Alert: Contains spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Lydia spent some time studying the magic rings – and sure enough, they have the power to grant wishes! We took some time to discuss the possibilities, and finally we all agreed to save them except for two things:

• That if Aliana ever died, Raise Dead would work on her (wouldn’t help if she’s incinerated, but Raven points out that’s the same for the rest of us), and –
• If whoever is carrying the rings dies, that they be transported safely to the vault at Haven (much discussion about that one, but we’ll all be fine if it never comes up).

Raven spent quite some time training with his disciples (there’s quite a passle of them now) and he says the God of gods has increased his knowledge, and that his body is even more under his control than it was before (whatever Monk-ishness that means). Glad he’s in a good mood, and so are Keom and Ronhass.

Keom says Ragni and Agni have yet to nail him with any over-ripe fruit, but poor Brother Muloy got a persimmon in the face. Sirion offered him a paste to protect his bare head from the sun, but he had to wait to check with Master Raven that it wouldn’t be “taking the easy road” or something. Madam Whinney says the monks keep them in produce, and they in return catch deer and cougars in the mountains. Keiran seemed struck by the story of the dragon that was actually a gorgon…but then again I could be completely wrong… Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Ezekiel went with Aliana and Princess Shallaria to Gorna, since he wants a professional’s opinion on all our potions we’ve amassed over the years, and I suppose it’s true we’re rich enough to afford that. He hopes someone can recommend a professional in Gorna.

Miss Dree had some exciting news to share with us. She says she and Miss Lysa and the super-energetic guy whose name I forget have been casting Cure Minor Wounds this morning. She says she felt “a stirring in her spirit” yesterday, and after her prayer time this morning (where she always asks for spells, since Father Ezekiel says just because you don’t receive is no reason to not ask) she tried the chant on Miss Lysa’s scraped knuckles, and the power was granted. I have never seen Miss Lysa so excited and forget herself so much that she explained the whole story to us again herself.

(Ragni and Agni have set up a sort of little catapult in the tree house, and have been chucking over-ripe fruit at the druid grove. Madam Moonwhisper assured me they grew some protective boughs and no one could actually be hit, but Leomas said she’s been knocked unconcious multiple times and showed me a broken pumpkin to prove it. I said the pumpkin must be what she used to think with, since it was too big to fit in the catapult, and she was half transformed into a panther when Madam Moonwhisper said Leomas was the one who told her about the ring of truth, and she should have known she couldn’t pull my leg (makes sense that’s why I actually said that out loud…). I asked Ragni and Agni to take it easy on the druids, and besides it’s the pass that enters the valley that we need to defend, and Ragni got very red and said Sirion and Usin made strict rules about firing at the pass after some pilgrims came to be healed of a disease and also needed baths once they got to the fortress. I’m so glad I warned Sirion about the Frost Giants that will be moving in nearby…I can just picture the entire mountain sliding down into the valley, with a sound of soft explosions, strewing rotten apples in its wake… Ezekiel would probably tell me that’s beyond Ragni and Agni’s capabilites, but I’m really not sure.)

Anyway, when Ez and Aliana get back, we leave for the giant fortress. Might not exactly be an early start, but we’re making the effort.

**

We started big, by investgating the wall opposite the illusion that led to the temple. Ezekiel hadn’t seen anything specific while looking at it through the gem; it just made his skin crawl, he said.

We started off by just looking at it…it seemed made of brownish purpleish stone, which really gives the impression of fungus – but not any normal kind of fungus. I wanted to poke it with an arrow, to see if the surface was really solid, but I was invisible…so I asked Heiron to do it, so we could actually see the results.

The wall reacted by spitting out a purpley tentacle, grapping Heiron’s wrist, and trying to pull him toward a gross, clicking, beak-like mouth. No one touches our Heiron – we all sprang into action. But it was the weirdest, grossest thing we’ve seen in a long time. Even Aliana’s sword seemed to bounce off it, like the wall was a giant rubber sheet. I pelted it with arrows, but again, they seemed to not so much as tickle it.

Agnar managed to do something to it…and it lashed him with a couple more tentacles. I think there were ten or twelve flailing about, with unnerving movement patterns. A couple of them grabbed Oaklock and smashed him against the floor, but Ezekiel pulled him away.

