Rybaer
First Post
Session #13.5 - Really Big Druids
As the hill giants' pet grizzly bear descended upon Zalman's position, the wizard had to do some fast thinking. If he opened the fight with a blast from his wand of lightning bolts, he'd clearly give up his position to the giants...and would probably be reduced to pulp before any of his friends could aid him. Opting for a safer tactic, he quaffed a potion of Invisibility and tried to slide further back into the woods, using a tree trunk for cover from the incoming bear.
Amill, the closest to Zalman, was the second member of the ambush party to realize they'd caught the wrong target. He spotted the grizzly moving quickly toward Zalman, as well as the giants at the beginning of the trail. Calling upon his psionic training, he Enlarged himself to nearly the same size as the hill giants. He stepped out of his cover and hurled his bolas at the grizzly bear's front legs. Somehow, in spite of all the vegetation, the bolas hit true to their mark and wrapped up the grizzly's front legs, tripping it. Amill then drew his ferroplasmic falcion and moved to engage in melee.
The others quickly recognized the presence of a threat. Nigel used Star Slayer's to grant himself See Invisible and Rurik cast Light upon Nigel's first arrow - just as their plan to ambush the Shadow had called for. Bommer and Amblin, further back in the woods, sensed conflict but could not clearly see the threat. Bommer slipped into the woods and started moving quickly but silently toward Nigel and Rurik. Amblin hurried down the trail.
The hill giants were sharp enough to realize that there were multiple opponents in the woods, and everything was shaping up to look like an ambush. Not willing to pass up a fight, however, they both moved into action. The male hill giant hefted the small tree trunk that passed for his club and moved to meet Amill just inside the tree line. The female, much to everyone’s surprise, started casting a spell. She had heard the crunching of Amblin and Bommer further back in the woods, so she targeted her Entagle spell back there. Amblin and Bommer both slipped through the grasping branches and shrubs, leaving Amblin’s dog as the only one seriously hampered.
The grizzly easily snapped the bolas that had tripped it up and promptly turned on Amill. While Amill worked to fend off both grizzly and hill giant, Zalman took advantage of the moment to summon a dire ape in a flanking position behind the grizzly.
Amblin, half the height and about a quarter the weight of any of the four melee combatants, began spring attacking. He focused on the male giant, trying to take some of the heat off of Amill. Nigel, disappointed that the Shadow wasn’t among the targets, settled for pumping the male giant full of crackling arrows. Rurik realized that he wouldn’t have to mess with Dimensional Anchor or Invisibility Purge, so instead he hefted his axe and shield and prepared to demonstrate dwarven giant slaying tactics. Bommer had circled around behind Nigel and decided to try to sniper in some ranged sneak attacks rather than face the devastating strength of the giants up close.
For a fleeting moment, fate smiled upon the female hill giant. Amblin, Rurik, Nigel, and Bommer were in a perfect line with one another. Furthermore, they were all pretty close together to one another. The giant took advantage of the moment and called forth a Wall of Hornets, laying it down across the four companions. Instantly dozens of the vermin planted painful stings on every inch of exposed flesh. The hornets’ venom caused severe muscular twitchiness in several of them.
While the others were rolling out of the cloud of hornets, Amill took a furious beating from the giant and grizzly. While he was capable of dishing some respectable damage of his own, he lacked the heavy armor to stand toe-to-toe for long. Zalman’s summoned ape helped pull a little attention from Amill. Zalman, meanwhile, maintained his invisibility by not casting any offensive spells. Instead, he closely studied the female giant, ready to try and counter any spell she started that he didn’t like the look of. He was also keeping out an eye for any sign of the Shadow.
Rurik took a quick survey of the situation and decided that Amill needed healing very badly. Dodging the giant’s club, he planted his hands on the psychic warrior’s knee (he scarcely reached the Enlarged Amill’s belt) and healed most of his injuries.
The combined focus of attacks on the male hill giant finally caused him to drop. The female summoned a swarm of bats, centered on Amill’s position, and then waded into melee herself. She also took a moment to yell for help.
Amill sidestepped the swarm, taking several bites in the process, and continued to pound on the grizzly. With the dire ape’s help, the bear finally collapsed under a dozen deep slashes from blade and claw.
Rurik enthusiastically engaged the remaining giant, leaving her with several frostbitten cuts across her thighs. Nigel and Bommer continued to rain arrows upon her from a distance and Amblin repeatedly planted kicks to the back of her head in hopes of stunning her.
The giant quickly realized how badly outnumbered and outclassed she was. She crossed half the distance to the ruined keep and then turned back to cast a spell. Zalman identified it as Spike Growth and decided that he didn’t want to see her complete it. He cast Dispell Magic to counter and successfully negated her efforts. The giantess, under the withering and relentless attacks, lasted only long enough to shriek a few curses at the group.
The third giant, who had been inside the keep, was just now coming into view. Seeing the bodies of the two giants and grizzly, he immediately turned tail and fled back into the keep. Hooty telepathically informed Zalman that the giant was vaulting the keep’s side wall and fleeing into the woods. Zalman relayed that information, but wisely no one offered pursuit.
“Great,” Nigel said. “So much for the ambush.”
“Think we could set it back up?” Amill asked as Rurik healed the rest of his substantial injuries.
“Doubt it,” Zalman said. “There’s no way we could clean up evidence of the fight sufficiently to escape the Shadow’s notice. If he suspects something, we quickly lose our edge.”
“Besides, we can’t be sure he didn’t hear some of the yelling and fighting,” Nigel said.
A mixed consensus was reached that it would be best to go down below the keep immediately. They felt that they had to press what little bit of surprise was left and hope that they could get their nemesis before he escaped.
