GM Zero/GL's Giantslayer! (Inactive)

Game Master GM_Grandlounge

Distraction team can either retreat, keep causing a ruckus or meet up with team poison.

If still invisible, Lidia will make her way to the Storage Silo (F) and attempt to set that on fire as well.

I didn't give Ulretha scent? Poor race planning on my part.

If Lidia tells him what she's doing, Ulretha follows her and assists.

Also, to make things interesting...thanks to wearing Nargym's Steel Hand, if Ulretha sees a giant, he has to make a DC 15 Will save (Will bonus is +8) or attack it.

Ooooh dear.

If Lidia tells him what she's doing, Ulretha follows her and assists.

Realistically, since we're all invisible and we split up to do different tasks, I don't think Lidia would spend a lot of time trying to locate Ulretha. She's more of a loner anyway. She did describe the plan before we set out, so Ulretha might have a good guess as to her next destination, if he were so inclined.

Ulretha looks thoughtfully toward the temple of Urgathoa. The giants worshipping such a twisted being when they could be worshipping a deity of power and might makes his lip curl back from his teeth.

He's ready to march up there and cut it all down but with his first step a memory strikes him.

"How dare you question the laws of the Great Mother and my authority?" his sister demanded.

"You're just a boy. But I can fix that." He remembered the cruel sneer on her face just inches from his own, hopeful that he would give her an excuse to hurt him. He remembered wanting to run or grab her wrist or shove her away but the fear that any of those would make her slip. He remembered the feel of the edge of the blade against his genitals and the fear he felt.

But most of all, he remembered the rage filled shame he felt as he promised never to question her again and begged for her forgiveness and admitted his own worthlessness.

"I'll let it pass this time," she said. "Now get down there and finish the job."

He wanted to cling to the anger and finally get his revenge against the goddess that made his sister so cruel but it was the fear that won out and he went the opposite direction toward the silo.

"You know what, Thyste, we should probably stick to the original plan and hit the brewery instead of this joint. Let's keep moving. On the way back, though, I think we might have enough time for you to tweak some toes."

On they go to the brewery, looking for a softer target.

Thyste gives Ben a thumbs-up.

Then, remembering that she's invisible, gently presses her thumb against Ben's arm so that he can feel it.

In the chaos of the stampede, team poison is forced to detour north and decides to take a moment to check inside one of the larger and more important buildings to gain some detail that was not available during the earlier scouting runs. With that information in hand, they are able to find a clear path to the brewery. When they get most of the way there, the grain soil starts alight like 100ft torch.

From outside, this brewery appears to be a barn or warehouse, its pitched roof rising forty feet above the ground. The oversized double doors in the north and south walls are sized for giants, as is an exterior flight of stairs that runs along the north side of the building. Inside there is a frost giant labouring over the vats of liquid.

Everyone can tell me what they are doing next. This around Lidia's action is setting the fire at the silo.

After setting the silo on fire, Lidia will attempt to slip out of the camp. Her invisibility will probably not last much longer.

Are the doors open or are we looking through the windows? Opening a door kind of spoils the whole invisibility thing.

Ben you are looking through the window.

I will bot Grandma, and her spell casting will remain available to you all. I hope to get back into the swing of things now that the holiday craziness is over.

Thanks a lot GM! :-D

Would you be so kind and put my character and player profile as inactive in the campaign setting?

Lidia, roll me one final stealth. With all the chaos the DC is very low at this point.

Stealth (invisible): 1d20 + 20 + 4 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 + 4 + 20 = 45

Subtract 20 if the Invisibility spell has expired

Lidia your Invisibility fades as you reach the edge of the camp but your skills, the snow and the trees are enough to get you back to the camp.

"Should be easy enough to tell this guy there's a fire and they need his help," reasons Thyste. "Hell, you can even go along with him to aid so we don't look suspicious and I'll take care of the dosing while you're gone."

"Good idea."

Ben stays out of sight, invisible, but opens the door and yells out "Fire!" from outside the open door, then noisily moves away.

One of you roll a bluff as you yell fire, please. We will say oneof you can roll the other aids. Multiple people yelling to make it seem like more of a panic.

Obviously Thyste will make the main roll.

bluff aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Me? Golly, I'm flattered, Ben, why would--

Bluff: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 21 = 40

...ah, that's why, right, yeah, she is good at that.

Ben jerks around looking for horrible nipples, grateful that he is still invisible to save him embarrassment.

With the yells from the team, a male giant with a fox familiar comes running out of the brewery he first looks over the smithy where a stunning frost giant woman nearly knocks down the door to the forge. They exchange looks as if to say, 'is it at the forge?' 'is it at the brewery?' with each question answering the other. Looking out they can see the smoke from the silo fire. They both go running off to see what they can do.

