The group assembles a dithery plan that eventually has them scout the island via invisible druid in raven form – which establishes the presence of a stone outrigger anchored at a set of docks. Aforementioned ship is crewed by what appear to be stone giants. No other obvious egress is seen, aside from the numerous gas vents and lava tunnels – but many of those seem to be quite active and as such would seem suicidally dangerous to explore. Notes are taken. The plan is amended a few times and adjusted to fit then launched. Approaching invisibly, the mages unleash potent spells that slay the door guards swiftly and silently. The door is investigated and found to be unlocked, but massive. Luckily, there is a spell for that and the door swings open. A long hallway beyond is lined with tall tapestries and flickering torches. As the hallway is traversed, at one point they pass a concealed sentry position and the sentry shouts the alarm while attacking the middle mage, Malchor. Luckily there is a spell for that too and he is unaffected by the severe clubbing he receives.
At this point, the lead elements of the party are peeping into a massive hall, guarded by two-headed giants and lit by the flickering torches and flaming gas vents. Sitting in a huge throne at the far end of the hall – apparently waiting to receive visitors (I wonder if using the teleport chain alerted the place?) – is a massive fire giant and his honor guard. Packs of devil-hounds roam the area nearest the throne.
The raising of the alarm precipitates one hundred seconds of pure mayhem. Ivan snuffs a pinch of the powdered berserker rage from his snuffbox, wields the mace of terror and charges the front line of giants, hoping to break their formation. He is trailed by Cosmic and Goldpiece, while Malchor and Elulyn cast preparatory spells and Malchor uses his slippers to climb the walls and move to the highest point of the ceiling. From here, the honor guard and the hounds charge, the giants maintain a partial line of defense and the place erupts into a maelstrom of melee and magic. Although the giants are hearty, the harassing hounds cannot approach Ivan the Terribly Scary. The honor guard sets up a good defense, hurling damaging axes at the party and moving forward in a tight military formation with overlapping tower shields of giant size. Clad in full plate mail, they pose an impressive threat – and an excellent conductor of electricity!
The mages unleash a barrage of electrical spells that arc from giant to giant and generally soften them up for the subsequent attacks from the fighters. Some reinforcements start to appear from an adjoining passage as the alarm is relayed deeper into the complex. Magic missiles rain into the shield line and Malchor’s elevation makes it possible to isolate and slay the fire giant king with a stiff middle finger of death. He drops like a sack and this sorely tests the morale of the survivors. There is a surprise in the form of a few giants bursting into the hall from behind a concealing tapestry, but a prismatic spray and a series of attacks puts an end to that particular incursion. Goldpiece ends up with a shattered pelvis, but his batwing cloak allows him to move towards the rear for medical assistance. The berserk Ivan charges around, engaging all friends and foes that are within range. A squad of reinforcements falls victim to his blades and the rest flee in terror. As the berserk energy finishes coursing through him, the group retreats into the main hall and surveys the slaughter. The mages start their vulturial scavenging process – but there is no real time to invest beyond a quick once over with magically enhanced sight.
They turn and move behind the tapestry, exploring a short hallway and discovering the honor guard’s barracks and the king’s private chambers. More hellish hounds await them, but the combined effects of mace and tentacles from the Crown of Stars cause them to flee through the gauntlet of adventurers. They escape into the complex and the group quickly surveys the area, and pockets the pocketable magic items they see. They reverse course to the last door and when it is opened, they are in a large hall, only lit at the end from which they enter. Advancing, they are ambushed by the queen and her chambermaids. The cornered giants flight fiercly but once again, the digit of death is applied. This time it is the queen that is felled by Elulyn. With that, the momentum of the battle shifts. Elulyn convinces Cosmic to try and bludgeon one of them into unconsciousness so the group might question the chambermaid. That eventually works out, but Ivan picks up a crippling wound…that is healed in the next 10 seconds so all is well again.
Another quick search of the chambers for items magical and they move on into the complex. They move along, finding council chambers and a lounge area. They are moving along at a good clip when Malchor suggests an arcane exploration might be a good idea. Within seconds his glowing visage is traveling the halls. He scouts barracks (deserted) and rooms that seem to have been swiftly depopulated. He eventually finds a door – barred from the outside at one point, but now in splinters and surrounded by the corpses of four fire giants. The room beyond is richly appointed, as for a guest. A guest that now stalks these halls? One that has fled? What great evil (or good, might be good) have they unleashed this time? Wait, we didn’t unleash it! Pontius Pilate would be proud!
The head descends and eventually encounters life. Dark elves, were-rats, squads of gnolls and a sizable contingent of fire giants are forming up on a deeper level of the complex and they are alerted to the floating head. A group of the lycanthropes follows the head as it continues exploring. Malchor sees cells and a torture chamber and more branching hallways and a multitude of doors that bar his passage before the spell expires.
Looks like there is still some heavy lifting to do.
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