Giant Hunt - Post Dragon Battle

[Mike]

I think current plan is to track the fleeing giants, find where they camp, try to get ahead of them and then ambush them in the morning. Hopefully we get a full night's rest. But we'll see how long it takes us to get in place and set up camp.

In the meantime, we have corpses waiting on us. I'm guessing no one has Gentle Repose prepared, but if DO get to refresh spells, I highly recommend having one or two of those prepared. We are going to be one or two days chasing giants, and then we may or may not be transporting bodies to Magnimar to get the price we want. Granted, the weather isn't hot, but having a dragon or any corpse rotting for three days before we do something with it sounds pretty unpleasant for all involved. Without Gentle Repose, every day we delay lowers to the usefulness of the body.

Gunrus. He needs to go to Magnimar. Dothan says that WE have to do the escort. There's no one else in Sandpoint who could handle him if he burst his bonds on the way there. Hell, I'm nervous about leaving him behind while we chase the other giants. Do we want to split the party? How does Gunrus eat and shit if we're gone for two days?

We need to do some basic research to locate the Jorgenfist and figure out where Giant-Hitler is building his army. That won't take long. If we could also work out some reconnaissance eventually, that would also make me feel better. Some research/knowledge check about the Plateau People is in order too.

While in Sandpoint, we should find the lighthouse scholar and put our heads together and see what else we can learn about it. Sandpoint seems to be full of ancient secrets.

Speaking of potentially ancient secrets, Gunrus said something about a stone. Let's see if anyone in town can clue us in on what stone Dual-Dildo-Wielder might have been looking for. Hopefully we successfully run him down in the field and he can tell us that himself, but we'll see.

The only element I still need for the Illian cure is Ethilion. Still haven't figured out where to grab some, but we're getting closer. Keep searching.

Plus there's some general assistance to provide Sandpoint in preparing for the next possible invasion. I don't know what the hell they can do against a squad of giants with dragons if we're not there, but I'm not the tactician.

[Mike]

I want to split the party. I don't think we need much of a rear guard here to keep an eye on Gunrus, but someone has to be here, especially since the giant hunt really might take two or three days. My vote is that Sam stays behind. She's not a front-line warrior AND she can get Gentle Repose to preserve that dragon corpse for us. The question then is who stays behind with her? Dothan is willing to stay back, and then she can knock some of this research stuff off the list while the rest of you are gone. Plus she has a rapport with Gunrus (not that that's worth much). Then I think we need one actual warrior type to hang back with us, Illian or Hal probably. Dwyn needs to be in the giant fight for sure. Eldthor has to go, he's the tracker AND the giant-killer. Kay goes with Thor. Anna should be there for magical support. Can five of you handle that many giants?

[Mike]

And obviously, that's just my vote based on the information I presented. There's probably other stuff that needs to get on the TODO list, and if everyone else thinks that splitting the party is dumb, then we can have a discussion.

[Zen]

I can spare my medallion for a night or two if we need Gentle Repose on one corpse. I just need to use my wits and stay out of use a lot of Spring Attacks when we fight the giants. since I won't have the extra HP as a buffer. (Not that I had that much in the previous battle, thanks to a really low roll...) I don't remember how many other of the medallions we have, but I thought there was at least one that didn't get destroyed that is not in use. That gives us two bodies. (Illian's would make three.)

As for leaving a guard... Hal might want to do that. He [cough] mentioned something about needing to talk with Sheriff Hemlock about something anyway, didn't he? (In other words, he can't be here next time, so he could stand guard on the prisoner and I think he can handle him, especially if we leave him with some Giant Bane arrows.)

[Mike]

Ah! I forgot the medallions. That's why we talk these things out. If Hal stays back, and we don't need Sam in town, that makes me feel much better.

[Tahlvin]

I was also thinking about splitting up the party. While I'd love to have Dothan's haste and song capabilities for fighting the giants, it's probably better for her to hang back and do research on Jorgenfist. And heck, if we want Dothan, Illian and Hal to go ahead and transport Gunrus to Magnimar, I'd be fine with that. If you're just going to be guarding him anyways, might as well guard him in a wagon on the way to Magnimar. Maybe Hemlock could spare a few guards to go with you as some extra muscle. Dothan might find more information about Jorgenfist in Magnimar than in Sandpoint anyways. While there, we may want her to stock up on more giant bane arrows, since it seems we'll be needing them; after the Second Battle of Sandpoint, Eldthor's down to just 4 giant bane arrows.

