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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greyhawk" data-source="post: 3489082" data-attributes="member: 40355">Orcs and yet more orcs! Orcs now surround the party. One of the orcs fires his longbow at Rizzit, the arrow smashes into the mountain wall behind them. Another of the orcs suddenly moves forward to attack Feng.  Feng, readied for the attack swings "Nibbler" at his attacker, he misses with his first strike, the barbarian swings the other end of the orc double axe at the orc in front of him, but the orc also avoids this blow.The orc swipes at Feng, the greataxe cuts Feng for (5) damage. In front of Elinor, 10ft away, one of the orcs thrusts the end of the long strange weapon into the ground, in one fluid motion he yanks it back and then thrusts it forward...with a bit to much gusto, he loses his grip on the weapon and drops it..the creature snarls at Elinor. Another of the creatures rushes forward swing its greataxe at Rizzit.  Rizzit's magical enhancements ensure the kobold is not hurt.  Another moves and strikes at Pitbull, but misses the gnome warrior.   Feng manages to avoid one of the crusher weapons as it thunders past his head. Dropping his longbow and drawing his greataxe, another of the orcs moves forward t attack Elinor.  Elinor is ready, and strikes the foe with her longsword, killing him instantly. Another orc moves toward Sparhawk, Sparhawk and Pitbull both anticipate the attack and strike in unison at the orc.. He is cut to ribbons.."Perchance they were just waiting for their numbers to gather" Sparhawk looks around at the orcs "I hope no one has to go in early for dinner, this may take some time"Rizzit points his finger. A glowing pea sized bead streaks toward its target.  It detonates with a low roar, flames engulfing those within its 20 foot spread. "INCOMING!!!!" the kobold yells rather too late. Fifteen orcs are burnt alive in the explosion of flame."That takes you total out of contention, I think Rizzit" exclaims Beltain in delight"I believe I am in the lead at 21 orcs killed now, did we have a bet Pitbull?" the kobold remarks to the gnome with a smile.ROUND: 5"Impressive Rizzit, I shall carry on trying to keep your aim path clear" agrees Sir Sparhawk"And I" says Beltain "Will try to keep clear of your aim path!""Goodness gracious. Great balls of fire." Says Pitbull cheerfully."ROAR!" screams Feng "Let's all off for a beer, Rizzit has this all under control!""Boys- don't bother waiting for me to step forward.  Just go as soon as you can.  There's only half a dozen orcs that might get in amongst us, so I think it's low risk.  Let's just get on with it." Elinor wipes a splash of orc blood from the end of her nose and it smears across her cheek."If Rizzit keeps it up," she continues "Then we'll be able to shovel all this debris straight onto the funeral pyre""Agreed Elinor..." the knight nods his head "After Rizzit's wave of destruction let us not tarry any longer and remove the rest of these tiresome creatures" seeing half the enemy engulfed in flame has obviously improved Sparhawks disposition"Its time to break ranks and hunt these guys down," suggests Rizzit "Any additional reinforcements and we can form back up, lets try not to let any escape"However 100' up the invisible form of Tharlock the Elfscourge hisses as he sees Rizzit slay so many of his troops.  Tharlock scowls as he spots Feng, a half orc..working with humans and kobolds..Tharlock, himself a half orc spits with rage as he flys nearer to the adventuring group.  He will slay these adventurers and thier heads will adorn his home.  "YOU WILL BURN TOO!" the orc-mage promises.  The flying Orc unleashes a fireball at the party below him.  He takes time to aim at the mountain wall so as to only hurt the intruders..All the party are hurt but remain on their feet although Limara's dog is rendered unconscious.  At the same time twelve more orcs rush through the trees, these look bigger and more formidable foes.Gypsy's eyes flicker open..it seems she is still alive...just (0hp)Beltain looks down on his armour, it is blackened by the blast of the fireball but luckily it is still intact..."Blast it" says Beltain "That was nasty!  Mind you the black armour looks rather cool...?"Beltain summons a Spiritual Weapon which hits the flying orc warlock, Tharlock the Elfscourge.  He then gets his shield out again and sighs deeplyTharlock the Elfscourge targets Rizzit and a bolt of lightning hits the kobold,  massively Wounding him"Owww," calls Riizit in shock "Someone heal me quickly please.  