[ADMIN - Sottie, the Inebridee Brewery and associated characters are
written and owned by Greg Dewey ]

[Dersh]

Dersh peaked over the edge of the roof and saw a badly burned man. His head was tilted as if to favor one eye, and he was rumaging through a pack. From the pack he drew a potion. Dersh knew it might only be a healing potion, but the man was in desparate enough straights that Dersh did not want to take the risk that he was using some more potent magic. The thief pulled up onto the roof as he saw the man find the vial. Dersh leapt, discharging the blow-gun, guided only by his lips, in mid-air. He landed soundlessly at the man's blind side. The theif continued to move, snatching the potion out of the man's hand, while snagging the strap of the man's pack with his foot. The thief kicked the pack off the building just ahead of Dersh himself who followed it doing a side flip over the man's head and off the edge of the roof, breaking his fall somewhat with
one hand on the roof edge and hang-dropping over the side of the building, his feet again breaking his fall against a window ledge before he bounced to the ground, disappearing into the fog.

Dersh held the potion bottle up near his eye. The palm of his hand had served as a cap for the vial during his acrobatic escape. He'd done his best to keep out of the man's field of
vision and to work cleanly and silently so that the illusion that the gods were doing all could be preserved. The potion vial was somewhat over half empty. Whatever it was, the man had some of it in him, for Dersh was sure the grab had been precise and clean. The potion had had no opportunity to spill. Dersh removed a stopper from an empty poison vial he carried and capped the potion. Perhaps master Sottie would be able to figure out what it was. The thief's questing foot found the man's pack. He picked it up and headed for the the brew laboratory-residence building under the cover of the fog. Dersh noticed the slight buldge of fog near the main brewery's cellar exit was much less pronounced. This was unfortunate. Dersh reasoned that the mage's spell or the ale in the kettles must be nearly exhausted. The fog would soon begin to loose depth. For the moment, it was at its peak allowing the thief to make good time.

[Sottie-wolf]

On the other side of the building, Sottie approached the ladder to the roof and felt the oddest sensation as a strange disturbance boiled around the man who had been caught in the vapor spirit. There was more than intoxication now, some sort of magic with intoxicants as part of its make-up was being used. Sottie had sensed this sort of disturbance before, but never at such close range. This was no potion the fakir was familiar with...

[Terris]

Terris had just put the vial to his blistered lips when *something* attacked him. Whatever it was must have been hiding in his blind side. Before he could get more than two swallows of the potion, the vial was knocked out of his hand and his pack was snatched away from him. He turned his head in time to see his pack, and presumably his healing potion, disappearing over the edge of the roof.

"Dam...ARRGH!" As the potion took effect, Terris knew that he had drank the wrong one.

*That cursed alchemist must have given me the wrong....ARRRRRGHH!!!*

A burning like white-hot fire and boiling acid seared through his stomach and all through his body. The sensation was soon joined by the pain of his skin and nerve endings growing back. The vision suddenly returned to his left eye, but everything was slowly turning red, as if being viewed through a blood-stained glass.

Terris began to shake and spasm. Everything felt hot. Like he was being burned alive. His muscles cramped so badly that he though that his bones would snap under the strain.

The pain subsided, but it soon became apparant that the potion was only beginning to effect him. The spasms were growing worse, and it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate. Uncontrollable rage rose up within him.

At first, Terris thought that he was the victim of some kind of mind control, but no... the bloodlust was clearly coming from within him. Like a blazing fire, the rage swept across his mind, burning away what little bit of himself that remained.

Now, fully healed, Terris jumped to his feet, crouched down, and began snarling and snapping at the darkness. His muscles, though they were no larger than they had been before, now burned with the strength of five or six men. His reflexes quickened, his senses sharpened. His blood seemed to boil in his veins.

With his eyes filled with bloodlust and brutality, the thing that was once Terris scanned the roof, looking for something to kill.

[Amanda-wolf]

The first thing Amanda noticed shortly after her teeth had destroyed the leather armor between them and their intended target was that her growl sounded hollow, very hollow and... there was an echo. Once the armor was destroyed, there was much
blood, but it was as flavorless as water and... After several minutes locked in the dance of death, Amanda's consciousness faded away, and her body went limp.

[Rendela]

Shortly before she actually got to Amanda, Rendela's eyes, barely above the fog, took in the scene. The warrior woman and Amanda were locked in a deadly embrace. Although she might have attacked head on, the werewolf saw Amanda's body go limp and felt that if this woman had the instincts and training of a warrior, a good startle might break the woman's hold and bring her back to an on-guard position, thus freeing the poor omega. Towards that end, Rendela stealthily circled behind the woman, keeping low so as to be invisible beneath the mists. Visibility was so poor down within the fog that Rendela might have passed right by the woman had it not been for the glorious scent of blood. The warrior-wolf launched a savage bite at the back of the woman's ankle. As soon as she felt flesh between her jaws, Rendela would loose her favorite horrifying growl.

