(IC) Against the Giants PBP Group 2

[FitzTheRuke]

@FitzTheRuke, do any of our characters know about this Smolderheart's Smithy?

OOC: Not yet, no.

"As you wish. Utharn will take you to the cellars to free your kin. The hour is late and there is much to do. I will deal with the remaining hill giants and tell them to stand aside." Laerthar declared with the air of one who is used to having his declarations followed.

He spoke quickly to Utharn in giant, ::Just do it. Tell Laikus and Maggith that they will have to proceed without the dwarves. Smolderheart is unlikely to give up his assistants. Avoid him if you can.::

Utharn nodded and bade the small invaders to follow him.

 

[Steve Gorak]

Gimlack nods his appreciation. Since Gimlak speaks Giant, he infers that Smolderheart is also located below.

He tells his companions telepathically: "I think Smolderheart is also here. I will wait for the first group of dwarves to be released before I ask them about those with Smolderheart. Let us follow them."

 

[Kobold Stew]

The Colonel senses the tension before the fight relax, and is content to say nothing, given that it was he who banished the Stone Giants. He says nothing -- diplomacy has never been a strength. But he keeps Donnell close, calling him over with a gesture.

He'll be happy to head down to free the dwarves as soon as he can.

 

[Tonguez]

Kahru stood back silent and poised as the dwarf prince stepped forward to speak with the Steinjotenen emmisary. Still gripped in his hand the Great Sword Waythe yet urged the barbarian zealot to attack, but Kahru knew this was the time for diplomacy not battle, and he scowled deeply as he called for Waythe to be patient.

Fortunately the northmans instinct concerning the Stone giants nature had been right, they were not driving this strange alliance, and he saw no reason to disbeleive their stated motives nor their goodwill gesture and warning.

It seemed they would not just be facing lowly ogres but also Isejotunen from the Shrouded Glacier and whomever else was in the cellars with Smoulderhearts smithy.

’so what could they be digging for below?” Kahru blurted out after the order to release the dwarfs had been given by the giant Laerthar. Realising that it was a giveaway that he understood the giant tongue he continued “my Lord does not beleive that Nosra was behind this alliance of giants and that there is a hidden authority pulling the strings, I am tasked to find out who. Please tell your Thane to be wary”
Kahru was not great a diplomat (nor spy), but he made sure to not name Lord Thyffon, even as he revealed his cards - for good or ill…

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Utharn led the group out of the great hall and into the corridor that led toward the kitchen. There a lone female hill giant raised her club nervously upon spotting the small folk following the stone giant.

::I am taking them to the cellars. Stand aside.:: The stone giant said in a deep voice full of authority.

::Buh... they's da smalls wud kilt the chief!?:: the hill giant stammered stupidly.

::Yes they are. Think carefully, now: If they can kill your chief, his wife, their guards, and nearly all of their children in under a minute, what chance do you think you have against them?:: Utharn said flatly and waited patiently while she made a slow calculation.

::Uh... I'm gonna go ged a bite t'eat.:: she said, lowering her club. She shuffled off through the kitchen doors.

The stone giant took them the other way, through a set of doors that led, first to an empty guard-room with smelly unkempt mattresses, and then to a flight of stairs that led downward.

Utharn stopped at the top of the stairs and looked thoughtful for a moment. He sighed and spoke in the common tongue, "I should warn you: I do not know if I can so easily convince the Keeper of the Cells to let us pass. Nor yet, the bugbear guards. I am not their master. In fact, I hold no authority here beyond what is granted me by the Ordening and my Thane, through his emissary. Hill Giants are a brutish sort and you have killed what passes for their leadership. I cannot predict how they will act."

 

[Kobold Stew]

The Colonel nods, and dares to offer an answer, since Utharn seems not to be holding a grudge. Would he himself be so charitable, he wonders, and utters a prayer of hope that he may never need to find out.

He looks up at the giant.

"We know this is not your fight, but it is something we must see through to the end. We appreciate your help in taking us as far as you are able. We shall remember."

 

[Steve Gorak]

Gimlak nods his approval. “well said friend, now let us go to my brethren”

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Utharn led the way down the steep stairs. They were sized something between the stride of a giant and the stride of a "small", and so were difficult to descend for both. When the stone giant reached the bottom he held out his hands toward a bugbear guard who stepped up to challenge him, saying, "There is no need for alarm. I am taking these to speak with my kin."

The room at the bottom of the stairs was bigger than expected, piled high with crates and barrels looted by the raids. Several doors and archways lead to further rooms and cellars. A second bugbear stood on the other side of the pile of crates, and the room's thirty-foot ceiling was supported by four pillars. To the left of the landing, a set of ten-foot high double doors were left partway open, with torchlight showing through.

Across from the hall was another set of double doors (closed), and a third set were open in the south-east corner. On the south wall was yet another set of double doors, but these were twenty feet tall and wide and iron-bound, and through them echoed a clanging noise that sounded like a hammer on an anvil.

The second bugbear took one look at the newcomers and ignored the stone giant's plea for calm. He turned and ran toward the south-east and an alarm gong that hung from the wall there.

Spoiler: Map

 

[Tonguez]

Kahru followed in silence with Waythe still twitching in his hand, it was satisfying to know that the Hill giant king was dead, and also that they would be fighting more soon; giant and bugbear both.

Still the northerner had not yet found the Eaglebone whistle stolen by the ogres nor had he any clue to take to Thyffon. He would need to stay alert…

 

[Steve Gorak]

Gimlack turns to Utharn and says in giant. "Perhaps this is the time for you to retire, as to remain uninvolved. Before you do so, can you advise where my kin are, and where the rest will be: those with Smolderheart's Smithy"