You are in the final wrap-up stages of your spell research. "Diana’s Diligent Defender" seems to be working fine now, but you are now experimenting with the nuances of the spell. Due to this you are still staying up in Neworion.

You are thankful that the local time in Neworion is the same as the local time in Jurgenville. (Somebody here tells you it is because the original Neworion was north of where Jurgenville was located.) It makes coordinating activities with the party back in town easier.

It is about 8:00 in the morning. You have just finished a rather refreshing breakfast of fresh fruit and a strange bread from Waterdeep called ‘sourdough’. That is another great thing about Neworion - it is linked to many places all over Faeurn, so you can always get fresh fruits and vegetables.

You are walking towards the Library when you sense something strange. You stop, wondering what it is. With a start you realize the small coin given to you by Tessalynne is vibrating. The signal! Jurgenville must be under attack.

You rush back towards one of the portals, trying to get back to town as quickly as possible. The guards at the portal are puzzled by your haste, but you are allowed to go to the front of the line to get back to town.

You step into the transfer cubical, wait until the light changes color, and then step out on the opposite side - into the small portal room in the Mage's Guild in Jurgenville. You can hear the town's alarm bell ringing and the muted sound of people running around outside.

It is now about half an hour after the initial warning. Matar has become commander of all forces in Jurgenville. Sane and Diana are helping him out. Nikki is on her way.

In the main room of the Watch center Matar is studying a map with the few Watchmen remaining in town. As they are doing this one of Athena's knights comes stomping in. He stops and salutes. "I bring news from the battle!" he begins. "Sigurd and the cavalry have arrived. They are going to make contact with Cobul to combine our forces. The situation was desperate when I left, but on my way back I passed several groups heading toward the fight, the main one lead by Captain Tessalynne. Now, can I get back to the fighting?"

Matar shakes his head. "I'm afraid Tessalynne might have left the town short-manned in her eagerness to engage the enemy outside of the city limits. You are one of only two horsemen I have, and I'll need you to run messages back and forth. I'm sorry, but right now I need your horse's legs more than I need your sword."

The knight looks disappointed but salutes and goes outside to take care of his horse and await further orders.

Matar looks at the map and wonders what he should do know. Tessalynne should be able to stop the monsters outside of town, but what if she can't? And what if some slip through elsewhere?

"Sane," Matar says "I need a better picture of what is going on out there. Can you overfly this whole area? I suspect what while Tessalynne is facing their main thrust, there may be other groups heading our way. Find them for me!"

Sane nods and heads outside. He takes off, heading towards the column of smoke to the north.

As time drags on several more people show up at the Watch center. Laila comes in, accompanied by a serious-looking soldier. "I am here to help out in any way I can" she tells Matar. This flusters Matar a bit. Ordering soldiers around is one thing. Telling this powerful figure what to do is another. "Ah, just do what you think is best for now" he replies.

About ten minutes later Diana comes into the Watch center carrying a small box. She explains that she has a crystal ball to use. "Is anybody in the party out with the fighting? If so, I should be able to find them and from there be able to view the battlefield."

"Yes," Matar replies "Sigurd is out there. Try and find him."

"Ari is out there too" Laila says. Matar looks up in surprise. "She went to join that initial company. I'm worried about her. Could you check on her as well?"

Matar takes Diana into Tessalynne's office. Laila and her guard follow. Diana carefully takes the crystal ball out of its fur-lined case and places it on a stand. She closes her eyes and concentrates on Ari's face. She then opens her eyes and looks deep into the crystal ball.

The center of the ball grows milky, then it starts swirling around. Diana concentrates harder and the mist begins to fade, replaced by Ari's face. Diana mentally pulls back. You all see Ari kneeling on the ground. She is covered in blood. You can't tell if it is hers or not, although you can see numerous cuts all over her body. She has obviously seen combat today. Around her in the mud and snow you see dozens of bodies. Some are moving, some lie still. Ari is tending to one of them. She is being helped by two other men. "Tran and Iandas" Laila tells you. "Praise Athena they are all still alive."

"How about Sigurd?" Matar asks. Diana changes her concentration and finds the holy warrior. He is mounted, and around him is his small squad of knights. Diana pulls back and you are all soon able to see the entire valley. The militia has formed a line 3/4ths of the way back in the valley. Between there and the half-way point the ground is covered in blood and bodies. Squads of knights sweep back and forth in front of the militia lines, trying to keep most of the humanoids at bay, allowing the militia to slowly retreat. The militia company has obviously taken heavy losses, but they are managing to hold their ground with the help of the knights.

"Where is Tessalynne?" Matar asks. "She should be there already!"

