After Ungrid bashes in the wall, the party find another vault with yet another bronze statue of the dwarf god, surrounded by six locked iron chests inscribed with runes; and in an alcove rests another warhammer, fancy but not as ornate and clunky as the one Ungrid picked up. Expecting the statue to animate if the chests are tampered with, Halmary attempts to tie the statues arms with rope, but that actually triggers the statue’s animation and it wades in to attack: everyone retaliates, Xellos getting scorched by spraying molten rock as the bronze is cut, but even with that hazard, the statue falls to the floor in a puddle of melting metal; all over in a matter of seconds really.

Corvin checks the warhammer and chests for traps, disarming those he finds, breaking open the locks on those he’s unsure about; one chest’s trap catches him: a choking grip that almost kills him before he manages to shake it off, aided by a timely cure light wounds from Halmary. He piles the loot in the now bulging Bag of Holding, and everyone filters out and makes their way back to the broken corridor, intending on checking out the cavern. They use the Flying Carpet to get down, with ropes spiked into the floor of the corridor as a back-up, and spread out to explore. They find a river, with a giant catfish, and a ‘wood’ of coloured mushrooms: and a chimera that charges Ungrid, but is again easy prey to the combined efforts of the party: the multi-headed beast falls to a series of blows from Corvin, Hurin, Mim and a final stab from Sidni.

They leave the temple, cavern and mushrooms and head back out into the snow-covered mountain valley. They decide to head back to Hochoch, before taking the king back to the Dim Forest and his elves. They pack their bags, and hike for 43 days, taking the safer and well-trodden paths, arriving at the city towards the end of the first month of Spring in the new year.

And before the next session, this is what I sent to the players, as an update as to what has been happening during the months they’ve been away:

23rd Readying, CY 592,

It has been nearly five months since you left the Dim Forest to seek the elven king and bring him back to his people. Hochoch is crowded with soldiers, mercenaries, adventuring parties, and refugees. You manage to find a dormitory that you can rent for a few weeks, mainly because you have gold to throw around. Your drinking and merry-making has not gone unnoticed and there is a bit of bad feeling towards you from the other adventuring parties, and they shun you.

Here is what has been going on with regard to the war-effort:

• After allying themselves with the elves of the Oytwood the armies of Liberation, Retribution and their attached mercenaries liberated Preston, and with the aid of adventurers have managed to rout the giants and their allies from the forest. Preston was being rebuilt before winter fell;
• Midwood, a mist-shrouded fishing town, has a ‘friendly’ fog-giant that protects it in exchange for silver. After the townfolk warned adventuring parties off from killing him, the Duke has declared it off limits– for the time being– and has left them to it;
• The armies loaned to the Duke from the neighbouring countries Keoland and the Gran March have now left, sent back home to deal with their own matters. This has reduced the size of the army the Duke can muster to a rather pathetic number;
• The winter was harsh. Many more refugees managed to escape and found their way to the city, crowding its streets and putting pressure on the dwindling resources of the city;
• Last month, as the army was training on the edge of the city, getting ready for a Spring offensive, a mass of clouds that were overhead started raining boulders, decimating the army. The clouds moved off, against the wind, and divine prayers and wizardly spells say that it was a retaliation for attacks against the giant leaders…

It is near the end of the first month of Spring. Rumours abound that the giants are fortifying the towns they hold. The Duke’s army has been reduced to a mere 2,500 men (infantry and cavalry), and the mercenaries are starting to drift away, the gold the Duke pays them is running out, and the adventuring parties are heading off for pastures new, finding little profit in the slaying of giants.

Posters and notices, town-criers and heralds, are putting the word out that the Duke is looking for allies in the war, and that he is seeking people who are brave and willing to scout out the towns held by the giants, and report on the forces stationed there; so that a campaign against the giants can be planned.

Meanwhile, Hurin– the elf king– has sent word to his people, and a message has come back that they are now occupying the deserted town of Hocholve, awaiting his return. He has kept a low profile while in the city, not yet willing to form alliances with the Duke or anyone else.

A week has passed since you came back to the city, giving you a week to buy supplies, craft a level 1 potion or scroll; if you want to spend more time in the city, you can do. Hurin is willing to wait a month before he will leave for the Dim Forest to be reunited with his people.

