They continue careening around the understreet passages and continue slicing and dicing anything that seems like it might pose a tangential threat. It does seem that the opposition is getting a little more organized, for a fireball detonates in the group at one point. Well….how rude!

The response is disproportionate. Malchor vaporizes an intersection with a massive fireball and then they charge-shuffle through the narrow passages and encounter the temple guards. Mr. T brandishes his scary whacking stick and starts a retreat. As his opponents flee, he chases them and beats them savagely – to death in fact. Goldpiece tags along looking for an opportunity to kill something...

Reviving the giant is a bit of a mixed bag, but the application of a charm spell makes everything easy-peasy. Turns out that the fleeing refugees were supposed to regroup at a landmark known as the shrine. His party split off from the main group to deliver a message and they were headed back towards the river when they ran into the beholder.

Now, the group knows that everyone else is dead, but they decide to string the giant along for a bit to see if they can discover anything else. They do determine that the giants are communicating and organizing on behalf of a greater plan, but ole Barney Fire Giant doesn’t have many details. So, the group abandons him and proceeds with great haste via WindWalk and Fly spells. They cover a lot of ground in a really short time...

Deciding to fall back and recoup spells, the party retreats to the king’s chambers, deploys a rope and vanishes. When they descend, it is clear that there has been activity in their absence. The bodies of the fallen are missing, and it seems that there has been an evacuation of the upper levels. The party spends some time investigating the handful of closed doors that still exist and are rewarded by an attack from a crazed chimera. The menace is swiftly defeated, though some damage is taken by the indomitable Mr. T. A bit more searching reinforces the idea that there was a rather hasty retreat during the party’s absence.

Some magical scouting is undertaken and the lower level is also remarkably quiet...

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...

There is an interlude during which spells are cast and loopholes are explored. After some time, the group start looking around for the next set of evil to kill…and plunder..’don’t forget the plunder’ say the folks who are carrying enough wealth to bankrupt several small kingdoms without affecting the bottom line.

Anyway – they cast about ans discover that the threat from the west is not gone, but has changed in scope. It seems that a band of marauding hill giants have started attacking caravans bringing trade from the western nations to Cormyr.

Hmm. Encirclement? Is this another of Coburn’s tactics, or just some opportunistic giants seeking to capitalize on the situation? Who knows? Who cares? They must be stopped!
Off they go in their airship – floating above the hillsides and eventual...