The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford

Wren stands beneath the giant's straw bed. She lights a torch, touching it to the straw in several places, igniting it, and tosses the lit torch up and into the center of the straw. Then she moves south to the door.

Nessa jumps out from her hiding spot. Brandishing both the wand and her dagger she screeches at the two little guys.

"Your position is no secret and no ones skin will be won today either! Except maybe for yours if you don't make yourselves scarce! Begone!"

She gives Sable a nod. "Foe." She says bluntly.

Hearing the roaring behind him and the smell of smoke, Sable ushers Kitt and Dirk into the woods on the northern side of the sneaky petes, far enough in so they can't be easily seen by the giant. He doesn't question Nessa's now aggressive stance and unsheathes his sword once again, backing up the lady's threats.

Another heavy log smashes into the woods behind Gann; he is thankful that the giant appears to have lost sight of him, and seems to be hurling big pieces of wood into random sections of the forest.

"DON'T COME BACK!" the giant bellows, spit flying for twenty feet or more. "UNLESS YOU'RE FOR THE POT!"

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Inside the hut, Wren lights the torch and the bed, then makes her break as Nessa confronts the creatures hiding in the west wood. Sable is there too, his blade again unbridled. Confronted on two sides, the gray-green bipeds yelp and scamper back deeper into the woods--but not before each winding up to throw something at the aggressors.

<"Have a rock!">, one says, hurling a fist-sized stone straight at Nessa's head. The other fires of handful of something sticky and nasty at Sable, hoping to blind him!

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Round 7
PCs act in the order of their choosing <<<
Dirk acts
Giant acts

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Wren finishes lighting her torch and igniting the straw, then turns to head toward the door, when she notices the brother's gear. Sighing and wondering if this dumb ploy will be the death of her, she runs over to the gear and grabs it.

Sable attempts to bring up his cloak to protect both his face and Kitt.

It’s hard to know what the nasty concoction consists of (sap, piss, pine needles, spiderwebs?!), but Sable deftly defends the hurled turdball and then sees the two moss-skinned creatures capering away, running into the woods to the west. They move quickly, despite being armed and ill-fittingly armored, and are likely to make a quick escape if not pursued.

Inside the cottage, Wren shoulder’s the brother’s heavy pack and hefts his stout quarterstaff.

Gann continues his trek through the woods, thankful that the giant seems to have lost track of him. He aims to circle around the clearing, staying out of sight and looking for his companions. He is exhausted and a bit shaken, so he’s taking his time.

"Ouch! Little bastards!" Nessa scoffs. "Claiming our skins... rotten bunch."

She looks at Sable and Dirk. "The goal of our quest I assume? Let us gather everyone and get out of here then." She makes no effort to pursue the two little pests, fearing some sort of ambush.

The bed having been ignited and the brother's gear having been picked up, Wren runs to the giant's door, and then yells, "Giant! Leve us alone! You have something more important to deal with, for I have set your bed aflame!". She then double-times it away from the giant's cabin, heading directly west and then angling north when she reaches the corner, putting her out of sight of the door, where she assumes the giant will go. She heads toward the woodpile to the west of the cottage.

"Yeah, keep him safe and watch for Wren and Gann. We need to move further into the woods and out of sight. I'll make sure those little goblins really ran. Fey do not like us this day."

He directs Kittridge to stay with Dirk and Nessa and leads the way deeper into the woods. Then, he will follow after the goblins, keeping at least 10 feet back and making sure they really have left and aren't running for reinforcements.

As smoke starts to billow out the windows of the cottage, Wren shouts to the giant and bolts for safety. The bloody-fingered brute turns from his task and exclaims when he sees smoke. Long, hurried strides carry him back to the door and inside the place as Gann and Wren join up with Nessa and Brother Dirk at the edge of the western woods.

Sable and Kitt pursue the fleeing fae, who indeed seem to be retreating at full speed, not luring them into some trap or connecting back up with a larger force.

A barrage of high-volume swearing thunders out of the cottage, and Dirk stiffens as he accepts his things from Wren. "Thank you--thank you all! Aon bless you! And might I suggest--we leave the area immediately?!"

After she catches her breath, Wren says, "Well! that was exciting! Never thought I'd set a giant's bed a-burning before. Oh! Gann, are you OK? But yes, let's get out of here and then we can see about bandaging you up, ok?"

Satisfied the troublemakers are leaving, Sable returns to the group with Kitt. He is relieved to see everyone safe, but hides it behind his hood and a scowl. A rather large bruise is developing on Nessa and wood splinters still sprinkle Gann's hair. He nods with approval at Wren's grabbing of the Brother Dirk's items.

"Hey you, take your stuff from Wren and let's head back to Brandonsford."

The goal is to continue southwest, heading back towards the river to follow it to the town, avoiding the sneaky petes who seem to be going straight west.

"If we have everyone gathered, then yes indeed, we should make haste to leave." Nessa agrees. "Just keep an eye out for those little bastards. From what I overheard them saying, they are out for our skins. In the most literal sense that is. They did not speak the common tongue, but I could understand them just fine. How odd..."

"Yeah, I'm alright, just some scrapes," Gann responds to Wren, flashing a smile. "Did you see 'im? I got the bastard's finger when he turned on me. Took it clean off."

He glances back towards the billowing smoke as they disappear further into the woods.

"Did you light his house on fire?!" Gann stifles a laugh, impressed. "And here I was thinking you were the reasonable one!"