secret of the dragon emperor ... part 19!

here's part two of our latest dragonbane session!

GM Elle: So by the time you pack the tent up and go back down the mountain to Blind Hildi's Farm, it's getting to be mid-morning.

MSG: Meaning not all that long since we had breakfast.

Sasha: If you're implying you don't want to stop for that home-cooked meal I self-invited us to, Quackers is going to stop you right there.

MSG: Not at all. Dolora will be happy to learn more about farm life in this region.

Claire: Filvius too. It may be mundane knowledge, but knowledge is knowledge, and Filvy craves it just as much as Dolora. Maybe more.
Ariel: Fidu is ready to rest from the trip down the mountain, for sure.
Sasha: Hard work riding in a cart for an hour, huh?
Ariel: Is there any other kind of work?
GM Elle: When you arrive at the farm, Hildi overflows with gratitude for the return of her niece, and is more than happy to cook you a meal. Anybody who wants to can consider this their stretch rest for the shift.
MSG: Deal! In addition to that, I'll ask lots of questions about what it is she's cooking.
Claire: I'll ask lots of questions about what her tricks are for running a farm when she can't see.
Hettie: Possibly a little insensitive there, Clarity.
Claire: Hey, the elf has an 8 charisma and is starved for any kind of learning he can get.
GM Elle: This is also a medieval setting, so there's not much likelihood Hildi expects people to politely skirt around her visual disability. She's actually quite proud of the various knacks she's worked out over the years to do things sighted people wouldn't expect her to be able to do. At the end of all the cooking and questioning and eating, she thanks you again and offers you two days of rations each to take along with you, since she has nothing else to offer for the great service you've done.
MSG: I mean, has she completely exhausted all the knowledge of farm life she could give us? Seems like that would take a lot longer than however long she spent cooking the food and serving it to us. Dolora is more than happy to keep learning.
Claire: Filvius is too, but I suspect our other party members will make an issue of it. Also, he's champing at the bit to go back to that huge statue we passed on the way here and investigate it. It's only half a day back along the road, so we should be able make it by nightfall if we leave after lunch.
Ariel: Fidu isn't all that eager to go exploring a ruined old statue that's way off from the road.
Sasha: I thought Elle said we couldn't tell exactly how far off it was because of the mists.
Ariel: Well obviously it was far enough away that the mists made it hard to see! That's got to be a hike.
Akane: Zedeja agrees it's useless to bother with a broken old relic.
Hettie: Dilfriida mutters that she feels exactly the same way sometimes.
Akane: What? Speak up, halfling!
Hettie: I don't particularly want to go on a wild goose chase at an ancient statue that people have probably been digging around at for years. But I also don't want to agree with Zedeja. On the other hand, maybe the best way for Zedeja to not get her way would be for Dilfriida to agree with her so she'll change her mind to avoid doing what the halfling wants. I guess I'll speak up a little louder and say, "We should just get back to town and cash in the stuff we got from this trip." It's not really a bluff, because she does think that, even if she'd be happy to needle Zedeja into changing her tune.
Akane: Zedeja is tuneless. It's our bard who is changeable. There's no tricking this mage into plan switching. Also, the best solution to a halfling stating opinions is always to ignore them.
Hettie: Well, I tried.
GM Elle: Before you reach the statue site, unfortunately, the road takes you near a high, craggy hill with enormous boulders heaped at its base. As you're approaching it, a bellowing roar splits the air, and from around the boulders comes charging the figure of a furious giant. You have about two rounds before he gets to you, it looks like.
MSG: And how big is this giant, exactly? Does he have out a weapon?
Claire: Also, can I check Beast Lore to see what I know about giants?
GM Elle: A giant is Huge. In game terms, that means it can block an 8 meter by 8 meter area, which is 4 times as wide as the area a human can block. So he's probably also about 8 meters tall, or 24-ish feet to all of our non-metric players. This one doesn't seem to have a weapon out, but his enormous, clenched fists make you think he probably doesn't need one against tiny things like you. Anyone who wants to rack their brains for the first round can make a Beast Lore roll to see what they know.
MSG: I'm also using my eyes to figure out if he looks like he can outrun us and/or our donkeys. My Beast Lore roll is 3, which succeeds.
Claire: Mine's 13, also a success.
