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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 31133" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil - part 13 (session 8)Jeremiah stood closest to the door with Brigit.  He charged in, that slightly unnerving glow in his eyes and the equally unnerving grin on his face.  He slashed into the first rank of guards, spilling some blood but not bringing any down.  Behind them Mazi pulled her bowstring taut and let an arrow fly.  There was a cry from a wounded soldier in the front rank.Before any could retaliate a captain near the back barked out an order and half of the force ran out of the room through a door on the north wall.  The other guards didn't take their eyes off of the interlopers.  Ten men stood arrayed against the adventurers, five abreast in the front with longswords, four prepping javelins in the rear, with a captain wielding a wicked looking longbow aimed at the heroes.The four javelineers in the rear heaved their weapons at Brigit and Jeremiah.  Their allies impaired their aim and they all clattered uselessly to the floor.  The captain likewise missed his mark in aiming for Jeremiah.  His arrow whizzed by the large barbarian and splintered to pieces on impact with the stone wall behind.Brigit dodged and blocked multiple blows with the warriors she was engaged in battle before returning the attacks.  Her axe was a blur as it cut through one, then two guards.  They both fell lifeless to the ground, leaving a gap for more fighters to close.Three guards converged on Jeremiah, intent on his life.  Jer expertly blocked two thrusts from the flashing longswords and took a third blow on his gauntlet.  The impact rattled him slightly, but he was unharmed.Milo moved up in-between his friends Brigit and Jer.  His axes did little damage though.  He was still getting the knack of fighting with both hands.  Jeremiah was a whirling dervish as he moved forward to engage more warriors.  His greatsword cleaved through the first attacker, speeding on to the second.  He was cut neatly in two pieces from his shoulders up.  His next victim avoided much of the strike, but wasn't expecting Jer's second attack.  The large barbarian reversed the direction of his blade with speed that belied his size.  The warrior fell from his second wound.  Jer carried through to the last fighter in the range of his greatsword.  The fighter sustained a serious injury from Jer's attack, but he kept standing.  He raised his longsword weakly.  Jeremiah beckoned to the warrior, taunting him with his bloodied sword.Mazi aimed for the wounded soldier, but was unable to hit him from aiming around Jeremiah.  One fighter managed to squeeze by Brigit and attacked Mazi.  She dodged the long sword and knocked another arrow to her bow.  The fighter she aimed at moments before slashed at Jeremiah, meeting the steel of his greatsword rather than his flesh.  Two more warriors jumped forward to attack the fierce barbarian.  His sword clashed left and right, fending off the blows from he new attackers.The captain in the rear of the room aimed for the greatest threat he could see, Jeremiah.  Again his aim was thrown off from his own men trying to circle the barbarian.Facing only one enemy, Brigit gripped her axe tight in her right hand and hacked at the warrior.  The enchanted metal cut clean through his armor and sliced the fighter in two.  Brigit immediately looked for another combatant.Milo attacked with his axes again, slashing once with each.  The limited reach and his foe's nimble feet kept him from scoring a blow.  He ducked under the larger human's own attack, exhibiting his own dexterity.To Milo's left and deeper in the room Jeremiah swung his sword to keep his attackers at bay.  The first slash missed, but his return swing caught an unwounded warrior in the arm, nearly severing the limb.  Jeremiah drew back his sword and finished the fighter off with a lunge of his greatsword.  He withdrew the weapon from the fighter's ribs and focused on the other two guards.  Neither could seem to make it past his defense, the greatsword moved faster than they thought possible.Mazi made to aim at the fighter encroaching her space but thought better of it.  She instead aimed at the only other range fighter in the room, the captain.  Her arrow flew true, whistling through the air.  The arrowhead embedded itself in the captain's upper arm, drawing a sharp cry of pain and a grimace from his weathered face.Milo's attacker came to the conclusion that the halfling wasn't worth his attention and focused instead on Brigit.  It was his fatal mistake.  Brigit had just fended off a blow with her shield from the guard to her right when Milo's attacker lunged at her from the left.  She batted away his sword with her axe handle and followed through with a vicious blow to the head.  The guard fell dead, his skull split.The captain, seeing the battle going in the adventurer's favor, drew his own sword and made as if to join the melee personally.  He paused to wrench Mazi's arrow from his shoulder first.Milo moved to Brigit's side, attacking her enemy as well.  His axes made no more damage than they had before.  Milo was getting frustrated with his apparent inability to land a blow.Jeremiah swung at the two guards before him.  His second blow landed on the guard to the right, wounding him in the hip.  To his credit, the warrior remained standing and pressed his own attack.  He blocked the blow with his own sword and moved to deflect the other guard as well.Just then the clash of steel was interrupted by sounds from the hall behind Mazi.  The missing eight warriors and their captain trooped in from the passageway.  The captain engaged Jeremiah immediately, wounding him with his longsword.  Jeremiah's attention was now split between two guards in front and the second captain behind.Mazithra moved a step away from her own attacker and fired at the other approaching captain.  She found her mark again and the captain was flung back a step, the arrow protruding from his upper left chest.  He groaned and yanked out the arrow with a fierce glare at the elf.The captain attacked Brigit, the obstacle between Mazi and himself.  He slashed at her fiercely, wounding the dwarf slightly.  That only seemed to anger Brigit.  She dispatched the guard fighting her and concentrated on the captain instead.  She inflicted a much more serious wound on the captain than he had to her.  The captain fought on, but looked much paler from the multiple wounds he had already received.More of the soldiers filled the room.  