[Isekai Hell] Resurgence of the Giants

Giants have been a relatively unnecessary worry. Of course, Giants have existed since as long as recorded history can recall, but they had never been very fruitful. They didn't reproduce as much as they should have, so their numbers have never been uniquely high. They didn't need many offspring. Creatures of such strength had never been in danger of anything. Ergo, their numbers never needed to be too high. Recently however, the number of giants has been surging across the continent. Where once tribes only held about 10 to 15 members, new giant herds have been discovered with at least 100 Giants. The king of Ryken took notice of this, so have the Nobles. Wild Giants have not become extremely aggressive yet, these surging numbers present a unique problem. Since Giants had never given any reason to be afraid, there is no real defense against their massive size and unparalleled strength. No kingdom, Nation or city had the proper defenses against such a force. If one of these herds put their mind to it, they could trample an entire kingdom in the span of a few days.

With this possible threat on the horizon, the Nobles of Ryken convened to discuss the best course of action. Some wanted to immediately eliminate the possibility of giants reproducing anymore. Some wanted to broker peace, others wished to simply ignore them. In the end, the decision was made to attempt to broker peace while simultaneously gaining information on the culture and methods of giants to better prepare the kingdom for a possible attack. As such, the king ordered a group to take a caravan of researchers, merchants, adventurers and mercenaries to establish friendly connections first and foremost. Secondly, they were tasked with learning as much about their way of life as possible, to ensure that if they decide to become violent, no one was left unprepared.



The group that was assembled was instructed to meet in a lumberjack village about 200 miles from the capital called Gricsman Village. This village was special for a multitude of reasons, but the most important ones were the fact that this village sat close to the territory of the closest clan of giants. Making it the perfect meeting place for this caravan. The second, was the fact that this village was home to one of only two known half Giant children. A strapping lad who worked as a lumberjack. A few of the members of the caravan were asked to see if they could convince him to join them. It would be much easier to talk with these people if they had someone similar to them.

The caravan was set up just outside the village, preparing to get on the road that would lead them to the Giants territory. Researchers prepared their notes, scrolls and tones. Preparing to do research that had not been done in hundreds of years. Merchants for preparing their best items, the ones that they could find that Giants might possibly enjoy. Mercenaries and adventurers preparing their spells and Marshall weapons just in case it got violent. Horses were being fed as everybody was preparing for this journey. Children playing happily as their parents prepared for the long journey ahead. It was apparently a one to two days travel to get to the mountainous region the Giants called home. Some were nervous, others excited, but they all understood that this was dangerous and there was a possibility they would not come home.

Among the caravan was Victoria Fulbara. A young researcher with the academy who was specifically tasked with this assignment, due to her past experience with studying separate species. She was going through the caravan as she was appointed to be its leader. She checked with each group, making sure that each carriage was prepared for the journey. She checked on the supplies of wheat and meat to make sure that everybody had enough to eat. Made sure the researchers were stocked up on ink as the people of the village handed them all gifts to prepare them for the journey. Looking around, she thought something was. Adjusting her glasses as she looked through the list that she had. Going through each and every possible item. No item or supply was missing. She pondered on the thought that something was off before she finally figured it out. No one had gone to see this half giant child and ask him to join the journey. This was not something that they should forget. This half Giant was a crucial part of the plan. With him around, they had a very good chance of getting off on the right foot with this herd. Not to mention, he would know much more about them than they would.

Victoria made her way to the front of the caravan, Gathering people as she went. When they were all gathered she clapped her hands to get their attention and spoke once she had silence "Firstly, thank you all for volunteering to go on this exploratory expedition. I know we all have our own separate reasons, but I do hope that we can all work together to accomplish this common goal we have." A short applause cuts her sentences, once it was finished, she continued "We are almost ready to go. Please do final checks upon your inventories and make sure that you have everything as there will be no stops between here and the giant territory. However, I would like to ask for volunteers to join me. We must ask the half giant child if he would like to join us. From what I have been told, he is a rather nice boy, but he might be hesitant to go meet the herd. Any volunteers?" She stood pleasantly, waiting to see if anyone would volunteer to go meet this child.

ReptilianDude
TheSimianMind

Meanwhile next to the LumberJack Village, a Dragon hatchling is peeking from the bush, watching the village

”Woah… So much nature”
Said the Dragon, amazed by the houses which were covered in vines and leafs.

