The dwarf heads in the direction of the orc approaching Alicia, but the roc gets there first and delivers a bloody peck.
With a triumphant whoop, the three Patrol members who set the boulder in motion leap the barricade and follow in its path.
"Now, wait just a minute!" Omast Frum calls after them reprovingly. "We're still responsible for holding this gate. No one's going to go running off all willy-nilly and leaving the gate unguarded, not on my watch!"
In the gate, one of the remaining Twisted Nail tribesmen sees the road ahead full of soldiers and turns back to follow his fleeing comrades.
The orc whose hunk of flesh Reaver just sampled draws his falchion and attempts to turn his ire on the roc.
With a tangible click, Ali finally pops the lock and kicks the door open.
Ali opens the door to reveal an empty lower room. The trapdoor at the top of the ladder is open.
Seeing no safe way forward, the last orc in the gateway hesitates.
Marikel takes several steps forward, filling the gateway and trying to step around his smaller allies, though his boot may crush the skull of the recently felled orc that hit him. He swings his sword at the orc still in the gateway who was too foolish to have fled after his companions.
Marikel strides forward but fails to injure the orc in the gate.
The orc swings back with greater success
"I'll see to the gate, shall I?" Vhailor volunteers, heading for the mechanism on the wall, cat in tow.
The soldier who just felled an orc moves up to attack the orc hemmed in between the roc and the gate tower.
Alicia's initial protector takes another swing with greater success, hacking so deeply into the orc's shoulder that its arm is nearly severed as it collapses lifeless on the ground.
The archer atop the wall takes another shot. "Captain!" he calls down. "There's a small group that's rallied and headed this way! Got a big damn lizard of some sort with them!"
From the tower on the opposite side, the orc that entered downstairs emerges onto the wall, shortbow in hand, and fires an arrow into the group of defenders, which buries itself to the black fletching into the side of one of the Patrolmen.
Catching sight of the orc archer above, "Reaver! Mae gennym saethwr! Ewch i'w gael ef, fi ffrind!" he directs. With that, Dorn then moves forward and takes the fight to the only orc he can reach.
Skyreaver takes to higher air and heads straight for the archer.
Dorn clambers laboriously through the corpses to reach the last orc standing in the gate, but his hammer just deflects enough off a stud in the orc's armor that the weight behind the blow fails to injure his opponent.
Skyreaver has an easier path through the air, and the roc's beak leaves the orc bloodier than before.
"You heard him! There's another wave coming! Back behind the barricade, lads!" Omast Frum commands, and the Patrol members scramble to obey him.
Alicia scrambles up the ladder and pauses to take in the view of the top floor before proceeding.
Alicia climbs the ladder. The Patrol archer who ran into the tower to deal with the orc is lying bloody on the ground in the doorway. Past him, through the open door, she can see the roc and the orc engaged in combat.
The orc who fled a few moments earlier returns to the gateway with a roar and a look of chagrin, accompanied by two other tribesmen, one of whom is armed with an unusual downward-curving sword.
Marikel swings his sword at the orc beside them, before stepping back behind the growing pile of bodies.
Marikel has trouble maneuvering his oversized sword in the confined area of the gate, but the orc has no such trouble taking a slash at the retreating priest. His falchion fails to find purchase against the smaller target of the dwarf, however.
Inside the gatehouse, Vhailor works the mechanism to drop the portcullis, which comes down with a crash. When he tries to reinsert the lock which will hold it in place, however, he finds that the piece is badly damaged from when the Twisted Nail forced the gate open and will not reinsert into its place. "Um," he calls out the door, "I don't think this is going to stop them for too long!"
The lizard the archer warned of, a man-sized beast with a toothy maw, runs right up to the bars of the portcullis and scrabbles at them with its clawed toes, trying to get through.
It is followed by another orc, which immediately begins to try its strength against the weight of the gate.
A Patrol member moves around Dorn and, with a single swipe of his greatsword, decapitates the orc that just slashed Marikel.
Hearing Vhailor's cry, another Patrolman moves into the gatehouse to see the situation for himself. "He's right, Captain!" he calls out. "It won't lock! What should we do?"
The archer shoots another arrow down into the Lower Quarter.
