Opalia was smashed against the wall by a giant left smoldering by a huge blast of druidic flame, leaving her barely clinging to consciousness.  Arvid finished off that foe, which collapsed to reveal a mammoth trampling over the magical giantess?!  She had seen mammoth herds roaming the northern tundras, but it was incredible to see one here in the shadow realm fighting an enemy!  As Opalia's vision began to fade she felt a familiar forge-warmth coursing into her with revitalizing effect.  She couldn't even see the legendary FIREBEARD in the chaos, but resolved to give him the BIGGEST hug later.

It seemed that the mammoth and mighty CORA had the magic she-giant handled, so Opalia turned to the last survivor of the three huge foes.  This one had tried to squish VALAKU, and that was not acceptable.  Snarling, Opalia charged the giant with a smashing blow from Frostfall, forcing it back and away from little friends.  Following after the staggering foe, she clobbered the giant again with the goal of finishing it off once and for all!

---

• Received a total of 46 healing from Fergus, wow!!! <3
• Move to H2
• ATTACK Giant in I3 twice, dealing bludgeoning damage instead of cold
  1. Hit 20 AC for 12 damage
     • Bonus action Shield Master shove!  22 Athletics contested by giant's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics), or be pushed 5 feet to H4
     • If the shove works, move to G4
  2. Hit 26 AC for 11 damage (rolled w/ possible advantage, but first roll was higher anyway)
• If that Giant died, then use remaining movement to close distance with the magic giant

16:02, Today: Secret Roll: Opalia rolled 12,11 using d8+6,d8+6.  Frostfall damages 1 & 2.
16:02, Today: Secret Roll: Opalia rolled 26 using 2d20+9, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 17,3.  Frostfall attack 2 (advantage?).
16:01, Today: Secret Roll: Oplia rolled 22 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 11.  Shield Master shove.
16:00, Today: Secret Roll: Opalia rolled 20 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 11.  Frostfall attack 1.

Following fast on Opalia's heels, Arvid resolved to finish off the remaining brute at their side before joining the melee in the shadow of the dragon shadow.

Spending another Ki to flurry.

1) Hits AC 22 for 9 force damage
2) Hits AC 15 for 8
3) Hits AC 26 for 10
4) Hits AC 25 for 9
R) Sentinel strike hits AC 10 for 9 if triggered

11:40, Today: Secret Roll: Arvid Signeson rolled 9,8,10,9,9 using 1d6+5,1d6+5,1d6+5,1d6+5,1d6+5.  Damage.

11:40, Today: Secret Roll: Arvid Signeson rolled 22,15,26,25,10 using 1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8.  Attack.

The anatka was concerned for Opalia, Arvid and Valaku, for she had seen the havoc these yeti could unleash with the powerful blows of their hammers.  But she felt between the three of them they could stop the one they had surrounded.  Her bigger concern was the sorceress, even though Cora and Caell seemed to have dealt a strong blow themselves.  Still, with magic at her command they could all be a mere instant away from a frozen death.

Sliding out of the corner Sikuaq positioned herself to strike at the fallen sorceress without endangering her companions.  Then she spread her fingers and let the flames come into her eyes again, commanding a sheet of flames to spew forth and char their enemy.

OOC:

Move to E1-ish (depending on exact positioning of Caell and Cora).
Cast Burning Hands, targeting sorceress.  DC 16 DEX save for half damage.

21:47, Today: Secret Roll: Sikuaq rolled 10 using 3d6.  Burning Hands damage.

Opalia clubbed the beast before her with the heavy head of her Fergus-forged maul, then, having thrown it off balance, shoved it backwards over the tool-strewn table. Obsidian and half-finished weapons scattered as the giant bellowed and crashed to the ground, where Arvid delivered several swift blows.

Meanwhile, Sikuaq turned her attention to the woman in the center of the room. The druid's eyes glowed red as she engulfed her adversary in flames. The giant shrieked, but when the smoke cleared, she was still standing (barely). A thin laugh escaped her charred lips. "Fools." Her voice was loud but had the low, dry quality of a whisper. "You should never have come here. You thought you could defeat Kinak on his native realm?" She cocked her head as if listening for something, then laughed again. "You are too late."

Frost gathered at her fingertips, the words to another spell forming on her lips. An obsidian arrow from Valaku found her heart before she could invoke the elements, however, and with a final scoff, she collapsed.

Seeing his leader defeated, the final giant gave up the fight. "[Language unknown: Pehat a pl ati sesi,]" he dared the goliath and the Northman looming over him. "[Language unknown: Di eica wholmi menela.]"

Sheathing the starbound blade, Cora looked around at the party

"Well, quick and painful seems to be the way of things. Anyone seriously hurt?"