Diana refocuses once again. This time it is much harder to "find" her target, but eventually she does. Pulling back you are all relieved to see that she is about to lead her forces into the small valley. In addition to the three companies of Jurgenville militia she rode out with she has also hooked up with the Sheriffs from the demi-human side. All in all she has at least 200 warriors at her command with heavy cleric and light mage support.

Matar nods as he stands back up. "Good, it looks like we'll be able to blunt their main attack, but I'm still worried about other thrusts. Can you find Sane?"

Diana quickly finds the Kenku. You see that he is still airborne, but heading back to town. You all leave Tessalynne's office and head outside to meet him.

<You were right, Matar> Sane tells you when he enters the room. <Most of them are heading into the small valley. Our large force should be getting there about now. But there are two more forces heading this way. One is coming down almost directly north of town. It is made up of orcs and gnolls, at least five score. Another is right now attacking the Sembian Tower at the east end of the valley. If they destroy it they'll have an easy walk up the road - right into town. I can't help but wonder if the Cormyrian Tower is under attack as well.>

As Sane makes this announcement Nikki walks into the room. "Ah, I see I'm not as late as I thought" she says. "I thought I would be the last one here. Where are the others?"

The other three just look to her and then back to the map.

Decision time!

Sane is fairly sure this is all the large forces out there, unless there is another group to the west. So, Matar, Diana, Nikki, and Sane, what do you do?

Diana, do you keep playing with the crystal ball, or do you head out to help in the fighting somewhere? If so, where?

You change your concentration again, this time thinking about Castinar. The party hasn't heard anything from him since the initial warning. It takes a while to focus, but you eventually find the ranger. Unfortunately he is still in the tunnels under Dragonspeak and most of the crystal ball is dark. You can faintly make out several figures moving around. With some relief you see that both Castinar and Shadow are alive. However, Castinar's clothing is strangely scorched and the flesh on his hands and face seems to reflect the faint light somewhat.

Now the image of Sane comes to your mind. The kenku has proven invaluable in detecting the various attacks around the city. When the crystal ball clears it reveals the party leader flying high over the valley, heading westward toward the Cormyrian Tower. It is hard to see from this distance, but it appears as if the tower is still under attack.

Katrina is your next stop. You find the cat-woman in Jondon's store, taking several quivers of arrows from behind the counter. She also takes a second bow as you watch.

Finally you focus in on Matar and Nikki once again. They are now over in the common room of the Glowing Helm, speaking to a group of skeptical looking dwarves. Matar is trying to convince them to help him. They don't seem to be swayed by his arguments until Detee steps in and pretty much orders half of the dwarves to accompany the warrior. This surprises you a bit. You didn't think of Detee as the leader type.

"How goes the main battle?" Alric asks as he enters the room. You tell him what you saw earlier as you refocus your attention on Sigurd. This time you see something strange. Sigurd is now in front of the militia lines. He is standing in his stirrups with his sword over his head, apparently addressing the Jurgenville defenders. As you watch his sword begins to glow brightly. It grows in luminosity until you have to look away from the ball. By the time you are able to get the image back the battle has been joined. You keep your attention on the battle for the next hour or so, keeping Alric updated on the situation. The defenders' line holds, keeping the humanoid forces penned up in the small valley. At one point you notice Ari entering battle once again, but you soon loose her in the chaos.

Shouts from outside finally pull you attention away from the ball. You realize you've been sitting in the same position for quite a while, and are a little stiff. Stretching, you walk towards the door, wondering what the fuss is. A loud crashing sound greets your ears as you approach the door, and you see debris falling from above. Deciding it would be safer to look out the window you walk over and open the shutters. Looking up you see a huge dragon perched on top of the city watch tower! It is holding onto the sides with its claws as it tries to catch something inside with its mouth.

Pulling your head back you assess your options. You've spent the last several days polishing up a new spell you've been working on and also practicing some of the newer spells you've learned in the past few months. So while this leaves you with several castings of your Defender spell, Manyjaws, and a few other new spells, you don't have a diverse selection of spells to choose from. Well, nothing to do about that now. You wish the Guild had given you a wand or two along with that ball!

You quickly cast your Defender spell, frowning slightly as it manifests itself. You've been trying to keep it from fading in and out for a week now, but have yet to hit on exactly the right casting to do this. But something is better than nothing. A scream from outside reminds you that you are needed. You walk towards the door, casting a Mirror Image spell as you do so. You wish you had spirit armor or some other defensive spell memorized.

Looking out you see that the dragon is still on the tower. Ah, no, it's not a dragon, it's a wyvern. And it has something in its mouth – a human. You make a hard decision. Should you act now to try and save the wyvern's next meal or cast another protective spell? And should you burn your only free magic (a third level cleric spell) this early? Yes, you decide, you have to. You are here alone. You have to survive long enough to defeat this beast. Closing your mind to the screams from the unfortunate man above you cast your free magic as a Hold Poison spell, protecting yourself from the venom of the wyvern.

