Ushyle stands at the ready as the giants fight back, going after Vael's bullette and Raen!
The one facing off with the bulette opts for the blade, hoping to clear the way to Raen:
THREAT
for
for
In two swings of the mighty blade, the creature is slain. The giant steps forward as the body vanishes. One of the hellhounds closes too.
To the north the hellhound charges Ushyle, but the quick blade takes its head! The final giant closes slowly, but defiantly towards Raen, "I'll deal with this whelp myself!"
Round 2:
Vael: Magic and move
Raen: Cold
Ushyle: Ready
Whistle Pig: Kill!
Giants: ATK
Hamilton: Go
Doxon: Go
Red Giant: 135
Oh, no ya don't!
With great celerity, Doxon rushes the fire giant and swings Agrimmosh in at its knees.
Indeed! Doxon rushes in and slams the Hammer of Unmaking into the giant's ribs, shattering them! The giant falls to the ground, dying.
Round 2:
Vael: Magic and move
Raen: Cold
Ushyle: Ready
Whistle Pig: Kill!
Giants: ATK
Hamilton: Go
Doxon: Giant kill
Ham and Sammi ride forth and head to pick off the hellhound.
Heartspit:, Damage:
Doxon makes first contact with the other fire giant, who roars as his knee is split!
Round 2:
Vael: Magic and move
Raen: Cold
Ushyle: Ready
Whistle Pig: Kill!
Giants: ATK
Hamilton: Redo allowed
Doxon: Giant kill
Red Giant: 135
Yellow Giant: 27
Hamilton sticks the hound with a solid jab!
Round 3:
Vael: Go
Raen: Go
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Giants: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Red Giant: 135
Yellow Giant: 27
White: 8
"Will you, now?" Raen asks dismissively. She draws the diamond-tipped staff from her back. "Bad boy."
Raen then retreats a step.
Raen keeps an extremely complex spell together, weaving the words and components. The cone blasts right by Doxon's right shoulder.
The seriously injured giant shatters on impact with the ground, while the other howls in agony.
Round 3:
Vael: Go
Raen: CoC
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Giants: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Yellow Giant: 76
White: 8
Ushyle moves in almost as if by instinct — he knows in his head that Raen can handle herself and doesn't need rescuing, but his heart cannot take the idea of her being struck. Careless to the consequence he races in and calls down the power of bane into Milani's Thorn, held high in his hands.
spell slots 0/6 1st, 0/5 2nd, 1/4 3rd, 0/1 4th used
Unable to summon any magical protection, Ushyle risks the massive blade to strike at the giant. for .
The greatsword cuts him, but he gives it better than he gets! The party smells blood, and can see that both foes are on their last.
Round 3:
Vael: Go
Raen: CoC
Ushyle: Hit
Whistle Pig: Go
Giants: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Doxon: TBD
Yellow Giant: 119
White: 8
When it becomes clear that, for now, no more enemies are on the horizon Vael lets his body absorb the wounds Ushyle has taken.
Whistle Pig takes aim at the two injured foes and splits his bullets between them. It's more than enough as the final giant and hound add their bodies to the aftermath of what transpired in this chamber.
Raen quietly stows her staff. She advances to inspect the corpses, and then the two side chambers.
The party looks about this large chamber and finds only death. The giants have no treasure to speak of and the orcs had only rags. Even the side rooms here seem devoid of anything interesting.
Raen casts detect magic and sweeps over the side chambers, as well as the main cavern. She asks Whistle Pig to help her with the side chambers.
"Whistle Pig, would you be so kind as to lead the way? I do not have another divination spell prepared."
Indeed, there's nothing.
Vael nods when Raen suggests the northeastern tunnel. "Seems as good a route as any."
The party moves to the northeast. After about 1 hour the tunnel begins to narrow. It eventually becomes so tight that Sam can barely fit through. Whistle Pig scouts a little further and finds that it leads to a hidden exit out of the mountain to the mountain side. The outside is well camouflaged, and it would have taken weeks (with a dose of luck) to find it.