She looked up at Caell

"How long can Caell stay like that?"

Caell made a booming trumpeting sound, answering Cora.

With that said, he was likely going to have to change back before that. He was too big to get through the doors here. Then again, other than the doors they had entered, he wasn't sure there were any place to go from here.

He stood still while waiting for the others to deal with the final giant, ready to stomp him should he make an aggressive move.

Fergus rose from kneeling with vision still slightly blurred. He shifted his attention to the standoff between the Arvid, Opalia, and the final giant. He sensed the mammoth ("is that really Caell?") poised to intervene should things turn violent again. That reassured him slightly, although the growl he heard previously from the door to the north did just the opposite.

Opalia loomed over the fallen giant whom she'd toppled through a table of tools.  The grim set of her expression faltered when the giant spoke back, and she had a moment of conflict. She smashed the remains of the table next to the giant and snarled, [Language unknown: "ICHEARTIO sianpa mifi tin la prtho ponde, avewe ou pant fo eles nidin sepohe forurever!  Ntut k eauentfor eeni REDCOMPROTER arel i lelo ort!  Si linentkor nceratoun m lin eiie ers..."]  The heat had gone out of her words by the end of the tirade, and she glanced worriedly over as her comrades finished off the cold sorceress.  Hearing the last words, Opalia turned back to the fallen giant to ask, [Language unknown: "Ofce m UR STROM?  Ati resse a ome ican TINAVEREA?"]

"You can no stop storm." The hairless yeti-giant laughed, a booming sound interrupted by coughs. It had clearly sustained some injuries during the fight, not least from being thrown over the work bench by Opalia. The creature began to sit up. "Storm come to your world. Drown all weak little peoples." He stared Opalia dead in the eye as he said this, making clear that to him, even she was a weak little person.

Although the giant did not elaborate on the what or how of that plan, Fergus recognized this workshop for what it was. The giants were crafting magical items like the sword Fergus himself had worked on, items capable of opening a portal between the Shadowrealm and the Mortal. There was no telling how long they had been at it or how many such items they had created, but judging by the thousands of shadows that were converging on this mountain when the party arrived, Kinak had big plans. Plans that, if the giant was to be believed, were already in motion.

"All storms blow over eventually," Arvid replied. The Northman was showing the weight of his injuries and held his ribs where the giant had clubbed him. "Kinak is no different. Cold fuss and bluster, but when the wind stops howling the tundra emerges. The mountains stand unmoved."

"Whatever Kinak has promised you is as graspable as air. You will get nothing for your loyalty and less for your life. I does not have to be this way."

When the giant began to sit up Opalia shoved him roughly back onto his big butt and stabbed a finger into his chest with a growl, "Watch who you do call WEAK.  Big one who bully small peoples to feel bigger does make themSELF small.  The truly MIGHTY protect those less strong.  KINAK hides in dark-land trying to bully WORLD, while we fight a long way to chase HIM to his SAD-MOUNTAIN."  The giantess thumped her breast with a fist and added, "Say again which one is WEAK."

Assuming the giant did not say something else moronic to earn an immediate squishing, Opalia demanded, "What does growl to NORTH?"  She referred to the alarmingly loud roar that had thundered through the workshop not long ago, from the general direction of the strange alive-clouds behind the walls of the cave they had entered by.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:26, Sun 10 July 2022.

"They're forging magical keys," Fergus explained. "Enchanted to open a portal between the this horrid place and our home... just like I unknowingly did for Gralen 20 years ago. Only they're producing scores of them here. They could release shadows all over the North."
"It's the thing that was spitting lightning at us back there," he motioned to the room where the giants had forged the weapons. "You got a look at it through that tube, Opalia. Any idea what it was?"

He shook his head with a wince, trying to subdue the feeling of daggers stabbing behind his eyes. "And if we have to fight it, I'm afraid Uncle Fergus will be of little help. I've asked too much of the Great Mountain already."

The giant laughed at Opalia's question, answering only, "The storm growls."

While the party collected themselves, Valaku put an ear to the door leading north. "There's nothing in there," he reported, with a confidence borne of several human lifetimes spent tracking prey. "I am not doubting what you saw, Opalia. But whatever it was is gone now."

The giant laughed again. "Too late," he repeated again. "Time for little peoples to drown."

Sikuaq laid a hand on Valaku's shoulder.  "Good work," she said, refering to the door and the departure of the prowling lightning cloud.  The anatka wasn't sure if that was Kinak directly or another underling, but to be left in peace for a moment was fortunate.

