The first leg of the shadow walk drops you off some 50 miles south west of Galduria. Somewhere during mid-day, you come across an enormous campsite. At the center, a campfire made of tree trunks sits in a ring of boulders, the mostly eaten carcass of a roasted 14-foot-long aurochs in the ashes.
Once in town, you hear all manner of horror stories from the locals. Every third person seems to have either sighted a giant in the last few days or knows someone who has, and of these, at least half can tell stories of a friend or acquaintance who’s gone missing. In almost every case, the missing folks are merchants, soldiers, hunters, or travelers, and it’s feared they’ve been caught and killed by the giants.
The second leg of Lym's spell drops you out of the Shadow Plane within sight of the Stair - albeit some 10 miles from its foot.
The Storval Rise is one of the most unique and infamous landmarks in Varisia; the change in terrain from the fertile lowlands to the rugged and stony scrublands of the plateau above marks the lands of giants and barbarians with an unmistakable boundary. The rise itself often reaches dizzying heights of 1,000 feet or more, but at the location known as the Storval Stairs, the cliffs are only 400 feet high, and feature an ancient Thassilonian monument once used by armies of enslaved giants for easy foot travel between the lowlands and the plateau.
The Storval Stairs rise in 2-foot steps, and are flanked on either side by immense statues of Runelord Karzoug (although the southern statue has finally begun to crumble and erode) and walls of ancient towers, buildings, and dwellings.
Staring up at the towering stone edifice, Aurora's jaw drops as she takes in the magnitude of the rock formation.
Well one thing's for sure, I think I'll be flying up, each of those steps would need a running jump otherwise!
Her expression turns somewhat more serious as she considers the history of the stairs
How many folk have trod upon this stone, bent on war or worse I wonder? I hope our footsteps are a part of a different story, one of preventing an atrocity this time.
"At least the walk will allow us to get acquainted with the thin air up there."
Kellen steps out of the shadowvoid, with a quizzical look on his face. He turns to Thordak with a smirk: "I'd swear by Cayden's Cup that patch of shadow-tree moss winked at us back there."
He adjusts his stance and after the walk to the Stairs, he merely stares intently on them for bit."Reminds me much of the Cyphergate in Riddleport - damn right imposing and makes me wonder what kind of secrets lie within it...not sure I want to know."
He nods at Aurora's comment."So - climbing the cursed thing or do we all fly up?
"That wasn't moss," is Lym's curt comment to Kellen's witticism.
Looking up at the stairs, she frowns. "I don't like it. Armies set sentries in critical positions. This is the main entrance onto the Plateau; Aurora, Limmerick and I should fly up and make sure there isn't an ambush ready to hurl boulders down on the head of anyone who tries to climb the stairs."
"I think we should all stay together." Tomaru counters. "The rest of us won't be in a position to aid you if it comes to that."
"If we go straight up, it should be fine."
Kellen steps out of the shadowvoid, with a quizzical look on his face. He turns to Thordak with a smirk: "I'd swear by Cayden's Cup that patch of shadow-tree moss winked at us back there."
Nodding, "Yeah, I know. Me too. Place is freaky." A shiver then runs down his spine at Lym's comment. "I don't wanna know."
"Couldn't ya send your little bat buddy ta scout it out, lass? Being as small as he is they should never be able ta spot him. Just a thought," he says, shrugging.
Aurora nods at Lym
Lady Blackhand has a point Master Thordak, three pairs of eyes are better than one after all!
She grins as her shoulders flex, and with the sound of snapping cloth, her reddish hued wings burst forth from her back, draconic runes swirling across their surface.
....and we promise to duck if anyone decides to heave boulders towards us!
She crouches slightly then launches in to the air, gathering height quickly as she slowly rotates, scanning the horizon.
"What she said," Lym tells Thordak. "More eyes, et cetera. Hold the fort, lads, we'll be back. If we start setting off big explosions, that's your cue to hustle."
The Wizard rattles off a quick spell and rises up into the sky, chanting a second spell while she goes..
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After they've left, Praxim muses, "I suppose sharing with them Erastil's doctrine that scouting is a man's job and the womenfolk should stay behind cover until it's safe would be a good way to get oneself a fireball in the face."
