~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire Command: [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

While Storm strains to make out the Dwarven message, Emma's thoughts turn inward for a moment. 'We're close to the Mines of Raimead,' she reminds herself, 'The same mines where the adamantine ore comes from...which Rinder's Six visited before I even joined them. I guess it makes sense for them to be here, then...even if it is further away from the mountains. After all, if they don't hold the ore, the Duke's men could come and seize it and then the whole treaty negotiation would be pointless.'

"They be from the Stoneshaper Clan," Storm reports, "and they be holdin' up the blockade in this here part o' the mountains! They be demandin' we turn around or they'll take us prisoner!"

Crayne mutters under his breath. He was getting tired of these dwarves. It is then that Alara speaks up.

"Storm, ask them to hold their fire. Tell them we're not looking for any trouble," Alara says, trying frantically to calm her horse. "Maybe if we explain to them what's going on with Captain Delk and the renegotiations, they'll let us pass," she adds.

"It's worth a shot anyway..." Alara shrugs her shoulders, as her horse finally settles back down. She is careful to keep her hands away from her weapons, not wanting the dwarves to misinterpret any actions.

The paladin expertly leaps from the saddle and lands solidly on his feet, at the same time, grabbing the reins to his horse and reaching for Emma's horse-reins, as well, in an attempt to help calm her mount. Qhispering to the steeds, he guides them off the side of the road where the rest of the party awaits. He then dons his helm, hoping to protect his noggin from incoming missile fire.

Crayne nods at Alara, "Unlikely!!! Dwarves are a stubborn lot! I fear if we let ourselves become prisoner it will delay us quite considerably! Furthermore, I do not want to surrender to the dwarves again! It was bad enough the last time. What about another course of action? What if we retreat away and we cast ourselves invisible and try and sneak through their blockade?"

Crayne looks to Emma, "Lady Emma, is it within your strength to cast an area silent?"

"Not this day," Emma answers, "I have not prepared such a prayer, and to attempt to do so without Anhur's blessing would cause the effort to fail."

Crayne continues, "I would suggest the first course of action would be to send somebody invisible and on foot to scout out our enemies and their positions." Crayne looks to the elf Elloharin, "A job which Elloharin the Dimmed should carry out quite successfully I feel!"

Guiding his horse to the mage's, El says, "Certainly Mage, no dwarf will hear or see me," however, he adds to himself, 'if they do, they most certainly will kill me!'

Dodging another arrow El speaks in an exasperated tone. "Perhaps, sneaking by is not the most advisable route. We are afterall the 'diplomats' sent to renegotiate the treaty correct? Doesn't that earn us a little diplomatic immunity? Let us try reason first. Perhaps the Lady Emmalya could use her honeyed-tongue to reason with the brutes first!"

At the appropriate moment, Storm throws a glare at his companions, telling them to "keep yer dwarven comments to yeselves while I be around, ye buggers."

Emma smiles at Storm's gruff remarks. Even after being disowned by his clan and his father, he is still a loyal Dwarf from the tip of his head all the way down to his rock-solid feet. And what's more, she agrees with him. They should all probably censor their comments about the Dwarven adversaries for the time being. 'It's a good thing Naeron isn't here,' she thinks.

The priestess raises an eyebrow, then wisely offers her advice. "We are not sent as Raimead's diplomats to renegotiate the treaty, though that would be a simple enough trick to play upon the Dwarves," she acknowledges to everyone, "Attempting to pass ourselves off as such would risk undermining the Duke's efforts with Captain Delk...and could quite possibly unravel any agreement he has completed with the Dwarven ambassador, though."

She tightens her grip upon the spear in her hands. "But we can't fight them either," she says, frustration evident in her voice, "That could be just as damaging. And, to attempt to parley with them will

probably land us as their prisoners once more. Just like last time. I don't particularly want to go through that again if we can help it. It would slow us down too much. And General Korg might not be as understanding about our reappearance without Captain Delk by our side."

While the decisions are being made, Storm thinks about their past trip through the mountains. They had tried to go by the northern past, by the water. The water...

"Ye know, us dwarves don't be likin' the water much. It makes our bellies rumble, heh heh... Crayne, maybe yer ring be able to get us over the water, eh? What ye think o' that?"

Skandor takes a quick look to the sky, cautious that merely mentioning the ring of water might bring another torrent of hail down upon their backs. But all seems well, and he diverts his attention back to his companions.

