Bjorkus roars and takes a swing, but lightning arcs across skin harmlessly as the blade is turned aside. Rilka fires off two silent bullets, both tearing into the female giant's, one in her stomach and another in her collarbone. Meanwhile Pazeek begins a flurry of quick steps and attacks, landing the first one in a vital spot at the back of the bearded giant's knees. The rest of his flurry has mixed results, some being turned aside but other opening new wounds.
The old bearded giant roars out. He turns and brings down his falchion at Pazeek, but it gets caught on the support pillar to the left of him. He roars and rips it through the pillar, showing bits of stone and dust as the massive bladed weapon rips into Pazeek, completely lifting the bird off the ground for a brief moment. Pazeek barely stays conscious, managing to get out of the way of a follow up backswing.
The male giant narrows his eyes, looking at Dalton. He roars and whips out an arm into Toramin, slamming the dwarf fully into the air and sending him sprawling across the floor.
Bjorkus
Rilka
Pazeek
Enemy 1
Enemy 2
Dalton
Toramin
Ianna
Geoffrey
Enemy 3
Bjorkus - Mirror Image (4 images), Fly, Dance of 23 steps
Rilka - Heroism
Dalton -
Toramin - 23 damage, prone, Shield, Crusading, Shield of Faith
Ianna - GotDG
Pazeek - 90 damage, Shield of Faith
~Grace of the Dancing Goddess (GotDG)~
You are protected as Improved Sanctuary. Additionally, you gain damage reduction 5/Evil and Fast Healing 1. If a creature makes the save against the Improved Sanctuary effect, it does not negate the damage reduction or Fast Healing.
Veteran Cloud Giant - 99 damage, Prayer
Young Male Cloud Giant - Prayer
Young Female Cloud Giant - 68 damage, Prayer
Toramin stands up; his wounds knitting with great speed. By the time he regains his feet it is like he was never wounded.
He resumes his stance.
He is connected to the stone of the floor and and to the bedrock far beneath. But the dwarf's faith is not his only connection to the earth. Toramin slams the head of his weapon down on the stone before him and it begins to ripple.
Chirping in agony, Pazeek stumbles and nearly loses his grip on his weapons as the pain of his critical injury claws at his conciousness. He doesn't succumb, though it's a close thing, and even manages a reply to the giant. "Doomed? As if living as thralls in service to your overblown egos is any sort of life for a tengu," the wounded avian gasps out with a spray of blood. "Better we die free than labor to support those who would dare call themselves our masters!" Tightening his talons around the hilts of his blades, the bloodied bird lifts them with shaking arms, demonstrating his willingness to continue the fight. "Now, unless you plan to beg for my mercy, do us all a favor by shutting that oversized s%+#spout you call a mouth. The stink wafting out of it quite turns my stomach and ruins my appetite. And since I plan to eat your eyes, that is a problem for me," Pazeek declares with a pained warble of amusement, unflinching in his defiance even as his lifeblood stains his feathers, his robes, and the floor around him.
The tengu wasn't quite as long-winded as Heff, but he made a good run of it.
Dalton was happy the eggs were protected but somewhat disappointed the giants knew there was protection about. He'd counted on them attempting to use them as leverage against the group.
"Use the swiftness I grant to your advantage!" shouted Dalton, the haste spell nearly a cantrip for him now. Invoking it with ease, he then dashed behind the pillar on the Eastern side of the room .
He caught his breath a moment. Considerations of using experimental new magic came to him as he watched the dire blows from the giants on Toramin and Pazeek. Direct harm was something Dalton strived to avoid from his earliest magery though. Changing someone into dust is severe, even for these...
Dalton bends time around some of the party, giving them an edge of speed in the battle. Toramin gets back on his feet and closes his wounds, then with a slam to the ground he catches the female giant completely off guard, whipping her off her feet with a resounding slam! and rushing her next to him. And Ianna begins a long spell. Geoffrey lays into the giant with his longsword, but every blow is turned aside.
The female cloud giant stands up, then takes off for the eggs. However she runs into Dalton's wall, stopping with a cry of frustration as she bangs a massive fist onto the invisible barrier.
