OOC: For you lurkers a quick catch up on Nikki. She has a new familiar, an "intelligent shade of the color blue". She's still figuring out exactly what this means, what it is able to do, etc. It spends most of it's time "inside" her, causing her skin to take on a bluish tint.

(Nikki eventually makes her way back to town, where she joins up with most of the party at the Watch Headquarters. She vehemently refuses Matar’s request that she go out with one of the militia companies. She wants Diana to do that so she can play with the Guild’s crystal ball. But Diana refuses to give up the ball. In the end Nikki decides to accompany Matar when the fighter goes to head off an attack from the west. For more on these events read Matar’s or Diana’s stories.)

"Selfish little stubborn ingrates!" You mutter to yourself as you lean against the wall in the common room of the Glowing Helm. You tried to persuade Matar that this was a fool’s errand, but noooo, he insisted on trying to recruit some of these stunted rock-huggers to go help rescue the Cormyrian Tower. Not at all to your surprise, the dwarves refuse to leave the safety of the Inn’s thick stone walls.

As you listen you shake your head in disgust. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Long ago the dwarves were as populous and as powerful as the elves. Well, not quite, but almost. Now look at their descendants. Huddled like frightened children as their city falls around them.

You remember a story your father told you long ago, about a clan of dwarves who refused to help a gnome settlement against invading goblins. In the end both the gnomes and the dwarves were destroyed, all because the dwarves were so stubborn. You find this story so applicable to the current situation that you can’t help but bring it up. You step up beside Matar, who tries to push you back to the wall. Foolish human! Does the young whelp think he can handle this alone?

As you speak you see the dwarves’ eyes narrow and their frowns deepen (something you didn’t think possible). Several start to mutter angrily when you try for the THIRD time to make them understand the moral of the story, but such simple logic can’t penetrate their thick skulls and they grow even more upset.

Throwing your hands in the air in frustration you step back, leaving Matar to his fate. As you expected none of his arguments sway the dwarves in the least. They seem to be intent on hunkering down here for the duration of the hostilities. It would serve them right if a dragon landed on this place and squished them all.

As you are pondering what a dwarf-inn sandwich might look like when a new voice pipes in. It’s Detee. Leave it to a woman to get things done. She berates the dwarves for their lack of courage, just like you did. She tells them it is their racial duty to fight the orcs and goblins, just like you did. But did they listen to you? Nooooo. Do they listen to Detee? Well, when she threatens to kick them all out of the inn a handful of them do finally come around. In the end you and Matar leave the Inn with about twenty of the stocky fighters. From their expressions they might as well be heading towards the gallows rather than to a fight.

As you make your way past the city council building a group of very young looking clerics stops you. The oldest, who can’t be much older than Matar, tells you that Lindara has sent them to help you. You wonder what Lindara has against you, trying to send such young pups along with you. But, of course, Matar ignores the obvious implication of taking inexperienced troops into battle and invites them to join. You shake your head in resignation. Twenty depressed miners forced to fight against their will, half a dozen barely-out-of-diapers clerics, and a swashbuckler-wannabe who no doubt will go running into battle waving that sword of his at the first opportunity. Good thing you’ve got plenty of defensive spells learned. No doubt you’ll need them before this is over.

You can hardly believe your ears when Matar asks, nay, tells you to take the point. The point? Out in front? As limited as your knowledge is of tactics, you know that being out in front makes you the first person the enemy targets. And he wants you to be out there!? As you begin to argue with him you watch a flush of red begin to slowly creep up his face. You wonder if the top of his skull will pop off when the red reaches that high. But, no, that won’t do. You fully expect Matar to have to come running to your rescue at least three times before the day is through. It would be counterproductive to make him blow up just yet. With your best martyred sigh you take the lead and start jogging towards the west.

Soon you find a new way to amuse yourself. For being such "tough miners" these dwarves sure are wimpy runners. Ever so slightly you increase your speed, until the short-legged smelly little heathens are huffing and puffing to keep up. You reluctantly slow back down when Matar calls for you to do so. You figure another mile at that pace and at least two of them would have had heart attacks.

Even before you reach the compound you are walking instead of jogging. No doubt the guards at the watch tower are being eaten alive as you take this leisurely stroll through the snow in your "rush" to save them. As you draw close to the party’s compound Matar tells you to keep going while he checks out the situation. He then runs off towards the compound. Oh great. No doubt a pack of yeti and a pair of remoraz wait under the snow only a few hundred feet away, and they’ll attack as soon as Matar is out of range. Just to be on the safe side you renew your Mirror Image spell.

You move forward… slowly. To the west you see a small tendril of smoke climbing up into the morning sky. It must be the tower. OK, so the defenders are cooking alive rather than being eaten alive.

"Nikki!" you hear Matar call. "Come back to the compound!"

Ah, now that’s more like it! Nice strong walls to hide behind. You wonder if the masons have that secret room in your research laboratory ready yet. That might be a good place to hide when the monsters overrun the dwarves.

