Giant Trouble at Desert Flower

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Giant Trouble at Desert Flower
GM: Michael P.
Season: Spring 823 wk
Level: Medium/High
Place: Kelsie's place in Albany.(7pm start-time)

Party

1. Merco Mind Mage - Jono Bean
2. Lila Air/Celestial- Kelsie
3. Mungo Third Son Warrior - Michael M
4. Anooke Ice Mage- Michael H
5. Aurora Air Mage- Keith
6. Minerva Celestial Mage- Jacqui

Employer

THE OFFICIAL EMPOLYER is Prince Querkus

Mission

Prince Querkus was explicitly charged by Her Serenity, the [Elvish] Queen of Lilac to hire a guild party to swiftly “REDUCE” a hazard that “might” hazard. Her western neighbour-slash-nation, the self-styled “Militant Human Republic”, which also includes many native hobbits as well as shape-shifters [a.k.a. Vess’n or Wessen], … and quite a few of H.S.’s loyal subjects merely out for a wild night, week, or month of gambling, drinking, masked carnivals & other revelry… such as meeting or getting new faces professionally, getting cash or bargains from “pawn shops”, etc.

The Queen was impressed with the previous Guild party that incidentally somewhat foiled the Ice Giants that were plaguing towns in the M.H.R. Also, the Ice Giants created the new, permanent(!?) icecap over the Southern Pole.

The “Nothing-In-Writing or acknowledged (wink-wink) solution”

 The current leader of the Ice Giants — is still sometimes written Eyjafjatl but pronounced Ai-Yaah--FYAT-il   

' —— fortunately all the following Giant names have been written to approximate how they should be said... and any syllable entirely in capital letters is to be emphasized. 
In the past, some of the Lilac Giantish language was partially transcribed into the A-Z alphabet by Alusian linguists and other specialist … but FAR too many of the resulting syllables were STILL unsayable for ordinary or even extremely intelligent & literate people (e.g., Seagate adventurers). 

Anyway ... Eye-Yaah FEE-YAT-ill plans to CROWN HIMSELF King of the Giants and all to transform himself into a powerful Fire Mage … also, apparently, he will marry a grand-daughter of the infamous, dead Fire Giant King, Katla) --- whose name was ironically easy to say and to translate (it means Kettle!) ... it's Also the name of a spectacular magma-heated geyser.

Those Grand-daughters—– named for waterfalls or lakes from oldest to youngest are called:

1. FAT-le-goost = Most beautiful [of the granddaughters]; she’s also the most social.
2. Hinn-FAHTS-li = the Fallen one — because she is known, in many senses of the word, to be “higly experienced” … to say the least.
3. Mjög rólegur = Very tranquill
4. Meyja-gutlgerðarmaðurinn (a.k.a.Meyja-gutl) = [THE?] Maiden Alchemist (btw, ð is approximately said as “th”)
5. Gutlfoss meaning Golden Falls or possibly Golden Cascade — Presumed to be a poetic allusion to her distinctive hair.

IMPORTANT OFFICERS/COURTIERS of soon-to-be King Eyjafjatl (All male, of course, and named after famous, spectacular volcanos or geysers, some even useful or medicinal!)

1. Myvatn the Handsome, a famous alchemist &, importantly, a first or second cousin to all five would-be brides.
2. Jokul the Master spy: Allegedly "Jokul knows several succesful Assassins” (An unsubtle threat!). It is rumoured that Jokul can freeze things and people just by looking at them (It would be advisable to have a way of defeating or, at least, minimizing such an event.
3. Lagarfljot the Magician & “Bestest Master Brewer”: strongly suspected to be yet an other powerful alchemist. The curative effects of his various beers are legendary!

To be successful the Party must ensure that any planned or accidental GIANTISH wedding(s) do not Happen.

According to Prince Querkus’s Sage, “the best way to prevent the ill-omened wedding is to permanently prevent the marriage. (Well, duh!) — It is assumed that means Kill the pretender & his Princess-bride(s) and, just to be safe, any other heiresses as well; then scattering all the resulting mincemeat across several planes and worlds.

