Chapter 38: The Belly of the Beast
General Summary
Date: 6th of Marpenoth to 7th of Marpenoth, 1491 DR
Chased by their pursuers, the adventurers rushed into the feasting hall where they immediately ducked underneath one of the tables and avoided being noticed by the Hill Giant chieftain Guh and her retinue. The wails of the glutonous giant echoed in the hall as she demanded more food. One of the Hill Giant seemed to pick up a scent and was now tracking the source of it. The heroes only had seconds to form up a plan.
As the Hill Giant peeked underneath the table, Belros swung his blade and sliced the giant's face. Nomime threw a Fireball towards Guh and her servants that roared violently as it exploded. The battle was on them. The Hill Giant roared in pain as it flipped the table, revealing the adventurers to the creatures in the hall. Ranvas unloaded his guns towards Guh, piercing her flabby skin with his bullets as he looked for a vantage point. Bene engaged the giant sliced by Belros and stabbed him in the toe.
Guh stuffed a goblin into her mouth and began to advance with her wagon pushed by two ogres. She swung towards Bene and Belros and tried to snatch Belros, but failed to do so. Bene, gripping his dagger saw an opportunity and took it; he jumped towards the chieftain and plummeted the blade into her fat belly. His dagger however did not harm Guh.
To Bene's surprise, underneath the rolls of fat, Guh pushed a living goblin that took the strike from Bene and together they tumbled down onto the ground. Guh managed to grab both Bene and Belros and showed them into her mouth, along with the goblin that was still in there. She began to chew her meal while eyeing for Ranvas and Nomime. Fortunately, Bene and Belros were able to dodge some of her teeth, but the goblin wasn't so lucky.
Nomime hurled a Fireball that took down one of the Hill Giants. As it collapsed onto the ground the party saw enemy reinforcements arriving to the hall. The loud explosions and sounds of battle had attracted the attention from the rest of the den that were now rushing towards the adventurers. The orc forces split, with one half ran towards the kennels to free the wolves. The other half followed a Hill Giant that began charging towards Nomime and Ranvas.
The Hill Giant grabbed an orc and hurled it towards Ranvas. The orc screamed as it's body broke from the impact, also taking the wind out of Ranvas. Happy from the result, the Hill Giant grabbed another orc and bowled it towards Nomime, who managed to dodge it. The orc crashed onto the wall, it's limbs bending to unnatural positions as it died almost instantly from the impact.
Nomime, now battered and bruised, focused on the Weave and with the familiar incantation, she hurled a massive fireball towards the chieftain that exploded in her face. The impact and damage finally brought down the massive, gluttonous chieftain and she fell to the ground.
The battle however, wasn't over. The orcs had released the wolves that dashed through the feasting hall towards the wounded party. The Hill Giant roared in anger, ready to squash the creatures that took down his chieftain. With no other option, the heroes took a shot in the dark and addressed the giant as Hruk. They told him how they met his wife and how she asked him to return to her. By a miracle, Hruk understood the meaning of these words and abandoned the battle, running towards the exit to find his beloved.
With the Hill Giant gone, the other creatures had no chance against the party and were taken down, save for one goblin. Another goblin soon emerged from between Guh's folds, gasping for air. While Nomime and Belros were gathered the hoard of the chieftain, Bene and Ranvas interrogated the goblin. They learned that Guh had been visited by a blue giant claiming to be an "Oracle". The goblin, Snerk, also traded his life by revealing a secret tunnel out of the stronghold, acted as a goblin tunnel.
Thus, the heroes emerged out of the stronghold with the Conch of Teleportation, ready for a long awaited rest. They hiked through the plains for a few hours until they found a suitable place to set up camp. After sleeping through the morning, by the late afternoon they were ready to pack up and continue their journey. They found out however that the conch could only teleport the wielder as well as a confidant or a bodyguard. This meant that only two could travel with a conch, so they would need to find another one.
Their planning was interrupted by a strange vehicle that was coming towards them. It resembled a ship, with a huge red balloon attached to it. He looked through his scope and realized the crew was made of dragon cultists. And it seemed like the crew was heading towards their camp.
The adventurers hid behind the foliage and waited as the airship landed down. They heard a familiar figure yelling out orders to capture Nomime and the conch. With no time to figure out how did the enemy know these things, the heroes were ready as a battle began.
The cultists rushed towards Nomime, only to be culled down by Belros. Bene hid behind the shadows and took a passing cultist down. The mage teleported out of the ship and Ranvas began shooting towards him. The bullets ricochet off from the magical barrier of the mage that blasted a cone of ice towards Bene and Ranvas, covering the terrain in frost and ice. Bene dashed past the mage and jumped to the ladders hanging from the ship.
With all of the cultists quickly taken down, the mage retreated back to the flying ship and took off. Bene climbed up and clashed against the mage, eventually managing to impale his hands to the deck. Bene smacked the wizard until consciousness left him. He took the ship down, and the rest of the adventurers boarded it.
The heroes are keen on finding out what the mysterious mage knows. Maybe the mage can shed light on where Nomimes parents are and what's the cult up to. After finding the answers, the heroes are set to find the Fortress of the Fire Giants. With one victory behind them, will they have a chance to obtain another conch? Or will the strange prisoner bring doom upon the heroes?
Rewards Granted
- Conch of Teleportation
- Trident of Fish Command
- Potion of Water Breathing
- Potion of Greater Healing
- Spell Scroll (3rd level)
Missions/Quests Completed
- Defeat the Hill Giant Chieftain
Character(s) interacted with
