2023-09-19 Whirlstrom
Player Characters
- Laucian
- Atalanta
- Callisto
- Hyacinth
- Auri
Summary
The party mounted giant seahorses provided by the sea elves of Rainbow Reef and rode ocean currents to Whirlstrom, the storm giants hold beneath a huge whirling vortex.
They saw a horizontal portcullis in front of a large window in the front of the castle. A storm giant stood beyond the window with his back turned.
Most of the party squeezed or teleported their way past the large portcullis, leaving their seahorses behind. Beyond was a wide but short tunnel leading into the windowed room, exiting from a pool of water inside.
Laucian climbed out of the water and addressed the storm giant to explain their arrival. The storm giant turned to face him, and with a crazed, rabid look in his eyes, attacked without saying a word.
Callisto cast lesser restoration on the giant, and the spirits of the moon restored his condition.
The storm giant apologized for harming the party, and said his name was Fluag. Noone in the party understood the giant language, but Fluag also spoke elvish.
- Fluag had no memory of the past few weeks, and the last thing he could recall was having a large feast after hunters had brought back two giant sharks.
- He felt very hungry, having been in a zombielike state for weeks and not eating in a while.
- He described the layout of Whirlstrom, and expressed concern for the royal family and the other giants.
- Fluag told the PCs how there were only 20 storm giants left in existence, and that they lived together in Whirlstrom to avoid extinction. The enormous whirlpool above the stronghold helped protect the giants from ships and other enemies
- Fluag mentioned that the giants used killer whales as mounts. He also mentioned how the sahuagin were a nuisance.
- He decided to sit and rest a while, bidding the party good luck.
The giant closed doors to the left were barred from the other side, so the party took the open doors to the right. This led them into the Great Hall, a wide and comfortable chamber for entertaining guests. A coral pipe organ blocked the hallway beyond.
Auri examined the pipe organ. Upon touching it, it sprouted legs, claws, and eye stalks, revealing that it was an enormous crab with the coral organ on its back. The crab waited, staring down at the party.
Laucian played his lyre for the crab. The crab didn't budge, however.
Callisto cast tongues on the crab, allowing it to speak. The crab informed them that it was lonely, having not been played in some time. The party tentatively named him "Organ".
Callisto, Hyacinth, and Laucian worked together to play a tune on the giant organ. This made Organ happy, and he stepped aside to let them pass.
The PCs told Organ to surprise Fluag by speaking to him, as a prank. Organ gleefully agreed and left to do it.
The path ahead forked. The right path led to a room obscured completely by steam. The left path led to a sick-looking storm giant who was staring off into space.
Laucian made Atalanta invisible to sneak past the giant, but she made too much noise and he rose to attack the party.
Hyacinth removed the disease from the giant, who said his name was Kokos. Kokos questioned the party about the situation, suspecting they might be responsible. After the party convinced him that they were here to help, he became tired and laid on the ground for a nap.
The party entered the steam-filled kitchen. They could hear a storm giant ambling about. They restored her condition.
Her name was Fudmohr. Like Fluag, she was very hungry, but was hesitant to eat anything in the kitchen since they appeared to have been poisoned recently. She turned off the steam geyser that was left on, which acted as a stove for a huge cauldron. Fudmohr tested the overcooked tuna that had been brewing in the pot, with the party ready to cure her, but she seemed to be fine.
The PCs continued beyond the kitchen to a large storeroom full of crates and barrels of food and drink. Laucian cast detect magic and found a small magical jug, which looked too small to be useful to the giants. Auri opened one of its many stoppers, and vinegar poured out.
They continued on, and ended up at another intersection with Kokos's. The third new path led to a giant dining hall.
The party searched the room. The feast the cured giants had described had already been cleaned up, and a small layer of dust was forming on the table.
They walked into a small side room with a pool of water. An injured giant was floating in the pool, secured in place by kelp as a sort of aquatic bed. Examining the body, they realized the giant was dead, and had been killed more than a week ago by a giant-sized greatsword, presumably from some diseased giant.
Another closed double-door led past the dining hall. The party attached ropes to it and attempted to pull it open, but found that it was barricaded. They heard voices speaking to each other in giant from the other side.