Ariel: I'm gonna say this situation is worth putting a little effort into, so Fidu hops down from the wagon and runs to get farther away from the giant. I'll get my bow out too, in case we end up fighting him.
Sasha: Quackers hauls out the cockatrice head and says, "Hey, buddy, we're big-time monster-slayers, so back off and let us go on our way if you don't want to get monster-slain."
Akane: Zedeja assumes this giant is faster than an oldster mage. She casts Stone Skin for defense at the highest power level. The roll is 8, success.
Hettie: If there are lots of boulders around here, Dilfriida will hop off the cart and hide behind one.
GM Elle: Okay. Dolora and Filvius both recall that giants are very territorial and don't tolerate people intruding on their lands. You also know their long legs give them a faster movement speed than people of your size. It's unlikely any of you except maybe Fidu could outrun him if you stay to the open road, but if you split up and make Evade checks, you can probably scatter into the hills before he gets to you. Sash, you can make a Persuasion roll for Sir Q, and Dilfriida can make a Sneaking attempt, Hettie -- with a boon, because this sort of giant is a bit short-sighted.
Sasha: 19 is almost as fail-y as you can get, but Quackers will get mad if the giant doesn't respect a cockatrice-killer, so I'm pushing the roll. Dammit, 18. So now I'm Angry and didn't get anything out of it.
Akane: Possibly good for the party, however. Now the duck knight is a tempting target for the aggravation of this giant.
Hettie: I roll a 6 and a 2 on Dilfriida's hiding check.
GM Elle: Next round. He's not yet close enough for initiative. What's everyone going to do?
MSG: Dolora says, "Everybody break and run! We'll regroup down the road!" Then I'll Dash or make that Evade roll you were talking about to get the heck out of here.
Claire: Did my Beast Lore roll give me a sense of how well a giant might stand up to a full-strength Lightning Flash?
GM Elle: That's 4d6, right? You're pretty sure you could max those dice out and he'd still just be mad. MSG, make Dolora's Evade roll.
MSG: 13 will do the trick.
Claire: I'm following Dolora's lead, then. My Evade roll is 10, which succeeds.
Ariel: I'm already farther away than everybody else -- can I get a Boon on my roll?
GM Elle: Sure.
Ariel: Ack. TWO Demons.
GM Elle: You faceplant in the middle of the road. You're prone, and you need to make a CON check or you'll be dazed and unable to act next round.
Ariel: Oh no! Here goes my CON roll then ... 17. I'm too frightened not to push that, so I'm going to get Scared and roll again. Whew! 2 this time.
Sasha: Quackers is really ticked now. I'm going to use my Ill-Tempered ability to get a Boon on a skill roll and try Persuasion again, still brandishing the cockatrice head. "This is your last warning! I'll be happy to add a giant head to my trophy bag if you really want to push it!" My rolls are 15 and 14. The 14 is a success.
Akane: Can Zedeja drive a wagon Evasively? If yes, a 10 succeeds.
Hettie: I'll continue to hide behind my rock. But as a reminder, it's a cart. The wagon was too expensive for our tastes, as I recall.
Akane: Thank you. Probably the authority of Zedeja would make her exaggerate a cart into a wagon, though.
GM Elle: The giant comes up short at the apparent fearlessness of the mallard wielding a cockatrice head. He's not scared really, but he is wary enough to shout, "Small ones begone! If you stay there will be crushing!" He advances to the edge of the road, close enough that he'll be able to enter melee next round if you don't turn tail.
MSG: He doesn't have to tell me twice. I'm already splitting.
Claire: Likewise. 
Ariel: I'll get up and run after everyone else. 
Sasha: Can I make a Beast Lore check to see whether I consider the giant a monster and not just a big angry person? The idea of turning back chaps my hide, and if I think of him as a monster, I'm not sure Quackers has the good sense to back down.
GM Elle: I think you've got to role-play this one, Sash. A typical person is definitely going to think of a giant as a monster. He's also clearly threatening you just for passing along the road in or near his territory, which makes him a danger to other travelers as well.
Sasha: Crap. I really don't want Sir Q getting pasted. I guess I'm going to keep arguing with my Ill-Temperedness. "Here's the deal, dude. I don't go around letting monsters threaten people. You want to be reasonable? Just charge a toll for passing through your neck of the woods and only smash people if they won't pay." My rolls are 6 and 2.