All this fire is fun guys" he says cheerfuly"Well this battle takes yet another unexpected turn." Sparhawk looks around at the devastation "Your cowardice will be repaid this day of that you can be sure neighbour" he shouts at Tharlock"Someone heal Rizzit quickly," Elinor calls organising the counter-attack "He may be our best hope against a flying mage.  Although Beltain just had a jolly good swipe. Everyone else aim at the flying devil. We can deal with the incoming orcs in a moment""Well thank you, praise indeed" says Beltain beaming with pride "I can make it over and heal him more if necessary, if he's still badly hurt""Try to keep me fully healed," Rizzit says agreeing with Elinor "I have plenty of range spells but they are useless if you let me get dropped by his next spell""Wow. That was soo <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing cool!" says Pitbull in admirationBeltain gives Pitbull a cool look "You may like that sort of thing but it will take me AGES to get this armour clean again...""FENG IS COLD!" screams Feng, not cowed "SEND MORE FIRE! I'D HATE TO PULL A MUSCLE WHEN I RAM MY AXE UP YER ARSE!"Pitbull grins "Good point Big-Ugly. we need to keep the heat on these bastards.""They too stupid to realise they dead orcs walkin'" Feng nods"Any suggestions?" asks the gnomeFeng nods "Charge!" he yells, "I only got hand to hand weapons to ahem, hand, so the mage is outa my reach. BUT FENG GOTTA KILL SOMETHING, AND SOON!""Mmmm.... A salient and mostly cogent point." says Pitbull sagely "However I'd like to add to the plan. How does : Charge! And rip the <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ers a new one! Sound?""You not as daft as you look." says Feng looking down on the miniature warrior "An excellent suggestion.""And afterwards we can have cheese on toast melted over there burning corpses." says Pitbull getting into the swing of things."Can't fault yer, Pitbull." agrees Feng."Good man." smiles Pitbull "Can't wack a spot of cheese on toast after a good barney.""I think if you wait a moment they will come to you, and it isn't that clear what direction it would be best to change in as they appear to be coming from all sides" says Beltain "After all we wouldn't want to leave Rizzit undefended, now would we?""I will stand by Rizzit," says the knight "As long as mine life holds in this battle if needs be, we need to drop that coward to the ground so he can face his retribution""I will re direct my spiritual weapon on it" Limara adds."This controlled battling is paying dividends even though we have been struck by an invisible mage's spells... Let the healers play there part by keeping people healthy, everyone is still in reach of a heal.... As soon as they stop pouring out of the woods we can move in to mop up the stragglers... hold the line a bit longer... work as a team guys .. It's all well-n-good running a score but the formation is a protected damage shield for Rizz to destroy the orcs from relative safety... he is supposed to kill the most !! " turns to her badly wounded pet " Down girl, stay...good girl gypsy..hang in there baby, i gotta help my friends ... don't die on me "Limara turns to her scaley companion..." Rizz... I'll step to you and completely heal you now... would you do me a favour Rizz.... shoot that <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />er down, I really want that turd dead quick before he hurts someone.  Can anyone get a bow onto that flying troublemaker.. " she asks "I'm not having a death on the firm today.... we WILL all be standing at the end of this... and that tosser" she points at Tharlock "..is not going to spoil my plan"The beautiful cleric pauses and puffs on her cigar: and, rolls it from one side of her mouth to the other "hmmm, i dont remember lighting this.." she musesBeltain does not look at all happy "I think we should start to spread out and" he pauses "Kick some Serious ASS"Sparhawk laughs "Lady Limara with the amount of flame around You probably did not need to light it""I will do my best to drop him from the sky but it may take more than one spell I fear" Rizzit tells the others "We do make a very good fireball target here, I would suggest splitting into two groups, as I am the most likely to get targeted then it would make sense for Bel to move away from me as he can't take another hit like that"Beltain nods sadly "Neither of us can" he admits"I have been brought back from the afterlife so often I think they are going to install a revolving door." Feng informs them "FENG KILLS!"Elinor moves forward to engage the nearest orc. "I'll leave the healing to you Limara" as she swings and misses it. "Damn. P'raps I should leave the melee to you as well. Seem to have lost my touch""Your mind may have been lost between healing or fighting...mayhap just a lack of concentration Lady Elinor" Sparhawk offers"Or may be the pile of crispy orc corpses made me stumble." shrugs Elinor "This is going to be one big mess to clear up""A funeral pyre seems fitting, as most of our foe have already departed said way" smiles the knight"My mind's stumbling around as well." admits the paladin "I should have engaged the two orcs over by Rizzit instead of this one. Sparhawk, the party is relying on you to prevent further melee attacks against the small scaly one.  