Session 23 Recap

You awoke on the northern hillside overlooking Bowscale Tarn. The weather had cleared, and Duala was able to look through here Necromantic Glasses of True Sight and see that the island on the lake was in fact a very large dragon; perfectly still. You briefly considered attacking this sleeping dragon, before heading towards Hanging Fang Hill in Hammerkill. As you neared, it got warmer and warmer until you were standing in the shadow of Hanging Fang Hill. You climbed some very large stairs (with Flint finding this particularly difficult) before you entered a large cave and descended below Hanging Fang Hill. Inside this cave, you saw evidence of giant carvings in the rock, and you could hear the clang of hammer and steel in the depths. You soon encountered a gigantic circular staircase winding its way down around 200ft towards a circular room illuminated by a channel of molten metal or rock. You nimbly descended the stairs and on reaching the bottom you saw several fire giants tending to huge furnaces; crafting Adamantine weapons. One of the giants spotted you, and demanded you face him in a 1 on 1 fist fight. Dapi stood up to face him and the brawl began. A group of fire giants gathered around to cheer on the combatants. Dapi seemed to be getting the better of the fire giant due to his slippery, oily body being hard to grasp, until the fire giant pushed Dapi over, grabbed him by the foot and suspended him upside down over the channel of molten metal. Pelios made a bet with one of the nearby fire giants that Dapi would be victorious and Duala created a spotlight of light on herself - for no reason. Dapi was in a precarious position, but she managed to leverage her body weight over the giant and performed an epic suplex that knocked him unconscious. After her victory, the giants were happy allowing Dapi to speak to their leader, Blazom, and they led the party to the Fire Giant's Throne. On the way, Pelios received an Adamantium Longsword from the giant as a prize for winning the bet. The party soon found themselves in the Fire Giant Throne Room where there sat Blazom, Chieftain of the Fire Gants of Hammerkill, upon an exquisitely crafted, extremely impressive golden throne inset with several jewels. Blazom talked with Dapi and agreed to transport the adamantine weapons to Aligars Fist in exchange for the 1000 shiny discs.  Pimone tried to Mage Hand the Gold to him but all of the giants were angry and Pimone dispelled the spell, spilling all the gold on the floor. Kildrin and Pimone picked up the gold off the ground, and Kildrin asked if he could trade his scimitar for an adamantine weapon. Blazom laughed uproariously and threw the scimitar 100 feet away into the darkness. The party demanded a receipt, so he slashed Dapi's arm  as evidence of their transaction. You asked Blazom if he liked to play cards(because one of the Deck's of Many Things is a Giant Deck)  and he answered that they liked to play "Bones" to gamble, thus you surmised, the Deck isn't here. Pelios also sensed there was an ancient, mysterious magic around the home of the Fire Giants. Pelios tried to warn Blazom about the Dragon on Bowscale Tarn, but Blazom didn't believe him. He consulted with one of his elders, who agreed there hadn't been any dragons around here for hundreds of years. Blazom agreed to give a favour to the party if they bring him this alleged head of the dragon and then laughed out loud in  disbelief. You also reported the Winter Wolves being in the area and Blazom ridiculed you and said there were no White Dogs in Hammerkill. You then took your leave of Blazom, with Dapi considered a friend of the fire giants,  and set off to hunt the Winter Wolves. On attempting to ascend the giant staircase. Pimone slipped and fell 100ft. He managed to grab onto a ledge but caught his fingers in a crack and his three middle fingers were ripped off, before he hit the floor with a sickening crunch. Barely concsious, he watched as Pelios retrieved the fingers and attempted to reattach the middle one using a Mending spell - but the spell wasn't entirely successful as the finger was attached the wrong way round. Duala surgically removed the finger, and they agreed to store it in a potion of healing. Pelios filled one of his Blood Berries with Gnome Blood and then refused to give the remaining two fingers back to Pimone, and Dapi took great umbridge with this. An argument ensued, and while they were arguing Duala managed to stealthily take the fingers and give them back to Pimone. Pelios realised the fingers had been taken and ascertained it was Duala who took them, and was truly furious. Duala attempted to make him feel better by explaining the fingers were Pimone's, and he should have them. She explained she wasn't trying to hurt Pelios, only help her fellow gnome, who'd just fallen 100ft and nearly died, had three fingers ripped off, had one finger replaced poorly, then removed again, had his blood stolen, and then his fingers stolen. Pelios still seethed.

The party then took a rest in the warm cave above the Fire Giant's domain. During this rest, Duala had a vision of the Goddess Kali. before heading out in the morning. Stuff was able to pick up the scent of the Winter Wolves, and you followed the scent back toward the Hinterlands of Tiamut's Maw. You travelled for approximately a day, before the terrain became more mountainous, and you found yourselves back in a cold, snow blasted environment. You followed the scent to a cave hidden deep in the mountains. On approaching the cave you discovered the Winter Wolves were accompanied by a Frost Giant, who hesitantly introduced himself as Curbor Icebeard. Once you had agreed not to attack him, he revealed he had been banished from the Stone Giant City of Cut'mahard for bringing upon them the great evil they know only as "Art Killer" - a great beast that seemed to chew through solid rock and had been destroying their city. He strongly denied having any involvement, and stressed he had been banished due to his being a Frost Giant as opposed to a Stone Giant. He just wants to live quietly and not disturb anyone with his pet Winter Wolves. He invited you to rest in his cave overnight and you all bedded down for some much needed rest.