05 Jan 2020 06:00
by: Logan for Tablets of Cold Death
Ten Towns has managed to put up a wall around all of them, trying to quarantine a plague. I applaud their efforts, hope it works. Due to this though, what is basically an eleventh town of tents have formed outside the main gate of the wall. Getting supplies for Caerbahn is easier now that I don’t have to go to multiple towns if one doesn’t have what i need (and these southern merchants are itching to sell their goods). Getting a hunt for the Giants is another story though…
The large community outside of Ten Towns have made finding animals to capture and transport to the hunting grounds harder due to the increase of hunting. It looks like I may be forced to find some poor humanoids. I worry about taking any of these merchants up north, none seem to be very capable of defending themselves.
While finishing up the purchasing of the basic supplies I need to pick up for Caerbahn, a motley crew of armed people show up in this “Tent Town”. They look somewhat capable of defending themselves, I mean a Dragonborn should have the might of a dragon within them, they alone may be able to handle a giant. The dwarf and other humanoids also appear to be capable looking fighters. I need to know more about them, maybe they can help change my village’s current situation…
I get their attention and inform them of the state of Ten Towns, the dwarf gets fairly agitated about this and the lizard thinks he can help the plague afflicted folk. Thankfully, the guard in front of the gate tells them otherwise. They mention they are trying to get to the forbidden island in the lake Caerbahn sits on, and I offer to take them there. After they discuss things for a bit, they accept my offer. Now that I’ve gotten supplies and a hunt, I can head north, leading this party of adventurers to their death…
As night begins to fall on the first day of a three day journey, I’m having second thoughts. Should I tell them to leave? Should I ask them for help? I need to learn more about their capabilities. Luckily the dwarf, who I’ve learned is called Ironbeard, appears to be a magic user of some sort that is proficient in fire. The group informs me of how he burned down a bridge, which makes me worry about his intelligence to be honest.
The lizard (Orax) is a towering holy man of Bahamut. He seems to be sensible, along with the male half elf (Skalen). The female half elf (Phenic) was raised by wolves and seems to be fairly passionate. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not, but she has already threatened me if I do necromancy in front of her (hopefully my magic never manifests itself in a form of necromancy that she would disapprove of). They also mention that they are “Champions of Waterdeep”, this makes me feel better about choosing them. Anyone that is considered a champion of a major city to the south should be able to defend themselves from two giants. I attempt to step away from the group to see if I can detect any magic on themselves while they sleep, but they don’t let me. This kind of caution will keep them alive.
We rise in the morning and I begin to lead them to the Hunting Grounds. I’m still unsure of what to tell them. I feel like I should warn them, but if I do, Caerbahn will be put at risk. Sure, Caerbahn hasn’t been the kindest place to me since my ears formed their point and the magic within me manifested, I still owe them my life for finding and raising me instead of letting me die. During the journey to the Hunting Grounds, a snow storm begins to brew and make the journey difficult. I lead the group to a ruin that lies in the Hunting Grounds.
A fire is lit, I’m still feeling the pressure to tell them. Then I hear it the message, the giant’s checking in. I confirm the location in a reply. Now is the time to decide.
I inform the 4 of them of the incoming giants. I inform them of as much information as I have about the situation. They aren’t happy with me, but at least I didn’t let the giants surprise them. I gave them a fighting chance.
We plan and prepare for the giants, but I didn’t think about the possibility of the giants bringing pets. A dire wolf shows up and begins to attack Phenic. I feel the magic spill out from me as I go to her aid.
I feel as if on autopilot as I attack the Dire Wolf, bashing it with the maul I received years ago. While fighting the dire wolf, another pet, a polar bear this time, shows up. Then the giants appear. Phenic summons a fire storm from above before shifting into a polar bear and Skalen gets fairly wounded by one of the giants.
As the dire wolf and polar bear goes down, one of the giants attacks me for going against them. The five of us some how manage to defeat the pair of giants. While we rest, i agree to answer any questions they ask to the best of my ability and Skalen aids me in skinning the dire wolf. Phenic also claimed a giant helmet and put it in my cart.
After we rest for the night, I allow myself to be affected by Orax’s Zone of Truth spell, answering each question they ask to the best of my ability (which is somewhat limited, to the group’s aggravation). Afterwards, I lead them to Caerbahn and to the elder Jornen where we explain the events that have come to pass. Once the issue of the giants has been explained, the group asked about the forbidden island for any information they could get.
After getting as much information we could, Jornen called the elders and villagers together to explain the situation to them. A giant attack was imminent and there was nothing that could really be done. I could feel some of the eyes of the villagers on me, even if this would eventually occur, I knew some of them blamed me for this change.
As various families began to leave via boat, I brought the supplies to the family that I had the closest ties to. The head of the household cut the dire wolf skin in half and gave me one half. I took it and nodded in thanks, then led the group to the docks. I offered my services to the group as a way to make up for leading them into a trap.
They tentatively accept, and we get a few boats together (two for the five of us, and a third for the damned helmet). We then rowed out to the forbidden island. Landing on the island and finding no signs of fauna or any recent presence on the island. Walking for a good deal of time before finding a somewhat safe location to rest for the night as Caerbahn is probably getting destroyed.