Online/Tabletop Session 55 (11/30/13)

*Giantsfall: The Storming of Ettenhead*
  
Aric (Saint's Day), Martenin 26th, 838 ID

After having gathered the loot and scouted about the ruined campsite for more signs of giant warbands, the PCs press on for a few short hours towards Ettenhead, when at last the denser forest passes into a vast East-West dell of rolling hills where the trees begin to cede, some of which seem to have been cleared down to the trunks. The PCs use Baro's spyglass to scout out the ruined stronghold ahead, and determine that it is indeed well populated with giant guards...ettins and brown bears on patrol, ogre, troll and hill giant troops within the crumbled walls. Ballyhoo's geased and charmed ogre companion, Mothlok, reveals what information he knows about the mysterious 'Titan of the Glen' who lives somewhere beneath the castle and the Vernal Wall, and also about the 'King of the Surface Ruin' who presides over the giants within the actual stronghold. They also notice a suspicious bush about half way between where they've stopped and the castle. They decide to rest and regain their spells, so Gruulsh takes watch. After a few hours, when darkness has fallen, a suspicious halfling stalks about their campsite, and then confronts the bugbear, telling a tale of his missing sister who has been taken by the giants. Gruulsh agrees to allow him to use their camp to rest and join them in the onslaught the following morning. Aylward and Mudgol are awakened by the chatter and the paladin makes sure this newcomer is 'alright', while the halfling, Gardner Thom, seems excited to be in the presence of the 'hero' of the realm, Mudgol the Undecided.

Tault, Martenin 27th, 838 ID

The PCs gear up for the assault on Ettenhead, but early in the morning notice a suspicious whirring sound from somewhere nearby. Unable to determine its source, they continue their plans, which are to send in the aerial paladin Aylward as a distraction and then teleport two groups into the midst of the castle, beyond the breached front door. After some quick buffing up, Aylward takes flight on Lightwing, and as he approaches he is struck by some flying rocks from the giants within! Taking their cue, the rest of the group teleports and the battle begins. The giants seem unsurprised by the tactic, having somehow known there was a group of enemies in the area, especially after the dire bat and paladin approach. The battle is tense and grueling, the trolls, ettins, hill giants and bears surrounding and beating on our heroes as hard as they can, but it eventually starts to sway in the PCs favor...until one of the ettins alerts a second group of giants, these led by the 'King of the Surface Ruin' himself, a massive, twisted fomorian giant wearing a crown of Eidolorn skulls and helms; coincidentally the brother of the fomorian killed the day before at the campsite, and more imposing. Strangely enough, the mysterious mind flayer that appeared not long before during the fight to liberate Floivin Castle, has once again manifested here, seemingly in cahoots with the giants...what is the connection?!

With this second group entering the chained combat, the fight grows far deadlier, and many of the PCs are brought to the brink of death. Once the 'King' is close enough to mete out destruction, the game changes. Fortunately, Ballyhoo and Mudgol have made use of dimension door and teleport spells to keep the most vulnerable and wounded party members out of harm's way, and they end up saving the day on numerous occasions. After being caught in Baro's vortex of teeth, the elusive illithid decides to gets its tentacles dirty and engage the Tour Taborlan evoker. Alas, the valiant paladin Aylward meets his fate, as the fomorian brings him low with a massive amount of damage that crushes him into paste on the courtyard earth. Enraged, the dire bat Lightwing, who had been sent away from battle to circle around and remain safe, reenters to avenge its fallen companion... but it too, is destroyed by a hill giant. In a last ditch, desperate confrontation, the 'King' also lays low the halfling Thom with another barrage of brute attacks, but then the behemoth is finally destroyed by Mudgol! An end is in sight, with no reinforcements yet arriving from the tunnel purported to run below the keep, and the PCs polish off the last handful of resilient trolls, ettins and hill giants that had survived this far. Unfortunately, the illithid, pressed by Gruulsh, manages to escape once more via plane shifting to who-knows-where...

The battle cleared, the remaining PCs begin to search through the ruins, finding and unlocking a number of iron treasure chests and a lost weapon cache that might have belonged to earlier residents of the stronghold. Mudgol finds a giant eagles' nest containing two unhatched eggs on one of the more intact towers, and decides to leave them along for a moment. Though Ballyhoo searches, there is no evident sign of the 'sister' of Gardner Thom, or any other captives. Simply a lot of old bones and corpses, of both giant and Eidolorn soldier, all over the place, some placed in overt positions as 'warnings', others just haphazardly tossed about. The heroes are beginning to wonder why they bothered with the place, but when repaired it does seem like it will be quite a substantial stronghold with access to Wintersbreath. Baro teleports back to Floivin Keep while Neddyn begins the process of using stone shape to block off access to the large tunnel running beneath one of the north towers. The other PCs bury their dead, and then examine some of the loot they found in the chests. One item is identified, a robe of stars! Back in the city, Baro contacts Commander Hoary and Captain Banghorn with news of the party's success, and plans to return the next day with another teleport, the Captain and a few engineers, while Hoary will commission a team of carpenters, masons and a handful of site guards to make the trek North and begin repairing the stronghold.

PCs: Aylward, Ballyhoo, Baro, Gardner, Gruulsh, Mudgol, Neddyn

NPCs

Mothlok (ogre male): An ogre bandit captured by Lord Ballyhoo, he stands around 8 and a half feet tall with a brooding underbite and large, but beady black eyes, unkempt mutton chops and patches of baldness on his greasy, long-haired head. Mothlok was drilled for information before the storming of Ettenhead, but was unfortunately slain in the battle itself.

