CH. 5: Vying Factions

[Haahque]

There may be many places that Haahqae wished to be, indeed many more that Haahqae wouldn't mind being. But in between three ogres, a giant and a group of well armed adventurers ready to do battle was one of those few places that Haahqae was not so keen on being. Going forward meant leaving the protection of his grease spell, going backwards would require him to make his way through a thicket of pointed objects and ending up with a rather bad view of the goings on in the room. It was times like this Haahqae wished he could disappear. Then he remembered that he could.

Digging through his pack Haahqae uncovers a potion of invisibility, which he takes a gulp of before corking it and moving south along the west wall of the room as far as quietly and as far as he can.

[JadedDM]

Tulbas conjures up a second puddle of grease in front of Haahqae's, hoping it will serve as another barrier to keep the enemy at bay.

Gregeddin begins singing a triumphant song about holding one's ground against a terrifying enemy and coming out victorious in the end. Everyone feels a little braver, and starts preparing to attack when the enemy is in range.

Magnus begins chanting in the ancient and spidery tongue of magic, empowered by the black moon in high sanction. He pulls out a pinch of guano in one hand and a bit of sulfur in the other, then mixes them together as he speaks. "Ast kiranann kair Soth-aran!" he chants. "Suh kali Jalaran!" He points forward and the components vanish from his hand. The area surrounding the ogres and giant suddenly explodes in a violent ball of flame. When the smoke clears, two of the ogres lie on the ground, unmoving. The last is covered in third degree burns, but somehow still on his feet. The giant only took a few first degree burns, but is otherwise alright. Magnus frowns that only two are dead. "What a nuisance," he sighs to himself, as if he had accidentally spilled some milk on the floor.

The giant hefts his massive club and starts lumbering toward the party, the earth shaking slightly with each step. He walks past Tulbas' grease, and is heading toward Haahqae's. Not waiting to see if he slips or not, Haahqae pulls out a vial of liquid, takes a sip, and promptly vanishes from sight. Corking the potion, he then quietly starts to head south, hugging the wall.

His eyes blazing with pure hate, Jaymes nocks an arrow and fires at the oncoming giant. But it simply bounces off its rock hard hide, just as the ranger had claimed last time. Undeterred, he fires a second shot, this one drawing a bit of blood, but not doing much else.

The last ogre standing charges toward the party, as well. However, it slips in Tulbas' grease and falls flat on his back.

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Initiative
Haahqae (1d10+4): 14
Gregeddin (1d10+3): 11
Tulbas (1d10+1): 4
Mateo (1d10+3): 12
Zoya (1d10+3): 5
Raena (1d10+4): 12
Burzan (1d10+9): 14
Ismene (N/A)
Miriam (1d10+4): 12
Magnus (1d10+3): 13
Jaymes (1d10+7): 14
Ogre 01 (1d10+7): 17
Ogre 02 (1d10+7): 14
Ogre 03 (1d10+7): 17
Hill Giant (1d10+12): 13

Round 1!

Ismene remains invisible.
Tulbas casts Grease 55 feet ahead of him.
Zoya goes into full defense (AC improves by 2 points).
Gregeddin sings a rallying song, bestowing +2 morale to everyone within 30 feet of him.
Mateo goes into full defense (AC improves by 2 points).
Raena goes into full defense (AC improves by 2 points).
Miriam goes into full defense (AC improves by 4 points).
Magnus casts Fireball, centered 100 feet ahead of him, while Nuitari is in high sanction (+1 spellcasting level), dealing (8d6): 24 damage.
----Ogre 01 saves vs spell [16] (1d20): 6, fail. He takes 24 damage. Ogre 01 falls.
----Ogre 02 saves vs. spell [16] (1d20): 17, pass. He takes 12 damage. Ogre 02 is now critically wounded.
----Ogre 03 saves vs. spell [16] (1d20): 1, fail. He takes 24 damage. Ogre 03 falls.
----Hill Giant saves vs. spell [10] (1d20): 10, pass. He takes 12 damage. Hill Giant is now moderately wounded.
Hill Giant moves 60 feet northwest and holds position.
Haahqae drinks one eighth of his Potion of Invisibility and vanishes for 30-60 minutes. He then moves 30 feet south, against the wall.
Burzan goes into full defense (AC improves by 2 points).
Jaymes fires a sheaf arrow from his masterwork (+1) long bow at the Hill Giant with rage (+4) at short range [AC 5] (1d20+5): 7, miss.
Ogre 02 moves 35 feet northwest and holds. He tries not to slip in Tulbas' Grease. He saves vs. spell [16] (1d20): 2, fail. Ogre 02 falls prone.
Ogre 01 is down.
Ogre 03 is down.
Jaymes fires a sheaf arrow from his masterwork (+1) long bow at the Hill Giant with rage (+4) at short range [AC 5] (1d20+5): 22, hit for (1d8+1): 2 damage.

