GM Fuzzfoot's AP: Giantslayer

Game Master PJP

Map of Trunau | Tactical Maps - Book 3 | Tactical Maps - Books 1 & 2 | Notes and Exhibits | Party Treasure


With the information gleaned from captured orc prisoners and the half-orc saboteur Skreed Gorewillow, Trunau’s Council of Defenders is worried that the town’s orc troubles are far from over. Thanks to our heroes, the orcs’ hill giant chieftain, Grenseldek, was unable to recover the items she sought from Uskroth’s tomb, and the council fears another attack on Trunau in the near future. To that end, Halgra asks you to go to Grenseldek’s lair— an abandoned outpost near the River Esk called Redlake Fort—and deal with the giant chieftain and her orc tribe before they can attack Trunau again.

Halgra offers a reward of 1,500 gp to put an end to Grenseldek’s aggression.

Halgra introduced you to a venerable elf named Silvermane, who has watched over Trunau’s Hopespring for as long as anyone can remember. Silvermane is mute, and communicates through a form of sign language that Halgra can understand and translate. With her help, Silvermane tells you about the Vault of Thorns, a demiplane created by the druidic Council of Thorns, of which he was once a member. The entrance to the Vault is located within Ghostlight Marsh, a swamp to
the northeast surrounding the confluence of the Kestrel and Esk rivers. Silvermane informs you that the Vault contains a cache of items that can help in their fight against the Twisted Heart menace, though he has no specific details about the items.

Halgra secured passage for you aboard a keel-boat that regularly plies the rivers of southern Belkzen. The riverboat’s captain, a half-orc named Raag Bloodtusk, has agreed to transport you to Ghostlight Marsh and then up the River Esk to a location near Redlake Fort in exchange for help sailing the boat and defending it from any threats.

Along the way, you were attacked by Skreed's love and your saboteur, Melina. You also stopped at a way stations along the river to find orcs had taken it in preparation for a larger assault against Castle Firrine. You rescued Calrianne Blix, a paladin stationed there, and she heartily thanks you and produces a map of the abandoned border fort. The knight informs you that her ancestor, a man named Fabian Blix, was the fort’s cleric. Fabian died during the final siege of the fort, but one of his sons (Calrianne’s great-grandfather) escaped through a hidden sewer tunnel. Calrianne’s map shows the majority of Redlake Fort (see the map), including the sewer tunnel (area K6), which Calrianne believes is submerged. Additionally, the knight says she’d be interested in knowing of her ancestor Fabian’s fate, should you learn anything about him while there.

Upon entering the swamp, you encountered an insane dwarf, Ingrahild Nargrymkin, cursed by a green had, Ewigga. She has also lost her brother, Umlo, to the coven or the swamp, and has agreed to join you to the fort.

Finding and defeating Ewigga, and collecting the treasure told by Silvermane, you head for Redlake Fort.