A Victory Enjoyed All Too Briefly

The Battle To Save The City Continues

Maybe don't stand on the walls just now. Just ask Zaya.

This sessions begins mid-battle with the giants just having breached the city walls and their leader, Fraenir, lying dead upon the ground. As the group defends their city along with the quickly dwindling soldiers giants continue to enter the city as well as a group of giants are hurling boulders from outside the city. Each of the group has taken massive damage and are barely holding their ground.

Zaya is atop the city walls delivering arrows to various giants using her enchanted arrows.  Sparrow is near the breach in the wall trying to repel the entering giants. Osirian is being badly injured trying to hold the final portcullis holding back 2 giants. Fluffy and Princess are doing their best to inflict damage while healing the others. But soon the courtyard is filling with dead giants and the giant threatening Osirian is dead, entangled in the nearly broken portcullis. Some of the city's soldiers, having lost a majority of their ranks, abandon the battlefield.

As a giant enters the courtyard and sees the carnage as well as his leader he loses faith and turns and begins to flee ignoring the vicious hack inflicted by Sparrow. The tide of the battle seems to be turning, that is until 4 more boulders crash into the city's walls, one of which causes Zaya to be flung from atop the wall. Zaya survives the fall only to be buried in ruble from another boulder. Unconscious and dying she is saved by Fluffy.

The small contingent of remaining giants stomp off back into the woods. Osirian climbs atop the dead Fraenir and addresses the remaining troops  and rallies their broken morale. There are obviously more giants somewhere else in the city, as both Zaya and Fluffy have heard far off crashing and most of the soldiers expected have not arrived. Sparrow flies off to survey the city as the rest of the group tend to their wounds and the wounded. Zaya attempts to find her enchanted arrows but finds it difficult to get past the broken portcullis, so directs the smaller Fluffy to go outside the city and retrieve her ammunition. Fluffy almost effortlessly finds each arrow, save for the arrow that is underneath the giant that was first felled.

Osirian inspects the body of the fallen giant leader, Fraenir. The necklace he wore is a bizarre collection of animal and human body parts. Some old and sun bleached while others have flesh still clinging to the bone. He also finds the giant's great club is an enchanted club. With the other's helpl he is able to work the club into his bag of holding. Remove the necklace, Osirian hopes that proof of the dead leader will be enough to break the ranks of the, typically solitary, giants.

Sparrow returns with news of another breach in the wall and at least 4 other giants in a section of the city and are tromping through heavily populated area. Deciding that time is of the essence, the group marches off with little healing ability and lacking some of their more potent powers.

They quickly encounter a large group of giants being barely contained by the rest of the army. The group is able to concentrate their fire power along with that of the soldiers and slowly take the giants down one by one suffering much damage in the process. Osirian tries to draw attention to Fraenir's necklace but is too small and there is too much battle noise for the halfling to be overheard. It is then that the old man who was with the giants back in the Juren Forest walks into the fray.

The old shaman uses the same magic that was witnessed from the giant shaman to the same devastating effect. The group quickly concentrates all of their efforts to kill the shaman. The old man is able to teleport to a vantage point from which he is able to hurl chains fashioned from the earth itself and injures Zaya. But the shaman who has suffered incredible damage, teleports away and tries to shuffle away to safety.

When the last of the giants is killed by falling upon the massive amount of arrows and driving them through its heart, the group spies the fleeing shaman and pursues. Osirian stays behind to tend to the wounded and dying soldiers and civilians. The pursuing group is barely able to catch up the old shuffling man who is able to finally lose them via a portal, leaving the group standing in a blind alley.

It is early morning so the group leaves orders for the soldiers and heads back to their manor to get some well deserved rest.

XP earned: 6,550



MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note:The XP was really difficult to calculate as it had to be split among the soldiers but at the same time XP had to be awarded for commanding said soldiers. I hope the number I calculated is fair. Much Googling was done for precedence. Basically I treated each division as a NPC and halved the XP awarded to them between the commander and the division. The final XP just has to be divided among the PCs then. Again, waaaaay to much time trying to figure this out.

The Dawn Of A New Day

The next day the group awakes to find their newly formed council ready and waiting for their leader's orders. Much will be needed to be done. Repairs to the walls. Repairs to many of the people's homes and businesses. Building something new from the remains of the old Order Of The Thundershield's Keep. Form a navy from the existing ships currently used solely for trade.
Osirian decisively issues many orders and each member is quickly dispatched to begin their work.

