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From: "Thomas A. Miller" <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY:  Adventurers 325 (part 2 of 2)
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Date: 26 Jan 1996 14:12:34 -0500
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                        (continued from part I)





  Readying weapons or spells, most of the evil ones and their servants
wondered why the wizard had chosen to make himself a target.  A moment
later, they learned the reason why, as a second wave of adventurers
swept into the dungeon.  Drawmij had wisely positioned his magical
globe to one side of the doorway, and thus wasn't trampled when Yod,
son of Yuri, son of Yor, and current king of Thunderdelve, charged
into the fray, his axe flying toward the nearest foe.

Potas Potay:  (hit in the back by the powerful artifact, he screams
  in pain, and falls, blood spurting from his mouth)  Glurrrgh!
Tanya:  Well-hurled, king of dwarves!  (sped along by her magical
  boots, she dashes toward Halbarad, slashing at the iron dwarf in
  the process)
iron dwarf:  (ignores the puny blow, retaliating with his battleaxe)
  GRAAARGH!
Tanya:  (ducks the blow, and pulls Halbarad back to safety)  Easy,
  now-  holy hells, what happened to you?!?
Halbarad:  (gasping)  Disease...
Tanya:  (half-drags the ranger back toward Rob, who just stepped
  though the doorway)  Priest!  Diseased man here!
Rob:  (catches the ranger as Tanya rushes back into battle)  What?
  (he looks the ranger over)  Oh, dear.

  In addition to the fivesome (Yod, Nenya, Tanya, Rob, and Bosco)
several of the foes they had been busy fighting mere moments before
were now in this area, having been teleported along with the
adventurers by Drawmij's magical sphere.  These foes - three orcs,
a minotaur, and an armored guard - spread out, giving the various
adventurers a wide berth, in an effort to group with their allies
here.  Nearby, the wizard Pumpledorf, quick to act once he realized
what was going on, had launched a small volley of magical meteors
in the general direction of the varied newcomers; Tanya, Halbarad,
and Rob were all hit by one or two of the things, but fought on.
  Nenya, in the meantime, had cast a spell, and the iron dwarf, on
its way toward Rob and the staggering Halbarad, was hit by a barrage
of small, exploding magical missiles.  These didn't really wound it
seriously, but they did slow it down, enough for Yod Ironbeard, axe
freshly in hand after ripping its way out of Potas Potay's back, to
interpose himself between the iron dwarf and Rob (who was tending
to Halbarad.)

Yod:  Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?

  Meanwhile, nearby, Kynn launched a barrage of shimmering colors at
Drawmij, but they bounced harmlessly off of his protective sphere,
evoking a curse from the elven sorceress.
  Across the room, the stone golem had attacked Gorin anew, but the
sturdy dwarf, well-trained and quick to recover, leaped aside, his
axe's blade ringing on the foe's stone hide.  The blow, which would
have felled an ogre, didn't seem to affect the golem much, and it
hurt Gorin's arm besides.

Gorin:  Damn!

  Just then, a small blade, wielded by an even smaller hand, lodged
in the golem's back.

Bosco:  (hanging by the hilt of his granite dagger, he looks down
  at the ground)  Maybe I should've looked before I leaped!

  However, the dagger, infused with powerful magic against stone
and beings of stone, slid with Bosco down the golem's back, and then
its leg, tearing a deep furrow as it went.

stone golem:  (writhes in pain, forgetting about Gorin for the moment)
Bosco:  (backs away, siding with Gorin against the limping golem)  I
  knew we were close-
Gorin:  How in the hell did you manage to make a jump like that?
Bosco:  (points at his boot)  This boot's magical, you know.

  Nearby, Drawmij was busy spellcasting, and failed to notice a slow-
moving form that crept toward him...

zombie:  (approaching from behind)
Wendell:  (appears from nowhere, his sword flashing)  Oh, no you
  don't.  (he slices the zombie nearly in half, and kicks the two
  twitching pieces away from Drawmij)
Drawmij:  (turns)  Eh?
Wendell:  (gives the wizard a thumbs-up)

  Across the room, Tanya made a wondrous discovery...

Tanya:  (spots Peldor, lying tied to a table)  PELDOR!
Peldor:  Hi, hon.
Tanya:  (sprints toward the thief)
Belphanior:  (yelling from his position, tied to the table)  Look
  out there, Tanya!

