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Scene 2 - Defending the Valley

Scene 2 - Defending the Valley


DM Carl 
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 2:15:42 PM
Murphy takes in the new information, deciding that while he'd still like to become a pilot, Succotash should handle things during the ritual. He asks if things inside will be ok if the Giant is fighting.

"You may be overestimating how nimble I am."
"I cannot move very quickly, but nothing is protecting my crew should I fail to remain upright."
"I'd have to bend way over to grab most giants. Maybe try stepping on them or using my weapon systems."
"Well, what weapon systems are still available."

Succotash agrees to be pilot during the ritual, though he urges haste. Talia speaks up. "Yea, he's right. Murphy, maybe you can pilot the Giant to the tower rather than experiment right now? It's gonna take time to get this ritual complete."

Kezzem asks if the ballista are operational, then jabbers on about a galaxy far, far away.

"Indeed! I can reconfigure the shoulder-mounted weaponry to my pilot's specifications. I have four mounting points to use for either ballista or catapults."
"There's also plenty of ammo for both."
"You should probably familiarize yourself with that before trying to use it.
"Yea, some of it explodes."

OOC: Ballista use BAB+dex and do direct damage. Catapults use BAB+int and do direct and splash damage.

Bliss suggests the Encompassing Mind decide. Mookie wears some pants.

"That is thoughtful of you, Bliss."
"Yea, can't do it, though. The Forger was real careful to make sure I had no power to control this thing without something else calling the shots."

Talia doesn't have anything to add at this time.

Pressi doesn't put her foot down, but that doesn't mean she likes it. She focuses on plans for the coming fight.

Assuming Murphy still wants to pilot, Tiana leads him up to the cockpit. It's still a mostly empty room except for a raised dais in the middle and a metal helmet on a cable extending from the ceiling.

"Ok Murphy, just stand there and put that helmet on. I haven't actually done it myself, but it should be straight forward." The helmet is more of a skullcap with some padding for comfort. It's not a tight fit for a halfling's head, but it'll work. Murphy does note he'll need to remove any other headgear to use it, and the EM's comments on organic brains means he likely needs to be not-shapeshifted.

Placing it on his head, he hears the Encompassing Mind giving instructions. It is still speaking aloud, not in Murphy's head.

"Ok crewman Murphy. There are two buttons in front of you. Press the green button to allow me to interface with you,"
"Or press the red one if you don't want me in your head forever."

Sure enough, two glowing buttons are floating in the air. At least, there are for Muprhy. No one else sees anything.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 5:12:41 PM
"So Kezzem, is going to man one of the shoulder weapons, who's up for the other?, also if someone wants to borrow my carpet of flying and or ring of feather fall, they are welcome to do so, as I won't be needing them while in the captain's chair", Succotash says.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 5:34:42 PM
"Ballista or catapults?" ponders Kezzem. "Well, that decision would have been a no-brainer before I got this fancy new headband as I'm not quite the no-brainer was before, and the splash damage sounds nice. But I still think I'd better stick with the ballista bolts."

"Succo, I believe the mind said we could set FOUR of these weapons. Hobbie and Jack would probably be great at this too, but Bliss and Murphey would make decent catapulters, and Pressi wouldn't be bad at either weapon. Sorry, Talia, but I don't think this is you forte. Ooo, that's a new word! Thank's headband! Anyway, do you have anything for spellcasters, EM?"

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 - Spores (earlier) to Kade 
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 5:35:50 PM

Hearing the limitations on the Iron Giant's nimbleness, Murphy does revise some of his plans, and decides he will have to go with a more conservative approach to movement. Apparently trying to roll over giants may be too awkward to attempt, and would rattle the inhabitants inside the immense construct significantly. That is fine, though.

"Thank you."

Murphy takes a few deep breaths, prepares to take the helmet, then draws it on.

He presses the green button.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 10:31:07 PM
"I think I'll take you up on the offer of your carpet, Succo," says Kezzem. "If I get knocked off, I'll need a way to get back into position. And maybe lend the ring to Pressi? Bliss and Murph can change into a bird or something, and Talia's always floating around anyway, so they should all be good."

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 11:07:06 AM
While Murphy is learning to be a pilot, Bliss practices climbing around on the giant (via constant spider climbing) plus leaping from giant to foe and back. With his ring of jumping and natural ability, Bliss can jump 40 ft across and ten ft up without even making a roll (if he “takes 1” so to speak).

He needs hands and feet free for his Spider-Man antics, so he practices using his wooden fists (as a halfling) and his natural attacks polymorphed.

Mookie practices flanking and full defense and flyby attacks. Also delivering touch spells.

“Gosh I wish I’d thought to buy some giant bane bullets!” Bliss laments. “But too late now!”

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Thursday July 18th, 2019 11:46:21 AM
"I suppose there'd be nothing wrong with most of us manning the stations, but I don't want to leave us vulnerable to the same tricks we used or discussed using." She thought for a second. "We could still leave the animals near our legs and let Talia scout ahead, and I could drop an arcane eye by the back door since... how fast does this thing move again?"

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 12:42:24 PM
Taila speaking up, asks, "I would like to know the available stations left for her to choose from. At this station, will it be obvious as to how to contribute to the over plan, as well as the means of communication. Will we be using Madam Gem, for that?"

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 1:47:18 PM
"Press, I don't know if Em is going to appreciate you eyeing her back door," says Kezzem.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

DM Carl 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 3:50:00 PM
Succotash offers to allow others use of his flying carpet and feather fall ring. That's decent of him.

Kezzem ponders which siege weaponry he'd like to use. He could always go back and forth; they're not far apart on the shoulders. He asks the Encompassing Mind if there's anything for Talia to do.

"She could always deliver ammunition."
"Also, I thought I said you couldn't call me Em."
"Yes, I did say that when Murphy asked."
"Anyway, Talia can do what she'd like."

Murphy presses the green button. A tingle travels up the tip of his finger before depositing itself in his cranium. It lingers, then fades away to nothing. He doesn't feel any different.

"Hello, Pilot Murphy. I hope I'm able to perform to your satisfaction."
"KILL ALL HUMANS. CRUSH THEIR HOMES."
"Just a joke! I am at your disposal."

The voice is tinny, and comes from inside his own head. Around him, the dais comes to life with glowing controls that seem to shift as he looks around. He finds it completely instinctive to use; whatever control he's looking for ends up right under his hands.

He instinctively knows there are two methods of controlling the Giant. He can use the panel in front of him to open or close internal doors, but knows that he cannot keep them closed if someone is there to manually open them. That kind of sucks, but if Anur had been able to do that, Humbles Ford may not be around any more. He can also turn off and on lights, make Giant-wide announcements, and give orders to the various constructs that are still around. He's also aware of everything going on inside the chamber with the Encompassing Mind's gem, but not the Giant as a whole.

In addition, he's able to shuffle the siege weaponry on the shoulders of the Giant, choosing between ballista or catapults. There are two hard points per shoulder for a total of four. Lastly, the Giant's hands can be reconfigured to a pair of drills capable of tunneling through stone. That would explain how it tore through the Caverns of Glimstone.

In order to move the Giant, he simply becomes it. While he is moving the Giant, he is not aware of his own personal surroundings and cannot manipulate the control panel. He can still communicate with the Encompassing Mind, but cannot issue audible speech. Switching between controlling the Giant directly and being able to operate the control panel is a swift action.

OOC: I will send the combat stats for the Giant to Kim and Jeremy via email.

Bliss practices climbing around on the Giant's exterior. His magic allows him to climb about the stationary Giant easy, but there are two things he should keep in mind:

A: The Giant's footsteps have massive force behind them. If he's on a leg when it comes crashing down, he'll need a DC25 climb check to keep hold.
B: Fire giants are 16' tall. The Iron Giant is 260' tall.

Pressi suggests most of Humble's Sword could be useful manning siege weaponry. She also suggests making sure they aren't vulnerable to the same tactics they used to take the Giant's crew down. Smart.

Talia asks about manning stations and communication. No one's called dibs on any siege weaponry yet, and other than the pilot and Encompassing Mind being in communication, the Iron Giant does not come with any built in capabilities...except for those hoods you used to talk to Ix.

Murphy is able to start moving the Giant into position. The Giant moves at about 4.5 miles/hour. At that speed, it'll take about an hour to get it close enough to the tower.

OOC: Yes, there's still Catacombs time. Also, I haven't forgotten about Kade. We can address him after this module, but I'll assume the spores were dropped off.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 5:07:13 PM
As Murphy moves the Iron Giant into position, Succotash retrieves the two strength and one constitution gears he had before, and attaches them to his armor in preparation for the fight. He then says, "That's a good idea Pressi, if Harper, Piggy, Rumpas, and Mookie guard the door, that should keep any giants from trying to squeeze in.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Thursday July 18th, 2019 9:43:46 PM

Bliss laughs as he jumps from ankle to ankle as the giant walks toward the broken giant tower.

[OOC: Bliss's natural +12 on climb checks gets a +8 bonus with the cloak AND he can take ten even when it is dangerous. So his default Climb of 30 without rolling keeps him stuck like a bug on a rug being worn like a pair of giant pants. LOL]

Bliss also practices his "accelerated climbing," that is double his normal climb speed of 20 with only a -5 on his check. At 80 ft per round (40 ft per move action), he can go from head to toe in just three and a half rounds!

"What's that jingling?" asks Mookie. "Oh just my new giant bane bullets," says Bliss.

Mookie cocks his head. "I thought you said you forgot to buy those."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that I had. But I did!" Bliss says retconnishly.

When he gets to the top, he hears about using Mookie as muscle to bar the door. "Um, no." says Mookie and Bliss simultaneously. "But do not worry," Bliss says, "I'll be watching the feet and fighting any giants that come near. Or slinging at them!"

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 - Spores (earlier) to Kade  d20+34=49 ;
Friday July 19th, 2019 6:11:58 AM

[OOC: This post is exceptionally long, even for Murphy - but I wanted to get through what he had planned, and let Jeremy take over as Succotash asap.
P.S.: Italics indicate Murphy is communicating mentally either with the Encompassing Mind, or with Pressi
Bold indicates a broadcast announcement Pilot Murphy makes throughout the Iron Giant -Kim]

He senses the transmission and implantation of the portion of the Encompassing Mind within. Hearing the voice within his head, Murphy thrills at this new connection.

"Hello, Encompassing Mind - Madam Gem. Welcome. Hahaha - you are funny!" he chuckles, though he spoke internally, not aloud. "I am very excited. Can you tell?"

Then the construct's controls present themselves before him. He recalls how the last thing that Anur, the previous pilot, did with the machine was to cause it to kneel, and to extend the right arm at an angle toward the ground, allowing Bliss (and others?) to descend in relative safety. The arm is in that position. Ah - the hands can become drills.

This he does, with the right hand only. He performs the procedure to reconfigure it into a drill. He ensures that no one is near, by announcing Giant-wide,
Announcement: "All please stay away from the right hand on the ground. Move away from the hand immediately, at peril of your life. I will count down from ten to one, at which point any on or near the hand may be harmed." He wants to ensure no members of the BadApples are hiding near it. "Ten - nine - eight... three - two - one - NOW!" A very short beat after that moment, the hand begins to change shape, and a stout drill emerges. He causes it to drill down ten feet, then pull back gently, with the drill bit removing some amount of dirt and small rocks from the fresh hole.

He directs the hand slightly to the right, and shakes it a bit to allow most of the dirt to fall to the ground adjacent to the hole.

"Did you see that, Succotash?" he announces after he stops the shaking of the drill hand. He thinks Succotash is in the control room with him at this moment, still. He works on adjusting to his changed perception, his modified frame of reference.[blockquote]Announcement: "Six second light test in six seconds. Lights going off - three - two - one."
He shuts all the lights off, then, six seconds later, relights them.
Announcement: "Prepare for standing procedure in two minutes. Iron Giant will resume standing... One minute... 30 seconds... Ten seconds... Five - four - three - two - one."
On a beat after 'one,' Murphy wills the giant to change from kneeling to standing. Once that is done, he ensures it is at its full height, balanced. He changes the right hand drill back into a hand. He balls it into a fist, then back into a more relaxed position.

"Pressi, I'm in. Will occasionally let you know what I am doing. Let me know if there is something I should know. Shall I give you a quick rundown on what I have learned before I have the giant begin walking?" If Pressi says yes, then he gives her a mental synopsis of what he has learned. "I think, while I am moving this around, it may be hard to communicate much, though we'll see. It feels rather all-encompassing of my ability to concentrate."

After their conversation, he instructs the constructs to prepare for motion in six minutes. He fiddles with and further acquaints himself with the controls for less than a minute.
Announcement: "Prepare for motion. Iron Giant will begin walking in five minutes. Five minutes warning." - "Four minutes" - "Three minutes" - "Two minutes" - "One minute" - "Ten - nine - eight - ... - three - two -one"
Meanwhile, during the gap between the time marks, he asks the Encompassing Mind various questions about the giant, the controls, the 'brain' wiring and mechanisms above the pilot's chair. One question he asks is, "What can you tell me about the soft puffy white substance extruded out the right heel as the Iron Giant walks?"

I Salute You, Humble's Ford
Then, he - Iron Giant/Murphy - takes one step, left foot forward, then right foot even with it, and pauses. He raises his right open hand upward in greeting toward Humble's Ford, then brings it back in a salute toward the town he almost drew close enough to destroy. He holds the salute for thirty seconds. He lowers the hand to his side. He swings his right leg back in a semicircle, his left leg follows that around, and a pivot makes a divot in the ground. He begins to head northward toward the giant tower, at an angle slightly away from the angle of approach of a few weeks back.

The Walk
At first his movements are deliberate. As he gets a feel for it, he begins to relax into the motion.

"Pressi - tell Succotash to get ready. Much as I'd like to keep going, he needs this experience, too. Tell him about ten minutes, and it's his. If I lose track of time, you get my attention."

At about the same time, he asks, Madam Gem, please tell me when nine minutes are up from now, and remind me that I have about one minute left before transfer to Succotash, that he can become the next pilot.

As he walks, since he can communicate with Madam Gem, he does so, asking for more in-depth knowledge of her history, and creation, and creator, and experience thus far. And he walks. From the vantage point his height grants him, he looks ahead toward the gem mines, to see if he can discern any movement from that direction. He fills her in a tiny bit more on Humble's Grotto, and their experience there.

About four minutes into the walk, he begins to experiment with the range of motion of his arms - but carefully, so as not to throw off his balance. He tries some gentle punching motions towards the ground - one hand moving downward, the elbow of the other arm pulling backwards to balance the motion. He also tries some sweeping motions with his hands, and imagines picking up a few dozen giants, and tossing them in an arc through the sky - giving them perhaps a 300' high parabolic flight and landing.

Offensive Lunges
When Madam Gem informs him of the one minute mark, he comes to a stop. He asks, "Can I jump?" He does not do so, but thinks about what it would be like. "I shall lunge."
Announcement: "Hold fast for two offensive lunges in thirty seconds. Those in legs secure yourselves. Those in torso prepare for a slight descent.
Then, imagining swarming giants before him, he pulls back his right leg, then sweeps it forward in a lunge, trying to keep the foot so that it is only inches off the ground, until he plants the foot down solidly before him, his right knee bent so the angle from the back of the calf to the back of the thigh is fixed at about 100 degrees, the left leg only slightly bent at the knee behind him. Then the left leg performs its part as the assaultive foot. After that, his right leg moves forward and his body rises slightly back upwards, and he ends in a full upright shoulder-width stance.

Murphy's First Run Ends
Announcement: "Initial Pilot Murphy testing concluded. You likely will be happier with Pilot Succotash."
"Thank you, Madam Gem. You provide so much in this wonderful creation. I do hope to pilot more, but now it is the turn of the good Succotash." He waits a beat for any reply she may have, then reaches up, and removes the helm.

"Everyone all right?" he asks. If Succotash is present, he says, "You are not going to [i]believe[i] this, buddy!"
=============
Perception: 49 (for looking ahead towards the Scab)

Iron Giant size comparisons

The Statue of Liberty in New York City, the Lady Liberty portion herself (not including the pedestal) stands 111 tall - 44% the size of the iron giant. So the Iron Giant is 225% the size of Lady Liberty.

The Grand Buddha at Lingshan, China is 259.4' (not including the 29.55' pedestal - which would bring it to 288 feet) - almost exactly the 260' height of the Iron Giant - the latter about 5" taller.

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 - Spores (earlier) to Kade 
Friday July 19th, 2019 6:16:47 AM

A person with DM privileges please swap the block of text (and formatting) below for the OOC paragraph at the beginning of Murphy's post above. Oh, and of course, then delete this editing request post. Thanks! -Kim
==============

[OOC: This post is exceptionally long, even for Murphy - but I wanted to get through what he had planned, and let Jeremy take over as Succotash asap.
P.S.: Italics indicate Murphy is communicating mentally either with the Encompassing Mind, or with Pressi
Bold indicates a broadcast announcement Pilot Murphy makes throughout the Iron Giant -Kim]

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Friday July 19th, 2019 11:10:07 AM
"Hey Encomposing Madame Gem, those gear things, will they work while I'm on your shoulder? We may want to swap them around so the ballistas have more of the Dex gears and the catapults the Int gears. Also, how do we reload these things? I doubt i will be able to Quick Draw such large amunition from my belt. Maybe we can get some volunteers to jelp with reloading. And if it takes a while maybe we should mount two ballistas for me on one shoulder and I could magic carpet between them while the other reloads. And how much damage do these ballistas do anyway, Madame Mind? And if you could put it in terms of dice, that would be great."

