Grudd Haug

The hill giants’ den is called Grudd Haug, which means “river mound” in Giant. Resembling a beaver dam, it straddles a river. The lower level of the den is lodged between two rocky outcroppings and made of piled timber packed with clay and mud, with hollow cavities that resemble caves. Above this piled timber foundation is a mud steading (a house made to giant scale) with a log roof. The structure is an impressive feat of engineering, well beyond the ability of hill giants to fabricate on their own. In fact, Grudd Haug’s design is the work of hobgoblin and goblin engineers, assembled with the might of hill giant and ogre laborers. East of the steading is a yard enclosed by a 20-foot-high palisade wall made of logs lashed together with thick twine.