Argumentus pockets 50 GP and makes his way to the lever room with Scary Bob.

Motsognir, having done nothing to aid in this quest whatsoever, nonetheless pockets 35 gold before slipping back to the lever room.

The dwarf wandered back towards the lever room, taking the time to examine the sword as he did so. It really was quite nice. I mean, if you liked swords.

I took the remaining 20 gp and 1001 Uses for an Owlbear Pelt. I let the others go on ahead of me, since this was a really easy project and nothin' in life comes easy.

The party gathers up the remaining wealth and pops back out through the mirror. As they exit the wizard's home, they find the route blocked by a troupe of elves, each brandishing a bow. Amongst the five archers towers a fat and bedraggled ogre holding a massive club.

The elven woman in the lead trains her bow on Gabriel, smirking.

"Friend, what do you say we do this the easy way for a change? You put the sword on the ground and walk away. Nobody has to get hurt. I think that would be ideal for everybody, don't you?

Of course, if you'd prefer to get hurt, Klaus here will gladly provide his services."

The ogre chuckles unpleasantly. He shakes when he laughs, like a bowl full of jelly.

The dwarf grinned, making sure to place himself firmly in the doorway between the enemies and the more frail party members.

"A holy warrior of Kord does not tremble before common thieves. Especially dandelion eating, twig throwing bandits."

He was talking largely to give himself time to get his hand on his axe and position his shield, looking to make himself as pin cushion proof as possible before they figured out he was about to cut them in half.

"You think I'm afraid of you, the day I've had? I know what you came for. Come and get it, you pussy."

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1..._H170259_L.jpg

To say I was surprised to be accosted on the way out of the house would be a lie. To be accosted by elves however was rather more surprising, especially ones with an ogre for company. This was clearly going to end in violence.

I edged back towards the safety of the doorway, hoping to reach cover before the arrows started flying. I especially didn't want to annoy the ogre, having had a bad experience with an ogress and a bottle of very strong brandy once.

Hoping to cause some dissent in the enemy ranks I used my ghost sound magic to whisper in the ogre's ear.

"Hey Klaus, why are you taking orders from these flimsy pointy ears eh? I bet those nice shorter fellows over there would be much more fun to hang around with, they certainly look the type to get in lots of fights and I bet Klaus loves fighting! Go on Klaus, hit the pointy ears while they aren't looking, it'll feel sooooo good."

Gabriel flatly refuses any sort of surrender, preferring to risk his life that he may deliver some shiny blade to a fellow he met just today.

Bob makes an attempt to tilt the odds in his favor. Klaus is, unfortunately, not particularly swayed by a weird voice in his ears asking him to draw distinctions between various tiny people. It is true that elves generally make better eating than dwarves, but Klaus is a practical man and sees no compelling reason to confuse matters.

Diplomacy check failed

The elves let fly, concentrating their fire on Gabriel. Luckily, his heavy armor deflects all but one of the arrows.

11 damage to Gabe

:savepoint: Bob, Brigid, Ogre, Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers

After a predictably brief exchange of insults, the elves opened fire although my friend's thick armour stopped pretty much all the arrows. I unleashed my powerful ice spell at the lead elf and ogre before ducking back into the doorway of the front room.

New frosty ray spell at ogre and closest elf, move back into doorway at j8

I knew this sword was too easily won. Nonetheless, I was fit to burst with anger; where do these city-folk get off thinkin' they can take the fruits of our hard-earned labor? It's bad enough when my team rips me off, I ain't gonna let no ogre get away with it!

Radiant Light at Ogre, bonus to Gabriel
retreat to j11

Bob's first move after days away from combat is to use a spell he's never once in his life tried to cast before. To say the least, he doesn't hit anything.

Brigid makes much the same mistake, but does manage to temporarily blind the ogre on its left side and thereby give Gabriel an advantage.

This blindness does not deter the ogre from hitting Gabriel with its greatclub, of course. It's not a weapon highly dependent on accuracy.

