Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 480464" data-attributes="member: 41">Planting 27, CY 59333:  Bigger is BetterThe Growfest holiday comes and goes, and a full month passes as the Mines of Cur'ruth slowly transform into a war-camp, under Heydricus' direction.  Elijah and C'min return several weeks after the beginning of their scouting mission to report that they have spotted a giant-sized wooden fortress nestled into the mountains that overshadow Cur'ruth.  Prisantha cannot be disturbed from her studies, and Heydricus protests that he must oversee the organization of his fledgling army.  Elijah is called forward to assemble a strike-team to explore this gigantic stronghold, and deal with any threat it might represent.  Elijah selects C'min to help her scout, and the two of them call out Dabus, Jespo Crim and Thrommel for fighting support.As the group travels up into the mountains, toward the wooden fortress, they encounter a man-made trail.  Man-made if men were ten feet tall, that is.  Elijah informs the group that the trail leads in two directions, deeper into the mountains and directly toward the hidden fortress.  The fact that giants made the trail is obvious to all.Elijah and C'min break off from the rest of the group to follow the giants' trail toward the fortress and have a closer look.  A half hour or so after they leave, the remaining heroes hear the sound of booming giantish voices engaged in some sort of debate approaching from the opposite direction.Before the Liberators can fully ready themselves, four huge brute-men have appeared through the trees.  These foul-smelling reprobates seem genuinely surprised (and perhaps a bit amused) to see the adventurers.  Most likely, none of them could clearly articulate their visceral joy, or the childlike giddiness they feel when imagining the Medium-Sized head wounds that are soon to come.  Of course, they never get the opportunity to record these last moments of life for posterity, as the Liberators rarely transcribe their enemies' dying words.The smartest giant of the group holds up his hand to tell his companions bide a moment, while he searches these unknown humans for markings that would signify them as servants of Iuz.  After a brief pause, the giant is satisfied that these adventurers are truly strangers, and therefore fair game.But by this time, the Liberators have their wits about them, and Jespo Crim conjures a field of writhing black tentacles that grow from the ground and entangle the giants, constricting their torsos and legs.  One of the giants bursts free, and is met by Prince Thrommel (who, save for the fact he stumbled upon an exposed root, would have certainly charged into the center of the writhing tentacles, despite Jespo Crim's warning), and the Heir to the Furyondian throne smites the giant with a blow that would make his father proud.  The other three giants, fully entangled by the tentacles, are left unable to defend themselves against Dabus' blade barrier, and after the last syllable of the invocation is complete, a staccato series of wet thap, thap, thapping sounds is accompanied by a spray of blood from the legs of the creatures.The giant standing toe-to-shin with Thrommel can give as good as he gets, and after a moment, Jespo Crim summons a pair of celestial lions to come to the aid of the Prince.  Dabus strikes another giant with a flame strike, even as the thing tears Jespo's black tentacles up from the ground by their pulpy, oozing roots.Within moments, the wounded giants are free of both the tentacles and the blade barrier, but all the fight has been leeched out of them, and after a few more spells and blows are exchanged, all four giants lay dead-- one of them lying where he was struck down as he tried to flee.-----As this fight is happening, about two miles up the trail, C'min and Elijah are getting their first good look at the giant stronghold.  The entire structure resembles a crudely built human fort, at double proportions.  It sits atop a steep hill, and the wooden palisade encircles the hilltop to a height of approximately thirty feet.  From their vantage point, the two women can see three elevated guard platforms rising above the level of the wall, and at least one of them is manned by a human-sized figure, looking outlandishly small in the giant-sized structure. As they patiently observe the place, the massive front gates swing open, and a pair of staggering hill giants emerge, carrying slop-buckets and singing blearily.  The first red-eyed giant flings his slop down the hill, but stumbles as he does so, and tumbles head over heels down the slope, crashing into the treeline, his hairy legs exposed from the thighs down.  His companion laughs out loud at this, and  douses the fallen giant with the fetid contents of his bucket.The standing giant yells something, which C'min translates for Elijah as meaning roughly "now you smell like you look, you drunk bastard."The giant who fell does not get up, and after a moment, loud snores are heard coming from the beast.  His companion shrugs half-heartedly, and closes the gate.Sensing an opportunity, Elijah unsheathes her swords and C'min slips in behind her as the wild-woman of the Adri forest moves toward the sleeping giant with murderous intent.-----A thin, dark elf is also stalking the fallen giant through the trees, and observes as Elijah slips her weapons up underneath the giant's chin, and deep into his head.  C'min grunts sharply when the convulsing giant kicks her with his filthy fur-wrapped foot as he dies.The elf emerges from his hiding place and quietly makes himself seen.  Had either of these women had any experience with drow, they might have marked how unusual it is to see weather-worn dark elven skin. After a brief moment where C'min and Elijah recover from the shock of actually being snuck up on, the elf introduces himself as Elenthal-- a ranger of the mountains, sworn protector to the Flan settlement of Windswhistle Peak.Elijah haughtily introduces herself as the personal ranger to Heydricus Tritherionson, Liberator of Tritherion, and future Lord of Tenh.  When Elenthal laughs out loud at the preposterous title "Lord of Tenh", Elijah bristles.C'min, however, retains her diplomatic skills, and coaxes Elenthal's story from him.  The ranger has lived near Windswhistle Peak for the last 10 years, after arriving in Tenh from the land of Geoff after "nosing about a bit underneath Castle Greyhawk."Elenthal's Flan settlement is high enough in altitude that it was spared Iuzian or Stonefist deprivation.  In fact, until recently, he believed himself free of political entanglements, if not free of danger.  While Iuzians were scarce in his part of Tenh, he has long struggled with a particularly fecund band of hill giants, stalking them and killing them when he could catch them alone.But recently, he discovered Dorakkan currency amongst the usual detritus of the giant's bags, and after watching their encampment for several weeks, he spotted strange giants, dressed like the Men of the Stonefist, coming and making supplication to the tribal chieftain.Concerned that these giants were in league with Tenh's occupiers, Elenthal followed them back here."And that," he says, turning to Elijah "is when I spotted you.""You wouldn't have spotted me at all if I wasn't elbow-deep in giant brains," Elijah mutters under her breath."You are in luck, friend ranger," C'min says.  "Not only are we here as the vanguard of an army of Liberation, we have come here today to kill these giants, and thereby eliminate the risk that they might infect your giants with the blasphemous doctrines of Iuz.""You two are going up against a giant tribe?"  Elenthal scoffs."Yes," C'min states.  "But we are not alone.  We have three others with us; a conjurer, a priest and the Crown Prince of Furyondy".For the second time, Elenthal bursts out laughing at the ridiculous story, but this time, both women are staring at him evenly."And the King has charged us not to let him be killed, so you'd better stay on your toes," Elijah says as she slips away from the fort.-----Next:  The Liberators call up the reserves, and mayhem ensues!</blockquote>

Verification