He has also asked for your help: he wants you to act as his escort to his people, and might have a mission for them too, if they are willing…

After escaping from the Hill Giants’ Steading, the party spend a few days in a cave tending to their wounds; with a brief flying carpet excursion to Loftwick to purchase scrolls and potions, sell goods and buy supplies. They go through their loot and discover a map that seems to point to an abandoned temple where the giants were meant to investigate; believing something there might be useful in their fight against the giants, the party hike for several days into the mountains and come across a shaft that descends into what appears to be an abandoned dwarf temple.

Together with Mim (dwarf) and Hurin (the elf King) they climb down into the long tunnel, checking for traps along the way by a mixture of Corvin’s ability and Halmary’s Find Traps spell; they find an empty and disused dormitory, a collapsed section of the corridor that opens into a large cavern with the sound of fast-flowing water; missing flagstones with water 80’ below; and through a pair of dented, shredded iron doors is an old dwarf temple dedicated to Clangeddin Silverbeard, god of battle. They cautiously enter, spotting a pile of treasure heaped as if used as a bed– comments of ‘dragons’ are heard– and a couple of broken pillars. A statue of a dwarf, hand stretched out, stands at the back. Whilst the others stand guard or look for secret doors– the map indicates a magic hammer is to be found inside the temple complex– Corvin starts to go through the treasure, shovelling loot into their Bag of Holding, while Xellos casts Detect Secret Doors and finds one behind the statue.

Before anyone can investigate further, Sidni– guarding the entrance– spots a large (juvenile) blue dragon coming round the corner!

Ungrid quaffs a potion of growth and is bestowed a spell of resist fire by Halmary, and Hurin proves useful when he casts Haste on everyone; meanwhile the others move into cover. The dragon conjures up a pair of Mirror Images, which are quickly dispelled by an arrow from Corvin and a hail of Magic Missiles from Hurin. The dragon manages to let loose with a potent line of lightning, sizzling into Ungrid, who more or less shrugs off the burning and walks right up to the dragon, and slays it with a pair of well-placed thrusts!

Corvin loots the rest of the treasure, while Ungrid smashes open the secret door to reveal a room with another statue– holding an ornate and gold-plated warhammer– and a pair of chests. The chests turn out to be empty, the hammer looks nice and Ungrid pulls it free: causing the statue to animate and attack, but before it gets to swing its fist, Hurin pelts it with more Magic Missiles and turns it to slag. Mim spots a section of the wall that looks odd: turns out it is a thin layer of stone, a bricked up doorway. Ungrid smashes it with his giant-sized strength, revealing another chamber beyond…

End of Session

Kills: 1 animated statue, 1 juvenile blue dragon.

With bodies behind them, the party engage the ogre that stands alone and stunned at what it’s just witnessed. As Xellos and Sidni slay the ogre, the doors to the Great Hall burst open, revealing a Hill Giant and a Bugbear, and coming through the doors at the other side of the Hall more giants arrive– the Chief, his Sub-Chief, and the Cloud Giant– while from the corridor to the south, more ogres are spotted.

Ungrid gets nearly crushed by the Hill Giant, but a quick Lay on Hands from Halmary brings him back up to fighting strength, and Sidni wounds the giant by charging it with his spear. Hurin, the elf king, takes care of the bugbear, and as the giants advance, the party hurry down the corridor, forming shield walls at either end, the freed humans, Mim and the elf king in their midst.

A dire wolf joins the giants, but Ungrid cuts it down. One of the Hill Giant’s steps back, lobbing a boulder at Ungrid and bruising the giant dwarf. He and Sidni take the fight to the giant, and their combined thrusts fell the monster; whilst Xellos slays an ogre, using his channelling magic to finish it off, Halmary engages another giant, and Corvin lets loose arrows back and forth up the corridor, wounding ogres and giants. One of the giant’s overrun’s Xellos, but the warrior chases after it. The Chief Giant takes up position at the end of the corridor, his Sub-Chief with him. The Chief has a giant crossbow, and orders them to surrender. Mim answers for them, shooting him with a bolt, then again, further wounding the giant; the Chief falls back into the Hall, bellowing for his men to take the adventurers out. Xellos, meanwhile, starts hacking away at the giant he chased, aided by more arrows from Corvin’s bow; a final arrow takes the giant in the eye, and it falls to the floor with a thud. Another giant falls as Halmary proves himself as capable as the others, and Mim takes a boulder to the shoulder.

