Session #59: Steading of the Hill Giants, Part 1

Extra-long session this week.

The party returned, having rescued Sangria, and learned that she had been used for an "Elemental Messenger" ritual - that is to say, she was used to communicate with the king of the fire giants, Snurre Iron-Belly. She could not remember what message she communicated, but she did note that she felt the presence of another dwarf - Seamus - being used to communicate with the frost giant leader.

After dealing with Sangria the party received their monetary reward from Lady Heathlana, and learned a number of things. First, she sent them after the Coterie because she is a follower of the Raven Queen, and the Coterie had attacked a church of the Raven Queen - for that she had them destroyed. Second, Cyrus has been brought back by the Raven Queen as a form of undead called a revenant; he maintains his personality, more or less, but he realizes that he only lives so long as it takes for him to fulfill the purpose vested in him by the Raven Queen, and the experience of dying has changed him considerably. Third, Lukash is performing some sort of ritual to enable him to provide the party with a way of reinforcing themselves in a pinch (OOC: to temporarily replace party members who are unavailable).

Also, the party was given a new task by Sir-Commander Canis Wolfswift and his father, the Duke-General Theron Wolfswift. They have found a way of ending the stalemate with the hill giants - by having the party, the only people strong enough and clever enough to handle this situation, infiltrate the steading and either make peace with or destroy the hill giants' chief, Nosnra.

The party set out on a many-days journey to the steading, and spent quite awhile staking out the place to figure out the best method of entry. After retiring to a cave and fighting a group of hill giants and bugbears who'd followed their tracks, they finally decided to sneak in the next night by climbing up the steading and moving across it. They jumped down into a courtyard, and were soon attacked by trained bulettes and their hill giant masters. The battle proved difficult, but the characters prevailed in the end, and this is where we stopped for the night.