Enter the Giants

The players caught up to Bargle this past session and dealt with him early in the session. That made it time to introduce them to the Against the Giants trilogy of adventures. I am running the most familiar version, the 1981 second printing (Green Cover). It is not very different from the 1st printing, just all joined in one adventure. I have a later version with an entire sub-plot to get the players involved, but I decided to use my own. I was not sure what hook I would use, but I had prepared a town map under siege by giants.

Session 168: Giants on the move

Lakima (human magic user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier), Ambro Feyvine (elven thief), Domago (human cleric NPC), Ian of Darkhollow (human cavalier NPC), Luna (charmed Human Fighter NPC).

The key members of the Company of the Black Dragon have captured the mad magic user Krastos in a Forgotten Hold of the Dwarves deep in the mountains. Krastos tells them that he can lead them to where Barragan is hiding.

“Lead the way, and don’t try anything,” Lakima tells Krastos.

Krastos starts giggling, “Try! Why not try!”

“One wrong move, and I will slit your throat,” Ambros tells Krastos while pushing her dagger against his throat.

Krastos leads the party north and then east down Dwarven hallways. While giggling to himself and occasionally skipping. As they pass down one hallway, Krastos takes a leap forward, suspicious Ambro moves to catch up with him and triggers an old Dwarven trap. Large stones fall from the ceiling, followed by a rain of dirt and pebbles. Ambro just narrowly avoids being crushed. Laughing, Krastos tries to run away but is hindered by his hands tied behind his back. Ambro quickly catches him.

Ceiling Trap

“I should kill you right now!” Ambro shouts.

Krastos laughs, “Bargle is just up ahead. Follow me, and be more careful next time.”

“Keep a close eye on him,” Lakima shouts angrily.

At the end of the hallway the party stopped for a door and Ambro bent down to listen against, just then the door pulled open revealing four hobgoblins on the other side. Both groups were briefly surprised, and Ambro tried and failed to shut the door. Eathwund and Aldus joined Ambro at the door to fight off the hobgoblins. Lakima cast a Sleep spell and two of the hobgoblins fell to the ground asleep, the other two were quickly killed. Krastos continued leading the party through a chamber full of cages and then across an underground stream. This led to another hallway with statues of Dwarven Kings standing in alcoves. As the party reached the mid-way point, the statues animated and grabbed Ambros, Ian, and Krastos. Domago was able to free Ambros and Ian with a Dispel Evil spell, but they were forced to leave Krastos behind.

“We’ll come back for you if we find Barragan,” Lakima said.

“He’s just around the corner,” Krastos said.

Rounding the corner, the party entered a curving hallway leading to an oak door in the wall. Ambros opened this door, and the party saw a large chamber. Standing next to an ironman 12 feet tall, Barragan was immediately visible. Arcs of lightning flashed from a nearby infernal device.

“Who are you?” Barragan asked Ambros. Before Ambro could respond, Lakima stepped into view. “You are not going to run away this time, wizard”

“You again. What now. Have you come to accept my deal?”

“We have come to kill you,” Lakima said.

Ambros made her way into the room to stand not far from Barragan. Eathwund stood near Lakima while Luna stood to Lakima’s other side.

“Stay back, or I will release my iron servant,” Barragan yelled. He swung a gear on the back of the giant, and the iron man stood up from a table and confronted the party.

“Are you willing to take me on as an apprentice?” Ambros asked Barragan.

“Certainly, I can teach you magic,” Barragan said.

“Then we have a deal?” Ambros said.

“First kill Lakima to show your loyalty,” Barragan said.

“Of course,” Ambros said, pulling out a scroll and reading the enchantment. As she waved her hand, a wall of fire rose up, circling the rest of the part.

“Excellent!” Barragan said. Then commanded the Iron monster to enter the flames and kill the party. He stepped forward in excitement to watch. Unseen, Ambros drew her sword and stabbed Barragan in the back. The point of her blade exiting from his belly.

Domago used his last dispel to bring down the wall of fire. Eathwund and Luna fought the iron clockwork monster. Barragan stumbled to his knees and then vanished from sight. Lakima cast detected invisibility, but it was immediately apparent that Barragan had teleported.

The iron man stumbled from a blow from Eathwund but continued to deal out huge punches with its iron fists until Ambro jammed her sword in its back between two gears. The Iron Man froze in place, immobilized.

“I was unsure what you were doing, Ambros. I apologize for doubting you,” Domago said.

“I, conversely, had no doubt,” Lakima said.

The party spent a few moments checking the chamber, finding a wand in a desk drawer. Lakima used a limited wish spell to summon an invisible stalker, whom he sent to recover Barragan.

“I hope he has not teleported far,” Lakima said while using the Arrow of Direction. The arrow pointed to the northwest. “This way.”

