Home > Campaigns > Book 4, Chapter 10 - Two Close Calls
Two Close Calls
Our brief journey with the dwarves came to an end at a split in the path. They recommended that we turn to the west, but that they wanted to continue to their home in the north. We thanked them for their company, and gave them 1500 gold to share.
The trail we took became very narrow, with steep drops on the sides. We had to walk the horses through most of it. At one point, we were walking under an overhang when suddenly part of the cliff collapsed on Mical, who was leading. He was knocked over, and when he tried to stand, the rock stuck to him! I cast 'magic missile' at the mimic, getting two of the orbs to strike with one spell. Lagasse and Lyra attacked cautiously, afraid of hitting Mical.
Mical pulled it off of him only to have it whack him in the head with a pseudopod. He fell and did not move. It then slithered toward Lagasse, who hit it many times, nearly killing it in a matter of moments. It somehow slipped past his defenses and stuck to his arm, causing him to drop his sword.
The sword balanced precariously on the edge of the cliff, so I dove for it. Lyra cast 'cure light wounds' three times for Mical, but it did not seem to help much. She then stabbed the mimic, killing it. We stumbled to a small cave nearby to rest, where Mical came to and healed himself.
The sky was cloudy as we continued on our way the next day. Not far from the mimic's lair were three boulders blocking the path ahead. We stopped to think of the best way around when a large boulder flew through the air. Looking up, we saw a hill giant on the cliff above us. The rock barely missed Lagasse and me. It kept throwing huge stones at us, hitting Mical and Lyra. I cast 'magic missile' at the giant's head from behind a boulder, then ran to where the others were cowering against the wall. A rock slammed into the ground right where I had been standing!
Lyra cast 'summon insect.' Flying insects showed up in a cloud all around the monster, biting and stinging him. He bellowed and swatted madly. We all crept toward an opening between two of the boulders. The horses nearly didn't fit. Mical was the first through, and charged toward the giant, shooting arrows as he ran.
The giant turned and growled. It dropped its bag of stones and raised its club (actually a medium sized tree). Most of Mical's arrows bounced right off of its leathery hide, then both he and Lagasse got good hits. Roaring with anger, the giant slammed Mical with the club. Mical flew through the air and landed hard, barely moving. Blood leaked from his nose and mouth. It caught Lagasse too, but he was able to keep fighting. Lyra began casting 'prayer' just as Lagasse stabbed the giant through its navel.
Lyra healed Mical, who then healed Lagasse. The giant had no treasure, other than its bag of worthless rocks. We kept going, as it was too early to rest. Finally, the path began going down. Near the end of the day, we could see a valley below. As we looked on, multiple campfires were lit. Mical suddenly jumped off his horse and sniffed the air. "Orcs," he snarled. "I hate orcs." We sighed, knowing that there was probably no way around the confrontation ahead.