Pay & Rewards

The employer will give EACH partymember ONE somewhat PERMANENT Magical item

and another item only 1-use to 3-use "charged" item (perhaps a potion or scroll or similar)

ALL items deemed to be property of the Elvish Queen or of any of her officers or subjects MUST be returned to the Queen ... HOWEVER a reasonably generous finder's reward be paid to the Seagate party in cash or goods.

Scribe Notes

Day 1

1st Spring: Thaw 823

Guild meeting and party

We assembled in a Guild meeting room and introduced ourselves to each other. In order were:

• Anooke - a round hobbit Inuit ice mage from way up north. He had some sort of curse that meant we would keep forgetting who he was for a week or so.
• Minerva - human solar celestial merchant from the Lunar (Loony) Empire.
• Lila - elven female air/celestial mage - depending on her mood I think.
• Mungo the Humble - a human skald also from somewhere way up north. Blessed by Oden and claimed he never takes a step backwards.
• Merco (Mercury) another hobbit and I got the impression he was rather competent at most skills. Mind mage.
• And me, Aurora, female elf air mage and ex-fae. Ex-vegetarian as well. I read out a statement that the Sorceress in Silver had me prepare a while back - a self assessment.

Most of the party had pets, but if you count elementals, all of the party could summon 'pets'. Minerva had a genie in a bottle, as well as a giant eagle. Lila had a couple of birds and two elephants, Mungo had a raven, while Merco had a couple of dogs. I hope they're friendly.

We then checked what resources we had between us. We seemed short of healing capabilities so I offered to get potions and restoratives. Minerva had the thought to go to Freetaun and see what the mages there had. My spare Amulet of Diamonds was lent to Lila.

Employer

Finally we let the party employer in and were told the situation. I had heard rumours but maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my 'twitter' feed. Sparrows can be right gossips when they want to. Basically we had to stop this powerful giant from marrying these giant princesses and become even more powerful. We had free reign to do this any way we wanted to - up to and including genocide - at least that was the impression I got. This giant is also rather popular among the ice giant populous. There was a theory that there was some ritual involved otherwise the wedding would have already happened.

Payment

The subject turned to payment. Merco, who had become the Party Leader, handed over a list of our requirements - Greater Enchantments, Herbalist potions, restoratives etc etc - anything that would tip the balance in our favour. They offered us valuable treasure including diamonds and rubies. It seemed that the sky was the limit as they were really keen to see this done. Merco finally convinced them to leave 800,000sp at the Guild as a retainer and we'd sort the rest out upon completion. Also Minerva became the Military Scientist and I got Scribe - promising to ensure that the really embarrassing bits were left out of the notes and the Seagate Times.

Background

Apparently, they hadn't told the Titans either. Besides, we were told that they were busy constructing a moon that would stay up this time. Also, we had friends at Desert Flower but that place had been overrun by the ice giants and it was believed most of the inhabitants were dead although a few could have got away in their flying ship. The dwarves were complaining about missing supplies and Cavorite (the stuff that makes the flying ships fly). The wastelands, north of the southern ice cap, which was getting bigger, had been occupied by small giants for over a century but the ice giants had been pushing north in only the last fourteen months. Lots more icebergs were floating about in the southern seas causing hazards.

It was suggested that it was a good idea to go visit the Lady of the Loch so we agreed to do that. Besides, it would be polite to pay our respects at least. Same with the Queen's sister whom we had helped out on a previous mission. When Anooke was told there were dinosaurs in the area over the western mountain range, he wanted to visit them too.

Feast & preperation

After the meeting we went our separate ways. I went looking for Lim the potion mage then flew down to Slippery Rock to get Restoratives. Meanwhile Mungo was arranging a pre-mission feast. Apparently that's traditional where he comes from. It's meant to bestow good luck although I was wondering if it was 'eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die in glorious battle'. In my case I'm hoping it's 'for tomorrow I diet'. Still, a good time was had and even our party employer got into the spirit of things.

Day 2

2nd Spring: Thaw 823

Journey to Lilac

Next morning, after the inevitable, 'oh my ghod the sun is so bright' feeling, we got onboard the ship that our employer had come in on, sailed discretely out of the harbour then took off into the sky reaching an altitude of ten thousand feet above Confederation Bay. Next thing we knew we were skimming above wavetops at ten foot altitude, heading towards Quarantine Island on the plane of Lilac. Curious - didn't notice any mana storms this time. Since there was no need to stop there, we then blinked over to the Citadel of Friendship.

