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<blockquote data-quote="Hairy Minotaur" data-source="post: 3649153" data-attributes="member: 11574"><p><strong>Track this!</strong></p><p></p><p>Turgar’s muscles, surprised by the materialized purple giant in front of him, were unable to put up an effective defense as the giant’s claws tore through the ogre like paper. The sickening sound of flesh ripping and then the bone cracking sound of a spine snapping, echoed through the lightly failing snow and against the mountains to the east. A red plume of blood erupted around the giant’s head and the smell of a fresh kill permeated the nostrils of the combatants.</p><p></p><p>Doopa shrugged off his surprise at the giant’s movement as the smell of warm blood filled his lungs, Doopa allowed the primitive rage all his kin held to take over and he flew into a corded mass of a howling tree swinging power ogre. Doopa set his sights on the giant that ripped Turgar apart and blinded charged the beast so fiercely that it appeared his was flying into the beast. The giant whirled on Doopa and connected with a backhand across the barbarian’s face which only served to make the ogre’s rage louder as Doopa wailed his tree trunk of a club across the arms and shoulders of the giant.</p><p></p><p>Haimish took up a new dwarven drinking song, penned by Billy Jowl, as he armed himself with his long sword and advanced towards the giant that teleported the rest of it’s friends:</p><p></p><p><em>And we said we’d all go down together</em></p><p><em>Our spirits break? Never</em></p><p><em>I am the end of your fair weather</em></p><p><em>Your head from your neck I will sever</em></p><p><em>‘Cause we said we’d all go down together</em></p><p></p><p>Inspired, Haimish slashed his blade across the calf of the giant, thick dark green blood oozed out of the wound.</p><p></p><p>Menthos launched an eldritch blast into the giant Doopa was making respect his authority. While Kessen maneuvered around Menthos and fired a shot into the back of the skull of the giant Doopa was engaged with. The Giant’s knees buckled and then it collapsed on all fours, Doopa then teed off on its head and was please with the high pitched snap its neck made just before it crumpled to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Doopa raised his arms in victory just as the remaining two giants brought the entire battlefield under total darkness. </p><p></p><p>Xanthos watched helplessly as Turgar was ripped in half and the area went dark, at least the party had reduced the enemy numbers before that. Four against two was much better odds, even if one of those was a warlock of dubious ethics.</p><p></p><p>Haimish heard the giant’s heavy breathing and expect the attack, but was ill-prepared for the result. The giant’s claws seemed to rake through his armor as if it were made of tin. The filthy nails digging deep into Haimish’s chest, scooping buckets of blood as they dredged along. Haimish coughed up blood almost instantly as he fell backwards onto the frosted ground.</p><p></p><p>The dual sound of the blood cough and the thud traveled quickly to Xanthos who hurried through the darkness and reached Haimish’s side. He transformed into an elf and quickly administered healing to the downed bard, halting the bleeding and easing the laborious breathing.</p><p></p><p>Unable to see in the darkness, Kessen fired two shots near where he thought a giant should be and instead heard them sail on out to range after they failed to hit anything. The teifling, born with darkness in his veins already, saw perfectly through the giant’s rouse. Menthos aimed at the giant that had leveled Haimish, but then thought better of it, fearing an attack would draw undue attention to himself. Instead he backed away and hoped to give the impression that Kessen was the more dangerous foe.</p><p></p><p>Doopa, his ogre eyes used to the darkness of unlit caves, closed the distance to the uninjured giant and slammed his club into the left thigh of the creature while dodging it’s clawed swipe at Doopa’s head. Xanthos switched his tactics and decided to try and play distracter to the giant near him, to keep him away from a critical Haimish, the shifter darted out to the giant’s left and heckled the creature in giant and then troll.