LecternOfJasper
Breathe gold. Think light.
The Glimmerhill Giants
Wroggi sat back, watching his sons play out a ragged pantomime of the Burning of Woodmere in the amphitheater. Over the years, the battle had developed into a story quite far from the source material, in no small part due to the giant's capacity to create larger than life scenarios (or at least exaggerate everything from the size of the forces to the size of the sun). Even several of the weewards joined in on the fun after several runs, and between the perspectives and heroes of both sides, a sort of rivalry had begun. It had even developed into a game of sorts. The humans always lost, of course, as the giants would never declare themselves the losers, but often enough the weeward's had a decent enough strategy going in that they could not be adequately countered by anything but exasperation and fiat. They were clever little mites, Wroggi had to admit.
"THE BREAKING OF THE LINE HERE THREW YOUR ARMY INTO CHAOS. ESTIMATED DEATHS OF... 30,000 PROGENITIVE BEINGS, AND 50 HYBRID GIANTSPAWN...." The dreadful voice hissed behind him. Wroggi waved his hand back, dispersing the phantom for but a moment, and the voice continued.
"ABSOLUTE DISCIPLINE IN A SOLID DEFENSIVE STANCE IS THE GREATEST ASSET ONE CAN HAVE IN BATTLE, MY DEAR ABEL. YOU WILL SEE ONE DAY, WHEN THE RED SUN FALLS-"
"Not Abel," Wroggi mutters to himself, glaring at the show intently. The silvery crown gleamed in the august light as his fellows glanced at him, worry flashing over their faces.
"NONSENSE, MY BOY," the dread tones responded, evoking all the congeniality of a cave in. "IF YOU ARE TO LEAD THIS KINGDOM YOU MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS MADE IT SO GREAT. NEXT WE WILL DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER ARMOR MAINTENACE...."
Wroggi simply hung his head, willing for the day to be over and the ghost to rest, so he can hear the sounds of the forest under the moon in peace....
Vrizz hacked at the massive deer before her with a large stone knife, as her companions looked on. Many of the humans have taken to spending time at the Ranger's Rest with her and the more well traveled of the Grunks, as they were more comfortable around people near their size, and to whom "human" didn't carry the same weight as "insect." The bloody affair occurred in a clearing below a great sentinel tree to the south of Onan's Rock, where a variety of watchpoints and platforms have been put up over the years to listen for the subtle signs of migrating beasts.
"Good catch, mah," Arol, one of her younger children, remarked, wiggling one of the deer's feet. "Nothing like a nice deer meat."
"Yes, child," she said, through gritted teeth as she tore the skin back from the flesh. The scouts from Woodmere taught her the precision of the blade, but there were some feats that could only be dreamt up by one with a strength far greater. Using both, the beast of cleanly dressed and portioned into 4 groups. One for the hunter, as the beast lies, one for the hangers on, gathering like flies, she mused, passing the bloody red meat to the rangers and her kids in a wide stone bowl. "Cook it up good, Vrizz has some errand to make," she says with a forced smile and returns to her work.
She left her share on the cutting board, and put the other two in fine hide sacks. The wee ones taught her their sewing and archery, and after some brief hesitation - it didn't seem like it could be fun, hunting animal from afar - took to it like Kurlap to that pink goop found in the mountains. Descending further into the forest, into a deeper valley, she found what she was looking for.
A wide flat stone had settled here many ages ago, before a low pool of standing, ruddy water. Small cairns had been set up on either side, and the stone was stained a murky brown. A snapping turtle eyed her as she tromped over to the stone, and set her burdens down. She dumped the darker of the two bags onto the makeshift altar, scattering the bones and viscera over its surface.
Placing the deer skull at the center of the heap, she murmured, "One for Armok, of Mud, Blood and Strife." Hesitating for a moment, she suddenly lashed out, beating on the brow of the skull until it was caved in, the antlers falling into two neat halves in the shattered remains. Sweeping all but one of the antlers into the pond with a quick motion and sucking on her bloody knuckles, she walked quickly away from the altar, as if to put that place behind her as quickly as she could.
Winding back towards the mountain in a path she knew all too well and followed many times in these past several years, she slowed a bit, feeling the bark of the trees, and listening to the wood. Eventually steeling her resolve, she continued, finding herself at a rocky gulch nestled within the southern range. The top had been covered by a rook of tree trunks. The working of the scouts had little use in giant society, but the combination of soft pines and lashings of giant deer sinew afforded this spot a roof to keep the sun off. Would that she could do more.
