Re: Adventure #5 - March of the Frost Giants

[Malazek]

Round 5 ...

Init 19
Threatening the giant, Jeremiah waits for Halvar to get out of the way.
- Delay.

Init 15
Flint continues to watch the battle from up high, wondering if the fight will ever come to him.

Hearing the commotion at the front, Glory opens the gate and rushes toward the battle.

Lindy throws her last javelin at the Elder. The javelin sticks into the monster's stony hide, but does not seem to cause injury.
- Javelin Throw = 20 (Miss)

Init 11
Halvar steps to the side and continues to attack. His attacks bounce harmlessly off the giant's stony hide, until finally, one cuts into the monster's flesh.
- Battle-ax/Hand-ax Combo = 17, 18, 26 (Miss, Miss, Hit); 5 Damage

Init 10
Jeremiah steps forward with deftly swinging axes; his axes biting repeatedly into the Elder's body. The giant gushes dark red blood like a wounded boar.
- 65 Total Damage? Yikes.

Init 8
Gumphrey fires! The troops fire! ... and another giant falls in the field.
- Gumphrey, Attack = 15, 11 (Miss, Miss)
- Corporals, Attacks = 12, 15, 13 (All Misses)
- Lance-Corporals, Attacks = 25, 15, 9 (One Hit); 3 Damage
- Recruits: 8, 16, n20 (v22), 13, 17, 18, 18, 13, 15, 6 (One Crit); 16 Damage
- Recruits: 18, 22, 9, 14, 6, 21, 18, 11, 11, 14 (Two Hits); 6, 10 Damage
- Recruits: 22, 18, 12, 11, 15, 14, 6, 11, 10, 10 (One Hit); 10 Damage

Elodie blasts the big one.
- SGE's Reflex = 12 (Fail)

Talmut drops from the sky, slinging gouts of acid on the rear giant.
- Talmut's Ranged Touch = 16 vs. 9 (Hit); 4 Damage this round and 2d4 for another six rounds.

The Archon beams the giants again with more rays of light.
- Ranged Touch Attacks = 11, 10 vs. 8 (Hit, Hit); 5, 1 Damage

Init 7 and 6
Wounded and covered in acid, the last Frost Giant races toward the keep.

The two hill giants start pacing their steps, preparing for face-to-face battle.
- Delay

Init 5
The Elder Stone Giant steps backwards, dropping into the moat.

Init 4
Seeing their opportunity to breech the keep's defense, the hill giants  sprint forward. One of them jumps over the moat and scrambles into the keep. As he hurries to get out of the other giant's way, Jeremiah and Halvar take advantage of his lowered defenses and kill him outright. That, however, doesn't stop the other hill giant from also jumping over the moat and moving through the palisade.
- Jump Check = 23
- Jeremiah's OA = 25 (Hit); 21 Damage
- Halvar's OA = 34 (Hit); 12 Damage
- Jump Check = 28



GM EDIT: the Hurler is not down 18 Max HP. That is a map error. He is down 14 Max HP and has suffered 4 points of damage on top of that. I'll fix it next round.

[Glitz]

Elodie blasts the big one again (and the one beside it).

Use Wand of Flame Strike.
Damage: 26

[Swifthand]

Double move, down 60, then towards the Arx 60, to VV -2?

[Alpha Omega]

Jeremiah will change his target to the hill giant.


AoGS #1: 8 + 20 = 28| DMG: 20
AoGS #2: 15 + 15 = 30| DMG: 17


MwHA #1: 2 + 15 = 17 | DMG: --
MwHA #2: 10 + 10 = 20 | DMG: --

[Malazek]

Round 6

Init 15
Seeing Talmut get closer, Flint grips his shield and trident for battle.

Out of Javelins, Lindy races toward the front gate (trying to reach the front lines).

Glory, too, races to the front lines.

Init 11 and 10
Halvar and Jeremiah sink their axes into Hill Giant, killing it quickly.
- Halvar's Attacks: 31, 19, 14 (One Hit); 11 Damage
- Jeremiah's Damage kills it.

Init 8
Gumphrey and the troops!
- Gumphrey, Attack = 17, 25 (Miss, Hit); 6 Damage
- Corporals, Attacks = 12, 15, 13 (All Misses); 14, 16, 13 (All Miss)
- Lance-Corporals, Attacks = 25, 15, 9 (One Hit); 25, 11, 8 (One Hit); 6 Damage
- Recruits: 6, 21, 20, 18, 8, 23, 19, 19, 14, 20 (Two Hits); 9, 9 Damage
- Recruits: 17, 13, 21, 10, 23, 7, 7, n20 (v24), 12 (One Crit, Two Hits); 15, 10, 8 Damage
- Recruits: 18, 16, 11, 6, 23, n20 (v22), 23, 20, n20 (v7), 5 (One Crit, Three Hits); 22, 6, 3, 8 Damage
- OOC: Best Archer Round Yet ... 102 Damage.

