The Thrice-Blessed IC

[Ridai]

"I can help with ambushes, but not with keeping a fight quiet. However, if the giants are spread out, with everything that is going on, the sound might not carry that far, and we could be gone again before anyone comes to check."

"How do you want to tackle this? Can pick where we enter the town. Sweep to take 'em out? Make for the ship?" Drufi asks.

(Due to the fog, everything beyond 60ft has total concealment once you are in town.)

[MikelaC1]

We go in and try to be quiet, take them out one or two at a time, to make sure we dont get overwhelmed by numbers. Hopefully we have enough of them dropped before they realize whats going on to mount a resistance. The ship would allow them to send a bunch of them at us at once and Im not even sure its a useful target for us. We're only doing this to enhance the legend of the two good frost giantesses with their human partner after all.

[MikelaC1]

With that said, Shiver assumes her giantess size, draws her sword and starts to move into the fog.

[Ridai]

Drufi nods, changing her size and drawing her axe. Sìle flies up a little, asking "Mistress Drufi, may I share your stealth talents with Mistress Slissht and myself?" Drufi looks a little confused at this. She knows some of Sìle's peculiar talents by now, but not this one. "You can do that?" Sìle simply nods, to which Drufi motions for the human to go ahead.

Shiver soon after experiences what it feels like for Drufi to stalk through fields of snow and icy forests, unhindered by her massive size, with smooth, even motions evoking the feeling of feline grace. Drufi is surprised to see the effects so obviously and immediately on Shiver, but she soon gets going to get on with their task at hand. Sìle also infuses the giantesses with magic, shielding them from harm.

It is an easy task to clamber over the wall under the cover of the fog. No one seems to man the walls anymore, and inside Port Llast, the damage the giants wrought is obvious. Bodies of citizens squashed and cloven on the street, waggons smashed and overturned, some homes torn open and ransacked. They spot no non-giants on the streets, the survivors likely hiding in their homes or wherever they could.

It does not take long to find their first targets. The frost giants do not care even a little about keeping quiet, so their heavy steps and their voices allow the silent huntresses to close in on them with ease. Still in the rough vicinity of the gate, two male frost giants are collecting abandoned barrels, presumably filled with drink or other supplies, human-sized corpses strewn about. Shiver and Drufi managed to get close, within move-and-attack distance. Drufi tenses for the upcoming fight, knowing they will need to push their advantage against the frost giants' superior reach and strength, whether or not they themselves are formidable as well.

In accordance with Shiver's wishes, Sìle does not draw on her more destructive spells, instead doing a quick incantation, causing a burst of golden glitter between the giants, both of them soon pawing at their eyes while swearing.

(Shiver's turn. Due to Sìle's magic, both Shiver's and Drufi's armor bonus to AC increases by +2, while also receiving a +3 deflection bonus to AC for the length of their operation in Port Llast. Both giants are blind and thus can't make attacks of opportunity for Shiver getting into attack range. I will use this fight to extrapolate a few more encounters after this, since it would take a long while to run every single encounter and a lot of them going down more or less the same, instead focusing on the more different ones ahead. If this fight goes well, the ones after this will do as well.)

[MikelaC1]

For now, Shiver holds off on activating her rage, knowing that it leaves her in a weakened state when it wears off. Instead. she relies on speed and power, attacking quickly with her greatsword twice before the males are even aware she is there.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+18)[28] attack & (3d6+16)[34] damage
(1d20+13)[30] attack & (3d6+16)[28] damage

[Ridai]

The frost giantesses rush the males in unison. There is a time for each warrior claiming their own targets and kills, but Drufi judges this to not be one of those times, so she goes for the same giant as Shiver, while Sìle intuitively follows their lead. Sìle sends a small orb of fire, searing the male, before he is viciously cut down by the giantesses. They might be diminished in height and strength from their prime, but evidently, even their current state is more than enough to fell one of their own. The remaining male flails his sword in Shiver's and Drufi's direction, but fails miserably at even remotely hitting either.

