"is it me or does it strike anyone else, that him standing on top of a Massive cannon, is a form of over-compensation?" Lora says to her friends.
Bleach grimaces when the Mana Storm rains down on them and turns Lora into a child and Royken into a hulking behemoth. Will he attract the storm's attention by weaving spells? Well, there's only one way to find out.
Eva doesn't think twice before sprinting towards Vewslog.
"Hahaha!"Royken laughs as he grows to massive size, seemingly at Vewslog's expense. "Don't say we f$##ing warned you when you're dead. Though I guess you won't be able to do that, unless Bleach lets you!"
He charges past the leadsmiths toward the diminutive, one-eyed leader and strikes out with his gun.
Royken chargegs in and bashes Vewslog with his gun barrel as Eva darts to try to get past the cyclops and to the pyronite charges.
"Argh! Shoot them!" Vewslog shouts. He steps back before firing his pistols at Eva and Royken, the bullets ricocheting between them as he scores a critical hit on both!
The Leadsmiths fire their dwarven scatterguns, two of them hitting Royken.
HP 40/122
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects:
Royken groans as the guns hit him, more accustomed to being on the other end of scattergun blasts. Still, he's pretty sure if they can take Vewslog down, the other leadsmiths will rapidly lose heart.
Closing in on the diminutive cyclops, he swings again.
The tiny Lora runs after Eva, since the explosives and the Eva are both very important.
Bleach grabs a wight from Urgathoa's cabinet of the macabre and sacks the accursed undead on the mightiest of the dwarves.
While bleeding, Eva knows her target as she dashes past Vewslog for the pyronite charges.
Lora heals Eva while Bleach's summoned wight claws at one of the Leadsmiths.
The mana storm causes one of the Leadsmiths to grow!
Eva makes a break for the pyronite charges, swiftly disabling the fuses and preventing them from exploding! Vewslog growls angrily, but Royken gives him no room to breathe as the shrunken cyclops dodges the giant dwarf's attacks.
Vewslog risks opening himself up to attack as fires point-blank at Royken. The gambit pays off, though, as the bullet hits the fighter in center mass, dropping the giant dwarf! Vewslog smirks, twirls his pistols, and takes the time to reload both of them.
Two of the Leadsmiths move closer to Eva and fire at her.
The Leadsmith the wight attacked shoves it away, reloads, and shoots the undead. The other one nearby does the same.
"Hells and Bells!" Lora stops running after Eva and focuses her magic on getting Royken back up.
Bleach directs his minion to continue the assault. He himself however struggles with what to do next. The enemy is too spread out for a sanguine mist, plus, the spell would demand his concentration. Perhaps when the wight is sent back to Urgathoa's closet ...
Instead of the mist, he opts for a simple heat metal spell.
Eva pulls the pyronite from the Maw's muzzle and lets them fall on the ground far below. "Your plan is dead, Vewslog." Eva states as she turns livid at him. "You may defeat us or not, it changes nothing for you... the pyronite is gone and the Maw can fire again. This invasion will not succeed and you'll be the one to take the fall."
She then moves past the cyclops, turns and then pushes him as hard as she can, hoping to make him fall off the Maw.
HP 33/122
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects: wounded 1
"F~*! me" Royken growls as he grabs his gun and stands up and swings again at Vewslog. He may die, but he'll take this stupid one-eyed bastard down with him!
Bleach superheats one Leadsmith's gun. The dwarf drops it to avoid being badly burned, and the summoned wight lands a blow on him.
The mana storm's size-changing effects strike! Bleach shrinks to the size of a gnome, as does Vewslog, the formerly towering cyclops now barely over three feet tall. One of the Leadsmiths becomes small, one who had been enlarged shrinks back to his normal height, while the other enlarged one grows even bigger, towering over the battlefield!
Eva moves in and slams Vewslog, shoving the shrunken cyclops off the edge of the Maw of Rovagug's barrel! With a flash of insight, he manages to grab a hold of the edge to prevent himself from plummeting to the ground!
Royken gets up and bashes Vewslog's fingers with his gun's stock.
Vewslog hauls himself back up onto the Maw's barrel, then fires point-blank at Royken again. He narrowly misses the dwarf, then he reloads.
Two Leadsmiths drop their scatterguns and draw clubs as they move to attack Royken.
The other Leadsmiths attack the wight, not quite finishing it off.
HP 10/122
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects: wounded 1
"For f$&&'s sake, little man, know when you're beaten. Give up before I have to kill you!" He swings wildly to make a point -- that he could have shoved the cyclops off the gun if he'd wanted.
But when Vewslog doesn't respond to his suggestion, Royken continues to batter away.
Royken's furious assault shoves the shrunken Vewslog all the way down the Maw of Rovagug's barrel and off the edge! The cyclops manages to catch himself again, but he is left dangling once more!
