Camping Is Not Fun - It Kills You!

I followed the rest of the group, feeling like I had missed something obvious. It was not till later that I would realise that I had missed something very important.



We walked over an embankment, and there below us was an entire camp, an entire horde of orcs! They were still asleep, and had thankfully not noticed us. We would have been easily slaughtered if they did notice us, there were after all roughly 40 estimated orcs (including a rough estimate of the ones most probably still asleep). I did manage to catch off a guard following us that the orc camp was relatively recent; it not being there last time he had come through the area.


The camp was right where we had to pass throught, so we had no choice but to kill the orcs to get past. We could not hope to sneak around; we had already considered that option and realised it was our only way through. Besides, if we left them alive and they found out we were in the area, they would only come and kill us, most probably in our sleep...

We decided to position ourselves on the cliffs over the orc camp, at least the people with ranged weapons such as arrows, bows and so forth. Sai and Nimohtar were guarding the sloped cliff to that lead down to the orc camp. If the orcs breached that, the rest of us would be surrounded and trapped, with a likely death to follow.

Shadow fired the first shot - a fatal target. We were all so impressed with Shadow's shot, that we waited patiently for her to silently load another bolt into her hand cross bow and shoot another. With two orcs down, we were feeling that this might be an easier task to do than first thought.

Thats when the orcs noticed. A orc with the largest axe I had ever seen came wondering out of a tent, full of pride. I do not even know how he managed to stand up with such an axe. We all began to shoot at the orc captain (the one with the big axe) and Sai actually managed to break his nose with his sling. Nicholas at this stage set a tent on fire below us, causing more and more orcs to notice us. Fire grew, smoke billowed. The orc captain threw his axe at Thomas, but thankfully missed. Javelins were thrown. Arrows fired. Rocks tossed.

As the orcs charged our team, racing up the sloped cliff, I dropped my bow and drew both of my swords, and naturally ran in charging.

I was shocked when Shadow jumped off a really high part of the cliff into the orc camp, attacking all the orcs closest to her. More and more orcs surrounded Shadow, so the rest of the team attempted to back her up with our bows and slings. For a brief moment I feared that we would be overwhelmed, but to our luck a few fo the remaining orcs fled the scene.

Nicholas went around and healed all that were injured.

Natrually our party then searched the camp for any remaining money, though from memory nothing much was really found. If it was, it was later forgotten.

The guard from earlier on finally joined us, having disappeared during the fight.

We then continued towards the cave...

A Few Pit Stops Before Moving

I emerged out of the inn with a purpose filled stride, feeling quite happy with myself, only to stop dead in my tracks. Well not dead in my tracks, just stop in my tracks. Right in front of me Sai and Nimohtar were being attacked by some type of formians.

I heroically threw down my armour, drew my two swords and charged. It was something a character in a story would do.

The monster responded to our attacks by charging Nimohtar, who valiantly tried to fight back. Only he wsa hit and thrown back nearly 15 feet, hurt.

We finished the monster, only I never realised that there was another behind. Seeing a mother and her young daughter, I recruited them to help me get out of town. I gave the mother a mission so as to not feel as helpless. The daughter sat on the armour, and we carried it after the rest of the crowd.

As the people left the town and made for the mountain, the sunsetting, the sky suddenly lit up as bright as mid day. The entire town was covered, and then caved in upon itself, no doubt crushing many formians below.

After travelling a while we all determined that it was time for some people to rest. The entire group decided to go rest, so I decided it was safest for someone to stay on guard - so I volunteered.

It should probably be noted that Nicholas created some sort of special barrier around his body, causing himself to wake up if anyone entered within 10 feet of himself.

It was at this time, when everyone else was waking up, that I allowed myself to sleep.

