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In attendance:

Note: This session continues the Mini-Dungeon, "Crumbling Hall of the Frost Giant Jarl", written by Andy Collins

Back into the Frost Giant lair. Kill the Jarl. Take the treasure. (More details to come)

Bigby arrives safely at the commune with Dru, the unconscious Roderick, and the body of Pavo. Sorgul is able to revive Roderick, who then is able to bring Pavo back to life - after trading a number of bloodstones with Sorgul for the diamonds necessary for his spell.

On his return, Pavo begins babbling about visions and coerces Roderick into transcribing the following tale he claims to have experienced:

   You awake from a sleep that you do not remember.  At first, you are numb and the
   world around you is silent and still.  But slowly your senses return, starting
   with the feel of a stone floor below you.  You are lying on your back, but your
   eyes refuse to focus.  All you can see is a gray, swirling fog, lit by a
   pervasive, but diffuse light.  After a few seconds (or more?), you realize your
   eyes are seeing clearly, but the fog blocks your view in all directions.

   Gradually, your hearing returns as you discern the howl of a wind in the
   distance.  Outside, a storm is raging.  But where are you?  How did you get
   here?

   The questions scramble through your mind, not finding any answers in the chaos
   of your thoughts.  You remember a wall.  The detail of the stonework was faded
   and old.  You remember others.  Friends?  Enemies?

   "Get up!"  A gravely voice commands from the fog.

   Some of your senses and memory snap into place.  You remember the underground
   hall.  The icy cold.  The giants.  And the great axe with a single-minded fury
   behind it.

   And then you remember the pain and the terror.

   You recoil instinctively, before realizing it is only a memory.  You reach your
   hand up to your shoulder, where you remember the great blade cutting deep.  But
   instead of a wound, you feel only the metal of your armor.  Your confusion
   remains, but the stillness of the fog around you and the warm, smooth, stone
   floor below combine to soothe your fears.  A deep, inviting sleep beckons.

   "I said, get up!"  A metal boot nudges your side, jarring you from your reverie.

   You roll your head to the side to see a dwarf standing over you.  His face is
   vaguely familiar, but you can't quite place it.  Your confusion has not fully
   faded, but after a frustrating pause, your mind finally realizes that he is
   waiting for you to respond.

   You try to get up, but find your body does not react as it should.  Eventually,
   after a few false starts, you manage to prop yourself up into a sitting
   position.

   Your companion glowers at you.  "Didn't bring my axe, I see."

   You see now that his armor is old and in desperate need of repair.  He has no
   visible weapon, and the cloth of his outfit is in tatters.  A thick layer of
   dust clings unnaturally to his beard and hair.

   "Come on," he continues.  "Clangeddin's field is a long march.  We'll need to
   get started if we're to make the next battle."

   A woman's voice rings from behind you, "Not today, Einerk."

   You turn to see a small, human woman in a sheer, white dress.  Around her waist
   is a black belt emblazoned in silver with a glyph you do not recognize.  Her
   skin is a deep, gold and glistens with moisture, causing it to cling to the
   fabric of her dress.  The details of her perfect breasts are clear beneath the
   fabric and your body reacts quite suddenly and surprisingly to her form.  She
   walks closer and you notice that she is pregnant, though she is just barely
   showing.

   Her hair is black and slightly matted by water.  She looks down at you with a
   gaze that is comforting and warm.  She smiles ever so slightly and your heart
   races, as if her happiness is all that matters.  When she speaks, her voice has
   a faint background hiss, like the sound of falling rain.

   "[[Pavo]] will be returning home soon," she continues.  Though she is addressing
   Einerk, her eyes remain locked on yours.

   You begin a greeting.  Or a question.  Or something.  But the fog of confusion
   that you thought had faded seems to remain.  Your thought sticks in your mind
   and refuses to leave your lips.

   The gentle smile fades from her face.  You feel a panic begin to crawl into your
   mind.  Have you offended her somehow?  Is she angry?