</p><p></p><p>Conscious but hurting, Haimish broke into a new song of encouraging aid:</p><p></p><p><em>H-E-A-L</em></p><p><em>Buddy can you spare me an H-E-A-L</em></p><p><em>It’s time you gave me an H-E-A-L</em></p><p><em>I’ll take anything. Spell, potion or scroll</em></p><p><em>Just help me get back on a roll</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>That’s why I’m calling for an H-E-A-L </em></p><p><em>It’s time to give me an H-E-A-L</em></p><p><em>I’m bleeding like a sieve </em></p><p><em>Man, I just want to live</em></p><p><em>Don’t need your sword, club, or shiv</em></p><p></p><p>“I feel oddly inspired to end your life!” Menthos shouts back at the bard</p><p></p><p>The giant’s roar and one of them chases Xanthos while the other grabs Doopa’s head with it’s clawed hand and drains the life energy right out of the barbarian. The sudden loss of his barbaric rage coupled with the damage already done to him, causes Doopa to keel over bleeding at wounds that were scratches before but were now inches deep.</p><p></p><p>Xanthos’ heart sank even with Haimish’s proud faltering voice; the party had lost both ogres and the only other person who could tell the sharp end of a sword from the pommel. Xanthos danced around the giant and raced to Doopa’s side, however his new un-experienced self was out of the only healing magic he had, so the shifter put some herbs to Doopa’s most grievous wounds and halted the bleeding, but the ogre would not regain consciousness until well after the battle would be decided.</p><p></p><p>“Kessen and Menthos, the battle needs to end quickly we’re down four, only you guys are well enough to fight!” Xanthos shouts</p><p></p><p>“Hey jack-ass, would it appease you if I just laid down and took my death like a man to get it over with quicker for you? What the heck do you think we’re doing out here? Pitching a tent?” Menthos shouts back and then blasts a giant with his eldritch power</p><p></p><p>“Don’t get pissed with him, why don’t you try melee instead of pea-shooting them from afar.” Kessen yells as Menthos</p><p></p><p>“Don’t make me come over there an tell you what I think of you to your face in a language that will make your colon reject you on principle and your spleen to forcibly expel itself from your body.” Menthos advises</p><p></p><p>“You sassing me? I can hit you all day from here moron!” Kessen shouts as he aims at the warlock only to wrench his bow back at the sound of a fast approaching giant, the scout launches his arrows into the darkness and connects with both shafts as the massive claw of the giant swishes past Kessen’s head, bring a deep sigh of relief to the scout.</p><p></p><p>Menthos backs out of the darkness and waits for the attack he knows is coming, as soon as the giant’s head peers out from the veil of darkness, Menthos activates is ring and a bedazzling light show erupts around the giant’s head. The large creature stands there slack jawed and inattentive as the opportunistic Menthos blasts the flat-footed giant up the nostril and into the frontal lobe of it’s brain. Death came quickly to it as Menthos hopped away from the falling body.</p><p></p><p>The darkness faltered with the death of the giant Menthos hit, and as the last remaining giant surveyed it’s surroundings it spied Haimish struggling to his feet and Xanthos on his feet brandishing a sword. Fearful for it’s life the giant dimension doored away to lick it’s wounds.</p><p></p><p>The threat abated, Haimish dropped to his knees and wheezed painfully. Xanthos and Kessen collected the separate parts of Turgar and were debating the merits of a burial here versus a burial closer to civilization, when Kessen realized Menthos was not around.</p><p></p><p>“Where’d that lousy warlock go?” Kessen inquired</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know.” Wheezed Haimish, “I stopped paying attention when I went back down to my knees.”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe he left us for dead, or more likely he’s out tracking for us.” Xanthos commented</p><p></p><p>“What was that for? Anybody could track in snow, it’s not like that’s hard.” Kessen replies</p><p></p><p>At that Menthos emerged from behind a good sized boulder and rejoined the party.</p><p></p><p>“Where did you go?” Kessen demands</p><p></p><p>“Calm down I was in another nation.” Menthos explains</p><p></p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean? Did you follow the giant and kill it?” Kessen asks incredulously</p><p></p><p>“Did the giant somehow manage to teleport you along with it? How’d you get back?” Xanthos inquires</p><p></p><p>Menthos just stood there with a stupefied look upon his face</p><p></p><p>“Well? What nation did you visit out here in the mountains?” Kessen asks</p><p></p><p>“You idiots, I was urinating. I was visiting the urination! Can’t a guy get some privacy?” Menthos responds</p><p></p><p> “That’s it punk; you’ve raised my ire for the last time!” Kessen screams setting an arrow.