Forays

One of the things many of the earliest adventures published by TSR noted was what to do when the party of adventurers retreated temporarily from the dungeon to rest and recover. From the notes Gary Gygax included in the Giant series of adventures, this is a common tactic. I have rarely experienced it as a Game Master. I have had a party quit on an adventure and leave because they felt they had accomplished the goal or were in over their heads. They never want to leave and regroup. As a player this makes a lot of sense to me. The monsters who have been attacked in their lair or going to regroup and plan defenses for the returning adventurers. There is little likelihood of stealth entering a dungeon for a second time.

In the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, my Swords & Wizardry campaign party has experienced battle after battle. They have gained some allies to help with the melee (notably a Storm Giant), but they are injured, the magic user is almost out of spells, and the worst of all, the cleric's staff of healing is almost out of charge. They have decided to retreat and return later. The adventure makes a few suggestions, but it is mainly up to me. This will be tricky because the players decided to retreat just as we closed the evening session. They have yet to make their way out of the dungeon. I might create a before and after map in Roll20, so I have the time to prepare the defenses.

Session 172: The Tunnels of Ice

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

The Company of the Black Dragon is exploring the Icefang Glacier's Rift, which is the staging area of the Frost Giants of Jarl Grugnur. The Company has fought its way past the guard posts that line the side of the Rift.

“Which direction now?” Aldus asked Lakima.

Lakima looked about the chamber. The walls were of stone rather than ice but sheets of ice still clung to the walls.

“It looks like we have traveled out of the glacier ice and into the stone mountains of the valley,” Lakima said.

Lakima looked for Ambro and immediately saw the elven thief checking the corpses of the numerous dead frost giants for treasure.

“Ambro, scout ahead,” Lakima said.

Ambro looked up and looked around. She stood up and headed quietly toward the open passage to the south. A tunnel cut through the stone. She returned a short while later.

“The passage heads west but does not break through into the rift. We must be south of the rift in the ice. There is also another tunnel that heads down into the earth and to the south. I can see flickering torchlight at its bottom.”

“Down is usually the right direction, so let's head down,” Lakima said.

The Company formed ranks, with Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian taking positions not far behind Ambro. Lakima, Luna, and Aelshara made up the second rank, and Domago followed closely behind everyone. They turned and descended a sloping stone passage until they arrived in a large cavern lit by four scattered torches.

“Wow! Look at that,” Ambro said, pointing at carvings on the cavern walls.

In places, the rough walls of the natural cavern had been smoothed and carved with murals depicting Frost Giants slaying enemies, hunting dragons, and other fearsome monsters. The carvings appeared to be very old. Four passages led off from the long cavern, but one was purposely blocked by a round boulder.

“If they blocked it off, it must be important,” Lakima said. Give me a moment to check.”

Lakima concentrated and cast the spell wizard eye. A tiny spark of light appeared which drifted off and slipped between the boulder and the rock wall. The rest of the Company waited, watching the shadows warily.

About five minutes later, Lakima sighed and snapped his eyes open.

“There is a White Dragon sitting on a pile of treasure on the other side of that rock,” Lakima said, “It looks to be a mature dragon.”

“Why don’t I check the other passages first,” Ambro said.

She darted quietly down a side passage and soon returned.

“Dead End.”

She got the same result down the next passage she checked. Then was gone a lot longer as she checked the last tunnel. The one furthest to the south. When Ambro returned she told the group that she could see a large cavern with a pair of giant skeletons lying amongst scattered gold coins.

“Did they look to have died peacefully?” Lakima questioned.

“They looked like something killed them,” Ambro said, “I decided not to venture close.”

“Probably killed by a monster, or it could be a trap,” Lakima said.

“The enemy of our enemy could be our friend,” Ambro countered, “I think we should check it out.”

“Who wants to go south, and who wants to fight the dragon?” Lakima said.

The company members seemed undecided. None of them raised a hand. Ambro still wanted to head south.

“I think we should kill the dragon,” Lakima said. This time, Aldus added his support, and finally, Ian and Eathwund also nodded.

Eathwund walked over and looked at the 12-foot-diameter stone boulder. Using the strength of a giant granted by his Girdle of Giant Strength, he shifted the boulder slightly, and it began to roll toward him. Eathwund guided the boulder into the cavern until the passage was clear.

“I am sure it has heard us now,” Lakima said, “Get him!”

Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian ran into the passage with swords drawn and immediately came upon a White Dragon rearing up to meet them. There was a flurry of sword cuts as the Dragons attacks were beaten off, Ambro and Luna helped with a volley of arrows. After a few moments, the Dragon was slashed, pierced, and battered. It timidly slunk down and backed up, seemingly giving up on the fight. There was an enormous roar, and a second White Dragon, this one bigger, appeared around the side of a stone pillar. It launched itself in anger at Aldus and Eathwund.

Lakima began casting a spell. “Get that one,” he pointed at the larger dragon. I’ll take care of the smaller one.” Lakima completed the charm monster spell, and the smaller White Dragon fell under his influence. It moved back completely out of the fight. Meanwhile, Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian attacked the new arrival. The dragon reared up and struck Ian with its long, sharp claws, slicing open the knight's chest.

“No. Ian, get back,” Aldus yelled, renewing his attacks on the White Dragon. Ian remained in the fight, and the larger White Dragon was killed.

“Ian. You should have backed off once you were injured,” Aldus said. Ian slumped against the cavern wall, trying to hold in his ruptured chest. Domago quickly arrived at his side, holding him up. Domago placed a hand on the bloody wound on Ian’s chest and chanted a healing prayer. The wound closed magically.

“You are okay now, Ian,” Domago said.

“Thanks.”

Meanwhile, Ambro busied herself scooping up gold coins into a cloth sack.

Lakima spoke to the White Dragon in draconic, telling it they were friends and there was no reason to fight. The White Dragon confusedly asked why a friend would kill its mate. Lakima assured it that they were just defending themselves. The dragon then complained that the tiny elf was stealing.

“Ambro. Put the gold coins back. We do not want to steal from our new friend,” Lakima said loudly. Ambro paused and looked at the angry white dragon.

“Fine,” Ambro said.

She dumped most of the gold coins back onto the pile. But she slid a handful of coins into a pouch without anyone noticing.

Lakima continued to converse with the White Dragon in its language while his companions stood nearby, their weapons held at the ready.

“It says that the Frost Giants feed it. It does not seem to leave this cavern very often. It did say that there is an entrance to the Frost Giant lair concealed behind a large boulder.”

“It must be south where I saw the treasure,” Ambro said.

Lakima conversed with the Dragon a little longer and then replied.

“The dragon says that it heard the Frost Giants talking about a trap they laid to the south for any unwelcome intruders. I think that is the treasure and the giant skeletons you saw.”

The group moved back into the large cavern with the murals on the walls, leaving the charmed dragon behind on its pile of treasure. They discussed where to go next. Lakima checked the two passaged with dead ends for secret doors but found none. They headed south and checked a side passage that led to a long-abandoned storage chamber. Again, they found no exits. They ended up back in the entrance cavern.

“Maybe it is somewhere here?” Lakima asked.

“Aelshara and I checked the walls,” Ambro said, “Just stone.”

Lakima took out the Wand of Secret Door Detection and checked the walls. The wand outlined a trigger holding a large boulder in place on the east wall. Hiding a tunnel. Ambro went over and pushed the trigger. The boulder rolled into the cavern beyond a short distance, blocking their view. Two Frost Giants stepped into view, shouting a battle cry and attacking with giant axes. Eathwund and Aldus fought the giants, cutting them down. They heard the sound of a horn blowing. The sound echoed through the cavern.

“They raised the alarm,” Lakima shouted, “Be ready!”

Eathwund and Aldus rushed into the cavern past the boulder, confronting many ogres. Aldus shouted at Ian to stay back and protect the spellcasters.

“Aelshara. Use the wand!” Lakima shouted.

Aelshara took out the wand of Lightning bolts and cast the spell into the mass of ogres. The lightning blasted through the ogres, but they all remained standing. Lakima cast a lightning bolt spell through the same group of ogres; this time, most fell dead. The remaining few turned and ran from the adventurers.

