"They are powerful. They have innate magic. They can coerce other giants, regardless of those giants wishes. They have a feud with both the elven nobility and the dwarven central families stretching back centuries or longer. You can tell them apart from other giants by the glowing runes on their skin. I would like two of your Shield Infusions."
Glancing down at the weapon in question, Pazeek responds to Rilka with a slight shrug. "Better to say that it's the weapon I'm most familiar with. My 'main' weapon is whatever the situation demands, or that I have available at that moment." Expression shifting to a faint frown, he listens to the others as they begin to lay out the details of the plan they've apparently decide on. He can only hope that it works out as they intend.
”I like your philosophy and practice of being adaptable with weapons, anything on hand,” Rilka says to Pazeek. ”I’d like to follow such behavior, but I’m too committed to my pistol, and the occasional bit of rapier work.” She pats the pistol on her hip.
”Toramin, two shield infusions,” she writes down in her book. ”Any other requests?” she asks the rest of her companions.
"I wouldn't mind a shield", Bjorkus admits.
"I wouldn't mind a shield", Bjorkus admits.
"Sounds like you could open up a shop, Rilka!" chuckled Dalton. "Preparation is good. Should I assume there is simply no reasoning with these cloud giant overlords and focus on defensive cantrips? I have few in the way of direct harm." The mage preferred it that way. I am not some piece of battlefield artillery.
”I’m happy to provide it, Bjorkus,” Rilka says. ”You too Pazzek and Ianna. Invisibility and darkvision always are useful. Can’t forget an extract for protection from ranged attacks.
She laughs, shaking her head. "Maybe when I retire, Dalton."
"Well, it seems to be all settled than. Rilka, Pazeek, prepare yourselves for a subterfuge mission. We will give you one hour to spread the word of the coming help, then we will extract you." The council adjourns, the members quickly going off to their own business except for Krokar who sticks around.
"Alright. Once Liamsho gets here we'll get started." Krokar pulls out a map of the village. [b]"Where do you want to drop?
Pazeek looks the map over, quietly noting its varying levels of accuracy before giving the half-orc councillor a searching look. "Pretty good map for such short notice," the tengu remarks dryly. "The level of detail almost makes me believe that you Aestherics having been watching my flock for quite some time now."
Directing his intent gaze away from Krokar after a few beats, the tengu taps a talon on a building to the northeast of the cluster of nests, overlooking a quarry. "There doesn't seem to be any giant activity around here, so this would be a good prospect for our arrival. Far enough out that we should go unnoticed, but close enough to avoid wasting time."
Krokar gives an apologetic look. "Nothing personal. Just our business to know things." Krokar nods at the location. "I agree. One hour, then meet back at that location and Liamsho will extract you."
As Krokar speaks, a completely bald human with loosely flowing black and purple robes glides into the room. His face and head are covered with intricate tattoos that make him seem hallowed, as if he is half undead.
Krokar's open admission startles Pazeek for a moment, but he doesn't say anything about it. He does, however, make a mental note to mention this to the elders when he has the chance to do so. Anything more is interrupted by a new arrival, presumably this Liamsho who is to deliver and retrieve the waiting duo.
Somewhat unnerved by the new arrival's appearance, Pazeek restricts himself to a polite nod of greeting, then busies himself readying his equipment. Loaded bandolier slung over his torso, then his satchel adjusted for easy access to its contents, and finally his weapons--the rapier in a leather sheath and a smaller blade in a wooden scabbard--hung from the rope belt holding his robe closed.
Rilka looks at the map and nods as Pazeek taps a talon on the northeastern building. ”If you think that is best, I’ll follow your lead.”
She gets to work with her reagents and vials. First she gives Bjorkus, Toramin, Ianna, Pazeek, and herself shield extracts. ”Sorry, Dalton, only so much magic to go around. I’m sure you can relate.”