The party move further down the corridor, closer to the exit they are aiming for: the tower. Knowing that they need to keep Hurin alive– since that was the main reason they travelled to the Steading– Xellos gets him to quaff an invisibility potion, and with another giant felled, the party hurry towards the stairs, ducking as more boulders are flung across the entry hall, two of which crush the freed– nameless, red-shirt– humans, wound Halmary and further wounds Mim. Up the stairs they go, giants closing behind; at the top of the stairs stands a final giant: Ungrid takes it out with a single stab through its heart!

At the top of the tower, Xellos, Halmary and Ungrid quaff flying potions; Mim swigs a diminuation potion and Corvin picks him up, and with Sidni and Hurin, he jumps on their flying carpet and everyone takes to the air, avoiding a few final thrown rocks, and speed away to the cave where they sheltered not all that long ago.

The adventurers are tired, covered in blood and gore, badly wounded, but alive and free! Against all odds, they have managed to fight their way out of the Hill Giant’s Steading, losing only a pair of nameless men, and taking out an astounding number of giants, ogres and their allies. And leaving behind a bunch of rebel orcs who spill into the Steading, and find a bunch of angry giants…

End of Session

Kills: 1 dire wolf, 1 bugbear, 3 ogres, 6 hill giants!

The ogres hurry down the stairs, only to be blocked before they exit by the adventurers, their freed dwarf Mim and the rescued elven king, Hurin. Ungrid, still giant-sized, wades into the ogres, felling one after another after another, while Corvin and Xellos loose arrows and bolts, Sidni stabs with his spear Werebane, and Halmary slings rocks. The ogres fall swiftly, then a dire wolf is hacked down, and the Hill Giant pushing the ogres on falls to Ungrid’s sword, but not before it bruises Sidni.

With the rebel orcs holding back for now– one of the bosses follows the party, ready to report back when it is safe– the adventurers head upstairs, finding the pantry where the stairs exit, empty of giants. Corvin listens at the door, hears the heavy breathing of giants, and after Halmary blesses them, Ungrid pulls open the door and takes the battle to the two Hill Giants and ogre that stand guarding the doors into a large kitchen. Corvin, backing against another door, and firing into the melee with his Heart-Seeker bow, is surprised when a third Hill Giant opens the door and takes a swing at him, and is almost knocked to the ground by the heavy blow. Xellos and Ungrid swing axe and sword, cutting into the giants, while Sidni and Mim lend Corvin a hand, with Halmary backing them up with his mace. Corvin shoots a giant in the eye, taking it down, and then wounds an ogre with another; it falls to the combined blows from Halmary and Mim, while Corvin takes out the injured ogre in the kitchen with a well-placed arrow. Two dire wolves run into the battle, but a quick command animal sends one attacking the other, and the final giants fall down dead as the wolves continue to fight.

Leaving the wolves to fight, the party start heading down the corridor, hoping to find a way out before they are overwhelmed…

End of Session

Kills: 5 Hill Giants, 15 ogres, 1 dire wolf.

The gore-splattered, bloodied adventurers take a breather as the last body hits the floor.

They backtrack, looking for the cell where the elf king is imprisoned, opening the doors to the orc slave cells, freeing the orcs as they go– while the rebel orcs slowly make their way out of their caverns, hoping that the adventurers will do all the killing for them, allowing them to escape back into the mountains without being slaughtered by the giants and ogres they know live above. The adventurers– still a nameless company– start combing through the barracks where the bugbears came from, finding minor treasure as they do. Xellos leads the way to the entrance hall, but as he opens the door, he comes face-to-knee with a club-swinging Hill Giant, which smacks him in the face. He backs off, allowing Ungrid, Halmary and Sidni to move into position, while Corvin lets loose with his Heartseeker bow to pepper the giant with arrows; and moving out of sight, no doubt planning on coming through the barracks, a Fire Giant is spotted.

