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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1326701" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's 10th Report - Part 3Hextor's providence protected me, and the lightning passed me by, without harm.  It raged over both Ulfgar and Dargrim, but each managed to protect himself from it to some extent, reducing the harm they suffered.I have grown used to Ulfgar as a taciturn, despondent companion, but that dull gloom sometimes becomes a fierce anger, and so it was this day: he sprang forward into the midst of the enemy, laying about him with his sword.  For my own part, I saw clear to a less fierce - but more effective – tactic.  Dargrim stepped before me, blocking the door with his stout body and even stouter shield, and I invoked Hextor's power, sealing the enemy's position in a globe of inviolate silence.  At this single stroke, one of our opponents was nullified: no more spells would pass the wizard's lips.The huge fighter, however, was by no means inhibited by this act, and he charged forward to engage Dargrim, seeking to drive us back and give his compatriot a place to use his magic.  There was a shower of sparks as their blades met, then another as he slammed his sword against Dargrim's shield.  The first blow fell silently; the second rang with the sound of steel on steel, and I called for the dwarf to hold his ground, while conjuring a glowing flail in the air to strike at our enemy.And thus was this fight of two halves joined: in the silent room, Ulfgar battled the goblins, while at the doorway, Dargrim and I faced their leader.  At first, it seemed as if my invocation of silence would be enough to win the day: the wizard had been eliminated from the fight, and Ulfgar quickly felled two of the goblins.  As soon as he joined the fight against the hobgoblin fighter, I knew the battle would be won.But as the hobgoblin's blows fell like hammers on Dargrim's shield and armour, I could see that the fight was still in the balance.  Ulfgar had felled a third goblin, but he bled from many wounds, and his own attacks were no longer as strong and accurate as they had been.  He would not come to Dargrim's aid in time: in fact, as he took another injury, I began to wonder if he would come to Dargrim's aid at all.But Hextor grants us many tools with which to win our battles, and the sphere of silence was merely the first I had used.  Seeing the strength of the enemy's mighty sword, I spoke the words of breaking, sending Our Lord's power forth to shatter the steel like glass.  The huge hobgoblin reeled back, with only the stump of the blade in his hand.Desperation now moved the foe, and the wizard dashed past his fighter companion, rushing through the words of a spell as he managed to squeeze into an area where speech could be used.  As the words of the incantation finished, Dargrim's limbs locked in place, leaving him helpless as a statue.  Ulfgar, however, was far from helpless, and the wizard's desperate move had left him open to the dwarf's blade: he staggered now as Ulfgar cut him deeply, though he did not fall.Or perhaps I should say, he did not fall then.  Instead, he had the ignominy of living a few seconds more: just long enough to see my invocation to Hextor blast away his paralysing magic, before the glowing flail I had summoned stove in his skull.For all this, the fight was still not won.  The huge hobgoblin was reduced to the use of a dagger, but together with the last of his goblin followers, he knocked Ulfgar to the ground, the dwarf falling victim of his own recklessness and the power of a more skilful warrior.In truth, I think I too often rely on the strength of my arm, rather than the strength and power that Hextor grants us, but against this foe I did not make that error.  I invoked our Lord again, sending the pain and confusion of battle into the mind of my foe.  I saw him sway, his eyes glazing as he tried to fight my curse, but his will could never match that of Hextor, and he stumbled, shaking his head as he tried to clear the pain and remember his purpose.It was enough to hold him from stabbing the fallen Ulfgar, though his goblin companion was not restrained, and sank a blade into the dwarf's side.  I have little personal liking for the follower of Fharlanghn, but he has been a sturdy servant of my cause, and I would not lose his sword, if I can prevent it.  Knowing that the foul goblin would strike again, I summoned forth a great dire wolf from the stables of Our Lord, and it tore the weakling creature asunder.Dargrim stepped forward, moving to engage hobgoblin, who still struggled with the curse of pain and confusion I had laid upon him.  Often, his blows would falter and be forgotten, as he tried to remember his purpose and intent.  But, even with the wolf now tearing at his back, he stood his ground, barring the way forward, and Dargrim could not force a path to Ulfgar's side, as the dwarf slipped closer to death.</blockquote>

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