| Following the ghost�s destruction, the party (Dominic, Ignatius, and Jack with Drusila, Yarol and the Mechanical Man) rushed north both to defeat the giants threatening their homeland and to save Jack�s mother. After reaching Casey�s Settlement, they discovered a town hardened by war with grim tidings of the northern settlements. Avalon�s Hope was under siege with food running out. Several thousand goblins with large numbers of giants and ogres lay camped about the city. They also learned many rumors about their foes. The giant were either led by a giant bowman who could kill a man a mile away or a powerful giant sorcerer. War beasts and an invincible ogre, added to a force of ten thousand goblins, aided the giants. Added to this were the rumors of the army of the dead led by the last king of Umbria. Casey, herself was preparing to march with a mere 500 troops to Hope in an effort to stop the siege. The party marched with them for two days, pushing on for last day to reach the city itself. As they reached the battlefield they could see a storm cloud of smoke as fire flew into and out of the city and cannon balls roared across the sky. Hundreds of goblins moved across the land in waves, while the town burned. Worst the citadel the party claimed as their own lay in goblin hands. At this the party attacked, attempting to destroy the enemy artillery. While initially successful, they soon found the giants formidable foes. Worg riders attacked Dominic, Yarol and the Mechanical Man, while Drusila and Ignatius found the swarms of arrows and boulders dissuading. Dominic encircled his foes in wall of fire but the giant attacking him pushed through and crushed Mechanical Man before the severity of his injuries killed him. Ignatius found himself dealing with the mythical giant bowman whose blows were easily capable of piercing even magical protection. When a bolt of lightning finally struck the flying sorcerer, he was forced to flee or die. Jack in the meantime was running rings around the giants burning the catapults. But the sheer numbers of goblin arrows injured even him and as soon as his task was done he fled to town. At town the gate had fallen. Propped up by Ignatius�s wall of force, the ogre barbarian was forced to crash straight through a wall. Ignatius was again able to seal the breach; the ogre caused considerable damage before he was able to blast him up and over the wall. With the arrival of Dominic more permanent repairs were possible, and soon the party was safely within the town. They and the leaders of the town began to plan the next day�s battle. The leaders were Bishop Rames, the old cleric who controlled the town; his paladin Harvey; Hank, Jack�s old employer and Gwenydd, a beautiful wandering spell sword. They decided to try and crush one division of goblins between Casey�s forces and the town�s, using magic to shield the troops against the enemy arrows. Ignatius and Jack would deal with enemy artillery while Dominic move with the main force. The next day the battle began as Ignatius�s hawk retuned with news of Casey�s approach. Everything went according to plan despite the giant�s boulders and Jack and Ignatius soon began to move in to kill the hill giant leader. Despite overwhelming firepower, the giant was too dangerous to deal with in a ranged battle and when the giant and his guard retreated, jack was forced to back down. On the other side of the battlefield, the ogre barbarian began to mash the town�s forces and Dominic was unable to seriously dent his defenses. Bishop Rames entered the fray and was able to deal significant damage with his temporarily enchanted morningstar before the ogre killed him. Yarol picked up the bishop�s weapon and was able to defeat the fiendish ogre but the damage was done. Ignatius and Gwenydd were able to defeat the ogre druid and her grizzly bear companions. Despite heavy losses the goblins were crushed and with their leaders defeated the army fled north taking their cannon. Some food was captured and combined with that brought by Casey the town was no longer in danger of starving, though winter loomed ahead. The party, after basking in the glow of their fame, began to set sights on the enemy's last foothold, the haunted citadel. Rames refused to return from death and was laid to rest with so many others. The party after resting set out and soon defeated the hundred or so goblins holding the structure. As Jack began to investigate the rear of the castle though he encountered a band of goblin monks known as the goblin fist. Though they were relatively weak, their bugbear leader Master Honza inflicted significant damage to Jack before reinforcements arrived. As a massive battle ensued on the upper floors of the crumbling castle, Master Honza proved himself remarkably resilient defeating both a dire gorilla and Ignatius�s webs. Only when both Dominic and Ignatius turn on their flame shields did he acknowledge his defeat. With his minions already dead or blown hundreds of feet off the side of the castle, he fled into the underground river beneath the castle. Ignatius and Dominic�s summoned sea creatures (a shark and giant crocodile) soon followed and the ensuing fight damaged the tunnel significantly. Eventually the monk was able to escape into a hidden cave inhabited by kobolds and Ignatius decided he wasn�t worth the effort. The task complete, the party began to clean the castle and make it their own. |
| Saving Avalon's Hope |