Nothing seemed to bother it much (although Tressarian worked better than my bow – maybe it was something to do with magic weapons) until Lydia muttered something and threw out her hand…and the whole thing collapsed and faded. Agnar says in all his uncle’s stories of the underdark, he never heard of anything like this. Lydia thinks it was partly enchantment, since Dispell Magic is what killed it, but she admits it was a shot in the dark, since she’s never seen something like it before.

Once it was dead, we saw the wall was actually a “curtain” of sorts, concealing a suite behind. Maybe those Evil rings the drow had would have let them pass it, like the statues and the violet fungus in the Temple of Elemental Evil, but I for one am not interested in experimenting…even if we hadn’t already killed it. Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We found the kennel room where they kept the hellhounds, and a couple barracks – one of them equipped for juvenile giants. I don’t remember seeing any of those here yet.

Also found a kitchen with a fire pit that seems naturally heated…as in, maybe a volcanic vent. Ezekiel would have a better idea. The fortress definitely sits on lava in some places – they used a natural vent as a garbage chute. Someone very unhelpfully cast darkness at the mouth of the opening, so if we were not so careful and thoughtful, we might have slid in the grease to a sudden and crispy-fried death in the lava below. Even Raven needed a rope while checking that the chute didn’t lead anywhere interesting.

According to our map, there’s nothing else on this level to explore, so it’s time to take the stairs down…

**

How to begin? For starters, splitting the party always makes things confusing.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we heard chanting…it could have been giant voices, but it was too far away to be sure. Almost at once, though, we heard hellhounds barking, much nearer – perhaps they scented us.

Ezekiel told me to take my invisible self and run the other direction to check for prisoners that might need rescuing, while the others dealt with the threat at hand. After taking a moment to swap for my ring of infravision, I headed up the north passage.

I passed a room lit with lava (probably the same lava we saw from the kitchen chute), and a couple trolls – but they had no prisoners, and seemed to be minding their business, so I kept on. Not too much farther along, I turned a corner of the passage and found a giant guarding a door. The sound of chanting came much louder from the other side of the wall – right by me – but I didn’t think I could take out the guard and still be sneaky…and I didn’t want to take on the whole group by myself. Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

I guess we finally got smart. After a couple more giant stone doors that we couldn’t budge, even with the Power of Teamwork, I said, wasn’t it a shame we couldn’t just get bigger. And Lydia dug through her bag until she pulled out a wand and did just that – she made Heiron over twice as tall as Mikael. (Fortunately she made his clothes and muscles match, too.)

At that size, he could open doors all by himself, and he let us into an armory, and a closet-type room full of foul-smelling hay. The prevailing theory is that is where they kept the chimera…I guess even freaks of nature need to sleep and eat somewhere.

I’m pretty excited about the armory – Tressarian and I snooped around in the corner and found a bow that tingles magically. I need to remember to try it out…hopefully it will let me hit things that are resistant to normal weapons. Haven’t met any of those recently, but you can never be too prepared.

Worked our way around until we connected with the passage leading north from the other barricade (we assume, from the patch of darkness floating there that refuses to dispelled by our lights). Seems to be another passage leading west, on our side of the barricade, but the darkness makes it hard to be sure. Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We returned to the giants’ fortress after Mikael made an unnecessarily long speech to his people. Clatrial insisted on coming, since she says she’s Aliana’s bodyguard, and clearly Ezekiel has not done an adequate job of safeguarding her ladyship.

As Sirion and I had noticed before, when we stepped into the hall, the bodies were gone (except for the chimera-three-headed-monster-thing). Ezekiel tells me you don’t usually turn gnolls into zombies, but I like to be prepared for anything.

We did a little looking around in the great hall – pillars of obsidian and red stone support the roof, and the east end holds a throne atop marble steps inlaid with colored stone. It forms pictures of a giant king – we assume King Snuri, whom we killed – conquering things (I didn’t spend too much time looking at them). The wall behind the throne holds a picture of a flaming skull surrounded by fire giants with clubs. Ezekiel wracked his brain for religious symbology that involves a flaming skull, but nothing is for sure yet. It could just be Snuri’s self-image.

