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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Softwind" data-source="post: 1458739" data-attributes="member: 13893">Session 36 (Nov 03) [Part three] Out on the field, several giants lay unmoving, even as their fellows trample their bodies underfoot.  A second Briar Web is erected by Genoa, slowing but not halting the main force’s advance.  Even under the hail of arrows, bolts, and sling stones, the giants advance steadily, reaching the walls quickly.  Several more town guards are knocked from the wall, or crushed where they stand by the flung stones from the giants.  Brynn himself takes a glancing blow, which only maddens him, causing him to work the ballista’s crank harder and faster.  Another boulder crashes against the weapon, killing the aimer and cracking the frame.  Brynn does not pause, but directs the siege weapon at a near giant, and fires.  The weapon, stressed already, performs this final act before tearing itself apart.  “Hah!  Skewered that one, we did.  Drat, fool weapon.”  He pulls his swords, and braces himself for the rush, as the hunchbacked giants reach the wall itself, and begin to lift themselves up.“Stand by to repel attack!” shouts a dew-faced guard, as he waves a spear over his head.  In the next moment, the guard is gone, swept from the wall by a blow from a small tree, wielded by a large giant.  The giant doesn’t have a chance to gloat, as Skylar, with a shout, sinks Grimnyr’s Beard into its skull.  The second blow nearly severs its head, and it topples backwards, momentarily tangling up with those that follow.In the confusion, Tombit, who had been quietly watching, and occasionally firing his crossbow, jumps atop a crenellation, and launches himself at the head of another giant.  A quick swipe of his claws, and the giant is blinded by its own blood streaming into the ruin of its eyes.  The monk then drops to the ground below, waiting for a chance to sneak attack his enemies.Additional stones from the giants reduce further the number of defenders, and in some cases, begin crumbling the walls themselves.  Athena is kept busy, moving from injured soldier to injured soldier, reducing pain, and returning function to damaged bodies.  She struggles to keep the sobs boiling up in her throat from escaping, and angrily wipes away tears as she spots one after another of her temporary teachers’ bodies, slain.  In a lull, she looks up from her self-appointed task, and gasps at the nearness of so many giants.  Lacking patients for the moment, she pulls her mace and scimitar, and attacks a nearby invader.  Scarcely does the giant get a handhold on the wall to pull itself up than its hand and face are assailed by whirling steel.  With a shout, it falls back, trying to stem the flow of blood.Nearby, near the ruins of the ballista, Brynn discovers himself surrounded by four giants, all intent on killing him.  Seeking to avoid being surrounded, he leaps down off the wall on the town side, and presses his back against the cool stones.  His opponents follow, and severely injure him with their fists, and large clubs of wood or bone.  His dwarven constitution, and burning hatred for giants are all the keep him standing upright, but he knows he cannot take more blows like that and hope to survive.“Gotta get tae higher ground agin,” he mutters, and invokes the Helm of Teleportation on his head, to move back to the ramp leading up the wall.  The momentary disorientation on his arrival almost pitches him off the wall headfirst, but he regains his senses enough to gulp down a healing potion, restoring some of his health.  “They’ve breached the walls!  The giants have breached the walls!” he shouts, as he sees additional guardsmen rushing from another section of the wall, and some from the town itself. On the other side of the wall, Tombit nimbly dances through the legs of his opponents, always keeping giantflesh between himself and clubs or boulders.  Deprived of a clear shot, several giants get entangled with each other trying to attack the diminutive monk.  Those that draw close enough pull back injured limbs as Tombit puts his Tiger claws to good use.  “Got another!” Tombit hears the shout, as one of the giants threatening him is abruptly slain by a well placed axe blow.  Looking up the wall, he spies Skylar swinging towards another giant, whose head and shoulders are just the right height above the walls for an easy hit.  He also watches as an unlucky guardsmen is struck from the wall to land nearby, at the feet of the giant that attacked him.  “Oh no you don’t!” Tombit meows, and begins to cut the hamstrings of the giant.  Under this new threat, the giant whirls around on its good leg, striking at its attacker.  The guard, recovering from the stunning blow, thrusts his short sword into the giant’s leg, finishing the cut started by Tombit.As the giant unbalances, Tombit climb/runs up the front of it, using his claws to assist the ascent.  Upon reaching the giant’s middle, his blades bite deeper, disrupting vital life flow of the creature.  