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So picking up where the earlier divination thread left off, we're about to start Fortress of the Stone Giants.
My group already knows about Mokmurian from interrogating Barl Breakbones, but Barl didn't know what M's interest in Sandpoint is. They've got one day after arriving in Sandpoint to prep for the attack, and I suspect they'll cast divination to ask about the reason for the attack. Any suggestions for an answer that meets Divination's requirement of a "useful piece of advice", without giving too much away?
Remember that I like to use rhyming couplets or quatrains, but I admit that my poetry sucks. My players get a kick out of my attempts, though. :P
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And answering my own question:
The giants’ mighty master
Asked for stone from Hellstorm Flume,
And when the giants raid the town,
They’ll try to bring its doom.
I like the idea of calling it by its old name, Hellstorm Flume, rather than The Old Light. That's the name Karzoug and Mokmurian would know it by, after all. The players might guess what that means, but this way, I'm not giving everything away outright. They may still ask a followup question about why the giants want the stone, so I'll have to come up with an answer to that.
I also have to work on how to respond to questions about troop strength and battle plan among the attacking giants.
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So I modified the above, and came up with some other questions and answers. My biggest problem right now is that I'm discovering that if they ask the right followup questions, I could accidentally give them the entire plot for the remainder of the adventure path right here.
Here's what I've got so far:
Why are the giants attacking Sandpoint? What are they looking for?
When the giants raid the town,
Not just to bring its doom.
The giants’ mighty master
Asked for stone from Hellstorm Flume.
What is Hellstorm Flume?
In the time of Thassilon,
A time that most forgot,
What you know as The Old Light,
Once destruction wrought.
Followup question on why the giants want the stone:
Giant elders’ ancient magic,
Tells them much from souls of stone,
They seek the final resting place,
Of one long thought turned to bone.
Who’s resting place are they seeking?
A man who served three masters,
Soldier, worshipper, and spy,
Only loyal to Lamashtu,
'Til the day he died.
Why are they seeking his resting place?
Need to come up with an answer that doesn’t give away Runeforge and inspire them to go after Scribbler before they deal with Mokmurian.
Question about how many foes will attack Sandpoint:
A dozen and their leader one,
Giants who think raiding’s fun,
Joined by flying dragon red,
And three who walk upon four legs.
They already knew about Teraktinus and that there's a red dragon from interrogating Barl Breakbones. So this really only adds the quantity of giants and the fact that there are three animals with them to that information. The vague wording is intentionally designed to make them nervous about what four legged foes they're about to face.
Question about giant battle plan for attacking Sandpoint:
Need to come up with a good answer. I'm thinking that warning them that Teraktinus will enter the town at Mill Pond, and the dragon will start at the armory, while the giants at the north gate are relatively ignorable, should be more than enough information. I'll probably be less specific than that. I just need to come up with a good rhyme that doesn't give it all away, but I think I've done too much at once, so it's time to take a break from all this thinking. The playing session's in 8 hours, though, so I do need to come back and figure this out relatively soon.
Why are they seeking his resting place?
Three masters strings, his brain unravelled
Down the stairs 'til late untravelledHis bones have knit, he has awoke
His secrets now can be writ or spoke
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Good answer.
Thinking about it, I decided that the followup questions about why the giants want the stone should go unanswered. Divination specifically says it only talks about events up to a week in advance, so even though the giants have already made general plans for what to do with the stone they capture at Sandpoint, it'll be more than a week before they can carry them out. That gives me an "out" to avoid giving away too much information too early, but it'll be nice to have some of these answers prepped in advance for when we get that far.
Anyhow, they're more likely to be worried about troops strength and battle plans for the attacking giants, so I still need to come up with a good answer about the battle plan question.
Also, I keep revising earlier rhymes as I look at them again. Here's another new version of the original answer to why the giants are attacking:
The giants have something to gain,
As they bring great death and doom,
Not just to burn Sandpoint in flame,
But grab a stone from Hellstorm Flume.
It also occurs to me that they might think the giants want a specific stone, like maybe there's a magic gem or something hidden there. In case they ask that as a followup:
It matters not which stone they steal,
All have secrets to reveal.
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Ok, so maybe this is too informative, but here's what I came up to in answer to the giants' battle plan:
Divide and conquer is their plan,
Then they’ll all meet up again.
Giant groups at different spots,
North gate, bridges, and Mill Pond.
Founders’ manors looted, too,
Dragon fire where he flew.
Once they realize how far reaching the attack will be, they'll know they can't cover everything. We'll see how they decide to approach it from there.
Bear in mind that they already know when the attack's coming from an earlier divination, so they'll have the entire town on alert just before sunrise the morning of the attack. I'm not entirely clear on how that should affect things, either.
OH, darn, you did it already.
I had:
Giants come from both south and north
Along roads marched 'cross bridges they'll force
Flame comes upon the wings of the wyrm
For gold and slaves the giants yearn