Doug recovers with his belt.
Allowing him to stand and smack the king again.
Landing a solid blow.
Meanwhile Beth takes Hrarsk's heal and Khel manages a few glancing blows against the Fire Giant kings impressive defenses.
ESCALATION 2
Hrarsk (-45/120) DS-1 Ongoing 10 Fire SE
Bethany (85/96 T10)
Queen Quvxia (220/280) FATE+2
King Tytarian (218/710) Staggered (+1 to hit this)
Doug (39/128) Staggered (1Failed DS)
Khellirin (65/120 T19)
ESCALATION 2! Hrarsk and Bethany's turns.
Hrarsk manages to stagger to his feet after having fallen down, but still too weak to launch another attack at the king, he prays to give his companions a chance to aim better.
Bethany ends her song with a rousing yell as she sees her allies climbing to their feet. "C'mon everyone, let's beat this scum!" she bellows, inspiring Doug with her loud voice.
Then, turning her face toward the male giant, Bethany calls out, "Hey ugly, over here!" When he turns to look, she takes a quick swig of ale and spits it in the king's eye!
Hrarsk picks himself back up, swings fate back towards the party and still burns.
Bethany dodges another blow from the queen as she lands a stinging swing of ale in the King's eye!
The Queen tries to give Bethany a quick kick but fails to disentangle herself from the Queen, who follows up with a pair of oversized sword blows.
of which Bethany manages to parry both with her mug!
The King takes advantage of Hrarsk's flames with his first blow.
Hrarsk drops like a flaming sack of potatoes
as the King also tries to light Khel on fire
but can't make contact with the nimble elf.
ESCALATION 3
Hrarsk (-23/120) Death Save / Ongoing 10 Fire / Ongoing 10 Fire SE
Bethany (85/96 T10)
Queen Quvxia (220/280) FATE+2
King Tytarian (157/710) Staggered
Doug (39/128) Staggered (1Failed DS)
Khellirin (65/120 T19)
ESCALATION 3! Doug and Khel's turns.
King Tyarian
Vulnerability: cold
Resist fire 16+: When a fire attack targets this creature, the attacker must roll a natural 16+ on the attack roll or it only deals half damage.
HP 710 | AC 26 | PD 22 | MD 18
Queen Quivixia
Vulnerability: cold
Resist fire 16+: When a fire attack targets this creature, the attacker must roll a natural 16+ on the attack roll or it only deals half damage.
HP 280 | AC 23 | PD 20 | MD 22
Make that Hrarsk stands like a flaming sack of potatoes instead. @ 11/120
Khel, excited to see Doug back in the fight, goes into whirlwind mode, swinging his hammers over and over again at the fiery king! He only manages to connect twice, but they are powerful strikes!
[dice=Hrarsk Free Recovery]7d8+6
Make that Hrarsk stands like a flaming sack of potatoes instead. @ 11/120
"I'm really getting fond of this belt," Doug says as he pats the buckle. "Lets see if we can finish this giant king off." Doug uses the last bit of his holy energy to smite the giant king one last time.
"Anyone want to give him a little tap to knock him over?"
Doug and Khellirin work together to finally drop the mighty Fire Giant King.
The Queen Shreeks out!
ESCALATION 4 Hrarsk and Bethany are up!
ESCALATION 4
Hrarsk (11/120) Ongoing 10 Fire / Ongoing 10 Fire SE
Bethany (85/96 T10)
Queen Quvxia (220/280) FATE+2
Doug (39/128) Staggered (1Failed DS)
Khellirin (65/120 T19)
Vulnerability: cold
Resist fire 16+: When a fire attack targets this creature, the attacker must roll a natural 16+ on the attack roll or it only deals half damage.
HP 280 | AC 23 | PD 20 | MD 22
Doug hears a loud crash as he turned to address the group. "Never mind, looks like I got him."
With a wide, orcish grin, Bethany's face echoes what must be in every group member's heart: We just might survive this!
"Alright, dear," she calls up to the giantess, "Time to follow him now!" So saying, she slices at the giant's toe with the blade on her sword. Unfortunately, the toenail proves surprisingly resilient, and the barkeep's blade only manages to shave off a sliver. As luck would have it, however, that sliver of toenail goes flying right toward Hrarsk; just as the cleric ducks out of the way, the stench hits him and sends new strength and resolve coursing through his body!
After being strengthened by Bethany's healing, Hrarsk approaches the queen, despite his worn and burnt state, and hits her with his blade. He continues to burn, but a little bit less.
Bethany gives the queen a little slash while Hrarsk comes over and lands a bigger blow.
He still simmers a bit though.
The Queen fails to disengage herself from melee so takes a swing at Hrarsk.
dropping the now severely burning Hrarsk again.