"Wow, that's a long paragraph. And I barely made any jokes! Am I turning into Murphey?"

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Friday July 19th, 2019 2:04:40 PM
(OOC Driving, apologies if I missed something or don’t give good answers.)

“Also, regarding the back door, Can anyone rig up an alarm or actual lock? Maybe even just a couple of paint cans?”

Pressi mans the catapult, figuring she can mix between this and spell casting. She acknowledges Murphy and briefs Succotash about what to expect.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Friday July 19th, 2019 10:29:04 PM

As talk turns to alarms, Bliss has an idea. "I can cast an Unseen Servant, and give him a bell, and order him to ring the bell if the door opens."

"Anyone got a bell?"

DM Carl 
Saturday July 20th, 2019 10:40:56 AM
Succotash retrieves the gears he'd used earlier and agrees with Pressi's plan to set animal guards.

Bliss can hold on to the Giant in motion without issue. Hopefully nothing throws a boulder at him or something while he's jumping.

Murphy...just does a stupid amount of stuff. He correctly assumes the Giant cannot jump, so he tries lunging. It doesn't work. The Giant does not respond the way he intends, and the entire exercise only succeeds in jostling the contents.

"Pilot Murphy, Tiana wishes me to inform you that this maneuver has scattered her belongings throughout my chamber."
"and she's reeealllly steamed about it."
"If I may make a recommendation, you'd do well to think of me as a fortress that moves, rather than a big golem."
"Well, a fortress that can step on things and shoot concentrated divine energy."

OOC: In combat, you're limited to the information I gave you. The Giant cannot make delicate movements.

Kezzem asks if the gears will work on the Giant's shoulder area, and how to use the weaponry.

"Yes. The siege weaponry mounts are still part of me."
"and the weapons reload just like normal ones. There are ammo stockpiles up there."
"They use the same enchantment that keeps the historian constructs supplied with ink and paper. You will not run out."

OOC: A single person manning a weapon will require one round to load the weapon, and one to fire it. If two people are manning them, they can fire every round.

Pressi wonders if they can lock the door, or at least alarm it. The mechanism that opens and closes the door is mechanical in nature. Someone with some engineering skill may be able to look at it and devise something.

Murphy completes the trek to the Giant tower. When he removes the helmet, Tiana storms up into the cockpit. She's had time to cool off, but is not pleased. "I trust you'll assist me in finishing putting my things back in order downstairs? It took me 10 minutes to find the DPAA under all my papers. We're lucky it wasn't bent; it's made of gold, you know. Bends easy." She starts walking away, trusting Murphy to follow. "Succotash, get yourself ready. I'll need you in position to start."

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 - Spores (earlier) to Kade 
Saturday July 20th, 2019 1:47:35 PM

"Thank you for letting me know, Madam Gem, of Tiana's scattered belongings, and of the parameters of movement. I shall help her with her things in a few minutes. Oh - the white soft substance that issues from the heel? What is that, please?"

Murphy, I believe, did not walk the Iron Giant all the way to the tower, but only about 10-15 minutes of the way there. Succotash should have opportunity to walk the remainder of the distance.

"So sorry, Tiana, so sorry. Of course I will help to gather that which I scattered."

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24  d20+20=40 ;
Saturday July 20th, 2019 2:28:35 PM
RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS:

Kezzem borrows the magic carpet to head into town. He attempts to recruit some volunteers to help with reloading ballistas and catapults. He will actually start with the Bad Apples.

"Hey Candy," says Kezzem. "I'm sure you've heard about the giants. We're looking for a few volunteers to assist with reload ballistas and catapults on the Iron Giant's shoulder. I won't lie, it will be somewhat dangerous, but you will pretty far from the giants and have some cover. I also have a some magic rings to magically shield two on the same shoulder as me. So what do you kids say? I'm sure the giants would appreciate some of your 'hijinks'."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 20 = 40 (natural 20).

Assuming they accept, he'll add, "Just don't try anything to stupid and heroic. That's our job."

He'll offer ferry any volunteers on the magic carpet.

----

GEAR ALLOTMENT:

"So by my count we have 3 Strength gears, 2 Dexterity gears, 5 Constitution gears, 4 Intelligence gears, 4 Wisdom gears, and 2 Charisma gears. My first instinct is to take both Dexterity gears, and a Charsima gear for myself (though I'll take one of the Constitution gears instead if Talia wants to double up on Charisma), but I'm already got good aim and maybe it's better to give those gears to Pressi if she will be manning a second ballista. Bliss and Murph, if you guys are going to be catapulters, perhaps you should take 2 Intelligence gear each."

"By the way, I would like to lend out those two shield other rings to some of the volunteers. I should be able to magically shield both of those on the same shoulder as me, and I don't want to put them in any more danger than absolutely necessary."

"Wow, all that and not a single joke," says Kezzem. "I really am turning into you, Murph."

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Sunday July 21st, 2019 11:57:16 AM
Succotash stands up and dusts himself off after Murphy's attempt at acrobatics. Before he jumps in the cockpit, he mentions to Kezzem that sheriff Roscoe may also be willing to help with the siege engines. He then steps into the cockpit and straps in the headgear, following Madam Gems instructions, piloting the Iron Giant into position to recharge/repair the Iron giants

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 - Spores (earlier) to Kade 
Monday July 22nd, 2019 6:16:40 AM

As Succotash readies to take over the pilot's seat, Murphy encourages him to get the various constructs back into shape. "We beat up a number of them. Getting the maintenance constructs to work on the guardian constructs and sentry drones could prove of value. I forgot to do so. Perhaps you'd like to issue those instructions. Madam Gem is much smarter about such things than I am."

======
"Yeah, I am already wearing the strength, constitution and wisdom gears, Kezzem the former Joker and Imitator of Murphy," the druid explains. "Also I have the teleport cloak, but am thinking about asking some elementals if they'd like to assist us in defending against the giants, so may be away for a bit, and someone else can wear it if they need to zip about the insides of the Iron Giant."

Meanwhile, he helps Tiana sort through the mess he made. He had earlier been paying some attention to her notes, sketches and writings, and had asked her about what is on them, so should have at least some clues as to what goes where. He further inquires as he helps reassemble the scatterings, and strives to put in memory what he sees.

"I wonder what spell-casting support the giants may have?" Murphy brings up to fellow members of the Sword. "The earlier gathering of the giants we learned that non-giants - including one of our major foes - was directly behind the a-typical mixed-species giant alliance."

DM Carl 
Monday July 22nd, 2019 3:35:52 PM
Murphy assists Tiana with cleaning up the mess. He's mostly able to get things put back in order with her.

Kezzem recriuts Candy and the rest of her Badapples to help with running ammo during the fight. Her eyes sparkle for a moment before she remembers herself.

"Only if ya let me take a shot at the giants at least once." She crosses her arms and puts on her serious face. Behind her, the other Badapples do not look at all as enthused as she is, but they don't say anything.

He also sorts out the gear he'll wear during the fight.

OOC: Don't forget there was that cool spear.

Succotash takes his place as pilot after mentioning that Roscoe may be able to assist on the Giant. Murphy suggests he see if he can repair any of the constructs.

The trip to the tower is uneventful. Tiana walks up to the cockpit when they arrive to talk to Succotash directly.

"I'm ready to start, but once we do, we're both stuck at our posts. Let me know when you're ready to go, then get ready to spend a good 20 hours being a giant fortress."

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle  d20+23=27 ; d20+5=25 ;
Monday July 22nd, 2019 4:37:58 PM

Bliss stays at the top of the giant and keeps a watch. He figures an army of giants should be pretty noticeable, so he hopes to be able to give some fair warning.

Perception 27

Flying Mookie circles and keeps watch from even higher up, but his eyes are not as keen. Still, a nat 20 works wonders! Perception 25 from high up (within empathy range of well within a mile).

Bliss is all set with his rituals -- warding and sharing. And his domain spells are prepped per usual. He does not cast his extended Barkskins until he has warning that the army is approaching.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Monday July 22nd, 2019 5:26:30 PM
Succotash takes Murphy's suggestion, and asks Madam Gem, "How much effort would it be to repair the defense constructs, and it is something that can take place while the ritual is in process?" He then lets Tiana know he is ready to begin.

Talia (Kim for Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Monday July 22nd, 2019 11:34:18 PM

"Say, what about getting Hazel and Alouryn out here to help us?" asks Talia. "She is a healer of Flower. He is a ranger. He could help with feeding the bolts, or whatever you call them, to the weapons. When I read some of Murphy's journal from the early days of Humble's Sword, Hazel got on really well with a few of the BadApples. Not all of them, but some of them - and Crystal, Candy's sister, is Alouryn's friend, and also a healer.

"I can fly out to the Sanctuary and ask them," she suggests.

"Someone here asked what spells I have that might be useful in the fight. I wrote out Here's a list."
Talia's Sorcerer Spell List
0-Level Spells (can cast any at will)
Resistance; Detect Magic; Ghost Sound; Light; Mending; Open/Close; Prestidigitation; Message; Arcane Mark

1st-Level Per Day: 6+3
Identify; Grease; Mage Armor; Enlarge Person; Magic Missile; Shocking Grasp

2nd-Level Per Day: 6+3
Invisibility; Glitterdust (Bliss remembers that one); Pyrotechnics; Web; Acid Arrow; Scorching Ray; Spectral Hand

3rd-Level Per Day: 6+2
Dispel Magic; Blink; Fireball; Vampiric Touch; Haste

4th-Level Per Day: 6+2
Dimension Door; Black Tentacles; Enervation; Stoneskin

5th-Level Per Day: 6+1
Overland Flight; Telekinesis; Beast Shape III

6th-Level Per Day: 4+1
True Seeing; Summon Monster VI; Chain Lightning; Forceful Hand
"Unless someone needs me to do something else, I want to watch the very start of what Tiana and Succotash start for the ritual, then fly over to talk with Hazel and Alouryn. Should I ask Kade, too? Or should we just have him there at the Sanctuary to watch over the place?"

Talia does await the start of the ritual, watching for the first 7 or 8 minutes. Maybe ten minutes if it is particularly interesting. Then, unless someone asks her to do something else, she leaves, and flies back to the sanctuary to talk to the people there about helping on the Iron Giant. Perhaps she may swing by the General Store after that to pick up a few more minor items from the Catacombs.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 6:59:22 AM
"Well, Candy, we can let you take some practice shots and see how you do," suggests Kezzem. "And we can pair you up with one of the spellcasters. If they have to break to cast spells, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to take some pot shots at the giants."



Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 1:18:43 PM

As he was assisting her, Murphy asked Talia to explain the gist of the ceremony she was about to perform, to try to have at least a rudimentary understanding of this newly invented procedure. He joins in with Talia in observing the opening stages of the Tiana / Succotash / Madam Gem / Giant Tower ritual.

After watching for perhaps 15 minutes, he lets people know he has a few errands to run, and a quick visit to the Catacombs via Pirnook DeepPockets's General Store. "I'll need a few silver mirrors, and stoneskin spell components for two castings. What would it cost to refresh my low-cost, general spell components?"

After the General Store, he sees what progress the mayor, constabulary, clerics, and others may have made towards the defense of the city and the populace. He apologizes for showing up in the guise of an air elemental, but says he can only change form so many times per day, and needs to be able to move quickly. "Any word from Hovel, Angel Springs, elves, dwarfs, others?"

He stops at the Sanctuary. "Ah, look, here is Talia." He lets her have her say. He joins in on her request - as to whether Kade, Hazel, and/or Alouryn would like to join them in the Iron Giant up next to the Giant Tower. If they wish to do so, he offers to pick them up later and fly them there. He speaks to the awakened oak, and the treant, and asks them to defend their place. "Allow halflings and dwarfs, humans, gnomes and elfs refuge here. Resist giants should they come. Except for Lomar," the good ogre/ogre mage whom they have met.

He flies next to the Spire, and speaks with the air elementals there. He tells them of the giants who are preparing to invade. "Should you do what you can to help defend - especially if you can speak with your elders, and see if they are willing, we should be most grateful."

He summons a small earth elemental. "Let your elders know that Murphy would speak with them about a giant invasion. I know they are desirous of a cavern of gems. Let us speak. Tell me a good time to meet, and where. We expect the giants to arrive within 15 to 30 hours from now - more likely the shorter amount of time. Ask them what form they wish me to appear in - as halfling, or elemental - air as I am now, or earth. I shall respect their wishes on that matter." He waits for a bit to see if a reply may come from the earth elementals.

Planned scrying (while back inside the Iron Giant), near an opening, such as an arrow slit: Upon adult giant who had conversed with the child giant near the Tower Cap in caverns adjacent the ravine that Murphy heard/observed.

Murphy firsts casts Owl's Wisdom. Then he scrys upon that giant (Will DC 32). I believe the Will Save Modifier would be +0 (Firsthand - you have met the subject, rather than +5 - Secondhand - you have heard of the subject). Murphy was several feet away from the subject (I really think it likely he would have been able to determine the gender at the time, but the DM never explicitly revealed the gender either of the adult or child). Should the scry attempt succeed, the druid can see and hear the subject and its surroundings (approximately within 10 feet in all directions of the subject - so perhaps a 15' radius, 30' diameter, based upon the size of the giant. If the subject moves, the sensor follows at a speed of up to 150 feet. If the scrying succeeds, Murphy also will cast detect magic, to discern if there is any within the observable radius. He likely will be in air elemental form. Dark vision will work if needed through the scrying.

He tries to discern location, any conversations. Are the giants yet on the move? Are weapons still being forged, or being distributed? He just picks up what he is able over the course of the 13-minute duration - and he will cut that time short if he learns what he needs to in less time.

===========
As always, DM Carl, if Murphy has bit off more than the time allows for him to chew, notify me just how far he gets. He does plan to fly northward possibly, to somewhat gum up the works for the giants should they already be marching this direction. And, yes, he first will talk it over with the rest of the Sword. -Kim


Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 3:21:06 PM
(OOC: Sorry about the delays and the choppy post. Will try to get this done.)

Murphy's Travels: Pressi can't stop smirking.

Rituals: shared spell and warding rituals.

Other preparations: stationed at catapult with gears. Casting of arcane eye and of spectral hand. Placement of Harper near door. Gathering of adepts/cohorts for any remaining roles.

DM Carl 
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 5:40:19 PM
Bliss perches himself atop the Giant and keeps a lookout. He feels ready for what's ahead.

Succotash if the constructs could be repaired.

"You can direct the maintenance constructs to begin repairs."
"They're not so fast, though. You're kinda stuck with what you got now."

Talia wonders if Hazel or Alouryn can help out. Only one way to know.

Kezzem agrees to let Candy take a few shots to see how she does. She finds this agreeable. "You're the boss, boss," she says in a way that makes it quite clear that Kezzem is not the boss.

Murphy heads to the Catacombs to pick up some scrying materials. He asks key Humble's citizens if they're able to lend aid. Hazel and Alouryn look at each other, then Hazel speaks.

"Murph, our strongest are already going to be at the Giant. Unless you know some way it can be everywhere at once, Humble's Ford is going to need people to protect it too. Roscoe and Bingo are already on this. Maybe you should talk to them."

Murphy gets nothing else accomplished, and the player behind him needs to chill out.

Pressi is preoccupied, but that's to be expected sometimes. She makes sure her rituals are complete and finds a catapult.

Kezzem and Pressi are both able to inspect the siege weaponry. The ammo receptacles are nearby their respective weapons. Each weapon has two types of ammunition.

Catapult ammo is much smaller than one would expect, and easily able to be handled by a single person. There are standard looking metal balls, as well as glass balls with an oily substance inside.

Explosive rounds: 10d10 damage in 30' radius
Incendiary rounds: 6d8 damage in a 30' radius, burns for 1d6 rounds. Enemies damaged burn for 3 rounds after they exit the AoE.

Ballista ammo is what one would expect. There are bolts tipped with iron, as well as plain wooden looking bolts. Inspecting them, the wooden bolts seem to fracture easily. They'd probably do massive damage to organic targets.

Metal-tipped bolt: Damages all enemies in a 30' line. 15d10 damage to first, 10d10 damage to others.
Wooden bolt: 20d10 damage to a single target. Bleeds for 1d10 damage for 6 rounds after.

With the situation handled, Tiana goes ahead and starts the ritual. She casts a quick mage hand cantrip and moves the DPAA into position.

"Ok, Madam Gem. Whenever you're ready."

With no further fan-faire, two streams of energy erupt from the Encompassing Mind's gem towards the DPAA. Tiana keeps a hold of the thing as a concentrated beam of energy starts flowing out the end. Anyone outside the Giant can see said energy flow and wrap around the damaged giant tower.

It's actually rather pretty.

"It works!" cries Tiana, who only a moment ago seemed pretty confident that it would. "Now we just have to keep this up for several hours."

A few seconds pass.

