Tor grins proudly at Valgrim, "I hit dragon. He get hurt bad." Obvoiusly his version of events and yours are going to differ wildly. Hurgwrath looks stoic and responds, "Very well done. If the dragons had been brought closer they would have felt my blade but no matter. They now either lie at the bottom of the Rift or fled with their tails between their legs. I was as likely to hit you with rocks as much as the dragons at that range."
Valgrim looks in disdain at the giants. "Bah, you had magics that allowed you to walk on air. You preferred to watch us handle the problem. Don't worry, ah won't tell yer king you were a mama's boy and hid like a bit*h! Just lead on, can't wait to hear what yer next excuse will be!"
The fire-giantess warrior in the entrance hallway waves you forward to follow her. You are splashed with droplets of water that rain down over the entrance, as if the five stoney chromatic dragon heads above the gate are crying for their fallen children. The hallway beyond the stone doors runs straight to another set of stone doors at the far end. The hall itself is about fifteen feet wide. The giantess strides with purpose toward the second set of doors as her male companion stays outside and scans the skies for anymore dragons. Hurgwrath begins to follow which causes Tor to quickly follow suit also. You are watched over by a couple more giants, each manning a ballista, on raised platforms or towers that overlook the surrounding area and gate outside the citadel. Your not certain why they did not fire during your aerial battle but at least they did not fire on you...
If his buffs are active, Valgrim quickly follows the giants' lead inside.
On second thought, Valgrim trusts only his perception so he leads to make sure the party is not surprised. We still have air walk on so no triggering pressure plates. Do you need marching order? If so: Valgrim, bubba, fire giant, friar, hill giant, Vulcan, and angel. 10 feet space between each.
As Vermirox is about to pass through his Dimension Door a last second shot from the hip by Vulcan causes the heavily damaged serpent to whither and expire before your eyes and his gargantuan corpse falls, slamming into the walls and the crenellations below. You are able to recover two ioun stones and a re-sizing ring off the blue dragon. What they do is anyone's guess at this point.
As he follows the giantess down the entrance corridor he notices her touch a spot on the wall in a quick but strange complex way. He faintly hears a click and looks up where he can see a incredibly well hidden trapdoor in the ceiling, he suspects she just disarmed or armed something but can't tell which. She strides forward underneath and past the trapdoor at this point, but instead of heading to the next set of double doors she turns left down a hallway that tees off this entrance hallway. She disappears from view obviously expecting you to follow. As the ranger hesitates he also notices an equally skillfully hidden secret door in the right-side wall.
Valgrim makes a note of the secret door but decides not to disrespect his host and follows the giantess.
The giantess leads you up several flights of giant-sized stairs, down a hall, and through a door. The door leads into a cavernous hall that is dimly lit by two windows in the western wall and a heavy iron pot of glowing coals hanging from the ceiling beams above. The pot sways slightly, casting weird shadows throughout the room. The ceiling slopes down from the center of the room to a mere fifteen feet at the west end. A stone table surrounded by six giant-sized chairs dominates the center of the room. In an alcove on the far side of the chamber you hear a sudden hissing in reaction to your entry. Multiple angry snake-like heads rise from the sleek, serpentine body of the creature that was resting there. A harness and chain clink as in begins to move forward toward you only to be pulled up short by it's restraints. Several gouts of flame are released from the maws of the frustrated monster but the hydra is not the only occupant of the room. Sitting on the opposite side of the table from you, sourly munching on an enormous overcooked drumstick, is a scowling, horribly scarred fire giant. He looks up and glowers at the intrusion until he notices Valgrim behind the giantess. His scarred face breaks into a grin, "And here I thought you didn't like me Pyra? You brighten my day by bringing me a dwarf to kill. They make such satisfying squeals as you crush them under your heel." Beginning to stand, he picks up his battleaxe and spear. This is when Hurgwrath literally steps OVER Valgrim, "Sit your ugly arse back down Bram! These wee ones are under the kings protection and you'll have to go through me to get to him. We are here to see Kagro, not you."
"Hey, if burn face there wants to rumble with me, I'll be happy to even the other side of his ugly face for him...or can take his head if he's tired of looking at himself in the mirror!" Valgrim smiles and motions at Bram to come play in the major leagues!
Though he sure would not mind having this giant taken down a peg by Valgrim, Friar realizes their priority is to find the second Key, so he rushes up to Bubba and inspires him with Touch of Glory and whispers, "You need to calm the situation, not here, not now. Sarenrae will assist you, my friend."
Bram grins even wider, "Come out from behind your protectors little dwarf, my axe is thirsty." Hurgwrath scowls and says, "Ignore him. We need to speak with Kagro." Pyra shakes her head and goes to the right-hand door, "Are you coming?"
