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<blockquote data-quote="Immort" data-source="post: 54690" data-attributes="member: 2001"><p><strong>Xar's view</strong></p><p></p><p>The group proceeded down the corridor in their usual fashion. Jaer, leading as always, Jordan close behind, Conlin following them and Abdul behind him. Finally Xar crept along in the rear, throwing a cautious eye backwards from time to time.</p><p></p><p>[COLOR= GREEN]Worry not master, I look back[/COLOR]" Xar could sense his toad familiar, Puddleglup's, thoughts.</p><p></p><p> <em>Why is it</em>, he pondered, <em>that all the corridors in dungeons are always ten feet wide? Sure, sometimes you get the great halls and the skinny little side passages that go nowhere, but usually just the ten foot wide halls. Never eight feet wide, or eleven, always ten. Must be some sort of universal law:</em> </p><p><strong>All corridors must be exactly ten feet wide and look as if they were drawn with a straight edge, turning only at right angles.</strong></p><p></p><p> Xar half chuckled to himself as he turned his attention back to the situation at hand. Inattention during a dungeon crawl could easily get you killed. After the big fight at the front door there had been little solid resistance to their travel. Kick in this door, eliminate the half dozen bugbears, move on. Xar knew that meant that something big was waiting, it always worked out that way. He didn’t worry too much about it though. Planning was Conlin’s job, Xar just made it up as he went. He and Jaer were alike in that fashion. Speaking of which, he was turning a corner now. Xar immediately tensed up, ready for anything to happen. </p><p></p><p>That was the problem with being at the rear, the first blows were being struck before you even knew you were in a fight. That is of course excluding the cases when the enemy snuck up behind you quiet like, and it was you who started taking the pounding, while the heavy hitters tried to negotiate around each other to come to your rescue.</p><p></p><p> Well, no screams, roars, or metal clanging, must just be another pointless jog in the hallway. Well, whatever would come, Jaer and Jordan would be all over it before it knew what hit it anyhow. Incredibly capable individuals those two. They reacted to things with almost supernatural speed, always seeming to take the initiative in any situation. It didn’t seem too out of place for Jordan, he was built like a cat. Lean, muscular, and always reacting to everything with whip-like speed. Actually, he, Conlin, and Xar himself were all cut from the same mold. Not a one of them topping six feet in height, all of them nimble and quick, strong but definitely tending more towards agility than power. </p><p></p><p>Jordan was the perfect rogue, clad all in black leather, dark haired and dark eyed, the rapier in his hand always poised for . . . whatever. Xar and Conlin seemed almost different sides of the same coin, roughly the same build, both with eyes of the exact same shade of green. Conlin was a little taller and fair haired, and Xar just barely taller that Jordan with dark hair.</p><p></p><p> Then there was Jaer. Six feet, seven inches, three hundred twenty five pounds of blonde haired, blue eyed, hulking snow barbarian. He seemed completely out of place here, looking more as if he should be climbing a glacier, or running down a caribou out in the tundra. He seemed fearless, almost invincible. Xar knew all too well the bitter truth of that though. </p><p></p><p>Unbidden the image came into his mind of Jaer, frozen in place by hostile magic, and brutally murdered before their very eyes. They had all tried to get there but too late. They had avenged his death with swift savagery and carefully brought his corpse back to the temple where his body was repaired and his soul called back into it to rejoin their ranks, but it was an image that would haunt them all forever.</p><p></p><p> Abdul hadn’t been with them then. The dark haired,. olive skinned, foreigner had only joined with them a couple of weeks earlier though he had already proved his mettle many times. They’d met him shortly after Beorn had left their group, on their way to clean out the old Temple of Elemental Evil. He’d been trying to avenge the deaths of some of his friends at the hands of hobgoblins there, and they’d been more than happy to help him in that regard. In the end, he had proved to work so well with the group as well as having similar goals that they offered him a full time place within their ranks. He had complimented the group dynamic very well and created none of the friction they had shared with Beorn.</p><p></p><p> A sharp hiss from Jordan broke him out of his reverie.</p><p></p><p> “I hear something up ahead.” the alert rogue sent back in low tones.