In the fire giants’ stronghold, Strong Palm Ian is separated from his companions. He meets a group of adventurers from Waterdeep and helps them escape from captivity. Together, they rescue the other prisoners and find Harshnag the frost giant who was captured by the fire giants of Ironslag.
Player Characters: Buguta, Meriele, Solas, Strong Palm Ian, Trash
Strong Palm Ian the half orc monk heard the orc barbarian Tarancha’s loud cry in the assembly hall.
“RUN!”
The monk had surveyed the enemies in the hall and knew that the odds were not in their favor. Therefore, he dutifully followed his captain’s command and fled up the stairs to the upper floor gantry. But to his dismay he saw that the rest of the party were headed toward the closed adamantine doors. The fire giants, drow, and hellhounds were so focused on the main part of the party that no one took notice of the lone half orc monk on the upper level.
Strong Palm Ian watched the battle unfold from his hiding place upon the gantry for as long as he dared. He saw Adrik summon an illusion that spoke the words of command to open the adamantine doors. Then he watched in horror as Kane threw himself at the enemies to allow his friends to escape.
Strong Palm Ian knew that he could not stay for long or else he would be spotted. He followed a hallway leading away from the assembly hall and crept through an iron portcullis, squeezing between the bars without making a noise.
He heard groans of pain and suffering coming from down the hall. He arrived at a long hall with cells on either side, several of which were occupied by prisoners. They were guarded by half a dozen heavily armed hobgoblins, but quiet were the monk’s footsteps that none heard him approach.
The nearest cell contained a dragonborn, a half drow woman, a male elf, and a female half elf. The other cells contained dwarves, gnomes, and human prisoners who all looked disheveled and exhausted. Only the orcs in the furthest cell looked to be in good health. These orcs were even armed with weapons and armor. Strong Palm Ian remembered the orc raiders encountered on the road to Triboar and guessed that these were slave mercenaries in service to the fire giants.
Strong Palm Ian had an idea and stepped forth from the shadows. He attempted to pass himself off as an orc warlord from distant Kara-tur and cow the hobgoblin guards into submission with his orcish words.
Unfortunately, the hobgoblin guards did not understand the orc language, and the orc slave warriors were merely perplexed by the dialect of the half breed foreigner. Rather than being intimidated, the captain of the hobgoblin guards tried to take hold of Ian and force him into the cell with the other orcs. Ian resisted the attempt and swiped the ring of keys from the captain’s belt during their scuffle, then discretely threw it into the cell full of dwarves. The keys landed in one dwarf’s thick beard without making a noise.
The hobgoblins began to surround Strong Palm Ian, but the monk fought back with a swift ferocity that caught them off guard. The monk struck down the captain of the guards with a single swing of his deadly blade.
As the startled hobgoblins took a step back, they realized too late that the prisoners were escaping! The dwarves used the stolen keys to open their cell door. The half drow in the cell nearest to Ian must have been a thief for she took out lock picks hidden upon her person and deftly picked the lock upon her cell. She pulled a long, sharp pin from her hair to use as a makeshift weapon, and each of her cellmates also brandished hidden weapons that the guards had failed to remove when they were imprisoned. The dragonborn even vomited a small dagger and an tiny musical instrument.
The guards hardly had time to scream before they were overwhelmed by the prisoners. Their shouts of alarm were drowned out by the loud noise of the gears and machinery that filled the halls of Ironslag.
2.
Strong Palm Ian recalled one of the lessons of his shifu.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Remembering these wise words, Strong Palm Ian befriended the half drow and her companions. He learned that they were adventurers from Waterdeep. The half drow Meriele was joined by a half elf warlock and paladin who called herself “Trash,” a sun elf conjurer and cleric named Solas, and a dragonborn bard and paladin nicknamed Buguta. They were all seasoned adventurers who had been sent north on a quest by the Harpers of Waterdeep.
Vajra Blackstaff of the Grey Hands had asked the Harpers to help her find the orc barbarian Tarancha, explaining that Tarancha was on an important mission. Meriele’s party had learned that Tarancha was headed north in search of an ancient forge. Using a network of teleportation portals, they had arrived ahead of Tarancha’s company in the high peaks of the mountain where Ironslag was situated.
Meriele’s party encountered a tribe of Yakfolk living in the mountain. At first, the Yakfolk appeared to live peacefully in a utopian society. They greeted the adventurers with seeming warmth and hospitality. But after night descended, the yakfolk gathered in great strength and took the adventurers captive. In truth, they were slavers who had made a pact with the fire giants, providing slaves as tribute to Duke Zalto as part of their alliance. Meriele and her companions were taken prisoner and put to work with the other slaves in the mines of Ironslag.
After he had heard Meriele’s tales, Ian hailed the dwarven prisoners who had fought together against their captors and told them of his quest.
“I come on behalf of the Kings of Citadel Felbarr and Gauntylgrym to defend the North against giantkind!”
The dwarves could hardly believe that any orc or half orc, even one of such strange appearance, could be on a quest for the kings of two famed dwarven citadels.
