1206 Spring - A Giant Problem

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Heir of Laimunt Valley
35

OOC: Does this means Wolfgang will power through the fatigue and act now (well, after Kiefskala joins)? You can always rest a bit more and recover. It's a matter of delaying an extra day and losing a bit of initiative (things might changein a few hours).

Kiefskala has been keeping in touch with the group, and through the first hour of your rest he (she? it?) finds them in the clearing.

It's hard to keep quiet when you know there is a couple of giants not that far away from your group. For some, the excitement is to much. For others, it's the apprehension.

The hours go by slowly.

You wait.

This seems like it's going to be a long-term stake out, so I'd propose a Sta+Stealth roll (the worst part is going to be enduring the physical discomfort). Wolfgang can roll for Dagny and Gwyneth (as if he were the vanguard of a group), but Kiefskala is just to big to hide with them: he will need to roll for himself. He is also easier to spot due to his size, unless he gets a bit further inside the woods (and miss the first round or two of action).

36

[OOC: well he's just got 1 level so he's still at -0 right? -0 he will power through, and even if it gets up to -1, that's manageable.

Kiefskala is a he.

Once he shows up, Wolfgang will stop waiting and go on the move.]

1 Like
37

You have one hour, maybe, before midday. As far as you can tell there are no recent tracks going down the mountains, so the giants should be there. You move slowly (I assume?), trying to avoid being seen.

"I wasn't expecting two" says Dagny.

"They aren't expecting us four either", Gwyneth says back, bow in hand.

OOC: Assuming you are trying to be sneaky, that would be Dex+Stealth (as before, Wolfgang can lead the roll, and Kiefskala rolls alone). We will also need a Per+Awareness.

Is Wolfgang going with clear killing intent? In other words, if a giant notices him will it immediately identify the group as a threat? (If yes, but trying to hide it, I'll also need a Pre+Guile).

38

I don't know how obvious killing intent is, but Wolfgang certainly has it. He doesn't expect to need to trick the giants, he may have a brief conversation with them, if it's possible without endangering himself, but he's expecting them to just come after him and then he'll attack.

He will tell Kiefskala to lurk in the trees, and attack if he commands it, and warn Dagny and Gwyneth that if he shouts Helios they should look away.

Then they will head off.

[
Stealth for Wolfgang: 1D10+2 = [9]+2 = 11

Perception + Awareness for Wolfgang: 1D10+5 = [3]+5 = 8

Stealth for Kiefskala: 1D10+5 = [4]+5 = 9

]

39

OOC: gave up on extending your parma to the grogs?

As you go up the mountain, you smell smoke. In a couple of minutes you find the giants, seated besides a huge campfire. One uses a boulder as a bench, and the other what seems to be the remains of a thick stone wall. Here and there you notice small details of what could have been an old castle many decades ago, already lost to time.

Neither giant seems to have noticed your group approaching. The largest one must be at least 15ft tall when standing. It's hair is brown and messy, and it's poorly dressed in animal skyn, leaving it's breasts bare. It's a female. The other one seems younger, no much more than 10ft tall. It has blue eyes and an equally messy hair, and it's weaving tree bark into some kind of bag or basket. Besides the female you see a cudgel that seems to be made of an entire tree, leaning into a rock. Behind her, a small pile of bones.

They talk between themselves in gutural voices, High German with a thick, thick accent that you can't really place. Small talk about the heavy rain on the previous day, but maybe they leave to hunt again when sunny. Almost no meat left.

From the campfire, besides smoke, you also smell something being cooked which is neither beef nor pork...

40

For a moment, Wolfgang pauses, seeing a mother and child. Then he remembers the fierce giants of the north, and he smells the smell of meat that should not be eaten. He kicks himself, mentally, for not having a better means of communicating with his familiar.

He taps Gwyneth on the shoulder, and points toward the edge of the forest, where she can find concealment to support him with her bow, then he quietly steps near to Dagny, standing next to her, not behind; resting a hand on her shoulder, and giving Gwyneth a moment to get into position.

Then he suddenly shouts, in Latin, "Kief, poison them! Take the child! Helios!" And a moment later he is shouting words of magic, casting spells, sapping the magic power of the larger giant. He prepares to defend himself from the giantess' first rush, the Mien spell on his lips.

