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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7175875" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 61</p><p></p><p>For a moment, the adventurers could only stare up at the massive giant in overwhelmed horror. For all its size the creature moved ponderously, and now that it was in full view they could see that it was injured. Dried blood covered its arms and torso, and half-healed scars crisscrossed its bare chest. The broken shaft of an arrow jutted from one bicep, the missile like a tiny sliver against its bulk.</p><p></p><p>But wounded or no, the cyclops was still a dangerous foe. As it took one more slow step toward them both Kosk and Bredan stepped forward, the dwarf spinning his staff, the smith unfastening his baldric with trembling fingers. But before either could launch themselves at the giant Quellan grabbed hold of both of them.</p><p></p><p>“We cannot defeat this foe! Run!”</p><p></p><p>Kosk shook off the half-orc’s grasp, but the delay had given Glori an opportunity to walk past all of them toward the creature. “Glori, no!” Bredan yelled.</p><p></p><p>Glori did not stop or look back. The cyclops looked down at her, the bard seeming pathetically frail in contrast to the giant. But before it could decide whether to stomp her or smash her with its club she took up her lyre and began strumming a melody upon it.</p><p></p><p>The music filled the air. The cyclops blinked, and the warriors likewise hesitated, wary of the danger but unwilling to jeopardize whatever it was that their companion was trying to do. Xeeta had already begun to retreat even before Quellan’s shouted warning, but she lingered about twenty steps away, her rod clutched tightly in her hands.</p><p></p><p>Glori continued to play. The cyclops shifted in a way that was menacing simply due to its size, but it did not attack.</p><p></p><p>Without stopping her playing Glori said, “No smash. Sit down.”</p><p></p><p>The giant blinked at her again, but looked confused until Glori nodded toward the adjacent boulder and made a sitting motion. To her companions’ surprise the cyclops turned and sat down. The boulder was just a bit too large for it to use it as a chair, but it settled its weight against it, lowering its club to rest at its side.</p><p></p><p>Glori looked over at Quellan and gestured with her head for him to come to her. Moving slowly, careful not to make any threatening moves, the cleric did so. The others remained where they were, but kept a ready grasp on their weapons.</p><p></p><p>“I’m keeping it calm, but I don’t think it speaks much Common,” she whispered to the cleric.</p><p></p><p>Quellan nodded. He looked up at the giant and spoke to it a deep, gravelly tongue.</p><p>After a moment, the cyclops responded.</p><p></p><p>Bredan sidled closer to Quellan, careful of doing anything that could disturb Glori’s hold over the creature. But the bard kept on playing softly, and the cyclops seemed, for the moment, to be quiescent. “What did it say?” he asked quietly.</p><p></p><p>“I asked him what happened, how he got injured,” Quellan said. “He said it was orcs. Many orcs.”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, that could explain why it reacted with so much hostility on seeing us,” Xeeta observed. Bredan started slightly; he hadn’t heard her approach.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t think for a second that this beastie wouldn’t stomp us all in a second if it got the chance,” Kosk muttered. “Giants will kill just for the sake of killing.”</p><p></p><p>“Where did this happen?” Glori asked. Bredan looked up at the cyclops in alarm, but apparently the bard could speak without disrupting her spell.</p><p></p><p>Quellan passed the question on to the cyclops in the Giant language, and after a moment it answered in a long rumbling line of syllables that sounded like a rockslide in progress. Finally the cleric turned to them and said, “He was at the ruin.”</p><p></p><p>“Big surprise,” Kosk said.</p><p></p><p>“Was that its lair? Did the orcs drive it off?” Bredan asked. “And how many is ‘many’?”</p><p></p><p>“You’re assuming this thing can count past five,” Kosk said.</p><p></p><p>“I got the impression that Corbrus is a wanderer,” Quellan said. “He is not from this region originally, but from the north.”</p><p></p><p>“A refugee of sorts, perhaps,” Xeeta said.</p><p></p><p>Kosk snorted, but did it quietly. “A deadly dangerous one. You may be on a first-name basis with the thing, but don’t think we’re all friends just because our girl’s got the pebble that serves as its brain ensnared in her magic.”