As Aslain hands Og'rialt the mirror that he's been desiring so much these last few turns, the mirror that he felt he needed to protect himself from almost certain doom, first against the hag, now against the beholder, he realizes that hey, actually, so far he's been doing just fine without it. Aslain informs him swiftly about Cicatrix being struck by a ray from the Beholder while approaching the portal, but with the main party of adventurers having arrived at the scene and undoubtedly drawing lots of beholder attention by bumbling about in their charmingly ineffective and uncoordinated manner, Og'rialt realizes that escaping through the portal would be a near certain thing for him and the rest of the adventurers he has worked together with so well in the side tunnel.

He's drawn to the possibility quite strongly. "Don't screw it up now! Just get out, like you've been aiming for ever since arriving here!" he mutters to himself.

And yet... Dunward is still back there. Og'rialt has gotten to know him as a supremely capable mage, who'll probably be just fine on his own, but leaving without him... He shakes his head. Once upon a time he might've, but ... No, Og'rialt does not leave behind anyone he feels responsible for, and yes, he does feel responsibility here. He considers going back, but with that steam cloud rising up over there, it'll be impossible to effectively use the mirror, and removing the threat is the swiftest way to get Dunward safely to the portal.

And even if it wasn't for Dunward... None of those bumbling adventurers wanted to be here. It isn't their fault they lack the hundreds of years of training and experience which Og'rialt draws upon. Much though using them as a distraction would be the prudent thing to do, helping them get out is sadly the Right Thing to do.

Sighing deeply, and hoping that his guide is steering him true, Og'rialt grips the mirror in his right hand, holding it as instructed by his guide, and brazenly walks past the final pillar into the open space at the back of the room, toward the portal, until he starts catching sight of the Beholder appearing next to the steam cloud. If Cicatrix is still alive, he'll make certain to keep his distance from her so as to not be affected by her drow aura (even though that has a good chance of being severely diminished after the enervation ray). If the Beholder doesn't immediately attack, he motions over Aslain and/or Triock to come pepper the Beholder with arrows from a safe position behind his back. If that still doesn't attract any attention, he lets loose with a string of inventive dwarven insults, bellowing them out with his mighty command-trained dwarven voice.
If the Beholder appears to be in the process of attacking Triock, Beldarion, Aslain or Kip, he'll try to rush into position to intercept its gaze with the mirror.

While walking toward the portal, Og'rialt also examines it closely. Does it resemble the portal he passed through previously that gained him his guide and mirror? Does he notice anything else of interest on this side of the hall?

When Og'rialt notices Cicatrix lying dead or near-helpless on the ground next to the portal, Og'rialt spits on the ground once. With his mirror returned, she is not his immediate concern, but if she shows any sign of being a danger to anyone, he'll walk over, keeping his mirror pointed toward the center of the hall and holding his ice axe in his other hand, and will swiftly and efficiently decapitate Cicatrix with that axe.

Thanks! Given the map (and the invisibility), I'll try to assist the folks at the downed pillar in moving along that side of the room towards whatever cover is reasonably reachable in one turn. Presumably we can make it to the pillar adjacent to B? (or one farther?)

Doc said this, when I asked where is the Beholder and the fog:
"the fog is further up the left side of the room from you, between the first group and the beholder"
I'm not sure whether I should go assist Roosevelt or not, since either all of us should charge and help, or one of us should stay, since right now those who were with Roosevelt don't get the bonus, and if I left no one else would be protected by it, except me and him. I'll go ahead unless more people charge as wel. rush posting sorry

I just noticed your protection against evil has has expired, do you have any other protective spells you could cast on yourself? I ran out of protective spells, otherwise I'd help out.

Originally I wasn't sure whether we should run or charge (everyone together), but now I'm sure - we should all charge the beholder, because if Roosevelt is going after it, it will most likely use all of its beams on him, so we should join in as well, since there's no point for him getting hit before even reaching the beholder. If more of us attack, there are higher chances of landing blows and defeating it, and since it's already being charged, it's better to spread out the rays among more people rather than hope that some will reach Og'rialt when Roosevelt fights alone - that would still give us just one turn and we need to haul Rudy's body (and anyone elses who might perish in the following turns) with us to the portal to be resurrected later.

