Borimer rushes the hulking giant, swinging the ebony blade back and forth.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 04:20, Thu 13 Feb 2014.

"We should probably fall back to the cell area..." Kahan mutters as he begins casting a spell off a scroll from his pack.

"I cast a vote for going into safety" exclaimed Shapfren while moving towards Kahan, if she was close enough to a wolf during that, she would make a quick swing towards it.

ROUND 1
Borimer jumps into the fight, making massive strikes with the Godslayer blade against the giant.  (75 total damage, including one critical (no special).)

Tahldar casts magic missile, hitting the wolf that Hatchman is going after.

Hatchman launches himself at the wolf as well, slicing open its belly.  As its entrails fall over the floor, the wolf collapses.  (Critical hit, natural 20, critical bleeding from abdomen.)

Shae is rushing down the stairs to help.

Shapfren is also moving down the stairs to help, while at the same time telling everyone to move back to safety upstairs.

The giant strikes back at Borimer...missing the massive barbarian with both giant daggers.

The remaining wolf rears back and emits a stream of frost from its lungs that engulfs everything within 10 feet.  (Save allowed for half damage, otherwise 4d6 damage.  Borimer and Shapfren made their saves; all else failed.)

Borimer...is hit with the frost for 9 hp dmg.
Shae...is covered with the biting frost for 17 hp dmg.
Kahan...also is hit for 17 hp dmg.
Hatchman...is right in front of the beast and takes 19 hp dmg.
Shapfren...ducks and takes only 9 hp dmg.

OOC: That's weird.  I just rolled 17 in 4 out of 5 of the 4d6 rolls.  Check the dice roller if you want.

Kahan finishes casting, and the frost giant's furs catch on fire.  (8 hp dmg.)
OOC: If I say "no special" with a critical or don't indicate anything special, that means it didn't do any special kind of damage, like broken limb, bleeding, severing, etc.  Because this is based on a roll that depends on the weapon size versus the size of the opponent, it is more rare to have special damage with a critical hit against a giant sized opponent than a smaller one.

Frost Giant: 33/116 hp (AC=0; THACO=7)
Winter Wolf 1: 0/48 hp (AC=5; THACO=15)
 Winter Wolf 2: 48/48 hp (AC=5; THACO=15)

Seeing as the group seemingly has them on the ropes, Tahldar closes on the remaining wolf to use his dagger.  Thinking it might be wise to save his dwindling supply of available spells.

OOC:  Hit AC 4 on the wolf (hits).  Damage = 4pts.  FYI:  Tahldar still has 6 images going.

Hatchman switches his attention to the remaining wolf, hoping for similar luck as the paladin slashes out to take it down before it can spew more of its vile frost over the party.

Borimer fights to put the giant down for good...

Kahan swings at the wolf, hoping to put it down.

Shae stabs her spear at the wolf, joining the fray after finally getting to the bottom of the stairs.

ROUND 2
The giant swings but misses again.

Borimer puts him down with mighty swathes from his blade.

The wolf strikes out, biting into Hatchman's flesh.  (6 hp dmg.)  But the attacks of everyone else swarming the wolf put it down with a yelp.

Your enemies are down for now, just leaving the ice cold storeroom, the burning fur cloak the giant had been wearing, the dead bodies of the wolves with their warm pelts, and the large, giant sized chest in the corner.

Borimer wipes off the slayer of Gods on the giant's corpse before sheathing it.  He moves to the stone steps and listens for more incoming enemies while other more nimble folk look to the chest.

Talhdar searches the Giant for the set of keys he hopes to find that will unlock the cells and maybe, just maybe open the chest.

You open the giant trunk, which takes a little work because it is so large and heavy.  Inside, you find:

Giant-sized clothes;
Giant-sized utensils, bowls and cups;
Giant-sized boots;
A closed "pouch" of leather which is the size of a very large sack to you; it seems about half full of something;
Yet another closed pouch, but this one made of burlap, which also seems about half full.  It is stained dark all over the bottom.

