"You realize that we could simply go around them?" Jarlaxle had tried to talk Entreri out of this, But the Assassin wouldn't hear a word of it.
"Why waste our time going around them when we could simply go through them?" Entreri had given that same retort every time. And so Jarlaxle just shook his head one last time, sighed and followed his brash companion.
Needless to say, the orcs were quite surprised to find two confident adventurers stalking towards them. They were even more taken aback when they realized one of them was a drow. The chief of the tribe, a burly, and stupid, orc if there ever was one, did a double take to make sure his eyes had not deceived him. He then looked to his tribe.
His tribe had the advantage of numbers, more that a score, and he decided the odds were well in his favor to demand a toll on these two. He made a grand flourish of showing himself and moved to bully the pair.
His mouth opening was the last action of his life.
Before his mouth had even fully opened, Entreri had his sword and dagger out and struck two solid blows. Entreri kicked him off his blades and braced for the swarm of orcs that charged toward him. However, their momentum and ranks were then decimated by Jarlaxle, throwing his seemingly never-ending supply of daggers. When he judged that the number of orcs had been sufficiently depleted, he charged with a dagger in each hand. Closing within the last few paces, Jarlaxle stabbed out in front of himself at two different orcs, muttering under his breath. Thinking the Drow out of range with his short weapons, the orcs didn't even try to parry the attacks.
When the daggers struck one in the heart and the other in the throat, they were very surprised indeed. For, while the daggers were stabbing out, their blades had lengthened into slender swords. Thus making the orcs well within range.
While Jarlaxle was taking care of his fair share of orcs, Entreri continued hacking others down. The orc on his right had been blinded by a slash with his jeweled dagger, then decapitated by the cross swipe with his sword, the Charon's Blade. The orcs in front and behind Entreri both charged, think to catch the dangerous human in a pincer attack with their crude spears. Entreri, with out even a backward glance, swung a backhanded slash with his sword, well before the blade could reach the orc in front of him. The orc, figuring Entreri had simply made a mistake , didn't at first notice the trail of lingering ash the blade had left in its wake. Entreri continued the slash until the sword made a complete orbit around the assassin, leaving a line of ash at the two orcs' eye level. He then swung the sword in a vertical sweep, again leaving the ash behind it.
The completion of this maneuver left the orc in front of the assassin blind above and in front of it, while the orc behind the Entreri could no longer see above and immediately behind the man. Entreri then side stepped, while parrying the spear from behind to keep it on target. The orc in front couldn't see the evasion, so it continued on blindly. Not expecting its companion's spear to suddenly burst through the wall of ash, it had no time to deflect or dodge the blow as it tore into its chest. The orc on the other side of the wall had turned to follow the assassin enough so that the spear from its now dead companion didn't strike anything vital, but Entreri's following flurry was more than enough to finish off the orc.
Two other orcs, seeing three of their kin so swiftly taken down, bolted for escape from the dangerous assassin. Entreri noticed them and threw both of his blades at the fleeing pair. The dagger found its target cleanly, but the sword, not designed for such an attack, badly missed its target and skittered down in front of the orc. The orc, seeing how mighty the weapon was, halted and bent down to retrieve it, figuring to use it on the now unarmed human.
Immediately after grasping the blade however, the orc made no move to attack Entreri. Indeed, it found that it could not move at all. But the orc had more pressing concerns than its immobility. The poor creature found itself locked in a mental battle with the sentience of that ever-hungry blade. It tried to resist the despair and hopelessness that the sword imparted upon it. But the cowardly creature had not the self-control of Artemis Entreri, nor the magic-nullifying gauntlet the Assassin wore.
In the split-second the orc had grabbed the sword, a battle was waged and lost by the creature. With the orc fully defeated by the despair, the sword consumed his very essence, devouring its soul ravenously. The appearance of this feast was also horrifying to look upon, as well.
