DM Carbide's Giantslayer

Game Master John Woodford

I'm a little shaky on the distances at this point in time, if Seamus is more than 120' from the party and not close 80'? to the orc he's chasing he'll stop, not wanting to overextend too much.

Jarrek stops and shakes his head, watching as the orcs escape.

I don't think we're going to catch any of them now. We're better off looting the giant's body and then maybe trying to track down the named orc.

How far away from the fort do we estimate we are?

Trianne’s head snaps around, braids whipping back and forth as she searches for targets. She starts to draw a bolt from her quiver and then lets hit drop, waving a hand in disgust as the orcs become tinier targets.

Moving toward the recently fallen orc, she whistles for Soot as she begins searching the body for anything of value. When the raven alights on her shoulder, she gives it instructions.

“Circle us,” she says, twirling a finger in the air. “Warn if any enemies circle back toward us.”

Move to Red and begin searching.

Haste -- Duration 1/5 rds remaining
Full Attack action = +1 attack at full bonus
+1 attack bonus, +1 dodge bonus to AC, +1 Reflex saves
All modes of movement increase by 30' up to double normal maximum

You're roughly five miles from the fort. Seamus, while hasted you're slowly overtaking the familiar orc (his base movement rate is 30', yours is 40', so you gain 30' on him per round; however, he had a head start), but with much of the rest of the party separated from you it's not clear whether you want to fight him with minimal backup.

The orc carries a few gold pieces, some adequate equipment, and rations that don't bear close examination. In addition to a lot of useless odds and ends, the giant has a fist-sized rock that turns out to be an unpolished emerald that's probably worth quite a bit. He's also carrying a wooden walking stick that detects as magical.

Kronug switches back to his greatsword and stands guard over Trianne as she searches the fallen.

"How about the giant? I don't imagine he had much of worth, but maybe he had something on him."

The giant had the magic item and the emerald.

Seamus, the orc you're chasing slows down perceptibly and calls out to you. "Hey! Parley? Keep far away and we can talk."

Seamus stops dead in his tracks, at a good distance from the orc, Okay, I'm listening, what do you wish to parley about? keeping his hand close to his potion of invisibility should he need it.

Trianne zips over to the fallen giant before her haste wears off completely and searches the creature quickly. She tosses the emerald into the air for any to see and whistles, catching it.

She scoops up the walking stick as well, mumbling to herself. “Magical, hmm…” Then notices Kronug still at hand.

“I’ll be fine Kronug, thanks,” she says. “Don’t let the others stray too far. I’ll be right along.”

Trianne moves to the Giant and searches, finding already mentioned items. Haste expires. Following round, she would use Detect Magic to identify.

Spellcraft identify vs. DC18: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

"You want to avenge Trunau. That's good. The giant b!tch-chief, she's moping in her tower about something and letting the <Orcish obscenity> ogres do what they want to us. Orcs have had enough of her and her big ideas. Kill her and orcs won't stop you. What do you say?"

Done, what's the best way there? You and the orcs back off, and we'll handle things. You double cross us, and we'll find every one of your hides and burn 'em off!

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Intimidate: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

The orc is too far away to get a read on (or at least that's what Seamus thinks), and the alchemist's voice breaks in a singularly unimpressive way during his threat.

"Same way I'm going, about two hours' march. Give me a half-hour head start to get there and let the commander know."

Seamus backs off, hands held wide, nodding in agreement.

He walks slowly backwards keeping an eye on the orc the whole time, and making shooing motions with his hand. Once the orc is out of sight, he turns and walks back to his companions.

Reaching the others, he sighs, Orc got away, I wasn't going to be able to catch him once the spell ran out, but he wanted to 'parley'. The orcs say they are offering to not oppose us if we remove the she-giant in the fortress, and leave us alone. I don't think I trust him, but he didn't like the giant at all. I donno if that's worth bankin' on, but he's headed back there - either to warn them to get outta our way, or to warn em to get ready for us. Best I can figure its a split decision- trust the orc and take out their enemies, or don't trust the orc and have to fight our way through all of em. Other option is to try and run him to ground before he gets back - which does invalidate the need for trusting him, but then we're back to sneaking in and definitely dealing with hostile orcs, but I'm not sure, if we trust him and the orcs don't double cross us, that could make it easier? he says all that apparently without breathing, and it all comes out in a rush.

Haftor stands, arms crossed as he listens to Seamus and thinks things through. He finally shrugs. "Well, I'm not built for chasing an orc five miles for any damn reason. The problem I see is we need to head straight there and strike while the iron is hot. No rest for us first. The orcs will either fight us or they won't. Not much we can do about that."

What kind of giant did we just slay? Hill?

Yep--it was a hill giant.