</p><p></p><p>The giant rumbled something else, and Quellan answered. “He asked what we are doing here,” he said.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t tell him about Northpine,” Bredan hissed.</p><p></p><p>“He’s not an idiot,” Kosk hissed.</p><p></p><p>Quellan continued to speak. After he finished he said to the others, “I told him that we are hunting the orcs, who attacked some of our people far away from here.”</p><p></p><p>“Will he believe that?” Bredan whispered.</p><p></p><p>“Giants aren’t generally known for their sharp wits,” Kosk returned.</p><p></p><p>“Um, I think we shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>“She’s right,” Xeeta said. “This situation is not stable.”</p><p></p><p>“We can’t let it wander around and possibly make its way to Northpine,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>“I agree,” Quellan said. “Glori, can you direct him to head a different way, away from the village?”</p><p></p><p>“Not without casting another spell, and that will end this one,” she said. “And there’s no guarantee the new one will work.”</p><p></p><p>“Right,” Kosk said. “We take it out, then.”</p><p></p><p>“How?” Bredan asked. “I can’t even reach higher than its legs.”</p><p></p><p>“Then you chop it down, and stab it when it falls,” Kosk said.</p><p></p><p>“Um… how good is its hearing, do you think?” Xeeta asked.</p><p></p><p>They all looked up at the cyclops, but it didn’t seem to be interested in their mutterings. But neither did it seem all that discomfited by its wounds.</p><p></p><p>“It’s too dangerous,” Quellan said. “Even with surprise, I’m not sure we could defeat this foe, at least before he could kill one of us.”</p><p></p><p>“Then we just leave it be, and hope it doesn’t head the way we came?” Bredan asked.</p><p></p><p>“Let me try talking to him,” Quellan said.</p><p></p><p>They stood back while the cleric addressed the creature in its language. The giant responded a few times, but mostly listened as Quellan spoke to it at length. Finally the cleric drew back and gestured for them to follow him as he backed off and then led them away roughly in the direction they’d been originally traveling. The companions kept on looking back, in particular Bredan, but the cyclops merely remained leaning against the boulder until they went around the curve of the next hill and it disappeared behind them.</p><p></p><p>“Wow,” Bredan said once they were clear. “That was impressive, Glori. I didn’t know you could do that.”</p><p></p><p>The bard stretched the fingers of her strumming hand and put her pick away. “I didn’t either, actually. I started playing the song that lets me charm animals… and I was able to, I don’t know, change it somehow. It was mostly luck, I think.”</p><p></p><p>“Your power is growing,” Xeeta said.</p><p></p><p>“What did you say to it?” Kosk asked the cleric.</p><p></p><p>“I told him that if it sees the rest of our army, to please point them in the way we went.”</p><p></p><p>The others all looked at Quellan for a long moment, then Glori laughed. “Deception, from you?” she said. “Now <em>I’m</em> the one who’s impressed.”</p><p></p><p>Quellan couldn’t blush, but he clearly was embarrassed at the comment.</p><p></p><p>“It may not believe you, or it may not care,” Kosk reminded them.</p><p></p><p>“All the more reason to finish our mission quickly and get back to Northpine, so we can warn them,” Quellan said.</p><p></p><p>“At least now we know where those orcs that the elven scouts were looking for ended up,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>“First kobolds, then goblins, and now orcs,” Kosk said. “This bloody village is either the unluckiest place in the kingdom, or it’s cursed.”</p><p></p><p>“It may be that the conflict in the north is driving more humanoids into King Dangren’s lands,” Xeeta said. “This could be just the beginning of a disturbing trend.”</p><p></p><p>“We still don’t know how many orcs are waiting for us at this ruin,” Bredan said. “Or how fortified the place is.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s a ruin,” Kosk said. “From what the sage said, a very old one. There may be some stone walls left intact, but it will hardly be a fortress. As for the numbers, we know from the elves that there weren’t that many left after they ran them off from their forest up north. We can handle a few orcs.”