On the other wall, the orc steps away from the roc and retrieves a small sack from his belt, which he then throws at the bird. Skyreaver just manages to flit out of its path, and it breaks open on the parapet into a sticky mess which quickly hardens on exposure to air.
Shaking his head, "Back up, lad!" he tells Patrol F. "Let 'em come ta us." Dorn then retreats back near Marikel and decides to bring a bit more pain with his blade.
Skyreaver just manages to dodge the strange item that is thrown at him. He then flies toward the orc and continues his attack upon the foolish creature.
The dwarf retreats to Marikel and casts a spell.
Skyreaver follows the orc and tears into it with beak and talon.
"That's right; back up," the Patrolmen behind the barricade call as they ready their weapons. "Get some cover!"
"Down in front, there, padre!" the old dwarf shouts, holding his crossbow at the ready. "Give me a clear shot!"
On the other side of the closed portcullis, another orc approaches but can't get into position to help raise the gate, as the lizard irritably snaps at him.
Alicia pours a healing potion down the Patrolman's throat, hoping she's in time.
The man chokes and sputters around the healing draught, blearily opening his eyes. "Is the... is the gate closed?" he asks weakly, trying to push himself up on one elbow.
As Dorn backs off, one orc inside the gate turns to help his comrade on the other side force the portcullis up.
A female orc outside the gate snaps a command at the lizard -- "Beweeg!" -- and then lends her own strength to the task.
With a snarl of impatience, the other orc outside the gate sheathes his curved sword and joins the attempt to open the portcullis.
"Down in front, there, padre!" the old dwarf shouts, holding his crossbow at the ready. "Give me a clear shot!"
"Yes sir!"
Marikel moves aside to allow the archers to fire and casts a spell of curing upon himself.
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As the enlarged priest moves out of the way, the old dwarf groans. "Dammit, Floyd, you, too!"
"Excuse me a moment," Vhailor says breathlessly and hurries out the door, scrambling over the loose lumber.
Outside the portcullis, the lizard sullenly turns and moves away from the gate, which, under the combined effort of four orcs has begun to inch upward.
The orc which started the effort shifts his grip to prevent their small gain from slipping back and heaves again, his muscles rippling.
Inside the gate, the last Patrolman in the road protests, "But Captain --! Yes, Captain." Gritting his teeth in resignation, he steps back against the tower wall as Frum's crossbow sings and the bolt pierces the upper arm of one of the straining orcs.
Inside the tower, the Patrolman sees the mechanism start to turn as the portcullis inches upward and grabs on instinctively to try to hold it still, but his strength is no match for the orcs on the other side of the wall.
The archer takes another shot into the Inner Quarter.
The orc fighting Skyreaver, desperately bloodied, swings its falchion wildly at the roc.
The Patrolman Alicia just revived gets unevenly to his feet and snatches up the bow he dropped in the doorway.
Instead of waiting for the orcs to open the gate and come flooding in, Dorn sheathes his weapon, drops his shield and draws his bow. "If you're just gonna stand there, I'm gonna shoot ya."
Avoiding the sloppy attack with ease, the roc senses the orc's dread and takes advantage.
Unfortunately Skyreaver's overconfidence is looking as if it is the far greater enemy.
The dwarf replaces his hammer and shield with a bow.
Skyreaver adds another scratch to the orc's damage toll.
Behind the barricade, the three Patrolmen keep their spears at the ready.
The last orc outside the gate steps into the space the lizard just vacated and grabs the bars to add his strength to the attempt to raise the portcullis. With this final addition to the effort, the gate opens.
Alicia scuttles over to the orc the roc is battling and slips her rapier into his ribs.
Alicia slips up next to the roc and finishes off the orc. Skyreaver squawks in mild annoyance.
With a howl of triumph, one of the Twisted Nail warriors turns to make his way up the corpse-strewn road. He is clever enough to avoid the Patrolman eyeing him murderously from the tower wall but not bright enough to calculate how far Marikel's divinely-enhanced longsword can extend. He reaches Dorn at the cost of a deep cut in his side.
"Aanval!" the female orc commands the lizard, pointing its way through the gate, before drawing a javelin.
