Within the first hour, two fire giants came into the room - possibly on patrol. They did not notice the party members under the bed, and were just about to turn around and leave, when Dalron rolled out from under the bed, stood up and started throwing daggers at the nearest one. Before Dalron could even get to his feet, the second giant was already shouting back down the hall in giant-tongue "They're here! They are in the king's chambers!" This forced the rest of the party to take decisive action.
Luapan only had 3 hit points and was almost completely out of spells, so he stayed under the bed. Sarril and Cadwin used invisibility rings to turn invisible. Pontus rolled out from under the bed to help take down the giants more quickly. The fight was typical of one against giants in which Dalron, the Giant-Slayer is involved. In two rounds, he can do close about 100 hit points of damage to a giant due to his ranger skills, so long as he can keep enough distance to throw daggers. The fight looked like it would be short, until an invisible dwarf appeared behind Dalron performing a vicious backstab (well, not as vicious as it should have been as he rolled low damage, but the multipliers still hurt a lot). Dalron suddenly found himself having to deal with this extra threat, and was not able to keep his attention on the giants. To make matters worse, two more giants responded to the alert, creating a dire situation for the team.
The dwarf proved to be a serious problem. He was a multi-class 9th level fighter and 11th level thief, with specialization and 18/00 strength. He attacked twice per round with a +3 hammer for a lot of damage. The only thing that saved Dalron from death was that fact that the DM rolled several 1s to hit, saving Dalron from one of the two attacks each round. Sarril then cast a Slow spell in the area, which affected the dwarf and one of the giants. This reduced the dwarf to one attack per round and effectively took one of the giants out of the fight. Sarril managed to position himself into the corner used his Wand of Frost to cast Cone of Cold, doing a lot of damage to the fire giants, bringing them near death. Dalron turned his attention back to the giants, trying to finish them off, while Pontus focused on the dwarf.
Only a few rounds into combat, the party realized they needed to retreat through the secret door in the king's bedroom. That meant Luapan needed to get out from under the bed and make his way to them. He almost made it, too, but as he passed by one of the giants, he took a hard blow - one which should have killed him outright were it not for the house-rule mechanic we have allowing a single "death save" (an idea inspired by 5th edition). Luapan was now unconscious at zero hit points, about to be finished off by the giant. That's when an invisible Cadwin grabbed Luapan's unconscious body and dragged him back to safety. Unfortunately, that "safety" placed them away from the escape route, with giants between them and freedom. If they were to live through this, the party would need to kill the remaining giants.
Dalron continued to focus on the giants, but he was pressed against the wall in melee combat, reduced the number of attacks per round and slowing down the combat. As Pontus continued to wear down the dwarf, Sarril added to the damage by casting Magic Missile, and then releasing another Magic Missile spell from his ring. The dwarf had a lot of hit points, but Pontus and Sarril were finally able to bring him down. Then Sarril turned his attention back to the giants and released another Cone of Cold, killing all but the one slowed giant, which turned to run (albeit slowly).
Pontus started dragging the dwarf into the hallway behind the secret door and Dalron followed, putting a dagger into the dwarf's eye, just to make sure he was dead. That's when Sarril called for Dalron to finish off the retreating giant, but unfortunately it was too far away, so Sarril cast one more Magic Missile, which dropped the giant in its tracks. Sarril then cast Detect Magic to see what the dwarf had on him and the party spent some time removing his full plate, shield, axe, ring, hammer and gauntlets. After taking the dwarf's things, the party left the Fire Giant Hall and retreated back to their cave a couple of miles down the mountain to finish resting for the night. Unfortunately, with Luapan unconscious and near-death, they would have to restore him to full hit points before he could be fully functional again (another house-rule we use). It was likely going to be a couple of days.
The next day, many healing spells were expended by Sarril and Cadwin, making Luapan functional again. Sarril also started identifying items, and found that the cloak that hellhound keeper had allows the wearer to assume the form of a hellhound. This came in handy that evening, when, during Dalron's watch, he noticed a couple of hellhounds sniffing around outside. It was unclear if they were onto the party's scent, but out of concern, he woke the party. Pontus decided this would be a great time to test the new cloak and he proceeded to put it on, get on all fours, and try to mimic the behavior of the hellhounds. He engaged them and, while they didn't take to him at first, and tried to assert their dominance, Pontus quickly adapted, and asserted his own alpha-male dominance the way that he knows canines to do - by mounting one of the hellhounds (both were female). Though this act did not result in full mating, it served it purpose to show to other two that he was the alpha and he was in charge of the pack. He then made it clear that this was his territory, and the other two needed to go away, and they did. Pontus then slept, in hellhound form, outside the cave for the rest of the evening.