Keyon, the city's Lord Steward, is quick to point out  that the cities coffers will be run dry before much of the work can be done. The tax base has been recently been reduced by giants. The mines only recently have been reopened. The cost of repairs will be phenomenal. He presents the group with numbers which seem to estimate that based on past tax years, it will takes several years to see repairs and changes implemented. Osirian asks what amount of gold would it take to see things progress faster. Keyon, performing math upon parchment like a medieval spreadsheet master, say it will take an additional 50,000 gold to speed up progress enough the see these changes made within the next 6 months. And...Winter Is Coming.

When the group finally has the manor to themselves again, they are visited by a new face. He is a tall, lean, dark figure who pleads for the groups help. His name is Kirvin and he says the group is that foretold of in an ancient prophecy. They are to be the ones to save his world. He describes his world as one which has been nearly destroyed and where life barely clings to. Kirvin is relishing his time in this world which has running water and lush greenery. Osirian offers him the luxury of bathing in a tub full of warm water as the group discusses what has been presented.

Zaya and Fluffy go off to retrieve her final enchanted arrow. They find it is still embedded in the underside of the dead giant but Zaya can feel it still trying to worm itself through its enemy. With the aid of Fluffy's anatomical knowledge Zaya performs some quick and dirty surgery using her sword and digs out the arrow which has been working tirelessly to inflict damage upon the corpse.

'Boy', or as he should be probably addressed now as Elric Lord Adivsor of Diafthora, went off to find Jane Longshore of the Golden Thread. She was the one who had done such an amazing job on Zaya's dragonscale robe. He asks her to adorn his royal robes with fiery arcanic symbols and scroll work as befitting both his station and his skill as a fire mage. He then asks and is given direction to someone who may be able to fashion a mask which would also befit a royal fire mage.

He finds the store, Hat Haven, run by a brusque and busied fellow Yrrak Shearbane. He doesn't seem to lend to much of an ear to 'Boy' and 'Boy' has to follow him around his store giving him directions as to what he wants. Finally Yrrak sketches out a mask which matches what was in 'Boy's mind. But Yrrak is both rude about the mask and swindles 'Boy' for it's cost in the process.

'Boy' returns to Osirian, who is already pondering about finances, and ask Osirian for the exorbitant cost for both the robes and the mask. Osirian promises to pay Yrrak a visit before paying the rude mask maker.



MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note: 'Boy', I wasn't calling your design of cape and robe stupid. It was the NPC. The Story Dice I rolled said the NPC would be rude. So, again. not me. Not the DM....just the NPC

An Unwanted Vacation

Uggg....I feel nauses when I look up.

When the group is finally back together, Kirvin, freshly bathed, pleads with them again to come to his home and help save his world. The group is hesitant. They have worked hard to get to the station in life where they are. They have saved a city. They need to rebuild the city and build a new order, The Order Of The Obisidan Dagger. They can help but perhaps not just now.

Seeing his pleas are failing, Kirvin places a dark crystal star like object upon the table and the group is quickly  and unceremoniously transported...somewhere. As their senses return to them they find themselves in a twilight city. Cool and damp.

Zaya is the first to notice that the horizon curves upwards until it bends and returns above them, The city streets and buildings continue in a curve until they are also about a mile above them. The light comes from everywhere and nowhere. They also notice that there, walking the streets, is a confusing mix of all sorts of races. Hobgoglins. Elves. Drow. Dwars. Humans. Kobolds. All seeming to let each other be.

Fluffy has to hold back Osirian, preventing the halfling from disemboweling Kirvin for the abduction from their home. Kirvin explains that they are in Sigil. The Cage. A world which connects to all other worlds. He directs them to a seemingly small building, inside which they find a vast building with shelving containing all sorts of paraphernalia as well as a very noble tiefling, Aluvis.

Between Kirvin and Aluvis they piece together some sort of story. Kirvin's world, Athas, has been destroyed by Arcane magic. Arcane mages there are reviled. Kirvin's secret sect, the Vield Alliance, is trying to restore the world by finding the seed from the Tree Of Life.

Aluvis can only return the group to their home world, the Netir Vale, by a portal piece which is in Athas. But to use it they must sacrifice a life, as Kirvin had done with his young escort. Athas has a very difficult climate and metal is rare as is gold currency. They can seek out Tivvum who is always willing to trade items for use in other worlds, for a fee. The passage of time in the various worlds may be a factor which may play into things as well.

Aluvis also hints that even without aiding Kirvin, there may be other ways back home from here in Sigil.




MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note: I had warned some of the players they may be mad at what I was going to force upon them. I wasn't too far off. Don't worry there are always ways out of things. Hope I didn't piss you off too bad.