  The woman suddenly found herself facing a tall, slender figure in
grey robes:  Kheldar the assassin.  The fellow held several darts
in his hands, and smiled wanly at Tanya.

Kheldar:  You can't just stroll in here and take back what we have
  rightfully stolen.  (he raises his arms, to hurl his battery of
  darts - darts which are tipped with some dark fluid)
Tanya:  (stands still, wondering if she can dodge all of the darts)

  The assassin frowned, then, and Tanya quickly saw the reason why:
a thick, barbed crossbow bolt now transfixed the assassin's wrist.

Belphanior:  (tied to his table, he yet smiles grimly)  Welcome to
  the party, Otto.
Otto:  (becomes visible)  Well-met, old friend.  (with a deft slash
  of his knife, he frees Belphanior)
Belphanior:  (stands, naked save for a loincloth and totally unarmed)
  Free!  (he glances at Otto)  I need a weapon.
Otto:  (instantly hands the elf a wickedly barbed knife)  Have fun.
Belphanior:  No doubt about that.  (he leaps toward the assassin,
  Kheldar)

  Kheldar, though, was having none of it; poisoned though Otto's bolt
was, the assassin was protected from poisons, and the foul liquid
merely burned in his veins as he executed a surprising backward leap
and somersault, landing well out of the range of the foes.

Belphanior:  Fucker must've had magical boots...
Otto:  No time to worry about him now.  We've got to free Peldor and
  the others.
Tanya:  (moving toward Peldor once more)
Otto:  Say, where _are_ the others?
Belphanior:  (points at some other tables, behind him)  The drow are
  unconscious from the torture, and I think Arnold is too.  They cut
  out his tongue.
Otto:  Oh.
Peldor:  Mongo, Ged, and Rillen are further back, on racks or in iron
  maidens.
Tanya:  (grimaces)
Belphanior:  It's a good thing you came along - they were about to
  pull out my-

  The elf's sentence, as well as Tanya's removal of Peldor's bonds,
was interrupted by a descending column of blazing flames, which fell
upon the whole group at once!

Necros:  Forget about your other friends, for you shall soon join
  them..

