he party continued to hike up the mountain until they came to the base of a sheer cliff strewn with shattered rocks. Two dead giants lay at the base of the cliff, grey in color but with no equipment or clothing. Nearby stood a male and female elf, examining the bodies. A folded carpet lay on the rocks near them. Presumably these were the elves whom Kirin had mentioned.
Thinking the two would be more receptive to fellow elves, Katriana and Kaerick approached them. The rest of the party concealed themselves amongst boulders at the edge of the clearing. Chaden suspected trouble, and cast True Strike and Accuracy.
The two elves hailed from "the vale". They did not know what had killed the stone giants. They quickly discerned that the party wanted a way in to the giant wedding but had not been invited. They offered to vouch for the party members for the simple sum of 500gp ... each. The adventurers did not want to pay such a high price, and as Chaden became even more suspicious she drew her bow. The elves spotted her, became indignant, and turned to leave.
Determined not to let the elves warn the giants of their presence, Edwin cast Dominate Person on the male elf but failed to affect him. Syn attempted to Abundant Step behind them, but became entrapped in the Anticipate Teleportation spell which Edwin habitually cast each morning. The two elves used Dimension Door to move to the top of the cliff, and sped away on their flying carpet. Using Locate Person a few minutes later Edwin was able to detect them about a thousand feet above the ground, presumably heading for the castle.
Chaden searched the dead stone giants: they appeared to have severe frostbite, implying they had been killed by the silver dragons.
Chaden, Sabrina, and Syn noticed something descending rapidly from above.
Surprise Round
The carpet halted its descent at an altitude of fifteen feet, directly above the party. The two had spent time preparing: there were four Mirror Images of each of them. The female elf was casting even as the carpet came to a halt, and suddenly the ground erupted in a shower of earth and fire. Everyone took damage, and Grapthar and Edwin lost their footing. The male elf promptly plunked five arrows into Edwin: four normal attacks, plus a fifth from what appeared to be a Haste spell. Together the spell and arrows dealt 86 points of damage, not quite enough to kill Edwin but close.
Chaden returned fire at the male elf, but the damage was absorbed by what appeared to be Stoneskin. Her second shot dispelled one of the Mirror Images. Syn ran up the nearest boulder and leaped up, miraculously catching the flying carpet and clambering aboard [Editor's note: his Jump skill check result was 46].
Round 1
Syn immediately launched a flurry of blows against the male elf, dispelling the last two Mirror Images and inflicting 42 points of damage. The elf seemed completely unhurt. He dropped the bow and drew a longsword, inflicting 26 points to Syn.
The female elf cast another Earth Reave spell, damaging everyone on the ground. Chaden shot two arrows at her, dispelling on Mirror Image and inflicting a little damage. Grapthar cast Cure Critical Wounds on Edwin, who stood up but took no other action.
Kaerick began a bardic song and Sabrina moved out of range of the magical effects. Katriana summoned an Air Elemental, which hit another of the female elf's Mirror Images.
Round 2
Syn attacked the female elf, dispelling the last Mirror Image and then striking for 30 points of damage. She barely seemed to register his presence. As it had worked so well she tried to cast Earth Reave again, but Edwin (who had held his action in anticipation) counterspelled. Chaden shot her twice for 28 more points of damage and the Air Elemental hit her once, but it finally became clear that both elves were protected by Stoneskin.
The male elf attacked Syn five times with his sword, missing twice but inflicting 42 points of damage. Grapthar hit the male with Searing Ray, inflicting 21 points which were not absorbed by the Stoneskin. Katriana wildshaped into an eagle and flew over near Syn.
Edwin immobilized the male elf with Bands of Steel (Quickened).
Round 3
Syn smacked the now-helpless male elf around with a flurry of blows, inflicting a total of 92 points of damage and finally overwhelming the Stoneskin. Grapthar began hitting him with a Spiritual Hammer, and Edwin with Orb of Electricity (Quickened). The elf tried to free himself of the bonds but failed; this additional round out of the action likely sealed his fate.
Quickly determining that Edwin would likely counterspell anything she cast, the female elf drew a wand to fire at Chaden. Edwin neutralized it with Dispel Magic. Kaerick shot two arrows at the female elf, finally breaking down her Stoneskin as well.
Katriana wildshaped from an eagle into polar bear form. This exceeded the weight capacity of the Flying Carpet, and it careened to the ground. Amazingly everyone kept their feet. Katriana cast Cure Critical Wounds on Syn, which helped immensely.
Round 4
Ignoring the still-helpless male Syn attacked the female elf with a flurry of blows, inflicting 88 points of damage and dropping her. Apparently infuriated, the male finally broke free. Chaden hit him with an Orb of Electricity, Sabrina pounced on him, and Katriana the Polar Bear batted him around. Edwin's Magic Missile finally finished him off.