Not so for the remaining giant yeti, defeated but unrepentant in the face of his conquerors.  "He will not renounce the evil of this place, nor revoke his support for the plans of his master.  There is but one reward for such shameless cleaving to despotic rule."  She spoke to the group, not just to Valaku, though the memory of an ice cave on the tundra of the Qopol Qalak readily came to mind.  This time around however, Sikuaq was neither torn nor remorseful about her decree.  "Put him out of our misery and let the gods choose his soul's torment, lest he make further trouble for us in our mission."

"Then we can be about our business," she concluded, glancing back to the door leading through the northern wall of the chamber.

Opalia loomed glowering before the collapsed giant, her fist clenching in anger when he spoke of drowning little peoples.  As Sikuaq made her wise pronouncements Opalia thought of Mother Signe, of brave pale-elf Enooya, of Bigley the funny dwarf-guide, of Farra and Keth with the children of Ruldheim, of bold Lucagash of Guthluthic, little Alan the hopeful climber, of Mother Olva and Father Dag Sixstones...  KINAK meant to drown all of the nice and good folk, and this NOT-NICE giant would laugh about it.

The moment the words 'Put him our of our misery' left the anatka's lips, Frostfall smashed the giant's skull against the wall with a meaty CRUNCH.  Opalia wiped blood from her weapon on the dead giant's rags, then kicked the hulking corpse over and stalked away.

Pacing the chamber and still fuming, Opalia growled, "Where next?"

Fergus watched Valaku as Sikuaq spoke, fully expecting the stoic guardian to carry out the anatka's order to finish off the remaining giant. To his surprise, it was  Opalia who carried out the task, flashing Frostfall with a rage he had seen in the goliath only once before. He shifted his weight uneasily. Seeing the normally cheerful giantess in such a state was discomforting.

Arvid laid his hand upon Opalia's bicep as she strode past. "I think here," he said, quietly. "We must catch our breath before there is nothing left of us."

Opalia nodded grimly to Arvid, feeling glad for his reassuring touch.  It would be good to have respite after the hard fighting that brought them here, though she wouldn't admit it aloud.  The giantess found a position to sit watch upon the northern door until they were ready to move again.

---

Should our short rest go uninterrupted, spend 5 hit dice to heal a total of 38 HP:

• 09:02, Today: Opalia rolled 8 using 1d10+3.  HD 5.
• 09:01, Today: Opalia rolled 7 using 1d10+3.  HD 4.
• 09:01, Today: Opalia rolled 7 using 1d10+3.  HD 3.
• 09:00, Today: Opalia rolled 8 using 1d10+3.  HD 2.
• 09:00, Today: Opalia rolled 8 using 1d10+3.  HD 1.

Little of what the giants were working on was complete, the pieces they have finished having presumably been consumed by Kinak for the god's dark purposes. One of their hammers appeared to be particularly fine, however, and several of the pieces were close enough to finished that Fergus might be able to complete the work during the party's rest. In addition, the raw materials could be valuable in their own right.

As the party rested and searched the room, they heard the beating of wings and footsteps in the chambers from which they had come. Three Quinichiat entered the chamber, their pale faces somber. Verena Kowichuk was known to the party as a powerful druid in her own right, yet she seemed the most junior of the three.

Also with her was a bare-chested, square-jawed man clad only in a fox pelt loincloth. He was in tremendous physical shape despite his advanced age. His eyes shone with cunning as he took in the dead giants and ransacked workshop. "Impressive work," he said. His tone remained flat. "Kinak has escaped to the Mortal Realm. But you forced his hand, and we waylaid his shadows. He was not able to bring his entire army with him. He still has his orcs, of course, but others of their kind have formed an alliance with Gruundelhim. We believe you aware," he added, a hint of disapproval creeping into his voice. "Hopefully they can hold him off a while."

The woman who seemed most senior did not introduce herself. Her hair was white, but her face was unlined and ageless. She wore the white furs of the great bear, so that the only color on her body was her shining green eyes and the blood red berries on the crown of brambles she wore around her forehead. "You have done good work," she said, addressing Sikuaq most of all. "We will take it from here."

The man, noting the sword Cora carried, approached the half-orc and indicated for her to turn it over to him.


