The noonday warmth fades as the group reaches the mountains. The clouds have returned and the air is quite brisk now. Arriving at the foothills, the party sees a winding path leading into the mountains. Unfortunately, the path is guarded by a large humanoid, a large club propping up his elbow.
The giant rises to his feet, taking the club into one hand and a rock into the other. " Ég mylja þig!"
Initiative:
Round 1: Harakhty, Cyna, Arista, Sienna, Sādhanā, Drago, Ylrhea, Hill Giant
Seeing the massive being in front of them, Arista takes her shield out of her bag of holding. Holding it in front of her, she waits to see what the large being will do as well as the others.
Harakhty sighed internally at the sorceress's comment. He'd heard about her, but he didn't expect such an abrupt start on the wrong foot. "Our friend in the Green Circle? Like a cactus, we are also sweet on the inside." Why does she insist on antagonizing? "Our people tend to shun other kinds as we often make a good slave or meal to them. Among ourselves, our tribal traditions keep our society smooth" Except when it comes to me, of course. I always have to be the bump.
*******
"Watch for the rock - he means to throw it!" While it was merely a guess, Harakhty could think of no other purpose for it to be hoisted now.
What wasn't left to chance was his response. Drawing his larger crossbow, he fired it at the creature's large head. He favored those weapons as even though it had been some time since he'd used them in battle, only his aim need be good - no drawing of strings to do.
Drago inhaled deeply, then let out a primal scream at the giant.
Cyna takes a step back and sends a volley at the giant.
"I really hope he's the only one around."
"I was only asking out of curiosity, but I have no interest in enslaving a vanara or eating one," Sienna says with a dismissive sniff. "Ah, well...this will be a long trip."
***
Sienna sends three silvery bolts at the giant.
Harakhty fails to connect with his shot, while only one of Cyna's finds its target. Sienna's spell does a little more damage to the hulking brute.
Round 1: Harakhty, Cyna, Arista, Sienna, Sādhanā, Drago (action declared), Ylrhea, Hill Giant
Seeing that there was no way this would end other than combat,Sādhanā charges into action, chanting the words of a spell as Oblivion's blad shifts to it's more lethal form, lightning creckling down it's length and she plunges the blade into the giant.
Ylrhea fires her crossbow at the giant.
"How can I miss something that big?!"
The giant takes a heavy blow from Sādhanā and is unable to defend against Drago's scream. It drops the rock to the side and puts its hand to its forehead.
Round 2: Harakhty, Cyna, Arista, Sienna, Sādhanā, Drago, Ylrhea, Hill Giant
With the Giant engaged in Melee Cyna's shots are much more refined then before, slower and lighter but far more accurate.
She responds to her Gnomish friend. "This one has a thick hide that's how."
Pleased to see Drago's magic taking effect, Harakhty strafed to the side , cranked the winch, and fired again.
His aim improving, the vanara was hopeful for the outcome. There was plenty of space to hit the giant, though the reach of its swing was formidable; it was good he could stay far away.
Seeing Sadhana break away from their group, Arista decides to charge the giant and attack it while it's slightly disoriented. She runs up the other side of the Giant, bringing her sword around in a swinging arc as she does so.
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Sienna lets off another three missiles at the giant.
As the giant reels from the assault Sādhanā attacks again however the combination of Arista's powerful strike and the volley of ranged attacks causes the monster to thrash out of the way of her blade.
Only Cyna and Sienna manage to damage the giant.
Round 2: Harakhty, Cyna, Arista, Sienna, Sādhanā, Drago, Ylrhea, Hill Giant
Ylrhea reloads and fires again.
"I blame the crossbow at this point," the gnome huffs.
Wanting to conserve his strength, the Damphir moved up to Cyna and touched her bow. There came a crackling sound as electrical sparks began dancing about it.
The giant finally manages to get its bearings, hefting its club and swinging at both Sādhanā and Arista.
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Round 3: Harakhty, Cyna, Arista, Sienna, Sādhanā, Drago, Ylrhea, Hill Giant
Even though she manages to raise her shield to block the brunt of the blow she still takes a significant amount of damage to her side as the ugly brute bashes at her.
Taking a five foot step, Arista puts herself into a flanking position with Sadhana before taking making another attack with her scimitar.
Being stunned by the giants furious blow with his club, she's caught off guard and fails to connect with her weapon.
Quickly, Drago pulled his crossbow and loaded it. Once the bolt was loaded, his weapon began crackling like Cyna's bow.
Cyna is unable to put Drago's blessing to good use as all her shots bounce off the creature's armor.
The power of the blow that hammers past her defenses rings home the need to drop Sādhanā, the giant as soon as possible. Calling on the power infusing every fiber of her being, Sādhanā moves with inhuman speed, her first cut a blur of motion accompanied by an arc of her enemy's blood as she reverses direction, her blade coming in at a low angle in a piercing thrust.
Sādhanā cuts down the giant with deadly efficiency, allowing the party to continue up the path. After a short while, the path splits, heading off in three directions. The left path seems to wind up toward the peaks of the mountains, the center path continues straight, while the lower path leads to a large cave.
Keeping ahold of her shield this time, Arista tries to figure out which path to use...but, the pain in her side keeps her from being able to concentrate on the best course of action.
"Very impressive," lauds the vanara as the large creature was felled. They could give Naeem a run for his bananas. Yet they were not here to slaughter giants. They were here to destroy the shard in the tower of order.
Coupled with Harakthy's weather forecast, the vanara and Cyna conclude that the cave would offer the best protection against the coming storm, the middle path would be open and suitable for a camp but that also leaves the group open to almost certain attack during the night. The upper path offers some shelter, but it would probably be cramped overhangs. Harkahty and Cyna pick up on the foul odors and low growling in the cave. Cyna sees several bushes with edible fruits along the middle path, but giant tracks also dot the path. The upper path seems to be traversed by wild animals and the lower path by creatures of varying sizes.
"Not as safe as Valick, to be sure, but hopefully we can make do here for the night." He took a moment to glance towards Sienna. "in my land, arcane talent was a thing of great rarity. Here, were are blessed to have many skills in that path."
Arista seems to look a little confused, "So...which way are we going? Are we gonna head through the caves then? If the weather is going to get bad, it might be the best way to go."
Sienna shrugs. "I think we could make it any way we go. The question is: what are we willing to put up with?"