Expedition 159: The Monstrous Child

**Expedition 159:** *The Monstrous Child*

**Date:** 22nd of Monova, the Red Week

**Roster:** Bea’Savac, Clarity Callisto, Ellie, Enkidar, Kel’Soveen, Ranag Uln

#### The Travels Before the Giantslaying

Enkidar and the Giantslayers of Ironwood went from the city on the high hill over the Stonegate Mountains. Many of the Giantslayers were born down by the gravity of the mountains, and struggled against the weight of the old stones. But Enkidar was not, because of his skill and his strength.

As the Giantslayers crossed the foothills of Torr’s Mountain, they found a statue of a mortal emperor, who had ruled a Kingdom under the Mountain, and had commanded his servants to build him a Tower so high, he could enter Heaven and make himself a God. His statue was tarnished and broken, and the Giantslayers took it and sold it for scrap.

#### The Preparations for the Battle

The Giantslayers hide among the rocks of Torr’s Mountain, where Enkidar’s Monstrous Child could not see them. Enkidar changed his form into a dwarf, to join them. In secrecy, they planned to slay the Monstrous Child.

Enkidar knew his Son’s strengths and weaknesses. He had carved the Monstrous Child from the bones of Sons of the Hills, the Caves, the Fjords, the Volcanos, and the Mountain Peaks. Enkidar Blasphemed against the Ordning, and took the souls of its sons whose bodies he carved, and twisted them into the Monstrous Child. And so the Monstrous Child was invulnerable five times over, in a pale imitation of the invulnerability of the Tyrant Himself. Only weapons forged by Gods, magic of the seventh circle, or a blow like that which felled Achilles, could free the Monstrous Child’s trapped souls and make him vulnerable.

But the Giantslayers and Enkidar knew this, and the Giantslayer Ellie bore the Hand of the Healer, and the Giantslayer Clarity wielded magic gathered from the town she ruled, and both could pierce the Monstrous Child’s invulnerability.

So Enkidar advised the Giantslayers to layer wait until the Monstrous Child came close, and then he would cast a spell of flight upon their warriors and himself, and Clarity would cast spells of evasion upon herself, and then, as the Monstrous Child passed their hiding place, they would teleport to surround him, and slay him.

#### The Monstrous Child

The Monstrous Child was incomplete. He had been made without the bones of a Son of the Storm, and this sixth of the Ordning was not with him. And he yearned for completion, and his hunger was misbegotten and voracious, and to satiate it he dreamed of eating all things.

Within Torr’s Mountain slept Tyrrunphal, who had carved the first Sons of the Storm, and who had Blasphemed against the Ordning, and carved herself into a new form. And it was written on the Rocks of Tarroc:

*She who brought the first giant of thunder to the world,*

*and who remade herself outside her father's sight.*

*She shall hatch a phoenix and in doing be bound to her fate.*

*When next she is taken by rest, the planes will quake at her waking,*

*They shall fall together and shatter against one another.*

And so the Monstrous Child went to force Tyrrunphal to complete him, and then to slay her and break the planes and warp the Ordning as he was warped. He strode up Torr’s Mountain to the fortress where Tyrrunphal slept, though he was confused and slowed by the world he was new to.

#### A Son Knows His Father

As the Monstrous Child approached the place where Enkidar and the Giantslayers hid, he sensed his father’s presence. But he could not see him, and called out for Enkidar and searched for him. Enkidar did not answer.

As the Monstrous Child searched and called out, he came closer to the tumbled stones where the Giantslayers hide, and Enkidar signaled to attack. And the battle was joined.

#### A Son Betrays His Father

As he had walked to Torr’s Mountain, the Monstrous Child had sparked a fire and commanded it to live, and breathed into the open sky and held his breath in shape. And the Monstrous Child bound his creations and made the fire and breath follow him as he walked, and they were with him as the battle began.

Among the Giantslayers was one named Kel’Soveen, who had a Flask made to bind creatures to a master’s will. And with great speed and alacrity, Kel’Soveen flew around the Monstrous Child, close to his breath. As the breath moved to fight him Kel’Soveen imprisoned it in the Flask, and bound it to his will, and the Monstrous Child’s breath turned against its creator and sought to slay him as Enkidar slew his father.

#### The Monstrous Child Does Battle

With Enkidar’s magic and the magic of a powerful device held by the Giantslayer named Ellie, Enkidar and his allies teleported and surrounded the Monstrous Child. Enkidar shed his shifted shape, but did not speak to his son.

