"Sir Alfric," Daymar suggested, "change of plan. You and your steed will likely wish to charge one of the pairs on the road. The pair to the North is closest. You should take Levn and Basdemar with you to help finish them off swiftly. I can confidently keep the Southern pair busy alone. Kellen? Can you delay the final pair? If not, I shall handle them as well, while you help the others finish off the first pair. Whatever you do, you must do it swiftly."
Kellen will activate Flight, and wing toward the western pair attempting to slow them when he can.
Basdemar listens to the explanation of the spell effects and grins.
"I can get the western ones. They will not move as quickly as I can without the road. You deal with the others. Darkness can help me, but is not necessary."
Levn sighed as the others sped off. Jerking his chin to the north, he turned to Alfric. "Shall we?"
The Green Knight slammed his great helm down and leapt into his saddle on Avalanche. Lifting his lance and unfurling his knight's banner, he turned to Levn and nodded.
"Let's go."
Daymar flew up into the night, throwing magic at the southern pair.
The easternmost of the pair started coughing and gagging, and the one whose torch suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke dropped it in surprise.
Skimming just over the ground, Kellen launched himself toward the westernmost pair of giants. In response, he got a pair of rocks as big as Avalanche's chest thrown at him.
The first one missed as Kellen swept past a tree, but the sound of the tree exploding at the force of the missile was an extremely loud reminder of just how strong these monsters were.
To the south, the giant to the east retched and scrubbed at its eyes as it stumbled toward the caravan.
Alfric and Avalanche bravely charged north and Basdemar ran west, scrambling up the hill and getting into the heavy brush at the edge of the torchlight.
A storm of enormous rocks rained down on the group. In the north, their targets were the oxen pulling the first wagon.
One of the oxen took a heavy blow, staggering under the impact of the huge, fast missile and bleating a wailing cry at the sudden, unexpected pain.
The giant with the smoking torch dropped the suddenly sparking, hissing, smoking torch and launched a rock at Daymar as he made a target of himself. Luckily the rock missed and crunched into the wagon under him instead, making the crossbowman leap for safety.
A rock that had been meant for an ox flew high and smashed into the crossbowman standing on the back of the wagon's chest, instantly dropping him.
Either Kellen's luck didn't hold out or the giant with the female on the hilltop to the west just had better aim, because Kellen got hit hard as he zoomed toward his targets.
The wagonneers started moving to assist streaming north and south to form up on the road, and the crossbowmen returned fire, though their heavy crossbows were barely a blip in the face of those rocks.
A few bolts flew true but given the distance none of them had the power to punch through the giants' thick hides.
One of the giants had managed to stagger out of the cloud, Daymar noted. That was mildly annoying, but given its condition upon doing so, he thought the crossbowmen could keep it busy for a moment while he moved to a more advantageous position. With an effort of will, Daymar put everything he had into speed, and flew like an arrow towards the forming line of caravaneers to the South.
EDIT: LOL, I will need +30 modifier for stealth with these kind of rolls
Levn ran as fast as he could north - which, with Daymar's magic, was pretty damn fast. Instead of running into the open, he ducked behind a massive boulder, ready to repeat the run after catching his breath for a second.
Kellen wings forward, head reeling from the stone's attack on him, blinking his eyes in the night and to clear them, he invokes the spirits once again, wrapping the western hill giants in a fog of noxious consistency.
Daymar streaked toward his targets to the south in the sky while Levn did the same on the ground to the north.
Kellen summoned a cloud of choking, reeking vapors on the hill to the west.
Hill giant stomachs were made of stronger stuff than what Kellen was used to, though, and both brutes just covered their noses and moved out of the stinking area. The female stomped down the hillside, muttering to herself and pulling something out of the pouch slung over her flopping belly that she immediately wolfed down.
To the south, the giant that had taken the brunt of Daymar's smoke cloud shook his head to clear the tears out of his eyes and rushed the line of pathetically tiny men making a stand at the back of the caravan.
"RAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!" The hill giant pounded toward the guards, smashing into the two in the middle that he knocked them off the ground and into the back of the heavily laden wagon. The sound when they hit that unyielding wood was a lot like dropping a slab of meat on the floor.
The two men to either side were so surprised by the sudden onslaught that they couldn't hit even such a massive target.
At this point, Alfric shook his knights pennon free at the shaft of his lance, the green banner of the knight heartening his allies.
Then he stood up in his stirrups and cried “CHAAAAAARRRGGGEEEE!” and Avalanche took off north in a blur of thundering hooves. (Charge Move 160’)
When close enough, Alfric leveled his lance at Giant 1 and called out his Challenge.
”FOR THE GREEEEEEENNN!!!”
for a possible piercing damage.
Sir Alfric and Avalanche boldly galloped up the line and past the first wagon at one of the northern giants, pennon streaming behind as the brave duo charged through the night. The knight's lance struck true, claiming first blood as it punched through thick hide and fat to tear a chunk out of the huge monster's flank.
Bas slinked through the underbrush to the west, following in Kellen's wake.
Alfric's opponent bellowed in sudden pain and slammed its huge fists down on the knight, ignoring the tree trunk-sized club tied at its hip.
Both fists- each the size of Avalanche's head- connected, badly hurting Sir Alfric.
The giant's partner came in swinging, roaring a challenge of his own and swiping his club at the knight.
The enormous club- most of a small tree, really- smashed into Sir Alfric like battering ram.
At the other end of the caravan, the giant that had avoided the worst of Daymar's choking smoke moved a little closer and launched a rock at the men harassing its companion.
The guard was moving around too much, though, and the rock sailed into the hill giant instead. "RAARGH!" The huge raider brandished his club at the rock thrower, who gave an unconcerned grunt in response.
To the west, the giant still on the hilltop fired off another rock at Kellen.
He connected again, smashing another huge stone into the flying shaman.
The crossbowmen launched another flight of heavy bolts but again none of them connected, due to the distance.
While the guards to the north formed up, the men to the south spread out to harry their giant from every side.
One guard nearly crushed the giant's windpipe with the end of his iron-banded flail, and another smacked the monster in the back so hard it sounded like a tree branch snapping in two. That giant, tears streaming from his eyes, hurt badly, and surrounded on all sides by surprisingly ferocious enemies half his size, was starting to look desperate.
Kellen, reeling again from the impact of the boulder, retreats from the giants and attempts to find some cover behind some rocks between them and the caravan. Settled in, he quickly casts a spell on himself to heal the damage he's taken from the stones of the giants.
Edit:
Watching another boulder arcing (and hitting!) Kellen
"This will take forever!" thinks Basdemar as he speeds up, dark forest hiding him as well as he could hope for.
Only at the edge of the forest he slows down again, not willing to take the boulder in the face.
Seeing the guards had one of the giants at a disadvantage, but knowing how quickly things could change, Daymar took steps to be sure the beast couldn't get his feet under him - figuratively or literally. Flying a bit closer, he spoke words of power, and three green-white darts of energy streaked towards the giant, impacting unerringly, and with significant power.
"Timber!" Daymar couldn't help himself.
While small, Daymar's energy darts smashed into the hill giant's chest with incredible force, knocking the huge raider off his feet and onto his back. He started to scramble up to his feet.
The guards slammed their flails down onto the vulnerable giant in a rain of steel. While he fought and struggled, the giant was unable to regain his feet and eventually slumped to the dirt. The guards cheered and turned toward the other southern giant, grinning and flush with their victory.
Basdemar sped up and squeezed through the underbrush toward the western giants. The closest one- the female- raised her face to the dark sky and roared, hitting herself on the head and clearly psyching herself up as the kobold got closer.
