Episode One - Under Hill and Over Stone

Prelude:

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv1, Tiefling Rogue, 15 GP.

Oswald: Lv1, Human Scholar, 10 GP.

Dekar: Lv1, Wood Elf Monk, 10 GP.

Bran: Lv1, Human Druid, 110 GP. (Absent)

The Gnome Ranger: Lv1, Gnome Ranger, 64 GP (Absent)

Thora, Oswald and Dekar travelled to meet Veradda Stoor. The most famous treasure hunter in Realms. She had enlisted them to find and recover caches of treasure, hidden by the Cult of the Dragon during the recent attempt to bring the Dragon Queen Tiamat through a rift into the material plane.

By luck, skill and the intervention of a shadowy group of figures who provide occasional jobs for the heroes. They were put in contact with her.

Which is why it is unfortunate that when they met her at the alloted meeting point she had been violently dismembered. Oswald ordered everyone back from the murder scene so he could investigate the evidence. After much strutting he then confessed that he had nothing but he was almost certain that she was dead. Her journal had been desecrated with the last few pages torn out. Oswald attempted to recover the missing  pages by doing a charcoal rubbing of the impressions left behind on the blank pages. He successfully made a dirty page but failed to uncover any information. Dekar seached the body and found a scroll hidden on her person with a summary allowing the heroes to carry on with the treasure hunt without her.

Mission One: "Beneath the hills."

Set List

• Dekar
• Thora
• Oswald

#A Small Problem#

The party soon found a cave complex, seeing light coming from inside they were sure they had found the right place. Thora checked the tracks and confirmed the presence of a goblin horde, at least one if not two giants and a bear. They snuck inside, they couldn't see much as rubbish was piled up around the cavern. Lanterns dangled from the ceiling. A tunnel led out to the south. A tunnel looked like it had used to head out from the east but a cave in had blocked it. Dust still rose in zephyrs around it leading the party to believe that the incident was recent. That and the squeaking cry of alarm in Goblin of "Oh bugger".

Somehow and probably due to the distraction the party was able to slip inside and kill them before the goblins could make a move. They looted the corpses and recovered two vials of alchemical fire.

Checking the cave in they could see two big hairy feet poking out from underneath. Clearly one of the giants had come to some misfortune.

#A Much Smaller Problem#

As they explored lower down through the complex the lanterns started going out. A ferocious squeaking sounded. Oswald was blinded by the darkness but the Tiefling and Wood Elf could see a swarm rapidly approaching. Not the rats they'd expected but about thirty odd tiny goblins the size of rats. At first they thought they were cute, but seeing the scimitars and shields (well, not Oswald) they started to take the swarm serious.

Dekar hurled a flask of alchemical fire burning up two of the tiny goblins and setting the rest on fire as they washed over him in a wave of slicing blades leaving him unconscious and bleeding out. As the goblins died they regained their full size. Thora hurled another flask and backpedaling realised that they could easy outrun the tiny goblins little legs. At this point they were able to let the flames consume the swarm whilst Thora fired arrows into the mix. Oswald developed a hither known skill to blast the flaming (and thus now visible) swarm with a eldritch blast of energy as they attacked him. Eventually the last goblins were slain. Oswald who had been suffering from an infestation of the tiny fiends suddenly found himself covered with the corpses of full sized goblins having to climb out of the pile. Checking the lanterns showed that some of the tiny goblins had slipped inside and put them out.

Taking Dekar out of the cave to bind his wounds and rest him they spent two hours recovering. Entering the cave again they walked to the end of the complex. A man sized giant, in ratty furs and wielding a club was howling with rage, his anger echoed by his companion a Kodiak bear the size of a house cat. The bear spotted the party and alerted it's master. The remarkably average sized giant charged the party shouting "Slayermighty the Giant will tear you apart and feed you to Blooddrinker!". The tiny bear roared in affirmation of that last statement. Dekar hurled darts into the giant, Thora fired arrows and Oswald whispered secrets of the universe into his mind which routed him. Rallying whilst still under a barrage of missile fire the giant hurled a rock, knocking out Dekar before a second rock also knocked out Thora. Oswald managed to fell the giant just before it got into melee range with an eldrich blast. Looting Slayermighty revealed a potion of healing and a chain of copper charms. The chest was carved directly into the floor of the chamber. A heavy stone lid, which weighed several hundred pounds rested against the wall. Runes were carved into the chest and a label in Common said "Tiamats Gold".

Oswald ordered everyone back so he could examine the runes. His years of study however let him down and he found nothing.

Inside the chest was a note.

"Stupid runt-giants of the hills,

You are too slow and dimwitted to challenge us. The treasure is ours. You are probably feeling small now, aren't you? If you think that you are going to prevail, you are mistaken. By the way, prevail means win, idiots.