Eathwund and Aldus pushed into the cavern. More ogres joined the fight, and the fleeing ogres suddenly turned and came back toward the fight. They heard the sound of giant footsteps approaching.

“There is something out there that scared the ogres more than we do!” Eathwund warned with a shout.

A cloud giant ducked under the far entrance to the cavern and stood up, surveying the scene. In one hand, it held an enormous boulder that it threw at Aldus. The knight managed to deflect most of the impact away with his shield. Aelshara fired a magic missile at the cloud giant. Lakima threw darts, and Luna fired arrows. Ambro put on her ring of flying and flew up upon the entrance boulder. From here, she fired arrows at the cloud giant. Lakima unleashed another lightning bolt at it. By this time, Aldus and Eathwund had dealt with all of the ogres, and they began to advance upon the cloud giant. The cloud giant retreated from the chamber until backed up by a group of Frost Giants. But Lakima and Aelshara fired more lightning bolts at them, and all of the Frost Giants were killed. Luna and Ambro kept up a barrage of arrows until the Cloud giant toppled over dead with a crash.

“That’s all of them, I think,” Eathwund gasped. He noticed a 10-foot-long horn hanging from the cave ceiling on a pair of chains. He surmised that this was the alarm they heard.

“We will need to be careful. Every giant within a few hundred feet will have heard that horn blowing the alarm,” Eathwund said.

“Domago, check who needs healing,” Lakima said.

Domago went to Aldus and cast a pair of major healing spells.

“I am almost out of the healing spells I prayed for,” Domago said.

“Use the staff,” Lakima said.

“The staff only has 6 charges left,” Domago warned. Everyone paused when they heard that news. Now, only Eathwund would be sure of healing with his ring of regeneration.

Six tunnels led from the area where they had killed the cloud giant. Ambro picked one and scouted ahead. She came back and told everyone that there was another tunnel ahead blocked by a boulder. Lakima, reasoning that there must be something important behind the boulder, suggested they investigate. On the way toward the boulder Aelshara glanced down a passage that led to a well-lit cave.

“I can see a pair of human-sized people in that cave,” Aelshara said.

“Let’s check it out. Careful; they will be in league with Frost Giants,” Lakima said. As the company entered the cave, they saw a giant table, chairs, and several giant beds. Lying on the floor were five human women, all of their hands visibly bound with ropes. One of the women spotted Eathwund and sobbed.

“Prisoners,” Lakima said, “Probably being held for food.”

“Those aren’t women, they are ogres!” Ian shouted at everyone.

“What?” Aldus looked at his squire, wondering if Ian was delusional.

“It’s the sword. Using it, he can see through illusions!” Lakima yelled.

Aldus remembered that they had given Malkin the Mighty’s sword, Truesight, to Ian.

“They’re Ogres!” Ian shouted again.

Eathwund and Aldus believed Ian the second time, readied their swords, and advanced with murderous intent. Seeing that the illusion was not working, the five Ogre-Magi dismissed it and appeared as their true selves, hulking ogres standing over eight feet tall.

The company unleashed their fury on the ogres. Eathwund and Aldus attacked two ogres. Lakima cast a stunning spell, knocking out the ogre leader. Aelshara caught the remaining two ogres in a web spell. Eathwund and Aldus killed the two ogres in melee.

“What about the rest of them,” Ambro asked.

“Kill them,” Lakima said.

Eathwund finished off the stunned ogre-magi, and Ambro and Luna killed the ones trapped in webs with well-placed arrows. Spotting a metal coffer on the table, Ambro used a chair as a ladder and climbed up on the giant table. Eathwund busied himself, checking the corpses. He found a pouch of gems on each ogre. Almost like they had received identical payments. Eathwund went over to Lakima and dropped the pouches of gems in the bag of holding.

“What do you have there, Ambro?” Lakima asked.

Ambro set down the metal box she had been holding. “It’s a puzzle box. These silver, electrum, and platinum leaves on the sides can be slid to open it. But there must be hundreds of combinations. We will never figure it out.”

“Domago. Do you have a speak with dead spell prepared?” Lakima asked.

“Yes.”

Lakima asked Domago to raise the dead spirit of the ogres and question him. Once this was done, a ghostly form hovered over the ogre-magi’s corpse. Lakima asked for the combination of the boxes, to which it answered. He asked who was behind the attacks on the humans, and it answered Jarl Grugnur. Then he asked why the ogre-magi were here, and it answered that they had signed an agreement to participate in the war on the humans in return for payment. The spirit then vanished.

Ambro used the combination they had been given, and the lid clicked as the latch was released. She carefully opened the small box. Inside, she saw only darkness.

“There’s nothing?” Ambro said.

“Luna. Put your hand in that box,” Lakima ordered.

The simulacrum of Luna dutifully walked over and put her hand in the box. Her arm disappeared up to her elbow in the tiny box.

“Well. Is there anything in the box?”

Luna pulled her hand back out of the box, but she was holding a cloth sack in her hand. Ambro took the sack and opened it, finding it full of gold coins. Lakima directed Luna to search in the box some more, and she pulled out more bags of gold, a rolled-up and wax-sealed scroll, and a pair of potions. Lakima took the scroll and broke the seal. There was writing on it, but he could not decipher it, so he gave it to Domago.

Domago donned his magic helm, and he was able to read the scroll. Domago told everyone it was an agreement between Jarl Grugnur of the Frost Giants and Emperor Gokeg III of the Ogres. In return for 100,000 gold in gems, the ogre-magi would join forces with those of the giants to attack human lands.

“It is a good thing we intercepted this,” Lakima told everyone.

The company went back to the boulder, blocking a chamber. Eathwund rolled it to one side. Inside was a cave with a table, chairs, and a single bed and dresser. All of the furniture was big enough for a cloud giant. Ambro searched a large chest and found a sack of thousands of gold coins. The sack was stuffed into the bag of holding.

“It's starting to get full again!” Lakima said.

After more exploration, they found another boulder blocking a cave. Eathwund rolled it to one side. Ambro silently slipped inside and saw a giant-sized table with two chairs. On the table sat giant bowls of food that looked fresh. Chained to the far wall of the chamber was a female giant. The giant was far bigger than any giant Ambro had seen before. She quietly slipped back out of the cave.

“There is a huge giant in there. She must be more than twenty feet tall!” Ambro said.

“A cloud giant?” Lakima asked.

Ambro told everyone that the giant did not have the skin color of a cloud giant and she was bigger.

“And she is chained to the wall!”

“You should have said that first,” Lakima said.

The adventurers advanced slowly into the chamber. Lakima signaled to Ambro to question the giant in its language, but the giant spoke as soon as it saw them.

“Humans and Elves. How strange. That is not like Grugnur. Are you his slaves or servants?”

“We are the Order of the Black Dragon!” Lakima said. The giant loomed twenty feet above him. “We are the slayers of Frost Giants and the Great Worm!”

“I have not heard of this Order or this Great Worm. But then, for the past thirty years, I have been living far from here.”

“What brought you here?” Lakima asked.

“The Frost Giants drugged me and brought me here. Usually, they know not to anger my kind. I had come to the mountains to look for my cousin. The Frost Giants captured me, and this fool Grugnur wishes me for his mate. How I hate him.”

“Really?” Lakima said.

“I would help anyone who would free me. I wish to teach Grugnur a lesson!”

“Ambro. See if you can free her,” Lakima said.

Ambro looked up at the chains connected to manacles on the giant’s wrists. She put on her Ring of Flying and ascended 15 feet up to reach them. The Giant reached out toward Ambro in surprise and let her land on her wrist. With a little work, Ambro unlocked both manacles. Then she flew up and landed on the giant's shoulder. The storm giant climbed to her feet. Standing at her full height, she was about twenty-four feet tall.

The Storm Giant prisoner

“My name is Uldinia,” she said.

“I will accompany the Order of the Black Dragon!”