Finally prepared (at least, as prepared as you feel you have the time to get) you step into the doorway and look up at the wyvern. It is busy trying to get the still struggling man down its gullet. Knowing you have to take advantage of the beast's distraction you cast one of the spells you recently learned from Nikki, Web. You surround the tower with the spell, trapping the wyvern against it. The beast is so busy with it's meal it doesn't notice the spell at first. You take full advantage of the time by casting the first of the three Manyjaws spells you have memorized. This gets the wyrm's attention. It tries to take off from the tower and screams in anger when it can't. It studies the webs for a moment and then draws it's legs under it and pushes. The webs were never designed to resist the weight of a wyvern and they snap. But as the wyvern has struggled to free itself you've cast a second Manyjaws spell. There are now ten of the small jaws biting the wyvern.

The wyvern pulls away from the tower but much to its dismay finds that its wings are still entangled by the spell. It falls to the ground, almost knocking you over with the force of its impact. The beast shakes its head and looks around with its beady little eyes. It spots you (and your three images) standing not twenty feet away. It lurches forward and quicker than your eye can follow its tail stabs at one of your images. The image flickers and fades away. This gives the monster pause and it raises its head up into the air to get a better view of the situation. That's when your Defender moves in. You've been so busy casting your spells you had forgotten about the spell. It is now solid, no flickering to be seen. It moves forward and lashes out at the wyvern, opening a fairly good sized gash along its lower abdomen. The wyvern screams and bites at the Defender.

As the two battle you are not idle. Five more jaws appear and rush to surround the wyvern. While small individually, you now have fifteen of the magical constructs biting and nipping. The accumulative damage is beginning to show. Now if your Defender can hold the wyvern off long enough for the damage to add up and overcome the thing. With no little dismay you review the spells you have left. You still have two Defenders, but you have learned that you can only have one active at any given time. One magic missile spell is the only magic user spell you have left. And most of your cleric spells are geared towards protection or use against humanoid creatures. You briefly consider using a spell from the scrolls you have, but dismiss the idea. Those are for use to protect the party.

You have just decided to cast your Magic Missile spell when the wyvern's tail lashes out once again. This time it gets lucky and the stinger flies right at you. You try to duck out of the way but it comes too fast. It feels like a hot poker is jammed into your side when the stinger hits. You cry out in pain and can actually feel the venom being pumped into your body. Your Defender steps forward and lashes out at the tail, almost severing the stinger. The wyvern pulls back, nearly drawing you off your feet. You fall to your knees as the waves of pain from your torso wash over you. Looking down you see that the entry wound isn't as large as your first feared. Then, better yet, you begin to feel the strange tingling sensation of your Hold Poison spell going to work on the venom. Within only a few heartbeats the hot sensation fades a little and you are able to stand once again. But your stomach remains queasy and your side still burns.

Looking up you see that the tide has finally turned against the wyvern. It is covered in small bites and has several larger wounds administered by the Defender. As you watch the wyvern sways back and forth, trying to swat the jaws away with its long neck. But it has lost too much blood and looses its balance. It falls to the ground. The jaws sweep in like a swarm of bees, finishing off the doomed beast. When the creature falls you see Saeros, the elven bard from the Glowing Helm, standing behind it. He has an arrow notched but his bow is pointed at the ground. He watches in amazement as your spell constructs finish off the wyvern. Looking up at you he asks "By Hades, what are those!"

You smile and explain the spell to him as he runs over and helps you get to your feet. At first he is very concerned about your wound, but when you tell him of your Hold Poison spell he nods and praises you for your foresight. "Well, as long as you are not about to die on me then we have more work to do. Come! Let us go help with the dragon!"

"Dragon!?" you ask in surprise.

"Yes, the wyvern was just a diversion. The real danger is the dragon." He points down the street and for the first time you become aware of a deep, booming voice at the east end of town.

"All right then" you say as you cast an orison to stop the bleeding from the stinger wound. "Let's go!"

The two of you move quickly to the main street. Your Defender follows, drawing a raised eyebrow from Saeros. You look at the Defender. You can't really tell if it has been injured or not, although you strongly suspect that it has. Well, if you are about to battle a dragon you'll need all the help you can get. With an act of will you dismiss the Defender and then summon a fresh one.

As you finish casting the spell you round the corner onto the main street. Several blocks down you see the site of what looks like a major battle. This comes as somewhat of a surprise. You had been so busy watching the main battle you weren't aware Jurgenville itself had been attacked. But most of the fighting on the ground seems to have stopped, no doubt due to the presence of a good sized red dragon hovering over the battle. The dragon isn't attacking, rather it is talking. As you draw closer you begin to make out its words.