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As Vewslog flies towards the mouth of the Maw, Eva follows to make sure he is done. He isn't, but she smiles nevertheless.
"So you did lack foresight in the end, Mr. Vewslog." With that, she brings her fist down on the cyclop's fingers.
"NOOOOooooooooo...!" Vewslog cries as he falls down, down, down, until he hits the ground far, far below. His body is twisted at an awkward angle and he lies still as the army of ogres and other giants continues its approach.
The other Leadsmiths hesitate, but they know they will face hanging if their treachery is discovered, so they appear committed to finishing the fight!
With the one-eyed bastard out of the picture, Bleach directs all of his attention to the remaining dwarves. He directs his minion to savage the oversized dwarf and then conjures a life-draining mist.
Lora lets out a WHOOPING cheer, even gives a jump. Her wicked grin turns on the remaining smiths "Depth perception was his down fall, I think." she waves her hand and more of Royken's wounds magically disappear. And they all feel insiired.
Bleach's wight hits and drain the enlarged Leadsmith, who also suffers from the sanguine mist. The other dwarf resists the spell.
The mana storm restores both Lora and Royken to their original sizes, as well as one of the enlarged Leadsmiths.
One Leadsmith bashes the wight twice, finally taking it down. He moves up the barrel, as does the enormous dwarf. The dwarf swings on Lora.
The remaining Leadsmiths move up to attack Royken.
Eva turns and smiles. "And the stars align..." She says as she cranks her arm and sends a huge bolt towards the dwarves who were so kind to stay in a straight line.
After getting shocked with the recoil, she overdrives her arm, getting ready to join Royken.
HP 39/122
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects: wounded 1
"Fuuuuuck! That's a big f&&&ing dwarf!" Royken says as he focuses his attention on the closer two.
He glares at the one in the yellow shirt, then sets about bludgeoning him.
Lora's grin disappears as it is literally smashed off her face. Her head whips down, the lip gets split. Fury is in her eyes when they shoot back at the basher, forcing him to the ground. Then she shoots him.
The wight disappears after suffering another brutal beatdown, but the mist remains. It tugs and pulls at the life essence of those foolish enough to linger in it.
Bleach blasts the huge dwarf with a ray of frost, then Lora trips him and shoots him!
The mana storm causes Bleach to shrink and Eva to grow! Eva unleashes a crackling lightning bolt that finishes off the huge Leadsmith and wounds two others.
Royken demoralizes and bashes one of the foes fighting him. The three remaining Leadsmiths strike back, hitting Lora once and Royken twice.
It is rare for Lora to be in a fight, and she does not find getting punched fun. As she quickly reloads her gun, she tries to make him run away
HP 39/122
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects: wounded 1
"Bloody hell, don't you know you're done?" Royken growls, continuing his assault on the green-wearing Leadsmith.
With the dwarves running out of the mist, Bleach stops sustaining the spell as he's got no means of moving the blood-sucking fog. Instead, he moves on up and casts a gust of wind, hoping to knock over some of the dwarves.
Eva moves forward to deal with the stubborn dwarves. Just dwarves... saying they are stubborn is a given.
While one of the Leadsmiths resists Bleach's gust of wind, the other one is knocked off his feet and sent flying off the edge of the Maw of Rovagug! He screams as he plummets to the ground far below, impacting with bone-crushing force.
Lora's spell leaves the dwarf fighting her frightened, but he stands his ground. Royken and Eva both land a hit on the other one, who shrinks thanks to the mana storm!
The two remaining Leadsmiths attack. One hits Lora, but it is only a light blow.
Eva keeps punching the dwarf, not oblivious to the fact that the poor fellow is barely the size of one of her breasts at the moment.
AC 26
Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +14 (bravery)
Hero points: 3
Ammo: 48 rounds
Effects: wounded 1
As Eva bashes down the dwarf right in front of him, Royken growls and dashes over to the last Leadfoot. He swings wildly, hoping to scare the dwarf into giving up.
"Now you are in trouble" the bruised bard informs the dwarf that just won't die "OUR dwarf is here, and he eats dwarves like you for breakfast" she lifts her gun up to shoot him, but then pauses "But not in a sexual way. Not that you are not ruggedly handsome, You are! but just I don't think you are his type..." she realizes she is going on a little too long and then shoots.
Your attacks take down both of the remaining Leadsmiths! You have little time to celebrate, however, as the army of giants continues its march on the Gunworks. The majority of the enemy horde is still in the distance, but an advance war band is approaching fast. The Gunworks’ shieldmarshals are still fighting off other ogre warriors on the rampart below the Maw of Rovagug, but the cannon itself needs defending. Fortunately, you can use the cannon to your advantage...
