Somer's mouth kind of hangs open watching Mouser go. He knows he is capable of moving quietly but not liek that.
Mouser works his way slowly but steadily up the wall. Tying the rope to let the others climb up isn't too hard either, although that last 5' will be tougher for everyone, since he can't very well tie it on the other side of the gate without being seen (or at least the rope being obvious).
For the rest of you, though, it is a decent distance to get to the gate and then climb it. I would say 4 stealth checks each to approach, and then 4 climb (DC 5 with the rope) and stealth checks to ascend. I also need a marching order, since it will become relevant if anyone gets spotted.
Seeing Mouser scamper up the wall and tie off the rope, Balmir turns to Tam. "So, do you think you could do something to distract those giants while the rest of us climb up?"
Tam squints, strokes his goatee, and thinks.
"I could try another rainbow pattern on the giants," says Tam. "Might keep a few of them occupied, and the others would of course try to figure out what's going on. Unfortunately I don't really have a spell to create a specific image or distraction."
"I don't know much about magic but if that's what you've got, then go for it."
Tam casts his spell up on top of the gate. Both the hill giant and ettin notice it. Both seem fascinated with it, enough so that Mouser is now able to secure the rope up top.
The rest of you are able to climb up, unhindered.
On the other side of the gate,you see that as the valley widens, all traces of vegetation disappear, having been cut down or trampled into the dirt and mud. Plumes of smoke from countless campfires rise into the sky, and loud, guttural speech and shouts fill the air. Ahead, a towering edifice of stone looms over the canyon, carved into the face of a mighty mountain. Between the sheltering slopes of the surrounding peaks stretches a broad, muddy expanse where countless giants have set up makeshift camps. Wide roads of trampled earth traverse the valley floor, connecting the camps to smaller side canyons to both the north and south.
"Excellent Tam, much better then trying to deal with them and not cause a fuss."
Seeing the number of giants Somer chuckles softly.
"Right! Frontal assault then?"
"Glad it worked," whispers Tam. "But, uh, now that we're here... where do we go next?"
"I wonder what's brought so many giants together in the first place?" muses Tam. "A central strong leader? A story or myth that's brought them all here, now? A magical artifact exerting influence on them?"
Balmir's mouth drops open at the sight of all the giants. On the one hand, he desires nothing more than to jump into the middle of them and slay as many as he can before they stop him. But on the other hand, he knows the futility of that course of action.
"I don't know what to do. I'm not the one in our group with the brains."
"Quite the situation. I think we should find a place to quietly camp out and watch. If there is a way to get to the leadership we do that. Maybe make a display of their bodies?"
He looks over the area again.
"At least its a start."
"Looks like Volstus already has his army," says Tam. "This is... bad."
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Mouser nods as Somer suggests finding a place to wait and plan.
"I bet we could easily find a place--though there are lots of eyes, they are probably not on the alert. Someone would have to be criminally insane to try to get in here," he muses, apparently not seeing the irony.
"Let me look around real quick. Back in a jiffy."
"Someone wanna murder these guys... ?"
"Yep. Looks like an army to me too. Not sure how we would stop that." Balmir pulls at his beard as he gazes out over the campfires.
"Someone wanna murder these guys... ?"
Balmir scrunches his eyes and frowns. "I'm just as keen as the next guy to kill some giants but that's way too many for me." Then he realizes that Tam is talking about the giant and ettin on the top of the gates -- right next to them. "Oh. Yeah." he chuckles then unslings his hammer. Walking up behind the giant, he takes a massive swing at it.
"Oh, almost forgot our dummy friends."
Somer aims for whatever one Balmir did not after adding acid to his arrows and whispering a spell. Sadly he is distracted.
Balmir and Somer snap both large guards out of their stupor as they attack them. Unfortunately, both of them fail to actually hit their targets. But the giants are alert now, and a bit angry.
Mouser tries to strike twice, and only succeeded with the first, but it was an excellent spot, causing the hill giant much pain.
Toboyn shakes his head; he's let his mind has wonder at a time like this!
He turns to the two giants and unleashes the anger Cayden Cailean upon them.
"Can't kill an army, but we can chip away at it"
He feels as though Cayden's with him on this one.
The hill giant is looking pretty bad, and now is blinded to boot. He swings at Mouser, but barely misses due to his lack of sight.
The ettin steps forward to smash Toboyn.
