Act II: The Hall of Snurre Ironbelly the Foul, Fire Giant King

Brief Recap: The adventurers entered the fire giant hall. Blade killed a guard, and he, Ghotu, and Bronk killed two ettin guards at the entrance to Snurre's Great Hall. They were seen by King Snurre and his guards, who rush to the attack.

Entering the Hall of Snurre Ironbelly the Foul

Ghotu Graver runs toward the left hand (north) exit from the hall to meet the leading fire giant guard, axe and shield ready. The hall is sweltering, a stark contrast to the cold winds outside. Three large braziers in the center of the room provide most of the illumination, along with torches and smaller hanging braziers on two rows of pillars that span the length of the hall. The fire giant guard wears a coat of iron mail, the black skin of his bare arms branded with intricate designs, perhaps of rank. Three hill giant skulls are strung from his belt, and all four guards are uniformly armored, each carrying a large iron throwing hammer and a two-handed battle axe on their backs, giant sized.

As the fire giant and Ghotu near each other, the giant hefts his iron hammer and lobs it at the approaching fighter. Ghotu tries to dodge to the side, but the hammer bounces just in front of him and slams squarely into his shield, stopping Ghotu in his tracks and leaving him briefly off balance. [Ghotu takes 29 damage, down to 93/122 hit points.] [Ghotu makes a CON roll and avoids being stunned.]

Ghotu's ears are ringing as he regains his balance and continues his charge. Surprise fills the guard's face, as he assumed his hammer would have crushed the fighter. The surprise turns to a look of pain and anger as Ghotu's axe sinks into his shin, just above the leather of the giant's boots. [Ghotu does 18 damage.] A large wound is opened up as Ghotu wrenches his weapon free. Red blood runs down the giant's leg onto the polished obsidian floor.

Ghotu stays inside on the giant and quickly attacks again, hitting the giant twice more as he moves around behind the giant, trying to keep his enemy from getting a shot with its axe. [Ghotu does 19+16=35 damage.] The giant eventually gets its balance, and strikes Ghotu a blow which glances heavily off the fighter's shield. [Ghotu takes 30 damage, down to 63/122 hit points.]

Bronk Beareye also meets one of he lead fire giants in combat, near the south exit halfway down the hall. As they charge each other, this giant too hurls his iron hammer at his foe, but Bronk sees it coming and dodges to the other side of a pillar, avoiding the massive weapon as it clatters by, chipping the volcanic glass floor and sending black shards flying. [Click the picture below for fire giant statistics.]

As the giant readies his axe, Bronk brings his pole-axe around, slashing the fire giant's shoulder. [Bronk does 22 damage.] Bronk follows up with another blow that maims the giant's hand, clipping two giant fingers off as they grip the giant axe. [ Bronk does 28 damage.] The giant's axe drops to the floor, and as the giant tries to make it to the exit, Bronk's pole-axe catches it in the back of the neck, severing the spine. The giant's head flops forward at an odd angle, then its whole body falls to the floor with a thud. [Natural 19 to hit, vorpal weapon.]

Blade charges up the middle in an attempt to reach Snurre, but he is met by a third fire giant guard. The giant's throwing hammer turns over a brazier that Blade was near, knocking the large iron bowl into the fighter and nearly covering him with white rocks and semi-molten lava. [Blade takes 20 damage, down to 68/115.] Blade needs no help from his sword as he rushes the last few feet to the giant and slices a deep wound in his thigh above the knee. [Blade does 24 damage.]

The giant readies its axe as Blade goes to work with his Giantslayer sword. Before his foe can mount an attack, Blade hacks one wrist nearly off, then shoves his sword in to the hilt just inside the arm hole of the giant's mail shirt. [Blade does 19, 24 damage.] The giant collapses, gurgling, mortally wounded.

The remaining fire giant guard and King Snurre move up the middle into the center of the room, between the two exit halls. He bellows in the strange tongue of the fire giants, a loud bawl with gutteral noises made throughout. His two hell hounds rush past him to attack the three spellcasters.

Blade will chase after the remaining guard and attack him with his giantslayer. He will leave the king alone for now. If the guard is killed then he will attack any remaining hellhounds or other hostiles in the area.

After a brief incantation and some hand signs, Humphrey's first spell goes off. Suddenly four copies spring into existence and, along with the original Humphrey, bolt a few steps from the spot where the old mage stood.

Bibi targets one of the fast approaching hell hounds with her charm spell. The beast's eyes glow with fire, and its teeth are blackened with soot. She feels her spell strike the monster, but it has no effect. The hell hound will soon be upon the spellcasters.

As Bibi and Humphrey cast their spells, Mog chants up a palsey hex on the charging hounds. Chanting in the sacred tongue of his people, he gestures with his rod at the hounds. One falls to the ground stiffly, but the other continues on.

The hell hound pounces on Humphrey, tearing him apart with its awful maw, only to realize it has nothing. The image of the mage turns to mist. Four Humphreys remain, darting toward Snurre and his guard in the center of the room.

The hell hound's bound took it past the spellcasters, and now it turns to face them, smoke rising from its jaws, steaming saliva dripping to the floor as it hungers for flesh. It looks at Bibi and Mog as the two of them turn toward it.

As Bibi readies her bow and aims at the hound she feels her face turning red with embarrassment. She wishes that her training with her shaman had not been cut short. But she knows the only way she can ever return home is with the stone.

Bibi draws her bow and lets her first arrow fly. It finds its mark, the feathered end sticking out from the hell hound's hide. The beast is wounded, but it gnashes its jaws and bites the end of the arrow off.

Mog aims his rod at it and a bolt of energy strikes the hell hound, angering it further. [Mog does 27 damage.] The hell hound leaps at Mog, but the cleric ducks and avoids the attack.

Bibi fires her second arrow, this one striking the hell hound in the neck, mortally wounding it. The monster slinks off into a corner of the hall and collapses. [Click on the picture of the hell hound to see more information and a bigger image.]

As the Humphreys near King Snurre, his guard tosses his hammer at one of the mages. It dashes against the obsidian floor, scattering the image, leaving three Humphreys, who are within thirty feet.

A scroll is produced from beneath the robes of each mage, and together they briefly read. Snurre's flaming sword cleaves one of them in two, but the remaining two incarnations of the wizard point their fingers at Snurre, intensity burning in their eyes, and they say in unison "Help this party destroy the Dark One who waits here and came through the waypoint last month."

King Snurre Ironbelly laughs at first, then a slightly frustrated look crosses his face. He blinks, then shakes his head as if to clear it. He looks at the two remaining wizards before him with hatred, his eyes bulging, his knuckles white on his two-handed sword which he holds before him. But he does not move.

The nearest guard looks at him and asks a question in the fire giant language, as if to say, "Sire?"

Snurre looks at him almost pleadingly, and a spasm of pain crosses his face. His gaze jerks back to Humphrey, then again to his guard.

The guard realizes his King is under an enchantment, and launches himself at the pair of old wizards.

Posting Instructions: Ghotu's fire giant still lives, though it is badly wounded. The guard attacking Humphrey and one hell hound are alive, with another hell hound paralyzed. Snurre lives as well. Please post two rounds of action. Also, try to use "if they do this, then I do this..." kind of statements to cover alternatives when necessary.

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