Capitalizing on the distraction Victoria cordially proffers, Clarice Gailingen, ever the firebrand, pounces on her quarry: three aspiring researchers affiliated with the Imperial Logia Academy of Ryken. Inserting herself between the crowd Victoria amassed and her three star-crossed anthropologists, Clarice effectively isolates them from their fellows. Her cold, cerulean eyes transfix her targets as a sneer that would oblige the Grinch to nod in approval tugs at the corners of her fuchsia lips.

Rationalism - that's the latent defect in you academy-educated pedants! You observe that the population of giants in this region has increased significantly and you conclude that this engendered a cultural renaissance. Listen and listen well, these giants were so far below their Minimum Viable Population that all that remains of their family trees are trunks! They are decadent monsters girding themselves for military conquest, and they ought to be treated as potential adversaries at our borders, not as children at a county fair! Honeyed apples and glass baubles will not keep them from our hearths.

Again, I implore you to join me and my camp in iterating the necessity of gathering actionable intelligence - of scouting and of spying - before I'm forced to deadhead this blossoming misadventure.

Clarice's captives would know better than to confuse her weasel-worded threat for a simple request. The devil had, after all, reminded each of them individually that, from her perspective, if "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, their loved ones would choke on a fistful of pecans. More to the point, Clarice seemed vicious enough to follow-through with her threat. From her communication style to her manner of dress, Clarice expressed an overt will to power that would brook not an ounce of dissent. While her routine interactions with others were always measured and impassive - as if her every move was planned weeks in advance of its execution - extraordinary circumstances evoked the frenetic, Machiavellian shyster raging beneath her placid facade.

Days ago, when Clarice was just another fresh face at the canteen, the trio had found it quite entertaining to wind Clarice up by mocking the jingoistic elements of the Imperial Court of Ryke and those who allied with them - especially one Adele Gailingen, Research Librarian at the Imperial Logia Academy of Ryke and Clarice's apparent mother. The look on Clarice's face was priceless as they squawked about the indecent methods by which such fools might attain their positions. As the trio insinuated, in much coarser language, that the gauche jingos would have no choice but to trade the casting couch for street corners once the ongoing diplomatic mission succeeded, an astringent berry pie sailed through the air and caught the lanky one square in the face. When Clarice was, allegedly, sent away in disgrace for inciting a food fight at the canteen, the smug trio thought they had seen the last of her - until she returned several hours later in the company of mercenaries and an infantry unit one of the jingos dispatched to defend the caravan. It goes without saying that this shifted the balance of power in Clarice's favor - so much so that one of the jingo-aligned sergeants had taken Clarice under her wing and carved off a fair chunk of her free time for instructing Clarice in the art of dueling so she could humiliate the trio in front of their friends and family upon their return to Ryke.

In the meantime, Clarice had resorted to attacking the trio's credibility, attempting to pressure them into "undermining the party line," and feeding the fear hiding beneath the cracked and flaking comedy masks the civilians wore.

And another thing -

People were scared and rightly so. Clarice herself harbored serious misgivings about the age, inexperience, and priorities of the leader of the expedition, Victoria Fulbara, and her speech, or rather the truncated snippets Clarice apprehended, did little but magnify her fears.

I'll be back for you three later.

As she abruptly breaks off from her skirmish and veers toward the center of camp, Clarice struggles to refrain from raising her palm to her face in exasperation. Grumbling to herself, she questions whether her elder brother's business is genuinely worth this headache. Heck, couldn't she just move to another city? She didn't exactly fit into Ryke anyway.

A child? Right, I had almost forgotten that the doves still haven't worked out how to parlay with other species.

Plowing headlong into the crowd like a ship at ramming speed, Clarice makes a bid to encroach on Victoria's personal space!

A sweet bouquet of bergamot and chrysanthemum perfume envelops the approaching firebrand. Cold cerulean orbs framed by rebellious shocks of flaxen hair, having escaped from the brass bands containing her braided ponytail, hone in on Victoria, assessing her reaction to their close proximity. Her rich burgundy mantle, fastened by a brass brooch in the shape of a gyrfalcon with a layer of natural patina serving as additional ornamentation, conceals a long-skirted black military tunic with brass buttons, black trousers secured by a plate-style brass belt buckle, and black cavalier boots that haven't been really been polished.

Are you joshing me, Vicky? Stumbling through a mineshaft without a light to guide us on account of bilateral skulduggery isn't exciting enough for you, so we have to bring a kid with us? Bad idea. I don't need that interfering with my judgement. Just grab the whelp's parents and send for a diviner. Can't do that then track down the parents' drinking buddies.

A beat. Clarice crosses her arms as her gaze drifts toward a nearby wagon. She doesn't seem to take notice of any of the attention she is drawing.

