Hanethes raises his sword threteningly.
If the creature does not emerge from the shadows after a round has passed, Adolphus tries to call them out.
"Come forward now, if you value your life."
Dorian draws his crossbow and readies a shot if something approaches the group with hostile intent.
"Booyah!" the dwarf grunts as his pick shatters the statue. It is then he notices something in the door and spins around moving for a better look as he draws a dart in his left hand.
"We are friendly and good."
Diurn has a friendly smile.
Valamont waits anxiously for the opener of the door to reveal itself.
Diurn calls out to the creature with friendly words, but hears no response. Darthal’s spell glows around Adolphus as a lumbering giant with beady eyes devoid of kindness bursts through the doorway. Its puffy face features a wide mouth containing ill-fitting teeth. When it sees the group, it smiles and cheerfully says, ”More carrion for my larder! Very nice.”
Dorian pulls the trigger on his light crossbow, and the bolt flies true, striking the brutish creature in its side. ”You’ll pay for that, runt,” the creature growls. He rushes towards Dorian and attacks with his falchion.
With a mighty swing, the creature nearly cleaves Dorian in half. The wizard falls to the ground, dead instantly. ”Dinner is served!” the creature bellows before turning to the rest of the group, bearing a wide smile. ”What’s for dessert?”
"Ogre!" Darthal gasps.
"Beast! Fight me, if you dare. I'll prove more tender carrion than any you can so easily cut through."
Dreygard attempts a one handed swing with his pick as the ogre runs bye.
He then tumbles around the ogre, dropping the dart and takes position opposite of Darthal.
Seeing Dorian dropped in a single blow, Valamont's face twists into a grimace of sadness and rage, "Your life is forfeit, beast!" He shifts a bit closer to the ogre then brings his sword to bear.
"Hurk!"
Falls.
Adolphus’s taunt turns the ogre’s gleeful smile into a grimace of rage. ”Xukasus will eat you next, then, little man,” he growls. Dreygard takes advantage of Xukasus’s distraction and nimbly darts around to his flank, but he swings before his feet are planted firmly on the ground, and misses wildly. Valamont, however, calmly steps forward and opens a wicked wound in the beast’s side.
Diurn looks in helpless shock as Dorian takes massive damage and falls.
"I don't know what I could have done."
Maybe talking first in this maze was not the best move.
Diurn shifts to get inside the ogre's reach
and attacks and misses ferociously
"Hit me you foul smelling overgrown manling."
Dreygard maintains silence, but swings again.
"Together, kinsman! Darthal calls, and swings, flanking the ogre,swaying in the movements of the ancient dwarven giant-fighting dance.
for
Then he steps between the ogre and Dorian's body. "You shall not pass!"
Diurn and Darthal both attack the ogre, but his surprisingly agile large body is tougher to hit than it looks, and both attacks miss badly.
With a mighty bellow, Xukasus swings his giant sword at Adolphus, but it deflects harmlessly off the knight's trusty banded mail. "Xukasus will peel that metal off your scrawny body and feast on the marrow in your bones!"
Valamont brings his gleaming sword to bear once more, but the blow is spoiled by the ogre's rubbery hide. "Ah ah ah. No more meals for you, fatty!"
Adolphus raises his greatsword to strike back at the ogre, but wields the sword in a manner more skilled in defense
for damage.
When his meager attack bounces off the ogre's hide, Adolphus backs up, hoping to lead the ogre away from the others.
Hoping to take advantage of his flanking postion, Diurn ferociously swings again with his flail.
Darthal swings again, still flanking, still in the movements of the dwarven giant-killing dance
Striking true, and striking deep...
...or not. But at least he scratches the thing.
Adolphus’s attack bounces off the ogre’s hide armor, and he backs away. ”Running away already, runt?”
When Xukasus’s falchion misses wildly, he shrugs and growls, ”Plenty of other choice meat here.”
Dreygard takes advantage of the ogre’s distraction and sinks his pick deep into the beast. Xukasus lets out a roar of rage and pain, but remains standing.
Valamont and Diurn swing ineffectually, and although Darthal manages to work his pick into a spot not protected by the hide armor, there is next to no force behind the blow.
Xukasus turns around and swings at the dwarf that hurt him badly, but Dreygard’s knowledge of dwarven defensive techniques easily allows him to dodge out of the way. ”Gah! Stand still and die!” the ogre bellows.
Adolphus moves to 6I and crouches again, readying his sword to block the ogre's attack.
”Gah! Stand still and die!”
"Oy! You got red on you." the dwarf taunts as he takes another swing. "This one be for Dorian you overstuffed orc!"
