Beneath the Steading

Rounds 1-2:

The dire wolves are met by Blade and Bronk who flank Ghotu, then Krulek and his best fighters. With orcs behind and beside them, the three humans form a wall bristling with steel. The wargs crash on them like a hairy godforsaken tide on the blade of a blender, and they are cut down as they come. The three fighters dispatch nearly half of the wargs within a few moments, taking no wounds themselves. The orcs suffer a few wounded as they protect the flanks of the company members with polearms, keeping the wolves at bay.

The manticores crouch and prepare to fling their iron tail spikes into the party as Bibi's charm spell goes off. The manticore snarls and flings its own spikes at Bibi in retaliation, unaffected by her spell. Some of the spikes hit her on her arm and back as she covers against them. [Bibi takes 7 and is down to 53 out of 60 hp.]

Bruce rushes the manticores with his axe drawn. Three of them whip their tail spines at him as he approaches, and the barrage catches him full on. Several spikes are stuck in his armor and flesh. [Bruce takes 11 and is down to 69 out of 80 hit points.]

Bruce ignores the spines and continues his charge, smashing his axe into the shoulder of the biggest manticore. It bats his axe aside with its lion-like paws, then rears on its hind legs and swipes repeatedly at Bruce, its leathery wings beating in the air. Two other manticores leap at him as well, biting and clawing. He fends them off and swings his great axe around to lop the head off one of the beasts. [Bruce kills one manticore and wounds another, and suffered 10 hp damage. Bruce is down to 59 out of 80 hit points.]

Fonkin Hoddypeak and Bibi shoot arrows at the manticores, taking care not to hit Bruce. Both of them hit with their arrows, and the bring down the manticore Bruce wounded. Mog flings javelins at the monsters, missing once and hitting a second time. They still stand at the front of the main body of orcs.

Rounds 3-4:

After only a few moments of combat, Blade feels a strange sensation in his luck blade sword arm (the one enchanted by the wish). The sword begins to glow, then it becomes almost translucent. [Blade failed a saving throw v. Spells.] Just then, a warg leaps at him, and Blade shoves the point of the sword into its open mouth. The blade shatters like glass, splintering in the wolf's face and over Blade.

A dark hooded figure, human sized, not giant, is seen looking over one of the stone barricades. It disappears just as a loud horn is heard blaring back down the halls beyond.

"It seems they have a sorcerer with them!" yells Blade to the others as he draws his short sword to replace his shattered long sword. "If someone would be kind enough to kill the sneaky bastard I'd be much obliged. Any takers? ... No. All right I'll do it then."

"Please, don't kill him yet!" Bibi shouts in a slightly panicked voice as she quickly uncoils the leather binding her locket.

And then the giants attack.

The stone slabs fall inward with great THUDs, and from three passages come storming in hill giants, led by two giants larger than the rest, and of different skin and hair color. These leaders are fire giants, with coal black skin and flaming orange hair, wearing steel greaves and girdles and wielding twelve foot long bastard swords. They tower over the hill giants by at least six feet, and they lead the charge against the company.

Ghotu ducks under the slash of the lead fire giant, which follows through to decapitate an orc. Ghotu moves inside on his enemy and hacks viciously at the seam of its greaves with his battleaxe. [Hit for 17 damage.] He then sidesteps the downward stroke of a hill giant's maul. Before the fire giant recovers, Ghotu hits twice more, denting and splitting open the giant's armor on one leg. [Two hits for total 30 damage.]

But the two attacks cost Ghotu too much time. The fire giant strikes him an upward two-handed blow (like a golf swing) with its sword, sweeping Ghotu off the ground and tossing him over the heads of the front rank of orcs and onto the second rank. [Ghotu takes 22 damage, down to 89 out of 111 hp.] Six or seven orcs fall under the fighter, and a few of the remaining wargs leap on the pile.

The other fire giant charges Blade, aiming a downward hack at him. Now only armed with the giant slaying sword, Blade tosses the broken hilt of his luck blade aside and deflects the giant's blow with the giant slayer, but only barely. [Blade takes 15 damage, down to 91 out of 106 hp.] He returns the favor, and almost involuntarily Blade feels the giant slayer sword dart to a crack in the fire giant's knee brace. [20 damage.] The blade impales the giant's knee, sinking in nearly to the hilt. Blade whips the sword out with a twist as the fire giant's leg folds. It falls to one knee, putting one arm to the floor to support itself. As soon as its head is within reach, Blade deftly steps in and hacks the giant's head clean off its shoulders [natural 20 "to hit," 64 damage]. A great gout of blood shoots from the neck, then repeats as the body sinks to the floor.