The Monstrous Child lifted a great boulder, and put power into it, and hurled it up at the Giantslayers named Ranag and Bea’savac, and it broke with a crash of thunder and burst of fire and snape of lightning and gust of frost. The Giantslayers were dismayed. They struck the Monstrous Child, but their weapons could not pierce his invulnerability.

The Giantslayer Clarity, who still hid behind the rocks, and behind her spells, cast her magic and conjured up a great hand, with the strength of all the folk she ruled in it. And seeing this the Monstrous Child was frightened, for he knew it could harm him. But as Clarity struck, the Monstrous Child swayed away from her, and avoided the blow.

The Monstrous Child leapt from the earth with the power of the Clouds, and fell next to Clarity. Her spells of guarding failed for a moment, and she was vulnerable. The Monstrous Child lifted his Maul, forged from a fallen star, and brought it down on Clarity, and her mighty hand faded and she fell to the ground in pain.

#### The Hand of Healing Frees the Hills

As the Monstrous Child lifted his Maul again, Enkidar and the Giantslayers were filled with fear, for they had not expected the weapon’s power. But Giantslayer Ellie was the bravest of them, and it was she who the Healer had chosen, for her heart was good and her actions good. She flew forth and raised the Hand of the Healer and smote the Monstrous Child in his side. And the Healer undid the first Blasphemy that had made him. The Son of the Hills who had been carved to make him was freed, and for the first time in his life, the Monstrous Child bled. And he roared and cursed and bit at Ellie.

Seeing this, Enkidar and the other Giantslayers were heartened, and attacked together and made many mighty blows, with the lance Wyrmfeller and the Staff of Enkidar and the sword of legend, Glort. And the breath of the Monstrous Child also joined the fight and lashed out and struck its creator.

#### A Son Strikes His Father

Now the Monstrous Child felt fear for his life. He did not have experience with his fear, and it swept over him and he could not meet it. His fear twisted him as if he would die, and to endure he turned to anger. And in his anger he discovered hatred for his father, as Enkidar had discovered hatred for his father before him. And his hatred lent the Monstrous Child calm and wit, and with it he saw the ways of battle and set himself to the task of slaying his enemies.

The Monstrous Child lifted his Maul and struck Enkidar, and smote him to the ground. Enkidar lost his spell of flight, and the Giantslayers fell around him like drops of rain on the ground. And the Monstrous Child lifted his Maul again, and struck Enkidar again, and he was gravely injured and struggled to stand.

#### The Giantslayers Struggle Against the Titan

As the Monstrous Child smote Enkidar down, the Giantslayers rose to their feet where they lay. They were not new to the dire struggle, and the strength of their foe did not phase them.

Again Ellie lashed out with the Hand of the Healer, and again she struck true and freed a soul from the Monstrous Child, the Son of the Caves.

The Giantslayer Clarity called again on the magic of her town and her people, and she conjured again the great hand to strike her foes. And this time she struck true, and the blow she made was like Ingisar of Lap striking the Blue Khan, and the Monstrous Child was driven into the dirt up to his calves. The soul of the Son of the Fjords that had been carved into the Monstrous Child was freed.

And then the breath of the Monstrous Child flew up and struck out at its creator. And the breath of the Monstrous Child made a choice as it struck. For all of its existence, it was bound; first by the will of the Monstrous Child, and then by the Giantslayer Kel’soveen. But though it could not choose its actions, it could choose its feelings and its will. And the breath of the Monstrous Child chose to hate its creator for binding it, and to hate Kel’Soveen for binding it, and it resolved to fight for itself and not just at its master’s behest. And it struck the Monstrous Child at a weak point it had seen in his hide, known only to it, and it was a critical blow that made the Monstrous Child roar out as the soul of the Son of the Volcanoes inside it was freed. And by this blow Woosh, the Last Breath of the Titan, earned its name.

And the Monstrous Child was unable to match the fury of his enemies, and it was as if he fought a tornado of steel, and so much of his blood covered the ground that the Giantslayers waded through it to strike him.

#### The Monstrous Child Flees From His Foes

Enkidar raised himself off the ground and backed away from his son. He again cast a spell of flight on the Giantslayers, and they rose into the air.

The Monstrous Child was dismayed by the power of the Giantslayers. He leapt away, and attempted to run. His great speed outraced the Hand of Clarity and Bea’savac, though they turned against the fire the Monstrous Child had sparked and snuffed it easily.

