It was night time, and the moon was shining bright and full upon the Village of Estoland. However this normally peaceful and quiet village is currently in a uproar. A large hoard of Giant Spiders (lets say there is around 15 or 18 of them) is attacking the village without mercy.

Takhbork Shakh observed how the spiders were efficiently stinging, wrapping, and then carrying the people away to be eaten later. He loved to see a well layed out plan put into action. This raid was their biggest raid yet, so far.

Some people grabbed weapons and were fighting back. He was not worried though, these creatures were fierce and cunning foes. Many of these people would surely die before the night was finished.

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OCC: Hello my friends. Sorry I kept you waiting. ^_^; Please try not to kill the NPC spider foes too quickly. I would like this to be a realistic and decently lengthy topic. There is no posting order, so jump in whenever you want! Enjoy! :D

Beneath the gleam of the full moon and blackened sky of night, Fira Trist left the Kaima Inn that she had been resting within and glanced about her surroundings fiercely with her left hand gripped tightly upon the hilt of Divinity, her weapon of choice.

When she had first arrived to the Village of Estolad, the sorceress had thought that she was only going to be staying for a few hours. Yet these hours spent had become slightly longer than she had anticipated and eventually the sun had set beneath the horizon. Fira had chosen to stay with the rural village for the night with every anticipation of leaving it before the harsh sun had risen fully into the sky; however, it appeared as though this now would not be the case.

The young woman had been abruply awoken by the cries of the villagers and had dashed to her window in search of the trouble. The light of the moon granted a full vision and revealed that the serene village was being attacked by a great horde of what appeared to be spiders... No, the dark creatures were Giant Spiders. They clearly were of some great danger to everyone; for although the villagers were striking and striking, the creatures continued to advance and bloodshed became an abundance to both smell and sight.

In a swift manner, Fira unsheathed Divinity and began to strike at one of spiders that was seeking to slay a cowering victim. Her attack was not strong enough in order to kill the spider itself, but she managed to succeed in her goal: the villager ran off while the spider was distracted by its attacker.

'Lady Lothlomendil, what are these creatures?' Fira thought to herself with deep concern for the inhabitants of Estolad. The Giant Spiders were proving to be worthy opponents and held a great amount of endurance.

Fira raised her blade to fend away an attack and then glanced about with desperation to the others that were fighting to remove the spiders. 'Too many lives will be lost if this is not resolved soon.'

Bitterly, the orange eyed woman bit her lip as she became troubled and then uttered an incantation to bless her weapon. Although her attacks would not prove to be highly effective against the creatures, if her sword was empowered by the goodness of Arda, then it would be powerful against the evilness as well."May the Darkness be overcome."

(OOC: I don't know if you two, swordhunter and Lyon, will notice this; but I intend to play this as though I already know you two. ^_^)

((OOC: Fira, I'm gonna assume that this if after we've met. Actually, it makes sense; they were supposed to be stopping in Estolad.))

Lyon was a very tired mercenary. Here he was, after two days of constant travel across the grasslands, and finally he had the joy of sleeping in a soft bed. Kaima wasn't the most glorious of inns, but for someone that was used to spending the night on cold, hard earth, it was heaven. Not to mention the ale and hot food! These three things combined meant that tonight, the sellsword was all but oblivious to the world, lost in his own little world of dreams. Pleasant dreams too, not like the nightmares he was accustomed to.

Alas, it would not last.

A scream was what woke him. With the reflexes of one always ready for danger, Lyon was out of his bed in a heartbeat, his dagger in hand. But he could see nothing creeping in the darkness of his room, and after lighting a lantern still there was no apparent threat. Confused, he sat down on his bed, pondering what had took him from blissful sleep - and heard another shout. It came from outside. The mercenary hesitantly and cautiously walked to a window and looked out. What he saw made him wish he was still asleep.

