Savior
Chapter 17
They immediately saw two Hill Giants, but these Hill Giants looked different. They seemed to have bumps all over their nearly naked bodies, and they were a different color than the Giants themselves.
Roy and Lanie charged them and attacked the same one, trying to reduce the odds in their favor. They both hit and did damage. Rick fired four arrows at them, doing damage.
Both Giants swung their fists in retaliation; they hit but did no damage.
Meredith and Javier moved in and attacked them, while Roy and Lanie both attacked the same one again.
The Giants swung their fists. They hit but didn't seem to do any damage until Roy worked out that the hits were weakening them.
All four of them swung; all four of them hit. Rick fired four more arrows, and the combination of hits finally killed one of them.
The lone Hill Giant swung, struck Meredith, and weakened her. The others rallied, hitting and killing him.
"What's with the bumps on him?" Kate asked them. "It almost looks like a disease." She froze for a moment when she realized what happened. "Oh no! He is diseased, and he hit you."
"Not to worry. At the end of this, I'll cast Cure Disease on all of us then," Roy said.
"And I can help you with that," Meredith added.
There was a lone double door leading to another area, which wasn't locked. Inside that room was a circle marked in the floor and two Hill Giants that looked like the other one did. They had bumps all over them.
Roy and Lanie charged them and attacked, doing damage to them.
In turn, the Hill Giants hit each of them with their fists, weakening them.
Meredith and Javier moved in to attack them, swung their weapons, and did damage. Rick fired four arrows and hit one of them.
Then, suddenly, a different Hill Giant arrived in the center of the circle. Kate fired Magic Missile at it and disrupted the spell the Hill Giant was casting.
The two Hill Giants attacked and hit them, weakening them.
They all attacked and damaged them while Rick fired four arrows at the one in the circle. It began casting a spell again, and Kate hit it with a Magic Missile, ruining its spell again.
The two Hill Giants hit them with their fists, weakening them again.
The four of them swung and killed both Hill Giants while Rick shot four arrows into the one in the center.
Again, it tried to cast a spell, but Kate cast Magic Missile and disrupted its spell.
Then, all four attacked the Hill Giant in the circle, hitting and damaging it but not killing it.
In turn, it hit Lanie, weakening her, and she dropped her sword, no longer having the strength to hold it.
All three swung their weapons at the Hill Giant in the circle and finally killed it.
Roy was all over Lanie, sounding concerned for her. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Lanie said worriedly. "I just... I no longer had the strength to hold it."
There were two doors; one was open, the other was closed, and a curtain hid a room.
They searched both rooms but didn't find anything useful. The one behind the curtain was a bedroom.
They waited to see if Lanie would recover some of her strength. After about ten minutes, she felt better. Not great, but better. She got up, picked up her weapon, and told them she was good to go.
Roy frowned. "This door is warm to the touch."
Rick tried it. "It really is. I wonder what's on the other side?"
"Only one way to find out." He opened the door and got hit with a wave of heat. He saw a wide-open fissure in the floor and two Hill Giants with bumps on their skin.
They immediately attacked them at the door. Roy and Rick got in the first strike.
Roy, Rick, Meredith, and Javier each swung a weapon at one of the Hill Giants and did damage.
Both Hill Giants swung and struck Roy and Rick. Roy was so weak that he could no longer hold his sword and dropped it.
Meredith took his place immediately, and together with Rick, Lanie, and Javier, they swung and did damage to those Giants.
The Hill Giants both swung and hit Rick, who also felt weakened. But they struck back. Kate cast Magic Missile, and they killed both Hill Giants.
Rick moved forward, as did Meredith, and they saw what was creating the heat. At the bottom of the 15 foot-wide fissure, there was a flow of lava. Beyond that were three Hill Giants, one sitting on a throne, and he had armor and a weapon.
They stared at each other. Off to the left was a large pair of double doors, and to the right, a smaller human-sized door.
Lanie dragged Roy and his weapon out of the room. Kate stepped into the room and felt the heat. She decided to cast Fireball on those three. It blew up and did damage to them.
They rose, came to the edge of the fissure that had the lava flow, and growled at them.
They saw a door on the far side and another off to the left.
Kate cast Fireball again and watched as it did damage to them. Two of the Hill Giants ran for the door on the left and opened it. She cast another Fireball and killed them before they could pass through the door.
The one in armor backed up, ran, and jumped for it. But the male was hurting from the Fireballs and didn't quite make it. He hung onto the edge for a while, then lost his grip and plunged into the lava.
They all retreated and closed the door. Roy recovered a little of his strength ten minutes later, enough to cast Remove Disease on Lanie. Meredith cast Remove Disease on Rick and Roy. Those were the three that took damage from them.
