Act II: The Hall of Snurre Ironbelly the Foul, Fire Giant King

Brief Recap: The turn begins with a summary of events so far:

In Act I, the Company of the Thorn had a Dragonlance-style reunion in Heklamar, capital city of the Northern Kingdom, their old base of operation and home town. There they were impressed into service by King Ozrik (who also saved them from prosecution or execution by one of their enemies, a noble named Count Vingrot) to attack the Hill Giant Steading of Chief Nosra, who had been leading frequent assaults on the Kingdom's northern outposts. The company was also charged with discovering the reason for the sudden attacks, and the alliances between different giants and other species.

Ghotu Graver, Blade, Bruce Tyrlan, and Mog journeyed north to the Steading (a trip of a few weeks) and entered. They killed many giants, and soon met with Bronk Beareye, one of their old adventuring Company who had been waylaid by Giants on a recent raid and taken prisoner. They freed him from his slavery to Ogres and armed him as they continued. Ghotu found an intelligent Giantslayer sword, which eventually ended up in Blade's most able hands.

They followed Krulek, a freed orc slave, down to the second level where there were other orcs, escaped slaves living in the caves adjacent to the steading basement. But before the company found the slaves (and after Bruce used a potion of speed to annihilate an entire batallion of Bugbears), they were cornered by reenforcements from upstairs in the fort, and fought a bloody battle where Ghotu was nearly slain. They only escaped by Blade's magic Luckblade (one wish left) which the fighter used to make the sword itself strike fear into all giants. Still facing bears and wargs, the party made their escape by swimming down a well, sort of like Beowulf did once or twice.

The Company healed and explored the caverns beneath the steading and eventually met Bibi, who had been taken in the same raid as Bronk and who had escaped to live briefly with the Orcs. But Bibi was there for another reason all her own, which she did not tell the others. She pursued a dark one who carried the Obsidian Stone (a relic of her people), which had been stolen years before. She had been told of him by her animal Totem, the Panther, in a Spirit Dream. And the dark one had been among the Giants who had taken her prisoner.

The Company, after swelling their ranks with the entire host of Orc slaves, attempted to break out of the Steading by force, and were met on the Bugbear killing floor by the remaining Hill Giants led by Nosra and aided by the dark one, who destroyed Blade's Luckblade. (This severely pissed Blade off, and not just because it nearly got him killed.) The party eventually came to dominate, and the hill giants were virtually exterminated.

In their search of the Steading, they encountered the dark one again, who turned out to be a strange creature none of them had ever seen before. In the middle of the ensuing fight entered Humphrey, and Thae-Rune Ibn fled. Humphrey introduced himself as a southern mage from the Guild, and explained who Thae-Rune Ibn was. He told them of the Obsidian Stone that had been stolen from his order, and of its great power and the danger of it in the hands of the Githyanki, who would use it to summon their Dark Queen. Though some did not trust him, Humphrey joined the Company's Quest (or vice versa).

The party founds the Codex of Goil-Ward Adz among Nosra's hoard. It told them much of the Githyanki history and hinted at their plans. They also found a Waypoint Maker, the one by which Thae-Rune Ibn had escaped.

Chief Nosra's head in tow, the company made their way back to the Kingdom lands, and eventually to Heklamar by Autumn. There they were greeted as heros and were received personally by King Ozrik himself. They reported all they had discovered to him, and he rewarded them for their efforts (beyond the horde of Nosra which they had deposited in a group account in Gringot's Vault and Trust.

Also in Heklamar, Bibi confessed her secret to at least Ghotu, and eventually the whole party--she had lycanthropy, and needed the Obsidian Stone back to protect herself from its effects. But she feared Humphrey's motives and what he would do with the stone if it came to him.

In Act II, the company left Heklamar via the Waypoint Maker, a black chain which when laid out in a figure 8 pattern, transports those within the loops to a predetermined destination. The company arrived at the outskirts of the Fire Giant region and made their way to the mountain of King Snurre Ironbelly the Foul, Fire Giant King.

They entered using invisibility and silence, encountering Snurre in his Throne Hall. Humphrey cast a Geas on King Snurre, binding him to "Help this party destroy the Dark One who waits here and came through the waypoint last month."

