9th – 10th Uktar, the Star Walkers Return

We returned to Goldenfields early the next morning having traveled through the night to reach our destination.

Goldenfields was amenable to receiving the Grudd Haug refugees, which was a relief. Zi was most interest to find out about what had taken place in our battle, and we found ourselves recounting the events many times to multiple people. Both Zi and Naxene were upset that Strog had gotten away from us, but everyone knew deep down it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him.

We caught up with the Abbott, who was as upset as everyone about Strog’s escape. Naxene and Lilli disappeared to both scry for Strog as well as trade spells. John also went to catch up with Lifferlas to explain about the druid’s passing

With some downtime, we settled in for a few nights. I spend some time with Zi to check out the changes she had made to the city’s defences. What I saw was impressive, the guards were well placed and patrolled correctly, she had changed the captains around to maximize their individual skills, and many other improvements.

I sank a few drinks with Meros where I could as well of a night.

11th Uktar, the Star Walkers Return

Scrying has paid off, with us finding the filth Strog with the stone giants today! We were all gathered with Naxene and were able to see the scene unfold as Strog parlayed with a Stone Giant. Astonishingly, John started lipreading the conversation! The Giant was Thane Kayalithicia, but the spell ended before we could get much more information from them.

Lilli and Naxene had finished swapping spells and scribing as the little gnome was want to do, so we got ready to head southeast to check out the city of Longwater and to begin scouting the Stone Gaint lair.

That evening we stayed at The Smiling Satyr at Loudwater. Whilst the others checked out the bazaar I slipped out to the Harper network and traveled to Mirabar to see how the status of my request for information on my family. I was back within 15 minutes with a scroll and a sense of unease.

Your family lived here in Mirabar under guard, for a year after your exile. Following that time it seems sometime after the first year, your family left the city. I do not have any further records after that time, I am afraid.

-Zazspar Bronzefire.

Teisa had left Mirabar. I could possibly find her and my children now, now that they were away from the city that would no longer tolerate my presence. I cant explain how this made me feel. I had found a fresh start with Lathander and the renewal he brings, and had come to accept my estrangment from them. I could not face my brothers either with the shame and guilt. But if Teisha had managed to leave the city, to somewhere I would not face the headsman’s axe, is it possible to redeem myself in her eyes?

Luke did hustle up some information on the Stone Giants, as there had been reports of a barbarian tribe in the area seen working with the Giants. Cyke seemed to have knowledge about them, the Blue Bear Tribe they styled themselves.

12th Uktar, the Star Walkers Return

We got up early and got the airship prepped for travel, aiming to check out the nearby towns of Orlbar and Llorkh.

Except the towns didn’t exist anymore.

At Orlbar, we stopped off to check for survivors. The town was a wasteland of rubble. No wall remained above my shoulder height, and the corpse of humans, dwarves and animals alike were crushed under the collapsed stonework walls and lumbar of ceilings.

13th Uktar, the Star Walkers Return

We trundled back onto the airship silently and set out for Llorkh, where we found the same scene.

We suspect that there may have been some prisoners taken judging from the tracks we found, but the Stone Giants did not seem to care if they captured anyone or not. I doubt more than a handful of survives remained from both towns combined, judging from the devastation.

Cyke told us that night that he had overheard dissent amongst the crew about our goals. One of the crew was starting to question Delsephines leadership and if we were truly serving Klauths will, citing the fact we had killed dragon wyrmlings and robbed from dragons. His companion was against his view and was certain we fought for good.

We will have to keep an eye on the crew now. Is there a front we face that we don’t have foes on?

We spent the afternoon scouting the rock face formation from the air with a spyglass. This paid off quicker than we might have anticipated, locating the Stone Giant cave system in a cleft we managed to spot from the air.

We saw a Roc’s nest nearby so we skirted the airship around, landing and deflating the balloon some distance from the cleft, and proceeded to move in on foot.

Cyke found and befriended a bird, asking it to scout the cave system for us. Only a fool would go anywhere near a Roc without a plan. It informed us of a series of fossilized Stone Giant lining the valley, over 20ft tall, almost fused into the cliff face. Many cave entrances were found littering the valley, presumably holding the living spaces of the Giants.

The Roc wasn’t in the nest as we approached, so we approached the valley as stealthy as we could, targeting the nearest cave entrance. It was almost unspoken that if we were spotted by the Roc we would run there as fast as we could.

