"This well is creepy looking. I'm almost hearing voices on the wind!
Can anybody make them out?"
Does the well look big enough that the giant even COULD fit into it? I don't have any decent idea for getting him to do so yet but I'd at least like to know if that is a possibility.
Or, of course, we could consider flying down there. What could possibly go wrong with THAT plan? :-(
R’rrr ar’kkk pokes through the giant's residence, searching for anything that seems 'out of place' - not that he's terribly experienced with the living arrangements of giant lumberjacks. Perhaps this Midnight King has placed some fetish or other charm which poisons the giant's mind...
"We could use ghost sound to try and lure it into the well but I'm not sure what sound would attract a giant?"
R'rrr ar'kkk finds nothing that seems amiss within the cabin. The giant apparently lives very simply, for there's no sign of anything other than the most basic of utensils, some food, his table and bed, and a prodigious stack of firewood for his fireplace.
Coming up empty-taloned, R’rrr ar’kkk joins his comrades at the well. Perching on the low stone wall of its rim, he peers down into its depths, then dips his head below the rim and cocks it to the side, listening intently. Perhaps if the Singer could mimic whatever fell voices whisper to the giant, we might lure it here. But then what? Certainly we're not strong enough to topple him into the depths. Unable to discern the properties of the well to his satisfaction, he turns to his allies.
"Shall I light the depths?" he croaks. "It may alert any foes within."
As R'rrr ar'kkk listens more closely to the voices, they seem to bore into his mind.
The sound flows into his skull, overwhelming rational thought, forcing its way out of his beak!
"Ifthibble porquat mo. PORQUAT MO!"
"Oh no, something has possessed R'rrr ar'kkk. R'rrr, snap out if it! Remember that you are a mighty Corvid of Destiny, not some mere bird to fall afoul of some sorcery."
At S'kkk'aaa'rrrk's urging, R'rrr ar'kkk is able to snap out of it... for now.
"What is wrong with you? You're not feeling the need to chop down trees are you?"
"The whispers..." R'rrr ar'kkk leans away from open well. "These are the cause of our doom; the giant is merely their instrument. Destroy him and they will find another."
"It seems they already have a candidate in mind."With a sideways look at the sorcerer, "Where are the whispers coming from?"
"It looks like we'll have to descend into the well. Does anybody know if stopping up our ears will protect us from the whispers?"
"Perhaps, tale-teller, my mind is the only one strong enough to rid itself of their lure, and my purpose here is to serve as warning to the rest of you lest you fall under their spell and be lost. They come from this well."
"If we knew of a beehive, I could retrieve some honeycomb... but it seems all the local creatures we might ask have fled." R’rrr ar’kkk ponders a moment at C’a’rrrar’kkk the Singer's suggestion. "If you can out-sing the darkness and I light the way, we might explore the well in that time." He looks among his companions. "What say you all?"
T’rrr’aaa’rrr’k is able to point out a beehive... but it's not abandoned. Apparently creatures as small and stupid as bees don't know to flee.
"The forest is already hurting enough. Lets leave the poor bees alone, shall we?
I don't like this plan but I can't think of anything better. So, moss and mud in our ears. dancing lights down the well to see what we can see, and then head down with the bardic song if that seems reasonable. Is that our plan?"
"The forest is already hurting enough. Lets leave the poor bees alone, shall we?
"Very well."
R’rrr ar’kkk nods at the Shadow's summary and begins collecting moss and mud with which to stop his allies' ears. Once his own ears have been plugged, he will attempt to summon forth his mage hand to test the efficacy of the makeshift earplugs.
Once he's sure that he and the others are ready, he will call forth four bright phantom torches inside the well and have them descend 100 feet, keeping his eyes peeled to note anything remarkable in that distance.
With your ears plugged, and a bit of deaf singing from C'a'rrrar'kkk, you get to the bottom of the well unmolested. It's a long way down, and you note as you spiral downward that the walls are lined with carefully-fit stones, but there's no water at the bottom. Instead, the bottom is paved with more stones, and one wall, instead of being curved, is flat. A large round stone lies against the wall... but at one corner, you can see the tiniest hint of a doorway, from which shadows seep that seem to drink in the light from R'rrr ar'kkk's phantom torches.