The following is a quote from Sai as to why he did not wake me up earlier:

"I went to wake up Kat, but seeing as I had a mask but no shirt it might be a bit of a scary event for her. And as I went to take the mask off, I realised that the party wasn't really used to seeing my face, so it might just scare her even more. (If you were a chick and you woke up with a shirtless guy don't reconize above you, you would freak too)"

I was eventually woken up by Shadow, though I was half stirred by the noise they were making. As far as I could determine, they were all bartering on how much it would cost to get their weapons coated in silver. I did not know why we needed that to be done, but Nicholas and Nimohtar both told me it was needed.

Having only 70 gold on myself, and considering that for a dodgy-job for two swords cost somewhere between 100 and 150 gold, I requested a discount. And thank god, I was granted!

Hitting the Town... More so Hitting the Doors and Windows

So as I recently stated, we were standing not far from the town and just outside the cavern enterance, which had now been sealed. A few formians tried to escape the cave, and attack us, but they all found the same fate; each time one passed through the make-shift wall they simply disintergrated.

We gazed around at all that was happening, amazed at how much had gone on whilst we were down in the cavern systems; the Prince-dude (who I hadn't quite worked out what role he played in town) had been rounding up all the towns-folk to leave the village. Naturally we were instantly requested to help round up all those that remained and escort the people to the closest city where decent defences could be constructed. And naturally we considered it out and thought that if they were heading the same way as us, it was most probably worth helping out.

So we crowded together, and asked eachother what we thought. Shadow, being a rouge, (NOTE: I mentioned she was a ranger earlier - my bad!) instantly wanted to loot the town for any valuables left behind. Some people were disgraced by the idea, however I thought there was rather logical reasoning behind it; no one was going back for the loot, and no one wanted it, so why the hell should we not use it ourselves? It could be our payment for assisting and guarding the towns-people out of their village.

So I convinced Thomas the Bard and the others to lead the people out of town, whilst Shadow and myself effectively robbed their abandoned houses. If they did not like the idea, then they could either have no part in it or they could just recieve part of the loot in exchange for distractions...

So Shadow and I set off towards the houses, which just happened to be in the directions of the soon-to-emerge formians... My plan was; get in, get out and don't get hurt.

Since most of the towns peopel were moving relatively slowly ou tof town, Shadow did the only logical thing to get them moving faster - she set a house on fire. It was empty of course, at least we hope it was empty. I never saw her check it; she just threw a few matches onto it and ran off. Not to forget to mention that she also stole a horse somewhere along the line. It was an impressive looking creature, I sort of wished that if only I had thought of that idea... I could have used a horse.

So as everyone rounded up the people and moved out of town, and Sai went back to find any stragglers. He broke into a room, and found much to his dismay a family half asleep - woken by his sudden entry. For all I know, they exited the building fine.

Shadow approached the blackbuilders stall, quickly picking the lock. However, once she entered, she closed the door behind her - habit - looking me out. It was thanks to my quick reflexes that I saved myself from walking right into the door.

I went to the window in the hope that Shadow would see me and open the door; I did not have the skill to pick a lock myself. I watched as she walked across the room, suddenly ducking, and reaching a cabinet. She then looked down upon her goal - a suit of armour - with glee. Literally, there was something uncanny that went through her eyes at that one moment, a glint of something...

I ventured away on my own then, heading directly towards the inn near the blacksmiths. Not having the skill to lock pick, and noticing the door was locked, I looked around for another way in. A window. I had stength. I could jump. I could use a window. My reaction - a classic. I just pushed my hand forwards, grabbed hold, and ripped the entire window off its hinges and off the wall.

Looking around, I noticed nothing of immediate interest. However, there was a basement. From all my experience, the basement ALWAYS contained something interesting... something that people didn't want known even...

So I ran down the stairs, discovered I could not see well in such a darkness - even with my skill at seeing in the dark - that I had to run back upstairs in the inn to get a lantern. Venturing inside, I found several bags of gold - containing up to 60 Gold pieces, and underneath an upturned table a massive suit of glittering armour... (note: the eyes open wide and the mouth grins)...