GM Elle: That's pretty persuasive. He tells you in that case, you can either turn back, or pay his toll to go past. "One donkey! Pay now or go!"
Sasha: A donkey ran us what, 12 gold? Dang. That's pretty steep. Most people coming along the road won't be able to afford that. Still, if he's offering to charge them instead of just attacking, I guess that's non-monstrous enough for Quackers to tolerate it. Is the cart still in sight?
GM Elle: Akane's evasion roll got it around a hill, so no. But you know which way she headed with it.
Sasha: Guess I'll start waddling after it, then.
MSG: Now, the book says if you choose to overcome your weakness, you can't get a mark for it at the end of the session, and you have to pick a new one to play moving forward. Is Quackenscrump's decision to let the giant be edging into that territory?
Claire: I'd say it's more like Quackers challenged the monster fair and square and got it to downgrade from monster to just capitalist.
MSG: Touché.
GM Elle: My ruling as gamemaster is that it's a player call whether they're overcoming their weakness or just not giving in whole hog. A weakness isn't a pair of leg-irons that you either wear or jump right out of.
MSG: Makes sense.
Sasha: So how do we figure out if I catch up to the cart?
Akane: Zedeja slows when out of sight. She listens for screams and crushing giant fist sounds. If she does not hear them, she will wait at least a brief time.
Sasha: All right. So do you think we'll all end up finding our way together at the cart?
Hettie: Everyone else can, but I'm still hiding behind my rock. If the giant hasn't spotted me here, I don't know that I want to attract his attention trying to run away. I might as well wait until the group comes back and pays him off with one of our donkeys.
MSG: Assuming we actually agree with that instead of just trying to skirt wide around his spot through the hills on the other side of the road.
Akane: Zedeja will favor this plan. It salvages a donkey, and also if there is no halfling with us when we go, the benefit is doubled.
Hettie: There's also probably an inkling somewhere in the back of Dilfriida's head that if he leaves the road unobserved, she might be able to sneak around those boulders the giant came storming out of and see if he's got a lair she could slink into and pilfer something from.
Ariel: Does she really think she'll be able to carry giant-sized stuff out?
Hettie: As far as Dilfriida knows, he has giant-sized coins made with 4 times as much gold as a normal coin. Or loot from other travelers he's waylaid. Most likely, the longer she waits in her hiding spot, the more possibilities she imagines. After a while, she'll sneak a peek to see if he's still waiting in the road. Do I still get a Boon on my Sneaking roll?
GM Elle: Yes.
Hettie: Aha! An 11 and a Dragon.
GM Elle: You see that he's sitting in the road with his attention fixed on the road itself and on the area where the cart rolled between a couple of hills. Thanks to the Dragon, you also see that the current angle of his gaze means you could probably dash farther from the road to another hiding spot from which you could make your way either south in the direction the cart headed or north in the direction the road leads.
Hettie: North it is, then. Does the "probably" mean I still need to roll?
GM Elle: Yes, but still with the Boon.
Hettie: 6 and 3. If I can, I'm going to parallel the road north for a few hundred yards ... meters, rather. Then I'll sneak closer to the road and see if I might be able to cross it without him noticing.
GM Elle: You can get to some bushes near the road without a check. From there, you see his back still turned to you, so you can have another Boon to sneak from your bushes across the road and into cover on the far side.
Hettie: 4 and 18.
GM Elle: You're safely across. By this time, Sir Quackenscrump has caught up with the cart.
MSG: How about the rest of us? I guess I did yell for everybody to scatter, so we probably split in different directions.
Claire: I think Filvius would make his way south a bit before trying to get back to the road. Hopefully that's the general direction everyone headed, since the giant was blocking the road to the north.
Ariel: Plus, we're closer to the farm than to that statue I think, right? That would be a good place to rest up trying to figure a way past the giant.
Sasha: I'll ask Zedeja if she saw which way everyone else went.
Akane: It's certainly a yes, due to the vast Awareness of this mage. Should I roll, gamemaster?
GM Elle: You can roll one die to have kept track of one person, with a Bane die for each additional person you want to have observed.
MSG: So that's a triple Bane?
Claire: Honey, please. Do you think Zedeja's going to keep track of Dilfriida?
Akane: This question -- rhetorical, plainly.
MSG: Right. I should have thought that through for maybe half a second longer.
