Massive Ice Cavern

Fenris watched the sleeping giantess awaken. She was not just "big" she was "titanic". She could tower over castles, and scale mountains as if they were merely small foot-hills. It was rare such an old "power" found itself active in the world. It was refreshing almost to meet a wight from the old-times. Most would have shit their pants and questioned the possibility of her mere existance, but he had seen a fair bit, and she was not the first of her kind nor the biggest he had seen. She spoke in one of the old tongues and he tilted his head.

"Hvað er jotun að gera svo langt suður?" he asked, though his voice was quiet it seemed to carry throughout the cavern, projecting to the womans massive ears. He glanced at the hammer. "Þú ert rétt, hamarinn er svolítið mikið. Ég hef enga löngun til að trufla þig, en ég mun örugglega ekki gera það auðvelt fyrir þig að drepa mig." he then gave out a jovial and friendly laugh. He regarded @magnhildthejotun evenly staring up at the icy titaness.

Well that went badly. The Jotun were known for being a prideful folk, ironically quick to anger despite their frigid nature. He had not threatened her, merely told her not to attack him. He actually had no intention of harming her. She was much too valuable. But it seemed she would have none of it. The area around him grew more chilled, but the Lupine incarnation endured as his legs were enveloped in frost. He was not born of ice like @magnhildthejotun , but for the moment he took it. He did not speak her tongue again. "I was not threatening you, Just telling you not to attack me..." an idea occurred to him. "Afterall... How could such a small wight like me hope to harm you?" he asked grinning up at her. "How can I leave when you've snared my legs?"    

No Fenris was not stupid enough to contest @magnhildthejotun with strength. But being sent up into the air, honestly ruined the point of snaring him down, to begin with. As the force of her stomp, and a growl from his body which permeated throughout the frozen-structure the forces combining to shatter the ice upon his way up. For some inexplicable reason, he was reminded of a certain Bandit he had fought recently. That was weird.

Regardless as he was sent flying into the air, he flicked from his hand a long black whip like tendril extended with extreme speed stretching towards a nearby wall and suddenly tugging him at high-speed under and away from the swing with one of his own. He had no desire to engage with this wight, he had been hoping to perhaps make an ally. Perhaps diplomacy was not his strong suit. His evasion had moved him like a fleeting shadow, as he moved into the darkness seeking to use it as a veil against her. Stealth seemed to be the best approach all things considered. He contemplated following her advice, but was she a danger to others?

He had no intention to press @magnhildthejotun, afterall this was her "house" and he was an intruder. She did not seem prone to doing anything too dangerous yet however, so he remained in the darkness, concealing himself in the shade of the massive cavern. As she began to make her way out, he crawled along the wall his fingers digging into the ice and piercing through it as if they were blades. He cautiously and slowly sought to follow her out, so he could perhaps take his leave.

Failing to notice both Fenris and the royal guards, the giantess stretched high into the sky as she let the sun reflect off her cerulean skin. With a sigh she looked around the mountain region. Eventually her eyes fell onto the knight captain, causing her to snort a little.

"Must be breeding season...." She muttered under her breath before turning her attention to the distance. Seemingly ignoring the captain, the jotun began to stroll across the snow-saturated fields, each step covering the distance of a small village and leaving behind a slight tremor when her feet landed on the ground.

Eyla drew her blade, as did several of her men, in response to Fenris' stealthy approach. She gave the man a stern look taking in his appearance. If she had an opinion of him at first glance she kept it to herself though her sword arm became more relaxed as she perceived him as little to no threat. Eyla spoke with a berating tone that was muffled slightly by her helm, "I can assume that you woke her," the entire company's mounts shifted with fear in their eyes as the giant's foot sent a tremor through the land, "and upset her." She let out a deep sigh and spoke more to her men than the stranger, "If she wanders too close to a pass she could cause avalanches, rock slides, maybe worse." She turned her eyes to the Jotun, "We have communicate with it, ensure it won't wander toward any of the settlements or the roads to them. If we can't, we have to kill her or at least drive her further into the mountains."

She looked back at her men. They weren't properly equipped for a fight like this. They would have bows and cross bows with barbed arrows and strong ropes attached. They would drill them into her legs and ankles until the Jotun fell, then finish it with axes. Sadly they had none of these things save for the rope, which was much weaker than what she would have liked. Most likely mere threads compared to the giant's strength.

Eyla returned her gaze to Fenris and continued in her earlier tone, "You said not to gamble, we have to. Or would you rather she wander freely, a force of nature unto herself, until she decides to wander through a settlement or, gods forbid, a city. Killing men, women, and children without a single thought because we are but insects to her? We are more than prepared to risk our wyrd, sir."