The two main corridors out of the hall – to the north and north-west – are blocked by sharpened wood barriers, so we’ll have to do some problem-solving to get over them. Meanwhile, though, Schakka and Ezekiel’s gem of seeing found a secret door behind the throne, and Raven opened it by finding the torch cresset that moves it. Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Sirion says I shouldn’t stress my arm too much until the clerics have a chance to fix it. It already feels much better, and I can more or less move it, but he’s right if it somehow counts as “disattached” their ordinary healing spells won’t fix that. Like when Mikael lost his arm. I think it’s just the ligaments, but I can take it easy for tonight. It’s not my writing arm, anyway.

Ugh it feels like it can’t have been only this morning that we were sitting in a cave, planning our assault on the Fire Giant fortress. And yet that’s how much stuff can be packed into a short amount of time, when you’re in this line of work.

We started with some standard protection procedures…passing around fire protection, summoning the earth elementals, that kind of thing. Ezekiel did some kind of ritual over Heiron and Raven. I made sure the cloth cover over my shield was in place, to give my invisibility all the help I could. The others say they notice when I hit something – the light distorts and I come into focus, or some scientific confusion that – but at least it still gives me an edge. I think. I’m feeling confused right now.

Then – onwards to the assault: through the iron door in the hillside, which whether it was a back door or not was the only entrance we knew of. It could have been an emergency escape hatch for all I know – I think they knew where we were coming from. Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Everything started happening at once again. We started this morning with Ezekiel having a private talk with Aliana and Raven (something religious) while Mikael prepared to melt the boulder blocking the door, and I put on the sword of Lyons.

That tunnel system definitely felt like a main fortress. Outside the dragon room, the hallway opened up to either side, with bas-relief carvings on the walls of giants in battle or hunting. Baskets hung at intervals holding some kind of glowing beetles that gave distinction to the surroundings. I didn’t get to study them at length, though. Passages trailed away to our left and right, but we decided the boulder directly ahead looked like it was blocking something, so we started there. I think Ezekiel was worried that we’d taken too long clearing the guard posts up above, and that Jarl Grugnir might have prepared something especially nasty for us, or fled like Marquessa (I hear Heironians talk battle strategy over breakfast). Continue reading →

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We keep finding strange things. We found and defeated a squad of ice toads loving in a cave…that could well be just part of the environment, meaning they have nothing to do with the giants…which means they probably aren’t technically a “squad,” but that makes me feel better than calling them a “family.” Their floor was coated with gnawed on bones, and they had a lump of amethyst sitting on a broken-off stalagmite that looked vaguely like a toad. (The stalagmite did not try to eat us.) Doesn’t look like there was anything of real importance in that cave, although Ezekiel said that toads totally have a god that they worship, which is sending me into difficulties. Lydia said that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything right now, but Heiron said it’s important to think about what you’re dealing with (even if you can’t understand it).

**

The toad cave led out onto the ledge that’s been circling this central ravine, and we got another look at the snow dome or something that’s down in the bottom. I can’t see an entrance from this side. Lydia says it makes her uncomfortable.

Ezekiel put a booby-trap glyph on another pile of prepped boulders, and we found the last cave system on the upper level of the ravine. This must be where the rest of the giants lived, as we found more sleeping hides, barrels of food, and a little gold hidden in the snow (plus a clerical scroll that might come in handy).

Hard to say if they were waiting for us to be distracted by the goods, or if they were out looking for us, and just returned at that moment, but the last frost giant sentries sicced their winter wolves on us, and put up a good fight. Lydia got to use stinking cloud again, like the old days…but this time, I didn’t gag on it.

Two of them fled at the last moment, and Ezekiel and Mikael pursued them while the rest of us were busy. Their legs are shorter than giants’, though, (even Mikael) and they lost them. Then the walls started shaking, and little ice fragments fell down from the ceiling.

Ezekiel told us to quickly grab anything the giants had (though they didn’t have anything on them – I guess it was all in this cave) and follow him before they collapsed the cave down on us. By the time we caught up with him and Mikael, they were considering a pile of ice debris where the giants had blocked us in (yet again; if I didn’t have claustrophobia before, I probably will now). The good news is the giants gave up trying to collapse the roof, so all we have to deal with is clearing the entrance.

