09-03-2015, 03:22 AM
The Giant was exactly as imposing as Raal expected. The creature was at least six meters tall and barely had head room in the side-cavern he’d found it in. Furs of some unknown animal crudely covered it’s lower body, but covered none of it’s hairy chest or stomach. The creature was beating at some large stone with a hammer as large as Raal’s body, and Raal knew that, given the chance, the figure would beat him to death with that cudgel. a large sign saying “BLASMT”. Raal decided to give the benefit of the doubt that it meant to say “blacksmith” though a sign kept so far indoors would inform exactly no one of his trade inside the crowded cavern, which seemed to be mostly populated by rock chips. Raal would have scowled at the waste of space, but he knew his first impression had to be just so - and hopefully, not startle the creature into smashing him to pieces.
“Blacksmith! mighty blacksmith!” Raal yelled in a panic, his red eyes wide circles in the shadowed void of his hood.. He scurried into the circular entrance to the Giant’s smithy with a profound lack of grace and an immediate sense of urgency. “I’ve come to warn you, lord!”
The Giant turned it’s massive face, it’s massive, white beard creating a small gust as it followed his balding head to look at Raal.
“Warn me? Who is you, and what you disturbing Tawdor for?”
Raal stopped and created the illusion of panting, robe-covered hands resting on his knees. Omni’d given him back the ability to breathe, if not the actual need, and he had to admit it had turned out to be useful in this instance. “The dwarves, lord, they sent assassins. Undead!”
The Giant furrowed his brow at this. “Undead? Why would dwarves send undead at me.”.
“Jealousy, lord! I overheard their chatter with some foul mage, and when they realized it, they sent their undead after me, as well. I had come here in hopes of obtaining some of your fine works of craftsmanship-”
“Yeah, they are pretty good, aren’t they?” The Giant said with a slight laugh to himself, interrupting. “But you’s got any proof o’ what you say? I’m not into fighting dwarves unless I’m sure-”
On cue, Raal gave a mental nod to both his undead, the sword-wielding skeleton suddenly appearing from the side entrance with it’s sword pointed straight at the giant.
“Why, that’s a skeleton, that is!”
“Quite right, lord, that’s one of the dwarvish undead I told you about.” Raal said with mock horror. It sounded simply ridiculous with Raal’s distorted voice, but it seemed more than convincing enough to the giant.
“Don’t you worry, honored customah. I’ll handle’is!” The Giant yelled. A hammer quickly came down from the giant’s back, the speed far more than Raal expected, and the sword-wielding skeleton was left as llittle more than bone meal in an instant.
The second, the archer, swiftly took aim, pointing at Tawdor’s eyes. The moment the old giant saw this, he gaped. Arrows could put out an eye, and even this foolish fiend knew better than to want that.
“No!” Raal yelled, a blast of black energy issuing from his staff. The attack caused the skeleton to collapse, the creature falling into pieces
The giant sighed in relief, sitting down on his rear, before looking at Raal with a confused expression. “you… was actually a big help, you was.”.
Raal inclined his head. “thank you for your kind words, lord. I merely wished to save an artist who’s career is worth more than my own life.”
Tawdor visibly blushed at that, and Raal desperately hoped giants here weren’t attracted to smaller folk.
“I like ya! You should come with me now!” Tawdor said with a smile.
“Where to, lord?”
“I haven’t ate dwarf in a while, and they’re getting uppity down there… so I’m going to go squash their whole town, I think.”
“A wise course of action. They won’t be able to stand up to your strength.” This was the key. Raal knew the giant would never have acted on his plan under normal circumstances. What he’d read of the giants of this realm seemed to imply they were rather lazy at best, unless given the appropriate confidence and motivation. Raal had supplied both, and as the Giant lumbered past him, he was quick to follow.
It was only five minutes after he’d exited the cave that he heard a familiar voice behind him, talking in a low voice to avoid being heard by Raal’s large new friend.
“How’d ye know about manipulatin’ giants. I thought you were new to this realm.” Zul’kis’ asked bluntly. his tone couldn’t have been more suspicious if he’d tried, Raal mused.
