(OOC: Yeesh, I know I didn't go all out in killing the guy, but I would've remembered if I skimmed over a goblin using laser vision to melt the dude's brains. Also, since Gug is so out of it, one of you gets the pleasure of carrying him)

Gug was being carried and randomly twitched or muttered nonsense. "Stupid dwarf goat...oh hell no dwarfy, she's mine..."

Hakar looked with surprise down at the goblin he carried, shaking his head, "What a strange little group we are..." looking over his shoulder, he saw Litheril coming down the ladder into the sewers, "Hurry up, we don't have all day!"

Litheril started to say something, then a pair of green-skinned hands reached down from the top of the ladder, grabbing his hair. Strong, orcish arms tugged at him, joined by other reaching orcs. Hakar shouted, setting Gug down and drawing his sword. Charging back toward him, he suddenly heard Litheril shouting for him to get back.

An explosion shook the tunnel, rocks raining down from the ceiling...the hole, ladder, and a great deal of the tunnel had collapsed, destroyed by the blast. Hakar bowed his head, knowing nothing could have survived.

Hakar murmured a prayer spoken by his father's people over their honorable dead as far back as their history stretched, "He died with honor." the half-drow intoned the final words in the barbarian tongue, then turned away, picking up Gug again and continuing on down the tunnel...

The explosion knocked Gabriel off balance. He saw Hakar's solumn look, but the ringing in his ears drowned out his words. The last bits of rubble began to tumble to the floor barring any travel in that direction. His face turned deathly pale as he looked at the others in the group. Another one is gone... "Where's Talos and Laine?" he whispered, his mouth going dry.

Strong hands grabbed him under the arms and hauled him to his feet; Arkhon was gesturing at the tunnel, urging them to continue. Swallowing the cold hard lump that formed in his throat, Gabriel followed. He tried his best to ignore the dull ache in his heart, the one that had nothing to do with his broken ribs.

Jerick was having trouble moving. He was almost drained of all his energy, his right arm was useless, his left felt nonexistant, and he felt like not breathing just due to his broken ribs. All of these factors lead him to be a little more behind the others than Litheril when he was taken up by the orcs. Jerick didn't even notice either, which was something that he would be regretting soon.

When the bomb went off, Jerick, being the closest to the shockwave, was thrown into a wall. Even worse was that the brunt of the force was concentrated on one of his broken ribs. When he hit the ground, he immediately started gasping for air, but not enough was coming. When he tried to exhale, he ended up coughing instead of letting out a steady stream of air. Worst of all was there was a coppery taste in his mouth. It was blood, and it was starting to pool up on the ground as well. It was an obvious sign that one of the ribs had pierced one of his lungs, and he was half drowning in his own blood.

OOC: Ok, enough extreme injuries! Thank you, you all pass....level-up will be most rewarding for all.

IC: Hakar clamped a hand on Jerick's side, willing the cracked rib to move...pulling it from the lung as he sent power into the tissues, causing them to regenerate, ribs knitting. It wouldn't be an immediate healing, but it would keep Jerick alive, and would continue to heal him over time.

OOC: Yeah, if you didn't notice my earlier post, I noted that Metrius went around to some of the more seriously injured people, and did my best to heal them. Just letting you know, that means the elementals too, though I don't know if we were in one place long enough for me to heal all of you. DB, SAAM, what's the verdict on that?

IC: Metrius looked back in shock and horror at the now collapsed portion of the tunnel. "We've lost so many this day. Their sacrifices shall not be forgotten." He then turned and continued along the tunnel with the rest of the group, anxious to get back to the surface.

OOC2: I know I didn't mention it, though it seems obvious, but Metrius' stoneskin has worn off.

OOC: You're all mostly healed. Sore, battered, and bleeding a little in some cases, but alive and conscious.

*FF7 Victory Fanfare!*

You got: Verdict!

Ooc: Sorry about the inactivity, my family has been a group of computer nazi's these past couple days.

Ic: the solumn group of warriors paced through the sludge for what seemed to be hours, the rapidly moving water constantly threatening to knock them off balance. Finally they emerged at what seemed to be the midpoint of a waterfall.

"Here." Arkhon said as he slinked over to the edge overlooking the waters below. "There's a small path on the side here, it leads to the river down there and should be an good place to rest for a moment. Be careful though, the rocks are slippery."

Ooc: If anyone injures themselves while going down the path, I will personally see to it that you swords develop E.D.