Elodie commands the fire spirits to blast and burn the submerged giant! Although the water protects him somewhat, his head and shoulders are set ablaze. After several seconds of trying to put it out, the giant falls face first into the water and sinks to the bottom.
- Reflex Save (+2 bonus for cover, since water blocks line of sight vs. fire spells) = 19 (Success); Half Damage

Talmut flies toward the keep.

The acid he previously conjured continues to fry the frost giant.
- Acid Damage = 2

The archon blasts away with its holy beams, but the lumbering giant somehow dodges them.
- RTA's = 5, 7 (Both Miss)

Init 7
The Frost Giant hurls his mighty axe at the crazy druid with all the fire ... but his spear crashes harmlessly into the battlements. Then, the giant looks around, sees that all his companions are dead, and decides to run.
- Spear Attack (-4 for Range vs. AC 21 due to cover); 18 (Miss)



OOC: The Map has been Corrected.

[Glitz]

Elodie fires at the fleeing giant, hoping to stop him from getting away.

Use Wand of Flame Strike.
Damage: 29

[Swifthand]

Sensing that the Frost Giant is done for, Talmut will fly up and toward the old road to Umberfall and try to see signs of the Captain and her troops headed this way.

[Alpha Omega]

Jeremiah will quick draw his bow and fire a couple arrows at the fleeing giants.

MW.C.L.Bow: 8 + 17 = 25 | DMG: Atk 2 +7 = 9
MW.C.L.Bow: 15 + 12 = 27 | DMG: 4 + 7 = 11

[Malazek]

Round 7 ...

Jeremiah draws his bow and fires, slaying the last giant as it hurries to get away.

END COMBAT

[Malazek]

Sensing that the Frost Giant is done for, Talmut will fly up and toward the old road to Umberfall and try to see signs of the Captain and her troops headed this way.

Soaring over the hills, Talmut moves through the air toward the narrow path that leads back to the North Road. He follows the path for several minutes, but doesn't see the captain or her men anywhere along the path. When the magic's duration is about half done, he realizes that he must make a decision: turn back now (while he can still fly) or continue on (and hope to find the troops before the magic runs out).

OOC: Turn back? Or press on?

[Glitz]

Once the last giant has fallen, Elodie cheers and runs to the gate, eager to inspect the massive corpses. "That was great, Jeremiah, Halvar, everyone!" she acknowledges the talents of her fellow fighters.

[Swifthand]

Turn back...

[Malazek]

When Talmut reaches the keep, he spots some of his companions checking the giant corpses (Elodie, Gumphrey, Flint, Lindy, and Glory). As he approaches the gate, the spell starts to wear off; as the magic fades, his altitude diminishes. Seeing Talmut approach, the troops open the gate, allowing him to swoop into the keep with a glorious landing.

---

Like the other giants you slew, these giants have large sacks hung from their belts, with all sorts of strange things in them: half eaten goats, human body parts, a wagon wheel, a moldy log, an ale keg (that's half full), some moldy bread stuffed into an even smaller pouch, an entire cheese wheel, half-a-dozen human-sized helmets, and the banners of the men they have defeated. Among all the oddities, however, you do manage to find a few useful items.

Gumphrey, for example, finds a human arm with an interesting ring. Made of tinted glass, the ring is seems to shimmer in the sunlight. Gumphrey shows it to Elodie, "Look at this! Can you tell me if does anything special? Maybe I'll want to keep this one. I mean, if nobody minds. I wonder why the giants weren't wearing it?"

Flint also makes his way out to the battlefield and helps with the search, where he finds an unusual staff among the giants' possessions. The seven-foot staff appears to be of solid construction and lacquered with shiny black sheen. About a foot from either end, serpentine patterns have been carved into the wood and left free from the dark varnish. After inspecting the staff for a minute, Flint suspects that the curvy markings might be some type of writing. Unable to read it, he takes the staff back to the Arx. When Talmut comes soaring through the gate, Flint meets him in the bailey. "I found this among the giants," he states, "I thought you might want to take a look at it."

Elodie, too, finds something of interest. Near the body of the one giant who managed to throw his spear, she finds a crude spear with an obsidian head. Although the spear is human-sized, it doesn't look like one of Lindy's spears (and, in fact, Lindy only threw her JAVELINS, during the siege). Furthermore , the spear is crude, like the spears the giants were throwing, but it is way to small to be one of theirs. Upon closer examination, she finds the shaft of the weapon to be incredibly robust, even though it looks like it was carved, rather lathed. Likewise, the obsidian head was clearly made by a primitive hammer stone, leaving the edges flaked and uneven; yet, it was carefully polished to a pristine shine. A single strip of rawhide secures the head to the shaft.