[Slimmon]

His mind completely eaten away, Slimmon threw his head back and uttered a maniacal laugh that was part howl, and part terrified scream.

[Zade]

What the Hell?

Everything was happening at once. Just as the huge wolf went limp in her arms, Zade heard Slimmon's screams. She turned slightly, to get a better fix on his position when something snapped at her ankle.

She spun and locked eyes with another wolf... much larger than the one she still held. If it weren't for Slimmon's scream making her move, the thing would have taken off her left foot entirely. As it were, she was bleeding freely from the bite on her ankle. The wound had the same strange tingling as the large bite in her side.

"Damned DOGS!!" Without warning, Zade threw the unconscious wolf at it's snarling brethren. She didn't wait for a reaction, she already had her whip in motion.

*CRACK*

She snapped the whip just short of the wolf, not giving the animal a chance to grab the weapon. She only wanted to keep if from lunging for a split second it would take to ready her other weapon.

She transferred the druid stone to her whip-hand, and then grabbed one of her throwing stars from her belt. She noticed that one of them was missing... it had probably come away in the first wolf's mouth when it had bitten her. No matter... she had plenty more...

[Rendela]

Rendela grinned, baring her teeth. The screams of one of the woman's compatriots had saved the leather-clad female a worse bite, but still, the woman moved quite well for a mortal or the screams would have done her not one whit of good. Perhaps the alpha was not swayed by this woman's sex appeal alone. Since Rendela was the pack's only straight-up warrior without extra powers or skills to call upon, she felt it was her duty to test the woman's combat mettle. The ancient werewolf hesitated for an instant while the warrior woman pulled her whip from Amanda's neck. She allowed Amanda to bounce off her chest as the woman heaved her unconscious pack mate at Rendela. With luck, the
impact would jar a little air into Amanda's lungs. Then the woman cracked her whip and pulled a missile from her belt. As the woman pulled a missile from her belt, Rendela leapt, bouncing her weight off Amanda's chest and forcing more air into her lungs. The wolf-warrior landed behind and beside her opponent, taking care to see how quickly the woman spun and how accurately she threw.

[Zade]

Her eyes never left the beast as it surged past her.

Gods, this thing is BIG.

Zade turned, taking aim with her star, ready to throw it as soon as the beast hit the ground. As she moved, she dropped her whip. It was a liability... any attempt to use the whip would cause her to drop the druid-stone that she was holding in the same hand. She could do without the whip for now... but she needed the light from the stone.

As the beast touched ground Zade crouched and released the silver star. It shot through the air towards the wolf, but before it was halfway to it's target, Zade had already snatched two more stars from her belt.

[Oger]

In two gulps, Oger drained the hand-cask that the drunken guard had attacked him with. He licked his lips, attempting to get every last drop of the delicious brew.

Oger quickly realized that that wasn't going to be enough. He was in pain... and it was going to take a LOT more beer than that to make him feel better. He put the cask to his lips once more, turning it upside down and letting the final three drops slide down his throat. He tried to force his tongue into the cask and lick around the inside... but of course that was impossible.

"Damn," said Oger as he gave up on the cask. "Wait a minute...I'm in the warehouse.... I'm SURROUNDED by beer!!"

Smiling like a giddy child, Oger hobbled over to the nearest of the huge warehouse casks. He couldn't read the label, but knew there was beer inside of it. He opened the huge spigot, and Dark Taint flowed out of it like a raging river. Oger tried to catch some in his hands, but soon realized that it was much easier to just put his head under the spigot. Beer flowed into his mouth as well as over and around his face and head. It got
into his wounds, making them sting fiercely, but Oger didn't care. He drank, and drank, gulping down huge mouthfuls again and again. Oger fully intended to stop after the first six or seven gulps, but he found himself growing more and more thirsty. He continued to drink gulp after gulp, growing thirstier with
every drop.

[Slimmon]

Still wandering aimlessly and screaming at random for no reason, Slimmon eventually ended up in the warehouse. He paused in the doorway as his eyes came across Oger and the beer cask.

Of course, what Slimmon ACTUALLY SAW was a giant, rabid, purple lizard performing an obscene act on a brown elephant. Slimmon smiled and sat down on the misty floor of the warehouse. He took off his left boot and began to play with his toes.