Are you certain that you don't want to load up on those wagon-mounted flamethrowers I was telling you about? Like I said, they're a little dangerous, but you might regret not having a couple later. Y'know, when we have to sneak out of a castle on a cloud dressed like sheep and carrying a singing harp made of nail clippings that can detect lies.

Giants. Why did it have to be giants?

Tannia had been gone for some time, chasing rumors and legends of an ancient sect of witch hunters. To no avail sadly. Still when she came back to Ryken the last thing she was expecting to hear about was an attempt to broker peace with a large group of giants. Just hearing the word brought back bad memories. Experiences from her past that had shaped who she became, and those experiences were telling her that this was a mistake. Still this was a new world and there was no guarantee that these giants would be the same as the ones back home. And there was a part of her that wanted to see that. So despite having just gotten back she was soon packing her bags once more and heading out, probably much to the annoyance of Rossle.

After four days of travel she finally arrived at Gricsman Village. Hopping off the back of the empty lumber cart she'd hitched a ride on, she gave the driver a short wave before walking into the encampment. She passed by the researcher's and merchant's tents giving them no mind, dodged around the playing children, and scoffed at some of the weapons the fighter had. Toothpicks compared to what they were about to meet. She shifted her claymore on her back and continued on to the place everyone was gathering.

Pushing past some taller people so she could see Tannia listened as the leader of the expedition gave a short speech. When she asked for volunteers Tannia calmly raised her hand. She was curious about this half giant, but what she really wanted was to make a connection with the person in charge and joining her on this task would provide an opportunity to do just that.

Then an annoyingly verbose woman shoved her way to the front. Tannia was shocked at just how disrespectful she was and how light she was making of this whole thing. It was the kind of attitude that Tannia would have stamped out immediately had she been in charge. But she wasn't and it gave her an opportunity to see what their leader was capable of.

Victoria took note of just one volunteer to go get the half giant child. Of course, despite saying child, she knew that he was absolutely not a kid. As such, perhaps it was better to send a female anyways. Men generally didn't take to hitting women and it would be really bad if someone angered the half Giant. Most people didn't understand, but this guy was not small at all. It was honestly hard to believe he was only half Giant. She had only glanced at him one time. Despite that, she still found it hard to believe that he was only half blood. She had never seen a humanoid of that size before. She took extensive notes from the distance and used him as the basis for what she expected with these Giants up in the mountain.

Victoria approached Tannia, about to thank her for being the only one to volunteer to go get him, but she stopped. With a roll of her eyes she looked over at Clarice, the one she knew was going to be the biggest pain in her neck this entire trip. She listened to the grievances that Clarice brought up, but immediately lifted her hand upon hearing her speak about the child. After a moment to make sure that everyone was calm as she spoke, her eyes landed upon the crass woman "That child, as you call him, is the closest thing we will ever get to a direct link with this specific herd of giants. As far as being prepared goes, having him is absolutely essential. No one has better knowledge base than him." She adjusts her glasses a bit "If you have such a problem with bringing someone who is underprepared, why don't you go take a look at him yourself?"

She motions over to a hill, just beyond it the group of lumberjacks were hard at work. One man in particular stood out among them.


As the men were working tirelessly, one person stood out. This half Giant towered over each and every one of them. Standing at 18 ft tall, moving and acts that was far too large for even the strongest of people to wield. He would raise the massive axe, swinging it with me Force into the large tree. Each swing of his massive weapon released firewood log sized chunks off wood. A second swing and the tree was falling. His body movements were so massive. Each part of him just screamed Giant. Once the tree had fallen, he placed his massive boot on top of it, raising his ax to the sky and bringing it down in a massive blow. One swing through the tree as he sectioned it out into massive logs. These logs easily weighed more than 10 men could lift. Once they were cut out into even pieces, he lifted one onto his shoulder and began to walk it to the logging house where it would be processed into boards. Each step absolutely massive in its distance and proportion.

Jöttengaumer was a unique specimen. 18 ft tall and clearly stronger than any normal man should be. He moved back and forth, lifting the massive sections of tree up onto his shoulder and moving them to get processed. Tossing them down on a massive tree stump to be cut down further by a different crew. He showed about as much effort as a normal man would while carrying a bundle of firewood. This was impressive in the fact that the rounds he was moving must have weighed at least 600 pound and he was moving them so effortlessly. His size alone made him a threat to most. The very hearty lumberjacks made a conscious effort to keep out of his way. Working away as though nothing could bother him. Once that tree was done, he went back to cut down another. The sounds of his footsteps echoing even at this distance.