Akane: The Awareness of Zedeja is probably mighty enough for a triple Bane, but there's no reason to heed the location of a halfling, so only two extra dice to roll. Hmm. 15, 17 and 16. That is one failure. But one failure fails for everything, yes? I consider it tiresome to attend the locations of so many companions, so I become Exhausted by pushing. New rolls are ... 13, Demon, and 13.
Ariel: Yikes! That's a super unlucky combination!
Akane: Yes. And there is no push for a Demon. What consequence befalls Zedeja from too ambitiously Awaring?
GM Elle: First, let me ask -- did Dolora try to go north after breaking and running, or did she head south like most everyone else?
MSG: If she heard Quackers challenging the giant behind her, she probably would have looked for a hiding place to watch what happened, in case it looked like our knight had a fighting chance but also seemed to need help.
Hettie: That's a nicely measured degree of bravery and comradeship.
GM Elle: I doubt Sir Q was quiet about it, so you probably heard. Make a Sneaking roll with a Boon.
MSG: 3 and 7. So if I see how it goes down, I'd head in the same direction as the duck.
GM Elle: In that case, Filvius and Fidu meet up some distance south along the road, and the other three rendezvous somewhere in the hills east of the road. I'll roll a die to see which way Glinssa went ... looks like she stuck with the cart. Zedeja's Demon means she's convinced the others went north.
MSG: Dolora says, "Well that could have gone better," as she arrives at the cart. "Are we really going to give that giant one of our donkeys for passage?"
Akane: What? Intolerable! Who negotiated a donkey to use a free road?
Sasha: Quackers shrugs. "I don't much care whether we fork over the donkey or try to sneak around somehow." If we sneak and he comes after us, that's sort of a win-win for Quackers because he'll get to fight the giant.
Akane: When do giants sleep? We can drive by in darkness when we hear his giant snores. That's the direction we must head to find our junior mage and hound.
GM Elle: Dolora succeeded on her Beast Lore roll at the start of the encounter, so she knows that their territoriality means most giants are light sleepers, and that they sleep at night.
MSG: I'll relay that information.
Claire: Down south, Filvius asks Fidu if he thinks anyone else made it.
Ariel: Probably not, but we can definitely rest here a while and see if one or two of them show up.
Sasha: Well, if the wagon patrol is going to head north, we should get to it. It will probably be slow going taking this cart through the hills.
Akane: Yes. And the longer we sit, the more likely a halfling will catch up.
GM Elle: Speaking of halflings, then, what's Dilfriida's plan, Hettie?
Hettie: If I've made it across the road, I'll find my way around the back side of the hill that the giant came charging around to block us.
GM Elle: The terrain is erratic, so you'll need to roll Bushcraft to find the way quickly. You can have a Boon to the roll, though.
Hettie: Not likely to be much help with my 5 skill level in Bushcraft, but let's see. No, I roll a 6 and a 16.
GM Elle: A Demon would have gotten you hopelessly lost, but failure just means it takes you a long time. When you reach the point where those boulders are, you may not actually recognize them from a distance, given the different angle. You can roll against INT to see if you do.
Hettie: That's only a slight improvement on my Bushcraft; I have an INT of 9. And I roll 15.
GM Elle: Then you unexpectedly stumble upon the heap of boulders from its western side, recognizing them at the last second because you see the road beyond them. It's been at least an hour, and from this angle, you can't see whether the giant is still in the same position sitting in the road. You do see that there's a very large cave opening in the side of the hill that was blocked from view by the boulders when you were on the road.
Hettie: I'm going to sneak to that cave entrance, then. Do I get the Boon still?
GM Elle: You don't know where the giant is, so it's harder to effectively sneak. If we were playing by the book, you couldn't make a roll at all unless you actually know he's there, but I think we can all agree that's kind of a dumb rule. I'll let you make a straight roll, but no Boon.
Hettie: 12 succeeds.
GM Elle: You make it to the mouth of the cave, and looking around the corner, you see that a short way into the passageway beyond, there's a door. It's a huge door, sized for a giant, so the handle is 10 or 12 feet off the ground.
Hettie: Not much likelihood I'm getting that open, then. Dilfriida is frustrated at all the time she's spent only to get stopped by a really big door. I'm going to say she grinds her brain cells together trying to think of a way in and brilliantly comes up with the idea that the giant must have a chimney if he cooks anything in his cave. I'll climb up the hill and search around for any opening in the rocks up there that looks sooty.