Raal smiled, but did not turn around. “I’m new to this universe.” Raal replied. “But I’m also capable of overcoming such weaknesses.” reaching into his cloak, the Warlock pulled out a small, red book. “apparently your witch doctor kept some information stored on the creatures of the realm in hardcopy. Respectable. Tell me… why do you think I only spoke to you three hours after we began our travel? I was studying this.” Raal stated bluntly, before putting the book back in his robes.
“So ya stole from us now?”
Raal shrugged at that. “I consider it borrowing without permission. As a youth I was quite the pickpocket. Having absorbed the majority of the books contents, I’ve no issues returning it. I’ll even hand it to you if you’d like… Though, really, you seem more like an old mother hen than a troll warrior right now, worried about such petty theft.”.
Zul’kis’s growl seemed almost palpable. “It was betrayal.”
Raal’s body didn’t even move. “Please. It was a bit of well-known information on faded paper. You may call it betrayal all you like. In reality, it was simply proper allocation of resources. Now hide yourself before the giant decides he’s found a snack.”
Raal could not see Zul’kis’s face, but he knew he was glaring all the same. “The chat don’t be over, morsel.’
Raal kept walking as he felt a rush of air brush the back of his hood, and he knew Zul’kis was already hidden, tracking him and the giant from a distance.
“No.” he replied to himself. “It isn’t.”
Walking with the giant, Raal was surprised at how good a sense of direction he seemed to have. Walking forward with a sense of purpose, Tawdor seemed to know exactly what direction to go even without a map. Hidden intelligence, or just a quirk of his species… Raal had to assume the latter.
“I just had an idea, mighty Tawdor.” Raal said with a smirk, as they passed a ridge filled with stones.
“What’s that, lil’un?” the Giant asked with an air of affection. From what Raal could tell from the constant muttering he’d heard the whole trip, the behemoth walking in front of him had likened him akin to a pet by now, albeit a useful one. Raal was fine with the idea, frankly.
“these boulders here… the place the Dwarves live seems to be flat.” Raal said. “not many rocks there. But they might have some horrible arrows and things to try and hit you with. You could hit them with this rock instead, and suddenly the problem would be solved.
Tawdor stood stock still in what Raal assumed was either a thinking pose or simply the oaf’s preferred stance for drooling for what seemed like several hours before finally jumping up slightly, a broad smile on his face. “You’re a real smart little guy. That’s a good idea! I should try that on those green things next time”
Raal’s body shook slightly at the mention of the green things, but did not otherwise slip in his acting. “Yes. Next time.” Raal said, as Tawdor gleefully picked up a large slab of stone.
“Blacksmith! mighty blacksmith!” Raal yelled in a panic, his red eyes wide circles in the shadowed void of his hood.. He scurried into the circular entrance to the Giant’s smithy with a profound lack of grace and an immediate sense of urgency. “I’ve come to warn you, lord!”
The Giant turned it’s massive face, it’s massive, white beard creating a small gust as it followed his balding head to look at Raal.
“Warn me? Who is you, and what you disturbing Tawdor for?”
Raal stopped and created the illusion of panting, robe-covered hands resting on his knees. Omni’d given him back the ability to breathe, if not the actual need, and he had to admit it had turned out to be useful in this instance. “The dwarves, lord, they sent assassins. Undead!”
The Giant furrowed his brow at this. “Undead? Why would dwarves send undead at me.”.
“Jealousy, lord! I overheard their chatter with some foul mage, and when they realized it, they sent their undead after me, as well. I had come here in hopes of obtaining some of your fine works of craftsmanship-”
“Yeah, they are pretty good, aren’t they?” The Giant said with a slight laugh to himself, interrupting. “But you’s got any proof o’ what you say? I’m not into fighting dwarves unless I’m sure-”
On cue, Raal gave a mental nod to both his undead, the sword-wielding skeleton suddenly appearing from the side entrance with it’s sword pointed straight at the giant.
“Why, that’s a skeleton, that is!”
“Quite right, lord, that’s one of the dwarvish undead I told you about.” Raal said with mock horror. It sounded simply ridiculous with Raal’s distorted voice, but it seemed more than convincing enough to the giant.
“Don’t you worry, honored customah. I’ll handle’is!” The Giant yelled. A hammer quickly came down from the giant’s back, the speed far more than Raal expected, and the sword-wielding skeleton was left as llittle more than bone meal in an instant.