Shoving everything into a chest, I started to drag it back up to the surface. Being underground whilst the formians were digging made me rather nervous.

Up on the surface however, was an entirely different story.

Closing Escapes

i don't know how long I layed daze upon the floor of the cavern, staring at the spot where the beast had been standing seconds before.

Then the ground began to move and shake, only gently at first but becoming more and more turbulant. A thunder began to echo throughout the earth, seeping through our skin and into our very cores.

I cannot remember who realised what was going first, or who took command at this point. The next thing that I recall was our party rushing through the tunnel we had came through back to the second cavern. I aware there were injured; that guards carried other guards. I was also aware that Nimohtar was standing and walking, but only with help.

We reached the first tunnel we had come down, the one with the three crevaces within the floor. That was when the collapsed wall suddenly came alive with hundreds of bodies - Formians! A horde of them were attacking us. More! Several hordes!

A ladder was thrown across the crevace again, and the injured quickly walked across. Then we realised that there was not enough space for all of us on each platform. Being one of the few who were still alive enough to fight, I volunteered to stay on the main ground and wait for the ladder to be thrown across to me. Nicholas and Sai stayed with me, quite possibly to fight to the death in order to save our party.

A claw came at me, vicious and biting. I slashed out, and the claw fell squirming. The ladder fell behind me, and we piled across, fighting the gigantic ants to stop them from crossing. Again the party crossed, and we waited till we crossed. The ants began forming a bridge of their own bodies - but Sai kicked them back, gaining us more time. The ladder came down again, and we ran across. We headed for the enterance.

The gaurds were already climbing up the ropes when I arrived. Shadow had throw some other ropes to the floor for Nicholas, Thomas and I. Unsure how, but Thomas was suddenly walking once again. Nicholas threw up a rope, making it the first go. He instantly began to scramble up. Thomas missed his grappling hook completely, and decided to scramble up behind Nicholas. I finally gained enough room to launch my own grappling hook, and began the laboured climb to the top. I only just made it to a safe height as I climbed, the Formians behind me with their razor sharp claws.

The rope was suddenly pulled upwards, and all remaining in our party climbing were launched skywards out of the cave mouth. People were all around, commoners who had come to our aid. Even the prince of the land had turned up. Together, we managed to form a wall that stopped the formians from rising. Together, as a party, we had ventured into the unknown, and escaped with our lives.


But that was just the beginning of our adventures.

Should Have Gone Back

Nimohtar and Nicholas managed to enter the next cavern before me. Its unfortunate for my situation that I am a slow runner, and that alot of people can run faster than I can.


Upon reaching the cavern mouth, we slowed and entered more cautiously. A lesson we learnt the hard way from the previous cavern. And the over bearing stench that was attacking our nostrils were beginning to suggest something was terribly wrong. The smell, it was one that attacked all your senses so that all you noticed was your body being plagued; it was that feeling where you were about to retch and throw up, and in desperation you try to walk it off, only to fail. We gazed around the cavern, trying to see the dangers.

First creatures that came to our sight were three zombie like creatures, roughly human sized, at one of the far walls. As our sight grew wider, we noticed there were several formian-ants with staffs standing over a hole. As we silently watched, they began to stir their staffs within the hole in a mixing action. This caused the smell only to grow worse, and plague our nostrils.

Then the three zombie like creatures saw us, and began to move in our direction in the way that most zombie like creatures shuffle; filled with malice, hidden power and altogether appearing rather clumsy.

The Cleric, Nicholas, acting fast, cast some spell upon them that stopped the zombies in their tracks. Instead of attacking, they stood there gazing blankly at us. Almost as if waiting an order...

Then the rest of the party moved around me and attacked the zombies, knocking them to the floor and in simple words executing them. Zombies may be a natural evil, but none the less I felt uncertain regarding how the rest of the party attacked them so. Even something evil should have the chance to fight back.