Valgrim raises his hand and stops the bard. "Your silver-tongue is not needed here, Bubba. Save it for Kagro. I may hate giants, but we're dealing with the fate of the world here and even I know that is more important than me getting my kicks by skewering that piece of sh*t over there, so no worries." He follows the giantess but looks back at Bram. "Oh, I will be back and there will be a reckoning my scarred giant!" We proceed to Kagro.
"No need, not letting you out of my sight. You should be in The Pit with your brethren. Only reason I haven't killed that dung-crawler is that he knows his place and is half useful. You don't look useful to me, except as an addition to my dwarven skull collection." As he continues to run his mouth Bram stands, grabs the the hydras chain, and begins following the group, eyeballing Valgrim the entire time.
Pyra leads the group through a wide central chamber and up another flight of stairs, at the top of which are two more fire-giant guards. She nods to them as she passes and they do not try to bar your way. Leaving this room you enter a hallway, the walls of which are decorated with swaths of dragon hide and other trophies gathered from various dragons. Standing in the hallway is a well-groomed, well-dressed, impressive fire giant. He turns, "Ah, the dragonslayers. I see the king's hand accompanies you. I am the Heartkeeper Kagro Thundersmiter. What brings you to The Citadel of Weeping Dragons?" Hurgwrath nods to Bublaka to speak.
"Very well. I believe the phylactery is contained within the Chamber of the Heartkeeper, in the depths of the Citadel of the Weeping Dragons. It is home to the Tiamikal Nul-Shada. It takes two keys to open the vault. Both are in possession of members of the Tiamikal Nul-Shada. I can grant you safe passage, at least from loyal giants, to Heartkeeper Kagro Thundersmiter but you must convince him of the worth of your cause. He holds one of the keys. The other is in the possession of Vercinabex Tor, Kagro's chief advisor."
Bublaka steps forward and bows to the Heartkeeper. "It is an honor to meet the Heartkeeper and to witness the Citadel of Weeping Dragons firsthand. I hope you found our performance against the dragons outside your door acceptable - or perhaps even entertaining. We have some to the Rift on a matter of great importance. As you probably know, the undead wyrm known as Dragotha is lieutenant to a being of godlike evil called Kyuss. Kyuss has been forced from this world for centuries and Dragotha has ever sought to bring him back. The dracolich's efforts are coming to fruition and it must be stopped. We seek to find and destroy its phylactery so that he can be destroyed for all time. A millennium ago, a druidic sect known as the Order of Storms," he motions to the banner that he wears, "secreted away the phylactery during a great battle and worked a great magic so the world forgot about it and a great many other things until champions could arise to defeat the dracolich directly. The Order of Storms has determined that the time is now and the magic has been undone. Our search for the phylactery brings us to the Rift and the King believes that an item of such importance would only be found in the Tiamikal Nul-Shada. Thus we come to you."
"Aye, we need your assistance in this great time of need."
Kagro chuckles good-naturedly, "Yes, it was good to see the dragons brought low. We slew many before you arrived but it took its toll on our numbers as well. Our high priest fell to the dragon Brazzamal himself, along with many other warriors." He looks thoughtful, "I have never before heard of this Order of Storms. I also have never seen this phylactery you speak of...but yes, such a thing would need to be destroyed. Why King Achaime Silvereye would think I possess such a thing I cannot say."
A frustrated Valgrim whispers to Bubba. "Don't know if he's lying or just doesn't understand. Ask him for the damn Key."
"King Silvereye recognized the name of the Order of the Storms, but he said it had not been spoken of since the time of Obsidian Rockweaver. He felt that something as important as this would be safest here. He did not say that you specifically had it, but that you had one of the keys to where it would be held."
This time, Friar inspires himself with his Goddess' eloquence.
"Please Kagro, we were told you and Vercinabex have possession of the Keys. The dragons are led by Brazzemal, a legendary fiend of a red dragon, who gets closer to reaching his goal of discovering the phylactery for himself every second we delay. Please help us and we will fight this dragon with you."
Kagro's eyes narrow in anger, "I see Achaime feels free to give away our holy secrets to strangers." His look changes to a frown, "You of course are not to blame as you are seeking only to follow your own path to strike at the dragons. Yes, I retain a key to the sacred heart. It is our hallowed duty to protect it from ever being opened. The hallowed place protects this city and great misfortune would befall us should we break our solemn vows. There is no certainty that what you seek lies within and the risk to my city is too great. I'm afraid you must find some other way." At Ferez's words his demeanor changes to one of excitement with a almost fanatical edge to it, "Yes, Brazzamal. Now without his lieutenants he has no choice but to face us personally! If you wish part of the glory, than indeed, stand with us and add your names to the legendary slayers that have walked these halls, but you will not sway me to surrender our sacred birthright and doom my city."