Only hitting him twice, it still packs a whallop.
Balmir snarls at the giant and swings his hammer.
Balmir smacks the hill giant in the knee, crushing it and causing the large beast to fall to the ground in front of the gate with a big thud!
Mouser turns his attention to the Ettin, flanking the creature with Toboyn on the opposite side.
Somer lets out a little gasp when the ettin's attacks hit.
"Over here big guy, leave him be."
And with that, the Ettin keels over and drops in place, still on top of the wall, two heads lagging with open dead eyes.
Looking down the valley, it is very clear that brute force won't get you past this army.
"Much obliged; I don't know if I could have taken too many more of those. Toboyn is impressed ... is he the only one who was even struck? Cayden has delivered him into a worthy band.
Balmir gazes across the camp of giants. He wants to jump down to the ground level and just start attacking as many as he can before he is overcome. The muscles in his shoulders bulge and knot as the tension mounts. But he knows that taking on all the giants at once would be a foolhardy venture, at best.
He turns away from the camps when Mouser speaks.
"Yes, you're right my little friend. Maybe a little wisdom is best."
"I wonder how often the guard changes here. These would be terribly hard to move; do you think we can position them to look as thought they slew each other? Eh, probably not. Anyone care to check for any valuables on these two before we make ourselves scarce?"
"Yes, let's check them for valuables and then I'm inclined to just leave them here to rot. As for propping them up, I don't think that the giants down there are clever enough to notice if these guys are missing or not. Doesn't seem worth the effort."
The giant on the ground outside the gate has a magic belt. Other than that, there is nothing of value to you.
"Too large for me to just turn the bodies invisible," says Tam. "Honestly I'm a bit stumped. It seems like we want to get to the head of the leadership so that this army will fall apart, but I don't know the best way to do that."
It is a forest. You find a place to hide and watch.
The immense stone structure overlooking the valley to the west is the ancient Cathedral of Minderhal (area Z). The cathedral is cut from the stone of the tallest of the valley’s surrounding mountains; you recall that the giants call this lofty peak Utgorheim.
Below the cathedral, numerous ogres, trolls, and several varieties of giants have set up camp here, desperate for attention and waiting impatiently to prove their worth and be accepted. Most of the giants have clustered together with others of their own kind; their encampments are widely spaced, with several hundred yards between them. In the middle of the valley, dirt- and blood-splattered giants form a long, snaking column, pushing and shoving their way up the western side of the valley toward the great gates of the Cathedral of Minderhal. These giants are mostly hill giants, a few stone and cave giants, and a smattering of lesser giants (ettins, ogres, and trolls.
More giants trudge along the roads crossing the valley floor. Those heading south drag loads of timber, herds of livestock, great sacks of provisions, and other supplies for the growing encampments. The giants traveling north carry little but their own weapons.
As you study the assembled giants or their camps, you notice that a group of ogres comes through the area with a cart filled with dung every half hour or so, stopping for a few minutes here and there to shovel up the giants’ waste before heading off again. Under the command of their cantankerous boss, four ogre dungsweeps pull their dung carts through the giant camps and, less frequently, up to the cathedral itself.
The boss has a lumpy pate with long, stringy hair that she ties into knots and decorates with beads and pieces of tusk. She wears nothing but ratty hides, and her meaty hands are black with accumulated filth.
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As the group silently observes what is happening, Mouser has a cruel realization.
"Unfortunately, those dung wagons look like the best way up," he says. "I don't want to hide in giant crap, but that may be our ticket in. Or, we just wait for nighttime, I start a big fire somewhere to distract, and we try to sneak in another way. "
He looks back up at the fortress. "Of course, when I say the dung wagons may be the best way for us to get in, I mean the best way for you to get in. I've got much better ways for me."
"No way!" Balmir nearly shouts but manages to keep his voice low. "There is no way I'm hiding in there."
"I can use group invisibility again, assuming none of the giants have especially keen hearing or vision," suggests Tam.
"I would much prefer that over hiding in their waste. While it is easy enough to magically clean yourself it is qutie unappealing to have that in my hair. Once in we can cut the head of the snake so to speak."
"Also, as bad as the smell is, that might help disguise us from guard hounds or giants with an unusually keen sense of smell," says Tam. "Plus the noise of the cart-wheels can cover for the sound of our footsteps." He nods to Mouser. "Smart thinking."