IC Knee Deep IV

[Athedia]

Mithril smiled weakly, "I might."

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How hurt is she, I know she was hit.

[Zman]

"I'll live." Valen responds.

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Mithril took 16 I believe.

[achinca]

Miriam puts her hand on Mithril "Here you go Mithril. Let me channel St. Cuthbert healing magic onto you."

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Drop Bless Water - Cast CLW
(1d8+7)[13]

[Cavelcade]

Kurt sighs as he lets his rage wear off, leaning down against his axe and looking around. "What's going on? Where did ye come from?"

[Zman]

Unknown Mage

Responding to Kirts question, "We were to hold ourselves in reserve in his lordship's wardroom until we were required, in hopes the Giants would over commit. Gauging by by the commotion, it seems to be holding the Giants at bay. Their King is clever.....for a giant, but they've never had a grasp of tactics."

Pausing to survey the area, "Pardon my haste, but I was tasked with defending these war machines."

[Cavelcade]

Kurt nods in response, glancing at his companions, then frowning at the wall, piecing together the action from when he'd let himself run on instinct. "I'm fine, Miriam. You've already healed me well...thank you, or I'd already be dead." He lightly touches the string on his finger to make sure it remains in place.

[achinca]

Miriam nods and smiles "Just doing St. Cuthbert work ....."

She looks around, her formerly white robe covered in dust, dirt and blood.

[Cavelcade]

"More than that..." Kurt shakes his head, unable to articulate what he wants to say, he just looks over at the walls. "...are you ready to go again?"

[achinca]

Miriam nods back Kurt "Ready? Not really but willing ..... in the name of Order and Justice ..... and Kurt ....."

She stops and blush a little before continuing "..... it is easier to face death surrounded by true friends ....."

[Zman]

"Truer words...." is all Valen can articulate in response to Miriam.

[achinca]

Miriam looks at Kurt, Valen and Mithril. "I am indeed blessed to face a deadly threat with such great companions. Just know that if today is the day that St. Cuthbert decides to invite me to his table, I could not have better people around me to face it. I will meet death with a smile on my face knowing that the truest group of heroic friends is by my side."

[Cavelcade]

Kurt rubs the back the side of his left arm with his right hand, looking just to the right of Miriam. "You're right...at least we'll be saving lives. Think of all the others that would have been lost if not for you, Miriam. Don't mourn the fallen. I'll make sure you stay alive to save many more."

Speaking the last three sentences as he walks by her towards the battlements, for her ears.

[Zman]

Defense of the NorthEastern Outpost

As the battle rages on, more Giants from the north begine trying to scale the newly repiared walls. The soldiers of Hulburg bolstered by the mage and his elite cadre make it a painful assault...

While the battle rages to the north the mages and soldiers defending the East continue their battle with ruthless spellpower and precision. Now six copies of the Aged mage continues to unleash torrents of magic swinging the battle in the favor of the Soldiers. In a matter of a minute or two the momentum of the battle has swung, a deep basso horn can be heard as the Giants sound a retreat.

As the fog begins to clears nearly two dozen giant corpses can be seen, nigh piled on top of each other in a wide "V", as if stopped by an invisible barrier and choked to death by toxic fumes. The corpses on the edges show signs of of being burned, crushed, and littered with arrows.

The battleis won, but it came at a cost...

[Cavelcade]

Kurt, shrinking down to his ordinary size, sighs happily as the giants retreat leaning heavily on his axe - his raging had left him exhausted, on top of the sever blows he took.

[Athedia]

Mithril was exhausted from the battle, and she turned to congratulate her friend on their victory. Not seeing her there she spent the next few hours checking the faces of all the dead and injuried, trying to find Natalia somewhere in the fort. When she could not, she retreated to the stables and curled in the corner of Honey's stall weeping. The battle may have been won, but she had lost.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt spends his time cleaning down his armour and weapons, not speaking much at all as he does so, his energy ebbing down lower as he no longer has to worry about an incoming attack. He'd really put in a lot of effort trying to keep the men from getting too tired - just the sheer amount of socialising has tired him out.

[achinca]

Miriam does not even allow herself to feel relieved by the giants retreats.