GM Elle: You can make a Spot Hidden roll.
Hettie: 12 misses it by 1.
GM Elle: You tell me how many hours you'd spend at the search and I'll roll a die to see whether you find something in that time or not.
Hettie: I'll probably only search for 20 or 30 minutes before I get worried I'm being left way behind. At that point I'll climb up to the top of the hill and see if I can spot anyone along the road in either direction.
GM Elle: Go ahead and roll Spot Hidden.
Hettie: This time it's a success: 7.
GM Elle: Okay, then to know what you spot, we'll have to see what everyone else has done in the hour and a half or so that you've spent skirting the hill and searching. There's some tough going for the cart. If you don't make three strength checks in a row to get it over obstacles, I'll say it takes you an hour to get far enough north that you feel safe cutting back to the road. Two people can contribute, which will give whoever rolls a Boon. But anyone who helps is going to be Exhausted after their second roll.
MSG: Since we don't know ahead of time that there will be three obstacles, I assume Quackers and I will both help on the first one.
Sasha: Damn straight, we do.
MSG: Rolling with a Boon against my 18 strength, I get a 10 and a 4.
GM Elle: All right. You come upon your second rough spot, and Dolora and Sir Q are both feeling a bit winded but not done in yet.
Sasha: You want to take this one by yourself, Dolora? I might want to save my strength in case any monsters come along.
MSG: Sure. I roll 17, another success.
GM Elle: Now you're Exhausted, then. If Dolora makes the third roll with anyone else's help, the Boon from help will cancel out the Bane from Exhaustion.
Akane: Already, Zedeja is Exhausted. I presume she cannot help. Especially with her weakling strength of 10.
GM Elle: Glinssa says she can help. She appears to want to prove her value to the group.
MSG: Sounds good to me. Rolling just one die ... 11. Whew! Hopefully that lets us catch up to the folks we think went north.
GM Elle: All right, you get back to the road in less than an hour and start making good time along it. Claire, Ariel, how long to your characters wait where they are, and once they're done waiting, what do you do?
Ariel: Well, I may be slothful, but I'm pretty fast, so I can't imagine anyone got to this spot before me. Probably I'll figure either they headed north or else the giant pulverized them all. I'm good to kick back and relax for however long Filvius wants to wait, though.
Claire: Filvius craves the knowledge of what happened to the rest of the group. I think after half an hour or 45 minutes, he'd want to head north through the hills, just out of sight of the road if we can manage it.
GM Elle: That will be a Bushcraft roll.
Claire: I'm decent at Bushcraft ... and I roll a 2.
GM Elle: Here's what happens, then. The cart company gets back to the road and far enough north Dilfriida doesn't spot them from her perch on the hill. But Filvius and Fidu return to the road and are still in sight continuing along it when Dilfriida looks. She knows they have the fastest movement in the group. Do you want to try to estimate how long it will take you to catch up to them if you hoof it?
Hettie: No. I'm going to finish out my first hour of searching and if I don't find anything, I'll go back up for a second look and see if I can still pick the elf and wolfkin out.
GM Elle: You do not find a chimney in that first hour. Make a Spot Hidden roll with a Bane to be eagle-eyed enough that you can still see them.
Hettie: Two failures: 13 and 15.
GM Elle: No sign of them as far as you can see, then. And I just realized I've been forgetting about the mists. You probably should have had a Bane from the start and a double or triple Bane on that next roll.
Hettie: Damnation. I don't like falling so far behind, but if I catch up to the group with nothing to show for all this work, I know Zedeja will chastise me until I'm ready to explode. Also, since you mentioned the mists, Dilfriida could probably rationalize her inability to see anyone by telling herself they're not that far off, it's just the mists that keep her from seeing them. I'll spend a second hour searching.
GM Elle: You still don't find a chimney.
MSG: What time is it getting to be? I think those of us with the cart wouldn't go all that far north on the road before taking a break to see if anyone is behind us. It seems like if they'd headed north before we did, they would wait for the cart to catch up, since it would be slower than anyone else.
GM Elle: You left the farm a little after lunchtime. The giant confronted you ... let's say d4 hours later, and the die comes up a 3. So the wagon gets back to the road around 4:00-ish, Dilfriida spots Filvius and Fidu around 4:30, and Dilfriida's second hour is up at around 5:30.