Friar inspires himself again and frowns. "I understand your duty, Kagro. Are you certain you have your Key? Because if so, then it means that your trusted adviser Vercinabex may have been in cahoots with Charlgar from another giant tribe, the wretch from whom we obtained the Second Key when he dropped it into the Worm Pit, and possibly plotting against you. We should have a chat with this adviser of yours and see if he can produce his Key. Can you have him summoned or shall we go see him together?"
That pulls the giant up short, "What?! You have one of the keys? Show me!"
Valgrim steps in front of Friar, just in case Kagro wants to mix it up, and nods for the cleric to show him the Key.
Friar retrieves the Key from his Haversack and shows it to Kagro from afar.
Kagro takes a step forward to get a better view, "That looks like Vercinabex Tor's key. Charlagar must have stolen it! Yes, come, we will go speak with him to get an explanation." With that he leads the entire entourage back down to the previous level but instead of crossing the room where you first met Bram he takes a separate set of stairs that go quite a distance down with no exits. Valgrim senses that you are now below the first floor you originally entered the keep on, probably some kind of dungeon. Coming out on a landing with two doors and some stairs that continue into the depths Kagro advances to the nearest door and bangs on it. Getting no answer he throws it open and advances into the room on the other side. The large chamber seems to be a combination of bedroom and study. Against the far wall lie numerous furs and cushions heaped in a haphazard nest. The walls are covered with strange runes and markings, and a large stack of oversized books lies on a cluttered desk to the north. Hunching over the desk mumbling to himself while examining a multitude of open books is a disheveled frost giant. He madly flips through the tattered books and scribbles notes in the increasingly ink-filled margins. "Vercinabex!" Kagro bellows at which point the frost giant startled from his reverie looks up. "Vercinabex, is that your key?! Why didn't you report its theft by Charlgar?" Vercinabex gets a look of irritated disgust on his face before intoning an arcane word and then disappearing entirely. Kagro curses and looks down at you angrily, "Well, THAT seems to back up what you say! Curse his cold hide!"
Meanwhile, Exousia seems distracted and is looking intently at the other door that leads from the landing. She whispers to Ferez, "I sense great evil behind that door."
"He mazed himself, probably to buy himself some time. Everyone, he is going to reappear where he disappeared so let's get ready to strike when he returns!"
Valgrim and angel and giants (if willing) move within reach of square where giant disappeared (5' for Valgrim; 10' for Exousia) and we ready actions to strike Vercinabex when he returns!
Friar moves 25' away from the giant's locale of re-appearance, ready to provide healing services as needed.
Hurgwrath prepares to swing with the dwarf and angel, Tor follows suit because it seems like the thing to do. Kagro frowns, "Are you sure he is coming back?" Bram on the other hand looks positively gleeful at the course of events, "Never liked him anyway."
"Yes, however, he can be gone anywhere from now to 10 minutes from now. I prefer waiting to strike him down when he appears. If he can cast such powerful magics such as Maze, he may reign hell down upon us, if we let our guard down."
"There is some chance he could use the maze as an exit to somewhere else. If he's chosen to let the spell take him, as he must have, he will likely not try to escape it early unless he has prepared himself for battle. Otherwise, he will either appear when it runs its course - ten minutes, as my friend says - or not at all."
Looking around the room, "It would appear that Vercinabex has been keeping secrets from you, Heartkeeper. What sort of damage could a traitor with his level of trust do?"
Bublaka scans the tattered and open books and quickly comes to realize that Vercinabex Tor was studying in great depth a vault, apparently trying to find someway to break through its defenses. Scribbled arcane notes scrawl across pages with passages underlined and scratched out. The bard is pretty certain this is the very vault you are seeking and from various rubbings it certainly has something to do with Kyuss.
Pointing to various evidence in the documents before them, Bublaka offers, "It appears the traitor sought a way to penetrate the vault without the second key. Am I correct in thinking these diagrams describe what you refer to as the Heart? This reference here is to the Worm-God whose evil we seek to stop. This is why the phylactery must be found and destroyed. It is a point of pride that your people have kept it safe for so many centurites, and it should be, but now that the mighty magicks that have hidden it from prying eyes have been removed, it's time for it to be destroyed and the battle be taken directly to Dragotha and his master."
Friar will rebuff everyone then with 3 charges from the wand (acid, fire, and electricity) when the time is close.
He will inspire himself once more. "Good work, Bublaka. Yes, we need to destroy that phylactery, Kagro. Also, what is behind that door that so offends the holy nature of Exousia?"
In response to Bublaka's observations, Kagro gets angrier, "The traitor deserves death. Conspiring with Charlgar and his backstabbing kin to take the throne. Now it becomes obvious that he intended to betray me also when the time was right! No, this tells me it is more important than ever to protect the Heart from all pretenders and interlopers!"
Turning to Ferez he says in a dismissive tone with a wave of his hand, "That? That is Juroth's holy shrine. Our priest who fell to Brazzamal."
Valgrim loses Shield of Faith and Bull's Strength and gets ready to strike as 10 minutes draws near.