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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jydog1" data-source="post: 5741009" data-attributes="member: 48156">Session #47 - November 21st, 2011 - Harder They Fallnotes:  Work and other issues have made for a spotty playing schedule, but we should be on track for a few sessions in a row come December.  This turned into one hell of a fight and the front-liners unleashed ridiculous amounts of damage on the young, dumb giants.  Don't take our people, young dumb giants!  We managed to look like Big Damn Heroes despite being low on spells and other fun stuff.  Seriously, we had to go save the people that had been taken.  They're giving us a freaking statue.   And I can't wait for next week to have the interrogation continued.  The inquisitor is a hoot.  A batshit crazy hoot, but a hoot nonetheless.Probably in the session after next we'll be introducing a new PC.  I hope it likes killing bad guys, because that's a great way to fit in with us.  Dinner was lasagna and garlic bread.From the journal of Baron Grezzalik M'rethen:Okay, I was torn.  There had been townspeople taken, carried away in burlap sacks by the marauding giants.  Alma's kids.  Gavrin Deverain.  Titus Scarnetti's wife.   Several others.  They needed saving.On the other hand, those were Thassilonian runes carved into the dragon's scales.  I could read most of them, and there was a pattern I  . . . no.  We needed to go.  As my mates healed up from the fight and made sure the Ulfen was secured, I flew up before my spell expired.  There would be no trouble tracking the wide swath of destruction and discarded loot they'd left behind, and I dropped back down and started trying to hurry them up.Trixie emerged from the nearby magic shop with a couple of scrolls under her arm, almost as big as she was.  It took her two tries but suddenly she was back to her still-not-very-large size.  She looked at me, back to the door of the shop, and then back to me.  "What?"I was saved from trying to decide if any sort of response would keep me from getting hit by the arrival of several guards bearing horses, presumably for us.  We mounted up and started moving through town, having to take our time picking through the chaos.  After a bit Titus Scarnetti pulled up next to us, accompanied by several of his house guards.  "Baron?  A word, if I could?"I refrained from rolling my eyes.  "Ride with us and speak, Titus.  As soon as we clear the gates we're going to be moving significantly faster.""Da," said Tofa.  "Do we need to tie you on your horse, Grezz?"I ignored that.  She was in a bad mood anyway plus that sword of her was muttering loud enough to be heard from here.  Glancing over at Titus I said, "Yes?""Well, you've no doubt heard my wife was taken.  I would do or give anything to have her back.  I'm also going to send my four best guards to go with you, to help."I looked at the men, none of whom looked particularly enthused to be here.  "I'd never say no to help, Titus, but I don't want your men to come because they've been ordered.  If that's the case, keep them here."One gave an audible sigh of relief.  Nodding his head, Titus said, "Fine, fine.  If you can bring my wife back, I would consider all bad blood between my house and yours to be absolved.  I would make sure all of my family was of the same mind."Despite the morning's horrors, I had to chuckle.  "We're going to get everyone back, your wife included.  And while I appreciate your offer, I think you greatly overestimate how much House Scarnetti plays as a concern in my life."With that we cleared the last of the rubble of the Academy and kicked our mounts into a canter, leaving the noble behind in the dust.  House Scarnetti.  I couldn't tell you the last time I worried about them.  We made up ground quickly.  As we rode more and more debris - furniture, signs, metal - began to show up.  The Storval Reach was visible in the distance, but we caught up to them long before they got even remotely close to that particular safe haven.  As we drew nearer our pace increased and I struggled to stay mounted while putting on protective spells.  Before us our quarry scrambled to higher ground and turned to face us, a number of giants accompanying something that looked a little different.  As I cast Fly and kicked free of my horse I got a good look at one as he began to throw a large rock at us, and while I'm no expert on giants it wasn't a stretch to say that he looked . . . scared.Before I zipped away I managed to remember to cast Haste on myself and the others, and we blurred into battle.  [OOC]I should get CAST HASTE tattooed on my arm so I remember[/OOC]  A multitude of large rocks came our way and I heard Eurayle yelp in pain.  I made sure the next few aimed at her and Trixie were altered via spell.  In the middle of the stone giants was something giant-like, but old and odd looking.  