947/06/17 - Kronosti

The heroes have much training to do, and get right to it. The date of Smythe’s wedding approaches very quickly, and in fact works out to be just after all their training is done. Everyone dresses up and makes the transport to Croy to be present for it. The wedding is a very tense affair. This is the first time Smythe has even met Griselde, and she is and isn’t what is expected. Yes, she’s plump and plain looking, but she also has dirt under her fingernails and smells of the earth. She is a sculptor and potter, and somewhat of a recluse, spending all her time on her work. She opens up when they learn that Smythe is an earth elementalist. They have something in common. But what really makes the affair intense is the guests present. All the powerful folks in Croy needed for the Revolt are there, including Krolin, High Priest of Nuath. Burnt, with a raspy voice, he confronts Stormcloak for the first time. He issues a formal challenge for a duel with Stormcloak for the right to bear the Spear of Nuath. Stormcloak can not refuse. They set a time a month from now.

The party returns home, doing little things in training. Smythe makes a few visits back down to Croy and ultimately decides that he has a conflict of interest with his lands there and his newly granted lands in Gwynyth Raius. He makes a decision to stay with the north, and gives up his title, lands, and marriage. Griselde isn’t too happy. Jorgie and Smythe decide that they need to get certain items re-enchanted, and learn that the best place to do this is at the Wizard School of Enchantment in Mor in the Province of Colym on the island of Vaius; an imperial province. They depart on a dangerous trip across the islands to hopefully sneak in. They find it to be an impossible task, finding Imperial troops and other dangers. They return in failure, but later find an enchanter with the coalition who could be paid to recharge the most important of the items in question, Jorgies Rod of Absorption.

The consequences of their work in Myrddin continue long after it is over. The party learns the hard way that leaving open elemental gates behind them is not a good idea. One day, the warehouse is suddenly under attack by immensely powerful air elementals. Led by an elemental giant, they seek to revenge themselves upon Jorgie who caused the death of 72 elementals. Literally ripping walls asunder by the power of winds, the party is pressed hard to defend themselves and defeat the giant and its minions. During the battle, Aethelwulf is slain, and Jorgie very nearly joins him. It is the closest he has come to death in some time. But the air elementals are defeated.

They are joined some time later by Roland, priest of Hysor. All too soon, the date of Stormcloaks duel with Krolin comes. They meet in the temple of Nuath in Arhus. Krolin doesn’t come alone, and is accompanied by several mysterious men carrying a sealed chest. They set up a tent off to one side of the battle area and remain there. The party senses strange power there. Krolin bears his gold tipped spear and sword, and Stormcloak his spears. There is some confusion as they set the terms of the duel, but finally they begin. As the battle begins, there is a shimmer in the air off to one side, and the priests of Nuath recognize Nex, a powerful servant of Nuath, is present. It also appears that The Child may also be present. The duel is a harsh one. Magic and weapons fly, but Krolin appears to have prepared well as his sword absorbs the powerful magics that Stormcloak throws. Then, Stormcloak makes a tactical error and throws the Spear so that it will dance and attack on its own. Krolin immediately seizes the weapon out of the air and is now armed with the prize. The battle goes horribly wrong after that, and Stormcloak is slain. There is some disturbance in the metaphysical world at that point and both The Child and Nex disappear very abruptly. There is a few moments where it seemed like the party was going to jump Krolin, and vice versa. But tensions relax, and Krolin and company departs.

After some deliberation, the party makes the attempt to raise Stormcloak from the dead. A trip to High Temple of Arawn, and this is accomplished. But this is a different Stormcloak, one unbalanced by the loss of the Spear. But it was a fair and right duel, and he will continue on without it. None of the party believes that it is in good hands with Krolin, however. There is some concern in the party about the elemental gates left open near Dresden, and when they reason that Lotharingen might have left some useful magics behind in the city, they decide to return. Waiting until Ayal has finished with the Rod for Jorgie, the party leaves once again for Myrddin.

As usual, the party is once again ambushed in nearly the same place in Myrddin as they have on almost every trip before. But this time, it isn’t Lenifer. This time, its Tomas the Balor, Ulrich’s transformed former Master of Evocation. With a hoard of demons under his command, Tomas proceeds to wreak devastation on the party. They are forced to flee, and in the ensuing scattering, Norn Drew is slain. Jorgie manages to stand toe to toe with Tomas for much longer than expected, but finally must also flee. They regather in Arhus again, and meet up with a new comrade, Sir Werner, a noble paladin.

