The rest of - Day 10 - A Decision!! HA!!
While all this has been happening, Damir has ventured into the great cavern entrance to see what's happening and Norton draws anti-Giant graffiti (sigils) in the doorway then he melds into the stone itself to wait. Rumbles finds Hoo his whimsical Barbarian sense humor makes him prop the dead Monk and 'Zombie-walks' him out to Damir. Together they haul the body up to where Yuna waits and pack it in the snow. Norton decides to wait till we get back to the Inn before bringing him back to life - he's even been contemplating a Speak with Dead to ensure Hoo actually wants to come back to life.... You never know.
While all this has been happening, Ermendalah and I have been exploring. The first room we find looks like a sort of trophy room - there's a large table across one wall covered with all sorts of skulls (I like skulls). There's a Dire Bear, a Hound Archon, several Dwarves (NOTE TO SELF - Don't tell Norton) and a White Dragon. In a corner stands a triangular shelf displaying several art pieces - some of which are OK. On the other side of the room is a large weapon rack holding a Great Sword; a Club; a Morning Star; a Hammer and a Cross Bow. Lying open on the floor is a small chest full of empty phials. (Looks like potions of healing; there was one Giant Damir had really hurt)
Emmy and I slip through the wall and into the next room. Two large, crude beds take up most of this room, an archway leads into another room with two more beds. There doesn't appear to be any chests or storage in these rooms but there is a sack beside each of the beds. I look into them but even with my Dark-vision, it's too dark to see. I can't be bothered checking now and in truth I'm hoping for something better, so I move on. We slip through the next wall into a whacking-big room. A 10' wide balcony runs round two of the walls of this room with a stair-way in the far corner leading back down to the room itself. There's a huge four-posted bed and ancient tapestries hang from the walls - two ever burning torches light the room showing a Giantess and an enormous Dire-Polar Bear, which would make a nice cloak for Mumbles... just about the right length. I go on... I try up, just in case there's another floor to this complex... Nope. We continue...
The others, having hauled the dead Monk back up the mountain and packed it with ice, have left it with Yuna, who's scrying those of us she can - it's sort of like reality TV. Rumbles decides to head back into the cavern complex. Showing unusually good judgment the rest of the party refused to accompany him! Though Norton agreed to stand watch at the cavern entrance but he reckons he's going no further. By now Rumbles has made his way back to where the Hydra was - it seems to be on a longer leash than it was before. It eyes Rumbles... probably it can smell him (I know I can)
Norton, who'd been hanging round the entrance is mildly startled when a gaggle of Ogres and an elderly Giantess come haring across the room - race past him and vanish back up the trail - he melds into the stone to wait
Ermy and I investigate further... down the corridor we travel... no rooms on one side and the end is blocked by rubble. The other side of the corridor has but one door which is sealed, chained, locked and has runes on it - Em and I stick our heads in to see what can be seen - it's a small bare room with what may be a half-giant, but it's weird looking, with scaly skin and strange features. It sits cross legged in the middle of the room with a whopping great sword laid across his knees - he looks like he's meditating. Em and I step fully into the room - he seems to sense us - he looks around carefully. Taking a chance - if the Giants want this guy sealed up, perhaps he should be freed - we become material.
The creature stands slowly. "You should be dead!" it says as it begins to advance, swinging its sword. Em and I become ethereal again - he continues to advance. Neither Assassins nor Nightmares are stupid, we slip back out through the wall and continue our search. There doesn't seem to be much to find, just Servants quarters; Dire-Polar bear stall, store-room, that sort of thing... Having come full circle I note that the door to the first room know stands open... things have been taken - a tusk; the helm; a platinum torch, a war hammer and the great sword.
Rumbles is still invisible and wending his way through the caverns, not that any of the rest of us know that. More Giants pass him, heading toward the entrance - he stands back against the wall and lets them go. The Giants, partly laden with sacks and trailing their pet Hydra on a chain (which looks MUCH smaller than it did inside) and Dire-Polar Bear, they come running out of the cavern complex at about the same time as Norton, with impeccably unfortunate timing, stepped back out of the rock he had melded into to have a look around. From where he flies astride his Hippogriff, Damir sees what is about to happen and shouts down to him...too late. The Dire-Polar bear takes a bite at Norton and fortunately misses; the Giantess waves her hands and the Hydra shoots up in size to threaten the flying Ranger. Damir hurls rocks at them from above, Norton sensibly melds back into the rocks and the Giants, after token resistance, run off. Invisible, Rumbles tracks them - Damir follows after, though with a Hydra and a Dire-Polar bear, they leave a trail a blind Dwarf could follow.
Having decided to let this giant-ish creature out, I went back to Yuna and showed her the runes - she didn't know what they meant - apparently, she can't read Giantish. I ran out into the snow and waved down Damir on his Hippogriff - he has helm of read and comprehend languages. He says it says "Do not open this room - DANGER" (Der! I worked that out for myself) What the hell, I'll let it out.
Em and I Dimension Door back to the corridor. I call through the door to it - no answer. Methodically I check for traps and disarm them all. I gently unlock the door, stand to the side, shove it open, and step back. I have Em stand by to take us both back to the snow cave. The creature steps out onto the corridor and swing its sword - we dodge. It breathes and the floor turns to ice around our feet - time to be movin' on. Ermendalah and I Dimension Door back to the snow-cave. Damir and Rumbles return from tracking and I explain to them what happened.
"Where's Norton?" I ask
"Inside...I think," said Rumbles
"Shit! That things running loose in there and it really isn't friendly."
I raced out, leapt onto Em and flew back down to the Cavern entrance. As we land I catch a glimpse of the retreating back of the creature I'd let loose - it seemed to be heading off the way we came - Innwards. I found Norton in the kitchen, swigging ale and toasting his feet by the fire.
"Och, ya cannae guess what I foond in t' cellar."
I sat down and had a swig.
"T's cosy," said Norton, swigging again. "Ah think we should stay here for the night."
"You should see the rooms further on. There's some great skulls... " I said and without thinking I led him to the trophy room.
We were in the room with the stuffed and mounted Dwarf heads before I even thought about it!!! Bugger, I'd made a note NOT to do that. Needless to say Norton was pretty upset... he spent the rest of the night building little cairns to decently lay to rest the heads......I went back to the snow cave and told the others what was happening.
"Should we try and stop the 'thing' getting to the Inn?" asked Damir.
"I don't think the Inn would let anything find it that it doesn't want to find it..." I paused. "If you get what I mean."
"But it could go to the evil Inn."
We continued to discuss this as we head back to the caverns to re-join Norton. We leave Hoo in the Ice-Cave - Norton said he dreamt of Hoo the night before and that in his dream Hoo said that he wanted to stay dead and to be left on the mountain in the Ice-Cave - so we did.
We spent a restful night in the Giants Cavern; it was warm and there was plenty of food and though we set watches, the evening passed uneventfully. Next morning, after breakfast and a brief bickering, the party decides to go back to the Inn. We get back to the Inn with no trace of the Giants. Tracks of the large unfriendly thing I let loose seemed to branch off that the path to the "other" Inn. We arrive without any problems and I head straight to the bath house to soak the chill from my bones. Most of the others head into the bar to drink and eat big chunks of meat.
Back to The Inn of the Far Shore.