Next session: The Shadow's welcome.
As the hill giants' pet grizzly bear descended upon Zalman's position, the wizard had to do some fast thinking. If he opened the fight with a blast from his wand of lightning bolts, he'd clearly give up his position to the giants...and would probably be reduced to pulp before any of his friends could aid him. Opting for a safer tactic, he quaffed a potion of Invisibility and tried to slide further back into the woods, using a tree trunk for cover from the incoming bear.
Amill, the closest to Zalman, was the second member of the ambush party to realize they'd caught the wrong target. He spotted the grizzly moving quickly toward Zalman, as well as the giants at the beginning of the trail. Calling upon his psionic training, he Enlarged himself to nearly the same size as the hill giants. He stepped out of his cover and hurled his bolas at the grizzly bear's front legs. Somehow, in spite of all the vegetation, the bolas hit true to their mark and wrapped up the grizzly's front legs, tripping it. Amill then drew his ferroplasmic falcion and moved to engage in melee.
The others quickly recognized the presence of a threat. Nigel used Star Slayer's to grant himself See Invisible and Rurik cast Light upon Nigel's first arrow - just as their plan to ambush the Shadow had called for. Bommer and Amblin, further back in the woods, sensed conflict but could not clearly see the threat. Bommer slipped into the woods and started moving quickly but silently toward Nigel and Rurik. Amblin hurried down the trail.
The hill giants were sharp enough to realize that there were multiple opponents in the woods, and everything was shaping up to look like an ambush. Not willing to pass up a fight, however, they both moved into action. The male hill giant hefted the small tree trunk that passed for his club and moved to meet Amill just inside the tree line. The female, much to everyone’s surprise, started casting a spell. She had heard the crunching of Amblin and Bommer further back in the woods, so she targeted her Entagle spell back there. Amblin and Bommer both slipped through the grasping branches and shrubs, leaving Amblin’s dog as the only one seriously hampered.
The grizzly easily snapped the bolas that had tripped it up and promptly turned on Amill. While Amill worked to fend off both grizzly and hill giant, Zalman took advantage of the moment to summon a dire ape in a flanking position behind the grizzly.
Amblin, half the height and about a quarter the weight of any of the four melee combatants, began spring attacking. He focused on the male giant, trying to take some of the heat off of Amill. Nigel, disappointed that the Shadow wasn’t among the targets, settled for pumping the male giant full of crackling arrows. Rurik realized that he wouldn’t have to mess with Dimensional Anchor or Invisibility Purge, so instead he hefted his axe and shield and prepared to demonstrate dwarven giant slaying tactics. Bommer had circled around behind Nigel and decided to try to sniper in some ranged sneak attacks rather than face the devastating strength of the giants up close.
For a fleeting moment, fate smiled upon the female hill giant. Amblin, Rurik, Nigel, and Bommer were in a perfect line with one another. Furthermore, they were all pretty close together to one another. The giant took advantage of the moment and called forth a Wall of Hornets, laying it down across the four companions. Instantly dozens of the vermin planted painful stings on every inch of exposed flesh. The hornets’ venom caused severe muscular twitchiness in several of them.
While the others were rolling out of the cloud of hornets, Amill took a furious beating from the giant and grizzly. While he was capable of dishing some respectable damage of his own, he lacked the heavy armor to stand toe-to-toe for long. Zalman’s summoned ape helped pull a little attention from Amill. Zalman, meanwhile, maintained his invisibility by not casting any offensive spells. Instead, he closely studied the female giant, ready to try and counter any spell she started that he didn’t like the look of. He was also keeping out an eye for any sign of the Shadow.
Rurik took a quick survey of the situation and decided that Amill needed healing very badly. Dodging the giant’s club, he planted his hands on the psychic warrior’s knee (he scarcely reached the Enlarged Amill’s belt) and healed most of his injuries.
The combined focus of attacks on the male hill giant finally caused him to drop. The female summoned a swarm of bats, centered on Amill’s position, and then waded into melee herself. She also took a moment to yell for help.
Amill sidestepped the swarm, taking several bites in the process, and continued to pound on the grizzly. With the dire ape’s help, the bear finally collapsed under a dozen deep slashes from blade and claw.
Rurik enthusiastically engaged the remaining giant, leaving her with several frostbitten cuts across her thighs. Nigel and Bommer continued to rain arrows upon her from a distance and Amblin repeatedly planted kicks to the back of her head in hopes of stunning her.
The giant quickly realized how badly outnumbered and outclassed she was. She crossed half the distance to the ruined keep and then turned back to cast a spell. Zalman identified it as Spike Growth and decided that he didn’t want to see her complete it. He cast Dispell Magic to counter and successfully negated her efforts. The giantess, under the withering and relentless attacks, lasted only long enough to shriek a few curses at the group.
The third giant, who had been inside the keep, was just now coming into view. Seeing the bodies of the two giants and grizzly, he immediately turned tail and fled back into the keep. Hooty telepathically informed Zalman that the giant was vaulting the keep’s side wall and fleeing into the woods. Zalman relayed that information, but wisely no one offered pursuit.
“Great,” Nigel said. “So much for the ambush.”
“Think we could set it back up?” Amill asked as Rurik healed the rest of his substantial injuries.
“Doubt it,” Zalman said. “There’s no way we could clean up evidence of the fight sufficiently to escape the Shadow’s notice. If he suspects something, we quickly lose our edge.”
“Besides, we can’t be sure he didn’t hear some of the yelling and fighting,” Nigel said.
A mixed consensus was reached that it would be best to go down below the keep immediately. They felt that they had to press what little bit of surprise was left and hope that they could get their nemesis before he escaped.
Next session: The Shadow's welcome.
