Due to various disasters with my computer, story updates have been absent for a while. Hopefully this will bring it up to date.
and......
After battling through a few hundred hording gibberlings they found that the gibblerings had destroyed the kobar (school) where they where heading. The new party member (a Fighter/Cleric/Magic-user Half-elf) knew of a nearby school, but the journey would still be near a week. They set off.
The land was becoming barren and dead the more the party travelled north, in places burnt trees where interspersed with lava pools, not a very nice place.
As they where traveling through a tricky area (the Ox and cart having just been lost to the lava), 4 hellhounds appeared running eye-burning towards the party and they where followed by their master, a huge 18 foot tall Fire Giant throwing rocks. The Hellhounds where quickly dispatched but the Giant took some pummelling.
[NB: due to time since this session was played some details may be absent or different, but hopefuly there aren't to many continuity errors - Ken]
The fire giant, when searched seemed to have a map detailing the area, and the location of a forward giant scouting party for a coming attack based at a cave a few mile NW.
The lair was found and attacked, this time more hellhound, a half-dozen fire-giants and a giant-crossbow with three troll crewmen. By the end of the battle, a good haul was found, the giants had been busy looting or robbing. They where based at a nearby keep just 6 hours travel to SE of the kobar they are travelling to anyway. By the symbols on the map found, it appears to be guarded by two dragons.
Spying out the keep from a distance it was on a huge flat burnt out plain. No life could be seen.It was a newly build, sheer black wallled square keep, 12 towers (4 corners, 2 each wall), atop two of the towers where seen a large dragon and a smaller one of the same breed (Red). The trouble was that the smaller dragon is staring right at the group and has obviously noticed them, it squarks something at the other and then vanishes down into the keeps courtyard out of sight.
After a few minutes a startled group notice the dragons reunite and start flying directly towards the group, the range being only a mile. At the same time the castle gates opened and 12 fully armoured fire giants ran out and also headed towards the group, before them ran 8 hell hounds. The group braced for attack, bows at the ready. The elven archer and ranger where of most effect, the smaller dragon only an infant was dispatched easily when it got into arrow range before its older companion. It fell to the ground like a rock as the archers turned their attack to the large dragon, expert marksmanship by the elf archer, aiming to disable its wing, caused it to spiral out of control, landing 20 yards closer then the smaller dragon, though not dead it was quickly dispatched by the waiting warriors.
The fire giants and hellhounds where nearing, the group took cover using the smaller dead dragons corpse, everyone opened fire who could, the hell-hounds went down but the fire giants seemed very resiliant and the group had to retreat to behind the other dragon where viscious hand to hand battle ensued. The group survived though some where bady injured, the elven ranger had collapsed a few times during the fight.
Magical healing was quickly needed as a force was ranking out of the keep. Into formation where 7 hellhounds on leashes held by giants in two ranks of twelve, behind which wo firegiant witch-doctors and two shamans. At the rear where six triple-shooting giant crossbows each with three-troll crew.
Using the Lyre of building and brute strength of the group, the two dragons where stacked together, the smaller one being moved back to the larger one, and the ranger played a tune to build a battlements for protecion out of the baked clay of the surrounding ground.
The army was approaching, and the battlements where barely completed when the army stopped around 200yrds away, out of range of the groups attacks, and the giants eleased the hounds and started to throw rocks with there giant strength (and leverage). The ballistas opened fre, and the group ducked etc. Other giants ran forward. For a while the party used the battlements, the hellhounds died of missile fire, the giants where about to arrive at the wall when the half-orc and human fighters and elven thief leaped into combat hand-to-hand. The archer on the battlements aiming for groin-shots to incapacitate as many as possible. The half-orc and human fightig together in a bloodbath.
From behind the keep arose a huge red dragon, atop which sat the King of the Fire Giants infront of a lava-bomb releasing wooden thing straddling the dragons neck. This dragon was of some age and approached with some speed. It released a fireball spell towards the Archer on the battlements, followed as it got nearer by a magic missile of skewering which pierced the archer and left to hit the half-elf cleric who was running to help him, burnt and unconcious.
The battle was going well. The ballistas where proving inaccurate, the magic using giants where dispatched by the fighters, as the last giant was falling to the thief. The Fighters used new found powers to fly up to combat the dragon Only to both fall to its massive fire breath. The human lay burnt and unconcious, the half-orc died.
The giant king operated his bomb load. On the battlements the cleric half-elf had just brought the archer to conciousness as the bombs hit, the battlements shattered but the injured turned and fired. A smoke cloud surrounded the dragon as it was hit by multiple arrows, the ranger finishing it with a shot that sent it plummetting to the ground. The fire-giant king remained levitating in the cloud and floted down towards the rear of the battlements. A desparate fight, he died.
The trolls by now had fled the battlefied, and the party watched as many giants in none warriar garb left and fled also. The victory was theirs.
Carrying their giant horde they arrived, a bit battered, at school.
A few months later, they continued north, the mountains ahead allowing only one pass north into the neighbouting country of the centaurs, a land recently struck by a plague where most of the race where left dead.
The first night they set amp as they rose into the foothills, alreay the temperature colder. Tha nght they where attaced by a group of skeletan warriors. There was something wrong with this place. Something bad in the air.
The next day as they continued their ascent, the blizzard limiting vision to around 30yds they heard the approach of hooves. Out of the blizzard stormed 12 skeletal centaurs. The battle was quick.
Just before the crest of the lass a fissure had opened, about 25ft across, and drown to the depths. The half-orc, human and thief floated across, the elf started to bridge the gap with her lyre of building. The forward three noticed a cave from which ran two huge Frost, they where met before the cave, and as the half-elf (with is scroll caddy) where carried acoss the fissure by the construcion of the bridge, casts a wall of fire with his wand of fire behind the giants, causing damage and preventing retreat. The giants where dispatched with some good work by the ranger and fighters. The worst wounded the thief who had been struck by the human accidentally and had stained his back as well as throwing a dart in his foot.
The giants lair was used a shelter, and raided. The next day was fine, the ranger was up first watching a griffin across the pass feeding on a sheep. The weather seemed to raise spirits until the had started into their descent ito the land of the centaurs.
Ahead ay a settlement, pole shelters, and some large houses. As they approached the carnage and slaughter became evident. Bodes lay around the town gates, a centaur hung and disembowled by the gates. Inside a few ors where stabbing at a centaur with spears. After these orcs where dispatched, the town was found to be a slaughter, all centaurs lay dead, the last to die the players saved, though he was mentally distressed and largely incohearant, he mentaioned an orc army controlled by a powerful demi-liche.
And outside the north wall sat encamped a large army, amongst its ranks undead and orcs. The Army of the Liche lord.