Lym, Limmerick, and Aurora zoom upward, working hard to gain altitude. the Stair rises a full 400' from the Varisian plain, but they don't get far before there is a loud 'crash' of stone on stone. High above, at the top of the stair, a lone hill giant stands, looking down. He hefts a boulder in his hand, but instead of throwing at you, he chucks onto the roof of one the stone ruins nearby.
As you watch, five other hill giants trundle out of that building, fetching up boulders from a huge pile at the top of the Stair.
I'll dimension door us guys up there about 20 feet away from the giants. Hopefully that's close enough for Thordak but not too close for Praxim.
Thordak shrugs as they fly off. Chuckling at Praxim's comments, "Ya got that right, lad. Anyway, they'll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"
Spotting the giants, Aurora immediately checks for anything else moving up there, finding nothing she remains where she is, fire bursting in to existence in twin globes of flickering molten colours in either hand. Despite being several feet away, Lym feels a wave of heat pulse over her as the sorceress gathers the energy together and flings both orbs towards the assembled giants.
If there are still Giants alive after Aurora's bombardment, Lym flings a fireball of her own.
If the enemy is obliterated, she addresses the Gnome: "Remember, it is normally better to launch Fireballs from elevation; you have a better idea what you're firing at."
In either case, she rises further.
Three fireballs incinerate the hill giants behind their rockpile. Smoke and the stench of burnt giant flesh rolls down the Stair and over those waiting at the bottom. Just like that, it's over.
Lym continues the ascent so she assess the state of the enemy, their base of operations, and any loot that has not been completely consumed by fire.
Taken by surprise by the massive explosion so far up, "They better not be stealin' all me fun. That's just gonna make me mad," he says as he squints to see if he can make anything out.
Aurora watches with satisfaction as the giants fall beneath the combined magical might of wizard and sorceress. She turns to offer congratulations to Lym, but the words catch in her throat as the wizard simply reminds her of Sandpoint. Eyes downcast, Aurora drops from the sky, beating her wings only just enough to slow her descent and land with a tiny *thump* next to the others.
There were some giants standing guard, but they've been taken care of
She manages to summon a small smile, and stays with the non-flyers as they make their way to the top rather than flying back up to Lym.
The long climb up the Stair onto the Storval Plateau is tiring, but ultimately unopposed thanks to the work by Lym and Aurora. At the top, 400' below you, the Varisian landscape rolls west and south in a verdant carpet. Behind you, the dry plains of the Storval stretch into the distance. The Iron Peaks are visible in the distance.
In one of the side buildings, you find a collection of treasure the hill giants collected. The treasure consists of 3,306 sp, a carved ammoth bone statuette of a much smaller mammoth worth 700 gp, an eye patch with a mock eye of black star sapphire and moonstone worth 900 gp, a mithral anklet worth 1,000 gp, a jeweled gold crown worth 4,000 gp, a +2 defending bladed scarf, a leather pouch containing seven potions of cure moderate wounds and a potion of remove disease, and an efficient quiver containing 16 +1 undead bane arrows and one greater monstrous humanoid slaying arrow.
dwarves would gladly pay handsomely for its return.
Praxim will definitely lay claim to the efficient quiver and quickly spend five minutes transferring all his various arrows into it. He'll also take five of the undead bane arrows and the giant slaying arrow.
As they make their way to the top and investigate the place, Thordak looks through the various items collected.
Holding up the bladed scarf, "Ya got ta be kiddin' me. What in the blazes is this? What were they gonna do, kill us with their fashion sense?" he says, chuckling. Once his chuckling dies down, "Seriously, what is this thing?"
Tomaru smiles. "In the hands of a skilled dancer, it is a beautiful and enticing clothing accessory. I've also seen it used to cut, entrap, and strangle. So, in a sense, yes. They might have killed us with their fashion sense.
Shaking her head to clear it of unwanted thoughts, Aurora focuses on the present, raising her eyebrows as the treasures are found
My goodness that's quite a haul, lots of trinkets considering their rather base manners.
She stares as the crown for a moment, then shrugs.
She listens happily to Tomaru's explanation of the scarf
That's quite an interesting subject wouldn't you say Master Thordak? Come to think of it, I'm surprised there aren't more items of clothing that can pass for weapons. Or vice versa!