She runs to the infirmary and tries to help the healer the best she can, burning all her healing spells she has left.

[Zman]

Aftermath

Two days had phased since the battle with the Giant, the surprise ambush by Hulburg enough to turn the tide of battle, making the price of the almost assured razing of the outpost too great a price for the Giants to bare.

The mages departed the morning after the assault in the same rapid maner in which they arrived leaving the soldiers and hands of the outpost to clean up the mess. A huge fired smoldered for days to the east as the nineteen Giant corpses were burned, the skulls and bones cracking and splitting with sounds of thunders, the stench unbearable until a westerly wind cleared the air.

Nearly twenty soldiers perished and others injured yet, Rikul aided by Miriam had their hands full depleting their divine wells nearly as fast as they could replenish them...

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Ok, Shiny is back, post a summary post battle, etc.

[Admiral]

It's late in the second morning after the battle that a familiar figure appears at the Northern gates of Hulburg- his clothes caked in dirt from nights spent sleeping on the ground, his skin slightly sullen from days of exertion on minimal provisions. But the mischievious gleam in his eyes leaves no doubt that this is the same gnome who had so unceremoniously disappeared days earlier. His eyes dart around the outpost, itching for a familiar face so that he can introduce himself with an unfamiliar name.

Over his shoulder is a burlap sack, which, while hardly stuffed, is clearly not as empty as when he left.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt, for once not wearing his armour, as he trusts he'll have plenty of warning before he'll need it, had been up on the walls chatting with some of the men who'd been in the fort the night before the attack, glanced outside at the shout of something being spotted - something non-threatening, thankfully.

When he spots the gnome, he laughs joyfully, getting down from the wall by the fastest means possible - hopping off them - and running straight towards Shiny.

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Assuming that's possible, that is. If it's not, he gets down by the fastest means possible.

If it is and I need a check:
(1d20+11)[20]

[achinca]

Miriam is in the infirmary assisting Rikul. Her robe is covered in dirt, dust and blood and her eyes are deep inside her face, as she has slept very little.

She has no idea what is happening outside.

[Zman]

Valen, seeing Kurt's reaction follows wih measured step, happy to see the small gnome alive.

[Athedia]

Mithril rises from her studies on hearing Kurt's laugh. A sound that she had not heard in a long while. That could only mean one thing. She ran out through the gates to greet the long missing friend.

[Admiral]

"Hello!" cries Shiny upon seeing his friends approach. He doesn't even give them a chance to reach him before he is already speaking a mile a minute.

"I hope you remember me- Shiny Sidebar, soloist and disappearing act. Please forgive my quick exit the last time I was in your company- I can explain!"

"You see, after I went to the stables, a spider fell down in the back of my shirt, and it tickled so much that I ended up in a sort of crazy dance as I tried to get it out. The trouble was that a minute earlier I had cast expeditious retreat, my spell of speed, for the purpose of keeping up with Valen's longer legs. As a result, what normally would have been a couple of jittery steps flew vastly out of control, and by the time I got the spider extricated from my clothing, I looked up to discover that I was two miles outside of the outpost. I tried returning to the outpost, but due to a trick of perspective and shadow the jumpy guards outside the gates mistook me for an attacking giant- I barely escaped the hail of arrows. I thus decided to undertake the quest on my own."

"Ah, but before I tell you the rest, take a look at the bounty that I bring back!" He swings the burlap sack onto the ground, for it seems to hold all the weight that he can carry, and the insides rattle with the potential of jewels, gems and other treasures. He opens it up with a flourish to reveal an assortment of dozens of mundane rocks and pebbles, by the looks of them collected no more than a few hundred paces from the outpost.

"I see you are puzzled- well, this came from a plan I devised on my way up to the giant's lair. What would happen, I thought, when I came back from the mission, carrying a stone that represented the giants' most valuable possession? What if bandits attacked, or the guards at the the outpost searched me on my way in? Surely it is too suspicious for a gnome to carry a single stone- one would deduce that that stone has some special value. But these serve as decoys- a gnome carrying a hundred stones is simply a run-of-the-mill lunatic. Pretty clever plan, eh?"

He basks in self-pride for a moment, then coughs sheepishly. "I don't... er... have the giant's stone. But I figured, why put a perfectly good plan to waste?"

