As time resumed our heroes decided to take it upon themselves to make the most of their recent kill. Some of the party started carving up the roc they had just killed while others decided to climb up and see what goodies were in its nest.
During this time 2 things happened. Firstly a stone giant came out of the cave, while it didn’t see Zesh and Tao who had climbed up in the nest, it did see the roc being carved up by Seraphina. It quickly returned to the tunnel system it had just come from. The second thing is that an elven traveler approached the group, having been altered by the sounds of the fighting and the loud crash as Tao and the roc hit the ground. The elf introduced himself as Finnieus, or Finn for short. While making conversation with Seraphina was difficult, she did agree to give him some food and that he could travel with them. Zesh called Seraphina over when she noticed the stone giant.
As the group got back together they decided what to do next. Zesh was worried they may have killed the giant’s pet. They decided to go into the caves. They came into a more open area that branched off. One section of the cave walls was nice and smooth, with a drawing of a giant caring for a gigantic bird. Zesh felt remorse great remorse, taking this as proof the bird was a pet. Our heroes decided to take the right path. They went down a bit, with Finn taking the rear. He heard footsteps and stood still, motioning for Zesh to come over. They saw the giant in the lead had tears on his face. Finn overheard the giant mentioning how the Jotunglang was dead and some tiny creature was carving it. After they felt safe that the giants had passed them they continued on their path.
They encountered a river, and decided to jump across. One by one they made, Tao taking the lead, then Kida with Seraphina, followed by Zesh, who tumbled head first into the river, and lastly Finn. FInn used some magic to help dry off Zesh. They went into another tunnel and found some bubbling mud, which Finn identified as gorgon mud, warning our heroes that it could petrify them. They edged along the wall, when Tao, smelling the oh so familiar scent of beer, walked into a room with humans. They immediately took out their spears and pointed them at her. She tried to make friendly conversation, but was unsuccessful until Zesh cast Fast Friends. Against all odds and anything that had ever happened in the past, Zesh was successful! Here they learnt that Thane Kayalithica hates civilization, and provided Zesh with directions on where to find the Thane. Zesh thanked them and headed off with her group.
They hadn’t traveled far when a stone giant emerged from the walls in the tunnel behind Finn, and 2 popped up from the room that Zesh and Tao had just entered. Our heroes were hesitant to fight, and told them Hekaton was back and the ordning was being restored, and they were here to see Kayalithica. The stone giants weren’t sure what to believe, but told them if they couldn’t beat them then they wouldn’t stand a chance against Kayalithica. If they managed to defeat them they would lead our heroes to Kayalithica. The first giant picked up and threw Kida into the mud. In the other room, 2 of the giants played catch with Zesh, the first one tossing her in front of the second who in turn tossed her against a wall in a side room. Angry at being treated like a ball, she stood up, cast Guardian of Faith, and stepped forward, only to fall through an illusion into the mud next to Kida. The two of them were struggling to get out, with Kida making some headway, but Zesh turned to stone.
The first giant kept trying to grab Finn, who elegantly and gracefully dances through the giants fingertips, with the ends of his hair brushing across the giant’s skin. Seraphina turned invisible and dashed away, taking out her rope of climbing and hoping to get it over to Kida, before Finn misty stepped over to her. The giant tried to catch up, but FInn was too far, so he rolled a large boulder hoping to squish the elf, who managed to side step it as well. Frustrated, the giant managed to grab Seraphina and toss her in just as Kida had escaped the mud. Seeing this Kida rushed back in pulling Seraphina out of the mud and making their way back to solid ground as Finn finished off the giant. Meanwhile, in the other room, Tao had assume her giant form and was fighting the two other stone giants on her own. She was grappling them and beating them down as they were trying to escape and beat her down to. They learned that Tao vastly out powered them so decided to just try and kill her. Tao knocked one out but was taken out by the second one, who ran to the room with the mud.
Seeing his friend had been killed, and being bloodied and beaten to a pulp himself, he surrendered. He agreed to take them to Thane Kayalithica, but would not be able to assist in the fight for fear they fail. Our heroes pulled the heavy stone Zesh out of the mud thanks to some rope Kida had tied around her, but were at a loss as to what to do with her now. They explored and found some treasure in the room, before deciding to take a rest. Tao told the giants that they roc had been murdered as they rushed out to investigate. Thus time came to a standstill once again, with Seraphina telling Tao off for sharing unnecessary information.