Although Lindy and Glory don't return with anything quite so interesting, they do find a small wooden box full of gems and jewels! They bring the box over the Gumphrey and Elodie, and show them that there are approximately forty opals inside! Blue, green, white, yellow, purple ... the opened box dances with color as the variety of opals reflects the sunlight. Mouth agape, Gumphrey's eyes glitter with Dwarven greed.


Nobody has checked the Elder's body, because it sank to the bottom of the moat.

---

Meanwhile, Halvar is still following Jeremiah around the keep. Buck, in turn, is following Halvar.

[Swifthand]

"Well fought, indeed!", shouts Talmut as he lands, clapping the Arx defenders on their backs in congratulations after landing.


"Ho, a fine staff.  Thank you, Flint!  Organize a group to drag the other giant out of the moat, while I inspect these items, my friend.  We will need to repair the palisades as well."  

At that, the wizard turns to Jeremiah.  "Do you have anyone skilled in effecting repairs?"

Talmut will then move to his laboratory to inspect these new items, and the shield from earlier.  He will also offer to inspect anything else.

Detect Magic/Spellcraft on all the items.

[Malazek]

After examining the shield for few moments, Talmut discerns the magical properties of the shield.

Shield of the Crenelated Keep (CL 9th, 19020 gold, 5 lbs)
Crafted from Daxon Steel, the shield is of the highest quality, with runes etched along the perimeter and the image of a crenelated tower painted on its face.

The shield is much lighter than a normal shield of its type, weighing only 5 pounds. It has only a 5% chance for arcane spell failure and it imposes no armor check penalty. The shield functions as a +2 Defending weapon. In other words, the wielder can add a +2 to his AC or he can add a +2 to attacks made with the shield (such as a shield bash) or he can add a +1 to both. As a free action, the wielder chooses how to allocate the bonus at the start of each turn. the bonus lasts until until his next turn.

---

Talmut also examines the staff and verifies that the curvy patterns are indeed writing; Ma'agonian writing, that explains the powers of the staff!

Staff of the 2nd House of Nu'ul (CL 13th, 82000 gold, 5 lbs)
The seven-foot staff appears to be of solid construction and lacquered with shiny black sheen. About a foot from either end, serpentine patterns have been carved into the wood and left free from the dark varnish. The curvy pattern are actually Ma'agonian writing that explains the powers of the staff.

The staff allows use of the following spells:

• Stinking cloud (1 charge)
  
• Summon swarm (1 charge)
  
• Unseen servant (1 charge)
  
• Cloudkill (2 charges)
  
• Minor creation (2 charges)
  
• Summon monster VI (3 charges)
  

General rules for staves:

• Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that does NOT provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff). To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand.
  
• Staves use the wielder’s ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the wielder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff if it’s higher than the caster level of the staff. This means that staves are far more potent in the hands of a powerful spellcaster. Because they use the wielder’s ability score to set the save DC for the spell, spells from a staff are often harder to resist than those from other magic items, which use the minimum ability score required to cast the spell. Not only are aspects of the spell dependent on caster level (range, duration, and so on) potentially higher, but spells from a staff are also harder to dispel and have a better chance of overcoming a target’s spell resistance.
  
• Staves hold a maximum of 10 charges. Each spell cast from a staff consumes one or more charges. When a staff runs out of charges, it cannot be used until it is recharged. Each morning, when a spellcaster prepares spells or regains spell slots, he can also imbue one staff with a portion of his power so long as one or more of the spells cast by the staff is on his spell list and he is capable of casting at least one of the spells. Imbuing a staff with this power restores one charge to the staff, but the caster must forgo one prepared spell or spell slot of a level equal to the highest-level spell cast by the staff. For example, a 9th-level wizard with a staff of fire could imbue the staff with one charge per day by using up one of his 4th-level spells. A staff cannot gain more than one charge per day and a caster cannot imbue more than one staff per day.
  

[Alpha Omega]

At that, the wizard turns to Jeremiah.  "Do you have anyone skilled in effecting repairs?"

"I don't think so but I can ask around."

Jeremiah will then ask his troops if any are skilled enough to fix the broken palisades. If no one steps up he will order a few men to give it there best attempt.

[Malazek]

Flint begins organizing a group to drag the stone giant from the water.

[Malazek]

"I don't think so but I can ask around."
Jeremiah will then ask his troops if any are skilled enough to fix the broken palisades. If no one steps up he will order a few men to give it there best attempt.

There are, in fact, several men in the platoon who claim to be up to the task. Before they were soldiers, some of them were miners and woodcutters.

