Brynn Shander

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The bugbear reached behind his back and threw the halfling on the ground. It raised its foot to stamp on the halfling. Berg rushed towards the bugbear and stuck his axe in its spine. Just then, he felt a spear pierce his armor and enter his side. He sunk to the ground.

"Argh, I think he got my liver!"

All went black.

 

Daren was then angry.

He grabbed his short sword from the ground and charged the bugbear. He sliced and stabbed rapidly at the bugbear's leg and foot. The bugbear howled in pain, and Daren stuck his short sword into the bugbear's groin. The bugbear stopped howling and fell to the ground, Daren jumping out of the way.

He pulled his short sword out and went after another one. But he stopped, noticing the dwarf on the ground.

"Wake up!! We have to fight!!" Daren said franticly. He patted has chest and legs, looking for potions. He found one in his chest pocket.

"Here drink this!!" Daren yelled, but then noticing the dwarf not noticing, poured it down his throat.

 

"Cough! Cough!" Berg woke up. His liver was burning with pain, but he was alive, somehow. He carefully pulled himself up with his double bladed axe. He took a step, but pain in his side made him drop it short. There were a few bugbears left, fighting with Bjorn and the halfling. He took two throwing hammers out of his belt and chucked them at the bugbears.

 

Daren, still in a rage, stuck his sword in a bugbear's buttock, and pulled it down the back of it's leg. He ran backwards, and started hurling stones, bigger than before, at the bugbear's head.

 

Cameron heard the noise and had jumped off the wall behind the bugbears he noticed one covering his head from missiles, Cameron got behind it and pierced it from behind right trough the heart. The bugbear slummped down so a rock hit Cameron in the shoulder. " Ouch " Another bugbear noticed him and chopped down with a tree limb right on his head. Managing to bring up his spear to block but it snapped in two and the limb followed trough and smash him on his iron bull hornned helm. Thankfully the helm saved him but he was still dazed. Through a blurred vision he saw the bugbear get ready for another strike, grabbing at something sharp he hurled it at its face. Roaring in pain the bugbear fell ontop of him before he fell unconsious he saw his half of a spear lodged in its face and the other end in his side. Then all went dark.

 

Jeibi heard something outside the weapons shop. He quickly bought a spear and ran outside.

 

Daren got hit in the head with a bugbear hand (paw?), and was bleeding profusely on his side. But he felt a strange anger, that made him keep fighting. He felt as though he was increasing his chances to see Garen again.

He decided then and there, to fight this army for Garen.

Daren took out his bow and arrows and retreated behind a barrel, to shoot at some heads.

 

Bleeding and bruised, Bjorn fought calmly on. He was a whirling dervish of destruction. Pieces of bugbear were flying everywhere. He ducked the swipe of a bugbear. Footing was treacherous and he slipped, which probably saved his life as a bugbear almost decapitated him.

There were only a few enemies left. He might survive to fight another day.

 

Berg threw an axe through the last bugbears skull, then stood breathing heavily for a moment. A long haired girl, or maybe it was a boy, how could you tell when they didn't have a nice beard? came running into the alley with a spear.

Pointing at the fighter who had fallen Berg said, "Youngen, go see if that man's all right." To the others he said, "Thank you all, Bjorn, and brave halfing, for coming to my aid. I don't think I could have stood against twenty bugbears all by myself."

He hobbled over to the last bugbear felled to retrieve his axe. Pulling it out of its skull, he noticed a fresh piece of parchment folded up in one of the bugbears pockets. He took it out and opened it up, looking flabbergasted.

"Bjorn, brave halfling, come look at this." He showed them the parchment. On it was an impossibly accurate painting of Berg standing in front of the town's walls, looking out towards the goblin army, with a big red X drawn through Berg's body.

"I remember this moment. I was standing under the south wall's tower, thinking about where best to place mines and where the goblin's avenue of approach would probably be, when I heard something skitter on the wall behind me, and turned to see a lizard." He looked closer at the painting. "Look! There's the lizard on the wall in the painting! How could any artist have seen that? And why would he paint the lizard, when all they needed was a picture of me to give to this hit squad? It must be magic. Bjorn, do you know anything of magic?"

He cautiously handed the paper to Bjorn.

 

Bjorn took the paper and examined it carefully.

"My magic is pretty basic. This is weird it looks as if someone took a picture of you. I've never seen anything like it."

He rummages around in his pack and pulls out a potion.

"Berg, you seem bad hurt. This potion will help. We should report this and get cleaned up. You seem to be targeted. So maybe I should stick with you. Besides you can teach me whatever I need to know to help you."