Ungrid, giant-sized after quaffing another potion of growth, lands the killing blow, felling the Hill Giant, and he and Halmary form their now-standard shield wall when the Fire Giant comes back– after Xellos shuts the doors out of the barracks. This giant proves much more dangerous, cutting Halmary down with a couple of hits, but luckily only knocking him out. Xellos manages to use a scroll and successfully casts Hold Monster to freeze it, allowing Ungrid to clamber up and slit its throat. While this is going on, a dwarf approaches them, called Mim, who was chained up in the forge where the Fire Giants were tending to a forge. He freed himself, but the other dwarves there are too beaten down to join them. Corvin heads to the forge, finding gold, silver and gems that he deposits in the bag of holding he carries. Meanwhile, the others locate the cells, and as they deal with the couple of bugbear guards trying to keep quiet inside, and Xellos finds and rescues the elf king, Hurin, from down the stairs come several dire wolves, an ogre and a pair of hill giants: Halmary drinks a potion of animal control and Sidni uses his Ring of Animal Control, turning a few of the wolves on the ogre– who they kill– and the giants, who are whittled down and soon slain. Halmary is again knocked down, but divine intervention brings him back round*.

With the giants dead, the charmed dire wolves are locked up, and the orc rebels help block the stairs using the giant-sized tables and benches. They loot the room where the hunchback giant was using as a bedroom, arm Hurin and Mim, and lead them up the secret passage to the map room on the upper floor: only to open the secret door and find that several giants– including a Cloud, Stone and the Chief Hill Giant– are present. Halmary slams the door shut and everyone flees downstairs, quickly getting the orcs to unblock the stairs and block the secret passage instead… allowing a whole gang of ogres to freely march down the stairs, advancing on the party…

End of Session

Kills: 2 bugbears, 1 fire giant, 3 hill giants, 2 dire wolves.

KO’d: Halmary (technically twice; once merely knocked out and revived with a potion).

* for his birthday I gave my dad two ‘Get Out of Death Free’ cards, to use for his character or an ally. The first was used to prevent Halmary going down for a second time.

The party follows the orc into some caverns, where dozens of escaped slave orcs have holed up, armed with scavenged weapons and piecemeal armour. They met the leaders of the orcs, and make an alliance. The orcs allow them to rest, so the party catches up on some sleep, tends to their wounds, and after resting are woken by the orcs. It seems that there is trouble: the giants have used their wolves to track the party to the blockage and are now starting to dig their way through it, using Stone Giants and orc slaves to shift the rubble. In less than an hour they’ll be through!

Plans are swiftly made: one of the tunnels is blocked off, another has a lantern lit and positioned so that any giants breaking through it will spot it first. Halmary sets a glyph of warding further up the passage, so that can delay any pursuit in case they need to retreat. Then they arrange themselves in the corridor behind the rubble the giants are digging through, while the orcs get themselves ready to follow whatever the party does, hoping that they manage to fight the giants and not get everyone killed in the process.

The giants keep on digging, until the stone giant in front is revealed from waist to head, too caught up in his work to spot the lurking adventurers: unaware until Xellos uses a scroll of dismember to sever the giant’s leg, sending it screaming in pain to the hard floor and shocking its allies. Corvin yells out, in the giant tongue, “It’s cursed, cursed!” which makes the giant’s allies even more confused, and while they stood stunned, Halmary blesses the party, and Sidni charges out of the tunnel, down onto the fallen giant and starts hacking away at him with his great sword. Corvin runs up behind him, finally relinquishing his invisibility by throwing a javelin of lightning at the row of monsters in the corridor behind the hollering giant: a bolt of electricity arcs from body to body, crisping two ogres, a dire wolf and four of the orc slaves. Ungrid quaffs another potion of growth, doubling his size, and Halmary charges up the dwarf’s sword with a striking prayer. In the corridor, an angered and fearless Hill Giant comes towards them, shrugging off a bolt fired from Xellos’ arbalest, while Ungrid stomps on top of the wounded Stone Giant and puts him out of his misery with a powerful thrust through his heart.