[Glitz]

"Ooooh, nice find, Gumphrey," Elodie says. She tugs the ring off of the bodyless hand and inspects it closely.

She does the same with the spear.

Cast Detect Magic.

[Malazek]

She tugs the ring off of the bodyless hand and inspects it closely. She does the same with the spear.
Cast Detect Magic.

Elodie's spell determines that spear and the ring are indeed magical. After interacting with the items, Elodie gets a better idea of what the magic does.

The glass ring will allow Gumphrey to quickly "blink" back and forth between the natural world and the Ethereal plane. That will allow him to interact with both worlds intermittently, pass through walls if he times it right, and occasionally avoid attacks that would have otherwise hit him.

- OOC: Rules for this item are on pages 478 and 250. I have already listed it on Gumphrey's character sheet.

The spear, on the other hand, has multiple enchantments. When thrown, it returns to the wielder ... and it allows the wielder to cast a spell into the spear, which will then be released upon enemies who are stabbed with the spear.

Unusually Crude Spear (+1 Spear of Spell-Storing and Returning), 18000 gold, 6 lbs.

• This special ability can only be placed on a weapon that can be thrown. A returning weapon flies through the air back to the creature that threw it. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn (and is therefore ready to use again in that turn). Catching a returning weapon when it comes back is a free action. If the character can’t catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown.
  
• A spell storing weapon allows a spellcaster to store a single targeted spell of up to 3rd level in the weapon. (The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action.) Anytime the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately cast the spell on that creature as a free action if the wielder desires. (This special ability is an exception to the general rule that casting a spell from an item takes at least as long as casting that spell normally.) Once the spell has been cast from the weapon, a spellcaster can cast any other targeted spell of up to 3rd level into it. The weapon magically imparts to the wielder the name of the spell currently stored within it.
  
• +1 Enhancement (+1 to hit and damage)
  

[Malazek]

Flint begins organizing a group to drag the stone giant from the water.

There are, in fact, several men in the platoon who ... were miners and woodcutters.

Before long, the body of the Stone Giant has been pulled from the water ... and another small group is on their way to the closest trees, with axes in hand.

[Swifthand]

While the body is being drug free of the moat...

"Elodie, Gum, Jeremiah, I think we should share some of those opals with the troops; they certainly proved their worth, and it will go a long way in building morale.  If there is no objection, I would like to keep this staff.  It originates from a House of Nu'ul, and is a long way from it's home: this begets a mystery I would like to look into further.  Also, I believe Flint would be best served with the shield that was found.  He is very good with them."

Talmut will appraise the value of the gems... could it work out as easy as giving each troop an opal?

[Swifthand]

Does the Arx have a good water supply?

Talmut will aid in searching the stone giant.

[Malazek]

Talmut will appraise the value of the gems... could it work out as easy as giving each troop an opal?

There are 78 Opals in total, ranging in value from about 750 to 1250 (averaging about 1000 a piece). All told, the box is probably worth around 78,000 gold.

(OOC: There are 36 Troopers in total. If you gave one opal to each, and two to each Assistant, that would leave you with 34 opals (about 8 for each member of the Band of Four, with two left over. If Talmut, Gumphrey, Elodie, and Jeremiah kept the choicest gemstones for themselves, they would probably earn about 9000 each ... plus two extra opals worth about 1000 each ... all in addition to the opals they gave away).

(OOC: Alternately, you could give two to each trooper and one to each assistant, keeping none for yourselves, and you would still still have two left over).

Does the Arx have a good water supply?

No. It relies mostly on rainwater and ground-water run-off.

Talmut will aid in searching the stone giant.

On the stone giant, the party finds a big piece of animal hide. Rolled-up and stuffed into the giant's sack, it looks like a crude, leathery scroll. Once the party gets it unfurled, they find it to be roughly a square-yard in size and written-on in blood. The writing appears to be of Jotun origin.

If Talmut or Jeremiah read the scroll, they discover that the following is written upon it ...

ClanChief Kaldur of Utgard. Hold the mountain pass if you must. Wait for your scouts to return. Stenstian the Wanderer will join you. He should be there shortly. I make my way to the Serpentcoils to find the WarChieftess, Thyra the Ugly. DO NOT FAIL ME! ~Jarigor the Terrible, OverChief of Ingeheim.

[Glitz]

Elodie gives the ring to Gumphrey and explains what it does. "Sounds like something that would work well for you, Shadow Man!"

Once she hears about Talmut's find, she says, "I agree that it is appropriate that you keep the staff, and I also agree with you that Flint should get the shield. I would like to keep this spear. As far as giving the troops gems...If Jeremiah feels that it would help the moral of the troops, I would agree to giving one opal to each troop."

She will also offer her assistance to the troops that are attempting to rebuild the palisade, using her magic at will to repair the splintered pieces of wood.

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