  Those troublesome foes dealt with, the evil high priest turned his
attention to other aspects of the great battle, even as he began a
new spell.  Halbarad, cured of his deadly affliction by the magic of
Rob, had joined Peyote in melee, and together, the pair had slain
all four of the guards.  They had joined Zephyr, the great tiger, in
the assault upon Pumpledorf; the wizard's defenses were finally
weakening, and he had nowhere to run.  However, everything changed
in the blink of an eye, as the wizard hurled a black gem down upon
the ground.  A shimmering sheet of force radiated outward, driving
Pumpledorf's attackers back and giving him precious moments...which
he used to cast a spell, firing a colorful sheet of lights directly
at his foes.  Zephyr, closest to the wizard, was blinded for the
moment, and drew back; Peyote and Halbarad were merely stunned for
a moment.  Pumpledorf, however, didn't wait, and quickly released
a second spell.  A bolt of lightning struck the great tiger then,
a bolt which proceeded to jump onnward to others in the vicinity.
Halbarad...Peyote...a zombie...an armored guard...a wraith...all
were blasted by the wizard's spell, and Pumpledorf cackled in
glee.  Zephyr wiped at its eyes with its huge paws, trying to get
the strange colors to go away; its hide smoked from the lightning
that had wounded it.
  Nearby, Yod Ironbeard and the iron dwarf were going toe-to-toe,
exchanging blows that could shatter blocks of stone.  Neither gave
an inch, and the thunderous tremors from their fight shook the
entire dungeon.  Kynn, the elven sorceress, was busily casting a
new spell; no one appeared to have noticed her yet.  Gorin and
Bosco faced the wounded stone golem, and appeared overmatched,
even given the halfling's magical dagger.
  Still, there was no reason to take chances, Necros mused to himself
as he completed his incantation.  A legion of undead, of assorted
types, appeared between the high priest and his foes!  Skeletal
fingers, rotting hands, and withered talons groped as the ghastly
force waded into the battle.
  Rob, however, was ready, spellcasting in the rear ranks of his
side.  Drawmij spotted a figure moving stealthily toward the priest,
and made that foe the target of his next spell.  A thin beam of
nearly pure white shot forth, hitting Szen Szing, exotic rogue and
one-time survivor of Lao Khan's defeat, squarely in the chest.  The
thin man staggered in shock, frost rapidly covering his body; his
dust-tube and poisoned needle were dropped, forgotten.  The powerful
ray of freezing cold was too much for the foe, and he dropped to the
floor, frozen to death.
  Meanwhile, Gorin and Bosco were being driven back, toward a wall,
by the gigantic golem of stone.  Even the several wounds that the
halfling's dagger had inflicted hadn't stopped the thing.  However,
as it closed in for the kill, massive fists descending upon the two
puny adventurers, another pair of rocky arms rose to meet those of
the golem.  Another pair of gigantic rocky arms, larger even than
those it had caught - for the elemental king had finally arrived,
rising up from the floor before the golem!  The elemental hadn't
been teleported here along with Yod and the rest, due to its sheer
size, but it had finally arrived.  Dwarfed, the stone golem paused
for a moment; somewhere in the depths of its mind, it knew that the
foe before it was of far superior power, but it had its orders.
With a tremendous smashing sound, the two collided, causing even
the iron dwarf to take note.  As for Bosco and Gorin, they wisely
retreated, searching for other foes to engage.
  Nearby, Pumpledorf found himself in dire straits indeed; as the
huge tiger swatted at him, its claws finally dug into flesh - the
wizard's stoneskin was gone!  Roaring with rage, the animal tore
into its prey with renewed fury, and Halbarad and Peyote quickly
realized that Zephyr didn't need their help to tear the wizard to
pieces.  They turned their attention to the line of skeletons and
zombies that was moving in, and within heartbeats, battle had been
commenced.  Despite the rapid slaying of three skeletons and one
zombie, though, the two adventurers quickly found themselves out-
flanked, surrounded by the living dead.  Yet, they fought on with
fury and skill, determined not to relent while they still drew
breath.
  To one side, the assassin Kheldar rested, catching his breath.
His magical boots had allowed him to escape Belphanior and Peldor
and that group, moments before Necros - curse him! - had let loose
with his flame-column.  They had also allowed him to escape the
sharp claws and teeth of the tiger, Zephyr, for the assassin had
attacked the tiger, before it broke through Pumpledorf's defenses.
Zephyr had proven deadlier than one man with a sword, though, and
had torn three furrows in Kheldar's leather armor before the evil
assassin was able to leap away.  Before he could decide his next
course of action, though, the man sensed someone behind him, and
whirled about, to face a black-garbed fellow, known to some as
Wendell.

Wendell:  You'll fight me next.
Kheldar:  My pleasure, fool.  (he points his sword at the other)
  Prepare to meet your gods.

  As the two began their swordplay, Necros was growing upset.  A
number of his allies had fallen, or were in danger of falling, and
the foes just kept on striking, and surviving.  A situation easily
rectified, Necros mused to himself.
  Elsewhere, Bosco had wandered from the battle and consumed a
potion, increasing his strength to ridiculous levels.  He dashed
back into the fray, darting this way and that as he slashed and
hacked at undead and guards, usually from behind and by surprise.
With his newfound strength, rivaling that of the mightiest giant,
the halfling dispatched most of his foes with a single blow.  His
parade of destruction ended abruptly when he found himself facing
a shadowy undead foe - a terrible shadow!
  A distance away, Halbarad and Peyote found themselves suddenly
surrounded by thousands, even millions of tiny, whirling bits of
metal.  Before there was even time to react, the shards had sped
up, slicing and dicing in deadly little arcs.  The fact that there
were several of his undead troops in the blades' vicinity didn't
seem to bother Necros much at all, and he smiled grimly as both
adventurers stumbled out of the blade-storm, bleeding and dazed.
The undead, slower and much less well-protected, didn't even make
it out of the deadly area.  Turning his head, Necros noticed that
his earlier strike of flame had burned out, but not before it had
silenced Tanya, Otto, and Belphanior.  But that meant...Peldor was
free somewhere.  Frowning to himself, Necros quickly realized the
reason why:  Peldor, tied to the anti-magical table, had remained
unscathed by the column of flames!  Cursing, the evil high priest
scanned the huge room, but saw no sign of the escaped thief.  Then
it occurred to him:  the rogue meant to free his other companions!
Striding toward the far recesses of the dungeon, Necros eyed the
darkness, for to him it held no secrets and could hide no one, not
even a thief.  However, there _were_ no thieves here; although the
two drow, Mongo, Ged, and Arnold were still in place, Peldor was
nowhere to be found.
  Back at the main battle, Kynn crept toward Otto, who had just
sat up, rubbing his burnt beard and cursing.  The crafty and evil
elf touched the dazed dwarf, sucking away a measure of his life
force and feasting upon it herself - a useful spell, for it healed
many of her wounds even as it pulled the victim closer toward death.
Kynn's wicked happiness was short-lived, however, for Belphanior
was on his feet, his eye glowing.  The eye!