It cast a few spells in a language I didn't know, but I was still able to identify what they were - magic is sort of like food, and different spells have different flavors, so to speak. The first was stone armor, which, okay, was pretty obvious, but then it cast Protection from . . . Evil?  Against us?  Really? [OOC]Can't wait to hear what this one has to say in interrogation. Is that a spoiler?  Yes, yes it is.[/OOC]The clash and clang of melee combat filled the area as Tofa and Londis waded into battle, and soon screams of pain followed.  Bear and giant screams, of course.  I couldn't actually see if Tofa was frothing at the mouth but her crazy-ass sword flickered around and a huge crescent of ice appeared behind the giants, cutting off any means of escape.   Trixie has started yelling back at the caster in his tongue, whatever the hell it was (OOC: Ignan) and I, full of the confidence that having Mirror Image and Protection from Missiles up provides, yelled at him in common.  Since Trixie was behind a tree he focused his ire on me and sent a spell screaming my way, but he'd made a poor choice.  I'd had Dispel Magic sitting in my Ring of Counterspelling for quiet some time [OOC]so long the GM had forgotten I had it - his expression was priceless when I said, "Well, just a second there . . ."[/OOC] and the result was his pretty armor vanishing in a smoky poof.  Not being an idiot and seeing his escort being carved to pieces, he grabbed a wriggling sack and held it up in front of him.Right.  Protection from Evil from US.  You might want to reconsider that one, chief.A giant charged forward and got to the edge of copse where Trix and Eurayle were, and I turned away from the caster long enough to drop a Spiked Pit under him, albeit one of shadows. He evidently couldn't tell the difference and plummeted out of sight with a shout. Trixie stepped up, and, after fixing me with a 'I could have done that too' look, zapped her Rod of Wonder in there.  Even at my height I caught a whiff of the horrible Stinking Cloud she'd created, and it was hard not to laugh at the ensuing series of coughs followed by howls of pain as the giant battered itself to death. Then she pointed that blasted Rod of Wonder at caster and let loose.  To my horror a lightning bolt sprang out, blasting though an unlucky fellow on the way to hitting the caster and his hostage . . . no.  It fizzled just before it got there.  [OOC]if the range of the Lightning bolt was 70 feet, then he was 75 feet away.  5 feet from splatting a bag full of civilians.  What's the phrase, 'Acceptable losses?'[/OOC]I threw a couple of spells at the caster that he negated, but I was more than content to do so while Tofa and Londis drew closer. [OOC]Have I mentioned hasted rage prophets before?  Tofa did 108 points of damage in a single round.  The giants were terrified.[/OOC]  It realized that and tried to sink into the earth after throwing a bag of people at me - Feather Fall - but Londis grabbed it and wouldn't let go.  I pulled a scroll of Sands of Time from my haversack and, after swooping in, made him even older.  He sagged as Londis knocked him out, and suddenly the battlefield fell quiet.  One giant lay off to the side, hurt and weeping, and as Tofa struggled to keep her blade from vivisecting him Trixie growled, "Go.  Run and tell the others that we're coming for them." [OOC]I don't think this actually happened, but it works cinematically.  Shut up a little [/OOC].  The dead giants all had, surprise surprise, sihidrons branded on them, while our unconscious buddy wore the markings of Minderhall, which of course Trixie was able to identify as some sort of ancient god.  Interesting.  I scrolled up a floating disc to haul his big fat ass back to town while keeping him out of contact with the earth.  Opening the bags found people a little bruised and bloody, but none seriously hurt.  And all accounted for.  The legend grows, I suppose.Back in town I got to study the dragon for a bit, and it was fascinating.  The wyrm had used dozens of the things to make an actual spell of sorts, making its body a magical rod - healing, in this case.  Amazing.  And . . . doable.  I could do this to myself.  My mind staggered a little at the possibilities.Meanwhile Londis and the others were doing their usual brand of information gathering, which was why I found it best to be on the other side of town.  Trixie distracting, Londis being terrifying, Tofa hitting things, and so on.  A quick walk past let me know they'd either broken or made a deal with the Ulfen, who revealed he was part of a Magnidaar-based mercenary company called the Laughing Bones that had been hired to escort the giant that had taken the keystone from the tower.  Nice enough story, but he had a big sihidron rune on him too.  Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a word with the Lord-Mayor and have the Bones brought into the Hellknight tower for some questioning . . . perhaps being a baron wasn't so bad after all.</blockquote>

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