As promised, here's
the link to the full post and you'll see the rest below...
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Sensing battle in the air, Vaskesh springs into action, literally, jumping towards the oncoming giants. One foot slips on the icy ground, however, and he does not quite obtain the lift he had intended. The quick lizardman ranger quickly compensates, however, and lands on all fours, ready for the blow that he knows is coming. He instantly rolls to the right and comes up with his tridents whirling in a fiery cage around him, landing a single blow on the giant despite his icy mishap. The bulbous-nosed giant grunts with the lizardman’s attack but the flame from Vaskesh’s magical tridents is quickly extinguished by the icy winds.
The behemoths chuckle in unison, as if sharing a private joke amongst themselves, and before any of the other Misfits can make a move, the ground beneath their feet instantly transforms into a massive, wet morass. Thick, slick cold mud clambers, as if with a life of its own, up the calves and around the ankels of the three heroes threatening to mire them and slow their actions. Vaskesh, already in the heightened awarness of battle, leaps just in time, perching awkwardly atop to rocky nubs above the mud. Dromar and Tsid, still gaining their “battle-legs” sink quickly and deeply into the muck, their eyes widening in fear and horror as it instantly returns to cold, hard stone. As if adding insult to injury, the lead giant grins ferally as he barks a harsh-sounding word in a magic-laden, foreign tongue; unleashing a massive lightening bolt at the group, many of whom are now hopelessly mired.
Vaskesh, tipping too and fro widely, manages to erratically avoid all of the radiating spokes of charged death, but his companions do not fare so well. Tsidkenu, immobile and caught at unawares, takes the full force of the lightening bolt square in the face and for a moment, the entire area is brightened with the forceful explosion of positive energy conjoining with electricity. Snow sizzles and pops into non-existence as the two energies collide and Tsid screams in equisite agony. Before the scream has even ended, however, the bolt arcs to Dromar and enters his right hand, races across and through his chest, finally leaping out the left side of his body in its irrepressible search for ground. The bolt strikes a massive boulder to Dromar’s left and discharges in a brillant flash that sends red-hot shards of rock flying in all directions.
Gasping in pain, Tsidkenu calls upon the power of the One and feels the divine energy course outward from him, physically shaping the stone down and away from his and Dromar’s entrapped feet. The demon-fey instantly, instinctively takes to the air - cold, artic wind and snow swirling beneath his leathery wings. Tapping his heels together thrice, Dromar hastes himself, leaving a trail of firey hoofprints in the air behind him; hoofprints that are quickly doused into small puffs of steam and blow away on frigid eddies. Quickly casting a spell, he fades into invisibility, manaeuvering into the best position to sneak attack the massive female giant. Despite his best attempt however, the demonic-fey misses, dispelling his invisibility at the same time.
At that moment, two sounds split the frosty air: the high-pitched wail of a very large object rapidly soaring through the sky and an almost inhuman bellowing; rumbling upwards from farther down the steep slope of the mountain top. All eyes turn towards the sound as an enormous figure, fully ten feet tall and equally as wide steamrolls through the doorway - the portal, and the Misfits’ only way home - shattering it into pebbles and dust. The figure, what seems to be a massive stone golem, does not hesitate. It continues pounding up the hill - right past Tsidkenu, who stands, slackjawed, as well as Vaskesh, still balancing precariously on slippery rocks - and slams a boulder-like fist into the face of one of the bulbous-nosed giants with a cry of “MaFURRIESSSS!!!”
Wanting to be as far away from the enraged stone creature and hungry for the taste of battle-stained blood, Vaskesh jumps into the swirling snow and wind, flips and lands sure-footedly atop the flat rock before the bloated she-giant. Wasting no time, the lizardman ranger wails into her bloated mass, only to withdraw as her form dissapates before his eyes. An illusion! His keen ears catch the basal sound of a monstrous laugh from somewhere up above, in the cloud- and snow-filled skies.
“RAWR-HO-HO-Hohohoho…”
The lizardman spits a curse at the skies as his orange eyes search in vain to locate the source of the laughter…
Then the rain of stones begins… Massive boulders, freshly ripped from the frozen sod, rain down upon the heroes and ugly giants alike - however, the giants seem familiar with this tactic and quickly jump back before each slab slams forcefully into the ground. Vaskesk takes a hard hit to the head, spurting blood down upon his companions below, but manages to maintain his high perch upon the flat, slippery stone. The stone golem takes a large boulder to the shoulder, but it fragments into spinning stone shards and the stone-made-man barely seems to notice. Luckily, Tsidkenu receives only a peppering of stone fragments as a boulder hits the ground nearby and Dromar, still flying, is missed altogether.
