In which our heroes change tactics
The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (diviner); Mads
Rangle, human fighter/warlock; Franz the Indifferent, human ranger (hunter);
Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (arcane trickster); Augustus Weatherby, half-orc
fighter/barbarian.
As Jamna misty steps out of the reach of the ogres, Mads
and Ringo slide out of the gate in their bubble of darkness. Franz covers the retreat
with a lightning bolt from his staff, Ringo becomes visible to distract an ogre
to aid Jamna’s shot and gets clubbed near to death as a result. Augustus leaps
from his tower and drifts gracefully to the ground, inwardly his barbarian soul
raging.
The ogres begin to move back towards the castle as several
grey skinned, bald giants step out from the gateway and throw boulders at the
party, narrowly missing Jamna but Franz takes several big hits. Augustus, now
hiding among the rubble at the base of the tower, peers at these new enemies
identifying them as stone giants.
Everyone continues to retreat from the gateway, when an
immense giant with pale bluish skin and long white hair ducks under the gateway
and bellows “GET OUT, GO AWAY. I’M TIRED OF YOU AND YOUR WORTHLESS CULT. YOU
WERE WARNED BEFORE, NOW GO AND LEAVE ME TO MOURN.”
Surprised, everyone stops and Franz lowers his bow and
shouts back “ we’re no friends of the cult ”.
To which the furious looking giant roars “GO AWAY, I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES”.
Franz takes the moment to study the giant, convincing himself that this is a
cloud giant.
The party continues to retreat, putting enough distance
between themselves and the castle to be able to feel safe. Augustus, seeing the
assorted giants and ogres retreat back inside, moves stealthily out of the shadow
of the castle and makes his way to the group. There follows much debate over what
to do next, including an evaluation of supplies – the bad news is that there is
only sufficient water left to sustain one more day of sustained activity/travel
after this one. After which, if a water supply cannot be found, thirst and
dehydration will kill them as surely as giant boulders.
Franz, informs everyone, that whilst not an adept in
desert survival, the best chance of finding natural water sources would be in
the rain shadow of the cliff to the north. Jamna adds that as there are visible
ruins in that area, water is likely as people don’t generally build without a
water source. All agree that they should rest, so pulling further away from the
castle, they find a suitable campsite in a rocky dell and settle down to sleep
away the hot afternoon, intending to set out in the early evening for an
overnight march to the cliffs.
After resting, Franz suggests they should maybe try and
negotiate an entrance into the castle. The others scoff at the notion after the
debacle of the morning but Franz insists that as they’ll be walking past the
castle, they might as well take a look. Mads, digs deep into his memories and tells
everyone what he knows of cloud giants – that they are near the top of the Ordning,
the giant hierarchy, only storm giants being higher. They are driven by wealth,
they’re tricksters, gamblers and silver tongued deceivers though not
necessarily evil. Cloud giants generally live in castles in the sky or on solid
clouds, they can turn to mist and fog on a whim and are powerful spellcasters. In
general, though, they are uninterested in earthly affairs or the actions of
inconsequential races like men and elves.
Jamna’s ears perk up at the tales of wealth and gambling,
“ well we maybe should take a look, see if
there’s a back way in. Couldn’t hurt and we are passing, it’d be rude not to
drop in .” Much further discussion takes place, the water situation is
re-evaluated, Mads and Augustus fear being stranded on the way to or from the cliffs
with no water, surely there must be water in the castle, they say. Franz still
thinks heading to the cliffs is best but wants to stop by the castle as it’s on
the way and see if he can negotiate his way in. Augustus is vocal in his
scathing doubt of Franz’s ability to negotiate anything.
In the end it’s agreed that they should circle around the
castle and see what’s what. Setting out in the dusk light, they circle around
making sure to keep a safe distance. The crumbled walls are solid and remain on
the whole a good 30’ tall, to the north the wall gives way to the natural
structure of the iceberg, much of which is clearly buried deep into the sand
and rock of the ravine. Jamna attempts to climb up what appears to be a natural
path in the side but it soon peters out into smooth ice/stone wall.
Further around, staring up the rough face of the berg to
the stump of a tower, some 100’ or more above, Jamna claims she can make out
what looks like windows and a ledge. Deciding that investigation is warranted
and with Naergon’s telepathic bond in place, she mounts the last hippogriff and
flies up, turning invisible as she does so.
Landing on the ledge, Jamna sends the hippogriff back
down and starts to look around, climbing out to the windows to either side
looks difficult and dangerous, though possible. The ledge is clearly a
structured balcony, it’s not been caused by the crash but definitely designed
as a platform or balcony – although there is no railing. So how to get in?
Jamna advances to the wall and begins to examine it for secret entrances but as
she touches it, it vanishes.
Within a large chamber with a door opposite is revealed. The
chamber is scaled for giants but all the evidence is of human occupation. The
ceiling and walls are studded with mounted horse heads – real ones, preserved and
displayed. The rest of the chamber is a chaotic mess, with books, papers and furniture
thrown everywhere. Amid the various furs, tapestries and bed linen lies the
remains of a bed, desks, chairs, bookcases and a lectern.
The only things standing, seemingly untouched by the
chaos around them are four grotesque, demonic looking statues in the corners of
the room. Jamna is instinctively wary of the statues and searches very, very
stealthily. She turns up a number of papers between Rath Modar and Severin
which clearly indicate that Rath Modar and his Red Wizards are lending a lot of
support to the Cult. They also indicate that Rath Modar is not acting under the
instruction of Szass Tam and that clearly many Red Wizards are opposed to his
meddling.
By the broken lectern, Jamna finds a heavy brass bound
book, finished in bright red leather that is warm and moist to the touch. The
writing is meaningless to her – she decides that this should be taken to
Naergon. She then turns her attention to the door, she’s unsure if it’s locked
but in any case try as she might she cannot shift it. It is a huge slab of
ice/stone, so maybe it’s just too heavy. There is no other exit, so Jamna returns
to the ledge, thinking to call up assistance from below. First however, she
decides to test the statues. Picking up one of the many books, she throws it
into the room, near one of the statues – in reaction the head of the stature
opposite turns and stares in the direction of the noise. Nodding knowingly, Jamna
calls for the hippogriff and steps off the ledge as it flies up to her.
At the bottom of the iceberg the party huddle together as
the shadows deepen and discuss what to do next.
And there we left it – to be resumed next week
No levels were gained this
session:
Naergon 12 th
level
Mads
11 th level
Franz
11 th level
Jamna
11 th level
Augustus
11 th level
XP earnt is now irrelevant as
the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP
In-Game the session ended at
20:30 on 17 th Tarsakh 1485 DR as the heroes consider their options
Next session Thursday 28 th
June