Sidni grabs the last of the lightning javelins and uses it to incinerate a pair of Hill Giants and their ogre allies, and into the midst of the remaining monsters (ogres and bugbears, all still stunned by the sudden and ferocious attack) the rest of the party moves: Corvin wounds a bugbear, and Halmary smashes its skull. Ungrid steps up to an ogre and decapitates it, and the last Hill Giant steps up to attack, still fearless and mad with rage; the bugbears hurry off to warn their masters, and while one escapes upstairs, the other comes back with a Fire Giant in tow. The fearless Hill Giant is confronted by Sidni’s spear and Corvin’s bow, and a final arrow fells the giant. Then the former man and the giant dwarf take the battle to the Fire Giant, and Sidni is almost cut in half by the giant’s sword, only managing to continue fighting when Halmary runs in and magically heals her. Ungrid delivers the death blow to the Fire Giant, and the remaining bugbears fall to the combined blows of the other adventurers.

The silence after the swift and bloody battle is deafening. From the caverns the sounds of the awed orcs can be heard as they follow the adventurers, while upstairs, shouts of alarm can be dimly heard.

End of Session

Kills: 3 bugbears, 5 ogres, 3 hill giants, 1 fire giant, 1 stone giant, 1 dire wolf, 4 poor orc slaves.

With the freed orc slaves spilling out of the cells, Sidni, Xellos, Ungrid and Halmary finish off the bugbear guards, whilst Corvin peers around the corner and spies the advancing bugbears. A decision is swiftly made: they need to fight their way out, through the bugbears, find the elven king and escape. Then, one of the freed orcs tells them that there is a ‘secret’ way out, where escaped slaves flee to, a narrow passage over the blockage at the end of the corridor. They decide to head that way instead, since it appears that the elf king is in one of the upper cells– perhaps– past the way the party entered the dungeon.

Directing the orcs down the two passages to create a barrier between the giants in the torture chamber and the forge– basically sacrificing the orcs to enable the party to escape easier– the party head into the mass of approaching bugbears, while everyone but Corvin (still invisible) wounds bugbears by mace, spear or bolts, Ungrid proves himself to be a dwarven killing machine, as he dives into the bugbears and slaughters one after another, cleaving two, three, four at a time: they fall like leaves from a tree in the depths of autumn, and the enlarged dwarf crushes their bodies under foot as his cleaves a path through them, the others following in his wake and helping as best they can. Behind them, the orcs fight the giants, and soon end up being slaughtered themselves, especially when the pair of Fire Giants enter the battle, cutting their way through the orcs as easily as Ungrid cuts through their former jailers.

Soon they are by the blockage, and from a shadow on the top of the blockage, an orc whispers to them to follow him through the hidden passage: one-by-one the party filter through the narrow tunnel, into a darkened network of tunnels, leading off into a cavern. The orc beckons them and they follow…

…while outside the giants finish killing orcs and kicking them into their cells again.

But did they see where the party go to?

End of Session

Kills: 24 bugbears.

The hill giant and his dire wolves turn down another corridor, unaware of the party hiding around the corner still under the globe of silence emanating from Halmary’s coin. They wait for a few minutes, expecting the giant to return, and when no one does Corvin scouts ahead and reports back (by tugging their sleeves) that all is safe. They hurry across to the map room, wherein the secret door to the dungeon below lies. Xellos takes a peek into the armoury, using the wand of detect magic to find that the javelins are magical. They pick them up and take them along as they descend down the stairs, lighting their lanterns and torches. Halmary casts find traps and directed by Corvin they find that the pile of urns and coins are trapped, no doubt triggering the portcullis by the entrance. As they explore the large, empty room, they notice more portcullis and shadows beyond: from behind which a flurry of spikes fly through the bars, narrowly missing Ungrid!

Sidni chucks a torch through the bars, revealing four angry manticores that aim their tails at the party, sending spikes hurtling through the gaps between the bars, grazing Halmary and Ungrid; everyone moves out of sight, and as Ungrid and Halmary tend to their wounds, the others discuss ways of getting past the manticores, suggesting using their gaseous form potion, searching for secret doors, more scouting above ground, and decide to see what– if anything– lies behind the portcullis. Halmary illuminates one of Sidni’s arrows with a light spell, and sends it into the lair, lighting the room: a large chamber with a passage leading off. Meanwhile, Ungrid notices a secret door in the wall, leading to a passageway with peep holes looking out into an entrance hall. Corvin sneaks through the secret door, scouting down corridors and finding what might be cells guarded by bugbears; a carnivorous ape hiding in an alcove above a giant-sized doorway; and a pair of sleeping giants in a torture chamber. The rest follow him as he reports back, signalling each other by sign language, using the cover of the dwindling silence spell to sneak up to the ape. Sidni decides to hurl one of the javelins at the ape, to test its magic, and it transforms into a lightning bolt, knocking the ape out of the alcove and allowing Xellos to finish it off with a great sweep of his axe.