Vaskesh screams a draconic warcry and leaps down, kicking one of the giants square in the face. The giant’s bulbous nose crumples, spurting blood and snot everywhere. The giant tries to grapple the lizardman, but Vaskesh is too quick, twisting away from the giant’s massive mitts and dropping to the ground lithely. The second giant is ready, however, and harshly barks the same arcane word as did his twin, before, and another massive lightening bolt rips across the mountain top. Vaskesh manages to evade the bolt, but the stone golem catches it full force in the chest; the creature bellows in rage and pain as the bolt leaves a smoking crater in its chest.
The dark clouds above flash with eldritch energy as twin groups of scarlet, magical barbs streak downwards and strike the lizardman and demon-fey with peternatural accuracy. Again comes the booming (and yet somehow matronly) laugher from above, “RAWR-HO-HO-Hohohoho…”
Dromar grits his teeth and scans the skies, over-weary of being ambushed from above. “Ambushing is my job, wench…”, he spits under his breath, “…let’s just see where you’re hiding, shall we?”. The Abyssal Rogue narrows his crimson eyes and soars into a icy-cold cloud bank, searching for his enemy…and next target.
On the ground, Tsidkenu calls again upon the divine power that glows through his very skin to mend himself. Precious life energy ceases to pour from his open wounds and the cleric audibly thanks his Lord for his mercy and healing. Tsid scans the horizon, catching glimpses through the swirling clouds and snow of many other giants further up the moutainside - several hefting boulders… He calls out to the group, hoping to warn them, yet not tip the Misftis’ hand to their enemy above.
Slipping through the algid air like the shadow of death itself, Dromar spots and targets his prey. It is just as he thought - the image of the grotesuely fat mother-giant was not far from the mark: if anything it was flattering; had he not grown up on the Abyss, where such horrors are commonplace, then the demon-fey would likely have retched on the spot. Instead, spurned by his magical speed, he draws upon his innate sorcerous powers, channeling the very fires of the Abyss towards his target.
Like a new sun, twin fireballs erupt in the early morning sky, vaporizing the clouds hiding the mother-giant and instantly turning the snow to rain. The massive outrush of heat and wind nearly topples those on the ground and turns slicks of ice into quicksilver pools. The matronly giantess never gets the chance to fully realize her doom: her extraordinary stores of fat, covering her entire form, burst like mini-novas in the sky, scattering human-torso-sized chunks of burning flesh, fat, and gore in a massive sphere. Her skin and hair crisp instanly, along with the many layers of ingrown animal furs and hides that had become one with her blubbery folds of putrid flesh. The scream is short-lived, but terrible, sending chills down the spines of all present, even the battle-hardened Vaskesh. As its echo fades, the only sounds are the gentle rain of boiling blood and gore, punctuated by the occasional wet, meaty plop of a hunk of smoking, smoldering flesh.
It is then that her skeleton falls among her children: shards of still-burning bone rain down upon the numerous giants, severing both the emotional and what seems to be a deeper, more tangible bond with all of the twisted monsters close enough to see. Suddenly, howls - beastial cries that express pure rage, sorrow, and hatred all at once - are forced into the sky by scores of malformed lungs. Howls that quickly distort into screams of rage and muderous intent.
Still burning with anger and hatred for these giants, the stone golem quickly takes advantage of their momentary distraction. Dropping his rock-sized fists like twin stone hammers, the golem flattens the head of the first giant like a ripe melon. The golem does not falter nor waver, however, as it instantly reverses its momentum and steps forward, brining down the hammer once again upon the head of the second giant. Bellowing in rage, the golem squishes the second giant’s head, and shifts to its left, where it again repeats the tactic, this time brining the hammer down upon a man-sized, upright boulder, pounding it into powder. The fluid, up-down, piston-like movement continues and the golem shifts again to its left; its hammer-hands now bearing down upon the unwary Vaskesh!
At the last moment, the golem diverts its enormous hands to either side of the lizardman, leaving twin smoking, shattered craters in the stone at his feet. A sheepish grin passes over the stone golem’s face, “Uh er…Konk sorry. Konk almost make Squishy more-squishy…”
High on the mountainside, the screams and howls have stopped… Now scores of eyes, filled with incarnate rage stare down at the Misfits and see only the murderers of their mother - that which was the complete and utter center of their small, sad worlds. Scores of burly arms launch boulders into the air; scores of behemoth feet begin loping down the mountainside; scores of colossal hands draw equally colossal weapons.
Below, nearby their recently-destroyed way home, the Misfits stand, catching their breath and wiping gore from their eyes. Tsidkenu points up the slope and utters with grim finality, “The giants….they are coming….”
Look for more updates tomorrow on
WOWWEEZOWWEE.COM!
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
This is the beginning of Session 17 (the bit I wrote above is for Session 5 and we're currently on Session 29!), the rest of which should be posted tomorrow at 