</p><p></p><p>“Well, it’s nice to know I have that effect on you, but you’re not my type as you’ve failing to raise anything on me. I don’t think I could even work with the meager effect you’ve had on me.” Menthos responds</p><p></p><p>Kessen points the arrow at Menthos’ head, “say goodbye half-breed.” </p><p></p><p>“Goodbye half-breed, I’ll be sitting in Kindoras Keep while you losers are out here following the tracker’s ass in circles.” Menthos said as he helped Haimish to his feet.</p><p></p><p>Kessen’s trigger finger hesitated as the warlock’s words were likely true, but that didn’t mean that the rest of the party needed to know that, “baloney, I can get us there just as quickly as you can, if not quicker.”</p><p></p><p>“Fine, I’ll take Doopa, Haimish, and both parts of Turgar back with me. You can lead the shifter back to the keep, and when it starts to get really cold out he can slice you open and use your insides as a blanket.” Menthos said</p><p></p><p>“Not only will we make it back before you, we’ll make it back days before you do.” Kessen challenges</p><p></p><p>“I think we should take the rest of the party while you go off alone, I don not want predators tracking the scent of blood from Turgar and finishing off Doopa and Haimish before they’re healed.” Xanthos countered</p><p></p><p>“Okay, but I have all the connections at the keep, restorations, resurrections, full heals, I could have everyone healed and scouting before you guys ever got the keep in sight.” Menthos proposed</p><p></p><p>Xanthos pondered this a moment, “Fine I will go with you to and assure that both you and the injured reach Kindoras safely and intact.” </p><p></p><p>“What you’re siding with him? I can’t believe this! Fine I prove both of you wrong. See you chumps there next week!” Kessen yelled as he sprinted off to the south</p><p></p><p>Xanthos gave Menthos a wary look as he hefted Doopa over his shoulder</p><p></p><p>“What did I do? He’s the one who’s going to get lost.” Menthos states</p><p></p><p>“It better be.” Was all Xanthos replied</p><p></p><p>The day and a half trek back to Kindoras Keep was uneventful and not once did they see Kessen ahead of them at any point.</p><p></p><p>“Looks like you will lose the bet.” Xanthos says</p><p></p><p>“We didn’t bet, and I don’t lose. If he’s ahead of us he did a nice job of clearing out a path for us.” Menthos replied</p><p></p><p>Once they reached Kindoras Keep and made inquiries however, it was determined that Kessen had not made it back to Kindoras Keep yet.</p><p></p><p>“Looks like you lost your bet.” Menthos explained</p><p></p><p>“Maybe, but if you can’t get them healed then you’ll lose more than a bet.” Xanthos threatens</p><p></p><p>“Back off monkey, that chip on your shoulder smells like a bull chip. Let me go do my thing.” Menthos said and headed off to see Aleena</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hairy Minotaur, post: 3649153, member: 11574"] [b]Track this![/b] Turgar’s muscles, surprised by the materialized purple giant in front of him, were unable to put up an effective defense as the giant’s claws tore through the ogre like paper. The sickening sound of flesh ripping and then the bone cracking sound of a spine snapping, echoed through the lightly failing snow and against the mountains to the east. A red plume of blood erupted around the giant’s head and the smell of a fresh kill permeated the nostrils of the combatants. Doopa shrugged off his surprise at the giant’s movement as the smell of warm blood filled his lungs, Doopa allowed the primitive rage all his kin held to take over and he flew into a corded mass of a howling tree swinging power ogre. Doopa set his sights on the giant that ripped Turgar apart and blinded charged the beast so fiercely that it appeared his was flying into the beast. The giant whirled on Doopa and connected with a backhand across the barbarian’s face which only served to make the ogre’s rage louder as Doopa wailed his tree trunk of a club across the arms and shoulders of the giant. Haimish took up a new dwarven drinking song, penned by Billy Jowl, as he armed himself with his long sword and advanced towards the giant that teleported the rest of it’s friends: [I]And we said we’d all go down together Our spirits break? Never I am the end of your fair weather Your head from your neck I will sever ‘Cause we said we’d all go down together[/I] Inspired, Haimish slashed his blade across the calf of the giant, thick dark green blood oozed out of the wound. Menthos launched an eldritch blast into the giant Doopa was making respect his authority. While