After the attack Dreygard somersaults away from the ogre but bounces off the column he didn't see and completely throws him off balance.
Diurn swings ferociously.
Emboldened both by desperation and Diurn's savage blow to the ogre, Valamont redoubles his efforts to bring the beast down!
"Die, foul monster!" Darthal shouts as he swings again, trying to sink his pick into the same sweet spot as the ogre twists around to strike at Dreyguard.
Adolphus hunkers down in defense, but Xukasus barely seems to notice him. Dreygard's attack hits the ogre, but his thick hide armor blunts the force of the attack.
As Dreygard attempts to disengage from the fight, he bounces against the column, leaving a wide opening that Xukasus pounces on. He lands a ferocious blow on the dwarf's face, dropping him unconscious and opening a terrible gash that runs from Dreygard's right ear, across his mouth, and down to his left shoulder. "Dwarf meat's a little tough for dessert, but he'll make a fine appetizer!"
Valamont takes advantage of Xukasus's boasting and drives his bastard sword into the ogre's chest. The ogre's gleeful expression turns to one of confusion, and he whispers, "No...food?" before collapsing to the floor.
"Is he dead?! Is Dreygard dead too?!"
Adolphus steps forward and swings his heavy sword to cleave the ogre's head from its body.
"No...dwarf...soup...for...youuu..."
Diurn grabs his holy symbol and channels positive energy.
Then calls on Arshea to heal the still injured dwarf.
"Ugh..is it dead. Dorian? Awe s&!#. What do we do now?" Dreygard then coughs up some bloody phlegm at the dead ogre.
Darthal listens to see if the noise of the battle has attracted anyone else.
If he hears anything, he growls warning. Otherwise, "Much as people are renowned for standing firm, we are not fools. We must tend to the fallen, and heal our wounds."
Diurn loots the ogre and verifies the obvious, Dorian has passed.
"If we are continuing, we put Dreyguard second last in the marching order and save my channels to efficiently heal him as others get wounded. If we are packing up for today, I heal him some more and we get Dorian to the temple."
"I still got this healing potion. I could chug it and we finish this."
"If we keep you near the back, we can save the potion. As people get injured I'll heal them and you together. The potion can be a last resort. We can leave Dorian here and get him on the way back."
"This may seem crass, but we should check and see if Dorian has anything on him that may prove useful for our survival in the immediate future. We can pay him or his estate back later." Dreygard nods sadly towards Dorian's body.
Shaking his head as the ogre's blood runs in rivulets down the blade of his sword, Valamont stalks wordlessly over to the door that the ogre emerged from. He stands in the center of the door, his sword angled down and his shoulders hunched forward slightly - his posture slightly reminiscent of a jungle cat ready to pounce.
DP:
As Dreygard gets up from the ground, his eyes fall on the eastern wall, and he sees a nigh-invisible line outlining a door that seamlessly melds with the wall. Only his acute dwarven senses let him see it. A quick glance around rewards him with another find – a button on the southern pillar, protruding less than 1/8 of an inch from the finely worked stone. No doubt it would open the hidden door.
Valamont looks into the room from which Xukasus came. A putrid stench fills the room. The rectangular chamber beyond is splattered wall-to-wall with filth, bile, bones, and other disgusting remains. Although the room contains no furnishings per se, some of the older refuse has hardened into a crude chair, and an iron chest rests half-buried in a mound of dung in the southeast corner.
Valamont begins dragging the body of the ogre over to the incredibly disgusting and vile chamber. He'll also move the remains of the statue-creature over into the room as well. "No sense in leaving bodies in the hall for anyone to find. And if that room is any indication, no one in their right mind will be going in there to check on the ogre if he's not heard from for a little while." The half elf shudders then, thoroughly disturbed by how horrid that room is.
"Before we bring Dorian back, let's check the chest. Darthal, if you can heal Dreyguard some more, we can check out this chest. Maybe there will be something we can use to help Dorian or reimburse the church for helping him."
"Oh, very well," says Darthal, and moves over to heal Dreyguard.
As Valamont drags the ogre’s corpse towards the room, he hears two metallic *clinks*. Further investigation shows two iron keys have fallen on the ground next to the ogre.
Diurn investigates the chest sitting in the mound of filth and finds it locked. One of the keys dropped by the ogre opens the chest, revealing a mound of coins and other assorted treasure.
Sir Adolphus hefts the falchion, finding the weight to be about the same as his greatsword.
"Hmmph, nice weapon." He looks around to the others in the party. "Anyone mind if I claim this?"