Solaria (IC)

[Bigmac]

Marcus ignores the distraction, lost in the dance of blades. He closes his eyes for a moment and lets the blade lead him to where it must go. He swings carefully as he concentrates to recall the ancient techniques of the sword.

attack - (1d20+13)[31] (using 7 points of combat expertise)
damage - (2d6+11)[17]
miss1 - (1d100)[1]
miss2 - (1d100)[22]

both mis rolls shooting for under 50. recovering maneuvers with a swift action.

[Bronz]

You feel Pert just *barely* duck out of the way. He must not have known you were going to close your eyes, but he did indeed react in time as he seemingly dances a step around the giant blade of Marcus.

Impressive. Relying on your senses and the fact I won't be able to take advantage of your current blindness.

Let's see if I can!

Pert steps back, and Marcus again hears the unmistakable sounds of spell casting. He is then burned, first by the ever present Firebird stance and then by gouts of flame!

Look here

Spoiler

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attack - (1d20+16)[24] Ranged Touch Attack against blind person
attack - (1d20+16)[28] Ranged Touch Attack "" ""
attack - (1d20+16)[23] Ranged Touch Attack "" ""

damage - (4d6)[14] Firebird, Ref: 16
damage - (4d6)[19] First Scorching Ray
damage - (4d6)[11] Second Scorching Ray
damage - (4d6)[15] Third Scorching Ray

[Bigmac]

marcus moved to end this swiftly. He attacks again, this time with the mountain hammer.

attack - (1d20+20)[40]
damage - (14d6+11)[3][6][4][5][3][3][6][6][2][6][3][1][1][3](63)
miss - (1d100)[79]
miss - (1d100)[58]

first going low, other high. Looks like a crit. Add 14dmg for extra dice for dmg total of 77.

[Bronz]

With a loud *thud* Pert is knocked back, and then falls on one knee. He gasps from breath from the blow, and nods to his master. Master Trent then claps his hands, and both Pert and Marcus immediately feel better, though perhaps a bit sore and possibly bruised.

Pert gets up, and walks over to Marcus.

*I do indeed see the path you walk, and it is an excellent choice for you. I will ponder what has happened here. Thank you, I have learned much today.*

Pert then walks off, and when the fight is truly over an applause comes from the crowd. They then begin to disperse, all obviously anxiously discussing the fight.

Master Trent walks off, over to a tea pot, and sits down. He motions for Marcus to follow him.

[Bigmac]

"You fought well Pert. It was only by combining the might of the mountin with the insight from a diamond mind channeld through devotion to chaos that allowed me to strike such a blow. Ponder these things as you will."

Marcus sheaths his sword and makes his way over to Master Trent. He sits quietly reflecting on the contest for a moment while he absorbs the aroma of the tea and the sounds of the dojo. A phoenix was a mighty foe for sure. Marcus had become too reliant on those around him to protect himself from the elements. Perhaps he should investiage the secrets of the desert before venturing into the den of fire giants.

"Thank you for letting me contend with your pupil. He is indeed a fine student, and will surely become a force in this world. But, as I said earlier, I am interested in picking your brain about a tribe of fire giants located somewhere fairly near Mysticae. Have you heard of this tribe? What can you tell me about them?"

[Bronz]

Master Trent looks up at Marcus, with a giant smile on his face.

*I love fights like that. They really do make everything worth it. But to your question, I only have limited knowledge. I have heard of a practicing fire-giant swordsmen of the Nine-Fold, though I do not know what techniques he may have learned up there in the mountains. I believe his name was Ertoth, but my old mind can't be certain.

I'm afraid that's all I know about these fire giants. We mostly stay away from things that are immune to fire you know.*

With that, he pauses, and takes a sip of tea. He looks up again, with that smile on his face.

*Was there anything else?*

[Bigmac]

"Now that I've been enlightened by the display Pert put on, would you happen to have any scrolls that could help unlock the secrets of the Flame's Blessing? If I am to meet on the feild of battle with this Ertoth then it could prove useful."

Marcus ponders weither he should speak the next question, but decides that information is always useful.

"Could you enlighten me more about the Jade Phoneix? I have heard that there are but a few, and to find two powerful ones in the same dojo is interesting. What brings the two of you together now, and why here?"

[Bronz]

"Now that I've been enlightened by the display Pert put on, would you happen to have any scrolls that could help unlock the secrets of the Flame's Blessing? If I am to meet on the feild of battle with this Ertoth then it could prove useful."

Marcus ponders weither he should speak the next question, but decides that information is always useful.