Let's fight together, and hope we can defeat it, (and then go the portal at our leisure, since it's faster moving in a turn when not in combat), rather than leaving Roosevelt, unless Og'rialt's magic mirror could instantly defeat hiim - it's likely it only reflect each individual rays, so it might not be what we're hoping for and we still need to tackle it on. For glory and goodness! Since the Beholder is evil.

Part 1

Current Situation:

3 TURNS LEFT TO ESCAPE

In the large archway (The Beholder Boss Fight):
Cicatrix drops the mirror and makes a run for the portal but is hit with an Enervation Ray dropping to the ground - energy drained. She is 5 feet from the portal. Thras's appendage friend, Taz, is now awake. Taz wildly casts Lightening bolt which slams into the first pillar on the left, causing it to collapse. Svartalf, Eranear and Roosevelt who were hiding behind the former pillar survive the incident but are now left exposed. Kip was hit with Fear. He loses control and starts running toward the end of the room before being tackled by Says Beldarion. Dunward creates steam in the room by combining Fireball and Ice Storm spells. Several chunks of ice crash into the Beholder forcing it lower to the ground. Aslain picks up the mirror and hands it to Og'rialt. Rudy fall dead from "Death Ray" (His condition is possibly revivable). Most attacks against the Beholder have done minor to no damage. Darrim has now arrived in the room.

Current Actions Summary

69 - alexandros050 - Rudy - Human Ranger -- DEAD
(Felled by "Death Ray". Body intact. Can possibly be revived.)

15 - Lone_Scout - Says Beldarion - Human Warrior -- ( Magic Shield )
In the case Kip is still panicked under the effects of the fear spell, Beldarion will lift the halfling and carry him on his left shoulder, trying to calm him down meanwhile
Beldarion will continue advancing behind the cover of the pillars. Once he reaches Cicatrix, he will draw his sword and end the drow's misery (or the wolf if it attacks before he can reach Cicatrix). He might find her already killed by Triock. In that case, he will just mumble some curse and proceed to loot her corpse.
Once the drow is dead, Beldarion will loot her in search of valuables. If he is not carrying Kip, he'll first drag her body to a safer place behind a pillar.
After dealing with Cicatrix, or if she managed to escape through the portal, Beldarion will turn to look one last time at the room behind him, and rush to the portal.

28 - triock - Triock Ulagolor - Elven Paladin -- ( Healing Ring )
Seeing as his "brother" Eranear is in immediate danger, Triock Ulagolor, Elven Paladin, stops his Drow hunt for now. He then uses flamesword Riarwirn to make fire arrows and shoots several of them at Beholder for distraction, while trying to stay hidden behind nearest pillar. Then he tries to finally kill the Drow, using bow with normal arrows, but making sure to not hit any of his companions.

35 - jonridan - Aslain Melemir - Elven Thief
If I can see the Beholder from my position, I shoot as many +2 arrows as possible and hide again. That way, Og'rialt can try to get closer and use the mirror on the Beholder. I assume he has to reflect a ray or something, I don't believe just showing it's hideous face to the monster would do anything.

59 - Lemmus - Cicatrix - Drow Ranger -- DISABLED -- ( Summoned Dire Wolf )
Although magically robbed of strength, Cicatrix still possesses the will to escape from all who might do her harm.
If levitation will help her move faster and she has the strength to activate it, she will. If she can crawl to the portal she will crawl. Worst case scenario she'll tell her wolf to drag her towards it, but she'd rather it guard her from harm. She's defenceless in her current state.
If movement proves impossible Cicatrix will drop her sword and bow and relieve herself of her heaviest armour, but no more. She'd kill herself before she lets these monsters have her.

22 - 01kipper - Kip - Halfling Brigand -- FEAR
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Kip flees towards the portal, and runs directly through it without pause (assuming he makes it there alive next turn!)