Ears ringing and hurt from the exchange, The Green Knight lunged out with his ten foot lance at number 1...
for a possible piercing damage.
Then in a blur of movement wheeled Avalanche around to dash back towards the wagons 80 feet and stopped.
Stupid, stupid... We should have all ganged up on them one at a time. I won't last another round of this unless I can switch things up a bit... He thought, looking around for an advantage.
He considered the long stretch of roadway before and behind the giants.
Yeah... He thought, resolve forming.
Even unnaturally fast as he was, Levn wasn't quite able to reach the giants - at least, not without going alone, which he had no intent of after seeing what had happened to Alfric. He ducked to the side again, taking cover behind the trees, only peeking out to study the movements of the nearest of the giants.
He didn't blame Alfric for turning back, but he didn't like the idea of fielding a boulder or two alone one bit.
His opponent badly hurt, the Green Knight wheeled away in good order and made a strategic retreat back to friendly lines.
The experienced horseman easily avoided the huge monsters spiteful swipes at his back.
Grievously wounded, Alfric's opponent pulled out another rock and launched it at the knight rather than close to risk further pain.
Woozy with pain and reeling from the shock of Sir Alfric's brave and sudden charge, the giant's missile went wide, exploding against the boulder over the green knight's shoulder.
Seeing the damage the knight had done to his partner, the other northern giant clambered up the slope to the east and fired off a rock at Alfric.
A rock that also went whistling overhead into the dark.
To the south, the other giant, wary of its companion's fate, moved closer but stayed in the dark and launched another rock at the little humans who had just cut down his partner.
He missed, though, and muttered some curses in Giant instead of splattering his target against the wagon.
To the west, seeing their target fly away, the giant on the hill scrambled and slid down the hillside in pursuit, getting to the edge of the wooded area just as Basdemar started looking for someplace to take cover. For the moment, the stealthy kobold was clearly illuminated.
Another flight of crossbow bolts shot out of the caravan, with one actually managing to do a small bit of damage this time.
Moving in ordered ranks, the northern squad of guards moved forward to engage the wounded giant while another group prepared to make a last stand just ahead of the northernmost wagon.
The southern guards, flush with their victory, streamed toward their still-standing opponent with much less discipline.
One of the first to reach the giant took a heavy blow as he rushed, unwary, to flank the creature and was smashed to the ground.
Kellen, seeing the giants on the north end and gauging Alfric's retreat, wings that way to provide support for the brave knight and the soldiers on that flank.
Hang in there Alfric, I'm coming...
Daymar winced as the incautious guardsman was smashed, but there was little he could do for the man. Instead, the flying elf repeated the gestures and words of power he'd used to topple the first giant, sending three more green-white darts of force slamming into this opponent, hoping to knock it down as well, and giving the fallen guard's companions a chance to exact some revenge.
At this point, The Green Knight saw his opportunity when Giant 2 separated from Giant 1. He shouted at the northern guards to make way and shook his knights pennon, the green banner of the knight heartening his allies.
Then he stood up in his stirrups and cried “CHAAAAAARRRGGGEEEE!” and Avalanche took off north in a hasted blur of thundering hooves. (Charge Move 160’)
When close enough, Alfric leveled his lance at Giant 1 and called out his Challenge.
”FOR THE GREEEEEEENNN!!!”
for a possible ()x2 =>40 piercing damage.
Lancing his target like in a jousting tournament, he rode by him (dodging any AoO) and up the road beyond another 80 feet before slowing to a stop and turning around.
Seeing his chance, Levn dashed out into the field again, churning dirt toward the nearest giant. His unnaturally long arm reached far into the giant's personal space, wielding his belt-turned-thornblade.
D'OH
To the south, Daymar's magical darts once again knocked his huge target onto its back with a thundering crash.
The giant started to scramble back up to his feet and the guards once again took the opportunity to try to kill it before it could stand.
None of them managed to do any damage and the giant swiped his greatclub backhanded at one.
