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Farnham and Prosper quickly climbed up the rope, with Maria and Captain Sealem right behind them.

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Eruantian stopped and noticed that Maxwell's sword was still on the ground where he was hit. Eruantian ran back, grabbed the sword, and caught up with the others, almost losing his head in the process.

As the arrows flew over Eruantian's head, his ring suddenly glowed a brilliant blue and Eruantian felt some sort of magic emanate from it. The ring said: "Incoming ranged magical attacks detected, source of attacks unknown. Emergency countermeasures activated."
Suddenly, Eruantian could see dozens of duplicates of himself standing around in the cavern. In his mind, Eruantian could hear the ring say: "These Ice Mirror duplicates should provide sufficiently distracting to your hidden attacker. Suggestion: Watch where the next attack comes from and then target that point."

<GM's note: As soon as Eruantian was the target of an attack that had no discernible source, one of the ring's in-built user protection tasks was triggered. It has created about forty Ice-Mirror Duplicates of Eruantian via the spell "Ice Mirror." The Ice-Mirror Duplicates appear to be flesh & blood, but are actually made out of ice. They look, sound and even smell real, although they will feel ice-cold if you touch one. Also, this spell masks the real Eruantian so that his externally measurable temperature is now just a few degrees below freezing (although he feels normal himself), and is also undetectable via certain "Detect" type spells for the duration of this spell. Ice Mirror is an Elemental Manipulation spell, not an Illusion spell, so Dispel Illusion will have no effect.>

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<OOC> Eruantian's body temperature was already freezing cold just by wearing the ring. He breaths out steam in warm weather and the water vapor currently around him forms ice particles.

That being said, this is still a cool spell(no pun intended).</OOC>

Eruantian was baffled for a brief moment, but decided to save his confusion for a time when he wasn't in mortal danger. Mirror after mirror shattered and fell as the flaming arrows continued to fly from an invisible source. Each attack gave Eruantian a more accurate assessment of where the attacks might be coming from until he was able to discern an exact location.

Now that he found Aclabar, how would he stop him? Eruantian didn't exactly have an arsenal to use against the ogre mage like in the previous encounter... The previous encounter?... Eruantian remembered something Chezzo said just prior to freezing Aclabar's chariot "You could make a wall of ice. That'd slow him down."

Eruantian instantly knew what he should do. He cast Arctic Blast in the direction the arrows came from, which caused the water vapor in the area to freeze and cling to the ogre mage, making him temporarily visible. Eruantian hastily used the advantage to form Walls of Ice behind and before Aclabar as close together as he could possibly manage. "That tight squeeze ought to hold him" Eruantian thought "... For a while... I hope..."

Prosper stoped at the top and listened. "I think it's that way!" he said, and ran behind Farnaham (or in front of him, depending on how fast Farnaham moved), tworeds the sounds of battle. Strange. Was that really his voice? It sounded so much more confident, so much more in charge.

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Horin shouted up "Where do you want me? Ah'd be fine bashing heads, if ye need me to!"

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Farnham said: "Anywhere is fine, Horin. Don't know what we're up against, yet."

Farnham nodded and said: "Lead on, Prosper."
It was a little ways to where the battle with the Ogre-Mage was taking place, through several corridors and chambers, so it would take them a little while to get there.

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<OOC>...
*crickets chirping*
...
*wind blows*
...
*wolf/coyote howling*
...
*tumbleweed*
...
Well? Did it work? Did it hold Aclabar in place? Did the ogre mage break loose? What happened? What what WHAT?!
</OOC>

<GM's ::Achoo:: apologies: Sorry, I've got a cold And it's messing with my ability to think straight.>

Aclabar the Ogre-Mage was coated in ice, which made him visible, as Eruantian had planed. Then, a set of ice walls went up in front of him and behind him, effectively blocking him from view. However, Eruantian could hear him calling out in frustration in his native (Ogreish) language. a :thump: was heard and the ice-wall shuddered, but it held. Apparently, Aclabar the Ogre-mage was trying to break free of his prison. Eruantian knew that he'd break free soon if he didn't do something.

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<OOC> Get better soon. That's an order. </OOC>

But what could Eruantian do? He had only two options:
1) Stay there and replace the ice walls as they were broken or
2) run away and catch up with the others.

Eruantian wasn't in any immediate danger, but if Aclabar were to free himself he would put everyone in jeopardy. There wasn't much of an alternative; Eruantian would guard the ogre mage's prison and reseal it if and when Aclabar were to break free.

