After the failure of his small scale ballista Ethelred talks to the group.
“Building this ballista is going to be a bit more work than I had expected. The materials and the actual building should be trivial to work with. The part I am struggling with is how to make the weaponry work right.
To start with I will need a bow that I can take apart and rebuild for a simple test. Better yet finding someone else that knows how to make bows or maybe even weapons in general would help. If I am unable to build a small scale ballista with confidence we should have another plan.
The giant presents some problems. If we attempt to replicate and attack like we did on the dragon I think we could have success. But we don’t have the sturdy chain, nor something sturdy to attach it to. Tree a abound, but we also know the giant can uproot those with little challenge.
The key to the dragon attack was not to deal one killer blow, but to hold the creature in place while we wore it down. We should try and do the same with the giant.
What are other options besides the ballista that we could achieve in the woods?”
Without hesitation Alexis add suggestions “Pit. Net. Confusion with many things scurrying that aren’t us, but it would still be interested in. Illusions. Some sort of strong scent. One of those devious traps that cinches tighter the more you struggle against it. Drugging it. Some combination.”
“A pit could work. But the size would have to be massive. Maybe if we could get more help or find a natural gully then it could be workable.
Net. I am not sure we could really make a net strong enough to hold it down. Even if we did make the net, what would we secure it to? He is able to up root trees without too much difficulty.
A trap that get tighter, that is interesting but also needs to be super strong.
The rest, I will be no help with. Illusions? Scents? Drugs? Those are interesting but elusive. And how will we know which ones will actually work?”
“Just wanted to put them on the table. As we scout we might find clues to things that could be more effective.”
“Ethelred, even if you don’t keep working on the Ballista now, if you need help later on with it, I can make regular human size bows. Maybe I can help some with a big one. Just gotta be real careful you don’t let curve snap back at you and snatch your skin right off your bones.”
“Gustav, any help you could lend with making a ballista would be welcome. There is some delicate work in the shaping the wood just right. I bet if we work together we can make something workable.”
“I would strongly suggest we find out what we can use to attract the Giant to our trap. Trapping a dear and leaving it tied up in the road where we know the giant walks would be a good first step.”