"Aiiieeee, no need to be like that I've never seen a giant before. Maybe we could buy one of your goats off you and we could all share a meal? I'd like to hear about these Silent Stone Giants to if you are willing?" Razan calls, curious.
Ajkanir:
Khol:
Natasha:
Zahur:
Razan:
Elreem:
"Go south to the valley. You will not miss them." Impatience edges into what has been a flat level and atonal voice.
Keen eyes garner a glimpse of a humanoid figure outline in the darkness of the cave, just for a split second. The figure is of human height. It appears near the edge of the cave but for a moment, and then vanishes again, back in to the darkness.
Razan nods to himself as Elreem speaks to him mentally,
"Aiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask to see you, because you are awfully short for a giant. Either that or you have a buddy hiding in there. Please come out so we can ensure you don't deserve a beating, or I'm coming in there. You have my word we won't harm you if you are innocent as you say, but at the moment you've just come back from a slaughtered village with all its livestock, and you are hiding yourself from us. The timing seems awfully fortunate, so I think we've a right to be suspicious. You can get testy about it, but I'd suggest accommodating us in this will be a lot more comfortable than accommodating a lance up your arse."
Ajkanir steps over to to Zahur and Natasha and whispers to them, "Whatever you might think, Razan is not mad - at least at the moment. I too saw someone at the cave mouth, and he was no larger than me. I'm not sure how he managed the giant tracks, but we seem to have been tricked quite cleverly."
"There are spells to make a person bigger," Natasha says. Her eyes narrow. "Want me to send some lights into that cave?"
"You come to my home. You do not make demands here. I gave you your answers, take your suspicions and threats and leave." The voice returns to an almost impassive tone. To punctuate the point, however, large rock sails out of the cave entrance, and slams into the cliff face a few feet from the party, and before dropping into the chasm below.
Natasha looks at the rock, her face impassive. There is a small tremor in her voice when she whispers to the others, though: "Looks like a Giant's work to me. I could launch a fireball, if you all insist, but..."
"Aiiiieeeeeeee! I am pretty sure that was the giant for I want a lance up my ass. No dice, big fella!" Razan calls turning Sandstreak and galloping away from the cave to get behind the nearest cover, assuming his companions will follow.
"Aieee, say we need to attack, we don't know what's going on and we can't risk it being something important. We need to know yes? We can try not to kill him. If we do we could do with a way to stop him just chucking rocks at us. I can make Elreem fly, but not Sandstreak or myself, so Elreem could just charge in... But it would be better if we could all pile in somehow, I just don't fancy crossing that ledge while he wangs rocks at us."
The cave is straight ahead, across a forty foot gap. the path hugs the walls of the canyon, and it winds to the right from where the party is now, for about a hundred feet, before double back to the cave entrance, another hundred and twenty feet. The path is roughly ten feet wide, though somewhat thinner at various spots.
"Aiiiieeee, suppose we could ride around on the path if Elreem and Natasha were distracting the big fellow with spells and claws respectively - in this case I mean Elreem's claws."
"I'd need to be able to see him," Natasha answers. "Do we really want to do this?"
"Aiiie, its his own fault for being suspicious as hell. You take a herd from a recently slaughtered village, you've got to at least be willing to provide some explanations. He's hiding something, surely we need to know what that is. Besides I want to fight a giant!"
"How say the rest of you?" Natasha asks. "Ajkanir? Elreem? Khol? "
As is often the case, Ajkanir cannot help but chuckle at his companions' byplay - particularly Razan's intentional vagueness about whose claws he's referring to.
On hearing Natasha's question, he grows more serious and responds, "I agree that this situation is very suspicious, and if we walk away at this point we'll have learned nothing. We could well die fighting this giant, but one must die some day."
Studying the path that winds around to the cave mouth, Ajkanir narrows his eyes and says quietly "It seems easy enough to make our way up that path - perhaps Khol and I could even do so undetected, but I would rather have the strength of our numbers in this fight. This place is not suited to Razan's mad charges, but if Natasha stays across the gap to provide magical support while the rest of us take the fight to the giant, perhaps she will live to tell the tale."
He smiles grimly as he says this, and goes on, "One thing does concern me, however. Who was that human-sized figure I saw in the cave? We may find that the giant is the least of our worries, depending on who is hiding in his cave with him. But again, we learn nothing if we walk away."
"I have one spell of flight prepared for today," Natasha says. "I need not stay out here in the open. Launch a fireball and fly away, then use magic missiles on whatever comes storming out."
"Never start a fight unless you intend to finish it. There may be other ways. I can turn someone invisible for five minutes if they want to try to take a closer look."
"I am perhaps the most apt choice," Khol offered, "The dark of the cave should pose no issue to me."
"Are we agreed to try that then? I think with your already stealthy manner and my spell, there should be a small chance of detection."
"Help me get my breastplate off and I'll be ready to go."
