D&D Session 52 - Giant Hunt
Pictured here is the players attempting to ambush Duke Zalto as he steps through the teleportation circle.
The party headed due south with their raw Korlaxis crystals aboard. After much contemplation, the party elected to fly straight to Wave Echo Cave to intercept and stop the fire giant lord, Duke Zalto, from overthrowing Gundren’s reign and accessing the magical forge. If the Duke were to be successful, he would be in control of a massive adamantine construct named the Vonindod. On the way there, there were some engineering faults which caused the ship to lose altitude and drop below the cloud level. Jericho, the gnomish engineer npc, accidentally left one of the aft furnace valves closed causing the descent. The alchemist NPC, Lea, came to assist in troubleshooting. While this was going on, Dirk the Bardish lookout sitting in the crow’s nest, spotted Iimryth right on their tail. Her attack was imminent as the bard whistled a tune that no one understand the meaning of. Its almost as if they should of discussed what this type of whistled tune means. Either way, it was clear the party was about to be under attack by the ancient powerful dragon.
The battle began with everyone scrambling to different tactical spots while trying to maintain flight. It was clear the party was outmatched by the dragon, but they had numbers and technology on their side so they stood their ground. Kratos fired a ballista round and missed while others moved into position to defend the Starstrider. Iimryth flew over to the side of the ship and unleashed a might bellow of her lightning breath attack, essentially downing Sokir in a single blow. She yelled out into the winds “Time to rid this world of giant bloodlines!”
Pictured here is the dragon Iimryth beside the Starstrider during the aerial battle.
Other party members took their attacks against Iimryth, with little success. Cecil, the NPC Pilot, spotted something in their heading. “There seems to be some type of anamoly up ahead!” he yelled to his crewmates. Lazimere attempted to use a charm scroll on Iimryth, but failed miserably. Attack after attack failed. Dirk realized they had to use smarter tactics. He cleverly casted phantasmal force, creating an illusion of Zariel, Iimryth’s daughter, near the aft of the ship.
Sokir succeeded his first death saving throw but then his conscious was whisked away into another plane. He stood near a cliffside, but the ground was immaterial, almost as if he was in a dream. Suddenly a massive ethereal figure rose up beyond the cliff’s edge. It was his deity, Akadi.
Pictured here is artwork pulled from the interwebs on the goddess Akadi.
Akadi spoke to Sokir, but he could not understand her. He did get the feeling that she was giving him a blessing of sorts, insinuating she is possibly watching him or maybe she approves of the good deeds he has enacted in the material plane. She waved her arms and Sokir was shifted back to the material plane, conscious on the middle deck of the Starstrider. His attention was forced over to the anomaly, to which he associated it with his Goddess - a gift from her perhaps. Cirdan ran over to him, poured a full serving of a cure wounds potion. Sokir stood up, and casted banishment on Iimryth.
At first, he thought he failed, as the ethereal myrmidons who appears and tethered the dragon’s limbs with magical binds could not hold her. But then, Akadi herself blessed the mortals with her presence as she reinforced his banishment spell as she mirrored the sematics that Sokir used to complete the spell. The myrmidons he conjured pulled the dragon from the material plane into another plane long enough for the party to escape.
Cecil piloted the ship straight into the anomalous portal, teleporting them approximately 130 miles east. While it didn’t affect their trip south too much, it ensures they are far from the dragon’s grasp…for now.
The party landed a mile north of Wave Echo Cave, synthesizing the remaining 270 pounds of raw korlaxis into useable fuel sources at a 10 to 1 ratio. Leaving the NPCs, aside from Yorik who scouted in bird form, the party moved out toward the cave. Yorik did not spot anything out of the ordinary from the entrance of the cave and returned to the ship. Ezio picked up a singular Fire Giant’s trail. Ezio led the way in his favored terrain against his favored enemy, like a predator with the scent of easy prey…but this was no easy prey.
The party spotted the Fire Giant hunched over in a clearing doing something on the ground. The party moved in, setting their marching order for the ambush. Ezio fired a paralysis arrow into the back of the giant, locking him into place while the rest of the party laid waste to him. The Fire Giant was able to break free from the paralysis, but not before Cirdan snatched the pouch he was reaching for which was later to be carrying the more complex spell components for the Fire Giant’s spells.
The Fire Giant conjured two magma elementals to aid him in the fight, but it didn’t last much longer as the party was able to deal significant damage to him. The Fire Giant released his conjured elementals and surrendered, begging for mercy. The Fire Giant explained that he was only doing what he was commanded to do because his family is at risk. Apparently, Duke Zalto is known to cull entire bloodlines of traitors and defectors. The Fire Giant wizard would never do anything which would put his family at risk, as he had already lost two children two Duke Zalto. He painted the image that Duke Zalto is a tyrant and his followers follow him out of sheer fear. He also explained that he had just completed a teleportation circle before the party ambushed him, and he intends to bring the Duke and his comrades through before the sun goes down on this day.
The Giant divulged that the Duke would be coming regardless. Either today, via the teleportation circle, and likely with only a small regiment of giants…or in 10-14 days with a much larger army. The party chose to keep the teleportation circle in tact. The party was also divided as to what to do with the giant. Sokir was against killing him, while others like Kratos wanted to put him out of his misery.
Before they could decide, a group of dwarves from wave echo cave came out, led by Gundren. After some revels and greetings, Gundren noted the Fire Giant prisoner the party had. “Oy, I say we tie ‘im up and put ‘em on the spit and cook ‘em! Giant meat is succulent!” to which caused many different reactions from the party. One of note was Sokir who was adamant about nobody eating the Giant.
After some discussion, it also became clear to the party that Gundren had changed. Known to once be an honorable dwarven businessman, that part of him no longer existed it seemed. The gold had changed him, and not for the better. He was arrogant, rude, and thinks he can just buy anything. The mercenaries who followed him were also bought and didn’t seem too loyal…except to the coin they were being paid. Gundren bumped heads with the party on all fronts. Eventually Kratos extinguished the Fire Giant’s life as quickly and painlessly as possible.
The final plan moving forward was to let Duke Zalto come through the teleportation circle and then have Lazimere close it as quickly as possible. Then, have Cirdan and or Slapchop move in and steal the conch and then have the party get close and then they use the conch to teleport…hopefully. The party set up for the ambush, eagerly awaiting the great Duke Zalto, the one who killed the Tiefling brothers.
Pictured here is Kratos on the far left, hiding behind a tree while the creatures poured in from the teleportation circle. In the center you can see Lazimere standing by to close the gateway as soon as Duke Zalto steps through.
Duke Zalto, the largest fire giant pictured here with a fire like neck guard, finally steps through the portal. Time is of the essence as the party must close the portal then subsequently steal the conch and then use it without bringing any unwanted travelers.
After the Duke steps through, Lazimere closes the portal and then retreats successfully. Slapchop moves in and attempts to steal the conch from Zalto’s belt, but fails. Ezio, with his keen elven eyes, shoots the chain that is securing the conch onto Zalto’s belt. The conch is flying through the air, possibly to hit the ground and shatter. Cirdan runs in full speed and dives for the conch, catching it just before it hit the ground. Zalto is enraged and unleashed several legendary actions, heating up the battle. Cirdan passes the conch to Slapchop as she runs by the corral the others. After some coordination and near deaths, the party gathers and Slapchop blows into the conch.
The party is whisked away, washing up on a beach shore in an unknown land. Seagulls can be heard overhead and the air is filled with a salty moisture. The sound of crashing waves, or a thunderous river, fills the air. The party has arrived in Maelstom.
Maelstrom art.