Snurre, compelled by Humphrey's magic, gathered his warriors and led the party to the second level, where the Githyanki Temple is located. On the way, Snurre dispatched other guards to gather other warriors, or so the party suspected (based on Blade's translations of Snurre's orders).

After an encounter with two Githyanki knights, the party entered the Temple disguised by another of Humphrey's spells as Githyanki Knights. The ruse at least allowed them to enter past the guards, but they were discovered by Eclavdra, who ordered the Githyanki clerics and knights to attack.

Eclavdra also revealed a dark stone to the party, said she knew they sought it, and attempted to use it to destroy them. Before she did, Humphrey cast Telekinesis and snatched the Stone from her hand. For this, Eclavdra Mind Blasted Humphrey, leaving him permanently feebleminded. Bibi, in bird form, caught the Stone and landed, only to discover that it did not fit her locket. Eclavdra then snatched the stone the same way Humphrey did from herself. But when she tried to use the stone on the party, she disintegrated into a green puddle. At that moment, Thae-Rune Ibn appeared in the room, as if summoned by Eclavdra's destruction.

Blade, nearest Elcavdra, grabbed the stone, and somehow (Don't ask me, I'm just the DM) managed to use it to heal Humphrey. Bibi and Snurre attacked Thae-Rune Ibn, while the rest of the party continued to defended itself against the knights and clerics.

Last Turn, Bibi cast Protection from Fire and Call Lightning, which worked amazingly well, and allows her to cast one bolt per round. Humphrey absorbed several spell levels into his staff (protecting Blade and Bronk nearby), Ghotu stood in combat with two wounded knights, Mog cast a spell, and Thae-Rune Ibn took notice of Bibi darting about like a sprite in the weird blue and mauve atmosphere.

Still In the Githyanki Temple

Bibi flies through the air nearly horizontal as she tries to make herself a hard target. She feels the lightning building again, and it will release very soon. She turns her head to look at the dark one, fifty feet away on the dais before the portal. He sees her but casts a spell on the remaining giants nearby. A black cloud issues from! his mouth, which opens amazingly wide. The cloud quickly spreads among the Fire Giants and even some of the knights. All within the cloud begin to choke and fall to the ground, their bodies going rigid.

The Lightning explodes from Bibi's outstretched hands toward Thae- Rune Ibn just as he turns from the giants to her. Again the amulet appears to absorb the lightning, flashing bright red when the bolt strikes and disappears. Bibi continues to dodge, waiting for another bolt to build and looking out for attacks directed at her.

Blade and Mog both disappear, Blade after lifting the hood of his cloak, and Mog after casting one of his spells.

Ghotu pivots on his left foot to put one of the knights he fights between himself and the cleric. Guulirk the cleric prepares a spell, his target not evident.

One of the knights swings at Ghotu and the blow glances harmlessly off the fighter's shield. The other knight slashes Ghotu with his s! word, but the blow doesn't penetrate Ghotu's armor [Ghotu takes 12 damage down to 83/122]. The two knights equally spaced on either side of him, Ghotu executes his double decapitation attack. He spins quickly and swings his axe in a wide arc, using his shield hand for added strength, the blade horizontal and at neck height. The axe cleaves the head off the first knight and Ghotu steps one foot behind the other as he spins toward the second. Again the blade strikes just below the chin, this time leaving a thick part of the neck intact but severing the spine [18 and 16 damage]. Both knights fall simultaneously exactly two seconds after the maneuver is executed, almost as if standing in salute.

Blade, not entirely invisible but very hard to see in the moving lights of the room, crouches down and snakes his way to the flank of the Githyanki cleric before the tents. One of the knights near the cleric runs past Blade, but Blade lets him go and instead! sneaks behind the cleric. With the Dragonslayer sword, Blade strikes the cleric dead between the shoulders, the point of his sword exiting the cleric's chest. The evil priest tries to reach behind himself to grab Blade, but Blade puts his foot on the cleric's back and shoves him off, twisting the blade viciously as he does and ripping a hole in the cleric. [48 damage.] The cleric dies.

Blade tries to not slip on the blood and moves to find another target. [Blade can only backstab like that once every other round.]

