OGGM's Fortress of the Stone Giants (Inactive)

Game Master Jeff Przybylo

Thordak looks shocked at such a question. "Of course I have! What kind of question is that?! C'mon, cut me a bit o' slack. I wasn't raised in a barn, ya know," he responds confidently, huffing at the thought. Once Lym's attention turns from him, he takes a whiff of himself and leans over near Kellen. "Lad! Let's just say - for example mind you - that I haven't actually had a bath in a while; JUST for example now. These beasts aren't goin' ta throw me, are they?" he asks, curious and with a bit of concern etched in his face.

I will leave this question open to all: Lym, what deal are you making with the avoral for the service? Planar Binding does not obligate them to help you. In fact, its a trap-like spell that catches them first, then you try to get a task out of them. I haven't been rolling the Will save or requiring the Charisma check as yet. But the service should not be free - even in the effort to rid the world of a grave danger. You guys can decide.

The dusty ride over the Storval Plateau is long and dry. A cold wind blows from the north, driving the sand and dust over the hills and gullies. No matter which way you turn, the dust always seems to get in your eyes.

The avoral ranges ahead, flying high above the plateau. It isn't long before it returns, reporting that stone giant hunting parties are about. Usually consisting of two giants and three or so dire bears, these parties wander about the Storval along the line of the Iron Peaks, hunting for food. She has seen at least a dozen such hunting groups, spread out over the whole range between here and the Valley.

How do you want to handle these hunting parties? You have two options: 1) face each and destroy it. 2) avoid them.

Unless there's something our ally isn't reporting, the groups aren't strong enough to cause us any concern. We can pick them off one at a time and hide from them when we aren't ready to fight.

I think we're of a mind to 'tidy as we go', after all it doesn't take long and being able to take out even a small percentage of the enemy piecemeal is helpful. Also I don't think any of us want those 'hunting parties' venturing anywhere near civilization...

But the more we blow up, the more attention we draw. Remember that their chief is a spellcaster of some sort.... Besides, aren't they essentially dupes of the Runelord?

Those of a certain leaning are given marks so that when they die their life essence is given to the runelord. As far as we know, having a rune mark doesn't make them behave any differently nor does the runelord. They are not dupes, but active participants. Or at least the leadership is.

The normal giants in the Sandpoint raid were not evil. As far as you know, the Sihedron Rune does not force anyone to do anything. I do need to know what you are going to do. The hunting parties don't pose a threat to you as a group. They are not near civilization as yet, but the worry is the army, not the foraging parties.

If we start hitting their foraging parties, they might send more out to forage/search for us. That will make getting inside to their leader that much easier. Going directly to their base allows us to surprise them.

All excellent points Aurora had not considered, she is easily swayed to agree to leave the hunting parties as is and move straight to the heart of the matter so to speak.

Unless folks think there's any benefit to taking out a few of these parties and making it look like they did it to themselves...

We all agreed that there was no way to convince the rank and file giants that they should switch teams, because they would never respect a non-giant enough to listen. If we made it look like other giants were taking issue with their allegiance.

Agreed, it's a long shot.

I vote to move cautiously while trying to get an audience with the leadership to convince them to rethink their current course of action.

ie. Sneak in and kill them.

Thordak would be for killing them all. The more killed the merrier. Obviously, he's not going to go by himself if no one else is game. But killing them would definitely be his vote.

Thanks everyone for your patience. I believe we have decided to take the stealthy approach and bypass the foraging parties? Ok then...

The hills of the Iron Peaks are rough going, but your progress is steady. The avorals guide you around the stone giants hunters, and the efforts of those parties can be seen in their aftermath. Once, you come upon the half-eaten remains of two dire bears and a giant. Praxim can tell you that this party clearly ran into something they couldn't handle. All signs point to a flight of manticores. On another day, you run into an old campsite where the giants field-dressed and hauled off some large animal.

One week into the journey, the avorals come to you and call a halt somewhere near the Valley of the Black Tower. Gathering you in a circle, they begin to sketch out what they have seen. The picture soon becomes clear - Mokmurian is gathering a large army in the Valley.

"The mountains give way here to a wide valley perched on the upper edge of a cliff overlooking the Muschkal River." The avoral begins, pointing to the sketch in the dirt before you. "At the western edge of the valley entrance, a lone watchtower stands upon a low hill, but this structure is overshadowed by the larger one that looms in the valley proper. Here stands a ring-shaped stone wall, fifty feet in height and surrounding several buildings, the most impressive of which is a looming black tower with bladelike crenellations that overlooks the river gorge. Within the ring, a one-hundred-fifty-foot tall stone spire rises, surrounded by three low buildings. Apart from the black tower, five smaller towers are built into the fortress wall—one of these towers is wider than the others and seems to be the only gateway into the courtyard within."

MAP - LEARN IT!

"We also found these: two caves in the wall of the river cliff." He indicates two small openings on the sketch. "Also, another cave, high up on the valley wall here." He points. "We saw a dragon, lying in the sun on the ledge of cave. He did not look well."