Then she walked over to the table and scooped up some food. It was apparent that the Frost Giants had been starving her.

The company set out again with Uldinia in the middle of the group. She stepped carefully to avoid crushing any of her new companions. Despite the caves being the home of giants, she had to duck at several spots in the caves.

Ambro flew down from Uldinia’s shoulder and set out ahead on the ground again. She soon came back to warn the party that there were Frost Giants ahead.

“They have set up barricades and are ready for us,” Ambro said.

“They are not ready for me,” Uldinia said. She picked up an enormous boulder and walked into the cavern. Then she hurled it at the Frost giants who waited behind a barricade they had created. The boulder smashed through the barricade and crushed a Frost giant.

The battle joined, Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian moved forward to attack the giants with sword. Aldus paused and blew the Silver Horn of Valhalla, summoning four berserkers. The party could see one of the Frost giants run off to get more help. He returned a short while later, leading four Fire Giant women and several ogres. Lakima cast a circle of darkness behind the melee to try and prevent more reinforcements from arriving. The fight went well until Uldinia was struck several times by a ballista spear. She directed Aelshara to the ledge in the cavern where a Frost Giant stood with a ballista. Aelshara used a lightning bolt spell to deal with the Frost Giant. Eathwund and Aldus killed the fire giants, and Ian fought a pair of ogres. In the melee, both Ian and Aldus were severely injured. Later, Uldinia and Lakima were also wounded. Once the fight was over, Domago moved about checking on the injured. Unfortunately, he was almost out of spells. Aldus and Lakima decided things were dire enough for them to use their emergency healing potions. Domago used up a few more charges on the Staff of healing.

Ambro headed to a cave that the fire giants had exited. She could hear voices calling for help in a common tongue, and they sounded like human voices. She saw four humans, two men, and two women, behind an iron portcullis.

“There are human prisoners over here,” Ambro said.

“Ian. Go look and make sure they are human,” Lakima said.

Ian then walked over to the cell and looked over the humans while holding his sword Truesight. He could see they were humans. One of the humans looked back at him.

“Hurry, let us out,” the man said, “They plan to eat us tonight, and they could come back at any time!”

Lakima walked up and checked with Ian. Ian nodded. “They won’t be coming back anytime soon. We killed them all.”

Lakima asked who the prisoners were, and he learned that they were a wizard’s apprentice named Olbigo, a pair of caravan guards named Ulein and Ciri Duth, and a thief named Sefi Zua who Ulein had caught.

“Sefi. That is not much of a name,” Lakima said, “Tell me, are you any good to us as a thief, or should we leave you here.”

Sefi pleaded that she was an excellent thief. Lakima told Ambro to let them out. Once freed, the prisoners were anxious about leaving the dungeon. Lakima looked about at the battered party of adventurers. Even the Storm Giant Uldinia looked badly injured.

“I am all out of healing spells,” Domago said, “The staff is almost spent. I think we need to withdraw and recover our strength.

“I am almost out of spells,” Lakima said, “I think you are right.”

“Let’s make our way back to the surface,” Lakima added. There is a safe cave not far from the glacier; we can rest there.”

Skip the Frost Giants?

During the last session, I was unsure if my Swords & Wizardry campaign players would find enough clues to skip past the Frost Giants. They already had an inkling that the fire giants were the true architects of the attack on human lands. They did not, and it was on to the Glacial Rift!

This module is laid out like the Hill Giant Steading. An upper level packed with giants and a mysterious lower level. So far, they have just moved through the upper level with a fair degree of stealth. Only one Frost Giant escaped an encounter. It led to an immediate ambush but to this point the Frost Giant Lair is not aware they are under attack.

Session 170: From Foothills to Glaciers

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

The Company of the Black Dragon has descended into a dungeon below the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Nosnra. They helped set off a revolt by orc slaves against their Hill Giant masters, but the Chief still eludes them and the information he holds.

“Why do we need to find the Hill Giant chief again?” Ian said.

“Because he is the one who is going to be able to tell us who put him up to attacking Caster’s Ford,” Lakima said patiently, “He certainly does not have the backbone to attack the human lands without someone backing him up.”

The party returned to the marshaling chamber at the bottom of the stairs from the upper level. Lakima noted a closed door they had not entered before. Eathwund and Ambro went over to check. Once Ambro nodded that it was safe, Eathwund shoved against the door to try to open it. The door opened a few inches, and Eathwund saw a hill giant holding the door on the other side. In a moment, the door slammed shut again. Eathwund found he could not get it to budge.

“There is a giant holding the door from the other side,” Eathwund said.

“Just a moment,” Lakima began walking toward the door.

“Hey, there are prison cells in here,” Aelshara shouted and pointed at an open door.

Lakima realized that the door she was pointing at had been closed earlier. Lakima waved at Aelshara to enter. She soon called out that there were prisoners inside the cells. Ambro joined her, followed by Domago and Lakima. Lakima looked at an elf sitting on the floor in the back of a cell. The prisoner looked ill-used.

“What’s your story?” Lakima asked.

“Help, let me out!” another prisoner, this one human, yelled out from a nearby cell.

“Are you in league with the giants?” the elf asked.

“No. We are killing all the giants we find,” Lakima boldly stated. The elf slowly got to his feet and asked to be released.

“Ambro, see if you can release them,” Lakima said.

“All of them?” Ambro looked at the five cells. Beside the human and the elf, another human lay curled up in a cell, four human skeletons lay in a cell, and the last held five orcs.

“Just the humans and the elf,” Lakima clarified.

“My name is Roth Pomer, I am from Edgerton,” the man introduced himself.

“What are you doing here, Roth,” Lakima asked.

Roth explained that the giants captured him near Caster’s Ford and thought, based on his clothes, that he was worth a rich ransom. Unfortunately, a recent turn of bad business left Roth with few funds. Lakima asked how much ransom they could expect from his family. Roth sputtered a little and offered 75 gold before Lakima laughed and told him he was joking.

The second human introduced himself as Gregor. He said that he was an engineer and the hill giants had been working with him for almost a year to expand their dungeons with the aid of stone giants. Lastly, Luthien Silverleaf is an elf from Kingswood.

“Gregor, you worked on this dungeon. Are there any secret areas,” Lakima asked.

“I worked on a secret passage to some chambers several months ago,” Gregor said. It is right over there,” pointing to the stone wall beside the stair.

“Show us, please,” Lakima said.

“It has been a while,” Gregor said.

Lakima aided Gregor with the Wand of Secret Door detection, which immediately illuminated the trigger for the secret door. The dwarves they had rescued earlier gathered around to watch as Gregor triggered the door in the wall open.

“Fighters to the front, Ambro leads the way,” Lakima said. Orin, you and your friends are welcome to leave. The way should be clear, or you can wait here.”

“We will wait for you,” Orin said. Luthien, Gregor, and Roth also said that they would wait with the dwarves for the party to return.

The secret passage ended in a dead end, but the wand quickly found another door. Ambro opened this secret door and scanned a dark chamber. Eathwund, looking over her shoulder, saw nothing, but Ambro released a low gasp.

“I see bags of treasure split open lying against the far wall.”

The party moved into the dark chamber, and Lakima raised the light on his staff high. The party could make out an archway to the south blocked by a portcullis and an open passage to the east. Ambro skipped over to the bags of treasure on the floor but soon came back empty-handed.

“Nothing but copper coins and glass beads,” she said with disappointment.

“Check that way,” Lakima pointed to the northeast.

“There is something moving about on the other side of the archway bars,” Ambro said. She took a few steps closer. Then ran over to the rest of the party. Ambro described several lion-shaped creatures with wings and spiked tails.

“Manticores,” Lakima said. He advised leaving them alone.

The passage to the east split, but both halls led to dead ends. With the wand, Lakima located a secret door at the end of one hallway. Ambro checked it and then opened it. Light from Lakima’s staff flooded a small chamber, and they immediately saw a fat female hill giant threatening them with a club.

“Get her!” Lakima yelled.