</p><p></p><p> Xar could hear it too now, low chanting coming from farther up ahead. Cautiously they crept forward as the hallway opened into a large room. Inside, a squat three tiered ziggurat sat in the center dominating the area. Several men in robes were chanting until one of them spotted the adventurers, and with a cry the battle had begun. One of them called something and a hideous monstrosity arose from the earth. Made of a pebbly stone like material, it had a large powerful mouth on top of its body and three clawed arms radiating outward from around its torso. Squat legs and strange eyelike appendages completed the picture. Xar recognized it immediately as a xorn, a scavenger from the elemental plane of earth. </p><p></p><p> Jaer bulled forward already being outraced by Conlin’s first volley of arrows. Jordan only a step behind, his rapier gleaming with reflected torchlight, looking very much like a needle of light about to be plunged into a heart of darkness. Xar himself entered the room, picking a likely target and lobbing magic missiles at him. </p><p></p><p>It was then that he felt it, something terribly wrong. He couldn’t place it but something in this room was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and his body break out into a cold sweat. Suddenly, with a cry of raw terror Jaer, who had been trading blows with the xorn, fled from the room, eyes wide with fright, hands white knuckled, clutching his axe like a talisman. Jordan wasn’t far behind, racing out with a similar look of terror.</p><p></p><p> <em>I’m going to die</em>.</p><p></p><p> Xar could feel it, the same terror that had sent his friends away was tearing at him from every angle.</p><p></p><p> <em>Without Jaer and Jordan we are doomed. There is no hope. I have to get away!</em></p><p></p><p> Xar’s own knowledge of magic told him instantly they were under a spell, something in the room or perhaps the ziggurat itself was sending this terrible fear at them. He glanced over at his remaining friends. Abdul was white faced but holding steady, unleashing bolts from his crossbow at the robed figures. Conlin didn’t even appear to be fazed by the fear magic, and stood calmly dropping one after another of the robed priests. </p><p></p><p>Xar’s understanding and manipulation of magical energies provided him a greater level of protection against magical effects than his more physical allies. He bent his will toward that goal now, holding back the magic, knowing that he couldn’t leave his friends to their fate here. Suddenly Abdul broke and ran from the room, looking much the same as Jaer and Jordan before him.</p><p></p><p> <em>Damn, Abdul shares the same magical defenses I do, if this was too much for him . . .</em></p><p></p><p>Just then, Jaer bust back into the room and fell upon the xorn as it angled for Conlin. There were only two robed figures left standing, Xar loosed another burst of magic missiles at one of them, closely followed by arrows from Conlin that toppled him. The final priest who hadn’t been having much success with his magic against Conlin waved his hands and chanted piercingly. Suddenly a huge crocodile appeared and began to trundle toward Jaer.</p><p></p><p> This proved to be too much for the mighty barbarian as the fear once again took hold and sent him screaming from the room. It was down to Conlin and Xar.</p><p></p><p> <em>Death. Death! DEATH! We’re going to DIE! I can’t stay, I must leave. Must leave NOW!</em></p><p></p><p> Xar’s defenses finally crumbled and he too fled the room gibbering with insane fear. The passageway he had been so idly musing over flew by in his mad dash to safety. He couldn’t think, could barely breathe, he just had to get AWAY! He didn’t know how far or long he had run but suddenly it was like a cold bucket of water in his face. CONLIN! He was alone, fighting against all the remaining forces. He’d be killed for sure. </p><p></p><p>Breathing heavily from his run, Xar sucked down more air and pumped his legs back the way he had come. Sweat was pouring from his face, air was coming in short, tight gasps. Only his superb physical conditioning allowed him to maintain the pace. That and his fear for his closest friend’s life.</p><p></p><p> He burst back into the room summoning up his magical missiles even as he charged in. His volley of magic finally put an end to the final priest, but the xorn and croc were tearing into Conlin with bestial fury. Blood streamed down from multiple wounds on the paladin’s body and he had that look in his eye that Xar knew all too well. </p><p></p><p>Conlin was murderously efficient with the bow, a brilliant military tactician when he had time to plan and react, but he just couldn’t cope with the variables thrown at him during melee. He was a skilled and capable fighter but his mind couldn’t keep up with his body. Xar thought furiously for a moment until he came to the simplest conclusion.</p><p></p><p> “Conlin, fall back to the door, I have a plan!”</p><p></p><p> Normally, Conlin would be as willing to back away from a fight as Jaer would, which is to say not at all. In this case though, no one else was in immediate danger so nothing was triggering his “protect others at all cost” instinct. Further, he trusted Xar implicitly and would act on that alone if need be.</p><p></p><p> “Hey! Ugly! Chew on this!” Xar taunted as he unleashed a burst of magic missiles (his favorite spell if ya hadn’t guessed) into the xorn.</p><p></p><p> It lashed out at Conlin as he pulled back, and the croc lunged toward him snapping its great jaws. Xar continued to harry the xorn with missile strikes as Conlin moved to the room’s entrance. It whirled on Xar then and charged him, the crocodile in its wake. Out of the corner of his eye, Xar noticed the party gathering together again at the entrance to the room, just outside of the fear effect. Xar tossed the last of his magic missile spells at the xorn and beat feet for the door as well.