Seeing his companions starting to gain an advantage, Throrgar braces himself defensively, putting the shield between him and the large wolf as best as he can.
----------
Avesska snarls aggressively, hacking back along her previous swing.
[+1 mwk, +2 Str; +3 THF]
Round 3
Leaping and daring out of the way of the crazed wolf, Gribblix tries again to slice the wolf.
Cheyanne lashes out at the adjacent wolf before stepping towards the enormous, dire wolf. "Hold on, Thrograr, I'm coming!" she growls as her Sansetsukon twirls.
,
,
,
Round 3
Rankev blasts a force missile in the (blue) wolf's face, killing it!
Throrgar protects himself on the ground.
Avesska and Gribblix miss again.
Cheyanne steps in and hits the dire wolf!
Glutton stabs the (now green) wolf!
The dire wolf keeps trying to get that tasty minotaur meat from Throrgar!
miss!
While the (green) wolf tries to bite Glutton!
miss!
And the other tries to bite Gribblex!
hit!
and tripped!
1. Rankev
2. Throrgar
3. Avesska
4. Gribblix
5. Cheyanne
6. Glutton
7. wolves
Status:
Cheyanne: 7/10
Gribblex: 4/10, prone
Throrgar: 4/11, prone
Green wolf: -7
Dire wolf: -27
Cheyanne continues to work her way around the dire wolf, striking with her sansetsukon twice as she tries to get around opposite Throrgar.
,
,
Glutton tries to extract the wolf's kidney.
Round 4
The cries of pain from the goblin are pitiful and terrified. Prone, Gribblix tries in vain to kill the wolf before it kills him.
Seeing the goblin in dire straits, the githanki blademaiden stalks the wolf there...
[+1 mwk, +2 Str; +3 THF]
Throrgar remains on the ground, firmly grasping his shield.
----------
Round 4
Rankev blasts the (orange) wolf.
Throrgar continues dodging on the ground.
Avesska hits (though not critically) the (now orange) wolf.
Gribblix misses!
Cheyanne steps up and with two quick strikes, puts down the dire wolf!
With a strike from Glutton, the (green) wolf is critically wounded!
Now desperate, the wolves bite at Glutton:
and Avesska:
But both miss!
1. Rankev
2. Throrgar
3. Avesska
4. Gribblix
5. Cheyanne
6. Glutton
7. wolves
Status:
Cheyanne: 7/10
Gribblex: 4/10, prone
Throrgar: 4/11, prone
Orange Wolf: -10
Green wolf: -11
Cheyanne leaps over the downed dire wolf to flank with Avesska and strike at one of the remaining two wolves with a shout. "Haih!"
,
Round 4
Cheyanne crushes one wolf, leaving only one remaining!
And with a blast from Rankev, the final wolf falls!
Status:
Cheyanne: 7/10
Gribblex: 4/10
Throrgar: 4/11
With the wolves gone, the snow (and the winds) become the most presing problems.
Rushing ahead, you arrive finally at the hall- though you see now that it's much, much larger than you originally thought. But of course, it will get you out of the wind. . .
Inside, the sound of very loud snoring echoes throughout the giant's hall as you step inside. . .
Gribblix takes a few moments to gather his courage and sanity. Breathing hard, Gribblix taps himself with some of Sigil's healing energy.
The goblin druid then looks to his companions, and notices the large minotaur is bleeding the most. So Glibblix approaches the scary brawler and touches his hand, allow giving him some of Sigil's healing energy.
As the minotaur looks down and notices Gribblix, the goblin looks up and says, "Be more careful. Healing all gone."
Avesska nods, wistfully looking back to the slain wolves’ corpses, thoughts of a trophy lingering in her mind. She wipes her blade clean with a handful of snow, then throws the red-misted white onto the ground.
”So. A giant’s hall?”
Status:
Cheyanne: 7/10
Gribblex: 10/10
Throrgar: 10/11
"Let's get this over with."
