Date: 6/8/05

XP Awarded: 1,920 (to 8th level characters), 1,530 (to 9th level characters)

Start: The Evermoors, late Eleasis

Iax plots a course and leads the party through the foggy landscape between the ridge and the giant’s keep. Crossing a freezing cold but shallow river, the group comes to a wide rock column within easy sight of the castle. Leaving the horses behind with the prisoner in a hidden dell, the party climbs to the top of the tor and observes the area. Many orcs are seen working on building up a larger outer wall, supplied by undead carrying building materials. Patrols of 3-5 giants are common, including ettins, winter wolves, and the long-fanged great cats the party had fought earlier. Vladek uses his magical powers to disappear from sight and fly over the keep to scout in the evening’s fading light. He spots an encampment of orcs by some rotting docks in the river and some timber ruins upstream. Inside the keep he sees the original human structures have been expanded or replaced. Several of the heavily-armored ogres are posted on heavy ballista around the keep’s walls, and a kennel for the long-fanged cats. The winter wolves seem to have a building for themselves, coming and going as they please. While flying over the keep, Vladek sees a large, filthy, scrawny woman giving orders to a frost giant about to take some hill giants out on patrol. Recognizing that she may be a spellcaster, he quickly drops to ground level and hides behind a thicket of scrub. After Vladek returns to the party, the adventurers climb down the rocky spire and take their horses back to a thick cluster of vegetation on the muddy banks of the river.

After spending a wet, cold, insect-filled night sleeping in the branches of a laspar tree (an evergreen that resembles a squat, shaggy cedar), the party wakes to find a cold drizzle coming down. While the rest of the group stays put in their hiding place by the swollen river, Vladek again uses magic to cloak himself to fly a circuit around the area to investigate. On his several-hour trip he spies a group of orcs standing around, several giant patrols, a human guiding a supply wagon led by a group of orcs, and another well-armed group of orcs mounted on large worgs flying an unknown banner. He spots a chain of barbarian prisoners is being led into the keep, and another long-toothed tiger chained to something near the rotting pilings in the river. Vladek also sees a frost giant speaking to a human-sized figure wearing black robes on the keep’s wall and quickly hides from sight. On his return trip to the encampment, he sees a giant patrol in the nearby area, and the party quickly gets moving after Vladek reports what he found. Iax and Theodar recognize the banner as that of King Krasik, a powerful orc leader under King Obould.

As the party is leaving the Laughingflow vale they encounter a frost giant leading three hill giants and a long-fanged tiger. Fei and Vladek react quickly and vanish from sight as Iax drinks a potion that makes him invisible before moving forward cautiously. The hill giants hit Theodar and Celowin with thrown boulders just as Celowin looses his giant-bane arrows at the nearest hill giant, seriously wounding it. Theodar urges his mount into a charge and there is a tremendous crash as he brings down the wounded hill giant. The tiger races forward and prepares to pounce upon Celowin, but Fei hits him with magic that slows him to a crawl before he can complete his jump. The frost giant hefts his enormous axe and swings at Theodar, cutting into his armor and leaving a horrible gash. Vladek uses a scroll to drop a fireball on the frost giant and a nearby hill giant, burning them seriously. Celowin backs his horse up from the raging tiger and kills it with arrows from his shining bow, then fires more at the frost giant battling Theodar. One of the hill giants hits Vladek with a thrown boulder while the other takes a swing at Theodar with his huge maul. Badly wounded, Theodar wheels his horse and rides to the top of the hill to prepare for another charge. Iax drinks another potion to magically strengthen him before he moves to engage the hill giant. The frost giant takes a running leap into the air to strike at Vladek with his axe, wounding him terribly. Fei drops an explosion of fire on the frost giant, which is now badly hurt. Vladek hits the frost giant with a blast of magic, dropping him lifeless to the ground. The hill giant who was fighting Theodar races up the hill to engage him again while Iax gets a couple of powerful hits in on the other hill giant. The hill giant returns the blows, wounding Iax badly. Vladek fires a blast of magic into the wounded hill giant, and Celowin fires arrows into the hill giant in front of Theodar. Theodar draws his longsword and hacks at the hill giant, directing his mount to attack, but the hill giant does not fall until Fei hits him with a blast of magic. Iax’s attacks bring down the last of the hill giants, and the group quickly searches their belongings before moving out of the area, the drizzle quickly washing away their tracks.

After moving for the rest of the day, Iax finds a good-sized cavern to rest in, and the next morning the adventurers come across an impassible cliff rising above. Turning towards the east, the group skirts the base until they reach the Falls of Aturr and a path that leads them up to the top of the precipice. There is a debate about which way is the fastest and safest out of the Evermoors, and it is decided to head east, cutting through the Silverwood on the way to Everlund. Iax leads the way for a few hours before dark, and the party rests under a rocky overhang for the night.

The next morning the group sets off across the open moors with Iax in the lead. While traveling, Celowin notices a huge, grey-skinned creature hunched over eating something, but he doesn’t bring it to the attention of the group because it doesn’t notice the party. Just as the group is riding out of range, it spots the mounted group and stands up to approach. Iax charges forward to attack, but Fei’s and Vladek’s magic and Celowin’s arrows badly wound it before he can reach it, and Theodar slays the troll-looking beast with his lance.