We were only two hundred feet or so from our target when the cry from behind us chilled our spines, and with a whoosh of air that rocket us the Roc picked up Morning in its talons, my steed twisting and snarling against its captor.

The Roc sailed well past us, giving us time to break into a sprint. John summoned a pack of horses to hopefully distract the roc which worked. It started chasing down the horses after my hold over Morning broke, confusing the Roc which was expecting to dash a corpse against the cliff face. It shrieked and took chase for the horses, as we bolted toward the cave entrance.

It finished the summoned horses with ferocious speed but it gave us just enough time to get inside. The walls of the cave shook as we sprinted and fell inside the pathway leading deeper to the cave, pebbles and rocks falling from the roof from the weight of the Roc slamming to a stop against the ground directly above us. A talon explored in the cave but we were just barely inside enough to avoid contact.

We did find ourselves face to face with a barbarian and two bears, however, which snarled and attacked us without hesitation.

Not wanting to draw any more attention than needed, we brought low the bears and subdued the barbarian, binding her tightly. Our combat had, however, left a bear cub with no parents. It nuzzled the bodies of the bears we had killed and made whimpering noises I can’t say I’ve heard from a bear.

John went to the cub and tried to console the bear cub. I took a step forward and expected we would need to deal with it too but there was a softness in his eyes that stopped me in my tracks. It was clear what he saw in nature, what he saw in this little innocent cub that had lost its parents so violently only moments ago. I felt a twinge of guilt over the part I played in the murder of these creatures despite their clear intent to rend us limb from limb the moment they saw us.

He shapeshifted into a bear for a brief time and began to whimper and cajole the cub to him, shielding and comforting the small cub.

With the immediate threat dealt with, we pressed deeper into the cave system, looking to meet up with the cave system we suspected was the Giant’s quarters.

What we found was a single cavernous room, in which the barbarian and cubs seemed to be residing. No further tunnels, just solid rock walls.

We were stuck between a Roc and a hard place.

We didn’t have long to wait to see what our fate held us. A giant’s shadow blocked the entrance to the cave, and the Stone Giant came into the cave to investigate the Roc’s cries.

Mobrog, the giant, was much more conversant than the gelatinous blob of a hill giant that we had ended back at Grudd Haug. I stepped forward to explain and parley the case of the smallfolk with him before resorting to more violence, and he leaned on his massive club and listened to us. He was one of three giants in the clan that was not happy with the destructive path the group was following and was amenable to our cause.

Their Thane, Kalelythica, was insistent that their god Skoraeus Stonebones was instructing her to destroy the world of the small folk.

Unfortunately for us, there were twelve giants quite happy to continue the carnage and the three that did not agree had no influence to change their ways. Even killing the Thane would not help, as they used a voting system of determining leaders which would guarantee another ruler that would continue the death and destruction.

Mobrog insisted that the Thane could not be reasoned with, and retreated to a sacred cave where she received the word of Skoraeus. He and the others that wanted peace simply wanted to return to a life of wisdom and meditation as was the case before Kalelythic took over.

We convinced him to take us to the others that supported him and we left the cage that only a short time ago seemed to be our tomb. Mobrog waved away the Roc which returned begrudgingly to its nest. We dragged along the Barbarian woman that we had tied up, who turned out to be the barbarian cheiftan’s daughter named Hydia. The bear cub followed John, an apparent connection being quickly formed already.

We quickly made our way through the winding caves to meet two other giants, who reinforced the story Mobrog told us. It was readily apparent that peace in this area would only be found through more violence, as they only way forward could be found with a new Thane that promoted peace, not destruction. And that could only take place if there was a need to chose a new Thane as well as less opposition to these three in the vote.

Or potentially, no opposition at all.

The Giants refused to involved in the conflict at all but stood aside and would not come to the aid of anyone we provoked. We left the trussed up barbarian with them and prepared to traverse the caves, planning to ambush and separate them into smaller, manageable groups.

We progressed through the first room of two giants well, cutting them off from running and taking them down with timed strikes, but immediately run into problems when a Stone Giant charged out from a rudding wall, knocking Cyke into a pit of mud. I turned to face it but it promptly picked me up and threw me into the mud next to Cyke

I saw Cyke manage to keep afloat long enough for Luke to throw him a rope and drag him out, but the mud started sucking me under. Something about it didn’t seem right; perhaps it was the texture of the mud. Was that a tingle I felt as It started to pull me under? My entire suit of plate armor wasn’t a particular help in trying to keep afloat.