Eathwund, Aldus, Luna, and Ian rushed forward. The floor suddenly opened up, revealing a pit trap, and Eathwund and Luna tumbled into it. Then, the lid of the trap closed again. Ian barely kept his balance on the near side of the pit while Aldus found himself on the far side facing the hill giant. Hearing a growl, he turned and saw Nosnra, Chief of the Hill giants, hiding in the corner of the chamber out of sight from the doorway.

“The Chief is here!” Aldus shouted and turned to face him.

“Forget him. We need him alive. Kill the woman.” Lakima shouted back.

As Aldus faced off against the hill giant woman Lakima leaped over the area where he knew there was a pit trap. Landing on his feet he immediately cast a stunning spell on the Chief. The spell took effect and the giant stood dumbly. Aldus fought against the hill giant woman quickly gaining the advantage. She hurled curses at the chief as she fought Aldus but her words had no affect as he stood still. Soon Aldus found an opening and slew her. She slumped to the floor.

Death of Luna

Ambro flew into the chamber using her Ring of Flying.

“You should have heard her lay into her husband,” Ambro laughed, “I think she was the real leader of the hill giants.”

“Well, I hope he has something to tell us,” Lakima said. Then, he asked Ambro to open the lid of the pit trap. Ambro got to work, and soon, the trap sprung open. Looking down, they all saw Eathwund standing amongst several broken wooden spikes ten feet below. He waved. Near him, Luna lay at a crooked angle, impaled on several spikes.

“Is Luna okay?” Ian asked.

Eathwund shook his head. Ian tossed down a rope, and Eathwund looped it around Luna. Ian quickly pulled her up and out of the pit with help from Domago. The two carried her into the nearby larger chamber. Then, Eathwund used the rope to climb up. Lakima told Eathwund to tie up the Hill Giant Chief while they waited for the magic to wear off. Lakima also asked Ambro if she could jam the pit shut so they could cross it without jumping. Ambro went to work and soon had the pit lid jammed. Then, she started inspecting the chamber. Ambro found two metal coffers full of gold and jewelry.

“We are going to have to carry this out,” Lakima said, ‘the bag of holding is already full of treasure.”

“Maybe the dwarves could be convinced to carry it?” Eathwund offered.

After a considerable wait, Lakima grew impatient and walked over to examine the stunned giant. He noticed the giant’s eye twitch as he pointed his staff in its face.

“You’re not fooling me,” Lakima said, “I know you are awake.”

The giant did not flinch, so Lakima told Ambro to repeat this in giantish and add a few threats. Ambro shouted at the giant, who quickly opened his eyes and strained at his bindings.

“We will let you out unharmed if you tell us who is behind these attacks on the human lands,” Lakima said. Ambro then translated.

After much arguing in giantish, Ambro managed to get a story out of the giant chief.

“He says Jarl Grugnur of the Frost Giants is the one who came up with the plan. Grugnur provided chests of gold to hire hill giants from other clans, as well as ogres and bugbears. He claims to have no quarrel with humans. He says he had to do it, or another hill giant would have taken his place.”

“Not that I entirely believe him,” Ambro added.

“Where can we find Jarl Grugnur?” Lakima asked.

“I asked that as well. He says that the Frost Giants have a staging area in a huge rift in a glacier near the pass the humans use to get to dwarven lands.”

“He must mean Icefang Pass,” Lakima mused. There is a glacier near the pass, and we have encountered frost giants in that area before.

Lakima waved for everyone to leave. Aldus and Eathwund picked up the two heavy coffers full of treasure. Chief Nosnra struggled against his bounds, but they ignored him. In the chamber beyond, Domago and Ian knelt beside Luna, who lay still on the ground.

“She’s dead,” Domago said.

“Can’t you bring her back?” Aldus demanded of Domago.

“I do not think St. Aleena would grant the request,” Domago said, “She has done her penance, and she deserves to rest.” Lakima nodded.

“Bring the body,” Lakima said.

Domago took a blanket from his pack and wrapped up Luna’s corpse. He then picked her up himself. Ian offered to carry her, and Domago handed her to Ian.

“She’s not heavy,” Ian said quietly.

While the group was conversing, Ambro was peering through the iron bars blocking the archway.

“You had better get back from there in case they fire some of their tail spikes at you,” Lakima said. Ambro jumped back from the gate.

“I can see another door in the room,” Ambro said.

“We have enough treasure,” Lakima said.

The party returned to the prisoners they had released and made there way up above ground into the steading. The halls were quiet. Lakima led the way through the banquet hall. They saw signs that some of the bodies had been moved about. At the end of the hall the doors to the entry chamber were closed and a mound of piled corpses of Hill giants and ogres filled one side of the hall.

“It wasn’t like this when we went below,” Eathwund cautioned.

“Be wary,” Lakima said and asked Eathwund and Aldus to take the lead. Eathwund swung open one door while Aldus grabbed the other. In the entryway, a dozen hill giants waited for them. Mostly women and younger giants. The giants immediately attacked, shouting war cries. Lakima tried to parlay but was ignored. One large male giant seemed to be the leader of the group, urging them on even as Aldus and Eathwund chopped them down. Once most of them fell and the leader was killed, the few remaining giants ran out the doors into the countryside and fled.

“Let them go,” Aldus said, exhausted.

The party rested for a while and looked out of the steading. The sun had gone down, and it was dark outside. Not wanting to rest in the steading, Lakima asked Aelshara if she could lead them back to the flying ship. Late that evening, they came upon the campsite below the flying ship and were greeted by August, Cowan, and Dagmar. The dwarves said their goodbyes. Lakima explained that the party planned to fly to Larm for supplies. The dwarves were also headed to Larm but had no desire to board a flying ship. Luthien thanked them for the rescue and headed south on foot. Only Gregor and Roth joined the Company on the flying ship. Roth planning to head from Larm back to Edgerton. Gregor not sure what to do. Lakima suggested to Gregor that he might have use for a stonemason and engineer in Edgerton.

The next day, the ship set out for Larm and reached the village early in the afternoon. The flying came down and tied off to a dock on the river. Having visited Larm by flying ship in the past, their arrival caused a stir but no open panic. Lakima, Aldus, and Eathwund headed to the Borderlands Tavern to buy supplies. While there, they talked to the owner and a local scout about the presence of frost giants. As Lakima had expected, they were directed to Icefang Pass and the glacier.

The next day, Domago arranged for Luna’s burial in the local graveyard. Before the burial, Lakima discretely removed one of Luna’s fingers. Then, later in the day, Lakima brought the group out into the fields around Larm. He began building a crude representation of Luna from fresh, fallen snow. He shoved Luna’s finger into the snow and began casting ritual spells. At the end of the casting, Luna's simulacrum stood beside Lakima at his beck and call.

“How do you feel about this, Domago,” Aldus said.

“It is just an illusion or some type of magic. It is not her,” Domago said.

“I think it's creepy,” Aldus said.

The party headed back to the flying ship. The crew and August are somewhat taken aback by Luna’s apparent recovery. Lakima explained to his apprentice what he had created. August looked at Luna in wonder.

The flying ship rose into the sky again and headed for Icefang pass. The group were soon passing through the lowlands. They reached the mountain pass by late afternoon. In the valley before the glacier, they landed the ship. Ambro went off in search of clues, looking for any sign of the frost giants. She returned and told the group that she had found a cave.

The party set out and explored the cave. Inside they found several frozen chambers and some indication of occupancy a long time ago by human-sized occupants. They did not find an entrance to a frost giant lair.

“I think we are going to have to climb up on the glacier,” Lakima said. He then looked at Ambro and asked her to fly up onto the glacier and lower a rope. Ambro set off in the air and approached the glacier. But she immediately spotted a trail ascending the side of the glacier. Giant-sized steps had been cut into the ice. Ambro returned and let everyone know. The party followed Ambro to the giant stair. The stair rose 150 feet up the glacier’s face. It took an hour to ascend the steps. Once on the glacier, Ambro found a path beaten in the snow by frost giants. This pass led to a crevasse at the top of the glacier. They could see that the crevasse opened up and seemed bottomless. A stair of ice led down into the crevasse. Vision was limited by fog, snow, and wind.