The party headed down another winding hallway and then turned northwest. They heard a loud, screeching roar, and the dungeon walls shook. They saw Barragan with his arms pinned to his sides floating down the hallway toward them.

“I see my servant has captured you,” Lakima said as the invisible stalker dropped Barragan at his feet and vanished.

“Curse you, my dragon will call you all!” Barragan shouted.

From the other end of the hallway, a doorway shook, and they saw the golden clockwork dragon trying to fit through an archway that was too small for it. Eathwund and Aldus rushed forward to defend the group. The dragon released a bolt of lightning that struck Eathwund and Aldus and then ricochetted down the hallway, striking Ambro and Barragan but missing everyone else. Barragan slumped to the floor, barely alive.

Eathwund and Aldus battled the clockwork dragon, and Lakima summoned an Earth elemental. Between the three of them, they pummeled the dragon until it leaked oil, sparking and groaning. The elemental finally slammed the dragon’s head against the floor until it was pounded flat.

“Is it made from gold plates?” Ambro shouted.

“No, it is just iron painted with gold paint,” Eathwund answered, his voice full of disappointment.

With Barragan securely bound and gagged, the party returned to collect Krastos. Lakima used a disintegrate spell to free him. Then, the party exited the dungeon to rejoin Thelgrim Dale, the dwarf who was waiting outside. Thelgrim guided the party back to Grimstone trading post, where the Cloudstealer awaited.

“Back home?” Eathwund asked as the Cloudstealer rose into the sky.

“No. We need to take these two to Duke Robert and collect the reward,” Lakima replied.

The company spent two days traveling by air across Valnwall until arriving in the City of Dolmvay. The ship set down in the garden around the palace. The group was taken immediately to see the duke. The two prisoners were handed over, and they collected the reward of 7,000 gold coins. Lakima asked for a private audience with the duke. In private, he pressed the case of Aldus being given the title of Earl. He expounded on Aldus’ noble family and just nature. The duke mentioned he did have something in mind. Once goodbyes were said, the Cloudstealer headed back to Edgerton, arriving the next day.

The next few weeks were pretty quiet. Eathwund decides to use the portal to the Bridgeway to travel to Peake’s Crossing. Here, he purchased the burned-down Inn in the center of town. He also hired workmen to build a new, grander inn. Ambro asked Lakima about creating more magic scrolls. Lakima explained the cost of materials and his valuable time. He suggested purchasing them instead. Lakima went and sold some of the magic items gained on the adventure at Clearwin’s Oddities with Ambro accompanying him. Clearwin had no magic scrolls to sell but recommended that Ambro go to the Apothecary and speak to Malyn.

“Malyn is an old acquaintance. I can introduce you,” Lakima said.

At the Apothecary, Ambro was introduced to the surprisingly young magic user who ran the shop. Malyn explained his prices for magic scrolls, and Ambro decided they were too expensive. Malyn complained to Lakima about not getting a commission on the flying ship built for the duke.

“After all, it was my design that gave you the elemental cage,” Malyn said.

“Fine,” Lakima said and reached into the pouch of holding to pull out a bag full of gold coins. Malyn opened the bag and nodded in agreement.

Having heard about a temple of death magic being connected to the Apothecary, Ambro told Lakima she planned to browse some more when he indicated he was heading back to the Manor. Once Lakima had left, Ambro questioned Malyn. Although, cautious at first, Malyn agreed to show Ambro the old Temple of the Dark Lady the shop was attached to. He pulled down the cloth hiding the statue of the Dark Lady.

“The Dark Lady,” Malyn said, “My patron, my task,” he said with irony.

Malyn explained that he once worshipped the Dark Lady, but he was captured by warriors of St. Cuthbert. They placed a geas on him to remain guardian of the temple. Then he pointed to the covered stairs to the crypts.

“Below lie the entombed corpses of hundreds of necromancers,” Malyn said. “Because of the fear of them, the church set me here as a custodian. My penance.”

“For hundreds of years, I have watched over them.”

“Hundreds of years? But you look to be sixteen,” Ambro said.

“I have my secrets,” Malyn simply said.

Having taken interest in Ambro Malyn produced a small wooden box and handed it to Ambro calling it a gift.

The days grew shorter as the fall began to draw into winter. Eathwund spent time in Peake’s Crossing, supervising the progress of his new venture. Ambro opened the box and found a marble statuette of Leira, the faceless god – an aspect of the Dark Lady. She worshipped the statuette in secret in a hidden chamber in her room in the Manor. Lakima worked on a new spell he wanted to research.

One day, August came to disturb Lakima while doing his research.

“Master, Glyn Palderus contacted us by crystal ball. He says that Caster’s Ford is under attack by an army of Giants!”