Next she makes and gives Pazeek two invisibility extracts. ”Hopefully we can use them during the assault, not sneaking around. Best to be prepared, right?”
”How are you at climbing?” Rilka asks Pazeek. ”I think having some magical assistance for a climbing escape, wouldn’t go amiss either.” Rilka makes Pazeek and herself a spider climb extract then makes another extra one.
Finally she spends another five minutes making other extracts that she tucks into padded pockets on her belt. She double checks that her backpack and other gear is not showing signs of excessive wear. She cleans her pistol with a singular focus.
”What colors do you recommend?” she asks Pazeek, indicating shirts and leggings in different muted colors she has pulled out of her backpack. ”I was thinking gray and brown mostly since your village is above the tree-line.”
Pazeek gives the extracts a curious look before tucking them away with an appreciative warble. "Preparation is always helpful, yes." The questions she directs at him make Pazeek pause to consider the answers while considering the map. After a short tme, he answers. "Not terribly good at climbing, I'll admit. And the colors, as long as they're nothing attention getting shouldn't matter too much. But neither should be an issue, I hope." Tapping the map, the tengu explains. "Since many of our nests are built to connect to each, with streets being more like hallways in some locations, we'll try to stay indoors as much as possible. For anything else, we'll count on speed and timing to avoid notice."
Pazeek then eyes Rilka's pistol. Though he's never used one himself, he does know just a bit about them as a consequence of his alchemical expertise, including the fact that they're quite loud when used. Pointing a talon at it, he remarks. "Try to avoid bringing that out, if you can. It'll draw far too much attention in a fight, I'm thinking." With a furrored brow, the tengu pauses and starts digging into his pack, eventually coming up with a small crossbow and a few cases of bolts, which he then offers to Rilka with a questioning chirp. "You can use these, if you'd like."
"Ah yes, and before you go. We give all of our members a hat of disguise, or some variation thereof, so they can stay under the radar. I'm not sure if you thought going in as yourself would be acceptable or not, but we saw fit to provide one regardless." Krokar hands Pazeek a simple-looking hat.
Turning the nondescript hat over in his talons, Pazeek looks it over intently before shaking his heead and--with visible reluctance--returning the item to Krokar. "I'd like to keep it, I really would. But from what I know of magic, little enough though that is, I can't wear that and my jingasa at the same time," the tengu while rapping his knuckles against the cloth-wrapped brim of his metal headwear. "And I rather prefer the guaranteed protection this offers against the dubious benefit of looking like someone else for a time." Thinking for a few moments, Pazeek clicks his beak happily. "Perhaps the hat's benefits could be somehow transferred to my jingasa, after matters with my flock are done with of course," the avian offers with a questioning chirp.
"No worries. We've gotten used to working around other magic gear, we can get you a disguise item in any form you want. Belt, necklace, shoes, you name it."
”I can silence it,” Rilka says, patting her pistol. ”But I’ll take the crossbow and bolts as insurance.”
Her features change into that of a generic, male tengu. ”Okay, I’ll change my clothes and then I’ll be ready.”
"Oh, Miss Featherfeet, I do understand completely. No hard feelings. one less bottle for bumbling old me to break anyway!"
Though Dalton was in good spirits about the elixirs, he was less so about the enigmatic headgear. He sighed. "Ah yes, another cover. Let's hope I can remember I'm disguised and not mistake my own identity's name..."
Eyeing Rilka's disguise with a sidelong look, Pazeek announces his readiness to Krokar and Liamsho. "Right then, lets shake the dust from our feathers and get on with it. The sooner we get this sneak over with, the sooner those giants can be put to the sword!" Switching his attention to the odd-looking spellchirper, Pazeek watches him intently, wondering what he's going to do to get the two of them to the quarry from tbeir current location.
Liamsho the Unliving nods, stepping forward and raising his hands to both Pazeek and Rilka. As they grasp his hands it feels as if they are holding a corpse, cold and without flesh. His tattoos even cover down to here. Liamsho chants an incantation, and with the sound of a gentle breeze and a creak, they vanish.