She takes her other swing at Bethany.
Bethany feels the Queen invade and scramble her mind
ESCALATION 4
Hrarsk (-5/120) Ongoing 10 Fire SE | Ongoing 5 Fire SE
Bethany (40/96) Ongoing 10(5) Fire SE | Staggered | Confused
Queen Quvxia (155/280) FATE+2 +1 TO HIT THIS
Doug (39/128) Staggered (1Failed DS)
Khellirin (65/120 T19)
Doug and Khel are up!
Bethany holds up her mug in an attempt to block the sword-strike!
Bethany grins in wonder as the mug doesn't shatter from the fierce blow, but her expression sobers when she glances over at Hrarsk.
Khel’s magic boots propel him across the massive chamber, directly at the massive queen! His hammers whirling, he smashes her once, then again and again!
"This is going to hurt." Doug tells himself as he grips his axe tightly and recklessly swings his axe at the giant queen.
Doug winces as his wild swing catches him in the leg.
Khel whirls around while Doug finishes the Queen with a nice vicious blow!
The queen falls to the ground with a massive thump that echoes throughout the cave.
Just when you thought things were done Fortuna comes flying out of a shadowy portal, as though thrown by something large.
Following her is a Storm giant, who leaps at her with an oversized greatsword. Fortuna calls for Fortuna's Ferocious Fireballs which catches the giant midjump, killing the Storm Giant before she lands.
Bethany winces at the alliteration but no more danger appears.
The big barkeep recovers from her surprise and waves a cheery 'hello' to Fortuna. "You're back! Welcome, welcome! Where in the world — or outta it — were you?!" As she's talking, she moves to Hrarsk's side and pours some ale down his throat.
Hrarsk wakes up when Bethany pours the ale down his throat. He lifts himself up, gratefully taking a few more sips, before he stands up and looks around.
"The king and queen are dead," he notices. "We all made it out alive," he says, noticing Fortuna's reappearance.
Khel can't believe the queen is still standing after the punishment he's dealt out to her, and breathes a sigh of relief as Doug strikes her down! "Whew!" he says, "I feel like I say this a lot, but I wasn't sure we were going to survive that. Nice work everyone!" He drops his hammers to the stone floor and sits next to them, just catching his breath as Bethany revives their companions.
When Fortuna returns, Khel leaps to his weary feet and calls out, "I thought we'd lost you! What happened?"
Fortuna picks herself up and dusts off, then surveys her companions, smoking slightly. Her hair stands nearly straight out, blue sparks dancing between the strands. "Is it really you this time?" She winces at their condition. "It must be. The others didn't talk or smolder or bleed like you guys."
She perches on a nearby rock as the others catch their breath, trying to pat her hair back into place while the blue sparks crackle around her hands. "Well, way back near the entrance... somewhere, I'm not sure... I was trying to decipher the inscription on an interesting plinth while you guys were droning on about which direction to go. I suddenly noticed it was really quiet, mostly because you had disappeared. I looked down one of the hallways and saw you vanishing around a corner. I ran after, but you wouldn't stop and I was afraid to call out. I thought it was weird that you kept going without debating directions, but you all disappeared after a couple of minutes, and I realized I was totally lost. I wandered around for a long time, mostly avoiding anything nasty, until the floor dropped out from beneath me and I fell... right onto a table that three giants were sitting at! They thought it was a good joke to have dinner delivered, until I hit them with a few magic missiles. The one I hit first - and hardest - he got a little angry and picked me right up, then threw me straight at the stone wall!"
She gestures to her smoky companion. "I think he did something, because a smoke-rimmed hole opened. Instead of getting my skull crushed against the wall, I flew through. One guy hit me with lightning as I did, and the other jumped in after me. You saw the rest. Good thing the rest weren't smart enough to follow. I still don't know what I saw when was following you. Might have been a magical trap of some kind. Luckily, the real big bads can't follow me here if Smoky closed the portal. It looks like you've had enough trouble as it is. Where are we? Do you know what's going on? I'm sure glad to see you again, in the flesh. However battered that might be."
Her hazy familiar floats directly before her, arms folded. "Fine," she grumbles, "I guess you can be helpful. Rarely, but it does happen." A crescent of white appears in its hazy form of a face.
Epic Stonegiant Hide Armor (+3 AC) - The Magic bonus applies to Physical Defense As well. (Doesn't stack with cloak)
Quirk: Extremely stubborn.
Epic kilt of Vitality (Increase your recoveries by 3)
Whenever you take ongoing damage, roll an immediate save to end the effect without taking damage first.
Quirk: Fascinated by patterns.
