Lightness is beginning to return to the edge bottom edge of the sky, and so your range of visibility is gradually extending a little bit further. Looking across the field, you don't see any other battles. You do hear the occasional scream and yell of alarm off in the distance, but nothing that would indicate that here are more monsters roving about.
Quickly scouting the bodies of the bugbears and ogres, you find that they carry similar treasure as the ones you saw back at the animal pens: each has a pouch containing a few inexpensive gemstones worth about 10gp each. The total is a small collection of 15 stones, comprising of Hematite, Lapis, blue striped Banded Agate and Azurate. So, worth about 150 gp total. The ogres carried nothing of value, but you do find the sacks that these creature were carrying. They're full of grain that they appear to have plundered from the grain towers. A couple of the bags are ripped, with most of the contents spilled out onto the ground.
Looking around, Zi Liang is the only one of the townsfolk who sustained injuries during this battle, and she's pretty beat up. Still, her resolve remains strong.
"I fear that we should not tarry here and instead keep moving and follow them. They were clearly trying to steal food, and if they were fleeing in that direction, they were likely heading back towards the location where they came over the wall. We should at least go investigate and report what we have seen to the guards."
“Ok, let’s go- maybe there is a breach in the wall that needs to be watched until it can be fixed” Arisa says. She follows the trail in the wheat left by the goblins, keeping an eye out for any that appear within firebolt range.
"We should go cautiously. I don't think we could handle another fight like that. Crowley will fly ahead and report back on what he sees, while we advance."
After gathering up the valuables that the bugbears carried, you all follow the visible, downtrodden paths that lead west through the wheat field, with Lifferlas following close behind. As you get closer you can see that the trail does indeed lead right to the wall, and as you look up, you spot the a small handful of creatures, you assume to be goblins, scaling the 20-foot high wall outer wall, as they continue their escape, having already passed up and over the inner wall via two ladders that lea dup from the base. They're climbing up an area that sits halfway in between two of the guard posts. Scanning the top of the wall, you don't see any guards up there.
You can also see that part of the interior side of the wall has been damaged, with a number of large stones having been apparently ripped or knocked loose, a few of which are now lying scattered on the ground amidst the rubble.
(Edit: This is what Crowley sees by scouting ahead as you approach from behind.)
The wheat field ends about 100 feet from the edge of the wall, and there are a handful of trees scattered in the area between the field and the dirt path that parallels the wall at its base. You don't spot any creatures on your initial approach, except for the fleeing goblins, but as you near the edge of the field, Crowley suddenly catches sight of two huge, muscular humanoid figures, at least fifteen feet tall, with bulbous fat bellies, barefoot and mostly naked except for loose, dirty, stained shorts, or loincloths that cover their waist and hips.
Belkas recieves Crowley's message and quickly motions for everyone to stop before they break out of the cover provided by the wheat. "There are two large humanoids out there, close to three times my height, as well as loose boulders that I imagine they would be happy to lob at us. We are all injured fairly severely right now. Any thoughts on how to proceed? Perhaps hit them with ranged weapons and then run somewhere else out of sight in the field?"
“If we can attack from maximum range and cover, maybe we can scare them away. I wonder if they are giants? If we get hit by rocks, many of us are too hurt to take a single blow..”. Arisa says. She’s clearly badly injured, having lost a lot of blood.
Vernon can feel that he doesn't have another Moonbeam available. "I don't have any more ranged attacks, but I do have some medical training that might help."
With the sky becoming gradually lighter, you can begin to see that this area is a bloody battlefield, strewn with large rocks and the corpses of a number of town guards, who apparently fell trying to defend against this invasion.
Seeing the two huge creatures, Zi Liang responds with a dour tone, "I'm fairly certain that those things are hill giants. The look a lot like the two giants that attacked Goldenfields a few weeks ago. They didn't enter the town, they just stood outside with a pack of goblins and bugbears hurling rocks at the walls and scaring everyone. The archer guards were able to pepper them with enough arrows that they withdrew, but it left me wondering when then next attack would come."
"I tried to warn the captain of the guard numerous times that he should shore up the defenses, but he didn't listen. He's like many others here who place a little to much stock in the strength of our military and in the strength of our walls. Well... clearly archers didn't work this time, and even guards and high walls won't keep these monsters out."
"I am a confident with my skills in combat, but I am not afraid to admit that I do not wish to engage with one of those things up close, especially since I am nowhere near my full strength. We need to hit them hard and from afar and yes, maybe we can scare them away. It worked last time, so think that's our best shot. I just wish we had more on our side."
Naxene replies, keeping her eyes on the two giants, "I still have a couple more spells in me, but I fear none of us will last long if those things start throwing rocks, or if they come at us."
Elion can't peel his eyes away from these two huge creatures; it's obvious that he's never seen anything like this in his life. Most people haven't. He says, "Perhaps one of us can go and try to get help. What do you think?"
Just then, the two giants grunt at each other and then suddenly begin walking. They're not coming your away, instead they appear to be headed in a slightly more straight westward direction than the way you approached from the grain towers... a direction that leads straight to the center of town.