Emma looks surprised at Storm's suggestion, remembering how close they all came to being buried under a pile of hailstones and ice. She glances toward Crayne, curious as to how he'll respond, and reserving her own comments. Inside, though, she definitely has reservations about calling upon the ring in this situation. 'If we tried that and it got out of hand, we could wind up killing the Dwarves,' she thinks, 'And that would really complicate matters in the renegotiation of the treaty...'

Crayne gulps as Storm brings up the ring again. He still hadn't recovered from the previous use of it, "A good suggestion Storm. One of promise indeed! Nevertheless, I think at the moment that we have arrived at a decision. I think that we are going to try and get past them through the aid of magic. And besides which I am not all that keen to use the ring again. I do feel that it can be controlled but at the moment I do not want more death on my hands. Perhaps when we decipher this book about the Fire Command Ring we will perhaps learn about better ways and means to control the rings."

Emma breathes a quiet sigh of relief. 'At least this is one time I won't have to voice an opinion,' she thinks to herself. She's even more surprised though when Hannibal speaks up in support of Crayne's decision instead.

Skandor breathes a sigh of relief, hopefully not too loud so the others might hear. When no one glances in his direction, he takes a deep breath and listens to the ideas brought forth by his companions.

"No offense Mage but I would have to second that motion!" Hannibal says. "I am in no hurry to see that ring used any time soon!" he affirms while battling desperately to keep his horse calm. "And as to these dwarves, Storm, no offense but how cowardly is it to fire unprovoked on travelling diplomats?!!" Hannibal trails off quickly, realizing that there last engagement had been mostly unprovoked as well...it was always a matter of perspective wasn't it.

Turning to Emma, Hannibal's frown reveals his anger at the situation. "What say I pluck a few of those devils from their cover with my bow...maybe then they'd be willing to talk! Besides, my bow holds a distinct range advantage, either they retreat or I rain arrows on them all day."

"It's unlikely we'd succeed that way," the priestess replies, although the tactical side of her mind obviously considers Hannibal's suggestion first, "We're not clear yet how many are up there...and a single bowman, no matter the superior weapon in his hand, will eventually fall prey to an organized group like the dwarves have shown themselves to be.

"Besides," she restates, "Attacking the Dwarves or provoking them into a prolonged fight with us would threaten too much that we've worked so hard to accomplish. If word of our engagement reached Captain Delk or General Korg's ears, the unsigned treaty could well fall apart. And no matter how inconvenient this blockade is to us, it's the treaty that takes precedence for the good of all Rinder."

Skandor steps up beside Emma, nodding solemnly. "I agree, as well. It would be unwise to anger the dwarves, or give them reason to balk at any negotiation attempts. We should resolve this diplomatically...or find another route."

Emma shakes her head and finally says, "I'm inclined to either agree with the Highbrow and try to slip past them unnoticed...or put on a show of such strength and determination that the dwarves will become unable or unwilling to stop our journey...a running of the gauntlet, so to speak, with our most powerful protective enchantments in place. To that end, I can summon an animal spirit to distract them...and a zone of blessed sanctuary upon whomever leads our column so that Anhur will strip away the will of anyone to attack that person.

"But perhaps more importantly," she suggests, "I could once again cast an augury to see if a fast ride will prove successful...or if the dwarves outnumber us so badly that such a maneuver will fail outright. That at least, should give us more information to make our decision."

Crayne smiles at Emma as she agrees with him. He then looks to Elloharin, "On second thought...Emma!" Crayne says, "I'll go up high and see what numbers they have and where they are placed."

Emma looks at Crayne in a suprised manner at first. The priestess' eyes narrow and a frown quickly crosses her face. 'What does he have in mind this time?' she wonders, knowing full well the cagey wizard must be planning some kind of magical solution in the back of his mind.

"Levitate! Remember I used it against the drow not long ago? If I cast myself invisible and levitate high I should be able to see everything sufficiently!" Crayne then adds, "A diversion is indeed what we need! If we can create an illusion of a creature or being then we should be able to sneak through their blockade unnoticed!

"Let us retreat!" the mage shouts aloud.

"Do you have such spells prepared now?" Emma asks, "I ask this because I don't think we'll have time to retreat and hold a separate planning session on this. To do so would only bring the Dwarves down upon us, because I doubt they'll be satisfied with driving us away until they know we're not coming back. Surely they'll send scouts to follow us and the minute they see us preparing to return, they'll come and engage us. If I were their company commander, I know that's what I'd do...