Three orcs were charging the now unarmed assassin, but they stopped short and looked terrified at their companion, whose facial flesh had melted away, leaving nothing but stark, white skull where its face had once been. The three promptly fled as fast and as far as their legs could take them.
Entreri, confident the orc lacked the willpower needed to tame the sword, never slowed his approach for his weapons.
After retrieving his dagger and prying Charon's blade away from the grinning skull's rigid grip, Artemis paused to survey the impromptu battle field. There were no more creatures near him, for all that had been had long ago fled, and were well out of his attack range. Though he paused to retrieve and hurl a spear at one of the fleeing targets, the crude weapon fell far short.
Jarlaxle, seeing his annoying companion finished with his opponents, decided the time had come to end this folly. He promptly went into a wild flurry of slashes, swipes, and stabs. Though he had come no where near hitting any of his opponents, they cautiously backed hastily away. Seeing this, the drow muttered under his breath and launched his swords (which where now daggers again). Each found, and finished, his targets.
One of the few orcs left heaved his spear for all he was worth, praying that it killed the murderous drow. Due to Jarlaxle's displacing cape, however, the intended weapon missed badly to the mercenary's left. The mercenary turned toward the assailant, cocked and eyebrow, seized a wand from his hip, and proceeded to blast the creature in to oblivion.
Entreri found his way to the mercenary's side then, and the drow rounded on him. "This was an utter waste," Jarlaxle said, shaking his fist at the assassin. Entreri, seeing the wand in the waving fist, cocked and eyebrow of his own and replied, "It was your decision to use the wand".
"And yours to start this battle," the drow countered without missing a beat. "And don't try to reason about our time gained. The length of the battle more than covered the time it would have taken us to simply go around the stupid things!"
"Jarlaxle the coward?"
"Jarlaxle the opportunist. There was nothing to be gained by this conflict."
Artemis shrugged noncommittally and continued on their previous route Confident that his friend was not truly angered, he didn't even look back. As Jarlaxle fell in step behind the assassin, he swore furiously to Lolth. Cursing the day he met this obstinate human, a smile nevertheless found his lips. He was now more confident than ever that this chapter of his long life would not be boring.
"Why waste our time going around them when we could simply go through them?" Entreri had given that same retort every time. And so Jarlaxle just shook his head one last time, sighed and followed his brash companion.
Needless to say, the orcs were quite surprised to find two confident adventurers stalking towards them. They were even more taken aback when they realized one of them was a drow. The chief of the tribe, a burly, and stupid, orc if there ever was one, did a double take to make sure his eyes had not deceived him. He then looked to his tribe.
His tribe had the advantage of numbers, more that a score, and he decided the odds were well in his favor to demand a toll on these two. He made a grand flourish of showing himself and moved to bully the pair.
His mouth opening was the last action of his life.
Before his mouth had even fully opened, Entreri had his sword and dagger out and struck two solid blows. Entreri kicked him off his blades and braced for the swarm of orcs that charged toward him. However, their momentum and ranks were then decimated by Jarlaxle, throwing his seemingly never-ending supply of daggers. When he judged that the number of orcs had been sufficiently depleted, he charged with a dagger in each hand. Closing within the last few paces, Jarlaxle stabbed out in front of himself at two different orcs, muttering under his breath. Thinking the Drow out of range with his short weapons, the orcs didn't even try to parry the attacks.
When the daggers struck one in the heart and the other in the throat, they were very surprised indeed. For, while the daggers were stabbing out, their blades had lengthened into slender swords. Thus making the orcs well within range.
While Jarlaxle was taking care of his fair share of orcs, Entreri continued hacking others down. The orc on his right had been blinded by a slash with his jeweled dagger, then decapitated by the cross swipe with his sword, the Charon's Blade. The orcs in front and behind Entreri both charged, think to catch the dangerous human in a pincer attack with their crude spears. Entreri, with out even a backward glance, swung a backhanded slash with his sword, well before the blade could reach the orc in front of him. The orc, figuring Entreri had simply made a mistake , didn't at first notice the trail of lingering ash the blade had left in its wake. Entreri continued the slash until the sword made a complete orbit around the assassin, leaving a line of ash at the two orcs' eye level. He then swung the sword in a vertical sweep, again leaving the ash behind it.