“Lead the way,” Lakima told Ambro.

The party followed Ambro down the winding steps into the rift. After a few hundred feet, the crevasse opened up into a wide rift. One path led to the west side of the rift, and one led to the east side of the rift.

“Which way,” Ambro asked.

“One minute,” Lakima said and produced the Arrow of Direction from his Bag of Holding.

“Arrow, which way is safest?” The arrow did not move.

“Let’s go that way,” Lakima pointed to the east path.

They found the east path descended in giant-sized steps and had some flat areas. The crevasse grew windier the further they descended. The path was slippery in spots, but enough rough snow clung to it to give them traction. Ahead, Ambro held up her hand and warned. She had spotted an ice cave on the side of the rift wall. They decided to investigate. Ambro moved ahead quietly and disappeared out of sight. When she returned, she whispered that three blue-skinned, bearded giants were on guard in a chamber. The chamber was just off of an intersection of four tunnels through the ice.

The Glacial Rift

Lakima whispered a plan to the party. He called for Aldus, Eathwund, and Ian to rush the giants. He would stay just back and support them with spells. Aelshara, Domago, and Ambro would wait at the intersection to make sure they were not ambushed. The simulacrum of Luna would stay by Lakima. Aldus, Eathwund, and Ian rushed to the attack but not quite quickly enough. One Frost Giant was able to blow a horn in warning. While the three fighters were dealing with the giants, four giants attacked Aelshara, Domago, and Ambro. Aelshara used her borrowed Wand of Lightning bolts to drive them back. Lakima arrived to assist, and three giants were killed, and the last one fled. Ambro made to give chase, but Lakima asked for a moment. Picking out two dead frost giants, Lakima cast animate dead. The two giant zombies struggled to their feet and looked dumbly at Lakima.

“Give chase!” Lakima said.

The zombies slowly stumbled along the ice tunnel, following the retreating Frost giant. The party drudged along slowly in the wake of the two giant zombies. They came to an ice cave, where they found beds, tables, chairs, and clothing. Unable to pause, the party followed the zombies into an ice tunnel through the glacier. The tunnel extended for a few hundred feet. The adventurer began noticing that the dim blue light through the glacier was dimming.

“I think we are entering an area in the rock wall of the valley,” Aelshara said. They kept following the dead giants, moving as quickly as they could. Ahead, Ambro could hear the wind again.

“I think it exits back onto the wall of the crevasse up ahead,” she said.

“Be careful,” Lakima ordered.

The party found themselves exiting the tunnel out onto a ledge 200 feet above the floor of the rift. They walked right into an ambush. A Frost giant reached out from an area to the side of the exit and pulled one zombie forward until it stumbled over the edge of the ledge and plummeted below with a thump. Three more Frost giants emerged from hiding on the other side of the ledge to attack. Aldus, Eathwund, and Ian moved to fight them. The fight was hampered by the slippery ledge and the danger of falling hundreds of feet below, but the frost giants were soon killed. The second zombie giant also fell in the fighting.

“Ahh, that’s too bad we lost the zombies,” Aldus said.

“They served their purpose,” Lakima said.

At the far end of the ledge, another tunnel entered the ice wall. Ambro waved at the party and told them to wait while she scouted ahead. The group stood huddled near the ice wall to keep out of the cold wind as much as possible. Soon, Ambro returned.

“The tunnel splits into three. Down one, I could smell and hear a lot of ogres. Down the middle one, I saw some Frost Giants on guard. The last tunnel circles back out onto another ledge, and it gets us around this outcrop,” Ambro said, pointing at the outcrop of ice that blocked further progress along the side of the rift.

“I think we should take on the giants, but Ambro, do you still have that Wall of Ice scroll,” Lakima asked. Ambro nodded hesitantly. “Use it to block the tunnel leading to the ogres so they cannot ambush us from behind.” Ambro agreed and removed the scroll from her bag. She recited the words on the scroll, and a thick wall of ice formed instantly, blocking the tunnel that she said led to a cave full of ogres.

The party conversed and decided on a similar plan to the last fight. Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian would lead the fight, Lakima and Luna providing support. Domago, Ambro, and Aelshara would wait at the tunnel intersection to block any surprises.

Aldus and Eathwund led the way as quietly as they could manage. The howling wind covered most of the noise of their clanking armor. They peered into an ice cave lit by torches. They saw four frost giants. Two were alert and ready for intruders, and two talked with their backs to the tunnel entrance. Aldus drew his Horn of Valhalla and blew. That was the signal for everyone to attack. Four berserkers appeared summoned from Valhalla and flung themselves upon Frost giants. Things went well initially, but then four more frost giants joined the fray from an enjoining cave. Ian was gravely wounded, and Eathwund and Aldus were hard-pressed. Luna was struck once and nearly fell. Ambro, Aelshara, and Domago arrived on the scene. Domago began casting healing spells on the fighters.

“We grew worried,” Aelshara shouted to Lakima.

The fight turned again, and soon, all of the Frost giants had been vanquished. The sole remaining berserker vanished, returning to Valhalla.

“Which direction now?” Ambro asked.

Dynamic Dungeon

 My players' second session in the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. When they first arrived at the Steading (Upper Level), there was a massive battle in the Baquet Hall. The second session had a follow-up battle in the Marshalling chamber in the first room of the Dungeon level. The original module text from 1979 provides guidance on how to make the dungeon dynamic. It is a sprawling complex, and the giants and their allies are not just going to wait in the chambers to be attacked. As someone who usually runs small dungeons that do not even have wandering monster tables, I appreciated this advice. I did not follow it strictly. I had my own ideas for how things would develop. I am running this game online using Roll20. It meant I did have to ask the players to pause a few times while I busily moved about monster tokens off the immediate map area. On this level, we had ogres, bugbears, an ongoing orc slave revolt, and the survivors from the above level. Most of those survivors turned out to be female giants.

Session 170: In the Dungeon of the Hill Giants

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

The members of the Company of the Black Dragon have stormed the Hill Giant Steading of Chief Nosnra at the bequest of Duke Robert of Valnwall. After a melee with dozens of giants, the Company is victorious, but Chief Nosnra escapes to the dungeon beneath the Steading.

“He went that way,” Ambro pointed down the hall into the darkness. She floated along, using her Ring of Flying to levitate well above the floor.

“I see a giant before a pair of doors head,” Ambro whispered. Unfortunately, no one in the Company heard her as the veil of silence on Eathwund stopped all sound from entering the area around him.

The Company followed the hallway until all could clearly see the large Hill Giant standing before the doors. The doors were open behind him, and a half-dozen ogres could be seen holding clubs at the ready. Lakima immediately conjured an ice storm in the building directly over the hill giant and the ogres. The storm was brief, but it pelted the monsters with shards of ice. When the storm ended, only the hill giant was still standing. Aldus, Eathwund, and Ian ran forward to confront the giant, but he backed into the chamber shouting and whistling – apparently trying to summon help. The fighters were soon on the giant. A moment later, four dire wolves bounded into the chamber and joined the fight on the side of the hill giant. Lakima cast fear, and two of the dire wolves turned their tails and fled. The remaining wolves and the giant were soon killed by the fighters.

Ambro began searching about the chamber, which looked to be a bunkhouse for hill giants. She found nothing. Lakima waved Eathwund down the hall so he could speak to the other adventurers in the party.

“There is nothing here. Let’s try that door over there,” Lakima pointed.

Ambro checked and opened the door. The chamber was dimly lit by a pair of smoky torches, and a pair of gravely injured orcs lay on filthy skins and furs on the floor.

“Just orcs, and they look helpless,” Lakima dismissed them.

“Does anyone speak orcish,” Lakima asked.

Aelshara admitted that she could speak orcish. She entered and went over to one of the orcs, who was awake but immobilized by what appeared to be a broken leg. After a quick conversation with the orc, she returned.

“It says that the stair to the dungeon is over there,” Aelshara pointed back toward the kitchens, “He thinks that if the hill giants retreated, they would go down into the dungeon.”

