Confident in Szasa's ability to dispatch the wolves, Vincent's wings extend and he takes to the air, reaching the point to where he's level with the giants upon the balcony.
The giants take aim wit their crossbows and fire at various targets. Two fired at the copies of Tazwell, dispelling the images. One takes a shot at Vincent:
But the bolt misses, shattering on the bluish ice wall.
Two take shots at Szasa:
But she dodges both bolts with ease.
Szasa will move forward towards the toughest-looking or leader giant and stab at him.
Tazwell flies closer to the balcony with the giants.
To a spot where 3 of the giants are in a 30' cone.
He pops a Wand of Dragon Breath out of his quickdraw wrist sheath and blasts the three giants with fire.
(DC23 Reflex for half)
Hylota looks at the other two wolves, then says, ”Why don’t you two be good dogs and take a nap as well?” She then laughed again at the wolves as she moved closer to the giants.
Szasa darts up the slick stairwell, finding the giants in a line behind the small railing/wall of the balcony. Striking true she carves a fierce crimson line across his chest as he turned to face her, caught by surprise at her speed.
The frost giants, despite their cover initially, are roasted by the angled blast from seemingly half-a-dozen elves. Tazwell finds himself burning all five gathered there.
The remaining winter wolves fall to the icy floor, snoring through their open mouths.
Vincent flies to the nearest one and only his hands and his head change form into that of sharp claws and that of a dragon's head with razor sharp teeth respectively as he attempts to take a bite out of the giant.
The frost giant closest to the top of the map is bitten by Vincent, the giant's skeleton lighting up in bursts revealing his skeleton, save the dark spots caused by Tazwell's flames.
The giants in melee with Szasa and Vincent drop their crossbows and each draw their greataxes, attempting to defend themselves.
The other three break off chunks of ice and throw them at Hylota.
As the giant's axe manages to find flesh through the magical defenses of the sorcerer, Vincent unleashes multiple attacks against the giant in response.
Tazwell shifts and aims his Dragon's breath wand to catch the three not in combat in a cone of fire.
(DC23 Reflex)
Hylota frowns as the giant's rocks hit her - she doesn't feel any pain from them thanks to both Vincent's and her spells, but they were annoying. "How rude. I have done nothing to you, and yet you throw rocks at me? This is most absurd. I shall have to punish you for that. Now, I can either spank you or you can beg for forgiveness. I'll let you choose which, but you must be punished either way."
Having moved close enough to the giants, she fixes two of them with a glare, then cackles wildly at her scolding the giant.
Szasa will focus on a single Giant until it drops, then move to the next one in melee with her.
With the wolves soundly asleep, the party is free to focus their attention on the giants.
The two giants whose rocks hit Hylota suddenly feel shivers down their spines as the witch's gaze and her diabolical cackle cause the blood in their veins to run "cold". The middle three fall to the flames; Vincent's prey is torn to shreds, his wounds cauterizing due to the intense lightning coursing through his body; Szasa's blade sings as it sinks deeply into giant flesh, the giant closest to her falls into bloody pieces and she even continues into those already burned, finishing off their dying screams.
The wolves continue to sleep till Hylota wakes them or till finished off while they snore.
As the battle comes to a close, Vincent's claws retract, reforming back into his hands. And his dragon face and teeth revert back to normal as well as he lands upon the ground and retracts his wings. "Well... I must confess that that was...," he pauses, taking a moment to find the right word before going with, "efficient. Well done, all."
Szasa makes a Shushing gesture as she moves up to one of the sleeping wolves and makes sure it will never rise again.
"Mere foot soldiers left as a warning system I am guessing."
Tazwell casts Detect Magic and takes a look around.
Hylota looks at the Winter Wolves, then sighs. "Shame. They would have made excellent pets." She then left them to Lady Szasa to finish - she was just as likely to wake them up as kill them with her little dagger. She instead walks over to the giants and begins searching them, looking for signs of who they worked for.
Hylota laughs again as she takes one of the massive (for a human) medallions and says, "It appears that Kostchtchie wants the Torc for himself. We will likely find more of his followers within the Vale."
"He some sort of powerful demon, right? What's his specialty?"
"Demon lord that has a rivalry with Baba Yaga" Tazwell answers.
Is there an exit from the balcony?
Taz listens at the door for signs of trouble and checks it for traps.
(normal sized door or giant sized?)
"Demon lord with a rivalry versus Baba Yaga you say? Hm. For a demon so powerful it would appear he is quite foolish."
He fled, stumbling into the Abyss. Kostchtche did battle with the demons within, growing in power till he slew a demon lord, taking his power, minions, and layer of the Abyss for his own. He now is a patron of giants and a demon lord of revenge and the cold.
Tazwell will open the door and look through.
”Kostchtche was once a mortal warlord who demanded immortality from Baba Yaga, and threatened her with his army to get it. Baba Yaga, both amused and insulted by him, granted his wish. In doing so, she stole half his soul and put it in the Torc. She also warped his form to that of a giant - the thing he hates most. She drove off his army with a blizzard, and he found his way to the Abyss, where he eventually became strong enough to kill a demon lord and take over his realm and power. He is now the demon lord of revenge and cold, and the patron of giants. He thinks of himself as Baba Yaga’s mortal enemy. It appears Queen Elvanna’s search for the Torc revealed the location of the Vale to him, and he wants the other half of his soul.” Hylota told the others what she knew of Kostchtche.
After listening intently to the witch, "Fascinating. Well from the demon's perspective, it now makes perfect sense why the demon chooses to war against Baba Yaga. Of course his battle is in vain but if nothing else... an 'e' for effort he has earned," he states as a matter of fact, shrugging.
