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Brief Recap (turn 1): The adventurers
were taken before the king and forced to choose between the headsman’s block and
a mission into giant country. They were well equipped and took ship across the
Great Lake to the northern provinces, then rode for many days until they found
the Steading, following one of two maps they were given. The second map shows
two levels of the interior of the fort, a ground level and an underground level.
Their horses and supplies stowed nearby, the heroes steal on foot toward the fort.
Scene III: Enter the Steading
Mog motions the others to halt, and croaks, "let me surveil in an animal shape ere we enter." The others have no objection and Mog sheds his pack, then shrinks in the darkness until they can no longer see him. A slight scurrying can be seen as a tiny gecko slips beneath the immense front door. As the three fighters wait, they notice the door before them must be twenty feet wide and sixteen feet high. The center of the building looks to be over thirty feet high. Constructed by giants. They see the door open slowly, and Mog slips out as they move forward. He whispers, "two giants sleep within, drunk." " Then let us take their heads before they wake," says Ghotu. Ghotu follows Mog back inside, followed by Blade then Bruce. The run down to the fort caused Bruce to sweat profusely, and now the night chill is making his teeth chatter. He is glad to be moving. His armor, the best suit he had ever come across in all his trading and travels, is chafing. The two giants die silently beneath the axes of Ghotu and Bruce, their heads being slowly lowered to the floor so as not to make noise. [Mechanics Note: First, let me introduce these notes. I will intersperse them into the posts to explain die rolls I use, though not necessarily all of them. Second, the mechanics point of this note: the module says any well planned scheme to silently kill the sentries only has a 1 in 20 chance to fail. We rolled a 4 and succeeded. This encounter occurred in area 1A of the upper level map.] The entryway is 60’ wide and roughly 80’ long. As the heroes entered, there is a small door facing their immediate right, then further down that same right hand wall is a set of double doors easily twenty feet wide. Mog unrolls the map and the adventurers see that beyond the double doors is a 40’ wide hall that leads into a great hall, over a hundred feet on a side. They listen and hear nothing. They pass through the great double doors, the fighters having to lean into them to get them to budge. The 80’ long passageway is deserted, and a few torches burn smokily along each wall. Blade leads, sneaking as quietly as possible, followed by Bruce, then Mog and Ghotu, everyone with weapons out. [A- Describe what weapons you have out. Include any other info you like about how you proceed. In your post please make the subject line "Turn #2, A-" or some variation thereof.] In the great hall ahead they see a fire pit burning and large tables that are higher than a man’s head. There are benches, stools, and an even larger table near the far wall past the fire pit, with a great ballista hanging behind it. Barrels and kegs of mead, beer, and ale stand here and there, and the tables are partially laden with various sorts of meat, cheese, bread and drinking horns set in what look like human skull holders. As the party nears, they make out that over the fire pit are two humanoid forms, now too badly cooked to identify what species, accompanied by a large pig and a cow. As the heroes enter the great hall itself, they hear talking and footsteps. They proceed into the great hall, and a cloud giant, towering at 18 feet tall, enters their view on the right. He holds a massive mace in one hand and an even proportionately larger man-sandwich (a manwich, the giants call them) in the other hand. He looks at the party, curious but not disturbed. To the party’s left are two large giantesses berating an orc slave. A spilled pot lies on the floor. The two large woman (each over ten feet tall) have armed themselves with skillet and butcher knife (which more resembles a cutlass with a very long handle) and are now bellowing at the orc.  They are apparently about to kill the orc, who wears a filthy apron and nothing else. The orc cowers down. "’Ere," says the cloud giant in a strangely Kingdom accent. "Ere’s four that ‘scaped their pens." The two giantesses pause to look before murdering the orc.
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HOME
Blade, Bruce, Ghotu, and Mog sprint across the last bit of open ground to the entrance of the steading. The grass is wet and they slow their pace to remain quiet as they near the building. The outer walls of the place are of logs at least 3’ thick, with what look like inner walls that must be 2’ thick. The entryway to the front door is paved with large flagstone and slabs, leading to the stone floors within.