[Rendela]

The wolf-warrior observed that the mortal did move well indeed. As Rendela landed, the woman loosed a throwing star. Rendela allowed the momentum of her leap to carry her into a roll. She could feel a slight wind from the passing star as it disturbed
some fur on the nape of her neck. Had she been Amanda, the star would surely have hit, but Rendela had been a predator for many times longer than Amanda had lived. Moves came easily with centuries of practice.

Rendela changed the direction of the roll as she hit the ground. The thick mist made her invisible unless she was standing. The mist was an unfair advantage, but Rendela suspected that the woman might be smart enough to attempt to hit her blindly by tracing the likely path of the roll. Rendela would stand again in an unexpected location. If the woman was able to spot and hit Rendela before the first fifteen seconds of combat had
elapsed, then it would be time to see how she faired at a closer range where missiles would be useless. If she failed to hit, then at least she'd make a tasty snack.

[Zade]

Zade cursed when she saw her first throw pass over the beast's furry back and dissappear into the darkness. The wolf hit the ground and crouched, hiding itself in the mists. It could be anywhere by now. Zade knew she was a sitting duck... a perfect target. She weighed her options: She could stand still and wait for the wolf to attack. She could recover her whip and make a few random snaps in an attempt to flush the beast out.
She could turn the druid-stone up to its highest brightness, in hopes that it could penetrated the mists. Or she could run like Hell.

She was about to bend down and grab her whip when another option occured to her. She could use the mists against the beast...

Zade made a few sudden spins. Facing one direction, and then the other; her eyes on constant alert. Her motions stirred up the thick mists that surrounded her and hid her enemy. Tiny whirls and currents radiated through the ale-scented fog. Zade watched. She couldn't see the beast, but if it were close enough to her, the motions of the mist would reveal it just as the breaking of the ocean waves revealed the rocks that hid just
beneath the surface.

Something caught Zade's eye. A short distance away from her there was an aberration in the rythmic motion of the mists. Something was hiding there. She thought she saw a hint of fur peeking through the fog, but she wasn't sure. Zade frowned, studied the mists for a split second more, and then released both stars right into the center of the anomaly. She didn't know the exact position and orientation of the beast, but she was certain to hit something.

[Rendela]

Rendela's mental clock ticked away as the woman churned up the fog, perhaps in an effort to thin it out so that she could catch a glimps of her vulpine foe. "It was a novel approach," Rendela thought. "At least she is not without creativity..." The seconds ticked by, "7, 6, 5, 4," and suddenly the woman loosed stars. Rendela rolled as the stars came for her, one was lost in her fur, but another bit painfully into her side. "Next test" Rendela thought to herself. Her roll was just the start of a spring, and by the time the yipe of pain escaped her lips they were inches from the warrior woman's left ear. From out of the mists Rendela slammed into Zade like a fur-clad bullet, her nose unerringly tracking the scent of blood. It was time see how well the woman wrestled with wolves. (Rendela's weight is about the same as Zade's, give or take a bit. Of course she does have
the teeth and the preternatural strength and ferocity of a werewolf...)

[Sottie-wolf]

Sottie looked up through the fog with his magic mushroom vision at the roof ladder as he sought to analyze the disturbance in the brotherhood of intoxication more closely. He could feel the man's mind; the magic of the potion had it roughly clenched in its mighty fist. Subtle control was impossible, for the potion was channeling the total of the man's mentality into pure, blinding rage. Sottie backed up, he had an uneasy feeling about what a potion of this power might do. He reached through the brotherhood of intoxication to his pack mates. He had made sure all of them had had at least a single drink this evening so that he would be able to easily communicate with them. ::"The archer has drunk a potion of extraordinary power. He is enraged beyond any chance of mind control. I am not yet sure what else the potion does. We need a solution."


[Terris]

Not seeing anything on the roof to kill, the thing that was Terris took a running jump off the top of the building. He hit the ground with a heavy thud that broke several major bones and ruptured more than a few internal organs. The bones knitted and
the injuries healed almost instantly. Within seconds, Terris erupted from the foggy ground like some kind of snarling demon.

Terris sniffed. Even with his heightened senses, he had trouble locating quarry. His nose and tongue were nearly saturated with the heavy ale-scented fog, and his sight could barely penetrate the mists, but he did detect something...the sounds of battle around the far side of the warehouse... movement inside the same building... a heartbeat nearby... something crouching silently in the fog.

Terris's tongue yearned to taste blood. His fingers itched for the rending of flesh...

What would he kill first?

[Sottie]

From the mists below the building, Sottie saw the man make the leap. As a martial artist, he knew much about falling and breaking falls. He heard the expected snapping of bones, But an instant later, the man stood! ::"Most unfortunate, the potion has given him rapid regeneration as well as the rage I mentioned. He will be truly dangerous," Sottie telepathically relayed to his pack mates.