I managed to keep my head above long enough to see the rope being thrown to me as well and grabbed it as I went under. I was towed out of the mud sputtering, the strange tingling starting to cover my body. I saw the Giant dead, having been dealt with at the same time they were trying to get me and Cyke out of the mud.

I quickly started getting the mud off myself, as I started to note the mud in my beard was getting quite hard, much faster than any mud should be able to dry. I washed myself off with a skin quickly and vowed to avoid such a fate in the future.

It brought into perspective the giant statues that lined the valley. Were they statues, or were the fossilized giants? Perhaps it was their burial process?

We proceeded through the caverns, encountering packs of two giants at a time, enabling us to divide and conquer with a degree of safety. The giant’s ability to seemingly walk through walls as well as bring time to a crawl was the biggest problems we faced.

Lilli polymorphed herself into a giant ape for the duration of the fight, raining down mighty blows on the Giants. The little wizard was no longer small and diminutive, she was now a ferocious force of nature.

We came across a cavern with a large number of barbarians in it and quickly found ourselves deep in combat on multiple fronts. The chieftain waded into combat with us; however, Lathander granted me the ability to freeze him in his tracks long enough to deal with him and his followers. He seemed to have an aura around him of spirits that whirled and screamed.

The hold I had on the shaman chieftain broke just as Luke cut his way through the pack to him and the chieftain flicked a greenish bolt at Luke that appeared to almost stop our rogue in his tracks. He shook it off however and the shaman seemed thoroughly surprised to find himself impaled on both of Lukes swords. I could see Luke whisper in his defeated foes ear as he let him sink to the ground defeated.

South of the cavern was an empty chamber lined with more statuesque giants lining the walls. A simple altar sat in the middle of the room, impressed with a set of giant handprints.

Cyke almost immediately went up to the altar and put his much smaller hands in the handprints. He turned to us and opened his mouth, however the altar started to bow and look soft at the point where his hands touched. With a sound like mud swallowing a felled tree, Cyke was pulled into the now soft altar surface and disappeared into it.

We tried to get him out but in the seconds proceeding his swallowing the surface of the altar was as hard as a rock. We tried smashing the top of the altar, Ape Lilli tried ripping the top of it off, we tried finding a door on the side. We pressed up against it and couldn’t hear anything from the altar. If he was inside it the walls of the altar were too thick to let any sound out.

We were in the middle of a discussion about how to proceed next and perhaps contact Naxene to scry for him, when the altar disgorged one shaken and dazed barbarian, almost like he was thrown out of the alter and unceremoniously sprawled onto the ground.

He hazily told us that he was contacted by.. some sort of being that allowed him three questions. He was told that the thane was being tricked by an entity called the Steinfang that was pretending to be their god, making her think that her divine instructions were to kill and destroy our people and settlements. We could stop the carnage by reducing the aggressive opposition to two or less so the vote would pass.

We also learned that Strog was still in the area. He was here and had a wyvern nearby.

After getting Cyke back on his feet and making sure he wasn’t harmed, we got moving north, onward into the sacred chamber where Thane Kalelythica meditated. A path on the other side of the island leads to another exit to the rest of the cave systems.

The chamber was quite large, larger than the others. It had almost a small lake of that foul mud, with a small island in the middle, where the thane rested in meditation. Carved into some of the walls were questions, with some answer. The most recent carvings that had no answer as yet queried Strog’s loyalties and how the gods must be pleased.

Ape Lilli and John jumped the mud to the other path, meaning we could block the Thanes retreat and attack from both flanks.

A stone golem tore itself free from the wall and the Thane stood up from her meditations.

I brought to bear big blows on the Thane as I closed range to her. She tried to knock me back into the mud but I was prepared this time and deflected the blow with the shield. Cyke also dodged out of the way of her attempts to toss him into the mud also.

She was mighty and carried through with her blows with power and ferocity born of survival instinct and rage of our intrusion into her sanctum, and we were tired and weary. But we prevailed and brought down the Thane with no major injuries.

Lilli’s familiar saw Strog come to investigate the commotion shrouded in invisibility and run away at the sight of us bringing down the Thane. We made our way to the exit of the cave opposite the way we came in, finding ourselves on a bridge over the valley which led to the final set of caves.