</p><p></p><p> It was hot on his tail as he darted behind the comforting and protective bulk of Jaer. Needless to say, the fight was as good as over.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!</em></p><p></p><p>-Immort</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Immort, post: 54690, member: 2001"] [b]Xar's view[/b] The group proceeded down the corridor in their usual fashion. Jaer, leading as always, Jordan close behind, Conlin following them and Abdul behind him. Finally Xar crept along in the rear, throwing a cautious eye backwards from time to time. [COLOR= GREEN]Worry not master, I look back[/COLOR]" Xar could sense his toad familiar, Puddleglup's, thoughts. [i]Why is it[/i], he pondered, [i]that all the corridors in dungeons are always ten feet wide? Sure, sometimes you get the great halls and the skinny little side passages that go nowhere, but usually just the ten foot wide halls. Never eight feet wide, or eleven, always ten. Must be some sort of universal law:[/i] [b]All corridors must be exactly ten feet wide and look as if they were drawn with a straight edge, turning only at right angles.[/b] Xar half chuckled to himself as he turned his attention back to the situation at hand. Inattention during a dungeon crawl could easily get you killed. After the big fight at the front door there had been little solid resistance to their travel. Kick in this door, eliminate the half dozen bugbears, move on. Xar knew that meant that something big was waiting, it always worked out that way. He didn’t worry too much about it though. Planning was Conlin’s job, Xar just made it up as he went. He and Jaer were alike in that fashion. Speaking of which, he was turning a corner now. Xar immediately tensed up, ready for anything to happen. That was the problem with being at the rear, the first blows were being struck before you even knew you were in a fight. That is of course excluding the cases when the enemy snuck up behind you quiet like, and it was you who started taking the pounding, while the heavy hitters tried to negotiate around each other to come to your rescue. Well, no screams, roars, or metal clanging, must just be another pointless jog in the hallway. Well, whatever would come, Jaer and Jordan would be all over it before it knew what hit it anyhow. Incredibly capable individuals those two. They reacted to things with almost supernatural speed, always seeming to take the initiative in any situation. It didn’t seem too out of place for Jordan, he was built like a cat. Lean, muscular, and always reacting to everything with whip-like speed. Actually, he, Conlin, and Xar himself were all cut from the same mold. Not a one of them topping six feet in height, all of them nimble and quick, strong but definitely tending more towards agility than power. Jordan was the perfect rogue, clad all in black leather, dark haired and dark eyed, the rapier in his hand always poised for . . . whatever. Xar and Conlin seemed almost different sides of the same coin, roughly the same build, both with eyes of the exact same shade of green. Conlin was a little taller and fair haired, and Xar just barely taller that Jordan with dark hair. Then there was Jaer. Six feet, seven inches, three hundred twenty five pounds of blonde haired, blue eyed, hulking snow barbarian. He seemed completely out of place here, looking more as if he should be climbing a glacier, or running down a caribou out in the tundra. He seemed fearless, almost invincible. Xar knew all too well the bitter truth of that though. Unbidden the image came into his mind of Jaer, frozen in place by hostile magic, and brutally murdered before their very eyes. They had all tried to get there but too late. They had avenged his death with swift savagery and carefully brought his corpse back to the temple where his body was repaired and his soul called back into it to rejoin their ranks, but it was an image that would haunt them all forever. Abdul hadn’t been with them then. The dark haired,. olive skinned, foreigner had only joined with them a couple of weeks earlier though he had already proved his mettle many times. They’d met him shortly after Beorn had left their group, on their way to clean out the old Temple of Elemental Evil. He’d been trying to avenge the deaths of some of his friends at the hands of hobgoblins there, and they’d been more than happy to help him in that regard. In the end, he had proved to work so well with the group as well as having similar goals that they offered him a full time place within their ranks. He had complimented the group dynamic very well and created none of the friction they had shared with Beorn. A sharp hiss from Jordan broke him out of his reverie. “I hear something up ahead.” the alert rogue sent back in low tones. Xar could hear it too now, low chanting coming from farther up ahead. Cautiously they crept forward as the hallway opened into a large room. Inside, a squat three tiered ziggurat sat in the center dominating the area. Several men in robes were chanting until one of them spotted the adventurers, and with a cry the battle had begun. One of them called something and a hideous monstrosity arose from the earth. Made of a pebbly stone like material, it had a large powerful mouth on top of its body and three clawed arms radiating outward from around its