Victoria stood behind the two girls with a smile on her face "So Clarice, do you still think he won't be useful?" She turned and sighed "Also, no flamethrowers. I barely trust you unarmed."

Ian Temero
TheSimianMind
ReptilianDude

The Dragon then tried to sneak up onto the roof of a house, trying to get a better view of the scenery. He eventually climbed the house with the tree, and attempted to reach the leaves to hide in.
“Just a little more..” it said as it tried to crawl to the treetop.

Lumberjack? Check. Fells trees in one swing? Check. Several dozen axe handles high? Check.

Recognizing that a spot-on rendition of a classic American folktale is playing out in front of her, Clarice impishly chortles. Not in her wildest dreams would she have imagined teaming up with Paul Bunyan, yet here she stands reviewing the remarkably poor life choices that landed her in the company of the apparent Chairwoman of the Lumber-Giant Fan Club.

In outright rejection of these droll working conditions, Clarice's hands nimbly and inconspicuously dart beneath her tunic. With a snap, she withdraws a sterling silver hip flask, raises it to her lips, and takes a deep draught of distilled courage. The amber liquid burns like fire in her throat, the stinging sensation jolting her out of her reverie. Today, fate might decree that Clarice shall witness Victoria gushing about a half-giant, but Clarice will be damned if she remains sober through that ordeal! Like a champ, Clarice empties the flask in one go and vigorously drags her right sleeve across her lips, her crooked grin belying the monstrous thoughts she dares to voice.

You've made it exceedingly clear that nothing I say will dissuade you from your course, so lets up the ante. You care more for the giants - for knowledge - than you do for your own people. If your diplomatic delegation fails to achieve its mission, Victoria, I vow that I will break these giants. In that, you can rely.

As her power waxes, all color bleeds from Clarice's eyes. Testing ancient seals, she reaches out. The wards flare. She attempts to place a gauntleted hand on Tannia's shoulder to steady herself.

If either of you care to laugh, do so now: you might not get another chance. Otherwise, I shall leave you to pursue your champion, though I would caution against telling all. He is not one of us and is just as likely to betray us as he is to help us. I need to replenish my supply of brandy.

Clarice is a terrible liar. Her intention isn't to refill her flask. She appears to be focusing on something in the distance, something - or perhaps someone - that has caught her wandering eyes.

And just to be clear, I don't know if your half-giant will be useful, but if he's not a child, I don't really care. Our number already includes at least three completely useless adults. What's one more?

“I’m almo-“ The dragon lost it’s grip, and fell to the ground of the village.
“Uh oh..”

Tannia watched the half-giant boy work. It was impressive to see something of that size at work, especially when it wasn't trying to kill you. A view the verbose woman didn't seem to share as she expressed her opinions on the foolhardiness of the mission. When she rested a hand on Tannia's shoulder the smith didn't resist, though she certainly wasn't pleased with it. She did notice the color drain from her eyes, which was weird, but didn't say anything about it. When the woman finally walked away Tannia watched her for a bit. "While I don't agree with how she said it, she is right." Tannia admitted, returning her attention to their leader. " This mission is more dangerous than folks seem to realize. And you may have already considered this but the kid may not be as much help as you think. Excusatory groups tend to view half-bloods as dirty. But you are the leader so it's your call." Having said that Tannia motioned towards the loggers. "Shall we?"

As they walked the redhead introduced herself. "I'm Tannia Duellona by the way. I happen to have experience fighting giants so, while I am hoping for the best, if things go south I can help teach folks how to fight them long enough to hold them back." That was a difference between her and the woman before. While the woman seemed to believe she could handle the giants on her own Tannia knew that was foolhardy. She was confident that she could take on a single giant but a handful of them, much less a small army, was beyond a single person. Perhaps in the past when she still had Titan King, but not now. Not as she was.

“Uh…” The dragon now felt cornered. He ran in the direction of the half-giant, possibly so incase the lumberjacks chase him, they get scared or something. As the dragon ran through the giant, he looked for a place to hide next, incase the giant catches him.

”This one.. No, not that one…” The dragon nervously said as he tried to think on to either hide behind a rock or climb up a tree.

Eccentric_Undead
Ian Temero
TheSimianMind

The Young Dragon was panicking, thinking of the scenarios incase the giant catches him. he first attempted to cower behind a rock, yet his wings and tail could be seen. Not seeing it as a (obvious) good hiding place, he goes out of hiding in order to find more places to well.. Hide in.

Tannia and Victoria could both see the young beast simply ponder where to hide, before he dies. He is still young, so he must choose, probably at a fast pace.