"This is not terribly exciting, is it?" She frowns as the idea of sitting here casting mage hand for 20 hours sinks in. Succotash doesn't have an active part in the ritual, but Tiana was very clear that he must remain in control of the Giant for the entire ritual.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 5:42:38 PM
Succotash follows Tiana and Madam Gem's instructions to the letter.hoping that the ritual is done, and the giant towers are working, before the giants arrive.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 11:40:04 PM

"OOO! Pretty!" says Bliss. But he and Mookie keep a sharp watch all around from the top of the giant and even higher.

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 3:40:16 AM

In town I suppose it would be better for Murphy to switch to his halfling self.

All right, it looks as if Murphy went to talk with Hazel and Alouryn prior to visiting the mayor and constable. "Of course you're right about that, Hazel. Myself - I'll more likely be out and about should a large group of giants show up, which is likely. Candy and some of her crew will be helping out on the giant - so, yeah. Maybe we'll see each other out there. I'll try to get a handle on how far away the giants are when I can, and pass that on."

"Alouryn, would you mind saying a prayer to Flower for us and the town?" If the cleric agrees to do so, he suggests, "Talia, come on over - let's circle as she prays." He puts an arm over the shoulder of Hazel, and a hand lightly on Talia's shoulder - who likely is adjacent to Alouryn, and bows his head in reverence a moment to join in with the cleric's supplication and intercession on their behalf. He mentally communicates with Pressi the situation, and what Alouryn prays.

"I need to talk with our trees. Maybe it would be a good idea for them to help provide some defense should the giants near the river," Murphy says, regarding the oaken treant Quercus and the awakened oak Dderwen. "If you two would like their help, I'll ask them to accompany you. Nothing like furious trees to help watch your backs, eh? Let's go talk with them together, right, Hazel?" He takes Hazel with him, if the ranger is game, and asks the living trees to help Hazel and Alouryn to defend Humble's Ford against the giants.

He sheds a few things he carries he likely will not need, and rearranges what he carries (will take a couple days to reflect on CS), as well as grabbing a few stored items.

Then goes to meet with Bingo, Rosco, et al, and find out what plans they have been putting together. He finds someone to see if his father can join them in the discussion. He updates them on what he witnessed of the start of Tiana's plan to restore the Giant Tower. "It will be touchy if the giants show up before she is done. The Iron Giant must remain within 100' of the Tower until the power transfer, as I understand it, is complete. Once that is done, I expect the giants will be in for a most unpleasant surprise - so long as we keep them from harming the Tower."

He asks Rosco whether he has any word from Hobie. If asked, he explains how they parted in the under-the-mountains ravine.

Talia (Kim for Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90  
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 3:58:36 AM

Talia joins in the circle as Alouryn offers her prayer. She is not quite sure what Pressi would think about Murphy putting his hand on her shoulder. At the end she adds, "Hear this prayer." She lets Rayya fly over the coumpound for a few minutes as the boys are talking to the trees, and scratches Calico under her chin as she finds the cat stalking a bug in the garden area.

"I'm going to visit Madame La'Rue," she announces, then flies back to town to visit the herbarium.

"Good day, Madame La'Rue. Say, do you have any concoctions that might be useful to an adventurer, or to citizens trying to fight off an invasion by giants? Things for healing, or strength, endurance, or other benefits? How about for someone who is suddenly very, very tired?" she adds, thinking how poorly Tiana will do if she leaves the giant after so long inside of it. "Or, if sprinkled in the air, to make giants sneeze, or cough?"

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23   d20+20=28 ;
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 11:04:23 AM
"Well, you know Tiana that its really up to you to provide the showmanship and energy. We witches don't recite 'bubble bubble toil and trouble' stuff because it does anything. We do it because how else are you going to kill an hour?"

Pressi is way more upset at Talia and Murphy flying off than them holding hands. (Again, witch. She knows the drill.) Whatever goods are available cannot offset the risk of those two not being at their posts. But she does her best to remain on target, using her arcane eye (and her own eyes) to scan the field (Perception 28). She loads a standard metal ball ahead of time.

Downstairs, Harper begins clawing the furniture.


Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 149/149, CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 11:45:58 AM
As Succotash takes command of the Iron Giant, Kezzem says to Murphey, "Look at Succotash. Look at him. He is the captain now."

"So guys, can we finalize our preparations? We Bliss going to guard the rear end with our animal friends? If so, are we doing two ballistas (me and Talia ) and two catapults (Murphey and Pressi)? If we do that, maybe we should give Talia both Dex gears then. Murph and Press should split the Int gears. So what does everyone else want?"


DM Carl 
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 2:53:25 PM
Succotash takes his post seriously, even though there's not much for him to do at the moment.

Murphy agrees with Hazel's statements and forms a prayer circle with her, Alouryn, and Talia.

OOC: I have no idea who those treants/awakened oaks are, dude. There's nothing in the wiki about them and I'm guessing they're before my time. That or I forgot...I do that sometimes.

He then heads over to search for Rosco and Bingo. They're not hard to find, since they're actively getting efforts underway to secure Humble's Ford. Both frown as Murphy tells them the Giant won't be able to defend the town directly.

"We're gathering everyone who can fight, but without you folks here we'll be stretched awfully thin," starts Roscoe.

"May and Blossom are still trying to get Angel Springs to send aid. If anyone can talk the Baron into mobilizing some troops, it's May. She speaks their language, but has our...fire. Let's call it fire," adds Bingo.

Roscoe has not heard from Hobie. "If anyone can sneak through The Scab and stay safe, it's Hobie," is all he has to say on the matter. He seems to believe it, but his face still shows some worry.

Talia heads to Madame La'Rue's. She has a wide assortment of potions and alchemical weapons, but nothing too exotic.

OOC: I hadn't planned on her having anything special for this module, but she has access to all alchemical items approved for play in The Wold (those being in the core book).

Pressi makes a good point. Tiana considers it, then starts manipulating the DPAA cautiously. Outside, Bliss notices the energy stream takes on new life. It grows more diffuse, but covers a larger area and cascades in waves against the tower. The effect is even more magnificent than before. She loads her cannon and keeps her eyes peeled. Harper finds the iron interior of the Giant very resistant to her claws.

Kezzem discusses finalizing their situation.

Bliss, from up top, keeps his eyes peeled. He manages to wrest them away from the spectacle enough to see a tiny form in the distance running towards them. He strains his eyes for a moment to be sure, but it sure looks like Hobie and Jack are riding Pippa very hard in their direction.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105  d6=6 ; d20+6=23 ;
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 5:35:07 PM
To kill time, Succotash pulls out his clarinet and starts playing a little tune. (performance 23) He impresses himself with the performance as he seems to be in the zone. After he jams out his little ditty, he asks if anyone had any requests.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle  d20+5=22 ; d20+23=41 ;
Wednesday July 24th, 2019 9:51:12 PM

Something about Sir Succotash's muzak makes Bliss want to ride a lift up and down. Mookie, sensing this through the empathic link, says, "That would be very elevating."

Bliss answers Sir Kezzem -- "No way am I staying in the butt with the beasts!"

Mookie says, "He said the rear, not the butt."

Bliss ignores this and declares his intention of clinging to the Giant and using ranged attacks until the enemy gets close, then fighting with claw, beak, and tentacle!

=====

But then, LOOK! Bliss shouts that Hobie and Jack are coming in fast! FAST! "GET READY EVERYBODY!" he shouts. Where is Murphy and Miss Pressi! If they are chewing the fat with the Mayor, they may not even get back here in time!

Well, Bliss will be prepared! He casts his Extended Barkskin on Mookie and another one on himself.

"Where's Mister Murphy!? He's supposed to cast Greater Magic Fang on Mookie!"

Mookie makes a face and says, "Flick it! We'll do it live!"

Then Bliss and Mookie climb/fly down to a perch on a knee. Bliss casts Resist FIre on himself and Mookie. Both of them turn on their Shields of Faith. Mookie gets out a philter of shield and is ready to drink it.

The pair look for whatever it is Hobie and Jack are running from.

Perception 22 (M) and 41 (B)

Talia (Kim for Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90  
Thursday July 25th, 2019 5:43:21 AM

Talia learns that Madame La'Rue has a number of potentially useful alchemical items. After going through them, she asks to purchase the following:

12: Acid @10gp / 1 lb
12: Alchemist's Fire @20gp / 1 lb
12: Smokestick @20gp / 1/2 lb
5: Sunrod @2gp / 1 lb
8: Tanglefoot bags @50gp / 4 lb
16: Thunderstones @30gp / 1 lb

Is that 1,490 gold pieces? Maybe another gold piece to cover the cost of a few bags to put them in? I'm having this idea - if I can fly way above a group of giants - maybe out of easy reach of their stones, then open a bag full of thunderstones and tanglefoot bags and alchemist's fire tied to smokesticks - that could creat wonderful confusion and consternation, some hot feet, and deafened giants who then can't hear what others are saying, and others who are trying to put fires out." Tiana giggles at the thought. Then, she gets more serious. "They said they want to eat us, you know, so I don't feel bad at all doing something like this to them."

"So, I'll put 4 thunderstones in a bag, 3 acid vials, 2 tanglefoot bags, 3 smokesticks tied each to a different alchemist's fire vial - should we glue them together, you think, or just tie them? That's, what, 19-and-a-half pounds, plus maybe less than a half a pound for the bag. If I just open the top, grab the bottom, and shake things out so they fall down - that would do something, right?" she asks the lady herbalist.

"I can put one sack in each of two pockets here (Bill's Splendid Pants O'Plenty). Then I have room for a couple others in my handy haversack."

If this sounds workable to Madame La'Rue, then Talia asks for her help in putting them together. "See, nice lady - you're helping to defend Humble's Ford against the giants!"

Once this purchase is made, and the ingredients properly assembled and stored, she thanks the herbalist, departs the store, and flies back to the Iron Giant to see what's going on there, if anything.

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128  d20+32=41 ;
Thursday July 25th, 2019 7:56:54 AM

Murphy nods in appreciation, and with a warm smile at the mayor's description of his wife's - fire. "I also asked the WLA to get the word out." To Rosco he replies, "Some will be inside the Iron Giant, some will be outside. I most likely will be outside, wreaking havoc on our enemies from high above the field, if I am able. Perhaps others will, too.

"We could perhaps use two or three people to help man the shoulder-mounted artillery, to free a few of us up to range more widely. Someone on the strong and/or nimble side would be good." He adds, "Odd though it may sound, Theadric Orgulas, if he's halfway to sober at the moment, may be good to have by our side. Perhaps my father, too." He takes out a feather token, and gives it to Rosco Hornblower. "This feather token can become a messenger bird. If you need to get a message to us, send it to Pressi. She can contact me anywhere, and will likely remain in the giant." He tells him how to use it.

[I am going to assume that Pressi heard Bliss's report of the approaching riders, and informed him...] "Ah! Hobie and our bard, Jack Zaragosa, are riding toward the tower right now! You are right about your cousin, sir. I'd better get back up there. I will do what I can to slow the approach of the giants, and give us more time to prepare. Heaven's blessings on us, and stout hearts within us. We can do this, sirs! I must go now."

"Where did? - oh yeah!" Murphy mumbles to himself. He sprints to Madame La'Rue's herbarium, right next to his family's house, where Talia said she was going. Just before he gets there, he sees her flying northward. "Wait, Talia! I've got a faster way!"

He points to an oak tree a few hundred feet north, to the left of the Second Dinner Club tower. "We can plant walk through the tree. There's an oak just a couple hundred yards from the Giant Tower. Let's go together. Sounds like Hobie and Jack are riding swiftly toward the Giant Tower now."

Assuming she agrees, he takes her - and Rayya - and himself through the tree, arriving about 700 feet away from the Giant Tower. "That is beautiful!" he says, seeing the power coruscating from the Iron Giant and surrounding the tower.

"Time for me to wild shape." Murphy places a bag with something in it on the ground, wild shapes into a huge air elemental, and picks up the bag with his left hand. "Want to fly faster?" he asks Talia. If so, then he takes her in his right arm, and flies swiftly to the tower (he should get there within about ten seconds). He sees Bliss perched outside on the Giant's knee with Mookie [Perception: 41]. "I'm letting you go, Talia, since you're flying."

"Let me know if you want that spell now, Mookie. But I don't see any giants yet. I want to create a storm and winds to slow down the giants, and wear them out some before they can get here." He communicates that same thought to Pressi. "I have control weather to make a storm and a few control winds spells, plus other resources. I will have to fly at least 3 miles or more northward to do it, though. Alone? Or with company?" He is willing to wait for word from the two approaching party members before taking a decision, and feedback from the team.
=========
* The awakened oak and the treant he suggests posting north of town (I was mistaken to say by the river earlier) - perhaps standing near adjacent trees opposite Molly's Rest, and ready to surprise any giants who manage to draw that close to the town.

[July 4th, 2018, Murphy awakened an oak he named Dderwen (pronounced /therr-'wen/) (86 hp) 14 Int, 12 Wis, 15 Cha, speaks Halfling, Common, and Sylvan. He cast liveoak on another, and thus brought into being a treant called Quercus (115 hp) speaks Common, Sylvan, and Treant. Their customary places are in two corners of the compound - you can see them on the Sanctuary map. And you were DMing, Carl :-)]

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 162/162 (temp), CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 1:22:46 PM
"Well, since nobody else is saying anything about them, I'm just going to take 2 Con gears and 1 Cha gear. That will leave all the Dex and Int gears whoever wants them. Press, why don't you keep 2 Int gears and take a catapult since Bliss wants to climb about the giant. Leave the 2 Dex gears for Talia, and the other 2 Int gears for Murph. They can take a balista and catapult respectively. Talia, if you don't think your going to be firing the balista much (or at all), I'll take those two Dex gears then."

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Thursday July 25th, 2019 1:56:42 PM
To Murphy, "Hold off on any such spells until we have a better idea of what the giants are doing. A storm spell could frustrate our own side as well, particularly if they utilize particular strategies."

She could kick herself. A scrying or third eye ritual could have given the group intelligence on the ground. Now they will just have to give it their best shot. "I don't get it, though. We know that the giant is nearly impenetrable to a frontal assault, and giants aren't known for their stealth. Its possible we have the element of surprise, but maybe..."

Turning to Tiana. "You've been rather worried about some sort of attack or disruption despite knowing the giant is impenetrable to ammunition or magic. That it took a stealth team and some massive infighting by the drivers to bring it down by diplomacy. What, precisely, has had you worried for so long? What do you see that we don't?"

Regardless of answer, Pressi makes her way towards the catapult with the two intelligence gears.

Murphy (Kim) Halfling Druid(13) AC 25 HP 128/128 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 3:03:03 PM

Backstepping Murphy's responses to Kezzem's concerns
Murphy, when we arrived with the DPAA, immediately donned the Wisdom, Constitution, and Strength gears (though in that post I mistakenly called them 'gems').

Note that Succotash's selected gears include two Strength and one Constitution.

Kezzem & Murphy on Leadership
At the time Succotash took over the pilot's seat, Kezzem made a point of telling Murphy, "Look at Succotash. Look at him. He is the captain now." Murphy responded, "Sure, Kezzem, Succotash is the current pilot of the Iron Giant. Do you think I don't know that? What's your point? Would you like to become a druid?" He asks that with a teasing smile. "We are a team, right, Kez? Many of us have leadership qualities in various areas. I do not mind shared leadership. Such as you are taking in making certain that people make sensible use of the gears on board."

DM Carl 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 3:04:17 PM
Succotash plays a little tune to pass the time, then asks for requests.

Bliss spots his friends riding fast, but it appears nothing is chasing them. Maybe they hold off on casting spells since it looks like there aren't any bad guys to fight?

Talia loads up on alchemical weapons and goodies, then catches a ride back with Murphy.

Murphy finishes up his conversation with Roscoe and Bingo, offering them a feather token that will deliver a message to Pressi. He teleports via plant closer to the Giant.

OOC: Like I said, I forget. If you want to re-visit NPCs, put them on the wiki. I do not have your memory for these things.

Kezzem finishes up divvying the gears.

Pressi wishes she had thought to have some extra scrying on the ground. There's nothing to fight right now, though. Who's to say she doesn't have time? She questions Tiana about her concerns.

Tiana, somewhat entertained by her newfound showmanship, spins the DPAA along its axis. Outside, a vortex of the Encompassing Mind's energies engulfs the tower.

"Oh, I'm not worried about the giants defeating our Giant. We could literally beat the stuffing out of them without rest for years." She closes her fist, stopping the DPAA from spinning, then turns to face Pressi. "...but can we kill them fast enough to stop all of them from damaging the tower? What happens if they decide they're just going to sprint past us since we can't really stray from it? We know they have to come through here since the other two towers are still working, but that doesn't mean they'll just run up to us in a line." She goes back to playing with her new toy. "Maybe you've made some incorrect assumptions along the way about this."

***

Meanwhile, Hobie and Jack arrive to find Bliss and Mookie hanging out on the Giant's knee, which is still pretty far up in the air. Too far to shout an entire conversation. Perhaps he hops down to talk, or maybe Murphy and Talia get there first. Hobie hops off Pippa and immediately starts rubbing her down; she's been ridden hard and is starting to show it. "Fill them in, Jack. I need to walk Pippa." He takes her reins and starts doing just that, letting her tired muscles stretch and relax.

