Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Armand thwaps the spider again in the head, and this time one of its eyes crack and dim. Armand's second hit whacks the creature's carapiece, but fails to cause any damage. However, his third hit causes a substantial cracking that chain-reacts and causes the spider to be covered with cracks. The spider's own crystal shard counters fail to pierce Armand's barrier, and Deunan sets up for some long range capabilities.

The spider slashes across Armand, a blow he ducks under easily, and the spider dashes across towards Deunan. Armand swings Caduceus, but actually misses the spider's agile movements as it rapidly closes the gap between it and Deunan.

"Go ahead." Renshiir's voice says in a resigned tone.

The Spider fled, moving for Deunan, the weaker, and wounded member of the trio, even as Armand healed once more (5). The thing was baiting them to attack it, and Armand had a sneaking suspicion as to why. "Deunan, This is for your own protection!" He calls, taking a five foot step back as he Casts an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on Deunan. Deunan drops her guard reflxively, letting the orb encase her, angered that she cannot fight, but trusting in her friend. Resigned, she slings her bow and once more uses cure light wounds from her wand.

Meanwhile, Armand is already feverishly rushing through a quickened spell, the 4 magic missiles flying end over end unerringly to strike the spider.

"You want it, you got it!"

Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Armand, suspicious of the death knell of this particular creature, creates a protection of force around his weakened ally, and deals the deathblow.

Time slows as the missiles all hit the spider simultaneously. Suddenly, from the cracks in the spider's body, an immense red glow shines through as the spider laughs, still using Renshiir's voice. The red light intensifies and the spider explodes. Volleys upon volleys of crystal shards, needles, arrows, and even ones the size of javellins fire in all directions from the core of the spider. Armand twists and swerves, his body straining to avoid the most of the resultant firework, but he is still pierced a multitude of times by the deadly crystals. (-30 hp Armand)

The explosion also has a light component, nearly blinding for Armand and Deunan as their vision is obscured by pure red. When their vision returns, they are positioned right where they were before, in the Hylon Forest. With a burst of white light, the Mark of the Collectors vanishes from Renshiir's back, although that is not exactly the biggest concern at the moment. Embedded in Renshiir's back is several javelins of the crystal spider's body, and she looks very pale as her blood sinks into the soil below her.

(Renshiir is in the negative hit points, but is alive, if barely)

Dropping the Sphere of Potection around Deunan, and blinking thee stinging sensation from his eyes, Armand seaches deep within and brings out the ability for everyone to heal themselves more rapidly. Lessor Vigor Mass (gives Fast Healing 1 to Deunan and Renshiir for 20 rounds) Deunan too, Places her wand to Renhiir's back letting the curative powers push out the projectiles impaling her.

Waiting, as Renhiir gain's conciousness, Armand eases her to a sittig position.

"There now, breathe easy, you're free."

(He's hoping she'll be a bit more compliant now as Armand watches over her, slowly healing his wounds)

Outskirts of the Hylon Forest
Unmapped Area
Three Hours before Twilight
The battle with the spider, in a semi-plane of sorts, broke the flow of time around the party. When the party returns to the forest of Hylon, it is further into the evening.

Renshiir's breathing steadies, and the crystal javelins fall to the side, and Renshiir lets Armand get her into a sitting position.

"There now, breathe easy, you're free."
"I'm... really free?" She asks, the words lighting a hope in her eyes that had been long forgotten, "Thank you!"

Renshiir sighs, feeling the pain in her back, "Ow... what happened? Well, it doesn't matter now... I am so indebted to you." Her voice fades slightly, out of habit, used to being silent. She reaches up, grabs Armand and gives him a huge hug and a kiss to follow.

Sheepishly, she lets go and blushes. "I don't even know if I can explain what you've done for me." She says, "I am-was basically a slave of that organization."

Armand braced himself as she lunged forward and hugged and kissed him. He was a saint afterall, and women often threw themselves before him, but this, this was different. Certianly her affections were out of gratitude, but he appreciated them none-the-less.

"I had not seen such a contingency or mark as that before, it was truely diabolical. I am truely glad we were able to remove it."

Deunan piped in as well. "I hate Spiders."

"So the Dark Collectors do exist, Caduceus quirked."

"And judging by the capability of their methods to keeping their secrets just that, they are a formidable organiation indeed. While I'm sure you'd rather leave the entirety of those memories far behind you miss, anything you can lend us in the form of information is greatly appreciated."

As Armand spoke, Deunan had picked up one of the crystalline javelins, and was inspecting it curiously.