"Could you enlighten me more about the Jade Phoneix? I have heard that there are but a few, and to find two powerful ones in the same dojo is interesting. What brings the two of you together now, and why here?"

We do indeed have some manuscripts of Flame's Blessing. It is the first thing taught to every student here. As you can probably guess, besides just it's usefulness in our way, it has practical purposes as well! I will have a student fetch you one. It is the least I could do for a display like that.

Pert and I...well, we have a long history together. When I was a younger, more arrogant pup, I came across a human Wizard that wanted to expand his martial prowess. I took him along on a an errand of mine, and by the time we were done this human had sworn his life in devotion, in devotion of the path of Jade Phoenix and devotion to myself. I took the opportunity to start a dojo, and he we are today.

There are many here who have varying success at both the Desert Wind and a Devoted Spirit. Beyond that however, we lack the knowledge to attain the levels of clarity you have. I invite you to come back whenever you like, if only you could teach a bit while you are here?

[Bigmac]

"I would enjoy the opportunity, and I will take you up on your offer if everything goes well with Ertoth. And thank you again for your hospitality. No need to rise, I can find the door on my own."

Marcus then takes his leave of the dojo and makes his way back to the "Book". He enters quietly, trying to listen to the discussion going on. When he's noticed he asks, "So, we have a plan yet? I didn't find much out, except that the clan is up in the mountain, and that one of them is a martial practictioner."

[Bronz]

DM

The bartender greets Marcus as he walks in.

*Still some plotting and planning going on over there I think.*

[Bitzeralisis]

Wilarmis

Ahg! Sarcasm! Kill! Not.

"I'm sure that there's something in this spellbook of mines that can help us with our mission, aside from the obvious frost spells." Wilarmis flips through his spellbook.

[The_Chilli_God]

Harpist

The Harpist sits down and lets Wil worm his way through his book.
"There is the possibility that the guards would not even be concerned with our delivery, unless our employers have a bad history with them."

[Bitzeralisis]

Wilarmis

"Nah... I'm actually more worried about getting to the fire giant camp place. I hate traveling, unless by magical means. Ohh, this is nice. Shadow Walk." Wilarmis pokes his spellbook with a finger. "It's a nice new spell I got recently that lets us travel fast. As in get-to-the-camp-in-an-hour fast. Of course, our destination will be inaccurate. But still, this could be very useful."

[Bronz]

DM
Time Passes

After about another day, the group decides on the KISS principle, and decides to follow the map given to them by the bartender to the mountain pass. A wagon was brought, just in case, and hidden in a small cave off the main road.

Soon after, the group finds that they had to turn off the main road in order to find the pass they were looking for. After only a half hour climbing rocks and swearing at mother nature, the group finds the pass. According to the map and other information it should only be 10 miles up the pass until a turn to the first village, and about 20 miles to get to those hot springs.

The pass is a simple valley between two large mountains. For the most part it varies between 20 and 40 feet across, but there are spots where it closes down to 10' wide. Coming through here in winter would be impossible.

As the group continues down the pass, they spot an odd cave about 15' up the cliffside, with only a 5' protrusion coming out and no way up but to climb or fly.

The group stops, and attempts to decide if they should investigate or simply carry forward.

[Bigmac]

Marcus, bored from all the walking, is greatful for a momentary distraction. "You want me to go scope it out? It shouldn't take too long."

Not hearing any immedeate objections, Marcus hurries to start scaling the cliff towards the opening.

Spoiler

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Going to take 10 (and with my modifiers that should beat the DC 15) to climb up there.

[Bronz]

Marcus easily scales the rock face, trying to gain a vantage point to what could be inside the cave. As he gets higher, a very distasteful smell starts filling the air. The sound of cooking can be heard as reaches the top, and as Marcus peers in, he can see a simple natural cave, about 10' wide at the mouth and wider inside. It goes deeper than his vision can allow.

He does however, about 30' in, see two hill giants, happily sitting and chatting around a giant pot.

The pot seems to have some odd ingredients, namely a humanoid whose legs are hanging off the side. The smell that is present is obvious now: Burning, boiling flesh.

A second later another hill giant comes to join them from somewhere in the back.

Marcus does not believe he has been seen, as he has yet to climb over the edge.

[Bigmac]

Marcus climbs down about 5 feet before springing off to decend rapidly. He rolls once he hits the ground and springs up to his feet. He then whispers in hushed tones,

"Looks like we got a couple of Hill Giants up there busy eating people stew. Might not be a bad idea to get the jump on them rather than the other way around.

[The_Chilli_God]

Harpist

Well, killing a group of hill giants is definitely something that the Harpist has absolutely no moral dilemmas about. However, he has a very healthy self-preservation instinct.
"Before we rush in there. Is it absolutely necessary to enter the cave in order to continue our journey?"