The company followed Aelshara as she led them to a small chamber near the kitchen. In a room partially used for storage, they found a stone stair descending into the earth. A flickering torchlight could be seen below at the bottom of the stair.

“I will just scout below and return,” Ambro whispered. She slipped into the darkness and vanished silently down the steps. Soon, she returned looking a little excited and flushed.

“There is an army of giants, ogres, and bugbears in a room down there,” she said excitedly, “And they look like they are ready for us!”

Lakima waved Eathwund to the back of the group while he, Aldus, Luna, and Ian descended the stairs first. As soon as Lakima was out of the influence of the silence spell, he cleared his throat and shouted.

“We don’t want a fight. But we will kill all of you if you resist. Just like we killed all of the giants in the Great Hall. We just want Chief Nosnra!”

There was a rise in the murmuring of voices below in giantish and goblin. After a pause, a halting giant voice shouted back.

“No chief here! You go, or we stomp you puny humans and smelly elves!”

In answer, Lakima cast a fireball spell from his Staff of Power. The ball of fire exploded below and briefly lit up the dungeon. They dozens of giants, ogres, and bugbears illuminated in the glow. Some of the bugbears and ogres immediately went up in flames and collapsed to the floor.

Lakima waved at the fighters in the group, and Aldus, Ian, Eathwund, and Domago raced down the stairs. They were immediately in melee with the giants and their allies. Aldus blew the Silver Horn of Valhalla, and four berserk fighters appeared to fight for him. Thrust into the fight, Aldus and Eathwund found themselves fighting mainly bugbears. Most of the ogres lay dead at their feet, killed by the fireball. Five female hill giants fought against them but used their fists as they had no weapons. One hunch-backed, one-eyed hill giant with a great axe stayed well back of the fight, yelling directions at the bugbears. As Eathwund downed several bugbears, the giant nodded at him and pushed an ogre to one side to challenge Eathwund. Eathwund struck the giant with a powerful blow, and it stumbled back.

“You fight like giant,” the hill giant spoke in poor common speech in surprise.

Aelshara and Ian made it to one side of the fight, with Ian protecting Aelshara and the latter trying to avoid the thickest part of the melee. Then Aelshara spotted a troop of bugbears backed by two hill giants running into the chamber from the south. She tried shouting a warning but realized the other could not hear her. She cast a mirror image, conjuring up four illusions of her form. She cast a web spell, holding four of the bugbears fast. Then the bugbears were upon here. Thankfully, the two giants moved to attack Aldus and Eathwund. But the bugbears attacked Aelshara and, by bad luck or skill, hit her instead of the illusionary doubles several times. She felt her strength waning and looked about for help.

Dungeon Melee

Meanwhile, Lakima cast a cloudkill spell and sent it into the bugbears. A pair succumbed, but most ran out of the cloud coughing. He cast another fireball, killing more bugbears at the back of the melee. Eathwund killed the hunch-back hill giant and found another hill giant taking its place in the melee. Ian tried but failed to fight his way toward Aelshara. All but one of the berserkers fell. Aldus killed the bugbears around him. Seeing Luna protecting Lakima and that Lakima had also summoned his armored protector, Aldus looked about and saw Domago headed toward four images of Aelshara. Aldus made his way through the melee as well to help.

Domago arrived and cast several healing spells on Aelshara, allowing her to regain strength. Then Aldus arrived and signaled her to move back. Lakima cast an elemental guardian, which shocked several of the bugbears. Eathwund killed a pair of hill giants. Looking about, Eathwund saw that the giants were all dead and the bugbears were in disarray. A few tried to run, but Ambro then appeared, flew over the melee, and stabbed the fleeing bugbears from behind. Finally, the last of the monsters fell dead to the floor. A pair of doors leading into the chamber slammed shut, heralding that more monsters were nearby, but they were not willing to enter the fight.

With the fight over, Eathwund moved to the southern passage and set up a watch. Now that Eathwund had moved away, sound returned, and the company was again able to communicate.

“Ambro, check the door,” Lakima said pointing at an open door. He looked about and saw Ambro was climbing over the dead giants a sack in one hand and a bunch of jewelry in the other.

“Put the treasure in my bag of holding,” Lakima said. Ambro looked over and nodded while quietly slipping some of the jewelry into her pockets.

Examining a nearby chamber, they found nothing of interest. Just giant-sized furniture and weapons. The party decided to head down one of the open passages from the chamber. Here, they found a cistern filled with cold, clean water. But it was a dead end. They returned to the chamber and headed north. Here, they found a locked chamber. Ambro was unable to open the lock, but Luna used one of her Knock spells. Inside were large caskets and tuns filled with strong wine. Heading down another hallway, they followed the sound of metal banging on stone. Ambro spotted a stone giant expanding a chamber. The group decided not to attack the giant, so they moved on to find a sleeping chamber. Here, Ambro went to work to check several large chests. On the third, she opened, she found a dozen sacks filled with gold coins. Lakima came over, and Ambro began lifting the heavy sacks out of the chest and dropping them in the bag of holding. After a few sacks, the bag of holding refused to take more.

“I believe it is full,” Lakima said in surprise. He then opened the pouch of holding. It was just able to hold the remaining bags of gold before it was also full.

The party returned to the main hall, where the battle had occurred. Two closed doors from the hallway and the passage to the south remained. Lakima pointed south, as Eathwund was standing nearby, and no one could hear anyone speak.

The group headed south with Ambro, who was a few paces in the lead. Ambro held up her hand in warning and indicated an ambush ahead. Lakima signaled Eathwund to the back and then stepped forward outside the range of the silence spell.

“Step aside or be killed!”

A hail of crossbow bolts greeted his words.

“Bugbears! They have prepared an ambush!” Ambro shouted.

Lakima stepped to the cover of the side passage and waved Aldus, Eathwund, and Ian forward to attack. The passage ended in a T-crossing by another passage. Bugbears armed with maces and crossbows waited on either side of the intersection. Eathwund headed left with Luna, and Aldus and Ian headed right. The fight against the bugbears was over quickly, and all were killed.

The group headed west and then entered a passageway headed north. Up ahead, they saw a chamber with barred cells around its perimeter. A half-dozen bugbear guards and one injured hill giantess waited ready for them. Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian rushed to attack. The Hill Giantess desperately swung upon one of the prison cells, apparently trying to gain help. Her shouts were silenced by the spell upon Eathwund. A dozen orcs emerged from the cell. Weaponless, they tossed themselves upon the giantess and fought with fists and teeth. The giant fell to the floor and was killed quickly. The orcs then launched upon the two remaining bugbears (the other bugbears having been killed by Eathwund and Aldus).

The melee ended. More and more orcs streamed out of the prison cells and confronted the party. The adventurers soon found themselves outnumbered 10 to 1. Lakima assessed the situation and waved Aelshara forward. Then he slapped Eathwund on the shoulder and pointed out of the chamber. Once the zone of silence was gone from the chamber, they could all hear the snorting and heavy breathing of the orcs surrounding them.

“Tell them we are not their enemies!” Lakima said to Aelshara.

Aelshara took a deep breath and began speaking in orcish, at first quietly but building in volume and confidence. The orcs shouted back at her, several talking over each other. The conversation went on for what seemed an overly long time.

“I think I convinced most of them not to attack. I told them that they were free to go and that we killed all of the giants in the Steading above,” Aelshara said.

“Good!” Lakima said, “Good, now ask them if they have seen Nosnra, or any frost giants.”

The party members began to ease back down the hallway in a defensive position. Aelshara began talking to the orcs again. This time, one orc took the lead, seemingly electing himself as the leader.

“They say that they have never seen a frost giant. There are two fire giant smiths who work for Nosnra nearby. They gave me directions,” Aelshara said.

“Right. Let’s get out of here.” Lakima said with conviction.

More and more orcs entered the chamber, freed from nearby prison cells.

The company proceeded as Aelshara directed, taking a passage to the south in silence. Suddenly, they all heard Domago curse as he twisted an ankle.

“The silence spell has finally ended!” Lakima said with relief.