[Aria]

Aria watched Oger guzzle with great satisfaction. Inside of a single minute, the man had taken in 16 pints of DARK TAINT. ::"Rafe and I have nearly finished this opponent, if you can make the ale he is drinking go to his head rapidly, then he will not drink himself to death.

[Sottie]

As the yogi of drink sunk even farther down into the mists so that the archer would be unable to see or smell him, Sottie slipped into the alcohol in Oger's body, leaving only a fraction of Sottie's consciousness keeping a mental eye on the enraged archer. This would be but a brief task. While he and Sottie were in Oger's mind, Aeragar stayed behind to use the gods' power to make a few permanent, "adjustments," to the man's
desire for alcohol.

[Aria]

Aria watched Oger pass out as if clubbed. She mentally nodded to Rafe who cast a competent if basic multi-colored illusion around Slimmon's head to hide Aria's actions. She crept over to the keg, and using her superior control of the transformation, made
her two front paws into hands. She then snatched up Oger's rusty dagger, washed it in the stream of ale, turned off the spigot and reached the knife into a wound already marked by the gods of drink through Brian, the night watchman whose bloody carcass still laid on the floor. With a few deft flicks of the wrist, the knife entered the wound and separated the rocks that served as the foundation of Oger's masculinity from the man. What had provided Oger with manly hormones now became a light vulpine snack. The enormous bitch mentally snarled, "::For this man, the price of ale just went up."

[Zade]

One of the stars connected! Unfortunately, the inflicted wound was far from fatal. The beast sprang at her like a furry cannonball. Zade tried to step to the side, but she was too
slow.

She hit the ground hard, with the wolf right on top of her. Its jaws were just inches away from her face. Zade had her hands at the beasts neck, but the thing was too strong to choke or push away. It was the best she could do to keep its teeth out of her flesh.

Zade cursed her choice not to bring a dagger, or even her spiked gloves. The bladed tips that she carried for her whip were still in her belt, but she would have to release one hand from the wolf's throat in order to get one. She doubted she was quick enough to do that and still keep her head from being bitten off.

Bitten off? thought Zade.

The warrior woman squirmed under the wolf's weight, trying to gain a few inches. Soon she was eye-to-eye with the beast, but the wolf's jaws were that much closer to her throat.

"Hi doggy..." said Zade... then she bit down on the animal's sensitive nose. Her teeth clamped down into the cold, wet flesh. Maintaining her grip, she twisted her head sharply, and at the same time she brought her knee up with a sudden jerk in an attempt to flip the surprised animal over her head.


[Terris]

Terris tore off at a swift sprint in the general direction of the warehouse.

He paused when he came across the gigantic wolf. The beast seemed to be distracted by something, but that didn't matter to Terris. With no warning other than a wet snarl, he launched himself at the creature.


[Sottie]

Sottie's eyes were closed, he didn't really need them open with the psychic mushroom vision, and the ale fog was somewhat irritating to the eyes, necessitating frequent blinking. His mind was engaged elsewhere seeing to Oger, thus the fakir did
not react until Terris was quite close. Earlier, Sottie had realized that mind control counter to the potion-inspired rage would be relatively useless. Briefly, the fakir had thought about trying to increase the rage to such a fever pitch that it made Terris' heart explode, but even if he could do that, it would not do. The gods of drink had shown Sottie the way, each person sent to attack the brewery must suffer a curse worse than
death. Terris must be no exception. The priest of drink stood firm on that. In addition, the archer did not appear to have the right stuff to have the curse of lycanthropy bestowed upon him, thus Sottie could not bite him. The yogi of drink was in a bit of a pickle.

Sottie needed to think, but he had no time, thus he bolted into the mists as the maniac archer approached. Even so, the man gouged him in the flank with his fingers and inflicted a wound Sottie would not have believed possible. The potion had
transformed the man into the equivalent of a magical weapon able to strike a werewolf and do true damage. Sottie could outrun any man while in wolf form, at least that had been his previous experience...

The gods of drink were magnanomous, and no sooner had their beloved priest been threatened than he was struck by a drunken inspiration. The yogi of drink flashed back to a time during his training as a Fakir. It was night and a young Sottie stood next to master Musai in the fog near the bank of a river. The mists muffled and modulated sound and reflected light. Illusion came much easier from them than from thin air...

Sottie was adept at mental illusion, but he'd had quite limited success with the other forms. Nevertheless he reached out to the mists with his mind and the fog responded instantly. Oh course! The Yogi of drink suddenly realized that this was no mere fog,
but a fog of ale, and the swami had a much greater affinity for ale than a normal man. A dozen stealthy human warriors each with an echo of the fakir's heartbeat and the same scent of ale that came from the fakir arrose from the mists. Sottie himself was obscured by a similar image. Each ran in a different direction while the fog of ale around Terris thickened accousting his eyes and lungs as it attempted to isolate the maniac from its beloved master.