Bjorkus
Rilka
Pazeek
Enemy 1
Enemy 2
Dalton
Toramin
Ianna
Geoffrey
Enemy 3
Bjorkus - Haste, Mirror Image (4 images), Fly, Dance of 23 steps
Rilka - Haste, Heroism
Dalton - Haste
Toramin - Haste, Shield, Crusading, Shield of Faith
Ianna - Haste, GotDG
Pazeek - 90 damage, Shield of Faith
~Haste~ (11 rounds left, count goes down on Dalton's turn)
~Grace of the Dancing Goddess (GotDG)~
You are protected as Improved Sanctuary. Additionally, you gain damage reduction 5/Evil and Fast Healing 1. If a creature makes the save against the Improved Sanctuary effect, it does not negate the damage reduction or Fast Healing.
Veteran Cloud Giant - 99 damage, Prayer
Young Male Cloud Giant - Prayer
Young Female Cloud Giant - prone, 68 damage, Prayer
Toramin's chain whips out catching the giant woman as she leaps back to her feet.
The bull slashes the giant before him with Tryrantbreaker.
Blow after devastating blow rain down on the giant before the bull follows it up with a gore from his horns.
With the severity of his injuries robbing him of his usual grace--to say nothing of the blood slicking the floor--Pazeek isn't up to repeating the agile steps he'd used moments earlier. Instead, he grimly stands his ground and hacks away the giant, with the only movements being those utterly required of him to bring his weapons into reach of his foe's legs. Ending with another hard peck, the tengu pants heavily and braces for his impending death, which Pazeek is utterly certain the giant will deliver quite shortly.
The wizard shuddered as he watched the carnage around him. Efficient butchers are we. He was concerned the giant would have broken through the erected barrier, but it held. Sadly, its weakness was something with no force at all: time.
We must hurry. An odd thought for one his size, but he had to focus on the quickest favorable end.
”Well done Dalton,” Rilka says as the giantess pounds against the magic wall. The halfling feels the haste spell course through her being. Not a jittery, clumsy speed like from drinking kaophi, but a smooth, precise quickness to her actions. The pistol’s sites align with the giantess, and Rilka pulls the trigger three times, attempting to keep her shots in a small area.
Bjorkus tears into the giant before him, ripping through defenses, leaving the giant bloodied and only standing by the virtue of its own toughness. Rilka fires at the giantess with her back turned, landing one bullet in her leg but two in the back of her neck. She roars in pain but remains standing. Pazeek takes a less risky approach than before, cutting into the older giant with mixed results, but finally felling the monstrous giant as he crashes to the ground!
The younger male giant roars, then lashes out his massive morningstar into the air, landing it on Rilka then viciously dragging it back towards him through both Dalton and Bjorkus! Rilka is flattened into the ground while Dalton is violently whipped around, but Bjorkus manages to use his images to dodge the attack!
Bjorkus
Rilka
Pazeek
Enemy 2
Dalton
Toramin
Ianna
Geoffrey
Enemy 3
Bjorkus - Haste, Mirror Image (3 images), Fly, Dance of 23 steps
Rilka - 68 damage, Haste, Heroism
Dalton - 36 damage, Haste
Toramin - Haste, Shield, Crusading, Shield of Faith
Ianna - Haste, GotDG
Pazeek - 90 damage, Shield of Faith
~Haste~ (11 rounds left, count goes down on Dalton's turn)
~Grace of the Dancing Goddess (GotDG)~
You are protected as Improved Sanctuary. Additionally, you gain damage reduction 5/Evil and Fast Healing 1. If a creature makes the save against the Improved Sanctuary effect, it does not negate the damage reduction or Fast Healing.
Veteran Cloud Giant - Down
Young Male Cloud Giant - 154 damage, Prayer
Young Female Cloud Giant - prone, 119 damage, Prayer
A Hound Archon appears behind the male giant, flanking him with Bjorkus, he salutes Ianna with his sword before slashing down on the giant inspired by Bjorkus' song.
Ianna kneels down next to Rilka, "Dancing Goddess, I beg you to share your grace with this woman. Please do not let her love depart from this world."
*1.5: 37
Golden and green light explode from Ianna's hands as her prayers are answered.
Toramin slams his weapon against the ground again to drag the female giant back to him.
The tengu was victorious against his opponent! Bruised and bloodied, it must have been nonetheless quite satisfying for him to enact some measure of vengeance against the giants. Yet two more remained. Rilka was down on the floor, and ... wait, that's a good idea. Big and strong they are, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall!
Dalton dashed out from behind the pillar, the speed actually respectable due his chronomancy. Halting a bit to the North of Ianna , he invoked a bit of transmutation not on himself or his enemies but the environment. He'd a good feel for the radii of his spells, and he pointed towards the Southern edge of the female giant to begin the alteration.