9 damage to Gabe

:savepoint: Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers, Bob, Brigid, Ogre

The dwarf grimaced as the arrow pierced his armour and punctured his flesh; the pain enough of a distraction that he saw the greatclub screaming towards him only once it was too late. Steadying his shoulder to stomach the mass of the blow, he was knocked slightly to the side as it careened off his upper body, the force causing him to wince. For a moment he allowed himself to worry about what was to come. The battle was joined, but perhaps it was folly to do so. They had not ties to this blade. There was no glory here.

But as his holy symbol wrapped its way around his wrist, tight enough to remind him of its presence, he allowed a smile to slip over his lips. Kord was with him, and this beast would fall before his axe like leaves before the wind. He laughed for a moment before he launched himself forward, slamming his shoulder into the beast's knee and cutting upwards at its thigh and hip.

"I hope you've made peace with whatever god an abomination like you serves, Tall One. For Gabriel Sledgehammer, servant of Kord, will send you to him."

The dwarf spun and lashed out viciously with his axe again, aiming directly for the thing's midsection with the attack. His entire body seemed, for a moment, to glow with Kord's righteous fury.

Second Wind
Righteous Smite
Divine Strength
Action Point
Paladin's Judgment with healing surge to me, if possible. If not, to Argumentus in expectation of him getting shot.

Also, if the ogre activates an opportunity attack, trigger the opportunistic battle-axe's daily power.

Motsognir inched his way between Argumentus and the door, and, seeing the full size of the ogre for the first time, quivered in fear, letting out a tepid, "Go get 'em!" and slapping Argumentus on the rear.

Commander's Strike

Argumentus's opportunity for engaging conversation had been cut short by the ogre's sudden rush.

Argumentus shifts to square N11
Argumentus attempts a sure strike on the ogre
Shield Slam if it connects

Try as he might, Gabriel can't recover immediately from a log in the face. Still, it's just the one log-in-the-face. It's a pretty good day by Gabriel standards.

Gabe's HP +10. Righteous Smite misses. Paladin's Judgment hits ogre for 28 damage. Gabriel's HP +10, again.

Motsognir squeezes out the door to confront the enemy — and immediately decides it would be much better if someone else confronted it. Unfortunately, there is some disagreement on this point.

Commander's Strike — Argumentus' basic attack misses

Faced with a man even huger and dumber than he, Argumentus has no choice but to show him what for. There can only be one.

Sure Strike hits ogre for 12 damage and combos into Shield Slam. Ogre pushed one square west and knocked prone.

With Klaus doing an adequate job of keeping the paladin busy, the archers open fire on Argumentus. The man-mountain's arrow resistance is somewhat less than Gabe's, it seems, and he takes three in the chest. Quite abruptly, Argumentus' world gets all red-tinged and wobbly.

28 damage to Argumentus; bloodied

:savepoint: Bob, Brigid, Ogre, Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers

The ogre was down and as they had demonstrated against the dragon, if the Horde were good at anything it was fighting prone enemies. Of more immediate danger were the elven archers who were rapidly turnin my companions into pincushions. Hoping to upset their aim, I unleashed a barage of spells at them.

Acid arrow at elf R11, spend an action point, Burst of flame at same elf, move one square west into cover

I'll just commune with the Lord over here, thanks.

Bless the party
Melora's Tide on Argumentus, you know, while we're at it

Recognizing the elves as the real threat, Bob unleashes a colorful display of painful burning upon them. Faces are scarred, flesh is melted, and a good time is had by all.

Acid Arrow: 15 damage + ongoing 5 damage to elf R11, 8 damage + ongoing 5 damage to elves S10, S12

Flaming Burst: 8 damage to elves R11, S12. Elf R11 bloodied.

Remaining out of harm's way, Brigid calls on Melora for every boon she can think of.

Party is blessed; Argumentus gains Regeneration 2

Seeing a chance to cement his position as King of the Mongs, the ogre staggers to his feet, moves to Argumentus, and unleashes an angry smash. The fighter's eyes roll back in his head and he tumbles to the ground.