With no where else to go, the party heads back to the room with the slaughter.
Hard ground, such as the volcanic rock beneath the party's feet, is near impossible to track prey on.
Near.
Ham dismounts and skulks about the cavern, looking for the tiniest of disturbances in the surface. He slowly breathes in the air and holds up an ungauntleted hand, looking for drafts.
Survival, to track! , accounting for Favored terrain, Track and Survival.
Hamilton sees that the northeast passage has next to no traffic. The pattern east is much more frequently used.
"Let us be thorough," Raen suggests, "and investigate the northwest passage as well. Then, should it prove similar to the northeast passage, we may proceed east."
Indeed it does.
With their return to the main chamber where the slaughter occurred, Vael pauses to look over the bodies. "Ye ken that it be two hundred days since the attack on Trunau. And though we've lost many in that attack, the giants have lost a great deal more methinks. I'm no fan of vengeance, but ye'd think the Storm Tyrant would ken that he's made a grave mistake. If they had sense, they'd seek a truce. Because I have to admit that I dinnae relish all this bloodshed."
"I'm glad you feel that way, but this is not a choice anymore, Vael," Tulia says as she inspects the eastern passage. "Though I am but a small voice for Mother Moon, our goddess has made this our mission. And I know we follow her guiding star because she continues to reveal mysteries to me that I can teach you. It's a battle, and one she needs a champion for."
"And Desna isn't the only one that has an avatar to her will," Tulia adds, gesturing to Doxon and Ushyle. "Torag's interest in protection, particularly of his people, is obvious in every step Doxon takes. And the giants rule via slavery, making Milani's will obvious."
With a direct look at the former half-orc, she adds, "You are her champion, Ushyle. I have every belief that she chose wisely when she chose you."
Finally, she turns to Whistle Pig. "Come on now, we're waiting on you to scout. Let's not waste more time."
Raen looks at Tulia for a long moment, but says nothing.
|
WP stands silent and eyes Raen; absentmindedly tugging at the ring that won't come off. "Giants are not to be trusted. They look for advantage and any truce we make with them under pain of death will only last as long as it will take from them to grow in strength. We must end this. Trunau must no longer we threatened by these... these beasts!" WP winks out of sight and moves east.
The party discusses matters as they head east. Surely a giant such as the Storm Giant must know of what transpired in Skalsgaard...
Eventually the road forks, northeast and southeast.
Whistle Pig leads the way east. Eventually coming to another area, though this one is different. The western part of the room is higher than the eastern part, split in the middle by cooled magma ridges. A small pile of bloody stones sits near the north wall. The topmost stone is carved to resemble a leering ogre face.
This is the unholy symbol of Haggakal. Haggakal is an ogre god, the offspring of an evil deity and a giant. His followers believe him to be a round ogre face in the sky (the moon). For them, the waning moon is the time to hunt and to raid while the waxing moon symbolizes the time of their god's return.
Looking over the ridge and down, there's a quartet of ogre brutes playing with? worshiping? a strange animal. It's a HUGE massive warthog, outfitted with all manner of steel armor and unnatural augmentations, including a pair of razorsharp metal tusks. Overseeing the scene is an obese ogre female.
Aye, Torag guides me and I believe he approves of our course. I'll not let these giants threaten anyone if I can. They will not stop if we let them. And I cannot forgive what they did to Blixen. And I will never forget.
Doxon tightens his grip on Agrimmosh and Deathdealer for a moment, then procedes dow the east hall.
Doxon looks at the carved stone.
That be Haggakal.
He points down to the ogres. They're god.
With a direct look at the former half-orc, she adds, "You are her champion, Ushyle. I have every belief that she chose wisely when she chose you."
Ushyle looks decidedly unhappy at Tulia's proclamation. I... he begins, then stops a moment, lost in his thoughts. Finally he says quietly, I hope you are right.