The next day, many healing spells were expended by Sarril and Cadwin, making Luapan functional again. Sarril also started identifying items, and found that the cloak that hellhound keeper had allows the wearer to assume the form of a hellhound. This came in handy that evening, when, during Dalron's watch, he noticed a couple of hellhounds sniffing around outside. It was unclear if they were onto the party's scent, but out of concern, he woke the party. Pontus decided this would be a great time to test the new cloak and he proceeded to put it on, get on all fours, and try to mimic the behavior of the hellhounds. He engaged them and, while they didn't take to him at first, and tried to assert their dominance, Pontus quickly adapted, and asserted his own alpha-male dominance the way that he knows canines to do - by mounting one of the hellhounds (both were female). Though this act did not result in full mating, it served it purpose to show to other two that he was the alpha and he was in charge of the pack. He then made it clear that this was his territory, and the other two needed to go away, and they did. Pontus then slept, in hellhound form, outside the cave for the rest of the evening.
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The next day, on the 11th Day of Patchwall, the party set back out into the Fire Giant Hall, using the usual method of Invisibility 10' Radius and multiple Fly spells to be both stealthy and safe. They explored the rest of the first level - everything except the one door that was barred from the outside. The place seemed abandoned, so down to level 2 they went.
The second level of the Fire Giant Hall looked much like the first. Carved stone handiwork that was most likely of dwarven craftsmanship. These halls were not lit by natural gas flames, however. Burned out torches lined these walls. The party used Continual Light coins to see where they were going. The first branch of hallways and room they explored were empty. It looked like these areas housed fire giants and their guests, but were abandoned, with any items of value taken. The party lost the element of surprise days ago.
They decided to explore another corridor to the north, which looked like a series of humanoid sized cell doors. Sarril had a single knock spell, and opened the first cell door with it. Inside was a beautiful naked half-elf, who seemed to instantly recognize Cadwin. The man introduced himself as Sebastian
the bard, and said he has known Cadwin for quite some time. Cadwin was able to confirm this and tell the party they could trust him. Sebastian explained that he was captured by the giants and brought here with other captives to be questioned by some dark elves (aka "drow"). The drow were sacrificing some of the prisoners to their evil demon-god in a nearby temple, but Sebastian managed to stay alive by convincing one of the leaders that he was useful to them. They had planned to take him to their city of Erelhei-Cinlu to be sold into slavery, and would be departing any day now, so it seems he was rescued just in time.
Sebastian was able to provide some limited information to the party regarding the plans of the giants. He was able to confirm that they were working for the drow, who were offering payment and other rewards in exchange for waging war on the human lands. One female drow of importance reassured King Snurr that House Despana will compensate him for recent losses at the hands of some adventurers (the Bad-ass Motherfuckers). Sebastian was not sure if that was legitimate information, or something said knowing that he was listening in. Many references were made to the black bubble over Istivin and the mysterious drow spider goddess they call Lolth, as the drow stated that Lolth's armies would soon be marching across the surface world. Whether or not the drow are actually responsible for the bubble, it is clear that they are taking advantage of its existence.
The party decided to equip Sebastian and let him join the group for the time being as they could use the help. Though they had no keys to open the remaining cell doors, Sebastian was confident that if he could get hold of some lockpicks, even crude lockpicks, he could open the doors. So off they went.
The prison area was not abandoned, the party soon discovered, as they came across the fire giant torturer and headsman in a nearby torture room, playing knuckle bones. The party tried to get a surprise attack, but it didn't work, and they were forced to engage in a regular fight. With Dalron the Giant Slayer, backed up by the spellcasters and Pontus, who was back in possession of Gauntlets of Ogre Power and finally able to wield the Hammer of Kord, this fight would be easy, they thought. But they were wrong. These two giants were tougher than the others, having about 50% more hit points. Dalron started out by doing 50 hit points of damage to the torturer, who, in turn, grabbed Dalron and threw him into an iron maiden and slammed it shut, doing a massive amount of damage and making it impossible to open without killing him. The rest of the party would have to deal with these giants without the help of their giant-slayer. The other giant, the headsman, picked up his massive headsman's axe, designed for severing heads and limbs. Even without severing limbs, the amount of damage he was capable of doing with it was ridiculous. He nearly killed Pontus with only a couple of blows. It took the concentrated effort of all five remaining party members, including Sebastian, to finish off these two. If it weren't for the fact that the DM kept rolling 1s on the dice, some PCs would have surely died.
Luapan decided the best course of action to help Dalron was to reach through the eye slots on the iron maiden and touch him to deliver some healing. He then spent some time studying the machine to figure out the best way to open it while dealing the least amount of damage. He was able to then free Dalron while keeping him alive, and had to expend a lot more of his healing to bring him back up to full hit points. The party was ready to rest again, but felt that time may be a factor now that the giants have been clearing out. They decided to push forward. Sebastian was able to find some wire in the torture chamber that he fashioned into crude lockpicks. There would be a penalty to his attempts, but they could function. With these in hand, they began opening the remaining cells.