9 damage to Argumentus; unconscious, dying, and buried in six metric tons of status tags

:savepoint: Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers, Bob, Brigid, Ogre

The dwarf roared as his friend, Kord be praised he couldn't believe he called the man that, but it was the truth, his friend fell to the ground. Moving to his left he put a hand on Argumentus' unconscious shoulder. His will alone screaming out to his god to bring this deserving warrior back to health. His grip was enough to bruise, the holy symbol, the fist of Kord burrowing into the flesh of the fallen warrior. At the same time he drew a line in the ground before them, before the ogre. Snarling between his bared teeth:

"You come no further, you beast. The light of the god of war does not fear you, Abomination. I will end your life, but beyond this point, you will harm no one."

Shuffle to m10 (SUNK MY BATTLESHIP OMG)
Lay on hands Argumentus (<3 Brady 8( )
Sacred Circle

Argumentus experiences a Second Wind, stands up from prone, and rewards Gabriel's charity by getting the Hell out of Dodge. (arrows can't go through walls, right?)

Move to square K7

Motsognir, suddenly gaining confidence, lays into the ogre, real serious like, then keeps doing things, you know, to help out.

Bastion of Defense
Action Point -> Warlord's Favor (Bonus to Gabe)
Activate axe power, sliding ogre backwards (I assume this provokes an opportunity attack from Gabe and his magical axe)
Retreat to K10
Speak Inspiring Words to Argumentus

Drawing a warding circle around the doorway, Gabriel saves Argumentus from the icy clutches of death for like the fifth time that week. The whole tunnel-of-light thing is starting to seem a little rote.

Motsognir makes a valiant attack on the ogre, swinging his axe like mad. The ogre seems largely unimpressed. Worse, when Soggy retreats back into the house he gets a club in the back of the head for his trouble.

Bastion of Defense: Miss. All allies gain 5 temporary HP
Warlord's Favor: Miss
Opportunity attack: 15 damage to Motsognir
Inspiring Word: Argumentus' HP +16

Argumentus hauls himself to his feet, nearly as good as new. He books it for the relative safety of the indoors, and gets the same treatment as Motsognir.

Technically standing up and fleeing should require two move actions but I just had the ogre do it so fair is fair =/
Second Wind: HP +11
Opportunity attack: 13 damage to Argumentus

Having found the experience of being doused in flaming acid unpleasant, the elves break up their huddle so as to present a less obvious target. Then they shoot at Gabriel some more, since everyone else is hiding.

3 hits, 32 damage to Gabriel (bloodied)
Elves at O6 and N14 save against ongoing acid

:savepoint: Bob, Brigid, Ogre, Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers

The battle was in danger of turning into a massacre and the Horde were routing, offering their unprotected backs to the rampaging ogre. The elves had dispersed, precluding any more flashy explosions. I stepped back to the doorway and unleashed an ice ray at the ogre, hoping to slow it down if nothing else.

Move one square east, Ray of Frost on ogre.

I shout for the skull-dwarf to get in the house, he'll catch his death out there.

Healing Word to Gabe
move to j9
shoot at Ogre if I can

The beefy ogre doesn't seem to be bothered by a little cold.

Ray of Frost: Miss

With Gabriel's apparent decision to hold the chokepoint single-handed, Brigid does her best to keep him in one piece. As an afterthought, she puts a bolt through the ogre's brain. The ogre does not seem much inconvenienced.

Healing Word: Gabriel's HP +11
Hand Crossbow: 3 damage to Ogre

Klaus has no real choice but to try to hit Gabe with a club again. He finds it a trifle monotonous, and initiates a little game to pass the time while he hammers away at the doorframe.

"I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE... SOMETHING THAT STARTS WITH R."

"Is it a rock again, Klaus?" mutters the nearest elf.

Klaus sighs gustily. "Yah."

:savepoint: Gabriel, Motsognir, Argumentus, Elf Archers, Bob, Brigid, Ogre