"I don't know what this is," Lym says as she turns the crown this way and that, "but crowns are usually ... significant. And this is not Giant-made. I'll keep it with me until I've time to read a few reference tomes."
With a raised eyebrow, Thordak looks at Tomaru as he explains before simply shrugging and tossing it back into the pile.
She listens happily to Tomaru's explanation of the scarf
That's quite an interesting subject wouldn't you say Master Thordak? Come to think of it, I'm surprised there aren't more items of clothing that can pass for weapons. Or vice versa!
As his eyes dart back and forth in panic, he quickly comes up with an in depth response: "Yes." He nods, grinning in a way that appears to look somewhat uncomfortable.
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Nodding at Lym's suggestion, Aurora braves a quick smile in the wizard's direction before turning her attention back to the scarf.
I once met a halfling lass with a propensity for violence matched only by her love of ale, she claimed to have near twenty blades on her at any given time!
Noting Thordak's response she smiles
Astonishing I know! I questioned her on it the one time, and out they all came, from scabbards and boots, at knape of neck and up sleeves. Even one from behind her belt buckle would you believe! I counted up to eighteen and raised an eyebrow, she just smiled and reached up to her hairpin, her auburn hair tumbled down around her shoulders and made many raise their tankards in appreciation, but none stepped forward to try their charms, as that silver and crystal haircomb unfolded in to the wickedest looking dagger I'd ever seen!
Her eyes go wide at the recollection and she chuckles.
And I know what you'll ask me next Master Ironheart never fear! she ploughs on through the conversation, supplying the dwarf's part to relieve him of the burden somewhat
...what about the last blade, her twentieth? Well she told me a lady's got to have some secrets to keep up her mystique!
She grins and then turns to the rest of the group.
Now, if we've managed to Storval Stairs, I should think we might press on once we've had a chance to rest and regain the travel magic we employed to get here. Unless we can do another stage of the journey before needing time to replenish our energies?
She glances at Lym and Tomaru, smiling politely.
"I'm not planning to prepare Shadow Walk for a while," Lym announces. "Instead, I'll use that energy to bring us allies from the Beyond. As we're facing an army, I think extra troops and scouts will be more useful - not to mention we don't know exactly where on the plateau to go, and we could exit Shadow right in the middle of a platoon of stroppy Giants."
- not to mention we don't know exactly where on the plateau to go, and we could exit Shadow right in the middle of a platoon of stroppy Giants."[/b]
Nodding to himself as she addresses the others, She was right. I was goin' ta ask about that twentieth blade. Hm. She truly is one amazin' lass, he thinks, grinning.
"Well, now that the excitement is over, I suppose we should be on our way," Lym says. "And given that we can't all fly..."
The Wizard slowly raises her arms to shoulder height and starts to chant. Wind and sand whip up off the Plateau and whirl closer, condensing into six distinct forms, which materialize as dun-coloured horses, fitted with bits and bridles.
"Let's be off, then," Lym says as she levitates onto one of the horses' backs.
Tomaru smiles widely at the conjured steeds and he takes a moment to look one over. "My lady," He says, claiming Lym in a romantic sense, "is generous, powerful, and beautiful." He goes over to her. "Let me help you up."
The Storval Plateau is diametrically opposite the Varisian Plain in terms of environment. Where the plains are green with vegetation, the plateau is brown and bare. Where the plains have abundant water, the plateau is dry.
You set out east, keeping the mountains on your right as you travel to the Valley.
Tilting her head and with a smile slightly too wide, Aurora regards the magically summoned horses with wide eyes
Well let's just hop ethey're slightly more agreeable than the flesh and blood variety, those that eat hay and snort tend to take objection to my presence on their backs...
She climbs up with precision and a practiced manner, sitting side-saddle and glancing around to wait for the others to mount up, before clicking her tongue and sending the animal in to a trot.
"No worries. They're not real animals, more like... simulacra of magic force and lifeless matter," Lym explains. "Nothing that disturbs a horse will even raise a hair on their necks - or shouldn't." Lym turns to raise an eyebrow on Thordak. "You have bathed since we got to Sandpoint, haven't you?"