Rapidly, the top bit of the floor changed. What used to be a sort of amalgamation changed to igneous rock - obsidian. Yet this obsidian flow was not yet solid, instead superhot. The giant's feet sunk into the material , causing much pain but also hindering movement as the floor cooled into sharp, glassy rock.
Toramin and Bjorkus will have to be our bulwark. We just might see this through...
Dalton comes back out from behind his pillar and creates a burst of molten glass. The female giant sinks into it, screaming as it burns up to her calves. Toramin tries to rip the giantess back to him again, but this time she knows what's coming and manages to just barely lift her feet up in time. Ianna's hound archon appears from the ether, butchering the giant down into a giant bloody corpse. Ianna then takes care of Ianna, bringing her back to consciousness.
The female giant gives an earth-shaking wail as the young marble-like male cloud giant goes down. She flings down her morningstar, charging out of the molten obsidian and running to his side. She collapses to her knees and cradles his head, sobbing softly.
Bjorkus - Haste, Mirror Image (3 images), Fly, Dance of 23 steps
Rilka - 31 damage, Haste, Heroism
Dalton - 36 damage, Haste
Toramin - Haste, Shield, Crusading, Shield of Faith
Ianna - Haste, GotDG
Pazeek - 90 damage, Shield of Faith
~Haste~ (11 rounds left, count goes down on Dalton's turn)
~Grace of the Dancing Goddess (GotDG)~
You are protected as Improved Sanctuary. Additionally, you gain damage reduction 5/Evil and Fast Healing 1. If a creature makes the save against the Improved Sanctuary effect, it does not negate the damage reduction or Fast Healing.
Veteran Cloud Giant - Down
Young Male Cloud Giant - Down
Young Female Cloud Giant - Entangled, 138 damage, Prayer
Using his helm, Dalton quickly sent the giant a message. We have no reason for further hostilities with you. If you leave this land peacefully, you may bury your kin unabated.
He then turned to Pazeek. Check your eggs while my evocation holds; mind the obsidian - it's sharp.
The giantess wails and screams back at Dalton.
Ianna watches the giantess with sad eyes as the other woman cradles the body. Though she doesn't understand the giant's tongue, she knows heartbreak when she sees it.
Where love has blossomed, goodness can grow. Besides mercy is a grace given to the just and unjust alike.
Golden and emerald light unfurl from her breast where her heart beats in aural waves.
Not knowing if the giantess can understand her, "Love is the most precious gift of life. Treasure yours. Let it shine through you and light your path."
Sister, what are you are doing? They are evil!"
"Why should a shadow on their hearts dim my light? If I could, I would restore even Calios to sanity. Love and compassion are stronger than fear and hate."
When his foe is the one to unexpectedly fall from injuries suffered instead of himself, Pazeek's beak gapes open for a moment in stunned relief. He doesn't allow himself long to bask in the sensation of being, if only just, still among the living before readying himself to aid in bringing down the other giants. To his surprise, however, the fight ends before he can lift so much as a talon, though that ending has him wincing in reluctant sympathy for the female giant as she finds herself briefly standing in a pool of molten stone.
Hearing Dalton's words in his head--"And how did he do that," the tengu wonders to himself in passing--Pazeek does so, stepping wide around the devastated patch of flooring. Pointing to it as he moves toward the eggs, he casts a look over his shoulder toward Dalton and remarks in a dry voice. "You are going to fix that, yes." Though phrased as a question, the tengu's tone makes it quite clear that it is anything but, though further comment is safed for later as the wounded avian carefully feels his way around the barrier to eggs it protects.
After looking the eggs over carefully for any hint of damage, Pazeek eventually rejoins the others, weapons still in hand. When the female dwarf heals the fallen giant being wept over by the other, the swordbird gives her an incredulous look. "An admirable sentiment, but not one they would return, I assure you. I'm also quite surprised, and rather dismayed, that you would give such mercy to your foes while those among your allies still have Death's talons closing around them," the tengu adds with a pointed look at himself and his own life-threatening injuries; he knows full well that he's only upright and concious because of whatever it was that Bjorkus did at the fight's beginning. And when that finally wears off, Pazeek is going to--briefly--feel the full penalty of his encounter with that giant's sword.