When you and the others arrive at the compound Matar explains the situation. "It looks like the force that attacked the tower has split up. Part of them are heading straight towards us down the road, the others have swung around to the south, through the fields. From what I can tell the group heading towards us is made up of orcs and ogres. The other group is larger and has a couple giants with it. What I plan on doing is luring the smaller group here to the compound, where we’ll attack them."

You nod in approval. Much better to attack the smaller force. Much better chance of surviving that way.

But then Matar goes on. "Once we defeat the first group we’ll have to run back to town to help drive off the second group."

Oh, great. So, you weaken yourselves against the easy foes, then you run five miles back to town to make sure you are good and tired, and THEN you attack the more dangerous opponents. Great logic, superb tactics! But, of course, you are not in charge, and nobody wants to hear your take on Matar’s plan. You huff and head off to see whether or not that hidden room is done yet. You now have no doubt you’ll be needing it before the day is over.

Then, of all things, Matar stops you and tells you where he wants you to be during the fight. Well, that does it. You lay into him and but good, making sure he understands that he is NOT qualified to position you where you’ll do the most good and he has NO idea what spells you have and where you should position yourself so that they can do the most good. This time the color doesn’t creep up his face, rather he instantly turns red. He snaps back at you, but retains enough sense to let you position yourself. You sniff and walk away, wondering exactly where you should be. On the far side of the compound, no doubt.

A few minutes later you find yourself up on the rampart watching the orcs and ogres approach when suddenly Matar and three of the clerics go running out of the compound. Now that are THEY doing? They turn east and run down the hill, then start making their way back westward along the road. When the orcs see them you understand. Matar makes like he notices the compound (a weak performance) and the four start running towards it. The orcs and ogres start running to head them off. Oh, now this should be entertaining!

Then you notice the first really interesting thing you’ve seen all day. In one of his reports Sane had mentioned a spell-casting ogre. You had dismissed it. No doubt the kenku was too high to see what was really happening. But now you see something that makes you reconsider. There is an ogre flying towards the compound, moving to head off Matar and the others. As the ogre gets closer you squat down, motioning for everybody else to do the same. You may not be a tactician, but you know that if the dwarves attack this ogre they will loose the element of surprise against the main group of monsters.

Peeking around one of the finished crenellations you watch as the ogre lands about fifty feet away. Hum, it sure is large and… are those horns on its head? Something from a long-forgotten class at the War Wizard college tugs at your mind. Something about… yes, spell-casting ogres! But, if you remember correctly, they were only supposed to exist in the far East. What was one doing here?

Oh, there he goes! Matar fully fulfils your expectations when he breaks into a sprint and starts charging the ogre. Ah, Ogre Magi, yes, that is what they are called. And they are very dangerous, from what you can remember. What was their main attack? Oh yes, a Cone of Cold.

You wonder how to warn Matar off when it becomes too late. As you watch the ogre points a finger at Matar and the very spell you were just thinking of lashes out, catching the charging fighter full on. Oh dear, that must have hurt! But, much to your surprise and secret pleasure Matar stumbles, rolls, and then stands back up, barely breaking stride. Good for him! It’s not just anybody that could take a Cone of Cold in the face and keep on coming.

This obviously surprises the ogre as well, for he doesn’t start reacting until Matar is within a few yards. As you watch the ogre fades from view. Oh yes, invisibility at will. You remember that too. Matar starts slashing around and, much to your surprise, manages to hit the ogre a few times. But soon he looses all track of the ogre and is flailing around doing great damage to the air around him. Foolish human, does he really think he can fight an invisible and flying opponent? He’ll need help to do that.

With a start you realize you are the only one here that can help him. But you’re not about to stand up and cast a spell down there. As you watch the three clerics make it to the safety of the compound, but the orcs and ogres are not far behind. If you stand up now you’ll ruin the ambush – and make yourself a great target of opportunity.

Running through the spells in your head you have an idea. It seems a shame to waste a free first on such a minor thing, but perhaps it will help Matar. Peeking back up over the top of the wall you cast a Wall of Fog around Matar, trying to make it a little thinner than normal. You don’t want to blind the fighter, but rather fill the air around him with fog. Hopefully Matar will see the void created by the ogre magi and strike at it. Then again, he’ll probably see the void and not understand what it is.

When you cast the spell is surges a little, making the fog cover a wider area than you had hoped. Now you can’t see anything. Frustrated, you carefully climb down the scaffolding and move towards the archway. Just to be on the safe side you cast Invisibility on yourself, but keep your Mirror Images running. That should protect you from a couple of attacks should things go terribly wrong. No doubt they will.

Trying to see through the fog you catch glimpses of Matar fighting against something. Then, coming up behind him you see several dark figures. Oh great, what now? It’s not like you can fireball them with Matar that close. Then again, he did make it through a Cone of Cold. Perhaps he could survive a fireball too.

Just then you hear Matar cry out. "Nikki! It’s getting away!"

Ah, a request for help, how cute. But how are you supposed to stop an invisible opponent from getting away? The only way to do that would be to use an area effect spell, and the only good area effect spell you have memorized is fireball. Oh well, he asked for it!