Ezekiel proposed using his magical spinning blades to dice the barrier into fragments that can compact onto the floor and walls (and maybe the friction melts them a little, too)…so we’re trying that. It is kinda cool watching his disembodied blades whip back and forth, but there’s a serious amount of snow and ice to get through. He’s been at it nearly a half hour. I guess it’s good he’s having fun.

**

Oof. Five days of boredom, five minutes of terror…that’s the adventurer’s life.

We finished digging ourselves out of the giants’ cave, and found them not waiting in an ambush for us. Maybe they’re off getting friends or something. At any rate, the only thing left to explore was the floor of the ravine and the snow-covered dome, so we lowered ourselves down on ropes.

At first, all was quiet. There’s a hole in the southern end, surrounded by cliffs, that drops into a cave system underneath (made of actual rocks, this time). Not too far from that, though, is the huge dome of snow.

The snow must accumulate here after whipping back and forth up above trying to waylay arrows, and it’s a little hard to walk in. We were heading to explore the dome, and the girls were talking about a smell in the air. Lydia had caught a whiff earlier – like baking, she said – while Aliana said there was something spicy or cinnamony in the air. But before anyone else had a chance to sniff around, the Thing came for us.

Basically, it’s like an ankheg, but white…but of course you don’t look at an ankheg that’s rushing you, and say, “You’re just a big earthworm with horns!” No, you duck out of its way and try to decide in a split-second which part looks most vulnerable to the weapon you happen to be holding (I chose the underbelly – frequently vulnerable to blades). Ezekiel tried to throw light in its face, and then Lydia hurled lightening down the length of its body, and it jack-knifed and flopped to the snowy ground, shriveling like an earthworm in the sun.

Afterwards, Lydia told us that it’s called a “polar worm,” and the carapace on its back will melt weapons (Tressarian said, but he puts out fires! but I explained it doesn’t melt like that). It also likes to eat people and digest them in minutes, and the Barbarian word “rimorez” is what people called Lydia’s mother. She cut off one of its horns, and she wasn’t explaining things with the gusto she usually has about sharing knowledge, so I told Heiron to give her back-up while I went with Ezekiel to search the dome.

I think the worm has been hunting here for some time. Apparently it doesn’t digest bones, since we found plenty of those…human, dwarf, and goblinoid. Also a magic ring (silver with some engraving) and a sword we saw glowing under the ice. Mikael had to cut it out with a flame-blade, but when we freed it, the hilt had Old Oeridian writing that Ezekiel says means “for the slaying of giants.” Agnar thought that could be useful, but when he tried to pick it up, he says it “bit” him, so we gave it to Master Oaklock. I hope they will be happy together. (Ezekiel told Agnar that some weapons need to have a “kinship” with their wielders to work best, but I’m not sure how much he got out of it.) Tressarian went so far as to admit it would be nice to have a sort of “kindred spirit” sword with us – once he was sure I wasn’t going to swap him out.

There wasn’t much else in the ravine…which meant all we could do was attach ropes and climb down into the cavern underneath our feet. (I suppose the frost giants had another route to get down there, but we didn’t know where it was…and possibly we wouldn’t be able to climb it.)

Aliana was to go first, and Agnar was ready to climb down once she was clear of the rope. But plans are for boring people, I guess.

She couldn’t have been more than halfway down when we heard a roar, and saw a flash of something white down there (the hole is twelve feet across, so big enough to see a little) – and then we heard her trumpet-like challenge, and the rope went slack. Dragon versus paladin. No holds barred.

Agnar waited for nothing and no one – he leapt feet-first, sword-drawn, into the opening, yelling the whole way (it’s a wonder he had any breath left by the time he landed). He’d barely left the ledge when Ezekiel pounced on the rope, skimming down with his gauntlets of ogre strength, and Mikael just dove into the hole (transforming into a falcon by the time he disappeared below the level of the ground).

Raven took the rope next, while Lydia hopped into the hole and used her staff to lower herself at a gentle rate. In all the commotion, I kind of lost track of myself…I saw flashes of light, and felt blasts of freezing air as I climbed down the rope – but by the time I reached the floor of the cavern, we had two dead white dragons, and Ezekiel was on his knees “having a moment,” as Aunt Elaine might have said. Mikael was chanting away Aliana’s frostburn, and Agnar was grudgingly admitting that maybe his ankles didn’t appreciate falling over a hundred feet onto stone (I just pictured Tomlin’s reaction to hearing that sentence! Ha!).