They continue on and finally reach Dresden. It is a city changed from when they last saw it. The cloud of doom is gone, as are all the undead guards. The frightening temple to the dark forces has been destroyed, and swaths of destruction can clearly be seen. The inhabitants have fractured and split the city along lines of power similar to gang turfs in the modern day. The common people are suffering from a collapsed infrastructure, and food is a scarce commodity. They even learn that Elgo, their former companion, is the leader of one such faction. His area, quaintly called Elgoland, isn’t too large, but appears somewhat strong. A brief visit with him proves to be fruitless. The party does their best to help the inhabitants. Roland preaches. Jorgie gives out food. Smythe, having learned some time earlier that the missing element is Flesh, summons a quivering Wall of Flesh to feed the inhabitants.

They pick up a fawning peasant who proves to be quite resourceful. He has taught them about the factions in the city, and was the one who led them to Elgo. He then says that he can lead them to the laboratory, and as some expected, leads them into a trap instead. More demons pop out of the woodwork, and he disappears. They battle valiantly and are victorious. Heavily wounded, they decide to recuperate back in Arhus. There, they learn ill tidings about the Coalitions fight. All the while, the coalition had been making steady progress along the coast in a southwesterly push towards the capital of the Empire, supported by their navy. They had even succeeded in capturing the provincial capital of Hemelsyn, Lingyn. But, the imperial forces rallied and took the city back. The Coalition was forced to fall back.

Still, despite this defeat, King Calvin decided to divide his forces and attempt to start taking back his lands of Myrddin. The time was ripe for that, and so a force led by General Jurgen was sent to start taking back Myrddin, joined by the forces under Master Wolfram’s command. The only other Coalition member to send assistance was Queen Flacia of the elves, in the form of a hundred elven archers. The rest stayed with the main force working against the Empire. The party once again decided to return to Dresden to deal with the elementals. Also, to find this peasant who led them into the trap. For, upon further reflection and a nagging sensation, Ulrich was able to surmise his identity: Aradil.

In Dresden, they enter their cubby hole where the gates are, and find what the earth elemental king has sent to exact revenge on Smythe. An elemental Guardian. At first the battle is tough, but a lucky disintegrate from Ulrich ends things quite nicely, and the gates are sealed. Now, they return to the city to find Aradil. There, they learn that things have changed even more. Now, temples to Baal and Gaal are appearing in a section dedicated to the New Empire. Already, Felipe and the Daemoi are beginning to make their presence known without the presence of The Child to stop them. At once, with Stormcloak leading them, they storm the temple of Gaal and are met with quite a surprise.

Entering the temple, an image of Gaal immediately gains life and leaps to the attack with ferocious power. It appears that Gaal himself has come to slay the party. Stricken by fear, most of them flee immediately. But not Stormcloak, Roland, and Werner. They attack, even knowing that if it is indeed Gaal, they have not a prayer of surviving. As the battle begins, the Gaal entity unleashes great lightnings bolts of power that very nearly kill everyone outright. Still, the party tries their best, and succeed to damage it to such an extent that they know that it couldn’t actually be Gaal himself, but some sort of avatar or construct. But, Stormcloak is slain by the being, and the rest of the party very nearly so. Instead of killing them all, the being immediately sweeps up Stormcloaks body and makes off with it. The party frantically tries to give chase through the city, but they lose it. Returning to the battle raged temple, they find Stormcloak’s tongue nailed to the door, covered in maggots and flies. Echoes of mad laughter surround them. They wisely get the hell out of dodge.

Again, back in Arhus, Roland mentions his brother Balin, a rather atypical paladin of Hysor, unkempt and wild looking, might be willing to join their cause. They meet up with him and the column of forces under General Jurgen and Master Wolfram. They fill the leaders in on what they might expect in Dresden and go back again to their warehouse stronghold (mostly repaired by now from the attacks from the air elemental giant using the vast funds they absconded from Myrddin). There, another change in reality is felt by the party. Felipe has used the Circlet again.

They learn that suddenly, the whole southern half of the former Myrddin is now Imperial lands. The revolt in Croy continues, but appears doomed. The forces of the Coalition have been defeated yet again by the Imperial forces and is forced to retreat to yet another fallback position. Things look grim. How can they fight the Emperor when he can wield such power? At the wave of a hand, he can undo almost anything that the heroes can do to defeat him. At last, the party knows that the question of the Emperor must be faced. How can he be defeated? He holds the Circlet. He has the backing of the Daemoi. This question has been posed before by the party to various powers, including Aspects and minions of Aspects. It was revealed that the Daemoi are unable to affect the planes, or even travel there. Its nature is inimical to their existence. Hence they are stuck in the Prime plane. Perhaps this power could be used against them in some way? It was also revealed that certain planes sometimes produce items of power much in the way an oyster produces a pearl. It was suggested that the party seek out such items. This course of action didn’t seem to likely however. As the party learned through various former comrades such as Dirke and their encounters with gate cities in the old Reyman Empire, the number of planes out there is infinite. How could they find one item in this multitude?

