Chapter 4: Forces of Nature

Part 1
You are walking a path through the forest and you see the bridge in front of you has been smashed. It is a steep cliff over a raging river. Around you, you see trees destroyed in what look like neat slashing patterns. Destruction trails in both directions as far as you can see. What do you do?

Part 2
The trial leads you to a massive cave in the side of the mountain. There you see a giant sitting somberly next to a bear who is lying on a bed of leaves.

Giant: Oh, Soraya. It pains me to see you like this, drained of your power and grace. If only I was there to stop you from eating those purple flowers. I have done brutal, careless, destructive things in the past, but you have taught me that there is more strength in compassion than fury. I would do anything to cure you of this poison. But I have neither the cleverness of man nor the mystical gifts of the fae. I am only strong. And what use is strength if I cannot even protect my friends?

Calen
Calen followed Nick east to the location of the giant.

Jack
Followed Nick to Hrothgar's home and asked Ba'az what strategies should be employed by a human interacting with a giant, receiving an instruction on giant culture.

Jatin
Took lengths of rope from the destroyed bridge and ran both east and west on the Chaos Horse to see which trail lead further and then proceeded to go east upon realizing that the west path came to a stop.

Michael
Michael's Void Crawler lead the players to the giant by the scent of its blood.

Nick
Nick touched the broken remnants of the bridge and learned that a giant had rampaged through the forest and destroyed it, leaving east towards its home. He announced this to the rest of the players and they headed east with him.

Nicole
She and Pippin searched along the cliffside for another bridge, collecting what supplies they could find.

Calen
Calen hunted in the forest for animals and acquired various hunting goods.

Jack
Asked Ba'az how to cure Falkentooth poison. The bear was cured before Jack was able to complete an antidote.

Jatin
Scoured the valley for the first purple flower he could see from horseback, collected the flower, and ran to the nearest towns to try to find an herbalist who recognized the plant and could produce and antidote to its poison. Michael cured the bear of its poison before Jatin could complete this multi step process.

Michael
Michael's Void Crawler smelled the bear to get the scent of its poison and found the flowers it had consumed, which it then consumed itself to produce an antibody, which it secreted on the bear, curing it. As thanks, Michael received a canteen of giant's blood.

Nick
Nick touched Soraya's collar and saw where she had eaten the purple flowers that poisoned her, then informed Jack of this so he could determine an antidote. Michael cured Soraya before this plan could come to fruition.

Nicole
Having followed Nick and the rest of the party upon seeing that they went east, she had Pippin train her in knife fighting.

Ending
Upon Soraya being cured, the giant creates a new bridge out of felled trees. Thanking Michael profusely, he gives Michael a canteen of his blood. "You know what they say about giant's blood," he says. "Well, most of it is true. I won't forget you lad."