A few moments later, the mirror images of Aelshara and Lakima disappeared.

“The orcs also said that they were imprisoned for leading a revolt against the giants. The giants are very cruel masters to them. They also hated the bugbears who sided with the giants. They say that some of their brothers escaped into natural caves to the east,” Aelshara told the company.

Aelshara pointed down a side passage. She indicated that the smithy was located in that direction, according to the orcs. They could all hear the ring of metal on metal in the distance.

“Sounds like the fire giants are at work,” Lakima said.

Ambro slipped into darkness and moved closer to the sound. A chamber in the distance was brightly illuminated with the glow of fires in a forge. She could see a single fire giant working at a table. The sound of metal on metal continued, so there was more than one giant. Then, she saw a pair of tiny dwarves carrying ingots enter the area. The dwarves barely stood as tall as the fire giant’s boot. Ambro slipped back to the rest of the group.

“I saw one red-skinned giant much bigger than the hill giants we have been fighting,” Ambro began. He was not the one making the noise, so there was likely another. And I saw a pair of dwarves helping them.”

“Likely enslaved,” Aelshara said.

“Right. So, the plan is…” Lakima began as Eathwund dashed off with his sword swinging over his head. He was immediately followed by Ian and Aldus.

The fighters raced into the forge chamber, catching the fire giant by surprise. They saw a huge table set at a giant height, a pair of Fire Giants, and six or seven dwarven slaves wearing rags. The fight was on. Eathwund began pummeling one fire giant while Aldus attacked another. Ian bore the brunt of several attacks from a fire giant armed with a sword. His mind flashed back to another ill-fated encounter with a fire giant as he was struck repeatedly. Suddenly, one of the dwarves released a blood-curdling war cry and grabbed hold of one fire giant’s boot. The fire giant stumbled and toppled over with an enormous crash landing on Eathwund. Eathwund barely held hold of his shield and sword as he struggled under the enormous mass, trying to roll out from under the giant. The giant struggled to his feet. Ambro stabs the giant in the back. Aldus and Ian brought the second giant low. Once the first giant stood up, Eathwund leaped to his feet and drove his sword deep into the giant’s belly. The enormous giant fell again, but this time, it did not get up.

Domago took his staff of healing and used it on Ian several times to heal the young squire. Lakima stood regarding the group with his hands on his hips.

“We needed a prisoner we could question,” Lakima said.

The dwarf, whose antics had almost gotten Eathwund crushed, walked over to him and introduced himself.

“I am Orin Deepdelver. Well met. These fine lads are Thron, Grondar, Brogar, Gromli, Kargan, and Thorek. They are master smiths. They have been covering for me for the past year since I was captured. I know nothing of smithing, but I am a mighty warrior.”

Eathwund grunted in reply, and Orin looked a little offended.

“I am ready to join you in your fight against the hill giant,” Orin continued, “For an equal share of the treasure, of course.”

“We have already killed all of the giants; we need no help,” Lakima said, “You are welcome to accompany us for protection until you can make your way to the exit.”

Lakima then turned to his companions and suggested they try talking to the orcs again about the location of Nosnra. Orin looked on with a peeved expression. As the party left the chamber, Orin brought up the rear, leading the bedraggled dwarven smiths. In his right hand, he clutched a giant-sized hammer, the handle crudely cut down to fit his small stature.

“I’ll crush the skull of any giant I meet,” Orin boasted proudly.

“Just lead your friends to the exit and stay out of our way,” Lakima called back to Orin.

The adventurers headed back toward where they had met the orc slaves. They enter a corridor now full of orcs. The company closed ranks and presented a stern front. Aelshara spotted the orc leader she had spoken to before and began conversing with him again in orcish. Eathwund and Aldus stood on guard. Aldus could make out the orcs, removing a barrier of rocks at the end of the corridor. Orcs were from both sides of the barrier. He surmised it was the entrance to the caves where the orc slaves fled.

“He does not know where the chief is,” Aelshara started,” but he does know that when the chief comes down to this level, he often disappears for a time and then reappears in the marshaling hall. He thinks there is a secret chamber somewhere nearby.”

“Where is the marshalling hall,” Lakima asked.

“It’s the hall where we met and fought the giants when we first entered the dungeon.”

“Right. Let’s check out this hall once more,” Lakima said.

The Hill Giant Steading

This week, the players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign got into the Against the Giants trilogy. Last week was the introduction, the hook. This week, they stormed the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. I am running the 2nd printing (Green Cover) version I bought in 1982.

The changes to make it work as a Swords & Wizardry adventure were minimal. I used the S&W rules for the monsters, but they are almost identical to those in the module. Some treasure and magic had to be changed slightly.

I have never GM'd the adventure before, but I have played through it once. My experience as a player was massive combat in the Banquet hall, in which the two powerful magic users in our group confined the giants behind Walls of Force and tossed fireballs into the area until the giants were all obliterated. In this session, there was also a huge melee, with the magic users doing the most damage. In this case, everyone was able to get involved. That was not the case when I played through the adventure. My cleric sat on the sidelines, waiting for something to do.

As written, I have noticed an issue with the adventure. My players are of appropriate level and have potent spells that could allow them to bypass the next adventure and go straight to the Fire Giants. Spells like Contact Higher Plane, Speak with Dead, Charm Monster, or Commune could reveal that they can bypass the Hill Giants and Frost Giants because the secret of what is going on is in the Fire Giant's lair.

Session 169: Storming the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

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

The Company of the Black Dragon has returned to their homes in Edgerton. They recently stopped the siege of the town of Caster’s Ford by Hill Giants. Duke Robert has requested that they bring the fight to the Hill Giants. To that end, they await the arrival of a scout who knows where the Hill Giants reside.

Aelshara Half-Elven arrives at the Manor of the Black Dragon in early Novem. She immediately advises the Company on the location of a Hill Giant stronghold in the Northern Hills.

“It is the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Nosnra,” Aelshara explains while showing the Company the location on the map.

“Chief Nosnra is smart for a Hill Giant, but his organizing the Hill Giant tribes shows a level of skill and an amount of gold beyond what he is capable.”

“One of the other Giant races must be behind this crusade against Valnwall,” Lakima says.

“We set out on the Cloudstealer tomorrow,” Lakima says, “We should take the entire company.”

“I will accompany you to the Steading and show you a safe location to scout it,” Aelshara promises.

The next day, the company left on the Cloudstealer for the Northern Hills. On the map, Aelshara showed that the Hill Giant Steading was well north of the Hills in the foothills of the Valen Peaks. She shows the Company a clear valley to land the flying ship.

“From here, it is a mile or so to the Steading,” Aelshara says.

“Once we get close, we will have to be careful. The Hill Giants have guards outside the Steading and patrol with wolves.”

The Company follows Aelshara to the north. From a high ridge, she points down at a small valley. The Hill Giant Steading is enormous and covers almost half the valley. All trees in the area have been chopped down. Smoke can be seen rising from chimney holes in the roof of the Steading. Strangely, the Valley is quiet. There are no animals or birds about. They do not see any Giants on watch around the Steading.

“I don’t like it,” Aelshara says, “They have always had Giants on watch before.”

“Do you hear that?” Ambro says.

“It sounds like singing?”

As the company members fall silent and listen, they realize that the sound of singing and laughter echos up from inside the Steading.

“Perhaps we have caught them in the middle of a banquet?” Lakima says.

“Let’s go.”

The Company moved forward until they were within sixty feet of the Steading. The enormity of the building became apparent. The outer walls were 30 feet high and made from enormous timbers. Near the entrance gate doors, a pair of human-sized wagons lay empty.

Lakima signaled for Ambro to scout the doors. She moved up and pressed an ear to the 12-foot-tall, six-foot-wide double doors. Then, Ambro returned to the group.

“I can hear snoring. It sounds almost comical. It is very loud.”

“Domago, do you have a silence spell ready?” Lakima whispered

Domago nodded.

“Be ready; as soon as we attack, cast it on one of the fighters.”