torso. Squat legs and strange eyelike appendages completed the picture. Xar recognized it immediately as a xorn, a scavenger from the elemental plane of earth. Jaer bulled forward already being outraced by Conlin’s first volley of arrows. Jordan only a step behind, his rapier gleaming with reflected torchlight, looking very much like a needle of light about to be plunged into a heart of darkness. Xar himself entered the room, picking a likely target and lobbing magic missiles at him. It was then that he felt it, something terribly wrong. He couldn’t place it but something in this room was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and his body break out into a cold sweat. Suddenly, with a cry of raw terror Jaer, who had been trading blows with the xorn, fled from the room, eyes wide with fright, hands white knuckled, clutching his axe like a talisman. Jordan wasn’t far behind, racing out with a similar look of terror. [i]I’m going to die[/i]. Xar could feel it, the same terror that had sent his friends away was tearing at him from every angle. [i]Without Jaer and Jordan we are doomed. There is no hope. I have to get away![/i] Xar’s own knowledge of magic told him instantly they were under a spell, something in the room or perhaps the ziggurat itself was sending this terrible fear at them. He glanced over at his remaining friends. Abdul was white faced but holding steady, unleashing bolts from his crossbow at the robed figures. Conlin didn’t even appear to be fazed by the fear magic, and stood calmly dropping one after another of the robed priests. Xar’s understanding and manipulation of magical energies provided him a greater level of protection against magical effects than his more physical allies. He bent his will toward that goal now, holding back the magic, knowing that he couldn’t leave his friends to their fate here. Suddenly Abdul broke and ran from the room, looking much the same as Jaer and Jordan before him. [i]Damn, Abdul shares the same magical defenses I do, if this was too much for him . . .[/i] Just then, Jaer bust back into the room and fell upon the xorn as it angled for Conlin. There were only two robed figures left standing, Xar loosed another burst of magic missiles at one of them, closely followed by arrows from Conlin that toppled him. The final priest who hadn’t been having much success with his magic against Conlin waved his hands and chanted piercingly. Suddenly a huge crocodile appeared and began to trundle toward Jaer. This proved to be too much for the mighty barbarian as the fear once again took hold and sent him screaming from the room. It was down to Conlin and Xar. [i]Death. Death! DEATH! We’re going to DIE! I can’t stay, I must leave. Must leave NOW![/i] Xar’s defenses finally crumbled and he too fled the room gibbering with insane fear. The passageway he had been so idly musing over flew by in his mad dash to safety. He couldn’t think, could barely breathe, he just had to get AWAY! He didn’t know how far or long he had run but suddenly it was like a cold bucket of water in his face. CONLIN! He was alone, fighting against all the remaining forces. He’d be killed for sure. Breathing heavily from his run, Xar sucked down more air and pumped his legs back the way he had come. Sweat was pouring from his face, air was coming in short, tight gasps. Only his superb physical conditioning allowed him to maintain the pace. That and his fear for his closest friend’s life. He burst back into the room summoning up his magical missiles even as he charged in. His volley of magic finally put an end to the final priest, but the xorn and croc were tearing into Conlin with bestial fury. Blood streamed down from multiple wounds on the paladin’s body and he had that look in his eye that Xar knew all too well. Conlin was murderously efficient with the bow, a brilliant military tactician when he had time to plan and react, but he just couldn’t cope with the variables thrown at him during melee. He was a skilled and capable fighter but his mind couldn’t keep up with his body. Xar thought furiously for a moment until he came to the simplest conclusion. “Conlin, fall back to the door, I have a plan!” Normally, Conlin would be as willing to back away from a fight as Jaer would, which is to say not at all. In this case though, no one else was in immediate danger so nothing was triggering his “protect others at all cost” instinct. Further, he trusted Xar implicitly and would act on that alone if need be. “Hey! Ugly! Chew on this!” Xar taunted as he unleashed a burst of magic missiles (his favorite spell if ya hadn’t guessed) into the xorn. It lashed out at Conlin as he pulled back, and the croc lunged toward him snapping its great jaws. Xar continued to harry the xorn with missile strikes as Conlin moved to the room’s entrance. It whirled on Xar then and charged him, the crocodile in its wake. Out of the corner of his eye, Xar noticed the party gathering together again at the entrance to the room, just outside of the fear effect. Xar tossed the last of his magic missile spells at the xorn and beat feet for the door as well. It was hot on his tail as he darted behind the comforting and protective bulk of Jaer. Needless to say, the fight was as good as over. [i]Stay tuned for the next exciting installment![/i] -Immort [/QUOTE]
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