Spoiler: OOC

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Shiver's turn. The remaining male just completely failed his miss chances and attack rolls. Holy moly the damage output of Shiver and Drufi. Shiver did almost half of the frost giant's HP in damage, Drufi was not far behind. Sìle basically only had to contribute the last sliver to finish the giant off. I honestly wasn't too sure how facing frost giants at this point would pan out, but evidently, it is working out great.

Also, question: if Shiver encounters a female raider in Port Llast, does this change anything for her in terms of how she deals with her?

[MikelaC1]

Spoiler: Females

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As far as Shiver is concerned, any female in the raiding party has thrown in their lot with Storvald and is the enemy. Unless they do something to show a different allegiance and not just when faced with Shiver's blade.

Shiver keeps going, once again her blade swings twice, aiming to take down a second giant before he can raise an alarm

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+18)[33] attack & (3d6+16)[27] damage
1d20+13[/roll] attack & (3d6+16)[29] damage

[MikelaC1]

Spoiler: Botched attack roll

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(1d20+13)[21]

ten characters

[Ridai]

Sword and axe swing, Drufi putting extra power behind her strikes. Where one may have left openings, the other steps right in, causing a barrage of attacks as oppressive as catching a target in a pincer maneuver. Shiver and Drufi know each other's fighting style in and out from the many, many sparring duels together, Drufi perhaps the only woman of the clan who almost managed to beat Shiver on occasion. Facing Shiver in single combat was already a big ask, often more a rite of passage to get demolished by her, or to set someone's head straight. Facing Shiver and Drufi was downright terrifying, and at the height of their power, hardly anyone dared to. Not since they thoroughly dominated in the last inter-clan melee.

As such, the blinded frost giant stands no chance, soon collapsing in a pile of gore. What valuables the males had is quickly taken, and under Drufi's and Sìle's guidance, they disappear back into the fog. A human girl watched the scene from her hideout, her eyes wide and full of hope as the giantesses and their human companion swept in deliver swift retribution on the raiders, only to head back into the mists to stalk new prey, like beautiful avenging angels.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please give me a Move Silently check. You effectively have Drufi's 11 ranks, and also receive a +4 from Sìle aiding, so a total modifier of +16. This will determine how many of the less remarkable raiders the group is able to take out before things will get loud.

Shiver notices that as long as a target is threatened by her and Drufi at the same time, the target counts as flanked.

Well, I given how easily Shiver and Drufi are able to tear apart frost giants, it seems like Shiver will grow her glory faster than anticipated. And what a wrecking machine she will be at full strength and beyond.

[MikelaC1]

Just to let you know, with the Ordnng down, not only do I have intention of upending Storvald's reign, I would like to see frost giants in general supplant fire giants as third in rank and if we get really lucky, maybe even the clouds

With that said, Shiver leads the way, just as silent and deadly as Drufi

Spoiler: Move Silently

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(d20+16)[32]

[Ridai]

Drufi casts a look to Shiver. Still crazy to think the Ordning is no more. "First we need to get you on the throne. When you emerge from the flood of clansmen wishing to be your mate and endured the skalds' songs of your lineage, we can talk the rest."

The giantesses and their human companion stalk the foggy streets, and their efforts are fruitful indeed. Five times they encounter giants in the streets, three pairs, two individuals, some of them female and very much onboard with Storvald, as might makes right in their minds. Five times, the frightened people of Port Llast who manage to observe what happens see the women who will eventually become known as the avenging angels of Port Llast leave their opponents dead in the street before sinking back into the fog. As they go about their business, Shiver and Drufi begin to put together that this is indeed a raid coming from their clan, a mixture of "original" clansmen and parts of the clans that have been absorbed into its now massive size. By her estimation of raid logistics and there being only one dragonboat, Shiver would say they cut the strength of the raid roughly in half, give or take.

