"There are six of us now, and the orcs' army lies in shambles, as does the army of men," she said a bit breathlessly.

"There is no better time than now to breach the fortress, but in a united and planned manner. What say you, anyone? Ideas?"

She fell into silence, reaching a slender hand up now to lay it lightly atop Gorfynt's withers, which moved a bit as he restlessly sidled in place, lifting one foot after the other and giving his head an occasional toss.

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With one gracefully quick motion, he rose his arms over his head... reaching back and drawing his swords, Kronos surged the weapons into the ground...

He then spoke up,"The time for weapons of men and elves has past..."

Now, successful in acquiring the attention of all,"...we must have faith in our miraculous accompany... for incantation is our only hope against what still lies ahead..."

He quieted at that, waiting for support...

[ 02-28-2003 06:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

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We'll fortify the Keep...no way that witch can cast water in here!

"I want archers standing by every window! Have them assisted by at least one other guard!" he ordered an orc. The creature started limping back to gather such teams together.

Ulfhak held his spear with both hands. He'll be ready for them...he has to be.

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He had been split enternally so far that it had became hard to react, and it was slow for him to if he was to at all. This was clear now, as silence rained mad in the chambers after Adra had finally spoke of what was going on. Staring into her eyes, he reached forward, pulling aggressively at her neck and kissing her. A kindle of bliss and an activation of disgust went through his veins, confusing him.

Releasing and falling back from his aggresive, but somewhat passionate touch of lips, he looked transfixed at the ground. The very gulp that visablly ran down his throat signified all his confusion running down his body, pounding along with the sound of his heart. A tear rolled down his left eye, as his right side of his lip curved into a smirk.

He felt pleasure, as well as ultimate pain. It was her who gave him those things, and he didn't know how to release this emotion, so it seemed a kiss was all he could give. The aggression of it had brought lust, a sensation of disgust to the table, but the simple fact he kissed her gave a aura of love.

What am I doing..? He mentally questioned, while his fingers crumbled from their tranquil posture to a fist, holding on to what he thought was his last strain of insanity.

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The Daughter of the Moon smiled, the curve of her lips at once both alluring and sly. A certain flash of darkness wafted through her clear eyes, bringing a touch of smoke into them as Kronos's impassioned words came into her delicate ears.

She didn't move from her spot but remained standing where she was next to Gorfynt, swaying just a bit in tandem with his restless movements. The hand laying upon his withers now moved of it's own accord, and began to gently twine a bit of his mane between its fingers, the movement innocent enough yet given an undercurrent of darkness by the look which flickered in the depths of her eyes.

Then her vision seemed to clear, and she spoke up.

"This I can promise you, my friends," she said quietly, glancing slowly round to capture the full attention of all present. Her eyes stopped at the white wizard, and held steady in his own pair.

"Unless our new friend wishes to take the honors...."

[ 03-03-2003 02:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Eirianna ]

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Kronos simply smiled, gathering up his twin elven short swords...

That's the old Landi...

D'Artagnan quickly took upon his steed, others following suit...

All but Landi had a beast to ride... Kronos approached Landi allowing him to tag on with Brisgean the Silver...

The group rode into the keep of the castle...

"Archers, on the wall!" Kronos bellowed...

Landi said something in a foreign tongue, and the keep lit up... the archers, as if deer caught in headlights, couldn't focus for the lives of them...

"That should even the field..." Landi quipped...

Kronos was the first to approach the aperture...

"It's well fortified..." He said, turning back to the group...

Asking for suggestions, without actually having to say the words...

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"Be wary, all!" she cried out in a loud voice, then rode Gorfynt out into the open. He came to a rearing halt at her silent command, so well tuned to each other were they both, and stood in one spot in the middle of the large courtyard with lay outside the main door leading into the castle itself.

Eirianna threw back her head, and reached her hands to the sky. It arched overhead, a star-sprinkled canopy somehow lessened in splendor by the glory of the full moon which shone brilliantly therein. She pinned her eyes upon that moon, drinking in its features, basking in its silvery wonder, feeling its strength rippling through her as it responded to her silent beckoning.

Then she remained silent no longer.

"Father of the Night, hear me!" she cried out, her voice as silver as the light shimmering over her head. "Great woe is upon us! Here are those who would destroy your children, we who humble ourselves to your honor, and keep you ever in our hearts! Now I beseech thee, oh great Power of the Dark, come down, come dance upon them! Send the glory of your light into them, as a tarantelle of olde, giving aimless wings to their feet and yet even more aimless thoughts to their minds! Take their minds, my Father! Emblazon them with your brilliance, that they fall before you stricken with that affliction which has been given the honor of your name!"