The Giantslayers Ellie and Ranag had trained their focus and constitution greatly, and even the Clouds could not outrun them. Ranag took in their hands the lance Wyrmfeller, and shot across the field of battle like an arrow from a bow. And they smote the Monstrous Child in his heart, and their blow was flawless. The soul of the Son of the Mountain Peaks who had been carved into the Monstrous Child was freed, and the Monstrous Child’s invulnerability was broken, and he feared death.

#### The Monstrous Child Calls For Aid

The Monstrous Child swung out his Maul, and his blows were mighty, but he could not slay either Ellie or Ranag. The Monstrous Child called out for a servant of Xovreme the Terrible, whose name was Mogh the Loyal. Mogh was a brown dragon who lived on Torr’s Mountain and spent his days serving Xovreme so that he could bask in his master’s power and forget his own weakness.

Mogh burrowed up from the ground and flew into battle. He breathed out a sandstorm that covered Enkidar and Clarity. Clarity was protected by her wards, but Enkidar was not, and Enkidar shuddered and fell, and his magic faltered and Ranag and Ellie and Bea sank to the ground.

But Mogh had placed himself in danger, and Clarity turned her magic against him, and with one blow shattered his wing. And Bea turned herself into a great wolf, and leapt upon Mogh and savaged him.

#### The Monstrous Child Defies His Foes

Ranag and Ellie struck at the Monstrous Child, though they could only strike at his armor because they could not fly. But the Monstrous Child was weak and his blood covered him. He could feel his death creeping near, and his fear grew worse. And he turned it to hatred, for he knew nothing else. But his hatred could show him only how to kill, and not how to live.

The Monstrous Child held up his Maul, and called on the power hidden in it by Xovreme. And the star that made its head reawakened, and flew into the air, and at the Monstrous Child’s command grew massive, and swept down towards the ground as a great Meteor. And the suns were blotted out by the fiery star and the Monstrous Child proclaimed doom to his enemies.

#### Enkidar Strikes His Son A Final Blow

Seeing that the Meteor would strike the Giantslayers, whom Enkidar cared for, Enkidar struck out at his son. Using teleportation magic, he leapt across the battlefield and crushed the Monstrous Child’s head, and the Titan should have fallen.

But the Monstrous Child was born not of five Blasphemies against the Ordning, but six. For the Monstrous Child was born of a patricide, for Enkidar has slain his father Suldar when he was new from the kiln. Enkidar had defiled the Ordning to live and defiled the Ordning to create the Monstrous Child. The Monstrous Child had greater resilience than even Enkidar knew, and Enkidar’s blow could not end him. Only a magic as great as a God’s, or a blow such as that which struck Smaug from the Air delivered by a Godly Weapon, could end the Monstrous Child. For the will of the son who slew his father was in him, and the Ordning would not permit him to die.

#### The Giantslayers Prepare for the Meteor

As the Giantslayers saw that Enkidar could not slay the Monstrous Child, they turned to try to escape the deadly Meteor he had summoned. Kel’Soveen, whose heart was the least courageous, fled at great speed with his magic of teleportation and flight. Ranag Uln struck the Monstrous Child futilely.

The Archmage Clarity saw her friends in danger and was determined to save them all herself. She abandoned the wards that would have preserved her from the Meteor, and instead prepared to cast a powerful spell of teleportation to move the Meteor to a distant land as it struck. Even as she did so, her hand seized Mogh. He had remained loyal in the face of certain death, staying to strike at Bea’savac and Clarity. He was crushed to death before the Meteor struck.

Ellie had the powerful device she used to teleport, and she could evoke an anti-magic field from it, and she knew this would save her from the Meteor. She saved herself, and moved to preserve Bea’savac as well.

And the Monstrous Child grinned and saw his advantage and struck Ellie savagely, but though she was nearly killed, she kept her focus and the Aanti-magic field remained.

As Enkidar opened his mouth to cast a spell to move himself and Ranag Uln to safety, the Meteor struck.

#### The Meteor Strikes

The Meteor descended, and it was carved like Xovreme’s four heads roaring in triumph. The Giantslayer Clarity cast her spell of teleportation a moment too early, and the Meteor was not transported, and Clarity was smashed down into the rocks and fell broken on the ground. And Enkidar also fell broken from its force.

Ellie and Bea were preserved by Ellie’s anti-magic field. Kel’Soveen had fled from the fight and hid, and evaded the blast. Woosh the Last Breath was thrown skyward, but survived. Ranag Uln was struck by the blast, but they were tenacious, and they rolled through the fire and the rubble and stood up, and even the Monstrous Child was astounded by this feat.

