Brother Hawthorne will also continue his attack against the female...
1 down, 1 more to go! Cayden will drink to our efforts tonight.
Point blank improved precise rapid inspired deadly aim, favored enemy studied target magical holy attacks...
primary for plus if evil
rapid for plus if evil
threat for
secondary for plus if evil
Poor Aerngun never had a chance! No sooner had she stepped up, did she fall down - Dead!
"What just happened?"
”Felt it too?” Sven asked. He stood up straighter than before, his movements devoid of the aches and pains which had previously dominated his life. ”Torag.” He said, his voice filling the name with reverence. ”The Gods are watching us. We have defiled the most hallowed grounds of Minderhal, and have subverted their most treasured artifact to not be sanctified in the name of the Forge Father.” He looked around as he spoke, the cleric turned oracle eying the forge with a learned eye. ”And our creator has blessed us. He has invested power within us to see this work through. Minderhal and Torag are at war. And we must prove ourselves worthy of the gifts bestowed upon us.”
Brother Hawthorne steps closer, his brows furrowed in concentration as he studies the unusual forge and its attendants. He adjusts his robes slightly, leaning toward the others so his voice carries without startling the giants or the creatures beneath the ice.
"Ah… I believe I understand how this rather unconventional forge functions," he begins, his tone a mix of awe and scholarly precision. "See those massive fins jutting from the frozen pond? Those are remorhaz fins. Dangerous beasts, to be certain, but… remarkably useful."
He gestures toward the fins, tapping one gently with the tip of his staff.
"The frost giants themselves are quite intolerant of intense heat, yet the work here requires it. These creatures," he continues, nodding toward the pond, "are fed sufficiently to keep them dormant, lying beneath the ice. When the giants hammer upon the fins, the rhythmic force rouses the blood within them just enough to heat the fins to red-hot temperatures."
"Ingenious, really. The giants achieve the effect of a traditional forge without ever needing fire that would sear them alive. It is… a harmonious, if somewhat terrifying, symbiosis."
Brother Hawthorne pauses, his eyes scanning the scene once more before lowering his voice.
"One must exercise extreme caution, of course. Disturb the creatures too greatly, and this delicate arrangement could become… deadly."
Nature has many symbiotic relationships that benefit both parties. While I am not fond of giants as they tend toward evil I am impressed that they willing to come to such an agreement with other creatures without the torture and devastation that they are known for.
IT would seem that to destroy the forge itself we must simply melt the ice and the remorrhaz would be freed. Before we do that though it would be wise of us to protect ourselves from the cold from the ice and the heat from the fins. I can protect us all from 1 of the elements and another 1 of us from the other. I can also provide us with the ability to tread upon the air so we are not at risk of falling into the water once the ice is broken.
Kurag looks slightly amazed at himself as he speaks so straightforward about gifts and abilities that mere moments before were beyond him. Sven, you may be right. I have never had this close a connection to the natural world before. It is quite amazing. I feel like the colors are sharper in the world, the smells are stronger, and the vibrancy of life can be felt just by standing still and closing my eyes.
Should we proceed with freeing the remorrhaz Kurag will cast resist energy communal fire, resist energy cold on Sven or Brother, communal air walk, gravity bow
”Right. That does it. We free the beasties, and get the fook out of here. Kurag and Hawthone, ye two get to work on that. I’ll break what is needed to break so they lack the tools needed.” He said this with finality, lest the group lose the momentum they had gained.
Before he begins wrecking the place, Sven finds the following:
Medium breastplate of vanishing (Ultimate Equipment 124) that Aerngun is (unsuccessfully) attempting to resize to Large. A chest under Proath’s bed holds a giant-sized, bronze spyglass worth 1,500 gp and a small deerskin pouch containing 15 diamonds (worth 50 gp each), 6 pp, and 311 gp.
The treasure was quickly gathered, but of it all, it was the breastplate that Sven took the most notice of. ”What did they do to ya?” He whispered, running his fingers along the dents that covered the battered mithril armor.