Her voice rang out like a bell, striking the night like a gong, echoing upward and upward, soaring on the wings of darkness, seeking light, reaching the source of her entreaty, finding surcease to her plea...

...as the brilliant moon above grew impossibly brighter, larger, more compelling, more urgent. Eirianna immediately threw her arm over her eyes, crying out to her companions to do the same. Thus it was that the ensuing events were not seen but only heard... which was quite enough.

Only the gods themselves should have the privilege of watching as man and orc are literally driven mad.

The moon sent it's light shooting down as if it was a great silvery sword, reaching into nook and cranny of Taunderon, slicing into eyes and entering brains... and there inducing immediate and quite total lunacy in whatever person it touched in that manner. The night became rife with cries and clashes as man turned against orc, and orc against man, and kind against kind, each one driven by the sudden, insane surety that friend had become foe.

In the end, there were none left of the warriors of man, nor of the grand army of orcs, other then the Scourge himself who watched with maddened eyes as his men scrabbled and screamed and ripped and tore each other to death...

...all save those who fell to the earth, drooling there in the simplistic pleasure they found in inscribing doodles in the dirt.

At length all became quiet. The moon backed off it's glacial fires, and became the full moon once again. Slowly Eirianna lowered her arm, then twisted round upon Gorfynt's back. She sent a solemn look toward her companions who rode up to join her then.

"I do not feel there will be much in the way of opposition, my friends," she said sadly, then swallowed. Then she made a clucking noise, and headed Gorfynt into the actual Keep itself.

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The hobbits, terrified, tried to run back through the hole they'd came through....

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan lay unconscious apon a large pile of dead washed-up Orcs...

As for the hobbits, they were unsuccessful in their retreat... simple enough for Landi to pull each of them back into the open with his mysterious magics...

"Well... What do you have to say for yourselves?" Landi asked, not actually wanting any part of the answer...

The three hobbits broke into explanations at once... each trying to talk over the next...

Landi merely rolled his eyes,"well..." he said in a surprisingly calm fashion...

This seemed to work, as the hobbit farthest to the right took a step forward...

"Beanlee Brothers, three are we..."

"There's Sammy, and Gilli, and Bangly..."

The second hobbit took half a step forward...

"That's me..."Bangly said with a foolish grin on his face, he stepped back...

The first one continued...

"We drink, we dance, we cook..."

"Everything we seen, we saw, we took..."

The third, Gilli, now stood forward...

"Please take... a look... at this book..."

The other two halflings came to one knee, with there arms held wide, at the song's closing...

Gilli approached Eirianna, handing her a spell book...

"That'll be 100 gold pieces..." Gilli said, with the heart of a crooked salesman...

The hobbits, three, panted as they waited for a response...

[ 03-04-2003 03:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Beanlee Brothers ]

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How serendipitous indeed is this arrival... and heralded by the felling of one of our own! she thought as she slipped from Gorfynt's back and approached the fallen D'artagnan. The little hobbit just followed her, still holding out the book as she knelt over the young man, laying a cool hand against his forehead and trying to assess what damage he might have obtained in his fall.

Behind her, the hobbit pressed his book, asking again for the money. She turned a concerned look upon the little hobbit, her hand still upon D'artagnan's brow, but remained quiet as she reassessed the situation. Then she shot a look to the wizard as if to say,

What know you of books of spells, white one?

Still debating, and knowing full well she herself had no gold, she turned again to D'artagnan, smiling sadly as the image of him laying there segued into one of hundreds of men and orcs laying dead as a direct result of the spells she had invoked, and without the need for any mere book to guide her.

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Sammy Beanlee now spoke up,"Beanlee brothes, three are we... surely something we sell to thee... information, perhaps?"

"I doubt a hobbit would be useful enough as a reliable source... you're lucky you still stand, consider that your payment..." Landi said, now turning to see if Eirianna had any luck reviving the fallen D'Artagnan...

"I say, princess... are you in need for a spot of potion for the fallen man?"

He waited at that...

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I wonder what has happened to his father. The Steward would have sent him instead of his son...

Now...hobbits (THREE hobbits!) have become involved in something they should have no part of. Nonetheless, this is the work of the hand of fate, and Arandil believed it would give him the reason why such things are happening. An Elven sorceress, two Elven warriors, two Men of Gondor, a Wizard, and now Hobbits...

With Orcs now joining sides with a sorceress in a Kingdom of Man. Could this be it? The time Arandil long feared? Maybe his destiny is starting to form before him...but his brother could still yet be alive...

And this is my destiny instead...to simply find him and bring him back.

He still held the charm Eirianna had given him...and it instilled hope in him. Hope for what, Arandil had yet to comprehend.