Throrgar picks himself up with a grunt, and a look a tthe dead wolves all around them - "Well done all"
As the minotaur looks down and notices Gribblix, the goblin looks up and says, "Be more careful. Healing all gone."
"I always try" - the minotaur smiles at Gribblix - "Thank you my friend"
----------
"Yes Gribblix - let us do what we are here for" - he nods.
Cheyanne's cheer is a bit forced, but when the last wolf falls she does smile and say, "Yay! Well done, everyone!" She looks around to help up those who had been tripped by the predators. "I don't want to stay out in this wind any longer, but should we look for their den? There might be something there...maybe on the way back from the lodge..." Then she lapses back into the quiet sulking endemic of the maddening winds.
Once at the enormous, oversized lodge Cheyanne's eyes open wide in amazement. "Wow...we should be quiet...sneaky..." she whispers as she moves to take point...
,
Glutton looks around for the toothpick and to identify any snoring jotun. She makes no play at being silent saying, "Wow! I've never been in a place this big!"
You come across a normal-sized man sitting at the nearest fire with his feet propped up on a stool, a book in his lap, and a tankard of ale near at hand. When he spots the you, he leaps to his feet, gesticulating wildly and complaining in a fierce whisper, "I knew it; the first decent chance in weeks I get to take a load off my feet and relax for a bit and something's gotta come along and ruin it. Be careful; don't wake up the giants or they'll kill you for sure . . . and they'll make me get back to work."
Cheyanne stares with a mixture of shock and morose despair at the strange man. "We'll be quiet, right everyone?" she says, looking at Glutton-for-Punishment with a serious expression. "I don't really want to die here...um...who are you?"
|
Power rejoices in his ability to lay low the fiendish wolves. "Think on THAT the next time you want to attack innocent journeyers!" he taunts at the dead wolves. The irony that he's taunting corpses doesn't really settle upon him.
At the hall of the giants he wonders if it is a good sign or bad that they are first greeting by a snoring janitor.
"Surely those are both horrible things," he says at the man, not putting in the edge of irony that the statement calls for, trying to help break the ice.
Glutton blows right past being shushed but speaks in her inside voice, "Soooooo... what do they make you do? And uh have you seen any toothpicks around here? We've been told we can't miss it."
"What do I do? Well, I'm the head chef here! And it isn't that bad, only I haven't had a break in ages- eternity cooking away for giants and their dogs- best be quiet or you'll wake up one or the other!"
"A toothpick? Well, that'd be in the kitchen if you were looking for it."
He points you in the direction of the kitchen, urging you again to be quiet. . .
but of course, as you find your way into the kitchen, you come to the problem that it too is on the scale for giants! You'll need to climb atop the cabinet (DC 15 climb check), but you do see a bin marked "Dooth Pitcks" on the counter there. . .
Avesska ignores the harmless lackey, content that the servile individual has given them no trouble, and assistance to boot. Stowing her blade, Avesska attempts the climb. She can barely make purchase on the giant cabinet. She stands aside, sulkily.
[+2 Str, -2 armor]
"A toothpick? Well, that'd be in the kitchen if you were looking for it."
"Thank you for your assistance sir, and well met" - the minotaur nodded at the man - "I am Throrgar" - then followed after the others.
Hoisting himself up, he lowers his rope to assist the others.
Throrgar reaches the top, and lowering down a rope, the rest easily make it to the top.
Inside the cup, you see a variety of largish metal sticks- they do somewhat look like swords rather than toothpicks.
|
|
"Ah! Well it seems that this is something I may finally apply my unique talents at!
In. That really should be 'my unique talents in'," he muses before casting a simple spell.
"Well, now, this should be our quarry," he says, picking out a toothpick.
"Let us away, I dare say!" he says, shimmying back down the rope.
Glutton shakes her head and says quietly, "Not it." But then thinks for a moment, "Hey Throrgar would you kindly carry this?" She unstraps her bulging backpack and offers it to the minotaur. If he carries her pack for her she drags the hulking blade in one hand behind her after wrapping it in a sackcloth.
