Session 11 -- Solving A Giant Problem

Finnean Tornfellow told the party that there were two ways of reaching the Gloomspring Court. They could go through the hills for most of the journey and then travel through the forest for a shorter period of time, or they could avoid the hills and travel exclusively through the forest. The forest would be slower travel than the hills, but the hill giants who inhabit the hills have been hostile and acting strangely in recent years, so the halflings just avoid both the hills and the forest whenever possible.

The party opted to make quicker progress through the hills and then cut into the forest. As they passed through the hills, they saw two parties of giants but were able to evade detection. When they finally entered the forest, they saw the Shrine of the Hills surrounded by a fort manned by more giants.

The party turned north and entered the forest. After an hour, they got the sense that they were being watched. As they looked around, one of the trees took a swing at them. They were being attacked by two treants and two dryads, all suffering from some kind of blight or corruption. Instead of attacking, Tiv used Cure Disease to heal one of the dryads, who expressed gratitude and melded into her host tree. The party decided to run, knowing that the other dryad could not follow and that they could outrun the treants. Finnean led the party in the direction of the Gloomspring Court as they ran from the treants, and they dived into the burrow he pointed out.

They were immediately surrounded and captured by the Gloomspring faeries. King Shroudbane was initially dismissive, but eventually agreed to tell them where he sent the children if they could secure access to the Shrine of the Hills for the Gloomspring faeries. The party initially offered to negotiate with the giants, but Shroudbane said he would be just as happy if the party killed them. He didn’t care how he got access, but he was tired of having to maintain a truce with Queen Titania and have her do the kidnapping for him.

On the way back out of the forest, the party met the treants who had been tracking them through the forest (it wasn’t difficult for them). A fight ensued, and the treants got a few good hits in before being brought down by the party.

The party made its way back to the Shrine of the Hills and the hill giant outpost. It was a large earthen ring fort with a boulder serving as a gate. Vedica used her disguise skill to make a ghillie suit out of her cloak. She advanced while invisible in order to eavesdrop on the giants and then retreat after the invisibility wore off. While she was doing that, the rest of the party observed from a hiding place. Finnean noted that the giants were not acting in the strange manner that the hostile giants had been, and Murchad used his military tactics skill to realize that such a fort was not created to keep out tiny invisible faeries that could fly. In his estimation, it was most likely that the fort was made as a defense against other giants.

When Vedica returned, she told the party that she was unable to understand most of what was said, as the giants had their own tongue, but they seemed to be acting normally (for giants) and preoccupied with watching to the east.

After much consultation, the party decided to try approaching and talking to the giants instead of attacking. Jack volunteered to approach the giants, and he got them talking. The giants said they would protect the shrine from the mortals as much as they had been protecting it from the faeries and the “spider giants” to the east. The party asked about the nature of the “spider giants,” the giants told them that some of their brethren had come under the sway of Lolth, the Drow spider goddess. There is a shrine to her that corrupted the giants who came into contact with it.

The giants questioned why the party would want to rescue one group of children while giving Shroudbane the means to abduct more of them. When Tiv asked if there was any way to grant Shroudbane temporary access so that the party could get him to divulge the location of the children and then block his access again, the giants refused. They said Shroudbane was not to be trusted, and anyway, he didn’t have the children. He had given them to the Dark Elves (Drow) who passed this way with them on their way to take them back to the Shadowfell. The giants offered to tell them where to go to try to catch up to them, but they wanted the party to help break the curse over the spider giants first. They told them of the general location of the Lolth shrine (none of them there had personally laid eyes on it). The party would have to desecrate and destroy it to break the curse. They also allowed the party to camp within the ring fort to heal, replenish spells, and the like. Tiv also performed a ritual to ask her patron, St. Michael, how they can protect themselves from the malign influence of the shrine. She did not get a response in words, but all members of the party could feel a warm and comforting glow inside their chests, and each knew they were already protected.

The party set off at sunup. On the way to the shrine, they ran into a hostile party of hill-giants-turned-spider-giants, and battle ensued. There were two giants with clubs and a shaman. The party took quite a bit of damage, but they were able to heal up afterward and decided to press on.

When they found The entrance to a shallow cavern nestled among the hills, partially obscured by foliage and rocks, they realized they found the shrine. Inside the dimly lit cavern, filled with ancient carvings and an eerie atmosphere, an ancient altar pulsated with malevolent energy at the center.

The shrine was a large, open cavern with a circular pedestal made of black marble, surrounded by eight marble columns supporting a small dome -- the dome and the columns fashioned to look like a spider and its legs. Shadowy figures flitted around the altar.

The party came face to face with two shadow mastiffs and a shadow fey sorcerer. The shadow mastiffs were large, black, dog-like creatures with sleek shadows instead of fur that seemed to absorb light. Their eyes glowed a menacing red, and their sharp fangs and claws were clearly visible as they snarled. The creatures moved with an eerie, silent grace, almost as if a part of the shadows themselves.

The shadow fey sorcerer was a tall, slender figure clad in dark, flowing robes that seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly darkness. Its skin was pale and its features were sharp and angular. It had long, silver hair that flowed like liquid moonlight and eyes that were pools of inky darkness, revealing their connection to the shadowy realms.

The party engaged all three figures and were getting the best of the mastiffs when the sorcerer let loose with magic missiles. After bringing down one mastiff and landing a few hits on the sorcerer, the sorcerer let loose a lightning bolt that caught the entire party for 6D6 damage. Only Tiv passed the saving throw, and Dwårfy was down to one hit point. After another round of combat, the sorcerer cast mirror image, and all of a sudden, there were three of him! Tiv cast hold person, causing the false versions to disappear, and the party dispatched the remaining enemies while they were paralyzed.

Tiv cast remove curse on the altar, after which the party smashed it, dumping holy water on the rubble. Treasure was found in the form of an elven cloak, a magic bow, some more arrows of fire, and a ring of invisibility.

Upon returning to the giants’ ring fort, they gave the party directions to the Swamp of Ineffable Gloom. There, by use of the Temple of Gloom, the Drow transit back and forth between the Feywild and the Shadowfell. The giants warned the party that the swamp actually sits in both the Feywild and Shadowfell simultaneously as a nexus of sorts. There is a figure, Granny Crabapple, who may be required to help the party make use of the temple to cross over. She lives in a hut that roams about the swamp on giant chicken legs. They told them that there was also a place, far to the southeast, known as The Cave At The World’s End. It contains winding tunnels, but one can enter it in the Feywild and exit in the Shadowfell, as well as a few other locations.

The party must now weigh its options and decide how best to pursue the Drow who have the children.