Kynn:  (backs away from the now-limp Otto)
Belphanior:  Guess what?  (winks at the elf)  You lose.
Kynn:  (feels her skeleton slowly turning into jelly)  AIEEEEEE...
Belphanior:  (turns, Otto's knife in his hand)  Who dies next?  (he
  stalks someone near him, someone who is invisible)
Peldor:  Hey!  Easy, there.
Belphanior:  Wha-  sorry...my vision's still a little fuzzy.
Peldor:  (eyeing the puddled form of Kynn)  I daresay.
Belphanior:  If I only had my sword...
Peldor:  I can do you one better.
Belphanior:  How's that?
Peldor:  Because I'm not tied to that damned anti-magic block
  anymore.  (he rubs his burned wrists)  And that means I can use
  my tattoos' powers, one of which is this.  (he rapidly phrases
  a wish, one he's had long hours of torment to plan)

  A moment later, several things happened.  Peldor and Belphanior,
in the proverbial eye of the storm, were suddenly fully equipped and
armored, with everything they had possessed before their kidnapping.
  Across the room, in the area where the other adventurers had been
placed, other wondrous things happened.  On a metallic table, Arnold
woke up, his plate mail having appeared on his body (it was quite
cold) and his sword in his hand.  The chains that bound him to the
table, though, prevented him from moving, and so he laid there,
struggling, blood in his mouth from the evil ones' torture.
  Stretched out on a twin rack, Alindyar and Lyra awoke, no longer
naked...or powerless.  They were bound, but not gagged, and Lyra
quickly began the (purely) verbal casting of a spell to untie the
ropes which held her immobile.  Unfortunately, the rare ore built
into the rack kept her spell from working, and the drow female
shook with fury.
  Hanging upside down, secured at the feet, Ged found himself in
full control of his faculties, if not his spellcasting powers - it
seemed that he had the same problem as the drow.  Even his magical
girdle wouldn't give him any strength, else he would break his feet
free and get away from the magic-sapping device he was trapped in.
  Necros, nearby, watched all of this, laughing.  He prepared to
dispatch the adventurers to a more final fate, and would have
succeeded, except that he erred.  Usually an exceptionally gifted
tactician and thinker, Necros made one mistake, one small error as
he gloated over his re-armed but helpless foes.
  He forgot about Mongo, who was nowhere near an anti-magic block.

  The dwarf, who had been trapped inside an iron maiden, burst
free in something that could only properly be called an explosion.
The lid of the chamber, a heavy chunk of iron, flew away, missing
Necros by mere feet before crashing into a wall, startling all in
earshot.  Mongo broke free of the maiden, shattering what remained
of its casing in the process.  Though bloody, wounded, and near-
exhaustion, he now had his armor, his girdle, and his hammer, plus
all his other, less immediately useful possessions.
  With a loud cry of rage, the dwarf let fly the mighty Stormcrest,
and Necros was struck squarely in the face.  The high priest's spell
was ruined, but that was the least of his problems.  Hit with a
force that would have killed a lesser priest, Necros was knocked
back, sailing across fifty feet or so before colliding with a wall
and falling.  Mongo's hammer returned, and he looked around, still
infuriated.
  Rillen, who had been locked in a cell with some large, hungry
rats, had somehow broken free, and had just torn loose the ropes
that bound the two drow.  He quickly moved to free Ged, realizing
that it was now or never.  His move was intercepted, though, by a
squad of three skeletons, unarmed but still deadly.