The wind picks up, and the chilly morning mountain air rushes through their clothes. The sun glares down, just over the tops of the mountains. You are now on the outskirts of Pazeek's village.
Liamsho silently sits down, then waves a hand over himself and vanishes from sight. But a moment later they hear his voice. "I shall be here for your return."
Pazeek stumbles slightly as the environment changes around them, just a touch disoriented from the sudden shift in temperature, light, and terrain. But he recovers in seconds and begins to look around intently, senses straining for any hint of danger. His attention flitting from one point to another across the area, the tengu can only spare a distracted nod in response to the spellchirper's words.
He does spare a bit more attention for his new partner, speaking just loudly enough to be heard over the constant wind as he lays out his intentions. "Right, so first on our list is get in without being seen by the giants. Then we'll need to meet up with any elders that might be available, or whatever bird is charge." As he speaks, Pazeek unconciously fluffs his feathers out against the chill, but otherwise doesn't seem to notice it much. He flicks his eyes briefly to Rilka and her disguise, then croaks softly in amusement. "Introducing you is going to be a chore. They'll want to know your flock, and when they learn you're a lowlander and not a tengu, we'll have to convince them that you're still an ally."
Nodding toward the line of interconnected buildings across the road, Pazeek continues. "We'll head there, get inside, and use the interiors as much as possible to avoid the giants as we move. Hopefully we won't have to search long before we find a bird that knows what we need and can make some decisions as well. That'll leave more time to talk them past the Aestherics getting involved in our affairs," the tengu concludes. Then, as cautiously and stealthily as he can, Pazeek begins to move away from the building at their backs, heading south toward the nearest nests. He trusts Rilka to follow with no prompts, and so keeps his eyes and ears fixed on detecting any evidence of impending trouble.
”You’ll be fine Dalton,” Rilka says with a chuckle. ”I don’t think you’ve forgotten your name once.”
”I’ll do my best to shadow you and live up to my name,” Rilka tells Pazeek.
Rilka buttons her jacket. ”Hopefully,” she says to Pazeek, ”we can convince them I’m an ally. What happens if we can’t?”
After the tengu explains the plan, she nods and follows behind him, doing her best to keep her feet light and quiet. No reason for the invisibility just yet. She appreciates him trusting that she knows enough to keep quiet and rely on stealth. She’s a little slower than Pazeek by about two of her steps, but she’s faster than most halflings.
As the two stealthier members start approaching the village, Pazeek sees that there are a pair of hill giants guarding this entrance to the village. It would be possible to go around them, but they would have to scale the mountains, and would be very easy to see coming down. Sneaking past them would be nearly impossible due to how narrow the road is, at least not without some kind of distraction.
The two hill giants are lazily scanning the road, seeming to talk to each other as they lean on their greatclubs.
Speaking over his shoulder, Pazeek distractdly answers Rilka, voice barely audible over the wind. "Then we have a problem, because the only other aid would come from neighboring flocks, and only after they realize there is something wrong here. While the elders do have an agreement with the Aestherics, it wasn't for members of your group to actually enter our home. Unfortunately, we now have a hard choice between letting lowlanders in, or suffering who knows how long under this occupation." He's about to say something more on the matter when something catches his wandering gaze, and he comes to a careful halt. Examining the giants and their careful positioning, Pazeek mutters several indistinguishable words in his native tongue as he recognizes the difficulty their approach now faces.
Pointing them out to his companion in case she hadn't noticed them on her own already, the tengu clicks his beak open and shut in anger. "Well, those are going to be problem. I'd honestly like to solve it with some killing," he calmly admits with a soft voice that--he hopes--only she can make out. "But we don't know what sort of schedule they're on, so that's out. Guess we'll need to resort to your little vials to make our way past them, unless you have any other options?"
