Thellona quickly thinks to herself - the cat is male and since most great cats are not social, it is unlikely to be guarding kittens. This cat is out for blood - yet she is troubled by the fact that it didn't gore the dwarf when it had the chance. She hopes her decision is morally correct. She whispers, "Solonor, guide my arrow; please guide my wisdom..." She fires the sheaf arrow she had nocked ... and quickly draws a second arrow from her quiver.

    Thellona's first arrow grazes the giant cat. Missing by the narrowest of margins and entering into the cave. Her second arrow is drawn and she attempts to fire. As if Solonor answers her prayer, the arrow snaps in two just before she was going to release it towards the cat. Luckily her bow string does not snap at the unusual pressure applied by the misfire.

    Vandall begins to use his innate ability to use empathy with the animal as he begins to close in on it, his hands forming slow yet precise spells movements as he casts " Animal friendship " possibly to tame the wild beast down.

    The creature watches Vandall begin to motion and act in a way to befriend him. He glances over at Thellona who just shot to arrows, both missing. He growls in a loud roar and lunges at Thellona, claws bearing down on her. The first swipe of the cat hits her squarely on the right shoulder. Thellona grimaces as the claws dig into her flesh. The second claw wildly misses as the cat loses his balance and stumbles back towards the cave entrance.

    Rhiannon grabs Arton with her left hand, pulling him behind her defensively. She draws her sword with her right hand at almost the same instant, holding the sword in front of her in a protective manner. She does not advance on the cat, but keeps where she is, only turning her blade on him if he advances towards her and the boy. She continues to hold Arton's left arm in her hand, not to tight, and holds him behind her as if to shield him with her body.

    Arton draws closer to Rhiannon. He begins to cry. Realizing that the situation is getting out of control he moves closer to Rhiannon. He holds back his tears in an effort to keep himself under control. He seems to hug her in an effort to shield himself from the creature that carried him to this spot.

    As the cat makes a move for Thellona, Kharac takes a few quick steps and lunges for the prone Straxos, grabbing him by the collar with his free hand. With the war hammer in his right hand, Kharac drags Straxos back away from such close proximity to the cat and it's cave. With a quick glance, Kharac makes sure that Straxos is still breathing, more winded than uninjured. Once Straxos is safely back with the rest of the party, Kharac helps the stunned dwarf to his feet, keeping himself between Straxos and the cat.

    "Are you all right, Straxos?" Kharac can only spare a quick glance at Straxos, as the cat has sprung away from the party and now crouches ready to make another attack. "Can you stand? Where's your weapon?" Kharac takes a quick look around and spies Straxos' short sword lying on the ground a fair distance away, closer to where the cat lies. Too far .... too chancy....

    "Go with Rhiannon. Get the boy out of here and back to safety. Here, take my hammer. I don't care if you know how to use it. At least you'll be armed." Kharac gently pushes the now recovered Straxos towards Rhiannon, motioning to her to go to safety with Straxos and young Arton. "Rhiannon. Get Straxos and the boy away from here. Go. Now! We'll hold the cat at bay until you can get away." He says this loud enough for the rest of the party to hear, so they will know what to do.

    With that, Kharac turns back toward the clearing, reaching behind his back as he does so. With a quick, deft twist of his wrist and a downward pull, the mighty ax comes free of its sheath. He holds the great, two headed ax in front of him in a two-handed grip, positioning himself between the cat and the small gathering of Straxos, Rhiannon, and Arton. Fire lights his eyes, and a grim smile comes to his face as he readies himself to protect the three people behind him, awaiting the cat's next attack. "all right cat, you've had your fun. Now its time for you to become a rug in Arton's home!" he yells at the cat.

    Straxos clutches the war hammer tightly as he stumbles over to Rhiannon. "I agree with Kharac" He hisses to Rhiannon, "The boy is our top priority. We have to get him home, now!" He begins to try and herd the two towards the pathway back to the village. He then calls over his shoulder to the rest. "Be careful with that cat! It could have seriously hurt me if he wanted to, yet it did not. It may just be guarding it's home, be careful before you kill it!" He then turns back towards the village, beginning to jog.

    Looking a bit startled by the great cat's appearance, Taran cautiously moves to stand off to the side of Rhiannon and Arton. Speaking slowly and softly, "If we all back away from the cat I may be able to put it to sleep. Everyone needs to be at least fifteen paces away from the cat so as to not be caught in the spell."

    In a deep sonorous voice Taran begins to incant a spell with many gestures and magical words. Upon the final words of magic being spoken Taran points with his left hand at the great cat and completes the spell. Taran looking expectantly for any results.

    The cat watches for a moment as Taran casts his spell. Bearing it's fangs the cat begins to growl at the wizard. It hunches down and waits to see what happens. As if the cat knows that a spell is being cast apon it. The cat continues to growl, long after the effects of the spell should have happened. It's eyes clearly focused on Taran, saliva dripping off its tongue and lips.

