The sudden light in the room blinded all save Blacky, who rushed forward to meet the woman in the door. She took a single step backward to meet his charge. A glint of light off a blade caught his eye, and he avoid an attack from a man stepping from the side of the door. Unfortunately, it threw off his charge, and he nearly lost his footing as he stepped out of the room onto the muddy ground.
Everyone else got their sight back and began to move. The room they were in was littered with half smashed furniture and rotten wooden staves. A cage stood in the northeast corner of the room. The door that was the current center of attention was near the southeast corner. Arachne moved behind a broken chair, sling in hand. Echo pressed herself against the east wall and scooted towards the door. Aloysius began wandering arond the room, looking at the floor.
Jana beat Kaileer and Etienne to the door. The woman in chain mail and the man in leather did not move back enough to allow Blacky and Jana to clear the door, the tangle of four fighting bodies effectively blocking everyone else in the room. Blacky missed with his axe, but Jana hit the woman with her mace. The woman sliced into Blacky with her long sword, and the man swung wild with his short sword, making it impossible for anyone to tell who he had even been trying to hit.
The light that poured out of the room lit up most of the courtyard. Out of the corner of their eyes, Jana and Blacky could see a very dirty and soaking wet Rumer exchanging short sword blows with another man dressed in leather armor. For the time being, Rumer was getting the better of the deal. She managed to slash through the man's defenses once while jumping out of the way of his counterattack.
The sound of running heralded the appearance of six more people and one very large ugly dog from various directions. A skinny boy in leather armor with a shield, made for a door on the north side of the courtyard. The remaining five (and the dog) seemed rushed the area where the small fights were taking place. All but one were dressed in leather armor and carrying short swords, two with shields as well. The odd man out had a long sword and a shield but was dressed only in thin breeches. More dogs started barking as the boy opened the door.
The reinforcements arrived with few people available to fight. Two of them joined the man fighting Rumer, and the half dressed man slid in to flank Blacky and Jana as they fought in the corner of the door and the north wall of the courtyard. A yelp of terror joined the barking of the dogs in the side room that the skinny boy had gone into. One of the unengaged men snapped his fingers at the other, who ran to the same door that the boy had just gone through. Other than that, he stood with his short sword at ready, a near insane look of eagerness on his face as he waited for an opening in the battle by the door.
Jana and the woman at the door took turns trying to force the other in the opposite direction while swinging at each other. Neither of them managed to budge the other either into the room or out of the doorway, but Jana did score a hard blow with her mace. Echo peeked around the door and flung a magic missile at the woman. The woman looked badly hurt.
Blacky took the man in leather down quickly, his body falling to the ground in a bloody heap. This allowed him enough room to move aside slightly before the long sword wielded by the half-dressed man bit into his shoulder. Both Kaileer and the ugly dog took advantage of the opening made, Kaileer stepping out into the courtyard slightly and the dog moving to meet him in a snarling fury. The dog apparently had a taste for elf; he tore through Kaileer's leather armor and into his thigh. The sheer force behind the bite shocked Kaileer into losing his grip on his spear. The weapon fell to the ground at his feet.
Rumer, now facing three men, fended off blows with skill she didn't realize she had. She was not able to do any damage to any of them, but she did prevent them from hurting her. One of the men, the only one wielding a bastard sword, slipped in the mud and cut himself with his own blade in an extraordinarily clumsy move.
Etienne still stood inside the room at ready. Arachne seemed to be dozing off, and Aloysius continued to look at the floor.
The man who had gone for the door opened it, and another dog ran out. It was even uglier than the first dog and looked slightly crazed. It rushed to join the ruckus by the door. The man standing by moved in even closer, watching for any opening to attack either Kaileer or Jana.
After looking around on the floor for a bit, Aloysius gave up looking for whatever he was looking for and took cover behind some furniture. He peered over the top of the furniture, intently following the combat taking place in the doorway. He seemed to make little jabbing moves with his hands, and his facial expressions reacted to the successes and failures of his companions.
Kaileer gritted his teeth at the pain and responded with a fury of his own, smashing the dog with his shield and drawing his knife to bury it in the cur's back.
Kaileer cut the dog who had bitten him with his knife. The mangy mutt snapped at him again, but failed to get a bite of flesh this time. Jana finally succeeded in pushing the woman in chain mail back from the door. She took a hit from the woman's long sword for her effort and failed to hit her with her mace. Before Etienne could get to the space that had cleared in the doorway, the man with the insane look of eagerness dove through and into the room. He was closely followed by the second dog. Echo attempted to attack the man from her hidden position, but he moved too quickly. The dog following him attacked her, wounding her badly. The man turned on Etienne, leaving the woman to the dog. He could not manage to hit the half-elf with his short sword, just as Etienne couldn't manage to hit him with his scimitars.
"Get this mutt away from me!" Echo squealed. She tried to shove a dagger in the dog's mouth to keep him from biting her again.
The rush of man and dog into the room stirred Arachne from her nap. She watched as the others engaged the invaders.
Blacky attacked the half dressed man while moving to the side along the wall from the door. He tried to keep his back to the wall, so none would be able to attack him from behind. "Anyone know a good battle song?" He shouted above the sound of combat.
Blacky hacked at the man fighting him with his great axe. The first blow staggered the man, and the second nearly severed his arm. He fell to the ground, his blood adding to the mud of the courtyard.
Rumer fought in desperation. She did not even notice her companions at the door, just struggled to use her agility to her advantage and keep from dying. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she fought for her life in the mud.
Rumer tried to fight off her multiple attackers, but her luck was bound to run out sooner or later. One of them slashed into her leg, wounding her badly enough that she couldn't avoid the short sword of the other, who cleanly cut through her shirt and gave her a wound to the torso that felled her. The man with the bastard sword started to finish her off once and for all before he had a change of heart. He told one of the others something, and the man he spoke to prepared to pick Rumer up and carry her off somewhere. The man with the bastard sword and the other short sword wielder moved to block Blacky for interfering.
"So, you two are next." Blacky said indicating the last two opponents on the ground as he calmly advanced on the men blocking him. "You better have made peace with your gods." He said clearly swinging for the man with the larger sword.
The boy and the man who had gone into the room on the north wall re-emerged with two more dogs. One of the dogs was chasing the boy, who appeared quite terrified. The other man and dog headed towards the ruckus near the door.