Ben, you notice by the door a set of bells dangling from a string, clearly, a makeshift alarm, not reset due to the commotion.

Please describe whatever your actions are, precautions or chances you are taking and roll the skill you think fits.

A single vast chamber occupies most of this building. Flickering
torches set ten feet above the ground are interspersed
throughout the building. Tiled stone covers the floor. In the
center of the main room sit four huge vats, each ten feet tall and
chained to a wooden catwalk constructed above them. Along
the west wall, a flight of steps ascends to the catwalk, with a
single roof support rising from the center. A smaller room is
evident in the northwestern corner of the building, built on a
raised, partial second floor. Two doors lead from the northern
and western catwalks to this chamber. A strange contraption
fashioned from a brass kettle bristling with a series of curling
metal tubes sits on the floor to the south near the stairs. The
heady scent of fermenting grain hangs heavy in the air. Barrels
and kegs litter the floor.

There are some personal quarters to the back.

Ben moves towards the vat and starts unloading his cargo into the vats (well, into ones that are filled) while flying and still invisible.

fly, spell bonus: 1d20 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 5 = 30

Looks good. Anything to cover your trail? Leaving anything taking anything with you? Any additional subterfuge?

A pity we do not have anything that might scream fire giant. Then again we really donot want them to notice anything unusual.

I'm ready to just slip away without being seen unless Thyste has any bright ideas

I'm ready to just slip away without being seen unless Thyste has any bright ideas

Perhaps Thyste could sabotage the 'strange brass contraption'? It sounds like a still -- fiddling with its valves might make it overheat and blow a gasket or a pipe.

Oooh. I have an idea.

Ben summons 1d3 ⇒ 1 fire mephit and commands it to go and dance around in the big fire, but do not let anyone know it came from here, shouting "A present from the fire giants!".

"Oooh, subtle," chuckles Thyste. "Well, subtle by giant standards, anyway."

I can definitely tamper with the maybe-a-still, yeah. Give the giants no option to replace the beer and suddenly the only available beer being slightly "off" won't matter nearly as much ;D

Ulretha takes a few moments to enjoy the inferno that is their handiwork, then turns and leaves the giant village, heading back to their camp and looking forward to rejoining the other members of his pack.

As Ulretha approaches the camp, he sees Lidia pacing back and forth around the fire, occasionally kicking at the dirt like she's testing it. The animals are all watching her, their heads swinging back and forth in unison, following the gaunt girl's movements.

Hearing the gnoll's approach she stops and looks about warily, her bow out in a flash, but she relaxes when she sees who it is.

"Do you think its going ok? I think it's going ok. No one saw you, right?" she asks nervously. "Maybe I should go back and make sure Thyste and Ben are ok."

"If anyone would have seen me, they wouldn't have lived to tell anyone," Ulretha replied, patting the hilt of Gorum's Thorn.

He laughs, a high, cackling noise that draws the attention of the hyenas.

"We burned down half their camp. I'm sure it's going fine. Ben can turn into a bird if he needs to escape and if anyone caught Thyste, she'd make them her pet while making them think she's theirs."

Lidia nods vaguely and exhales a gush of breath. ”Well I hope they hurry. If our invisibility spells have worn off then theirs have too.”

Sorry all. One of my posts failed to stick.

With a Mephit released to continue to cause havoc and Thyste easily (taking 10) to severely damage the still. I can safely assume it won't be more than a day or two before the tainted beer is consumed.

The team is able to fully reconvene without any issues.

What is the plan now?

The camp is in chaos from the fire and stamped though the giant's gaze seems to be focused inward. Though the full effects of the plan may take some time to come to fruition.

Thyste grins and pulls out a waterskin.

"Before we messed with the beer, I saved some for us. Anyone want to see how foul giant booze is?" she asks. "We've got time to kill while they figure out whose fault it is."

"There's a reason why you're my favorite," Ulretha says as he happily takes some plundered beer. It tastes all the better because it was stolen from their enemies.

When he is again in enough of his right mind to make logical decisions he says: "We should hit the farm, next. We've ruined their food stores, if we destroy what is being produced they'll have nothing to eat and most of them will leave instead of starve. Those fanatics who do stay will be weaker."

Thyste nods. "Wait 'til they've had this fight, though; if everything goes bad at once, they may start suspecting it's more than incompetence and petty grudges."

”If food runs low, the first people to starve will be those slaves.” says Lidia.