[Aria]

Her work on Oger done, Aria dropped the dagger and took up his axe. Rafe had a spell that he felt would douse the rage of the maniac outside, but it would require ale. Aria felt silly dancing around on her hind legs as a wolf, but even with the illusion swirling around Slimmon and Oger passed out on gallons of ale, Aria would not take any chances. She pushed a smaller keg into position, hopped up onto it, jumped onto the head of
one of the brewery's largest ale barrels and slammed the axe through the head of the huge barrel next to it, and then anothernext to that one. As she raised the axe above a third, she
growled loudly to cover the whispering drone of Rafe's spell-casting.

[Rafe]

Aria began to growl meaning she had the kegs ready and Rafe began spell-casting. He'd never done this spell on ale before, but since ale was primarily water, he foresaw no problems.

[Rendela]

The woman bit Rendela's nose! The move had been totally unexpected. In her long life, Rendela had never sustained such a bite from a human. Rendela's estimation of Zade went up several notches as the wolf bitch growled ferociously. The muscles of her powerful neck flexed as she forced her nose farther into Zade's mouth, stuck out her lower jaw and and ripped into Zade's chin and lips with her lower front teeth. She would make the woman think twice before biting her nose again. Rendela's rear paws scratched the woman's leather armor and found purchase as the woman's knee came up. Rendela brought her forepaws up and raked the sides of the woman's head holding on to her ears so that the woman would not be able to throw her but only flip her end for end.

When she landed, bleeding profusely from the nose, Rendela lost no time lunging for the woman's body. The human could go for a weapon on her belt, but it was going to cost her. Thankfully, the woman's teeth were not silver and the nose wounds began to close rapidly, though in the darkness and ale fog, such details were lost to the observer.

[Terris]

Seconds after the giant wolf disappeared into the fog, several armed men sprung up around Terris and began to run in different directions. In a fit of blind rage, Terris leaped at the closest one. As soon as he was touched, the warrior vanished into a puff of ale-scented smoke. Terris hit the ground hard, but rolled to his feet unharmed.

Undaunted, the mindless man-beast ran after the next foe, who had managed to get a short distance away. Terris grabbed at the man's neck, but his hands came away with nothing but ephemeral mist.

[Sottie]
::"I am stalling the archer with illusions. Careful of him, though mist-blind he gouged me in the flank with his fingers, and the wound is as if made by a magical dagger. His strength and speed is truly superhuman," Sottie sent to his pack mates.

[Terris]
Terris growled. The fog was blinding him, but there were heartbeats all around. Still yearning for blood, Terris followed his ears to yet another enemy. The third man vanished in the same manner as the first two. No tearing of flesh. No screams.
No blood.

Had the archer been in full command of his faculties, he would have caught on to the futility of his attacks, but the potion had violently ripped away his cognitive abilities and replaced them with pure savage instincts. Each disappearing foe only served to fuel his rage. Again, he followed the false heartbeat to another armed foe. Through the mists, he caught a glimpse the man disappearing around the side of the warehouse.

Terris gave chase.

[Zade]

Things were not going well. As much as she hated to admit it, she was slowly but most certainly loosing this fight.

She did not come equipped to fight animals... dogs, wolves or any other kind. Her enemy was strong and fast. Stronger and faster than any normal wolf should be. But that wasn't what concerned her... this creature was betraying signs of intelligence. It seemed to anticipate her move to throw it, and had grabbed on in order to keep itself from being flung away. Animals don't anticipate.

Her mind raced. She thought back to something a teacher once told her about the three ways to win a battle: Win by Winning, Win by Losing, and Win by Not Fighting. Zade decided to go for the third method and get the Hell out of here.

As the beast lunged at her once more, Zade quickly rolled to her left. She snatched up her whip and rose to a crouched position, and then stood.

[Rendela]

The woman's roll was competent, Rendela came away with nothing more than a bit of leather armor. The wolf bitch bore down on the woman.

[Zade]

Zade leaned backwards into a short series of back-flips that put some more space between her and the wolf. The move put a strain on her injured side and leg, but she ignored the pain and put more effort into figuring a way to make her escape. Turning and running would only lead to a quick death. She needed to distract the wolf somehow. Perhaps when it leapt at her next time, she could entangle the beast with her whip. It was risky
and would mean leaving her favorite whip behind, but there weren't too many other options. While the beast freed itself she could at least make it as far as the warehouse, where Oger was probably drinking himself into a stupor. Perhaps there was something in there she could use as a weapon.