The completion of this maneuver left the orc in front of the assassin blind above and in front of it, while the orc behind the Entreri could no longer see above and immediately behind the man. Entreri then side stepped, while parrying the spear from behind to keep it on target. The orc in front couldn't see the evasion, so it continued on blindly. Not expecting its companion's spear to suddenly burst through the wall of ash, it had no time to deflect or dodge the blow as it tore into its chest. The orc on the other side of the wall had turned to follow the assassin enough so that the spear from its now dead companion didn't strike anything vital, but Entreri's following flurry was more than enough to finish off the orc.
Two other orcs, seeing three of their kin so swiftly taken down, bolted for escape from the dangerous assassin. Entreri noticed them and threw both of his blades at the fleeing pair. The dagger found its target cleanly, but the sword, not designed for such an attack, badly missed its target and skittered down in front of the orc. The orc, seeing how mighty the weapon was, halted and bent down to retrieve it, figuring to use it on the now unarmed human.
Immediately after grasping the blade however, the orc made no move to attack Entreri. Indeed, it found that it could not move at all. But the orc had more pressing concerns than its immobility. The poor creature found itself locked in a mental battle with the sentience of that ever-hungry blade. It tried to resist the despair and hopelessness that the sword imparted upon it. But the cowardly creature had not the self-control of Artemis Entreri, nor the magic-nullifying gauntlet the Assassin wore.
In the split-second the orc had grabbed the sword, a battle was waged and lost by the creature. With the orc fully defeated by the despair, the sword consumed his very essence, devouring its soul ravenously. The appearance of this feast was also horrifying to look upon, as well.
Three orcs were charging the now unarmed assassin, but they stopped short and looked terrified at their companion, whose facial flesh had melted away, leaving nothing but stark, white skull where its face had once been. The three promptly fled as fast and as far as their legs could take them.
Entreri, confident the orc lacked the willpower needed to tame the sword, never slowed his approach for his weapons.
After retrieving his dagger and prying Charon's blade away from the grinning skull's rigid grip, Artemis paused to survey the impromptu battle field. There were no more creatures near him, for all that had been had long ago fled, and were well out of his attack range. Though he paused to retrieve and hurl a spear at one of the fleeing targets, the crude weapon fell far short.
Jarlaxle, seeing his annoying companion finished with his opponents, decided the time had come to end this folly. He promptly went into a wild flurry of slashes, swipes, and stabs. Though he had come no where near hitting any of his opponents, they cautiously backed hastily away. Seeing this, the drow muttered under his breath and launched his swords (which where now daggers again). Each found, and finished, his targets.
One of the few orcs left heaved his spear for all he was worth, praying that it killed the murderous drow. Due to Jarlaxle's displacing cape, however, the intended weapon missed badly to the mercenary's left. The mercenary turned toward the assailant, cocked and eyebrow, seized a wand from his hip, and proceeded to blast the creature in to oblivion.
Entreri found his way to the mercenary's side then, and the drow rounded on him. "This was an utter waste," Jarlaxle said, shaking his fist at the assassin. Entreri, seeing the wand in the waving fist, cocked and eyebrow of his own and replied, "It was your decision to use the wand".
"And yours to start this battle," the drow countered without missing a beat. "And don't try to reason about our time gained. The length of the battle more than covered the time it would have taken us to simply go around the stupid things!"
"Jarlaxle the coward?"
"Jarlaxle the opportunist. There was nothing to be gained by this conflict."
Artemis shrugged noncommittally and continued on their previous route Confident that his friend was not truly angered, he didn't even look back. As Jarlaxle fell in step behind the assassin, he swore furiously to Lolth. Cursing the day he met this obstinate human, a smile nevertheless found his lips. He was now more confident than ever that this chapter of his long life would not be boring.