"Then I’d strongly recommend you DUCK!" you yell back as you pull a ball of bitumen from one of your pockets. Chanting quickly you toss the ball towards where Matar stands. With a little relief you see Matar’s silhouette drop to the ground just before the fireball erupts in a gout of blue flame. The fire quickly burns away the lingering Wall of Fog, and you smile when you see that the orcs sneaking up behind Matar are all down.

Then your attention is drawn straight ahead. Oh dear, there are at least two dozen orcs and ogres charging at you. Fools! You can see the bows strapped over their backs, but none of them has the wits to stop and fire at you from a distance. Well, you’ll make them pay for that!

You decide to use one of the new spells you have developed, a derivative of Color Spray. The first couple of times you cast the spell it came out much like you had seen it before, a clashing spray of rainbow colors. But then Azure got interested in the spell. He likes anything that has to do with light or colors, and this spell in particular catches his fancy. It is a strange sensation, feeling him feed you energy when you start to cast spells. His influence when you cast this spell is so strong it causes your fingers and hands to tingle. Within a few test castings the visible manifestation of the spell had changed significantly. Now instead of the spectrum spread of colors there were only shades of blue. And shooting through the blue colors were small sparks of bright light. Not only did the spell look different, but it turned out to be stronger as well. You found that by modifying the casting a bit you could cast the spell over a greater area than normal, or increase the effects it had on targets, or effect more targets, etc.

The Color Spray you use now you configure to effect more targets than normal. With a grin you watch as the entire front rank of orcs falls to the ground when the blue light washes over them. There’s eight! The spell works so well you fire it off again. Even better! All of the rest of the orcs and even one of the ogres goes down. But that does leave about half a dozen ogres to deal with. Well, no problem there. A quick flick of the wrist, a few muttered syllables and another blue fireball bursts in their midst. You frown when two of them remain standing…. smoking, but still standing. Another quick incantation and three blue missiles of pure energy slam into each of them, and they too fall before your superior magic.

Taking a clean handkerchief out of one of your pockets you cover your face. The smell of charred orc is not one you enjoy. With no little satisfaction you see the dwarves start to step out from behind their hiding places, looking at the scene of destruction you single-handedly caused, and then looking at you with a new degree of respect in their eyes. You also see Matar standing beside what must be the corpse of the ogre magi. Good, he made it too.

"Oh, by the way," you say to the dwarves behind you as you walk over towards the fallen ogre magi, "you might want to finish off those orcs. They’re just unconscious, not dead." Matar shakes his head and gets one of the squads of dwarves to take care of the orcs.

When you search the ogre magi you are very disappointed to find nothing of value on him. He looks quite strange, as if your fireball caught him in the middle of some kind of transformation. You don’t remember a polymophic ability being associated with these creatures, but perhaps you had forgotten that tidbit of information.

All too soon Matar wants to move on. "We’ve got a city to save now!" he cries, as if that would encourage anybody except for the neophyte clerics. But, none the less, the band forms back up and starts jogging back to town. This time you get the rear - which, of course, is only a slightly less dangerous place to be than the point. But being back here you are able to catch snatches of conversations between the dwarves. Even such magically-impaired creatures are apparently able to comprehend the incredible display of magical prowess you exhibited back at the compound. You overhear a new title that they start calling you by, the Blue Witch. Hum, not bad. When you explain the color connotation to Azure he rather likes it.

As you are heading back you see in the distance several dragons flying into town. Suddenly you are relieved that you came with Matar rather than staying alone in the watch HQ. You wonder how Diana is doing. You hope she isn’t killed. She’s the only one in the party who has the knowledge necessary to at least partially appreciate your skills.

When you finally reach town Matar does just what you expect him to, running off to go fight. And, of course, since you are in his troop you have to follow him. You find that the second group of humanoids is already in town, but that they have split up and started looting rather than sticking together for any type of coordinated attack. So much the better for you guys. This makes picking off the small bands fairly easy.

Things do get a little more challenging when you finally catch up with the hill giants. The dwarves attack one while you and Matar get stuck with the other. You cast the last of your offensive spells, but the huge giant absorbs the damage and keeps on fighting. Matar opens several deep gashes on the thing’s legs, but it manages to knock him aside several times. One time Matar flies into the side of a house so hard he is momentarily stunned. The giant takes advantage of this and begins to flee. Matar starts muttering some nonsense about you chasing after it alone, but you quickly dissuade him of that little fantasy. You running after a hill giant all by yourself. Yeah, right!

Once Matar recovers you head back to the watch HQ with him. There you find Diana, who you learn defeated a wyvern all by herself. Hum, a wyvern vs two dozen orcs and a handful of ogres. About even, you guess.

Matar ends up taking command of the forces in town again, so you leave him to play his soldier games and head back over to the Glowing Helm with Diana. Nobody is there, so you help yourselves to a stiff drink. After today, you’ve earned it.

By noon things seem to settle down about. You shake your head in wonder. Somehow these bumbling fools have managed to pull it off. They’ve won. The idyllic little alpine village is safe once more. Tymora must have been watching over them today. With a shrug, you dismiss the thought and savor another thimbleful of elven wine. Your mind turns to more important matters. If you’re lucky you should still be able to get in a good evening’s worth of research tonight.