Some things were besieging the village. Monsters, large, black, ugly. For a long time he squinted in the darkness, trying to figure out what they were. It wasn't until one stepped into the light of a torch that he realized that they were spiders. For a long time, Lyon simply stared, disbelieving. What were spiders doing so far away from their territory in the mountains? He had faced the feared things before, and it had truly been a challenge he did not enjoy. But never had he seen them wander past their borders. What evil had caused this? Had something forced them out of their home?

Lyon didn't hesitate. He needed to get closer. In a matter of minutes, he was ready, sword in hand, armor buckled onto his body. The stairs were taken two at a time, and when he reached the ground floor of the inn he saw many of the village's people, women and children, huddling together, listening to the sounds of battle outside. A few men were posted at the door with pitchforks in their hands, ready to skewer anything that came through.

"What's happening?" Lyon demanded of them.

"Don't know," one of them said, steely eyes turning to meet his own. "Most of the village is in arms. The things just came without warning. They were inside before anyone knew it."

Lyon heard all he needed know. That the place was fighting back was good to know, but no one had the training to fight these vicious beasts, not to mention a lack of proper weapons. Lyon briefly considered what to do. Evacuation seemed like a good idea; they could head to Lomedor and get reinforcements from the guard. But no...the things could easily chase after them. That left only one choice. They would have to be met here, in the village.

"So much for a good night's sleep..." the mercenary grumbled, hefting his sword and stepping out into the cold night air. "No rest for the weary, eh?"

It didn't take long for the monsters to come after him, almost as if they sensed he was the biggest threat. A huge, hairy body hurled itself at him, fangs ready to be buried in his flesh. Instead of slashing at it, Lyon dropped his sword, threw himself onto his back, and used his enemy's momentum to send it hurling past and into the wall that made up the inn. There was a grisly crunch, but it didn't stop. He barely had enough time to scoop up his sword before he was assailed again. Irritably, he kicked forcefully at the thing with a booted foot, flipping it over onto it's back, where it kicked uselessly at the air as it attempted to right itself. Lyon backed away, ready to attack if it came after him.

Looking around, he saw that there were indeed many other combatants other than himself. One in particular stood out. A glimpse of orange hair caught his eye. There stood Fira, with her sword, engaged in battle with one of the things. He began walking over to her, but was forced to turn around and block a hairy leg as a spider advanced on him. He backed away slowly, parrying the blows.

"Well, isn't this fun!" Lyon shouted sarcastically over to the half-elf once he came into earshot. "Looks like my teaching will come into use earlier than we thought!" Any other words he sought to share were cut off, as he spun and slashed viciously at his foe.

OOC: I was told I was supposed to join this party, but I don't know if we're to assume that we've actually met already. I'll leave that decision to you guys for now.

BinC:
Aiden crossed his legs tiredly as he sat back in the soft chair, desperate for sleep. He had sat there all night in the house, hoping that if he stood still long enough, he'd be able to fall into a blissful rest...but alas, that rest never came. He simply found himself staring up at the wooden ceiling, ignoring the random creaks of other members of the household as they moved around.

'Blasted noise,' Aiden thought as he shifted again on the seat. However, he couldn't help but feel guilty about complaining. The old couple had given him free shelter and food for the past week, thanks for his help in earlier affairs in Estolad. He sighed softly as he finally gave up, throwing his cloak to the floor and standing up. He stretched tiredly as he rubbed a hand across his face. 'I need something to drink,' he thought as he moved towards the moonlit window of his attic room.

He sighed again as he leaned on the wall near the window. Looking out on the empty street, Aiden noted that the town bore little evidence of the attack that took place only a short time ago. Suddenly, a scream rang out in the serene atmosphere, shattering the silence of the night. Aiden's eyes widened as he quickly searched up and down the dirt path to find the source of the disturbance.

"What on earth?" he asked himself as he quickly buckled on his sword and picked up his bow and quiver.