Laucican spoke to the beings beyond in elvish. He convinced them to open the door to talk, explaining that they had come on behalf of the sea elf Queen Kaelpala and had already cured several storm giants of their condition.
An especially warriorlike giant in huge platemail opened the door for them. The party stepped into a massive audience hall, with three thrones positioned in the back of the room. There were four storm giants present: a decrepit old man wearing a crown upon the center throne, a woman with a tiara beside him, the leader of the guard who had let the party in, and another guard.
The woman spoke to the party in elvish. Her name was Princess Wolcura, and the old man was her father, King Tokkenhar.
- Queen Wolcura was grateful to the party for curing several giants without killing any. She reiterated what Fluag had said: only 20 storm giants were still alive, and they were facing extinction.
- Wolcura explained that the disease was reminiscent of their nemesis, a venomous kraken named Antherkapple. She believed that the two giant sharks had been poisoned by him, and left weakened for the giants to catch and consume.
- King Tokkenhar was nearly 400 years old, and not long for this world. He had led the storm giants for his entire life. Wolcura would succeed him upon his death.
- Wolcura told the party how she had a coral garden on the lower floor that held a plant she believed could help cure and ward off the disease, allowing them to cure the remaining infected giants throughout Whirlstrom. She described the atlanthemum flower and asked them to collect its berries. The storm giants couldn't collect the berries themselves because they were outnumbered, and they needed their two guards to protect the king and princess.
- She asked the party to retrieve the other healed storm giants, so that they could protect the royal family and free Sir Orthmon, the royal guard leader, to escort the PCs. As they did, they saw Organ again, who requested a different name. They decided to call him Sebastian.
- Sir Orthmon agreed to allow Auri and Atalanta to ride upon his shoulders. The party followed him through another set of doors into the study.
- Orthmon explained that Whirlstrom had three floors, and that they were in the middle floor. Hidden staircases helped navigate sections of the stronghold. They would have to travel to the staircase in the library, then travel down into Wolcura's personal quarters to reach the coral garden. He also mentioned that Prince Tokkenthurm, another strong fighter and the princess's brother, was missing.
The party entered the study, where two rabid storm giants ambled about. They cured the giants while Orthmon fought them.
They continued to the library, finding another two storm giants. Again the party quickly cured the giants. The four giants were named Kobdor, Klozus, Masagar, and Mukrym.
Injured, Sir Orthmon returned to the audience hall with the royal family. Fluag joined the PCs for the remainder of their quest.
Fluag opened a wall to reveal a hidden spiral staircase, and they descended into the princess's personal quarters with her whale, garden, and books. There, they found Prince Tokkenthurm, wearing platemail and a coronet and foaming slightly at the mouth. The party defended themselves as he attacked.
- Laucian summoned a stone golem, which helped take a couple hits from the mighty storm giant prince.
- Tokkenthurm knocked Atalanta and Laucian unconscious during the fight. Hyacinth and Auri managed to use restoration abilities on the prince three times, which finally woke him from his state.
- Atalanta sensed a hint of disappointment when they told Tokkenthurm that his family was okay.
- The PCs collected atlanthemum berries with Fluag, and returned to the throne room.
When they returned, Prince Tokkenthurm stormed off to his personal quarters in a huff, showing no gratitude to the smallfolk that had saved them.
Princess Wolcura excused him, saying that he wanted to be king, but that she had birthright over him.
Atalanta stated that she suspected Tokkenthurm of betraying the giants, possibly intentionally poisoning them. Wolcura agreed to arrest him and look into it, although she doubted he would betray their people.
The PCs asked the storm giants to help the sea elves, as that was their objective. Wolcura instead stated that the sea elves' past debt to the storm giants was now repaid, and that the storm giants needed time to recover and wouldn't help the sea elves in the short term.
King Tokkenhar spoke through belabored breaths, and commanded the giants to help the sea elves. "They are a good people, and we must stand together against the darkness in the ocean."
Wolcura obeyed her father's wishes, and agreed to send some giants to help the sea elves soon.
At the princess's command, Fluag retrieved some gems and magical gifts from the treasury to thank the party. They received a belt of frost giant strength, a corrupted avenger, a tentaclute, and a shield of arrow catching, in addition to the alchemy jug from earlier.
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