Power Word *what*?

[calair.livejournal.com]

My beloved readers will remember that when I broke off this narrative, we were in a lot of trouble. As a result of Seraphima's halfling instinct for grabbing shiny things no matter how dangerous, about half of us had ended up transported to Senwith's barracks, where we found ourselves in the middle of about thirty ogres and blueskin ogres, not to mention Senwith himself. (And Lerko the Wonder Kobold.)

Seraphima had promptly been grabbed, manacled, and thrown in a nearby cell; Maria and Myev were putting up a good fight against the ogres trying to capture them, but weight of numbers was beginning to tell. Kanaye and I had gone straight for Senwith; although we had at least succeeded in keeping him occupied for a while, and so making things easier for our companions, we did not manage to hurt him. Kanaye lay asleep at Senwith's feet, and I was turned into a rabbit and grabbed by one of the ogres, who threw me into a cage and carried me off to the lockup.

Dear readers, if you should ever find yourself transporting a harmless bunny rabbit who insists on nuzzling your fingers, you should first ascertain whether said bunny is, in fact, in the process of applying a particularly nasty contact poison. Still the prettiest. However, before the poison could take full effect, I was inside a cage in the lockup.

In all, then, only Maria and Myev were still in the fight, with Neil, Lars, Pip, and Cheleth soon to arrive. And we still had twenty-six ogres to deal with - highly-trained and well-equipped ones at that, not your run-of-the-mill ogre - and Senwith. To add to our woes, the others had managed to disturb something in the fountain which had brought us here, and it was beginning to bubble ominously.

CHELETH: "If there's a time to be reckless, it's now."

( And then... )