Ben glances down at a large dirt clod, and wonders if it might be hippo poop. He kicks at it, and decides otherwise.

"Well, it looks light the lightning is on the way. The Eagle can bring it down without us taking credit for it, or we can choose to attack now. Preferences to any of you who aren't mute and aren't hirlings?"

Norion looks at the gathering clouds.

"Maybe if we slay these giants, the Ogres will fear us enough to leave this place behind, they may also be slaves themselves to these giants and be grateful we freed them, ha, ha, more likely, they will join them in battle against us.  If you are going to entangle them in your vegetation Eagle, try to catch them but leave some of the chains outside the spell, we can make sure they are tangled together when your lightning hits and maybe it will get all three"

Saliq begins murmuring strange words and making eerie gestures.

In the distance a glimpse of azure wings can be seen darting in and out of the clouds - an approaching blue dragon. As yet she is too distant to be heard but it won't be long before she intercepts the giants...

---

OOC: Saliq casts Spectral Force.

The trio of hill giants take notice of the blue dragon as it emerges from the darkened skies, stopping them in their tracks as they cry out in alarm. A few moments later, one of the giants drops the chain it had been dragging and scoops up a large rock in its free hand. Shouting over its shoulder, it apparently commands its allies to do the same, for they follow his lead.

A moment later, each of the giant heaves the large through the sky in an attempt to strike down the blue dragon before it closes on them. The large rocks sail through the sky toward the blue dragon, but all three fly well off the mark, each landing to the ground with a heavy thud.

The giants are quite agitated now, each shouting in an attempt to either work up their own courage against a dangerous foe or perhaps to scare off the dragon. Hard to tell really, but they certainly have not broken ranks and fled at the sight of the blue dragon.

Now that they are closer, the party notices the hill giants are wearing a fur and hide toga and do not seem to be carrying any weapons of note...well unless one counts the wagon wheel sized boulders strewn about the ground which they throw with apparent ease.

OOC: The range of Saliq's spell is up to 120 yards (360 feet) distant, outdoors. The giants were about 200 feet distant from the PCs when the spell was cast.

Hill Giants, 3
AC: 4
HP: ?/?, ?/?, ?/?


PC       AC    HP    AP  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10   Notes
Ben      7   29/29   2   19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9   Init +2
Eagle    6   30/30   4   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Inas     3   62/62   1   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Norion   3   58/58   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Rath     3   48/48   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Saliq    7   19/19   3   20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11   Init +2

NPCs
Bruno    5   20/20   0   18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8   (R) Hum Ftr3
Monvo    5   19/19   0   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10   (R) Hum Ftr2


Round 1
Stage 1: PCs
Stage 2: Giants

OOC: PCs are up!

Initiative: 22:00, Wed 08 Oct 2014: Ben Scristos rolled 5 using 1d6+2 ((3))

The giants appearing well distracted, Ben moves wide to the left. Very wide. His hope is to come in behind the giants, but not for several rounds, as he will be doing all he can to remain hidden from their sight.

Monvo retrieves his newly purchased short bow and draws an arrow to the string. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ben slink away from the party to set up for an opportunity to backstab a giant. The mercenary follows Ben's movement with his bow and arrow, a devious smile spreading across his face.

He keeps the thief in his sights for a few moments before finally turning his attention to the nearest hill giant. The mercenary is reluctant to fire his bow before anybody else attacks however, now being fully aware of how Saliq's magic functions.

"Say when, Boss-man," he whispers to Rath.

Bruno grabs for his javelin out of habit, before noticing Monvo and the short bow. The mute retainer follows Monvo's lead and retrieves his bow and an arrow. Unlike Monvo, Bruno does not put Ben into his cross-hairs.

Likewise, Bruno awaits the order to attack.

Inas flexed his bow but held fast. At this range it would be pot luck if any of them actually hit anything. "Hold your arrows," he murmured to the hirelings. "Wait until they present an easy target."

He tried not to let his eyes be drawn to the great winged beast in the sky. Even though he knew it was naught but smoke and mirrors it was still enough to make his heart beat just a little faster.

In reply to Inas Eoinsson (msg # 66):

'They're too far from me to use any of my magic effectively,' Eagle murmers as he stays close to the invisibility afforded by Saliq's presence.

OOC: I'm guessing they're not wearing or carrying any metal?

Norion continues to hold his position, ready to fight, but waiting.  Let the Giants waste their energy and use up the best boulders on a fake dragon, once they are closer, then it will be time.

Rath waits, arrow ready but without the bowstring drawn. He squints at the giants, secure -- well, not exactly secure, but not feeling in iminent danger -- with the protection afforded by Saliq's invisibility. He won't be quick to give that up to take an ineffectual pot shot at the enemy.

"Not yet," he advises.

Saliq frowned. "In that case I'll try and draw them closer. Or at least give them a reason to start moving."

The blue dragon circled lazily in the skies, then suddely sent a blast of lighting at the giants - seemingly 'just' missing them, though they could feel the sizzle of the heat and the crack of thunder.

After a second it became clear to everyone the illusionist was trying to shepard the giants their way, via 'near misses' from the illusionary dragon.

The blue dragon's antics keep the hill giants occupied and in the process they are drawn closer to the lurking heroes in the process. The giants close to within 100 feet of the group, now invisible, before throwing another round of large rocks at the circling dragon.

One of the projectiles strikes the dragon the hindquarters. The giant who threw the rock seems satisfied with himself and lets out a joyous shout. The other two giant's thrown rocks fail to hit the blue dragon, but neither of them appear to be demoralized by their lack of hurling prowess.