   She reaches down to you and places a hand on your shoulder.  The remembered pain
   fades, replaced with the sensation of warm water.  Her voice, with its gentle
   hiss of rain, calms your anxiety as soon as the words reach your ears.  "You and
   your comrades have a long, important quest ahead.  Einerk's axe is but a small
   portion.  More important are the crystals.  The enemy believes they were lost in
   the first age, and that he is safe from them.  And he is right.  But these are
   their children, and I do not believe he knows of their existence."

   Her gaze drifts away for a moment, as if a distant memory distracted her.  When
   she returns to you, her voice is stern.  "His battle with Chaos has not gone as
   well for him as he wished.  Therefore, his eyes are not on this world.  If the
   crystals are reunited, though, he will become aware of them.  Until that time,
   there is no urgency.  Please take your time to make it right.  The stakes are
   too high for failure."

   "The next one can be found in the crypt of Glali in the palace under Blanan.
   Your cousins on Thentao do not understand its role in their imprisonment.  Once
   that is explained, I suspect they will be glad to be rid of it."

   Her gaze once again leaves yours.  "Our time is nearly up.  [[Roderick]] is preparing
   to call you back.  Lie back and the transition will be smoother."

   Without hesitation, you do as she suggests.  But was that your idea or hers?
   She kneels at your side and leans over you, placing one outstretched palm on
   your chest.  Warm water drips from her hair and face, and still more from her
   hand.  You feel it seep around your armor and through your clothing.  Your
   muscles loosen and your eyelids droop.  In the distance, you hear a man
   calling your name over and over.

   In a flash, the pain returns.  Your muscles tighten.  The blood in your veins
   screams an agony for two heartbeats before your lungs have the energy to expel
   the scream they have had bottled up for what seems like an eternity.  You find
   yourself lying on a cot in a small, unfamiliar room.  Over you, [[Roderick]] stands,
   his holy symbol held high as he mutters a quiet prayer.

   "Thanks be to Imhotep!" he says as he looks down at you.  "Now, let's see what
   we can do about that wound."

The four rest at Sorgul's commune overnight, then attempt to teleport back to Clangdun to meet the others at the rendezvous point. However, something goes awry with Bigby's spell and they find themselves deep in the orc-infested mountains far to the north of Clangdun. Bigby manages to kill the only orc they encounter and then preps another Teleport spell. This time, it is successful.

Meanwhile, Aramil, Kesi, and Ursa hustled through the rest of the day and into the night to reach the safety of the Keep on the Borderlands. After a short sleep, they head out the next morning and reach Clangdun that afternoon, a day ahead of their schedule. They find Bigby and the others waiting for them.

With the party reunited and healed, it is decided that if the Frost Giants are to be cleared out, it is best to do it sooner, rather than give them time to improve their defenses. They head back toward the old city the next morning, August 13th.

On the afternoon of August 14th, the party pulls up and camps about two or three hours before reaching the Frost Giant's hall. They plan their assault that night and begin preparing spells. Bigby casts a long version of Mage Armor on himself, Kesi, and Ursa.

The next morning, Roderick casts a variety of protective spells on the party and surprises them by suggesting that he remain outside. His argument is that his spell complement will be used up by the protection and healing spells. While the rest of the party is unsure of the wisdom of this strategy, they agree and head into the icy entrance.

Immediately, they encounter their first obstacle: A Dispel Magic spell triggered from a Glyph of Warding. This negates a few of the protective spells, but otherwise does not slow the party down. Just beyond the glyph, two alert Ogres are on guard. One begins screaming a warning and runs toward the tunnel to get help, while the other stands to fight. A Frost Giant emerges from the guard room, but all three enemies are killed quickly before more are alerted to the party's presence.

After a quick trip outside to garner some healing spells from Roderick, the group returns into the tunnel. They find the body of the Cryohydra is still there, but are surprised when it shambles to attack. Apparently, it has been turned into a zombie. Since arrows are mostly ineffective and fireballs are too dangerous, they are forced to step up and kill it by hand. Once again, they succeed, but are wounded in the process.