"Let me try my augury first," she recommends, "That should give us some indication of what we're facing without having to resort to your magic. Besides, it might be best if you saved your spells for something more than mere information-gathering this time, Highbrow. We might need your skills to help us get past them after we've figured out the lay of the land."

With that, Emma pulls her horse off the trail and into enough shelter so that an arrow or crossbow bolt will be very unlikely to find her. She quickly dismounts and traces a circle upon the ground with her sword. Then, sitting within the circle, she gazes up at the sun with her eyes closed in prayer.

"Grant me insight, Anhur," she prays aloud, "And call upon your brother Nire to look over our plan of action and determine how successful it might be. If we try to push our way past the Dwarven blockade before us, will we prove victorius?"

As Emma prepares her spell, Skandor stands ready nearby. When she begins to speak, he bows his head and closes his eyes, and says his own prayer to Anhur. The Sword Bearer had been present at Auguries like this before, and had come to believe that if he said a prayer while a nearby cleric was communing with his god, then perhaps Anhur would hear his prayer, too. At first, Skandor felt silly for believing something so...childish. But believing it, as in believing in his deity, made him feel more confident, and gave him spiritual strength.

The answer comes quickly enough, just a sensation in her own mind...no physical words spoken aloud. "You are strong enough..." the gods seem to say, "Yet some Stoneshapers will not see your passage." The last part gives Emma pause and she opens her eyes. 'What is that supposed to mean?' she wonders.

She quickly climbs to her feet and remounts the horse, bringing it close to the others. "Nire and Anhur advise that we can run this blockade easily enough," she tells them, "The dwarves either lack the numbers, the strength, or the will to stop us. But the gods also told me that some of the Stoneshapers would not see our passage. I'm unsure what that bit of information means exactly. Perhaps some of them are underground...in the mines? Or, we could just be facing the sentries of a larger group? Or, maybe some of them are injured and unable to fight?"

This last idea causes Emma to think a bit deeper. "Maybe that's why we'd be successful in trying to run the blockade?" she suggests, "If this band of dwarves...these Stoneshapers...are unable to stop us, it might because they've recently been attacked and had their numbers reduced by someone or some-thing else. If that's the case, we might be better served to parley with them from a position of strength and learn what happened. At least that way, we'll know what other dangers lurk on the road ahead that wounded the dwarves so badly. And, if indeed they are wounded, we could improve our relations with yet another clan of the dwarves by tending to them. I still have several curative blessings from Anhur that I could call upon.

"What do the rest of you think?" she asks, "Going up to speak with them seems like a better idea if we're strong enough to resist being taken prisoner again..."

"Could it have been the drow?" Skandor proposes. "Could the drow have discovered that their ore was intercepted, and perhaps they thought to look here?" the paladin asks, pointing towards the dwarves. "They fired upon us rather hastily...almost as if on edge, tense...perhaps Storm, myself and Emma should approach them, with no weapons drawn, to attempt a parley? Emma's interpretation of her vision sounds very possible, especially if the dwarves have witnessed battle recently."

"Ok then!" Crayne sighs hearing the new information, "Let us confront them and listen to what they have to say! But be warned I have no intention whatsoever of surrendering to these dwarves again! If they start speaking out of turn then I will take offense very quickly! There is just no call for it! Dammed right rudeness! That's what I call it!"

"Aye, let's talk," Storm says, interrupting Crayne before he gets too miffed. "Don't be fightin' the Stoneshapers--that goes for all o' ye. Me dwarves ain't no enemy, they's just defendin' their rights. Let Delk be doin' his thing, an' we'll talk to these fellers. Just don't be blastin' no magic at 'em. Heh, I can tell ye, ye get under their skin with words, they be gettin' under yer skin with them axes!" Storm, who would normally laugh histerically at his own joke, instead finds himself more serious in dealing with fellow dwarves. He suddenly has a pinge of a feeling of unfinished business, like he wants to go find his father yet again...but he realizes it would be a sort of moot point now. He'd earn a name for himself, and then he'd come out, and then his father would have no choice...

Storm sighs, and begins to yell up toward the dwarves to send someone to talk. He then turns to look over his shoulder, catching in his eyes a few of the last rays of sunlight. His eyes fall on Skandor and Emma as they dismount and ready themselves for the trek to the dwarves' position.

