18/08/2020 - Rocky the Representative, Fantastic Fellberg and Tackling the Trials

## TL;DR

* The party investigates the stuff they stole from Frederico's tower and learn about the Perpetuum Ring.
* After a long rest, they head up the mountain and come across three teenage Stone Giants. Narko and Leo attempt to parley but it doesn't go well, so Rocky takes over and is much more charismatic.
* The party are escorted inside Fellberg to see the Yarl, who is initially unimpressed though appreciative to them for bringing the stuff back.
* Almost singlehandedly, Rocky convinces the Yarl that the Stone Giants should help the island, and the Yarl agrees - IF the party pass the Giant adulthood trials.
* The first trial is of wisdom, and after playing with a dimension box, Azurial nearly gets squished. They pass anyway.
* The second trial is craftmanship, and the party make a lovely stone replica of The Wildmane.
* The third trial is physical prowess, and the party plan...

## Frederico's Fancies

As the party settle down for a long rest, they take some time to investigate the things they took from Frederico's tower. Rocky pulls the sapphire out of his trousers, shines it off, and places it back where he had been storing it.

Narko spends some more time looking at the book of Rune Magic that Frederico wrote, and Breena examines the potion. She identifies one as a Potion of Stone Giant Strength, but cannot completely identify the other, though she knows it is something to do with Giants as well. Leo makes fun of her for not knowing but he can't identify it either.

Azurial reads the books on ancient history that they stole. Most are fairly standard - books on the island's history, some on the initial Post-Breaking era. He learns that the island used to be warm and tectonically active and there was a volcano here. At the bottom of the pile he finds a book entitled "Speculations on the Existence and Whereabouts of the Perpetuum Ring (Read Ye Not Lightly!)". The book is handwritten, in the same hand as wrote the Gilded Diary. As he opens it, he is almost overcome with the same rage as encompasses the Aurora, but manages to control himself.

The front page has a diagram of a ring shaped like an ouroboros with red eyes. There is lots of speculation and retelling of myths and legends. The ring appears to give the wielder the power to control the minds of creatures and the ability to bend them to their will. The ring is necromantic in nature but requires life to power it. The author then speculates where the ring could be in the modern day, but it is very vague. They speculate that it must be somewhere very remote as it would have a large effect on the surroundings and any inhabitants. There is also some thoughts on how to control the power if a person ever came in contact with the ring.

Breena spends some time reading the arcana books and finds that they are heavily focussed on sorcery - specifically Wild Magic and Sea Sorcery. There are a mixture of outside books and books seemingly written by Frederico. Then she plays with her fire rune a bit, and the party settle in for a long rest.

## Teenagers Are Terrible

After a cold night, Narko is left exhausted. Pierce offers to set him on fire to warm him up, but Narko declines as he doesn't think it would help much.

While the party pack up camp and start trekking up the final stretch of the mountain, Narko asks what the play will be when they reach the Giants. Rocky says that as he and Narko speak Giant, they should do the talking. Leo points out that he speaks Giant as well. Narko says he is a follower of the same gods as the Giants so that could be an in. Pierce wonders what we would do if the Giants are atheist. Ves asks if the rune artefacts were not supposed to be the way in, and Leo agrees that they should probably lead with telling the Giants that they are bringing their stuff back.

Rocky presents the plan that the party show the Giants their stuff, back away and then they are at a distance if the Giants decide to fight and are respectful if they don't. Everyone agrees this is a good plan. Rocky is impressed with himself as that doesn't usually happen.

As the party gets closer to the peak of the mountain, they can hear something that sounds like thunder, or rocks crashing together. Breena wonders if the party should be stealthy and Narko is against it, almost agreeing with Leo that they should sing some Giant hymns, but Ves reminds them that Aravae had told them to tread lightly when approaching the Giants. They decide to go quietly but not stealthily, with the Giant speakers at the front.

Leo asks if anyone knows anything about Giants. Caitlyn, who had done some research, knows that Giants are generally not very nice. Stone Giants are more pleasant than other types, but they are not friendly to surface folk all the same. Breena is dubious about her usefulness against Giants. Leo tries to encourage her with a story about David and Goliath, but that just confuses everyone more, as the Giant being named 'Goliath' is a little silly.

Ves is very cold.