They waited 30 minutes until they were all feeling better. Then they opened the door, went to the human-sized door where they opened it, and saw a corridor. Kate stopped them when she noticed a secret door on the right side. They opened it and found a locked chest and an item that, after Kate cast Detect Magic, could tell them that it was Magical. She cast Knock on the chest, Identify on the item, and learned it was a Pearl of Power fourth-level. It allowed a Cleric to cast another fourth-level spell for the day.
Inside the chest, they found 7,400 gold and gems worth 1,000 gold.
Meredith got the Pearl of Power, and they divided the gold, so everyone got 1,233 gold each plus one.
Rick, Roy, Lanie, and Kate went to the eleventh level.
After that encounter, Kate gained the ability to know one second, third, fourth, and fifth-level spells and some skill points. Rick gained Combat Style Mastery, meaning he had a feat and some skill points. Roy gained a third-level spell and a few skill points. Lanie gained a bonus feat and some skill points.
Kate took See Invisibility for her second-level spell, Phantom Steed for her third-level spell, Scrying for her fourth-level spell, and Permanency for her fifth-level spell.
Roy took Remove Curse for his third-level spell. He cast Remove Disease on Meredith just in case.
The rest of the space was food storage and a kitchen.
"Now we know why there were locked doors. It was to prevent these Hill Giants from infecting the other Hill Giants," Roy told them.
"And everyone else, like us," Rick said. "So we need to get out of here." He wanted to leave right away.
They went all the way up to the Mountain outside, found their way to the road, and spent two days reaching Innescar, which they learned was a trading town specializing in oranges, tangerines, grapes, dates, lemons, limes, avocados, and artichokes. It had a population of about 17,000.
They located the first general store and purchased one week of trail rations, though Javier had to have enough for three weeks.
Then Javier went shopping with his gold and bought a backpack, bedroll, flasks of oil, a Greataxe since he was a Dwarf, a Breastplate for armor, a dagger for close-in combat, two pieces of chalk, two waterskins, two pairs of pants, two shirts, boots, two pairs of socks, 50 feet of rope, one empty mug to put beer in for later, a coat for winter, and an empty sack.
After he finished shopping, he was all set. He kept the +1 flame tongue weapon with Keen until something better came up.
Javier joined the others at an inn and ate dinner; they got three rooms since there was no common room in this inn. Rick and Kate made love, and Roy and Lanie did, too.
Come the morning, after using the bathroom, they paid for a bath in a hot tub, paid to clean their clothes, and ate breakfast. Then they met up outside.
"Where to next?" Roy asked them since he was feeling much better. He broke out the map, and they all had a look.
He pointed to each of them. "Purskul is the next town, followed by the coastal city of Athkatla. After that are the Cloud Peak Mountains."
"Rats, not a single Forest along the way." Kate was bummed.
"I'm sure one will show itself, eventually," Roy said.
"I know of a tribe of Ogres and Hill Giants who lived in the mountains, as did a family of Cloud Giant Bandits. There was also supposed to be a White Dragon in the Mountains, somewhere," Javier told them. "And an ancient Red Dragon also lived in the Mountains."
"Well, let us move then," Roy told them, and after packing up, they moved out.
It was three days to Purskul and another three days to Athkatia. They had to pay a copper piece to enter the City of Athkatia and were warned casting magic was outlawed there.
"I wonder why no magic within the city was mandated?" Kate couldn't understand why they would do such a thing.
"It doesn't matter since we're only staying the night before moving on," Roy told her.
They found a general store and purchased some trail rations and extra winter clothing. If they were going after that White Dragon, they would need it. Then they stumbled on an inn, rented three rooms, and had dinner. Afterward, they went to their respective rooms and made love. Followed by using the bathroom in the morning, paying for a hot bath, and their clothes cleaned. Then, it was down to eat breakfast and hit the road.
Three days later, they reached the foothills of the mountains. They spotted the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse – five stories tall and they looked magnificent.
They also saw the remains of a caravan. Some of the animals were dead, while others were left alive. But no person was left alive.
"Those tracks lead this way. It looks like Hill Giants to me," Rick told them.
"Follow them; we're right behind you," Roy told him, and Rick followed the tracks that led deeper into the hills.
He thought he caught sight of them but lost them, though he didn't lose the tracks. "A child could follow these tracks," Rick muttered.
Eventually, they led to a large building. "Interesting. A building and not underground like you would expect it to be," Roy commented.
"Looks like just one entrance," Rick said.
"I suggest we wait for nightfall," Meredith proposed. "Maybe we'll catch them asleep."
Roy nodded his approval. "Good idea. We'll keep watch to see if anyone comes or goes. Better settle in; it's going to be a long wait."
oo0O0oo
Roy opened the door a crack. He saw two snoozing and snoring Hill Giant guards and put his finger to his lips. Rick nodded. He went inside, where he slit their throats. Then he went up the stairs into the tower and saw another snoozing guard. Like the previous two guards, the guard had an open barrel of ale.