Epic Crown of the Mighty Strike (+3 MD)
Recharge 16+: If the escalation die is 3+, use your next daily attack power this battle as a quick action.
Quirk: Likely to make bold statements or undertake bold actions, especially by reflex.
Epic Staff of the Diffident Magician (Attack and damage with an arcane or divine spell or attack +3)
(Recharge 6+)The first time an enemy engages you, make an opportunity attack against that enemy. On a hit, you deal +4d10 damage and daze the foe until the end of its turn.
Quirk: Doesn’t like to be touched.
Epic Incomparable Axe of Wyrm Chopping (+3)
Whenever you attack a dragon with the axe, you deal +40 damage, hit or miss.
Quirk: Speaks in Draconic, first just curses, but then more and more elements of speech.
Emerging from the fire giant tunnel...
The caldera at the top of the mountain forms a natural arena surrounded by barren cliffs and jagged ridges.
Roughly circular, the crater has a dusty floor covered with pumice gravel and strewn with loose boulders, interspersed with numerous tiny cracks and fissures that spew warm, acrid vapors.
Overhead, an enormous bluish-gray castle floats atop a roughly spherical cloud just a few hundred feet above the caldera floor, casting a shadow across the mountaintop. The cloud almost touches the rocks beneath it, dripping a thin rain on the gravel below.
Five immense chains emerge from the depths of the cloud, connecting to great winches beside an equal number of colossal siege cannons arranged atop a ridge in a semicircle around the floating keep. Three of the chains appear to have been loosened or severed, dangling vertically out of the cloud.
Two chains are still taut, seemingly anchoring the castle to the ground. A round tower stands on the caldera’s slope to the north. Two tunnel entrances delve into the mountain to the east and southeast.
Working on loosening the last two chains are a pair of ashen giants, each supported by a pair of double axe wielding orcs, who are larger and meaner looking than the orcs you've seen before, while a pair of large vulture demons circle the sky above.
Seeing you the Vrocks shout out warnings and begin to circle in your direction, following your movements in a worrying way.
ESCELATION 0
Initiative
Giant Vrocks (Y 333) (G 333)
Hrarsk
Khellirin
Fortuna
Orcs (250) {50,100,150,200}
Ashen Giants (W 270) (B 270)
Doug
Bethany
Hrarsk, Khel and Fortuna are up!
Large Ash Giant
AC 24 | PD 22 | MD 18 | HP 270
Vulnerability: cold
Resist fire 16+
Large Vrock
AC 24 | PD 21 | MD 21 | HP 333
Orc Horde
AC 27 | PD 25 | MD 21 | HP 50(250)
Khel gives his hammers a quick whirl, crying out, "Let's take out one of those groups of giants first, so at least one chain stays intact! I don't know what they're up to, but I doubt it's a good thing!"
He moves closer and shouts to the giants, "Hey! Ugly! You want to borrow my hammer to break that chain? Come get it!"
Yet unable to attack the giants, Hrarsk merely prays for aid while walking next to Khellirin to approach the giants.
"May as well soften them up some." Fortuna remains discreetly behind the two tough fighters but points her wand at the giant they are approaching, unleashing a ball of smoke that grows and grows until it envelops the group at the base of one chain in a flash of roiling orange and black.
Khel moves forward along with Hrarsk who calls forth the blessing of the sun.
Fortuna wastes no time and opens with a fireball, which barely scathes the monsters.
But they are surprisingly ineffective.
The far orcs draw big, black, creaking bows and fire arrows high into the sky.
Almost hypnotised by the high arcing arrows neither Doug nor Beth are able to get out of the way in time.
The nearby giant continues to pound away, attempting to detach the chain that holds the cloud castle.
The far giant takes a moment to hurl a boulder at Khel.
Khel is easily able to step out of the way long before it lands.
ESCELATION 0
Initiative
Giant Vrocks (Y 333) (G 333)
Hrarsk 160/160
Khellirin 160/160
Fortuna 140/140
Orcs (216/250) {50,100,150,200}
Ashen Giants (W 270) (*B 253/270)
Doug 102/176
Bethany 91/128
Doug and Bethany are up!
Large Ash Giant
AC 24 | PD 22 | MD 18 | HP 270
Vulnerability: cold
Resist fire 16+
Large Vrock
AC 24 | PD 21 | MD 21 | HP 333
Orc Horde
AC 27 | PD 25 | MD 21 | HP 50(250)
Doug watches as both Khell and Harks head for one group of giants. "WELL I GUESS THAT LEAVES TWO FOR ME!!!" He calls out after them with his outside voice before charging the other group. As he runs Doug charges up his axe with divine power to smite the nearest giant.
Doug charges forward towards the other group and is cutout by a pair of vicious looking orcs.