Everyone can take a short rest. You find the following:

[*] A chest of raw obsidian ore
[*] A smaller chest of precious gemstones
[*] +1 maul. If the maul is on your person, you can call on its luck (no Action required) to Reroll one Attack roll, ability check, or saving throw you dislike. You must use the second roll. This property can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Fergus may choose to make one of the following:

[*] Suit of +1 obsidian plate armor (like adamantine, but also provides resistance to fire damage - shatters if hit by a critical hit)
[*] +1 obsidian shield (provides resistance to fire damage - shatters if hit by a critical hit)
[*] +1 obsidian dagger (obsidian provides an additional +1 to damage. On a hit, afflicts an additional 2d6 fire damage)

Cora took the goat meat which was being prepared and set to work over the hour roasting and preparing it, using a small pot of butter and herbs she had prepared in Gruundelhim to season and baste. It seemed right, with danger looming, to prepare a traditional fortifying dwarven meal

"There we are Uncle Fergus. Remember when Aunt Darna would make goat stew? I'm sorry we don't have time for sauce and bread and beer, but roasted goat will have to do."

When the warrior approached her for the sword, she looked at him with a grave eye, washing up her tools as she did

"You're intending to open the portal? Or are you asking me to give up the blade?"

The Quinichiat woman smiled and cocked a fluffy white eyebrow. "Both," she said, her smile coy, though there was nothing playful about her tone. "The trinkets you have looted you may keep, but that sword belongs in the hands of the Starbound Alliance. You will accompany us through the portal and assist in defeating Kinak."

Some time near the end of their rest, Caell shifted out of his polymorphed shape and back into his own. It was probably for the best, as a mammoth could eat more food than even Cora could cook.

He sat resting with the others, talking quietly when the Quinichiat came. He watched and listened, not really liking the tone they took, although they were figures Caell knew deserved the utmost respect. Cora and their entire fellowship deserved respect too.

The chance to rest even for a short while was welcome, and as always Cora's cooking was well worth the wait.  "If your roast is this good Cora, I will wait anxiously until I get a chance to try that stew!"

Sikuaq was surprised by the arrival of Verena and the two top members of the Druidic Council.  She quickly schooled her expression and tipped her head down in deference to the newcomers, most of all the venerable woman in the white bearskin.  Such relatively meek behaviour was unusual to see from the anatka, at least in the experience of her companions.

At the praise given, she dipped her head a bit lower and then answered politely.  "We have given much, Mother of the Council.  I am pleased it has been worthwhile."  When the talk turned to accompanying the trio back to the mortal realm and carrying on against Kinak, she spoke again.

"Once we return, what would you ask of us?"

Fergus watched in amazement as the mammoth transformed back into Caell. He shook his head in disbelief. "That was quite the, trick, laddie. You never fail to surprise me."

Cora's stew made the pounding in his head subside within the first few bites and even his trick knee seemed to ache less when he finished his serving. He gave his niece a hug. "Thank you Cora, I feel like I'm not a day over 180 now!"

With his growling stomach satisfied, he went over to examine the materials left behind from the giants. He concluded that he could forge the obsidian into a shield and started at once, first crafting a hammer that wasn't the size of a giant, then using it to transform the obsidian. As he finished, the Druidic Council appeared.



Fergus bristled at the thought of turning over the blade to the Quinichiat, who had previously advised against wresting it from Gralen's tomb in the first place. "Now all of a sudden they need it? Typical pompous entitled elves. It belongs to Cora now. She can get us back to Gruundelheim just as well as they can."


He gave Cora a nose-wrinkled look, but didn't say a word, content to hear their response to Sikuaq's more elequently phrased question before he protested.

OOC: Fergus is ready to call foul, but wants to hear their response to Sikuaq before he interjects.

Updated OOC: Fergus will make the +1 shield from the available obsidian.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Tue 19 July 2022.

After all the trials they had endured in this dead land, a meal of finely-roasted goat came most welcome.  As Opalia gnawed the last bit of gristle off a rib she said appreciatively, "Little CORA gives remembering of ALIVE-lands by this yum-taste, and it is GOOD."  The giantess had been in a grim mood after the encounter with the evil giants, but the tasty meal had brought her back to some measure of good cheer.

Opalia arose to her considerable height to meet the pale-elf visitors, out of a defensive instinct at first.  Upon sighting wise anatka Verena the giantess inclined her head and thumped her breast in the Skykeeper warrior's gesture of respect.  She looked to the other two as well, making no effort to hide her admiration of the man's impressive strength.  He was perhaps even almost as strong as Opalia herself.  The woman in the berry crown had a mightiness of presence that was not to be denied, either.


Opalia frowned at this and came to stand by Cora in support.  Crossing powerful arms, Opalia stated simply, "All here are STARBOUND friends, and we all fight to stop KINAK togethers.  There is no better wielder for this weapon than mighty CORA.  OPALIA, perhaps, but I do prefer squishing weapons."  The giantess looked the burly Quinichiat up and down, then challenged, "With respect to wisest pale-elfs, any who think themself a more-worthy wielder of STARBOUND sword must prove it.  Any less would dishonor this GRANDEST weapon."