Before following her comrades, Avesska eyes the “toothpicks” clearly on offer.
Glutton shakes her head and says quietly, "Not it." But then thinks for a moment, "Hey Throrgar would you kindly carry this?"
"Huh... Sure" - the minotaur nods, grabbing Glutton's backpack, and getting ready to follow after the others.
He stops when he sees Avesska exploring - "Anything interesting?" - he whispers.
Gribblix tries to keep everyone quiet as the goblin uses his big ears to hear for movement elsewhere in the castle.
The rest of the toothpicks look to be just that- they would function alternately as great swords, long swords, or short swords, but none are terribly well made or magical other than THE tooth pick.
As you pass the Tooth Pick about, you can tell it is light, and obviously of the highest possible quality, but any of you who are not chaotic in nature feel somewhat LESS when handling it.
As you return to the floor level, you notice a human sized door ahead, near the fire place. . . with the snores of the giants in the other room, it appears a likely place to exit without waking any of them- or the dogs!
Passing through the unlocked doors, you come to what you would describe as a servants or slaves quarters, stocked with several petitioner slaves! But these don't appear to be Pandemonium petitioners. . .
Almost immediately after entering the area, however, you start to feel a sensation in the back of your brain-box, like a cross between a tickle and an interrupted sneeze. This feeling quickly grows in intensity, becoming a painful, relentless squeeze on your brain.
Unconsciousness calls to you like a sweet song of a secret haven, but you resist. You take an involuntary step forward and discover the pain diminishes ever so slightly moving in that direction. . .
Cheyanne quietly keeps watch, obviously concerned about giants ambushing them. Once they confirm they have found their target she smiles a bit and leads the party towards the human-sized door. As she enters and experiences the unnatural assault on her mind she squints her eyes shut for a moment, clenching her teeth against the mental anguish.
As she feels something like a mental wind pushing her forward Cheyanne naturally stands against it, silently berating herself for the first step. "What is this? I don't think we should go in there..."
As you step further into the room, you hear a voice, "Oh dear, it states, "I had no idea that would be so . . . painful for you. Please accept my apology."
Scanning the room, you see a collection of petitioners, including,
A burly man surrounded by what look like kegs of beer
A thin, elvish looking petitioner who is busying himself cleaning wine bottes,
A halfling working on cobbling an oversize giant-ish boot,
A gnome who is currently tuning a crossbow string
A weasel-y and untrustworthy looking fellow at work at a forge
A man dressed in furs who is currently mending a giantish cape
And the cook you met earlier who is now lounging with his feet up in a hammock enjoying himself.
But. . . the voice didn't seem to come from any of them! In fact, it appears to have come from a table at the back of the room with a bundle of books and a cat sitting on it!
Scanning the room, you see a collection of petitioners, including,
A gnome who is currently tuning a crossbow string
Gribblix hides behind the massive Throrgar and hisses distain at the gnome. "HSSSSSSS!!!"
Glutton says somewhat loudly, someone is banging on a forge after all, "Hi! I'm Gluggon-for-Punishment, these are my friends," she goes through introducing each member of the party she caught the name of before. She winks at Gribblix and makes several incomprehensible hand motions before saying, "What did you do to us? What is this place? And not to be rude but how do we leave? We have a very important appointment to keep back in Sigil!"
The cat looks at Gutton and responds, "Nope, it wasn't me."
Suddenly, one of the books -- a particularly large, leather-and-metal-bound specimen flips open, revealing a humanlike face in the gutter between the pages, which otherwise seem to be blank.
"I really am sorry," the book says in a meek voice that you heard before, "I needed to call for help, so I reached out and touched your minds. It's been so long since I've done that, I guess I grabbed too hard. Perhaps some sparkle would make it up to you?"'/b]
[b]"You see, we need a few kind pivers who will take myself and my associate here to the gate-town of Automata. Have you heard of Automata, gate-town to Mechanus? It's still there, isn't it?"
The Cat extends its paw, "I'm Ydemi Jysson, and my associate here is, well, The Book."