At the other side facing us were two giants and Strog. We decided to intimidate them, but confronting them with the severed head of their Thane, insisting they stand down. Strog started streaming for them to attack but they faltered when learning of how many of their kin we had slain.

We pretended that we were working for Strog and he had asked for the deaths to seed more confusion amongst them. The giants, confused, started arguing amongst themselves and across the two groups that stood at the bridge. Our party and 3 friendly giants, with two enemy giants and Strog at the other. Calls for Conclave started being voiced by the giants on our side. Conclave was the Stone Giants voting process to agree on a new Thane.

Something started to bother me about Strog. How had such a drunken failure of a captain stayed one step ahead of us for so long? How did he continue to be cunning and play the people around him so well?

I found the Gem of Truesight that I had picked up in the temple of Dumathiod when we had stolen from the Dragons, and unleashed its magics. I could see things as they really were. I could see Strog and his Orc body, but surrounding him was a much larger ghostly form, a demonic looking ogre, yet somewhat smaller than an ogre. Strog was not an Orc at all, but a Oni.

In the midst of the arguments and calls for Conclave; I got Lillis attention and imparted enough in my body language that Lilli took the hit. The little wizard performed an incantation and threw her hand in a flourish at Strog, and the Orc form vanished like a cloud of smoke. Strog was revealed to all in his true form, an Oni. He had bluish skin and ivory horns that sprouted from his contorted face, which contained dark eyes with shining white pupils.

The groups erupted into more arguments and bickering. Shouts got louder, calling for the recognition of Strog’s deceit, his disloyalty to the giants, and an ever louder voice calling for recognition of Strog’s membership in the Stone Giant clan.

Strog’s true form indeed bore the markings of the clan, having been brought into the Thane before we arrived. Indeed there was now actually a tied vote of three versus three.

Conclave was agreed but there were now three. Lilli, now in her normal diminutive gnomish form, prepared a fireball with the intention of reducing the opposition’s numbers was stopped by the Giant standing next to her. Conclave was called, and no violence would be tolerated.

Undeterred, she then stepped forward and insisted to be also brought into the clan. Despite initial laughter at the proposition, she impressed enough to be considered. If we did not get the conclave issue sorted out before other clansmen returned from hunting abroad, the vote would be further swayed and all would be lost.

It was not a straightforward process she would face, however. Strog stepped forward with a snicker on his disgusting face and drawled that he would invoke a clan member’s right to challenge a new initiate, taking the form of a trial by combat.

Lilli gulped audibly.

The trial had to take place before sunset, so we hunkered down for a rest whilst we could. We fought through the night and it was morning before we get hunkered down in one of the caves that had we had so recently fought in.

We awoke before sundown and grimly marched out as a party with our Giant friends flanking us. Outside the cave system, in the field near the Roc’s nest, we found the area the combat would take place. Strog was already there, dressed in a black, spiked plate armor with a billowing red cape.

Whilst we were not to interfere with the trial, we had prepared a trick to help Lilli. John polymorphed her into an ape, with Lilli making the motions and incantations like she was performing the spell herself. It was safer and allowed Lilli to concentrate on the fight instead of maintaining the spell.

There was no ceremony or speeches before the fight. In this twilight hour, I made a silent prayer to Lathander for Lilli’s safety and victory in the upcoming Trial, and there was silence amongst the spectators as Lilli in Ape form and Strog converged on each other.

Lilli’s giant ape fists pummeled Strog with a series of ferocious blows but between Strog’s strong stance and tough armor, he was able to weather blow after blow. It looked like he was getting some amount of continuous healing from something he was wearing, but the ape’s blows were making an impact as Strog either positioned himself for the armor to take the impact of the blow or to try and get his weapon up to deflect the blow.

Lilli took the worst of it, however, as her lumbering form was slow and signaled her attacks easily and early with her mighty body winding up each time. Strog was expertly weaving between blows and finding her vulnerabilities each time, hacking deep into the ape’s shoulder, sides and upper things. Soon fur and blood covered his blade as the ape wore down and the blows became slower and easier to attack. If Strog was surprised that the little wizard wasn’t having issues keeping the spell active despite his onslaught he wasn’t showing it.

One final blow dispelled the ape form and it fell away from Lilli, fading into nothingness in a grotesque death. Our little wizard was ready for the loss of the form, as she fell from her position in the form a few feet off the ground with an expertly timed somersault and landed on her feet. Strog’s blade came down with a blow meant to cleave her head from her shoulders, but when it arrived Lilli had instantly moved thirty feet away, slipping back into a second ape form.

