Turgrim can't hide a smirk as he hands over his petty weapons, primarily useful for bypassing damage reduction. I still feel plenty armed and dangerous if something goes down, the hobgoblin monk thinks to himself.
The big orc showed that did not have a single weapon on him. But knew others of the party would know he didn't need any. One hand reached up and gave a light single finger pat to the little scaled one on his shoulders. "Safe up there?"
Tigerwolf chuckled lightly at their insistant of them leaving their weapons.
"You would almost think they are worried." She whispered to Karol as she unstrapped Tigerfang and set the large blade respectfully down. She put her two other weapons down and would step away. She made sure her package made it in with them along with her pouches.
Karol hands over his axe, and his two throwing axes. He then waits for the guards to let them by.
• With all the weapons confiscated (ones that they could see anyway), a couple of guards escort the Orcs and Giants through into the halls of the Fortress. The first hall seemed to be another checkpoint or fortification, walls chiselled out of obsidian with plenty of walls and soldiers standing by, watching the group move along.
The group is moved into what appears to be a smithy on an industrial scale, the room was sweltering with the heat of a half dozen furnaces with a workshop with a handful of Fire-giants working metal. One of them turns towards MAK and raises his hand dismissively,
• MAK finds where the large block of Steel Ingot was and hands it to the other giant. The smithy responds and turns towards him with the tiniest grin,
• MAK responds,
The heavy Arcanist turns around and steps back to remove himself from the view between the Smithy and the team.
She will translate this for any who don't speak giant.
Tigerwolf had stepped forward from between the larger members of the group. Now she was no longer the smallest but she definitely was compared to those around her.
Continuing in common. "I will allow the others of the group to introduce themselves."
• The SMITHY? pays no mind to the tall, naked Orc for the moment and peers down at the tiny girl down and centre,
• The Fire Giant slams his fiery warhammer to the ground and furrows his bushy brow,
Karol stands beside Tiger wolf
Tigerwolf, could you translate this for the party. Thanks
The humans consider these lands as ownerless, open for their exploitation. Our peoples are seen as savage pests to be removed or destroyed, or maybe kept as slaves or in a zoo. None of us here are seen as people. The Wolftooth will die before that happens, and not alone!
Karol stands, small beneath the giants gaze, but burning with zeal, raising his hand, fist clenched.
Karol drops his raised hand, unclenching his fist.
• PYRON listened as KAROL made his speech, retaining mild interest until the end when he started to show some impatience. The stout-bodied smith-king leans down towards him with a furrowed brow,
PYRON slams the top of his greathammer onto the ground again to shake the earth. Gazing down at the others with stern intent.
A large hand waved above his head as if to get attention of what said just a few seconds later. "We good handling problems! Earn your respect. We show tribe no push over. You no want get rid of pesty humans before try to invade? Lots of weapons they have in villages for you guys to melt to craft better!" A wide smile was on his face as to himself thought he did a good job even if was not exactly the best.
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• PYRON waves TIGERWOLF to be quiet, indicating he knew what the Skald was saying in Common, the giant Smith-King looked annoyed having someone tranlate when the rest didn't know the language. He listened as KAROL made his speech, retaining mild interest until the end. The stout-bodied smith-king leans down towards him with a furrowed brow,
PYRON slams the top of his greathammer onto the ground again to shake the earth. Gazing down at the others with stern intent.
The Doctor chuckles at the idea of being subjugated, He looks the giant right in the eye You know of battle at bonfire fields? without waiting for a response he continues. Then you know of the might and honor of the wolftooth clan He says matter-of-factly.
This threat affects all of us, none of us can stand alone against the oncoming army.
• PYRON turns up towards the Hulk-speaking Orc Monk, not realising they had Orcs that large elsewhere. The smith-king's mind wanders back to the topic at hands and furrows his brow,
The Fire-Giant Smith-King turns towards MAJUBA who spoke quick after him, he listens and acknowledges but does not produce a vocal response at this time, just a calm twitch of his brow.
Wolfragers eye twitches a bit at the abrasive words of Pyron but as the Fire Giant leader declares a means of them beginning to work something out her frustration begins to seep away she however still remains silent knowing full well that there was a far too great of a chance that if she said anything directly to him that she would likely end up insulting the leader in some fashion.
"Bugs are easy enough to crush, this wont be long" Wolfrager mutters hoping that once these bugs are dealt with that Pyron will be more willing to listen or do as he claimed.