Jack turns to face whoever's down there. "Hobie and I split up down there," he starts, getting right to the point. "I kept an eye on the encampment we found, Hobie went stalking through the caverns. The camp we found was one of a handful of others, and that 300 number we estimated...well, it was off. It was way off. We're looking at a thousand, easy. Hobie's not even sure he found'em all." He stretches, sore from the ride. "Oh, and they were mobilizing when we took off. They're a few hours off still, but they're coming."

He looks up at the energy cascading over the tower. "I guess recharging those gems worked. What are you guys doing, anyway?"

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 162/162 (temp), CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 4:57:16 PM
"Just a joke Murph. It's a line from that plan with Hank Thomas. What was the name of it? You know, the one where he is captain of a ship and it's taken over by pirates."

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105  d20+6=14 ;
Thursday July 25th, 2019 5:03:29 PM
Succotash continues playing,his clarinet, but he isn't quite as good at playing the current song, However, he still manages to stay in time, without missing any important notes.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 10:14:01 PM

Bliss scrambles downleg to greet Hobie and Jack. "Look, I'm a SpiderBliss!" he enthuses.

"Yeah, you're something, Kid," add Mookie.

In answer to the question, Bliss explains about how Miss Tiana figured out hos to use Giant Power to fix the Giant Tower. "She needs about 20 hours, and we are standing watch to make sure she gets the chance."

Bliss adds, "I'm hoping we can stand here when the army arrives and just challenge the leader to combat! That'll be fun! Then again, if there are really are a thousand or more, I don't know how we'll stop them. Last time we pre-emptively snuck into their camp and assassinated the leaders. Maybe we can do that again?"

"I mean, I can cast a Wall of Thorns, but that's only 100 ft tall and 10 ft high. That's not enough. I can cast a web, but also not enough."

Mookie laughs. "What's the CR on a thousand giants?" he asks rhetorically.

"How long do we have before they arrive?" Bliss asks. "Maybe we should just tell the Humbles Forders to flee, while we protect the Tower until it is repaired, then go giant hunting after the Tower is back in service."

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Thursday July 25th, 2019 10:49:18 PM
After Talia returns, she asks to have two of the charisma gears so she can use them;" two points a gear are they? I have almost forgotten how to use them! already Seems like its been months!"

After receiving and applying the geasr to her bracers, Talia will reposition up on the shoulders of the Iron Giant hoping to gain a strategic vantage point in which to privode as much offense as defense in the upcoming battle.





Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental (Fix-> AC 25 HP 128/128) 
Friday July 26th, 2019 3:45:48 AM

"It's so good to see you two, and Pippa, of course," air elemental Murphy tells Hobie and Jack as they arrive. Then he listens carefully to Jack's report.

"That was extremely brave of you two. Did you warn the dwarfs, as we suggested?" Murphy inquires of Jack. Then, as he hears the estimated number rise substantially - 3 to 5 times higher than they thought initially, that sobers the druid...

"Based upon Tiana's counsel, and understanding that the giants know of the power of the Towers - what sorts of things can we do to augment the defense of the Humble's Ford Tower? Had I shown more foresight, I - we - might have built up mighty walls and berms of stone and soil. Yet time is short for that. The Iron Giant has the capacity no doubt to do so, but must now remain relatively stationary."

He thinks and thinks. "The leader's name is Gizziar. And to be sure, there will be other leaders under him. How much information were you two able to gather on their structure? Who heads the hill giants? The fire giants? Frost? - what all kinds of different giants are working together? Are there non-giants allied with them? Any humans? Goblinoids? Other sorts? Birds? Ogres? Mounts? Fill us in more, guys. Leadership? Roughly how many of each giant type? Allies? Internal relational fractures our covens can subvert?"

He listens carefully.

"Consider this proposal. I shall fly northward toward the Scab. When I am more than three miles north of here - it was roughly 20 miles or so to the Gem mine from here - when I can see the giants coming, and observe how they are arrayed, then will I begin to cast Control Weather. In a three mile radius from where I cast - that's six miles across - a stormy area shall form. Casting time is 10 minutes. Formation of the storm is another 10 minutes. I can make it last for [8d12] hours - easily a couple of days, if I choose. If I go as a common bird, perhaps I can avoid significant notice. Land in an area where I have some cover, then cast.

"Tossed into that mix will be Control Winds - forceful winds that blow between 75 and 174 miles per hour, covering an area of a bit over one thousand feet in diameter, about 40 feet high. It will knock down medium-sized creatures, and large ones will have to struggle each round to move forward against the wind, and generally be slowed in their pace. It will kick up dirt, debris - things may get in their eyes. It will be a pain to them, and, not impassible, but a struggle. Might wear some of them down so they don't arrive with as much energy. If they try throwing rocks - the wind is strong enough to alter the path even of a giant-hurled stone (-8 attack), and normal missiles are impossible to use. Also can have rain pour down upon them, drenching them, making them miserable, and having to walk through muck. I can cast Control Winds up to three times.

"There's also spike growth, spike stones to attack their feet. Ice storm - hard on the fire giants especially.

"Other things can be done. What suggestions do you all have? Any holes in my plan? Would someone want to come along with me? I have one more transport via plants available" (first was via sling staff, with Talia).

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 29, touch AC 18; HP 162/162 (temp), CMD 28; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Friday July 26th, 2019 2:24:50 PM
"Okay, Talia, you can take both Cha gears. Are you keeping a Dex gear as your third gear? I will take the remaining Dex gear then, or both if you want a different gear."

That would give you a +4 Cha and a +2 Dex, or substitute Dex with another (non-Cha) stat if you would prefer a different boost.



Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Friday July 26th, 2019 2:33:27 PM
To Tiana, "Perhaps. Something's off, though. The giants last time were organized by outside forces, and its odd that they'd choose to attack what's already broken... unless they somehow knew what we were doing. At any event, they are certainly capable of basic strategy, but if they are still gaining outside help..."

"Let me ask you something. These various proposals to protect the tower, like storms and walls of thorns and stuff. They won't affect this magic transfer, correct?"

Pressi volunteers to go with Murphy if he so wishes to move ahead.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Friday July 26th, 2019 2:34:49 PM
Header update

DM Carl 
Friday July 26th, 2019 4:05:11 PM
Kezzem gets back to his old tricks.

Succotash doesn't have too much to do right now, but he's got a hunch he'll be plenty busy when things start happening.

Bliss explains what's happening to Jack and Hobie. He ponders his defensive options, but none of them cover an area wide enough to do much. He considers having everyone flee Humble's Ford, but they just got back from the last invasion...

Talia figures out what she's going to wear as Kezzem considers his own again. Kezzem really likes to mix and match, it seems.

Murphy asks a lot of questions. Hobie speaks up as he walks Pippa back towards the gathering.

"There isn't a lot of leadership, Murph. They know our tower is broken, and they know we're about to fix it. The only thing keeping them in line is their anger at us for ruining their annual 'go eat some halflings' tours. Gizziar was in charge of that forge we found, but he's not leading anyone into battle. I think tensions were getting high in the camp, so they decided it was time to move.

"and yea, we backtracked through the Caverns of Glimstone and told Urist. He wishes us luck, but this tower ain't gonna protect him if we pull this off. He's staying out of it. He doesn't need to start a war between dwarf and giant."

Our heroes can talk among themselves about the wisdom of Murphy's plans, but your narrator won't be adding his input. It's your show.

Pressi considers their situation and asks Tiana some questions.

"The tower is broken, but it's not broken broken. We can fix the state it's in now, but if gets knocked over or damaged too much further, the ritual will fail." She starts manipulating the DPAA steadily up and down until the energy pattern outside stabilizes into a perfect sine wave. "Wind and thorns won't stop the ritual, though. If Murphy mentions surrounding the tower in lead, I suggest you talk him out of it."

Pressi offers to accompany Murphy if he goes ahead.

Upstairs, Candy starts getting impatient. She opens up a ballista ammo cache and pulls out one of the metal-tipped bolts. "Kezzem! Show me how to load this thing. I need'ta prove I can shoot some giants."

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Friday July 26th, 2019 5:08:47 PM
Kezzem gladly shows Candy how to operate the ballista.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Friday July 26th, 2019 10:10:27 PM
Bliss listens to Murphy's ideas and likes them. "We gotta throw all we got at these giants, and if that means storms and entangles and spike stones, then I say go for it."

"I just expect to jump into battle and kill as many as I can! We'll see how many that is. And when things get too hairy, I'll jump back out for healing!"

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Friday July 26th, 2019 10:37:52 PM
Talia, using the proper command words, changes her "Stylish pants ol' plenty" into a dark leather. Stylish, durable, and menacing...it will do good for the next combat!" thinks Talia to herself.

Talia will take those gears offered and apply them to her bracer. She will then mount a position on the shoulders.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental (Fix-> AC 25 HP 128/128) 
Saturday July 27th, 2019 2:50:27 AM
"If you want to fight up close, Bliss," Murphy responds, "well, with the storm, that will slow them. Maybe some of the younger ones will be blown back by the storm - perhaps a few mothers who have come along will take them back, and cut down on the numbers attacking. But many will push through. If some of us are there as they stumble from the storm, that may be a good time for you, for us, to attack them. We take the fight to them, rather than waiting for them to bring it to us."

Advanced Strike Force
Murphy adds, "So, what if some of us serve on an advanced strike force? Cut down on the numbers coming down from the Scab. For those who make it through, we fall back and form a new front, whittle them down. Fight, retreat, fight, retreat. Against those who continue to come, we make a stand a ways in front of the tower, with the Iron Giant providing artillery support. If Angel Springs has gotten around to sending some knights or other warriors, maybe they can join us.

"The Tower is the giants' first aim. Let's spoil their aim. I don't want stone giants hurling boulders at our tower, nor hill giants bashing the base with their clubs, nor fire giants hurling their iron spears against stone.

Travel Matters
"To keep it short," then Murphy snorts as he recognizes it is close to ridiculous that he could keep it short, "- Up to four can join me in the north. Then, when the time to retreat comes, there are two ways we can do so. First - I can carry up to four of you with me. Second, if needed, I have a feather token to make an oak tree, and through it - just as we did to get back here from the Scab, I can get you back to that oak over there - just over 200 yards away from the Iron Giant.

"Who, in addition to Pressi and Bliss, would choose to come with me? There likely will be few giants to fight here near the tower for a while."

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Saturday July 27th, 2019 12:22:47 PM
"I'm not sure if it works that way Murph, Succotash answers, But of course if Madam Gem says I'm wrong, I will be happy to relay messages back and forth". He then adds "My only regret is I won't be able to partake in the advanced skirmish, after all, taking it to the enemy is kinda my thing! Succotash thinks for a moment then says, "Maybe you might want to take Piggy along, she is pretty nimble on the battlefield!"

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental (Fix-> AC 25 HP 128/128) 
Saturday July 27th, 2019 6:37:52 PM

Murphy nods his semi-translucent head in acknowledgement of his friend's initial words. "She is that, Succotash," he responds to the paladin's suggestion. "My hands will be full, so someone else would need to be working with her, though. And we can't exceed the +4 limit, if all means of transport are to be available to us. Should we meet those conditions, though, that's a possibility!"

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Saturday July 27th, 2019 6:45:06 PM
"Those of you that are quick of hand and foot, come with me," suggests Kezzem. "Those that are more clever should go with Pressi. If neither of those apply to you, just pick one of us."

Kezzem will run a balista clinic for the Bad Apples that will loading and/or operating the balistas. He will encourage Presi to run a similar demonstration for the catapulters.

"Okay, kids, time to show you the ropes...and the springs and the frame.

After allowing groans, he continues. "Safety first. Rule one, don't point it at anything unless you plan to shoot it. Rule two, make sure all body parts are clear before firing. You don't want to pinch your finger when it fires. Rule three, don''t point it anything unless you plan to shoot it. Rule four, don't wear loose clothing and jewelry that could get caught in the mechanism. And finally, rule five, don''t point it anything unless you plan to shoot it. Yes, I know Rule 1, 3, and 5 are the same...that's because it's a really important one."

He will then demonstrate the proper loading techniques and go over the two types of ammunition. "The metal tip ones are good when giants are clumped together. It can go right through them and strike up to two or three more giants standing behind them, depending on how clumped together they are. The first one will take the worst of it, but these babies pack quite a punch. Now for single targets, typically leaders and other boss types, you want to use the wooden bolts. They won't penetrate the giant, but they will splinter and do more damage to your target. That said, boss types have better armor, and since you guys don't have much combat training, you may want to stick with easier targets."

"Now let's take some practice shots at those tree stumps over there...."



Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Sunday July 28th, 2019 12:59:25 AM
"Murph, you really think I should know Auran? I can take one of those Int gears and be all like 'I know kung fu.'"

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Sunday July 28th, 2019 2:33:09 PM
Pressi watches discussions of communication lines, and Kezzem sending people up to her. “Looks like I’m going to be staying here after all. It doesn’t seem like you can report back otherwise.”

DM Carl 
Monday July 29th, 2019 1:39:36 PM
Kezzem shows Candy how to operate the ballista. She's quick with her hands and proves an adept student. Kezzem does see her making sure she doesn't have anything loose that could catch, then checks her crew. She looks back to Kezzem when she's convinced they're following the rules. She looks around, choosing one of the trunks he pointed out. She takes aim, and misses, but it's real close.

"If that'd been a giant and not some little tree stump, I woulda hit it, Kezzem." She nods, agreeing with herself. "I'll go ahead and take this one, and Erbin'll keep the ammo coming." She nods again, pleased with the outcome. "Well, sure you're busy! We'll keep practicin'. The gem did say there was like...unlimited ammo, right?" She points at the nearby ammo cache. "Erbin! Gimme one of the other ones this time."

It seems Candy's embraced the philosophy of asking forgiveness instead of permission at a young age.

Bliss likes the ideas Murphy's throwin' out, noting he intends to be down where the action is during the fight.

Talia readies up and heads up to the seige weaponry. Is she planning on manning one of the weapons?

Murphy ponders the effect winds will have on the giants. It will slow them down some, and certainly make them angry/frustrated. It will also greatly impact the ballista/catapult attacks firing on them from your Giant.

He suggests a forward strike team, asking for volunteers and planning how to travel quickly. He also discusses communication.

OOC, Kim only, Highlight to display spoiler: {refer to the email I sent over the weekend if you're wondering where your post went. I copy/pasted it in case you didn't get a chance.}

Succotash thinks back on how he can communicate as pilot. He's always in contact with the Encompassing Mind while piloting. He also remembers Anur was able to make annoucements that could be heard throughout the Giant. He's sure that includes the seige area as well. He's not sure if that can be heard outside the Giant, but probably not.

What he doesn't have is a way to contact anyone privately who's either not in the cockpit with him, or standing next to the Encompassing Mind's gem for it to relay a message. Any magical means of communication set up in advance work normally.

He offers Miss Piggy as a battlefield companion, though he may remember Pressi had mentioned using them as sentries inside the Giant.

Pressi notes that unless she stays behind, Murphy may not have a way to report back from a forward strike.

In the meantime, Tiana keeps on doing her thing. Meanwhile back at town...well, no one's really sure what's going on back in town, but something's probably happening.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Monday July 29th, 2019 5:22:58 PM
Succotash nods his understanding to Murphy and says to Miss Piggy, "If Murphy asks you to go along with him, you go right ahead and go with him, please be safe though". He then says, "I can make announcements via the intercom, but I can't share private or secret messages, and I have no means to communicate with anyone away from the Iron Giant".

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Monday July 29th, 2019 6:32:39 PM
Kezzem is pleased to see Candy is taking safety seriously.

"Nice shot, Candy! Yep, giants are easier to hit overall, but they also have armor and thick skins, so you want to make sure you get a direct hit and not just graze them. Also, giants may try to hit back, though barring magic or flying mounts, I doubt they will be able to launch an effective ranged attack this high up."

Well, I don't know about unlimited. Maybe the giant magically restores its stock--such things are above my pay grade, but I wouldn't count on it too much. However, she did indicate that we had plenty, so we should not have to worry about using up ammo on practicing as long as we're not excessively wasteful."

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Monday July 29th, 2019 9:52:49 PM

Bliss tries really hard to think about any other ideas that might help the party prepare for this invasion, especially anything he, Bliss, can do.

[OOC: Using a hero point for Inspiration ... "Inspiration: If you feel stuck at one point in the adventure, you can spend a hero point and petition the GM for a hint about what to do next. If the GM feels that there is no information to be gained, the hero point is not spent."]

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Monday July 29th, 2019 10:25:04 PM
Talia readys herself near the Balista but has no intention of actually manning one. She will use this area to launch area attacks when the time comes.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental (Fix-> AC 25 HP 128/128) 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 5:27:33 AM

"Succotash, I'll be frank with you - I may be flitting and flying about rapidly," Murphy says. "Coordinating with Miss Piggy will be very hard for me. Now if Bliss, Mookie and Piggy are able to coordinate attacks as a unit, that might work. I'll be out there sometimes moving over a mile a minute, though. How would she keep up? So, Bliss - if you think you can figure how to work well with her in hit-and-run combat, then go for it."

"I'll carry those going with me; drop you off about where the southern part of the storm will be; and myself continue to the casting spot. I will lay down the storm so that the southern end of it is at least a mile north of the tower - means I'll travel four miles, minimum. If they are quite a ways farther away than that, then we'll be going farther north. Since from the top of the Iron Giant the invading giants are not visible, they have to be more than four miles from us - maybe six, or ten, or more. We take the storm to them, and, at six miles wide, it will be tough to bypass.