[Hah, you saw my draft - I intended to share Parma but I was thinking about whether it would protect from Mien of Helios (which it probably wouldn't). But I should have done it anyway, if you don't mind, I would like to say he did share it. Which means the three of us have effect Parma's of 2.

Multi-casting (2) Sap the Griffon's Strength.

Sap the Griffon's Strength 1 | 1d10+37 ⇒ 45

Sap the Griffon's Strength 2 | 1d10+37 ⇒ 41

If the giant attacks, Fast-casting Mien of Helios to hopefully blind her, and try to get out of the way (Dagny should know to do the same, this is his usual tactic; and they both know not to look at him).

Fast-cast init | 1d10+3 ⇒ 10

Mien of Helios with fast-cast penalty | 1d10+17 ⇒ 20

Not sure if you want me to control my familiar or not. Wolfgang's intention is that he will breathe a cloud of poison into the clearing, then latch onto the younger giant and constrict/eat him.

Kiefskala doesn't have to roll, he just creates a cloud of poison in the area around the two giants. He probably can't also attack this turn, but he can move in closer.

Poisonous Breath , 0 points, Init –3, Auram, Penetration 10
The linnorm can breathe a cloud of black smoke five paces across that affects victims with a contact poison (Ease Factor 9, inflicts an Incapacitating wound).

Probably not needed yet if we've got the drop on them, but if you want basic init rolls:

Wolfgang init | 1d10+1 ⇒ 4
Kiefskala init | 1d10-2 ⇒ 3
]

41

OOC: In the first round you can match and delay your actions, but since you are unlikely to one-shot the giants we will need the init anyway.

My math says init +0 for Dagny with longsword and -2 for Gwyneth with longbow, assuming they carry the combat equipment described in the Grogs and Covenflok page.

The assault is quick and thunderous. The mother jumps from her seat a Wolfgang's commands, but can't react in time as the massive linnworm darts from the treeline. While she is focusing in the winged serpent Wolfgang finishes his casting, and her skin cracks and splinters in perfect geometric lines as she screams. The sound is terrifying.

Kiefskala breaths, and all is death. Both giants are apart one another, but just in the range of his full breath, and black smoke surrounds them both for a short moment. The child (can we even call if "child"?) seems unfazed, but you all see the giantess getting dizzy, her eyes unfocused... until she roars, extending her hand towards the worm (rolled 1 then 8 in the stamina roll). As her hand approaches, her shoulderblade is suddenly hit by an arrow (rolled a 2 for Gwyneth, the enemy can't really defend herself, ATK ADV 14, +10 dmg, - giantess soak). Missing the head by little, the small woman manages to inflict a medium wound. She curses:

"F&ck, this would have killed a regular human!"
"She's not human!"

The giantess is clearly pissed, and now she realizes the serpent is not the only threat. With a menacing look, she grabs her cudgel and darts towards Wolfgang as Dagny gets ready to defend the magus.

OOC:
I'm assuming Dagny delayed her action to attack if someone gets too close to Wolfgang instead of going ahead with Kiefskala.

On the spirit of transparency: I rolled 2 1's followed by a 9 for the giantess initiative, for a total of 36. The child rolled an 8. So we have:

Giantess: 36
Child: 8
Wolfgang: 4
Kiefskala: 3

From my math the init bonus for Dagny should be 0, and for Gwyn, -2.

To make future attacks easier for everyone:
Giantess: DFN: 11, Soak 9 (this is already adding +5 for the defense roll instead of rolling)
Infant: DFN: 10, Soak 9 (again with +5).

I'll withhold info on their might, but with Wolfgang's casting totals and penetration he shouldn't have a problem unless he botches.

42

OOC: I'll assume neither Dagny nor Gwyn rolls higher than the giants. Even if they do this shouldn't change much.

The giantess tries to run towards Wolfgang, but she is stopped by Kiefskala. Giving a quick order "hold it" to the other giant, she ducks and runs.

The infant rises from the stone, scared, dropping the basket in his hands. Jumping to Kiefskala he gives a powerful hug (ATK total 13, against Kiefskala DEF 11, grapple strength 2), holding the serpent in place by the middle of it's body.