Rick quickly searched the Giant and found six gems worth 100 gold pieces each, a golden buckle worth another 100 gold pieces, and 1,400 gold. All of it went into his backpack for now.
They saw a pair of large double doors and a single door off that room. They chose the single door, which opened into a corridor that teed at the end. They saw a door on the left.
They opened the door and saw a sleeping Giant. Rick slit its throat for it. They searched the room and found a huge chest. Furs were all over the bed, with a bear skin hanging on the wall. They found 1,500 gold, 320 silver, and 980 copper pieces inside the chest. It all went into a backpack for now, except for the copper pieces.
They turned right and saw a door, which they opened slowly and saw two sleeping Hill Giants. Rick slit their throats and searched the room where he found a bag containing 100 platinum pieces.
The corridor turned left with a door right there. Easily heard were beefy smacks, shouts, and much laughter. This time, Kate came up to the front and opened the door, where she cast Fireball, killing all 12 young Hill Giants inside. They closed the door and moved on.
The next room that they opened housed four female Hill Giants. Roy, Rick, and Lanie each chose one, charged into the room, and ended them all. A quick search of the room came up with three bracelets worth 2,000 gold, 3,000 gold, and 8,000 gold, respectively.
Coming to the door at the end, they opened it slowly and saw a large open room. On the walls were several skulls: a Dwarven, a Human, and various animals. There was also a fireplace. Across from it, they spotted eight human-sized shields.
On a hunch, Kate cast Detect Magic on them and pointed to one of them as Magical. She would ID it later.
At the end of the room was a door. Roy opened it and spotted a bear resting on a pile of furs. It instantly got up and attacked, swinging its claws but missing Roy. Roy and Rick both swung their weapons at it and killed it. After a quick search of the room, they came across a bag containing 29 gems: one at 5,000 gold, three at 1,000 gold, four at 500 gold, eight at 100 gold, five at 50 gold, and eight at ten gold. It all went into a backpack for now.
"They're rich. Probably from the Caravan they attacked," Roy stated.
They went to another room and found nothing. Moving on, they searched another room but also found nothing there. Then they went to some double doors and listened but heard nothing. They opened the door, and were confronted by 14 Dire Wolves who began growling, barking, and attacking them. Roy, Rick, and Lanie went through the door, braced for an attack.
Soon, all 14 Dire Wolves were dead with no damage to them. Three rooms turned out to be barracks, which were all empty. "This is not good. These rooms should be full," Roy stated since he was worried. "So where are they?" It was late in the day, and these rooms were empty.
They saw a single door and a pair of double doors that were locked and barred on this side. Rick frowned at what he saw. "So, a back door. Strange that there are no windows anywhere."
In the room, they saw six female Giants and one Hill Giant male trying to make time with all six females.
Roy, Rick, and Lanie each charged the male Hill Giant and killed him quickly. Then, they ended the females.
The room held six cots, two tables, chairs, scattered clothing, and other junk.
The next room contained two beaten and battered Orcs. As much as Meredith wanted to kill them because they were Orcs, she browbeat them for information. They told her about a rebellion in the basement and that any Orcs they found should be considered friends. Then she killed them.
They opened the pair of double doors and saw a wide corridor. There was another door and an opening before the corridor narrowed and continued onward. They went to the door and listened for a change. They heard shouting, opened the door, and saw five Ogres. They were playing Knucklebones on the floor, and as such, they were defenseless. Roy and Rick charged them, and a fight started.
It ended with five dead Ogres. They did a quick search of the room and came up empty.
They walked through the opening and saw a kitchen with a feast in the making. There were 29 Orcs, five female giants, and 11 young Ogres. A fight began, and Meredith focused on the 29 Orcs. All of them died with very little damage to them.
In the room, they saw barrels containing flour, smoked meats, and sausages hanging from the rafters. Also, various cheeses, dried meat, dried fruit, and honey were everywhere. There were also casks full of Ale, Beer, Mead, and Wine, along with loaf after loaf of bread. They each tried some of it, and they liked it.
They saw a set of stairs leading down to one of the two storage rooms. Roy looked at them. "Do we go down or continue searching this level?"
"If the Orcs are correct, we know a rebellion is happening there. If they're right, but they are Orcs. They lie," Meredith told them.
"Well, it's lit up like here, at least," Rick added. "And where are all the guards? Those are empty barracks rooms."
"Right, I guess we go down then. Get ready for a fight, and likely a big one," Roy told them and headed down the stairs with Rick close behind him. Then Lanie, Meredith, Javier, and finally Kate. Flame was at Rick's side at all times.