Unfortunately, he had little time to wonder. Another scream broke out, but this time the sound came from a much closer distance. "That was downstairs," he said to himself, his voice full of worry. He unsheathed his sword and ran down the steps, looking for the elderly couple that had helped him. As he made his way to the ground floor, a quick glance revealed a gruesome scene. At the now shattered doorway knelt the old woman, on the floor beside the body of her mutilated husband. She screamed in terror as a...beast reared next to her, clearly designating her as its next target.

'Oh gods, help me as I fight this battle,' Aiden thought, raising his bloodstained palm towards the spider. He cast a fire arrow spell, sending the fiery bolt speeding towards its target. The line of flame pierced the body of the spider and kept going, speeding through what was once the doorway of a peaceful home. A great shriek came from the now blazing spider as it hurriedly retreated from the residence. Soon, the room fell silent save for the quiet sobs of the old woman and the distant screams from other members of Estolad's populace.

"What happened?" Aiden asked softly, drawing close to the old woman.

"They...they came from..." Her voice fell silent as her body was again racked with sobs. "I don't know! They killed him!!"

Aiden turned his head away from the sight, taking the time to loosen his cloak. He sheathed his sword and began walking towards the broken wood of the front wall. He walked through the now gaping passage way, looking up and down the deserted street in what had once been a sleepy town. "Attacked again," he sighed, walking along the street and towards the northern gate.

Suddenly, a terrified townsperson bolted from a nearby alleyway. Aiden unsheathed his sword quickly, thinking that the person was another spider, but quickly calmed down. "What's wrong?!" he called out.

Unfortunately, he didn't need an answer as two spiders came running after the townsperson, squeezing through the mouth of the alleyway and turning towards both the person and Aiden. "Get down!" he shouted as he again raised his palm. Another fire arrow shot from his open hand, speeding towards one of the spiders. The bolt hit the animal's leg, evoking another shriek of pain but doing little else to stop the beast. "What a night," Aiden muttered as he began backing away from the creatures, trying to figure out exactly what to do next. . .

(OCC: This is the good alternate acount that I will be using for this topic. ^_^ )

Morom Ironfist had wandered into the village of Estoland, seeking a place to rest for the night, and had checked into the inn earlier that day. After having enjoying a fine meal, he had gone up to his room to get some good night's sleep. He had been having a odd dream, one that involved him talking cheese, when he was awaken with many shrieks.

Morom was up from his bed in a flash. He looked out the window of his room to see that the village was under attack...by giant spiders. Morom's blood boiled at the sight these foul beasts attacking innocent people. "Well, its time for some fighting!" Morom said aloud as he grabbed his buckler and sword that were right beside his bed.

It was right then, that a giant spider, at least the size of a large hog, smashed open the window that he had been looking out of moments before and began tryig to squeeze its way through it. It saw him and gave a foul sounding, thin hiss.

Morom's response was charging forward at the spider, holding his buckler in front of him, and bashing the large spider out the window. It landed with crunch on its back. It was still alive and moving thought. It was desperately trying to upright itself.

Morom dashed down the stairs and quickly exited the inn, more than ready to enter the ensuing battle. He found the same spider that he had pushed out of the window, still upside down and vulnerable. "BARUK KHAZAD!" He dashed up to it and delivered a finishing blow to the dark creature. He then turned around and examined the battle still going on. "ALRIGHT! WHICH ONE OF YA FILTHY BUGGERS IS NEXT!?" He shouted loudly.

(OOC: Due to the fact that Fira has already met Aiden and Lyon, I am going to just continue on with that knowledge. And, okay to you, Lyon. ^_^)

As the sorceress was deflecting a striking leg of a spider aimed at her, she heard her mentor Lyon call out to her. Fira could not help but to smile and give a sarcastic response to that of his own. "Oh yes, this is loads of fun!"

Although she held a light tone, the sorceress pondered heavily upon the circumstances. The journey that she and the sellsword had had while walking through the Salquedor Grasslands had been quite harsh upon them both; the sun had given no mercy. Now, when they had finally reached their destination, there was the trouble of giant spiders viciously striking at Estolad. Fira sighed in exhaustion as the memories came to the forefront of her mind and her smile vanished.