Everything seemed wrapped up… These dragons were clearly stronger than the ones we fought in the Node with Master Elmo, but they still were no match for our teamwork (and Ezekiel’s spell, apparently, that’s he’s been muttering to himself about and whimpering, “What have I done?” sorts of things periodically).

We only found one obvious exit (aside from the roof, of course) – blocked with a giant boulder, just like Flame’s bedroom was. So we set up the instant fortress in front of it for Heiron and Master Oaklock to guard, and for Agnar to take a little rest, while Ezekiel and I gathered the dragons’ treasure into the portable hole.

Silver, electrum, and platinum pieces…silver boxes filled with ivory…various little non-magical carvings out of marble and alabaster…a pile of white gems…yes, these dragons liked getting treasure that matched their hides. Even among the weapons and armor (no surprise that dragons had some of those, right?) we found a suit of black chainmail painted silver. It’s magical, but we haven’t experimented to see how good it is. Ezekiel checked the corners of the nest for any eggs, but found none. I think that’s just as well – poor Keom and Ronhass have their hands plenty full.

Lydia has gone to Haven to drop off the treasure, and Master Oaklock asked her to take the new frostbrand sword and get it a sheath made. (Tressarian took the opportunity to mention he likes his special sheath that lets him glow and talk from inside it, so I’m glad. We don’t know if the new sword talks, though.)

Aliana suggested one of the statues might be a good wedding present for Prince Thrommel and the Lady Jolene. It does seem to be of a married couple, though I’m not sure it would be the kind of thing my mother had in her house. On the other hand, part of being nobility is just having a lot of treasures to hand out at necessary times…it’s the thought that counts more than the actual gift. They don’t have to like the item for itself. I feel like I once heard Archie explaining that to Alpheus, and Alpheus felt a gift should have more thought put into it, even if he acknowledged that a lord couldn’t put that much thought into every single thing he had to do. Which I suppose is why he needs an “Archie” person.

Ezekiel in deep meditation, and looking broody, which is not like him.

Find the previous entry here.

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Lydia returned this morning and we ventured out of the fortress to find what the giants had been doing all night. The cavern has multiple connected rooms and multiple exit passages – but every time we tried to reach the outside, we found a pile of ice fragments, stacked above our heads and pressed together into a solid wall. The only exit we couldn’t confirm was blocked is the passage Mikael had filled with thorny brambles. We had a little discussion about removing the brambles, but Ezekiel and Lydia were both anxious not to start a massive fire inside an ice cavern.

The only passage not completely filled had a gap at the top of the barrier, just a few feet below the roof, where someone could crawl toward the outside on his knees. “Someone” being me, apparently, because I could be invisible with the sword. How do I get volunteered for these things?

Raven gave me a hand up, and I crawled across the top of the barrier. Sure enough, the ice is jammed into a solid piece, reaching across the entire entrance of the cavern. Outside, on the cliff above the ravine, five frost giants stood or lounged, waiting…for us.

I crawled back and gave the report. Ezekiel seemed to think I could take them all down by myself…I don’t think he understands about recovering your stance after a sword-thrust, and the time involved making a new swing. Sure, it’s only a couple seconds – but it does take time. I could get off more arrows in the same amount of time, but even if I could have drawn my bow crouching on that ice barrier, the wind is still whipping like a horse’s mane at full gallop, and I doubt I could land a single shot. Quite apart from the fact that frost giants are not orcs or hobgoblins…they have a lot of blood. Like, a lot of blood. Even striking their vital arteries only kills them so quickly, and I didn’t relish the idea of being the prime target of five of them all by myself (until Aliana, Agnar, and the others crawled out of the cave under the cover of my distraction). Well, anyway, I guess it’s nice to be considered competent, rather than “the little one” who needs help with everything and is a handy size to chuck places.

Back to the giants… I couldn’t really think of an alternate plan, so Raven gave me a hand again, and I concentrated on silencing my footfalls. Master Elmo and Lord Otis were right…if you practice enough, you can exert your will on the very physical world enough to mask even the condensation of your breathing. However, not enough to mask Tressarian’s glowing in freezing temperatures.