Their sweep brings them closer to the harbor where Shiver sees an... unusual sight. They once again find frost giants, three of them this time. An imposing male wearing furs and trinkets identifying him as a shaman, laughing as he watches a subordinate female torment a smaller, thinner male without any sort of armor trying to load stolen goods onto a large waggon were it not for the female kicking him to the floor over and over. Such a sight is not like anything Shiver remembers from her clan where most males seek to make females subservient as the "weaker" gender as opposed to most frost giant clans. Drufi is heard sighing quietly:

"Right, you don't know this yet. While you were away and Storvald took over more clans, the views he imposed on the clan became more drastic. Beyond conditioning women to become servants of men, he also created clear enemies. Other clans are to be subjugated, small folk to be enslaved or squashed, dragons even moreso. He got into people's heads, focusing their hate on those. But he also wants to create a supreme race for the new age. So another enemy he created were men that do not fit Storvald's ideals." She gestures to the weaker male getting kicked on the floor. Shiver remembers him asking her or Drufi for training to defend his family, and that she has barely ever won a duel. "That is Kassun, now an 'omega' of the clan. His particular crimes are that he was born weaker and less aggressive than most males. Every other clan would have had a place for someone unfit for raids as a protector of homes and to raise children. With women gradually pushed to be that, the 'omegas' are basically slaves with no rights. Claimed to be a reminder of weakness to be avoided and abhorred, and an opportunity for men but especially women to vent their frustrations. It has proven successful so far, several women having been basically brainwashed or convinced into following Storvald's way." A short pause. "In the few months you were gone, maybe three to four of those boys and men were battered to death each month, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose." Outside of special circumstances, a normal-sized clan losing that many people each month without any sort of raids or battles going on would be alarming. Needless to say, if there is a fight, Shiver doubts Kassun would fight her.

Looking at the scenery, a few opportunities are available. A front assault is easily doable, the female being the closest target, with the way to the shaman obstructed by the other two giants and the wagon. In human size, Shiver and/or Drufi could climb onto nearby roofs and begin their attack from above by jumping down in giant size. Lure some of them away via trickery. Or something else entirely.

Shiver's experience also tells her that while small folk shamans usually face trade-offs, their magic making them lesser combatants, this is rarely the case with giants. The shaman likely is basically a frost giant+, able to fight like at least an average specimen of his race while also having access to runic magic.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver pulls her group back behind a corner and motions for Drufi to ready her weapon. She points at Sile cry out weakly for help, like you are on your last legs. One or two of them will come looking to have some fun, instead they will find Drufi and I.

[Ridai]

Drufi readies as Sìle nods. Her sure, even, and full voice is soon replaced by a strained, wavering, and desperate one. "Help... someone... anyone... please, help me... please... can anyone... hear me...?" And if Shiver didn't know what was going on, she would not recognize Sìle and assume this was someone on the brink of death. Soon enough, they hear heavy footsteps. They cannot see who is coming, but Sìle continues for a little moment, before faking a startle sound, as if having noticed the giant having heard her and trying to be silent, just to sell it a little more.

The shaman rounds the corner.

Time to spring the trap.

[MikelaC1]

The shaman Shiver thinks, how perfect She had worried about the shaman casting spells while the underlings kept her at bay, now they get him undefended. Her sword cuts with deadly force, timing with Drufi for maximum effect.

Spoiler: rolls

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(1d20+18)[32] attack & (3d6+16)[22] damage
(1d20+13)[26] attack & (3d6+16)[30] damage

EDIT: didnt add flanking bonus, so +2 on both of those rolls

[Ridai]

In unison, Shiver and Drufi begin their assault as they have multiple times in recent history, which always led to a dead giant on the floor. But this time, a lot of things happen at once. Their strikes connect, but at the same time, Shiver sees an ise rune flash and a burst of ice and snow break forth from the shaman's form, halting their weapons before throwing the giantesses back several meters, the two of them crushing an overturned cart and a few barrels.

The shaman uses the moment of surprise to step forward and use his reach to snatch Sìle before she can finish casting her spell, his hand easily grasping the entirety of her head and upper torso, the human woman trying to free herself from the crushing grip.

And finally, there is a muted flash up above the deep fog, and the next moment, lightning strikes down upon Shiver and Drufi.

The giantesses have found a more formidable foe this time, but not an invulnerable one, as evidenced by the blood on their blades. The shaman may have lessened the harm brought upon him with this armor of ice he is now wearing, but not avoided it. The sudden lightning strike will most likely have alerted the rest of the frost giants, though it may still take a while for them to check what happened.

