1. The Wilderness

Dieter leans out from his hiding spot and looses more arrows at his foe

Dieter deals 29 points of damage to the last giant.

38/38
Ac 18

Hiding

Stella's eyes widen as she realizes what's happening. She dispels the fog, but it takes several seconds before the warbling mass of fog dissipates. "Look out!"

With a surge of adrenaline, she starts running and her dark, starry form shifts, the stars of her body rearranging, expanding into a form like Tulco. She couldn't tell if Aldous was in danger...but she wouldn't leave it to chance.

(Stella uses Wild Shape to transform into a warhorse and runs in front of Aldous, hoping to reduce the damage if he's a target.)

AC 11
HP 19 / 19 (warhorse) + 27 / 27 (regular)

Dieter jogs over to the giants. He using his Longsword he cuts each of their jugulars letting the life blood drain out. Giants are tough creatures and he wasn’t taking any chances. Standing on top of gnarl Dieter calls out "do you think we could catch that merchant that passed us earlier? They’d probably want their goods back"

Standing over Aldous, the starry horse shakes her head, dazed, then blinks her shining eyes a few times, focusing on the young noble.

Oh, thank the stars... Stella wasn't sure if she'd be able to get to him in time.

Stella takes a few steps back, one of her horse legs almost giving out as stardust leak from huge gashes from the tree. Stars, that hurt...

Her form shifts becoming stars that realign and shape themselves into a girl, then fade, leaving Stella standing there, unharmed. (Stella leaves Wild Shape and ends her Starry form.)

She huffs a breath, tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, then holds out a hand to help Aldous up. "Well!" she smiles, slightly disturbed. "That was...brutal."

Ajantis gives a curt shake of his head at Dieter. "That merchant and her guards didn't encounter these giants. Or if they did, perhaps they paid the toll. But I can't believe if it came to battle that the merchant caravan would have survived." He gestures to the two enormous corpses. "How much gold do they have on them?"

Aldous accepts Stella's hand and soon is back on his feet. His own hand is quite soft; the noble's obviously not done much hard labor or training with weapons.

"You... You just... That was incredible!" He runs fingers through his red hair, picking out bits of tree debris. "You saved my life! You might have been killed, and I... Well. I think this group has already earned their pay, wouldn't you say, Ajantis?" Aldous exhales slowly, then nods. "I will certainly see to it that you're all paid extra for what you've done. And you..." He meets Stella's eyes. "That was incredibly heroic. I've never had anyone turn into a horse for me before! I mean-" He mutters under his breath. "What I mean to say is: Thank you, Stella."

Dieter shakes the giants down for any belongings he also cuts a big toe from each of them on the same side so as not to be confused as being from the same giant. "Aiwë see if they have a camp nearby"

Aiwë, usually quick to follow requests or orders, does not move. "Why did you do that?" Her voice is uncharacteristically flat as she stares at the giants' toes.

"Well their heads are too heavy and their scalps are… well.. I don’t know I think scalping is gross and degenerative. It’s for the guards, I don’t like it either" Dieter responds quietly

Aiwë looks at him a long time. "Fine. We don't need trophies." She leaves to look for the camp.

"Agreed, you won’t see me taking ears or anything that’s…yeah." Dieter puts the toes in a scrap cloth and ties it up to his belt. He takes a moment looking at the two brothers lying still near each other before pivoting away. "Stella get our lord here back in the wagon and send your friend ahead, we need to be ready to move once their camp has been found." Dieter says returning to his usual self.

Using his adopted ancestry and knowledge of masonry Dieter examines the rocks

After pulling him to his feet, she smiles, forgetting to let go of his hand. "I think I would have been fine," she says, squinting and closing one eye trying to imagine the worst-case scenario. "At least with the druidic magic protecting me. I've felt it grow stronger recently. Though I certainly could have broken something!"
"I guess getting hit by giants and saving people from them runs in the family," she laughs, eye-stars turning yellow. She tils her head to the side briefly and bounces on her feet, trying to shake off the adrenaline. "Right after they met, Papa saved Mama were caught in an avalanche started by giants and he saved her by shooting her. Can you believe that?" she asks with a grin. "It was a banishing arrow, that made her disappear right when the avalanche hit, but still I—"

Stella's grin fades and her eyes suddenly widen, realizing how it might sound saying that her father saved his future wife from giants and how that might run in the family.

She releases his hand, clears her throat, and averts her eyes, suddenly now speckled pink.

She glances over to Aiwë and Dieter, then narrows her eyes a bit. There seemed to be a tense air between them. She notices the giant's bloody feet. Was it a respect-for-the-dead thing, or something else?
When Dieter calls out, Stella shakes her head to clear it, then nods curtly. She considers telling Aldous to return to the carriage, then considers offering Aldous help doing so, but decides against both. He had ears and could get around well enough with his cane. No need to make him think she thought him helpless or anything.

Great work!, she tells Noctalia. Please scout ahead continue to keep watch ahead of us. Do celestial or fey spirits...eat? I have to find you some snacks...

"I'm...going to fetch our other horses!" she tells Aldous, puts on a smile, nods, then heads towards where she had tied them.

Why did she feel ashamed of all things? Mostly, just embarrassed, she decided, but why should she? He continued to compliment and thank her, and he was so kind and encouraging! Would it be so bad for either of them to consider a future together? Except...well...Aldous' father sounded quite traditional, and from what she studied and heard from Caliope, the high-and-mighty type of nobles didn't court 'common folk'.

As Stella reached the horses, her mind started to spiral down that line of thought more. Why try if she didn't have a chance? "Whoa." she says, trying to calm both the spooked animals, and herself. Aldous didn't seem to like his father's ways either. At the very least, she should try to be a friend, instead of close herself up.

She unties the horses and grunts resolutely, leading them back to the carriage for Sheemish, Aiwë, or Dieter to take turns riding again.

Having found no camp, Shelur pulls the giants off the road and lays them respectfully near each other.

She rolls on her drum again, slow and deliberate. "A song for the road, anyone? I know one about a man who found a wife by shooting her with an arrow, and a woman who found a husband by breaking his ribs!"

Aiwë leans in to murmur to Stella. "You can't do worse..." She gives an encouraging wink to the pink speckles in Stella's eyes.

Stella puts a hand to her face, trying to suppress a grin behind a grimace. "I suppose that's true," she admits. Thanks, she says sarcastically. It would be no use asking Aiwë to stop teasing her, and if she suggested another song, Stella had no doubt it would inexplicably circle back around to some kind of romantic ballad.

"Can I ask what was bothering you with Dieter?" she asks quietly as they depart again. She was partially trying to distract Aiwë from singing, but was also curious, and concerned. Their group's differing views had already caused quite some strife—ideally, they'd be able to talk out such differences before future detrimental outbursts.