Walking off the road, to the north and toward a large rock-structure jutting out from the mountain's edge, Storm, Skandor, and Emma prepare themselves for whatever they might face. As they are about twenty yards from the structure, which they can now see is roughly ten yards tall at it's top, with what appears to be a dwarven-made pathway leading around the side (and presumably up). The face of the structure is almost smooth, straight down, with the exception of a few rocks jutting out from the formation, such that a clever and skilled person might be able to scale it's face.

From this path four dwarven figures appear. Immediately they begin talking in Dwarven, such that only Storm can understand (as neither Skandor nor Emma know Dwarven). They appear at first surprised by Storm's presence with the humans. "[I am Brillac of the Stoneshaper Clan, who are you?]" the first one demands.

"[I be Storm of the Strongblade Clan, Son of Thorn.]" Storm replies.

A look of recognition crosses Brillac's face. "[Storm, son of Thorn,]" he repeats. "[The deserter. You tell your human friends this is our land and until the Clans are satisfied with a new treaty, no one crosses the mountains.]"

Emma looks to Storm, asking with her eyes what is going on. Storm translates. "Tell then we are here in peace, and that we are responsible for the start of the renegotiations. Please, Storm..." she says.

Storm nods, returning his gaze to Brillac. "[She be sayin' we be here in peace. We be the ones who got the treaty started ta...]" he looks to Emma, who mouths the word 'renegotiations'. "Ooo ya, [renegotiated]."

Before Brillac can respond, however, there is shouting from the dwarven patrol above. Brillac and Storm immediately turn to look at the top of the rock structure, where two dwarven figures can be seen, blackened by the setting sun's shadows, they are screaming frantically and pointing toward the road and the mountain pass.

"What are they saying?!" Skandor asks, suddenly concerned. Though he can't speak Dwarven, he can tell something is amiss.

"They be sayin'," Storm begins, listening carefully. Brillac immediately draws his axe, causing Emma and Skandor to take a step back and reach for their weapons. "They be sayin'...the giant be back!!"

At the word, Emma and Skandor spin around to look where the dwarven patrol is pointing. There in the gray of dusk they can barely make it out: the huge figure standing in the road, walking out of the pass and toward their position. He must have been sitting very quietly in some concealed place. But now he was heading their way!

"What do you mean, he's 'back'?!" Emma demands.

Storm relays the question. Brillac answers quickly, then turns to move back toward the rock formation and the path to it's top. As the Stoneshaper leaves, Storm translates: "The giant be terrorizing the patrol a couple o' hours ago...he was mumblin' somethin' but the dwarves not be able to make it out. He be hurtin' some o' them bad. He be very angry!"

Just as Storm finishes, there is a gigantic crash, shaking the very earth. Storm, Emma, and Skandor spin around to look toward the source of the crash, and there in the middle of the road between the giant and the rest of the party, a large dust-cloud rises where a boulder must have just landed.

Alara, Canter, Elloharin, Crayne, Karelth, and Hannibal are scrambling. They reach for weapons, and then try their hardest to calm their horses, which are understandably startled by the sudden shaking of the group beneath their hooves.

"Emma!!" Crayne yells across the hilly terrian between him and his comrades and Emma, Storm, and Skandor.

Then, reverberating through the mountain pass and off the rocks around, the giant's deep and throaty voice echoes. "I'm lookin...for the priestess and the mage!"

With that, he hurls another large rock. This one lands just in front of the party scrambling near the road. The force of the impact sends Alara and Crayne to the ground hard. (2 hp damage)

"The mage?!" Crayne mutters as he scrambles back to his feet. He looks to his uncle, eyes wide. "Why me?!"

At this point, all members of the dwarven patrol (the Stoneshaper Clan) have returned to their position atop the rock formation. STORM, EMMA, and SKANDOR are standing at the base of that formation, about sixty yards from the road. The rest of the party (ALARA, CANTER, CRAYNE, KARELTH, ELLOHARIN, and HANNIBAL) have moved off the road to the south with the horses, near some smaller rocks, for cover from the dwarven missile fire. But those rocks may not be much of a defense against the giant.

The giant is walking slowly along the road from the direction of the mountain pass. He is currently about 120 yards away from the party and closing, large boulders in hand.