70 - Lifthrasil - Thras - Dwarven Mage -- TAZ AWAKE BUT BLIND -- ( Invisible )
Dammit. Taz is awake again. Like this we are more danger to the team than help! My feet still obey me and I'm invisible, so I try to make my way towards the exit. Or, if that doesn't work, I try to at least put some wall or column between me and the rest of the team so that Taz can't blast them.

13 - paladin181 - Roosevelt - Human Paladin -- ( Protection Against Evil, Reflect Spells )
++ROOSEVELT CAREFULLY ADVANCES ON THE BEHOLDER BEHIND HIS SHIELD AND ATTACKS IT WITH OVERHEAD DOWNWARD BLOWS, TRYING TO DRIVE IT TOWARDS THE SPIKES IN THE FLOOR. HOPEFULLY HE ALSO AVOIDS THE SPIKES ON HIS OWN++

5 - Sulibor - Dunward - Human Mage
As the Steam cloud wideness surrounding Beholder, Dunward silently ducks behind pillar he was hidden and casts Levitate and Magic Shield on himself. He then hovers up along the outer side of colonnade and levitates in general direction of portal on the other side of the room so that both the columns and the cloud could hide him. As the dense part of cloud rises higher so tries Dunward, so that the monsters line of sight of him is obscured the most at all times. Dunward also tries to be out sight of the strange creature that emerged from the body of other mage and destroyed the column the other party was hiding behind.
Dunward also glances at the surroundings, wondering if structurally weakened part of the chamber could fall under its own weight, burrying the Beholder, if one of his spells could destroy the column on his side. If only the adventures below could tie the monster in battle for a moment longer and then run away from that part of the room into a safe distance, he and other spellcaster could try to use the ramining spells on to destroy other columns.

43 - idbeholdME - Svartalf - Dwarven Battlemage -- ( Protection Against Evil, Reflect Spells)
As the beast is most likely to put its main focus on the most imminent threat (that being a bulky Paladin advancing on it head on), I cast Magic Shield on Roosevelt. Then, with the Beholder hopefully preoccupied, I advance behind the pillars in the direction of the portal, taking advantage of the current chaotic situation (dust from the crumbling pillar and steam cloud).
That leaves me at one spell remaining.
If all the buffs on Roosevelt force it to turn on the Anti Magic field on him, then it will leave itself open to attack.
I try to reach a pillar close to the Beholder while the Paladins are charging it from the front and cast Ice Lance on it, trying to aim at the spot where Thras' Lightning Bolt shot off a plate from its body. Again doing so from cover and ducking back immediately after. If I can still take more actions, I will use the Wand to pepper it with lightning bolts, exposing as little as possible (again only head and a hand) from behind the pillar.

2 - bler144 - SmartyFartBlart - Human Paladin -- ( Reflect Spells, Protective Bubble )
1) If I'm proximate to and behind Thras/Tas, I'll give Taz a gauntleted blow to the back of the head. He may be crazy, but he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head AFAIK
2) If I'm not proximate to and behind Thras/Tas I'll...do something else.

9 - MaxFulvus - Max, son of Fulvus - Dwarven Thief
I continue to advance behind the cover of the pillars, also hidden both by the steam clouds and the dusts. I also try to avoid the spikes on the ground or any hidden trap. If I reach the last pillar before the portal, I remain hidden behind it then try to detect from that position any hint proving or not the portal is safe to cross.

41 - zlaywal - Zayd ibn Yasin - Human Ranger
Zayd sees that the Beholder will be disturbed by one (stupid or brave? fine line indeed) paladin attack the Beholder. He concentrated his arrows on the wound opened by his previous fire arrow. While doing this he scan the area looking for the safest path to the portal.

