"Sounds good."
From several steps down the road Illes calls back, "What the hell are you all doing, taking a vote?! It's time to move your asses!"
"We are thinking before we act, Elandru. You should try it sometime. It might, for example, allow you to realize that the only way you will catch those giants on foot is if they turn around and chase you. We need horses, at least, or, even better, magical transport. You know Sandpoint, what are our options? Deputies, what do you suggest?"
To the guards;
"You! Guards! We need horses to hawk yon giants! We need them fast!"
Somebody with some charisma oughtta try
"You! Guards! We need horses to hawk yon giants! We need them fast!"
"Huh?"
"I think he said they need some horses to go after the giants."
"Oh! I got confused with all this stuff about hawks..."
The guards commandeer some horses from the nearby inn. By the time that is done, Vethran is back at ground level with his flight spell now expired.
"Ariel!!! OOOKLA!!! RIIIIIIIIIIDE!!!" Hudak gets on a horse.
To the guards, "We need a tracker. Is there one among your number that can provide this service? Or some civic-minded individual in town that can accompany us?"
"Er, Shalelu might be able to help, sir, er, mistress. Don't know if she is about..."
"Well, don't stand there, let's find out!" Climbing into the saddle, she bids the man do the same. "Which way?"
Camlo watches the running around with good humour, concerned that the giants are getting away. He mounts the smallest horse that's brought, and sits precariously.
"I'm a reasonable tracker. Don't know much about plants and animals, but I can follow a trail. Following a warband of giants can't be that hard."
Perception no bonus
"This way! I'll lead."
The group thunder north up the road, following the trail of the errant giants. Alwyn's keen sight means they don't lose the trail as it bears off and up into the fields and, beyond those, the high moors. Soon there is evidence that the heroes are catching up with the giants, with the tracks looking very fresh. But the terrain favours the giants. There are few trees in which the adventurers could conceal their approach, and the jagged bluffs and tumbledown tors are good places from which the giants could stage an ambush. And the sodden, boggy ground is hard going for the horses, which slows down progress considerably.
The trail seems to be leading to a particularly large crag which the giants might have chosen as a prominent landmark at which to assemble. Coincidentally, it's also known locally as the Giant's Gravestone.
Camlo's keeping to the center of the pack ;)
"This is getting ridiculous, they are bound to set up some sort of Ambush or something. Alwyn, could we sneak up on foot and get back here in a decent amount of time?"
"What the hell; let's walk in."
"Uh, no. We've seen three giants plus one or two bears; in addition to that, others were leaving the southern part of town. And in addition to that, their headquarters guys might be waiting here. We might be facing ten giants, maybe more. We can't just walk in and hope to live."
"We have two options, really - sneak in, or set up and ambush and hit them as they leave. The latter, to work right, requires a bit of scouting, meaning sneaking in is still required."
"Camlo, I know you can tiptoe in without being noticed. But do you understand their language? Ideally, Illes would go with you. Hmmm..."
"Ah, no, I can't. We'd need someone who can, or a spell that can let e for a little while is that exists?"
Sefayll frowns, "Indeed such a spell exists, but I don't have it today. Perhaps one of the others does. I could read their minds if I got close enough, but I have none of the grace necessary to sneak. Even if you cannot speak the language, you can get an idea of their numbers and position. That would be better than the information we have currently."
"True, true." Alwyn nods sourly at the hellknight. "Anything helps. We should have had L'oj here - he's a local and knows the lay of the land... Oh well."
"I guess we'll settle for physical details of the giant force. Camlo, check out the crag. Take no chances, and be especially careful to keep your distance to any animals. The rest of us will skirt around the Gravestone; we'll all meet up over there." He points at a big bluff on the opposite side of the Gravestone. "We'll plan our next move from there."
"Be aware of ambushes, everybody. I would have left a few of our number to cover our retreat if I was in their position. Now, let's get going."
"Ok, that, ahh, sounds good to me."
Illes rummages around in his pack before coming up with a battered and forgotten scroll case. He scans through several headers before rolling one up and tossing it to Camlo. "You'll have to figure out how to cast that on yourself, but if you can work it out it'll be good for ten minutes or of translation. One way mind you, you can't speak Giant but Desna help you find yourself needing to try."
"I don't mind sneaking in with you, but I'm a little better at getting attention than avoiding it." The bard winks and twists a mustache tip.
perception
"Wanna eat, guys?"
"... Camlo, check out the crag. Take no chances, and be especially careful to keep your distance to any animals. The rest of us will skirt around the Gravestone; we'll all meet up over there." He points at a big bluff on the opposite side of the Gravestone. "We'll plan our next move from there."
Illes takes a seat on a rock and roots around in his pack. "Sorry big man. Since we were back in town I haven't stocked up on food yet." The bard offers a bag of leathery dried apple left over from the trip to Sandpoint. "That's about it I'm afraid."
Camlo edges closer, moving through gaps in the rocks a giant probably couldn't even see, let alone navigate. The top of the Giant's Gravestone is a flat space surrounded by tall granite pinnacles, making it a secluded and surprisingly large space for the giants to camp in. There are six of them there, with three dire bear companions. They also have a few giant-sized sacks, the contents of which twitch and moan occasionally.
The giants mumble to one another in their low, grinding voices.
Camlo tries to be as quiet as he can activating the scroll, then moves so he can hear the giants again.
He looks to see if there's anything unusual about the giants camp, apart from it's existence of course.
The weather on the moors turns, and a light drizzle begins to fall. It isn't very heavy but it invades clothing with damp trickles and obscures sight with a heavy drifting mist.
"Where is everyone? They should have made it here by now."
"Maybe they were killed in battle."
"Against humans? Don't be stupid. Mokmurian told us -"
"Well, where are they then? Teraktinus went in with three others and came out alone."
There's grumbling for a few moments.
"Well, at least he got the rock he wanted."
"Yeah, loads of us missing and he got a rock. And then flew out on an eyeless flyer for Jorgenfist leaving us here."
"Are you doubting our mission?"
"No, it's just -"
"We are here to retake our ancestral lands! Like Mokmurian told us. The giants ruled this land before, and we shall rule it again. We shall sweep away the human cities in Varisia and enslave the small peoples with the armies now gathered at Jorgenfist. That is what we were promised and that is what we shall do. This mission is part of Mokmurian's plan to conquer and that's all you and me need to know. Now shut up and keep watch. There's riders down there and I want to know what they are doing."
There is a rush of wings and a huge shape looms over the rocks. And yrthak lands on the largest pinnacle, its claws scrabbling as it gets a grip. Once it has secured its perch, its long neck dips down to watch the giants silently. The giants all go quiet, visibly uncomfortable with the new arrival.
Half-an-hour later, after a harrowing passage out of the giant encampment...
Camlo finally rejoins his fellows at the rendezvous point after an hour of being out of sight.
Camlo comes panting into the "camp". Then proceeds to babble out: "Well, that was useful. They know we are about, but I don't think they know exactly where. I don't think I was followed. They seem bothered that some giants didn't make it out of Sandpoint, and I think that's holding them up. They spoke a lot about someone called Mokmurian, he seems to be the leader, but he isn't with them. Whatever they stole from Sandpoint has been sent to him. They mentioned some sort of stone? They seem to think they are going to destroy all the cities in Varisia, and rule everyone. Oh and they have more of those yrthak things with them. One nearly caught me. I think they are headeded for a place called Jorgenfist, that may be where they took the stone. That scroll worked really well." Camlo smiles.