So, now that we have Anna and Sam joining the group, should we consider changing our name from Troubleshooters to The Sandpoint Dragon Slayers?

[Zen]

It's convenient how real-life and gaming sometimes coincide... Bill can't make it next week, we need a guard for Gunrus. Kismet! (We've used Illian's absences the same way, of course... )

[Tahlvin]

BTW, I like the idea of using the amulets to preserve the corpses, if it will work.

[DMDarcs]

The sihedron amulets can absolutely be used to preserve the corpses in the way that you want to.

You should have a total of three of these amulets: one from Nualia, one from the lamia atop the clock tower, and one more from Barl (the stone giant wizard). Lucrecia had a fourth one, but Dwyn smashed it good. Kay and Illian are each wearing one; I believe the third is just sitting in a bag of holding.

[Bluedevyl]

[Mike]

Good. Hal can certainly handle one unarmed giant, and Dothan REALLY wants to stay back and do research.

[Zen]

Sure, Dothan... Have fun with your girlfriend... I mean research assistant! (Just givin' ya crap...)

[Mike]

No no. That's a large part of her motivation, even though she'd deny it.

[DMDarcs]

Did I not mention the casualties?















Just kidding. No casualties.

[Mike]

"So... how awesome is DMDarcs?"




"He's a dickhole."

[DMDarcs]

Pretty much.

[DMDarcs]

But really, what did you expect when you made Booster Gold my avatar. Really? BOOSTER GOLD?

[Elle]

I'm ok with splitting the party and I do think we need either Sam or Hal with us because those giants can do massive damage and we can't be out there with a smattering of potions and CLW and no real healer. If Hal stays home due to player circumstances beyond his control, then we can take Sam with us. I hate to leave Dothan behind. I think we'll have time to research when we return from this venture, given that we need to do so many things in the area - return a Giant somewhere, dissect a dragon, scour the lighthouse, help prepare a detailed evacution/hiding plan and defenses in case another raiding party returns to the town, etc.

I think it is reasonable at this point for us (already famous here, just saved the town from certain doom) to be capable of enlisting meaningful services of actual NPCs, if Darcs is willing. Not only would the Sheriff normally have an interest in this sort of thing, but since Dwyn has always had a little thread of worry about either him or the generally corrupt individuals that might be opposing e.g. her own family's interests in this town, she would like to volunteer some "real" NPCs (The Avertin family, who are not fighters or guards but are probably highly effective at communicating with lots of people in town, via the Bakery, their ties to the Mayor, the Church, and general gossip) and one NPC her player fabricated out of thin air in the TL;DR Dwyn stories long ago, a teenager named Ven who filled her shoes as the heavy-lifting/animal husbanding assistant to the Avertins/Sandpoint Savories. If Darcs has no objection to this, the idea would be for Dwyn to ask Alma and her daughters to keep an ear to the ground and eyes on the street and report to Dothan or Hal about anything untoward in town, while Ven is spared from work for a few days to run errands for Hal and help stand watch (you know... potty breaks, naps, oh shit run and tell Dothan the giant just sat up! that sort of thing).

My dream is that if Dothan really does stay behind, in three days she and Hal will have completely befriended the giant, talked him out of returning to his people as long as they're under the spell of this dark-arts tyrant, talked him into sending seditious messages to the potentially-sympathetic elders of his group, and prepared to have him live with us at the Fort later. My dream is unlikely to materialize but what the heck are all these three-digit rolls on diplomacy and mind-bending and CIA-level psyops really FOR, Dothan, if not for this moment?

[Elle]

The only objection I have to being known as the Sandpoint Dragon Slayers is that in other RPGs I've played, there are good dragons. I don't know if all Pathfinder dragons are evil. Otherwise, I do think it appropriate at this juncture to have another sit-down and refresh of our group charter, adding Sam and Anna and changing our name to something Glamorous and Modern. Sandpoint Evil-Slayers is good enough for me. Too bad it can't be a word with O, you know, SOS, your little town needs help, call SOS! This is why I have no career related to advertisement or marketing whatsoever. Ogre just isn't impressive enough as an O.

[Mike]

Slayers seems really intense. And since we are now landowners, narrowing ourselves to a single city may be unwise.

How about...

The Avengers (this might be taken though)
The New Plateau People (we're sending a message)
The Order of the Song (because every time we beat your ass, we do it to music)
Lucille's Handmaidens (not realistic, but I really like it)
The Guardians
The Whispering Legion (no meaning, I just think it's ominous and badass)
Hal and Friends
Sphere Ensemble