It appears that they do not see you... at least not yet. Right now, they're about halfway across the open section of ground between the wall and the field, and it looks like they will enter the wheat about 50 feet to your left.
"I still have one fireball left, and unless anyone objects, I will cast that right now before they reach the field." Belkas starts casting the fireball spell, after which he will run through the field trying to keep out of sight (unless anyone objects, of course).
---
If he does cast: Damage 24 or 12 on a successful 15 DEX saving throw. (Not as high hoped).
Getting the nod from Arisa, Belkas mixes together a tiny amount of sulfur and bat guano from his component pouch and conjures another immense fireball that explodes upon the two giants. They're close enough together that the flames envelop both of them, which brings about a terrifyingly loud roar of pain and surprise, which can be heard after the initial blast.
Neither of them saw it coming, so they both take the full brunt of the attack. A second later, Arisa's fireboat slams into the closer giant's belly, causing it even more pain, which is closely followed by another fire bolt that emanates from Naxene's hand and hits the same giant in the chest.
Also going on the signal, Miros, Elion and Shalvus all loose their bows and fire at the second giant. Both Elion and Shalvus manage to pierce the giant in its huge belly, while Miros's shot just goes wide and slams into the stone wall behind.
"I guess it begins... May the Earth Mother protect us." Zi Liang says, loading a stone into her sling and letting it fly right at the closer giant's chest.
(Waiting for whoever wants to go before the giants can react.)
"Ach! Bloody hells, then best ta hope ah don' end up below tha' feet." Zyllith grumbles slightly as she sighs, moving forward quickly and raising her rapier defensively.
-
She moves forward as far as she can (move+dash) and take the dodge action.
Both Vernon and Zyllith rush out of the field to create a very small, but perhaps hopeful front line defense against the two giants to try and keep them away from the rest of the group. As they move closer, they get a closer look at the two huge giants, both over 15 feet tall and clearly weighing well over 1,000 pounds. Perhaps the only positive thought they can glean from seeing these massive creatures up close is that the giants don't wear any armor, so you figure that they should be easy to hit.
Lightness is beginning to return to the edge bottom edge of the sky, and so your range of visibility is gradually extending a little bit further. Looking across the field, you don't see any other battles. You do hear the occasional scream and yell of alarm off in the distance, but nothing that would indicate that here are more monsters roving about.
Quickly scouting the bodies of the bugbears and ogres, you find that they carry similar treasure as the ones you saw back at the animal pens: each has a pouch containing a few inexpensive gemstones worth about 10gp each. The total is a small collection of 15 stones, comprising of Hematite, Lapis, blue striped Banded Agate and Azurate. So, worth about 150 gp total. The ogres carried nothing of value, but you do find the sacks that these creature were carrying. They're full of grain that they appear to have plundered from the grain towers. A couple of the bags are ripped, with most of the contents spilled out onto the ground.
Looking around, Zi Liang is the only one of the townsfolk who sustained injuries during this battle, and she's pretty beat up. Still, her resolve remains strong.
"I fear that we should not tarry here and instead keep moving and follow them. They were clearly trying to steal food, and if they were fleeing in that direction, they were likely heading back towards the location where they came over the wall. We should at least go investigate and report what we have seen to the guards."
“Ok, let’s go- maybe there is a breach in the wall that needs to be watched until it can be fixed” Arisa says. She follows the trail in the wheat left by the goblins, keeping an eye out for any that appear within firebolt range.
"We should go cautiously. I don't think we could handle another fight like that. Crowley will fly ahead and report back on what he sees, while we advance."
After gathering up the valuables that the bugbears carried, you all follow the visible, downtrodden paths that lead west through the wheat field, with Lifferlas following close behind. As you get closer you can see that the trail does indeed lead right to the wall, and as you look up, you spot the a small handful of creatures, you assume to be goblins, scaling the 20-foot high wall outer wall, as they continue their escape, having already passed up and over the inner wall via two ladders that lea dup from the base. They're climbing up an area that sits halfway in between two of the guard posts. Scanning the top of the wall, you don't see any guards up there.
You can also see that part of the interior side of the wall has been damaged, with a number of large stones having been apparently ripped or knocked loose, a few of which are now lying scattered on the ground amidst the rubble.
(Edit: This is what Crowley sees by scouting ahead as you approach from behind.)
The wheat field ends about 100 feet from the edge of the wall, and there are a handful of trees scattered in the area between the field and the dirt path that parallels the wall at its base. You don't spot any creatures on your initial approach, except for the fleeing goblins, but as you near the edge of the field, Crowley suddenly catches sight of two huge, muscular humanoid figures, at least fifteen feet tall, with bulbous fat bellies, barefoot and mostly naked except for loose, dirty, stained shorts, or loincloths that cover their waist and hips.
Belkas recieves Crowley's message and quickly motions for everyone to stop before they break out of the cover provided by the wheat. "There are two large humanoids out there, close to three times my height, as well as loose boulders that I imagine they would be happy to lob at us. We are all injured fairly severely right now. Any thoughts on how to proceed? Perhaps hit them with ranged weapons and then run somewhere else out of sight in the field?"
