Almost a certainty. Ulark agrees. Still, the dwarf readies his spear. But there're innocnets in the center of it. Best to walk in loud to spring it 'fore we're right in with them and the rocks are raining down.
You and Thozar want to move wide and sneak for better shots and flanking, now's the time. Because I am striding straight in.
And after giving the others a moment to react and adjust, Ulark does just that.
Ingrahild started to move to flank, but she was as stealthy as the average dwarf...
"Agreed, any delay and they'll just get their bones ground to Giant's Flour," Thozar points out. Taking the invitation, he tries to creep into the bushes as well.
________
The trees are forested areas, so consider them as difficult terrain.
As you get closer, seeing the ogres hiding in the woods is really not that difficult. They see that you see them, but not before you get to act fist.
Ingrahild’s stealth had been most unproductive. She ran forward to get line of sight to a giant-kin foe, and once it was unobscured loosed an arrow at it.
The arrow strikes home, practically dropping the giant.
As the other dwarves opt for a decidedly less-than-stealthy approach, Gundar shrugs. This is why I generally hunt alone, he thinks. Of course, he also generally doesn't hunt warbands of ogres. More's the pity.
He charges at the nearest ogre just as Ingrahild's arrow strikes it, wanting to make sure the two on this side don't decide to try do anything with the helpless captives.
Thozar pushes past some bushes and brings his full attention to the northern pair of Ogres. Ugly brutes'll probably try a last ditch slaughter of the captives...
________
Get behind us! Ulark yells as he charges forwards, stabbing out at the nearest ogre as he nods to get the captives to retreat behind him.
As for you lumbering beasts, maybe this will stick in your craw!
for
Red and blue use their long reach to try and pummel Ulark, while green and orange concerntrate on Gundar.
Now with her feet firmly planted, Ingrahild began laying down a hail of arrows. Like most dwarves, she was most dangerous when she chose a spot to defend.
So, can't even hit a real fighter? Ulark yells at the ogres as he stabs out again. I'll show you the real strength of a giant!
for
for
As the two Ogres form up on Ulark, Thozar let's them throw their full attention on him before trying to pull out the rug from under them. A one, a two, a...
A large hole 40ft deep drops into existence beneath the Ogre, with his companion precariously close to the edge!
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Ulark drops the red ogre, but blue dodges the second attack.
Suddenly, a hole appears beneath the orange ogre, who drops 40'. Tippling over, the green one fallows him down the pit.
The blue ogre swings at Ulark.
”Ulark! Five feet to the side!” Ingrahild called out. Once she had a clean line of sight, she opened fire on the giant that he was facing.
The arrows came in, aimed slightly high so that no matter what she wouldn’t hit her comrade.
Two solid thuds in the blue ogre's chest, and he falls back, dead.
"Like a garbage bin on demand! Haha!" Thozar cheers. "Who wants to parlay with the captives? Ulark? You always like to make friends!"
Ulark can't quite tell if Thozar is joking or not, but odes move towards the villagers as soon as the last ogre is dropped.
All right now. They're back to the dirt. You're safe. the warrior says to the assembled captives. He lowers his spear and - somewhat sheepishly - shifts his stance to keep his metal arm more out of sight from the scared humans. Any of ye hurt? Or missing - they take off with some of you?
The ogres’ captives include four villagers from Shinnerman’s Fortune and three prospectors who were working claims upstream. All are bruised from beatings. They know at least one more band of giants went on ahead with more prisoners, but few among them have any hope that those victims have survived. They aren’t sure whether Alderman Tarram Shinnerman was among those taken, as all of the prisoners were bound, gagged, and had thick leather sacks tied over their heads.
One of the prisoners, a middle-aged woman named Cerrina, recalls the giants conversing about meeting at some sort of cathedral called the Tinderhall. Another captive, a boyish-looking prospector named Hap, remembers a conversation about not wanting to be late for the "mustering for the Storm Tyrant’s army".
Treasure: Among the various junk in their sacks, the ogres also have a broken set of fine china, a gold censer with platinum inlays (worth 400 gp), a gold f lute (worth 1,000 gp), a small marble statuette of Torag (worth 300 gp), and 600 gp in assorted coins.
”Sounds like they were taken alive for a reason.” Ingrahild mused. ”Any of ye boyos able to find their tracks? Seems the giants be going where we are anyways.”