Rillen:  Hi-yah!  (he launches himself into the air, shattering one
  foe's ribcage with his leading foot)  Yie!  (he lands, and spins
  about, punching another undead foe's head)
skeleton#2:  (its skull explodes)
Rillen:  Sai!  (he moves to destroy the third skeleton)

  Nearby, Mongo hurled his hammer at the side of Arnold's stone-and-
ore table, and though the weapon lost all magical power upon coming
near the block, it was still nearly indestructible, and still had giant-strength-provided inertia behind it.  The chain snapped, and
Arnold broke free, leaping off the table.

Mongo:  Let's go, Arnold!
Arnold:  (grimaces and spits out blood)
Mongo:  Oh, sorry.  I forgot.
Arnold:  (picks up Mongo's hammer, hands it to him, and grins)
Rillen:  We need to get into the fight...and do what we can.
Lyra:  (nearly fainting after getting off the rack)  Argh...it looks
  like our companions are doing fine by themselves.
Alindyar:  Aye...(he falls to the floor painfully)
Ged:  (walking around dizzily)  Oh, my aching head.

  Meanwhile, Bosco was having quite a time with the shadow he now
fought.  The halfling found, as often as not, that his blows didn't
seem to hit the thing, even though they should have.  Worse, he knew
that once the foe touched him with its chilling grasp, he would grow
weaker.  Opting for a new tactic, he reached into a pocket, grabbing
one of the enchanted light-pebbles.  With a quick toss, he sent the
thing flying at the shadow, who recoiled as the bright light bathed
it.  Bosco moved in while his opponent was blinded, and gutted it
with a great slash, spilling shadowy ichor onto the floor.  Moving
on, the dauntless halfling stabbed a drooling wight from behind,
causing the thing to pause in its fight with Peyote.  This lapse
proved fatal, for the half-elf took the distracted foe's head off
with his next blow.

Bosco:  (raises his sword in triumph)
Peyote:  Well-done, little brother!

  Across the room, the duel between Wendell and Kheldar the assassin
neared a conclusion.  Wendell, amazingly fast, had avoided major
injury; not so Kheldar, who bled freely from a dozen wounds.

Wendell:  (bats aside the other's sword, which falls to the floor)
  It is over.  (his sword-tip touches the other's neck, drawing a
  thin line of blood)
Kheldar:  Who are you, to have defeated me...the best assassin on
  Oerik?
Wendell:  I beg to differ.  _I_ am the best assassin on Oerik.
Kheldar:  What?!?  You...?!
Wendell:  (drives his sword point home, slaying the other man)

  Nearby, the elemental king was just completing the process of
rending Necros' stone golem limb from limb.

earth elemental king:  (hurls the rocky remnants aside)
Necros:  (standing nearby, he tosses a mighty spell of banishment
  at the foe)  Begone, denizen of the Earth plane!  Begone!
earth elemental king:  (forced to return to its native plane, it
  vanishes into the floor silently, leaving only a mottled area
  of stone in its wake)

  As Necros moved toward the other combatants, he covered his face
to avoid being blinded, for Rob had conjured that most hated of
spells, the accursed sunray!  Most of the undead soldiers who were
nearby were blasted out of existence, while others recoiled in pain
as the holy light shone down.  Necros cursed, wondering if perhaps
Orcus had abandoned him, but he was then struck by something he (and
no doubt all others present) had forgotten about:  Drawmij's magical
sword of force!  The glowing blade hit Necros across the chest,
wounding him grievously, and Drawmij continued its assault from
within his magical globe.  Necros staggered back, buying himself a
few moments so he could ready a magical item; pointing a rod of
black metal, he mumbled some magical words, and a horde of undead
sprouted from the stone floor.  No minor foes, these, but wights,
wraiths, and spectres; all interposed themselves between Necros and
his foes.
  Lyra, however, was having none of it; while Drawmij cut down two
wights with his magical force-sword, she finished reading something
from a scroll, and a tremendous bolt of lightning sprung forth,
exploding into the face of a wraith.  The electric blast, much like
Pumpledorf's spell earlier, continued to hit foes, for it hopped
from undead to undead, jolting every one it hit (and frying most
outright.)  Necros prepared to unleash another spell upon his foes,
but Alindyar beat him to it, tossing a vellum scroll aside as a
seven-colored beam of lights springing forth from his hand.  Even
the mighty Necros (and several of his undead minions who were in
the way) reeled before the power of the prismatic spray - and
Drawmij's force-sword was ready!  It struck the evil priest across
the chest, knocking him to his knees.  Never giving Necros a chance
to recover, Lyra hit the priest with a thin beam of fire, and a
terrible burning smell filled the air nearby.  Necros stood then,
despite the damage he had suffered, and made as if to cast another
spell.  However, it was not to be, for Alindyar had pointed his
wand, the one tipped with a tiny hand, at the evil high priest.
A gigantic hand of pure force appeared, and grasped Necros in a
deadly grip.