"Seems like a stupid idea, 'demanding' anything from Baba Yaga. He got off lucky, you ask me. After all, rocks are pretty much immortal."
Hylota giggles hysterically at Lady Szasa's comment. "Turned into a rock. I have to remember that one. Turn him slowly enough, he'll have enough time for his face to turn into the funniest look of stupidity and horror."
The chamber through the doorway would have been rather bare and plain, save for the recent arrival of the frost giants.
Directly to your right stairs lead up further into the Veil's upper reaches. The floor is covered in a mangy collection of furs from various arctic and mountain creatures. In a corner is a huge pile of mostly frozen meat, in another are fur-wrapped water barrels. It would imply that there are enough bedrolls and supplies for almost a dozen giants to survive for another week here.
In one of the bedrolls, another giant snores loudly, his back to your approach.
Tazwell puts a finger to his lips to gesture for silence.
Then he points out the sleeping giant to the others.
Taking notice of the sleeping giant, "Mayhap this one could be more reasonable? Or do we simply let him be? I am no assassin and would obviously prefer parley if we decide not to leave him be."
Szasa will sneak over and secure the Giant's Weapon.
Hylota looks at the sleeping giant, looks at the others, tilts her head consideringly, then shrugs, indicating she isn't particularly concerned about the giant's fate. It was probably better to kill him, but if Vincent was going to be squeamish about it, she wouldn't press the issue. Still, for a man who turned into a dragon, he was surprisingly concerned about others' lives. She'd have thought being raised by Queen Elvanna would have resulted in that being beaten out of him.
As Szasa approaches the giant, he suddenly jumps to his feet and grabs his war ax. His limbs are horrifically gnarled and bend in all the wrong directions. He does not attack, however, and - seeing Szasa's blade - suddenly drops his weapon and falls to his "knees".
"Mercy, Liten Dod! Please, I heard the fight outside but I had to see for myself. Don't kill me! I can offer information, what treasures we have here, anything!" Despite his warped form, his speech in Common is rather smooth if slow.
"My name is Narak, one of Ferric's lieutenants! I can tell you whatever you'd wish to know!"
"You can start by telling us who or what a Ferric is..."
Vincent looks to the women looking somewhat surprised, "And there you have it. It looks like 'reasonable' it is. It appears they are not ALL foolish." He then turns to the conversation at hand, "And after you let us know who this Ferric is, I would like to know about these treasures you speak of."
Hylota decided that she liked the idea of a groveling frost giant. If spending time with Szasa got this kind of reaction from them, she'd have to spend more time with her.
"Oh, yes, please, tell us about Ferric. And while you're at it, tell us why you and Ferric are here and the other giants are here. Oh, and don't lie. Lying makes me sad, and when I'm sad, I hurt things." The Winter Witch smiles sweetly - maybe too sweetly for what she's trying to do.
Szasa chuckles, then says "Very well. If your information proves useful, we'll allow you your life."
"Let it never be said that you four Liten Dod's were without wisdom." The giant grovelled. "Ferric is our leader for this mission. He and the troll priest Shathbardok learned of the Veil's location from Svartokshe and managed to beat him here."
"Ferric went ahead, destroying those sent by the Winter Witches. He has the last one, a witch named Ilivorr, trapped further in. However, Ferric believes that she has blocked the way forward and is trying to break the witch's spell so he can kill her and claim the Torc. Ferric has one of my two brothers with him up those stairs, along with two giants and a winter wolf."
"Shathbardok is in the shrine he discovered and hasn't come out for two days. Ferric hoped the troll would help him press on, but the priest has no ideas. Lately he's been talking to himself, claiming a 'ghost' seeks his aid."
"As for what treasure we have..." The gnarled giant gets up slowly and moves various furs around to reveal a small stockpile of 760 gold, 2,256 silver, and 3,560 copper coins. He also reveals three ice-blue zircon gems worth about 185 gp each.
Narak then uses a bone to uncover a fantastically carved and delicate small ice idol of a beautiful maiden. He refuses to touch it and gestures to the wealth. "Please, allow this to purchase my freedom. If you haven't killed the guards at the base of the Veil, I will try and convince my brother Graff and his men there to leave. You will not be ambushed if you leave."
"And, when you face Ferric, please spare my brother - Gordu - and let him escape. He is similarly twisted like me." He moves his malformed limbs for emphasis before falling silent, waiting for your reply.
"Should we let this one go to spread the word amongst his kin of the fate they face should they attempt to bar our way when we leave this place?"
"Yes. He held up his end of the bargain, so I see no reason to murder him in cold blood."
"Get ye gone and don't get any ideas that you want to cross us later." Tazwell tells the giant.
Shaking his head, "Keep your coins; they are of no use. But the idol may of be of some importance." Vincent moves over and takes the idol freely, unconcerned with the giant's fear of touching it. "And I give you my word to do all I can to spare your brother. Please do not betray us, for your sake. Because I must warn you, if you decide to join your comrades and fight us... then you must understand that our position in sparing your life a second time will not exist," he states as a matter of fact. "The choice is ultimately yours. Good day to you," he nods.
"The day that coins are without use is the day I stop wielding a blade." says Szasa as she begins filling her pack with the offered loot.
"If you feel you must take his spare change before he goes, then by all means..."
Hylota looks at the frost giant, considering a moment, then says, "Well, since you've been very cooperative, you can go. But, if we see you later, I will make you suffer ten times as long as any of your kin, leaving you begging for the sweet release of death."
The giant nods vigorously as he scrambles across the icy floor and out the doors towards the lower entrance. It's almost comically due to his twisted limbs.
As you decide your next move, you might notice Vincent beginning to twitch.