Day Three of the Odinsleep (The Plains of Vígríðr - Jotuns in Pursuit)

Day Three of the Odinsleep –9:50 am

As soon as Niklas sees the Jotuns approaching, he looks over at Kysek, “What’s the plan for THEM?”

“Same as before boys!  Wait for them to pass and fire from behind!  Stay out of sight!”  Kysek replies as he pulls a mirror from his pocket to signal Raven and Ra’ziir.  As soon as the thief sees that the pair have seen what he sees, he tucks the mirror away and draws Blackflame and his wand of lightning and crouches down to wait.

Grotto glances back over his shoulder at the pursuing giants.  The damned things don’t appear to be winded or even trying that hard to catch the party as they cover a dozen yards with a single stride.  He shouts out to his companions, “SPLIT UP!  Confuse them!  Even Hanseath knows the four of them will be a handful for us right now!  We can’t lead them to our camp!”

The scarred dwarf knows that his flight spell is beginning to wear off and that falling to the ground would be tantamount to a death sentence.  He feels the pull of gravity on his body so he goes into a dive and rolls to the side, hoping to draw at least one of the brute away before the spell fails completely.  “Damn paladin glowing when evil is near!  Gave us away!  Hanseath help us now in our time of need!”

Shadow curses loudly as well, “Damn It!  This was my bad idea!  You guys keep going and I will try to draw them off or something.”  The drow pulls Swiftwind from its scabbard, invoking the spell of sharpening on the sheath as he does so and wheels back to race toward the giant on his far left.

Arthur heaves in frustration, feeling guilty about attracting the attention of the giants.  He wants to fly straight ahead and put as much room between him and his pursuers as possible but he turns sharply to the right and angles back toward the giant at the opposite end of the line from Shadow’s target.  “I shall not leave you to fend them off alone!”  As the paladin plunges toward what is most likely his doom, he prays to Malazzarr, “Give us strength so that we may defeat them.  Malazzarr leads us to victory in the path of progress.”

Korbin drops into his portable hole and retrieves a throwing stone.  As the crow takes flight with the rock clutched in his talons he caws at Arthur, “Yooooooo….what the hell is that?  YOU DIDN’T NEED TO BRING ALL OF THEM!”           

Cedron shakes his head, thinking to himself, “This is exactly how I thought this would turn out!  For as smart as we are, we are too cocky and acting like idiots.  Someone is going to get killed if we keep doing this.”  The minstrel priest wracks his brain, trying to come up with a plan that will delay and possibly divide the giants.  He prays to Malazzarr and points at the ground.  Suddenly, the ground heaves apart, tearing open into a crevasse hundreds of feet wide and filled with swirling mists.

Grog sees what coming looks at Raven and Ra’ziir and says “Talk later.  Jotuns here”.  He raises his huge club in the air and begins to dance in a quick circle around Raven and then places one hand upon the elf’s shoulder, conferring upon his the strength of a bear.

Raven kneels and lays Nightwatcher across his knees, “I was so consumed with rage during the first battle, I forgot I could do this…Shaundukal, I ask for your blessing upon this blade.  An army of darkness marches on this city just as an army of darkness marched on Myth Drannor.  I ask that you empower my weapon and make it more effective against the foes I go forth to face.  In your name, I pray.”

The Knight of the Shadow Sword rises, his blade outwardly unchanged but he can feel it brimming with deadly purpose as he stares at the approaching Jotun.  He then takes his free hand and rolls up one sleeve to expose the magical, time-altering bracers he was given by the wizard Dickory back in the Fortress of the Three Pigs, his hand reaching for the dial that allows him to increase his speed.

Ra’ziir shakes his head as he sees the scouts hastily making their way back with the Jotun hot on their heels.  “Pardon me, Raven, Grog, but it seems our friends have invited some more guests to this party.”

Raven glances over at the bladesinger, “I don’t see how that’s a party.”

Ra’ziir ignores his old friend’s comment and shouts, “Augue!” and an floating orange bead strikes from his outstretched hand to strike the closest of the Jotuns in the chest.  Instead of exploding into a titanic fireball, the bead fizzles on contact with its Brobdingnagian target.

Drax sighs upon seeing the four Jotuns and whispers, “گرَِتِر ِنڤِسِبِلِتي” before he vanishes from sight. 

Desmond falls back, slipping into the shadows where he lurked during the previous battle and waits for his companions to engage the giants before launching his own attack while Morn shakes out his whip and grabs a flask of alchemist’s fire from his bandoleer while the giants continue to close in on the party.

= = = = = =
• Arthur: 94% health;

• Bubo: 100% health;

• Cedron: 93% health; Major Image (Concentration plus 3 rounds remaining)
• Desmond: 100% health;
• Drax: 100% health; Greater Invisibility (10 rounds remaining)
• Grog: 100% health;
• Grotto: 100% health;
• Hansuke: 94% health;
• Korbin: 100% health;
• Kysek: 100% health; Stoneskin (67 minutes, 1 rounds remaining)
• Morn: 100% health;
• Niklas: 100% health;
• Raven: 86% health; Bull’s Strength (from Grog, 11 minutes, 0 rounds remaining); Bane Weapon (3 rounds remaining)
• Ra’ziir: 100% health; Stoneskin (147 minutes, 3 rounds remaining); Elemental Swarm (8 Large Earth Elementals, 1 Huge Earth Elemental, 1 Elder Earth Elemental – by the time the Elder arrives, 129 minutes, 0 rounds remaining)
• Shadow: 100% health; Overland Flight (14 hours, 28 minutes, 0 rounds remaining); Iron Body (DR15/adam, immune to blindness/critical hit/deafness/disease/drowning/electricity/poison/stunning and effects that affect physiology or respiration, Str 21 (+5)/Dex 16 (+3) attack bonus/penalty cancel out, gains +3 damage, ASF 50%, -8ACP, 2 minutes, 1 rounds remaining); Keen Edge (from scabbard: 50 minutes, 0 rounds remaining)
• Spewer: (20 of 20) 100% health;