Outskirts of the Hylon Forest
Unmapped Area
Three Hours before Twilight
"And judging by the capability of their methods to keeping their secrets just that, they are a formidable organiation indeed. While I'm sure you'd rather leave the entirety of those memories far behind you miss, anything you can lend us in the form of information is greatly appreciated."
The crystal javelin in Deunan's hand is rather peculiar, not exactly designed to be used as a weapon, but rather deadly regardless. Deunan isn't an expert in crystalology, but she can tell that this crystal is a high quality material, and quite strong.

Renshiir bites her lip, "I'm afraid in that I can't help as much as I'd like. You see, to them I was just a pawn, and pawns aren't told much. However, there are some things I can tell you."

Renshiir sits in a cross-legged position and continues, "The Dark Collectors is a terrible organization. I am just one of the many people, usually killoren, they breed to do small bits of work. That Mark you removed is put on every one of us. Depending on what we're to do, we're trained to infiltrate, spy, steal, or I don't even know, maybe even assassinate. We have no choice at all; we either do it, or we are made to do it, and if we're incapable, we die. If we even form a sentence in our mind to tell anything, we die. I've seen it happen. The Mark glows blood red, visible through even armour, and it must get very very hot, for it causes the person to burst into flames. They are basically boiled alive, using their own blood, and the flames reduce their bodies to ash, but that's not all that happens. After the body is burnt, the Mark, which is still hovering where they were, turns pitch black, and lines of black form a cage that trap some sort of blue mist inside of them. It grows smaller, to the size of a gemstone, which is pitch black, and then it vanishes. Absolutely nothing remains; the fire is even hot enough to destroy bone."

Renshiir takes a deep breath, and continues, "I don't know what the uppers of that organization do, but there's two main people I've heard that are in charge. One is always called the Dark Prosecutor, and he is an enforcer. From what I heard, he's the one who puts that mark on us, and he makes sure everyone knows and follows the rules. If you don't know, he'll kill you without blinking, not that you can even see him blink; he always wears a pitch black obsidian mask to hide his identity. However, even he bows to the head of the Dark Collectors, and he is only ever referred to in whispers as the Archangel of Annihilation. We never even get to see him, assuming it's a he of course. Everyone else apart from those two is generally one of their slaves. No one in that organization is free to do anything, except for the Archangel of Annihilation, and what he decides is what happens. He holds that organization together with a fist harder than heavily enchanted adamantine. There was even one brief rumour at one point that he actually holds the physical heart of the Dark Prosecutor in his possession, just so he could be sure the Dark Prosecutor could not cross him."

Renshiir takes another deep breath, and sobs. Saying everything quickly helped, but clearly the memories might as well have been eternal hell.

Aqinarr's Soldier's Barracks
Training Hall
Six Hours before Twilight
Wind and Wood... two forces that often stood against one aother in nature now stood in a contest now, in two people. Yin had succeeded in striking the first blow, but the fight was far from over.

Willow sways to the left, and Yin follows her movements in expectation. However, it is from Willow's right arm that the strike comes, smooth and powerful, hitting Yin's shield arm fairly hard. Yin twists to counter the right, and leaves himself open for the left, which catches him against the shoulder. Now onto his opponent's moves, Yin catches the next strike on his shield and parries the final with his own strike, which fails to bypass Willow's blade. Yin then brings his blade around, but it is caught in the crossing of Willow's blades and blocked.

Recoiling swiftly, Yin raises his shield again to block the next two blows, and parries one thrust with his own. His thrust is too heavy, and carries him a fraction of an inch too far, which gives Willow the chance on his recovery to do a quick sweep against his leg. Yin winces, but then thrusts strongly, and even though the blade is caught in the crossing of Willow's own, it catches her at the shoulder.

The two warriors return to their starting stances. Willow's breath comes in a long and steady pattern, whereas Yin is showing signs of fatigue; his breath comes in uneven bursts. Willow slashes across Yin's leg again as he raises his shield a fraction of a second too late. Her second blow is expertly blocked by Yin's blade, and he bends the sword to the side. Too far, he left himself open. Willow takes her one blade and catches Yin off guard, slashing across his jugular before he could recoil. Yin gasps at the pain, but easily blocks Willow's final hasty motion. Recovering, Yin's eyes hold a dangerous look as he slams his blade down against Willow's two, the sensation jarring her hands. He pushes further, and somehow the blade slips between Willow's two blades, and he cleaves across her own torso, the blade slipping between the sections of the breastplate to reach the soft body underneath. Willow recoils, her breath coming slightly more ragged, but still steady, as she parries Yin's last strike.

