Dudley stepped back as Crow came back out the small room. He watch the fellow charge to the attack of the creatures that entered the far end of the room. As Wembley ducked Dudley thought lucky for him as the mage loosed a plain of flame at the huge leader of the creatures.

Grabbing up his new mace Dudley prepared to back his fellows up if they so required. No need to rush in when the things were already being well met.

Wembley tucked and rolled out of the way of the ball and chain. "Wow!" he said, looking at the giant creatures before him. "You lot just get here? You look real tense. You should try the redhead... she looked like she'd be able to work out some serious knots... though, I'm not sure how you make the whole table thing work, given you height and all."

The cidal move his way over to the room with the redhead, firing off a stone at the creature in the lead, before ducking behind the curtain for cover. "Sorry, ma'am," he said apologetically to the masseuse.

Crow had his swords in hands so he moved forward to engage with the bugbear with sword and crossbow on back. The armour of his opponent turned his blade away from serious damage but he managed to draw blood with a upward thrust of the short sword between bands of armour. The bugbear howled angrily and attempted to take Crow's head clean off with a single swipe. The Syl dodged but not quite fast enough and took a blow that made his ears ring and a deep gash across the side of his head.

The Big Bugbear attempted to crush Wembley with his flail but the Cidal was too fast for him and he ended up spraying water everywhere with a wild swing. Wembley ran to the safety of the massage room.

Mal moved in to intercept the bugbear with shield and sword. The swashbuckler took advantage of the exposed flack and scored a deep cut across the leader's leg.

Gamard decide to use his new war hammer and move to put himself between the mage, the fleeing Cidal and the bugbear with shield that moved towards them. He easily dodged a blow from the creature and then dealt a hammer blow to the head that made the monster reel back in pain and shook. Just as it did, the burning hands from Alôndas hit it and the leader bugbear, causing fire to burn their fur and heat their armour.

Dudley drew his mace and called for luck from his god as he faced off against the Bugbear that just rang Crow's bell. He managed to make his presence known but the armour of the beast protected it from any serious damage.

OOC: Okay, so Mal, Dudley and Crow on one side face two while Alôndas and Gamard face two and Wembley is in the other room. Crow is has a serious wound.

Mal let his grimace slip a bit as his saber bit into the beast's leg, replaced by a determined snarl as he pushed in, meaning to get in past the chain's effective range and again slip his blade inside the goblinoid's defenses, muttering a silent prayer that he could avoid his opponents massive fists.

No, these monsters were powerful foes, and had to be dealt with fast, before they managed to do too much damage.

Alôndas smiled as his spell set fire to a couple of the creatures that moved his way; he took a step backwards keeping the Khord Cleric in front of him. He left the warriors do their thing and he would do his own. Gesturing and then pointing his finger making a ‘gun-like’ shape he snapped his thumb forward like a hammer and a dart of energy streaked unerringly from his extended fingertip toward the Khord Cleric’s opponent. (OOC: Magic Missile, targeted towards the one in front of Gamard).

And just like that things in this parlor of massage changed. Crow at once recognized the new enemy as Bugbears as he moved confidently to the attack long and short swords at the ready. His attack quick and to the point he was surprised as the creatures thick armor deflected his blows though he still scored a hit.

However the Bugbears return attack was quicker then Crow had thought possible and having misjudged it the Syl Ranger was unable to dodge it in time. Taking the strike across his head Crow took it full force causing him to stagger backwards, his ears ringing, and he himself slightly dazed.

Raising both swords having learned a valuable lesson he would have liked to stand his ground, but the parties shortage of fighter’s gave him no choice. Moving into melee once more Crow tried to hit and not be hit...........

Things were moving quickly and Dudley was sure he wasn't the fighter the party needed to save the day, but Crow needed help. He had already tried his mace and the Bugbear had hardly noticed. Rolling his thumb across his ring he hoped Sheilin would find it a fortunate situation that they were standing next to a pool. Looking up at the heavily armor Bugbear advancing on him the Cidal Cleric cast out the spell "Command" and spoke the word to the Bugbear, "SWIM"!

Alôndas fires a magic missile at the Bugbear with the shield that strikes unerringly and inflicts damage to the warrior that makes it flinch with all the other damage it had taken.

Garmard takes advantage of the distraction and hits the bugbear hard in the chest, causing it to fall to the ground, bleeding from mouth and ears.

Wembley puts his sling to use from the doorway of the massage room. As the big Bugbear leader steps forward with mace ready to smash Gamard out of his way, the Cidal's sling stone catches the monster dead between the eyes, causing it to step back in pain and surprise. But the pain is not enough to stop him and the Khord cleric takes a hard blow to his shoulder and flies through the air a few feet to splash down in the pool. The water starts turning red around him.

Mal attacks again with sabre against the shielded Bugbear on his side. He hits twice, good hard wounds that make the bugbear howl in pain but not enough to fall.

Dudley uses a command spell on the other, hoping to force it to swim. Luckily, the Bugbear us smart enough to understand the cleric but dumb enough that he can nor resist the mystic bidding of the cleric. He leaps into the water without thought, causing a huge splash. (The water is not deep enough for the Bugbear to drown).

Crow watched his opponent leap into the water and moves to attack the one on Mal. The Long sword drives deep into the chest of the bugbear and then with his short sword, Crow slashes the bugbear's throat - killing it instantly.

OOC: Two Bugbears are down, one definitively dead. Another one is swimming but will stand up next round. Crow, Mal and Dudley automatically have initiative next round, but will have to wade into water to attack. Alôndas, because you used Magic Missile (1 seg spell), if you choose to cast it again, you will attack first next round as well. However with Gamard in the water, the leader will attack Alôndas next.