WARNING: You are now in Lilac Time. Note that the days are only one hour longer ... so try to spend it in sleep.

Queens sister

Lunch that day was with the Queen's sister where we were given a basket full of potions as well as being slipped a magical brooch and a pill. The brooch was accompanied by a note which said "Send them all to Hell". We also got our Greaters (Rank 18s?) and she said she wanted something 'interesting' in return. She also reinterpreted an earlier astrology reading that said 'Listen to the Silence' to be 'Listen to the Psylons'. Apparently they're a race of short mentalists but not dwarves or halflings. Goblins?

ADDENDUM to be added once more information is available

Day 3

Lady of the Loch

Went to see the Lady of the Loch, who had taken an interest in Lila last visit. On the way, we were learning to fly the boat. I was rather keen on this - so was our designated pilot. Upon arrival, we got the distinct impression that the Lady was interested in having children while giving Merco 'the eye'. I was also getting a bit worried that Mungo was going to fight Merco for the honour. As it turned out, it was Lila who entertained the lady that night. I guess I'm out of my league. Certainly some of the hobbit ladies there were looking Merco over with interest.

Day 10

We spent the previous week learning to work together as a unit. The plan was devised to go catch an Ice Giant that's not part of the Court so we could get skin changes made that would allow us to turn into giants. There was also the possibility of a stew being made from the remains of an Ice Giant that would give us knowledge of Giantish for a while so we could infiltrate the Court as minions and find out what was going on. It was then suggested that we should nab a Princess so that Lila could impersonate her. We also underwent a procedure that allowed us to be immune to an aspect of Fear. The results were Berserk(me), Frozen(Merco), Panic(Lila, Minerva & Mungo) and Wary(Anooke). Anooke also had a supply of ice cubes that could heal us when we crushed them between our teeth. Basically heals half the current damage unless the damage is caused by fire or the user is an ice mage when it heals the lot. Also we had a blanket pardon from the Queen for any flying violations.

So we went giant hunting. Mungo ran ahead in wolf form to scout while the rest of us flew off in the flying boat. We finally found three of them bullying some hobbits so we went in to help them - the hobbits that is. The combat was brief and, basically the giants didn't stand a chance. The last one still standing decided to surrender. The dead bodies were frozen and the live one put under hibernation and slung under the boat in the cargo net.

More hobbit turned up, some carrying wine sacks, and an impromptu celebration started in our honour. We were even given some candy flowers that elevated Perception (+2PC, also have some healing properties). We logged them as Hobbit Flowers of Perception. We also retrieved the giant axes they were using as well as an equivalent of 50 gold sovereigns they had in total. Some of those coins looked like they were worth more, especially to collectors.

   A hobbit - "We're collectors"
   Aurora - "What a coincidence. So are we"

The hobbits knew of the situation at Desert Flower and Lila obtained a list of names of people there. The gardens there were utterly destroyed, which made me extremely sad and angry at the same time. Once we left there, after the celebration, we returned to the Citadel of Friendship. Just before landing we discovered we had a hobbit stowaway who wanted to 'see the world' He is a Namer apprentice.

We discussed the combat and tactics. I was a little reluctant to use spells such as lightning and thunder inside on a stealth mission so Merco said I should stick close to Mungo during close order combat. We were also told about various secret symbols that could be useful in our quest. Another interesting nugget of information was that giant weapons are often poisoned. They also throw large rocks.

A quick trip was made to the Queen's sister to drop off our frozen giants before we returned to the Citadel. Some of us were wondering if one or two of the Princesses hadn't arrived at Court yet and, if so, should we go after them. I thought it might be a good idea to change into my formfitting black stealth armour - assuming Lila's belt will work with it - which it doesn't.

We discovered that the candy flower effects would last for 39 days so we ate one each. They were so delicious I wanted more. We also were given three three ruby brooches which went to Lila, Anooke and Mungo. Additionally, those who didn't have a DA talent was given a one shot very tiny potion that would allow an accurate DA from a distance.

Meanwhile plans were made. We were going to infiltrate the giant's camp in the ruins of Desert Flower as servants, which meant we had to be wear raggedy clothing and be dirty. Mungo was going to remain behind as a one person rescue party so we left most of our stuff with him. My ears had to be mutilated to make sure I wasn't seen as an elf. I didn't like that but it was for the mission.