(OOC: Okay, moving on, Three Day Rule and all that, so I'll NPC Gregeddin this round.

Ogre 02 is prone, so shows up on the map as blue. Haahqae is invisible, so shows up on the map as grey. The red circle represents the AoE of the Fireball spell and the orange circles are the AoEs of the Grease spells.

Actions for Round 2?)

[Haahque]

Hmm, that didn't taste half bad. Haahqae thinks to himself as he stows away his potion of invisibility again. I should look into where I can find these, bring a couple on vacation whenever I go on one. Wait, I don't go on vacations. Hmm... Got to plan some vacations too.

With three ogres on the ground, two of them dead, Haahqae feels confident that he can help the party by finishing off the third one, and still have time to help with the giant, so he slips around behind the ogre and unleashes a sling bullet into a nice, tender (from the burns) vital spot of the ogre.

(Move silently to the spot 3 hexes below the ogre, then sneak attack the ogre with the sling)

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin lights and lobs the torch at the prone ogre in the pile of grease. With the giant looming so close he hopes it slips in the grease, but setting fire to it would make it challenging for the party to swarm upon the giant, so he chooses to aim for the far pool with the ogre.

[BishGada]

Tulbas is too panicked by the coming giant to notice the ogre slipped in the grease puddle. He reaches for a moment to his sling then come to his senses and casts 'Shield' in front of him.

'Lighter than air,
Tougher than ice,
Protecting the body,
And also the eyes,

Field of power,
Against all that offend
Rise in front of me,
As shield on my hand.'

"Achers," he says afterwards , "If you stay close to me you can be protected by my spell."

==========================================================================
(OOC: Tulbas casts 'Shield'

Initiative: oh, invisible castle is still down. It's almost a week by now, no? JadedDM please roll for me.)

[JadedDM]

Looking utterly bored, Magnus recites another magic missile spell and unleashes another four missiles into the air. All four arc toward the giant and slam into him in succession, causing him to cough up a bit of blood and possibly crack a rib or two. "There. That should soften him up enough for you."

The ogre in the grease attempts to get to his feet, slips again, and winds up on his back again. Haahqae moves south of him and fires a sling bullet at him, hitting him in the side. This immediately dispels his invisibility, but does do some internal damage to the ogre's bones.

Tulbas casts a defensive spell on himself while Gregeddin lights a torch and lobs it forward. He severely underestimates his own throwing arm, though, because not only does it fail to land in the second grease puddle, it just barely makes it past the first one. It lies there, still lit, helpless.

Jaymes fires a third arrow, this one also plinking off the giant's hard skin as if it were nothing.

"Here he comes!" warns Miriam, holding her shield out.

The hill giant easily steps over the puddle of grease, never even noticing it is there. He walks right up to the party and swings his club down at Miriam. There isn't any room to maneuver, so she simply holds her shield overhead and somehow manages to block the weapon entirely. "Now, swarm him!" she calls through grit teeth.

Jaymes fires a fourth arrow. At such close range, he is able to aim for those vital areas more easily. The arrow goes right into the giant's left eye, causing it to howl in pain and cover its face with its free hand.

"Come on, we can still get those ten points!" Burzan says to Raena as they prepare to move forward.

===========

Initiative
Haahqae (1d10+6): 9
Gregeddin (1d10+3): 13
Tulbas (1d10+1): 10
Mateo (1d10+3): 5
Zoya (1d10+3): 13
Raena (1d10+4): 5
Burzan (1d10+9): 10
Ismene (N/A)
Miriam (1d10+4): 14
Magnus (1d10+1): 5
Jaymes (1d10+7): 14
Ogre 02 (1d10+7): 8
Hill Giant (1d10+12): 21

Round 2!

