The next stop was the giant stone dome. Inside you noticed a humongous pile of rubble. You moved in to investigate. Again, Balros noticed what others did not. He held up his hand bringing the group to a stop. It took some work, but the was able to point out a few well hidden creatures that were watching you. You spread out and approached when one of them yelled "Hrohdth!" You looked at each other then all at D'Argo. "It want's us to stop." D'Argo said translating with his helm. It's speaking Giant. "I understood that too." piped Wolfgar. It turned out that all the creatures wanted was for you to leave. You decided that with their terrain advantage that coming back another time would be fine.
Further into the city you encountered a patrol of hill giants. They started to question you and Wolfgar took the conversation lead. Many of you readied weapons figuring it only a matter of minutes before either Wolfgar or the giant said something to anger the other. D'Argo soon mumbled, "Oh crap. Wolfgar just said 'I heard giants taste like chicken.'" The fight began. It was over just as fast. You moved on to not be associated with the killing of giants. Golian and Balros had that prickly feeling that you were being watched, but could not see anything, even after looking hard.
Deeper into the city you were surprised by a well camouflaged group of stone giants out on patrol. This group turned out not to be hostile. You learned that there were a number of giants that were not entirely enthralled with their life in Xin Shalast and that while you may not find allies amongst the large folk, there are some that won't get in your way as long as your path leads to to confront the powers that be of the city. You also learned that the Rune Giants are the main leaders in town and that they descend from the spires periodically. You also learned that the leader of the beasts in the stone dome is in league with the Rune Giants and while it no longer lives with the rest of them, it does return every few days for an hour or two before leaving again. You said goodbye to the giants and moved on.
Balros had that feeling again but this time spotted something. He let the group walk on to be sure you were being followed. When he was convinced, he orchestrated the encounter. The lone creature was not aggressive and seemed more curious about you. After it realized it had been spotted, it said, "Dri ood wec piolsh siin?" Everyone turned to D'Argo who was noding his head and said to you, "He wants to know if we are the chosen ones. I don't know what language that is." After some pantomime and charades, you were confident that it meant you no harm and wanted you all to follow it. It lead you back toward the southern part of the city and into some tunnels through and under the hardened lava flow. It stopped in a store room where you tried again to communicate. You decided to wait until the next morning when a tongues could be had.
You find out that this is Morgiv, one of a number of his kind that primarily lie in the tunnels in the city. He is convinced you are 'The Chosen Ones' and relates a story that backs up his belief. Not really knowing what he is talking about you gather that his people are under attack by some unknown creature. Many have disappeared and are never seen again. The story he relates indicate that his people were once slaves in the city and once freed would become slaves again. When that happened, the 'Chosen Ones' would come and free them. He even showed you some frescoes and mosaics to back up his interpretation. They showed humanoids in battle with giants. Could have been any number of 'humans' and giants, but he was convinced. You agreed to help. He explained that it was not until their tunneling had broken into one set of rooms that the trouble started. They had barricaded the new tunnels, but people still kept vanishing. He led you to one of the entry points and after making the way clear, you moved in.
After casing some protective spells and following the tunnel some hundreds of feet you came to the remains of a basement room that had survived the lava flow. There were numerous columns around the perimeter and a dais with a man-sized throne in its center. On the throne still skeletal figure sat. You spread out cautiously as Balros approached the figure. It began to gesture and before Balros could manage a full swing it it, he dropped to floor dead. "That can't be. He was protected from death effects." yelled Edwin. Still he did not move. Almost immediately several very well hidden figure appeared from the shadows around the columns and started attacking. You quickly realized they were some form of powerful undead as D'Argo was drained of several levels from a few attacks. The skeletal figure kept gesticulating. You engaged the immediate enemy and Woflgar received an invisibility purge. He headed into the room. After battling his way past a few vampires he 'revealed' the larger threat.
Behind the throne hovered a large bulbous head with a maw full of wickedly sharp teeth and nearly a dozen long tentacles. Edwin was able to deal with the attacking vampires with two turns, but was unable to affect the main creature. It was able to grapple foes as you moved in to engage it, attacking with all its tentacles and still being able to cast. It cast some defensive spells like mirror image and displacement. Pirozzi found it was also shielded so Malloric dealt with the images. Others moved in the best you could to engage the beast in melee. Pirozzi and the beast took turns dispelling and reapplying displacement. It would be a contest to see which had more third level spells. Meanwhile those grappled by the creature were slowly being drained of levels. A few times, the creature declined to attack or drain its foes, but instead attempted to control one of you. This had no effect thanks to the breakfast of champions. Edwin was doing well keeping everyone cured and had plenty of reserves until he too was grappled. D'Argo had started greasing everyone to help them avoid and escape the beasts tentacles. Wolfgar, having been finally freed from its grasp cast a searing light. A little surprised by the results, he fired off another now realizing that this too was an undead and vulnerable to sunlight. The battle was over and Balros still lie dead on the floor in front of the still gesticulating skeleton.
From Morgiv you also learned more about the denizens of the city. The locus, an ancient gladitorial arena, is haunted by the spirits of those killed there and is home to some powerful creature that even the giants leave alone. There is also a blue dragon that calls the upper city home. Morgiv was able to draw a circle on your map showing the rough area of its lair.
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