[Bigmac]

Marcus loved a good fight, but didn't want to expend his energy if unnecessary. Still, taking out the Giants had it's own benefits.
"We can leave 'em be for now, since their stomach is full, but on the way back there's no gaurentee that they won't get the drop on us. And, if we can take one alive, we might be able to get some useful information out of them.

[Raistlin1040]

Elzaon

Listen, I hear you guys keep a powerful weapon around here. It goes by the name of Night's Claw?
Yes. It's an heirloom of the temple. What of it?
I need it. I'm going on an adventure, and a weapon like that would be infinatly useful.
Well...I could sell it to you, 80%. Or you could trade.
All I've got is my mace. It's not worth the dagger, but...
Say no more. I'll take your mace for now, and you can pay me back later. You best be going then. Your friends are probably waiting.
Thank you. I won't forget.

They trade weapons, and Elzaon dashes out. He arrives back at the inn, and then follows with the group up until the current point.

[Bitzeralisis]

Wilarmis

"We're twenty miles from the fire giants. Do you really think that these guys," says Wilarmis, pointing up the cliff, "would know anything about the fire giants? I say we keep going, 'cuz I want to get this over as fast as possible."

[Bronz]

DM

The group moves on after a short investigation of some hill giants, but decide to let them enjoy their dinner.

After the requisite distance, the group comes to a path that according to the map leads to a village of some sort. The main pass continues on, which according to the map leads to where the hot springs are and where the fire giants are presumed to be.

[Raistlin1040]

Elzaon

So...where do you guys think we should go?

[Bitzeralisis]

Wilarmis

"That depends. What time is it?" Wilarmis looks down at his watch, remembers that they weren't invented yet, and forgets that the entire thing with the watch happened.

[Neftren]

Pelemaeus

"Well, if nobody is going to decide, we might as well go straight for our objective. We can always come back to the village anyway... and the prospect of a dragon to kill definitely means loot."

Pelemaeus charges along the dirt track, headed towards the Fire Giants.

[Bronz]

The group meanders down the pass towards what they hope is their destination. As they walk, the walls on either side seem to be getting taller, the mountains themselves becoming thicker the farther into the range the group travels.

After a few more miles, a lone figure stands on a ledge about 15' in the air and nearly 60' away. It looks like a large dwarf, and is holding a giant, steaming, boulder. It's a fire giant!

It screams out at the group,

HOLD RIGHT THERE! YOU GO NO FURTHER!

[Bigmac]

Marcus stops when he hears the giant's challange. He meets the giant's stare and returns it tenfold. Marcus calls to the Giant in a loud voice, full of pride and strength. "I am Marcus Lowel, Lion of Sasserine, Master of the Blade and Hand, and I have come to challenge the mighty Ertoth in combat so that I might prove to him the perfection of the nine fold path. I have no qualms with you, and will let you live so that you can witness Ertoth's demise for yourself. You will let my troupe pass peacefully, or you will be destroyed before a single thought of regret for your foolish choice crosses your mind.

Spoiler

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intimidate - (1d20+16)[19]

[Bronz]

DM

The giant responds, and he almost seems to laugh before he does.

Chief Ertoth does not see puny things. You turn around, and leave forever.

You do this, or I blow horn.

He then takes out a horn from who knows what, but it is as big as any of the group's arms. It would surely alert anything within half a mile. More perhaps with the shape and possible echo of the pass.

He shakes the horn at the group a bit more, as if saying he wins the argument right there.

[The_Chilli_God]

The Harpist

...The Harpist inconspicuously gets out his harp, cocking his head to the side a little and being alert for any giveaway sounds, and readies an action to use an Eldritch Spear + Hammer Blast against that horn if the fire giant dares raise it to his lips.

"I have a better solution. You may underestimate 'puny things,' as you say, but if we can prove to you that we are not puny things, then you will allow us to pass. I assure you, we haven't walked this great a distance, climbing many peaks and-- Do you know of a band of hill giants down the road that way?" The Harpist points with a free hand down the road they had come by.

[Bronz]

DM

I know of no puny things that are strong enough to even be in the presence of Ertoth! Or even worse, the princess!

I know of this band of hill giants. They have been stealing our own plunder, getting there faster than we can. We haven't been able to find them though.

The giant thinks for a moment...well, a good minute anyway.

If you take out those wannabe giants and bring proof of their destruction, I will escort you to Ertoth...but not to do battle! He would still squish you even if you do somehow overcome those other, lesser giants.