Aryn - you did not post so I assumed you would continue to attack as you said in last post

Dudley watched as the armored Bugbear obeyed the command and leapt into the water. He thanked his Goddess for the good fortune. At least for a bit this would occupy the creature as it attempted to swim and ignored the battle.

Leaving only the large leader as an eminent threat. Dudley left that one to the better fighters and kept a watchful eye on the brut in the pool. If that creature seemed to shake off the spell he would meet it with his mace as it tried to pull itself from the water.

Seeing Gamard go down and now the Bugbear Leader turning in his direction; Alôndas mutters another spell and puts his hands together but this time in a cone shape as he aims it in the direction of the Leader.

“Right here Ugly,” the Syl says loud enough for the Leader to hear him hoping to draw him to look at the mage.

(OOC: Color Spray aimed directly at the leader, if any other opponents are in the area so much the better. He will aim it to try and avoid any companions that might be close to the spell area of effect.)

OOC: Thanks, Al. That's what I would have had Wembley do.
Wembley surveyed the scene from the cover of the massage parlour's doorframe. He snickered loudly at the sight of the giant creature trying to swim in the shallow pool, and yet intrigued at how Dudley knew the beast liked swimming. Huh... gonna have to ask him about that sometime.
Loading another stone to his hoopak, took aim at the nearest non-swimming foe while prattling on with the masseuse. "What of massages do you do? Could you massage my friends and I after we finish with these big guys out here? I think my neck is feeling a little tight. Do you ever have a tight neck? I would imagine giving massages all day would leave you really wound up. I think these big guys out here are really wound up! Oh! Hey! Maybe you could go out there and give them a massage. Oh! I bet they would really like you. Maybe it would help calm them down some, you know? My uncle always says..."

In the midst of the "conversation", Wembley fires the stone(s?) at his target.

OOC: While the conversation is meant to be mostly "prattle", I (as a player) am hoping that his questions to the masseuse might lead "her" to head out and "massage" one of the Bugbears like that massage robot in Wall-E. ... just putting it out there.

Mal holds his attack at bay as he watches his opponent jump into the water at the command of the cidal cleric. Considering following, the swashbuckler growls and remains where he stands, waiting for the beast to again come to solid ground.

((Short post, held attack. once it begins coming back out, Mal will attempt an attack of opportunity while it pulls itself from the water.))

The big bugbear come towards Alôndas with anger in his eyes and rage on its face. But that proves to be his undoing as he swings wildly, missing the Syl mage completely. The spell that Alôndas chose was a fast one, and with a quick incantation, he flashed bright scintillating colours into the creatures face. It reels backwards, stumbles and then falls unconscious to the ground at the Syl’s feet.

Loading another stone to his hoopak, Wembley took aim at the bugbear who had fallen as it was moving qand attempting to bring a potion out of its pouch. He fired at the creature while prattling on with the masseuse. "What of massages do you do? Could you massage my friends and I after we finish with these big guys out here? I think my neck is feeling a little tight. Do you ever have a tight neck? I would imagine giving massages all day would leave you really wound up. I think these big guys out here are really wound up! Oh! Hey! Maybe you could go out there and give them a massage. Oh! I bet they would really like you. Maybe it would help calm them down some, you know? My uncle always says..."

The Masseuse only repeats her usual response that he heard when he entered. The first stone that Wembley shoots is fired just as the Bugbear brings the flask to its lips. The stone shatters the ceramic container and the blue liquid splashes on the floor. He does not wait and quickly fires another that hits the monster in the forehead and the bugbear collapses as still as his leader beside him.

On the other side, the swimming bugbear leaps up out of the water in surprise and roars with displease. He slogs a charge through the water towards Mal and Crow but the two warriors are on him before he can clear the pool. Between the two of them, they deflect his blows and end its life.

The battle is over but Crow is wounded and one of your clerics lies still, face down, in the pool that is turning red now from the blood.

OOC: Two are dead (Mal, Dudley and Crow side) and the other warrior is near dead while the leader is only unconscious.

The little mage gave a slight squeal of delight as he watched his stones hit their mark. Absently, he continued his conversation with the masseuse as he surveyed the scene. “Well, ma’am, I guess he won’t need a massage after all... unless he wakes up. Then he’ll definitely need you to ice that temple of his. Do you do head massages? I bet that would feel grea...”

Seeing the dwarf’s still body in the pool, Wembley cried out, “Garmard!”

Sloshing through the water to his fallen comrade as quickly as his little legs could carry him, the cidal turned the dwarf’s body over to allow him air. “Garmard, come on now,” he said gently. “Battle’s over. You want a massage? The lass is all ready at the table...” Wembley’s eyes looked around helplessly to his other comrades, resting finally on his kin. “Dudley, quick! Help me!”

Alôndas sighed as he glanced around and saw all their opponents were down. He knew the leader that had been felled by this color spray was only unconscious; he started to say that someone should attend to Garmard when he saw Wembley splash through the water to the Cleric and then yell for Dudley to assist him.

He then quickly stepped over to the Bugbear leader and threw away his weapons, but first he used the creature’s dagger or other blade to cut strips from its clothing. He used the strips to bind the creature’s arms and legs tightly; making sure to bind its arms behind it, at the elbows as well as the wrists.

Once it was secured, he would search the leader for anything useful or interesting; he hoped to find some kind of information about this place or even these creatures and what they were doing here.