The two warriors recoil from each other, as they return to a good stance. Yin's breath is now swift, unsteady, and his sword is shaking slightly in his grip. Willow, on the other hand is still well off, breathing a bit quicker, but with her two blades still poised in a perfect stance.

(summary, Willow is at 28 nonlethal, Yin looks not-so-good, and doesn't look like he can take a lot more)

Armand, Deunan and Caduceus listened intently as Renshiir dove into the troubled and pain filled memories of her past, lending what meager information she could. As she mentioned the Dark Prosecutor, Armand envisioned more the look of some evil executioner, black veiled face and a massive axe or scythe striking terror into everyone’s hearts by its vile ways. It was the Archangel of Annihilation however that truly got Armand riled up. As Renshiir finished the terrible tale, and as she falls into sobs, Armand cannot help but lean forward and bring her wavering form into his chest, where she may cry freely.

“There there, it’s ok, you’re free now. Deunan, Caduceus here and myself will stay with you for the night, and if you need money, we can bestow enough to let you start a new life for yourself. Pushing her away only long enough to gaze into his radiant green eyes which were illuminated by some otherworldy essence, he smiled warmly. And on that note, my name is Armand Amaranth, First Knight to the Guardians of Twilight.”

Caduceus chuckled. The title is a bit presumptuous considering the entire order only has three members, and one of them isn’t even capable of fending off a playful mutt with some blind ignorance to things of superior nature to itself, Hmph!”

Armand ignored him, and turned back to Renshiir. If you can tell us where it is you worked, or came from, any lead that will take us closer to the heart of this organization, then it is I who would be eternally grateful, for the closer I am to the heart, the better my chance of ripping it out and watching the body falter and crumble without direction and strength from its core.”

(allowing her response)

“We can travel a bit more towards town, or set up camp here for the evening, but let this evening’s rest free you from your burdens of the past, for on the morrow, your life begins anew.”

Deunan, set the javelin’s in the straps of her pack, perhaps if appraised they might fetch something material of value to repay their expended energies, time, and resources.

Fonhinqann
Gladiator Chamber B
Five and Three Quarter Hours before Twilight

Manalagna Hammer began sorting his belongings and choosing what he would take with him to the arena.

At least Tenarr had been truthful regarding the nature [or unnatural as it were!] of what the Dwarven Druid would be up against.

"First off, she seldom hits her opponent; it's the opponent's weapons she always hits, at least once. Quite a few challengers have stormed back here after a fight with her, quite angry that their weapon has been cleaved in half. A few even asked me to fix it, but I haven't learned to fix weapons; I can only try to make a few."
He had also noted from the attendant that the fighting style of Xira was bizarre and that if Manalagna Hammer valued his life he would do his best to avoid contact with her killing blow!

Manalagna chose his weapon and fighting gear and left the remainder in good faith that Tenarr would watch and keep his gear from disappearing. No matter what happened during the Sand Dance.

"That's another thing that everyone who's fought her was muttering about. Something about how she just touches you with one of her hands and you feel sick."
"Then I had best not let her touch me!"
"Of course, I'm not supposed to be telling you this. It's against arena protocol, so if you could forget that it came from my mouth, that'd be good; there's no need to get me fired."
"No need for you to worry about that ... lad ... your secret is safe with me!
Manalagna Hammer appreciated the friendly warning and information that Tenarr was providing him ... especially about the two scythe weapons Xira would carry on the battlefield and her intent to kill her opponents!

"As long as she's using the first scythe, you're OK. As soon as she uses that scythe that's over her shoulder... I suggest you don't let her hit you with that, because with that scythe she always goes for the kill, and even Fahinn has a harder time stopping that blade from finishing its opponent."
"I would suspect as much from Xira ... and Fahinn does seem to look a bit worse for wear ... so I will try to remember your secrets during the heat of battle ... for which I will reward you for your honesty ... when I return!"
Manalagna Hammer made his final selections and hands Tenarr the 4sp that remains to his name as a tip for the tips!

"These are the last four pieces of silver that I have in my possession ... guard my gear ... and I will make it worth your while when I collect my winnings!"

Manalagna Hammer excuses himself as he makes his way to the arena to have a final word with Ken before the Sand Dance with Xira begins!

As Manalagna Hammer made his way to his appointed time of battle, he pondered about whether or not he had made the right choices about what he had brought with him to confront Xira ... and what he had chosen to leave behind in the Battle Chamber.