Tombit rides the giant down to the ground, tumbling off in safety before it strikes ground.  “Ta da!” he crows, thrusting his arms in the air at the perfect dismount, but seeing that no one is looking his direction, slumps dejectedly and mutters.  His mood improves as he spies a giant attempting to flee, and chases after.  The guard he rescued slumps against the wall, alive but barely.  “Hope he’s okay when I return,” Tombit thinks. Daladariel, having put Magic Missiles and Acid Arrows to good use against the entrapped giants within his Tentacles spell, turns his attention at the giants within the walls.  His voice does not waver as he casts the Fireball spell towards the knot of giants milling about.  When the smoke clears, and he can see again, only one of the four still stands.  “Durn it, mage!  Warn a dwarf when yer gonna do that!” shouts Brynn over his shoulder, as he runs to engage the last giant.  “A few seconds earlier, and I’d hae been in it that, too!”Daladariel shrugs apologetically.  “But you weren’t, friend Brynn.  The last one has been softened up for you.  It’s all yours!”“I don’ need them *softened*.  I *like* ‘em tough.  S’more fun that way!”   Brynn’s blades finish off the giant in two hits, and he watches in some dissatisfaction as the giant comes crashing down.  “Too easy.”  He scans the area, near the boulder damaged and fire scorched buildings that border the town wall, but sees no giants save those that lay unmoving on the flagstones.  “Fah,” he mumbles, then moves towards the ramp leading up to the wall.Skylar watches as one of the remaining giants flees, with Tombit on its tail.  Carefully, she draws back her bowstring, resting the fletching of the arrow against her cheek.  Taking aim, she lets fly, watching as her shaft sinks up to the nock in the neck of her target.  The giant takes only one more step before it comes crashing down.  Tombit reaches the target, and plunges his claws into its neck, making sure the opponent is truly dead.  He flashes Skylar a thumbs up, causing her to smile grimly, before going through the giant’s pockets and bags.  This elicits a chuckle from the elf as she checks for any other target in sight.In the field before her, all she sees are fallen giants, and some guards cutting throats of the slain.  Many of the guards bear wounds, from club, stone or giant fist, but none are slowed in their task.  Skylar raises her eyes to further in the distance, along the wall, and sees additional targets being dealt with by the guards there.  Close by, the Red Wizard’s enclave shows signs of attack, with cracked logs and scorched wood, but no giant made it closer that a few paces before being slain.  By the looks of it, fire based attacks were the norm, as every corpse bore burns.  Upon the town wall, Skylar watches as Athena moves from body to body, looking for those she can assist.  Quiet sobs are pulled from her throat as she finds every last one of her teachers has been slain.  Tenderly, she closes eyes and arranges batter limbs into some semblance of order, before moving on to those that can benefit from her aid.  Skylar swallows a lump that develops in her throat as she remembers a similar scene so long ago, involving a caravan under her care.  She wipes away a tear, and then stirs herself to action, as she draws up along Athena, and helps with the wounded.Nearby, Genoa finishes healing a young soldier.  As he thanks her, she absently nods, her eyes scanning the battle ground.  A smile lights her face as she watches Tombit exclaiming over the loot the giants carried.  A troubled frown crosses her brow – somehow, collecting the loot now, so quick after the attack seems wrong.  Athena somehow senses her concern, and following Genoa’s gaze, sees Tombit’s activities.  “He does no harm.  Knowing him, he will volunteer part of his portion to the families of those slain.  I too will donate, plus additional to the churches in Everlund.”  Athena grips Genoa’s shoulder with her right hand.  “Come, let us help.”Athena and Genoa start down the ramp, with Skylar joining them as they descend.  With Brynn’s help, they locate a handbarrow and wheel it out the gate nearby, out into the torn up fields.  The cart sinks several times as bags heavy with coin, metal servingware, gems, potions, and the occasional magical item.  Soldiers join them, once they realize the party’s intention to split what is gained fairly with those left standing, and the families of those that fell.  The pile of items grows within the warehouse that was commandeered for the purpose, much to the delight of Tombit, who attempts to swim within the coins.  Under the watchful eye of a guard captain and his men, the Companions count and sort the booty, giving equal value of coins and gems to the guard to distribute as warranted.  Additional coins are added to the guard’s share (mostly heavy copper) and several semi-precious stones as well.  The adventurers keep what scrolls and potions would aid them more than the townsfolk, leaving them healing items.</blockquote>

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