At this stage the Formian wizards were stirring the hole frantically. I was cautious moving forward towards them, as they had not made the slightest move to attack us. These were obviously the stronger enemies within this cavern, yet they had not even made the slightest move against us.

Arrows shot past me, as did a dagger, and the Formian Wizards fell, never to rise again.

And then the room got cold. Colder and colder and colder. A very fine layer of ice began to form along the cavern walls, and freeze our sweat covered bodies. Within seconds we were all shivering, our exposed skin going numb with the instant temprature drop. These blue lights which I had failed to notice before, giving off a pale glow, distinguished. And we were suddenly left in complete and utter darkness.

As our eyes adjusted to the lack of light, attempting to make out even the shapes of our other party members, noises began to emerge from the hole. We stepped forward, curious as to what could be making the sound; perhaps there were more guards trapped down there. There were more guards all right, but none that needed our help. Piled high were unfortunates who had been trapped down here, their naked and soulless bodies tossed into a heap together. And the bodies were moving, twisting and contorting. They were dragged by unseen hands to one point, where they bound themselves together with sinew and muscle, hair and even stiff hand holds. And as we gazed into the darkness, making out shapes, a monster of multiple heads, arms and legs began to form before our very eyes.

There was no questioning whether this monster had evil intentions or not. No natural thing of good intentions was made in such a way.

I moved fast, charging at the still-forming beast, and attacked with my swords. I damaged it, but it seemed to only heal itself. Then Nimohtar was standing besides me, attacking with his own weapons. Attack after attack we dealt it, yet still it formed and grew stronger. Each blow only managed to send wave after wave of pure cold down our arms, making it hard to hold our weapons and deal the forcible blows that we needed.

Shadow was behind us, as was Sai, and they both fired arrows and threw daggers. Yet their weapons were useless, barly making even the slightest scratch upon the merging carcass body.

Then the monster struck out, hitting Nimohtar. He fell, the blow knocking all wind from his body. We knew we were in danger, the creature had nearly killed Nimohtar at full strength with only one sweep of its arm. And the rest of us were no where near our normal standard; I, myself, was feeling the strong effects of exhaustion. The bard, Thomas, had been knocked out at some stage and now lay motionless on the ground behind, his face ashen in colour. Nicholas stood over the bard, attempting to heal him, his own powers useless against the beast. The only thing he could do to help was to heal our injured, in which he was currently doing.

Then Nimohtar was on his feet again, dealing blow after blow as I did the same. My swords barely made any damage however, my hands too numb to even hold my weapons right. As the beast raised its arm again to deal a fatal strike to Nimohtar and myself, Nimohtar thrust with all his failing strength his dagger into the beast's stomache. It stayed there for a moment, stuck in the beasts body.

Time seemed to slow. I watched, horrified, as ice seemed to crawl along the blade to Nimohtars arm, and turn the very skin it touched to a deep grey-blue. I saw his face, covered in pain and blood -- his own and his enemies. I saw the fear in his eyes, along with his sense of determination. His own sense of courage.

Then with sudden and most shocking force, his dagger flew backwards, hilt first straight into Nimohtars own chest. The blow was so strong that he flew backwards several meters, and landed with a sickening thud. And there, he did not move.

Air sucked in around me, dragging me towards the beast. I turned and gazed horrified, as the beast began to glow. Then splinter like cracks twisted and turned around the beast's body, growing larger and larger. Before I knew it I was being blown back by a sudden gush of wind, my body being pierced with many small splinters of red-tainted ice.

When I opened my eyes, the beast had vanished.

Side Tracking Issues

As I wondered around the cavern with Sai not far from me, I studied the injuries of the fallen. Most were only injured, or unconcious. None seemed to be fatally injuried. And the ones that were, had been quickly healed by Nicholas and Sai. It was obvious that these men were the ones that we had been sent down here to rescue. Their clothes clearly stated that. But why had they attacked us?