</p><p></p><p>“Corbrus couldn’t,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>That killed the conversation for a lengthy interval. Finally Quellan said, “At least we know what we’re getting into this time.”</p><p></p><p>“Let’s hope we don’t get in over our heads,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>“We won’t, if we shut up and pay attention to where we’re going,” Kosk said.</p><p></p><p>They took his advice and continued in silence, moving steadily deeper into the hills. High above them, the solitary hawk continued tracing lonely circles in the empty sky.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7175875, member: 143"] Chapter 61 For a moment, the adventurers could only stare up at the massive giant in overwhelmed horror. For all its size the creature moved ponderously, and now that it was in full view they could see that it was injured. Dried blood covered its arms and torso, and half-healed scars crisscrossed its bare chest. The broken shaft of an arrow jutted from one bicep, the missile like a tiny sliver against its bulk. But wounded or no, the cyclops was still a dangerous foe. As it took one more slow step toward them both Kosk and Bredan stepped forward, the dwarf spinning his staff, the smith unfastening his baldric with trembling fingers. But before either could launch themselves at the giant Quellan grabbed hold of both of them. “We cannot defeat this foe! Run!” Kosk shook off the half-orc’s grasp, but the delay had given Glori an opportunity to walk past all of them toward the creature. “Glori, no!” Bredan yelled. Glori did not stop or look back. The cyclops looked down at her, the bard seeming pathetically frail in contrast to the giant. But before it could decide whether to stomp her or smash her with its club she took up her lyre and began strumming a melody upon it. The music filled the air. The cyclops blinked, and the warriors likewise hesitated, wary of the danger but unwilling to jeopardize whatever it was that their companion was trying to do. Xeeta had already begun to retreat even before Quellan’s shouted warning, but she lingered about twenty steps away, her rod clutched tightly in her hands. Glori continued to play. The cyclops shifted in a way that was menacing simply due to its size, but it did not attack. Without stopping her playing Glori said, “No smash. Sit down.” The giant blinked at her again, but looked confused until Glori nodded toward the adjacent boulder and made a sitting motion. To her companions’ surprise the cyclops turned and sat down. The boulder was just a bit too large for it to use it as a chair, but it settled its weight against it, lowering its club to rest at its side. Glori looked over at Quellan and gestured with her head for him to come to her. Moving slowly, careful not to make any threatening moves, the cleric did so. The others remained where they were, but kept a ready grasp on their weapons. “I’m keeping it calm, but I don’t think it speaks much Common,” she whispered to the cleric. Quellan nodded. He looked up at the giant and spoke to it a deep, gravelly tongue. After a moment, the cyclops responded. Bredan sidled closer to Quellan, careful of doing anything that could disturb Glori’s hold over the creature. But the bard kept on playing softly, and the cyclops seemed, for the moment, to be quiescent. “What did it say?” he asked quietly. “I asked him what happened, how he got injured,” Quellan said. “He said it was orcs. Many orcs.” “Ah, that could explain why it reacted with so much hostility on seeing us,” Xeeta observed. Bredan started slightly; he hadn’t heard her approach. “Don’t think for a second that this beastie wouldn’t stomp us all in a second if it got the chance,” Kosk muttered. “Giants will kill just for the sake of killing.” “Where did this happen?” Glori asked. Bredan looked up at the cyclops in alarm, but apparently the bard could speak without disrupting her spell. Quellan passed the question on to the cyclops in the Giant language, and after a moment it answered in a long rumbling line of syllables that sounded like a rockslide in progress. Finally the cleric turned to them and said, “He was at the ruin.” “Big surprise,” Kosk said. “Was that its lair? Did the orcs drive it off?” Bredan asked. “And how many is ‘many’?” “You’re assuming this thing can count past five,” Kosk said. “I got the impression that Corbrus is a wanderer,” Quellan said. “He is not from this region originally, but from the north.” “A refugee of sorts, perhaps,” Xeeta said. Kosk snorted, but did it quietly. “A deadly dangerous