Ic: As the group made their way down the path, Arkhon sent several of the soldiers who had made it out with them ahead to scout the area. Upon hearing their "all clear" whistle, he lead them the rest of the way down to rest by the pooling water at the base of the cliff. He and the other soldiers left into the forest to find healing herbs, leaving the Elementals alone with their thoughts.

Hakar sighed, shaking his head as he leaned against a boulder, "So...do we try and get as far away as possible? Or do we stay here and recover?" he closed his eyes, then added, "Personally, I want to go repay that bastard Ashtar as soon as possible..."

Sarin, who had not awakened that long ago, shook his head. "Stay and regroup for the moment, and then find a way to become the hunters rather than the hunted. After all, we're not dead and it's only a little while before they'll come for us again."

"What about Gwaethir? Is there any way we can regroup with him? I have a feeling he has a better idea as to what is going on than any of us do," said Metrius. Metrius was looking around at everyone, and could see how haggard all of them were. When looking around, however, he noticed something was missing. "Jechir, what happened to Flashblade?"

OOC: Edited for lack of content.

Gabriel starred at the calm waters farther upstream; looking deep into it's surface, almost watching his reflection change before him. The cartaurized wound stretched from the middle of his forhead, down over his eye, and down his cheek, just below nose level. His right eye had lost all pigment, obviously useless now. Looking down, he was covered in cuts and scrapes, his ribs were badly bruised as well. He cried out as he struck at the water, scuttling his reflection in the ripples and waves.

He heard as the others debated their course of action, and he was filled with emotions. Grief, hate, rage, fear, loss, guilt; it all pooled together in the back of his mind. Stop it! he thought as his mind started drifting back to the battle. There will be time enough to grieve later. They need you now.

Slowly he rose to his feet and walked to the others. "Indeed, Hakar. Ashtar has used us for his own petty means. We should pay him a visit and talk some sense into the bastard." He stopped for a moment. "But not now. Lord Gwaethir will be on his way back to his own territory now; the Avariel need to lick their wounds. Chances are that he thinks we're dead. If he believes this, he will most likely inform Ashtar of it; thus he won't be expecting us when we come. And the Orcs should not be a problem for us. They will either press onto the next Southern City, or be locked in combat with the Southern Army."

He looked out into the forest. "Still... Keep your ears and eyes open."

At the mention of his blade, Jechir reached down to his scabbard. It was empty. "Flashblade! No!" He looked back towards the sewers. He looked up to Gabriel. "My sword... it's... gone... Lost on the battlefield..." He was about to tear up. Flashblade, afterall, was his last memento of the Old Man from his youth. What am I going to do without Flashblade? It's been at my side ever since that day... Knowing that he couldn't throw a tantrum over a lost sword without alerting anything that could be hiding nearby to their presence, Jechir clenched his jaw and set his hands into fists, knuckles turning white. He quietly skulked behind Metrius.

OOC: Oh yeah, and his Blur effect is long gone by now, too.

"Gwaethir may or may not know what happened...we can't count on anything. Still, I say we go 'reason' with Ashtar." Hakar hefted his blade menacingly as he said 'reason', the dark look in his eyes expressing just how he planned to 'reason' with the Southern general, "A small group such as this has a better chance of getting to him than Gwaethir's army, after all."

************************************************** **********************

Jaral looked up at the setting sun. Through use of his magic, he had returned to Ashtar's citadel, and begun preparations to break the Avariel captive. If she was to be used in their plans, she must first be subdued.

"Wait Hakar" Said Mat. "If you want to confront Ashtar we need to rest first were all tired because of the battle, give us time to rest." After all, we want to be prepared in case Ashtar is expecting us." Said Mat shivering slightly that sort of thing had happened all to often during his travels. And supposedly in his grandfathers travels as well.

"Obviously...I didn't mean that we should go now. We'll rest, then set off tomorrow." Hakar said, "It's lucky that some of us, and the soldiers, remembered to bring packs with bedrolls...and food won't be hard to find with such skilled rangers at hand."

Sarin looked calmly at Jechir. "Then we will go claim your sword, for you're not well to do without one, after we've healed. Knowing orcs, they won't stay around too long, I do not think, for they'll have little use of Bastion after they're done pillaging it. You and I will go reclaim Flashblade and catch up with the others. After all, they've got Alec, still, so they can somehow puzzle out a way to survive in these woods." He sounded amused a little that Jechir would be so stricken about his weapon, and he didn't really want to go 'negotate' with Asthar anyway, exhausted from the magic use.