Who seems to be enjoying all this heat.  Fight fire with fire, I say.  Which no doubt is a pale shadow of what Mother Pitbull may come up with."Limara redirects her spiritual weapon onto Tharlock hitting him and then steps to Rizzit and casts a healing spell on him...  Rizzit is healed of all the lightning damage. "There you go Rizz... good as new.. now get that mage" she tells him."Hey Elinor you saucey minx." Pitbull says to himself "Do you know I'm directly at eye level with your lovely arse? This is the second time. You like 'em short don't you? You insatiable wench you. Grrrrr."Limara ignores the lecherous gnome and continues "OK, we probably don't want another mass fireball attack on us... Let's split into 2 groups.. I'll stay with Rizz, Spar and Elinor... You guys try to move out to meet them.  Looks like your gonna get to charge em down now Pit... ""Mmmmm. Like two pigs fighting under a blanket." mutters Pitbull to himself as he stares ahead of him. "What? What was that? Did someone say my name?"Limara tuts at the gnome and repeats her advice "When you move forward try to flank them ... cos they'll be tryin it on you.  Pair up.. Work together... Our teamwork has served us well today, keep it going""Thank you so much Limara" says the healed kobold with a grin."Focus Pitbull. Focus" Elinor advises Pitbull, and then noticing his intense stare "On the orcs I mean"Rizzit yawns takes out a candle and munches on the end, it looks suspiciously like one from Lord Hawklin's mansion.Pitbull focus firmly planted upon the squirming mail clad gluttious maximi before him. He gaze is drawn like a moth to a fireball. But knowing that if he stares too long, like staring into the sun, he will go blind the Pint sized pugilist tears his attention back to the maelstrom of combat around him, wiping the deluge of drool from his chin Pitbull looks for a combat target.Meanwhile Feng swing his great axe at the orcs but misses "Fires of Gruumsh - This axe serves me not well this day!" and winks at the orc in front of him "Lucky bugger, ain't you?""Bad luck, Feng" sympathises Beltain "I'm sure you'll skewer him next time"Sparhawk lands a solid blow on the warrior orc in front of him "That should have his attention Rizzit, you continue to concentrate on the flying coward if you will please" but the orc doesn't fall."At last, a fighter that can hit straight" Rizzit mutters to himself, then out load "Thanks Spar, I'll see if he can take it as well as he dishes it out..." and he grins an evil grin.Elinor braces herself, ready to defend herself against the orc standing in front of her.  Her eyes dart from one orc to another, her mind automatically calculating distances and working out from where the next attack may come.  All of which, she realises grimly, is irrelevant if she can't even manage to hit anything.. "Do you think there are many more to come Limara? They seemed to arrive in waves, but now it's just a trickle" she asks the lovely cleric."Sod 'em all. Maggots. I wonder who directs these grunts?" Feng asks "That's a skull I wouldn't mind splitting.""Don't you think the flying monkey is in charge?" asks Elinor. "Or do you think there's someone/something else behind all this""Jeez" says Beltain "Don't say there are more of the heavies still to fight Feng, I'm low enough on hits already"[Pitbull] Pitbull steps up to the line between Elinor and SParhawk he then takes a sideways sweet at but his thoughts plainly on other things Pitbull narrowly misses the orc with his Great-sword.  "Bollocks. What's this contagious missing? Oh well. As my ol' Mum would say: If at first you don't succeed. Try, try again."I really don't know Elinor.." Limara replies to Elinor "Orcs are simple battle merchants, I'm hoping the bulk of the melee has moved in with the mage, trying the overwhelming force approach... but I don't know what's in those trees. Given the current information, my educated guess is.. No, the main attack now in play." she  concludes, hopefully.Limara thinks to herself that she has precious little information other than what she sees and the snippets she remembers on orc battle tactics in class, which now seems ages ago.  