”Climbing would reveal us too much,” Rilka whispers to Pazeek. ”I could attempt to lead them away, but one might remain and you’d still have to get past him, plus any others if they sound an alarm.” She removes a vial from her belt. ”I think you’re right, going invisible is our best option for now.”
Hearing no viable options, Pazeek wastes little time in digging out one of the vials and--after ensuring that its contents are what he wants--pops the seal, clamps the vial in his beak, and then tips his head up to drain the contents. Tucking the empty away in his satchel--no point in leaving evidence, just in case--the tengu speaks quickly as he fades from sight. "Grab the hem of my cloak and try not to let go, I'll lead the way. And try to stay sneaky while you move, no reason to be sloppy about it."
Feeling a faint tug on his cloak, Pazeek sets out once again at a pace that is more suited to his companion's best than his own, and does his best to minimize evidence of his presence at the same time; no scuffing in the dirt, avoiding plants that would betrayingly flatten under unseen talons, and so on.
With her left hand, Rilka takes the hem of Pazeek’s cloak before he disappears. She takes the invisibility extract and keeps pace with Pazeek, stepping as quietly as possible. The cloak becomes slightly taut so Rilka knows where her companion roughly is. She attempts to step where she will leave little evidence, stones and low growing plants priority.
Rilka and Pazeek drink their invisibility extracts and start moving forward. Pazeek nimbly leaps around the giants, getting behind them. Then Rilka follows up, but misjudges the leap and bumps into one of the giants.
"Maybe it bug."
"Bigger than bug!"
The giant that was hit reaches down, trying to squash whatever hit his foot...
...but only manages to crush the dirt path next to Rilka. He frowns and starts looking around, grumbling.
Rilka clamps her mouth shut, attempting to keep herself from making any noise. She wraps Pazeek’s cloak around her fist to ensure it won’t slip from her grip and let Pazeek know she’s still with him. We should have set up a meeting place in case we did get separated, she thinks. Watching the giant, she gets ready to roll away from any further feet stomping.
Pazeek freezes for just an instant when the giant begins slapping at the ground near his feet, hoping desperately that the motions aren't about to reveal their presence. Just in case, however, he half-draws his weapons and prepares to handle the matter as best he can. It soon becomes clear that they remain undiscovered, and the tengu returns his weapons to their undrawn state when he feels a tug on his cloak.
Leaving the unaware giants to their entirely temporary good health, the tengu resumes his sneak into the warren of nests, moving as swiftly as he can while still maintaining a condition of stealth. He doesn't know how much longer this invisibility will last, and wants to be out of easy sight before it fades. At least the giants wandering about aren't exactly easy to miss, and Pazeek manages to avoid any wanderers, though doing so requires more time spent than he likes on sudden course changes through alleys, sidestreets, and even what appear to be hallways--some accidental and some just as clearly not--due to how closely the nests are built.
Finally, Pazeek comes to a halt before a door of vivid red coloring and speaks softly to his companion. "Hopefully we can begin getting what we need here. This is the home of one of my mentors, Akip Swifttrap. Crusty old bird, but one of the best trappers and guides in the Rising Sun flock. And she's home now, if the smoke is any indication," he add while pointing at the chimney, before blinking in consternation as he recalls his invisibility. He doesn't say anything more to Rilka, instead rapping on the door after a quick glance up and down the street to ensure they are alone, the knocks accompanied by soft warbling, croaks, and other avian vocalizations.
"Master Akip, open up! Your worst student is here, and in need of your assistance. So get off of your ratty old tailfeathers and open up already!"
As Pazeek leads them through the warren of nests, Rilka does her best to remember the way. We might have to flee in a hurry, she thinks as they cut down an alley. After a few minutes she admits to herself that the last turn to avoid detection broke her concentration and she isn’t as sure as she likes to be regarding retracing a reverse course. A lot of the houses are close together, maybe I could climb to the roofs and escape that way...but I’d be more revealed to the giants. Hmph.