He was lowering me to the ground on the far side of the barrier – so I wouldn’t have a rope to give me away, and so I didn’t slip and fall face-first onto the cliff as might happen to certain unlucky individuals – but of course the giants had a guard watching the outlet for when we would come out, and they noticed Tressarian’s (undeniably cool) light aura. So the first one made a swipe at me, but fortunately whiffed it pretty badly.

Agnar heard the giant’s battle roar, and made it across the top of the barrier much faster than I had expected (is he shorter than I think of him?). Moments after he landed, Aliana launched straight from the top of the barrier into a giant, rebounding off him to land on her feet as he tumbled backward off the cliff. Tressarian hummed happily as we sliced into one of the others (not as good as evil fire things, but he still had fun).

Agnar was having a little too much fun, I think. He made such a vigorous attack that his sword flew out of his hand – and as he dove after it, they both slid off the cliff and into the mounds of snow below. So he missed out as Aliana, Heiron, and I mopped up the cliff-top, but he says he made sure the giant down there was dead. Also, the deep snow apparently cushioned his fall, so he seemed barely affected by having fallen off the cliff.

The giants had only weapons and clothes on them (makes sense – we were camped in their house) but we don’t know if they alerted the rest of the garrison yet. Agnar rejoined us via a path that winds down alongside the ridge, so we can safely explore the bottom of the ravine at some later time. But first we want to clear some of these other caves.

****

Oh, yes, there was something weird in one of the caves. First, we came upon some kind of symbol scratched on the ice of the floor. While Ezekiel and Lydia were wracking their brains for any rune or glyph it might resemble, Agnar said it looked like scribbling. Lydia finally cast a spell to read it, and said it just said, “Danger keep out.” It wasn’t even magical.

So for our next step, Ezekiel took Aliana with him into gaseous form and floated around the corner to scout. The walls and floor seemed covered with ivory and bones, seemingly just dropped at random. Ezekiel thought there were scratches like chewing on them, but Aliana thought that wasn’t quite the way she would describe it. Also, the passage got colder and colder as they went along, until Ezekiel says he almost felt frostbite through his heavy mountaineering gloves. There were no traps, and no concealed things, anywhere in the cave…except maybe a mysterious dark residue on the ground.

Finally, they returned to us, and after reporting their findings (while rubbing their hands together), Mikael said it reminded him of a breed of mold. The “brown mold” (I like names that get right to the point) doesn’t eat plant and animal flesh like a normal slime. Instead, it sucks energy from its surroundings – he said even bringing a torch into its room can make it grow. Lydia said, good thing then we didn’t walk in there with all our lit up shields. She did wonder if a cone of cold would hurt it, but not enough to feel like fighting it. Especially since it’s not working with the giants, we don’t really have a quarrel with it. Mikael didn’t have a sure-fire method for killing it, either, so we left it alone. And things got plenty exciting anyway.

First, we found an empty guard post with a couple sleep sacks and a pile of prepared boulders. Hard to tell if the guards were ones we fought, or if they left their post to warn some others. We didn’t have time to deal with the boulders, so we continued on.

Next, a squad of fire giants was camped near some kind of volcanic vent in a cave. Tressarian says it’s starting to make up for…whatever reason he’s feeling neglected this time.

They were a bit more civilized than the rest, with a brazier, table and chairs, and some coins and loot (including a silver statue of a bear with jewels; nothing magical, though). I was busy worrying that fire giants are working with frost giants…usually, they can’t stand each other. What kind of leader do they have, and what kind of tricks is he pulling to keep them all in line?

There must have been survivors of the earlier battle who prepared for us to escape the trap. Someone dug a pit and covered it with snow within the past day or so, and if it weren’t for Aliana’s sharp eyes, we’d be a lot wetter and colder than we already are (Raven made a rope bridge for us to cross by, but the pit wasn’t that deep when I fell into it. Just almost twisted my ankle and got snow in my boot).

Not far beyond that, we came to a fork in the path. Both choices were packed down ice, but I found more recent traces of giant footprints going more straight. We were hot on their tails, now, so we weren’t surprised when they tried to snipe us with boulders. It was a couple squads of frost giants, this time, but they were no match for our numbers.

