CH. 5: Vying Factions

[mgbevan]

"Zoya, Mateo" the bard calls as he walks up to the pair. "Expecting trouble? More like procuring it, and your services too for that matter." he adds while freeing the two longswords from his belt and offering the hilts of the blades to the pair. "Tomorrow, it is still morning so if you can arrange cover for your shifts that would be advisable. Our purpose, is a tall order. A giant, slay it I intend." Gregeddin pauses half for dramatic effect and to gauge their reactions. "We will not be alone in this endeavour, a party I am privy to have enlisted the help of some others. Quite a few others, and they may outnumber us greatly. I want you both around for they may kill me, or one of those I have a vested interest in. While all are united by the giant, we have had some, philosophical disagreements which could easily surface once the threat has passed." Gregeddin concludes dryly. His tone throughout level and matter of fact deal brokering.

"Now for fifteen steel a piece will you follow me unfaltering, unquestioning?"

[HorizonsDream]

"Telling the Holy guard isn't going to do much," Kendra admitted as she looked over the sea of people. "There aren't many of them left, but we should tell the Highseekers. It is doubtful that they can do anything either, but they can at least prepare."

[JadedDM]

Gregeddin (Masked Dragon Inn, Courtyard)
"Fifteen steel?" repeats Zoya, somewhat incredulously. "Each? For one job? By the gods, that's...that's..."

"More than an entire year's salary," Mateo finishes, equally dumbstruck.

"But wait a second," Zoya adds, "are we expected to actually fight the giant or just protect you from this party? I've heard tales of giants before, and a year's salary is no good if we're both dead."

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin nods in acknowledgement of their concerns.
"Without going into too much detail, our ambition is to ambush or ensnare the giant in traps, for fighting too long in mêlée cannot bode well for us, tales of bone crunching strength, thundering blows from weapons that would wound the very earth we walk upon. This job does not come without risk. If the time is right, yes I will call on your blades. And you should also know that I would ask you to drag my mangled corpse back to my parents, as I would for you, to be given burials of heroes. Again, what say you to this offer?"

[BishGada]

Tulbas attends to his uncle and the room. As the hours goes by, and failing to detect magic that might prevent his uncle from getting better, Tulbas now considers the blade which wounded Raetmal might have been poisoned. Alas, the wound has been cleaned too many times already so such traces would be long gone. But having something to keep himself occupied Tulbas searches the books in the library for poisons that can make or keep a person unconscious and understanding how such poisons works he tries to use another Cantrip to detect such symptoms.

Using his ancient elvish dialect he whispers:
"Spiders and snakes, resin from ivy,
tools of nature to weaken the mighty.
With mechanism exposed by talent and will,
the work of such poisons I will now reveal."

========================================================
(OOC: Killing time.
Tulbas casts a Catrip to check if his uncle condition is caused by some sort of poison.
I hope using an encyclopedia and understanding how poison would work should make the task of detecting the poison easier and therefore possible to achieve by Catrip and not a higher divination spell.)

[JadedDM]

Gregeddin (Masked Dragon Inn, Courtyard)
The two exchange a look, then both accept the offered long swords. "We're in," says Zoya. Mateo nods silently in agreement.

Haahqae, Kendra and Darga (Market Square)
The crowd around Darewind grows larger as he once again demonstrates his power by cutting his own hand then healing the wound while holding his amulet. People 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the miracle, and some even drop to their knees in prayer.

Tulbas Erogund (Mageware shop)
Tulbas' cantrip fails to detect any poison in the room. But the young elf does remember that Mad Marvin specifically told him that it could be days before Raetmal recovers consciousness, or that he might never wake from his coma ever again. Only time will tell.

[HorizonsDream]

"Come on," Kendra says, leading her small group through the growing crowd. She needed to get to Elistan to tell him what was going on.

[mgbevan]

"Excellent " Gregeddin concurs, "We will meet at the mageware shop tomorrow morning, do you know the place? And, do you have a next of kin you'd like to nominate?"

[djhyland]

Darga stays close to Kendra, keeping an eye out for any who might attempt to harm her. As crowded as it is, he keeps almost as close an eye out for pickpockets...

[JadedDM]

Kendra and Darga (Council Hall, Harbor District)
Kendra and Darga skirt around the crowd, but luckily they are all too enthralled by Darewind to pay any attention to them. From there, they begin the long walk toward the city's council hall. It's a large hall supported by six towers, representing the six towers that surround the city. Once upon a time, this building had been a temple to one of the old gods. Now it is the meeting place of the Highseeker Council, which runs the city's government.

The pair are stopped by a Holy Guard who is standing guard at the gateway. Kendra recognizes her as Gabrielle, one of the more recent recruits, hired only a year ago. "What business do you have with the Highseekers?" she asks. "Wait, Synclair, is that you?"