Bronk steps forward to meet the knight charging toward himself and Humphrey. Before the knight arrives, Humphrey grasps one of the Nine Fingers of Drick (Drick was a foolish Ranger who once attacked Humphrey) and mutters the required incantation, "Owerpa ota ouya," as he touches the end of his staff on Bronk's shoulder. Bronk is suddenly filled with adreneline [+8 to STR, which maxes Bronk out at 25, +11 damage]. Bronk smashes! his halberd through the Githyanki's attempted parry, nearly knocking the knight down [31 damage]. The knight is stunned as Bronk follows up with a second blow that takes the Gith's arm off at the elbow [29 damage]. A third lop of the pole axe and the head comes off the knight.

Bronk feels like he is bursting from his armor.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Temple, Thae-Rune Ibn says in his amplified voice, "I shall require back my Wizarding Stone, thief, wherever you are," he says. "It has far better uses than fooling traiterous hags like Eclavdra."

As the Wrathgiver speaks, Mog moves toward him readying a Harm spell, one of his most powerful. Still several meters away, he sees the dark one point his clawed finger at Bibi, who looks like one of the Goddesses carved in flight into the walls of the Great Temple, of Mog's homeland.

Bibi feels another lightning bolt building. Before she can decide whether it will be a waste to! cast it on the dark one, she feels ice begin to pelt her and the temperature drop. She sees the dark one laugh as the full brunt of an Ice Storm spell catches her and drives her to the floor. The storm casts shards of ice and freezing gale winds down upon the entire southern half of the temple. The howling winds subside as suddenly as they appeared, leaving the floor covered with ice. All within the area of effect are covered in frost. [Everyone took 22 points of damage, no save. Bibi's Call Lightning spell is interrupted. Mog's Harm spell is interrupted. Humphrey's dazed reverie is interrupted.]

And just as luck would have it, at that very moment, the doors to the Temple are thrown open. The action seems to pause briefly as Thag leads a force of Fire Giants into the room; they jog in double file behind him. They are accompanied by at least ten Githyanki knights.

"Ah, King Thag, I've been expecting you," says Thae-Rune Ibn. "Snurre is d! ead, " he continues, gesturing to the still smoking body of Snurre which lies nearby. "And you are now lord of this mountain, as we agreed."

Thag grins and nods his head toward Thae-Rune Ibn. The few Fire Giants still standing (who came in with Snurre and the party--only three left now) howl at Thag's betrayal and charge his position.

Thag's Fire Giants rush to attack the giants and the party, as do the knights.

As the rush begins, Humphrey downs a potion and yells to Thag--"You and your men will attack the Githyanki knights and Thae-Rune Ibn, solidifying your claim to the throne, and assuring Thae-Rune Ibn does not kill you once we are dead!" He then whips his staff over his head and begins spinning it in a circle, releasing six charges at once, each to be used by him on the party(and himself), and casting plane travel to extricate them from this battle, taking them to a different plane, where they can escape (hopefully). [The potion is a potion of! Fire Giant Control; Humphrey uses a plot point to insure the success of his staff maneuver (he is now down to 0)]

Blade pops open a healing potion and swallows it down. He has no idea what the wizard was up to , but it seems like a good time to remain hidden with th epower of hie cloak. . Things were getting complicated. Blade pulls his ginat -slayer sword from it's sheath on his back.

[NOTE: KEITHS POST EDITED BY DM:]

He expects to feel it humming in his hand. But the sword feels like any other, and the familiar killing lust and warning of danger are not there. Blade can't tell if the sword has lost its intelligence or its magic, or if the sword is just suppressing its intelligence and not communicating with him. It feels no different than the Dragonslayer now.

[ If Humphrey's spell doesn't work. then Blade will remain invisible and continue to use surprise backstab maneuvers as before. This time it will be against the newly arriveed force of fire-giants and he will use the giant slayer to do so. He retains the dragonslayer in his left hand for defensive pourposes if need be.]

Bibi, still on the floor and covered with ice instinctively reaches for her locket. She does not allow herself even a moment to consider the situation for fear that she may begin to cry or worse yet that her fear may induce her change.

At that thought, Bibi feels the change welling up inside, almost irresistible. the proximity of the full moon makes it that much harder to resist. [Anne, Bibi will get a WISDOM roll at the end of this turn. If she fails, she will transform next turn. You can act normally till then.]

Without hesitation, she plucks out the darkest stone and holds it tightly between her preying hands. [Anne, I have not been able to keep track of your use of these stones, do you know how many you have used?]