Kessen maneuvered around Menthos and fired a shot into the back of the skull of the giant Doopa was engaged with. The Giant’s knees buckled and then it collapsed on all fours, Doopa then teed off on its head and was please with the high pitched snap its neck made just before it crumpled to the ground. Doopa raised his arms in victory just as the remaining two giants brought the entire battlefield under total darkness. Xanthos watched helplessly as Turgar was ripped in half and the area went dark, at least the party had reduced the enemy numbers before that. Four against two was much better odds, even if one of those was a warlock of dubious ethics. Haimish heard the giant’s heavy breathing and expect the attack, but was ill-prepared for the result. The giant’s claws seemed to rake through his armor as if it were made of tin. The filthy nails digging deep into Haimish’s chest, scooping buckets of blood as they dredged along. Haimish coughed up blood almost instantly as he fell backwards onto the frosted ground. The dual sound of the blood cough and the thud traveled quickly to Xanthos who hurried through the darkness and reached Haimish’s side. He transformed into an elf and quickly administered healing to the downed bard, halting the bleeding and easing the laborious breathing. Unable to see in the darkness, Kessen fired two shots near where he thought a giant should be and instead heard them sail on out to range after they failed to hit anything. The teifling, born with darkness in his veins already, saw perfectly through the giant’s rouse. Menthos aimed at the giant that had leveled Haimish, but then thought better of it, fearing an attack would draw undue attention to himself. Instead he backed away and hoped to give the impression that Kessen was the more dangerous foe. Doopa, his ogre eyes used to the darkness of unlit caves, closed the distance to the uninjured giant and slammed his club into the left thigh of the creature while dodging it’s clawed swipe at Doopa’s head. Xanthos switched his tactics and decided to try and play distracter to the giant near him, to keep him away from a critical Haimish, the shifter darted out to the giant’s left and heckled the creature in giant and then troll. Conscious but hurting, Haimish broke into a new song of encouraging aid: [I]H-E-A-L Buddy can you spare me an H-E-A-L It’s time you gave me an H-E-A-L I’ll take anything. Spell, potion or scroll Just help me get back on a roll That’s why I’m calling for an H-E-A-L It’s time to give me an H-E-A-L I’m bleeding like a sieve Man, I just want to live Don’t need your sword, club, or shiv[/I] “I feel oddly inspired to end your life!” Menthos shouts back at the bard The giant’s roar and one of them chases Xanthos while the other grabs Doopa’s head with it’s clawed hand and drains the life energy right out of the barbarian. The sudden loss of his barbaric rage coupled with the damage already done to him, causes Doopa to keel over bleeding at wounds that were scratches before but were now inches deep. Xanthos’ heart sank even with Haimish’s proud faltering voice; the party had lost both ogres and the only other person who could tell the sharp end of a sword from the pommel. Xanthos danced around the giant and raced to Doopa’s side, however his new un-experienced self was out of the only healing magic he had, so the shifter put some herbs to Doopa’s most grievous wounds and halted the bleeding, but the ogre would not regain consciousness until well after the battle would be decided. “Kessen and Menthos, the battle needs to end quickly we’re down four, only you guys are well enough to fight!” Xanthos shouts “Hey jack-ass, would it appease you if I just laid down and took my death like a man to get it over with quicker for you? What the heck do you think we’re doing out here? Pitching a tent?” Menthos shouts back and then blasts a giant with his eldritch power “Don’t get pissed with him, why don’t you try melee instead of pea-shooting them from afar.” Kessen yells as Menthos “Don’t make me come over there an tell you what I think of you to your face in a language that will make your colon reject you on principle and your spleen to forcibly expel itself from your body.” Menthos advises “You sassing me? I can hit you all day from here moron!” Kessen shouts as he aims at the warlock only to wrench his bow back at the sound of a fast approaching giant, the scout launches his arrows into the darkness and connects with both shafts as the massive claw of the giant swishes past Kessen’s head, bring a deep sigh of relief to the scout. Menthos backs out of the darkness and waits for