Blade has no time to celebrate his quick victory over such a deadly foe, as a hill giant's maul nearly crushes him. The maul's head glances off Blade's back and shoulder, knocking him to the floor. [Blade takes 19 damage, down to 72 out of 106 hp.]

Blade quickly scrambles to his feet and attacks the hill giant with his giant slayer.

The melee is chaotic, the lines of the orcs and humans broken. The wargs and manticores leap among the orcs, devouring some on the spot and tearing even the hardened fighters limb from limb. Krulek and four of his closest fighters defend a small space, but they are heavily beset and cutoff from the escape passage, as are the rest of those in the room.

Bronk takes his halberd and cleaves at an oncoming hill giant [hit for 17], who swings at Bronk with its axe and connects [Bronk hit for 16, down to 74 out of 90 hp]. The warrior from Rasheman shrugs off the blow and spits in disrespect, then brings his halberd around once more against the giant's head [hit for 17]. He then stabs the stunned hill giant in the neck with the point of the pole arm, killing his enemy. Another giant attempts a swing at Bronk but is fended off by a simple halberd defensive guard position and the hearty Rasheman battle cry, "YAWP!"

The manticore facing Bruce suddenly springs onto a nearby hill giant, raking the giant's face with its claws. Bruce takes the opportunity to hack at that giant's belly open, killing it [3 attacks]. Two manticores remain alive, both of them wounded.

More hill giants are pressing into the room, and there appear to be a dozen or so total. The fire giant still stands, and is rallying several hill giants behind him in the center of the room, preparing a charge on Bronk and Blade.

Then from out of the north passage comes Chief Nosra himself with his personal guard. He wields an arbalest and a massive spiked club, and his hill giant guards are better armed and armored than the other hill giants, with hauberks of overlapping metal plates and long straight swords. They move into the room to support the others. Behind them, still standing in the doorway to the room, is the dark human sized figure. It stands in the shadow with a tattered cloak wrapped around it.

The orcs are scattered, many are dead. Back down the passage, the cave bears and other giants have been held off so far, though many orcs have died there too.

The doorway to the stairs is still blocked by a giant slab, but four other passages are not blocked (including the one the party came in through). Bodies of all sort litter the floor.

Bibi recognizes the dark cloaked figure as the one she was following before she was captured and brought here. 'This could mean that the one that was seeking the Obsidian Stone is still here and maybe the stone is here.' She feels excitement growing inside her. Her heart is now racing even more that it was from the stimulus of battle. She worries that her emotions may get her into trouble by causing her to change. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves.

She reaches for her locket. She has never before used any of her shaman stones but if there was ever a time for it, now seemed to be it. She and her new companions are in serious danger and this maybe her only chance to get back her families treasure.

She takes out the lightest colored stone. She hopes that this will be powerful enough but she fears using any of the others since this is her first time. She squeezes the tiny white stone in the palm of her hand and chants a preyer of protection for herself and all that are fighting with her.

"Bronk! We must stand together, side to side, if we are going to make it out of here! Blade, stay with us! We must fight as one unit. Everyone rally to Bronk, and form up so we can hold these beasts at bay! Bibi! You and Mog stay behind the line so you can cast spells and heal us!"

Bruce rallies toward Bronk, encountering a Hill Giant on the way, and attacks, bringing his axe around full circle, again hoping to behead the creature. Bronk also attacks that giant from the other side, hitting the giant low in the back of its knees with his halberd.

"Krulek! Lets get some of your orcs up here to slow these beasts down! We can kill them, but not five at a time!"

Arrows from Fonkin's bow zip past Bruce's head as he speaks, driving off a warg that had been preparing to leap on Bruce.

Ghotu regains his feet among the combatants and hears Bruce's calls. Seeing a giant between himself and Blade, he catches Blade's attention and the two fighters double team their opponent.

Check out the Trophy Room for running totals (not including this latest turn just yet) of all the creatures killed, experience points earned, and treasure gathered so far on the adventures of . . .