The giantess drags the cudgel through the ground, spinning it in an wide arc as she approaches the small mage. Before he can cast she is already at him, but Dagny swings her sword and rises her shield (I'll assume Wolfgang won't beat her initiative with his fastcasting. If he does I'll adjust the narrative, it should only apply a penalty to the attack, diminishing any damage. Dagny had already prepared to attack whoever approached Wolf, hence the attack).

Dagny's attack (assuming average roll):
ATK (13+5) - DEF (6+5 -3 from wound) = ATK ADV 10
ATK ADV 10 + DMG 8 - SOAK 9 = 9 (a light wound)

ATK 20 (-4 from wounds) - DEF (9+5) = ATK ADV 2.
ATK ADV (2) + DMG (17) - Dagny's SOAK (15) = 4 (a light wound)

Dagny holds her position under the strike, grunting a bit (and taking a light wound). That's going to leave a bruise. Fortunately, she inflicts a nasty cut in the giantess arm. All this manages to do is make the beast get even more pissed.

43

Wolfgang shouts, "Thank you, Dagny!" Then he takes a step back, and unleashes his magic, bombarding the giantess with flame, the spheres precise and placed so as not to endanger the grog.

Meanwhile, Kiefskala is quite happy to wrestle with the smaller giant,

[Since the rule is one spell around, there will be no fast-casting. I'm assuming multi-casting is allowed.

Multi-casting Ball of Abysmal Flame.

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Multi-cast 1 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 32 Pen 1

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Damage Roll 1 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 34

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Multi-cast 2 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 38 Pen 9

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Damage Roll 2 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 33

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Multi-cast 3 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 35 Pen 6

Ball of Abysmal Flame - Damage Roll 3 | 1d10+30 ⇒ 36

Kiefskala Grapple | 1d10+10 ⇒ 11
roll for doubling | 1d10 ⇒ 3

Grapple total is 16 - he actually wants to maintain the grapple, but be in control of it. If the smaller giant is no bigger than +3, he will be constricted, meaning he starts air deprivation.
]

44

OOC: For a brief, terrifying moment, I thought Wolfgang had just multicast 6 Balls of Abysmal Flame.

A small detail: since Wolfgang still has a long-term fatigue, each casting is reduced by 1. My mistake, at Winded there's no penalty.

The first spell dissipates as soon as it reaches the giantess, but the two that follow engulfs her in flames, leaving a medium and a heavy wound (since for defense totals we are using 5 in lieu of rolling I'm considering the same for her soak). She looks scared and angry.

The younger one screams and tries to jump towards her, but realizes that he can't anymore: Kiefskala is tightly wound around him. Worse, screaming was a bad idea, for he can't take air with the serpent's body around him.

It's Dagny's and Gwyneth's time to shine.

The giantess is currently at -12 (one light, two medium and one heavy).
Should I attack with the grogs?

45

[Well we're definitely killing mum. I thought about trying to recruit the smaller one but if we just killed his mum in front of him that's probably a waste of effort.

1 level of Fatigue means -0 Winded, right? Not sure if that made a difference for any of the spells.

I think grogs should attack, don't have a preference about who rolls.]

46

You are right, I forgot Winded. This changes things a bit and I'll edit my previous post.

Taking control of the grogs:

Gwyneth shouts "make her twist this way!"

Dagny grumbles a bit. Her shield arm moves a bit slowly, but she is as fast as always with the sword.

ATK (13 + (1|6->12) -1 from wound) - DFN (6 + 5 - 12 from wounds) = 25
ATK ADV (25) + DMG 8 - SOAK 9 = 24 (a heavy wound)

A quick move and a severed tendon bring the giantess to one knee, opening her chest to Gwyneth.

ATK (12 + 8 ) - DFN (6 + 5 - 17 from wounds) = 26
ATK ADV (26) + DMG 10 - SOAK 9 = 27 (a heavy wound)

The beast roars. Heavily wounded, she looks around for an escape route and sees the younger one in Kiefskala embrace. She tries to run towards him, but Dagny interposes, attracting her attention. The giantess tries to escape towards the young, but with this kind of wound she is only fleeing if Wolfgang and Dagny let her.

(Rolled a 9 for disengage. She's at -22 penalties due to wounds. Yeah, not gonna happen).

She drops, still trying to reach her child.

OOC: At this point I think it's best to wrap up combat. It's easy to finish the giantess, and the younger one isn't going to escape Kiefskala w/o help.

