Combat!

Well, Carideth requested a "map", so here is everyone's position relative to
the enemy.. Being too tired to send the infravision ppl a map right now, I've
decided those of you without infravision have a basic idea of where you and
everyone else is.

                L
                    S
           S
            IS         S S
             S          A
        S  S      S
        B  C*     RS


               M             HHHH

L = Slaver leader
S = Slaver
* = Dead or incapacitated slaver
H = Your horses
The rest of the letters represent your characters (C=Carideth, etc.)

Just a note before I start the combat descriptions: Borack, next time please
tell me exactly what you're doing. First you said you were going to attack,
and then you said you casted a spell (and did not specify WHICH spell you
cast). Normally I'd take the last message posted as your final decision, but
since you did not specify which of your spells you cast, I will assume you
attacked with your weapon, as stated in your first message.

Alrighty.. here we go:

Aardvarkin begins his tumbling around in the mud, which causes quite a bit of
muck to be thrown into his opponent's faces. This angers one particular man
terribly, and taking a sild swing with his longsword, manages to slash open
Aardvarkin's arm, tearing through his leather armour there and causing him
terrible pain. The thief is forced to delay his tumbling around to quickly
tend to his wound, which seems VERY serious.

Meanwhile, back in the rear ranks, Malcolm completes his incantation.

And back up front, Aardvarkin thinks, to hell with my damn wound, I'm gonna
murder the _______ that injured me! Shortsword in hand, he leaps at his
opponent's last known position, violently flailing his weapon, but to no
avail.

In the midst of this chaos is Ivan, who, to those who have infravision, can be
seen performing very impressive combat moves with his sword and shield. He
attempts to bash in one of his opponents' face with his shield, but the man is
too quick and steps away - in the wrong direction, unfortunately, for moments
later a death-tortured scream echos through the combat field as the
gladiator's dangerously sharp drusses glides gracefully through the slaver's
midsection. The man falls to the ground.

At this moment, two of the slavers think it about time to run away. One near
Ivan and one near Ruinad promptly drop their swords and flee northward.

Ruinad attempts to bludgeon his remaining attacker with his staff, but is
unable to get a clean hit. The wooden stick bounces harmlessly off the man's
leg, inflicting little or no damage.

Meanwhile, a whip-and-sword wielding slaver directly in front of Borack
attempts to run him through, thinking the elven mage an easy target.
Unfortunate for him, Borack steps out of the way, silently laughing to himslef
as the man struggles to regain his balance and search blindly in the darkness.

The remaining attacker confronting Ivan sees his two comrades fleeing, and so
drops his weapon and flees north as well.

Things seem to be looking alot better for the party's ranger. Carideth blows
out a shrill call to alert his horse, who can soon be heard galloping up to
the field of combat. Content with the reassuring sound of hoofbeats, he now
turns his attention to the rather ugly man in front of him. Frowning in
distaste, he calmly jabs a longsword through the slaver's stomach, withdraws,
and watches him fall to the ground. Eagerly, Carideth scans the field for his
next opponent...

The other slaver near Aardvarkin hears his cursing and blind slashing through
the darkness, and cracks his whip in the theif's direction. The edge snags on
the heel of Aardvarkin's boot, but he manages to pull free with minimal
effort.

Ruinad's remaining attacker hacks his sword down at where he thinks the
midget's body should be, but is sorely mistaken, and falls down face first
into the mud. The man is now in a prone position and very susceptible to
attacks.

Ivan's only remaining opponent lets out a fierce battle cry as he flings his
whip in the gladiator's direction. Ivan takes it full in the chest, his armour
absorbing most of the damage, but hurting him nonetheless.


<whew!> I think that should cover everyone.. here's an updated map..


            S   L
              S     S
                  S
            I*         S S
                        A H
        S  *      
        B  C*     RS
               M             H HH

OK.. Malcolm decides to risk stepping to the east, to help Ruinad.

Ivan, angry that his opponents have run away like cowards, runs forth to catch
them.

Finally, Ruinad again attempts a simple attack on the slaver nearest to him.


Reminders:
----------
Borack - If you're casting a spell, what is it?

Carideth - Tell me what your horse is doing (don't just say "He's attacking"..
is he using his hooves, his teeth, or is he trained in such a manner that he
can do both, or what?)

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Sage's Desk AD&D