"I don't plan on having the storm covering the tower nor the Iron Giant.

"Talia, sure you don't want to join us?" he asks the sorceress. "That you can fly can keep you above the storm, and you may be able to wreak more havoc upon the giants stuck on the ground."

"If those going are ready, then so am I. We can adapt our plans as we find out more. I will stay in touch with you, Pressi. Thoughts?"

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 2:59:43 PM
"Someday, I will have to actually invest in a scrying mirror," she mutters to herself.

"Nope, I think we are as ready as we will ever be. Good luck and god speed."

shared spell extend shield of faith +2 lvl
ritual of warding
spectral hand 11 minutes (at tower base)
arcane eye 11 minutes (at tower base)
int+4 from gears

Catapult ammo is much smaller than one would expect, and easily able to be handled by a single person. There are standard looking metal balls, as well as glass balls with an oily substance inside. Explosive rounds: 10d10 damage in 30' radius, Incendiary rounds: 6d8 damage in a 30' radius, burns for 1d6 rounds. Enemies damaged burn for 3 rounds after they exit the AoE.

L1: 2
L2: 1
L4: 1

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental (Fix-> AC 25 HP 128/128) 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 4:43:55 PM

Murphy reaches into the bag he is carrying. "Here, sweets - your own silver scrying mirror." He hands it over to Pressi.

DM Carl 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 4:54:35 PM
Succotash details his abilities and limitations in communicating with his team.

Kezzem approves of Candy's abilities. He likely does remember the Encompassing Mind noting that ammo was replenished automatically.

OOC: It's effectively infinite, at least for this module.

Bliss thinks real hard about what they might be missing.

As near as he can figure, the most important thing is fixing the tower, but the Giant can only go so far from it. If the giants decide they don't want to tangle with the Iron Giant (and who could blame them?), they'll just have to take a slight detour. Doing so will let them waltz into Humble's Ford and tear it to pieces. Even if the ritual succeeds, they won't have a ford to come home to afterwards. Not even a humble one.

If the Giant abandons the tower, the other giants will destroy the thing. The group's planning has been excellent on keeping the tower safe and the ritual successful, but they've mostly let Humble's Ford fend for themselves so far. The gap in the Giant Towers' barrier isn't THAT wide. If there were more defenders on the front alongside the Iron Giant, they could probably keep the giants from overrunning Crescent Valley before the ritual was complete. They'd just have to be outside the Giant's stomping range...

(Hope that was a hero point's worth of inspiration.)

Talia sets up near the ballista, ready to use her magic. She should keep in mind the fact that she's over 200' above the giants when determining range on her spells.

Murphy doubts Miss Piggy (or any animal companions) will be able to assist him. He makes a solid plan about using the weather to slow down the giants, and takes volunteers to come along.

Pressi confirms she's staying put so both groups are in touch with each other, and wishes them luck. She wishes she had a mirror for scrying.

OOC: Was Harper being stationed by the entrance? Am I remembering that correctly?

Candy continues practicing, and it looks like her choice for ammo runner was sound. The two of them work well enough together to fire their ballista every round. She lacks the keen eyes and instincts of our seasoned adventurers, but she's got talent.

Tiana's theatrics have died down. They kept her entertained for a while, at least.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, two small air elementals join Succotash. They're almost certainly part of Candy's crew just nosing around. They seem very interested in the wall of force that serves as a windshield. They tap on it, then look at Succotash expectantly.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 5:09:29 PM
Confused by the actions of the elementals, and not knowing their language, Succotash reaches out to tap the windshield as well, thinking it a game he is playing with the elementals, he then asks them, "Do either of you two know how to speak common or halfling?

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24  d20+19=37 ; d20+19=24 ; d20+19=38 ;
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 6:10:19 PM
Seeing Candy has her ballista in hand, Kezzem attempts to practice with his ammo runner.

"What's your name, kid?"

He will take a few practice shots himself, just to get a feel for it and work with an ammo runner. With his incredible dexterity and combat training, Kezzem is well suited to the job.

Attack Rolls: 1d20 + 19: 37, 24, 38.

"Yuck, that middle one was not great. You want to take a few shots just for fun?"

After setting his ammo runner up, he'll go check in on his fellow paladin.

"Hey look, you've got friends?"

"Hi guys," he says in Auran. "What's up?"

In Common, he taps his headband and says "I speak Auran now. Auran is cool."

OOC: Rumpus, Piggy, and Harper we're guarding the rear entrance we used when he infiltrated the giant.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 6:13:36 PM
Also, assuming the two balistas are within 50 feet of each other, Kezzem will lend Candy and her runner rings of Shield Other so that he can protect them in the coming battle. He figures he'll be close enough to heal his ammo runner if need be.

(If Candy is out of 50 foot range, he'll just give one ring to his ammo runner; in this case, he'll prepare a Resist Energy instead of a second Shield Other spell).

-----------
Kezzem
-----------

Lay on Hands 7/day
Smite Evil 4/day

1st Level: Lesser Restoration x3
2nd Level: Shield Other
3rd Level: Cure Moderate Wounds x2

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 9:24:13 PM
Talia gives some thought to what Mister Murphy is planning and decides that it may just be better to join Mister Murphy in thie endeavor.

Talia will take as many metal ballista balls and she can carry in her haversack to add to the balistic protential she can wrought on the battlefield.

{OOC: I believe the bals cause 10d10 damage, but I need to know size and weight, plz}

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 10:35:21 PM

Bliss communicates his thinking to the whole group. Prolly that means a conference on or in the Iron Giant.

"We need to prevent the giants from running past us and invading our town. Mister Murphy, all the things you are talking about -- storm and spike stones and like that -- we do not need those in front of the tower -- we need them to one side or the other!"

"We need something to block them! What else do we have? I can cast a wall of thorns and a plant growth and an entangle. But I'm worried that all those will not last long enough. What else can we use?"

"Can we summon earth elementals and dig some trenches and pile up some berms?"

[OOC: Kindly DM, will we be using a big terrain map for this fight? Or are we mapless? If we have a map, can we see it to plan out where we will cast what? Also, I'm assuming we need to defend both sides of the giant, right and left?]

"And I'm guessing we can't do it alone. We shopuld get as many powerful people from the Ford as we can to stand with us. [OOC: Say 5th level and above] Maybe there are others who would be willing to stand and fight."

"And even less powerful people can stand on the giant and shoot bullets and arrows, right?"

"This means we need someone to go back to the Ford and recruit!" Bliss will do that, but anyone else with good charisma is welcome.

He uses his WLA pin to help with recruiting. Bliss also makes sure that his own followers will be on hand. They have to stay back and hide, or stay on the iron giant, but maybe they can cast some blesses or protections from evil or cures.

[OOC: reduced hero points from 6 to 5]



Humble's Ford Giants Relevant maps - ADM Kim 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 4:42:02 AM
Keep in mind that some of the maps for the Wold look contradictory at points. They were drawn up over various years, by various DMs (and ADM Kim). Nonetheless, they should give you an idea of what is where, roughly. Carl may (or may not) update portions, or provide a map for the area near the Giant Tower.

The Sanctuary of Humble's Sword
Crescent Valley Miles Grid Map (one mile per square)
Humble's Ford Granite-Obsidian Wall Map - very plain map shows where the volcanic walls are, and gaps in the walls. Could be useful for defensive points.
Map Humble's Ford Some of Murphy's Tunnels

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 8:08:19 AM

Bliss is hoping that the existing functional giant towers to either side of the Humbles Ford tower still work. The question is, how big is the gap that the party has to proect? He presses Miss Tiana in the hope that she can give an answer.

He hopes it is not the full 15-20 miles between the two nearest functional towers.

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 3:30:54 PM
(OOC: If I recall correctly, the door in the right leg leads to an empty foyer/stairs to a second door that leads to a furnished, two level room. The room where we face our first guard, meet Ix, etc. Harper is stationed in that room.)

(Also, I seem to have some sort of issue where my computer wifi keeps dropping and nobody can help me. So expect a bit of posting from phones for a while.)

As Bliss starts speaking of her inspiration, Pressi slaps her forehead. "I let myself be blinded, thinking this giant was of all things the primary target." As for the giants, she can cast her lesser summons, but it won't last long against a wave. She considers mind fog, but not much else comes to mind environmentally. (BTW, how far up are the giant's shoulders, again?)

-----------------

shared spell extend shield of faith +2 lvl
ritual of warding
spectral hand 11 minutes (at tower base)
flying broom (hours)
int+4 from gears

Catapult ammo is much smaller than one would expect, and easily able to be handled by a single person. There are standard looking metal balls, as well as glass balls with an oily substance inside. Explosive rounds: 10d10 damage in 30' radius, Incendiary rounds: 6d8 damage in a 30' radius, burns for 1d6 rounds. Enemies damaged burn for 3 rounds after they exit the AoE.


Murphy 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 3:39:02 PM
Murphy says to Succotash, I think they want to know if you can open the window for them. You can. But wait one moment before you do. "

"Friends of the air," he begins in auran. "Giants come from the north. Many, many. I go now with one or two others to slow them down. They come to kill halfings, to smash homes and buildings. Maybe even the White Spire. Please tell your friends, and elder air elementals, to come play in the winds, and harass the giants. Your larger friends can pick up giants, fly them high into the air, then drop them from the sky."

"Okay, Succotash, now is fine. Hey, have some of our team get the talking hoods for onboard communication."

When he learns that Talia will come along, and Bliss remain behind, he is fine with that. And the exploding metal balls, and glass? He sees about taking two glass, four metal.

"Ready? Shall we go?"

If so, he does... just after casting greater magic claw on Mookie, then via the pearl, upon humself.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 5:15:50 PM
Succotash nods his understanding, to Murphy, then when the time is right, he opens the window for the Air elementals

DM Carl  d20+5=6 ;
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 8:46:02 PM
Succotash taps on the wall of force too. The elementals look at each other. If they speak common or halfling, they don't let on.

Kezzem asks the ammo runner's name. "Erbin, squire." Is his response. "Thanks for lettin' us help! Rather be up here doin' my part that runnin' away to Hovel again, savvy?" He gets back to his duties, practicing the ballista himself. It's a mixed bag. He asks his young companions if they have friends. "Everyone wants to be our friend, Kez," answers Candy as she lines up another shot. "You need more hands up here? I can have every halfling kid in the Ford. Didn't think child labor was your thing, but hey, desperate times, yea?" She smiles at him as she blindly fires the ballista. She misses the trigger entirely (nat 1). She blushes a bit. It's ok, she could use a little humility.

He checks on Succotash, and speaks auran. Handy! The elementals swirl happily when they're spoken too. "The wall! Open the wall!"

Talia agrees to join Murphy in delaying the giants.

OOC: The ballista fire bolts. The cannons fire balls. What are you planning? They do that much damage when fired from seige weaponry, not when thrown.

Bliss recommends Murphy's preparations divert the giants towards the tower, not away from it. He also recommends earth elementals make something called berms, which your DM did not have to google. No sir. He also recommends folks who can fight join them up here, rather than hang back in town.

He asks Tiana about the existing towers.

"Huh?" she starts, trapped in bored reverie. "Oh, yes. The other towers are still working." She makes a small adjustment to the DPAA. "Hold it there a moment, Madam Gem."

"Sure, what else am I doing?"
"It is a good thing I do not get bored."

Tiana grabs a scroll from one of her tables and unrolls it. "I spent some time while you and the rest of Humble's Sword were out saving the world. I researched the existing Giant Towers. They were built to overlap each other by quite a bit when they were designed. So much so, that there's only about 1000' of unprotected space the giants will have to move through. We may not be able to sense the barrier without magical aid, but the giants know it's there and will not just wander into it. Not unless they want to turn to ash, that is."

She recasts her mage hand cantrip, then goes back to adjusting the DPAA. "The tower is a squirrelier target than one would think. Is that a word, 'squirrelier?' Well, it is now.

Pressi slaps herself for thinking the Giant would be the primary target. She ponders how to respond to her revelation.

OOC: The shoulders are about 200' up.

Murphy correctly interprets the elementals' wishes, but parleys first. He asks the elementals to alert the elders of their kind about the giants, and the danger they pose. They respond, "yes yes. Tell elders. Now open wall?" It's probably the best he can expect from them. The small ones aren't too bright. He's ready to go with Talia, casting greater magic claw on himself and Mookie.

When Succotash opens the wall of force, the elementals swoosh around the room a bit before backing up to the far wall, then throwing themselves out the window. They streamline themselves, plummeting and hitting terminal velocity. They pull up in time to glide just above the ground before swirling around each other playfully. They immediately begin flying back up to do it again.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 10:25:46 PM
"Consider it a work-study program," says Kezzem to Candy.

----

"Hey Succo, the air elementals want you to open the wall."

In Auran, he says "Why do you want him to open the wall?" He will translate their response to Succotash.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 10:43:12 PM

"A gap of only 1,000 feet? Wowsy, that's the best news yet!"

If he has not already, Bliss makes a quick trip to Humbles Ford to rally his followers (and Miss Pressi's?) and to recruit any other volunteers. He flashes his WLA badge so that people know he is official.

He leaves Mookie at the Iron Giant, patrolling high up, with orders to come get him if there is any sign that the giants are on their way.

Finally, Bliss elbows Mookie and gives him a look. The halfling-size raven flap over to Murphy and nods his head. "Fangs for the buff, Murph old chap. Get it? 'Fangs'? Magic Fang spell?" He shakes his head, amazed at the half-wit of halflings.

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Wednesday July 31st, 2019 11:26:34 PM
Talia plans on filling up her haversack with cannon balls and dropping them from a great height, perhaps even in the bags of Giant traps Mister Murphy and I have assembled.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental 
Thursday August 1st, 2019 1:07:40 AM

Seeing the playfulness of the elementals, Murphy smiles. "Fun critters, aren't they, Succo?" As they re-enter through the - visor? - he tells them, "Two more times. Then tell the elders of the giants. By the way, you are beautiful in your flight." He waits a beat for any reply, then reiterates, "Two more dives, then tell the elders. Giants coming - help Murphy to the north!"

As the pair fly back out, Murphy teaches Succotash the Auran word for giants. "Jattilaiset. Jattilaiset. Succotash, after the third time they come up here, say to them, 'jattilaiset, nyt.' That means, 'giants, now.' Jattilaiset, nyt." [ref: Finnish]

OOC reply to DM Carl: Murphy plans to drop the ammo from a height. For simplicity sake, in Pathfinder, terminal velocity is attained at 200 feet of falling. So, dropping them from about that height should generate the speed they need, if not the accuracy. Likely, as an air elemental, he could throw them with force from somewhat lower - say, 150' height? and generate equivalent velocity. If giants are grouped somewhat close together, they can still be effective, if you so allow.

He finds Pressi. "You got the silver mirror, for scrying, right?" Murphy offered it to her a few minutes ago, but, so preoccupied she seemed, he wants to be certain the gift registers. "Headin' north, now. Good luck kiss?" he asks.

"I am very happy for your fangfulness, Mookie," the druid replies to Bliss's large raven friend with a mostly straight face. He casts longstrider on himself.

Learning what Bliss has just learned. "Ah, then, Bliss - I've introduced everyone to Quercus, our treant, and Dderwen (/therr-'wen/), an awakened oak. They should be lumbering toward us now. Tell them I want them to team up on the left side of the gap - you show them where. They are good at throwing rocks, and can go limb-to-limb in fighting off giants. They both speak Common and Sylvan. Dderwen also speaks halfling." [See Murphy post, section 5, for July 4, 2018 for more details.]

"Sorry, Talia, one more thing to do before we fly northward. This should take just a minute. Let's go to the ground outside." Murphy casts summon nature's ally IV, for a medium earth elemental.

To the earth elemental:
"Sometime in the next few hours hundreds of giants shall attack here. Please take a message to your elders. If you & your people work with us to keep the giants from passing south of this tower, then I, Murphy Leafwin Pipewood of Humble's Ford, will find or make a cavern for you, with gems therein, as your place to enjoy. Or, name some other desire - if I can rightly do it with no harm to my people, I shall. I kept my word to elementals of the air. I shall honor my word to you." He further explains for a start their help forming two defensive berms would help to channel the giants into an area to make it easier to defend the tower from the giants, who wish to destroy it.

He ensures Talia is ready, and heads out with her, and the ammo they have taken. He also casts longstrider.

He offers to carry Talia, as he flies quite a bit faster than she. "I am thinking - it may be wise to travel invisibly. I can cover more than a mile a minute. We fly north until we see where the giants are, land at a suitable point ahead of their path, and I begin casting. How long might an invisibility spell be able to keep the two of us hidden?"

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Thursday August 1st, 2019 3:39:57 PM
Pressi eyed Murphy carefully. "Why in the universe do you just happen to have a 1000 gp scrying mirror? Never mind, I don't think I want to know."

In response, Pressi gives Bliss permission to round up her cohorts. (Except Dolgrin. He's off on his own adventure at the moment.) She also lays down her summons Gerry in the gap to the Ford, and asks if anyone has suggestions for anything to ask during a divination.

