In a spectacular display of brute strength, Kraz puts down the yeti fighting Pik, almost cutting it in half. Returning to his own opponent, his next two attacks also hit home and it looks to be in severe trouble.
Silvio feels the cold seeping into his bones and freezing his joints. Unable to speak he stands there motionless.
Dorin lays into his yeti.
Silvio remains frozen in place, his face blue. Dorin continues to strike against the yeti they fought last round, but the creature dodges his attacks.
The bard manages to shake off the paralysis, although he is still chilled to the bone.
The yeti fighting Kraz attempts to take advantage of his reckless attack, once more glaring at the half-orc who is unaffected by the gaze.
; and
; and
Oblivious to the dangers about him, Kraz looks to be hit twice until the recently thawed Pik once more uses his magic to distract the yeti, causing the second blow to miss.
Meanwhile, by the cliff edge, the newly arrived yeti launces itself at Dorin.
; and
; and
The first strike is turned aside by the dwarf's armor but the second lands true.
Ignoring it's active foe, the yeti that climbed up the cliffside continues to attack Silvio as he's frozen in place, determined to rip him to pieces.
; and
; and
Helpless against the monster, Silvio collapses to the ground!
As the carnage continues, a new foe arrives. Towering over the other yetis and rivalling even Okssort in size, this beast stands nearly eighteen feet tall. It has been creeping up the path from the east and now emerges onto the battlefield. Similar in appearance to the common yeti, this enormous specimen announces its arrival with a shrieking howl, the others baying and responding in kind with an almost gleeful bloodlust.
Obviously more intelligent than it's underlings, it sizes up the battlefield judging where to focus its attacks. Seeing the two yetis fighting Dorin with Silvio on the ground, it heads towards Kraz, almost closing the distance and sure to strike next round.
The half-elf shakes his head, clearing it. This started so well, he grumbles. Pik looks around to get a better idea of the plight they've found themselves in. With a frown, he reaches into his pocket, staining his fingers with sulfur once again.
Dorin lays into his yeti, again, or any surviving one after the fireball.
Pik's second fireball finishes off both of the yetis on the side of the cliff.
Finding himself with no opponents, Dorin moves to the wounded yeti fighting Kraz and cuts it down with one swing.
Amidst his bloodlust Kraz can do nothing the charge the new threat, howling as he goes..
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!! RAAAWWRRR!!!"
Not attacking recklessly though.
The abominable yeti snarls in fury as all three of Kraz's strikes hit home.
Rath watches with quiet distatchment as the Yeti fall to his friends furious onslaught, then his eyes widen as he sees the giant approach. They widen even more when he sees his friend fall unconscious.
Rath changes his actions mid-round, and drops a small crow feather to the ground, spits on it, and mumbles some words while poining at Silvo.
Healing Word
Silvio wakes to find himself prone on the cliff edge, two scorched yetis beside him.
Seeing that Silvo, was now probably going to pull through, Rath finished his original intention, and took a small bundle of bird guano, and down, rolled them, up and sent the flaming mass towards the giant Yeti.
Produce Flame
Fire Damage
Silvio sits up. His vision is cloudy and his head is spinning. His selfesteem recovery system kicks into high gear and begins to erase the past past minute from his memory, leaving the dashing chelaxian slightly confused. But seeing his blades by his side and hearing the sounds of battle brings back his focus and Silvio jumps to his feet. He shakes the snow from his hair in a ruggedly handsome way and sets off to challange the mighty yeti.
As Silvio clambers to his feet and gathers his weapons, Rath's ball of flame slams into the abominable yeti, causing it to flinch and step back a few paces. Howling in fury, it glares up towards Rath and the shaman feels a magical chill washing over him
It then attacks Kraz with both arms.
;
;
Pik attempts to distract the beast with magic, however it still manages to hit.
Kraz attacks the Yeti again..
Kraz hits twice more and the beast's injuries begin to show.
Dorin attacks the large Yeti.
What fun!
Pik shrugs and moves forward to stab at the creature with his rapier. Seems like the thing to do! He looks almost surprised when the rapier actually strikes true!
CON Save
Rath raises his arms to attempt to send more fire raining down, but finds he suddenly can't put them down, or move them, or move his feet... or anything for that matter, and the cold... the cold burnt like fire.
Dorin moves up to engage the abominable yeti, striking it twice more and leaving it staggered. Finally, Pik joins the fray and finishes the beast off, the massive creature toppling to its side on the ledge.
The sudden burst of violence over, the sounds of the yeti's death cry fades and is replaced by just the wind in the valley. Rath's paralysis lasts only a few moments before the heat gradually returns to his limbs.
From his place at the rear of the camp, Okssort continues to watch wordlessly, though it's hard for him to disguise his respect.
Pik shakes his head, clearing off the remaining frost. That could have easily gone much worse. Well done! He looks at the burnt and mangled bodies, We need to clean this away. Out here, this will attract th wrong kind of attention...but, how do we move this thing? The half-elf waves his sword indicating the largest of the yetis.
Kraz ends his rage.. "Ha! Guess they shoulda went and tried to eat someone else.."
Let's have our giant friend chuck 'em over the cliffside.
Pik shrugs, I suppose if he's amenable to that...that could work.
Even Okssort struggles with the abominable yeti, however he does manage to roll the thing off the cliff without too much drama.
"There aren't many abominable yetis," he informs you. "No wonder we haven't encountered anything out here; they defend their territory fiercely. You were lucky. Some of them can breath a blast of cold."
"Luck has nothing to do with it", Silvio says as he drops down on his heroic behind to take a well deserved rest. "For the casual observer, maybe . But the well trained eye recognizes Silvio and his good friends' feats for what they are: great shows of remarkable courage and unmatched skill!"