“Really?” Lakima said, disbelieving the threat.

The party gathered around the crystal ball while Palderus went to the top of his tower in Caster’s Ford and showed them the Giants advancing on the town. It was difficult to see much with all of the smoke in the air.

“We must go to their defense!” Domago said.

“Fine, let’s go deal with them,” Lakima said. He penned a letter and handed it to August.

“August, you take this directly to Duke Robert!”

August nodded and joined the others as they went to the School of Magic. The gate was taken from the school to the Bridgeway. August was sent to Dolmvay. The rest took the Bridgeway to the old stone bridge in Caster’s Ford. They stepped off the bridge and arrived in a chaotic scene. Townsfolk ran about the streets trying to get aboard the few boats tied up in the river. People were screaming that they were all going to die and that the city was doomed. The party made their way to the North Wall. As they neared the wall, they saw battered buildings and stone boulders in the street. An occasional boulder sailed over the wall, striking a building or striking a soldier standing on the parapet of the wall.

On the wall they looked down on an incredible scene. An army of giants were making siege to the town. As they took in the scene, they realized most of the army were actually ogres but there were a lot of hill giants and even some frost giants. Lakima cast a fireball into the attackers and then a lightning bolt. After the spells were expended six or seven dead giants lay on the field. The giants redirected their attacks to the west gate, away from the north wall.

“The East Gate! The East gate has fallen!”

A soldier ran toward the north wall, shouting the dire news. Lakima waved at the group, directing them to the east gate. The party made its way back across town to the East Gate. They arrived and saw Hill Giants through the gate, ransacking and smashing nearby buildings. Lakima summoned an Earth Elemental, which strode up to the Hill Giants, driving them before itself right out the gate. Horns began to sound from the Hills surrounding the town.

The Hill Giants attack

People began cheering.

“The Giants are defeated! They are fleeing.”

Townsfolk came out of their homes to cheer the party.

“The Company of the Black Dragon has returned to save the town!”

The party went through the broken gate and watched the Hill Giants retreat.

“They are dropping back in good order,” Aldus noted.

“They don’t look defeated,” Eathwund added.

“No. They are not. They will be back. Domago did you prepare a speak with dead prayer?” Lakima asked Domago.

“Yes.”

The party headed into the field of dead giants north of the town walls.

“That one,” Lakima pointed at a dead Frost Giant.

Domago prayed before the corpse, and a 15-foot-tall ghostly figure of a Frost Giant rose from the ground.

“Speak, puny humans. Ask your questions.”

“Why have you attacked this town?”

“We have decided to make the human lands our own. All of the small creatures will be our slaves.”

“Who leads?”

“The Frost Giants lead this war!”

“Who is your leader?”

“Jarl Grugnur!”

Then, the spirit vanished.

“I guess we need to talk to Duke Robert again,” Lakima said, “The Frost Giants were followers of the White Worm.”

“Who is this White Worm?” Ambro asked.

“Past tense. We killed it.” Lakima answered.

Lakima contacted the custodian of the Bridgeway, and the portal was opened for them. From the Bridgeway, they returned to Dolmvay. There was a meeting with Duke Robert. Lakima explained the attack. Duke Robert pressed for his High Wizard – a title Lakima had pursued from the duchy – to take the fight to the Hill Giants. He explained that the scout Aelshara knew the location of the Hill Giant Steading where the Hill Giants were gathering. Duke Robert advised that he would load soldiers on his flying ship and reinforce Caster’s Ford. He expected the Company of the Black Dragon to send a strong message to the Hill Giants. A message that made it clear that the Giants were not welcome in Valnwall.

The party returned to Edgerton to prepare for the expedition. That night, Ambro had a strange dream. She found herself lost in a foggy moor. In the distance, she saw a light and was drawn to it. Once she approached, she saw a woman figure in warrior’s gear. The figure had a face obscured by a bright light. Ambro bent down on one knee before the figure. The figure explained that it wished Ambro to be her instrument. A rival was attempting to overthrow Valnwall. This could not be allowed to happen. As Ambro looked up, the figure bent down toward her, and the light became unbearable. Then Ambro woke up. While it was still late, with hours before daylight, Ambro made her way across town to the Apothecary. The door was locked, but she had little trouble with the lock. Inside, all was dark and quiet.

“What are you doing there in the dark, thief?”  A voice called out. Ambro realized it was coming from a jade statuette of a dragon on the counter. She told the statue to get Malyn. The statue flew off and returned riding on Malyn’s shoulder. Ambro told Malyn about her dream, which seemed to excite Malyn.

“The lady makes herself known. But why does she contact you?”

“You must follow her direction and report back to me.”

Malyn then gave Ambro another gift, a scroll with a single spell.