The frost giant female, however, comes rushing around the corner, putting herself between the shaman and the giantesses, slashing once at Shiver, but it goes wide. There is a flash of recognition, seeing the exemplar of their clan's women and her second, causing a moment of hesitation.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please roll a Reflex save vs DC 17 or take 46 electricity damage (save halves). Drufi failed her save and since she lacks the barbarian d12 HDs and doesn't have as much Constitution as Shiver, she is at about 60% HP.

Shiver's turn. Shiver and Drufi are now 30ft away from the shaman, and 15ft away from the female frost giant who is standing between the shaman and the giantesses, putting her just outside Shiver's and Drufi's reach (before moving or a 5ft step, that is) while they are within her 15ft reach. To Shiver's left are a row of houses, to her right is the rest of the street's width, barely enough to get by a full-size frost giant. Sìle is grabbed by the shaman, rendering her unable to use verbal or somatic spell components at the moment and inflicting crushing damage on her every round she continues to be grabbed.

[MikelaC1]

Spoiler: REF

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(1d20+5)[15]

Damn finger wigglers and their magical defenses...and now she has to get through this stupid mewling female.
She roars at her opponent in an attempt to intimidate her
YES, YOU KNOW WHO I AM, RUN WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE CHANCE

Spoiler: Intimidate

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(1d20+22)[33]

Before slashing at her twice

Spoiler: Attacks

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(1d20+20)[21] attack & (3d6+16)[28] damage
(1d20+15)[18] attack & (3d6+16)[29] damage
flanking bonus is included

welp, that was a round of pissy rolls all over

[Ridai]

While Shiver's attacks do not find purchase in frost giant flesh, her female opponent is shaken regardless. She is one of their clan, meaning at least once, she has been utterly trounced in a duel against Shiver and has watched the very same happen to many, many others. Now she is stuck between her superior and a living legend, and her earlier sadistic bluster with which she tormented someone weaker than herself seems to just evaporate.

Drufi uses the opening to shift around the female opponent, using a dead angle and perhaps a good portion of luck to prevent the shaman from trying to swing at her for merely closing in. The shaman, thinking an attack is incoming, raises his hand to defend against it. The one strangling and crushing Sìle. Try and attack me, see if you are willing to go through your little friend for me. What he wasn't prepared for is Drufi yanking his meaty thumb back, pulling Sìle out of his grip almost like a ragdoll.

Shiver's servant-sorceress gasps for air as is set onto the ground roughly (not out of neglect, there just is no time for niceties right now), but with the first gulp of air and lungs no longer being crushed, she sends a tiny bead of light into the air directly above the combatants. There is one thing frost giants hate, or perhaps, fear. Fire.

The bead erupts into a roaring ball of fire in the air, mere feet above Shiver's and Drufi's heads, but very much engulfing those of the shaman and the female. Or at least trying to, both giants managing to duck and avoid the worst of it, but not even remotely escaping unharmed. The shaman's magic ice armor has been melted off of him.

The female screams, her frost giant nature intensifying the searing pain, stumbling. The shaman casts a disgusted look at her. "Pathetic," he says in the giant tongue and simply kicks her, making her stumble towards Shiver, who simply dodges. Now Shiver's path is no longer obstructed.

Angry at the insolence of these women, but especially the damn human, the shaman points his hand to the sky again, calling down another lightning strike, this time centered on Sìle. However, Drufi and Sìle are prepared, getting out of the way, avoiding the worst. Shiver is too far away to be in any danger of the attack.

"Godsdamned bastard," Drufi snarls, leveling her axe against the shaman, wordlessly inviting Drufi to mess him up with her as she bodily shields Sìle.

Spoiler: OOC

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Due to Shiver's intimidation, the female didn't try to AoO Drufi. Drufi used an ability to avoid AoOs from the shaman and succeeded in an opposed grapple check to free Sìle. Sìle in turn used her metamagic reductions, especially for fireball, to cast an empowered fireball at the two giant enemies, who both rolled just astoundingly well, making their saves, each taking 42 damage due to the frost giant vulnerability to fire. Drufi and Sìle both made their saves against the lightning strike. Due to the fireball and the intimidation, the female frost giant is effectively out of the fight, though very much alive.