These ones actually had bags of treasure with them, and gold armbands inset with an ivory and amber bear. I think it must be some kind of loyalty or membership badge. Aliana said she was not aware of the significance of a bear in frost giant culture.

Their cave led into a series of connected caves (thankfully out of the worst of the wind, now) where we discovered a company of ogres. I’m not sure why they didn’t rush to support the frost giants when they heard that battle…although they tried to get the jump on us by hiding under hides, our numbers and party composition is to our advantage. They might have had a better chance with the giants – but then again, maybe not. Mikael proved, once again, that druids are completely horrifying. While those of us with sharp metal weapons were doing our part, he conjured a wall of thorns over the top of a pack of ogres, and we heard their dying croaks through the tangle. Then, when we had checked the dead bodies in the open for gems or secret papers, and were ready to move through the next part of the cave, he pushed with his hand, and magically shoved the thicket against the wall. It embedded in the ice, dripping softly. As for the bodies of the ogres, they were diced in what Raven might call a “slushie” on the floor. I haven’t been hungry for three hours (although some of that might come from searching the ogres’ chests and barrels).

We found some jewelry and gems (plus two potions that look like they’re for inducing vomiting), but to find them we had to wade through a barrel of skulls and a couple chests of ears and teeth…all shapes and races. I know we sometimes hang dragon skins on our walls, but you gotta draw the line somewhere. Ogres and their kind are just the worst.

Find the previous entry here.

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

16 Reaping

When Uncle Bern (or a traveling bard) used to tell us stories, Bartholomew always used to interrupt during interesting parts to ask stupid questions like, “Wait, who’s that speaking?” or “Why would he do that?” or “But what did they find?”

And Uncle Bern would have to say, “I’ll tell you,” and pick up just where he left off, and where the story would have explained itself if Bartholomew had only kept quiet for three seconds and listened. (Or, if he’d thought about it for half a moment instead of instantly giving up and asking, the story would have been obvious.)

Wonder why I thought of that while Ezekiel was giving the report to Sir Lashton. Anyway, if we have a traitor on our side, my money is on Sir Lashton. King’s agent or not, no one in such a high position could really be that dense and self-important. His first assignment of real importance would have revealed his incompetence and made him fall apart. Sir Lashton says he’s busy investigating the black dome, which means he has to delegate other things. So then why does he have such trouble actually delegating, and trusting people to accomplish things? Double agent.

Father always used to say, “You must respect a man for his position, not necessarily for his competence.” Especially right after receiving a message from Lord Torvald, he used to say that a lot.

All of that is really beside the point, I suppose. We gave the report, and left records in case we all die horribly and someone else needs to follow through on our mission. Ezekiel wrote up a report to leave with Dree, and I sent notes to Sirion and the others. Also, since the destination seems to be in the mountains, Ezekiel suggested we find where we put all the rings of warmth we have, and distribute them. We found two, which went to Mikael and Heiron. Someone thought we had a third one, but I’m not sure. If so, it’s probably buried in the vault with our racks of potions that we never use, either.

Oh, yes. Ezekiel also managed to get a few words with Master Algorthas. (Remembering that he asked him to investigate the “E” who keeps writing letters.) Master Algorthas says the wax used for the seal on one of the letters (I think the one that Klim had on him) is actually made from some kind of fungus. That would fit in with the Underdark…first, they can’t have regular bees down there, and also, they like fungus (or am I blurring them together with the Mushroom Queen’s people?). Ezekiel shared what he learned from the dead drow spy, so maybe that will help his investigations, too.

I think Lydia is glad we’re spending the night in actual beds, with a real roof over our heads. She’s been walking funny lately, and moving more slowly that usual. Heiron told me he’s a bit worried. But when Ezekiel tried to suggest she could back us up through the mirror like she used to with the Nodes, she gave him a “look.”

****

Mixed feelings.

The chain teleported us to a mountainside…high up, wind-whipped, covered with snow. Like Ezekiel described it, but even more so. I admit, it was a bit of a shock going from high summer to snow…but we managed. (Heiron gave Lydia his ring – of warmth…)

Well, a quick scout around didn’t tell us much. Giant footprints were everywhere, but didn’t give us much clue about where to go, and seeing into the distance was not an option. The wind comes whistling down and twists around the rocks so strangely that archery is impossible. The first time Heiron tried launching an arrow, it just disappeared into the whiteness in a completely wrong direction. I can’t explain how powerless that made me feel.