Strog now looked incredulous that he was facing a second ape, not understanding how Lilli was able to slip back into it so seamlessly.

The fight continued and the two continued to trade strong blows. Strog was looking more wearied upon having to face a second ape but he had learned the ape’s moves and was able to land blow after blow.

Suddenly, Lilli lost her focus after a particular nasty slice across the ape’s belly and the spell vanished. Lilli tumbled to the ground in shock, and Strog’s blade caught her as the drove the blade down into the wizard as she lay on the ground stunned. It sunk deep into her elbow and she screamed in pain and shock. She started to crawl away, calling up what defensive magic’s she could and the next overhanded, vicious blow was deflected by a magical shield she springs into existence. Strog simply continued to rain blows down, and each blow the shield shrank and the blows were deflected less and less, the blade getting closer to the wizard. Lilli was on her back, crawling away from the aggressive display as her shield continued to fade.

Cyke stepped forward to intervene but the giant standing next to him grabbed him by an arm and kept him in place spectating. I looked at Mobrog but the giant watched impassioned at the scene unfolding in front of him. They would not interfere and would not tolerate interference.

Lilli’s shield failed in a spark of dark purple light and she was open to Strog’s final blow. He sneered as he raised his sword two-handed over his head, ready to bring the blade down and cut the gnome in half where she laid bloodied and bleeding on the ground. Her arm that had been cut lay uselessly next to her and she was covered in deep cuts across most of her body.

Lilli brought her good arm up as if protecting herself from this final blow, but at the last second shakily pointed it at Strog and uttered the single word ‘fuego’.

One could almost see all the energy left in her body leave her, challenged into the fireball spell that slammed into Strog directly in the chest, engulfing in a bright ball of flame. The grass in the surrounding area withered and burst into flames in mere seconds as Strog’s smug expression disappeared and he emitted a short, guttural roar, cut off by a thud.

The fire cleared a few seconds later, leaving a twenty-foot area of burnt vegetation and Strog’s unconscious and badly burnt and injured body, flung fifteen feet from where he stood. And one badly injured, singed but conscious and alive wizard.

The newest, smallest and youngest member of the Stone Giant clan shakily got to her feet. With a small smile, she made a small motion and made the markings of the clan appear on her body by illusion, and drank in the atmosphere of being named an official clan member.

Her vote was immediately counted and Mobrog was voted Thane. John tended to Lilli’s wounds as I called from the unconscious body of Strog to be locked up pending an execution.

Thane Mobrog refused to execute Strog but agreed for him to be imprisoned, with the promise he would review Strog’s membership in the clan and possible exile from it. His unconscious body was hauled away without grace to be kept under guard.

With Lilli being tended to, we investigated the caverns and in particular the body of the Thane. She carried some items of use to us, as well as a warpick.

The weapon piked my curiosity and I picked it up to read the runes. Inspecting it, I was distracted by what I thought was a whisper from around me, but it must have been someone talking whilst I was busy inspecting the weapon.

Upon inspecting the warpick, it did not exhibit any joins. It looked to have been forged from a single piece of iron. It had dwarven runes intricately set into the hilt, and the weapon’s pick looked like a large, curved fang. It seemed to contain almost a life of its own. I slid it into my belt.

Lilli started inspecting the carved words and responses and was able to detect magic emanating from the area. With some of her arcane knowledge, she suspected the words were of the Steinfang. The Thane filled in more of what he knew, warning that in this case, the words were not the words of the Gods, but the words of an ancient earth primordial known as Draunn. Draunn lies trapped within the Greypeak Mountains, seeking only chaos and destruction, disinterested in the affairs of mortals. This would explain the deception, as well as

Thane Morbrog was interested in us discussing the prisoners that they had in the cells, and to give advice as to what should be done with them. They lead us to a small area with cells, containing a Gnome and an Elf. The gnome was captured in Llork and was a Loudwater resident, Alister Noggings. He was captured purely to find out more about Loudwater’s defenses before the assaulted the town directly.

The elf, Sialia, was a ranger that had been sent out by the High Lord Zazrek of Loudwater. They had been scouting the Stone Giants lair themselves and she was captured, as she said, skulking around. She seemed evasive and not interested in answering our questions. However, John recognized her and mentioned that they knew each other from their pasts.