one. You may be on a first-name basis with the thing, but don’t think we’re all friends just because our girl’s got the pebble that serves as its brain ensnared in her magic.” The giant rumbled something else, and Quellan answered. “He asked what we are doing here,” he said. “Don’t tell him about Northpine,” Bredan hissed. “He’s not an idiot,” Kosk hissed. Quellan continued to speak. After he finished he said to the others, “I told him that we are hunting the orcs, who attacked some of our people far away from here.” “Will he believe that?” Bredan whispered. “Giants aren’t generally known for their sharp wits,” Kosk returned. “Um, I think we shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to,” Glori said. “She’s right,” Xeeta said. “This situation is not stable.” “We can’t let it wander around and possibly make its way to Northpine,” Bredan said. “I agree,” Quellan said. “Glori, can you direct him to head a different way, away from the village?” “Not without casting another spell, and that will end this one,” she said. “And there’s no guarantee the new one will work.” “Right,” Kosk said. “We take it out, then.” “How?” Bredan asked. “I can’t even reach higher than its legs.” “Then you chop it down, and stab it when it falls,” Kosk said. “Um… how good is its hearing, do you think?” Xeeta asked. They all looked up at the cyclops, but it didn’t seem to be interested in their mutterings. But neither did it seem all that discomfited by its wounds. “It’s too dangerous,” Quellan said. “Even with surprise, I’m not sure we could defeat this foe, at least before he could kill one of us.” “Then we just leave it be, and hope it doesn’t head the way we came?” Bredan asked. “Let me try talking to him,” Quellan said. They stood back while the cleric addressed the creature in its language. The giant responded a few times, but mostly listened as Quellan spoke to it at length. Finally the cleric drew back and gestured for them to follow him as he backed off and then led them away roughly in the direction they’d been originally traveling. The companions kept on looking back, in particular Bredan, but the cyclops merely remained leaning against the boulder until they went around the curve of the next hill and it disappeared behind them. “Wow,” Bredan said once they were clear. “That was impressive, Glori. I didn’t know you could do that.” The bard stretched the fingers of her strumming hand and put her pick away. “I didn’t either, actually. I started playing the song that lets me charm animals… and I was able to, I don’t know, change it somehow. It was mostly luck, I think.” “Your power is growing,” Xeeta said. “What did you say to it?” Kosk asked the cleric. “I told him that if it sees the rest of our army, to please point them in the way we went.” The others all looked at Quellan for a long moment, then Glori laughed. “Deception, from you?” she said. “Now [i]I’m[/i] the one who’s impressed.” Quellan couldn’t blush, but he clearly was embarrassed at the comment. “It may not believe you, or it may not care,” Kosk reminded them. “All the more reason to finish our mission quickly and get back to Northpine, so we can warn them,” Quellan said. “At least now we know where those orcs that the elven scouts were looking for ended up,” Glori said. “First kobolds, then goblins, and now orcs,” Kosk said. “This bloody village is either the unluckiest place in the kingdom, or it’s cursed.” “It may be that the conflict in the north is driving more humanoids into King Dangren’s lands,” Xeeta said. “This could be just the beginning of a disturbing trend.” “We still don’t know how many orcs are waiting for us at this ruin,” Bredan said. “Or how fortified the place is.” “It’s a ruin,” Kosk said. “From what the sage said, a very old one. There may be some stone walls left intact, but it will hardly be a fortress. As for the numbers, we know from the elves that there weren’t that many left after they ran them off from their forest up north. We can handle a few orcs.” “Corbrus couldn’t,” Glori said. That killed the conversation for a lengthy interval. Finally Quellan said, “At least we know what we’re getting into this time.” “Let’s hope we don’t get in over our heads,” Bredan said. “We won’t, if we shut up and pay attention to where we’re going,” Kosk said. They took his advice and continued in silence, moving steadily deeper into the hills. High above them, the solitary hawk continued tracing lonely circles in the empty sky. [/QUOTE]
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