A couple of cells contained gnolls, who immediately fled. One cell contained an enraged troll that the party promptly killed. One cell was empty, the inhabitant having just recently been removed to face whatever horrific fate was in store. Another, giant-sized cell contained a chained fire-giant named Boldo. Boldo claimed to have once been King Snurr's advisor. He said the about two-years ago, a drow woman by the name of Eclavdra came to the king and started making offers of gold and filling the king's ears with promises of glory and dominance over humans, if he could rally the other giant tribes under his banner and attack the humans in the Sheldomar Valley. Boldo said that he tried to advise the king against taking these actions and warn him against allying with these dark elves, and he was imprisoned as a result. He also explained that the drow had pretty much taken over this level of the dungeon, going so far as to build a temple to their dark god in the northwest. The party pressed Boldo for as much information as he could give, which wasn't much, but he was able to let them know that there was a large red dragon in the caverns below - something they would likely have to deal with if they were to try to follow the drow into the underdark. The party decided to let Boldo go free, and he ran off down the hall.
The next cell was another giant-sized cell which contained a Titan, who appeared to be chained and drugged. Cadwin cast Neutralize Poison, which removed the affects of the drug, and the titan was able to stand up and easily rip free of his massive chains. The titan introduced himself as Kendar, from Mount Olympus in the outer plains. He was sent to give a warning to King Snurr to turn away from this dark path, but with the help of the drow, the king was able to subdue him. Kendar told the party that he needed to return home immediately and report on what is going on, but that this would not be the last they see of him. Perhaps a powerful ally in the future?
Sebastian could not open all of the locks, and those that were not locked were empty, so the party decided if they were going to open the remaining cells, they would need to find a key. And so off they went in search of the drow. The first thing they came across was a wall of 20 tentacles blocking a passageway south. The tentacles had the appearance of stone, but seemed flexible as they swayed ever so slightly. Detect Magic revealed a magical dweomer of some sort, so Sarril decided to cast Dispel Magic on the wall. Immediately the Continual Light went out and the party was surrounded by magical darkness, and a loud hissing sound began emanating from the tentacle wall. Four of the tentacles lashed out in the dark at Sarril like whips, causing severe damage. Sebastian and Pontus tried to attack the tentacles, and they, in turn, were whipped by four tentacles each and severely hurt. After cancelling the darkness with another Continual Light, Luapan cast Dispel Magic on the tentacle wall and immediately everything went dark again. The tentacles then attacked Luapan. Cadwin tried to get in on the action, casting a Lightning Bolt at the wall, again triggering the darkness and an attack response. Finally, Sarril cast Dispel Magic one more time and Pontus and Dalron made some physical attacks. Two of the twenty tentacles crumbled to the floor, but the party was attacked again, and it seemed that the tentacles were capable of a lot of damage. The party decided to back away from the wall and reconsider their approach.
And this is where we were forced to end the session. It is the afternoon of the 11th Day of Patchwall, CY 580 and the party is currently being frustrated by a very strange wall of tentacles.
The second level of the Fire Giant Hall looked much like the first. Carved stone handiwork that was most likely of dwarven craftsmanship. These halls were not lit by natural gas flames, however. Burned out torches lined these walls. The party used Continual Light coins to see where they were going. The first branch of hallways and room they explored were empty. It looked like these areas housed fire giants and their guests, but were abandoned, with any items of value taken. The party lost the element of surprise days ago.
They decided to explore another corridor to the north, which looked like a series of humanoid sized cell doors. Sarril had a single knock spell, and opened the first cell door with it. Inside was a beautiful naked half-elf, who seemed to instantly recognize Cadwin. The man introduced himself as Sebastian
 |
| Sebastian Silvertongue |
Sebastian was able to provide some limited information to the party regarding the plans of the giants. He was able to confirm that they were working for the drow, who were offering payment and other rewards in exchange for waging war on the human lands. One female drow of importance reassured King Snurr that House Despana will compensate him for recent losses at the hands of some adventurers (the Bad-ass Motherfuckers). Sebastian was not sure if that was legitimate information, or something said knowing that he was listening in. Many references were made to the black bubble over Istivin and the mysterious drow spider goddess they call Lolth, as the drow stated that Lolth's armies would soon be marching across the surface world. Whether or not the drow are actually responsible for the bubble, it is clear that they are taking advantage of its existence.
The party decided to equip Sebastian and let him join the group for the time being as they could use the help. Though they had no keys to open the remaining cell doors, Sebastian was confident that if he could get hold of some lockpicks, even crude lockpicks, he could open the doors. So off they went.