But she won't have to ask where the giants are. She casts scrying for that.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Thursday August 1st, 2019 5:28:04 PM
Succotash watches the air elementals, and wishes that they could enjoy themselves like that for ever. The thought of the oncoming fight reminds him of a time many years ago when he was a novice paladin, leading an army of towns people in defense of their town. He absent mindedly rubs the scar on his left cheek, as he remembers that terrible day. So many lives cut short, so many people wounded, himself included, and now he is about face an ordeal that could have similar outcomes, and the thought brings a tear to his eyes. Not for himself, He would gladly lay down his life for another, but for the average Joe who may fall at the hands of the giant invasion. He shakes himself out of his revelry, and focuses on the here and now, brushing the tears from his eyes in the process. Then when the elementals do their third dive, he reminds them to go talk to their elders, using the words Murphy taught him.

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Thursday August 1st, 2019 7:59:53 PM
(OOC: Sorry about the mirror quip. I missed that scrying was also a druid spell.)

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental 
Thursday August 1st, 2019 9:24:25 PM

"Only because I anticipated your needs, dear. Yes, that must be it," Murphy answers with a smile. "I almost bought two..."

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Thursday August 1st, 2019 9:32:17 PM
Talia follows murphy to the ground by flight.

{OOC: How much time has past since we started this module?}

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Thursday August 1st, 2019 11:49:27 PM
Bliss is happy to get the message to Pressi's followers too, and tries to round up any able-bodied person in the area to fight Giants.

He emphasizes to them and to the treants -- just hold the line! Use total defense! Keep them from breaking through while we fight!

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Friday August 2nd, 2019 12:07:58 AM
Talia turns to Mister Murphy, " an invisability spells last 13 minutes or until we engage in combat, which either comes first. Sure you can ferry me, Mister Bullet Train Murphy!" giggles Talia.



DM Carl  d20+3=16 ;
Friday August 2nd, 2019 12:02:30 PM
Kezzem institutes a work-study program in advanced siege weaponry for the children of Humble's Ford. Your DM did not see this one coming.

"Ok, Kez." Answers Candy. "Hey, Anton!" she shouts, and her other cohort snaps to attention. "Go find two more kids to run ammo for the Swords. Make sure they're strong enough and ain't gonna chicken out. In fact, get four, just in case." Anton nods, looks out at how far he has to run to get back to town, and sighs a bit. To his credit, he starts descending the Giant immediately and hits the ground running once he's out of the heel.

Bliss is pleased that they have only a relatively narrow area to defend. He heads back, keeping pace easily with Anton. (I'll get to the in town bit at the end of the post)

Mookie thanks Murphy for the magic, though he does so using the lowest form of humor. The familiar takes to the skies, keeping an eye out.

Talia and Murphy note they plans to drop the bombs from the air on the giants.

OOC: That sounds reasonable, Kim.

Murphy asks an earth elemental to deliver a message to its elders. Keep in mind these things have an INT of 4. Still, it nods before vanishing back into the ground. Before he leaves, he hands Pressi an expensive mirror and asks Talia if they can make them invisible to cover their movement.

He also asks Bliss to direct his tree-folk to the battlefield.

Pressi wonders where Murphy was keeping that mirror. She asks for advice on what to divine. Then, she scrys on the giants.

The spell needs to be cast on a creature. Pressi observed giants during their trip through The Scab. She probably remembers the father and son hill giants more than any, so let's say she casts it on the father. Said father fails its will save, allowing Pressi to look in on the thing.

She sees the giant. It moves with dozens of its own kind. Only a handful are in front of it, but behind it? Hundreds of hill, stone, and fire giants are pouring from The Scab. The giants look to have just left the peaks and are heading south now. As near as Pressi can tell, the giants are still a good 7-8 hours away. That's assuming nothing delays them, of course. Her fiance is on his way to change that.

Succotash worries about those who are going to risk their lives in this fight. He shakes it off, then chases off the elementals who are all too happy to ignore Murphy's request. Closing the wall of force again puts an end to their fun.

Back in town, Bliss enlists aid, asking for people willing to help hold the line. He stops at Sanctuary first, where Murphy's tree folk and the group's followers are willing to lend a hand (ooc: since these are your followers/creations, you're free to run/RP them as you see fit).

When he arrives in Humble's Ford, he finds that Angel Springs has pulled through. May and Blossom arrive back in town with a hundred well-armed militia accompanying them. Meanwhile, Roscoe and Bingo have managed to find and outfit every able-bodied citizen of Humble's Ford to aid in defense. Roscoe seems to sigh in relief when Bliss asks them to hold the line alongside the Iron Giant.

"Can do, Bliss. Wasn't looking forward to handling this without you guys nearby anyway. It'll be nice not to have the whole town destroyed again, too."

Hobie and Jack both agree to stay with the defenders; Jack's talents are better used with a larger audience, and Hobie would rather stick with his bow. Hugo's agreed to keep the talented archer stocked with arrows for the fight. Sarabella and Vesley will also be lending their talents to defense. Even Theadric has taken up arms again, though it's done little to dispel the air of loss about him.

"Ok, Bliss," starts Bingo, "We'll be in position when the giants reach the tower. We'll hold the line best we're able." He pauses as something catches his eye: May dressed in tight fitting black leather with twin daggers on her hips. He sighs. "I know it's not right to ask, but I can't talk her out of this. If you could keep an eye on her, I'd appreciate it."

***

I'd like to wind up these preparations by Wednesday. I'm officially ending them Friday, though.


Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental  d20+32=39 ;
Saturday August 3rd, 2019 3:00:53 AM

"Let's hold off on invisibility for a bit," air elemental Murphy suggests. "I'm planning to aim off to the northwest, then to swing back to the northeast, so as not to give a direct visual line coming directly from Humble's Ford. We'll go high until we spot them, and fly down westward til we're outside line of sight. Invisibility would make sense then - and fly high, invisible, to take a census - then get ahead of them by a ways to start casting. Sound like a plan?

"If you have any other spells or preparations you think would be useful, just let me know now or along the way. Do you have goggles?"

Murphy waits until Talia is ready to go. When she is ready, he wraps an arm around, asks if that feels comfortable and secure. When it does, he takes off. Up, up and away!

North by northwest. Slightly over seventy one miles per hour for the first five minutes. Shifts to North for another few minutes. Then ever-so-slightly north by northeast for a few more minutes. Total at that speed not to exceed 10 minutes. Then, if needed (that is, no giants yet observed), Murphy slows to about 28.5 mph (hussle) for further searching from the skies. Likely adjusts more directly northward. Based upon where the giants were, he figures they are likely to have emerged from a place west of Glimstone a ways - or will be coming from there, if they have not yet left the mountains.

Perception (looking for giants along the ground in the distance): 39

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Saturday August 3rd, 2019 9:33:37 AM
After closing the Windshield, Succotash sighs, then resumes playing his clarinet, while silently throwing up a prayer for Talia and Murphy's protection.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Saturday August 3rd, 2019 12:00:45 PM
Back at the tower, Bliss does what he can to help with the preparations. He and his followers work to dig a ditch and pile the earth in a rampart next to the ditch. That might give slingers and archers some cover. He urges all the volunteers who arrive to do whatever they can to get ready.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Saturday August 3rd, 2019 9:19:21 PM
Kezzem will go check out how Pressi and the catapulted are doing on the other shoulder. But then he finds her looking In a mirror.

"Press, this is no time to be fixing your makeup. We've got drills to run!"

He'll try to rope her into practicing with the Bad Apples, unless she too busy with "magic stuff" in which case he'll take over running the drills.

OOC: Kezzem surprises me all the time too. That's the joy of playing a PC with poor impulse control.



Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Sunday August 4th, 2019 9:26:10 AM
Pressi looks up at Kezzem. “Spoken like a male. Company’s coming.”

She relays to Kezzem and Murphy the giant’s location and the mix of giants. “No drills either. Times up.”

DM Carl 
Sunday August 4th, 2019 9:45:45 AM
Murphy travels, though he finds the giants are coming from an area east of the caverns. He spots them easily enough, and finds it's just like Pressi said: mostly unorganized, but with a bunch of hill giants pushed to the front of the mob. It looks like Hobie wasn't exaggerating, either. There's easily a thousand giants here. They travel in a pretty compact column for such a large number of giants; Murphy supposes they know about the narrow window they have into the Valley.

Though giants are still exiting The Scab, they've also made a good bit of progress. They're probably 6 hours away from the tower.

Succotash prays for the safety of those scouting ahead.

Bliss prepares some cover for those who will fight along them.

Kezzem takes his life in his own hands, then tries to show Pressi how to operate the equipment.

Pressi goes easy on him, indicating time's almost up...it's not, though. They've got a few more hours before the giants will even be in visible range.

At some point while Murphy and Talia, a small earth elemental pops up where Bliss is digging. It hands him a stone tablet with what he can probably assume is Terran written on it.

Should someone other than Murphy be able to read that, it says:

"You are aligned with the elders of air." Right to the point, it seems.

As if on cue, two dozen elder air elementals fly down from the heavens, led by two small ones Kezzem and Succotash may recognize. Candy and Erbin light up as they arrive. "Hey, Skye and Mistral brought friends!" cries Erbin. The two small elementals break off to join their Badapple Gang companions while the elders surround the giant.

"Who speaks for you?" they ask in Auran.

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Sunday August 4th, 2019 10:31:28 AM
Mister Murphy, "Nope, no goggles. The thought never crossed my mind" says Talia. As for a additional spells that may be on use...anything through a Spectral hand would be for singular attacks...Grease, Black tentacles....ah.. a new one -- Chain Lightning!" eclaims Talia.

"Before we make an attack, I want to renew some of my spells..." says Talia aloud.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Sunday August 4th, 2019 12:47:41 PM
"Uh, Press, I uh...got to go check on Rumpus."

Kezzem flees from Pressi. Even a paladin's immunity to fear has its limits.

----

Question for DM: How close are the balistas? Are they within 50 feet?

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Sunday August 4th, 2019 1:26:59 PM

Bliss casts a Comprehend Language spell to read the tablet and understand the elder air elemental. The spell does not allow him to speak though, so he does his best with just Common and Sylvan.

Bliss bows to the mighty creature of winds and asks him to please wait. Then he runs off.

"Murphy! Mister Murphy! Where are you!? You got friends here!"

If Murphy is still out scouting, Bliss finds Miss Pressi instead, seeing as they have this telepathy thing going on. Bliss understands that once you get love-tangled with a person, you can basically read each others' thoughts and beam chores into each other's heads, so he figures she can let Murphy know that he has friends who need to be talked with.

"You were right, Miss Pressi, we DO have guests! And you look very nice, too," Bliss says. His Aunt Priss made sure he knew his manners, and besides, offering compliments is its own reward, anyway.

And look! Here's a person who can help, slinking around nearby out of Pressi's line of sight! "Oh! Sir Kezzem! You speak Air Elemental, right? Come and chat with these nice folks, friends of Murphy's I think, and tell them we'd be grateful for their help!"

After making introductions, Bliss spreads the word about the giants and that we have about 6 hours before they arrive. He keeps working on the earthenworks, maybe with any friendly earth elementals, if he can pantomime what he wants them to do. He makes sure the followers all know to make themselves scarce, either well back or up in the Iron Giant, before the enemy arrives.

When everybody is together for a strategy session, Bliss has some tactical thoughts.

"The big questions for us are these: Do we want to attract the enemy TO the Iron Giant so we can deal with them more easily before they can do harm? Or do we want to divert the enemy away from the Iron Giant to keep it safer?"

If we want to protect the Giant, then here is my idea: Cast Plant Growth in a 150-ft-radius half circle centered ten ft from the Iron Giant's feet. It will last for at least a day. Then, when the giants come near, cast Entangle and Wall of Thorns within the Plant Growth area. This will slow them down if they want to attack the Iron Giant or the Tower. If they instead choose to bypass the Tower and head into Humbles Ford, we have to be ready to sprint out to intercept them.

If we want to DRAW the enemy to us at the Iron Giant, then instead we should use my Plant Growth / Wall / Entangle on one side of the Tower, and Murphy's similar spells, like Spike Growth and whatever else he has prepped, on the other -- LEAVING a clear space to funnel the enemy towards us. "I kinda like this plan better," Bliss says. "Encourage them come to us, and we'll be the meat grinder. Also, a funnel is narrow at the end, so maybe we can bunch them up and only let a few approach at a time."

Mookie looks at Bliss. "Kid, you been reading or something?"

OOC to the kindly DM: How long has the repair to the Tower been underway? Any chance there are less than 6 hours to go? :-) Is it even close ... like, if we can hold off the giants for X period of time, we do not have to kill them all? What would X be, do we guess?

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28  d20+32=51 ; d20+18=36 ;
Monday August 5th, 2019 3:00:28 AM

Flight with Talia
"Uh, I thought we came out here ready to attack," Murphy tells Talia. "How long does it take you to renew your spells, Talia? If we're talking ten minutes, or twenty, then, well, all right. If we're talking 2 hours or more, then, nope. We attack now with what we have, you renew after we get back to the Iron Giant - should have maybe three or four hours to spare for you back there. Now, once the storm is formed, and rain, wind and hail are hitting their eyes, let's get you up high - about 200 feet or so, where you can drop the bombs, and hopefully be out of reach of the stone giants' rocks. I'll be diving in and out, casting a few spells along the way. After the storm forms, perhaps stoneskin, protection from evil, invisibility, then haste once we get close enough to attack, will benefit us both, if you can help with those. Black tentacles - maybe save for later? Unless you can use it now, then refresh it later. Chain Lighting? Nice one. If we can figure out who some leaders are - especially among the fire giants or stone giants, then it might be wise to use it against them."

The Array Below
Murphy takes a real good look around at the ordered line of giants issuing from the caves. He looks to see if he can discern where following the relatively lowly hill giants are the stone giants, where are the fire giants, and their approximate pace. Any clear signs of leadership? He checks the area perhaps two to three miles ahead of them to see if there are patches of rocky ground in their pathway. He then returns to the ground.

To the Elder Air Elementals, via Pressi & Kezzem
As he learns of the elder air elementals arrival, he relays to Pressi, "Thank them for coming, from me, personally. Say, 'Druid Murphy Leafwin Pipewood speaks through me, Pressi, to Kezzem, to you.'" He gives his friends and the elementals a moment to get the line of communication set up :-) -- then mentally speaks. [For ease of communication -- Murphy will say one or two sentences, then pause for transmission/interpretation.]
- "I am calling a storm to begin about X miles [- please help on that, DM Carl - Murphy is pretty good at directions, and will tell them as accurately as he can] north northeast of the tower, forming in about 25 minutes."
- "If you want to join me up here, there are over a thousand giants marching from the Scab."
- "Whirlwinds and dropping giants on top of each other from great heights should shake them up."
- "There shall be rain, perhaps hail, much wind, and some lighting."
- "You lords of the air will have skills beyond mine - whatever you think to do to oppose the giants, you have my support, our gratitude."
- "Halfling sorceress Talia is with me, on our side, and I am wild shaped to resemble an air elemental."
- "After attacks to the north, we regroup to the south. I see multi-staged attacks."
- "We fight giants as they work their way south, and perhaps cause some to flee - cut down on the numbers coming."
- "Then harass them as they march south past the edges of the storm."
- "As they draw close to the towers, let us do what we can to further impede them."
- "Let us take the lives of the giants who come to destroy. Yet may we live."
- "Do what you can, what you are willing."
- "If any take serious damage, let that one retreat, with one or two to help the injured one. I want no elementals lost today, nor halflings, if we can help it."
- "Even so we want as many giants killed, crippled, or driven away as we can."
- "This is war. Guarantees are few."
- "Bold action and courage - and the power of air - can lead to victory, and closer friendship between our peoples."
- "This is Murphy. I await your thoughts."
As he begins to move with him and Talia, Murphy mentally awaits any reply from the Air Elemental Lords. In the halfling tongue he lets Talia know what he told Pressi to pass on.

Getting into place, and beginning
Trying to stay out of line of sight of the giants, he races to a point just over 2 miles ahead of the lead hill giants, looking for a spot with some degree of cover (a little copse of trees, tall brush, some ground-embedded boulders that stick above the surface, or the like). He tells Talia and Pressi what he is about to do. If Talia wants to do or cast things in the interim, he's fine with that, but he recommends offensive action wait until after the storm is formed. "This will take about ten minutes to cast, then another ten minutes to fully form into a storm six miles in diameter, a three-mile radius from me. Once I've cast, I can do other things. As the storm gets rolling, my plan is for us to harass and confuse as we are able. Should the elder air elementals show up, then we'll have even more effect together with them. If not, we are looking at perhaps a few minutes of actions on our part, before we strategically retreat.”

He casts control weather (aiming for hail and/or rainstorms, and violent wind, blowing from the south toward the north). He double checks with Pressi to find out if elder air elementals are on their way. "Expect the unexpected, Talia. If need be, I'll scoop you up and we'll fly in haste out of danger. May the Heavens watch over us!"

===============
Perception of giants and environs: 51
Diplomacy with Elder Air Elementals: 36 (plus whatever bonuses Pressi and Kezzem may add into the mixture)

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Monday August 5th, 2019 10:08:26 AM
Succotash is happy to see that the small elementals fulfilled their job, and seeing the elders show renewed his hope. with the help of the good people of Angel Springs, and now quite possibly the air elementals, things are looking much better for Humble's Ford, and it's survival.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Monday August 5th, 2019 10:41:05 AM
Bliss does his best to help facilitate communication. But he does have a bit of an unhappy look.