The half-elf peeks over the edge of the cliff before quickly pulling back. Well, that should handle the smell. He looks around the area, Anyone hungry? For some reason I'm hungry.
"Never ate Yeti before, maybe it's good!"
Spending dice as well..
Pik will play his lute as he rests and readies himself to go back to sleep. I'll pass on the yeti, though if someone puts something else together, I wouldn't object. He grazes on some nuts here and there, and eventually sits down and buries his head in his pack to fit in some sleep in the afternoon before his watch.
After cleaning up your camp, you once more settle in to wait for Ildmane’s return. The night passes uneventfully, however as day breaks a storm rolls in and you are once more battered by wind, rain and snow as you huddle under your makeshift shelter. It’s not powerful enough to pose any threat, however in the two hours it takes to blow over you are all left bitterly cold and drenched.
It’s around noon that you spot Ildmane returning as promised. She is accompanied by two other fire giants, although she leaves them several hundred feet down the trail and approaches your campsite alone, carrying an iron strongbox which she places on the ground before you.
“As promised,” she announces formally, inclining her head slightly towards Pik. “Six thousand gold pieces being reparations for damage done to the human settlement in retrieving the Vonindrod. In exchange for the safe return of Okssort and the artefact. I trust you are satisfied?”
Pik nods, trying to remain as solemn as the giant. Unfortunately, he also feels like smiling, so his face is scrunched up in a sort of half-smirk that looks far more self-satisfied than he intends it to be.
Thank you, Ildmane. We are satisfied. You are free to take the artifact and Okssort is free to go.
After leaving the strongbox, Ildmane and Okssort wordlessly refashion the sling and roll the Vonindrod fragment into place. When it is secure, the two giants hoist the enormous object up between them and walk back towards their waiting companions. When they meet, the four of them turn their backs on you and disappear around the mountain trail, heading back to their Duke with the treasured prize.
How far away did the giants say the Duke's den be? May not be a bad idea to track 'em so we know where t'find 'em fer later.
Pik frowns slightly, It might be best not to antagonize them further. I imagine they'd take us following them as...something aggressive, at least.
Unless they didna' know?
Pik looks thoughtful for a moment as a wry grin plays across his face, Let's see, the odds of us following them without them knowing...okay, that's not bad. But, it's not great. And if they do spot us, the downside is not only that we're dead, but Roderick's Cove is unlikely to survive what they'll consider as a betrayal. He shrugs, Seems like a big risk to take. Besides, we've got a massive chest of gold here to drag back to the town! And then...I don't know. Maybe, Riddleport? We need information and help, possibly in that order.
Pik hefts his pack over his shoulder and makes ready to break camp while they discuss exactly where the group will be headed next.
"Silvio fails to see where the risk is. Silvio is a mere shadow when he wants to. Granted Silvio is not used to these colder climates but he has the full confidence the know-how of Dorin, Rath and Kraz how to navigate these lands", Silvio states. "Although you do have a good point friend Pik. We are in the custody of a chest full of gold. A big part of the future of Roderic's Cove is in our possession. Our duty is to deliver it. After that, Silvio feels that we could loook for answers in Riddleport."
After some debate, your party decides to head back to Roderic’s Cove. Dorin and Rath are confident they can find this place easily and a giant lair two days further into the mountains is likely to be easy to discover.
The return journey passes without incident, taking you three days to make your way back to the plains and then back through farmland to Roderic’s Cove in the afternoon of Moonday, 18th of Pharast. In the nearly two weeks that you’ve been gone you can see the townsfolk have been hard at work repairing their township. Several of the buildings are in the process of being repaired, although others remain burned out shells.
The townsfolk working amongst the ruins call out to you in greeting as you come into view and one or two of them run off into town to advise the town leaders of your return. Shortly thereafter, you find yourselves once more in the Town Hall. Captain Amerris and Lieutenant Southwell are there, joined this time by Coronei who bows stiffly by way of greeting. Although not dressed in uniform as the others are, the town guards clearly defer to him with the same respect they show the two officers.
“Friends! It is good to see you again,” smiles Captain Amerris warmly. “We’ve managed to calm the more nervous villagers, but I can tell you they’ll all sleep better tonight knowing you’re visiting us once more. How did your giant hunting go? Did you manage to catch the two who nearly razed our town?”
Pik smiles and waves as they approach the town. Good to see you as well! The half-elf returns the greeting as they walk up. We did, indeed, find the giants and came to an...understanding. Honorable, if also cruel, those creatures are. We're hoping that this, he waves to the chest of gold, can do something to help those that lost their homes in the fires. He tells the story of how they tracked the two giants and defeated them, the deal they struck, and the information they learned.
Any idea what a Vonindrod is? Or ever heard of Ordning? He shrugs, We're not entirely sure what's going on, but it seems to have something to do with giants and an accompanying sized disagreement.
Once again we are in your debt, smiles the Captain ruefully. Although I fear it will be a long time before we can repay you. I’m afraid I’ve never heard of either of those words. We have heard some news though that is probably related to the mystery. There was a sighting of another castle in the clouds near Ravenmoor, like those that attacked Elbar’s Bluff. Thankfully it didn’t stop to attack, but headed directly west. It probably passed just south of here.
There’s also been word of frequent attacks by frost giant longships, offers Sergeant Southwell. The pirate captains are all lying low in Riddleport. The raiders don’t seem to have any care whether they’re fighting Magnimar patrols or Riddleport pirates. From what I hear three ships have been lost in the Varisian Bay in the last two weeks!
We have a town council meeting tomorrow night, Captain Amerris continues. I’m sure they will want to express their thanks for the funds you’ve brought us. I’ll ask around and see if anyone in town has any giant lore that will help. Would you stay with us until then? You’re all welcome to board here in the barracks, of course.