I am talking with Folwren about what to do. This isn't a case of me deciding to kill my characters. The way this story has gone in the last day in trems of "realistic" situations and body count, I really have little choice.
Azhar is trapped at the entrance to the grove with the rest of the women. She was thrown to the side and wounded. Her chances of getting out alive are very slim. Even if she does get out, she is going to have seen all that death and dying and she'd have to deal with that. She'll know she could have done something if she had only been able to put on the bear form. Seeing Rôg clubbed will also be a shock, since she's one of the few who knows that he could have saved himself by shifting forms.
I think I have even less choice with Dorran. He would not stand by and let this happen. He will try to fight and die because he was wounded and unconscious the day before. To do anything else would be totally "unrealistic".
I am going to use my save to do a set up post for Azhar and wait till after I talk with Folwren to finish everything up.
Oh, yeah....by the way, the figures everyone is using are wrong. It was a long time ago --four months--but there was a whole lot of discussion about numbers and how important it was that there be a balance between orcs and slaves. Child and Durelin said that there could be a certain number of slaves killed, but that the orcs (who are physically larger and much more experienced) had to be a much smaller group or there would not be a realistic chance of cooperation between the two bands. They both had to feel threatened with no one having the upper hand. The founders were very specific about the numbers: 65 ex-slaves, 25 slavers (now revised up to 30), and 15 orcs plus the 7 fellowship members. If anyone wants, I can give you the links.
Including Aedhild and Azhar who will likely die, we have 27 dead ex-slaves. That's a 42% mortailty rate -- I feel like I've slipped back to the slaughters of Beleriand. That leaves 38 alive, but two are badly wounded and a bunch presumably have minor wounds. It's possible those numbers about who is alive will drop because realistically you can't know your exact body count in the middle of a battle. There will be just three members of the fellowship who can fight. Everyone else is injured, dead or a woman.
At this point, I would bet on the orcs......
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Now Tevildo was a mighty cat--the mightiest of all--and possessed of an evil spirit,...and he was in Melko's constant following; and that cat had all cats subject to him, and he and his subjects were the chasers and getters of meat for Melko's table.
Last edited by Tevildo; 01-22-2007 at 01:13 PM.
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