He wondered if his two Throwing Axes would have been a wise choice to use to parry against the Scythes of Xira ... but they were secure in their appropriate place in the Exotic Riding Saddle with his Faithful Mount Takas.

And what about those 10 ShortSpears ... would they have proven useful this day? But again ... they too were secure with Takas.

There was no use thinking about the usefulness of the 5 Quivers of Javelins that held 6 Javelins each ... for they too were in their proper place ... also with Takas.

Manalagna Hammer had chosen to leave his Druid Vestments, Healers Belt, Holy and Mistletoe, his Wand of Cure Light Wounds, his Spell Component Pouch and his Healers Kit with the rest of his possessions in the care of the young ... but trustworthy ... attendant.

His most difficult decision was the choice of weapon to bring with him ... and which one to leave in the Battle Chamber with the rest of his possessions.

After some deep thought ... and soul searching ... Manalagna Hammer had decided to leave his +1 Mouldering QuarterStaff with his Druid Vestments and his other belongings ... choosing to bring his trusty +1 Flaming Scimitar that activated whenever the Dwarven Druid either whispered ... or shouted ... "Flamer!"
He wore his Rhino Hide plus his Ring of Sustenance ... and carried his Caster's Shield [currently having Cure Light Wounds on it] on his left arm ... with his Amulet of Natural Armour +2 secured in its proper place to provide the maximum protection!

The Dwarven Druid strode confidently to the Battle Arena ... satisfied that what he had brought with him from the Battle Chamber would suffice ... but there was yet the possibility of one more item to use ... depending upon the state of mind of its possesser!

When Manalagna Hammer had located the Charismatic ... and Buffish ... Orc Announcer ... Manalagna Hammer strode boldly up to him and declared, "Greetings Ken! May I Use Your GreatSword To Battle Xira?"

Outskirts of the Hylon Forest
Unmapped Area
Three Hours before Twilight
"If you can tell us where it is you worked, or came from, any lead that will take us closer to the heart of this organization, then it is I who would be eternally grateful, for the closer I am to the heart, the better my chance of ripping it out and watching the body falter and crumble without direction and strength from its core.”
Renshiir bites her lip, stopping the flow of her tears as she replies, "I honestly don't know anything about that. I can only guess that I was underground when I was trained, since there was no sun; everything was vaguely lit by torches that seemed to burn no matter what you did to them. When I was sent here to do my work, the Dark Prosecutor just sent me. I don't even know how he did it, of if it was indeed he who did it. One second I'm in this whirling of light and colour thinking I'm going to die, and the next I pop up in this forest, just outside the city gates of Hylon."

"As for where I worked..." Renshiir murmurs, guilt written all over her face, "I was a spy, and was to gather information on Hylon's government's decisions. I would write what I found out in a very very meticulous report once a week with an incredibly neat format and handwriting. No one ever came to collect it; it would've just disappeared by the next morning, sometimes in the hour I wrote it. If it wasn't in exactly the proper format or I smudged a single letter or they thought I didn't find out enough..." Renshiir shudders.

"Needless to say, I learned how to write calligraphy quite quickly." Renshiir quickly finishes.

“We can travel a bit more towards town, or set up camp here for the evening, but let this evening’s rest free you from your burdens of the past, for on the morrow, your life begins anew.”
Renshiir nods, but then her eye is caught by the glimmer of the crystal javelins. "Where did those come from?" She asks intently, "Can I see?"

(presuming Deunan gives her one to examine)

"Oh wow! I've never seen crystal like this before!" Renshiir says, noting how the crystal refracts the light from Armand's glow and what little sunlight there is to produce an entire spectrum of colours. Furthermore there are little blue sparkles within the crystal itself.

"This is an incredibly dense material, probably very hard." Renshiir muses as she tilts and rotates the javelin-like shape of crystal in her hands, looking at it from all angles, "I don't think there's many people who could work with this if I'm right... and I'm pretty sure I'm right."

Renshiir examines the crystal in her hands intently, seemingly looking for something, with the air of a craftsperson.

Fonhinqann
Gladiator Arena
Five Hours before Twilight
The announcer Ken turns to face the dwarf, and with a boisterous laugh he claps the dwarf on the shoulder.

"Why of course!" the orc says, laughing, "We cannot leave you with just a small blade now can we? This blade may look pretty, but it still is a blade, and a fine one at that. If Xira cleaves it like the other blades she's cleaved, that's hardly a loss as well; Tenarr makes beautiful blades, people just don't give the lad enough credit! Or time!"

