PrP: Into Hagsmarsh, Part 4

When we last left our heroic adventurers, things were looking grim. While the rest of the party waits outside, Cesran has flown inside the hags' lair invisibly to pluck one of their hapless comrade's bones from the discarded pile by the marsh giant. This plan was going well right up until the bone was actually taken, at which point the unusually alert giant turned and let out an ear-piercing scream which would surely alert those outside that something is amiss.

GAME: Eleria rolls initiative: Roll: 15 + Bonus: 3 = Total: 18

GAME: Sonja rolls initiative: Roll: 5 + Bonus: 1 = Total: 6

GAME: You roll initiative for Giant: Roll: 5 + Bonus: 3 = Total: 8

GAME: Cesran rolls initiative: Roll: 18 + Bonus: 3 = Total: 21

Cesran hears the roar from the marsh giant and he isn't sticking around. He takes off and flies out of the cave. "Run and hide!" He shouts to his companions before he takes off up into the air going as high as he can go.

Eleria has taken the time to find a little hiding spot off around the side of the cave entrance. The tiny elf has secreted herself behind the largest rock she could find, and then dug into the earth of the hill a little bit. When Cesran yells, she freezes, her breath stopping and hoping she's done well enough.

GAME: Eleria rolls stealth: (9)+0: 9

"Raaaaaagh!" The giant picks up a massive stone and hurls it against the wall of the cavern, roughly where Cesran was when he took the bone. Luckily he's nowhere near there now. When that fails to get results, he picks up the rock and starts charging out of the cave, footsteps thunderous.

GAME: Sonja rolls stealth: (18)+-3: 15

Getting the heck away from the entrance, even before Cesran calls the warning, Sonja finds a rather large tree that she can hid behind and not give away her position, even with her metal armor.

GAME: Cesran rolls stealth+20: (11)+3+20: 34

GAME: Eleria rolls stealth: (11)+0: 11

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20 +9: (6)+9: 15

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+10: (14)+10: 24

GAME: Jibbom rolls 2d6+5: (2)+5: 7

GAME: Jibbom damaged Eleria for 7 points. 11 remaining.

The giant emerges from the cave, angry and yelling incoherantly. Sonja and Cesran are sufficiently hidden not to draw attention. Eleria, sadly, is not. The giant takes that massive rock it has hauled with it and chucks it square in her direction, lashing out blindly against the only intruder it sees. While the cover absorbs some of the blow, she still gets pegged pretty hard with a very big rock. The good news, at least, is that the giant has no other massive rocks to throw.

GAME: Cesran casts Lightning Bolt.

Sticking to her hiding place, SOnja hears the roar and the thump of the rock. She can't move yet, or else Cesran won't be able to do anything to divert the giant's attention.

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+7: (3)+7: 10

GAME: Cesran rolls 5d6+2: (21)+2: 23

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20 + 7: (13)+7: 20

Cesran isn't about to let anyone be hurt because he couldn't hide well enough. He flies out to just about the range of his spell and he takes out a glass rod. He rubs a piece of fur along it before he points it at the giant and he fires off a lightning bolt. His invisibility drops as the lighting bolt crashes hard into the giant. "Run! Get out of here!"

There's a loud shriek as the stone slams into Eleria's cover, and the elf ducks down. She's showered with splinters of rock that slash her skin, and she screams. The dust hasn't settled from that attack before she's stepping out from her hiding place, blood dripping down the side of her very angry-looking face. A curse and a hand are thrown in the giant's direction, and all the ground around it suddenly turns to quicksand.

But the druid isn't sticking around, as she bolts urgently off away from the giant, towards the denses bit of marsh she can see.

The giant wails in pain and shock at the scorching lightning coursing through it. It looks up at the sky, trying to identify the source of the attack. When it spots Cesran, it roars and lurches in the direction of Eleria, either to pursue her, or to retrieve his rock in order to have something to hurl at the wizard. While the creature is able to avoid being entirely swallowed up in the mud, it now has some difficulty wading through the incredibly soggy earth.

GAME: Cesran casts Mirror Image.

GAME: Cesran rolls 1d4+1: (4)+1: 5

"RUN FOR IT ELERIA!" Sonja yells to Eleria and CEsran before running for the road and sprinting as best as she cown down the road. Breastplate slows you down for a reason.

Cesran sees that the others are running and he decides to give the giant something more to target. He casts a spell and suddenly there are 5 more Cesran flying above the giant, hopefully the giant will target them letting the others get away.

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+10: (18)+10: 28

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d6: (4): 4

GEE, YA THINK?? Eleria is booking it like she stole it. Which, she really kind of did. The shock of red hair on the elf quickly disappears from sight as she bolts towards the trees, chancing just a brief glance back.