"Bah, probably for slaves... Like she said though, sounds like we're in for a twofer!" Thozar chimes in, ready to smash more Giants and their plans.
Belir doesn't seem to be able to find a singe giant footprint, despite standing in the middle of one.
After leaving the ogre camp, the you reach the edge of the mountain forest, where the stream you’ve been following—now a river—drops down into a large, winding valley. A wide, well-trodden trail, which is clearly the path the giants used to raid Shinnerman’s Fortune and the surrounding area, descends into the valley alongside the river.
The valley lies beneath the slopes of several tall mountains, carved by a snaking river fed by numerous mountain streams that spill from the Mindspins’ icy spires. These mountains are thousands of feet high, with steep slopes, cliffs, and rock walls. It is immediately apparent that moving across the valley floor will be significantly easier than traversing the mountain slopes above the valley. The valley floor is considered trackless plains. You should be able to cover 12 miles per day.
"Maybe I ought to teach you about tracking..." Gundar wonders aloud with a wink at Belir.
"Well, taking their own main road will be fast, but not sneaky. Then again we've already found what happens when we try to sneak about," Gundar says.
Gundar expertly leads the way, and points out many of his favorite plants and insects. As darkness approaches you find a place to camp for the night. A pale moon struggles to peek through the heavy clouds that have gathered over the jagged peaks that hem the secluded valley. As the temperatures quickly begin to drop, the vestiges of the ancient mountain trail become nearly impossible to identify in the darkness.
Gundar then notices something in the dark - maybe a large cat, that seems to be stalking the party.
”Bein’ followed, eh? Think it’s actually a cat or a Druid type?” She took an arrow from her quiver. ”Say the word and I’ll put a warning shot into it’s head.”
"No reason to wait for permission, either cat or Druid would be undesirable," Thozar weighs in. If that doesn't deter it, then we'll just have to do it the hard way.
The Dwarf does his best to remain nonchalant about the situation and continues to chow down on a dried sausage.
________
”Aye then. Let’s make camp. I’ll keep an eye on it, and will put a warning shot into it’s head if it gets any closer. Or if I just feel like it.”
You make camp, without a fire despite the dropping temperatures.
Despite the stealthy approach, Thozar rolls over in his sleep and notices two dark shapes slinking toward you from opposite directions. Still, they move before you do and they attack in the night!
”Who was on watch?!” Ingrahild yelled as she was bitten awake. Without her bow and arrows all she could do was punch back. And while she was a trained pugilist, it was clear that her real talent was with her bow.
"I don't know but it's water under the bridge now!" Thozar shouts as he stands up and calls forth two jagged shards from the ground beneath one of the cats. "What are they anyways?"
________
This freakish beast has the head of a badger, the hooves of a stag, and a wide mouth with sharp ridges of bone instead of teeth.
Thozar starts casting, and the large creature snaps at him. Luckily, the attack misses and the spell works.
Belir stands up, taking the AoO as expected from Blue.
"'The hells are you, beasty?" Gundar exclaims. They were unlike any creature he'd seen before, which was a rarity in the mountain forests.
Still and all, the appropriate response was clear...
What in the hells? Ulark says as he groggily stands and clutches for his spear.
Gundar smacks blue hard, but it still is quite ready to fight. Purple wails on Ingrahild, fighting tooth and hooves. Luckily, each just barely misses.
Blue strikes back and Gundar, but the armor holds strong.
Ingrahild dodged, weaved, picked up her bow, and kicked her assailant in the face. The surprise was starting to wear off, and she was getting angry. ”The fook ye think ye are?!” She yelled, unable to come up with anything better in the heat of the moment.
As his armor absorbs the creature's fury, Gundar laughs in its monstrous face. "You'll have to do better than that! he roars as he returns the attention in kind.
With no choice, Thozar steps to the side of Gundar. He does his best to keep out of the whirlwind of hooves and clamping jaws while coalescing frost across his hand. Having reached critical mass, he tries to reach out and touch the beast. "This'll slow it's attacks for but a moment, make the best of it!"
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I'll certainly try Ulark yells back to Thozar as he stabs out at the frosty beast.
for
for
Any idea what these monsters are?
Thozar dodges and weaves as he casts a spell, reaching out to cover one of the creatures in frost, damaging it and slowing it down. Gundar follows up with one hit after another, and puts the creature down.
Ingrahild kicks out, connecting with the other creature's jaw, as
The purple hued creature continues to wail on Ingrahild.
Miss