The second, the archer, swiftly took aim, pointing at Tawdor’s eyes. The moment the old giant saw this, he gaped. Arrows could put out an eye, and even this foolish fiend knew better than to want that.
“No!” Raal yelled, a blast of black energy issuing from his staff. The attack caused the skeleton to collapse, the creature falling into pieces
The giant sighed in relief, sitting down on his rear, before looking at Raal with a confused expression. “you… was actually a big help, you was.”.
Raal inclined his head. “thank you for your kind words, lord. I merely wished to save an artist who’s career is worth more than my own life.”
Tawdor visibly blushed at that, and Raal desperately hoped giants here weren’t attracted to smaller folk.
“I like ya! You should come with me now!” Tawdor said with a smile.
“Where to, lord?”
“I haven’t ate dwarf in a while, and they’re getting uppity down there… so I’m going to go squash their whole town, I think.”
“A wise course of action. They won’t be able to stand up to your strength.” This was the key. Raal knew the giant would never have acted on his plan under normal circumstances. What he’d read of the giants of this realm seemed to imply they were rather lazy at best, unless given the appropriate confidence and motivation. Raal had supplied both, and as the Giant lumbered past him, he was quick to follow.
It was only five minutes after he’d exited the cave that he heard a familiar voice behind him, talking in a low voice to avoid being heard by Raal’s large new friend.
“How’d ye know about manipulatin’ giants. I thought you were new to this realm.” Zul’kis’ asked bluntly. his tone couldn’t have been more suspicious if he’d tried, Raal mused.
Raal smiled, but did not turn around. “I’m new to this universe.” Raal replied. “But I’m also capable of overcoming such weaknesses.” reaching into his cloak, the Warlock pulled out a small, red book. “apparently your witch doctor kept some information stored on the creatures of the realm in hardcopy. Respectable. Tell me… why do you think I only spoke to you three hours after we began our travel? I was studying this.” Raal stated bluntly, before putting the book back in his robes.
“So ya stole from us now?”
Raal shrugged at that. “I consider it borrowing without permission. As a youth I was quite the pickpocket. Having absorbed the majority of the books contents, I’ve no issues returning it. I’ll even hand it to you if you’d like… Though, really, you seem more like an old mother hen than a troll warrior right now, worried about such petty theft.”.
Zul’kis’s growl seemed almost palpable. “It was betrayal.”
Raal’s body didn’t even move. “Please. It was a bit of well-known information on faded paper. You may call it betrayal all you like. In reality, it was simply proper allocation of resources. Now hide yourself before the giant decides he’s found a snack.”
Raal could not see Zul’kis’s face, but he knew he was glaring all the same. “The chat don’t be over, morsel.’
Raal kept walking as he felt a rush of air brush the back of his hood, and he knew Zul’kis was already hidden, tracking him and the giant from a distance.
“No.” he replied to himself. “It isn’t.”
Walking with the giant, Raal was surprised at how good a sense of direction he seemed to have. Walking forward with a sense of purpose, Tawdor seemed to know exactly what direction to go even without a map. Hidden intelligence, or just a quirk of his species… Raal had to assume the latter.
“I just had an idea, mighty Tawdor.” Raal said with a smirk, as they passed a ridge filled with stones.
“What’s that, lil’un?” the Giant asked with an air of affection. From what Raal could tell from the constant muttering he’d heard the whole trip, the behemoth walking in front of him had likened him akin to a pet by now, albeit a useful one. Raal was fine with the idea, frankly.
“these boulders here… the place the Dwarves live seems to be flat.” Raal said. “not many rocks there. But they might have some horrible arrows and things to try and hit you with. You could hit them with this rock instead, and suddenly the problem would be solved.
Tawdor stood stock still in what Raal assumed was either a thinking pose or simply the oaf’s preferred stance for drooling for what seemed like several hours before finally jumping up slightly, a broad smile on his face. “You’re a real smart little guy. That’s a good idea! I should try that on those green things next time”
Raal’s body shook slightly at the mention of the green things, but did not otherwise slip in his acting. “Yes. Next time.” Raal said, as Tawdor gleefully picked up a large slab of stone.