Even not at full strength, the massive club crushed the guard to the ground, killing another brave defender.
To the north, Levn darted out with his magically enhanced speed and lashed out with his thornblade but couldn't pierce the giant's thick, dirty hide.
The guards scrambled out of Sir Alfric's way and the knight once again made a brave charge at his enormous opponent. The hill giant tried to swat the lance away but Avalanche was just too fast. Alfric tore a bloody chunk out of the giant's flank and kept riding as the giant spun, off balance and looking near death, woozy from the shock.
He stumbled away, attempting to retreat from the murderous merchant myrmidions.
Seeing the battle not going their way, the other giant to the north started moving north along the ridge, shadowing his limping companion and with a rock in his hands ready to throw at pursuers.
To the west, the female giant grinned unpleasantly at Basedemar and reached down to grab the kobold.
She picked the black scaled kobold completely up off the ground, her grip even stronger than Bas could have predicted.
Having misjudged his enemy once, Levn didn't intend to do so again. He whirled around the giant, his blade flicking out with uncanny grace and precision as he sought to hamstring the creature and bring it down.
Basdemar snarls as he is bodily picked up.
Attack mods +1 haste -4 grappled (-4 dex and -2 attack) - if these are not cumulative add 2 to all rolls
Damage mods: if the giantess is flat-footed because of the grapple add 2 to all damage
- add this if any two of the above hit
Bas goes into a fury, biting, slashing and otherwise hitting the hand holding him. While not his best performance by any means, deep gauges are left along the whole width of the hand and wrist holding him.
His muzzle bloody, snarls at the woman
"Unhand me and flee! I'll cut you to ribbons before you approach the caravan!"
Levn darted in as the wounded giant turned to run and sliced open the back of both knees in one swipe. It was hard to hear over the creature's bellow of pain, but the sound of the tendons snapping was clearly audible to anyone standing close enough.
Seeing the ferocious humans defend their wagons with more skill and fervor than they were expecting, the dead giant's companion stomped off into the scrub to the west, heading toward the female and its companion.
Basdemar went into a mad fury of claws, teeth, and tail knives as he tried to free himself from the giant's huge hand but only one of his claws had enough strength to penetrate her thick, stinking hide. Her smile- already uncomfortable enough- turned into a grin and she actually spoke to the kobold in passable Common. "Cute baby lizard. Don't scratch momma."
Her companion stepped up and swiped his club at Basdemar's head as he tried to bite the female.
Basdemar got his bell rung from the first swipe and only the female's reflexive flinch kept the well aimed club from landing again. She roared at the male in Giant and he roared back, sounding somewhat apologetic.
Another flight of crossbow bolts whistled out at the giants.
While a couple bolts landed, again none did any damage due to the distance and the giants' thick hides.
The guards crowded around the harried giant to the south, ignoring their fallen companions for the moment. Again, one of them was too eager and faced the giant's club as he took his eyes off the huge monster for a second.
The man's head was virtually caved into his shoulders as the giant slammed the huge club right down on top of him.
Kellen continues his breakneck flight toward the knight and Levn, as he wings overhead of the lines of guards, he says, Excuse me gents, coming overhead! Finally he gets close enough to the melee with the two others, that he hangs out in the area of a tree, attempting (poorly) to stay out of sight of the giants, and not become more of a target for their giant rocks.
This was beginning to get annoying for Daymar. The giant was too quick to get back to its feet. Well then, he had an answer for that.
Flying closer - closer than he really preferred, in fact - Daymar dipped his fingers into the pouch at his waist, touching a small smear of butter, which he flicked at the giant below him, along with a few choice words - some of which were magical, all of which were in Draconic.
In short order, the ground under the giant's feet was covered in a slick, greasy substance that seemed to ooze out of the ground itself.
"That should keep it down for a while," he called down to the guards, "watch your feet, if it stands up, don't let it maneuver. Knock it down again and finish it!"