#### The Giantslayer Ranag is Tempted

As they saw their allies falling while the Monstrous Child remained unharmed, Ranag Uln felt in their mind the spirit of the blasphemous weapon they carried, Mool’caz. The Aberration in the Axe demanded Ranag wield it against the Monstrous Child and promised that it could slay him. But Ranag Uln refused this, and struck the Monstrous Child without effect.

Ellie thought that only she had the power to slay the Monstrous Child among her allies. She raised the Hand of the Healer and struck him, but her weapon did not pierce his last invulnerability, and the Monstrous Child smote her down to bleed on the ground. And he also smote Enkidar where he lay, and he was near death.

Ranag Uln again heard the call of the Aberration of the Axe in their mind, and again they held their lance and struck at the Monstrous Child to no avail.

Then Kel’Soveen, who had been flying to her aid, healed Clarity and woke her, and Bea, who guarded Ellie’s dying body under her indestructible flesh, healed her with the Hand and woke her with the Healer’s grace, so the Monstrous Child could not easily slay her.

But the Monstrous Child struck Enkidar again, and he choked upon his blood and died. And so the patricide had died by patricide, and the cycle remained unbroken, and the Ordning was violated again. And seeing this Ranag Uln took up Mool’caz and hewed at the Monstrous Child but could not slay him, and with his staff, the Monstrous Child smote them down and broke their skull.

#### The Sleeping Giant is Awakened

As the battle advanced, Tyrrunphal stirred in her sleep. The striking of the Meteor had shaken her, and though she still slumbered, she reached out with her mind and touched it to Bea’savac’s, and asked if her aid was required. And Bea’savac said it was, and sealed the prophecy in place.

Now the Monstrous Child and the Giantslayers struck mightily against each other, but neither could overcome the other side. The Giantslayers could not break the nature of the Monstrous Child and his implacable will. The Monstrous Child’s blows could not fell the Giantslayers. Clarity mended Ranag and they rose up again, and Ellie held herself up, and Bea was trod under the Giant and took no harm from it. But the Monstrous Child could wound and weaken the GIantslayers, while the GIantslayers could not wound him, and it seemed they would slowly lose the battle.

Then Tyrrunphal teleported out of her prison, and assessed the battle for a moment. She raised her hands and cast a weak enchantment of sleep. And even I must compliment everyone’s favorite trans gamer girl on the idea, for neither the Monstrous Child nor Enkidar nor Xovreme had realized the Titan’s great resilience could be overcome by a novice’s simple enchantment.

The Monstrous Child collapsed to the ground, and was vulnerable. And without hesitation Ellie drove the Hand of the Healer into each of his six necks, and he expired, and the field of battle was silent.

#### The Dead Are Honored

The Giantslayers rested for only a moment, and then began to clean their wounds and their weapons. They begged Tyrrunphal to help them attend to the fallen Giants, and she did so.

Tyrrunphal spoke a blessing on the Monstrous Child where he lay alongside his dead father. She returned him to the Earth, and the Ordning took his twisted soul to mend it, for the Blasphemies that created him were rectified.

Tyrrunphal took Enkidar’s body and carried it into Torr’s Mountain, where she would Raise him from death and work magic to heal him from his ordeal. Thus he was saved from his fate by his allies and friends.

Tyrrunphal also took the Monstrous Child’s armor, once crafted by the Tyrant Gilgamesh, to melt and reforge into armor for herself and Enkidar, at the Giantslayers’ recommendation.

Thus the dead of the battlefield were attended to, and the Giantslayers returned to their home.

#### The Travels After the Giantslaying

The Giantslayers descended Torr’s Mountain, and found a great growth of Gorgon’s Balm, which returned life to things made into stone, growing from a crag.

The Giantslayers again walked through the Stonegate Mountains, and again were born down by the gravity of the old stones. They struggled forward, and one of them broke through a weak spot in the ground and stumbled into a tomb where old heroes had been buried. It had been looted and despoiled, except for one coffin. In it they found a belt braided from Rakshasa’s hair, which was very finely made, and they took it, leaving the old stones bare except for the dust of the dead.

They made their way back to the city on the high hill, and faced no more trouble along the way.

**Expedition Result:** Partial Success

**Expedition Level:** 24, Reduced to 23 due to a six-person party

**Expedition Loot:** Gilgamesh’s Fiend-Slaying Armor, made of eight units of Orichalcum and two units of Voidsteel, gifted to Tyrr. A silver statue of Emperor Torrson worth 300gp, given to Lin’selda in compensation for recharging the Nexus Key. A unit of Gorgon’s Balm plant. The Belt of Rakshasa’s Grace.