Session Preface
As the magical inky darkness fades, you each take a moment, catching your breath following the chaos of the battle within these sweltering hot volcanic chambers. The warm glow of the magma shines off of the stone walls as if in pursuit of you. King Bruenor turns, surveying the two dozen or so dead Drow and his three fallen companions. "An honorable ratio, given the circumstances. All of them wielding poisoned blades and bolts and those damned wizards had us right where they wanted us, like fish in a barrel." Bruenor stows his battle axe, still dripping purple blood. "And their captain has gotten away, 'as he? Coward's curse on him, Moradrin knows. Well, least they didn't get what they came for."
Bruenor spits, blood and saliva both, and reaches up towards the giant scorpion claw, tugging the iron flask away from the dead drow's grip. Walking with resolve and reverence to the stone alter, Bruenor shoves the flask against the alter. A bright flash of light erupts from the alter and Bruenor tumbles onto the ground. The room grows brighter as the ancient Fire Primordial, here long before and after the kingdom of Delzoun, returns to its fiery rest and restraint.
Standing back to his feet, Bruenor coughs once and lets out a deep bellowing laugh. "Well gentlemen, I well think we've deserved that cask of ale now. Help me get my fallen companions topside and you'll taste the finest brews this side of the Sea of Swords." You spend the next few moments helping with Bruenor's request and checking the drows for any other clues or valuables and then soon find yourselves winding back through the Great Forge and into the Iron Tabernacle. Upon arrival, dwarves in ornate robes greet the carts, aiding in the retrieval of the fallen dwarves and ensuring their king's health.
Bruenor shrugs off their worries and offers for healing, saying "Ale does this body more good than spells. And we plan to feast this eve! A stolen crown returned and a second thievery denied! Come, open the festhall and bring the salted meats and sweet meads of the keep!" Bruenor claps heartily once and the tabernacle bursts to life with dwarves making preparations. Before long, you find yourselves seated at the head table of a dwarven feast with King Bruenor himself to your right as he chews heartily on a rack of meat with beer froth fresh in his knotted beard.
As the vivacious celebration of the feast unfolds around you, you can't help but take in the joy of the event. Small children dance to the lighthearted music played on horns of varying sizes and shapes. Bright banners hang from the walls in a wash of golds and reds and blues. Candlelight dances in a brilliant stone chandelier with stained glass windows, pouring hues of every color out across the chamber below. Before you, fresh meats and vegetables and warm breads extend in full reach of either arm, their smells wafting before you invitingly. All of it delectable, all of it delicious and all of it comforting.
With these observations, so too comes the importance of these moments and the significance of simple joys of life like food, companionship, and the hard work of these people. All worthwhile and worth fighting for in its own right. You also observe a mother and her small child both clad in rags and covered in dirt, eating merrily, their fears and loss momentarily forgotten.
And in seeing the result of your service, you too consider the path forward, for your work is yet to be done. Storm Giants await your return and the news of your success. Other Giants still plot and plan, their schemes with little consideration for the lives such as these being lived out at tables around you. So as with many moments of this already lengthy journey, a bittersweet realization lingers in the midst of the glow of the festivities.
"So, tell me," Bruenor nearly shouts over the raucous crowd, crumbs bouncing in his beard as he calls, "have you ever been to such an event as a dwarven feast? What do you think? Could anything save Moradin's bounty be better than this?"
Session Summary
Following the celebratory feast, the party wander to their rooms at the Sleeping Anvil for well deserved rest. During his sleep, Hawk dreams of himself as a man standing before a burning house, though it is not Hawkwinter Villa, he recognizes the home as his. Looking to a rooftop opposite him, the man sees a shadowy figure with embers still flickering in his hands. The man gives chase, leaping from Waterdeep rooftop to rooftop. As the shadowy figures nearly escapes, the man draws a rosewood bow - Thorns for Roses and fires, finding the stranger's shoulder blade, watching his body plummet into the alleyway below. Yet when the man arrives to the alley, there's no one to be seen.
After a hearty breakfast at the Sleeping Anvil, the party returns to Bruenor's throne room to say farewell and request a document reporting their involvement to serve as proof to the Storm Giants of their completion of the task at hand. The party then sets out for Maelstrom, once again using the magical shell found among Guh's treasure and find themselves leagues below the Trackless Sea once more. Immediately upon arrival the party is escorted by guards to the appropriately sized quarters where they are forced to wait for several hours.
The party is then finally guided to the throne room where Mirran, the volatile performer they originally met, rather than Serissa, sits on the Wyrmskull throne. In the room is also Uthor, sitting in his advisory throne as last time, seemingly more on edge. Next to Uthor stands Nym, Miran and Serissa's calculating middle sister. On the other side of Mirran sits Iymrith, a Storm Giant wearing a dragon horn circlet. Iymrith spends much of the brief meeting whispering into Mirran's ear. Mirran is quick to dismiss the adventurers now that plans have changed. Based on the reports of Iymrith concerning a smallfolk attack against stone giants in the south east, Mirran believes conditions are worse than expected and require the strength and leadership of Storm Giants in a looming counter-assault. Despite the party's offers to help find King Hekaton, the court will hear little of it and decide to throw the party in Serissa's tower with her since she is "so fond of the smallfolk."
When the party is able to meet with Serissa, they learn of the court's vote to have her step down, considering her too trusting and weak and unable to keep the Storm Giants atop the ordning. The party shares the full truth of their answers from the Oracle - including that two of the princesses arranged for the murder of Queen Neri and someone in the court is not as they appear. Appalled by the implications, Serissa concludes finding her father is the only hope they have of stopping the Storm Giant assault on the Sword Coast and regaining control of the court from her power hungry sisters. To this end, Serissa shares with them the only lead she has - a small wooden coin with a goose painted on it found near her mother's body in Red Rocks. Emmyth recognizes the token as a gambling chip called a Golden Goose from the Grand Dame he had visited previously in Yartar.
To then return the party to land, Serissa requires a spellbook within the library across the keep. Emmyth and Hawk make quick work of this task with the use of Dimension Door and Levitation spells before returning to Serissa. As she prepares the spell, she also shares with them some recent treasures recovered from a sunken ship - two powerful healing potions and a bag of magical beans. With these in hand, Emmyth describes Yartar to Serissa and the teleportation spells carries them from Maelstrom once more.
The party then finds themselves at dusktime plunging into the freezing winter waters of a river and must make their way to the shore via creating an iceberg raft and leaping or levitating to safety. The party spends the rest of the evening gauging their location and setting up camp. Given the strangeness of their journeys, the party decides planting the magical beans couldn't be worse or more bizarre than some of the recent encounters and choose to use three of the four.
The first seed grows into strange mushrooms which shriek and scream into the falling darkness. While presenting no threat directly, the party quicks destroys the mushrooms and moves their camp in case of any listening threats. The second seed blooms into a beautiful tree bearing dozens of different fruits as well as 8 potions of heroism in different fruit-shaped flasks. With this tasty result, Thaust plants the third seed and is delighted to find pink toads crawling up from the ground. Much to his dismay, however, the pink toad he touched quickly transforms into a massive ten-legged reptilian creature which immediately begins attacking the party.
In the chaos of battle, this strange and startled creature uses its potent lightning breath and razor sharp claws to knock both Emmyth and Thaust unconscious in turn, but the party is able to use their recent potions to protect everyone and Emmyth casts a major image of a dragon which distracts the creature long enough for them to make their escape. For the second time that evening, the party repacks their camp and settles further down the road to ensure their safety. At least a day's march from Yartar, the party prepares for their next task of discovering Hekaton's fate with nothing more than a poker chip as their guide.
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