When Dragons Sleep

Thormir quickly drew his bow, knocked one arrow while holding another in his mouth, and fired two quick shots at the ogre. One glanced off its left shoulder and struck the wall behind it, while the other made its mark in the creature’s chest.

While most of the tavern patrons tried to run away, either upstairs to the rooms or towards the back of the bar, three took a stand - two men and a dwarf. Most of the customers were working men from the local mines or forest and did not normally carry any kind of substantial weapons around with them. While most did have at least a dagger, they didn’t have the nerve to take on a nine foot tall ogre with it.

The dwarf, armed with an axe, charged at the ogre and struck a serious blow to its knee. The ogre stumbled a bit, giving the dwarf a chance to bury his axe in the creature’s back. However, the ogre managed to deflect the incoming blow and backhanded the dwarf, knocking him on his back.

While the dwarf was picking himself from the tavern floor, another ogre entered the room. It immediately went for the other two men who had decided to take a stand with the dwarf.

Keeping his place at the end of the bar, Bishop began reciting a short prayer while facing Thormir, who was standing in front of the bar preparing to fire two more arrows.

Thormir suddenly felt a boost of energy and was able to quickly fire off two successful arrow shots. The first one landed in the neck of the ogre that had just knocked down the dwarf, while the second caught the right shoulder of the ogre engaged with the two men. The shoulder shot was enough to slow down what might have been a fatal blow to one of the men.

The dwarf, now back on his feet, lunged at the ogre and landed a solid blow to the monster’s hindquarter, again causing it to stumble. The ogre’s massive size proved to be a disadvantage against the dwarf, as it tried unsuccessfully to hit with its club. Its swings went clear over the head of the dwarf, giving him time to move around behind the ogre for another chop at the back of its legs.

The two men engaged with the second ogre were armed with short swords and trying as best they could to hack at the creature. While they managed to land a few slight blows, neither one of the men seemed to be doing much damage to it. While dodging more blows from its club and fist, two more arrows whizzed over their heads and planted themselves in the ogre’s chest.

In the midst of all the sudden chaos in the tavern, the two men who charged into the bar managed to get against the far wall. The wounded one sat down and leaned against the wall, armed with a single loaded crossbow. The other man drew his sword and charged into the fray, assisting the dwarf with the already wounded ogre.

At the same time that Thormir was firing off two more arrows at the second ogre, Bishop raised his hand and said a short prayer. A blast of light then emerged from his palm and landed in the neck of the ogre, immediately knocking it down and filling that corner of the room with a horrible burning smell.

As the dwarf swung at the knees of the ogre, the man who had just left his friend near the wall came charging. When the ogre saw him coming, it shouted out something that sounded like either "ahhh!" or "hey!" With his sword drawn, the man leaped up onto a table and took a flying swing at the ogre, burying his sword in the creature’s forehead.