Zahur steps up to help Khol remove the breastplate as quickly as possible. When complete, he checks to make sure Khol is ready and casts invisibility.
Ajkanir raises a hand to get Khol and Zahur's attention and says "And if he is caught over there, on his own? I've said before, I believe I can move at least as quietly as he can. We can both go over there quietly. I can wait outside the cave to help Khol if he is detected, so he doesn't have to fight the giant and his friend alone. Unless Natasha wants to cast her fly spell on him so he can flee if necessary. What say you?"
"I can cast invisibility on two more of you if you would like. Of course, the more people, the greater the chance someone messes up a scuffs their foot or kicks a rock. I could also cast silence on someone, but that will be a giveaway once they get close to the giant and whoever this other man or creature is."
"Your funeral, lad. Worst comes to worst, one of us will get a good look at our phantom while it pulverizes the other of us."
Responding to the information Zahur has provided, Ajkanir says "If you can make more than one of us invisible, than here's what I propose. You cast your invisibility spell on both Khol and myself - and on Razan if he wishes it. If you can cast silence on a coin or a pebble, something we can carry, then we'll carry it until we're near the mouth of the cave and set it down. Then Khol and I enter the cave and see what we can learn. That will ensure we can approach silently, and minimize the chance of a scuffed foot or kicked rock, as you say. If you can only cast silence on one of us, then we must take our chances with our skill at moving silently."
Turning to their tiefling companion, Ajkanir says quietly "Your kind may be longer-lived than mine, but I have not been a lad for many years. You will not call me so again. Are you ready?"
Finally, addressing Razan and Natasha, he asks "Anything you would add or ask of this plan?"
Khol gave the human a smile, "You cease being a lad when being called one no longer bothers you." With that he presented himself to the casters so that they could enwrap him in the required magics.
"Two invisible. One silence is the best I can do this day. It will have to be Khol and Ajkanir. So be it." Zahur draws forth a coin and casts the spells.
Razan shrugs, "Aie eee. Alright then, but I'm coming, I'll just come in from above on Elreem so we can't be seen, maybe Natasha can fly up and over to?Then you fellows holler if you see cause to attack, or need help. Agreed?"
The summoner then secures Sandstreak to some rocks and casts enlarge person and lesser evolution surge upon Elreem. The eidolon sighs contentedly as he grows slightly larger than Sandstreak and then sprouts a pair of leathery dragon-like wings.
With a whoop Razan leaps aboard clinging on tightly and obviously finding things a little uncomfortable without a saddle.
Elreem then beats his new wings rapidly and rises up into the air. As the invisible folk move off he ascends out of view of the cave and circles around behind the cave some hundred eighty feet above it taking pains to try to stifle the noise of his new wings.
"My flight spell has a limited duration," Natasha says, frowning slightly. "Perhaps I had best stay right here, so the creature feels it knows where we are. If need be, I may be able to dodge one rock..."
Khol and Ajkanir move into the cave. A somewhat narrow entrance is actually quite spacious on the inside. Several pens are constructed, and animals mill about them, unawares.
The cave extends deep into the rock, and a firelight can be seen further down. On one of the walls, a massive tapestry, over forty feet long, depicts stone giants marching into battle against giants with fiery hair and beards, beneath a smoldering volcano... obviously fire giants.
Pushing further down toward the light, Khol and Ajkanir uncover two humanoids, sitting by the fire, pressed up against each other. Both wearing the skins of sheep arranged, they have stone-brown skin, and are utterly hairless. Stone giant children, twins, it would seem.
Outside the cave, long minutes pass of unsettling silence.
Up above, on the wing, Razan and Elreem soar high above. Away to the south they can see smoke from several fires, probably the valley where the men from the village have gone to dig. Even Duwwor is visible to the north, a dark brown spot next to the river winding its way to the north.
further:
the twins are roughly human sized. They are awake, and seem to be intent upon the entrance of the cave. The cave spreads out from here, there are three other passages, two of them are covered by a heavy sheet made from crocodile skins.
Taking to each of the passages, reveals that the uncovered passage leads to a storage area with various cookwares, knives, and the like. The other two are sleeping areas, beds made from piles of animal skins.
Yes.
"Blow this for a lark," Natasha grumbles. "Come, Sand."
Natasha makes sure to place the last horse remaining to the party out of sight of the cave mouth, and ties its reins to something big and hefty.
"If you don't stay here, I shall be displeased," she sternly tells the equine -- and feeds it a single sugar cube.
"Be a good boy and wait here for me, alright?" she asks, patting the horse's neck, her tone mildly embarrassed. "Good boy. Sand, stay with the horse and come get me if anything untoward happens."
Having 'stashed' the horse with her familiar, Natasha returns to the spot where she can see the cave. "Sir Giant!" she calls across the divide. "I beg for a moment of your time more, and for your indulgence. My name is Natasha Mournglory. I am a professional scholar, and I have never had the pleasure of speaking with a member of your kind before this day; I only know second-hand stories about Giantkind. May I bother you for some of your time, so that I may learn more about you? It uh, it would be quite the little triumph for me if I could carry authentic Giant lore back to my alma mater."