Once the stone has released its spell Bibi asks her boots to take her close to Humphrey and Bronk. She then grabs one of her healing potions and drinks it down.

Bronk opens up a healing potion and downs it in 2 seconds. "Tastes nasty...but does the job*BURP*." he says.

He looks over at his unconscious brother and begins to tie him up(If he has time) just enough to where he won't get attacked from behind.

Then he readies for an attack!!!!

________

Flashback: A Few Turns Ago:

Thag trots through the passages of the upper level, having just left Snurre with the intruders--human scum. [See Turn 26.] Thag would grind their bones for his bread. And this provided him with the perfect excuse to be rid of Snurre. The King was betraying the Githyanki, a very foolish thing. By warning them, Thag could improve his position. He could also end up with Queen Frupy all to himself. If the King suspected their affair, Thag's time on the Wurld would end.

Thag does not go immediately to the barracks as ordered. He instead goes to the second level of the Hall and follows the corridor into the Githyanki section, to the very door of Thae-Rune Ibn's chamber. The door opens before he can knock.

The fire giant sees a figure lying on the floor wearing the robes of the dark one, and fear strikes him. Who could slay the Wrathgiver?

"No one," comes the answer to his question. Thag fe! els the telltale hint of an intruder in his mind, and concentrates to protect his thoughts.

Thae-Rune Ibn appears before him, either having been invisible or by teleportation, Thag does not know.

"Master," begins Thag, "Snurre has betrayed you and has allied with human invaders. They wish to slay you, I heard them. Snurre leads them to the Temple this moment."

"So," says Thae-Rune Ibn, "that is the disturbance I felt. Intruders. Humans. Doubtless that mage and his lackeys. Thag, your reward for serving me will be as great as you desire. You will be King of this mountain and rule the region from here to the Southern Sea once my people and the Dark Queen arrive." [The Southern Sea is the body of water south of the Free Cities.]

"Go gather as many fighters as you can. My knights shall accompany you, they are in the lower level, at prayer. Gather your giants, then find my knights and go to the Temple."

Thag quickly return! s upstairs. He arrives at the first barracks, and rouses the Fire Giant troops there. He does not tell them of Snurre's betrayal, only that they are to ready for combat and to follow him.

Thag leads the troops down to the second level, and encounters Snurre and the party there, just after they killed two Githyanki Guards. [See Turn 28.] Thag wavers in his resolve, and nearly decides to back Snurre and confess his conversation with the dark one, or portray it as though he was actually spying for Snurre. But Thag doubts Snurre would believe him. Then Snurre orders Thag and his troops off down another corridor, to free the Fire Giants kept in the dungeon by the Githyanki.

Away from Snurre again, Thag steels his resolve. "King Thag," he repeats to himself. Once out of sight of Snurre and the company, Thag alters course and heads to the lower level, where Thae-Rune Ibn's knights fast and pray.

The knights must have been expecting him, for! they are not surprised and seem to be ready to join Thag. Before they go, Thag addresses his men in front of the knights, standing with the knights to protect himself in case any of the Fire Giants attacks him for betraying the King.

"King Snurre has betrayed us all. He goes now to attack the Githyanki and bring their wrath down upon us," he tells the warriors. "We go now to stop him, before he gets out entire clan exterminated. Steel your hearts, for you may have to kill your brothers to save your mothers."

The gathered Fire Giants look doubtful, but the implicit threat of the knights and their mental powers cows them, or at least prevents any from openly objecting.

Thag continues: "We do not do this lightly, and you must trust me. You shall see for yourselves the betrayal of the King, and his alliance with Human intruders. He would sell our race over to them and the Human King to the south." Thag attempts to put resolve in his! voice, but it comes out sounding more like desparation. Still, the gathered Fire Giants do not object. Thag leads them back up to the second level toward the Temple.

Posting Instructions:Bronk and Humphrey are nearest Thag and the rest of his fighters, who came in the right hand entrance at the southren end of the Temple. Blade is near the tents, having just killed the cleric Guulirk. He has the stone in his pocket. Bibi is near the middle of the room, now on the floor. Mog is closest to Thae- Rune Ibn. Ghotu is near the middle of the room. Thag and his fighters are not yet entirely in the room, still filing in through the entrance foyer. Please note your hit points, some of the characters are becoming seriously injured. It takes a round to drink one of your Healing Potions; they heal 5d6 damage.

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