Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 777298" data-attributes="member: 143">Book VIII, Part 8The appearance of the two adolescent formorians and the dire bear further slanted the odds against the companions.  Although they had thrown their enemy into confusion, and inflicted great injuries in the initial moments of the battle, none of the giants had yet gone down, and soon they would be able to bring their deadly clubs to bear in melee.  And when that happened, things would get very bloody very quickly. Cal responded quickly even as these new foes appeared in the mouth of the cave.  Calling upon a potent illusion, he summoned up a roaring wall of flames that filled the opening in the cliff face, blocking the bear and its handlers.  The giants and the bear responded as though the flames were real, neither quick enough in mind to immediately recognize that the roaring wall lacked heat, and they backed off, stymied at least for the moment.The giant that had been wounded by Benzan’s first arrow cautiously circled the globe of darkness, wary of another attack.  The second giant, meanwhile, spat curses as it clumsily rose at the far end of the sphere, blood trailing from where its face had bashed a rock as it fell.  The first giant’s gaze passed over a man-sized boulder as it trudged across the rocky slope.  It sensed too late the sudden movement as Benzan reared up from behind the sparse cover, but it certainly felt the blaze of pain that erupted in its side as another arrow sank to the feathers into its torso.  It spun to face this small but dangerous foe, but Benzan kept up his barrage, firing a second and then a third arrow in rapid succession.  The giant absorbed the hits, clearly feeling the hurt now, but then it was close enough to swing its massive club at its attacker.  Benzan dodged back, but even his magical shield could not fully absorb the force of the powerful creature’s assault.  He grunted, the air escaping his lungs in a sudden whoosh, and staggered backward, barely keeping his feet as he fumbled for another arrow.  Lok took a step toward the cave mouth before Cal’s illusion took effect.  Realizing that these foes were delayed for now, he quickly loaded and fired again—this time at the huge leader that was rising toward Dana’s position above them.  His first shot scored a hit, the arrow jutting into the giant’s meaty leg, but it paid no heed to the wound.  His second shot also seemed true, but at the last moment it flared wide, as if deflected by some unseen force. Gritting his teeth, there was nothing more that the genasi could do to help Dana as the giant swept upward toward her.  Dana was all too aware of the looming magnitude of the giant as it drew nearer, and she knew that there was no way that she could withstand the assault of that strange lightning-spear that it wielded.  Instead she drew back further, forcing it to come higher and farther to reach her, delaying until the last instant despite the bulb of fear that caught in her throat at the grim promise of the giant’s terrible expression.  But when she finally did call upon her patron, the goddess quickly answered her call, and a vertical shaft of light appeared behind her in the air, widening into a dimension door that she vanished into just as the giant drew close enough to attack.  “Come on down here, you ugly brute!” Lok called up to it, although he had to realize that with the giant’s superior reach, it could hover above him and pound him into the stone without risking a counter from the genasi’s axe.  Cal did not leave his friend unprotected, though.  Quickly, his actions accelerated by the still-potent haste spell, he crossed to where the genasi warrior stood apparently alone on the canyon floor, and imparted to him both a haste spell of his own and the shifting glamour of a displacement spell.  “Thank you, my friend,” Lok said, as he fitted another arrow to his bow.  “Now get clear, quickly!”  Even as the huge giant turned and started its descent, Lok drew, aimed, and released another arrow straight up. Cal turned to see that their problems were still not as bad as they could get; the two giants he’d caught in his black tentacles and subsequent illusion had finally escaped both and were charging toward Lok from behind, only a dozen giant-strides away.  “More company!” he warned, moving enough so as not to get caught and trampled inadvertently in their rush.  He was starting to run out of spells that would be effective against these foes; he quickly fired off a polymorph, but was not surprised when the giant resisted its effects.  These things were tough.  Well, he’d have to rely on the old tried-and-true tactics, then.  As the closer of the two giants ran past his position, even its senses not sufficient to find him through his invisibility, he let out a loud whistle.  The giant’s head turned, looking for the source of the sound.  And caught the full force of Cal’s color spray, the dazzling blaze of colors stunning it, at least for a few seconds.  For now, that would have to do.Lok darted aside, rolling as the blazing brilliant energy head of the giant leader’s spear slammed into the ground with enough force to shatter the solid stone.  The displacement had just been enough to shelter him—this time.  He quickly moved away, pausing to fire a quick arrow that was deflected by the giant’s invisible protections, but forcing it to adjust, to come after him, not letting it get set for a full and devastating series of attacks.  But the giant abruptly rose up to its full height, hanging in the air ten feet off the ground, and pointed its spear-staff at Lok.  It roared a command in its guttural tongue, and again the gem at its throat flashed in response.  Lok stood his ground, ready for anything, but could not avoid the jagged bolt of liquid energy that exploded down the shaft and slashed through the air into him.  As tough as he was, the genasi felt the effects of the lightning bolt heavily, but as the shards of stone and dust raised by the blast faded, he still stood, a blackened smear blazed across the breastplate of his magical armor, and wisps of smoke rising from his charred beard.  “Ha!  Can’t do any better than that, you big oaf!  Come on down here and tangle with me hand-to-hand, if you dare!”It wasn’t clear if the giant understood the genasi’s speech, but it clearly recognized the challenge, for it roared and dropped solidly to the ground, and charged toward Lok.</blockquote>

Verification