Hmmm, she also remembers that orcs don't always fight alone and have many allies of their own, such as ogres.. but she decides not to mention that little gem.Rizzit chuckles evilly as he takes a step back to cast his spell takes a 5' step back "Pretty poor lot of attacks from the fighters today" he comments "Let's see if I can even things up!"A fireball strams from his hand "Eat hot ash Toadface" he taunts his rival wizard, the wizard is hit hard and tumbles slowly to the ground. Rizzit punches the air and shouts "YO!!" as the wizard crashes to the ground[Master] ROUND: 6"Let's see what you can do now!" he tells the others "Do I have to do it ALL myself?"Beltain cures on himself while his spiritual weapon hits the orc wounded by Sparhawk.  It is enough and the orc falls to rise no more.Just then a strange creature steps out of the trees to the party's left.  This creature looks like some gaunt, bestial hound or feline, with a mane of bristling quills.  The half orc wizard looks up from where he is crumpled on the ground "Get em Spike" he whimpers, before falling unconscious..The strange creature rushes forward with great speed, he weave between the orcs and attacks Sparhawk.  The knight is hit very hard and is now badly wounded.One of the orcs sees Sparhawk hurt and takes his chance.  He swings with all his might, his greataxe his the warrior hard, almost felling him.On the other side of the battle another of the  orcs hits Feng.  It seems that the orcs are raging at the slaughter of their mage..Never one to stick to the rules of engagement, Elinor leaps across to defend the party against the bristling dog but misses (again)."Now we're in trouble - deep" bemoans Beltain "Unless we (Pitbull) can plug that gap we are all in a very deep mire!""Courage Beltain!" says Elinor cheerfully "Heal Feng if you can, and let the fighters take the strain.  The orcs seem pretty feeble- don't let them intimidate you.""Struth what a mess" exclaims Rizzit crossly "Limara you heal Spar, Beltain you do the same for Feng and Pitbull can you hold off the bloody orcs from surrounding us?""Don't get cross Rizzit- that's a bit out of character for you. Are you feeling the strain?" pleads Elinor, "Come on Pitbull. Me, you, and one spikey dog. What d'you reckon?""Cross me?" says Rizzit with a broad grin (showing a lot of teeth) "I'm not cross  -  I'm having fun!" and he gives a bit of a skip"Any more hot things to throw?" grins Elinor "Could come in handy if I keep missing!"Rizzit grins at Elinor and he bows "I may have a few to please you Mi'lady" he says"Well missy fancy-pants, are you going to come out of the back row to give our gallant fighters some succour?" Rizzit says looking back at Limara"Rizzit- don't say that sort of thing in front of Pitbull." says Elinor earnestly "He might misunderstand the succour thing""Limara has just healed you kobold, which is why she is standing where she is" snarls Beltain "Show just a little gratitude can't you?"Rizzit winks at Elinor "Pitbull might misunderstand do you think?" he chuckles and he winks again."FIGHT FENG! FENG KILLS!" yells the barbarian not wanting to be left out but in truth he is feeling a little ragged around the edges..."Do not leave Feng on his own people" Sparhawk glances around "and in case I did not say .... OUCH!!!!...""Elinor I will do as you say." confides the gnome in a lecherous voice "This is our first date and it is only right that I let the lady have the choice of entertainments. I will indeed stay here and help you slay the spikey doggie.  Mind you.  Do you think we can subdue it and I can train it as my pet?" says the Pint Sized Pumpernickel before giving Elinor's behind another furtive glance. "I wonder if she gives out on a first date." adds the Little Lothario to himself.Limara directs her flying sword onto the hideously ugly creature that hit Sparhawk and scores the first hit on the spikey dog. "Nice hit, Limara!" cries ElinorLimara steps past Rizzit to cast a cure on her injured comrade... "It will take more that that I bet... still its a start" she beams, all the while she works and cures much of Sparhawk's damage.  "Oh yeh, and guys...I BLOODY TOLD YOU ... STAY IN FORMATION...now there's a gaping hole in the lineup and we are getting mullered.... FENG, hit then step toward Bel... Bel, heal him quick then step south ten foot.. that will shrink the gap a bit" "Dont get yourself cut off out the front Elinor" she pleads to her friend."If you'd like a cure Feng, can you move a space back, after hitting at those orcs in front of you?" asks Beltain, "It's just that we need to prevent the orcs" he waves his hand round at the surrounding horde of orc "From getting in amonst us - if we can""Step East or South-east muscle-man, I'm planning to burn 'em good this time around" Rizzit calls to Feng "So don't let 'em get in amongst us""Thank you Lady Limara, t'was a well needed cure I can tell thee." the knight smiles his thanks to the healing cleric."This is just starting to get fun. I hope there's some more of them." Says Pitbull rubbing his hands."Don't be greedy Pitbull, didn't your mother tell you to finish what you have before you asked for seconds?" says Beltain with a wry smileFeng swings his axe again and the orc before him falls, then he takes a step back towards Beltain who waits to cure him.  "FENG IS TOUGH ENOUGH TO TAKE OR LEAVE, STILL I WOULD NOT LEAVE YOU UNDEFENDED!""You have my thanks, Mighty Feng" says Beltain gravely"I can handle the grunt orcs but only if I get a screen of fighters" grumbles Rizzit "Get yourselves organised and hold a line, then I can deal with them"Another of the orcs moves and attacks Feng, and he is badly wounded..Refreshed by Limara's healing Sparhawk puts all his force into an attack on the spikey dog.  Sparhawk grits his teeth and looks the spiky beast in the eye.  He swings his sword with a mighty overhand strike "You will not see another day beast" He says with a focussed calm in his voice.  The blow connects with a great thud and the dog is badly wounded (27 damage)."YES, YES,  YES" cries Rizzit in excitement hopping from foot to foot."Revenge is sweet, Sir Knight" says Beltain "Lets see if it enjoys a taste of its own medicine!""Glad to see that the fighters are starting to hit things again" smiles Rizzit "Come on Pitbull, see if you can finish it off!""Ahem I have not missed yet" Sparhawk coughs"Oh perhaps not then" admits Rizzit airily.Spits a plug of blood at the Orc that hit him with the Greataxe "So this clan knows how to fight? Good, I send Gruumsh some warriors this day.  Beltain, the heal if you would not face this tribe over my corpse!""I will be honoured to heal you Feng" says Beltain "By sadly I must wait until the little people, Pugnacious Pitbull and the scaly Rizzit have done their stuff"Pitbull, eyes still firmly fixed on Elinor's shapely bottom, swings his greatsword at the fiendish dog.  Not surprisingly he misses his target badly "Oops! Butter fingers.""Nice swordsplay, Sparhawk" cries Elinor, pointedly not mentioning the gnomes wild swip."A fine strike indeed Spar... " adds Limara, "Feng...Don't go dieing on us ... " she encourages the barbarian."You'd do better" says Rizzit sarcastically "To concentrate on what you are trying to hit, Pitbull, rather than stare at the rear of the paladin in front"Rizzit takes a step back and then unleashes another fireball aiming carefully to avoid hitting Feng and the others.  Six of the orcs fall to the ground dead but one, although severely wounded fights on.[Master] ROUND: 7Beltain heals a lot of Feng's wounds but the barbarian still bleeds from many blows.  He then directs his Spiritual weapon to attack the hellish dog-thing hitting it squarely.As Beltain attempts to heal Feng, one of the orcs strikes at the cleric but it misses Beltain badly, almost dropping his weapon..One of the orcs screams in pain as the fireball explodes around him, he is badly wounded but does not die.  He runs out of the flames, toward Feng, he swings his greataxe with all his remaining might and cuts Feng deep.  Feng slumps to the floor, unconscious and bleeding..In the main combat Pitbull is hit by the fiendish dog and is pierced by three of the creatures Quills, one breaks off in the gnomes small body!...  The gnome fighter is badly injured.Elinor shudders at the roar of the fireball, and lunges forward to strike at the beast.  Elinor downs the creature named Spike with perfect swing of her longsword.  "Keep your cool everyone- we're nearly done. There's only nine of them left and there's six of us on our feet. Seems like a fair match to me".  She calls across to Limara "Come and join the front line, Limara. You'll enjoy it!""Feng you stupid Lummox" says Rizzit, upset by the barbarian's fall "Why did you have to go and do that?" he sighs "Guess I'll have to save you – again".  "Now, what was my score, do you know, I think I've forgotten, perhaps fifteen or so".   The kobold turns to Pibull, who is still staggering from Spikes furious attack, the gnome's great-sword lies on the ground "You have some catching up to do if you want to win the bet, and you may need that sword..." Rizzit says with a grin."A neat move there Elinor" says Beltain "With any luck, we can best these grunts and soon have Feng back on his feet and us back on the road to report to Lord Hawklin.  