Necros:  (drops some spell components, unused, to the floor)
Alindyar:  Now, for your crimes...you shall die!
Lyra:  Amen to that.
Necros:  (being crushed to death)  Argh!
Drawmij:  (flies forth, landing nearby)  We mustn't let him get
  away!
Alindyar:  Fear not, for he will not.
Drawmij:  (whacks the captive across the head with the magical
  force-sword)  He's trying, even now.  Despite being held fast,
  he can still slip away.
Arnold:  (having watched all of this, he steps forth and rams his
  sword into Necros' mouth, causing black ichor to spew forth)
Lyra:  I assume that was to keep this worm from talking...
Arnold:  (nods silently)
Drawmij:  (spellcasting)
Alindyar:  Say, who _are_ you, anyhow?  Obviously an ally, but...
Drawmij:  Drawmij, of the Circle of Eight, and also local to these
  parts.
Lyra:  Quite pleased to meet you, good fellow.
Drawmij:  It would appear that you had spell scrolls among your
  possessions...a good idea, especially when you don't have a chance
  to memorize spells.
Alindyar:  Aye.  (he turns his attention back to Necros, whose foul
  blood is now pooling beneath him)

  Alindyar continued the crushing, using the hand he had summoned
with his wand; Lyra surveyed the rest of the battle.  Ged had moved
to join Rob in destroying undead, and between the two high priests,
a pincer trap of deadly effectiveness was wiping out the undead.
Rillen, too, fought on this front, his hands and feet flying fast
and furiously as he took on any foes who came near.  Peyote was
tending to the wounded, for despite his urges to be in the battle,
there were most definitely dying companions here, and someone had
to help them.

Peyote:  (casting a healing spell upon Tanya, who lives, though
  direly wounded)
random ghoul:  (pounces upon the half-elf, interrupting his spell)
  Sssss!
Peyote:  Hey!  (he stands, punching and elbowing the rotten creature
  until it lets go of him)  Bad move, dude...(he holds the ghoul at
  bay with one gauntleted hand, while grabbing for his sword with
  the other)
ghoul:  (raking and biting at the opponent)
Otto:  (appears from somewhere, his sword decapitating another ghoul
  that menaced Peyote from behind)  Ho, there.
Peyote:  Thanks, dude.

  Nearby...

Rob:  (disintegrates an entire squad of ghouls, with a wave of his
  holy symbol)  Trithereon!
Ged:  (splatters a wraith into black nothingness, with a blow of
  Lightbringer)  Boccob!
Rob:  (exchanges amused glances with the elf)
ghoul:  (moves in from behind, tackling Rob to the ground)  Ssss!
Rob:  Whoa!
Ged:  (steps over, grabbing the ghoul's clawed arm with one hand,
  and striking at its head with the other, which holds his enchanted
  morningstar)  Get off of him, scum!
ghoul:  (dissolves as the elf's weapon hits its head)
Rob:  (stands, vaporizing several zombies who have moved in)  Ged!
  They've moved in...we'll have to fight our way out of a jam, now!
Ged:  (destroys a skeleton with a single blow)  No problem!
Halbarad:  (moves to join the priests, his axe gutting a ghoul that
  was about to grab Ged)  Not at all!
Ged:  Halbarad!
Halbarad:  In the flesh.  (possessed of mighty strength, from his
  gauntlets, and great speed, from a potion, the ranger moves in
  blurs, slicing and chopping foes before they can hardly react)
  Hah!  What a fight!