How will Wolfgang end this, and what he does next?

47

Wolfgang will do an inspection of the camp, starting with the bones, while the female giantess is unconscious but perhaps not dead yet, and the younger giant is trapped, just long enough to confirm that there are human remains here. If not, he will talk to the younger giant, but if he confirms they have been killing people, he has nothing further to say to either of them, and grimly kills them both.

He attempts to pull any remaining vis out of them, taking his time and resting between casts, and searches the camp to see if there is anything significant, or any sign that there were more giants about.

[

Mother: Gather the Essence of the Beast | 1d10+25 ⇒ 34
Rest for 10 minutes

Kid: Gather the Essence of the Beast | 1d10+25 ⇒ 32
]

48

Dagny and Gwyneth keep watch as Wolfgang inspects the camp. The giantess grunts as she observes, but is powerless to interfere. Kiefskala keeps his embrace until the younger passes out, and needs to be reminded by Wolfgang to not eat - yet, at least.

The pile of bones comes from different creatures, but soon becomes clear that at least some of them where once human beings. The meat at the bonfire is also has human origin, beyond any doubt. Soon both giants add to the body count of this place.

You see as the vis coalesces, coming from their skull, towards wherever you deem fit (a toe? A tooth?). You grab and store your trophies.

Exploring the camp the sense that this was, once, a fortress or castle of somekind, becomes more pronouced. You don't see traces of any other giant, but you do notice that both the ones you just killed have been occasionally coming and going to a large, flat boulder. With a practiced glance you notice it is about two Terram individuals. There are signs of them dragging the boulder across the ground, and you notice a small gap. There is a hole of some kind below.

49

Wolfgang severs the heads of the giants, to bring to the townsfolk; after pulling the vis into a tooth which he extracts. Then he invites his friend to feast on them.

He checks for the presence of an aura, as he realizes this was once some kind of building. [non-fatiguing, InVi smell/mom/per, no roll necessary]

"Fascinating," says Wolfgang, as he finds the hole, peering downward. "Kiefskala, when you're done with your dinner, can you move this out of the way, please?" he points at the boulder.

50

You don't identify an aura at this place. If there was one someday, it's long gone.

After eating and resting a bit Kiefskala tries to move the rock, but fails. It is too heavy for him.

51

Wolfgang sighs, he goes over to the rock, and tries to use magic to move it.

[
I'm interpreting "2 Ind's" as "A stone Ind that's between Size +0 and Size +1", so based on that attempting a spell at ReTe Base 2 (Slightly Unnatural Movement) Ind (since you don't need a higher magnitude until Size +2), Mom, Touch (+1), Stone (+1); so a level 5 spell (and with a decent roll with have a mag to spare for size).

Spont ReTe | 1d10+13 ⇒ 17

So that hits level 5, if it's not enough, will spend a confidence to get a level 10 spell.

Now at -1 from fatigue.]

52

I could have made it clearer.

It's a stone roughly 2 cubic paces in volume (a base Terram individual is 1 cubic pace). Somehow I found it easier than to say "roughly 1.5 x 1.5 meters, and 1 meter high".

You'd be looking at Base 2, +1 (Stone), +1 size (it's just big enough to require an additional mag, Animal and Corpus guidelines that have a specific cap at creature size +1), +1 Touch... and I think D: Conc at least. A lvl 10 spell.

You cast your spell under Kiefskala's gaze. When it seems it's just shy of moving you give the spell an additional surge of willpower and the stone begins to move (OOC: for the record, we are talking about 4 Ton of rock).

You see a slanted entrance, barely large enough for the smaller giant to squeeze through, to what looks like a small cave.

53

Too curious not to go first, Wolfgang casts a spell (non-f) that causes his robe to give off the light of a torch, and crawls down into the cave.

54

The room you find yourself in is small and partially ruined, smelling of human waste and fear. The walls to your right and left are about 2 meters apart; the same distance separates ceiling and floor. The room goes for not more than 4 paces before ending at a stone wall. Curled and trembling at the end of the room you see an emaciated man wearing rags. His hands shield his eyes from the sudden light, and you see they are dirty with soil and blood, his fingernails gone. You notice several bloody scratch marks in the wall behind him.

Scattered through the uneven floor, pieces of a chainmail ripped apart and a crunched helmet reflect the light of your robe.