Session 54 (11/8/13)

*Don't Reel in the Fish*

Ivric, Martenin 24th, 838 ID   

Informed of Lord Ballyhoo's intentions to seduce the local druidess Shayla, the PCs set about keeping themselves busy until the evening. Baro and Mudgol decide to swap spells with one another, and set about the 24 hour task, while Neddyn continues a string of theological arguments with the ignorant elves of the Reddenbalm and Roodeye clans. Aylward decides to start a dire bat taxi service, taking local children for a ride in the sky, much to their excitement. And to the rest of the party's relief, none of the children plummet off the back of Lightwing to their deaths. However, the gnome is quickly upstaged by Lord Ballyhoo, who summons a shadowy, unicorn-like phantom steed that he plans to use to impress Shayla. First, he decides to show off in front of the local children, snatching away their interest from the poor golden bat. He tactically taxis a young elf maiden through Shayla's farm, that she might see the bard's 'sweet side' (gods, what has become of my campaign?! - DM). As evening sets in, and Ballyhoo prepares for his final approach, the group reassembles around the tents they've set up (or been generously gifted).

Gruulsh is approached by one Visyo Reddenbalm, a local elder who wishes to recruit her and the other PCs away from the Last Eidolorn guard into house bodyguards for the Reddenbalms...after which their first duties will likely be to bully, thwart or otherwise trouble the Roodeyes. Gruulsh is not convinced entirely, but wishes to meet further. At long last, Ballyhoo makes his move, but all his attempts at seductive showmanship have failed, since Shayla was simply excited by the prospect of the Corellon bible that was gifted to her. In the midst of their...'heat', the elf transforms into a large black dog! Barking is heard throughout Littlewolf...

Evalais (Saints' Day), Martenin 25th, 838 ID

In the morning, two exhausted wizards continue the process of transcribing a spell from one another, and at the Swineherd's farm, Lord Ballyhoo awakens alone, to find patches of fur, claws, bestial teeth, feathers and other oddities lying about, which he doesn't recall from the prior eve's affair. He does the 'walk' of shame, in this case riding his phantom steed through Littlewolf, heckled by the locals who shout that he's not the first to have experienced the druidess' passions firsthand. Meanwhile, the rest of the party gathers, being sold sweetbreads and delicious, syrupy coffee by the local elf maids who seem to be the community's primary mercantile force...no doubt for their innocent, childlike charm. While the heroes are gathered together, they are all approached by one Silas Roodeye, who attempts to recruit them all away from the Last Eidolorn and into the employ of his family, as house guards and saboteurs (against his enemies, the Reddenbalms).

The priest Neddyn begins to bicker and argue with the elf, whose proposition is refused by all BUT Mudgol, who in a few minute break between finishing his spell transcription, accepts a bag of coin and signs an NDA with Silas for future employment and not to make any agreements with Visyo Reddenbalm. The half-orc is promised leadership over a cache of clan mages that will make the Reddenbalms tremble. The rest of the PCs, bored out of their minds, decide to get some additional rest, and let Mudgol and Baro sleep after the 24 hour ordeal is complete and they've finished their task.

Aric (Saint's Day), Martenin 26th, 838 ID  
 
The players rise early to at last begin their mission towards Ettenhead, after some parting words with the locals. They are not left with a positive impression of the elves, several questioning why they don't just let the fairie-kin to the giants' mercies (or lack thereof). After a few hours travel north and northwest of the village, Aylward and his mount spy a strange hill-like structure covered in thick, felled trees. It is surrounded by a clearing of likewise ruined lumber, much of which bears claw marks and other grim signs. There is a wooden sign out front of the structure, and several cavernous entrances into the hill itself, but for some reason, not a single PC can speak the proper language to decipher it! Gruulsh, made invisible by Ballyhoo, decides to approach, along with Aylward who chooses to land...as they get close, the bugbear is suddenly overtaken by terror and flees, refusing to go anywhere near the place. The PCs decide unanimously to skirt around the area and press on towards Ettenhead and the Vernal Wall...

After several more hours, Aylward spies a column of smoke rising from the forest ahead. As he swoops in closer to investigate, he is nearly knocked from his aerial steed by a hurtling boulder! Well, it appears the gnome has found the giants, or at least a roving warband. He returns to the party and they approach on foot, using the cover of trees to avoid any more flying stones of death. They engage a force of about a dozen ogres and trolls, led by a twisted fomorian giant, and a bloody battle ensues. The massive cretins manage to nearly fell our heroic mages, and various other PCs are put into precarious positions, but in the end, they emerge victorious, despite the regenerative abilities of many of their adversaries. Lord Ballyhoo even manages to lesser geas one ogre into serving him, which it begrudgingly does, though the other PCs do not trust the situation (after all, who says it will protect them?) After looting the treasure of the warband, which might in fact have belonged to the merchants in the area that were earlier murdered by the giants, the PCs stop to gather their senses before pressing on...

PCs: Aylward, Ballyhoo, Baro, Gruulsh, Mudgol, Neddyn

NPCs

Silas Roodeye (elf male): An elfin merchant with a shrill, annoying voice, Silas Roodeye has flowing white hair and a trimmed goatee both streaked with strands of gold. He dresses in fine silks colored like the Frail Forest he calls home, and possesses an unending loathing of his neighbors, the Reddenbalm clan, in particular their current patron Visyo Reddenbalm, who he has been at odds with for centuries. Walks with a cane.

Visyo Reddenbalm (elf male): The clever son of Herr Jaeger Reddenbalm, eldest elf in the Vernal Valley, who has recently taken ill during the siege of Floivin Province, and no longer fit to manage the day to day affairs of the family. Though his father was somewhat even-handed, Visyo despises his neighbors of the Roodeye clan, to the point that he actively seeks to thwart them. Frail and narrow-shouldered, he wears flat round caps, purplish robes and has a fondness for chocolate sweets imported from afar.