You can hear a discussion from the top of the steps (i.e., the steps leading to above ground, not the ones from the freezer room).  They appear to be in a giantish discussion.

[Language unknown: "Trll i undinerea."  "U, ionno no ichwerbut."  "Ort ore str sack.  Ter lose ll eau rutthasti."  "O asenil thiortore ncto e nd."  "N a ughthueenear."  "Il, p hachac fo."  "Ev ithtioich."  "In, us causie."  "Re foeefi cent dayeauintere ameterder n trafi."  "Ersalltha din rea outblehat."  "Ecloca ca hissi ntiionour tr ionat."]

It appears to be some sort of hushed argument.

About this time, Etag emerges from the storage area holding a black, leather-bound book.  "I found it," he says.  "We can get out of here now."

Junar steps in.  "We must save my people."  He indicates the gnomes still trapped behind the bars.

Etag looks to you for an opinion.

OOC: Feel free to post some small actions in the downstairs room and if you are returning upstairs.  I was simply moving the plot forward without delay.

Kahan assists Tahldar in searching the giant's belongings, hoping to find a key. "The least we can do for all of Junar's help is to release his kin. They do not deserve this fate." the priest states.

Shae goes and starts looking in the storage room where Etag was at to see what she can find, but she says, "We still haven't checked the room to the west.  I'll look in here if you want to check out in there."

Quickly Tahldar hatches a plan.  "Some of you search here and some search west.  We must find the keys!  I'll see if I can hold off the Giants at the stairs.  But be quick, we have no time!" he says tersely.

Running back to the bottom of the stairs Tahldar says something in reply to Giants in their foul tongue, in a voice as deep and gravelly as his small lungs can manage, [Language unknown:  "Wit!...Eracnt to anis!...Ti semi un ilwich wer!...Wari hapr enc...Ioatin!"]

As he speaks near the end of his speech, the small mage brings an arm to his brow and falters in a mock swoon.  Displaying a poor and overwrought bit of acting, but hopefully enough to trick their pursuers.

Borimer nods and goes with Shae to check the west room.

Etag begins to wait while Tahldar calls up the stairs in giantish.  The voices suddenly become silent, as if in puzzlement.

Borimer and Kahan head west.  The door opens to a wide stone-cut corridor leading down.  As you head down, it becomes colder, much like the room you just exited.

This corridor is actually very wide as it leads down, and you can see rails built into the walls where apparently large stones or something had been slid down on them to make them easier to carry.

At the bottom of the stairs, your way is blocked by two large doors.  Written across the double door entry is something sloppily written in Giantish.


The double doors are locked in place by a large sword (or actually a dagger for the giants with a very wide hilt), obviously meant to keep something in, not to keep you out.  The large dagger could be easily removed.

Nothing else is found among the giant's things other than noted above.  However, opening the burlap bag, you find that it contains a severed head covered in blood.  It is a humanoid sized head (not giant), and on its head is a crown.  It is facing down so you can't make out its features.

Hatchman will follow Borimer.  "Think we should pop this lock off and go inside?  It may be our only way to find the key."

Lukas will remove the crown and examine it.

It appears to be of solid gold and likely fits a gnomish head.  It looks to be very valuable.  In fact, you presume the head in the sack belongs to a gnomish royal family member.

Borimer nods as they approach the doors.  "I wonder what those giants are trying to keep out..." Borimer withdraws the giant dagger and slowly pushes open a door...

"I think that's a bad idea Borimer. Its likely to be either a visperillion, or worse, and right now, I'd rather only have giants to worry about." Kahan replies, stopping the warrior from fully removing the dagger. "Come, lets look around some more. Perhaps Etag or the gnomes know what is behind there."

Etag does not know, but the gnomes say that the two doors lead to the crypt where they buried their dead, and the giants apparently thought something supernatural was down there.

The gnomes tell you that one of the giants had a key on a chain around his neck that opened the gates, and that he was last seen going down into the crypt.

OOC: I'm surprised no one thought to ask them before.