Nevertheless she seems very pleased to see Thyste and Ben returning safely to the camp, flashing a rare smile. She rather eagerly accepts the pilfered beer and takes a long swig, followed by a very unladylike belch, which makes her giggle and blush almost shyly. For once she truly looks like the 18 year old girl she is under the dirt and bitterness.

"Starting to think I should have gotten some more of these," Thyste grins; her tail wags more energetically than it has for a good while. "We'll see how the situation looks in a couple days."

She glances at Lidia. "Maybe we can find a sweet spot. If anyone starts starving, I think the slaves will be moved to... fill the deficit. So we'll stir s#!# up and strike before that happens."

Happy with the results so far, Ben grins an overly wide lip stretcher.
"They will be none the wiser if I sic some more mephits or fire elementals on the grain store and have them rant about fire giants. Frost and fire giants don't seem like they would get along and I'm hoping they will pin the blame on the wrong group. If, that is, we do not cut them down with our weapons. That would be hard to pin on mephits. What do you think?"

Ben fastidiously avoids the giant's beer and waits to see hat the others think of it.

"So, as far as next steps go, I like Ben's idea of intercepting any supply wagons that try to come up here. That shouldn't be too difficult."

"I also think it wouldn't be terribly hard to arrange a slave escape. There's only one guard tower between the slave camp and the outside, and the giants' tents are all on the opposite side of the compound. If we could incapacitate whoever is watching up there in that tower, then all we'd have to do would be to get the gate open and lead the people out. If we do it right, we can make it look like the slaves got the gate open themselves and managed to overwhelm the guard on the way out."

Ben grimaces and interjects.

"Before we release the prisoners we need a plan to get them to safety. These mountains are inhospitable and a group of ill-equipped and half starved ex-slaves would not last long. Their only chance at survival would be to be rounded up by the giants and put back in their pen, probably after a good beating. Now, if we were to set up a cache with food and clothing and weapons to defend themselves with, that might help. Which brings us back to our first mission, the farms and supply wagons. Instead of just destroying everything I think we should stockpile necessities so that when we do free the slaves, they have a chance."

Ulretha's eyes narrow into a suspicious glare at Ben's suggestion.

"I didn't come here to be a farmer. And if the giants are wasting time chasing down slaves and aren't farming themselves, they're still going to lose food. But, I'll be happy to ambush some supply wagons. We can keep those supplies hidden somewhere and guide the freed slaves to them. It'll be up to them to get off the mountain after that."

With a slight smile, knowing what motivates the gnoll, he says "Nobody is asking you to farm. Just suggesting some looting is all."

Of course the new, improved Ulretha has changed a lot. Looting might not be on the top of his list any longer.

”If I were one of those slaves, I’d be willing to take my chances with cold and hunger if I could just be freed.”

She settles herself cross-legged near the fire and begins to munch on some rations. ”At any rate, tonight was a success. And it sounds like we’re all in favor of blockading supply wagons from the camp. And if we capture a few wagons and horses it would make things a lot easier for weak or sick people trying to escape these mountains. First thing tomorrow I’ll take up a watch on the trails approaching this area.”

Thyste stares into the fire.

"The slaves complicate things."

"We don't know who they were before they were enslaved; were they bred into it? Were they rugged folk? How long have they been bound? Even if we assume they'll naturally pick their best interests, will that be us, who are trying to free them, or the giants, who will surely prevail anyway and may be grateful for an advance warning?"

Her face scrunches up.

"Not everyone's ready to risk everything on a chance that, as far as they know, could be thinner than a balding pixie's comb-over."

"I still think they deserve a chance." says Lidia, after which she pauses and looks curiously at Thyste.

"Absolutely," says Thyste, "but if we want them to take it, we have to be ready to sell it to them. It won't be as easy as leaving the gate open and yelling 'run,' so... well, like you said--we'll need to make preparations. That way it's not just a chance, but a decent chance."

"Half of that's gonna be timing it right."

We don't know who they were before they were enslaved; were they bred into it? Were they rugged folk? How long have they been bound?...

Several of you have seen the slaves and can make some educated guesses. They look like they are from the local lowlands through which you had been travelling. At the cathedral, the slaves told you slaves are regularly brought up here, so there are likely months of time that slaves have been coming. You see two types of slaves, pretty well feed ones that come in and out of the mountain and poorly-fed ones that mostly do light serving and cleaning work.

"Blix got in and checked on the slaves before, he can be our go between maybe. He can talk to the slaves and let them know when we plan to get them out, see if they have a leader, that sort of thing." She glances off toward the persistent orange glow over the giant camp and takes another rough bite on some jerky.

"And in the mean time we can scout the area for farms and supply routes and schedules."