"That door looks WAY too big for us to move. But we're small, agile ravens. Maybe we can squeeze through?"
With that, S'kkk'aaa'rrrk will fly up to the corner and see if she can squeeze through. If required:
Even getting close to the shadows trailing out of the crack seems to chill S'kkk'aaa'rrrk to the bone, as if they are drawing the warmth and life out of her.
Unable to make out the Shadow's words, R’rrr ar’kkk starts in alarm when his companion makes to fly through the gap but is unable to stop her, momentarily glimpsing the bird's consumption by her namesake in the world-that-would-be. Has she fallen prey to the whispers?!
"Squuaaarrrrrkkkk. Danger here. Cold and danger."
With that, she backs off from trying to get into the door.
"I REALLY don't like it here!"
With that she proceeds to preen herself for a few seconds to restore her confidence
Will open/close work?
R’rrr ar’kkk motions upwards to his companions with his head and proceeds to fly out of the well, though he will leave his magical lights at the bottom if they choose to remain. Once they are rejoined outside the well and hidden from the giant's view, he will speak.
"We must seal the gap. We might do so with the giant - thus achieving two separate objectives with a single course of action, as the saying goes. It might be lured to the well as the Singer initially suggested."
"Excellent R'rrr ar'kkk. You truly are a Corvid of Destiny.
Now that the door is open, lets at least see what is behind the door before advancing"
S'kkk'aaa'rrrk will try to stealth to a position where she can see beyond the door without herself being seen, if that is possible.
With a wave of C'a'rrrar'kkk's wings and a brief song, the stone slowly turns just the tiniest bit, closing off the crack. The sibilant whispers, still half-heard even with mud-packed ears, suddenly falls silent, and the shadows stop creeping out from behind the stone.
"Excellent job closing the door. Well done. We should see if perhaps we can reason with the giant now. While being vert, very careful
R’rrr ar’kkk nods at the Shadow's suggestion. Now that we've silenced the whispers, hopefully he will be able to fight free of them as I did.
"If he does not cease his attack on the wood, perhaps the Singer can speak to him from afar?"
"I can't really hold a conversation using ghost sound. I mostly use it to fill in the drum line for my songs. I don't mind talking to him though. Maybe from 50' over his head. Or 150."
Preparing for the worst, R’rrr ar’kkk calls to mind an incantation in case the giant reacts unfavorably to the Singer's overtures, and follows along with his companions.
The giant seems oblivious to your distant calls, still singing of the forest's destruction as he hews down another tree.
Can we do something like grab a rock and dive bomb him from 100 feet up? I'm not trying to do any damage at all, just do enough to get his attention?
I'll move within 90 feet and try a bardic performance facinate. At lest get it looking in the right direction.
Flying, I thought I'd never learn that flying,
I thought I'd spend my whole life trying,
For flying is that ancient art of keeping one foot on the ground...
Before S'kkk'aaa'rrrk can grab a rock, C'a'rrrar'kkk flies closer and starts singing. Finally the giant looks up and sees you.
"A singing crow can mean no good,
I wouldn't trust one in a hood.
I wonder if perhaps I should
make it quiet for good," he sings back, looking back down and starting to cut a thick branch off of one of the fallen trees.
Well fascinate didn't seem to work. I'll beat a hasty retreat upwards to 150' or so. Someone want to try diplomacy? Whoever built this character didn't see fit to give her any ranks in it :-(
From a high distance up in the trees, hopefully with cover as well. Probably at least a couple of hundred feet up
"Hello there oh great and huge and powerful one. My name is S'kkk'aaa'rrrk. Who are you? If you promise to not eat us or throw rocks at us we'd like to come down and talk to you."
The giant's response comes in the form of a chunk of tree hurled at S'kkk'aaa'rrrk.
Fortunately, the projectile is as unaerodynamic as the giant's aim is poor, and it gets nowhere near you.