Ismene remains invisible.
Mateo remains in full defense.
Raena remains in full defense.
Magnus casts Magic Missile, conjuring four missiles and firing them all at the giant, dealing a total of (4d4+4): 18 damage. Hill Giant is now seriously wounded.
Ogre 02 attempts to stand up and save vs. spell [16] (1d20): 6, fail. He remains prone.
Haahqae moves 30 feet to the southwest and fires a bullet with his sling at Ogre 02 who is prone (+4 to hit) with excellent aim (+2 to hit) [AC 5] (1d20+6): 19, hit for (1d6+1): 2 damage. Haahqae's invisibility wears off.
Tulbas casts Shield for 10 rounds. He gains an AC 2 against thrown objects, AC 3 against projectiles and AC 4 against everything else, but only to frontal attacks. He also gains a +1 save to frontal magical attacks and immunity to Magic Missiles.
Burzan remains in full defense.
Gregeddin lights a torch and throws it at the grease Ogre 02 which is 45 feet away. The top range for throwing objects is 30 feet, so it falls short.
Zoya remains in full defense.
Miriam remains in full defense.
Jaymes fires a sheaf arrow from his masterwork (+1) long bow at the Hill Giant with rage (+4) at short range [AC 5] (1d20+5): 7, miss.
Hill Giant moves through the grease and tries not to slip. He saves vs. spell [10] (1d20): 13, pass. He does not slip. He moves 30 feet west and attacks Miriam with his giant club who is in full defense (-4 to hit) [AC -1] (1d20-4): 2, miss.
Jaymes fires a sheaf arrow from his masterwork (+1) long bow at the Hill Giant with rage (+4) at point blank range (+2) [AC 5] (1d20+7): 11, bare hit for (1d8): 3 damage. Hill Giant is now critically wounded.

(OOC: Actions for Round 3?)

[Haahque]

Finding the sling much less effective against this ogre as he had hoped, Haahqae decides to try his luck with a bow and arrow, notching and firing two such shafts towards his prone foe.

[mgbevan]

"Zoya, Mateo, help Haahqae with that ogre! Everyone else, charge!" Gregeddin yells as he attacks a kneecap with his broadsword.

The bard really hoped the giant swings at miriam again, it was truly miraculous she held the full blow on her shield, Gregeddin thought quite impressed. Potentially amorous.

[BishGada]

Tulbas pulls out of his pocket a miniature jar containing few fireflies. He takes one out, whispers a chant in his old elven dialect and send the firefly towards the giant.

'At dark times,
Do not despair or fear,
The conjured light,
Your heart will cheer.'

The cavern suddenly is lighten up, the center of the light is at the current position of the giant face. Tulbas hopes the light will blind the giant or at least surprise and distract him for a while.
When he is done with his spell and hears Gregeddin orders to Zoya and Mateo he shouts to them, "Pick up Gregeddin torch and lit the grease puddle!"
===================================================
(OOC:
Tulbas casts light on the giant eyes trying to blind him.
As far as I read in the book it does not requires attack roll, but the giant is granted a saving throw.
Invisible castle is still down? JadedDM, is there an alternative site for the rolls that you like or do you prefer to make the rolls yourself? Tulbas need initiative roll.
).

[JadedDM]

"Zoya, Mateo, help Haahqae with that ogre!"

Zoya and Mateo share a look, and then both look up at the massive hill giant between them and the prone ogre. Both take a deep breath and quickly run past him. Once they reach the ogre, Zoya moves first, slamming her short sword into its throat, ending its life. "I...I did it! I got a point!" she cries in shock.

Ismene reappears nearby, a shiny dagger in hand, but stops short. "Oh, you got him. Good job!" she says. Haahqae, meanwhile, has yet to even get his arrow nocked and pulled back.

Tulbas casts a spell of light on the giant's eyes, but it moves its head at the right moment, dodging the effect entirely.

Meanwhile, back at the giant, Raena moves in quickly, dodging the giant's feet and cutting into his ankle with her axes. She finds that while her blades are deadly against men and dwarves, they're fairly ineffective against the giant and she barely does any damage.

Miriam, with a battle cry to Habbakuk, slices her enchanted blade across the giant's kneecap. It cries out in pain and drops to one knee, momentarily stunned. Gregeddin starts to move in, but Jaymes beats him to the punch. The ranger draws another arrow, aims right at the giant's forehead and pulls back. "This is for Rodrik," he rasps, then releases. The arrow flies with incredible force right into the giant's brain, digging in all the way to the tail. The giant wobbles a bit uneasily, then falls over. Fortunately, he falls back, not forward on the party. The entire cave rumbles with the impact, then all goes silent.

Burzan swears profusely. "I never got in one single hit!" he complains.

"What a load of bullshit," Raena agrees. "Even the fresh meat got one point!"

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Initiative
Haahqae (1d10+7): 12
Gregeddin (1d10+4): 12
Tulbas (1d10+1): 7
Mateo (1d10+3): 9
Zoya (1d10+3): 6
Raena (1d10+4): 10
Burzan (1d10+9): 13
Ismene (1d10+1): 10
Miriam (1d10+4): 10
Magnus (N/A)
Jaymes (1d10+7): 10
Ogre 02 (1d10+7): 13
Hill Giant (1d10+12): 22

Round 3!