Shiver's turn, 104/150 HP. Drufi and Sìle are below half max HP. The shaman is moderately wounded and no longer shielded by ice. The female has light to moderate wounds, currently on the floor and out of Shiver's way.

[MikelaC1]

With the shaman's attention focused on Drufi, Shiver takes the opportunity to come at his side. She passes on making her usual roaring challenge, hoping to catch him totally off guard, with his focus elsewhere.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+20)[25] attack & (3d6+16)[21] damage
(1d20+15)[25] attack & (3d6+16)[21] damage

[Ridai]

Fog swirling around Shiver's dashing form as she closes in, Drufi already beginning her attack to open the shaman up for Shiver, hammering her axe into him. The shaman tries to once again get the women off of him with his ice rune magic, but Shiver is too fast, too powerful, cutting and crushing right through the forming ace and through the shaman himself. The ground shakes as he tumbles to the ground, dead.

Sìle picks herself up off the ground, taking a deep breath to steady herself again. "Please excuse the sloppy conduct of mine."

The female is still on the ground, groaning because of the fireball's aftereffects. At the corner where Shiver executed her ambush not long ago, Kassun peers around the corner, holding his side where he was kicked and looking smaller than he is, hunched from the pain as his posture is. Getting a closer look, Shiver sees plenty of signs of physical abuse, malnutrition, sleep deprivation, a collar with spikes pointing inwards, and severe slurs both carved and tattoo'd in his skin.

"I-If you want to fight the others, g-go to the harbor, Lady S-Slissht," he says in the Giant tongue, voice trembling from pain, and a certain fear as he is, right now, more or less committing treason by helping Shiver and Drufi. "Th-the ship's mostly unguarded, only two w-winter wolves are there, their howl will lure the others a-and they can only come from one direction there, n-not from everywhere like... like here."

Shiver knows the clan, like many frost giant clans, keeps a bunch of winter wolves as pets and attack dogs. Far more resilient than normal wolves and their additional lethality harmless to the cold-immune giants, they are an ideal fit, especially to take on raids. Sìle wordlessly lets Shiver know she detects no deception from the frost giant slave.

"Please don't kill her," Kassun also says, pointing to the scared female. "she... she doesn't know what she's doing. The jarl's... he's like a devil, whipping people into a frenzy."

[MikelaC1]

No apologies needed, the shaman had a few more defenses up than even I expected. But if you can spare a little curing for all of us, that would really be helpful She drags the quivering frost giantess next to the male. You are both free now, but I dont want to hear any more stories of maltreatment and believe me, I'll know if it happens. Storvald's reign is about to come to an end, so be ready for a new way of doing things.
She waits for whatever healing Sile can spare and then makes ready to head to the boat. Time to tame a few puppies

[Ridai]

"Yes, of course, right away," Sìle says, beginning to administer healing to the giants. Shiver and Drufi feel their wounds close and the warm, pleasant feeling of Sìle's healing magics. The male (now former) slave sees a fair bit of his bruises disappear, as well as the many tattoos and scars, while the female giant won't have to fear burn scars. The latter meekly assures Shiver that it will not happen again and thanks her for her mercy. "I regret to inform you that your growing stamina reserves are becoming somewhat taxing to heal. I will look into additional healing methods," Sìle mentions.

The male wants to say something as well, but like the others, he hears the distant calls of frost giants in the fog, so it appears he decides whatever it is can wait, gesturing for the heroines to go.

With the big confrontation not too far away now, Shiver and her group head back into the fog, hearing several frost giant voices from elsewhere in Port Llast, seeking to converge on where they saw fire and lightning. The fog makes pinpointing locations and distances difficult.

Soon, they reach the waterline. Vague outlines of wrecks are seen in the water, but most importantly the massive shape of the frost giant ship, not so much having been tied to a pier or having anchored themselves in place, rather having aground on what is left of two human ships. As is usually the case, the giants did not bother with a gangplank, tall enough to simply stand in the water of the harbor and not bothered by the cold. On the edge of vision, they see puffs of cold on the deck, most likely belonging to the winter wolves.

[MikelaC1]

We will need to look into getting you a wand or whatever else it is that the finger wigglers use to extend their resources, since we are just going to get stronger as we go along. That, or add a 4th member to our merry band, one whose talents are fully devoted to healing.