Tigerwolf nearly laughs at the Giant's demands, but manages to keep her chuckling to herself.
"Well if they eat metal armor and weapons that means we will have to go without except to use it to draw them in. That should be entertaining. Haven't used the club in a while, this should be fun. I am guessing you know where they nest or at least where they get in. I've got bombs also that can help burn them and blow them to pieces." Looking at Wolfrager she grins and winks seeing the eye twitch.
At hearing about bugs being a problem, one large foot stomps on the ground and then twists like was crushing a imaginary bug under the large foot. "Need no weapon to take out bug. Greez just beat up with foot or fist!"
(urgh, that moment you post and then come back to find your browser ate it.)
Darkan is a little apprehensive at the idea of rust bugs, noting ODAK's armor would be a big target. Taking their weapons and not using them would still make them vulnerable. Leaving them here would....probably be a bad idea. The only option he could come up with was to hide them in his bag of holding.
Still, he wasn't going to mention it here. Especially as he didn't quite trust the group yet. Still, some of them didn't seem so bad. Though he did have to hold on tight when GREEZ forgot he was up there and stamped on the ground.
• PYRON nods with a furrowed brow and turns towards one of the soldiers of notable rank standing behind,
Before finishing with is orders, he points over at JARED and then down at the ground in front of him,
JARED appears offended and surly, folding his arms across while muttering something under his breath.
"Let me have my club and I can deal with these bugs by myself if need be, if Tiger is right about them eating metal then I wont even bother wearing my armor, I'll just rely on my natural grace" Wolfrager says with a laugh as they are lead away.
"Wonder what the big guy wants to talk to Mak about" she wonders aloud glancing at Jarad as he was the only one among them that really knew the magic using Golian.
"Once we know a bit more about what we're up against we should pick up weapons that wont get eaten for those of us who need them, maybe some wood or leather armor too." Wolfrager suggests eager to retrieve her club from wherever it was being kept.
• JARED did look a bit miffed at being singled out by the Fire Giant Smith-King, but as when WOLFRAGER was musing out loud, the masked golian answers,
On his way out, he takes a look at the three talking and narrows his eyes,
we better get our weapons, anyway
"Rust bugs. The Golians put us on pest control duty to prove our valor as equals and allies? *Grumble grumble grumble*..." Turgrim tries to make sure his voice isn't too loud - despite his bluster he recognizes the worth of Golians as warriors. If this is what it took, this is what it took. Hopefully the extermination wouldn't take all day. He cracks his knuckles against his palm impatiently as he follows the group to the "problem area," trying to avoid looking at anybody taller than he is.
With a sigh, Karol takes off his armor, and folds it up in his pack. He pulls out the club he carries as a hammer, and hefts it. His axe stays sheafed on his belt, and he covers it with a cloth, tying it in place.
Not what I thought of when doing diplomacy, but what ever works.
"Rust monsters I would guess is a huge deal for them. Considering a majority of their favorite things are made of metal. It could also be they are not small enough to get into their burrows."
"Good thing I don't have iron knuckles...even though that was a childhood dream..."
• The team is guided through the hall of the steel sentinels, it seems there was a guard at almost every turn, and if it wasn't a guard it was a smithy working on some kind of project. As it happens, one of the guards escorting was lacking any kind of footwear, when pressed he replies,
,
he gruffly spoke in Common, his giantish accent slows down a few syllables here and there.
• After several minutes, the team are taken to the back wall of a storage area filled with large boxes, half eaten if they were made of metal and stripped off the wood if they weren't. Right there in the wall it was pretty obvious, a hole about five feet in diameter, it was pitch black inside and felt cold when approached. It would be a tight squeeze for the burlier TURGRIM and WOLFRAGER but they would be able to access this hole with the rest. The giants however, as you would expect, were far too massive to fit into the hole; they could not even thread a hand or foot through it. Well, perhaps not for MAJUBA, despite his incredible height, his lack of girth would enable him some access, though he'll be unable to fight effectively in his current state.
• Right now only the two escorting guards are around, keeping an eye on the party while the third leaves. A few old wooden weapons were provided for those who had none. MAK and ODAK were absent when they were called by PYRON.
Head tilted at spotting the size of the hole. Then just flops down on the floor as if defeated just by his size. Arms even folded across chest. A lopsided frown across face. Eyes just staring at the dark hole. "To small! No fair!"
Darkan tilted his head, looking at both the hole, then the larger party members, then back at the hole.