The party eventually decide not to split up and to stay together. They crest the peak of the mountain and see three 13-14ft tall Giants speaking to each other. Leo translates that they are young giants, teenagers, making fun of each other about some upcoming trials. They are in a bowl shaped arena throwing rocks at each other, which reminds Rocky of when he and Bayul played death catch. Narko thinks approaching them will be easier as they are children. Ves disagrees. Teenagers are the worst.

Narko nevertheless goes in with a HAIL FRIENDS (in Giant). Leo plays it cool. The Giants do not hear them. Feeling a little awkward, they decide to try again exactly the same. This does get their attention luckily! Unfortunately the Giants think the party are pirates and run back into their city, raising the alarm.

The party follows, and decide that Rocky should try doing the talking this time. Ves gives him Eagle's Splendor to give him a boost. They follow the Giants into a large cavern, with steps taller than Breena.

Rocky leads the party in some masterful negotiations in the cavern, showcasing his knowledge of Giant. Ogg, one of the teenagers, wants to smash the party, but is convinced not to by his friend after he sees the run artefacts.

It is decided that the party will be taken to see the Yarl. Horns sound, and the back wall of the cavern opens up. Ten 18ft adult Giants come through and the party is cautiously escorted through the doors.

They are taken to a stone slide which descends into the mountain. Ves and Breena sit and slide down together. Rocky, Leo and Azurial attempt to copy the Giants and slide down standing up but all trip and fall and crash into one another. Pierce Spider Climbs down. Caitlyn goes down on her bum like a normal person. Narko goes down on his knees (ouch!) but is steady and gets down without issue.

## Welcome to F(j)ellberg

As you pass under the towering archway a bridge extends forwards that stretches out into the far distance, a pathway over what opens out to be an incomprehensibly immense cavern. Colossal stalagmites the width of buildings rise all around from the base of the cavern over a mile below, thrusting up to peak another half mile above the bridge you’re on. The stalagmites are all linked together as nodes in a complex 3-dimensional network of bridges just like the one you’re on but smaller, and you see giant forms lumbering between them and into hollows cut into the rock - each apparently a structure unto itself.

Glancing to your left, this city of bridges and spires appears to be mostly lower down. A path from where you are stood leads to a particularly dense cluster of these stalagmite buildings that seems to depict a busy market district, while even further down, two extremely stout and well fortified towers appear to guard a broad opening at the very base of the cavern, into the black depths beyond.

To your right, the stalagmites rise higher and constructions are finer and more elegant. Two sights catch your eyes here. The first is a monumental rock apparently connected to nothing in particular, nonchalantly ignorant of the force of gravity. Emblazoned on the rock, above what appears to be a front door and next to some windows, are various runes, first and foremost of which is the stein (stone) rune. The second sight is a winding construction that snakes down from a point in the cavern wall above and behind. As you follow it down past your eye level, you see that it is filled with flowing water that is distributed through the city via innumerable smaller channels. The main canal then passes back around into the wall of the cavern to your left, into another green luminescent doorway and out of sight. Further down along the same wall, still to the left, you see a stream emerge from yet another opening and cascade in a winding white ribbon to the base.

Directly in front, about half a kilometre away, the broad pathway stretches out to a central, very substantial and highly ornate stalagmite that appears to have had other structures and platforms built onto it. It clearly represents a centre of power. This doesn’t hold your eye for long, however.

The gargantuan visage of Annam the all-father, high god of the giants, stares at you with monolithic eyes of granite from behind this central structure, dwarfing it in sheer vastness. Surrounding his imposing form are other divine figures, the largest of which resembles a stone giant chiselling a mountain range from the earth itself. Extending from them around to the left and right, coating huge swathes of the cavern wall, is a flowing 3D fresco telling countless tales of the giants history. Dotted all around this magnificent stone canvas like ants are the moving figures of grey giants, roped up and busy at work. The cavern rings with the clinking sounds of their labours as they either maintain the largest sculptures, add sublime and ornate details to the surrounding patterns, or otherwise immortalise thousands of smaller deeds in their race’s history with yet new carvings. All this you see and hear as you enter Fellberg, the city of the stone giants.

*[ED note: thanks Ben!]*

## Meeting the Yarl

The party are led across the central bridge to where the Yarl holds court. She is seated on a throne in the centre, surrounded by stones with runic carvings on them. They are led to a circle which has the Giant rune for 'friends' carved in it. The Yarl is a tall woman with a Giant-sized gavel, also with the Giant rune for friends on. She asks who dares enter their land.