The ranger stood up abruptly, and finally unslung his bow, pocketing the charm in the process. "If we are to revive D'Artagnan, it must be quick. We are still unsure whether the Orcs have truly been scattered, or that there are more coming..."

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"Indeed, time is of the essence," she finally agreed, although the wealth of bodies laying about would seem to give mute testimony otherwise. But she was not so stupid as to think the battle had been won that quickly.

The sorceress was still ahead... and orcs can always be created....

"This man needs assistance; Feileacan, if you have healing properties please tend to him. We cannot wait here long; who will stand by until he awakens?"

She cast her clear gaze about, yet even while she waited reply she pulled the little mushroom cap from her pouch. Now moving to capture a bit of water which was dripping from nearly everywhere she looked, she then made a mystical motion over the cap, and peered into it.

Her eyes cut upward, and she nodded ahead.

"There ahead of us is the Grand Hall, where we must leave our mounts. In the back is a small door; it is through that which we must travel if we are to find and rescue Talasti. We must go forth quickly, and achieve our goal, and leave this place in haste. I fear that what has happened here might indeed be used in turn against us; I-- I had no choice but to do as I did."

Not wanting to speak any further of the two Great Magicks she had inflicted upon Taunderon, she turned and approached Gorfynt. She gently laid her face against his shoulder, quietly stroking his neck and murmuring her distress over her actions.

But when she pulled back and turned round to face her companions, her demeanor had changed from that of a princess to that of a warrior. She replaced the mushroom cap in her pouch, and unslung her bow.

"Shall we proceed?" she continued without so much as a trace of grief in her voice.

Indeed, there would be time enough for grief later.

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"100 gold pieces for the safekeeping of our fallen..." He now turned to Feileacan,"Unless you wish to stay by his side, of course..."

There would be no waiting for answers, as the wizard, the man, the elven prince, and the daughter of the moon rode to the small door in the back of the Grand Hall...

It was unlocked, with a swift kick from Kronos...

He allowed Eirianna to gain passage, after he cleared the passage...

For she, and her mushroom, could lead the way...

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Eirianna's nose wrinkled but she proceeded ahead without pause. Through that corridor they progressed, coming to stairs then which led them upwards for a seeming eternity...

...only to open up into a lonely little hallway, a door at it's far end.

Eirianna moved with deep intent, descending upon that door and then standing aside as Kronos came up behind her to "unlock" it. It flew open beneath his booted foot, revealing a richly apportioned bedroom covered with silken wall hangings and stuffed and mounted creatures and strange devices.

It appeared to be empty. Directly ahead was an open doorway leading to a balcony.

"Be wary, all!" Eirianna cried, now uncaring as to who might hear her. "She is beyond, upon that balcony, and with her is young Talasti! But take a care; there is one in hiding within this room... and another progressing here, an orc of some stature; they will not stand idly by while we take that which we have come to take!"

With that her hand flew, a steak of pale light in the gloom of the luxurious room, and an arrow was suddenly held against the tautly pulled string of her bow. She proceeded forward toward that balcony, her eyes everywhere at once, knowing each in their party would do his or her utmost to see to the protection of them all.

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...even as the moon strove to blind them as well as it was the unsuspecting men below. Adra summoned the powers of her staff to forge a hedge protection made of darkness about she and Talasti, letting her lips linger on his for a seemingly endless moment as she sought to spark that something dark she sensed within him, yearning to bring it to full life. Then she pulled back from him, turning to the carnage caused by the elven woman...

...for Adra was now certain it was her...

...as the the moon returned to its natural state once more.

"They wreak havoc and destruction on men, for they have no true leader..." she said, waving her hand expansively to indicate the dead bodies below her. "With the One Ring, we would have the power and authority to bring order to Middle Earth...

an order lead by you and I, my dear Talasti."

Adra fell silent at this, keenly aware of the approach of others...

"They come now, already with the intent to harm and destroy," she whispered.

Taking her staff in her right hand, she wrapped an arm about Talasti and drew him to herself, leading him inside the bedchambers once more. She paused once she stepped foot into the bedchambers, her arm still companionably about Talasti.

But her eyes were positively glacial.

"You would kill countless men for one who may indeed not wish to return with you at all?" she queried icily, turning now to young Talasti...

...all the while her senses where keenly aware of the fact that yet one more lurked whom she was most interested in meeting...

She leaned over and whispered seductively into Talasti's ear. "She who used her powers to kill so many hides still...

She turned and faced the approaching group. "I ask you all, what sort of princess kills innocents with reckless abandon?"

[ 03-06-2003 12:54 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

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[ 03-06-2003 01:29 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

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