“If we can attack from maximum range and cover, maybe we can scare them away. I wonder if they are giants? If we get hit by rocks, many of us are too hurt to take a single blow..”. Arisa says. She’s clearly badly injured, having lost a lot of blood.
Vernon can feel that he doesn't have another Moonbeam available. "I don't have any more ranged attacks, but I do have some medical training that might help."
With the sky becoming gradually lighter, you can begin to see that this area is a bloody battlefield, strewn with large rocks and the corpses of a number of town guards, who apparently fell trying to defend against this invasion.
Seeing the two huge creatures, Zi Liang responds with a dour tone, "I'm fairly certain that those things are hill giants. The look a lot like the two giants that attacked Goldenfields a few weeks ago. They didn't enter the town, they just stood outside with a pack of goblins and bugbears hurling rocks at the walls and scaring everyone. The archer guards were able to pepper them with enough arrows that they withdrew, but it left me wondering when then next attack would come."
"I tried to warn the captain of the guard numerous times that he should shore up the defenses, but he didn't listen. He's like many others here who place a little to much stock in the strength of our military and in the strength of our walls. Well... clearly archers didn't work this time, and even guards and high walls won't keep these monsters out."
"I am a confident with my skills in combat, but I am not afraid to admit that I do not wish to engage with one of those things up close, especially since I am nowhere near my full strength. We need to hit them hard and from afar and yes, maybe we can scare them away. It worked last time, so think that's our best shot. I just wish we had more on our side."
Naxene replies, keeping her eyes on the two giants, "I still have a couple more spells in me, but I fear none of us will last long if those things start throwing rocks, or if they come at us."
Elion can't peel his eyes away from these two huge creatures; it's obvious that he's never seen anything like this in his life. Most people haven't. He says, "Perhaps one of us can go and try to get help. What do you think?"
Just then, the two giants grunt at each other and then suddenly begin walking. They're not coming your away, instead they appear to be headed in a slightly more straight westward direction than the way you approached from the grain towers... a direction that leads straight to the center of town.
It appears that they do not see you... at least not yet. Right now, they're about halfway across the open section of ground between the wall and the field, and it looks like they will enter the wheat about 50 feet to your left.
"I still have one fireball left, and unless anyone objects, I will cast that right now before they reach the field." Belkas starts casting the fireball spell, after which he will run through the field trying to keep out of sight (unless anyone objects, of course).
---
If he does cast: Damage 24 or 12 on a successful 15 DEX saving throw. (Not as high hoped).
(Waiting see if there are any objections...)
“Do it- let’s catch them by surprise. I’ll focus on the one that seems most hurt from your fire”
she readies an action to immediately follow Belkas’ fireball with a firebolt on the most injured- or the closest if they look the same.
24 advantage for surprise
16 damage. She will try to take cover in the wheat if possible.
Getting the nod from Arisa, Belkas mixes together a tiny amount of sulfur and bat guano from his component pouch and conjures another immense fireball that explodes upon the two giants. They're close enough together that the flames envelop both of them, which brings about a terrifyingly loud roar of pain and surprise, which can be heard after the initial blast.
Neither of them saw it coming, so they both take the full brunt of the attack. A second later, Arisa's fireboat slams into the closer giant's belly, causing it even more pain, which is closely followed by another fire bolt that emanates from Naxene's hand and hits the same giant in the chest.
Also going on the signal, Miros, Elion and Shalvus all loose their bows and fire at the second giant. Both Elion and Shalvus manage to pierce the giant in its huge belly, while Miros's shot just goes wide and slams into the stone wall behind.
"I guess it begins... May the Earth Mother protect us." Zi Liang says, loading a stone into her sling and letting it fly right at the closer giant's chest.
(Waiting for whoever wants to go before the giants can react.)
Vernon will take up a defensive stance at the front of the group. (Dodge action.)
"Ach! Bloody hells, then best ta hope ah don' end up below tha' feet." Zyllith grumbles slightly as she sighs, moving forward quickly and raising her rapier defensively.
-
She moves forward as far as she can (move+dash) and take the dodge action.
Sylnache Ashrain - 7th Sojourn
Both Vernon and Zyllith rush out of the field to create a very small, but perhaps hopeful front line defense against the two giants to try and keep them away from the rest of the group. As they move closer, they get a closer look at the two huge giants, both over 15 feet tall and clearly weighing well over 1,000 pounds. Perhaps the only positive thought they can glean from seeing these massive creatures up close is that the giants don't wear any armor, so you figure that they should be easy to hit.
Ok, everyone roll initiative.
18 initiative for Arisa
Vernon's Initiative: (1, 16 ADV) = 16.
(A very sad 8 for Belkas).
Zyllith Initiative: 4+7 = 11
Sylnache Ashrain - 7th Sojourn
And Osmord 7
DM - Caves of the Kobold Slave Masters