One attacked Milo, who currently was not engaged in the melee.  Milo tumbled to the side, deftly avoiding the guard's longsword.  He came in range of one of Jeremiah's wounded foes.  His hand snaked out with a handaxe and finally made contact.  The guard perished from the blow, Milo crowed.Another guard came up behind Brigit, flanking her with the captain.  His sword was unable to pierce her armor, but it did split her attention between the two.The tireless Jeremiah continued to swing his sword at his attackers.  They had learned the mistake of approaching too close to the blade and kept their distance.  He swung twice with no contact.  The second captain lunged at Jer with his sword, sliding between plates and wounding him.  Jer winced but made no sound.Some of the guards were stuck in the hallway, unable to make their way to the fight.  They loosed their javelins and aimed for Jeremiah and Brigit.  Two javelins flew at the heroes.  Luckily the distance and the combat hampered their aim, neither javelin reached its intended target.Brigit and the first captain fought in their own world.  The two traded fierce blows, Brigit blocked the captain's then managed to crash through his defense to land her own.  The grizzled human winced and paled even more.Milo finally got the attention of one of Jeremiah's attackers.  The guard turned to address the new threat but relaxed once he caught sight of Milo's diminutive nature.  It was his last mistake.  Milo slashed twice at the warrior, once with Reft and once with Rend.  The axes did just as their namesake implied and the human was left dead.For his part Jeremiah bridged the gap to the captain and slashed at him with his greatsword.  The second captain took the blow full in the chest but kept fighting.  These captains were certainly made of sterner stuff than the rest of the guards.  The captain slashed at the barbarian, meeting resistance in the form of his greatsword.  The two stood locked for a few precious seconds before they both leaped back a half step.Mazithra sighted the first captain with her bow and let her arrow fly.  The captain reeled from the arrow, unable to continue fighting.  He fell, freeing up Brigit to attack some of the fresh guards from the corridor.Two more Javelins flew from said corridor, both aimed at Brigit and Jeremiah.  Again neither made contact.  The battle was a frenzy with constantly shifting combatants, it was difficult to draw a bead on any of the fighters.Three more guards made their way from the corridor, each chose a different target.  Mazi was unable to move fast enough to avoid a blow from the leading warrior.  His longsword cut a red streak along her upper arm.  The other warrior once again flanked Jeremiah, but he was able to dodge the blow meant for his abdomen.  The third guard charged Brigit but was repulsed by her expert shieldplay.  Brigit slashed back at the new attacker, wounding the guard with her axe but not killing him.Milo moved to help Jeremiah.  He slashed at the captain with his handaxes.  His first blow sunk into the tall man's thigh, wounding him badly.  Milo wrenched the axe free but was unable to land a blow with his offhand.  He no longer had to worry about the captain.  Jeremiah finished the threat with one last thrust of his weapon.  The sword pierced the captain's breastbone and ended his life.  Jer sliced sideways, freeing his sword and driving it into the adjacent guard.  He also fell from the attack.  Jer continued his assault by whirling to face the other way and planting his sword into the third combatant's ribs.  The guard fell with a ragged wheeze.  He narrowly dodged the next attack aimed at him from the only other guard nearby.Mazithra took a step away from her attacker and fired her bow nearly point blank.  The arrow lodged in his chest, piercing his lung and taking him out of battle completely.  Another guard took his place, swinging wildly at the elf.  She sidestepped the attack and reached for another arrow.Brigit dodged a blow from the last guard facing her but was surprised by a javelin.  The thrower managed to toss the missile between plates on the back of her right shoulder.  The weapon fell to the floor, but not before wounding her weapon arm.  Brigit angrily slashed at the guard near her.  She landed the blow, but it seemed weaker after the wound.  The guard still stood to attack.Milo found himself face to waist with another guard.  He ducked the horizontal slash meant to behead him and moved in for the attack.  His axe cut into the guard's waist, drawing a good amount of blood.  He attempted an attack with his offhand but couldn't manage to land the blow.One of the guards from the hallway leaped toward Jeremiah, slashing his sword as he moved.  Jeremiah batted away the weapon and thrust his sword straight into the man's neck.  He died instantly.  His next attack came inches from doing the same to the other guard had he not winced away from the frenzied barbarian.  The guard overcame his fear long enough to attack while Jer was recovering from his thrust.  The guard's longsword slid past a weak spot in his armor and stabbed through Jer's side.  Jeremiah grimaced, but battled on.Mazi moved back from the guard that swung wildly at her.  The soldier moved swiftly, making it hard for her to aim.  She stretched back the string of her composite bow and loosed the arrow.  It flew past the human and skittered along the sidewall before cracking into pieces in the corner.The guard that wounded Brigit with the javelin closed in with his sword.  Brigit ducked the attack and roared as she returned the blow.  Her axe cleaved through his waist, severing his spine and killing him instantly.  She continued the deadly arc straight into the other guard.  He died just as quickly as the last.  Milo leaped to Mazi's aid with both axes swinging.  Bringing both axes down simultaneously he hacked into the guard advancing on his elven friend.  The enchanted blades sliced straight through, meeting in the middle and ending the warrior's life.  Milo stared at the axes in surprise, they were deadly when he managed to hit something.The final guard was quickly dispatched with Jeremiah's greatsword.  The warrior didn't even realize his comrades were gone.  Jer ended his life with a diagonal slash, opening him from shoulder to hip.The adventurers stood tense, expecting another wave of warriors to charge in from one entrance or another.</blockquote>

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