Gregeddin (Masked Dragon Inn, Courtyard)
"The mageware shop?" asks Mateo. "Hmm, is it safe to go in there, with all those...curses and hexes and such?"

"My next of kin would be my husband," Zoya says.

"Just my parents," Mateo adds. "They live in the Harbor District."

=========

(OOC: Which way is Haahqae going?)

[Haahque]

"So ya probably know by now that we're looking for two fellows by the names of Biggs and Wedge. Well, one's named Biggs and one's Wedge, not two guys named Biggs and Wedge. That would be a weird name, even by human standards. Not that their actual names are much better, Biggs really isn't that actually, looks more like a regular big guy. Big in that he's human that is. Anyways, shouldn't be too hard to find them if we just..." Haahqae looks back to his audience, but finds that they must have wandered off in the crowd, or perhaps it was Haahqae who had wandered off, but either way it happens, it turns out Haahqae has been separated.

"Well that's strange, but stranger things happen every day, like giants attacks, and I'm on my way to stop that. If only I could find a higher place to scan the crowd from." He scans the horizon for such a spot, and decides that if the crowd can see Darwind performing his miracles, then he should be able to see anyone in the crowd from where Darwind is standing, so he makes his way over towards the priest.

[BishGada]

Giving up on finding a cure to his uncle condition, Tulbas turns to preparations towards the battle with the giant. He looks for maps describing the surrounding geography and information describing giants and recording about battles with giants occurred before to learn what worked best against the huge creatures. He also looks for more spells he might be able to add to his spell book.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Market Square)
Haahqae elbows his way through the crowd, where Darewind is speaking. The prophet is standing on an overturned empty cart, putting him only a couple of feet over those around him. He tells the crowd how the Seekers will soon fall and his plans to turn the Council Hall into a temple of the Master.

Tulbas Erogund (Mageware shop)
Tulbas learns the following about giants:

Hill giants are selfish, cunning brutes who survive through hunting and by terrorizing and raiding nearby communities. Despite their low intelligence, they are capable fighters.

Hill giants are oddly simian and barbaric in appearance, with overly long arms, stooped shoulders, and low foreheads. Even though they are the smallest of the giants, their limbs are more muscular and massive than those of the other giant races. The average hill giant is 16 feet tall and weighs about 4,500 pounds. Females have the same builds as males. Their skin color ranges from a light tan to a deep ruddy brown. Their hair is brown or black, and their eyes are black. Hill giants can live to be 200 years old.

Hill giants’ have a naturally thick hide, as strong as chain mail. At times they wear crudely-sewn animal hides, which are the equivalent of leather armor. Nearly all hill giants wear these hides, which are a symbol of esteem in some hill giant communities -- the more hides a giant has, the more large kills to his credit. Only a small handful of the giants fashion metal armor from the armor of men they have defeated. Like other races of giants, hill giants carry their belongings with them in huge hide sacks. A typical hill giant’s bag will contain a number of throwing rocks, the giant’s wealth, and additional common items.

Hill giants speak their own language and a tongue common to all giants. In addition, around half also speak ogre.

Hill giants prefer to fight their opponents from high rocky outcroppings where they can pelt their targets with rocks and boulders while limiting the risks posed to themselves. Hill giants’ favorite weapons are oversized clubs which can crush a man with one swing. They hurl rocks, as well, with decent accuracy up to 200 yards. They are also quite adept at catching rocks.

A hill giant lair will have around a dozen giants; usually an extended family. Sometimes these families will accept lone hill giants into their folds.

Occasionally a hill giant with an average intelligence can be found. Such a giant is capable of rallying bands of his peers so 2, 3, or 4 times the number of giants usually appearing can be encountered. These “giant kings”, as they call themselves, stage raids on human towns or against other races of giants.

Although hill giants prefer temperate areas, they can be found in practically any climate where there is an abundance of hills and mountains. They lair in caves, excavated dens, or crude huts. Those who live in colder climates have developed more skills with preparing and using skins to keep themselves warm and to keep the harsh winds out of their lairs.

About half of hill giants will have guards in their lairs, usually dire wolves, giant lizards, or even ogres. The majority of hill giants are suspicious of magic and will seek to destroy magic items they acquire as treasure. They ceremonially kill mages.

Hill giants’ main diet consists of meat, which they obtain by hunting. Sometimes bands of hill giants will trade with each other or with bands of ogres to get foodstuffs and trinkets.

[HorizonsDream]

"Yeah, it's me, Gabrielle," Kendra says. "Believe me, I wouldn't be asking to see them if it wasn't important."

[JadedDM]

Kendra and Darga (Council Hall, Harbor District)
"You're here to see the Highseeker Council?" Gabrielle asks. "Did the captain approve this? Wait, didn't you quit the Holy Guard?"