Even as they considered this, the answer came from an unexpected source. The Child came to visit the party. The Child seemed changed, but not physically so. A close scrutiny could only discern that it was the Child’s demeanor that was changed: it had found Hope. It had found Purpose. But that purpose it wouldn’t reveal to the party. The Child in its life had been to almost all the planes, yes, almost all in its search for friends and comradeship. It had learned much, and had a place in mind that might suit the party if they were willing. The party agreed, and almost instantaneously, they were sent to A New Place: Kronosti. A further gift, unnamed, the Child gave them, and instructed them to return to their entry point and call when they were ready to return.

The party found themselves in a mushroom ring in another place. It was spring time, whereas it was autumn when they left. But this wasn't any ordinary mushroom ring. These mushrooms were bigger than a man. Surrounding them was an immense forest, with trees larger than any they had ever seen. Setting out for the north for no other reason than a slight path, the party soon discovered they were in a world of giants. Beset upon by giant wasps, deer, flies, and snakes, the party learned that they were small potatoes once again and even the most mundane animal in the world was quite deadly to them in their small size. Having no idea how to proceed to find what it is they were seeking, the party just wandered.

Fortunately, after a couple of days they reached a river, and upon it a traveler. But not just a man, a giant. Piloting a simple vessel by his standards downriver, he was singing pleasant songs to himself and seemed a merry fellow. When hailed by the party, he happily steered the boat over and greeted them joyfully, calling them Faerie Folk. Tiny people of legend that none in his civilization had seen in generations. His name was Galeheart Windmane, and he was returning from a several year stay in the city of Mountainhold to his home city of Seahold. The party accepts his invitation to join him, for though he doesn't know anything of an artifact, elders in the city may. The journey is full of stories and song from the merry giant. They learn that his people are strong in lore in sea and stone, and have devoted their entire lives to those two studies. Galeheart had thought to learn some of each to learn where his true hearts desire dwelt, and found it to be with the Sea. His people came from a long way away and had only recently (say the last 1000 years) come to dwell upon the continent the party is on now.

After a few days, the party comes upon Seahold, a massive city built into the sea cliffs where the Soulsease River empties. A rough ride and expert seamanship by Galeheart brings the party to the docks. They are met with hearty greetings by the giants present, all with the sea colored skin that Galeheart has. There is nothing but joy and openness around them. The giants work with cheer, and relax the same. Some leap into the sea and swim out to meet the boat. The city is immense and holds several thousands of these giants, which by now the party has identified as Storm Giants. Some members have grandiose visions of leading an army of giants back to defeat the empire, but it doesn't seem likely. The stonework of the city is magnificent and Smythe in particular is mesmerized by this aspect of the giant's lore. The party is led to lush apartments and invitations are set to a meeting of elders later on.

The meeting comes. Present are two personalities in general which lead the council, Freelimn Mistweave is a wise elder which Galeheart spoke of earlier. Seawright Deepbow appears to be the voice of dissension within the council and questions the party's story from the very beginning, even going so far as to accuse them of being Dark Faerie out to cause ruin. Ultimately, Freelimn's voice prevails and the council elects to help the party. Later it is revealed why Freelimn is so sympathetic to the party: in his youth he had the fortune of meeting one of the Faerie, by the name of Urvoen, the only Giant to have done so in generations.

The council's help takes the form of information. In ages past, there was a great kingdom of faerie settling in and around the base of the mother of all mountains, Mount Thunder. There, they ruled all of Kronosti, and brought life and fruit to the land. But all things must end, and there came division in the land of Faerie. The dark ones rose up and preached secrecy and mistrust of the other dwellers of the land, the men. Closing themselves off, the dark faerie turned to more and more evil ways. But rather than fight their brethren, the good faerie left their grand garden and disappeared. Meanwhile, the dark faerie consumed themselves in their own evil, but their works remain. If there is anywhere where an artifact of such power that the party seeks may be found, it would be in Mount Thunder, the heart of Kronosti.