Rocky explains that they have come to return the relics and they share a common enemy with the Giants, and uses Minor Illusion to make an image of Frederico. Unfortunately, the party have not yet dispatched with the penguin, so they are here to make amends and ask the Giants for assistance.

To verify their claims, the Yarl calls in a 21/22ft tall Giant, stooped over and covered in runic iconography. He introduces himself as Narrowbones and asks for the artefacts. He takes them and starts to mount them on the carvings behind the Yarl.

The Yarl tries to dismiss the party but Leo asks if the Giants could help them with finding out what is going on with the island, causing it to have wild magic and change climate. While the Yarl originally states that their affairs are their own and letting the party in even is a massive risks, she concedes that they will offer their help if the party can pass their Trials.

## As Swift as the Coursing River

The Yarl leads the party out of the hall and back up towards where they came from. The Yarl explains that the Trials are made to test the three cardinal virtues of the Giants. The first virtue - and the first challenge - is wisdom. The party are beckoned in to a large, dark room and the double doors close behind them and vanish.

Ves druidcrafts a torch alight, and they are given some illumination. In the centre of the room, there is a large metal box - 10ft by 10ft, made of mithril, with no obvious opening. There are 2 buttons on opposite walls, each 30ft in the air, with rune markings saying 'PRESS HERE'. Narko investigates but cannot see that they are trapped.

As Pierce still has some Spider Climb left, he climbs up the wall to one button, and Rocky throws Rosie at the other. Though they seem to press at the same time, the buttons are still and do not budge. Ves guesses that if they were at a Giant's height, they might see something different, so Narko lifts her on top of the box to have a look. Surprisingly, she is right, and on the far wall there is an indentation about 6-7ft off the ground, which she points out the others.

Breena sits on Leo's shoulders and they go to investigate. The opening is a couple of feet wide and doesn't seem to match up with anything else the party has seen. Leo goes to push it, and feels the back depress.

When he tells the party this, Azurial tells him to keep his hand where it is, and they try and hit the buttons again. Despite an absolute wallop from Rosie, the buttons still do not budge. Rocky thinks Rosie hit before Pierce did so Pierce goes to Leo so he can be guided. Breena asks Ves if she should not get off the box, if this will open the box. Ves is sure she'll be fine.

Rocky inspires Pierce and so with that guidance - the buttons still do not press. Leo asks if someone should try and move the box while he is pressing the button. Rocky throws Rosie at the box and when it again fails, he wonders if this is perhaps a challenge that cannot be solved by hammers.

Breena asks if there is something on the other wall, but Ves cannot see anything. Having grown bored of having his hand in the wall, Leo releases the button and the wall follows his hand out to become a box. However, something unlatches to the left and a stone golem steps out of the wall. It runs forward and smashes the ground in front of it, appearing blind to the party's whereabouts. Azurial readies himself anyway,

Leo thinks they should make the stone golem hit the buttons. He and Breena investigate the box he is holding and it turns out to be just a normal box. Inside the box, however, is a replica of the room and a number of small figures - who look just like the party! Breena pushes the buttons inside the box and find they press easily. As she does so, a massive flesh-coloured blob descends into the room in the real world, scaring the shit out of Rocky.

Pressing the buttons makes the walls of the centre box fall away, and Ves with them. She falls to the floor, narrowly missing the pillar that is in the centre of the box. The pillar has a button with a stone rune on it, and Narko hits it with his hammer. This does nothing but break the button. Ves tries to mold earth, but cannot generate enough force so there is just a lot of dirt and pebbles on the button now.

Meanwhile, the party are reminded that the stone golem is still a thing when it runs straight into the wall. Leo reaches into the little box and plucks the stone golem figure out, and the stone golem vanishes from the real world. Leo now has a wriggling miniature stone golem in his fingers. He comes over to Ves and slams the stone golem on the button. As he does so, the stone rune and illusion within the box fade, much to everyone's disappointment.

There is a deep rumble and the party jump as the side walls begin to move inwards. Rocky will not be fooled again, and confirms that this is definitely not an illusion. Azurial tries to use brute strength to slow the walls down but it doesn't work, nor does Ves hitting the button again. As they come closer, the party can see that there is an indentation in the wall the size of the central box. Therefore, if they are within the box, they will be safe when the walls come in. Ves is already in the box, and Rocky, Narko and Breena join her, but there is little room after that.