"Haftor, I don't understand the rush.
Why should we let them dictate our pace?
What does it matter if they know we are coming? (And this why I was not so intent on chasing down the orcs.) What are they going to do differently?
Come out of their fortress and search for us? I welcome that.
Pack up and leave because we are on our way? Not likely.
Build higher walls or more traps? That takes time and money.
Just 'they will know we are coming' does not give me cause for alarm. What will they actually do?
Most likely, I would say they would rally their troops to be on watch and guarding the front gates for an imminent attack. Imminent. That's key. It is impossible to maintain a heightened state of alert indefinitely, even with well-disciplined troops. If we get there as fast as possible without resting, they will all be waiting; later, maybe not.
We have about another five miles to go; the orc is faster than us and knows the land, so he may get there an hour before we do even if we hurry. Plenty of time to assemble guards, but not so long that they would start grumbling and disperse. 'As soon as possible' might be the worst time to arrive.
Now, depending on where this sewer entrance is, we may still gain the element of surprise even if they know we are coming and are waiting. But I don't like letting the enemy dictate our pace. We are taking the fight to them, and they don't know our timing. Let's keep it that way.
I would say we keep moving at a slow enough pace to stick to cover so that we can see them before they see us. We rest if we need to, or we don't rest if we don't need to. Once we get to the fort we see the situation and decide what to do from there.
If there is a reason to rush that I'm not aware of, please let me know. You've fought this tribe before and I haven't. I may be wrong about how they will react."

Trianne glances up from her own assessments as Kronug speaks at length. One eyebrow and a corner of her mouth quirk up in recognition of his assessment of the situation.

"He makes some good points," she nods. "Most of you aren't built for speed. If the orc was lying, it would do them good to fidget and burn unnecessary energy. Certainly not known for their patience. If there is dissension, giving them a little time might bring it to a boil."

She gives it some thought and offers, "Only reason to rush might be if she would choose to relocate, taking her half of the map with her. But I don't think she's the type. I think she'll wait for us to bring her our half."

She walks over to Seamus, showing him the emerald, and says, "What do you make of this? Genuine?"

Appraisal AA if you like.

Emerald Appraisal: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Other way around, you've got way more bonus than Seamus

Looks good to me as a real one, wooo hoo! Maybe there's more where this came from? the alchemist gets a slightly maniacal glint in his eyes. An' Kronug's got a good point, letting them sit and stir if they do want to ambush us seems a good idea, overtired orcs aren't great at spotting things...

Appraise, Aid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

The emerald is worth about 1000 gp.

Jarrek shrugs. "No reason to not get to the fort as soon as we can, either. We can just find someplace to hole up and watch. Being close enough to strike if we see an opportunity just gives us more options." The big half-orc glances over at the dead giant. "Plus that much meat's gonna start attracting scavengers soon."

Trianne nods as she and Seamus come to an agreement on the rough value of the emerald.

"No need to rush, no need to dally. Agreed." She twirls the staff a half turn and looks down the length of it for a moment.

"Fun toys this giant had," she says. "This quarterstaff grants the wielder a bit faster movement and some resistance to being tripped." She quirks an eyebrow at Kronug, highlighting what he had done with Gorum's Thorn.

"Has to be wielded to work though," she adds, spinning the staff once more and offering one end to everyone in a wide arc. "Anyone?"

She explains enough that you can check the spoiler above.

Haftor makes a few indistinct murmurs, considering. "Hrmm. My main concern is reinforcements. If they've got hunting parties or patrols out, or allies nearby, then they can call them in. And though I agree that they won't keep it up for too long, they could double their guard probably for a few days. I don't know what they're capable of, if I'm being honest. We do need to get out of this immediate area as soon as we can, though. That's for sure."

Haftor will also recall the 1st lvl spell he cast with his pearl of power.

I see Jarrek at 10 HP and Seamus at 22 HP. Is that right? Anyone else wounded?

I forgot to fix my header line - Seamus didn't take any damage in that fight

"I like Jarrek's idea. Get close, hole up, and watch. Then we'll see what our options are."
Not wounded.

Yep, 10 is correct for Jarrek.

Jarrek shrugs his broad shoulders. "Hopefully that orc actually can get the rest of his people to stay out of our way. And if it looks like they're mobilizing we can storm the place when we get there. Either way getting there now doesn't hurt anything."

Haftor murmurs and mumbles under his breath as he looks Jarrek's wounds over. He finally decides on his healing approach, calls on Torag's power, and casts two healing spells, one right after the other.