HP Status: Alara: 30/32, Canter: 36/36, Crayne: 19/15, El: 24/24, Emma: 42/42, Hannibal: 26/26, Skandor: 31/31, Storm: 44/44, Karelth: 11/11.

~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire Control: [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

Shouting from the rock ahead grabs Hannibal's attention, who up till then had been daydreaming. Looking up he sees the dwarves shouting and frantically rushing about, as if getting ready for battle. Hannibal watches curiously, wondering what trickery the stouts were up to...and then he saw the boulder. "What the..." he mutters as he watches the large boulder arc through the air, crashing to the ground just a short distance from the group. And then, through the cloud of dust, he sees the Giant.

Alara turns quickly towards where the boulder came. "By the gods..." she gasps.

Elloharin recoils in terror when he beholds the giant. But before the blood can rush to his head, he looks down, taking a moment to breathe. He dismounts quickly attempting to calm the bucking beast beneath him.

Alara turns towards Crayne upon hearing the giant's words. She wonders to herself what the giant would want with Emma and Crayne, but remains quiet for the time being.

"What have you done Mage?!!" Hannibal shouts over the commotion, still battling to control his horse.

Alara laughs remembering a tale her mother told her as a girl, "You didn't steal his goose that lays golden eggs did you?" The young half-elf climbs back onto the back of her horse, trying to keep it calm.

Crayne rubs the sweat from his brow as he tries to find cover. He looks to his Uncle and makes sure that he is safe from any immediate danger. 'What was it that the giant wanted?' Crayne thinks to himself. For a moment the gem stone crosses Crayne's mind. 'Was this something to do with it all?'

At first, Emma is quite shell-shocked by the appearance of a living, breathing giant! She's never seen one before. Of course, the history books are full of their stories. And plenty of legends exist, but she's never had an opportunity to actually face one before. She glances at Skandor and can see that he's equally as awed, and that shocks her back to reality. 'Not only is this giant real,' she reminds herself, 'But he's looking for a mage and a priestess...'

"The priestess?!" Emma grumbles, her eyes narrowing into an expression of anger as she quietly says aloud, "Well you might have just found her, big guy."

She looks back toward Crayne's position, knowing that the Highbrow will be much more vulnerable to the giant's attention should he head in that direction. "Storm?" she says, "Speak with the Stonecarvers and get them organized to help us! Tell them to use their crossbows!"

Before Emma has even stopped speaking, Storm is interrupting her. "That's StoneSHAPERS, priestess!" he yells, ever defending the dwarven honor. "I ain't be needin' to tell them nothin'! They's know what they's doin', don't ye worry! That bugger'll have more bolts stickin' out o' him that ye can count! I be with ye!" With that, he prepares to start running alongside the priestess, as they will soon start their charge. For good measure, though, Storm lets out a yell at the top of his lungs, directed toward the top of the Stoneshaper encampment: "[FILL HIM FULL O' HOLES, BOYS!!!!!!!]" Then, with a mighty "YEEEAAAARGH!!!" he starts his charge on foot.

Emma spins her spear in one hand and starts to rush back toward her horse with the others. "Skandor! You're with me!" she yells as she breaks out into a run. When she gets there, she quickly remounts and motions with her spear to indicate her plan. "Hannibal...Elloharin...you're the archers," she states, "See if you can't set this behemoth up in a crossfire. Keep him blinded if possible. Hopefully, the dwarves will be doing the same thing with their crossbows after Storm talks to them.

"Alara? You, me, Skandor, and Canter are going to ride out to this thing and chop it down to size before it throws any more of those rocks at anybody. I expect Storm will be along shortly to join us."

"Aye," Alara says as she unsheathes her sword.

Hannibal nods, unslinging his bow in the process. Turning to Crayne he says, "Highbrow, you and Karelth come with me." That said, Hannibal turns his horse and charges up the nearest hill (about ten yards south of the road) away from the giant. Once he finds high ground, he points out good cover to Crayne and sets up with bow and arrows.

"Crayne? You and Karelth should stay out of harm's way," Emma shouts as they follow Hannibal toward the hill. "If you can think of a crafty way to use your levitation spell, or any other magic you have handy, while we're out there battling the brute, then do it! And if worse comes to worst, don't hesitate on using the ring again! We just might need it to survive!"

