A few of the eagles have broken off and ahead, drawing a few thrown rocks-- boulders, actually, if truth be told-- from the giants, while the seven carrying the party wheel around to the side of the mountain and drop them off as carefully as they are able (which is not all that carefully). The seven are a mere fifty or sixty feet from the giant-kin, but behind a jagged rock formation which provides concealment but precludes effective missile fire. The giants themselves stand on a flat ledge before the cave entrance which seems to extend into a rough path of sorts down the far side of the mountain. Unfortunately, they are upwind, and their stale reek is both unmistakable and unavoidable. Alenniel: (dusting himself off) Alright! According to their leader, our job is to move in on foot and occupy the giants' attention so that the eagles have a chance to come in from above without having to worry about the rocks. Are we ready? Ajax: I knew we shoulda had saddles. Eagle: Oh, pah. The eagles were fun! Greythur: Anyone have a plan? Rimli: (unlimbers his battle axe and takes a few clanking steps forward) Aye, I've got a bleedin' plan! Greythur: Anyone have a feasible plan? Ajax: (readying his bow) I say we climb higher and ambush them with arrows from above. Then while they're trying to get at us the eagles can swoop in from behind. Alenniel: I don't know about getting above them. They know we are here and would be looking for us to do something like that. Autumn: Can't they just hit us with those boulders then? I don't think I'd like being hit by a huge rock. Ajax: Well, not as easily as they can down here! Alenniel: And I am sure Rimli will want to try out his new armor. Rimli: Oy! Th' big one's mine! (he hefts Barak-Nor and eyes one of the male giants) Alenniel: We also may want to spread out so they will not be able to take out several of us when they start throwing boulders. (he pulls out one of his new arrows and nocks it to his bowstring) At least I will get a chance to try this out. Greythur: Before we all rush in.... (he bows his head and invokes the blessing of the Wanderer on the party) Rimli: Och! C'n w' rush in now? Greythur: Sure. While you've been discussing the matter, the giants and eagles have started going at it. As expected, the former are able to keep the latter at bay with a number of hurled boulders, and those that do get through are easily handled by the huge tree trunks the giants use as makeshift clubs. Unfortunately, the eagles make rather large targets. The five ogres aren't doing much besides stomping around like a bunch of idiots while their masters deal with the air assault with terrifying effectiveness. It quickly becomes apparent why the eagles needed some help. giant#1: (swings his club and connects with a diving eagle) Roarf! diving eagle: (knocked out of the sky) giant#2: (pitches a large rock at another eagle) another eagle: (winged, it is forced to wheel around and retreat) Ajax: Wow... they can hit _and_ pitch! I'd say the giants have the eagles outclassed. Rimli: An' 'at's why we're 'ere, lad! (he raises his axe in the air) Clan- geddin! (he runs off at an impressive and unexpected speed) Ajax: (springs into the air beside him, drawing his sword in the process) Briarhill! Eagle: Yeah! (he follows after the two of them) Greythur: (charges forward, albeit without Rimli's enthusiasm, hefting his warhammer) Autumn: (readies a dagger and advances) Tasencia: (likewise advances, but wisely stays out of the fray for the time being to assist any who might fall back, wounded) Alenniel: (runs up with the others, then stops and looses his arrow at the nearest giant) giant#1: Gaargh! (his head is suddenly engulfed in a sparkling cloud of dust) Blargh! Agh! (he bats away at the stuff in vain) ogre#1: (sees the party approaching) Glaack! (he grabs a nearby club and moves to intercept this new threat) ogre#2: (follows suit) ogre#3: Huh? (he also turns his attention to the party) Eagle: (crashes into ogre#1, shortsword first) Chew on that! ogre#1: (deeply impaled by the halfling's enchanted blade) Urgh...! Ajax: I'm comin', Eagle! (he strikes at the ogre with his own shortsword while the lumbering humanoid is still off-guard) ogre#1: (tries to fend off Ajax's attack with his arm, but fails and takes a nasty cut across his ribcage) Grag! Greythur: (bravely engages ogre#2 with his warhammer, dealing a solid smash to his rock-hard head) Autumn: Nice shot, Greythur! (she launches a dagger at ogre#2, but it flies wide) Drat! ogre#3: (assumes that all the attackers are busy with ogres#1 and #2 and charges at Tasencia) Mmm... Elf! Tasencia: (clutches her staff nervously) Alenniel...! Rimli: YAAAA!!! (he jumps in front of the ogre, cuts him down in two swift strokes, then moves on to the giants) ogre#1: Gak! (he rests in pieces) Tasencia: (visibly relieved) ogre#1: (smacks Eagle with his club in retribution) Eagle: Oof! (he is knocked back a few paces by the force of the impact) ogre#2: (whacks Greythur solidly in the chest, sending him staggering backwards into a large rock [read: critical]) Greythur: Aie! (he drops his hammer, shocked and dazed by the pain, then falls to the ground, unconcious) ogre#2: Heh heh.... (slavering, he moves in on the young priest) Autumn: Greythur! (she curses her missed dagger and attacks again to try distract him) ogre#2: (suddenly notices a dagger sticking out of his shoulder) Grar? (he turns to find its source and sees Autumn) Human... human die! (considering her to be a tastier meal, he tromps after her) Autumn: (begins to doubt whether she thought her plan through well enough after all) giant#1: (still trying to clear his head and his eyes, he