MSG: We would definitely just stop and make camp by 5:30, I'd think.
Claire: And Filvius would definitely want to keep going to catch up to the others, since we know we're quicker than they are.
Ariel: Fidu would probably complain about walking so fast for so long, but he'd also probably go along with it. I don't think I want to stop and make camp just the two of us without any of the stuff we've got in the wagon. I mean, cart.
Hettie: It's tricky to roleplay this knowing that the group is camped already when I'm trying to decide whether to search for another hour. But damn it, I have an oil lamp and flint and tinder, so I'm going to search one more hour and if it's night by then and I have to make my way back to the road by lamplight, so be it.
GM Elle: I rolled a 3 on that d6, so by the end of that hour, with sunset approaching, you do find a fissure atop the hill that's more or less sheltered from the elements by a slab of rock propped up on a couple of small boulders. The underside of the slab is very sooty.
Hettie: Is the hole big enough for me to try to climb down through? And is there smoke currently coming out of it?
GM Elle: Yes to the first question, no to the second.
Hettie: All right, then. I'm going in. What do I need to do to make the climb?
GM Elle: Once you're in the chimney, you'll very quickly be in total darkness. You'll have to make an Awareness check to feel your way downward, followed by an Acrobatics check to make the climb. Each Awareness failure causes you to waste time. An Acrobatics failure ... well, just don't roll an Acrobatics failure.
Hettie: Right, then. First Awareness check is 12, so that's one failure. Second check is 7. Acrobatics check is ... fantastic, a Demon.
GM Elle: Ouch. You fall, and you fall hard. The tube is narrow and formed from natural rock, so I would have let you get a second chance at Acrobatics to grab hold after a short distance. But instead, you hit your head and then bump all the way down. 3 points from hitting your head, 3 points from another bash on the way down, and then 14 from the final fall.
Hettie: That puts me at zero.
GM Elle: Time to start making death rolls, then.
MSG: Dang, I'm really going to miss Dilfriida if she bites it.
Claire: Me too.
Ariel: You'd better make your rolls or I'll be really sad, Hettie!
Sasha: Yeah, don't make Aers cry.
Ariel: I didn't say I'd cry!
Sasha: Mm-hmm. Anyone want to put up 5 dollars against me that says she won't?
Akane: ...
Hettie: ...
GM Elle: ...
MSG: ...
Claire: ...
Ariel: Hmpff!
Hettie: My first Death Roll is 4, well under my CON. I'll try to Rally myself if I can in case the giant comes up on me while I'm lying in his fireplace. That's a WIL roll with a Bane ... Dragon! But also a Demon.
GM Elle: The worse roll prevails. I'll say the Demon means you're out cold and can't make any more Rally attempts.
Hettie: Second Death Roll then ... 5.
MSG: This is looking pretty good, actually.
Claire: Don't jinx her, you!
Hettie: Third roll is a 3. I'm in the clear.
GM Elle: Roll d6 to see how many HP you recover.
Hettie: A whopping 2.
GM Elle: Now let's see if the giant heard you. Default skill level for monsters is 15, and he rolls a 13. He was in bed, but something wakes him up. He spends a round getting up and lighting a giant-sized candle. You're covered in ash and still lying unconscious in the fireplace, so he gets a Bane on his Spot Hidden roll. 12 and 7 means he sees you, unfortunately.
MSG: Not looking so good after all.
GM Elle: On his second round, the giant comes over and prods at you with his finger. You're still out this round, so he may think you're dead. Another Spot Hidden with a Bane ... 8 and 2. Nope, he knows you're still breathing. Draw initiative for the third round, which is when you come to. The third Death Roll and recovering HP takes up your round, but if you win initiative, maybe you'll have time to say something before he acts.
Hettie: I draw the 2. I presume being a monster he gets to draw multiple cards for Ferocity.
GM Elle: No, giants are on the lumbering side, apparently. He just gets one, and it's the 7.
Hettie: Then I cough and say, "I can't believe those bastards threw me down here instead of just paying you that donkey! What a bunch of cheats!"
GM Elle: That's pretty good, actually. Roll your Bluffing to see if he buys it.