As GREEZ sits heavily on the floor, he clings on before turning to whisper in the big guy's ear. "Ya know, why not just lure em out with something metal, then you can fight em out here first." The Kobald asks, looking around the room.
He hopes noone mentions him going in by himself.
Turgrim chimes in, "I've got this spare fork here, will this work?" reaching into his pack, the hobgoblin will pull a dented and bent old fork out. He waves it around in front of him a little, uncertainly.
• MAK could be heard approaching with familiar footfalls with his leathery cloth boots, missing his armour that he usually wore across his chest, arms and legs. He enters the room and quickly spots the others, passing the guards,
The Arcanist peers down towards the hole in the side, judging it for a moment before leaning himself back up,
Even seated down, a foot stops on the flooring. "Stay out of hole! Foot squash bugs come out!" After saying that climbed back to feet and said a low word. The bodywraps had on gave a highly faint greenish glow to them.
• JARED folded his arms and took a good look around at the shelves and boxes, smiling towards himself before turning back to MAK and GREEZ,
He grins towards GREEZ,
"Don't size me down. I'll fit." so saying, the stubborn monk takes point, leading the way down into the hole of the rust beasts.
Tigerwolf says. "Why don't I go in first since it's my size. Wishing she had her armor and blades she headed in with her greatclub. Before or after Turgrim his choice.
• In order of entry, TURGRIM enters first, then TIGERWOLF then MAJUBA.
• The tall, hulking Hobgoblin goes in first and finds his shoulders are a foot wider than the hole itself, and four feet lower. TURGRIM would find himself having to scrunch himself down into a ball and scraping through at a snail's pace to move on. His Darkvision allows him to see perfectly inside in grayscale, the windy paths branch off into various directions with no clear way to discern which way is which at a glance.
With TIGERWOLF following on behind, all she could see was a big slab of Hobgoblin back pushing through the tunnel.
MAJUBA opts to crawl inside as well, and while certainly lighter than the rest is forced to crawl on his hands and knees to pass, the length of his extremely long limbs bumping and wedging against the limited space of the tunnel, the windy paths would actually prove to be more difficult for his long bones and staff to navigate than anything else.
• MAK turns towards the largest Monk GREEZ and readies his hand up with Arcane energies,
,
• When casting upon himself, MAK assumes a familiar stature of a Dwarf sans Dwarfish features, only three feet tall and certainly a little slower on the uptake, in a quieter, squeakier voice he says,
"JARED! Take care of things in here, we'll sort this insect infestation ourselves!"
Karol will follow up the others.
A deep grumbling happened while was being shrank fown to fit into said hole. It was obvious didn't like the newer size. And before got to small, hands carefully had set Darkan down on the ground. [b]"Me thought said no work if fight."[b] Eyed Mak worrysom since would be some obvious fighting in the tunnel.
Tigerwolf pulls out some chalk. "Alright we do this systematically unless you can see obvious high traffic. I will mark the tunnels as we go down them. We can check one at a time and I can mark and Darkan." She called back. "Can you psuedo map these as we go?"
Darkan is rather surprised at the sudden shrinking of the group. He tries to hide it, but he was actually feeling a lot safer around Greez.
Though greez is a lot shorter, the kobald will almost subconciously stick alongside him.
"Er, sure I guess." Darkan says, before ducking behind a crate for a moment, slipping his chainmail off so he's wearing just his regular clothing instead. He stuffs it into his bag (of holding) to avoid it being eaten by the rust bugs.
"Oh Tigerwolf? Scratch the wall before ya mark it with chalk. Its a trick we used ta use in our tunnels. If something brushes against the wall, the chalk in the scratch won't get rubbed off.
The kobald gives a look around the room, making sure theres nothing hiding under the tables or around the crates before joining the others once he's sure they aren't about to get followed by bugs.
Runt raises an eyebrow at Jarad's interest in staying behind but shrugs it off knowing there are more important things than arguing about who would stay behind to watch the equipment. Slipping her metal equipment off and into her bag of holding Runt shoulders the bag and ventures after the group grunting in discomfort over tight quarters but making no effort to request a shrinking spell from Mak.
• TIGERWOLF idea to help mark the points of where they were going was a sensible one, and DARKAN's idea to scratch into the walls first to prevent it rubbing off was even cleverer. It wasn't until the paths could branch that TIGERWOLF could start marking junctions. Along the way, the group spot bits of rusted metal on a couple of the tunnels, seemingly disintegrated from it's original shape. The air is very still as well.
Karol hefts his club and follows along.