Into the hall where the Jarl sat last time, the party encounters two Frost Giant guards waiting for them. In addition, there are six Ogres, one of whom is a skilled fighter. The Jarl, whose name they later learn is Gungir, rounds out the opponents. A colossal battle ensues. Skills are tested to their limits, spells fly, and what with one thing and another, the group is victorious.

Down a large hallway from the Jarl's “throne room”, the corridor is blocked by a convex stone wall. High up on the wall, a small hole has been formed which drives straight back about ten feet. It appears to be the work of a Stone Shape spell, but it leads nowhere. Carved on the wall, in Dwarven runes is the following inscription:

   In the year 706 of the third age, here
   King Bagnar, closed the doors of Kalin
   to seal in Qo'aycin, the usurper.  May
   she remain entombed in this prison of
   her own making for all eternity.

Down a smaller hallway are a series of rooms. The first few are unoccupied bedrooms, but the fourth is a trophy room, complete with mechanical and magical traps. Beyond that, the hallway begins getting much colder. The last room before the hallway turns a corner is where the Jarl apparently lived. In their now is a female Frost Giant and her guardian, a Dire Polar Bear. She sics the great beast on the party when they enter the room, but it doesn't last long. After a brief negotiation, the party allows her to leave alive.

The last door, around the corner, is encrusted with ice, and a magic emanates from behind it. The cold is so intense, though, that the party cannot stand to remain there for more than a minute or two at a time. Luckily, Pavo had discovered a magical ring in the trophy room which provided magical warmth. With that ring, a heavy axe, and a little fire magic from Bigby and the others, the ice is broken through and the door is opened.

Inside, the ice is a foot thick on the walls and floors, and the center of the room has some kind of ice mass, which is the source of the detected magic. However, the cold is much worse and even Pavo with his ring cannot remain there for long.

Still, the party's curiosity drives them on and after some planning, a few more spells, and more axe work, the ice mass is broken loose and the magical core extracted.

Though they have to drag it on blankets because of its intense cold, the party manages to take the ice outside. After much additional work, they reduce it down to a long, thin chunk of ice about a foot long and a few inches around. However, at this point, the ice reforms on its surface about as fast as it can be scraped off. Much bickering and debating ensues about what it is and how to learn more until eventually it is tossed into the camp fire. This seems to stem the flow of frost and a translucent white crystal about ten inches long and two across is revealed.

The Frost Crystal (as it is named) still produces magical cold and is painful to hold with bare skin, but when wrapped up in heavy cloth, it is stable and can be carried without obvious risk.

The group spends the rest of the day hauling the Giants' possessions outside, where they are analyzed and tabulated. The following list includes the items taken out on the party's first incursion into the hall:

Magic Items

• Crystal of Frost
• +1 light fortification breastplate
• +2 Warhammer
• Blue Steel Ring of Warmth (Endure Elements: Cold)
• Boots of Speed
• Cloak of Resistance, +2
• Circlet of Persuasion
• Headband of Intellect, +2
• Huge +1 Greataxe
• Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, 6

Money

• 1,492 gp
• 5,300 sp

Gems & Jewelry

• 144 Bloodstones (50 gp each)
• Intricately carved mammoth tusk (350 gp)
• Jeweled Helm sized for a dwarf (750 gp)
• 5 Leather collars, 10×100 gp bloodstones each (5,000 gp total)
• Platinum Bracers (500 gp)
• Silver Amulet (500 gp)
• Silver collar studded with small bloodstones (1,000 gp)
• 7 Silver collars (200 gp each)
• small art objects, 24 (137 gp total)
• Solid platinum torc sized for a Gargantuan wearer (1,500 gp)

Mundane

• Battered Crossbow
• Chain Shirt
• Crude map of the Long Deep (see picture to the right)
• Food and Ale
• Gargantuan Morningstar
• 8 Giant Bags containing all manner of foul things
• Huge Black Iron Greatsword
• Huge Greatclubs, 2
• Shovels, Picks, Hammers, and the like
• Skulls: Dire Bear, Frost Worm, Hound Archon, Large White Dragon, Several Dwarves

XP awarded: 3,625 for Bigby, Aramil, and Kesi; 6,125 for Pavo, Dru, and Ursa (who make 9th level).