They head south, and pounce on what seems to be a lone bugbear guard, unaware that through a doorway opposite is a guard room with several more bugbears– and beyond them, through another door, a whole battalion of them! Even under cover of silence the bugbears are quick to act as one of their own falls to Sidni’s great sword, Lord Quench, and move to attack, while others flung open the door and alert the guards inside.

Sidni, Xellos and Ungrid wade into the bugbears cutting them down, while Corvin and Halmary run around to the other side and manhandle a large bench across the doorway that they suspect– correctly– opens into the barracks; they block the doorway, while bugbears on the other side start trying to force it open.

On the other side it soon becomes obvious that there are dozens of bugbears, and although they fall fairly easily to the party’s blades, some of the spikes from the bugbear’s morning stars penetrate their armour, and the three fighters decide a retreat is in order. To aid them, Ungrid quaffs a growth potion and doubles his size and strength; the bugbears fall even easier to his cutting and thrusting sword. Xellos, now injured, backs off and unleashes a sleep spell, felling several of the bugbears trying to break open the door.

From another door, a bugbear pops out and spies Halmary: he runs off to the giant-sized door, shouting for help. Halmary charges after him, but fails to deal with him before he alerts the Keeper, a deformed hill giant and his ape burst through the door and give chase to Halmary as he runs off to warn the others.

While all this is going on, Corvin heads over to the cells, opening the doors to reveal cramped cells stuffed full of orc slaves; he slams the doors shut afterwards. The others retreat from the guard room, and Ungrid bumps into the ape as it rounds the corner, and cuts it down. Sidni slams the barrack’s door shut and Xellos wizard locks it, forcing the bugbears to head the other way, through the door that is suddenly freed from the bench blocking it as the giant pulls it free.

The party regroup by the junction of the corridor, bugbears coming down the main corridor, the giant following behind. Xellos hurls a javelin of lightning at the giant, shocking it and burning it; and Sidni kills it as he hurls another at the Keeper, electrocuting it!

The bugbears pause, but their bosses urge them on, and they hurry down the corridor as the party back away. One of their bosses heads upstairs to warn the giants above. Ungrid, Xellos and Sidni turn down another corridor to more cells, slaying the bugbear guards and opening doors to reveal more orc slaves. A call– in giant– from Corvin makes the orcs think they are free, and they surge out of the cells, and smash into the bugbears, attacking them with whatever they can get their hands on…

End of Session

Kills: loads of bugbears, 2 apes, and a hill giant.

Inside the Steading of the Hill Giants, Corvin continues to scout out the entrance hall, but due to his poor strength is unable to open any of the heavy, giant-sized doors. He heads back upstairs, cutting free the alarm ‘bell’ that hangs from the tower’s rafters. He signals to Sidni to come down, and together they return to the others who are still camped nearby. Plans are made as night wears on, and as midnight comes they decide on the following plan: Halmary and Xellos will camp about 12 miles or so from the Steading, while Ungrid flies (via the carpet) Corvin and Sidni back– both rendered invisible by spell and potion– and waits for them as the stealthy pair head indoors to scout out the area, hoping to locate the imprisoned elven king.

The plan is set into action, and as Ungrid braves the snowy weather [a bit like England in the Spring] the thief and explorer head down, but find that the doors are proving too heavy for them. In the end they resort to simple tactics: they knock at one of the doors, waking one of the drunken giants, who opens it and looks about, not seeing anyone visible. Corvin places a spike in the doorway, so that it doesn’t fully close, and the half-asleep, largely drunk giant sits down and takes a quaff of the poisoned ale: he falls dead to the ground with a thud, which is thankfully unheard by anyone else. The two adventurers slip through the door, finding a barracks of sleeping giants, a secret door leading into the Great Hall– where dozens of ogres, giants, and serving orcs are still feasting away, although many have fallen asleep at the tables– and the doors leading to the courtyard outside. One door opens into a bedroom, where a cave bear sniffs them out, but is avoided by some quick running and hiding.