“What’s with the sour mug, Kid?” asks Mookie.

Bliss blushes. “Well, I thought Murphy was just going out to scout. Not going out to fight the war without us. I just hope he gets back alive.”

Mookie caws, laughing. “No worries! That son of a bun always goes haring off, and he hasn’t died yet!”

Bliss just looks at Mookie. “Ummm ...”

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Monday August 5th, 2019 2:47:26 PM
"I speak Auran? Well, I do for now, but only until Pressi kills me. She didn't like my mirror joke. Okay, fine, I'll stick around to help, but it Pressi actually kills me I'm haunting you Bliss."

Kezzem gets ready to play telephone.

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Monday August 5th, 2019 3:01:53 PM
With the clock ticking down on Murphy's scrying mirror, Pressi watched Kezzem flee. After a bit, she made her way to Candy Badapple. "So, you and Kezzem fighting together for this one? I'm trusting you both are... being careful about everything?"

-------------

To Bliss' calling out, "I was NOT putting on makeup before batt... Oh, what fresh from the shadow realm is this?"

Watching the elementals and listening to Bliss and Murphy, she does her best to make sense of it all and place herself in the messaging chain. She also passes on Murphy's messages as best as she can, edited for time and for a 4 Int elemental.

DM Carl 
Monday August 5th, 2019 3:27:34 PM
Talia wonders if she has time to regain some spells. She doesn't have time, but she should have basically all her daily spells still.

Kezzem flees before Pressi decides to get offended.

OOC: They're about 50' apart. What were you thinking?

Bliss uses magic to understand the elementals. The earth elementals do not stick around to help, unless one of the casters summons some and puts them to work.

He wonders if they should draw giants to the tower and the Iron Giant, or away from it. It's a good question.

OOC: At the 6 hour mark, assuming nothing interferes (big assumption), the ritual will be complete and the Giant Tower will be functioning again. That will end any threat of invasion.

Murphy considers a pre-emptive strike, but where to start? There are no clear leaders, like Hobie said. While hill giants are in the front of the pack, towards the back they start to co-mingle. They're moving double-time.

They're also coming from The Scab; the entire ground is rocky. It gets less rocky as they move into the valley.

He communicates with the elementals via Pressi. They get the jist, but seem to favor hanging back and fighting along side the small army and powerful, giant construct than going off and facing a thousand giants head-on. Still, with two miles between Murphy and the giant army, there's no chance of them interrupting him in 10 minutes time. He is able to cast his control weather spell.

Succotash is relieved the small elementals came through. Not long after the elders arrive, the two small ones are back with a third. They gather at the back of the cockpit and look at Succotash expectantly.

Mookie has obviously missed some goings on in recent weeks.

Pressi asks Candy if her and Kezzem are being careful. She blushes intensely for a moment before realizing Pressi's talking about the ballista. "Oh. Oh yea. See, no long hair, no loose clothes. I can pay attention." She gets back to practice.

She's relieved to discover elder air elementals are as smart as most humans. She has no trouble relaying messages back and forth.

***

Reminder I'd like to start fighting after Wednesday, but I'm forcing the issue after Friday's post. What happens between then and now is all on you folks.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Monday August 5th, 2019 4:16:23 PM
In spit of the circumstances, Succotash has to chuckle at the air elementals. He re-opens the windshield for them so they can resume their game. "Have fun while you can my friends!", he says under his breath, "I pray you will be able to return to your game when this is over".

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Monday August 5th, 2019 9:15:37 PM
Talia recast her primary daily spells especially that she is going into combat. Also, she reaches into her haversack, withdraws the her wand of stoneskin and casts stoneskin on herself, then places her wand back into the haversack. Lastly, she will cast Mage Armor & then Overland flight on herself.

Spells in Effect

Overland Flight | 780 minutes
Mage Armor | 780 minutes
Stoneskin | 130 minutes

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Monday August 5th, 2019 11:11:46 PM
OOC: I was checking to see if Kezzem could get a shield other spell to work on the adjacent crew. Looks like he can.

"Don't worry, Press, I got the safety covered. Plus I got my shield rings to keep them extra safe."

Kezzem makes his finally preparations for battle and casts shield other on Candy and Erbin.

-----------
Kezzem
-----------

Lay on Hands 7/day
Smite Evil 4/day

1st Level: Lesser Restoration x3
2nd Level: Shield Other x2 (both cast)
3rd Level: Cure Moderate Wounds x2

-----------
Rumpus
-----------

DR 5/evil
Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5

Smite Evil 1/day

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28  d20+34=53 ;
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 6:26:55 AM

So, did Kezzem relay to the air elementals what Murphy told Pressi? It appears she communicated, and Kezzem, as he put it, played telephone. What is the response of the 24 elder elementals? As was pointed out, they are no dummies at all. Would love to hear their response. Come and help, or remain and wait? Either or both will be fine. The communication took place a few minutes before Murphy began casting spells.

Murphy does not stand around and wait, however. Five minutes after the conversation, at storm mark zero minutes: Control weather is cast.
Storm mark 10-20: Clouds form, light sprinkles begin, and the air begins to move. The air chills, and soon those marching in sunlight are marching in heavier weather as precipitation builds toward heavy rain. The latter reduces visibility to one-quarter normal range, -6 on Perception, and extinguishes unprotected flames and imposes a -6 penalty on ranged attacks.

At storm mark 14 Murphy requests of Talia, "Stoneskin, please, then invisibility. I'll fly you up to 200' in the air, then, in about six minutes, can I ask you also to cast haste?" He flies her up to 200' above the plain. Having looked over the area previously, the druid finds a stony area over which the horde will soon be treading. He lays down spike stones, 20' deep, 260' across. Rather than a straight line, he staggers the 20' square pattern, forming 3/4ths of a shallow 'w', offset from each other with 10' overlaps. Since vegetation gaining the ascendency over rocky ground as they move down the pathway, farther on and 3/4ths the distance to the left of where the centrally-placed spiked stones had been is a shallow 'M' formation, 20' deep, 260' across, of spike growth. Those unfortunate enough to tread through these areas must make a Reflex Save DC 29 every 5 feet for spike stones, DC 28 for spike growth, or have their land speed cut in half - said penalty lasts 24 hours. Each 5' a creature progresses through spike stones costs 1d8 piercing damage/5 feet; through spike growth 1d4 piercing damage/5 feet.

At mark 19 Murphy casts owl's wisdom, then control winds. He shapes the winds to blow with hurricane force from the south northward, which cover a diameter 1040 feet wide - likely encompassing the full width and then some of the marching giants.

If, once giants are underfoot, Talia chooses to drop the siege weapon balls from the Iron Giant, at 200', they will reach terminal velocity by the time they hit the ground - or near maximum if they hit someone on the head.

At mark 20 minutes, with wind and storm full on, he draws back next to where he left Talia, calling out for her if he does not sense her, and so she can hear his voice. "I plan to whirlwind, pick up a few giants, and drop them on giants farther back, as a morale modifier. Then let's regroup here, and decide whether to do more, or to head south. And do what you choose until I return - which should be about a minute or so, I hope. If we can't find each other in two minutes - meet south of the storm by a mile or so, up high. Haste, please?" he requests another spell from his friend.

As he going through his work, Murphy periodically relays to Pressi what is going on with them, the weather, and the giants. And, if they decided to join them, the air elementals. He asks if there is anything down there he should be aware of.

Will wait until tomorrow's post for more action. There's much here to digest.
===============
Perception: 53

Some info on weather effects so DM Carl does not have to spend an inordinate amount of time looking it all up -ADM Kim 
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 6:46:46 AM

Weather Effects
The wind speed rises to hurricane force, varying from 75 to 174 miles per hour. Were there wooden buildings, they would be destroyed; large trees may be uprooted and flung in the direction of the wind, and small trees and bushes surely shall be. Vegetation, loose rocks, dust, dirt, and debris will fly forth and strike those within the area of effect. Each round a creature in the wind must make a Fortitude save DC 32 or suffer the effect of being in the windy area.

Environment - see Weather section: Wind effects - Hurricanes are incredibly massive storms featuring heavy rain and a wind strength greater than that of the most powerful windstorm. With winds of 75–174 miles per hour, a hurricane renders ranged attacks impossible, and siege weapons take a –8 penalty on attack rolls. Each round large or smaller creatures must succeed at a DC 15 Strength check or they are unable to move forward against the strength of the wind. Medium or smaller creatures on the ground must succeed at a DC 15 Strength check or they are knocked prone and roll 1d6x10 feet, taking 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per 10 feet. Flying creatures (falling under 'Blown Away Size') must succeed at a DC 25 Fly check or they are blown back 2d8×10 feet and take 4d6 points of nonlethal damage due to battering and buffeting. Hurricanes also usually cause flooding. It’s nearly impossible to journey out into a hurricane unscathed. See Table: Wind Effects

Powerful Storms: Very high winds and torrential precipitation reduce visibility to zero, making Perception checks and all ranged weapon attacks impossible. Unprotected flames are automatically extinguished, and protected flames have a 75% chance of being doused. Creatures caught in the area must make a Fortitude save or face the effects based on the size of the creature (see Table: Wind Effects). Powerful storms are divided into the following four types.

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 10:18:42 AM
Talia, when finished with her own spells, casts spells on Mister Murphy as predetermined timings & as the storm builds. They are:

Spells to cast on Mister Murphy: Spell & Time

1. Stoneskin -- by wand at 14 minutes after flight,

2. Invisibility -- spell right after Stoneskin, & lastly

3. Haste -- spell at 20 1/2 minutes after flight.

Spells in Effect on Talia

Overland Flight | 780 minutes
Mage Armor | 780 minutes
Stoneskin | 130 minutes

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24  d20+20=26 ;
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 12:03:15 PM
Kezzem did relay Murphey's message, with a little added flair.

Diplomacy: 26.

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 4:04:09 PM
Pressi eyes Candy and Kezzem really carefully, especially as Kezzem talks about his shield rings. "Ok, well its just my nature to be protective when it comes to people. Don't want anyone to read into what the other wants and... fire in the wrong direction, or forget some unintended consequence. So, I will leave everyone to it and..."

As Pressi backs off towards her post, "Everyone have a good... whatever this is."

As soon as she is alone, her voice hit a higher pitch. "Oh, Kezzem, a ring for me? Let me handle your armaments." Laughing, she shook her head and took off back to the scrying mirror. To Harper, Why yes, I am twelve.

--------------------

As far as preparations go, they are limited to asking the elementals what they plan to do and watching Murphy and the giants. There doesn't seem to be much left for her to do until the battle begins.

DM Carl 
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 5:12:35 PM
Succotash lets his new elemental friends play.

Talia prepares herself for battle.

Kezzem prepares to protect his young charges from any harm.

Murphy wonders what the response of the elder elementals is.

OOC: Like I said in my last post, they will help defend alongside the Iron Giant and small halfling army. They are not keen on charging ahead and attacking ~1000 giants by their lonesomes.

Using control weather, control winds, spike stones, and spike growth to lay down some serious impediments to the giant army. He makes plans to attack more directly once the giants emerge from the quagmire he's created. Between fighting the winds and routing themselves around the spikes he's left, Murphy has successfully delayed the giants, but not enough to prevent them from reaching the tower before Tiana and the Encompassing Mind finish their ritual. He asks Talia for some spells as well.

Pressi runs with whatever's going on in poor Candy's mind.

In the distance, Succotash spots a small army of halflings approaching from Humble's Ford. They should be here within the hour.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Tuesday August 6th, 2019 9:50:10 PM

Bliss helps coordinate the new hobbit militia when they arrive. He reinforces the idea of using the berms and ditches and defensive fighting and full defense to hold the line while the heroes attack.

Bliss begins to be more sure that the party should try to use Plant Growth and channelling / barrier spells to try to direct and funnel the invaders toward the Iron Giant. He plans for that.

When the time is come, Bliss uses his Plant Growth, Wall of Thorns, and Entangle to channel the enemy toward the Giant. He hopes to take one side while Murphy takes the other. If Murph does not have the spells, he'll use Plant Growth (quarter-circle option) on one side and Wall of Thorns and Entangle on the other.

Other prep spells and such: Extended Barkskin for him and Mookie a half hour before they arrive. In the rounds before battle, Extended Divine Favor (Bliss), Shield of Faith via Ritual (Mookie and Bliss), and Polymorph when the enemy is very close!

Bliss is ready!

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Wednesday August 7th, 2019 5:24:54 AM
Succotash announces the arrival of the halfling army, letting Bliss and whom ever else know that they should probably coordinate with them. He is feeling a tad bit useless as he is stuck in the captains chair, and in spite of himself, he would like to see this fight begin. He figures the sooner it starts, the sooner it will be over. There is only so much prep that one can do, sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty, and do what needs doing.



Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24  d20+20=26 ;
Wednesday August 7th, 2019 11:36:57 AM
"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do," says Kezzem. He climbs up onto the edge of the giant's shoulder.

"Halfling of Wold, I am Kezzem Blacklyng. As we speak, and army of death awaits our friends in Humble's Ford, but we, we can face that death head-on, and save them! And I see in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come, when the courage of halflings fails, and we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...but it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered slings, when the Fifth Age comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold door on this good Wold, I bid you stand, Halflings of Humble! This is our chance, our one chance, to tell our enemies that they can take our lives....but they can never take, our freedom! And should we win the day, the Day of the Dog in the Month of the Sun will no longer be known as a halfling holiday, but as the day the Wold declared in one voice: 'We will not go quietly into the night!' We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive. Today, we celebrate, our Independence Day!"

Diplomacy: 26.

Kezzem then climbs back down.

"Well, I hope everyone all the way down there heard all that," he says to Erbin.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 29 HP 154  2d8+10=20 ; 2d8+10=19 ; 2d8+10=23 ; 2d8+10=22 ; 2d8+10=23 ; 2d8+10=19 ; 2d8+10=21 ; 2d8+10=20 ; d20+35=52 ;
Wednesday August 7th, 2019 4:39:25 PM
Just before the haste from Talia, Murphy casts on himself bear's endurance.
"Come to think about it, I won't be invisible after I do what I'm planning, so you may see me coming."

Immediately after Talia casts haste upon him, Murphy flies, invisibly, down into the storm, perhaps 10 rows or so behind the leading giants. Once he is about 20' above the heads of the giants, he transforms into a whirlwind, which should fit nicely with the local environment. Since he is of huge size, Murphy is not affected by the 'blown over' rules for large and smaller size creatures.

Murphy's 50' tall whirlwind descends upon the giants, into the winds exceeding 100 mph. He intersects with eight giants who are close to each other, then ascends above their heads. As he comes into contact with each, the giant will need to make a reflex save DC 25 or receive slam damage. Whether or not it suffers from slam damage, it also will need to make a separate reflex save DC 25 or be taken up into the funnel of the whirlwind, and be tossed about within the 10,145 cubic feet of the airy vortex.

Slam hp damage per giant
1: 20 ... 5: 23
2: 19 ... 6: 19
3: 23 ... 7: 21
4: 22 ... 8: 20

With his move at 155, he ends the round at about 40' above the heads of the giants still on the ground

The next round he ascends to 175' above the ground, and farther north. Go ahead and use the prior rolls for additional damage done to whatever giants are within the whirlwind. If he requires healing from attacks from the giants as they swirl within him, he will cast an appropriate healing spell or two as he delivers them onward. Next round, he ascends to 210' and still farther north, and begins to drop whatever hill giants are still in the whirlwind, one at a time, on the giants toward the middle of the massive assembly. Each giant will suffer 20d6 hp damage from the fall. If they happen to land on other giants, the targets also will suffer significant damage from the collision of meat and bone on meat and bone.

After that, Murphy flies back, returning to normal air elemental form, to where he left Talia, and looks for her. "Drop your ammunition if you wish, then let's get back to where we need to go." He drops the four 3d10 30' radius bombs he brought with him, pushing them away so they each descend in a slightly differnt arc this way or that.

The druid then carries the sorcerer back to the Iron Giant at 88 mph for about 7 rounds, then at slightly over 71 mph for another 7 minutes. After that, he slows to 28.5 mph until they make it to the Iron Giant and the Tower.

Back at the Iron Giant
Murphy looks over those assembled working on the grounds, and talks with the various members of the Sword. "I can cast Move Earth and help big time with the berms. Bliss, I have the spells you asked about. Good ideas." By the time he and Talia return, there should not be much less than 5 and a half hours before the giants arrive. He casts move earth, and begins to move massive amounts to earth to help channel the giants, and defend against them.
================
Perception: 52

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Wednesday August 7th, 2019 8:37:59 PM
Pressi just waits until she can slap the first person who shouts “I’m king of the world.”

DM Carl 
Wednesday August 7th, 2019 8:48:55 PM
Bliss ensures the defenders know they're to hold the line, not press the enemy.

It's an odd juxtaposition. You have a rag-tag bunch of militia from Humble's Ford alongside trained and highly disciplined soliders from Angel Springs. Still, one does not walk into the homes of halflings and expect them to take it lying down...

Bliss plans to funnel the giants towards the Iron Giant. A good idea; that thing can take a lot more of a beating than any halfling here.

