Origins
   The party cantered along at a pace that was comfortable for the horses.  The long tresses of Nafia caressed the wind.  Leenar rode alongside and spoke in a voice quiet yet clear, even over the beat of the hooves, "We are advised against wasting our mounts' breath, mi'lady.  The pace should be neither too fast, nor too slow."  Nafia turned her head, "Agreed.  The journey is only just beginning."  She paused, "And frankly, the assassination attempt against Bannor was disturbing.  I thought Krink was safe."  "No place is safe," mused Leenar aloud as he spurred his horse, "Not while these outsiders still plot and scheme."

    Two day's ride into the hinterlands lay Pim's tower, their destination.  That reclusive wizard had promised them a powerful charm to use against the Githyanki.  Pim's true motivations were unknown.  But what he had said was clear enough.  He would give to the party a charm that would, according to Pim,  anchor the planewalking outsiders to Prime.  By thus denying the Gith an easy escape, they might perhaps be cornered and then...what?  Foremost in Leenar's mind was the question,  "Are we a match for these Gith in a direct confrontation?  Or will we, perhaps, want to let them escape?"  Surely, the Gith wizard and archer were dire foes with great powers.

    The war party continued its progress through the lightly wooded country.  Ever wary, Leenar heard a distinct "snap" coming from the dense woods on the right.  Instantly recognizing the peril, he shouted the alarm.  Fleae, the sturdy elven warrior dismounted and readied his longbow.  Nafia, dismounted with her trademark flair and called her canine familiar, Thoiner, to her side.  Leenar and Mendel remained in the saddle, weighing their opportunities.

    Arrows shot out of the woods; two figures appeared around the curve in the path 80 paces distant.  One wore a suit of heavy metal armor, replete with helm and a two-handed flail.  The other stood a monstrous ten foot tall and held a double-edged seven foot blade almost casually over his shoulder.  Leenar wheeled his mount, sighed a quick prayer, and dismounted.   "It looks like those assassins had friends," Fleae shouted back to the rest of the party.

    The youthful Mendel wheeled his horse in a tight circle and cried, "I'm charging!  Heeyah!"  Leenar hefted his great shield and pulled his cudgel from his belt, muttering an incantation that hardened his skin to the toughness of bark.  A flurry of activity in the woods to the right preceded the launching of a stone, hurtling from obscurity.  Leenar and Nafia recoiled from the projectile even before it exploded just behind Fleae with a deafening shock.  Fleae, who was quickly preparing to draw his bow upon the enemies ahead of him, ignored the deafening blast and fired rapidly at the smaller of the two assassins.  The dire flail spun in the warrior's hands as she advanced...