On the positives, though, Tressarian got to spend more time out and about – and it was cold, so he glowed with a pale white light. I was wearing the sword of Lyons at my belt, too, so we looked extra cool…just a blade of light, floating around in the air. Not so sneaky, but cool.

Anyway, we picked a direction, and followed what seemed to be a path down the mountainside, and eventually (after several hours) came to a ravine with paths along the tops of the cliffs all around it. The cliffside is also riddled with caves, and as we started to explore the first one, we came upon a squad of yetis, with a pair of snow leopards in a neighboring cave. I’m not sure what they ate up here – but the yetis had a pair of ivory tusks hidden under the snow in their cave, so maybe they eat mammoths. They also had a frostbrand sword, though, glowing in a corner, and we gave it to Oaklock…so that’s a happy turn of events for both of them (he says the sword hasn’t tried to talk to him).

Not too far from there, we found a pile of prepared boulders overlooking the rift below. While Mikael prepared to melt it into mud, Heiron and Master Oaklock heard noises ahead to the south, and Raven and I heard something coming from a cave to the north. The giants had heard our approach (no surprise there) and a squad tried to encircle us. Raven and I held them off pretty well – then just as reinforcements were coming up, Lydia threw a lightening bolt through their midst. Suddenly, Ezekiel had turned around and conjured a row of floating blades slicing and dicing just higher than our heads.

It wasn’t all one-sided, of course. The giants had plenty of boulders to choose from – whether stone or ice, I couldn’t tell…you don’t get a good look when something rams into you trying to break all your limbs. They must have dealt with the detachment to the south, as Ezekiel and Mikael came up behind to dish out healing. Ezekiel was saying something, too, but I didn’t quite hear him clearly – boulders still flew at us from deeper in the cave, so while Oaklock and Heiron took one branch, I followed Aliana down another to find the enemy.

The caves back there twist and connect with each other in a way that’s not immediately straightforward. Mikael stayed in the back long enough to notice a side passage, and he filled it with a massive jungle of thorns to keep the giants from escaping (and to control the battlefield).

Aliana had a small group of giants on one side, while Agnar and I had another group on the other side of the cave. Next thing you know, there’s a faintly white wall between us and them, encircling them. Apparently that was Raven’s doing, from his ring. When we went to help Aliana, she had a similar just-visible wall of light above her head – pinning one of the giants around his waist, so that all he could do was kick at her. His two companions must have seen Lydia waving her hands, and crouched down…but that put them at a disadvantage, of course, and the battle didn’t take too long after that.

Aliana and Agnar went back to Raven’s prisoners, and I helped Heiron explore the rest of this cave system. There’s a barracks full of sleeping hides, with a club and spear for each giant, and a larder full of meat…some of it looks disturbingly human-shaped, but I tried not to examine it closely.

When we got back to the others, the last giants were dead. I gather we didn’t do very well getting information out of them. Mikael, Ezekiel, and Aliana passed around healing, while we counted up the dead bodies.

Lydia went back to Haven to open up the portal, so Ezekiel and Raven could get some supplies…winter clothes, and what Ezekiel calls “mountaineering gear.” The rest of us set up the fortress in the back of the cave for a little shelter; on the plus side, there’s a freshwater spring right here, so that cheered up Mikael and me.

Aliana says a couple giants probably escaped, or weren’t here for the battle. There’s not much we can do until tomorrow, though, so we’ll have to take our chances and be vigilant.

****

Rumblings and clatterings in the cave last night. Nothing close enough to see, though, so we just sat tight and waited for the others to return. Thankfully the cavern has not collapsed on us.

Ezekiel and Raven returned with news – Ez got a letter from his sister (Leah), and a wedding invitation arrived from Prince Thrommel and the Lady Jolene. Very kind of them to think of us – and high time they made it official! Ezekiel says the wedding isn’t for a couple months yet, so we could have time to clear out these giants, hopefully. (And Lydia can take us all to Mitrik because she knows the city pretty well by now.)

Find the previous entry here.