Fira grimaced as the villagers continued onwards to battle against the dark creatures. The rural village did not appear to be well-armed for an encounter with the spiders, but the villagers clearly appeared to be able to hold their own. Keeping Divinity ready in case there was to be a surprise attack, the sorceress quickly used a minor healing spell to aide some of those that were fighting.

'This battle is going to be quite long,' Fira noted, much to her own despair. The giant creatures had chosen to come at a rather inconvienent time; although the young woman doubted that there was any time that could have been opportune.

She struck out at another spider that chose to come within her range and then flinched at the blood that was spilt from the wound she had caused. Not only were the battles proving to be long, but they were also proving to be messy. It was highly doubtful that either Estolad or its people would be able to make it through the night without suffering from a heavy amount of damage.

"Ha!" the mercenary exclaimed as his blow drove home, cutting into the spider's abdomen and digging deep inside it. The beats gave a hideous death scream and collapsed upon the ground, blood and entrails oozing from it's corpse. Lyon backed away, grimacing at the mess left on his blade, but he took no time to clean it. For every minute that passed, someone died. The mercenary looked around for another foe, and saw that the vast majority of them were centered about the middle of the village.

"Good luck!" he shouted to Fira as he sprinted off with his bloodstained sword in hand.

All too soon he was once again embroiled in battle against one particularly large and nasty-looking arachnid. The beast lunged, he side-stepped. It stabbed with its legs, he parried. It was a fight every bit as delicate as a duel, with neither opponent yielding ground. It was eerie how intelligent the monsters were; instead of simply charging like most animals would, they fought carefully, tactically, almost as if they were capable of thinking.

The spider hissed and suddenly rushed him, and unable to react in time he found himself tackled by a body much heavier than he expected. He fell to the ground with a grunt, and looked up to see black, beady eyes staring at hm over two dangerous-looking fangs. The thing sat there, staring at it's victim for a brief moment before it lunged forward and bit into Lyon's chest. Clearly, the thing didn't know what armor was, because instead of digging into soft, hot flesh, it got a mouthful of tough leather. It jerked back, and with a shout Lyon brought the pommel of his sword crashing into it, forcing it off of him. He jumped up and brought his sword crashing down, slamming into the arachnid's head and cleaving in in half. Ignoring the grisly remains of his foe, he leaned back and wiped his forehead with a hand. He panted hoarsely as he looked around.

The battle was still raging, but it seemed that some powerful contenders had entered the fray. A burning arrow came flying out of a nearby alley, causing Lyon to shout and leap back. He walked forward cautiously, meaning to look into the narrow passage to see who was firing off magical projectiles, but stopped as he realized the imminent peril the village was in.

If we keep on like this, we'll get torn apart. His mind went back to the teachings Kiem had given him on tactics. We need to create a front, or the casualties will be far too high.

Without hesitation, the mercenary howled into the night, making his voice hoarse and raw. "Fall back and form a line!" he shouted, desperate that his command would be heeded. Determination would do nothing against these unnatural creatures. They needed to have a clear advantage, lest they all be killed simply because they were running about like chickens with their heads cut off.

"To me!" he shouted again, grabbing hold of his sword with both hands and advancing. "Hold your positions and advance!"

Aiden bolted down the side alleyway, hoping that he had managed to throw of the spider that was pursuing him. Sweat began to pour down his face as he sprinted out of the alley and into a somewhat narrow dirt road. He stopped for a moment, both to catch his breath and to get his bearings.

"What happened here?" he muttered softly, truly wondering where this pack of animals had come from. Giant spiders didn't exactly pop up every day, so it was hard to remember when he'd ever seen such beasts near populated areas. "Someone's at work here," he said, standing straight and drawing his short sword. He turned slowly to his right, noting the position of the large spider that was slowly advancing towards him. He pretended not to see the giant beast, even feigning a move to the left in order to draw an attack.