To his considerable surprise when he looks at himself, Pazeek sees that the worst of his wounds, those that would likely mean his death when this unnatural vigor releases its hold on his mind and body, have healed over. And he didn't even notice it happen, to his embarassed consternation. Still, he doesn't stop or mitigate the reproachful expression aimed at Ianna. "And healing enemies while threats still remain to be dealt with is hardly a wise course of action. That gift could be better given to your friends, or to the allies you seek among my flock."
Approaching the weeping female giant--though staying well back out of arm's reach--he eyes her intently for a moment before snorting dismissively. "Stop your wailing and weeping, you knew what the consequences of all this would be. Invade our nests, threaten our young? None of the flocks would sit idly and allow your kind such a hold over us. We just happened to be faster off of the mark in dealing with you," the swordbird says with a nod toward the non-tengu present. Indicating the gathered eggs with a twitch of his beak toward that end of the room, the tengu continues. "And on the subject of my flock's young, where are the fledglings hidden? We know you took many of them along with those eggs there."
Rilka gasps back to consciousness, rolling to her side and pushing herself to a standing position. Her gaze sweeps the room, the crying giantess cradling her companion, the molten pool of stone, and her pistol halfway across the chamber, probably from the giant’s powerful strike. Her clothes are covered in her own blood she sees. Her body aches not only at the muscles and joints, but also her bones and organs.
”Thanks Ianna,” she says as she holsters her pistol. ”Everyone else feeling well enough?”
Pazeek is questioning her, Rilka thinks. I’ll search the older giant. It’s going to take a lot of work to haul the corpses out of here. While searches the giant, she calls over to Pazeek. ”Ask her who the hooded man is, please.”
Ianna looks serene in the face of Pazeek's anger. "I give my gifts as they are needed. The giant would surely die without intervention. My gifts will also be given to your flock. I came here to save your children, not to help you wreak your vengeance. The fruit of such is only bitter. Mercy can have a sweeter harvest. Both in answers from the giants now and perhaps future kindness. The dead learn nothing."
Appreciative of Ianna's channel mending some of his wounds, Dalton still felt pain in his right leg when he put weight on it. Worse outcomes could be had though...
While he sided with Pazeek over the priestess's overly-generous bestowing of boons, his quibbling over a floor irked an ally in this argument to silence. He wants to complain about aesthetics when his extended family hung in the balance? Hmmpf! At least his crafters will have a project to busy themselves with now.
Rilka seemed to be managing the practical work of seeing what the largefolk had on them of value. He left her do her business while approaching Toramin. "Your sister's talents would be deeply sought in any nation. She'll make a marvelous counselor if she ever bores of this path."
Pazeek acknowledges Rilka's advice with a wave of his rapier, then does as she suggested. "Yes, as she says, what of the hooded person you were seen conversing with? Who are they and what part do they play in your actions?" He is uncertain whether or not the female giant is familiar with any save her own language, but having overheard Toramin address her--though the tengu knew not the subject of the short interaction--leaves him confident that his questions will be understand somehow. While he waits on her answers--and after a quick check to see that he's still out of easy reach--he turns his attention to Ianna and responds to her points.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but you should have let him die. Attacking the flock is one thing, we're accustomed to that and would permit a withdrawal of our foes once they know that they're the losers in a fight. But using threats against our young as a means to compel our submission?" Pazeek warbles angrily and clacks his beak, his bloodied feathers momentarily fluffing up before he regains a measure of control over his outrage. "That is an insult we can never permit to go unanswered. If we do so, every other foe we have in these mountains will see it for weakness, a sign that our flock can no longer defend itself. And they will attack until we have nothing left."
Though a full discourse on the mindset of his people isn't feasible here and now, the tengu does feel the situation merits some manner of explantion for what he knows is a bloody creed by lowlander standards. "Unlike the lowlands, with their abundance, we all live in these peaks with little to spare, and none to waste. Competition is ruthless for every last scrap, and survival here is as much about looking strong as it is about actually being strong. Maybe even more so, since a sufficient show can sometimes convince a foe to avoid trouble that would only waste precious lives and resources for both sides."