He opines, "Those orcs ain't holdin' back because o' their gentle souls. They just don't like their giant overlord. As soon as we get the chance, we're killin' them, too. They'd attack Trunau if they had a chance, and I don't intend to let them have one."

clw1 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 and clw2 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

“We’re not going to stop you from killing orcs, Haftor,” Trianne chuckles as she tosses the emerald to Jarrek to add to his pack. “But the major threat to Trunau here is the tribes being unified. Taking out Grenseldek will help, but the Giantslayer’s tomb needs to be removed as an option for any future ambitious leader as well. Kill as you will, but we’re only four deep inside enemy territory. Let’s try to stay focused on the mission goal.”

Emerald to Jarrek. Trianne will carry the Alpenstock if no one else wants it.

"Augh, I don't need any lecturin'. I know what we're about."

I'm also in agreement that we try to find somewhere we can conceal ourselves, close enough to the fort to spy on any activity.

It's another hour or so of walking to get within sight of the fort. The fort is surrounded by a wooden palisade about ten feet high, and the palisade comes up to the edge of the shallow tributary that flows past it. The red stone of the fort itself rises above the palisade.

Kronug looks for a spot with cover so that the party is not seen from the fort.

"Okay, a fort surrounded by a palisade; there appears to be some space in between. I might be able to scale the palisade walls."
His Climb is +7 after ACP, which might be enough with Take 10 (if the DC is low) or a good roll (if the DC is high).

"You actually have a map of this fort, do you not? Showing the sewer tunnel?"
From (then-)Commander Blix, here, although I don't see it linked anywhere.

"What else does the map show?"

The map doesn't show the palisade. Instead, it shows that the fort is surrounded by a moat.

Is there actually a map to look at? Wondering where this sewer entrance is.

Sounds like it's got to be inside the palisade.

The second slide under the Combat Map link above shows the fort, and I've marked the sewer entrance with an arrow.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 17

I'm trying to see if there's a way through the palisade on the western side by the sewer entrance. The waste has to flow out of the palisade somewhere, right? Otherwise it would just pool up inside the wall and defeat the purpose of having a sewer.

Jarrek grunts as he looks at the tall palisade. "Getting over that thing is gonna be a pain. Do we trust that orc that they're just gonna let us through? Maybe we try to signal an orc sentry and see if they can smuggle us in."

Jarrek can see some orc sentries on the barbican, but they're not looking out--they seem to be paying more attention to something happening inside the palisade.

Do we hear any noise coming from that direction? Also... what direction are they looking? Could be a good time to go over the wall now if they're all distracted.

Jarrek pointed. "Hey, look, all the guards are watching something going on inside."

Trianne looks around and whispers to Soot to do a high fly over and return to convey if he saw anything interesting that caught his eye.

From the big map, looks like we made our approach somewhere in the N to E quadrant? We'd need to circle to get a better look at the western end methinks.

Also looks like the sewer feeds into the...moat... *gags a little*

Soot does a high flight and returns. "The moat is dry. There's a bunch of tents in it with orcs around them, mostly watching a fight between a little humanoid and a bear."

Ten feet high for the palisade doesn't seem too bad. If we have a distraction, now would be the time to do it. Jarrek and Kronug could boost the rest of us up, then we could reach down and pull them up to us.

When he hears about the bear fight, Haftor mutters, "Cruel buggers," under his breath. He adds, "Let's go take this fort."

Also an option to bash down some wall. I can cast Crafter's Wrath (4x), but it would be loud.
Crafter's Wrath (minor): touch one melee weapon and grant it greater power to harm and destroy crafted objects. For 1 minute, whenever this weapon deals damage to constructs or objects, it bypasses hardness and damage reduction.

If the guards are distracted it almost seems like a gift from the DM to get us in. :)

Jarrek nods at Haftor. "Let's take advantage of their distraction. We should be able to get over that wall on the west side pretty easy, it's not too high." The big half-orc looks at the others. "What do you say?"

"Sounds overly convenient, but at least it doesn't look like they're mobilizing," Trianne says. "Yeah, let's do it."

We have 200' of rope among us. Happy to give my hemp to the cause as Tri's going to Monkey Fish over.

I know mechanically Medium doesn't make you bigger than 5' but Jarrek's The Rock- 6'6" and 18 Str. He should be able to boost everybody up to the top of a 10' high wall. :)

Kronug likewise has 18 Str, and a +7 Climb even after ACP. I am assuming that the log palisade has sharpened stakes so we can't just sit up there and pull people up but will need to drop down the other side.

"I can probably climb the wall after boosting you all over. I don't like being the last into danger but I can climb the wall by myself. Try not to win all the battles before I get there."

It takes a bit of work to get over the wall. The party is undisturbed in doing so, though, and once into the dry moat they can see it's filled with tents. The style and decoration suggests that they belong to orcs, and the closest ones to the sewer opening are empty.

My gut is saying we should just get into the sewer ASAP., and not mess with the orc tents.