the attack he knows is coming, as soon as the giant’s head peers out from the veil of darkness, Menthos activates is ring and a bedazzling light show erupts around the giant’s head. The large creature stands there slack jawed and inattentive as the opportunistic Menthos blasts the flat-footed giant up the nostril and into the frontal lobe of it’s brain. Death came quickly to it as Menthos hopped away from the falling body. The darkness faltered with the death of the giant Menthos hit, and as the last remaining giant surveyed it’s surroundings it spied Haimish struggling to his feet and Xanthos on his feet brandishing a sword. Fearful for it’s life the giant dimension doored away to lick it’s wounds. The threat abated, Haimish dropped to his knees and wheezed painfully. Xanthos and Kessen collected the separate parts of Turgar and were debating the merits of a burial here versus a burial closer to civilization, when Kessen realized Menthos was not around. “Where’d that lousy warlock go?” Kessen inquired “I don’t know.” Wheezed Haimish, “I stopped paying attention when I went back down to my knees.” “Maybe he left us for dead, or more likely he’s out tracking for us.” Xanthos commented “What was that for? Anybody could track in snow, it’s not like that’s hard.” Kessen replies At that Menthos emerged from behind a good sized boulder and rejoined the party. “Where did you go?” Kessen demands “Calm down I was in another nation.” Menthos explains “What’s that supposed to mean? Did you follow the giant and kill it?” Kessen asks incredulously “Did the giant somehow manage to teleport you along with it? How’d you get back?” Xanthos inquires Menthos just stood there with a stupefied look upon his face “Well? What nation did you visit out here in the mountains?” Kessen asks “You idiots, I was urinating. I was visiting the urination! Can’t a guy get some privacy?” Menthos responds “That’s it punk; you’ve raised my ire for the last time!” Kessen screams setting an arrow. “Well, it’s nice to know I have that effect on you, but you’re not my type as you’ve failing to raise anything on me. I don’t think I could even work with the meager effect you’ve had on me.” Menthos responds Kessen points the arrow at Menthos’ head, “say goodbye half-breed.” “Goodbye half-breed, I’ll be sitting in Kindoras Keep while you losers are out here following the tracker’s ass in circles.” Menthos said as he helped Haimish to his feet. Kessen’s trigger finger hesitated as the warlock’s words were likely true, but that didn’t mean that the rest of the party needed to know that, “baloney, I can get us there just as quickly as you can, if not quicker.” “Fine, I’ll take Doopa, Haimish, and both parts of Turgar back with me. You can lead the shifter back to the keep, and when it starts to get really cold out he can slice you open and use your insides as a blanket.” Menthos said “Not only will we make it back before you, we’ll make it back days before you do.” Kessen challenges “I think we should take the rest of the party while you go off alone, I don not want predators tracking the scent of blood from Turgar and finishing off Doopa and Haimish before they’re healed.” Xanthos countered “Okay, but I have all the connections at the keep, restorations, resurrections, full heals, I could have everyone healed and scouting before you guys ever got the keep in sight.” Menthos proposed Xanthos pondered this a moment, “Fine I will go with you to and assure that both you and the injured reach Kindoras safely and intact.” “What you’re siding with him? I can’t believe this! Fine I prove both of you wrong. See you chumps there next week!” Kessen yelled as he sprinted off to the south Xanthos gave Menthos a wary look as he hefted Doopa over his shoulder “What did I do? He’s the one who’s going to get lost.” Menthos states “It better be.” Was all Xanthos replied The day and a half trek back to Kindoras Keep was uneventful and not once did they see Kessen ahead of them at any point. “Looks like you will lose the bet.” Xanthos says “We didn’t bet, and I don’t lose. If he’s ahead of us he did a nice job of clearing out a path for us.” Menthos replied Once they reached Kindoras Keep and made inquiries however, it was determined that Kessen had not made it back to Kindoras Keep yet. “Looks like you lost your bet.” Menthos explained “Maybe, but if you can’t get them healed then you’ll lose more than a bet.” Xanthos threatens “Back off monkey, that chip on your shoulder smells like a bull chip. Let me go do my thing.” Menthos said and headed off to see Aleena [/QUOTE]
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