Being scorched with lightning has proven a rather effective distraction. Once he's free of the mud, the giant forgets all about Eleria and the shouting Sonja, crouching to recover his rock. He wastes no time whatsoever in chucking it into the sky, where it sails straight through one of the illusory Cesrans, obliterating one of the false images and leaving the others unharmed. The rock falls back into the mud with a loud wet 'thunk'.

Continuing to run down the road, she doesn't bother looking back, as she knows Cesran has it well in hand. Of course, she also doesn't stop, trusting the others, especially Eleria, to find the road again.....and the way out.

GAME: Cesran casts Magic Missile.

GAME: Cesran rolls 3d4+5: (4)+5: 9

Does Cesran look worried as one of the illusionary versions of himself is obliterated, nope. He continues to cast and all 5 of the Cesran's moves as if to fire magic missiles. Three bolts of force fly from Cesran's hand and slam into the giant before the shell game is on and the real Cesran is hidden in plain sight once more.

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+10: (1)+10: 11

The giant seems to very much want to keep hurling rocks at the wizard that keeps zapping him. Unfortunately, that rock is stuck in the mud pretty good. He tugs on it and fails to wrench it free, comically toppling back into the mud like a massive, ugly keystone cop.

Eleria disappears fully from view of the battle, and she lets out a breath. Slowing, the druid takes a moment to get her bearings, and then angles to run parallel to the road, moving in a wide arc back towards the open road again.

GAME: Cesran casts Mage Armor.

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+10: (13)+10: 23

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d5: (2): 2

Cesran casts mage armor on himself and he begins to fly back, the 4 other copies follow after him providing him protection as he tries to lead the giant away from the women.

After thrashing about comically in the mud for a moment, the giant is finally able to get itself and its rock free from the muck. It yells and hurls the stone once more, again destroying one of the illusory Cesrans hovering about. The giant yells and scrambles to follow, though it is not quite as fast running as Cesran is flying, the wizard is slowly gaining ground.

GAME: Cesran casts Shield.

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d20+10: (10)+10: 20

GAME: Jibbom rolls 1d4: (3): 3

Continuing to run down the road, Sonja slows down as she begins to realize that the giant isn't coming after her at all. She stops for long enough to catch her breath before walking down the road at a fast walk.

Cesran casts shield on himself as he keeps the giant close. His illusionary copies are starting to dwindle, but he's getting the giant away from the woman.

The giant is rather simple minded in how it pursues the wizard. It retrieves the stone, charges forward, and hurls it again. It is clear that the wizard is nearly at the limit of his range, but the stone once again succeeds in piercing through one of the illusory Cesrans.

There's rustling off in the marsh, and a none-the-worse-for-wear Eleria is booking it towards Sonja with a big grin. "So, I think that was a success. As long as Cesran doesn't drop the package..." She frowns, glancing back, "Or kills the giant..."

Cesran defensive spells in place Cesran starts to concentrate on just getting away as the women are now safe. Now time to worry about himself as he'll try to lose the giant and fly back around to find Sonja and Eleria to make sure they are okay.

The rock goes flying up into the sky one more time, but it is nowhere near the rapidly escaping wizard. It is now quite apparent that Cesran has flown too far for the giant to have any hope of bringing him down with rocks. The loud, angry, frustrated yelling of the wounded giant can be heard echoing throughout the swamp.

A little more than an hour later, the group reunites on the path back out of the swamp. The giant has been lost, probably returning to his cave to recover from his injuries. Cesran still has the bone, a femur by the looks of it, marred by gashes from the giant gnawing on it. With the grisly trophy in hand, the group proceeds out of the swamp.

The trip back is far easier than the trip in. Evidently, the strange druid encountered earlier was sufficiently satisfied by the way the group handled the giant that he does not make contact again. Perhaps he regards the giant as sufficiently annoying and dangerous that some mild zapping is forgiveable. In any case, whether because of the druid's influence or simply because the major threats were disposed of on the way in, the journey out of the swamp is marked by troubles that are more annoying than lifethreatening, and no one is harmed any worse than they already were.

Upon returning to the Explorer's Guild, the hiring parties are quite dismayed to learn of the death of Reggard, but thrilled by the recovery of enough of his remains to restore him to life. Some are disappointed that the treasure of the hags of Hagmsarsh, if it ever actually existed, was nowhere to be found, perhaps disposed of by the foolhardy giant. In any case, the group is paid handsomely for their work, and congratulated on a job well done. The guild official dispensing payment, noting the condition of the adventurers after four days in a fetid swamp, can't help but suggest they spend some of their new gold on hot baths.