The prison area was not abandoned, the party soon discovered, as they came across the fire giant torturer and headsman in a nearby torture room, playing knuckle bones. The party tried to get a surprise attack, but it didn't work, and they were forced to engage in a regular fight. With Dalron the Giant Slayer, backed up by the spellcasters and Pontus, who was back in possession of Gauntlets of Ogre Power and finally able to wield the Hammer of Kord, this fight would be easy, they thought. But they were wrong. These two giants were tougher than the others, having about 50% more hit points. Dalron started out by doing 50 hit points of damage to the torturer, who, in turn, grabbed Dalron and threw him into an iron maiden and slammed it shut, doing a massive amount of damage and making it impossible to open without killing him. The rest of the party would have to deal with these giants without the help of their giant-slayer. The other giant, the headsman, picked up his massive headsman's axe, designed for severing heads and limbs. Even without severing limbs, the amount of damage he was capable of doing with it was ridiculous. He nearly killed Pontus with only a couple of blows. It took the concentrated effort of all five remaining party members, including Sebastian, to finish off these two. If it weren't for the fact that the DM kept rolling 1s on the dice, some PCs would have surely died.
Luapan decided the best course of action to help Dalron was to reach through the eye slots on the iron maiden and touch him to deliver some healing. He then spent some time studying the machine to figure out the best way to open it while dealing the least amount of damage. He was able to then free Dalron while keeping him alive, and had to expend a lot more of his healing to bring him back up to full hit points. The party was ready to rest again, but felt that time may be a factor now that the giants have been clearing out. They decided to push forward. Sebastian was able to find some wire in the torture chamber that he fashioned into crude lockpicks. There would be a penalty to his attempts, but they could function. With these in hand, they began opening the remaining cells.
A couple of cells contained gnolls, who immediately fled. One cell contained an enraged troll that the party promptly killed. One cell was empty, the inhabitant having just recently been removed to face whatever horrific fate was in store. Another, giant-sized cell contained a chained fire-giant named Boldo. Boldo claimed to have once been King Snurr's advisor. He said the about two-years ago, a drow woman by the name of Eclavdra came to the king and started making offers of gold and filling the king's ears with promises of glory and dominance over humans, if he could rally the other giant tribes under his banner and attack the humans in the Sheldomar Valley. Boldo said that he tried to advise the king against taking these actions and warn him against allying with these dark elves, and he was imprisoned as a result. He also explained that the drow had pretty much taken over this level of the dungeon, going so far as to build a temple to their dark god in the northwest. The party pressed Boldo for as much information as he could give, which wasn't much, but he was able to let them know that there was a large red dragon in the caverns below - something they would likely have to deal with if they were to try to follow the drow into the underdark. The party decided to let Boldo go free, and he ran off down the hall.
The next cell was another giant-sized cell which contained a Titan, who appeared to be chained and drugged. Cadwin cast Neutralize Poison, which removed the affects of the drug, and the titan was able to stand up and easily rip free of his massive chains. The titan introduced himself as Kendar, from Mount Olympus in the outer plains. He was sent to give a warning to King Snurr to turn away from this dark path, but with the help of the drow, the king was able to subdue him. Kendar told the party that he needed to return home immediately and report on what is going on, but that this would not be the last they see of him. Perhaps a powerful ally in the future?
Sebastian could not open all of the locks, and those that were not locked were empty, so the party decided if they were going to open the remaining cells, they would need to find a key. And so off they went in search of the drow. The first thing they came across was a wall of 20 tentacles blocking a passageway south. The tentacles had the appearance of stone, but seemed flexible as they swayed ever so slightly. Detect Magic revealed a magical dweomer of some sort, so Sarril decided to cast Dispel Magic on the wall. Immediately the Continual Light went out and the party was surrounded by magical darkness, and a loud hissing sound began emanating from the tentacle wall. Four of the tentacles lashed out in the dark at Sarril like whips, causing severe damage. Sebastian and Pontus tried to attack the tentacles, and they, in turn, were whipped by four tentacles each and severely hurt. After cancelling the darkness with another Continual Light, Luapan cast Dispel Magic on the tentacle wall and immediately everything went dark again. The tentacles then attacked Luapan. Cadwin tried to get in on the action, casting a Lightning Bolt at the wall, again triggering the darkness and an attack response. Finally, Sarril cast Dispel Magic one more time and Pontus and Dalron made some physical attacks. Two of the twenty tentacles crumbled to the floor, but the party was attacked again, and it seemed that the tentacles were capable of a lot of damage. The party decided to back away from the wall and reconsider their approach.
And this is where we were forced to end the session. It is the afternoon of the 11th Day of Patchwall, CY 580 and the party is currently being frustrated by a very strange wall of tentacles.
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