Entering the dark expanse, hidden by the rock face and the tightly knitted wood above, she waited for her eyes to adjust, and saw two glimmers of light in the corner, reddish fires in the narrow expanse of the cave. She knocked the massive antler against the wall and anxiously threw the bundle of meat ahead of her, where it spilled across the damp ground, great lumps of flesh scattering in the scree. A single hunk fell near the fire, the great heart of the deer, with a ragged hole where her arrow found its mark.
The higher of the two lights flickered in response to the intrusion, then lay dormant again, as if analyzing the bloody heart closely. And one for the beast, who still clung to life. The light flickered again, as if the mantra gave away her position; the shadows surrounding it coalescing into a contorted face surrounding a single, giant eye that she had come to fear and love in equal measure.
"Hello Mother," the beast said, as Vrizz fled the lair, throwing the antler behind her. She did not stop until she was well clear of the valley, the snapping and crunching of the trophy in his gnarled teeth following her all the way.
Wroggi just stared at the scouts ahead of him. He had begun to slow down in the past few years, and some of the giants thought he would soon sink into the earth as all the chiefs did. The waited patiently, fidgeting and looking down at the valley, where smoke once again rose, the familiar crackling and an raucous yells of the bandits echoing up the hillside.
"They're back?" He eventually said, as if the idea would never had occurred to him.
"Ye-es, Wroggi, it looks so," the one scout said.
"And looks like they ready to rumble," the other said.
"Huh. Hmmm," Wroggi said, holding out his m's for far longer than one ought. "IF WE MAINTAIN OUR STRONG POSITIONING, AND USE THE HIGH GROUND FAVORABLY, WE COULD PERHAPS DEAL HEAVY LOSSES WITHOUT RECEIVING THE SAME. ESTIMATED DEATHS OF-"
"None," Wroggi cut the ghost off, the scouts looking on in confusion. "Send runner to this, er, Jekob, tell him we fight special. I kill him, he dies. He kill me, I dies. Then this stops. Seems fair."
"Wroooggi, he want more, me thinks," the first scout says, worried.
Wroggi sighs. "We talk. Then, at last, we fight," he finally responds, in his wizened eyes a glimmer of finality.
BREAKPOINT:
Soon enough, it become apparent that the surviving Bandit warriors, under their leader, Jekoby, who had survived the battle raised a NEW ARMY in order to kill the Giants. Even though he was an old man, he was ready to give his life to crush them.
BREAK POINT:
- Fight the bandits
- Challenge Jekoby to a duel
- Ignore Jekoby (He is old and most likely won’t be able to hold the army together for long enough to be a problem)
Wroggi is sick of this guy sticking around, and knows his people have yet to recuperate. He just wants to squash this old man into the earth, and is bringing every artifact he has with him as the giants look on:
-Crown of the Lost King (Can be worn as a Pinky Ring- Boosts a character up by 1 Martial. There might be a ghost attached to this.
-Giant's Toothpick- A Solid Stone Sword that is etched with Glowing Runes. Currently stained in Dark Red Blood.
-Bracelet of The God's (Can be worn as an ear Piercing) Allow up to 2 full rerolls. After that, it breaks.
-War Paint: +1 to rolls for one type of unit per battle
ACTIONS:
1. As giants die, they become mud and stone again, a reminder that they were made of the skin and bones of the earth itself. From these remains, new Slops are pulled, to serve the new waves of GIANTS in their dominion. [RECRUIT MORE SLOPS]
2. Vrizz and the rangers will continue their bloody rites and offerings to Armok, developing a CULT OF MUD AND BLOOD below the glittering peaks of Onan's Rock.
3. (Free Action) War Paint will be provided to the Wroggi for the upcoming battle.
Name: Wroggi Tuskfire
Race: Giant (Stone)
Age: Generational (OLD)
Keywords: Huge, Strong, Cursed
Stat points:
Martial: 4 (Base 3)
Magic: 0
Army: 3
Technology: 0 (Wood, Stone, Pink Goop, GIANT DEER MEAT)
Leadership: 1
Relics: 1
Character Strength: Herder (bountiful food)
Character Weakness: Small Minded (does not think outside the box)
Equipment:
-Crown of the Lost King (Can be worn as a Pinky Ring- Boosts a character up by 1 Martial. There might be a ghost attached to this.
-Giant's Toothpick- A Solid Stone Sword that is etched with Glowing Runes. Currently stained in Dark Red Blood.
-Bracelet of The God's (Can be worn as an ear Piercing) Allow up to 2 full rerolls. After that, it breaks.