Eathwund went over to the double doors and carefully lifted a latch. The doors were weighty but Eathwund opened one easily. Inside, an entrance hall with a flagstone floor was lit by flickering torches. A wide staircase ascended to the watchtower. The sound of merriment was louder now that the door was open. Eathwund surveyed the scene, and then his eyes fell upon a pair of 12-foot-tall Hill Giants, who were seemingly asleep beside an open keg of ale. One Giant slumped on the floor while the other leaned back on a stool.

With a signal, Eathwund and Aldus rushed into the chamber, swords at the ready, and attacked the unsuspecting giants. One giant fell off of his stool as Aldus slashed him in the stomach with his sword. Domago made a quick prayer, and silence fell throughout the entire scene. The giants awoke and desperately tried to yell for help, but no noise escaped their lips. Aldus and Eathwund soon killed both of them.

The group waited warily, but the attack had gone off silently. Lakima found he had to motion Ambro thirty feet away from Eathwund to confer with her. Lakima directed her to check two double doors on the north side of the entrance hall.

Ambro moved up and listened at the door. She could hear the sounds of many voices on the other side. The doors were crudely made from pine trees, and she was able to peer through a crack between them. In the distance, she could see dozens of Hill Giants, ogres, and even a giant among giants—a blue-skinned giant over 25 feet tall.

Ambro moved back to join Lakima and told him what she saw.

“The blue-skinned one is a Cloud Giant,” Lakima said, “We have fought them before.”

“We need this to be a stealthy mission if possible. We need to find out who put the Giants up to this war with us. Let’s move on and avoid this banquet hall.”

The group searched rooms to the west of the entrance hall finding empty bunkrooms and two armories full of giant-sized equipment. Then they came to a kitchen where Hill Giantess ordered about ogres and dozens of orc slaves. Again, it was decided to avoid a confrontation. They ended up back at the entrance hall.

“I guess we are going to have to take them on in the banquet hall,” Lakima said.

“I know the spell Ice Storm and Lightning Bolt,” Aelshara told him.

“And I have a Fireball and Lightning Bolt ready,” Lakima said.

“Aldus. You and Eathwund will hold the doors once we open them. Aelshara and I will hit them with spells. They should draw them to us. Aelshara, when the doors open, cast Ice Storm, and then when they advance, hit them with your Lightning bolt.”

Aelshara nodded.

“Any other spells?”

“Just magic missiles,” Aelshara said, “I will save them for last.”

“Aldus, try to explain the plan to Eathwund.”

“I’ll try,” Aldus said. He went over to Eathwund, who stood alone in a zone of silence. Aldus communicated with Eathwund with hand signals. Eathwund appeared to understand and moved to the doors to prepare to open them.

Lakima opened his mouth to give some last-minute instructions, but no sound came out as Eathwund stood a short distance away. He waved to Aelshara, and the two moved south, away from the doors and out of the radius of the silence spell.

“Ready?” Lakima asked. Aelshara nodded. Lakima waved a hand at Eathwund.

Eathwund swung open one door while Aldus struggled with the other. Eathwund moved over and swung the second door open. An eighty-foot hallway extended to a vast banquet chamber, the ceiling well over 30 feet above, allowing the Cloud Giant to move about freely. In the hall, two dozen Hill Giants and half as many ogres were enjoying a banquet. Food and drink were distributed about. In the hall's center was a massive firepit with an entire giant ox roasting on a spit. Behind the fire pit at a central table sat the Cloud Giant and a huge Hill Giant who could only be Chief Nosnra.

Aelshara cast her spell, and a snowball floated down the hallway to land in the center of the first table. An ice storm immediately erupted in the hall, pelting the Hill Giants at the table. Lakima followed it up with a fireball landing on the same table. There was stunned silence for a moment, followed by moans of pain. Then there were yells of anger, and the Giants got to their feet and started angrily running south toward the adventurers.

Aelshara cast her lightning bolt, blasting more of the giants. Ambro and Luna fired arrows at the Cloud Giant. Two arrows from Ambro struck the enraged Giant in the throat. Lakima then cast a fear spell. A number of the giants stopped and then fled in the other direction, including Chief Nosnra. Aldus blew the Silver Horn of Valhalla, and a half-dozen berserkers appeared, forming a line between the adventurers and the giants. The giants were led into the line of berserkers by a huge cave bear. The first giant began crashing into that line of berserkers, and the summoned berserkers began to fall. Soon, the cave bear led the giants upon Eathwund and Aldus, and the desperate melee began. Lakima cast confusion, causing six more giants to stand motionless, stunned. Then Lakima cast another fireball into the midst. All but one of the berserkers went down. One berserker managed to stand his ground against a Hill Giant. Aldus and Eathwund accounted for those giants that made it to the doors. Both took a lot of massive blows from the Hill Giants. Domago cast several healing spells on Aldus. Eathwund relied on his armor and his ring of regeneration. At the height of the fight, a Hill Giant came down the stairs from the watchtower. Aelshara hit him with magic missiles, and Lakima summoned a wraith to harry the giant. Luna and Ambro finished him off with arrows. Lakima cast a Wall of Iron to block the doors so no more giants could flank them.

The Giants attack

Gradually, the giants fell. There was a huge mound of dead giants, and the Chief’s pet cave bear lay dead on the floor. A few giants remaining fled, and a few others fought to the death. Eventually, it was all over.

“Eathwund, Aldus. Are you two all right?” Domago asked.

Both fighters appeared winded but okay. Domago cast one more healing spell on Aldus. Ambro busied herself, removing a gem-studded collar from the cave bear. Then Ambro removed jewelry from the corpses of ogres and giants. Eathwund advanced into the great hall and discovered three Stone Giants in the corner of the room. Two leveled huge clubs at him while the third cowered in the corner, a victim of Lakima’s Fear spell. Lakima and Luna came to join Eathwund, and Lakima tried communicating with the Stone Giants, but they did not understand.

“I speak giantish,” Ambro said as she removed a jeweled necklace from a charred corpse.

“Tell them we want to know who leads the giants,” Lakima said.

Ambro spoke with the Stone Giants and learned they were guests of Chief Nosnra. Their chiefs had sent them to hear the Hill Giants' call to attack the human lands, but they had not made any commitment. The Stone Giants claimed not to have any quarrel with humans, elves, or dwarves. They were uncertain who was backing the Hill Giants. They asked for permission to leave in peace.

“They want to go in peace,” Ambro said.

“Sure, tell them we plan to burn this place to the ground, so they had better not come back.”

Ambro translated the statement, and the Stone Giants took their leave of the Hall.

“Domago. Do you have the Speak with Dead spell prepared?” Lakima asked.

“Yes. Who do you wish to speak with,” Domago asked and looked about.

Lakima pointed at the huge body of the dead Cloud Giant.

Domago cast the spell, and the spirit of the Cloud Giant rose to the rafters, glaring down at the Company.

“Speak puny humans.”

Lakima told Domago what to ask.

“Who leads the Giants in this war on the human realm?”

“Chief Nosnra leads.”

“Who put Chief Nosnra up to this?”

“I do not know. I was invited to the banquet. Perhaps the Fire Giants.”

“Where is Chief Nosnra now?”

“I do not know.”

With that statement, the Cloud Giant vanished.

The Company headed out of the banquet hall and reencountered the kitchen. This time, the doors were wide open. They came face to face with a started female Hill Giant and a bunch of ogres. The giant made no move to attack. Lakima had Ambro threaten them and demand to know where the Chief had gone. The giant refused to answer and threatened them in return. The Company decided to move on.

Checking a door, they encountered a room with six ogres in it, and the fighters, Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian, attacked. Ambro put on her Ring of Flying and flew up and behind the ogres to stab them repeatedly from behind. The fight was soon over, with the ogres dead except for three, who surrendered.

“Where is Chief Nosnra,” Ambro asked in the giant tongue.

The ogres answered that he had fled to the dungeon, but they claimed they did not know how to enter.

“Will find the entrance ourselves,” Lakima said, taking out the Arrow of Direction. The arrow pointed north and down.

 

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.