February 15, 2013

Fortress of the Stone Giants

Players present: Elora (Sally), Azalyn (Shelley), Bastian (Casey), Orden (Mike), Sirilenda (Melissa)

This session picked up directly after the group delivered the killing blow against Mokmurian. Deep in the underground library level of Jorgenfist, the heroes began by pillaging Mokmurian's lair, and uncovered amongst his riches a map and small key with a seven-pointed blade. They presumed the key would open the large bronze double doors that gave them so much trouble last session. The map detailed the Lost Coast of Varisia (the campaign takes place in the country of Varisia), and featured the town of Sandpoint (Azalyn's hometown, and the starting location for the entire campaign) circled next to writing about a 'traitor' named Xaliasa, and his possible connection to a place called Runeforge.

Sihedron rune

With that information in hand, the group returned to the Bronze doors and tried the key. This time, the door swung open, but again summoned a shining child! They dispatched the shining child but not before many party members became blinded. The few sighted members of the party led the rest into the room beyond the doors to find an ancient and extensive library serviced by a tireless clockwork librarian construct. The party could not communicate with the construct at first, since none of them understood the ancient language of Thassilon. Orden discovered it understood an equally ancient language, Azlanti, which he spoke as well.

Clockwork Librarian

The heroes spent several days in the library healing and accessing the library contents with the help of the librarian, and discovered some useful information about Karzoug and Xin-Shalast. Among other things, they learned that he was the ruler of Shalast, one of the seven sub-kingdoms in the ancient empire of Thassilon, which was destroyed in a cataclysm 10,000 years ago. They learned that he was called a Runelord, a master of Greed magic (the school of transmutation), and was served by an army of giants. The capital of Shalast, Xin-Shalast, was located next to a now long-dried-up river and the tallest mountain in the incredibly inhospitable Kodar Mountains of Varisia. They also found reference to Runeforge, which was a secret magical research facility created by the seven Runelords. One of the many things researched at Runeforge was believed to be a method for the Runelords to survive the imminent cataclysm. The location of this facility was guarded tightly, and no records of its whereabouts were found in the library.

When they had exhausted the library, the group sought out their ally, Conna, among the army of stone giants still amassed around Jorgenfist. They had killed the leader of the army, but still needed to deal with the army of giants ready to march on the human settlements of Varisia. Conna, who was ousted from leadership of her tribe by Mokmurian, believed she could steer the tribes away from war, but would need to contend with other giants who sought to fill the vacuum left by his death. She beseeched the heroes to accompany her to the surface of Jorgenfist, where she could make her claim with their protection. The group rested, prepared for a possible fight with hordes of giants, then climbed up the spiral ramp that led from the lower levels to the surface, inside the walls of the keep.

Longtooth attacking Sandpoint

They had just set foot upon the surface when they were ambushed by a trio of harpies! No sooner had combat commenced than a mysterious spellcaster began creating obscuring clouds of smoke around the heroes using pyrotechnics, and a pair of frost giants sprang from their hiding spots. The group managed to hold together, and soon learned that the mysterious spellcaster was none other than the red dragon Longtooth! They had driven him off once before during the raid on the town of Sandpoint, but now he had returned with more allies to finish the job he started months ago! The pitched battle saw Bastian fall unconscious while Orden attempted spellcasting next to the dragon. When Sirilenda was finally able to disintegrate the dragon, the tide of the battle turned and the remaining enemies were destroyed.