Clan True-Nimbus of the Clouds".

A whimpering brought the attention of the party to Blooddrinker, the tiny Kodiak bear. He was bleeding and in a poor state. Twice Oswald and Thora tried to stabilise him and twice they failed. The small bear bled out alone in the darkness. They didn't even bury him. Bastards.

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv1 (75 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 165 GP.

Oswald: Lv1 (75 XP), Human Scholar, 11 GP.

Dekar: Lv1 (75 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 11 GP.

Bran: Lv1 (75 XP), Human Druid

The Gnome Ranger: Lv1 (75 XP), Gnome Ranger

#Downtime

Thora - Did research discovering the password to the pyramid on the Rent Plateau. Also discovered that it was guarded by the domesticated pets of a stone giant. Cost 100 GP.

Oswald - Taught linguistics for a week. Earned 1 GP.

Dekar - Manufacturered potions for a week for a local alchemist. Unfortunately, he earned the ire of a customer named Neville Guisgart after selling him a dodgy potion. Earned 1 GP.

Bran and The Gnome Ranger - Absent.

Mission Two: Upon the Stones

Set List

• Dekar
• Thora
• Oswald
• Bran
• The Gnome Ranger

#The Rent Plateau

At the base of two of the massive Greypeak Mountains in the central range, the heroes came upon a large pyramid comprised totally of boulders. The structure was sixty feet wide. The plateau was flat and smooth with a slight upward incline, but in places the stone was rent with deep gouges up to three feet across. It was impossible to see how deep the gouges were.

As the party approached, five giant badgers attached. The leather collars indicated that these were the domesticated pets that Thora had been warned about. Before they could react Thora and Dekar were knocked out. Oswald managed to slay a badger and intimidate the rest of the pack, then Bran and the Gnome Ranger were about to calm down and send away the pack.

Coming closer, the party saw the pyramid is indeed comprised of gigantic boulders that must have rolled down the mountainside over the centuries. Whatever had stacked them must have used powerful magic or immense strength.

The boulders at the bottom appeared to have been fused together in some way, whilst the boulders at the top were were simply stacked carefully or held together with mortar. Many of the boulders were etched with runes. The party's linguistics expert analysed the runes but found nothing. The Monk surprised everyone by spotting that they were the work of an earth elemental.

Thora made a grappling hook and managed to lodge in the top of the pyramid. Dekar handled the ascent. As he was climbing, a deep, grating voice next to his ear said. "What are you playing at? Getting a bit personal aren't you?" What looked like a crack in the rock widened into a massive eye with a stony brow. Dekar, shocked fell but was caught by a granite hand.

The Earth elemental Ggrrrkk introduced Dekar to his brothers Hhffft and Prrrt. They were quite amiable and chatted away with the party for some time. Oswald even whipped up a natural salve for some stone boring beatles which had been bothering Prrrt's lower extremities.

Climbing to the top, the heroes found a stone giant wedged in the top of the pyramid, only his hairy legs, and pimply bottom were visible. Pulling off the corpse they found the rest of the body had suffered from a massive attack by necrotic energy. Evil glowing runes blazed around the top of the pyramid. Being a polyglot, Oswald took a look at the runes but found nothing. On a hunch, heroes said the password Thora had found "Hail Dragon Queen" and the runes went dark. 

Feeling confident the party descended to find that Kobolds had burrowed into the building. Broken and empty chests were everywhere. Whilst looking for loot Oswald found a magnifying glass, but accidentally stepped on it breaking the glass. Checking the tunnel the Gnome Ranger could see it extended for a long distance. He returned to safety. Dekar found a false floor in the bottom of a chest surrounded by dead and burnt Kobolds. Disarming the trap Thora was about to recover a ledger of secret Dragon Cult agents about in the Realms. 

One of the Kobolds had a note on him saying:

"Your tribe is wise to have accepted our offer to serve us and Lord Thyrm. We have provided you the tools and instructions you need. When you have retrieved the treasure from within the pyramid, meet us at the agreed upon location. You will be paid for your work, and we'll let your tribe live. Remember if our stone skinned brothers find you, do not tell them of your agreement with us, or they will kill you."

Thora dimly remembered that Lord Thyrm is the Frost Giants deity.

Leaving the pyramid they informed the dismayed earth elementals and looted the stone giant. They recovered a silver nose ring and a scroll of comprehend languages.

STORY AWARD: Prrrt's Itchy Nethers

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv1 (175 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 165 GP.

Oswald: Lv1 (175 XP), Human Scholar, 11 GP.

Dekar: Lv1 (175 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 11 GP.

Bran: Lv1 (175 XP), Human Druid, 110 GP.

The Gnome Ranger: Lv1 (175 XP), Gnome Ranger, 63 GP.