Alfric galloped back down to where Kellen was, then stood up in the saddle to see what was going on elsewhere in the battlefield.
"Where is help needed?" He asked the others there.
The giant slipped on Daymar's summoned grease and went down hard.
To the west, as Basdemar continued struggling the female hill giant frowned ferociously and slapped him with one huge hand.
She chided the black scaled kobold. "Baby lizard stop biting momma!"
"You'll just eat me! Which is better than throwing me high, I'm afraid of heights even in your hands! Let me go!"
[OOC]roll 24 with claw hits for 12
Not wanting to pursue the remaining hill giant as it fled west, Levn ran south toward the sounds of battle.
Bas savaged the female giant's hand, tearing into her tough skin with tail and claw.
Her companion gave her a look that held more than a hint of fear and instead of smacking the kobold again he pulled out a flagon-sized wooden vial and guzzled down a potion, yelling and throwing the giant-sized vial on the ground and smashing it to splinters.
The southern giant getting pounded by flails stood up gingerly and swatted at the guards in between him and the path south.
One of them managed to hit the giant in a vulnerable spot but had to watch as two more of his friends were killed by the giant's tree-sized club.
More crossbows twanged.
All of them missed their mark, though one bolt from up near the front of the caravan harmlessly lodged in the giant's shoulder.
Grimly continuing their fight, now fighting for vengeance, the southern guards rained down a hail of blows on the precarious giant.
One of them managed to draw blood when the giant's attention was on one of his companions. The giant's bellow sounded more frustrated than hurt, like he was leaving only to get away from an annoyance rather than fleeing from lethal enemies.
Kellen will hold his hand over Alfric, curing the knight before winging off into the darkness to find Bas...
Daymar grumbled to himself in Elvish as the giant managed to get to its feet. He'd explicitly told the caravaneers not to allow that, and now more of them were dying than was necessary. On the other hand, the sounds coming from where he'd last seen Basdemar and Kellen heading were not promising. To stay and help keep a few caravaneers alive? Or go see if he could help the reptile (who had ignored Daymar's perfectly sound tactical advice and gotten himself into his own predicament)?
In the end, Daymar reasoned that the rest of the group was closer to Basdemar than he was, and could provide more timely assistance. And that preserving more lives was the more efficient use of his resources. After all, Basdemar wasn't going to pull the lumber.
That decision made, Daymar pulled a largish pearl from his pocket, spoke a word in Draconic, and concentrated. After a moment, he felt the magic flowing through him, and the ability to re-cast one of his spells was his.
"It is attempting to flee!" he called down to the caravaneers. I would suggest teaching it a lesson, but not getting between it and an exit, should it choose discretion."
Alfric breathed a sigh of relief as Kellen healed him.
Spotting Bas in trouble, The Green Knight wheeled Avalanche about and raced down the stony hill in a blur of hasted movement, turned south and raced alongside the stalled wagon train, then up the natural ramp to the western escarpment.
The female hill giant shouted in surprise at Bas shredding her hand and crushed him cruelly in her fist then tossed kobold out into the dark. "Oww! Bad baby lizard!"
Back at the caravan, Levn continued to dash south to help the beleaguered at the other end of the line of wagons. The remaining giant at that end of the road spitefully grabbed two of the downed guards and trudged south.
"Hey!" and "Stop!" and "He's got Willem and Matrick!" followed from the guards as they surged to bring it down before it could escape.
In their fury at their comrades bodies being stolen, most of the guards managed to find their marks, raining down a storm of bloody blows. One of the guards got in a solid whack on the giant's kidney, drawing a groan of pain that shocked the giant into a gallop to get away.
To the west, the female's companion muttered to her as she shook out her hand. She muttered back and he spitefully tossed a rock at the caravan, apparently trying to kill another of the oxen.
It fell far short, though, clattering down the hillside between Basdemar and Sir Alfric.