Still laughing the orc plunks his greatsword blade first into the sand in front of Manalagna, the handle left at the perfect height for him to grab.

(The greatsword is a Medium sized Masterwork Greatsword. The following is at the sound of the gong which signifies the incidence of the battle... the announcing part of it anyway)

Ken, as charismatic as ever, stands in the center of the arena, waving to the crowd. Manalagna is positioned to one side of the arena, approximately 50ft from Ken. Xira has not shown up yet, but her starting position is marked 50ft from Ken in the other direction.

"My friends!" Ken roars to the crowd, immediately causing it to silence, "We are here now to witness this extraordinary event! Tremble in awe of these two warrior's powers!"

"But there's only one here!" Someone from the crowd retorts.

Ken visibly sags slightly, shaking his head towards Xira's chamber, before suddenly righting himself and stomping forward to shake his fist at the offending person, "Have you not seen Xira fight?! Where is your honour?! Where are your manners?! She will be here when the battle begins! She is always here when the battle begins! Never sooner or later!"

This response seems to shut the one person in the crowd up.

Seeing a hint of black coming along the side of the arena, the announcer begins anew, "Where in the world did this power come from?! How is this kind of strength possible?! Come and take your place in the arena!"

Xira walks forward to her starting location, now clad in black full plate armour, however, the armour has no guantlets, and she is not wearing a hood or helmet. Her bandaged hands contrast sharply with her armour, and cradled in her arms almost protectively is a polished metal scythe. As Tenarr said, on Xira's back there is a second scythe, this one covered in bandages not unlike how her hands are covered. Her long, black hair cascades over her shoulders, and her empty, dark brown eyes simply glare ahead at Ken and Manalagna. She mutters something unheard by Manalagna, although he can guess that it is along the lines of "Spare me the theatrics."
"Behold, the champion Xira! Wielder of the Chaos Scythe and the Black Scythe! Just look at that determination! Nothing will stop her from securing victory!" Ken continues, now on a roll.

"Now, onto the challenger, the wanderer Manalagna Hammer! Wielder of the Volcano's Might and the Earth's Grandeur! Look at those eyes! Is this the burning will that will take Xira down?!" Ken roars, taking in all the excitement of the crowd and returning it tenfold.

Already the crowd has decided to take sides, with about half cheering "Hammer! Hammer!" and the other half cheering "Xira! Xira!" with both cheers sounding on the same two beats.

Ken stomps on the ground, causing a podium of sand to lift him to his announcing platform on the side of the arena between Xira and Manalagna, facing the center.

"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" Ken roars as he actually punches the huge gong behind him, sending a very loud reverbating note throughout the arena.

Willow draws back for a momentary pause, clearly the least suffering Warrior. She could feel sweat beginning to form on her brow and under her armor. Also her body began to ache from the dulled blows, though as for that she knew the blows dealt by her hand were far more punishing then those landed on her body.

With this in mind, she takes advantage of the lull to speak, "Stop. You are good at what you do, but surely you realize that will not last much longer. We don't need to beat each other senseless to prove anything so I suggest we quit for today." As she makes her speech she signals with her body language by allowing the points of her swords to dip toward the ground slightly, showing a halt in the agression.

He has improved and is probably more than a match for the others at these Barracks, but to continue would only serve the brutal purpose. I hope he is not too proud to accept peace. Of pride comes much foolishness.
Despite her irenic intent, Willow has not completely put down her offensive, in the event that Yin is unable to listen to her reasoning. Should he choose to continue the sparring match, she will return her attacks, albeit at a slower rate (that is, only 2 attacks per full-round action, in lieu of all 4)

Aqinarr's Soldier's Barracks
Training Hall
Six Hours before Twilight
"Stop. You are good at what you do, but surely you realize that will not last much longer. We don't need to beat each other senseless to prove anything so I suggest we quit for today."
Yin growls at the statement, and for a second it looks as though he is about to attack, until Willow sees the grin on his face. Laughing helplessly, Yin lets the sword slide out of his grip, and he slumps to the floor.

"You win again! Of course." Yin says, still laughing.

After a moment, Yin stops laughing, and then he sighs, "Ugh, I need more practice... but first, I have a present for you. I'll give it to you in your room after I give my body a slight rest. Give me an hour I guess."

Yin jumps to his feet, sheathes his blade in the practice sheath, puts it away where it came from, and limps slightly as he walks away.