Shiver leads the way to the ship and once she sees it, motions to Drufi that they will board the same way as the giants disembarked. She swings Sile up on her shoulders as if she were a child watching a parade on a parents shoulders

[Ridai]

"A supply of wands may bankrupt you given your prodigious stamina now, moreso as you become stronger. I may have options available to me to satisfy your need for healing, but we should discuss this after dealing with the raiders."

The water is deep for Shiver and Drufi, lacking the full height of the frost giants, so they are in to almost their necks. Nevertheless, they make it to the massive dragonboat, looking bigger than what Shiver is used to due to her current size, and the giantesses pull themselves aboard. They see the two guarding canines, massive wolves the size of horses, with snow-white pelts, ice-blue eyes, and frosty breaths visible with every exhale, able to speak Common and Giant and far, far more intelligent than a common animal. They are on their feet, looking to the giantesses, sniffing the air. There is something defensive in their posture, and they do some growling, but there are also some curious head-tilts.

"Slissht?" one of the winter wolves asks, the other "Drufi?", both confused to see them here. The first speaks again. "Is that a new slave?" snout pointing to Sìle who by now is back on her own feet, along with a growl, confirming their defensiveness is because they don't know her. The second speaks: "Why do you smell like giant blood?"

Shiver can also see two frost giant women, chained to the deck and clad in barely anything. If she had to guess, they are the kind of women subjugated by Storvald's followers and deemed unfit for actually participating in raids, for whatever reason, the ones towards the bottom of the pecking order of the clan's women. They may or may not have it as bad as the omega-males, but "not as bad" may be very small comfort in this case.

[MikelaC1]

Slissht had always had a way with the dragons of the clan, often a couple of cows would go missing, they had been spirited away by Slissht to give to them, and she was the only one who didnt beat them until they cowered. The wolves were not quite the same, she didnt feed them but her treatment of them was certainly better than the jarl and his lieutenants.
Echo, Slider, its good to see you after so long she ruffles the fur on their necks You smell our blood, some of those stupid city folk put up a bit of a fight. And a bit of others when we helped bandage them. Has anything happened here?

[Ridai]

(Normally, I'd ask for a Bluff check, but Shiver has so much Charisma and Sìle is sharing her Bluff ranks and the winter wolves really aren't great at Sense Motive. It would be kind of silly to ask for it.)

Echo and Slider nuzzle into Shiver's hand a bit. "Some loot was brought back." and "We saw lightning and fire in the town."

[MikelaC1]

Shiver continues to pet the two wolves. How many more of you were brought, and how many warriors?

[Ridai]

Drufi has moved up as well, wordlessly greeting the winter wolves with pets of her own. Winter wolves are vicious, often merciless creatures, but they recognize the giantesses as stronger than them. And as ones who treat them better than most.

Echo says "We are the only wolves.", to which Slider adds "Twenty warriors and a shaman." Putting the number of still living warriors (not counting the female that surrendered) at 9.

Somewhere in the fog, in the direction of the rest of town, they hear distant shouts. Drufi gives a look indicating the other giants are coming closer, thus heading to the harbor.

Echo asks "Why did you come here?" There is no suspicion in the question, rather curiosity.

[MikelaC1]

We are taking over this mission...or rather, stopping it. We ae bringing in a new era of giant behavior, one that sees less violence and more prosperity. More meat for wolves too. You can be a part of this. Does that sound good to you?

[Ridai]

The wolves fall quiet, just enigmatic stares examining Shiver and Drufi, like they are wont to do when they size someone up. Moments pass, during which the chained female frost giants look to Shiver and Drufi after what Shiver just said, not daring to speak, but wondering if Shiver means it... and if she can actually pull this off. In the fog, they hear the frost giants drawing slowly closer to the harbor, their search for the perpetrators elsewhere having left them empty-handed save for the corpses of the other raiders.

Echo eventually speaks for both wolves. "Yes."

[MikelaC1]

Sile, is there any magic you can use that would blast the ships we are wedged between so that we could float free? That way, we could bombard the other giants as they try to board us.