“He speaks the truth, my brothers,” said a voice that seemed to issue out of nowhere. A moment later, the dwarf Gregory appeared, casting off his veil of invisibility to reveal himself to everyone. He confirmed Strong Palm Ian’s story much to the astonishment of the dwarves. He also carried a great chest that contained the gear of the four adventurers from Waterdeep. Gregory returned the possessions to their rightful owners and then told them of their urgent situation.
“We have little time to waste. We must free the other prisoners of Ironslag before it is too late!”
3.
The heroes silently crept toward the next chamber. It was a wide square shaped hall which contained a great wheel fitted with metal gears and many wooden spokes. A group of ten dwarves and ten human prisoners were chained to the wheel. They were pushing the spokes of the wheel which seemed to be powering the immense machinery within Ironslag. Two tall ogres stood guard over the slaves turning the wheel. The hardy dwarves looked like they were enduring the labor in typical dwarven fashion, but the human slaves looked utterly exhausted and ready to collapse.
The heroes burst into the chamber and swiftly dispatched the ogres. But as battle erupted, the prisoners upon the wheel ceased their labor to watch the adventurers in fear and awe. As the wheel stopped moving, the great machinery it was powering came to a grinding halt. The constant mechanical noise that had filled the depths of Ironslag suddenly went silent. In its place, the heroes heard the sounds of horns, bells and approaching footsteps.
From behind them, there came a tall fire giant wielding an immense greatsword. He appeared to be the overseer of these prisoners. The heroes had made quick work of the ogres, but the giant was far more powerful. Even so, their strength prevailed and they were able to defeat the fire giant overseer.
The heroes freed the prisoners chained to the wheel. But now that the wheel had stopped, a general alarm had been sounded and the giants would surely descend upon the wheel room to investigate. Time was running out!
The adventurers also learned from the prisoners that a frost giant named Harshnag was imprisoned in the foundry beyond the wheel room.
“Harshnag! That is the giant that we are searching for,” Strong Palm Ian told the others. “If he is imprisoned here, he must be an enemy of the fire giants. And the enemy of our enemy may be our friend.”
Ian took the overseers greatsword and carefully placed it in his magical bag of holding. Meanwhile, Meriele scouted ahead of the party and entered the foundry first. From the upper level gantry, she saw great furnaces being fed by dwarf prisoners who were shoveling coal into the fiery hearths. Watching over them were four fire giant guards who were all armed with greatswords. Among the dwarves, she saw a frost giant chained by his ankles, shoveling great heaps of coal into a furnace and sweating profusely. He looked utterly exhausted. Meriele guessed that this was the frost giant that the half orc monk was looking for.
One of the prisoners took notice of Meriele and stared at her, drawing the attention of the fire giant guards. When the guards spotted her, Meriele tried to pass herself off as one of the drow that were allied with the duke. But the fire giants were not convinced. They took her captive and interrogated her, threatening to burn her with a fiery hot iron if she did not confess who she really was.
The heroes burst into the foundry to rescue Meriele and the prisoners. As battle erupted, Strong Palm Ian drew out the greatsword from his bag of holding and gave it to Harshnag.
“You’re Harshnag, aren’t you?” said Ian. “The Blackstaff sent us to find you!”
Harshnag slowly took up the greatsword in his hands. He raised up the sword and brought it down upon the chain binding his feet, neatly severing it. Then he used the chain as a garrote to throttle a nearby fire giant.
Even with Harshnag on their side, the heroes were hard pressed. For each of these fire giants were just as powerful as the overseer from the wheel room. Worse still, more foes were arriving upon the north gantry. A young fire giant lord followed by his four ogre lackeys entered the foundry. The fire giant was boasting about how he had tormented one of the prisoners in the mines for his insolence when he noticed the adventurers.
“Trespassers! Father will be most pleased when I serve up the heads of these small folk spies. To battle, my giants and ogres! Slay these puny creatures for your lord Zaltember!”
The heroes were pushed back by the sudden onslaught of young Zaltember and his ogres reinforcements. All seemed lost, but in the course of the battle they saw that the fire giant lordling was a coward who only issued commands from behind the front lines. Upon realizing this, they concentrated their attacks upon the young fire giant. Bolts of crossbows and magical energy stung the giant, and a great boar summoned by Adrik rammed into him, causing Zaltember to fall prone.
“No! Please don’t hurt me!” the young giant shrieked. “I surrender! Giants, lower your weapons. Do as I say! Your lord is in peril!”
The Albatross Company had captured Zaltember, the son of Duke Zalto, and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
But elsewhere, the prisoners in the mines of Ironslag were being rounded up by the fire giants. In the Assembly Hall, molten metal was poured into the empty eye socket of the Vonindod. Kane and dozens of prisoners were dangled above the pool of molten metal. The duke gloated sadistically over his own cleverness. Throwing open the adamantine doors, he shouted to the remaining members of the Albatross company who were hiding outside the fortress.
“Time is running out! Bring me Maegera the Dawn Titan, or your friend and the slaves of Ironslag will be honored for their labor with a fiery death, and their melted corpses will fill the gilded eye of the Vonindod.”
Adventure Name
Storm King’s Thunder
Chapter 8. Forge of the Fire Giants
Session #8
Rewards
4 Achievement Points
4 Treasure Points
10 Downtime Days
1 Renown
Level-Up Gold
Level gained: 2nd-4th – 75 gp
Level gained: 5th-10th – 150 gp