Just then, Prosper entered the chamber where Eruantian and Aclabar the Ogre-Mage were. Farnham, Captain Sealem, Maria, and Horin were right behind him.

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Farnaham let Prosper lead the Vanguard. Winding through corridors and passages, he soon was at the battle scene, first to arrive.
At first glance, the young rouge saw that the passage beyond the shattered door opened up into a small chamber, with a corridor leading downward on the far side. A chest was in the room, and dominating the veiw was the prison of ice in which the sillouete of the Ogre Mage was pounding to get out. The next thing that caught his eye were the amazing number of Eruantian duplicates in the room.
Prosper halted, "Now what?" he asked.

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Captain Sealem had a look of bemusement on his face as he said: "Why don't we ask Mister Eruantian? Or, Mister Eruantian. Or perhaps that other Mister Eruantian over there. One of them must know what's going on here."

Maria said: "Yes, but somehow I expect the answer we get will be rather... cold."

Farnham rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath about "Elven humor"

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"Huh? Oh. Sorry about that" Eruantian responded to his bewildered companions "Yeah, it was the ring's idea. It's odd, but it wor-"
Eruantian was interupted by the sound of the ice beginning to crack under the force of the ogre's effort to set himself free.

"Uh, I can fix that" Eruantian stated nervously "I can throw up another wall after this one, but there's little else I can think of. I don't suppose anyone here knows anything about killing ogre mages." Eruantian was not present for the party's first hostile encounter nor did he consider the battle with the morphed drow to be an accurate example.

Farnham said: "Yes, actually. Me, Drek, Marcus, Micheal and Maxwell killed one before. It was just after we set out from Glenarbour. They're usually rather hard to kill, but seeing as how you've already got one 'on ice' for us it should make it a lot easier. Can you lower the wall a bit so his neck is exposed?"

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"I'll see what I can do" Eruantian said before focused his thoughts around revealing the upper section of the wall without tampering with the rest of it.

The wall of ice lowered until Aclabar's neck was exposed.

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<I'm going to be gone for a little bit, so I'm an NPC. I will, however, leave you with this:>
Prosper immediately had the idea of running the Ogre through the neck with his spear, but thought against it, seeing as he was a mage.

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And there was an awkward moment of silence when no one said or did anything, including the ogre mage...
...
...
Until Eruantian had enough of it. "... So... Interrogation then?" he turned his attention to Aclabar "What have you done with Aurieul?"

Marcus sprung up and climbed onto the Ogre-Mage's head. "Yeah, where are the others? You don't want a Lizzardman thrashin' yer head up, do yeh?"

Aclabar said: "I ordered your friend Aurieul to be used as food for the Bugbears, but it seems she escaped. Later, I sent an Umber-Hulk to attack you, but I lost control of it and it went on a rampage that may have killed poor Aurieul. I don't know her fate for certain, though."

Chezzo said: "Um, sorry to interrupt, but Maxwell's hurt pretty bad, guys. Is one of you a healer?"

Captain Sealem said: "Horin, attend to Mister Maxwell. We will continue the interrogation here." Then, turning to Aclabar, he said: "I would know your motivation here, Ogre. Why did you amass an army of Bugbears, and why did you kidnap Aurieul?"

Aclabar positively growled in response: "Why, I want that ring, of course. with it's power I could become invincible. I would master the ring and turn it's powers to my service, and with those powers none would stand before me. Buwh ahaha ahaha!"

Maria shook her head: "That's not the whole story, though. You're holding something back. These doors are ancient, and their runes are cryptic. You would not have chosen this place for a base if it didn't hold some greater part in your plan. Besides, Prosper's talisman only protects him from Drowish magic, but it protected him from the Umber-Hulk. That means that a Drow, and not you, summoned the Umber-Hulk."

Aclabar smiled a toothy smile and said: "Ah, so the Paladin has brains as well as beauty. Yes, my dear, you are correct in that I have not told you everything. Hahhahah... Did you expect me to reveal all my plans like some tavern bard's story-villain? No! If you want to know why I chose this place and what it's for, then you will let me go."