    Thellona growls angrily, thinking to herself adventuring is not a spectator sport. Readying her first shot, she cries out a rough catcall to get the cats attention off of the wizard. She draws the bow string back, cheek pressed to the soft fletching her of sheaf arrow. Sensing that she has a jump on the great cat, she stands ready to fire if the cat makes a move towards any of the party.

    Muttering to himself while slowly backing away from the great cat, "Well that seemed to get his attention." Continuing to move slowly away from the cat, Taran says softly to the group, "That cat is quite a bit more intelligent than I would normally believe an animal to be."

    Kharac hears Taran's muttered comment, sees the intelligence in the cat's eyes as it focuses on the mage. He hears Thellona's attempt to distract the cat for Taran, but to no apparent avail. The cat is ready to spring, to attack once again. He takes a quick look around, judging the positions of the other party members, searching for possible problems.

Kharac, fearing the consequences of Taran facing the cat in combat, takes a few steps forward to stand in front of Taran, his great ax held in front of him, ready for a two-handed slash should the cat attack. As he steps in front of the mage he says to Taran "Get back. Save your spells, lad. Go with Straxos and Rhiannon. Get the boy to safety. Vandall, Thellona and I can hold the cat here long enough for you to get free. I'll distract it, while the archers get in position."

    As he says this, he glances at first Thellona, then at Vandall, his eyes seeking theirs, searching for confirmation of his plan. Over his shoulder, he speaks to Taran, Straxos, Rhiannon, and young Arton. "Get going. All of you. Quickly, before the cat attacks again, get going!"

    With that Kharac takes another few steps closer to the cat, threatening the cat, trying to get its attention focused on him instead of Taran. Yelling at the cat (in dwarven, of course ... he can curse much more fluently this way) and waving his ax in front of him, trying to give the two archers time to get a good shot lined up, he takes another step closer to the cat, now only ten or twelve paces away. Knowing that he will be the cat's next target, Kharac prepares to swing his ax at the cat as he gets closer.

    Hoping the two archers are in position and ready by now, Kharac yells out "NOW !" and swings at the cat ..... Kharac's blade is true as it slices into the cats left shoulder. The great cat cries out in pain as the blade enters. It takes a couple of steps back, as if regaining it's composure and then roars out at Kharac, bearing its huge fangs in preparation to attack.

    Vandall's eyes meet the cat's as the dwarf swings his mighty ax in to it. Raising his bow since he knows there is no way to deal with the cat without violence, letting the fletchings graze his cheek's tattoo and fires the arrow, not waiting to see the hit he pulls another shot from his quiver and follows suit.

    The first arrow finds it mark, penetrating the tough back of the great cat. The cat winches in pain. The second arrow misses, slightly to the left and high. Vandall dashes into the woods to get another position from the glade, his cloak making him vanish from sight as he hits the forest's edge.

    Thellona, not taking her eyes off the cat ... not even nodding, to keep her bead on her target, listens carefully to Kharac. Aware of his movements only through her peripheral vision, she wonders of the wisdom of his actions and of her own previous actions. But never one to leave a compatriot out on a limb - as the druids are fond of saying - she lets her first sharply honed sheaf arrow fly at the great cat. In a fluid motion, she draws a second arrow and fires as quickly as she can.

    The first arrow flies wide right of it's mark, but the second arrow lands true and seems to hurt the cat. The great cat looks at each of you and growls lowly. You see confusion, sadness, and grief in it's eyes. With a great roar that surprises each of you the cat quickly bounds off for the woods. He leaps into a tree and disappears into the darkness. After catching your breath you check out the cave.

***********

    The cave is not as deep as you thought. The lair is a cave in a small hill near the beach. The inside is littered with stones and has a strong animal smell. Behind one of the larger stones is an ancient suit of chain mail (rusted), a broad sword (rusted), a and ax (perfect condition), and two daggers (one rusted and one in perfect condition) in rotted leather scabbards. Only the hand ax and the dagger are still usable. In one corner of the cave is a rotten leather backpack and the skeleton of a 20' long boa constrictor. Inside the back pack, wrapped in oilcloth is an ancient journal. A seal is on the cover. Among the ruble is 36 gold pieces, 2 gems, and a potion. You gather up the hand ax, dagger, journal, gold pieces and 2 gems and catch up with the rest of the group getting Arton home safely.

Back at the inn you are greeted by Jocko and his staff. His face lights up as he sees Arton. Arton and Jocko rush to each other and the large man hugs the boy firmly, looking at each of you and you can tell by his eyes that he is saying thank you. A tear gently rolls down his cheek. He takes Arton into the back and returns moments later with a bag and hands it to Taran. "Thank you brave adventurers. Here is what I owe you for returning the lad. 100gp as we agreed. Please stay the evening, no charge. Rest, relax and enjoy my food. You have done a great thing for me and I will never forget what you have done. Now, sit, let me make you some food." He rushes behind the bar and begins getting you some refreshments. You sit down and start to look at what you have gained this evening.