Three days and four nights of travel and the party
eventually made it to the region where the barbarian and giant raids had been
occurring. Their first stop was a moderately sized plantation where various
vegetables and grains were grown. What they found was a large home, a barn, a
silo and workers quarters that had been crushed, smashed and ransacked. The
nearby fields had also been cleared of crops. Nothing remained by torn roots,
vines and tufts of vegetation. The party dismounted and began to search the
grounds.
They found boulders and what looked like ballista bolts in
the crushed ruins of the plantation home. The walls of the workers quarters and
the barn appeared to have been smashed open from the outside and then again
from within. All of these buildings had been ransacked and anything of value
looked to have been take. Also any food (even including animal feed) had been
taken as well. The grounds were also covered in the deep impressions made from
feet from very large humanoids. They continued to scour the grounds looking for
any survivors. All they found was the torn and what appeared to be gnawed left
arm of some unfortunate victim.
They decided to check out the battered silo before leaving
to follow the various giant tracks leading West. As they approached the silo
they saw the lower legs of what must be an ogre (by the size) sticking out from
behind the silo. It appeared it was lying down, possibly sleeping or relaxing.
They made their way toward it and then the legs twitched a little, but the
creature appeared to still be lying on its back. They made their way around the
building and discovered why the ogre was lying so still. It was dead. A large
form was hunched over the body stuffing handfuls of ogre remains into its maw.
It appeared to be a hill giant, but it was unlike any hill giant the party had
seen before. They were used to seeing a textbook description of a burly, hairy
and robust humanoid that stood 10 feet (or taller) and weighing upwards of a
ton. What they saw instead was an emaciated giant with mottled sagging skin. It
looked like the creature had gone through rapid weight loss. Upon its wrists
and ankles were shackles and the remains of think linked chains. Its only
attire was a worn and torn large animal skin that was covered in offal and
dung. The pathetic looking giant raised its head and upon seeing the quartet of
tasty morsels bellowed and lunged forward to try and grab a new and tasty
looking snack.
The party sprang to action! The rouge and monk deftly leapt
aside. The bard unleased a blast from his pistol as the farmer turned warrior
let arrows fly. The giant thrashed about grabbing, swatting and biting at
anyone near him. The rouge dodged large fist, but in doing so left himself open
to the beast’s gaping maw. The giant latched down on his leg and tried his best
to remove it in one bite. Thankfully the bard was nearby and his, limited but
still helpful, healing magic kept the rouge up (with both legs) and in the
fight. The monk was also able to doge a few swings, but not all of them. A
sizeable punch knocked him back, but he quickly recovered. The bard and
fighter/farmer continued to fire at the beast. This along with the weight of
attacks from the monk and the rouge’s sneak attacks soon laid the giant low. By
the look of the beast, they were definitely doing it a favor. They had no idea
who could and would keep a giant chained and in this type of starved condition.
They policed the area finding nothing but more tracks. They mounted up and rode
off as the sun started to set. They now knew there were giants and ogres active
in the area and they were going to try their best to stop them from doing
further harm.
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