04.0 Against the Giants

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Carlton Blacks Mercenaries
Company members:-
Krachtig (Vervalsing Voorwerp de Meesten Krachtig) – Gnome Illusionist/Thief
Taran – Half Elf Fighter/Priest of Mannanan Mac Lir, cousin to Carinne and Galvish
Carinne Rhianne Talynnart – Half Elf Ranger/Mage, Cousin to Taran and Galvish
Galvish – Half Elf Fighter/Thief, Cousin to Taran and Carinne
Barrigan Stonebeak – Dwarf Fighter/Priest, Company Engineer.
Lanneus Tuard – Paladin of Manannan Mac Lir
Derek Summers – Squire to Taran.

After dealing with the hordes we question two of the goblins who survived the onslaught, they were used as slaves by the Giants and hold no allegiance to them, also they state that they weren’t sent by any rebels but by a person called Keregan Blacksoul.  Memories stir and we remember back to Amber and the ambushes by Gnolls, for it was Keregan who killed her parents and tried to kidnap her.
We decide to head back to town and leave the minions there while we go back to the mountains to track down this giant lair and wipe them out before they get up to more mischief.
Once back at town spirits are lifted as the first ship after winter had docked and bringing with it news from home, letters and packages from kinfolk.
Two of the letters are from Amber, we read the first one and she talks of her life in the court and her upcoming betrothal, the second letter is written in more haste and tells of a plot she has heard about, concerning Kerigan Blacksoul and how he will come after us, this letter is dated over a month ago.  Well that seems to have proven true.  In the first letter there is a personal note written to Taran, he goes outside to read it and it appears that something in his past may be catching up with him.  Kalan Ghent, our newly promoted Captain, is in a foul mood, we all head to the bar and are greeted by the sight of Kalans younger sister Sarah who has enlisted and sent to be Kalans aide.
While in town we assess the land we have been given and think about some defenses, our minds are also drawn to the ruined keep where we defeated the rebels and how that could make a good base.
We leave Jans Landing and head back up to the mountains, it takes several days to get near to the giants caves.  Carinne scouts ahead and comes back to report the presence of ogres waiting in a copse of woods outside the main entrance.  We cast invisibility all round and attack the ogres.  Amongst there number is an Ogre Magi who proves tougher than the rest and he tries to escape with a Dimension Door, we rush through after him and find ourselves in a cavern surrounded by lots more ogres.  A pitched battle ensues which soon draws the attention of giants, dire wolves and sword spiders.  We manage to defeat most of these creatures but the arrival of six more giants decides the matter and we retreat out of the caves.  During this combat one wild swing from Galvish smashes into the ankle of Taran leaving him with a limp.
After resting a day and curing our wounds we head back in to find a pile of bodies in the main cavern, we skirt around these and Krachtig scouts ahead to discover a large cave with plenty of Goblins and by the sounds, more wolves.  We backtrack and take another passage way and discover two giants on sentry duty.  We attack these two and the noise we make brings the rest charging against us.  We manage to beat down the male giants before the womenfolk then the children attack us.  Their attacks are less coordinated and they hit some of their own with ill thrown rocks, during this wave of attacks Carinne suffers a grievous wound to her throat making speaking impossible, thus ending her spellcasting till it heals.  More spiders are encountered and the sound of a goblin horde fills the corridor.  A wall of fire is cast, keeping the goblins at bay, except on of their number who is caught on the wrong side and tries to merge with the cave wall.  During this close quarter fighting Taran unfortunately swipes Galvish whilst they are fighting side by side – err sorry cousin.  Also the Paladin is spared the verbal wrath of Carinne after following through too vigorously with his mace and delivering a nasty blow to her.  Throughout these battles Barrigan and Carinne have made short work of the giants with heads tumbling left, right and centre.
Once the last creature drops we quiz the scared goblin and he is relieved that we have killed most of the giants who had made their lives misery for so long.  He reveals a passageway that leads to the back of the throne room where we hope to take the chieftain and his bodyguard by surprise.
Fireballs are hurled inside and the warriors charge in, the chieftain and his wife are well protected and many attacks are made, the bodyguards are dealt with fairly easily and Taran finally lands a solid blow and completely eviscerates the female giant.  During this hand to hand combat Karachtig and the squire are fireballed by an unseen foe, the gnome quickly spots another ogre mage skulking down the corridor.  Carinne charges in as does Krachtig.  Barrigan, Galvish and Taran combine to take down the chieftain, while the ogre mage perishes when Carinne steps back and looses off a volley of arrows after discovering the creature has a fire shield.
Wounds are healed, treasure is gathered and there was much rejoicing.