Aiden smiled grimly as the spider made a soft, seemingly joyful, screech and moved toward him with surprising speed. "Fool," he sneered as he turned and raised his bloodstained hand towards the beast. "DIE!" A flaming mass appeared from the sky as Aiden used his flame strike spell. The fiery bolt slammed into the spider, crushing its large body to the ground and engulfing it in a hot, white flame. Another screech, this time loud and pained, rent the night air, causing Aiden to flinch in the process. He could only imagine what kind of reinforcements the spider's sound could have summoned or alerted.

'This won't be getting easier,' Aiden thought as he turned on his heel and ran towards the town's center. He hoped that he'd be able to get to the inn and find others who were fighting these horrid beasts. He ran in the direction of the inn, hoping to find a clear path or maybe even some help up ahead. As he made his way down the street, he could vaguely hear sounds of battle, shouts, and screams, the latter of which made him shudder slightly. He thought he even heard a familiar voice nearby, shouting orders to hold and advance, but thought nothing of it as he made the turn onto the large dirt avenue where the inn was placed. He looked back and forth and noted the relative calm of the area.

'They've already secured this place,' he thought as he kept his sword ready and raised. Unfortunately, the calm was shattered as another scream and shout rang out. Aiden ran in the direction of the sound, taking care to avoid running into the fleeing villagers. Up ahead, he noticed a shock of orange, something that made his mind whirl with recognition. "Fira?" he asked himself as he slowed to a walk. The spider that had caused the apparent scare had been dealt with and the young woman who stood before it had unmistakable features.

"Fira!" Aiden shouted, moving at a slow jog as he came towards her. His face had a pleased expression, but he couldn't help but wonder how on earth she had gotten involved in such a mess. . .

Morom was now currently hacking into the body of one of the giant arachnids. He turned away from it when it had finally rolled over and died. He scanned the village streets, which was full of battle and discord. Morom then spotted something bright orange in the whole mess. After looking a little more closely, he realized that it was someone that he knew. It was Fira, a fellow Gauntlet member. He was not a close friend of hers, but he certainly knew her well enough to recognized her face. He could not help but wonder what she was doing here of all places.

"FIRA! FIRA, OVER HERE!" Morom yelled as he darted toward her, hacking and slashing at whatever spider was unfortunate enough to be in his way. He was about halfway there when about two large spider got in his way. One was about the sized of a large hog, and the other was as large as a cow. "Oi, your both ugly ones, arn't you?" Morom said to the two giant spiders before him, as he readied his sword and shield.

The smaller spiders responded to his remark by hissing and leaping straight at him. Morom ducked, letting the smaller spider fly right over him and into a corner of a building. It then fell to the earth on its back. The spider began to wriggle and squirm, trying to desperately right itself up.

Morom was about to turn around to finnish the smaller one that was now behind him, when he noticed that the larger one was charging at right at him. Morom made a leap to the left, narrowly avoiding the large one's attack. The large one halted and turned around. It began to circle him slowly, waiting for the right moment to strike. It then darted toward Morom and made a strike at him with one of its forelegs Morom got up from the ground and raised his buckler, just in time to block a blow from the second spider's forelegs.

"Hey Fira! Hold on a bit, and I will be there in a second. I just need to show this eight legged scourge who is boss!" Morom made a slash at one of the spider's forelegs and cut the end of it clean off. The spider screeched from pain and rage.

Fira heard the command made by Lyon and nodded fiercely as she once again deflected an attack from the spider before her. Although she believed that the skills of the warriors would prove enough in order to overwhelm and defeat the giant creatures, they were all to scattered and therefore easy targets for their foes. At the rate of how the battle was going, there was no doubt that many would fall before it even reached the end. By gathering together, the defenders of Estolad would hopefully turn the tide and send the massive spiders scurrying away to their homes. In her mind, the young Half-Elf complimented her mentor on his idea.

As she was retreating to fall beside Lyon, she heard someone calling her name and realized, with a brief flash of surprise spread across her face, that Aiden was here as well. Fira gave a bright smile, regardless of the circumstances that they were to be meeting and greeted, "Aiden! What a pleasure that it is to see you!"

