Matt in a Blue Dress

01-23-2020: Game Thirty-Nine: Matt in a Blue Dress
 
There was magic in this world once, but they stole it all away.
 
Korric took care of the freed dwarves, washing them and gently dressing their wounds: both physical and psychological. The other brothers crept into the mine, after a quick and dirty interrogation. They didn’t learn much of use. Tage quickly murdered one to scare the others. They did not get an accurate count of captives.
 
The dwarves set up a fusillade of crossbows to assault any escaping giants and the brothers worked their way into the mine. Within, their teams of hard working dwarves were digging for valuable ore and gemstones rather than the Electrum they generally worked on. As they moved through the tunnels they freed the slaves and workers as they passed them. Eventually they came to a pair of Giants.
 
The brother of the previous Head dwarf told them what had happened: Giants invaded and eventually talked Harlem into letting them deep into the mine. Apparently they had found some fancy stuff deep in the mines. Soon it, and the mines would be back in Brotherhood hands.
 
They led a series of Giants out of the cave, cutting them down with pincer surprise attacks. Was it Dwarf kicking day after all? The giants were led to believe thus. Having exhausted the giants within Earshot of the entrance, the brothers assembled two teams and surged down the hallways to lay into the Giants squatting in their mines.
 
Tage and Thy’lek cut down the ones guarding their path, While John, SwordPope, and Yuttosk rushed down their own pathway. Their familiarity with the layout helped them move with speed and purpose. Thy’lek didn’t stop from taking a sniff of a female dwarf at just the right time.
 
Strike Team Alpha spied an Ettin down their pathway, and made ready to do battle! Pope attempted to convince the Ettin he was in fact a small Giant. He was not successful. Yuttosk rushed in past him at the Ettin, his spear at the ready for a mighty assault. His righteous spear took it down in a single hit. The other Ettin nearby was quickly laid waste by a brutal combination attack from Yutosk and John Jean-Jon.
 
The brothers found themselves at a seemingly brand new tunnel. It seemed the dwarves had in the meantime built themselves a lovely office area.
 
The brothers gathered around the entrance to the Office and a series of Hill Giants came out to meet them.
 
John called out for Harlem to come forth and face his judgement. As it turned out, a three headed snake creature had come ahead of the giants, to ‘let him know it was okay’ for the Giants to take over the cave. Shortly, Harlem was headed to retrieve the ‘other bosses’. Soon the brothers would meet this multi-headed snake creature. Steve the Giant was above-average in testing, and on track to be a manager some day.
 
It seemed they could acquire a few giants as employees, or potential pseudo-brothers if the circumstances worked out right. Would they work out that way though? It was hard to say.
 
So when a three-headed snake creature appeared the brothers were more than a little amused. The snake creature was less than helpful, though Harlem suggested there was about 10 of them lurking in the mines. ‘Desssstro’ was eager to send the brothers away, but they were not having any of that. It seemed they were using the red crystals below for some reason. Desstro suggested the Bandolier brothers did not know what they had, He was right. John offered Steve a tincture of Decipher Languages so he could read the Deed, and he quelled the worries of the remaining Giants that they were in fact under the command and rule of the Bandolier Brothers. John popped a piece of Crimsonite ore in his mouth like candy to taunt the snake. The results were. . . interesting.
 
Dessstro indicated they (The snake people) were yet another set of invaders from another plane. Tage invoked the phone and asked Penelope if she was involved with the snakes and their mission on this plane. She indicated she was not. In fact she was on her way.
 
Apparently they believed the red stones were droplets of divine blood. . Their plan was to awaken their god with the droplets. Penelope was thoroughly amused by the snakes, and offered to stop them from teleporting away while the brothers went to town on the snake intruders in their mine. She was going to ‘enjoy the show’. It seemed the others were soon to be done with whatever it is they were doing.
 
Tage ‘became one with the shadows’ to get a better view of what awaited below them. He engaged in some heavy duty reconnaissance. Three Wizard snakes were lurking in a cavern. They danced closer and closer to each other, and something terrible: or perhaps wonderful was about to happen as they converged on the center of this arcane ritual. .
 
A pair of Fire Giants lurked below preparing their armour and weapons for a fight.
 
The brothers prepared to descend for the ‘hardest test they had faced in a while’ according to Penelope.
 
Hill Giants Murdered: 12
Ettins Murdered: 2
Dwarves Saved: 40