Rise of the Runelords

The conversation went through the night and into the next.  Edwin, needing a break, set off to see if there was anyone else around who might know about the giants.  He came across an old hermit/madman from who he learned more about the history of giants and civilizations than about the current affairs and status.  On the second evening, the group was approached by a gruff old man in heavy armor and wearing an eye-patch.  He asked if he could join you.  As the debate was at a standstill, you figured you could use the break.  The man, probably in his late 30's or early 40's, introduced himself as Balros Darkeyes.  He said he had an interest in the giant fort you all were discussing so clearly and that if you were going back, that he'd love to go with.  You asked his interest, and he informed you it was personal, but could benefit everyone.  You figured it was treasure of some sort and he didn't say anything to correct you.  He also said that he gathered that you were having difficulties getting into the keep.  He said he had the answer to that dilemma.  The 'should we let him join the party' negotiations continued for a while.  Henrik was still insistent that you all, even with this Balros, were outmatched there.  And even though there were captives from Ardrinn, he could not justify a certain death for all of you.  He decided to return to Ardrinn with Bach's body.  You decided to split up Bach's possessions and bid Henrik good travel.  You listened to Balros' tale and his idea for getting into the keep.  It was too simple.  Merely walk in.  There was slightly more too it, but that was the jist of it.

During your conversations, Pirozzi and Malloric sometimes looked quizzically at Balros. Pirozzi asked if he had ever served in the army of the County.  He said he did.  Malloric asked if he was active in the Tehn.  Again he was.  Malloric then replied, "Apparently the rumors of your death have been exaggerated."  "They always are." was Balros' reply.

The plan of entry was to simply ride up the gate and flag down a harpy and informed it that you were there to trade.  The gate would be opened for you and you would walk in and meet with a giantess and probably two other stone giants.  You would kill them and quickly take cover.  Balros was confidant that as long as you left the black tower alone the harpies would be no problem.  You tried the plan and it went as he said it would up to a point.  When you reached the point in negotiation where you had to present your goods (some giant armor and weapons and 'stories', of which she was not interested) a few of you met with the giantess in the middle between the two groups.  She said she was going to cast detect magic to confirm your story.  After she did, she quietly whispered in common, "I have seen your coming."  Malloric whispered back, "Great, now duck."

The fight began. The two giant thugs approached and she cast blink.  The party met them separately and began fighting.  The giants started doing what they do - thumping. She continued to cast spells with no obvious effects.  After the group had the upper hand, one of the giants looked confusedly at the giantess and asked,"Aren't you going to do something."  She responded with a spell cast at Pirozzi, who recognized it as a spell that wouldn't have any effect on him at all."  Pirozzi feigned a staggering blow and the giants were quickly finished off.

The giantess looked around, and said, "Follow!  We can't stay here!" She started at a quick pace toward the pit and then down into it.  You followed.  She paused about half-way down and motioned for you to wait.  That gave you a moment to cast a few cures.  She soon came back and led you to a what might be a small shrine for giants, but was quite large enough for your whole group.

[Long story short] You learned from her that the captives are still here probably in the tannery or armory, but direct rescue is not a good idea because you'd never be able to make it off the mesa.  Further, due to giant culture, she owes her fealty to Mokmurian, who took control of here clan.  But she feels he does not have the best interests at heart of her clan, or any of the others gathered for that matter.  Why he gathered them she does not know.  Because of her situation, she can not directly act to usurp Mokmurian, but instead offers her aid to the group.  She drew you a sketch of the level you are on and provided some detail on the denizens.  She told you Mokmurian is on the level below and that your only hope of leaving this place alive is to kill him or make him flee.  That will destabilize the situation and things will quickly fall apart as there are others that feel the way she does.

She said there are two paths to the level they refer to as the 'library' - one longer than the other.  It was this longer one she suggested you take.  It would be easier to pass.  That is the denizens would likely to be easier to beat.  You would have to beat the rat-catcher - a kobold (which caused some of you to snicker), a couple of giant guards and some vicious trolls.  What is on the library level she does not know.  She said that you could come back to the shrine to rest if you needed and that she could hide the seven of you but not any rescuees.  Their presence would not be tolerated by Mokmurian and would cause problems.  She said that if you left now you could get past the dining hall which is currently empty.

You did just that and came upon the rat-catchers room.  A tidy little room with organized piles of junk and a small hammock hanging in front of a narrow passage leading deeper into the earth.  You moved cautiously into the room when from hiding, a little kobold jumped and skewered Malloric with several blows of a shortspear.  The little kobold was severely outnumbered and fell quickly, but put up a fight, dealing a good amount of damage.  You stripped the body and dragged it into the tunnel to hide it.

You moved on and went to candlelight to avoid being seen by any creatures working in the tannery or armory.  When you pulled the torches back out, the two giant guards that had been curiously watching you unleashed a few rocks, pegging D'Argo.  You closed the distance and began melee.  Balros has a curious, but effective habit of disarming his foes before fully engaging them.  Thees giants were like the others and it hurt when they connected with their blows.  They too fell to your numbers. Their bodies were too big to move easily so you moved on.

You got to the hall where the giantess said you'd meet the trolls, but it was empty.  You moved cautiously forward, when a massive pole arm was thrust through a hole in the wall first from one side and then the other.  Not having seen anyway to get 'behind the wall,' you hurriedly moved forward.  A few were skewered before you reached the end of the hall.  Edwin suffered a particularly nasty strike as he moved up.  He had to resort to small advance while using his shield for cover from whatever was striking at him.

At the end of the hall were entranced to either side.  You split in two to take both pole arm wielding trolls at the same time.  Golian, D'Argo and Malloric on one side.  Wolfgar and Balros on the other, with Pirozzi and Edwin in the middle dividing their time.  One troll proved much easier than the other because it left itself in the 'entrance' to the room.  It became a slug fest.  With spell support and healing, Balros and Wolfgar defeated it.  The other one stayed in its room and had more maneuverability.  Using its reach, it would strike and move away too far to easily get to it.  It would then alternate with charges back into melee range.  You were able to beat them and pound them down enough to buy you some time.  You decided to pull the giant bodies from the guard area and pile them on the rolls and then let D'Argo cook them all with a wall of acid. All after you looted them of course.

You healed up a bit but are now very low on spell resources.