The spider that the sorceress had been fighting against decided to take advantage of her temporarily diverted attention and lashed out one of its eight hairy legs at her. Fira flinched in pain as she was hit right on her shoulder and she raised placed her focus back upon her opponent angrily. She tried hard to keep her thoughts away from her lesion as she fiercely struck at the head of the spider. In the sudden lunge of the orange eyed woman, her sword pierced through the underneath portion of the head and the spider fell. Fira grimaced at the sight of the blood that stained the silver blade of Divinity; yet she felt successful.

Once again, Fira heard her name being called and noticed that a Dwarf was coming over to her. She thought for a moment and then realized that it was Morom, who just so happened to be a member of the Gauntlet Guild just as she was. Also, she faintly remembered that this was the Dwarf who had faced against Lyon in the Temare Battlestand. The young woman gave an energetic wave and replied, "Morom! Please be careful! As soon as you are able to, come over to here and all four of us shall make a stand together against these foul creatures!"

"Morom! Please be careful! As soon as you are able to, come over to here and all four of us shall make a stand together against these foul creatures!"

Aiden quickly wonered at Fira's comment. 'Four?' he thought, quickly looking around for the missing person. He quickly figured that the fourth person must be Lyon. "He's still here eh?" he muttered, keep his sword at the ready as Morom approached them. Aiden, also a member of Gauntlet, vaguely knew of Morom and was reasonably sure that the tough dwarf was capable of taking care of himself.

"I'm going," Aiden said to Fira, already moving away from the pair. "I'm just going to give Lyon some backup while you and Morom secure this area. I won't be long...hopefully." With that, he set off at a dead run towards distant sounds of battle. 'No doubt, he'll be in the thick of it,' Aiden thought as he ran.

Running for about a minute, Aiden heard sudden shrieks and screams away from the main road. Abandoning the avenue, he ran in the direction of the screaming. He quickly came upon a group of villagers grouping together to attack a moderately large spider. Two villagers were holding back the beast as a woman stood behind them, clutching her children to her in fear. "Get away!" Aiden shouted as he came forward, sword raised.

The villagers holding back the spider made a fatal glance backward which gave the spider an opening to attack. Luckily, the intended target accidentally tripped, avoiding the sharp mandibles of the spider. By then, Aiden was there, his sword swinging wildly and driving the beast back. "Get out of here!" he ordered, "Get them to the inn! I have friends there who can help you!"

"Thank you!" the woman said, tears in her eyes as she and the children rushed away to the main road. The two villagers, whom Aiden now recognized as mere teenagers, stepped forward again with their makeshift weapons. Aiden grimaced, but knew now was not the time to drive them away.

"Flank it!" he shouted, moving forward with his sword raised. He ignored the hisses of the spider, waiting for the moment when the beast would strike. He noticed the two teenagers flanking it out of the corner of his eye. When they had moved forward sufficiently, he lunged at the spider, then suddenly slashed at the spider's legs. He made contact, hearing a loud crack as his blade passed through the leg of the beast. A loud screech issued from the spider, but was quickly silenced as the two villagers plunged their weapons into its fleshy abdomen. The spider wheeled, dragging both the weapons and the villagers with it.

Aiden quickly stood and raised a blood smeared hand. "Enough," he said as he fired yet another fire arrow. The bolt of fire plunged into the body of the spider, setting it aflame and sending it into a writhing frenzy. Seconds passed and soon, the charred carcass of the spider smoldered in the street. The two villagers who had helped stood, slightly out of breath and sweating buckets.

"Sorry if that was too close," Aiden said, noting that their clothes were smoldering slightly. He received shrugs in answer, then nods of thanks as they both ran in the direction of the inn. Aiden watched them go, saddened that they had to fight for their village like this. "Who would do such a thing?" he muttered as he sheathed his sword and continued to try and find Lyon. . .