A Quest for the Stars

The giant patriarch had a plan to devour the humans, but he had to rethink them now. One of his sons tossed a boulder through the window of the human building to send a message to the humans inside. That message being “come out or be crushed.”

The patriarch was not pleased. He has dealt with humans long enough to know the direct approach doesn't always work. The purpose for this hunting trip was to show his children how to deal with humans in the wild. They had a lot to learn.

His original plan was to lure the humans out by providing a false sense of security. He needed a head count of the humans and did not want to reveal his number - his three children, plus himself - until he was sure he could win. Humans would often send one of their own number out in dangerous situations to see if the danger has passed, and once the "all clear" was given, more would come out. All the father of the giants had to do was wait for this signal before rushing in to attack.

His children had a different idea; his eldest son, Mohk, rushed in when more humans arrived, two on horseback and the third flying in with a strange contraption. His youngest, Thrak, had returned with the corpse of an old man he struck a bargain with. The old man promised to bring in more fresh meat in exchange for his own life and the patriarch agreed to the terms...in word only.

On other days, the patriarch would approve of Thrak's initiative, but today his dimwitted son attached the old man to the boulder he threw at the human building. The patriarch was saving the old coot as a snack for later and now the patriarch was grumpy and hungry.

“Thrak! That was our dinner!”

“But Pa, human meat tastes better when they’re scared!” The (slightly) smaller giant spoke with a guttural voice. “That’s why I peeled some skin off before giving him back to the humans. If we scare them all, they be even tastier.”

“Think of your mother! If we don’t bring something back by nightfall, what do you think she’s going to do to you?”

The younger giant recoiled frightfully. “N-no, Thrak no want another branding!”

“Then grab your brother and sister. We attack building until puny humans come out!” The patriarch had no intention of delivering old man Claude to his wife, but threats usually kept his children in line. But standing between nine and eleven feet in height - possibly more if they didn’t walk in a perpetual stoop - and wielding tusks protruding from their lower jaws, there was little that could frighten this family.

Yet even the patriarch feared what his wife would do if they returned empty-handed. At least now his son will be more obedient; it helped that his wife’s punishments were creative and more painful than anything he could think of beyond slicing a limb off.

***

~Alistair~

One of the caninefolk vomited at the grisly sight of Claude’s corpse. The old man’s clothes above his waist had been stripped, and his skin from the same area had been flayed and peeled. His muscles were exposed, including those on his face. Yes, his face had been torn off; his left eye hung from his eye socket and the other was missing. Most surprising was the stench of decay that had set in. It hadn’t been that long since the party met the old man, but he smelled as if he had been dead for a while.

However these giants carried their business, no one wanted to know.

“Is everyone alright?” Clara had collapsed on top of Tsukuyomi, but there was no scratch on her.

Alistair sat up. “I’m fine! Does anyone need healing?” He felt something move beneath him. To his horror, he had been on top of Lenoria the entire time. He failed to notice anything beyond Lenoria’s goofy expression, which he had mistaken for a dazed look. “Lenoria! Please forgive me! Are you okay?”

“Hehehehehe…” The girl giggled uncontrollably. “F-five more minutes, please…” Blood dripped from her nose.

"She's injured!" Alistair grabbed the girl's arm and placed two fingers on her wrist. From this, Lenoria kept giggling as more blood dripped from her nose. "She's getting worse! Miss Clara, I could use your assistance!"

"Um," Clara said as she pulled Alistair away, "I think it's best if you got off of her, first."

The girl’s dream was interrupted by the shrill shriek from Mrs. Hunter. The former teacher woke from her own daze to the corpse of the old man staring at her. There was pain in her voice as well, for the boulder had landed on her right foot. She did not jump away in time and had tripped just as soon as she had gotten up from her earlier tantrum.

“Oh, right. Lives are in danger.” Lenoria snapped out of her dream and stood back up. “So, we’re hiding from giants. That’s good; now we know what we’re dealing with.” The girl took a moment to wipe away the blood dripping from her nose.

Lenoria’s voice was barely audible due to the ongoing screaming of the mutilated woman.

“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down.”

“Calm down?” The screaming ended and in its place was a tone of indignation. “What am I supposed to do, limp my way back home?!”

“Unless we put our heads together and think, none of us are going home.”