[Rendela]

The woman's acrobatics were impressive especially given the woman's wounds. Few mortal fighters were that well versed. If she ran the woman down from the front, she would be kicked, so Rendela sunk low and ran past her. The werewolf bitch took up a
position to the woman's rear, but the woman stopped one flip short of landing her neck in Rendela's open mouth.

[Sottie]

::"The raging maniac archer is headed your way, Rendela. How is Rafe's spell coming, Aria?" Sottie sent to his compatriots.

[Aria]

::"He's casting it now. Give him another minute and we should be able to handle the archer," Aria sent.

[Zade]

The sound of approaching footfalls caught Zade's attention. She took her eyes away from the swirling mists... There was a man running right towards her! He was a few feet away and closing fast. Before even Zade's quick reflexes could react, the man was gone and a thick misty cloud wafted over her. She blinked the stinging fog out of her eyes and was again shocked to see Terris bearing down on her. The man's eyes were wild and
bloodshot, and a steady rivulet of drool flowed from his foaming mouth.

The two locked eyes for a split second, and then Terris was airborne. A super-human leap was carrying him directly towards her.

Zade was already in motion. She had a throwing star in her hand, with the full intention of burying it in Terris's cranium. She might be able to use his body to distract the wolf and make her escape.

[Rendela]

Rendela lowered her body deeper into the mists. The mad archer must not be bit, he was not even near worthy of becoming a werewolf. Yet Rendela was not yet a hundred percent sure of Zade's qualifications either. Rendela smiled, the woman had proved competent against a wolf, perhaps it was time to see how she did against a man. If this man was truly as fearsome as the Alpha made him out to be, and if Zade could buy the minute Rafe needed, then perhaps she would be worthy to be called into the wild. If the man proved a pushover, Rendela could always resume testing where she had left off.

[Zade]

On second thought, in his current condition Terris would make an infinitely better distraction if he were left alive. She could get away completely while he and the wolf
tore each other apart. All she had to do was to keep Terris busy until the wolf showed itself, then shove the potion-mad archer in the general direction of the beast. Sinterbourne's potion would do the rest.

Zade adjusted her aim slightly downward and released the throwing star. The silver projectile passed just under Terris's chin and lost itself in the flesh of his upper neck.
The wound was already-half healed by the time Terris slammed face-first into the ground and skidded to a stop. The fountain of blood pouring from his neck ceased, but the star was still deep inside his throat. Like a rabid beast, Terris ripped and clawed at
his neck, trying to dislodge the offending missile.

This gave Zade the crucial seconds she needed. The throwing stars weren't going to do it... and Terris's enhanced reflexes made her whip a liability. He would simply grab the whip and yank it out of her hand if she tried to use it on him. No... this was going to be hand-to-hand. Terris was faster and much stronger, but, for all intents an purposes, he was an animal. She could beat him no matter how enhanced his physical abilities were. All she needed to do was keep him on the defensive.

Great, thought Zade, First an animal that fights like a man, now a man that fights like an animal. What's next?

Zade dropped her whip, and with her druid-stone firmly grasped in her left hand, she crouched into a fighting stance.

Terris snarled as he ripped the throwing star out of his throat. The wound was closed before the star hit the ground, but Zade was already on the attack.

She rushed in low, catching him at the midsection and tossing him over her back. He hit the ground with a thump, and as he rose to his feet, Zade thrust her heel sharply into his knee. She felt the bone crunch, but she knew better than to let up. She spun and, with a ridge-hand chop snapped his neck like a piece of dry wood. She followed with a front-kick to Terris's stomach. The archer went down, and Zade flipped to a reasonably safe distance. She scanned the fog with her eyes...

...where's the wolf... where is it?

The archer was up again; speeding toward her with arms outstretched. Zade let him come, and as he was almost upon her, she grabbed his arms and fell backwards while bringing her foot up into his midsection. As her back touched the ground, she straightened her leg and sent Terris flying. He flew quite a few feet and hit the ground with a thump. There was no pause at all before he was up and running again. Zade stood
and repeated the same maneuver as before, with equal success. While she was on the ground, Zade's hand brushed across her discarded whip. She snatched up the weapon
and jumped to her feet.

...where IS that wolf? Don't tell me I'm fighting this man for
nothing... Enough of this, I'm getting out of here.

When Terris rose again, Zade snapped the whip across his chest, carving a deep furrow through his flesh. Just as Zade expected, Terris reacted by grabbing the whip and yanking, pulling her towards him.