And some time to spruce up too" he says in conclusion looking down at his blackened armourHe Looks over his shoulder at the kobold "Any chance of some serious fire-power against these orcs?" he asks "If you can clear them out of the way I might be able to get Feng on his feet again..."Limara directs her Spiritual weapon at an orc and hears the satisfying crunch as it impacts, she swings her own sword at the orc warrior in front but it dodges the blow.  "Thanks for the invite Elinor," she exclaims "But I can hit them from here and still stay in range to heal Pit and Spar if needed." she tells her enthusiastic ally. "...and I'll enjoy it if we are victorious, but for now I'll get my kicks keeping us all alive"She pauses considering "Losing you, Nos and Feng to the walking hillock has made me reassess my role ... As a cleric of strategy and tactics I should be using my skills to hone us into a structured battle group and use my divine abilities to shield, boost and heal you warriors.  My job is to keep you all standing... ""Nice hit Princess!" calls Beltain, seeing the blow land on the orc, "I hope that this is the last of them, Feng is down and needs aid urgently""Feng you stupid Lummox" says Rizzit, upset by the barbarian's fall "Why did you have to go and do that?" he sighs "Guess I'll have to save you – again".He stops and pretends to think "Now, what was my score?  Do you know, I think I've forgotten, perhaps fifteen or so".   The kobold turns to Pibull, who is still staggering from Spikes furious attack, the gnome's great-sword lies on the ground "You have some catching up to do if you want to win the bet, and you may need that sword..." Rizzit says with a grin."Call yourself an adventurer Beltain?" asks Rizzit "Huh!  Why do we want to stop so soon? This is fun!!"Feng's constitution is strong and the bleeding stops, the barbarian is stable…An orc attacks Elinor and another Rizzit but they both miss."Nice one, Limara" calls Elinor as she dodges the orcs' attacks.Spathawk swings and hits an orc, it sways on its feet badly wounded but it fights on "Let us cut down the rest of our foe and regroup" says the knight."How about you take down this warrior orc in front of me, Pitbull" asks Rizzit of Pitbull "To be frank, he's bugging me as well as flanking you.  The idea" says the sorcerer "Is that the fighters screen the magic-user so he can cast his spells" he sighs dramatically "Here we have me and a second class cleric fighting five orcs, with the four fighters and the other cleric fighting only four""Come on Pitbull, you'de be very welcome over here!" urges Beltain "Take up that sword, a quick step to the side and you can hit any of three you like?""Feel free to step away, Pitbull. Spar, Limara and I can manage here" says Elinor support and feeling slightly unnerved by the gnomes interest in her bottom.Pitbull darts a look at Rizzit and Beltain "Do you two think you can give it a rest?... All this advice is getting rather..um..tedious.  I mean, I can give advice to..Beltain heal the dying! Rizzit burn something!...see, easy.  For as my mother used to say "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." he bends down to pick up his greatsword..The gnome warrior lashes out at one of the orcs attacking Rizzit and Beltain but fails to connect and the sword leaves his hand, again.  He sighs deeply, he looks at his weapon lying on the ground again... "As my mother used to say;  The principle of all successful effort is to try to do not what is absolutely the best, but what is easily within our power, and suited for our temperament and condition."Pitbull looks down at the long quill sticking out of his small abdomen "I need to pull this out, its putting me off" he says."Pitbull, if you run at the orcs, can you use your quill as a weapon?" suggests Elinor with a grin "Might not cause much damage, but at least you can't drop it".  Almost immediately Elinor regrets making a joke out of what must be a painful, as well as an embarrassing, situation. She was always being pulled up for her flippancy back at Paladin College. "I'm sorry Pitbull. That was unfeeling of me. And after all, I've mucked up my attacks much more than anyone else in the team. I will heal you shortly, just as soon as we mop up the last few orcs." Damn, she thinks. Why did I have to say shortly?Rizzit casts a spell at two of the orcs, the first hits its mark and the orc falls but the second goes wide and the orc lives to fight on.Belatin's Spiritual weapon hits one of the orcs but it remains on its feet.  The cleric shugs and moves back casting acure spell on Feng, an orc tries to interrupt the spell but in excitement it fumbles and drops its weapon.Fengs eyes open!"Wipe your sweaty palms and stop thinking about Elinor's nether regions" says Rizzit sternly to Pitbull "There is still a chance something else big could come along and my spells aren't a plentiful as they were."  