"The dragon should be our first goal. If things go badly, we could theoretically outrun the giants, but never that dragon. Also, there might be a connection between the dragon's cave and the giants' keep."

Sighing, "Blasted dragons and all their flyin' around. Gonna have ta agree with the elf on that one. He'll definitely be the thorn in our side that we just can't blasted get out if we don't take care of it first."

"Keeping it grounded will be the real trick. Otherwise it will just flee again. Maybe we can rush in and I can construct a wall at the cave's entrance."

Yes I definitely agree Masters Thordak and Praxim, to leave such a mobile opponent behind us to harry our progress would be ill advised. And unladylike though it might be, we should strike whilst it is not at full strength, so we do not deplete our own any further than necessary...

She nods at Tomaru

I think the wall a good idea if we can all get inside the cave quickly. And even if it has another escape route we can follow by flying

She glances around

Well there's no time like the present, shall we prepare and then get ready to assault the draconic beasty?

Kellen has spent some time looking at the crown during their journey, somewhat curious but it doesn't seem to ring any bells despite his examination. Kn: 1d20 ⇒ 18

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Kellen studies the map and the avoral's descriptions. At the discussion of the dragon, Kellen adds: "Sound like you did more damage than expected, Praxim.

At hearing the plan, Kellen rubs his chin in thought. "Before we go charging in at the dragon, what about the watchtower? If we are going into the valley, we'll probably need to make sure we aren't seen coming or going? So it's either more stealth or we take out the watch-giants first, perhaps?"

"Our first strike will alert the entire valley to our presence. Do we want that to be against a watchtower?"

"I can conjure a wall," Lym offers. "And provide invisibility to most of us. Tomorrow. If we then hide in the dragon's cave after killing it, I can re-stock spells and we move on to the next target."

Depending on our magical resources we could cast an illusion as well as a wall over the cave entrance, it might do the trick to keep things on the quieter side

She nods at Lym's suggestion

It is always good to recoup resources, however truth be told I have not been keeping track of the days and am unsure whether we can spare the time. If we can then it is an ideal time to go 'all out' and remove the draconic threat before moving on.

This is the point where you guys tell me the plan...how are you approaching the cave? Flying? Climbing? 'porting? What are you doing when get on the ledge? What preparations are you making? etc etc.

After casting Resist Fire on everyone, we stealthily make our way to the cave, perhaps invisibly fly up. We investigate the cave looking for the dragon. Once we find him, they kill him while I keep him corralled so he can't escape his impending doom.

After casting Resist Fire on everyone, we stealthily make our way to the cave, perhaps invisibly fly up. We investigate the cave looking for the dragon. Once we find him, they kill him while I keep him corralled so he can't escape his impending doom.

Sounds good as an overall plan. So you know, in order to sneak up to the base of the mountain where the cave is, you'd have to enter the valley and get past the watchtower. You could potentially fly there from outside the valley proper. I need to know what each of you is casting/doing then, and we'll go. Unless you want me to just throw you in there, of course...

We should also check out the other caves to make sure we have some place to lay low afterwards.

Could we wait till nightfall and have everyone fly over the watchtower in the darkness so we aren't seen? Then Tomaru's wall idea and Lym's rest behind it idea would work well!

Could we wait till nightfall and have everyone fly over the watchtower in the darkness so we aren't seen? Then Tomaru's wall idea and Lym's rest behind it idea would work well!

You could indeed.

The avorals can also inform you that there are seven camps around the outside of Jorgenfist. Each camp holds giants and ogres of various numbers and race. There are constant coming and goings from Jorgenfist to the valley entrance (and thusly past the watchtower), as foraging parties leave and return. No one had approached the dragon's cave, just as no one has entered or left the cliff side caves.

They also note that it does not appear that any of the giants on the outside are allowed inside. At least during the times they watched, no giant entered the ring of Jorgenfist.

The map is also posted in the spoiler where I keep all of the other campaign info.

Let's explore the cliff caves first. We can possibly use them as a base of operations and it keeps us out of sight of the giants.

"Except if the giants aren't using them, there's probably a reason, as in, something extra nasty living in them. Giants won't expect us to come from there, but they could easily hear us dealing with whatever's there, if there is something there."

"It's more likely that the caves don't go that far and the giants won't be able to hear us."

"That's kinda what I'm hopin' for. It'd be a ton o' fun ta go in there and slaughter them all, but, there's just so blasted many of 'em... what if I lose? It'd just be too embarrassing it would and I just wouldn't be able ta live with meself," he says as a matter of fact with crossed arms, nodding emphatically.

"Except if the giants aren't using them, there's probably a reason, as in, something extra nasty living in them. Giants won't expect us to come from there, but they could easily hear us dealing with whatever's there, if there is something there."

An excellent point, but that cave is pretty high up on the mountain. The scale on the map doesn't really do it justice.

"Gentlemen, if we can have a little patience, I might be able to gather us some useful intelligence," Lym says. "I can call up another flock of bats, have them scout and report to Limmerick, and then he can translate for me."

Whatever we are going to do...let's do it!

OGGM is right. We've been on this for two weeks. I want to get into the fight, so I will follow Lym's decision as long as we get moving before I vote for dumb or dumber.