It worked on the first wolf... thought Zade. Instead of resisting, she ran forward and looped the long leather strap around his arms, pinning them to his sides just below the biceps. Zade came up close behind him and tightened the whip. Zade's feet left the ground several times as Terris lurched from side to side, struggling like a trapped animal attempting to break free. Had the situation been reversed, Zade could have freed herself in seconds with any of a dozen martial-arts techniques, but Terris was too far gone for any of them to be of use. He knew only strength and savagery. In time, he would either throw Zade off or break the whip with the sheer force of his enhanced strength. There was no way she could hold him for an extended time, but for the moment, he was secure.

However, Zade had more in mind than just restraining him. She put her shoulder to the center of his back and began to herd him toward the front of the warehouse. All the while, she kept scanning the receding fog, looking for signs of her original attacker. Assuming the potion didn't wear off, she could still use Terris to facilitate her escape in case the beast attacked.

[Sottie]

His brush with the maniac over, Sottie entered the brewery and hid himself not far from the snoring form of Oger. The fakir laid his body down and entered a state of meditation. Aeragar was just finishing up with Oger's personalized curse when Sottie entered his mind. As Aeragar left, Sottie entered. The two mentally smiled at one another in passing. Sottie needed a bit of information about the organization that was attempting to extort the brewery. What better way to get it than from the inside? Sottie put Oger's drunken mind in order, keeping his consciousness insulated in one corner. Sottie opened Oger's eyes. Clumsily Oger's hands picked up his weapons and put his dagger in its place on his belt. The man got to his feet, and brandished his axe. At Aria's telepathic prompting Sottie found Oger's torch. Oger's hand picked it up and he staggered towards the brewery door.

[Rendela]

The werewolf kept low and edged to a safe distance from the fight. Against her own kind, the woman she watched was truly impressive. Rendela had to admit the woman was as well-schooled a fighter as she'd seen. As a werewolf, she would be even more
formidable, and if she became a pack mate, Rendela believed the woman would soon best the omega, and in time might even threaten her own position in the pack's pecking order. On the other hand, the addition might be tolerable. The pack was too small, and Rendela would be glad to have a sparring partner who was both a warrior and was less formidable than Aria, the alpha female.

[Rafe]

Rafe pronounced the final syllable and knew his spell wascomplete. As Oger ran towards the door, Rafe let the illusion around Slimmon's head fade out.

[Slimmon]

With all the subtlty of a battle-axe to the head, Slimmon's perceptions suddenly returned to normal. The rainbows, serpants, spiders, and lizards all vanished and were replaced by
the torch-lit interior of the brewery warehouse.

Unfortunately, Slimmon's mind had endured far too much this night. His will and reason were completely gone and, with no further illusions to entertain him, Slimmon slowly stood and walked out of the door. He heard someone approaching from the
side of the warehouse. He stood and watched as Zade and the still-strugging Terris fought their way towards him.

"Hello," said Slimmon to no one in particular, "my name is...is...uhhhh...."

[Zade]

With Zade slightly distracted by Slimmon's mumblings, Terris redoubled his struggles. He whiped his body back and forth with such violence that Zade was almost lifted off her feet several times. After a few seconds of intense struggle, Zade got the maniacal Terris under control, but not before he had slung her sharply to the left and caused her to collide with the babbling Slimmon.

[Slimmon]

The tall, thin man went down. He wasn't hurt, but he began to cry nonetheless.


[Oger(Sottie)]

Oger made a running stagger towards the door to the warehouse. From within Oger's mind, Sottie beckoned to Rafe's creation and was surprised at the amount of control he could exert, though it did stand to reason, considering the nature of the thing. When he emerged from the warehouse, Oger nearly bumped into the maniac archer, straining to break a whip that was pinning his arms. The large man staggered past, "Ale monster, wadge oud!," Oger slurred loudly, flailing his torch and axe.

[Ale Elemental]

An elemental made entirely from ale surged from the brewery doorway a dozen feet tall

[Zade]

"Great!" said Zade, "We're all here. Now let's get ourselves
out of... what did you say, Oger?"

Zade did a double-take as the Ale elemental emerged.

There's no way in HELL that I'm gonna fight that!


[Slimmon]

Slimmon stood and looked at the thing. Then he burst into uncontrollable laughter.

[Zade]

"LET'S GO!!"

Zade gave Terris a fierce shove in the direction of the walking tide of ale. As he stumbled away from her, she unravelled her whip, freeing the potion-mad archer and sending him careening towards the monster. Terris saw the beast and leapt towards it,
but Zade was already making her escape.

With a snap of her wrist, she wrapped her whip around Slimmon's arm, securing the laughing fool at the end of a long, leather leash.

"Come on!" she shouted at Oger and Slimmon, "Move OUT!"

Zade took off running.