swings blindly at both airborne and grounded attackers) giant#2: (turns his attention to the party) Har har... little humans! Alenniel: Not all of us! (he fires another stun arrow, this time at giant#2) giant#2: (finds himself in a predicament similar to giant#1's) Glaargh! Blarg! Agh! Alenniel: That's what they all say. giant#3: (still throwing rocks and swinging her club at the eagles) eagles: (still diving at the giants and with much greater effectiveness, thanks to the party's efforts) Tasencia: (rushes to Greythur's side) Rao! Greythur: (close to death) Ajax: You leave my friend alone, cretin! (he delivers a solid blow to the ogre's torso) Eagle: (regains his footing and steps up to repay the ogre in kind, but, still hindered by his wound, he misses) Autumn: (judging her foe to be too close to make optimum use of a thrown weapon, she instead draws her shortsword and takes the offensive, catching him in the thigh with the point of her weapon) Ha! ogre#2: (far from wounded, the slight injury only serves to anger him further) You die, human! Autumn: *gulp* Help! ogre#2: (swings his spiked club at Autumn) Autumn: (attempts to dodge, but still catches a bit of the blow on her shoulder) I said HELP! Tasencia: (calls upon Rao's mercy to heal Greythur's wounds) ogre#1: (clubs Ajax mightily) Kill! Ajax: (tries to take it on his shield, but is still knocked to his knees) Yie! ogre#4: (sees that ogre#1 is double-teamed and attacks Eagle, but, despite his good intentions, manages to hit ogre#1 instead [read: fumble and generous DM]) ogre#1: (fortunately, he dies without really knowing what hit him) ogre#5: (extremely upset at ogre#4) Gor! You kill Gak! (he takes a swipe at ogre#4, but misses) ogre#2: (as he bears down upon Autumn, he is surprised to find an arrow protruding from his chest) Grk! Alenniel: (already nocking another) Autumn, run! Autumn: (already scrambling for cover) Rimli: (leaving the party and ogres behind, he is already amid the giants themselves, striking left and right) Take tha'! An' 'ere's one f'r ye, laddy! giant#1: (already bewildered by the dust cloud around his head, he is further confused by the painful gash torn into his leg) Aaaarggh! giant#2: (swinging blindly at the air, his attention turns to the ground when he, too, feels cold steel slash his calf) Raaarrr! giant#3: (still cognizant of what's going on around her, she sees the dwarf approach, although by the time she has marshalled her defenses he has already struck her twice) Alenniel: (plants another arrow in ogre#2 and takes a few steps back as the creature advances on him) eagles: (focus their attack on the two confused giants) giant#1: (tries to focus on anything at all) Ajax: (tears his attention away from the two ogres arguing violently in front of him and sees that ogre#2 has Autumn and Alenniel in a bad situation) Hold on, guys! (he leaps over, landing behind the ogre, and drives his shortsword into its back) Behind you, fatty! ogre#2: (whirls around, nearly blinded by pain and anger, and swings his club at-- nothing) Hruh? Ajax: (already well away from the brute, thanks to his boots) Too slow! Alenniel: (fires an arrow into the ogre's back) ogre#2: (really angry now) RARG! Die, Elf! (he turns back to Alenniel) Greythur: (somewhat healed, he sees the threatening ogre, leaps to his feet, hammer in hand, and charges ogre#2) Tasencia: (fearing for his safety in light of this most irrational behavior) Greythur--! ogre#2: (spins around just in time to see a large warhammer descend on his face) Greythur: (delivers the killing blow to ogre#2) For the Wanderer! Autumn: (takes a second to memorize this dramatic moment, then runs off to aid Ajax and Eagle) ogre#4: (still distracted by ogre#5) Grar! ogre#5: (still distracted by ogre#4) Rarg! Eagle: (sneaks up behind ogre#4 and plunges his shortsword deep and accurately into his vitals [read: critical, and backstab as well, no less]) ogre#4: GRAK! (his eyes bulge in response to the sudden pain which drops him to one knee) Eagle: That got him! (suddenly finds himself facing ogre#5) Oh... hi. ogre#5: Grr.... Autumn: (dashing towards Eagle, she picks up one of her fallen daggers and throws it en route) ogre#5: (hit in the side, he is yet too enraged at what has occurred before him to pay it much heed) GRRRR...! Rimli: (hacks vehemently at the giantess, ignoring, for now, the others) giant#3: (increasingly irritated by the puny demihuman's efforts) Die, tiny thing! (she bludgeons him with her huge club) Rimli: Och! (he is nearly flattened by the assault, but survives thanks to his new armor) Ugh.... (he struggles to his feet groggily) ogre#4: (trying to get himself together) ...hruh.... ogre#5: Aaarr! (he bashes Eagle) Eagle: (takes the club in the chest and staggers back) Ow... cripes! ogre#4: (manages to stand and lift his club to finish the halfling off) Alenniel: (looses a missile at ogre#4 in the nick of time) ogre#4: (his mouth opens wide in surprise, tongue lolling out to one side, as the arrow bites into his neck, killing him) Grk! Eagle: Whew! ogre#5: (finally takes a look around and sees how poorly his companions have fared) Muk! (he runs off towards the cave entrance) giant#2: (swinging wildly in the air at the eagles) giant#3: (swinging wildly at the ground at everything else) Ajax: Not so fast! (he takes a swipe at the retreating ogre#5's back, but misses) Eagle: (simultaneously attempts the same action and misses as well) Rats! Autumn: Forget them-- Rimli's in trouble! (she points to the battered dwarf) Rimli: (standing his ground before the giantess, but just barely) Urg. giant#3: (brings her club up overhead for the death blow) Now, little thing... you die!