Gesturing toward the two surviving giants with the short blade gripped in his right hand, he gets to point of his displeasure with Ianna's sympathy. "So, we show them the mercy you prefer, let them leave here alive after having successfully invaded our nesting grounds. They've learned the layout of our nest from the inside, how our defenses are arrayed, how we respond. And they know, utterly and without any doubt, that threats to our young, to our future, are the fastest way to subdue us." Glancing between the giants and Ianna, the tengu shakes his head with a soft chirp and a weary groan. "What do you think will happen after they are safely away with all of that knowledge? Do you really, foolishly, believe that they will conceal what they know from others? I'll answer that for you, and that answer is 'No.' The chance to remove us and take over what we hold is too valuable for them to ignore. So they will be back, again, and again, and again."
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, the emotional tengu glares at the wounded giants for a time, then cocks his head slightly to side and says, softly. "Their lives are my flock's death. And because of that, they'll die here, in spite of your misplaced kindness. All you've done is trade their clean deaths in battle for a lingering execution. Because my flock will want, demand, the very vengeance you mentioned a moment ago. Leaving aside the satisfaction to be had from the deed, anything less will be seen as vulnerability by those watching from the outside."
Toramin nods at the mage. "She has a gift for it, and she is both yielding and willful. Though dead enemies are better than live ones, she seems intent on turning our enemies into our friends."
"What vengeance your flock demands is of no matter to me. There will be no further murders done here. As for their knowledge, they might barter their freedom for a Geas of silence on the matter."
Ianna's voice is calm and resolute. She turns to the giantess, "Can you understand my tongue?"
Pazeek can only gape in slack-beaked amazement at the dwarf's resolute stubborness. How can she remain so utterly fixed on the lives of their foes, even after his explaining why his flock can't afford such acts, is absolutely beyond his comprehension. Shaking his head, the wounded avian turns sharply and walks away before he says something that would result in a potentially nasty breach with the Aestherics. Still, he can't stop his outraged grumbling as he leaves the immediate vicinity. "Soft hearts apparently come with soft heads in the lowlands. All those fragrant droppings about 'mercy' and 'kindness' seem to drive out any sense or hold on reality," the tengu mutters half under his breath with an annoyed tone.
Well, that matter will sort itself soon enough. For the time being, they're not clear just yet, so the tengu skulks carefully toward the breached wall for a look outside. They still have enemies around, and it wouldn't do for everyone to be caught standing around unaware with a talon stuffed in the orifice of their preference. As he stalks forward as sneakily as he can manage, Pazeek gives his blades a quick wipe before sheathing them to free his hands. In his current state, getting in close would be uncommonly stupid on his part, so he'll need either his crossbow or one of his nasty little brews to respond, as the situation merits. "And it's not as though I can't get the blades out in a blink if I need to," he silently reminds himself.
Peering cautiously around the edge of the ruined wall, the tengu warily eyes the area immediately outside the breach.
When the last giant falls and the wailing begins, Bjorkus's thundering chant quickly goes silent. The hulking bull leaves Ianna to deal with the wounded and noisy newcomer in favor of moving into position to guard the temple's sole entrance.
"See what she can tell us about their leader?" he adds when Ianna begins trying to communicate with the giantess. "If she wants to end this and spare more of her kin a bloody death, she should help up bring him down. Soddin' fast."
With Ianna's blessed gift, the young marble-like male giant stirs awake. He panics for a moment and reaches for his weapon, but the female giant grabs his wrist and shakes her head. She turns to Ianna and switches to common, a surprisingly soft look on her face. "Thank you, earth-child..."
Outside the sounds of battle can be heard, but with a quick investigation from Pazeek it seems the battle is significantly in the local's favor.
Falchion (gargantuan)
Sky-blue sapphire necklace (radiates magic)
The giantess goes to sneer and bark back at Pazeek, but takes a shuddering breath and quiets herself.
The male giant coughs, shaking the building. "We already know your flock is weak-"
The female giant barks a particularly rude word in their tongue at him, silencing him. She glares at Pazeek, then looks at Ianna. "We cannot return to our clan anyways. Failure is not accepted, we are outcasts now. I will tell all I know in return for our lives."
"I am Ianna, a daughter of Bolka, the Dancing Goddess, the goddess of love and beauty. It is by her grace that your man has been restored for she cherishes love wherever it is found. Let the memory of her mercy guide you. You have done grave wrong to this flock. How will you make restitution for this ill? It should start by telling us what you know about the evil that enslaved your clan, but it should not end there."
"The fledglings are in the bottom floor of this building, they kept trying to steal the eggs away so we separated them. They have some bruises but nothing serious."