Part 2

29 - gogtrial34987 - Og'rialt - Dwarf Brigand -- ( Magic Shield )
Sighing deeply, and hoping that his guide is steering him true, Og'rialt grips the mirror in his right hand, holding it as instructed by his guide, and brazenly walks past the final pillar into the open space at the back of the room, toward the portal, until he starts catching sight of the Beholder appearing next to the steam cloud. If Cicatrix is still alive, he'll make certain to keep his distance from her so as to not be affected by her drow aura (even though that has a good chance of being severely diminished after the enervation ray). If the Beholder doesn't immediately attack, he motions over Aslain and/or Triock to come pepper the Beholder with arrows from a safe position behind his back. If that still doesn't attract any attention, he lets loose with a string of inventive dwarven insults, bellowing them out with his mighty command-trained dwarven voice.
If the Beholder appears to be in the process of attacking Triock, Beldarion, Aslain or Kip, he'll try to rush into position to intercept its gaze with the mirror.
While walking toward the portal, Og'rialt also examines it closely. Does it resemble the portal he passed through previously that gained him his guide and mirror? Does he notice anything else of interest on this side of the hall?
When Og'rialt notices Cicatrix lying dead or near-helpless on the ground next to the portal, Og'rialt spits on the ground once. With his mirror returned, she is not his immediate concern, but if she shows any sign of being a danger to anyone, he'll walk over, keeping his mirror pointed toward the center of the hall and holding his ice axe in his other hand, and will swiftly and efficiently decapitate Cicatrix with that axe.

80 - Green_Hilltop - Eranear - Elf Paladin -- ( Protection Against Evil, Reflect Spells, Bless, Magic Bubble )
Let's fight together, and hope we can defeat it, (and then go the portal at our leisure, since it's faster moving in a turn when not in combat), rather than leaving Roosevelt, unless Og'rialt's magic mirror could instantly defeat hiim - it's likely it only reflect each individual rays, so it might not be what we're hoping for and we still need to tackle it on. For glory and goodness! Since the Beholder is evil.

Haven't taken turn yet:
48 - babark - Babargh - Dwarven Cleric -- ( Globe of Protection )
72 - park_84 - Darrim - Dwarf Warrior
78 - CervelloYM - Cervello - Drow Battlemage

I am casting a Magic Shield on him. Had I known you were going to attack it too, I would have cast it on you too, but I am casting Ice Lance on the Beholder with my last spell.

If you do go with him, let him lead the way since he is more protected.

I'm writing very tired, but let's charge the beholder! That way we can defeat it and save Rudy and anyone else who
isn't disintegrated by bringing them to the portal with us and then resurrecting them.

See my reasoning on the previous page - let's take a valiant stand rather than hope we can run to the portal - if we run, there will be more losses more likely, as each turn he's killed someone with a ray. So if we fight him head on, we're more likely to bring him down earlier and prevent losses, and we'll be able to saave Rudy, Roosevelt (if he's not disintegrated) and potentially find any treasure and secrets before we leave.

(No other protective spells besides my natural holy divinity.

So essentially this has gone from possible noble sacrifice to ... "LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINS!". And a paladin as well... Funny.)

No need, I have my Magic Bubble, so we're tied - I actually have PAE while he doesn't (but he'll have the bonus). I'm hoping Smarty and perhaps you could join us - the archers can stay behind and shoot/run from behind the pillars, however since Roosevelt doesn't have any Protection Against Evil anymore, he won't stand as good as a chance as he would with one, so if we four charge him (and you can do multiple actions, since other people have cast 4x spells in a turn, I'd recommend trying Ice Lance, lightning and then going physical if you wish), we should be able to do some damage to it.

The Doc said this, when I asked if I can see how much it's damaged:

"not done any real damage to it. A Beholder is one of the toughest foes you can meet. you guys need to stop tickling it and really let loose, as I see Roosevely is about to do."

Expect a Magic Shield from me on the begining of the next turn.

And agreed, not sure that rushing an enemy that can levitate is a good idea. But even if it fails, you will at least die heroically :P

Haha, not really - I was originally debating whether we should charge it or not before you posted, since this is a valid strategy and not a mad dash like it might seem, if more people surround it.

Yes, and if Smarty joins us, that will be three paladins! That would be even better.

(Sometimes, you need to take bold action. Surrounding an enemy with 360 deadly attack radius seems faulty too, but we need to do something... And Roosevelt is a man of action and divine protection! :P)

Oh, he's not able to, the ice chunk Sulibor summed is pushing him down, so he's at our range! I made sure to ask whether we can reach him or he's high up, and he's not due to the ice.
"No it was forced low by the ice falling on it"