[IC] The Trouble at Durbenford

[Lazlow]

Seeing the giant lying still, Gil looks around desperately for a way up to the top of the cliff. Spying what looks to be a makeshift walkway over to the southwest, he calls to Padraig and Konstantine, "Come on! I think we can go up this way!"

Shouting up towards the cliff, he yells, "Ruathen! Stay where you are! We're coming up!"

He then runs toward the pathway leading up.

[sblock=OOC]If I'm not mistaken, that looks to be a sort of pathway up to the top over by the 0'E on the map, right?[/sblock]

 

[Dichotomy]

"Ruathen!" Konstantine calls from below, "are they okay?" The bard pulls out his wand, but, seeing the two even from this distance as they were smashed by the giant, he already has the sickening feeling that it is too late.

 

[michael_noah]

[sblock=ooc]That's correct.[/sblock]

 

[Bloodcookie]

Ruathen just stands staring down at the dead giant, his breath fogging in the cold air, and an intense look on his face. When his companions reach him, he takes a deep breath before turning to address them. "Alright, it is obvious what has befallen, but we must remain calm - the situation is far from hopeless. We will need to arrange some way of transporting Zagnak and Jasper's bod... of transporting Zagnak and Jasper back to town; I believe we could use a couple of tents as makeshift stretchers. Hopefully, we can hail some fishermen from the lakeshore to ferry us across. Then, we will see if the local clergy are inclined to lend aid to those who run their errands..." He inhales once again, but then simply sighs, waiting to see what the rest think of the situation.

 

[Dichotomy]

"Blasted moron!" Konstantine exclaims in a somewhat sudden burst of emotion. "We could have whittled away at that giant for as long as it took from afar. It should have never had the chance to do that!" The bard's face grows ashen as he looks at the mutilated forms of his companions.

"In any case, we do need to get them back to town. Our task will have to be delayed a bit. Perhaps Helen will be willing to connect us with aid. But we are surely no longer going to look like the good prospects she'd thought she was hiring. Dammit!"

 

[Vigwyn the Unruly]

Padraig, Male Human Veteran (Fighter)

Weighed down by his heavy armor, Padraig makes it up the incline a few moments after the faster Gil and Konstantine.

His heart is heavy as he comes to grips with the bloody mess at his feet--the steaming, stinking body of the giant; the broken bodies of his friends; the bloody snow; Jasper's severed head...

He turns from the rest of the group and retches into the snow.

When he recovers, he turns back to his remaining friends. "Yes, let's get the bodies back to town and find out if we can bring them back to the living. Surely Jasper's church will be willing to help us with him. As for Zagnak, we might need to seek...alternate methods."

Padraig's eyes once again find the giant's corpse. "If the people of Durbenford have been given trouble by the giants, perhaps they'll be more willing to help us if we return with evidence that we have killed one. We should bring back its head or its right hand. Also, we should bring the thing's massive axe... and it may carry other treasures as well..."

[sblock=OOC]Obviously, we'll search the body.
How many of my arrows that missed are recoverable?
Are there any tracks that we can see?[/sblock]

 

[Lazlow]

Gil runs up full tilt to the scene and throws his pack down, kneeling beside the mutilated corpses. Fighting back the urge to retch, he masks his intense grief with a cold utilitarian sternness. He digs into his haversack and starts pulling some items out.

"Get as much of the... Body as we can. Ruathen, get Jasper's head. We're going to need that. Pack it in this sack with as much snow as you can fit. Put any other, um... Parts in sacks with snow as well." If it weren't for the quiver in his voice and the occasional tear he wipes away, one might think he was completely heartless as he goes about preparing the bodies for the trip back.

After a moment he says, "Padraig, Ruathen, I think you're right. We should be able to get some help from both the townspeople and the local clergy. Proof of this foul, felled brute should help.

"But Konstantine's got a point. It won't look good to our current employer if we return the very next day with two bodies in tow. It would be great if we could keep this from her, but I don't know how we could."

[sblock=OOC]Gil will also look for any of his recoverable arrows.[/sblock]

 

[Dichotomy]

"I will think on that as we travel back. I'd not want to lie to her. Sure, she would believe me, but it would take a tangled web to keep it covered up. The question then is whether to ask for her and her employer's assistance in the matter, or just go on our own." The bard quickly becomes lost in thought as he tries to balance the pros and cons.

 

[michael_noah]

The giant's tracks are not hard to find, but they appear to come from further up the mountain, generally to the north. It appears that this particular creature was out on his own for some time, as he carries dried meats, a very large blanket, well used flint and steel, etc. Also in his large pack is a small fortune of 130 platinum pieces, and what appears to be a wand.

[sblock=ooc]Padraig finds one arrow, Gil, 2.[/sblock]

 

[Bloodcookie]

As Ruathen joins the others in arranging for the transport of their casulaties, he says, "I suppose the question of whether we absolutely must inform Helen of our setback depends partly upon whether any clergy we might contract to help us are already aware of our mission, etcetera. If we could find someone ignorant of our identity, well, then..."

As they inspect the giant's belongings, Ruathen uses Detect Magic to determine what he can about the apparent wand they find.