  Elsewhere, Yod, joined now by Mongo, was giving the iron dwarf a
double dose of dwarvish fury.  The evil foe fought on, but it was
outmatched, plain and simple, and the two foes continued to pound
at it.

Yod:  (lands an axe-blow, denting the foe's plate mail ever so
  slightly)  Damn!  What's this thing made of?!?
Mongo:  (blocks a chop from the iron dwarf, then bashes it with
  his hammer, staggering it)  Don't know...blood and steel, maybe.
iron dwarf:  GRAAAARGH!  (it swipes at both warriors, knocking
  them back a good ten feet)  RAARGH!  (it swings its axe wildly,
  digging great chunks from the nearby floor and wall)
zombie:  (wounded from some other battle, it wanders into the
  vicinity)  Glurk...
iron dwarf:  GRAAARGH!  (it shears the undead thing in two with a
  single swipe)  RAARG!  (moving toward Mongo, it swings its axe
  high)
Mongo:  Shit, here he comes again!

  Looking back to Necros, Lyra grimaced in satisfaction.  If this
was to be the fate of the bastard, fine; the drow wizardess had
secretly hoped that the high priest could be slain in some more
permanent, more sure manner.

Alindyar:  (uncharacteristically angry)  Die, Necros!  Die!
Necros:  (still being crushed, more of his bones break)  Ugh...
Lyra:  By the gods...he can still talk!
Necros:  Yes...damn you all...but I shall have the last-
Drawmij:  (fires a thin green ray at the priest, whom he cannot
  miss at this range, especially given the huge hand that holds
  the high priest prisoner)
Necros:  -laugh-  (he glows bright green, for a moment only, then
  vanishes)
Drawmij:  _Now_ he's out of our hair for good.
Alindyar:  A disintegration...
Lyra:  Nice touch.
Drawmij:  And a necessary one.  Now to-

  Without warning, the dungeon - no, the entire _island_ - began to
quake violently!  Everyone present looked around, wondering if it
was their fate to be buried under millions of tons of rock.

Drawmij:  Quickly!  Gather everyone in a single spot!
Alindyar:  But it is not possible to teleport that many...
Drawmij:  Trust me!  (he begins spellcasting, as the drow move about,
  spreading the message)
Belphanior:  (unnoticed, he picks up and pockets a small amulet that
  was dropped by Necros, earlier)

  As he and Lyra worked to gather everyone together, Alindyar then
stopped short, frowning...

Potas Potay:  (staggering about, invisible and badly injured; he
  hopes to escape this battle somehow)
Alindyar:  (approaches, a dagger in hand)  Not so fast, vile one.
Potas:  Eh?
Alindyar:  Not all are fooled by your parlor tricks.
Potas:  (backing away, he hits a wall)
Alindyar:  (charges in, stabbing)
Potas:  Argh!  (he falls, mortally wounded)
Alindyar:  And not all illusionists rely on illusions alone.  (he
  wipes the blade on the dead man's cloak)
Lyra:  (turns to see this little scene)  Oh!
Alindyar:  Not a problem - this one shall not escape now.

  They began herding everyone present into the center of the room,
which wasn't much of a problem except for the iron dwarf.  The small
but mighty warrior, lacking any understanding of the impending quake
and probable collapse of the fortress, fought on, interested only in
crushing its foes.  Yod and Mongo, despite hitting it again and
again, simply couldn't make it stay down.  Alindyar solved this
problem, using the magical hand he had summoned; the thing grabbed
the iron dwarf, and held it fast while the adventurers regrouped,
large rocks and waves of rubble falling all around them.

Yod:  (eyeing the immobile foe)  So that's the famed iron dwarf.
Mongo:  (wipes blood from his brow, where the foe's axe collided
  with his helm)  Yeah...
Yod:  Impressive.  (they run to join the others, dodging parts of
  the collapsing ceiling)

  Momentarily, Drawmij was ready; he told everyone to clasp hands,
that no one would be left out of the spell.  Those who were dead
or unconscious were held fast by their companions.  Drawmij spoke
the words of his incantation, and in the blink of an eye, the
entire party was standing next to his underwater ship, within the
cove (which was also falling apart.)