More scouting sounds good. Bats away!

Lym mutters a quick spell which conjures 1d3 ⇒ 2 gold-furred bats, which enter into a brief, chittering discussion with Limmerick before all three bats fly off to quickly scout the caves not mentioned to hold dragons.

Aurora watches keenly to hear what the bats say when they get back. She paces randomly, her tattoos shifting around her skin as if they are eager to crawl off.

Thordak watches the gnome as she paces, mesmerized by the moving sigils. As his eyes begin to cross, he shakes himself free of the hypnotic markings. "Whoa. That was weird." He then finds himself a tree to lean upon as he works to keep his eyes averted. Unfortunately the dwarf's willpower is not as strong as he thinks it is, finding himself following along with the moving tattoos once again.

The wait for the bats scouting mission is two hours into it's duration, when only Limmerick can be seen winging her (his?) way back to you. She (he?) alights on Lym's arm chittering madly.

"Big! Big! Three bigger than Limmerick! Many bones in lower cave! Long necks, big wings, stinger in tail!"

The little bat cranes it's neck around Lym's head, searching.

"Where are others? They look upper cave."

Lym chitters and chirrups at her familiar for a few minutes, then turns to the others.

"The caves are not safe, I fear. There are creatures there -- I have a description of long necks, big wings and stinger tails. Wyverns, maybe? And my scouts did not return from the upper cave... We may need to clean house before we even get to the dragon, or else after we've finished with him. And a thought occurs; if the wyverns - or whatever is in there - side with the dragon, they might join it in battle, or else fly off to alert the Giants once we start our attack. So; how do we proceed? I have the following magic ready before we get started..."

Spells prepared for today:
0 - Acid splash, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Detect Poison
1 – Enlarge person, Mage armour, Magic missile* x3, Shield, X
2 – Gust of wind*, Knock, Scorching ray* x2, See invisibility, X
3 – Dispel magic, Fireball*, Lightning bolt*, Protection from energy, Summon monster III, Tiny hut
4 – Ball lightning*, Greater invisibility, Maximized magic missile*, Summon monster IV, Wall of Ice
5 - Break enchantment, Maximized scorching ray, Overland flight, Wall of force
6 - Chain lightning*, Summon monster VI

Already cast for today: Communal mount, Summon minor monster.

"I would rather take on whatever is in the cave so we can take on the dragon by itself. I will defer to Lym, however."

The celestial bats would have had plenty of time on their summons to make it there and back.

Some information that might help: the two caves: dragon and wyvern(??) are pretty far apart. Two miles or more. Also, noise will be a factor in that the dragon cave is high up (in the wind), and the other is lower down in the river canyon (water noise). Bottom line for expediency: there's a good chance that one won't hear the other.

"The dragon is a known threat - one we've already softened up and we know is in league with the Giants. But we need a fallback position, a base to operate from. I vote we settle the lower cave first."

One of the avorals interjects. "The dragon's cave has a view of the entire valley. The lower cave does not. As a base of operations, the tactical advantage of such a view cannot be overlooked."

The second then adds: "It would be rare for two such large predators to be in this close proximity without being aware of each other. Neither would tolerate the competition from the other. The only explanation is that the giant leader has some control over them. To whit: they are all 'in league' with the giants."

One of the avorals interjects. "The dragon's cave has a view of the entire valley. The lower cave does not. As a base of operations, the tactical advantage of such a view cannot be overlooked."

Unintentional pun there.

@OGGM: That remains to be seen... :P

Aurora eagerly listens as Lym translates the chittering of the bat, oblivious to Thordak's constant gaze.

I too am for clearing the lower cave first, not only for tactical reasons, but simply because we should take some decisive action as this is one of those points where we could become paralysed due to the choices we have. I suggest we prepare to assault these wyverns and strike as soon as is best.

Tattoos drifting like smoke beneath her skin, she adds

Does anyone know the strengths and weaknesses of the creatures? Are they resistant to fire or cold? Do they have breath weapons or prefer claws?

Aurora is ready to move on, and given time to buff just before entering the cave, would cast mage armor and mirror image just before the party enter in

"Let me think..."

Knowledge (arcana)for wyverns 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37

Wyverns: 16' from tail to teeth. 2000lbs. The tail has a poisonous stinger; they are immune to sleep and poison. Fiercely territorial, usually loners. Dragons consider them nasty, brutish cousins beneath notice.

Right, let's get this started. Jorgenfist is the meat of Book Four. We'll need to step up the pace if we want to get through this in a reasonable time.

A musky smell lingers near the entrance to this cave—a thick, almost reptilian stink. Dozens of bones, many immense mammoth or aurochs remains, lie scattered on the ledge overlooking the river fifty feet below.

The cave entrance is 50' across, the ledge itself is 20' deep from edge to entrance. You can land easily among the bones. The light from outside extends in for 40' before it fades to black.

From where you stand on the ledge, you can just see that the cave splits into four separate caves, two on the right, two on the left. There is a small pile of sand at the confluence of the four caves, and you can barely make out the gleam of light on a red gemstone perched atop the pile.