Eyla looked back at one of her men, "Report this at once, secure reinforcements. Make sure they are armed for this, crossbows with barbed arrows, heavy rope, big heavy axes. Secure this for us and yourself as well." She pointed to the valley below their current location, "If it comes to a fight we'll try to lure her there, have our reinforcements rally along the ridge and stay hidden."

The knight stated, "At once Captain Volknir," then rode as fast as his moose could carry away from the mountain and the giant. Thus bringing her forces number down to 24 for the moment. The rest had calmed their mounts by this point and they stood awaiting their orders.

Eyla looked to Fenris, she had a battle plan but no communication ideas perhaps he did, "You woke her, how would you go about communicating?"

Eyla glared at the man for a moment considering his words. With a soft sigh she realized Fenris was right. She was thinking too much like a soldier, not enough brains and too much brawn. She looked back at the men and selected the youngest man left, "You, go back and request as many of the Rune Skaalds as able. Tell them we are dealing with a Jotun, it should interest them enough to send at least a few skilled at their craft."

She looked to Fenris and spoke in a much more leveled tone, "I'm still going to prepare for a fight. If the magic doesn't work we can't let her just roam free through the land." She sighed, "By the will of the gods it shall and men and giant won't do battle this day." Her gaze moved to the Giantess still moving, swallowing massive lengths of land with each step, "So how do we keep her in the area while we wait for reinforcements?" Her question was to all present including herself.

Her men offered no suggestion, preferring instead to hope for a resolution from their commander.

Fenris regarded Eyla Volknir as her better judgement prevailed. He nodded very lightly. "If you must fight her, do not do so as a warrior, you will lose, you must do so as a hunter..." he told her. "Obviously we must be cautious, she could very well prove your fears right with her temper... However pressing the issue will only guarentee conflict." he said almost as much to himself as to her, he was going over the options in his head. He raised a dark brow at her speech. So she still followed the old ways? It was rare these days but known to happen. The Church did not typically persecute those who were unbelieving at least not those in Venland. Other places were a different story...

"As long as she doesnt head out into the pass it does no matter where she goes, so focus on that." he told her. "Guard the pass, and wait, that is all you can do. If things go south, then you would do well to fight on your own terms, not hers. My guess is she has been here a long time and has not bothered anyone yet... If we antagonize her that will change. Of that I can guarantee..."

Then came the great scream which echoed across the landscape summoning a blizzard. He was getting a bit irate. He raised his cloak, and it gained a silvery sheen as he stepped in front of the Knight and her steed seeking to take the brunt of the cold, but feeling it begin to take a toll. He began to growl, oscillating his body to offset the chill though they would probably not notice this amidst the flurry. "I think you should take your men out of here!" he called to her over the din, his own voice somehow cutting through the sound of the tempest.

Silence fell across the land. The jotun stared into the sky, looking for something or someone. Eventually her target revealed herself.

After a few minutes, heavy flapping could be heard behind the group. A shadow blanketed the sky as a massive golden dragon soared past them. Although not nearly as tall as the giantess, the dragon's wingspan dwarfed the platoon as it picked up snow and dust from its flyby. It moved at incredible speeds towards the woman before hovering and eventually landing in front of her. The woman sat on the ground, legs crossed as she looked down to the elderly creature. Its golden scales glowed in the sun as it looked up to the giantess with a smile.

"Ah....Magnhild....finish your nap?" It said in a low, but teasing voice. The giant woman let out a small chuckle, smiling a little.

"I'm surprised my voice reached you at all, old one. Did you forget your hearing aid?" The giantess responded, her voice warmer than Fenris had heard. The dragon returned a chuckle as well.

"Yes, yes, get your quips out of the way, youngin'...."

He waved the conversation away with a flick of his claw before looking around. The woman spoke up.

"It's good to see you again, Alphamar. I wanted to ask, how long have I been asleep?"

"Oh....a few years, I believe. I haven't seen you in a while...."

The dragon looked over to the humans, gesturing to them after a moment.

"And already you're quite popular judging by that little army over there."

The giantess followed his finger before scoffing and waving the group off.

"Oh, them. Merchants, probably. Found one of them in my cave when I woke up, I have no idea how long it was watching me. It had the audacity to speak to me in my language! My own language! And then it threatened me by saying I'd have to remove it from my own cave!"

Alphamar sighed and patted Magnhild's arm, stretching upwards slightly to do so.

"Oh, let it go, let it go....they're a curious race, quite intelligent even. The fact they could understand you at all is proof of that. They mean no harm. You get upset over the littlest things."

"I do not!" Magnhild snapped, cold air swirling around her as her anger swelled. It soon died down as she relaxed. "I just...don't want an infestation in my own cave."