The elven woman who's name is Brawen starts to tell the tale of their encounter. She's a good story-teller and starts it off talking about how they tracked the giants.
"After the stakes were set and the wagers gathered, the group from Waterdeep headed straight into the High Forest without hesitation or any sort of plan. They moved as stealthily as the hill giants that we both stalked. We gave them a wide berth and a good head start. We heard the sounds of battle from a mile away..."
Dhag, the other large warrior with the long braided hair interrupts her. "You mean we heard their cries of pain!"
The other four giggle and Brawen continued. "Yes. They were getting slaughtered. They rode their horses through a glen into an ambush and the giants must have surrounded them. That gave us an advantage and while the giants were pummeling our opponents, Piel, Dhag, Raylon and Frish took on the giants from behind while the rest of us fired from a distance. We took two out right away and but Raylon and Frish exposed themselves and were each struck by bolders. The other group was totally decimated and beyond hope. We just chopped off a bunch of heads and got out fast. The giants weren't really interested in us. They were more eager to grab the horses."
From her tale it's apparent already that the other group of hunters were all dead and that this group had lost two of it's members. It was also evident that they didn't stay to finish the battle. They collected heads and retreated.
"Seems odd when the game is to hunt down the giants, that they seem to be hunting us first. This is our first time in this area, has it always been this way?" the cleric inquires, mostly to Brawen but glancing around in case anyone else has the answer.
Brawen answers, "It did seem unusual, I suppose, that the giants didn't bother with us. But we just counted our blessings and left. I guess they got tired of watching us slaughter them!"
She raises her mug and the others in her party clink theirs against hers and they all downed a hearty gulp simultaneously.
The cleric nods, realizing he may not be able to get much more giant-based information from this party, and just enjoying whatever banter continues, listening for any other hints but not trying to make it any more of an interrogation.
ooc: Sorry. As I posted in the Members Availability thread, I've been overwhelmed with family and friends visiting. Living in sunny Florida is a terrific but my home has become a sanctuary for those fleeing the arctic blasts. I've got a brief hiatus so I'm going to fill in a lot of blanks and fast forward a bit to move us closer to being in sync with the other group. We need to gain about a roleplaying day to do so.
DM
The evening went quickly as the conversation flowed smoothly with food and drink and good company. The foursome learn that the other party was larger but made the smart decision to leave the field of battle when the giant forces were overwhelming. They were experienced adventurers, mercenaries, that were looking for some thrills. Stories about the hunt drew them to come and while they lost some allies, these people survived and were rewarded.
The other group, the one that had been decimated, were mostly the scions of nobles and aristocrats that had similar desires but were ill-equipped to handle the giants. The sized of the giant force was unexpected. One giant is a handful but there were nearly at least a half dozen and probably more traveling together. Retreat was the sensible choice for the victors (by default) of the competition. The half elf, Chima, said, "I understand a little giantspeak. The giants were calling out a phrase. I do not know what it meant. They were hollering 'for Guh!" as they slaughtered." Both Aubric and Kriv had heard this name before. Guh was known to be the chief of the Hill Giants and reputed to be the largest of them all. Aubric, Kriv, Sindar, Zhu History rolls for Guh - DC 12 Neptune rolled 1d20,1d20+6,1d20+2,1d20+3 and got 18, 17, 3, 5
The prize that they had won was significant. Each of the survivors earned 200 gold pieces from the Hunt Lords, paid by the Castellan, Amrath Mulnobar. None of the others had met the Hunt Lords. Every aspect of the transaction was done by Amrath.
Dhag and Piel, you learned were from the north; they were warriors from the tribe of the Bear, Reghedmen. Both had travelled here from the east from Everlund. They said that the road was very dangerous from here to Ostin's Hold. The number of trolls, ogres and orcs had swelled. Apparently they were all fleeing fire and stone giants that were invading the Evermoors.
As for the doppelganger that was impersonating Bern and the dwarf called the Weevil, they were in town just a couple of nights ago. This group had met them but weren't interested in what they were selling. "They were offering to sell the ability to make magic weapons to equip an entire army" was their pitch. They were looking for a market and thought they might find one here. They came to offer a deal to the Hunt Lords but they were not interested. "Bern and the dwarf spread word that they were heading east to Ostin's Hold. They that they had a good opportunity to sell their wares over there. They were excited to hear about the trolls, ogres and orcs fleeing the Evermoors".
The night passed uneventfully and the foursome was ready now to head out.
†Restricted forums can only be accessed by DreamLyrics members of the age of 18 years or older. Access which is granted by the Behind Closed Doors Procedure. ™DreamLyrics Play-by-Post. DreamLyrics Play-by-Post does not own copyright on DreamLyrics texts or graphics, except trademarked DreamLyrics logos and logotypes. The works contained in DreamLyrics are copyrighted (automatically, under the Berne Convention) by the original authors and may be available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence. (See Copyrights for details.) Privacy Policy