Succotash is having a slow afternoon. To be expected, but he'll have lots to do very soon.

Kezzem gives a rousing speech. No one heard it, but by golly it was impressive. Candy seems moved.

Murphy takes the fight to the giants. Your narrator has to wonder what he hopes to accomplish with this. There are hundreds of giants; over a thousand, in fact! He slams a few of them. He picks up others. Heck, let's say he kills everyone he touches. Next time he swoops by, they'll have prepared actions to attack. Our druid is brave, but he's attacking a macro problem with micro solutions. His control weather/winds spells and spike strips have accomplished much, but there are too many for the direct attacks of one halfling to make a real difference.

Your narrator is trying to be helpful, not mean.

Pressi prepares to slap folks back to reality...subjective as that can be in this situation.

Back at the Giant, Murphy assists Bliss with moving earth to make berms. Between the efforts, they ensure the assembled halflings are not subject to ranged attacks by incoming giants until they're almost upon them. No doubt they've saved many lives with their actions.

***

With everyone back at the Iron Giant, I'm calling it. The giant army arrives and combat begins tomorrow. There have been solid defenses put in place that will have a real effect on the battle.

I'll award XP and all that tomorrow as well. Good job, folks.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Thursday August 8th, 2019 5:41:06 AM
Succotash listens to Murphy's recap of his doings at the giants advance, and he smiles a bit, though he realizes it is just a drop in the proverbial bucket, compared to the carnage that is just over the horizon. He gathers his friends together, and says, "Friends, or as I like to think, brothers and sisters, we are about to face possibly the most difficult encounter of our lives, to date. I will do what I can in the Iron Giant, and I know that you all will be doing your parts as well, but our greatest assets this day isn't the Iron Giant or it's armaments, or even our abilities as adventures, it's our heart! our love for our home, our fellow halflings, and each other is what will see us through this day. So let us spend these last few moments in prayer to our deities not just asking for protection, but also thanking them for the victory that is surly ours on this monumental day".

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Thursday August 8th, 2019 10:40:26 AM
"Halflings....huddle," says Kezzem.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128  d20+33=49 ;
Thursday August 8th, 2019 5:34:09 PM

[OOC: I did not see your observations as mean at all. To respond to your questions, Carl: Without the support of the air elementals, Murphy planned only for a single pass - which was performed. Why? Small acts affecting a small percentage of people directly can affect large groups of people. He wanted to affect morale, if only by a relatively small action (referring to single whirlwind pass, pickup and dropoff of a few giants), and a few explosions. Make some think twice. No way he thought in any wise this would be a deciding factor. But influencing, a bit, by killing/wounding 1/10th of 1%? That was his aim. Was hoping Talia might have tossed her bombs, too, and her spells helped him to do what he did.]

Murphy spends a little time with the two dozen elder air elementals. "I am Murphy. We spread our wings in the updraft of the winds," - an air elemental phrase of gratitude in the Auran tongue. He lets them know of how things went with the giants as they left the Scab and began their southward march toward the tower. "I can invoke gale-force winds to slow up the giants when they are just out of reach of the missiles from the Iron Giant, to help tire them. Might you wish to attack them in that environment? Or up closer to the tower?" he gets their views, if they wish to share them, on what role they expect to play - or even to hear if they plan simply to see what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Murphy coordinates with fellow members of the Sword to determine the optimal placement of the following (perhaps once we have a map, I can place the area-affecting locales in appropriate spots thereon).

After setting up the berm(s), Murphy begins drenching via create water an area through which a portion of the giants will need to pass, 65'x20'. After perhaps 20-30 minutes of soaking it, he warns people to stay off, then casts soften earth and stone over the area, which now consists of mud about 3-4' deep.

At some handy spot - perhaps not too far from the mud - the druid casts spike growth, 260'x20' - or maybe he waits until he knows the layout better.

He speaks with the Angel Spring knights for a few minutes, finds out their ideas on fighting the giants - and lets them know of areas to avoid, due to battlefield hazards. Speaking of, he ensures that channels exist to allow them through. He speaks with his friends and neighbors from Humble's Ford, thanks them, encourages them, cautions here and there.
"Generations back, our forebearers faced a similar crisis. Sorry I'm in an elemental form - this is Murphy here, talking, in case you were wondering. Heaven bless our air elemental friends who are here to help us. Missus Stonethrow, that is a fine skillet you are wielding. We beat back the giants, and the then brand-new towers fried many of the rest. Just three days ago I heard a hill giant father tell his son how tasty halflings are. Looks like our generation gets to remind the nasty giants of that lesson again. Don't mess with halflings. May we walk in the bravery of Domi, the righteousness of Alemi, the love of family of Flower. May Eberyon help guide, he who was reborn of a halfling, and raise up nature against the giants. We defend those whom we love. We of Humble's Sword love you of Humble's Ford. For now, we fight together, each as he and she is able. Now that stone was well slung, there, Cabby," he tells an older boy who stacked three stones, and knocked out the middle one, with the top one landing to rest on top of the bottom. "You hit between the stones. Soon you can aim between the eyes - or in the eyes."
Murphy then joins his friends, gathering with Pilot Succotash. "Good words. Oh, a note, let us be alert, in case there are clerics or other spell casters among them, and focus on taking them down. Yes, let us pray." And Murphy joins others with invocations, adoration and petitions.

And concludes with a big airy group hug.

"Open the visor, would you, Succotash? I'm flying high to see their progress." He flies high, and looks to see how far off they are.
==============
Perception: 49

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90 
Thursday August 8th, 2019 7:37:17 PM
Now that Talia is once again at the Iron Giant, she will take a defensive position on the Giant awaiting the impending battle!

Spells in Effect

Overland Flight | 780 minutes
Mage Armor | 780 minutes
Stoneskin | 130 minutes

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Thursday August 8th, 2019 9:03:10 PM
Bliss is stationed on the lowest rampart -- knee level? He has cast his Barkskins. He is waiting for the enemy to come close -- then he will cast his Entangle and Wall of Thorns. Then, after that, it will be time to cast Extended Divine Favor and Polymorph.

Pressi (Melvin) - AC 22, HP 112, CMD 22; Harper AC 23, HP 61, CMD 23  
Thursday August 8th, 2019 11:01:50 PM
Pressi continues to watch at the catapult.

DM Carl 
Friday August 9th, 2019 10:59:14 AM
Succotash gives a rousing speech as Kezzem calls everyone to attention.

Murphy coordinates battlefield defenses and addresses the assembled halfling defenders.

OOC: I'd appreciate you putting your defenses directly on a map I'm providing at the end of this post.

Talia was able to drop her bombs during Murphy's attack, only to discover they had no effect.

Knowledge, Arcana DC 19, Highlight to display spoiler: {Likely the magic ammunition from the Iron Giant needs to be in proximity to the Giant to work, much like the gears and teleportation cloak. Solid idea, though.}

She takes position on the Giant, as do Bliss and Pressi.

***

Apologies for getting this up today instead of yesterday. Got an unexpected priority project at work and had contractors at the house installing new attic fans until later than I would have imagined.

The battle is about to start, but I'd like any defenses put on this map. That includes spells, berms, anything. It will influence where the giants actually get placed initially during the fight.

Keep in mind the upcoming fight is an abstraction. The defenses will need to hold for about an hour, but that's like...600 rounds of combat. Actual combat will last two real-world weeks. The results and casualties on both sides will be extrapolated from your performance.

I'm awarding 40k XP for solid prep work for the upcoming battle. I'm also awarding a hero point to Kezzem for radicalizing the Ford's youth, and to Succotash and Murphy for allowing a magic construct to infect their brains. As always, I'll entertain nominations for things that I may have forgotten. My old man brain forgets stuff.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24 
Friday August 9th, 2019 12:58:45 PM
Kezzem steps on Succo's flying carpet and takes his position at the ballista.

Talia (Jon-Paul) AC 32 | CMB 5 | CMD 27 | HP 90/90  d20+21=38 ;
Friday August 9th, 2019 1:00:58 PM
The Murphy Offense

Talia, hearing that the Catapult ammunition didn't work as planned, thinks about why this could be. [Skill Check Arcana: 38]

"Eureka! Think I have it", says Talia Aloud! "It could be related to this Iron Giant! How everything only works in and around it. Dang, I wished I would have remembered that! Oh Well...next time."

Iron Giant Offense| Defensive

Reaching in her pockets {Bill's Stylish Pants ol' Plenty} & her Haversack, she recalls she still has the Alchemical Surprise sacks!

When able, Talia will fly up about 100 feet and drop her surprise alchemical sack on the approaching Giants!

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Friday August 9th, 2019 1:11:47 PM

Bliss takes the west defense, leaving the east defense to Murphy. He casts a few Message spells to be able to chat to friends within range ... only within 200 ft, alas.

[See map: The Plant Growth quarter-circle is on the map, plus a Wall of Thorns and an Entangle]

Looking over his handiwork, Bliss is pleased. The Wall is ten feet high, 200 ft long, but only 5 ft wide, alas. Still, it will have to do. The Entangle is only a little thing on a battlefield. But Bliss only has the one. Bliss expresses this to Mookie, and the raven says, "Well, that PLant Growth is the ticket."

"True dat," says Bliss.

==========

"Mister Murphy, if you have another Entangle to cast for me, maybe one right there would be nice," Bliss says, pointing.

==========

"Good Luck, everybody!" says Bliss, to those within 200 ft.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Friday August 9th, 2019 5:30:05 PM
Succotash lets everyone know that he is closing the windshield in preparation for the fight to come. He then raises the right arm of the Iron Giant and grasps the forearm with the left arm in preparation of firing a Divine Thunder as soon as a the giants come within 200ft.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128 
Friday August 9th, 2019 8:21:26 PM

Feel free to take a look at the map as it stands. I know that we would have had a chance to discuss placement of things with each other prior to actually doing so - as it would have taken a bit over four hours for Murphy's earth movement to create the berming, plus time for others to plan, lay down spells, etc. Please comment on what Cayzle (Bliss) and Kim (Murphy) have done - and there should be room for edits, tweaks, to figure out:
- How to channel our opponents
- How to best coordinate obstacles / defenses to keep giants out of the areas we want to keep them out of
- How to allow our foot soldiers, militia, knights, cavalry, et al to get where they need to go
With Murphy's move earth spell, I have shown how he pushed much dirt up from farther away to make a two-stage berm. Farther away - about 20' below normal grade. Nearer, 25' above grade (so there's a 45' wall the giants will face initially), nearer still 20' above grade, and nearest are ramps allowing halflings to get up on to the ramparts to sling stones, loose arrows and crossbow bolts, or throw used laundry water on the heads of giants below.

Of course, giants can throw stones at those above them, so how to deal with that will be an issue. If some of the citizens and others have the time to develop crenellations or some sort of shelter, that may help. Murphy did not have any mud to stone spells prepared for today, so he can't particularly help with that. Unless some scrolls were available.

Are the proposed placements of Bliss's plant growth and Murphy's good, or can better placement / channeling be done? By the way, Murphy uses within the Iron Giant two of the gems capable of using to cast 3rd-level spells to power his spike growth and plant growth, so that he can again call on those spells while outside the Iron Giant. Both are within range of the spells he casts from within the construct.

DM Carl - Murphy also would have consulted early on with the mounted troops from Angel Springs. He knows they will want to be able to engage with the giants. Please give me their feedback on what he has planned, and whether the berming needs to be laid down other than what he has done.

Bliss HP124/124 AC31 | Mookie HP59/59 AC37 | Cayzle 
Friday August 9th, 2019 8:39:26 PM
Oh by the way, the ditch and bermworks that Bliss supervised and helped with is all off map to help give the volunteers and militia cover. They need it more than we do!

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128 
Friday August 9th, 2019 8:48:35 PM

Padding / armor on north half of tower. If our town's armorers have a means of hanging defensive shielding, armor, padding, support along a good portion of the north half of the tower - something to absorb some of the damage from incoming stones - see if there is something that can be hastily devised...

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128 
Saturday August 10th, 2019 6:27:00 AM

A couple of suggestions:
- Bliss might want to wait until giants show up before casting entangle. Murphy plans to wait on his. He can cast more than one.
- Succotash might want to let a dozen or so giants through to get their feet stabbed by spike growth before he blasts - then blast those coming behind. We should be able to take care of the first ones through after they are all limping. That way you won't blast the furthest section of spike growth before it has done its work.

DM Carl 
Saturday August 10th, 2019 9:07:20 PM
Kezzem is ready to start putting holes in giants.

Talia figures out why the ammo isn't working, which is unfortunate, but such is life. She is prepared to attack.

OOC: Note to JP - this close to the Iron Giant, the ammo functions normally.

Bliss and Murphy tackle the defensive fortifications. They are both very thorough.

OOC: All the other halfling defenders are playing defensively, holding the line until Tiana, Succotash, and the Encompassing Mind finish fixing the tower.

Murphy also suggests some armor on the north facing side of the tower. It's a good idea, but unless they can magic up something, there's just not enough time to measure, make, and install armor on the tower. Maybe some vines growing up it would help hold the thing together and provide some padding?

***

I don't want to actually start combat on a Saturday post. Consider this one more round to get your planning done.

Yea, it's lazy of me, but woosh...my weekends are killer, dudes.

Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 30*, touch AC 19*; HP 162/162*, CMD 30*; Shield Other (Candy, Erbin); Rumpus - AC 25, touch 14; HP 62/62, CMD 24  d20+19=33 ; 20d10=112 ; d10=9 ;
Sunday August 11th, 2019 1:21:58 AM
Kezzem readies an attack with a wooden ballista bolt on the first giant (or other giant-allied creature) to come in range that appears to be either casting a spell or barking orders.

Attack: 1d20 + 19 = 33.
Damage: 20d10 = 112.
Bleed: 9.

Succotash (Jeremy) AC 29/15/28 CMD 31 HP 135/135 Miss Piggy AC 30/12/28 CMD 25 HP 105/105 
Sunday August 11th, 2019 12:36:52 PM
Succotash listens to Murphy's suggestion, then says, "The blast from the divine thunder will leave a sizable crater, around 30ft in diameter, so my plan will be to use the blasts to both drop giants, and create additional barriers to slow them down, and funnel them where we want them, without destroying any existing barriers".

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128  d20+11=21 ; d20+11=16 ; d20+11=20 ; d20+11=15 ; d20+11=18 ; d20+11=27 ; d20+11=14 ; d20+11=15 ; d20+11=17 ; d20+11=19 ; d20+11=18 ; d20+11=18 ; d20+11=26 ;
Sunday August 11th, 2019 5:51:40 PM
"On a day such as today, I should like to have about 180 Hobie Browncloaks," Murphy tells Bliss and Talia - and whoever else may be in earshot. "Nevertheless, having one Iron Giant is not a bad substitute."

Somehow or other, a notion occurs to him. "Vines. Let us fortify the Giant Tower with vines. A natural lattice work to anchor the stones, and absorb and ameliorate blows which may chance from the clubs or stones of giants."

Murphy finds ivy shoots. He plants them not far from the base of the stony tower to grow up and surround it. From within the Iron Giant, using one of the gems kept therein which allow channeling of spell power, he casts plant growth on the vines he just placed there, and in the weaving of nature's power the rapidly ascending vines reach out, tentatively, then with growing strength, glueing themselves and thickening stout, yielding leaves of green, attached to limb-like tendrils. Up and up the tall tower the vines sprout, and age, and grow in strength. Now, given time, such vines can damage stone. But these are here for today, for such as time as this, and will buttress with pliable, woody vines the firm stone which lies underneath.

"I'll call this Eberyon's Shield," he tells those who see it. "Eberyon's Ivy."
=========
Note: above rolls for next post

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128 
Sunday August 11th, 2019 11:39:50 PM

(Hurricane-force) Control Winds:
When the giants are about 500 feet away, Murphy casts for the second time today control winds. He fashions it such that it drives those inside to the center of the maelstrom. Hurricane-force winds in the form of an updraft blows from the outer edges in toward the center in equal strength from all directions, veering upward before impinging on the eye in the center (a 40' radius area of calm). The southernmost area of the winds can be seen in the four arrows at the top of the Giant and Halflings vs the Invading Giants map.

Murphy (Kim) Druid(13) Huge Air Elemental AC 28 HP 128  d20+33=40 ;
Sunday August 11th, 2019 11:58:31 PM

Murphy talks with Bliss, and with Talia, both of whom have wands, as does Murphy himself, about making use of theirs briefly, taking advantage of the Use Magic Device skill (which is sorely in need of bumping up in the future).

Murphy has one spell already in force. He casts additional spells, including some via the Use Magical Device skill using wands. If the DM would like the details, I can provide them - but suffice it to say, I kept close track of time required, retries on UMD (1d20+11 rolls from a couple posts above), total time spent, and spell times remaining. Here are the results as Murphy goes forth to do things as the giants arrive on the map.

Results: Spells in effect and remaining durations as he flies forth:
Longstrider 419 minutes
Freedom of Movement 779 minutes
Resist Energy (Fire 30) 129 minutes
Stoneskin 129 minutes
Mage Armor 59 minutes
Call Lightning Storm 12 minutes
Hide from Undead 9 minutes 2 rounds
Protection from Evil 10 rounds
Entropic Shield 4 rounds
===========
Perception: 40

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