The Maw of Rovagug can be used to target any point within 100 miles, affecting a 60-foot burst around the point of impact. The damage dealt by the Maw of Rovagug depends on the number of successful checks the crew rolls while firing the cannon. For each successful check, the cannon deals 2d6 fire and 2d6 bludgeoning damage; these amounts are doubled for critically successful checks. For example, if the crew succeeds at all nine checks to fire the cannon, it deals 18d6 fire and 18d6 bludgeoning damage in a 60-foot burst. Firing the cannon occurs in three phases, with each phase requiring three DC 22 skill checks. Following are suggested skills for each phase of firing the cannon, but feel free to allow the characters to use different skills or class abilities if it seems appropriate.
Load Ammo (Crafting, Engineering Lore, Thievery): The crew must swivel the firing platform (which can rotate the cannon 360 degrees) and return the cannon to a neutral position so they can load a shell from the ammo hatch. This process entails operating many complex levers and controls.
Ignite Cannon (Arcana, Crafting, Nature, Occultism, Religion): The crew must measure, distribute, and ignite a complex system of alchemical charges, timing the blast to occur at precisely the right moment.
Aim Cannon (Engineering Lore, Perception, Warfare Lore): The crew must swivel the firing platform and adjust the angle of the cannon to strike their target. If the crew doesn’t succeed at any checks during this stage, the cannon misses its attack entirely, dealing no damage.
As the characters are operating the cannon, in the distance they can see that one hill giant in the approaching horde has grown to enormous size under the influence of the mana storm. The giant grows larger each round, becoming Gargantuan by the time they reach the Gunworks.
Each time the characters fire the cannon, a deafening boom shakes the stonework of the entire citadel and a blinding flash lights up the terrain for miles around. Using the cannon, the characters can scatter the approaching horde by dealing a total of 250 damage to it within 3 rounds. This disbands the horde and routs the advance war party. Alternatively, if the party can score just one direct hit on the approaching Gargantuan hill giant, the horde immediately breaks and flees. Scoring a direct hit on the hill giant requires the characters to achieve three critical successes during the Aim Cannon phase.
"Hadi, we need you!"
The words linger in the air for they haven't been spoken in a long, long time. The cat, however, doesn't linger and immediately bursts into action. Hadi has a pair of opposable thumbs, after all, and he's been far too busy twiddling them.
Lora looks out into the sea of enermies, each larger than the last. In different circumstances, she might make a statement about maybe picking the wrong side, but she HATES Lovelace, so she doesn't.
Instead she sighs, letting a weariness settle over her. So much fighting, and it never seems to stop. She only lets that feeling rest on her for a few seconds, then shakes it off. "This thing isn't going to fire itself." the bard announces.
She hurries over to the huge ammunition, helping lug the massive round over to the back, while making a rather inappropriate joke while loading it. Then moves to where Bleach is figuring out the charges to fire.
Eva sees Loro going for the ammo, so she rushes after her. "Oh, this will be pretty interesting..."
With Bleach's help´, they manage to quickly load the Maw, so the next thing would be to ignite it. Once again, Lora and Bleach were already on it.
The sight of a dim smoke puts a smile on Eva's face. "It is ready to fire!"
Royken growls as he gets to work.
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With a deafening boom and a huge flash of light, the Maw of Rovagug fires its ordinance across the battlefield! It impacts in the midst of the giant horde, the huge detonation slays a large swath of them! Their advance is disrupted, but they continue to come!
Giant parts go flying, and Lora WHOOPS in excitement, then quickly hurries for the second shot.
The massive shells prove too much for Lora's noodle arms, and for a moment, as it crashes to the floor, she worries they are all dead now. A few thundering heartbeats later, they are not, and she hurries over to help with igniting.
Bleach and Hadi help Lora to prepare the cannon, but while Bleach has gotten the hang of it, Hadi is hampered by his size. Aiming this blasted monstrosity ain't easy when you're a cat!
Eva is awed and scared by the sheer damage of the Maw and thus is somewhat distracted as she helps to load, ignite and aim the second round.
Royken muscles the load into the Maw, but he's distracted as he gazes out at the damage of the first shot.
The Maw of Rovagug gives another deafening retort as it fires into the horde of giants! A massive explosion slays a huge swath of the foes, breaking the morale of the few survivors. They turn and flee back into the Mana Wastes!
A cheer goes up from the shieldmarshals along the ramparts of the Gunworks!
Royken growls for a minute. Then he raises his hands and claps a few times, pointing to his companions.
He can't help but think he'd love a gun like that for himself, even if it did require a lot of help to fire. But when it hit ... !
Eva lets herself slide against the wall of the cannon. "That was... for the Gods, that was insane. Loveless will have a hard time to sell that this gun is not enough to protect Alkenstar."
Lora leans over the railing, the wind whipping her hair and skirts alike. "How many giants do you think we took out? One hundred? Two? If this wasn't war, we'd be... horrible people." Even with that sobering announcement, Lora seemed rather elated.