A Dangerous Gift

ROUND FOUR

Elysia presses her attack on the royal guardsman, saying "I will end you before I besmirch your name in the streets. Your legacy will be that of a coward who fell to a tiny woman’s blade" with deadly calm as her rapier dances to end his life. The clash and clink of swords is very loud; the royal guardsman is shaken by her grim words, and is barely able to parry her flashing blade with his shorter weapon.

The absorbed light continues to flow forth from Lunea's vessel, Elowin, into everyone except Elysia as extra verve (every PC except Elysia now has 4 temp HP). With one smooth movement, the elf slips her arm out of the shield's straps, slings it across her back with that arm, and flips her bow off of her shoulder with the other. She nocks an arrow to the string and then draws it from her hip quiver in the same movement as she pulls back on the bow. She lets fly the arrow and the last Grayhaven guard (GG4) standing falls back, gurgling, the shaft lodged in his neck. He drops his weapon and staggers around the room before collapsing.
"Thanks, Elowin!" Adran calls, and yanks his dagger out of the fallen guardsman's shoulder, recalling all the years that Elowin would practice her archery while he was disassembling and examining the golem. He springs forward and tries to stab the royal guardsman already pressed by Elysia's attack, sinking the dagger deep into the man's gut.

Beginning to despair, the Royal Guardsman (RG1) outside desperately tries to beat back the barbarian with his shorter blade, to no avail.

Inside, the Royal Guardsman (RG2) with Adran's dagger sticking in his gut attempt to fend off both attackers, but nothing gets past their defenses.

Whirling, hacking, cleaving, Ishi glances over and sees the battered form of his bear friend Morik change and revert to a dwarf. He looks back at the Royal Guardsman, furious, and shatters the short sword with a blow that nearly cuts the Royal Guardsman in half. Ishi wrenches his blade free from the collapsing foe and runs up to support his druid friend just as Morik is finishing his transformation back into a glossy brown bear. The guard captain's eyes boggle slightly, both at the transformation and at the blood-spattered barbarian that confronts him by its side. Where did that dwarf come from? Where did it go? Who is this brute? Gods, the bear is back...and unharmed!

Eozindra, seeing Elowin's deadly handiwork has ended the threat of the last Grayhaven guard in the room, turns to focus her scorn on the Royal Guardsman (RG2) fighting with Elysia and Adran behind the bar. "Bad dog!" she scolds. The Royal Guardsman, already weakened by Adran's dagger in his gut, stiffens with shock and shame as those two simple words, uttered with such ferocity, strike home. He staggers, but keeps his feet and fights on, more from terror than from any hope of apprehending the party.

Out in the street, the guard captain has not come to this realization quite yet. Still confident in his prowess and his past success rate in collaring drunks, toughs, and bravos, he continues fighting, slashing at Morik's jowls and claws with his long blade and trying to slip his short blade into Ishi's ribs to take him out quickly. Morik the bear takes 8 damage (4 from temp).

Despite their combat training, the riderless horses whicker uneasily at the smell of blood, the clash of blades, and the roaring of the bear.