Shiny shakes his head. "Anyway, someone must fetch the cleric! Where is she?" Shiny cranes his neck to look around for her.

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Sorry for the burst of lies- neither I nor Shiny could hold it in after being separated for so long!

[Athedia]

Mithril hugged the small gnome, and hit him on the back of the head. "I am so glad you are safe. You made me worried. And you left without me, don't do that again. And what do you mean you don't have the stone. It was supposed to be there!" Suddenly turning somber she whispered in his ear "I fear Natalia may have died in the battle, I have not been able to find her since."

[achinca]

As a soldier fetches her, Miriam grumbles and goes outside. She sees Valen, Kurt, Mithril and a diminutive figure she recognizes as Shiny.

She goes towards him and rubs his head. "Good to see you Shiny. You should have never ....." She stops. She was done preaching. She was done lecturing. She was not the mother of this group of friends.

She kneels and give him a huge hug "I am so glad you are back in one piece ...."

[Admiral]

Shiny hugs the cleric back warmly for several seconds. "Funny you should phrase it that way," he says with a grim smile. He steps back from her and shows his left hand, which is missing the two smallest fingers- they've been bitten off into two bloody stumps.

[achinca]

Miriam eyes open wide in horror and she is about to say something until she realizes it is just another of Shiny's illusions.

She makes a "not impressed" smile and says "I see. You are back to your old tricks. I can see that you are still the same."

[Admiral]

Shiny winks as he puts his bloody hand back in his pocket. "Not entirely the same. I come bearing treasure- and for you, a gift! Since you've given up all worldly possessions, I come bearing a collection of rocks." Shiny bows grandly as he gestures towards them.

Shiny then turns to Valen. "Thank you again for lending me your spell-enchancing rod- my journey never would have succeeded without it. But... funny story..." Shiny looks at his feet sheepishly.

"On my way back from the giant's lair I saw a covered wagon approaching- fearing giants bandits, I turned myself invisible and stepped over to the side of the road. But as the wagon passed, I heard the most welcome sound emanating from it- my native tongue, the sweet syllables of Gnomish! Knowing them to be allies, I introduced myself in the fashion traditional for our race (that is to say, I briefly took advantage of my invisibility to fool them into thinking the wagon was haunted)."

"Once the pleasantries were complete and I'd made the acquaintance of the gnomes, I learned that they were indeed a gang of bandits, but their target was exclusively the camps of the giants (and who was I to judge them for that?) They offered me passage and protection for the first day in exchange for a few pieces of silver and the promise of a few shared stories."

"As we rode, I discovered they had a deck of cards, and were each eager to bet the share of the loot they'd acquired on a friendly game of Iztlmxkplcwl. Foolishly breaking my own rule never to play cards with a gnome who has the same first name as a city, I joined in. While I started with gold and silver, the pot quickly grew in its size, and before I knew it I... placed down your magic rod as a wager." Shiny looks at the ground.

"Now, before you get angry, know that I had the perfect hand- three simpleton halflings, two question marks and the prince of fireworks. But alas, his hand bested me (quintuple barrels and the queen of earwax- would you believe!)- and the rod left my possession."

Shiny pauses a moment. "But! That was only for a moment. Because I had the quick sense to jump back into the pot, this time wagering my thirdborn son (the first two sons are already owed to gentlemen down in the adventurer's quarter of Celio Kay). And before you can say 'Shiny Doubledown, cardshark and circus master of ceremonies,' I not only won back your rod, but ended the night far ahead! And since it was your property at stake, Valen, I think it's only fair that the grandest item among my winnings go to you."

Shiny reaches into his pocket and pulls out the Rod of Extend Spell, and then with his other hand (the fingers thankfully reattached) reaches under his tunic and extracts an amulet from around his neck. He extends both towards Valen with a smile.

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Man, that story just kept coming. I hope your characters didn't get bored and wander off. Sorry!

Since Valen was kind enough to lend Shiny the rod in the first place, I do think it's only fair he gets the amulet as a gift.

[Athedia]

Mithril sat down and listened in silence. She had forgotten how much she missed Shiny's stories. "But why no stone?"