The priestess slips her shield over her left arm and holds her spear upright, preparing to charge into the giant's leg, if possible, and bring him to the ground. 'By Anhur,' she thinks, 'I hope this works...'

"Everyone ready?" she calls out, not allowing her voice to betray her inner fears, "Let's go!" She spurs her mount and uses her riding skills to weave back and forth in case the giant sees her coming and tries to hit her with a boulder on the way.

Alara follows closely behind Emma, shadowing her movements until they get close to the giant. Once they close in on the giant Alara plans to split off to the opposite side of the giant as Emma. Once she's within striking distance, she plans, she will slice with her bastard sword (one handed, the other on the reigns of her horse), slicing with her sword as the horse passes by. Once she's made her first pass, she'll circle around behind the giant, striking the other side, continuing her circling attack for as long as it'll work.

Skandor curses to himself as he sees Emma dash towards her horse, mount, and depart without hesitation towards the massive giant they are now supposed to defeat. At first, he is happy that she did not shy away from command, or slink away to await orders or be asked to contribute. She boldly took action, and for that, he was indeed happy.

But her reaction was very war-like, which he did not expect. The creature had basically even asked to see her, and Crayne...how did he know about them? Why would he be asking for them in the first place? These questions would probably never be answered, though, as he watched his companions mount up and prepare for battle.

Skandor does indeed move forward, but does not take to his mount. While he knows that he is a masterful horseman, one of the most skilled in his temple, he realizes that he rides a mediocre beast at best, not a trained warhorse. He would expect his generic horse to fail him once it neared the lumbering giant, so large and intimidating. So while his companions mounted horses, he simply charged forward, the giant within sight, directly in the creature's path.

'What are they doing?' El thinks. 'The fools, attacking a giant? Maybe the giant is not here to kill us. Maybe he bears a message.'

En route toward the giant, Skandor takes a moment to consider the giant's intentions, using his keen ability as granted to him by his deity. Squinting his eyes, though the gray of dusk doesn't really demand it, he watches the lumbering figure, still 100 yards off. Then suddenly a chill washes over him, and as he blinks, he can see only red and black. Shaking out his arms and legs, and rolling his neck, he is satisfied yet scared. This giant did, indeed, have evil intentions. But that wouldn't make defeating him any easier...

Drawing forth his claymore, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, he feels the adrenaline of battle surge through his body. He runs forward now, howling a battle-cry all the way. He tries to draw the creature's attention as he sees Emma gain and pass on her horse off to the side of him. The paladin charges head-long, in a direct path, towards the creature, attempting to dodge boulder and fist alike.

As Storm gets close enough to see, he looks towards the lumbering hulk in front of them. He notices that the beast has peculiarly long arms. "Blasted Hills!" he yells, though his meaning will probably be misconstrued. That, of course, is perhaps the last concern on his mind.

As he charges in with both long swords gleaming and his new chain mail fitting as snuggly as unbroken-in armor would, he charges in, aiming at the giant's knees and hamstrings, as most dwarves have been taught to do since their earliest warrior days. He will not relent, he knows, until this menacing pest of a creature is dead at his feet.

Having reached the top of the hill beside Hannibal, Crayne closes his eyes for a moment and begins to mutter the words of arcane magic. From his fingertips shoot three magic missiles which streak through the air and strike the giant in the chest with three explosions. Though the sounds of the explosions is muted by the distance (now 90 yards), their effect is clear nonetheless: the giant has been hit, but he is still coming.

Hannibal looks up over his shoulder to Crayne. "Gee, mage, I've never seen your missiles travel that far!"

The dwarves, meanwhile, ready their crossbows as best they can, considering their weakened state. Indeed, some of their patrol are so wounded they cannot lift their weapons. But those who can ready themselves and wait for the giant to come in range.

Meanwhile, still closing in, the giant picks up another large boulder, hefts it over his shoulder, and launches it through the air at the five miniature people coming toward him (Emma,, Alara, Skandor, Canter, and Storm). The boulder arcs through the air, and upon seeing it Canter shouts out "Incoming!!" But there is little they can do. The large stone crashes down on the road amongst them, throwing Emma, Canter, and Alara off their mounts (4 hp dam each), and sending Storm and Skandor to the ground as well (3 hp dam each). With the impact, Canter's horse's two front legs are shattered, causing the animal to scream in pain and tumble to the dusty road below. Emma's and Alara's mounts are shaken and a bit wild, but not hurt too badly.