 

Cameron groaned slightly, his side seemed to be on fire propping up on his elbows he gritted his teeth and yanked out spear shaft. Fighting for conciousness he pushed the heavy body off of him. He stood up near by were two shorties and an elf. Cursing " Ugh my spear , damnit and taking off his helmet he noticed a horn had broken too. Scratching his head he felt warm blood. Again everything went black....

 

"Looks like that guy needs it worse than I do." Berg said, taking a step towards the fighter who had just collapsed again. "Oooh, maybe we'll share it." He drank half the potion, which instantly made him feel much better, then walked over to the man and helped him drink the rest of it.

"Youngen," he called to the long haired boy, he could see that it indeed was a boy, "help this man back to his bunk, he needs rest." To Bjorn he said, "Bjorn, I think you're right. Let's get this to the commander."

After making a report to Commander Furian about the attack seemingly aimed at killing him, Berg told his basic plan.

"The south wall seems to be the weakest point of defense. The crick outside of it and the rolling nolls give the goblins lots of cover on their avenue of approach, and the two towers don't have the best fields of fire from them, so they have a good chance of attacking from that direction."

"I want to mine a small tunnel, say four feet high by three feet wide, under the wall and almost out to the creek. Then we'll dig four small branches out to the right, and four to the left. I'll put small charges at the ends of each branch, and larger charges in the middle."

"Then we lure them in. Maybe we stage an accident on one of the towers, where a catapult or ballista catches on fire. If we have to use a real one for the ruse, okay, but if there is a mage who can make an illusion of it, so much the better."

"Once we have a sizeable force in between the creek and the walls, I'll light the fuses. I'll have them timed so that the outer branches go off first, killing some goblins, but driving most of them into the center, away from the explosions, and then the larger center explosions will go off, killing most of that force."

"That would be a perfect time to send out a sorty of cavalry or light infantry to rout anyone remaining. Of course, it won't finish off their whole army, but it might take out a division or two, and it shouldn't cost us much in the way of casualties."

"With your permission, I'll get my crew digging. Also, it would help if I got permission to requisition equipment and supplies and charge them to the army. I'm going to need lots of stuff for the blasting powder."

"I'll also need about fifty extra men for hauling dirt and rocks. The dirt we pull out of the tunnel we'll use to buttress some weak parts of the west wall, and the larger rocks we'll save for catapult missiles."

"If those orders seem fit to carry out, I'll get about doing them."

Berg noticed a small pool of blood that had formed while he was talking. "Damn, I'd better get my wound looked at first though."

 

" Sounds like an excelent plan Berg, if you pull this off I'll make you somewhat rich. Who long will it take? Cause I think the goblins will attack soon, I have scouts sending messages to the other towns for help but I don't know what they can send, and I need more men to go to the dwarves and the barbarians. I hope they'll send hope or were done for. The charges are sparse but you may be able to get anough. DIMISSED!"

He also hoped his wizard friend will help them not kill them. He went back to his mirrior and asked him again.

 

"Two days, maybe three. I'll get right on it."

Berg went to get his wound cared for, then got his crew started on digging.

 

Bjorn followed Berg, also got wounds taken care of. He listened carefully to everything Berg said but his eyes were constantly searching for danger.

 

Daren went back towards where he had left Georgia.

"Georgia, I sure did well for my first tim---" he stopped dead in his tracks.

Georgia was lying dead, with a bugbear's club in her gut.

Daren didn't say anything more, he just cried softly.

 

Cameron heard a sound of crying, believing it a female. He rushed to the aid and found a little halfling crying beside a dead pony. Crouching down beside the little man." What happened? " he asked. Cameron had a soft heart and was deeply saddened by the midget's grief.

 

"A bugbear killed my pony with its club.. no duh!" Daren said angrily at the man, "A bugbear must've threw it at one of us when we were fighting... but it missed and hit Georgia." Daren fell to his knees and hugged the bloody carcass that was once Georgia, then got up and hugged Cameron.

"Thank you."

 

" I'm sorry, " Cameron didn't know what else to say, so he stayed and comforted the halfling for quite awhile. Cameron remembered when he was a paladin and protected the innocent. Cameron felt inclined to protect this hobbit in the future.

 

Daren took an instant liking to Cameron for his gentle nature.

"I like you. Did I tell you my name?" Daren asked, now cheery, not one second before he was bawling, "My name is Daren Baggins, brother and student of Master Thief, Garen Baggins.. you must've heard of him, he says he's famous.. he's my hero.. but you are my hero too!!

I trained as a fighter under the training of the Rashemenian Ranger, uh.. Minsc. I am going to help you when we fight the nasty goblinses..ses..ss.. the goblins!" he said happily smiling, "What is your name? You look sttrrrooonng!"