Hettie: 16, but I'm definitely pushing it because I'm not just Scared, I'm terrified. 18. Now I'm Disheartened too -- no, wait, that would give me a Bane on Charisma checks. I'm still Dazed from the fall, then. 14. I'm also feeling Sickly, probably from a concussion. Whew! 3 is less than my 9 in Bluffing, finally.
GM Elle: He roars angrily and rushes to his door, bellowing that he's owed a donkey and won't take a scrawny halfling in its place.
Hettie: Great. I'll look around for a second while he's storming out. I don't want to try leaving right on his heels.
GM Elle: He's taking his candle with him, so roll Spot Hidden to see if you notice anything worthwhile in the receding light.
Hettie: I roll a 3.
GM Elle: On the nightstand beside his immense bed, you see a book -- human-sized, actually, so it's probably a bit difficult for him to read, but it's the only thing in sight that seems within your capacity to take. However, the nightstand is 6 feet tall, so you'll have to make an Acrobatics check to jump up and grab it.
Hettie: I'm Dazed, so this is at a Bane, but a 4 and a 15 equals success.
GM Elle: You've got the book, then. The giant is out the door and roaring his way up the hill toward his chimney.
Hettie: I will hoof it out the door in the opposite direction and look for the closest hiding spot I can get to.
GM Elle: That would be around the heap of boulders. Roll Sneaking.
Hettie: Again, with a Bane ... 6 and 3. Can I hear where the giant has gotten to?
GM Elle: Awareness.
Hettie: 10, exactly what I need.
GM Elle: You hear his receding voice shouting angrily, "Where is my donkey!!"
Hettie: If there's another hiding spot within moving distance, I'll make for that.
GM Elle: Sneaking check again. 
Hettie: 3 succeeds but 18 fails.
GM Elle: Bad GM moment -- giants are short-sighted, so creatures your size get a Boon to Sneaking, which cancels out your Bane. You should only be rolling one die.
Hettie: I don't know if the 3 or the 18 landed first.
GM Elle: Well, just roll again, then.
Hettie: 14 makes it.
GM Elle: You find your next hiding spot, then, and I'll say one more success gets you far enough that you can sprint up the road and lose yourself in some brush or around the next hill.
Hettie: 2.
GM Elle: You're in the clear, then. But you do still have to make your way north along the road to catch up to the others. Let's see what the random encounter table says ...
MSG: Wow, you're really trying to get her, aren't you?
Hettie: Actually, it seems to me she's taking it pretty easy on Dilfriida's rash little self.
GM Elle: I roll a "nothing happens" result, so sometime near 8:00 or 9:00, Dilfriida stumbles into camp covered in soot and carrying a book. Filvius and Fidu would have gotten there not too long after the group stopped the cart for the night.
Hettie: I would have paused at some point to get out my lamp and see what the book is, by the way.
GM Elle: The title page says, "Handbook of the Master Carpenter."
MSG: That sounds incredibly worth it.
Hettie: I will heave a sigh and continue onward, then. When I get to camp, I'll spin an adventurous tale of sneaking into the giant's cave and make a bold show of the book -- and also this gold ring I found while I was on watch way back in the Magna Woods. I never told anyone about it or sold it, so now's a good time to bring it out.
Akane: We have skipped some roleplaying, though.
GM Elle: Sorry. Was there something Akane wanted to do around camp?
Akane: Yes. She spends one hour sneering about the thief's incompetence. How quickly the hound and junior mage caught up! Of course a halfling is unable to match this speedy rejoining. Then she spends one hour staring quietly into the fire but occasionally looking south along the road. Then she says she is old and tired and going to bed.
Ariel: When she comes in the tent I say, "Hi, Zedeja!" Because obviously I'm in bed already. Maybe even asleep, I guess, so maybe I don't say that.
Akane: If awake, you notice the mage toss and turn considerably on her sleeping fur until sound of the halfling's return reaches her. This makes her sit quickly up, listening. Next she yells, "Why is a halfling disturbing my sleep! Silence out there!" Regardless of any answer, she lies down once more and soon is asleep snoring old wizardly snores.
Hettie: Thank you, Akane. That was so incredibly sweet.
GM Elle: I think that's a perfect point to end this session, too. Full advancement marks for everybody.
Ariel: *sniff* ... Darn it! And I said I wasn't going to cry!

next time: will filvius convince everyone to visit that statue? has zedeja turned a corner in her attitude toward dilfriida? (spoilers, probably not!)