It was then that our Bard, Thomas, noticed that someone had attempted to steal one of his money pouches. Being the slightly not-s0-smart bard that he is, he had assumed that when he got it there was for some reason 300 gold within it. He was NOT happy. Not being near the outbreak, I am unsure how the next conclusion came to being, but he and several others assumed it was Shadow who was attempting to steal the money. Instantly a fight broke out within our party. The last thing I wanted, and the last thing we needed.

I partially felt that Shadow was being ganged up upon by the other members of our party. Being the only other female in the group, I was reluctant to leave her fight alone. Particually when out numbered. However I did not want to create enemies by being upon the wrong side at the wrong time.

For a long time they fought, over and over. They accused, they denied, and they tested out eachothers skills. Nicholas and Nimohtar were reluctant to fight, but supporting Thomas strongly. Shadow had more skill at fighting.

I was growing sick of the fighting, and I was curious as to where the other guard had disappeared to. I gazed around the cavern, looking for clues as to where he had disappeared to. I noticed that there was a cavern wall that had collapsed, and extended far into the background. I head that direction, hoping that the party wouldn't resort to violence until I came back. I walked into the looming darkness, and was startled at a sudden drop that appeared at my feet. It went down into the earth an almost impossible to imagine distance. And there, at the bottom, it appeared as if the ground itself was moving. Like red water, it drifted in tides along the cavern's floor. Then, to a sickening roll in my stomache, I realised why the ground appeared to be moving; it was hundreds and thousands of ants.

I ran back to the party, afraid that the noise of their arguments would reach the ears of the formians - if they had ears. I needed to get them moving, but I was not sure how. And I was not about to leave the last guard to disappear into the earth and never be seen again. I had only one option left; to scream "Oh My Fucking God, we are being attacked!" I drew my two short swords, and ran towards the only other tunnel that the guard could have travelled down. "Charge!"

It was not until we got to the next cavern that perhaps it would have been smarter of me to have just left the last guard and escaped then and there...

Fighting to Live

FIRST FIGHT

As we entered the first cave, I noticed that it was relatively dark. I was not sure how well my human companions could fare at seeing at this point, and I was thankful that I was gifted with my racial 'night-vision'. Following Nimohtah I realized that it was quite hard to see around his figure as well, so my vision only helped so much.

As we entered the next cavern, a shock was delivered to the entire party; a rough mud covered face about chest height appeared out of the dark, roaring what could only be classified as a war cry. He charged, directly at our party. With only split seconds to act, we had no chance of discussing a best move. Before I knew it, several of us had drawn our weapons and moved in defence, attacking the beast that attacked us. He was dead unconcious before he even got close to harming the rest of the group.

We gazed around the rest of the cavern then. There were several other humans dressed as guards, and some creatures that I were not familiar with; they were ant like, however roughly 5 feet in length and just under 5 feet in height. There were three ant like creatures, later to learnt as the race Formians, standing upright and holding staffs.

Before any of our immediately assumed enemies could act, Nicholas had suddenly casted a spell from behind me, firing it at the closest human. I was not expecting the reaction for the hit; the guard stopped in his tracks, screamed wide eyed at us, turn and ran. He slipped on the muddy floor, where he hit the cavern wall, and did not move.

Suddenly the Formian Wizard's, the ones holding the staffs, sent out these bright light missiles, aiming directly at Shadow and Sai. They tried to duck, weave and turn, but no matter where they dived the missiles followed them. They took the blasts to the chests, and fell - injuried.

I cannot remember much of the insuing battle. I find that when fighting starts, my mind clears, and all I do and think is how to beat my enemy. What are the areas advantages, and their disadvantages. What do I have to do, to sacrifice, to live longer than my enemy.

I do know that the next thing I remember is my party is standing over the unconcious, some of us with injuries and blood covering our bodies. Yet we mostly seem accustomed to pain, or at least not showed it to the rest of our party.

It was at this point in time that I realised that one of the human guards was missing - the one that ran.