Meanwhile, one of the party members notices the male Dread Ogre reappear in front of the keep's gatehouse. The brute shouts and tries in vain to get the three hill giant's attention, but is unsuccessful. Nobody in the party understands what the ogre is shouting, but whatever it is, he is quite serious about it.

OOC: The ogres are now about 100 feet distant from the party and perhaps the same distance between the ogres and the blue dragon.

Hill Giants, 3
AC: 4
HP: ?/?, ?/?, ?/?


PC       AC    HP    AP  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10   Notes
Ben      7   29/29   2   19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9   Init +2
Eagle    6   30/30   4   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Inas     3   62/62   1   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Norion   3   58/58   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Rath     3   48/48   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Saliq    7   19/19   3   20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11   Init +2

NPCs
Bruno    5   20/20   0   18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8   (R) Hum Ftr3
Monvo    5   19/19   0   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10   (R) Hum Ftr2


Round 2
Stage 1: PCs
Stage 2: Giants

OOC: PCs are up!

Ben continues his movement thru the shadows, well clear of his eventual targets. His eyes catch the ogres at the edge of the ruins, but he is moving the other way, and is not much concerned by their presence. Yet.

Saliq was still concentrating on his spectral dragon. As the flung boulder struck her the blue dragon roared in anger and defiance and with a beat of her wings soared into the storm clouds, invisible for the moment.

"How is that lightning coming along Eagle?" Saliq hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "I what to give the girl a chance to show off..."

Bruno and Monvo each stand with their bow and arrow drawn, ready for the moment when they are called upon to fire. Neither is in any particular hurry to give up their advantage of invisibility however, especially when three hill giants are but a hop, skip and jump away.

As Saliq draws the giants toward the party -- ahead of schedule, from Rath's perspective -- Rath gets a sense of how big these brutes really are, and his trust in Saliq's and Eagle's abilities to even the odds with magic are a bit shaken. He takes a deep breath and covers his own intimidation with a derisive sneer -- which the giants can't see -- and, like the other archers, he bides his time.

Eagle glances at the sky. 'We've got a few minutes more before I can guide the gathering storm,' he murmers, obviously not liking the way the situation was developing. He spots the Ogre and his odd body language, and keeps a close eye on him, ready to react to any other surprises that might emerge.

OOC: DM not sure what your ruling on timing is - Eagle has 10 rounds to wait, and cast the spell once Ben made himself known. Don't know how many rounds there were between that and the hill giants emerging - must be at least one as Saliq must have cast his spell to attract the dragon in the meantime! Anyway, at worst I'm guessing no lightening until round 8? Or perhaps there was more milling around while the ogre came out and the hill giants approached? (He suggested in an oh so innocent way. . .)

Inas held still, bow in hand. He patiently watched as his prey hurled stones and insults at the illusory wyrm. Hopefully they would soon move into range and he could rain his own death down upon them.

Norion will continue to hold his position, calmly, he has taken the time to wax his ears, so he is using visual cues to watch his friends all poised to attack.

With no blue dragon soaring through the sky to hurl rocks at, the hill giants bark out a few words in their harsh, ugly tongue and then turn and sprint back toward the keep. They stride across the open land with ease, covering over half the distance to their ruined lair in a short period of time.

The ogre continues to shout out to the hill giants, but the party cannot hear (or understand) what he might be yelling about.

OOC: The hill giants are now about 160 feet distant from the keep and perhaps 60 feet from the party, and running toward the keep.

Hill Giants, 3
AC: 4
HP: -5/?, -6/?, ?/?    [Private to GM: 38/43, 31/37, 31/31]


PC       AC    HP    AP  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10   Notes
Ben      7   29/29   2   19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9   Init +2
Eagle    6   30/30   4   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Inas     3   62/62   1   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6   Invisible
Norion   3   58/58   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6   Invisible
Rath     3   48/48   2   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Saliq    7   19/19   3   20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11   Init +2, Invisible

NPCs
Bruno    5   20/20   0   18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8   (R) Hum Ftr3
Monvo    5   19/19   0   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10   (R) Hum Ftr2


Round 3
Stage 1: PCs
Stage 2: Giants

OOC: PCs are up!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:58, Sat 18 Oct 2014.

The unexpected movement of the giants allows Ben to cut his planned route short, and he cuts crosswise to try and end up behind the giants.

He is a bit confused at what is going on, there seemed no reason for things to be getting goofy already, at least none he was aware of...

In reply to Ben Scristos (msg # 80):

As the giants pass closer to the druid, Eagle murmers his stance druidic cant, and the ground below the giants explodes in a mass of writhing vines.

OOC casting entangle.

As the giants are beset by Eagle's vines Saliq's dragon suddenly emerges from the clouds, jaws agape. With a roar she sends a blast of lightning straight at the eyes of the nearest giant before swooping aloft!

The tall grasses near the retreating giants begin to violently writhe about as countless fibrous tendrils of vegetation coil around the hill giants' legs. The giants struggle against the encroaching flora, their forward progress becomes stunted, and eventually, the three giants are rooted in place!

All the while, the ogre near the castle continues yelling wildly. Two of the small humanoids briefly appear in the threshold, alongside the ogre, but they quickly turn on their heels and race back inside the keep. The ogre remains within the gatehouse tunnel, seemingly reluctant to step outside into the oncoming storm, the writhing grasses some 60 feet away, or to try his luck against the blue dragon. All three of these things he has seen before, and that was just a few days ago.

That can mean only one thing...but where?

OOC: The hill giants are entangled, about 60 feet distant from the invisible party members. That would be everyone, save for Ben, who left Saliq's area of effect.