"The tiny cloaked man only seemed to care about the adamantine, we were free to do whatever else we wished as long as we kept a steady supply to him. We left it out on a plateau every week, and when we came back the next week it was always gone."
The giantess grumbles. "Understand, it was not our decision. It came from our clan leader, a powerful rune giant. We were told to listen to the tiny cloaked one, no matter what. I could tell you where to find our clan leader..." She looks at Ianna. "I could lead you there."
Toramin lays a hand on Ianna's arm to still her momentarily as he launches into a series of rapid questions in Giant.
Seeing the giantess was beholden to Ianna, Dalton felt her the better implement for the suggestion he made to her telepathically: "Priestess, perhaps it would be helpful to see what these lot know about the incident in Grastle Hallow considering there was a giant there. My guess is little, but an adamantinemonger seems to be a motif in our journeys."
Gingerly walking to Pazeek, Dalton offered his aid. "If you wish to check on your fledglings, I can accompany you. Some magic I have prepared might provide meager aid." The mage then gestured towards the warrior's injured form. "If you'd like, I can conjure a platform to carry you or provide some form of magical flight. No reason to refresh your wounds with strained movement."
Hearing where the fledglings are to be found, Pazeek stiffens and looks at the patch of destroyed floor with eyes widened in fear. His gaze flicks to Dalton and he points at the patch of magically-altered stone with his beak open as though to say something, but nothing comes out. After a short time, he shakes his head and turns away from the breached wall to the stairs leading down. "I appreciate the offer, but perhaps your spells would be better used up here," the tengu says to the spellchirper before raising his voice just a bit to reach the others. Pointing outside with a talon over his shoulder as he moves toward the stairs, he informs them of what is occuring outside. "My flock has engaged the other giants, and it seems that they are making short and bloody work of our unwanted guests," he announces to the others. "Still, some of them may get the idea to comes here for hostages, so you might want to be on your guard."
Passing the two giants, he pauses in his steps and gives them an appraising look before addressing them, his tone a mockingly obsequious one as he speaks. "Indeed, oh mighty lords of the heights, my flock is weak. So weak that you had to snatch our children to cow us. Truly, yours is a power without equal, and all others in these peaks will be in awe of your prowess." Bowing in a deliberately overblown fashion, he then straightens and leaves their presence with a derisive warble full of amusement trailing in his wake.
That facade of superiority holds just long enough for him to get out sight down the stairs, and then the tengu is tearing down at a frightful pace, talons scratching loudly as they struggle for traction in his frantic rush. Dalton had no way of knowing, of course--none of them did, and that was why he said nothing to the spellchirper--but Pazeek fears the worst may have happened as a result of that spell.
"It is a rune giant, of course it has enslaved us. No natural giant would willingly accept such an abomination. But it has ruled our clan for centuries, it has become normal to the clan. He can bend anyone to his will, and I hold very little power in the clan. I am not high born nor have I achieved much. Perhaps he could have-" She gestures to the dead bearded giant.
As Pazeek taunts the giants again the giantess snaps. "It's because your kind is so stupidly stubborn that they killed themselves throwing themselves at us! We would have run out of adamantine miners had they continued to be so reckless with their own lives!"
As Pazeek hurries down he finds that Dalton's spell has not pierced the thick stone floor, and the fledglings are all alive and well, if battered and terrified. It looks like they were being held like cattle in a pen together.
"Please do not blame those who have been oppressed for being oppressed. You were forced into this situation as well creating a cycle of abuse. The next step will be breaking that cycle. We can help you."
"I will lead you to my people, but we cannot return. We are earthbound now, outcasts. We will be killed on sight."
Rilka finishes her search of the old giant’s corpse while listening to the conversation between Ianna and the giantess, plus Toramin’s questions and Pazeek’s taunts. She watched the giantess’ demeanor brighten when she spoke with Ianna. Imagine a giant and a dwarf conversing like that. If one can truly love, genuinely and fearlessly, like Ianna does...what strength!
As the fledglings are revealed, Rilka takes out a rope from her backpack. ”If anyone is unable to climb the rope, do not worry. We can pull you out. One at a time please.” She ties one end to a column and throws the other end to one of the fledglings.
"I will lead you to my people, but we cannot return. We are earthbound now, outcasts. We will be killed on sight."
"Where did your people dwell before they came here? What brought them under the sway of this cloaked figure?" wondered the wizard.
"I don't know. The clan leader simply told us to listen to whatever he said. We don't get to ask questions."