It was a long night, but one that had seen me finish 30th level, and get
almost a fifth of the way into my 31st. I was in Cazic Thule, and the
remaining members of an alligator slaying party had joined up with a
couple of intrepid adventurers at the temple commonly referred to as
"Four Corners", in the same area that the Tae Avatar apparently spawns.
There for nothing more than a quick profit and to sharpen my skills, the
constant action and loot of the lizardmen was a welcome change from
alligators.

One of our rangers was out scouting the area, looking for opponents
worthy of our party, when he found one. His words came to our ears,
"I'm bringing the clay golem and a couple of lizards." I stood from my
meditation, near a state of FOM, relying on Clarity to get me the
remaining bit of mana I had yet to recover. My Rune intact, my defenses
up, I prepared myself and moved to a position where I could better
occupy the lizards while my party dispatched the golem, as per standard
practice.

After casting Alacrity on the other ranger that was with us, I turned
the direction I knew the scout would be coming from, monsters close
behind. Sure enough, he rounded the corner, followed by two lizardmen,
and then the clay golem. My confidence turned to sheer horror as nearly
two dozen additional lizardmen quickly appeared.

The party stood transfixed, not knowing what to think of such an
overwhelming force. I'm sure I heard the cleric of Tunare with us
whisper a brief prayer to his goddess to make our death swift and
painless.

I could hear nothing over the hissing of the lizardmen as they descended
upon our party. The scout turned around, and uttered an
incomprehensible oath of panic and frustration. His next cry was
"RUN!".

We had no Spirit of the Wolf to speed our strides, and I knew that I, as
well as one of my companions, would most likely get lost trying to get
through the Maze. As if that weren't enough, I was weighed down by a
good twenty stones of loot more than I could easily carry, even with my
enchantment of strength. Retreat was an option, but at this point, not
a very good one. Thinking quickly, I replied, "NO! Do not attack, but
stand!"

Upon saying that, the horde was upon them.

The magician gated. I can hardly blame him. I may well have done the
same had Gate been among the spells I kept memorized.

I began casting as quickly as I could. After my first spell, tiny motes
of light mesmerized many of our opponents. Several resisted. Upon my
second attempt, some more of them stared blankly, unmoving, but one
broke free of the crowd and charged me. I was able to Enthrall it, but
at the cost of my Rune. In the meantime, I saw our cleric backing away
from the mesmerized mass, pursued by a half dozen additional lizardmen.

Quickly, I cast yet another Mesmerization spell, and thankfully, none of
them resisted my magic. "Run now!" I cried.

The cleric then gated. The rangers stopped to look to me. "GO!" was
all I said as I sat to open my spellbook. Quickly, I memorized Gate,
and stood again. As I did so, one of the creatures broke free of my
enchantment and charged. By now, the rangers were nowhere in sight,
having obeyed my frantic shouts. I began to cast as the lizard reached
me. It's claws raked through my robes and armor spells, tearing apart
the protective charms the cleric of Tunare had cast earlier. I was
jostled around, a lizardman hissing in my face, and behind him, I could
see his companions breaking free of my spells, the Golem turning it's
glowing eyes to my tiny body, a blasphemy upon the unholy powers that
had created it. As the monsters turned as one to charge, I closed my
eyes, completed my spell, and opened them to the welcome sight of the
Southern Desert of Ro where I was bound, still alive and intact.

My companions, as well, survived the ordeal, even getting lost in the
Maze. I was most relieved to hear this, as I had done enough corpse
retrievals to make a mortician sick that evening.

The point of this? Always insure that your party trusts the enchanter.
And as an enchanter, always insure that you warrant your party's trust.
I am Lotwilla Verditius, Enchantress of the Eldritch Collective, and Law
Writer for the Lords of Light, and if my party's blood is to stain the
soil of Norrath, mine will be there with it.

I am good at what I do because I truly hate to bleed.