Finally they come to a red door and stop. ”Does she prefer using her first name too?” Rilka whispers as they wait for the door to be answered.
The village up close is a sorry sight.
The tengu look like whipped slaves, toiling around with hunched backs and bruises and broken spirits. Fearfully gazing up at the giants towering over them that pass time to time. The giants appear pretty well worn in to controlling the village and lording over the locals.
As Pazeek cries at the door, after a minute the door unlocks and an old female tengu opens the door with a sour expression. She frowns at the porch, going to close the door. "Damned spirits on the winds, they can at least bring somebody useful. This is what I get for not being specific." Despite the old bird's bite, she seems weary. She has a number of fresh bruises on her, and it looks like a recent scorch mark on her arm. "What, come to make a bad situation worse? Bring the giants right here, did you?"
Before the door can close on his beak, Pazeek pushes past his mentor--still unpleasant as ever, he notes idly--fading into sight as soon as he's clear of eyes on the street outside. "Get stuffed, old crow," he snaps in response to her acerbic words. "This is nothing of mine. It's related to that mess the lowlanders had in Grastle Hollow. And I got tangled up in it through no effort or desire of mine," the tengu adds with an angered chirp, speaking the common tongue for Rilka's benefit. "Someone heard that Uncle Cheekip was roaming around outside the nests, and hit the caravan he and I were part of to catch him. Seems that some lowlanders got tired of hearing variations of 'no' every time they tried to get one of our smiths working for them."
Getting his emotions under control with considerable effort, he waits until Rilka becomes visible before introducing her. "This here is Rilka, she's an agent of a lowlander group called the Aestherics," Pazeek says. "These Aestherics managed to talk our elders into an alliance based on the fact that whoever was in charge of that Grastle Hollow trouble, and responsible for snatching Cheekip, made an alliance of their own with those oversized bastards outside." Frowning, Pazeek paces restlessly across the floor. "This alliance between her group and the flock was just meant to get back the tengu snatched during that raid against our nests earlier. The giants deciding to move in wasn't expected at all."
"And of course you were off and unable to defend the village when we were attacked. You could of at least died the right way."
"Aestherics? Who? What now? What you expect to just piss them off and get us all killed?" The old bird points a finger unnecessarily close to Pazeek's face. "And now you come making sure we all die!"
~In the Aestheric Base~
"So, drop down on top of the cloud giants, take them out, help the locals kill or drive out the rest of the giants. I don't think we have any more info to work on, so from there we will have to play it by ear."
"Do we need contingency plans? It seems a straightforward mission but things happen."
Rilka bows to Akip Swifttrap when introduced. She has a slightly confused but mostly neutral expression on her faces as the two tengu exchange insults. Seeing the old crone’s finger close to Pazeek’s face doesn’t worry Rilka. She’s confident this has happened before. Many times.
She clears her throat. ”Excuse me,” Rilka interupts adding the halfling word for honored elder with a slight bow of her head. ”The only deaths we’re looking for are the giants. Now, Pazeek could have just said he found some adventurers to help fight the giants, but he didn’t. He told you the truth. The Aestherics are a fairly clandestine group. That’s why hopefully you haven’t heard of us before. I can tell you more about that if you like. We are here to reconnoiter because in less than an hour my five companions will join us. Why are you so certain all will die here?”
"We might want to think about how to keep the cloud giants on the ground. Or a way to punish them if they take to the air."
The old bird listens to Rilka quietly. She gives a sneer as Rilka finishes, but not nearly as dismissive as she was with Pazeek. "Five companions? How is that going to help? There's a veritable army of giants, not to mention those cloud giants."