Lenoria’s choice of words seemed to have placated Mrs. Hunter at first. The realization that the entire group could be doomed was enough to halt her outburst, which was then swiftly replaced with more crying. Alistair wished the girl had shown more tact, but dealing with someone from the Guild had already put his companion on edge. He recalled Gabrielle's words to him.

She needs time to heal. Please be patient with her.

Not able to stand seeing someone in pain, Alistair ran to the teacher's aid and conjured a divine light on her injured leg. He was able to move the boulder with enough force, and noticed her foot wasn’t completely gone. With his holy light, he was able to restore the foot to its former glory and removed the blood stains in the process.

“You’re lucky. If it had been crushed to a pulp, I wouldn’t have been able to save it.” Alistair called off his healing light. “Please work with us. We’ll do what we can to keep you safe, but this will need to be a team effort.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! The Celestial Compass don’t work with no cops or knights,” the shorter man in the pirate group protested.

“I would hate to steal your thunder, Tim, but I believe I already made the call to assist these fine folks.” Caesar patted Mrs. Hunter on the shoulder. “Unless boss lady here wants to rescind her offer.”

“What’s the point?” The older woman spoke softly. “We’re doomed, anyway.”

“Don’t say that. We came here with a plan. Or at least we had one…” The plan Alistair had in mind involved sneaking away to the wagon, but that would only have worked if the attackers were animalistic in nature. Now that giants were involved, they most likely would have seized the wagon by now or, worse, prepared an ambush in the perimeter.

His go-to method of doing anything had always been to stand and fight. Alistair didn’t like it, but it had been ingrained into his heart and mind thanks to his paladin training. He was ready to run outside and challenge all of the giants while everyone else ran away, but he believed in his heart of hearts that he would not come out of that fight alive. And if that happened, he could not keep his promise to Gabrielle to escort Lenoria to Thule. He was at a loss for words and actions.

And then he recalled his mentor’s words of wisdom, which always rang in his mind whenever he had moments of self-doubt.

Brave heart, Alistair. Trust in yourself and in your companions. Protect them.

Brave heart. The first step was to stay calm, for panic breeds chaos. Once a tranquil heart shut down the turbulent emotions, belief in oneself was necessary to move one foot forward. And that was normally the end of it; however, Alistair was part of a party now, and with the proper leadership, they could become extensions of himself. But for that to happen, and continue, he had to do his best to protect them which always started by making the right calls.

So, we’re hiding from giants. That’s good; now we know what we’re dealing with.

Lenoria’s confident tone from earlier indicated that surviving this was possible. The pirates seemed nervous while their captain was putting on a brave front. Mrs. Hunter was bawling, but neither Clara or Lenoria were panicking. Showing fear was a sure sign of losing, and as long as at least one person was calm and positive, they could get out of this alive.

But Alistair needed help. “The giants have begun their attack. Is there anything we can do, Lenoria?”

“Well,” the girl began, “I couldn’t tell ya the probability of winning this fight, but we stand a chance. We don’t know what kind of giants we’re dealing with, but we can narrow down our choices. Right off the bat, the big six are out.”

“The big six?”

“Fire giants, frost giants, cloud giants, storm giants, stone giants, and hill giants. The first two prefer extreme weather, the third, fourth, and fifth live in high altitudes, and the sixth doesn’t live in forest environments.”

“How do you know so much about giants?”

Lenoria grinned proudly. “Constable Richards had to arrest some giants before, and he’s given me some intel on them. I don’t know everything, but since we’re not dealing with the biggest threats among them, we can fight them as long as they don’t outnumber us.”

“You hear that, men?” The pirates turned to face their leader. “Stay sharp and give it your best.”

“With that said, the trees were shaking before we went in. Four sides means there’s at least four of them, possibly more.”

“And what makes you so sure we aren’t surrounded by thirty of them or even more?” Mrs. Hunter was not as hopeful as everyone else, but her panicking and crying had ended around the point Alistair decided she was no longer a threat.

“If there were that many, don’t you think they would have crushed every single warehouse by now?”

Mrs. Hunter growled, but she offered no counterpoint. Caesar only nodded in agreement, while Clara remained silent for now.

Thanks to Lenoria, Alistair was getting a clearer picture of their enemy. “These giants are smart. They know we’re here and they used a boulder to try to flush us out. Lenoria brings up a good point; they must be few in number and they’re trying to see how many of us are there before they advance.”