I used my magical zone to ensure she only spoke the truth, which took more attempts than I care to recount. She proved resistant to the attempts but succumbed eventually. She was simply a range sent to scout the location. However, considering we had just ended the menace of the area and offered safe transit to Loudwater for both her and Alister, I would have expected a better attitude from someone that we had rescued and assisted in her mission.

John would not vouch for her as he had not seen her in such a long time, which did not help my opinion of her. Nevertheless, I’m sure we could manager her on a quick return trim to Loudwater and then we would be done with both of them.

We retreated to the airship with our latest additions to the party to rest up.

###14th Uktar, the Star Walkers Return

In the morning I rounded up everyone that would come with me to interrogate Strog. Lilli was still resting up and insisted on staying behind, furiously catching up on the scribing of spells that took all her downtime.

The new Thane and we went the initial cave we got cornered in, where Strog was kept under guard by two of the clan. I cast a zone of truth on Strog despite his refusal and complaints, and we started trying to get information from him.

He was not co-operative but the new Thane put more and more pressure on him. The conversation got firey as he tried to taunt and bully our party, even going so far as to get the Longwater ranger Sialia to get involved. We were getting nowhere slowly, so the Thane angrily insisted Strog answer our questions or face exile. Strog continued to insist he was a legitimate member of the clan.

Strog did reveal after some work that he was indeed disguised at Goldenfields and was gathering information on the town. The whole mannerisms of Strog must have been a ploy all along.

From the tone of the conversation, it was clear he was working for someone but refused to divulge who. Someone that he was more frightened of than he was of us. He was really acting like a pitiful creature backed into a corner, attacking and fighting all that were near with his words.

Somebody that was more of a threat than us. So I asked him if he was working for dragons.

He insisted he wasn’t working for dragons. Strog could not lie under my zones influence, but Lilli saw the loophole he’d use.

‘Are you working for a dragon, then?’ Lilli inquired.

Strog would not answer the question. Did we need any more proof?

The voices in the cavern started to become shouts, and then threats, much like during the Conclave arguments. In the fever pitch that gripped the room, Strog’s voice could be heard renouncing Mogrob’s Thanedom. Mogrob exiled Strog from the clan, and Strog’s body language could be seen to shift into a combative stance. I could hear that whisper again that I heard in the cavern earlier, clearly over the confusing din. It called for destruction, for the dismantling, for Strog’s head.

Luke, Cyke and I piled onto Strog without hesitation, hitting him with the full force of the rage that was felt. I fell on him and as the anger rose in me It started to feel like Ironfang was weightless. I hit him with significant force and I joyously felt the weapon sink into his flesh. The weapon reverberates as if it was singing, and now holding the weapon I could clearly hear the voice it had, the spark within it rejoicing in the violence.

I went to return the swing, flanking Strog with Luke, and my weapon sailed through the empty spot where our foe had been, nearly embedding itself into Cyke.

He had not simply turned invisible, and I started to check the corners of the room for if he had quickly shifted a short distance away as I was able to do.

He was not in the cavern at all. Everyone looked around in stunned silence, eventually narrowing on the cave entrance, where Strog could be seen hundreds of feet away, past the Roc’s nest, out in the open plains.

He waved at us, as the shimmering field of invisibility enveloped him.

Everyone started running out of the room as fast as the room would allow us, but Strog was already gone and moving in Lathander knows the direction. I called for someone to get the airship to come in, and the Thane. We swiftly reached the location Strog was but we couldn’t find anything to track him with.

Defeated, I broke everything I could find insight. Ironfang seemed as angry to have lost a foe as I was, and the destructive nature that came over me I’m not entirely certain was fully my rage coming out or whether this dark voice from Ironfang had some part of it.

As the airship arrived I managed to get myself under control before I damaged anything valuable on the airship, and we all started scouring the lands, all eyes searching for Strog. Lilli conjured a message to Naxene to ask for assistance Scrying but Strog appeared to had found a way to block divination magic’s on him.

We also heard from Harshnag, who had moved into position at Svardborg and had met with the Jarl Storvald of the Ice Giants. He informed us that a longship had been sent to raid Bryn Shandr a few days ago, believing the Ring of Winter was there.

After hours of searching the hunt for Strog was called off. Thane Mogrob was interested in us staying to find out what responses we got from the Steinfang but with the news of a threat on Bryn Shandr, we knew we needed to get underway.