Another room– with maps decorating the walls and a table taller than the pair– has a further secret door that opens onto a staircase leading down. Corvin and Sidni venture down into dimness, spotting a portcullis that might be a trap waiting to be sprung, a glint of treasure in a corner of a large room, and the snores of some beasts lurking in the darkness. With time pressing and the potion of invisibility soon wearing off, they return to the upper level and make their way back to Ungrid and the carpet. They fly back to the others and report in, and in shifts they all make their way to the tower of the Steading and under cover of a silence spell they descend the tower, and with Corvin abstaining as he is still invisible, the rest of the party silently and swiftly [a single round] kill the sleeping giant at the bottom of the tower. They try the same tactic on the drunk giant, and he too falls to their blades and maces. They pass through the door and into the corridor leading towards the courtyard and the map room with the secret door, and as they turn the corner, Corvin– scouting ahead– spots the arrival of a hill giant and four dire wolves coming in out of the cold, and heading their way…

End of Session

Kills: 2 hill giants.

Interlude

It turned out that Smee was pretty much incinerated. The surviving party members found an urn to stick his ashes in, gathered what treasure they could carry and made the long journey back to the city of Loftwick. There they handed over the relic and the ashes to the High Wizard, and spent a week resting up, sorting and selling their loot, identifying their newly acquired magical items, and getting Zarkov and Halmary restored to flesh from stone. Their new magic items included some magic weapons, armour, potions, and a Flying Carpet!

The party also said goodbye to Zarkov, who headed off in search of his clan, to find allies in the war against the giants; he promised to return, with an army of dwarves in tow. In the meantime, Xellos joined the party, and together they headed back into the Jotens, and spent several days hiking over the mountainous terrain, as winter brought snow and icy winds to the land.

Notes: Corvin is now level 7, and Xellos reached level 5.

6th Sunsebb, 591 CY

On the morning of the 6th day of winter, the party spotted a ruined fort ahead, nestled in the middle of the valley they were following. A pair of giants– 14’ tall stone giants– could be seen roasting goats and half-heartedly keeping watch. As the others take cover amongst the snow and rocks, Xellos proves his worth by making Corvin invisible, and the thief scouts out the fortress, as silent as a whisper across the snow. He spies a laden chest, crates and weapons hanging up on crude hooks, and only the pair of giants were in the area. He reports back to the others. Using a recently acquired potion of poison they coat the arrows and bolts of Corvin, Sidni and Xellos with deadly poison, while Halmary and Ungrid prepare their melee weapons.

Hoping for surprise, they start making their way forward, but one of the giants spots Sidni and alerts the other; they grab rocks and take cover behind the crumbling walls of their way-station, and the party hurries to engage them.

Rocks and arrows fly across the snow-covered ground, mostly missing their targets. One rock smashes into Sidni’s shoulder, but doesn’t stop her. A poisoned bolt from Xellos’ arbalest grazes a giant, but the poison has no effect. Hoping to aid his allies, Halmary blesses them, and runs up to join the others as they advance and engage the giants in hand-to-hand combat: and despite some mistimed swings, poor thrusts and plain bad luck, the two giants are eventually slain, the final blows falling to Sidni’s great sword, and Xellos’ great axe– and the Ruinguard drains some of the giant’s dying life-force, healing some of his wounds in the process. The party are bruised, but hardly touched considering what they have just fought.

Bolstered by their success, the party continue on, and after nearly a week of uneventful travel, keeping off the main trail and braving the snow and wind, they arrive at the Steading of the Hill Giants.

At night, Sidni and Corvin (the thief once more invisible) take flight on the flying carpet. Sidni drops Corvin off by the watchtower, and orbits the Steading, waiting for the signal to pick him up. Meanwhile, Corvin heads down the stairs and finds the large entrance hall occupied by three sleeping Hill Giants, two of which are slumped over a large keg of ale. Thinking quickly, Corvin pours the rest of his poison into the ale, then begins to scout the area: behind a huge pair of doors, he hears the noises of a great many giants feasting in what he expects is the Great Hall.

Outside, Xellos, Ungrid and Halmary wait in the cold, wondering what is going on…

End of Session

Kills: two stone giants.