The following day (1/31), Ghevont returned from Lah’s Retreat and was told about clearing werewolves from the ruined prison near Muleshoe. Spotting a raven flying over the homestead’s empty sheep field, he chased after it and casting a spell. He charmed the corvid, then used another spell to speak with it. The bird had not seen any werewolves nearby since the attack from two weeks before.
Meanwhile, Aderian went into St. Orlan to find Grod. Over ales at the Iron Knight, he offered to hire Grod to help hunt the remaining packs of werewolves. Grod was the only hunter left in St. Orlan, and he needed to keep hunting to feed his family. Aderian offered him a scroll of protection against lycanthropes plus pay, and Grod agreed to work for a week. However, the job was not begun right away because the group wanted to return to the cave where Aderian saw hill giants.
Zombies in the Road
They set out the next morning (1/31). On the way, they stopped at the old Irinduis Tomb (Hex 1109), an underground elven graveyard the Raiders had cleared out years before. It appeared as it did the last time they were here, and they did not choose to explore it. They soon arrived at the hill giant lair, which they observed for some time. Rising 70 feet above the mountain trail was a sheer limestone face, topped by a soot-blackened cave mouth. A thin smoke escaped from the cave mouth, but no giants were seen. The shape and extent of the cliff made rappelling down to the cave impractical. Scaling the 70 feet from the ground was possible but risky. Handholds were spaced for a hill giant’s stature.
The walked back down the trail to the main road that led to Milltown and spent some time searching the area for clues. Eventually, they spotted humanoid figures wandering on the road about 120 yards away. Over them were a several giant bats. By their shuffling gate, the figures were guessed to be zombies.
Ollie, Nate and Ghevont moved towards the figures cautiously while Aderian and Jerker threw boulders. Unexpectedly, the zombies rushed forward, but did not quite close the complete distance. Ghevont responded by encircling them in a wall of fire. They were incinerated instantly.
The bats descended, nipping at the party, but were easily cut down once they were in range. Ghevont was about to charm the last living bat and spoke with it. He learned the zombies had come from the northwest. The bats hadn’t seen any werewolves or vampires, but they did tell of an interesting landmark directly west, a grove of enormous oaks that rose 300 feet. The party noted this as a future destination.
Killing the zombies reduced the “threat level” of the area (Hex 1010 – 1 in 30).
Battle at the Giant’s Cave
They walked back towards the hill giants, purposely staying more than 300 yards away, worried as they were about being pummeled with thrown boulders while also hoping the giants would come out and attack them at night. Alas, they were not disturbed by the giants or any other creature.
In the morning (2/1), the cave was watched for signs of life. The party didn’t notice, but the giants had spotted the party’s campfire from the night before, but took no action. At camp, the morning was filled with tedious planning of a careful assault on the hill giants. Boulders were gathered and piled in the clearing within view of the cave. A plan was forming that involved gathering sticks which Ghevont would turn into snakes. None of them wanted to chance a climb up the sandstone cliff.
Aderian wasn’t sure he could repeat his big leap to the mount of the cave using his ring. Jerker also had a ring that allowed him to jump up to the cave, but he didn’t want to face the hill giants alone. At some point, Ollie lost patience and let out a holler, “come out giants!” He did this from the camp, which was strategically placed some distance from the cave and obscured by trees and brush. Regardless, the giants did answer, challenging the dwarf to show himself. He refused, and they exchanged a few impotent demands of each other.
The lust for adventure got the better of Ollie, and he did step out into the clearing to see two giants standing the cave mouth, and he was rewarded with a hail of rocks, one of which struck him. Ghevont stepped from behind a tree and caused a swarm of insects to appear in the mouth of the cave. At first, the giants paid the stinging wasps little mind, as they continued to throw rocks down at Ollie and Aderian. The former pirate with returning fire with slightly larger boulders, given his magical strength was much more than an ordinary hill giant.
Inside the cave, the dimwitted giants struggled to respond to the insects that were pestering them. After some time, one of them had the idea to stoke their cooking fire to produce more smoke. This drove the swarm out of the cave and relieved the constant stinging. One of the giants, however, succumbed to the insect bites and hits taken from Aderian’s boulders. His lifeless body tumbled the 70 feet to the ground and landed with a thud. The other giant backed out of view.
During this first part of the battle, Jerker had been looking for sticks, then handed two sticks to add to Ghevont’s bundle of twenty. The two of them raced out into the clearing in order to get close enough for Jerker to throw the bundle into the cave mouth. His aim was good, and Ghevont transformed the sticks just as they entered the cave. Presently, 21 rattlesnakes were spread out in the cave, striking at the giants.
The enemy was most unfortunate, and in the first round of battle, all but one of the giants died instantly from venom. The last giant made vain attempt to wash the snakes out of the cave by upturning the cavernous cauldron full of stew. It washed a few snakes out and down, covering the cliff with a greasy mess, but the remaining snakes got their revenge. Thus died the last giant.
Jerker leapt up to the cave in investigate. He found a huge sack of coins which he announced he would toss down. Ollie’s eyes expanded in anticipation of the sack exploding with the force of a 70-foot drop, spraying coins in all directions. Instead, Jerker lowered the sack by rope, explaining he meant “toss” as a colloquial equivalent of lowering by rope. It was an odd vignette over which the party could not help but tease Jerker.
The coins, which totaled more than ten thousand, were immediately counted and divided. The 400 cp, 2,700 sp, 1,500 ep, 10,100 gp was divided five ways, giving each party member the equivalent of 2,224 gp.
Jerker hammered a spike in the cave floor and attached a rope, making it easy for anyone to climb up. Ghevont argued for staying in the stew-soaked cave, even making it their new headquarters. None of the others like that idea, and they all returned to the homestead before the sun set.
End Notes
- Days
- 1/30 Information gathering, hiring Grod
- 1/31 Kill zombies on the road to Milltown
- 2/1 Eliminate the hill giants south of St. Orlan
- Treasure:
- 400 cp
- 2,700 sp
- 1,500 ep
- 10,100 gp
- Combat (7750 xp)
- 3 Flesh Eater Zombies 75 xp each
- 7 Giant Bats 75 xp each
- 8 Hill Giants 875 xp each
- Characters (5 shares of 1550 xp)
- Aderian (human, fight) 1721 xp
- Ghevont (human, smite undead) 1721 xp
- Jerker (human, fight, use strength ) 1736 xp
- Nate (human, fight) 1721 xp
- Ollie (fight) 1566 xp