Rocky throws Rosie at the big buttons just in case, but nothing happens. Leo sees everyone panicking and casts Calm Emotions. The walls come ever closer. Ves does a quick Detect Magic to sense a room wide aura, before she runs out of the box and casts Meld Into Stone, vanishing into the walls and freeing space in the box.

Azurial pushes Leo into the box as the walls get to 5ft apart and flies as fast as he can towards the open ceiling. The walls come closer and closer in, and Azurial can feel his breastplate starting to scratch against them, when they stop and start to move back outwards. As they do, the doors the party came through reappear and open.

When Azurial lands, Rocky asks if he pushed the button. Azurial says, no, he just flew straight up. Narko notes that they have either passed the test because they were wise enough to get inn the box, or they have failed. Ves staggers out of the wall and asks if everyone is okay, and then explains to a confused Rocky that she had been inside the wall.

The party leave the room and are greeted by the Yarl, who tells them they made sacrifices wisely and did not tear themselves bloody trying to escape, and have passed the test. Leo says Azurial was very brave, and Azurial and Narko think Bahamut is smiling upon them today.

## The Force of a Great Typhoon

After the 3 teenage Giants have taken their wisdom Trial, the party are lead back through into what was an empty chamber, which now has 4 lumps of stone in it. The Yarl explains that the second virtue of the Stone Giants is craftmanship, artisanship, their ability to turn something ugly into something beautiful. They have 2 hours to craft the rock into whatever they wish. Around the room, there are many carvings displayed from previous entrants in this trial, on many different themes.

Rocky has an idea, if the Giants want to see something beautiful, and asks what is the most important thing to all the party stood here. Leo says Rillifane, the Leafy Lord. Rocky says close, but no cigar. What brought the party together? Archaeology, offers Ves, with hearts in her eyes. Leo suggests adventure. Rocky is thinking more literally. What literally brought them here? Narko follows the thought process, and says the ship.

Finally, Rocky says. They can carve a wind rune on the sails, and water runes on the bottom, and - sick waves, offers Leo - little figurines of the party and the rune for friends on the deck. Leo thinks this might be kind of corny, but Breena can see some corny statutes on the shelves and thinks it'll be fine.

This great plan is dampened when the party realise literally none of them know how to carve. This cannot stop them though! Rocky and Narko will try and bash out a rough shape and then Breena will do some of the detail work. Leo asks one of the Giants if they have any scrap metal he can use for some detail work and after some consultation they agree and go to fetch some.

While waiting for Rocky and Narko to get the rough shape, Breena makes a music box which plays a sailor-y song. Ves makes some clay from the earth and some Druidcrafted water and begins to mould little figures of her friends. Azurial usefully poses for her, wistfully looking out into the distance with his hair blowing in the non-existent breeze. He catches everyone's attention.

The Giant sent to look for metal comes back with a large selection of stuff for Leo. He starts to Channel Divinity, and meditates for the next hour, seemingly doing nothing. At the end of the hour, a selection of gilt engravings and additions appear in front of him which are added to the sculpture. Breena's detail work goes a little off on one of the runes, but they are able to cover it up with one of Leo's additions. Azurial cuts off a strand of hair and threads it through the 'Wildmane' name on the side of the ship and casts Light on it. Rocky is incredibly charmed.

As a final touch, Rocky takes the sapphire he stole from Frederico out of his pants and, after cleaning it a little, places it in a ring to use as the steering wheel.

Everyone congratulates themselves on a job well done. The other three Giants have made, respectively, a sculpture of Fellburg, a massive stone working warhammer and an ornate pillar covered in elemental runes.

The judges come to inspect the ship sculpture and are impressed by it. The party are given the nod of approval, and have passed the second challenge! Ves wonders if they can take the sculpture with them, but Leo and Narko advise her they should leave it for now.

As the rest of the party head off for the final challenge, Rocky hangs back and successfully steals back the sapphire.

## The Strength of a Raging Fire

The final virtue of the Giants is physical prowess. The party are led up the stairs, out of Fellburg to a large open platform, which gives a 360 degree panorama of the island.

There is a field across them, with 8 stone giants stood on the other side with massive boulders. To ascend to the realm of the stone giants, the Yarl explains, all they have to do it get to the other side. Every movement will trigger a boulder.

The party look at each other, determined, and start to come up with a plan.