Then he addresses the rest of the party "It may be worth getting up into the trees as soon as we can and scout about to find their base and check what they still have in reserve.  I am very surprised a group this large has no shaman with it.  An orc wizard leading this big a group of orcs is not that likely, usually they usually only respect tough warrior types.  So we need to finish this off and keep on our toes."  He grins at the orcs facing him showing off a full set of sharp teeth.One of the orcs glares down at Feng.  The half orc has just been healed but he is still on the floor prone, the orc smiles a smile full of cracked teeth, stupid human cleric he thinks. An lands a blow on the downed barbarian.  Feng is hurt again, but just manages to stay conscious..On the other side of the conflict Limara is hit by a nasty blow from one of the orcs."Elinor" calls Beltain "Can you assist by taking on these orcs.  I fear I have stupidly put Feng's life at risk with that cure...""You pratt Beltain" shouts Rizzit supportively "What the hell are you playing at?   Feng was safe as he was and now he's in deep <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />"Elinor swivels round to see what is going on at the other side of the battle. She sees the orc take a swing at Feng, and hears Beltain's cry of dismay. With no hesitation she dashes across to Feng's side, ignoring the orcs around her.  The orcs swing their blades at her but the move is so sudden that they miss. She reaches down to Feng and lays her hands on his bloodied chest.  "Come on, Feng" she mutters. "You're up and down like a bobbin" and the colour returns to Feng's cheeks."Thanks Elinor" says Beltain "I owe you!  Jeez I didn't want Feng to Peg it!""Feng does'nt want Feng to peg it!" groans the mighty warrior from his prone position."Hey Pitbull, see, the lasses can't keep their hands from Feng" smiles the barbarian "And now I'm bettin' I get a better view than you!"Sparhawk takes a blow from another orc but Limara strikes back felling an orc with her Spiritual Weapon and another with her longsword."Nicely done Elinor and Bel... we have our barb up and killing again....." Limara calls the the paladin and her partner cleric "Spar, Pit.. if you both step back we will be in formation again and Rizzit will have cover. Nearly done now comrades..""...Oh and Rizzit..." she continues "NO ONE moves forward into the woods until the clerics have healed the wounded. It won't take long and it is essential not to be walking around nearly dead. " she states insistently.Limara turns to her immolating friend and softens her tone "I must heal our friends before we advance . Feng is terribly wounded and the other boys have been hit hard too... ..' To advance into battle ill prepared, is like handing you luckstone to your enemy ' as my master would say .." she says with a grin on her face..  The grin on her face because she thought it was high time she came out with an 'as my **** would say' .... The fact that her master never offered such ditties in his teachings only being a minor hindrance to her."Super hitting, Princess" Beltain calls out "That's two less to worry about"Rizzit looks at Limara  "Don't get your knickers in a twist!  I don't know if we have the luxury of hanging around while you nurse the sick to full health.  We've got them off balance now and we should push our advantage.  Anyway the priority at the moment is to have some fun killing off these damn orcs."The orcs continue to attack but they are tiring and their blows go wide.Sparhawk wields his sword and smashes it into the orc in front of him "Stop throwing bloody spears at me!!" Sparhawk tells the orc"Wow, the power behind that blow was awesome, Sir Knight" says Beltain "I doubt he will rise again"Pitbull takes a firm grim of his Diminuative Great Sword and performs a graceful swirling motion, catching each opponent within range as he turns. It's like some demented child letting off a wickedly bladed spinning top, leaving a nightmarish circle of destruction around him. The Scary little Bastard leaves one orc dead and one massively wounded.Rizzit, not to be outdone, conjures migic missles which strike three of the orcs surrounding Feng.  One is killed outright, another disabled and the third just wounded.  Rizzit looks over to the trees but the battle and bodies obscure his view.  He sees nothing of note.Are there more enemies still waiting to join the fray?</blockquote>

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