”Strong enchantments here. Not as much defense what ye got there Hawthone. But Kurlag? This might well suit ye. Offers much more protection that those chain links ye’ve got on.”
reastplate of Vanishing
Aura faint conjuration; CL 5th; Weight 15 lbs.; Price 15,200 gp
DESCRIPTION
This battered +1 mithral breastplate bears a resemblance to a stylized turtle shell.
On command, its wearer can vanish inside the armor, leaving the breastplate behind while she stays safely hidden in an extradimensional space. This space is barely large enough for the wearer to sit comfortably, but does provides breathable air and light to see by. The wearer cannot perceive the environs around the armor while inside. A second command word returns the wearer to the armor’s location, wearing the armor. If the wearer can’t return to the space the armor is in, she is instead shunted to the nearest empty space that can contain her, but no longer wearing the armor.
If the breastplate is destroyed, the wearer immediately returns to the square the armor was in when it was destroyed. Successfully dispelling the armor likewise returns the wearer, though in this case still wearing the armor.
"I cannot get over the changes in all of us! This will make one hell of a story when this is done!"
2 casting of freedom of movement would free them from the ice I would think. Otherwise I think if we break a few spines that will rile them up enough that they will get hot and enough to melt the ice around them.
"Or I believe I can use dimension door on each of them, and just extract them. Thoughts?"
"Aye, that it will." Sven agreed, as he listened to his comrades discuss what to do next. "Try to use dimension door." Sven said, as he thought it through. "Having them vanish without breaking the ice would cause no end to confusion amongst the giants, which will delay their return. The goal, after all, is to disrupt their operations as much as possible. If it fails, then aye, breaking a few spines will do the trick. We'll just need to move quickly to get away from them before they either attack us or bring the entire army down on us."
”Where shall I drop them to?”
"Far enough away from us that they can't immediately try to eat us." Sven suggested. Despite their newly gifted powers from the divine, he was not eager to engage in a fight without purpose.
”They have to be ‘willing.’ Should I do the freedom of movement?”
Brother Hawthorne will start reassuring them in Giant!
”Its science, aye? Let’s experiment with the spells. See what works and go from there.”
Kurag stays back a bit in the air on Lucky ready to provide range support should Plan A or Plan B not work and have to pivot quickly to Plan C.
Brother Hawthorne decides to try and use dimension door, all the while explaining to the creature he is freeing them.
You send the remorhazes away and away they are glad to be! You sabotage the forge so it cannot be easily used again.
"I say we go after the mine!"
”Aye!” Sven said, relishing the idea of returning to his roots. ”Let’s see what shoddy hole in the ground they call a mine.”
This hilly elevation on the plateau is hollowed out in the center, forming a dry basin. A series of sloped ledges wind around to the bottom, where the depression is flat and level. The curvature of the rock walls lends itself to the appearance of a natural arena. At the bottom, several large caves open into the northern rock wall. The ceiling and walls of the caves are supported by wooden beams, visible from the entrances. Across from the caves, on the southeast side, are a series of wooden target dummies. Small piles of round boulders are stacked around the basin’s rim.
Without any clear or present danger, Sven took a moment to look over the mine working with a critical eye. Specifically, he stared at the wooden support beams that were visible from the entrance.
Turning to the others, he gave voice to what he was thinking. He was considering whether they could collapse the mines by taking out the support beams. Doing so would cause quite a commotion, to be sure, so they'd need to time it so that they could collapse as many as possible and then flee. Doing so would certainly interrupt the giants' operations, as they'd have to dig the mines out anew. And if they were left wondering why the mines collapsed? That would cause all the more chaos.
I'm no miner, but...
Sven and Brother Hawthorne see pretty shoddy construction of the mine from their vantage point and think that if the rest of the mine is similarly shoddy it might be easy to collapse the mine by weaking some support beams.
"Right. We just need to get to the mine shafts. The question is, do we split up to do this?" Looking thoughtfully, he said "I think that the best bet is to move together. Weaken the supports so that they will collapse, but not immediately. That should maximize the damage done and give us time to leave before the crashing brings all the giants running."
"Do you think there is anything of value here, before we take the place out?"
Sven shook his head. "At most something which helps with digging. But this is so shoddily made..." He looked over the mine as if though it were a personal insult. "We'll be doing the world a favor collapsing this."