulda left earlier." The Halfling grips his daggers tight in his hands and gets into a battle-ready position now that escape appears to no longer be an option. "If this goes poorly," he says, "It was good to know you guys. Although not as good as if we all survived," he adds under his breath.
At the sound of the voice, Ciaran stands, no longer interest in the fallen guards. He stands, looking toward the passage. Quietly, he adds, "Douse the torches. Keep Aeron's hidden. We must use the air about them against them." Crouching, Ciaran concentrates, inhaling deeply, deeper than you would think possible. He then faces the south corridor, and with a howl, exhales wildly, blowing with such a force to extinguish the torches down the hallway.
Cries of surprise and disarray sound from the passage south, as the torches gutter out from the force of Ciaran's spell.
Merrick stands ready, the only one able to see now that the torches have all blown out. His glaive held ready, he waits.
Shoon groans and whispers, "Perhaps we should have pressed the attack while they were demoralized... What now? This new leader will likely send his underlings before him to die until he has none left, and then retreat if given the chance" he finishes spitefully.
From his position outside the door in the western hallway, Jinx enters the guards' room where everyone else is conglomerated. "I hear voices in the western hall. Can't get a good count or a fix on where they're coming from." Hearing Ciaran's suggestion, Jinx, who had been holding Aeron's torch, looks askance at the flaming stick as if uncertain exactly how or where he's supposed to "hide" the thing. Electing instead to stand just inside the guards' room and to close the western door nearly all the way (but leaving a crack open through which to continue to look), Jinx tries to stay out of Zirat and Merrick's way while also angling to be useful by color spraying any neophyte oncomers who might dare to trek through Ciaran's webbing in the western hallway.
"Pelor is with us, my friends," Aeron says with somber confidence. Divine energy flows over the party.
[sblock=For Merrick]
The knight's eyes widen as a huge ogre suddenly rushes forth from the south, clad in thick steel plate. Unlike most of their kind, this one bears a greatsword of enormous size, and is poised ready to strike. Merrick reacts quickly slashing his glaive at the beast, but his glaive skitters of the thing's thick steel armor.
The thing's greatsword sweeps through the air, cutting deeply into the knight, tossing him back. Sir Merrick stands for a moment, blood pouring down his chest, and then crashes to the floor, unmoving.
[/sblock]
A cry of pain comes from the darkness to the south, and the voice resembles that of Sir Merrick.
"Let'em come and face the champion." Zirat leaves the puny guard and goes to stand side by side with Sir Merrick, though he can hardly see anything down the southern passage now that the torches are out.
Everything is now dark, except a faint circle of light shining back into the room from where Jinx holds the torch through the crack in the door, watching down the west hall.
Initiative Count
19 Deren -
17 Ciaran - cast gust of wind
13 Merrick - ready action to attack; attack vrs O1 20 (failure)
13 Shoon -
12 Jinx -
07 Aeron - cast bless
05 O1 - attack vrs Merrick 20 (success), damage 19
02 Zirat - move
PC Status
Merrick -7/22; unconscious
Shoon 13/18
Zirat 27/31
Jinx 15/15; mage armor (approx 55 mins left) for AC17
[sblock=Opponent Status - Players Do Not Look]
Guard 1 -4/38, stabilized
Guard 2 -3/27, stabilized
Guard 3 -7/27, stabilized
Guard 4 -3/27, stabilized
Guard 5 -4/8
[/sblock]
And it just had to be Shoon and Merrick who get their asses kicked... again. 
This would be funny if it were someone else. :\ Oh, and Aeron, thanks for ignoring Shoon's attempts at selflessness and healing him to over nine hit points. 
)