Day 11

We flew down, landed nearby out of sight then got in by joining a work gang that was carrying wood into the camp. We spent a week scouting the place out.

What we wanted to find out was:

  The routines that take place - guard movements etc.
  Are their safe routes that can be utilised to get around or for escape
  Who is who in the camp
  Which princesses are still to arrive.

The last one was easy. All five were already here. They were being housed in a large tent that had five separate entrances. Presumably there were five separate areas in there. Each princess had at least one lady in waiting. Three of them were mages: fire, ice, and earth. The armour the giants were wearing was multi-layered leather - possibly with a protection rating of 10. The head count was 101 giants, five visiting princesses, and 250 servants. Only a few servants are trusted enough by the giants to have special privileges.

The giants also have savage attack pigs as guard animals. They had the Mind College Animal control spell on them which implied the existence on a Mind Mage. This was rather worrying for our cover. As we could tell, there were only ten casters among the giants.

Buffs & Mil Sci

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Me	Li	Mu	An	Au	Mi
Greater Ench.	18	+19% to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S.	Var	P	?	?	?	?	Y
Coruscade (Min) (Party Cast)	17	+36 def melee, ranged; +18 def close	9 hrs						Y
Shadowform (Li)	15	+32 def melee, ranged; +16 def close	8 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Coldsnap (An)	20	healing	instant	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Flying (Au)	20	50mph flight - 525 mile range	10.5 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Feather Falling (Au)	10	Fall no more than 5'/pulse	5.5 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vapour Breathing (Au)	10	Allows flight to 20,000 feet	5.5 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Ice Traversal (An)	20	Travel over ice and/or snow without slipping or sinking in. (+7 TMR on flat ice)	7 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Fire Armour (Li)	10	44 Ablative Protection from Magical Fire Damage	11 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Fire Proof (Li)	10	Protection from Non-magical Fire Damage	11 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Witchsight (Min) (Party Cast)	12		6.5 hours						Y
Self Only
Mind Shield	10		21 hrs	Y	-	-	-	-	-
Sense Danger	6	Sense danger		Y	-	-	-	-	-
Navigation		Extra Navigator ranks as listed and safer travel	1+rk Hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Short Term

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Me	Li	Mu	An	Au	Mi
Shadow Wings (Li)	6	36 mph, 126 miles range	3.5 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Walking Unseen, (Min - Party Cast)	6		7 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Wings of Light (Min) (Party Cast)	10	40 mph, 220 miles range	5.5 hrs
Weapon of cold (An)	18	+19% +7 damage	23 min	?	?	?	Y	?	?
Create Light Sword (Min)(Party Cast)	8	+9 SC, +3 Dam	13 min						Y
Weapon of Flames (Li+)	10	+11 SC, +6 Dam, +11 dam vs undead, cold, water	22 min	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Barrier of Wind (Li)	4	20 def vs missiles, 15 in melee or close	150 min	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Resistance to Light (Min)(Party cast)	10	+12 resist light, see through rk20 light	110 min						Y
Lightning Strike (Li)	5	[D-4]+10, save for 1/2	5hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Strength of Darkness (Li)	12	+7 PS	130 min	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Mind Speech (Me)	20	Range 630ft	210 mins	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Mind Special Knowledge Counterspell (Me)	12	+66% magic resistance to Special Knowledge Mind magics	D+17 mins	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Misc

Herbalist Lunch/Broth

...

Watch Order

8pm	9pm	10pm	11pm	12am	1am	2am	3am	4am	5am	6am	7am
Merco & Guard IV		Lila				Mungo				Merco & Guard IV
Aurora				Anooke				Minerva

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Default ... ... ...	Double File ... ... ...	Single File ... ... ...

Calendar

Spring: Thaw 823 (10)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
		Candlemansa	1	Guild Meeting	2		3		4		5		6
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19		20
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27
	28		29		30		1		2		3		4
Spring: Seedtime 823 (11)
	5		6		7		8	Rites of Thunor	9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17	Eostre	18
	19		20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29		30		1		2
Spring: Blossom 823 (12)
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21	Floralia	22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Walpurgisnacht