Perhaps learning from his comrade's reckless enthusiasm, the other orc on the inside of the gate stays where he is to help hold it up for the others to follow.
"Mister Dorn," Marikel nods politely as he swings his sword through the orc threatening his companion.
He turns back to the entrance, hoping for another opportunity to attack.
Marikel's oversized sword decapitates the orc.
Vhailor waits near the door with his cat, ready to daze the first orc that comes within range.
The orcs' lizard surges forward at the nearest target. Floyd brings his sword down where the dexterous reptile had been a moment before, and in return, the lizard's jaws fail to close around the Trunauan's leg.
One of the orcs lifting the portcullis attempts to shift his hands so that he can step under the gate but in doing so loses his grip entirely. Without his support, the portcullis comes crashing down again.
Omast Frum winches back the string of his crossbow and inserts another bolt in readiness.
Inside the tower, the Patrolman grabs hold of the mechanism that raises the portcullis, bracing himself to prevent the orcs from opening it again.
The archer on the wall takes another shot.
Still looking a little dazed, Hank climbs back down the ladder to see what's happening with the gate.
Upon seeing the lizard the size of himself come through, "Reaver!" the dwarf calls to him and directs him toward the lizard creature.
Pulling back an arrow, "Lad," he nods back. "Much thanks," he says before firing at the orc on this side of the gate.
Skyreaver reacts to the dwarf and heads in that direction. Once spying the lizard, he makes a beeline for the reptile.
As Skyreaver takes off toward another orc, Ali calls after him, "Go for the eyes, Boo!"
The orc's back sprouts an arrow.
Skyreaver circles around the tower and down next to Floyd in the gate, but the dextrous lizard avoids the roc's grasping beak.
The three tense Patrolmen waiting behind the barricade relax a bit as the gate slams shut once more. "Patrol Captain," one suggests to Frum hopefully, "we could take our longswords and attack them through the gate."
Outside the gate, one of the Twisted Nail makes another attempt to raise the portcullis.
Alicia hustles down the ladder again, looking to see if she can fix the gate mechanism.
Alicia jogs back into the tower and slides down the ladder, joining the two Patrolmen at the gate mechanism.
Orcs on either side of the gate join the attempt to lift the portcullis again.
While the orcs are briefly held at bay, Marikel pulls out one of his healing potions and gulps it down.
Marikel drinks a quick restorative.
"Errhm," Vhailor coughs politely. "Could someone corral that lizard?"
"Working at it," Floyd snaps back, as he brings his greatsword down in an arc that the quick-footed lizard easily scampers out of.
The next moment, the lizard lunges back with a bite that nearly takes the Patrolman's leg off. The appendage, spurting blood, remains clamped in the reptile's mouth, Floyd dangling limply and insensate from the top end of it.
On the other side of the portcullis, another orc lends his strength to raising the gate, which is slowly rising again under their combined effort.
The three tense Patrolmen waiting behind the barricade relax a bit as the gate slams shut once more. "Patrol Captain," one suggests to Frum hopefully, "we could take our longswords and attack them through the gate."
"You mean longspears, and that gate's not staying closed," the dwarf replies brusquely. "But they're not charging through that many dead, either. Take your javelins and get in position to throw while they're holding the gate open. With any luck, they'll drop it on their own toes." Frum hops the barricade himself and looses his crossbow bolt at the orc on this side of the portcullis.
The three Patrolmen quickly sheathe their weapons and leap over the barricade, each drawing a javelin.
Inside the tower, the Patrolman again pits his strength fruitlessly against those of the orcs outside.
Atop the wall, the archer fires again.
Alongside Alicia, Hank throws his weight against the portcullis mechanism as well.
Dorn steps to get a clearer shot and draws another arrow, firing at the orc that's dead in his sights.
Dorn gives a nod to the others, grinning at the nice shot.
Skyreaver relentlessly continues his assault upon the lizard.
Dorn sticks another arrow in the orc.
Skyreaver pecks and claws the lizard, which blinks at the roc in annoyance.
The orcs continue to strain at the gate.
roll-off: Levvy Twisted Nail 23
Alicia attempts to repair the jammed gate mechanism.