"We should be ambushing them inside a building, correct? They shouldn't be able to get up too high. Dalton, do you know what kind of flying abilities or magic they have?" Geoffrey frowns and looks down at the round table. "I'm not very capable of ranged myself. Bjorkus, you're a grapple specialist. You could keep at least one of them grounded, yes? Perhaps if they get out into the open Bjorkus can delay one while we focus down the other. Dalton, Ianna, do either of you have magic that could assist with that?"
"Hmm. Most of the gifts the goddess grants me are those of peace and succor. However, I can ask her to intercede with Grundinnar, who has many friends, to send an archer to fight by our side."
”Our plan is to aim for the head,” Rilka says with determination. ”It has worked before. Have you heard of Targ of Yenrick? We’re the ones responsible for that.” She pauses listening towards the door.
”We believe there are three cloud giants and possibly a rune giant leading the others. We will bring destruction upon the giants. I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m not even saying I’ll survive.”
Rilka looks at the ring Dalton made for her. ”What do you suggest otherwise? Getting an army? From what I know, the clandestine locations of your flocks is prized. Would you want an army of humans and halflings, gnomes and dwarves marching through your mountains?”
Her feathers ruffle with a look of discomfort. "Yes there are three cloud Giants. Sometimes we see them talking to a normal-sized person in a cloak. We never see much of them. How exactly do you expect this plan to go down?"
"I don't anything about bein' a specialist but I can hold one down while the rest of you cut down the other", Bjorkus answers. "I can't say I've ever wrestled a giant before, should be a good time."
”Pazeek and I are here to scout,” Rilka says. ”We’ll take that information to my companions and devise a plan.”
She takes out her book and a pencil. After writing a few notes down she asks, ”A cloaked...person? Excellent! No presumption of male or female. Just details. No speculation. Where did you see this person?”
"So no plan. Perfect."
"Only inside the main hut where the have the hostages. This person only briefly talks to the cloud giants then teleports out. Nobody has ever gotten near them."
Pazeek manages, through great effort, to keep from getting into yet another of the vitriolic verbal spars that marked his brief apprenticeship to Akip. Instead, he remains silent while Rilka demonstrates her value--and by extension, that of the Aestherics--to the doubtful older avian. Eventually, however, he is moved to join the conversation when Rilka and Akip both raise some good points. "No, we very much don't want lowlander armies marching about through our territory," Pazeek says firmly with a glance in Rilka's direction. "Not least of which is because the owners of those armies will want some tangible gains to show for their efforts. Like useful territory that generates income, by taxes and other means. And the only territory around here like that already belongs to the flocks," he concludes with soft clack of his beak for emphasis.
Sighing, his gaze then turns toward his former mentor, head shaking slowly from one side to the other. "You really should know better Akip," Pazeek says in a chiding tone of voice. "How are we supposed to make a good plan that doesn't account for the things we need to know? Had we come in with a plan ready, you'd be throwing out accusations of them spying on us, or me betraying the flock's secrets." Frowning, the tengu looks the older avian over carefully, his left hand's talons unconciously rising to run along his scarred beak as he grows thoughtful. "You weren't such a sour old bit of carrion the last time I saw you. Have those future meals out there really managed to get the better of you?"
"When you try to fight them off and all it costs you is the lives of your flock it makes you sour!" The old bird snaps, seeming beyond mere abrasiveness into actual concern. "Of course we want these giant bastards gone, but if we fail they will punish us twofold for any damage we do to them! We cannot afford to lose again!"
”I’d like any suggestions,” Rilka says in a soft tone, ”to prevent any more loss of your flock. Do you know how many giants guard the eggs? What type of weapons are the giants using? How many eggs and fledglings are there? If we could safeguard them the adults would fight, right?”
"The cloud giants are almost always with them, and usually a few hill giants outside." She snaps. But after a few moments she softens up a bit. "Mostly clubs, although two of the cloud giants use morningstars and the other uses a falchion. Dozens of eggs and fledglings. Yes the entire flock would fight if we could protect them, there would be no more bickering about losses. Can you secure them?"