Suddenly, two more missiles appear streaming through the air and striking the giant. El is surprised, and following the flight path in reverse with his keen eyes, he can see that they originated with Uncle Karelth! 'That old man is good for something, I suppose,' El thinks to himself and he kneels in a position on the opposite side of the road from Hannibal, Crayne, and Karelth.

Remounting her horse, Alara charges forward, encouraged by the scream from the giant and the show of force from the three magic users in the party. She soon arrives at the giant's tall, muscular left leg and as she rides by she attempts to strike it hard with her bastard sword. But the giant sees her coming, and is able to move his leg aside enough to avoid her attack, much to her frustration. Yanking on the reins of her mount with her other hand, Alara slows the animal to prepare for the next pass--this one from behind.

Emma is next to attack. Holding her spear strongly, she does her best to aim for the giant's right leg. But her effort is in vain; her horse is no war horse and is not quite as steady as she would like. Upon nearing the monster the mount veers off to the side a bit, causing Emma's spear to fall just out of reach.

Skandor then arrives at the giant's feet. Wielding his large claymore expertly, and focussing on the task at hand--and not the overwhelming size of the beast--he strikes. His sword hits its target and strikes hard and deep, opening up a large gash in the giant's shin. The creature howls in pain!

Canter immediately follows Skandor's attack, striking the giant with his own bastard sword. Taking advantage of the giant's momentary fixation on the new wound, Canter sinks his blade into the creature's other leg, opening up a new wound, not quite as deep as the first, but deep enough.

Hannibal, Elloharin, and the dwarven patrol wait, as the giant is still too far out of range for their weapons. Crayne and Karelth wait as well. Though Crayne plans to use his Color Spray spell, the giant is still too far away.

Enraged by the sudden swarm of attackers at its feet, the giant reaches over its shoulder to grab hold of a large wooden club, giant-sized, that had been strapped to its back. Taking aim at Skandor--who caused him the most damage--he swings the club hard, picking up a large gust of wind as it travels through the air in a downward arc toward the Sword Bearer. With a loud crack the wooden club strikes Skandor head-on, lifting the paladin clear off his feet and throwing him a good ten yards through the air! He lands hard on the rocky ground, moaning with pain and tasting his own blood (13 hp damage).

Finally, the giant begins to come within range. Raising his bow, a flight arrow already set, Hannibal takes aim at the giant foe and fires. Almost immediately, he lets off another. Both fly straight and true, striking the giant in the upper chest and neck. Smiling, Hannibal looks up and winks at Karelth before reaching over his shoulder to reload.

Soon Elloharin, from his position on the other side of the road, is firing his arrows at the giant. His first flies too far to the right, landing in the brush somewhere way beyond. But his second arrow strikes the giant in the cheek, causing the giant to turn his head away and drop a small boulder in his hand.

Alara then comes around for the next attack. Her effort is fruitless, though, as the giant recovers from the missile fire and lifts his foot just before she arrives. Her horse rides just under the bottom of his foot. He is about to stomp on Alara, when Emma attacks, distracting him and throwing off his timing. Alara rides right past him to safety and his food touches down behind him. Emma's attack is successful, and she drives her spear into the giant, just below the kneecap.

Howling in pain, the giant screams out, "The mage and priestess!! Awwwwrrrr!!!" Then he begins to turn, just as a volley of crossbow fire begins to rain down on his flank from the dwarven contingent. A couple of bolts strike the giant in the neck and shoulder. Though the small missiles would normally seem almost pointless, the pain of their impacts is just enough. His back to his attackers now, the giant falls forward to his knees, with a crash that shakes the earth once more.

After a painful moment, the giant then falls forward on his stomach, crashing to the ground with great force. He is still breathing, as evidenced by the constant and periodic rise of his back. But he is obviously weakened and beat.

Running alongside the long form of the beaten, lying giant, Canter and Storm approach his head, which is on the road, turned to one side. Weapons drawn, they point their mighty swords directly at the giant's eyes and take a moment just to stare. The beast is bleeding in many places, but is not yet dead. Still, he is beaten, and it is a sight to behold.

1. HP Status: Alara: 26/32, Canter: 32/36, Crayne: 19/15, El: 24/24, Emma: 38/42, Hannibal: 26/26, Skandor: 15/31, Storm: 41/44, and Karelth: 11/11.

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