Zoya makes a morale check. She is chaotic (-1), her leader is a different alignment (-1), her group outnumbers the enemy 3 to 1 (+2), her group has magic (+2) and she is bolstered by song (+2) [16] (2d10): 8, pass. She moves 35 feet southeast and attacks Ogre 02 with her short sword with great skill (+1 to hit) while he is prone (+4) [AC 5] (1d20+5): 22, hit for (1d8+2): 10 damage. Ogre 02 falls.
Tulbas casts Light at the Hill Giant. He saves vs. spell [10] (1d20): 18, pass. Hill Giant is not blinded.
Mateo makes a morale check. His group outnumbers enemy 3 to 1 (+2), his group has magic (+2) and he is bolstered by song (+2) [18] (2d10): 16, pass. He moves 60 feet southeast to attack Ogre 02 but finds he is already dead.
Raena attacks Hill Giant with her primary hand axe with great skill (+1) [AC 5] (1d20+1): 3, miss. She then attacks Hill Giant with her secondary hand axe with great skill (+1) [AC 5] (1d20+1): 17, hit for (1d4+2): 6 damage.
Ismene becomes visible again.
Miriam attacks Hill Giant with her magic (+1 to hit/dmg) long sword with great skill (+1 to hit/+2 dmg) and strength (+1 hit/dmg) [AC 5] (1d20+3): 21, hit for (1d12+4): 7 damage. Hill Giant is now near death.
Jaymes fires a sheaf arrow from his masterwork (+1 to hit) long bow at the Hill Giant with rage (+4 to hit) at point blank range (+2 to hit) [AC 5] (1d20+7): 22, hit for (1d8): 1 damage. Hill Giant falls.
Haahqae has no target.
Gregeddin has no target.
Ogre 02 is down.
Burzan has no target.
Hill Giant is down.
Jaymes has no target.
Haahqae has no target.

(OOC: I don't know any alternatives to Invisible Castle. When it goes down, I usually just make the rolls myself.

End combat.)

[Haahque]

Finally getting an arrow knocked and ready to fire at the ogre, Haahqae is a little disappointed to see that it's already been dropped. Turning to the giant he sees it teeter and fall over likewise killed, so Haahqae feels a little unnessasary and unwanted, but the feeling passes quickly.

Stepping forward Haahqae climbs onto the ogre to use as a podium to address the crew with. "Good job everyone! We've done it again and completed deeds of epic heroism. Before us lies a dead giant, and just over yonder are hapless villagers that we must rescue. To do this I'm going to need all of the strong people to get a firm grip on that rope and slowly lower the cage to the ground."

Naturally Haahqae looks at Burzan, expecting his help with this.

[BishGada]

Tulbas looks around, still unbelieving it is all done. After several moments he finally relaxes and straightens up. "Wow, we actually did it." he says quietly and smiles weakly. Tulbas then goes closer to the giant body to examine it. He touches his hide impressed by it's toughness, then he goes tohelp everyone with the prisoners.


==========================================
(OOC: Are we lucky or what? I thought we might lose people in this battle...)

[mgbevan]

"Me neither" Gregeddin concurs with burzan, "But not to complain a good job all round! now to the tasks of these prisoners and possessions of our deceased foe here. But first let's take a closer look at how exactly they are kept up there"

[JadedDM]

Zoya turns away from the dead ogre and empties the contents of her stomach onto the ground, while Mateo awkwardly pats her on the back. Jaymes drops to his knees, his rage and hate spent, his task finally complete.

Miriam sheathes her blade. "Burzan, with me," she says. The two of them together are about as strong as the giant, and manage to lower the cage to the ground. The three humans come out, weak in the knees with relief.

"Who are you people?" asks one, still kind of stunned.

"Followers of the Master, the one true god," Burzan answers.

"Are you from Haven?" asks Miriam.

"No...Esker. It's a small village not far from here," says one. "The giant raided it last night. They took six of us, but we three are all that remain now."

Raena makes a beeline to the treasure and starts going through it. "Looks to be...about 1,000 steel pieces...and 200 platinum ones. So worth about two grand altogether," she muses.

[Haahque]

Hopping off the ogre, Haahqae makes his way over to the newly rescued villagers, happy to introduce himself. "Pleased to meet you villagers of Esker. My name is Haahqae, traveling gnome, juggler extraordinaire and sometimes a hero of the people. I say pleased to meet you in that I'm pleased that we managed to get here in time to save your lives, although it saddens me that we could not come sooner and rescue the other three as well."