With a direct look at the former half-orc, she adds, "You are her champion, Ushyle. I have every belief that she chose wisely when she chose you."Ushyle looks decidedly unhappy at Tulia's proclamation. I... he begins, then stops a moment, lost in his thoughts. Finally he says quietly, I hope you are right.
Raen looks sharply at the half-elf and addresses him with certainty. "She is. Right."
* * *
"Aye," Raen concurs quietly, "their god. An evil god." She ascends into the air . "I posit that these ones are inflammable."
She hurls a blast of flame into the ogres' midst .
Will give it to Raen.
The fireball explodes, snapping the ogres from their fun!
Only the boar seems to be quick enough, and Raen's spell seems to have no affect at all on the boar.
Round 1:
Raen: Go
Vael: Go
Ham: Go
Doxon: Go
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Enemy: TBD
Cleric: 29
Black: 29
Blue: 29
Hog:
Raen floats north, away from her colleagues. With a snap of her fingers, and freezing prison of thick ice springs into being around the obese cleric.
Raen captures the cleric in a prison of Ice!
Round 1:
Raen: Icy Prison
Vael: Go
Ham: Go
Doxon: Go
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Enemy: TBD
Cleric: 29
Black: 29
Blue: 29
Hog:
Let's even the playing field.
Doxon holds aloft Agrimmosh. He raises it, then slams it to the floor. Electricity coruscates out from the impact, enveloping Doxon, Ham, Ushyle, Vael, and Wistle Pig. As the electricity spangles over each, they begin to grow until they are each of a size comparable to the ogres.
Doxon unleashes the power of the Hammer, as each Hero grows in stature.
Round 1:
Raen: Icy Prison
Vael: Go
Ham: Go
Doxon: Embiggen
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Enemy: TBD
Cleric: 29
Black: 29
Blue: 29
Hog:
Hamilton sees Doxon preparing and wonders, aloud, what on Golarion he's... OH... This will be interesting. He grabs a vial from his belt pouch. He removes the stopper and clicks with his tongue, and pours the vial's contents into Sammi's open beak. She immediately doubles in size, and prepares to receive Doxon's magic.
Enlarge on Sammi.
A moment before the rider is enlarged, Hamilton prepares his mount!
Round 1:
Raen: Icy Prison
Vael: Go
Ham: Embiggen
Doxon: Embiggener
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Enemy: TBD
Cleric: 29
Black: 29
Blue: 29
Hog:
Ushyle nods to Doxon and moves into position, asking Milani for her blessing and hoping she will bestow it. While waiting for the hammer's magic to take full hold , he readies for his foes.
Vael moves forward slightly and invokes the spirits of the heavens as he begins a chant. Lightning begins to crackle around his fingertips before it lances out to the large hog and arcing out to most of the other ogres!
Tulia flies forward with Vael and loads her tiny crossbow.
Vael's storm of lightning jumps and jumps, frying ogre and hog flesh alike. Shockingly though, none of them drop! Whistle Pig opens it up on the closest ogre killing him in three hits. He turns his attention on the next for another hit, killing a second ogre!
Ushlye stands ready as the creatures respond:
The cleric tries to break free! , but fails!
The two living ogre brutes immediately close on the ice, trying to break their leader out.
for
The ogre's swing is too shallow and it simply slides along the ice.
The hog immediately snorts and dives down into the ground, leaving a wake of rocky turbulence.
Round 2:
Raen: Go
Vael: Go
Ham: Go
Doxon: Go
Ushyle: Go
Whistle Pig: Go
Enemy: TBD
Cleric: 29 (Icy Prison HP remaining: 11
Yellow: 44
Red: 44
Hog: 44
"The hog burrows? Can't say I like that," Vael says before flying up and to the north. With a glance to Ushyle, he begins a chant to the Spirits of Change, and within moments a momentary fortune spreads into Ushyle.
Tulia flies up with Vael, then levels her crossbow at the closest ogre before letting the bolt fly!