"I can relate to you the tale of Ikshan the Gnome, and the mighty giant who felled him with a rock from three hundred paces. Or I can show you."
The above is clearly audible, but from behind the invisible duo. The children exchange a worried look.
"Ah, this is a traditional Giant folktale?" Natasha calls. "Most excellent, I doubt there are many volumes dedicated to the subject! Visual demonstrations are not required, Sir Giant, for I am a poor illustrator. But I will be grateful for any and all of your people's legends that you wish to share with me. Please, pray continue."
sorry, it is coming from near the entrance, maybe 40' behind the Aj and Khol
"I could tell you of Fahrn the Barbed Tongue, who invented sarcasm, but clearly you have never heard of sarcasm. It may be lost on you."
"If you believe it is so, then it must be so," Natasha says, her voice uncommonly sweet.
Meanwhile up in the sky Razan takes in the view, and starts getting bored...
Moving back to the entrance, Ajkanir barely glimpes the form of the giant, pressed up against the wall near the lip of the entrance, it is practically invisible. A frustrated sigh is the only motion, and it is enough to spot it.
In one hand it bears a massive stone club, in the other, a large rock. It's eyes are locked on Natasha, across the way. It is wearing a crocodile skin kilt in the Osirian style, and is actually female, under the animal pelt slung over her shoulders, the slight curve of breasts is visible. When it speaks, Khol finally glimpses it too.
"I do not understand your words. This is your last warning." Honest exasperation creeps into the voice.
Zahur rolls his eyes when Natasha goes to taunt the giant. First Razan. Now Natasha. Gozreh, you are testing me. He stays out of sight, but ready to move forward when things degenerate. For surely they must.
He uses his left hand, on Khol's shoulder, to steer them towards the mouth of the cave and out, turning on to the path. He pauses to collect the coin with the silence spell upon it, if it still functions, and then picks up the pace, moving back towards the party. He moves himself and Khol into cover behind the rocks where Zahur is hiding, in time for the invisibility to wear off.
Ajkanir and Khol appear as if out of nowhere by Zahur's side, out of sight of the giant's cave. Ajkanir calls to Natasha, just loudly enough for her to hear, "We are back, do not antagonize her further! Your ploy was a clever one, and served us very well as a distraction, but the giant is not one for word games and loses patience."
He gestures for Natasha to come over to them, and waves to attract Razan's attention. Once his companions are all in earshot, he explains what he and the unusually reticent Khol have seen, "The giant is a mother, with two twin boys there inside with her - the human-sized figure I saw was one of them. She is intent on protecting her children, and the livestock she gathered is surely meant for them. I'd wager she's upset about the destruction of the village, as a source of food for her family, and we'd do better to stand naked between a mother bear and her cub than to fight her now. Nor do I think she means us any harm."
Ajkanir pauses and says, "It would be helpful if we could get whatever other information she has about this woman in blue silks, and what happened in the village. Now that we understand her situation better, have we anything to offer her that might tempt her to talk?"
Landing Razan leaps from Elreem's back and the pair move to retrieve Sandstreak as the summoner calls,
"Aiieee, lets leave them alone, we've bothered them enough and it hardly seems likely they'd know much more."
"As you wish, Lady Giant," Natasha calls. "I shall withdraw. Stay your anger; I am leaving."
After joining the others, she casually wipes away a single bead of sweat.
"If she has twin boys, then something to keep them occupied might find favour," she says, shrugging. "Children can be a handful. If she is of a magical inclination, I could teach her the spell of Alarm for her cave. That could be useful."
"She said she only saw the lady from afar and that this one in blue silks flew. I think she has shared what she knows and even if she knows a little more, she may be fearful for her cubs. I have little to offer aside from future exchanges of information. I say we depart and investigate the silent ones and the Elder before she loses patience with us."
Ajkanir nods as his companions speak and says "I think you are right, Razan and Zahur - we have likely learned all she knows of use to us. Again, Natasha, you have another interesting idea, but I sense she is not interested in lessons, but rather in being left alone."
Looking at Razan he says "Like you, I was eager to test my mettle against a giant, and for a moment in the cave, when we had the advantage of invisibility, I wondered whether we should attack. But I am glad we did not. Rather than learning how one fights, or dies, against a giant, I feel I have learned how a giant lives, and that is a rare gift for a student of the world."
Turning back towards the path that descends to the village, Ajkanir looks down it and says "Once again, we did well in working together and combining our abilities. Now where do we go in this investigation? Do we go seek this Zoldun, who has gone to dig in the valley, whatever that means? Or attempt to find the 'dead djinn' and the blue silk woman? Do any of you have magics that might provide us clues, or shall we just begin walking - or riding, in one lucky case - and plan our next steps as we travel?"