“Exactly! And assuming they’ve seen us marching in, they must know we’re at least four in number; five if we count Chestnut.”

Alistair’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when Lenoria smiled sweetly at him. Was she just being nice to him and wanted to show him praise somehow? Or was he going to have to curse Beau under his breath for trying, perhaps inadvertently, to set him up with Lenoria? "Lord Beau, what have you done? Am I... truly worthy?"

The time for romance was not now, however. That was a matter for a different time.

“It’s just as likely they also know how many of us are in here, and whether they know that number or not, they have to know there’s at least more than four people in here. And if they’re hesitant to approach, we can assume their number must range from four to seven.” Alistair paced back and forth. “I’m thinking of a divide and conquer approach. If they’re hiding, they’re most likely in some sort of formation. Any ideas on how to break it?”

Lenoria raised her hand. “Mrs. Hunter,” she addressed her teacher, “do you still have your performances memorized?”

“Ha! You mock me by assuming I’d forget my own work.” The older woman posed proudly. “Why do you ask?”

“Good. I have a specific one in mind: Rhumba Madness. Clara, get your poem book out. Alistair, get Chestnut ready. This is what we’ll do.”

***

15th of Cobre, 1659 - 6:30pm

Those humans sure do take a while to come out. The giant patriarch debated on tossing another boulder, but his ammunition was limited. He was saving it for when the humans came out, and if any of it went to waste, he would risk the humans escaping. If even one escaped his grasp, they would surely return with greater numbers.

The Laester tribe was a small family, but they were close-knit if one forgot about the mother’s cruelty. They always laid traps in the vicinity of their cavern home and would check them daily in small groups. It was never a single giant, for they knew humans were crafty. The last time one of their number checked on a trap by themselves, that family of six became a party of five overnight.

Staying in their cavern home was a move that was considered high risk with an even higher reward since they were so close to the capital city. Big cities often had many people, and all people had dreams. To them, adventurers were a silver-piece-a-dozen, and it would be weeks before a search party was sent out for those reported missing. It was the perfect crime.

Earlier in the day, the family believed to have hit the jackpot. Mother Laester sent out the whole family to procure nourishment while her husband taught them how to hunt better, and not even an hour later they spotted a human compound. A couple of humans were seen outside, and they theorized more would be in the warehouses.

And so they waited. Fortune hit them not long after when an elderly man and his pet goat - a kid goat, judging by its size - wandered outside the compound to search the bushes. The giants quickly snatched them and tore them apart, feasted on the fleshy bits, and tossed their bones to the warehouses to send a message.

Only an old, crotchety man dared to escape not long after. The giants chased him down, but the old man was smart. He bargained with them and promised them fresh meat within the hour. Wary of betrayal, the patriarch ordered his son Thrak to hide behind the forest trees and bring the old man back to him if he either showed signs of deceit or if the hour was up.

A lapse in judgment and perception prevented Thrak from witnessing the meeting between the old man and three young adventurers, and the young giant punished the old man for his own foolishness by devouring him. The old man told him he sent fresh meat down to the compound before he was eaten, and when his brain cells finally decided to work together, Thrak returned to his family to warn them.

But it was too late.

By the time he returned, his older brother was tackling a door on one of the warehouses. Had he not devoured the old man - or leaving behind his flayed corpse, for that matter - the family would have blamed Thrak for not returning to warn them of their new prey, or not capturing them himself.

The sun was setting and the patriarch decided drastic measures needed to be taken. He conjured a flame with his hand and fetched one of his rocks. If the humans weren’t coming out now, they wouldn’t consider coming out in the dark. The patriarch had to force their hand.

The giant patriarch previously ordered his three children to hide on each side of the compound - with himself overlooking the main road - and to shake the trees if necessary to fool the humans into believing there were more of them around. An advantage of working in the shadows is that they could fool the enemy of their numbers if they played their cards right.

He also ordered for them to launch an attack on the compound once he delivered a signal. A signal ranged from a single boulder, a flaming boulder, or scattered pellets. The single boulder meant charge in, seek, and destroy; the flaming boulder meant ‘wait for the fires to spread and kill anything they flush out’; the scattered boulder pellets meant ‘return/stay in formation,’ meaning they had to wait longer in the forest in case their father spotted something in particular. A flawless plan for sure, except…

“Why are they advancing? I didn’t give them the signal!”