Sealem pointed his sword directly at the center of Ogre's right eye: "You're not in a position to make demands here, villain. We decide what happens to you, and we will not bargain with you over it. Is that clear? If you won't tell us everything, then we'll extract your hidden plans forcibly! Mister Marcus, get Tem up here, on the double! I require his... special talents. I assure you, Ogre, forcible extraction of the mind is not pleasant. You may wish to reconsider your..."

The Ogre spat in Captain Sealem's general direction: "You don't frighten me, Elf! My mind is a fortress, and your pet Flayer will not break it. You can't hold me forever. I will be free. Free, I say. I will break these walls, and then I'll crush you like an insect for your impudence! Arrrrr!" Once again, the Ogre began pounding on the walls of his prison, but as before, the walls held.

Captain Sealem turned to the others and said: "Guard him well. If it looks like he's going to get his arms free, poke his eyes out. Let me know when Tem arrives"

Sealem came over to where Maxwell lay. Then to Horin he said, grimly: "Can you do anything for him, Horin?"

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<OOC> I sometimes imagine the voices of ogres to sound very much like Gantu from Lilo and Stitch, but when reading this...
I can't help but imagine Aclabar's voice being like that of the French Taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. </OOC>

Horin pulled the little tin that held the last bit of paste in it from his tunic. "Aye, he'll be fine, so long as I get some rest and can heal him soon enough. 'Tisn't too bad, really, but he'll be hurting for a while, even with the magic." He scraped what little bit there was left and put it in the center of the wound, knowing it wouldn't do much against the pain. "He should wake up fairly soon, if anyone has an extra outer garment, I would appreciate him having a pillow."

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Captain Sealem said: "Why not use his own bedroll?" He pulled Maxwell backpack off Maxwell's back, produced the bedroll, and examined it briefly. "Ah, good. Only a little burnt at the edges. His tent didn't fare quite as wel, though. Ruined." He nodded solemnly and put a hand on Horin's shoulder and griped it firmly but gently in a gesture of respect and friendship. and said: "Do what you can for him, Horin, and then get some rest yourself. You could use some rest, I think. Yes?"

That said, he turned back to the chamber where Aclabar the Ogre-Mage stood captive between walls of ice, and awaited Tem's arrival.

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"Aye, thank ye sir." Horin let the bedroll out, and then picked up one end of Maxwell, and set him on it, then his head. "When he wakes up, don't let him move too much." He said, before he went off and lay his own bedroll down, and fell asleep...

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Meanwhile, Acedia had been kind of...abandoned down in the Pit, and when Taryn didn't see her among the new arrivals, she'd quietly slipped back to said Pit to retrieve her friend.

"Hmm...How do we transport you without making you exceptionally vulnerable...?" Taryn wondered aloud, pacing back and forth before Acedia. "I mean, I can float or carry you pretty much indefinitely, you're not particularly heavy and your magic doesn't interfere with mine. But carrying you means that as soon as the situation becomes dangerous, we're both vulnerable."

"It's times like these that I really wish you would've opted for something useful like healing magic," Acedia replied with more than a little bit of ire in her voice. "Can you at least help me up so I can stand and hop around a bit? I've been sitting-slash-laying here for like...ever." Taryn helped Acedia up and supported her, but the hopping turned out to be a bad idea. "How about you just carry me for a while..." Acedia suggested. "Maybe put me in your little healing cell. Won't do anything for me but at least I'm considerably safer since your bag is indestructible."

"I don't know that I can put you in the healing cell, but I can carry you for a bit. Come on, we'll wait in the corridor - I think I've got some kind of chair-with-wheels in my storage. We'll have you taken care of yet."

And so Taryn made her way back to the entrance to the chamber of impending battle. Rather than try to seek cover in that bare room, Taryn just sat down against the opposite wall of the cave, looking through the door to know if and when she'd need to, say, run or generate some kind of shield, if possible. She wasn't even sure if she could do that anymore.

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get LOST

"...Not talking, eh? Well, have a taste of THIS!" Marcus punched the Ogre-Mage in the face.

[OOC: C'mon, I wanna see Marcus get magic-attacked!]

[GM's Note: She wasn't abandoned. Tem, Drek, Micheal, Quinn, Andrew and the unconscious eleven swordsman are all still down in the pit.]

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{ Blah. I'm calling that misunderstanding your fault for not keeping us all up-to-date on the positions of all 20-odd people that are now in the adventuring party. >| Tar went and retrieved Acedia anyway because nobody else cares about her. [/emo] }

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get LOST

[pokes Tem with a poking stick]

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