You enter Stormreach from the north, passing what appears to be the House Deneith compound to your right. A small canal is crossed via a newly re-cobbled bridge. Barrak leads you through several huge archways that connect various plazas in the city.
In the plaza ahead of you, you see a large outdoor bazaar, full of merchants hawking various wares, while what appears to be an inn lies just past the square.
Those who have been to Stormreach in the past recognize the inn as the Chapterhouse, a joint venture of House Phiarlan and Hous Ghallanda.
Before you reach the bazaar, Barrak takes a right and approaches an old giant building, surrounded by a stone wall of newer, human construction. Several armed men stand guard at the gate. They immediately notice him and allow him, and the rest of you, to pass unimpeded.
You are lead through the gate, towards the main building in the enclave area, several smaller, human built buildings skirt the large central building. Banners depicting large Dragonne's pour forth from some of the upper windows, draping the large entry-way.
Once under the banners and into the building, you realize that you are in a great hall, built by giants. You would guess it to be roughly 150' long and 60' wide, with the ceiling being at 30' tall. Two row of giant windows line each wall, with enormous skylights illuminating the the hall. Benches, desks and seating areas dot the area -- it appears that this hall serves several functions -- mustering, planning, ops, and training, to say the least.
Currently there is constant activity in the room, with groups of humans and half-orcs coming and going.
One creature stands out from the rest -- larger than the largest half-orc in the room, it appears to be between 7 and 8 feet tall, with an imposing physique. All across its exposed skin, you notice small coin-sized raised skin growths. You are able to determine that it is a 'he' and he currently is eyeing the doorway as if awaiting someone to arrive, some 30' from you.
Barrak stops briefly,"There," he points to an cordoned off area towards the back left corner of the hall,"Nardon is expecting you, and has prepared the members of House Tharashk that will accompany you into the jungle. They will have all of the details you need before you set out."
Void and Davan
You hear the sound of broken glass amid all of the hustle and bustle in the room. As you look up, you see the source of the sound -- one of the skylights has had a corner broken out of it.
You see a small, glowing bead thrown by an unseen hand hurdle across the great hall, towards the group gathering in the back left corner.
The massive figure looks up as the group enters, and rumbles a greeting. "Ahhh, you must be the ones from across the ocean, I've been waiting for you." Tramping over, causing the floor to rattle slightly, he extends one mountainous hand. "I'm Lo-Kag, and I'll be your guide. If there's giants to be found, I'll find 'em."
__________________ "Paranoia is a lot like life insurance. Annoying, expensive, and rarely needed. And like life insurance, if you need it and you don't have it, it's too late already."
"This makes no sense at all. Your DM needs to be shot. With a hammer."
-quote from the Wizards web board
The massive figure looks up as the group enters, and rumbles a greeting. "Ahhh, you must be the ones from across the ocean, I've been waiting for you." Tramping over, causing the floor to rattle slightly, he extends one mountainous hand. "I'm Lo-Kag, and I'll be your guide. If there's giants to be found, I'll find 'em."
Darv bows to this enormous figure, trying not to stare. A goliath! Fascinating....
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my friend, and an honor besides!"
Lo-Kag grins fiercely and grabs Dreadnought's hand, shaking it in greeting. "Ah can only offer you them as I don't get to first, but it's always a pleasure to have company."
__________________ "Paranoia is a lot like life insurance. Annoying, expensive, and rarely needed. And like life insurance, if you need it and you don't have it, it's too late already."
"This makes no sense at all. Your DM needs to be shot. With a hammer."
-quote from the Wizards web board
Is Davan close enough to use detect magic? It has a 60ft range.
OnlytheStrong and Void
The glowing bead was thrown from the broken window 1/2 way down the great hall (150' long by 60' wide) towards the far back left corner. You're still about 120' away from there, and cannot see the glowing bead anymore. (You assume that it hit the ground and bounced/rolled towards its destination) Too many people and pieces of furniture/equipment are blocking your line of sight at this point.
Davan grabs Dreadnought, "Something is going on here. Please, come with me." Davan motions for him to follow as he heads toward where the bead disappeared.
Asenfel follows the group from the airship docks to the compound in silence, floating about an inch off the ground.
Quote:
"I'm Lo-Kag, and I'll be your guide. If there's giants to be found, I'll find 'em."
Asenfel smiles a wicked little smile in response. "Then we shall get along well indeed, Lo-Kag. I am Asenfel. I hunt giants. If they're lucky, I kill them."
Morph cocks his head at the large humanoid. That would be an interesting form to take...very...powerful. I am Morph, the robed warforged says. Morph looks confused as the other warforged walks away rather urgently
"There is a broken piece of glass in one of the skylights above us. When I noticed that, I noticed a small glowing pebble that came flying as if someone had thrown it through the hole in the glass. I want to see what that pebble was." Davan said some a certain since of urgency. He presses on toward the area he saw the pebble drop.
Dreadnought clamps his metal and wood pincers around Davan's arm.
"Nothing good ever came of glowing magic stones thrown in from the outside," he says grimly.
Then he says much louder, "Everyone in the corner over there! Evacuate immediately! Rise from your tables and move towards the door in an orderly, but rapid fashion!"
Davan shakes his head, "No my friend. That cannot be done. Panic spreads and all reason is lost. Remember friend, these are humans. Humans act irrationally when confronted with danger. My friend, keeping this small secret aids our cause."
The warforged warrior's words spill out into the great hall, immediately drawing attention and turning heads. The large hall goes silent as the various members of the house turn and stare.
Moments later, an explosion of flame erupts from the far corner of the Great Hall. The force of the blast hits you a split second before the low roar reaches your ears.
After the initial blast subsides, you notice that the blast has knocked a hole it the back wall, along with blowing out most of the nearby windows. Several flaming, unmoving bodies can be seen on the ground in the corner, while on the periphery, several bodies can be seen rolling on the ground, trying to extinguish their flames.
Chaos has erupted. Shouts and yells for assistance echo throughout the hall. Several people bump into your group as they scramble out.
A large Tharashk response team runs in through the front door and surrounds an imposing looking half-orc about 60' from your position. You can overhear the man barking orders and the men disperse, some searching for survivors, while the rest start fighting the fire that has broken out. You see Barrak approach your group, amid all of the chaos and carnage, you did not notice he departure.
Barrak says tersely,"We need to get out of here, now. Follow me."
He leads you outside of the Great Hall.
"I hope that you are all ok."
"I'm afraid I need to ask you to leave now, for we are locking the compound down while we investigate how this happened and determine the number of casualties."
"My apologies," Dreadnought intones. "I would have acted sooner, but I did not see the device enter the building. I will of course cooperate fully with the investigation."
With that, he trudges away...his demeanor somewhat downcast, at least from the slower tromp of his feet, and the slight slump of his shoulders.
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