Yod:  Hell, the whole _island's_ coming apart!
Mongo:  Island?
Drawmij:  Necros' power has been broken, and this island is now
  returning to its natural state.  It may very well sink under the
  waves.
Halbarad:  We would do well to be as far from here as possible
  when that happens.
Drawmij:  My thoughts exactly.  (he sits in his command chair, and
  quickly brings the ship to life)
Ged:  We're moving...
Nenya:  Yes.  This ship is quite a marvel.
Wendell:  (resting against a bulkhead)
Gorin:  (eyes the fellow, remembering his fight against the evil
  Kheldar, back in the dungeon)  Who exactly _are_ you, anyway?
Wendell:  I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
Gorin:  Oh.



  Back in the depths of the fortress, the iron dwarf was suddenly
free, since Alindyar and his wand were now far away.  The mindless
creature looked around briefly, then raised its arms and shook its
axe, roaring in triumph as it saw that all of its foes had fled in
terror.
  A moment later, the upper levels of the fortress finally gave way
and collapsed, completely burying the lower levels and everything
in them.



  As Drawmij moved the ship away from the island, the adventurers,
both rescuers and rescued, breathed a sigh of relief.  All were
wounded, in one way or another; several were unconscious, while a
number of others had suffered at the hands of undead.  Pools of
blood began to form, under the chairs of the likes of Mongo, Yod,
Belphanior, Halbarad, Arnold, Rillen, Otto, and Gorin.  Tanya had
lost the use of one arm, from a poisoned sword, and Peldor cradled
his half-conscious lover in his lap, doing his best to clean the
gory wound.  Gorin's face was covered in blood, from a deep gash
atop his head.  One of Otto's ears was nearly ripped off, thanks
to the claws of a ghoul.  Halbarad grimly tied a rope around his
thigh, to stem the flow of blood from a great slashing wound above
his knee.
  All were wounded, some perhaps permanently, but they were alive,
and they had triumphed!





EPILOGUE:

  Deep within one of the lower layers of the Abyss, the demon lord
Orcus shook in rage as he (and his unfortunate entourage, all of
whom were wishing, to a demon, that they were someplace else right
now) watched these events.  The demon lord's enchanted scrying pool
shimmered, then faded, per the chaotic tyrant's whims.

Orcus:  GRAAAAARGH!  (he snatches up the closest demon, a poor,
  one-legged manes that couldn't move away fast enough, and bites
  it in two)
Balor:  (being Balor, only he dares to approach)  Lord?
Orcus:  (chewing on the sub-demon's body thoughtfully)  You, of all
  demons, should be upset.  It was you that these fools defeated,
  years past.
Balor:  (rubbing his empty eye socket)  Indeed.  Shall we find a
  way to travel to their plane now?  Some foolish wizard, perhaps?
Orcus:  No.  If we take a direct part in worldly matters, the gods
  will know, and they would not be pleased.  No, we must bide our
  time...find a new agent.
Balor:  But your highest of high priests, Necros, is dead!
Orcus:  Yes...(he stares at the remaining half of the sub-demon,
  then tosses it away)  But there is another...





next:   the passage of time
ftp:    ftp.digex.net in /pub/access/dpm/rpg/stories/adventurers
www:    http://www.gatech.edu/oit/oe/design/thomas/adv.html
notes:  Well, that's it.  It took several days, in which I added
  about 15K apiece, but it's finished.  Throughout this storyline,
  I constantly received mail proclaiming it to be a great story,
  maybe the best ever.  I think the strike of enemies unknown or
  thought dead - a strike that was well-planned and executed -
  pleased many of you.  I can only hope that the finale to the
  devious plot did it justice.  This was by far the toughest mass
  battle I've ever orchestrated.
    This would probably also be a good time and place to tell you
  that I finally bought a new vehicle:  a 1995.5 Honda Passport
  EX, with 4WD and everything else there is to have.  I can use it
  for just about everything...driving around town, long vacations,
  beach trips, other trips, camping trips...that's why they call
  'em sports utility vehicles.
    Another thing:  see _From Dusk Til Dawn_.  Damn, what a ride!
  Guns, knives, nude dancers, barfights, vampires...it's all there.
  If you can handle blood and profanity, and liked _Army of
  Darkness_, you need to see this movie.
    I'm also going to have to tell you that it's time for a break
  from writing.  This won't be a long one (I still have a lot of
  plans for our heroes) but I need a rest, probably until February
  1st or so.
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