Slimmon followed at a leasurely jog, but was forced to keep up by Zade's forceful tugs on the whip that bound his wrist.

"Oger, you back there??" Zade huffed as they sped away from the warehouse. "Oger??"

[Oger]

Never had a man so drunk staggered so rapidly or so comically. Oger took huge ungainly steps trying at every turn to keep up with Zade and at the same time save himself from falling. He nearly fell at least a dozen times, and actually fell thrice but got back to his feet and staggered anew. "I-I-I mmmm heeere," Oger bellowed as he began to catch up. "I-I could nad cleave id with my axxxxsss so I tried da drrrrink id ta deth, bud id just
keeeeept commmmmming, buddd I hurrrt id gallons! Oger's tongue hung out and his belly sloshed as he spoke.

[Zade]

Zade brought the party to a halt just outside the brewery's grounds. Oddly enough, the alf-fog that had cursed their efforts all night vanished mysteriously as they crossed the perimiter.

[Slimmon]

Slimmon skidded to a clumsly stop. "Weeeeeeeee! That was fun, let's do it again!"

[Zade]

"Sure Slimmon. Why don't you go back and see how Terris is doing against that monster."

Slimmon nodded gleefully and started to walk back into the fog.

Zade snatched him back with a fierce yank on the whip.

"Gods, what's WRONG with you people!" Zade finally had a chance to examine her cohorts.

Oger was covered with blood and ale, and had several really nasty wounds, but none of them appeared to be from wolf-bites. Zade wondered what enemies Oger faced inside the warehouse before the ale-monster chased him out.

Slimmon was somewhat scuffed from his numerous falls, but was not wounded seriously. His mind, however....

"Slimmon," said Zade, "What happened to you? You drunk?"

"huh?"

"You were in the warehouse with Oger... are you drunk, too?"

"huh?"

"Oh, forget it." Zade glanced at Oger, and then peered out into the fog. "Terris got a hold of the berserker potion. He's fighting that ale-beast, now. We'll wait here for a while to see if he makes it out. Be prepared though... at the first sign of that monster or anything that isn't Terris, we bolt."

[Oger]

"Buuuuuurrrrrrrrp," Oger blinked and wavered, then chuckled drunkenly.

Within Oger's mind, Sottie searched Oger's memory to see just what had happened in the brewery building and also implanted the memory of running from the ale elemental and the fact that Oger was using the ale elemental as the reason he was drunk to avoid punishment for guzzling from the barrel.

Oger smiled drunkenly at Zade. Terrrrrisss won come oud of thad baddle sober, hehehehehuhuhuhhu...hic."

[Zade]

"...drunks..." Zade said to herself.

They stood and waited for several minutes as the fog disipated. It occured to Zade that the whole encounter at the Brewery had barely taken more than an hour. It was still early. Fletcher and Sinterbourne would still be up and about... waiting for her report.

Zade sighed. This was not going to go over well. Terris was either dead, drunk, or still insane from the potion. Oger was drunk. And Slimmon...

She look at the tall thug. Slimmon had apparently decided that his clothing was too confining and that the could no longer abide its presence next to his skin. The man was about two scraps of cloth away from being completely naked.

"Get dressed," spat Zade. Slimmon returned her gaze with a blank stare, then proceeded to dress himself.

Of course, Zade still had her own wounds to attend to. The wolf-bites were stinging like mad. Even if they weren't diseased or infected, if she didn't treat them soon they would leave nasty scars. Zade hated scars.

"Come on," she said to the group, "We're leaving."

"What about Terris?" said a voice. It took Zade a second to realize that it didn't belong to either Oger or Slimmon. The voice was close, almost like a whisper in her ear.

"Mind your own business, Blaymore," she said out loud, seemingly to no one.

"You're leaving a man behind. I taught you better than that." answered the voice.

"Just go away. And if you're so damned concerned about Terris then YOU go and get him."

"...Not my fight..."

"Figures. And for your information, I was going to get him when I came back tonight."

"Came back?"

"This fight isn't even CLOSE to being over..." Zade spun on her heals and marched off, dragging Slimmon behind her.

[Oger/Sottie]

The priest of drunkenness sent to Aria::"She is already planning a return trip later this evening. Most tenacious! We must be ready if it comes to pass. I really must find a way to get my plants to grow faster. The brewery is so naked without them. If only Giana were not out adventuring..."

[Zade]

As she walked away, her voice could be heard mumbling to herself, running down the list of equipment neccessary for her vengeful return to the Inebridee Brewery...

".... knife... BIG knife... and a stone-holder for the light.... spiked gauntlets...and armor... CHAINMAIL, none of this leather crap...poison for the whip...powdered glass for
those damned dogs...maybe some explosives..."

[To Be Continued]