As time resumed, combat continued. Still frightened, our heroes managed to kill off the tribals and found a magical amulet in the spoils, as well as some gems. They then examined the door, which was frozen shut. They suggested Harshnag take a running charge at the door to see if he could make it through. He tried this and slammed right on through.
Our heroes entered a large room that had statues in it. In the middle was Annam, the All-Father, high god of the giants. Surrounding him were the statues of his sons, each a god in his own right, the progenitor of one of the giant tribes. Each one was looking towards Annam.
Skoraeus Stonbones, god of the stone giants, holding a stone boulder.
Thrym, god of the frost giants, with empty arms, appearing to be missing a weapon.
Stronmaus, god of the storm giants, holding an adamantine trident.
Memnor, god of the cloud giants, holding a mithral spear.
Surtur, gof of the fire giants, holding an iron greatsword.
Grolantor, god of the hill giants, holding a bone greatclub.
Our heroes also saw an archway, with runes surrounding it. Starting from the bottom left, and following the arch, the runes were Haug (Hill), Skye (Cloud), Ild (Fire), something, something, and Ise (Ice). The Archway itself was 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall, filled with a glowing mist. Sconces made of iron were on both sides of the archway.
Our heroes decided to look for the missing weapon. They started by heading north. Again, they had some frozen doors but were able to get through. Xeric saw some stairs and went up them while the rest of the party noticed a giant stone statue. There was a hall filled with rooms, although they all seemed empty. Mitsui stayed by the statue while the others went and looked through the hall and each of the rooms. Room by room they found nothing, until in one room were some cracks in the wall leading to some tunnels. They seemed naturally made. Tao wanted to go explore in case of treasure, but Seraphina convinced her not to…at least not just yet.
Our heroes continued through the remaining rooms when, all of a sudden, walls of earth shot up blocking the rooms and a loud sound, almost like thunder, was heard. Shortly after a large boulder came rolling down the passageway, causing some serious damage to our heroes. Upon reaching the stone statue at the south, the statue animated and started pushing the boulder back. Our heroes observed it, as it just seemed to phase into the wall. They explored the remaining rooms and started heading back…again causing the boulder to start towards them. They were a bit more alert this time, and as soon as they heard the sound of thunder knew the boulder was coming. Seraphina and Tao got up to the roof, and Kida managed to jump out of the way.
Meanwhile, Xeric was looting the second floor. He managed to find a single bag with some goodies in it, along with 3 frozen dwarf heads.
During this time Mitsui thought up the great idea to use her rod to find the lost weapon, and found out it was to the south.
Coming back to the main hall with the 7 statues, our heroes decided to camp out for the night. Not interested in sleep, Mitsui was curious about the runes on the wall. She asked Harshnag if he could take the storm giant weapon and touch a rune. She pointed to the highest one on the right. Happy to comply, Harshnag quickly regretted his decision. The instant the trident touched the rune, it disappeared, and the room was enveloped in a storm. This storm was powerful and dangerous. It knocked some of our heroes unconscious, but they had healing spells and potions. Tao and Xeric ran outside the room and were safe there. The rest endured to the end. Angered with Mitsui, they convinced her and Harshnag to mess with it later, and all rested for the night.
The next morning, Seraphina convinced the party that they needed to find the missing weapon before messing with the runes again and asked Mitsui to use her “walking stick” to find it. Discovering where it may be, they headed south, through another set of frozen doors. Only a few moments after entering the room, however, a hideous beast attacked Seraphina. Large, long and blue, with too many legs to count, antennas, and red spikes on its back, it took a bite out of Seraphina, killing her instantly. Tasty. Our heroes quickly surrounded it and began attacking it. Every time they hit it, they took damage themselves as this creature radiated dangerous heat. Kida fell and was then swallowed by the beast. Our heroes finished the beast off but all were hurting. They managed to get Kida out of its belly, but alas, she too had died. This time came to stand still, with our heroes barely holding it together, either dead or on the verge of death…
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