"Bring me the slayers of my brood mother or I will burn your entire town to the ground! Flamewing will be avenged one way or the other!!"

"Argh! Beesheba's luck!" you hear Saeros curse.

"What is it talking about?" you ask, not very familiar with the history of the small town.

"An adventuring group I was in killed the dragon that had controlled this area for years. Detee's brother, Jurgen, was the one who delivered the death blow when he destroyed the Helm of Brilliance he wore while riding on the back of the dragon. Well, apparently this is one of Flamewing's brood, come back to avenge his mother's death. No doubt.... oh, no Detee! Don't do that!"

Looking back at the scene you see a small figure dressed in black leather armor step out into the middle of the street, drawing the dragon's attention. You don't hear what the figure says, but the dragon becomes very still and gazes intently at the figure.

Movement catches your eye. You spot a figure standing up on top of the Maiden's Kiss. In one quick motion it draws a bow back and fires at the stationary dragon. The figure's aim is true, and the shaft buries itself deep into the dragon's left eye. The red wyrm bellows in pain, the sound so loud it blows out several windows along the street. It whips its neck around and shoots out a long stream of liquid fire at the roof of the Kiss. You see the figure duck just as the entire corner of the inn is engulfed in flame. The dragon gains a little altitude and starts scratching at its eye.

"Come quickly! We must take advantage of the opportunity that archer has given us!" Saeros exclaims as he breaks into a run. You follow as quickly as you can, but you can't match the long strides of the bard. He pulls up ahead of you and starts firing. His arm moves so fast it seems as if an unbroken string of arrows speeds towards the half-blinded dragon. With grim approval you see that Saeros is aiming at the dragon's other eye. Half a dozen arrows dig into the dragon's face in a few heartbeats.

You stop yourself and unleash your Magic Missile spell, also aiming at the dragon's head. You know you can't blind the dragon with the bolts of magical energy, but hopefully you'll give it something else to think about.

As Saeros continues firing the dragon finally gathers its wits enough to respond. It begins to beat its wings back and forth very rapidly. This creates a huge windstorm, knocking the rest of Saeros' arrows out of the sky.

"Oh yeah? ye overgrown lizard!" you hear a deep voice shout out, "see if'n ye kin knock dis away!"

Looking towards the sound you see another short figure dressed in battered plate mail swinging a hammer over its head. With a shout it releases the hammer, which flies directly at the dragon's head. As it does so you see flickers of light trailing behind it. You wonder about this for the brief flight time of the hammer, but your curiosity is answered with the weapon hits. A flash of white so intense it looks purple blinds you for a second, and then the concussion wave from a loud thunderclap washes over you. Trying to blink away the spots from your eyes you see the dragon quickly pulling up and away. It has had enough.

"Dat was Jurgen's hammer ye just felt, wyrm! Come on back any time if'n ye wants ta feel it again! Just ask fur Angus and me'll be 'appy ta serve ye!"

A ragged cheer rises from the defenders of the town as the dragon flies away. As the cheers die down there is a pregnant moment as everybody realizes the situation. The scene with the dragon and the dwarves had been so intense that both sides had stopped fighting and watched. Now mortal enemies suddenly realize they are standing right next to each other. People begin to move ever so slowly, drawing shields and sword up into ready positions. Nobody seems to want to break the tension, both sides realizing how bloody the inevitable close-quarters melee will be.

It is Angus who breaks the ice. With another yell he throws the Hammer of Thunderbolts once again, laying a large ogre low and knocking everybody nearby off their feet. Voices on both sides shout out battle cries and the melee begins once again.

It is short but very bloody. Many humanoids try to flee the battle, slipping into side streets and back out along the main road. Those who cannot escape fight desperately but ultimately hopelessly. You do what you can to help, using your Hold spell to prevent several large orcs from overwhelming a few civilians and casting your Aid spell on Angus when you get close to him. Your Defender does well too, accounting for half a dozen orcs. Within several minutes it is all over. The town is secure once again.

Now your focus changes from combatant to healer. You quickly expend your healing magic stabilizing the critically wounded. Several clerics from the all-faith's temple join you in the new battle to save the lives of the injured. One brings a chest full of bandages and dressings. You loose track of the time as you move from one injured defender to another. When you finally get a chance to step back and take a breath the battle has been over for half an hour. You hear a cheer go up from the defenders. Asking what is going on you find out that the main battle up in the mountains has been won, and that most of the side thrusts have been turned as well. You do see smoke rising from the south-west corner of the city, but you are told that is being taken care of as well.

With no little relief you realize it is over. You've won. The town is safe.