Galeheart in particular is astounded to hear about this great mountain. Why were the giants told of this place? Why is Mountainhold not there instead of the lesser mountains it is at now? The answer lies in the perils left behind. The mountain is far distant to the north, and a great evil swamp, the Moringrave, lies between it and Seahold. Many an expedition was sent to find this mountain when they heard of it from the folk they met when they came to this continent, but none returned. Thus, the elders elected to keep it secret to protect their folk from wandering into the dangers presented. They knew that in time, their civilization would grow and the mountain would be found as their lands spread.

The peril doesn't end with the swamp however. Between Seahold and the Moringrave lies the great forest Grimlin Deep, and in there are the inhabitants of the folk that met the Giants with open arms, the Wood-kin, lovers of tree and flower. However, in the last decade, there has been silence from Wood-kin and the folk of Seahold. This was cause for worry.

Armed with a destination, the party knew that they must travel to Mount Thunder to search the ruins of the Faerie to find the artifact. Moved by the party's plight and stirred to see the greatest of all mountains, Galeheart Windmane elects to join the party upon their quest. He meets them outfitted for war in bronze armor and wielding a sword twice the size of a man. The party sets out for Grimlin Deep.

All is relatively well until they enter the massive forest. Small annoyances are dealt with easily, but once they are within the confines of the Deep, things begin to change. There is an ominous feeling to the wood that Galeheart assures the party is not usual. Soon, strange fogs roll in during the nights, and distant screams and the movements of mysterious entities can be felt. They begin to come across the mutilated remains of Wood-kin, and destroyed Wood-kin outposts. Then, they discover creatures posing as Wood-kin, and through the use of powerful magics, they are uncovered by the party. Their true nature is frightening: they have the bodies of giant men, but monstrous heads. They use powerful magic, and even more disconcerting, are completely immune to the party's magic. This first encounter, they are defeated, but this proves to only be the beginning.

Many days later, the party encounters a lone, genuine Wood-kin by the name of Vermillion Autumnleaf. He tells tales of genocide of his people by strange forces and armies. He was heading towards the capital of the Wood-kin, Woodhaven, and urges the party to join him for their own safety. They decide that it is a good idea. But only a couple of days later, the party is attacked by giant owls that seem to be acting as if they are directed, and two of the party members are slain: Roland and his brother Balin. In one stroke, team Hysor has been decimated such that only Werner remained. The next day, however, the party meets the strangest duo of their career. Burzmali and Searched appear to be normal humans from their own world, but they speak about the events of Ulrich and the party as if it happened decades ago! They are apparently from the future! Typically, each of the party wants to know what happened to them in their future, or is it the two new guys' past? There was much philosophical speculation about whether that future is real or not, and whether the presence of the two new ones with their information by its very nature invalidates it. With hurting heads, the party just continued on. Even how they got there was strange. Apparently Searched found a strange blue piece of something up on the island of Taius, and was researching it when something went awry when Burzmali came bursting into his lab.

The next days, the party continues and finally meets the real forces of the evil army that are destroying the Wood-kin. Giant beasts so fearsome that the party on more than one occasion ran outright. Renders with giant claws, able to with a single swipe rip a man to shreds. It’s a race for the party to avoid the render war parties with their Monsterhead leaders and reach Woodhaven in one piece. At last, they manage to find the city and are quite forlorn when they discover that the bulk of an army of these renders is attacking the city. The outlying regions are already in ruins, and the party races towards the deeper parts of the city to give aid to the Wood-kin if they can. The city is massive, built up in the giant trees. The wood itself hasn't been cut but in some clever way been influenced to grow in the shapes desired by the inhabitants. Trees have naturally grown to form bridges, roads, city squares, and massive buildings to house the giant sized Wood-kin. It is a beautiful city, but the party has little time to appreciate it for they see the massive armies meeting hundreds of feet above the ground in a large city square. At first they seek to give aid, but it is clear that the Wood-kin are outmatched and nothing the party could do would turn the tides. Instead, they Wood-kin appear to be fighting a delaying action to allow the citizens time to escape.

The party must make a rush to break the lines to get to their destination, and wisely don't spend any more time than necessary fighting their way through but the Renders are fierce and poor Gunthar falls. Vermillion leads them to a central hall where scholars can be seen packing up the artifacts of their culture and doctors tend to the wounded. A wise ancient Wood-kin Loremaster by the name of SilverBranch met with them and took the time to hear their tales. Instructing a servant to bring him certain books, he did some quick research. He concurred that Mount Thunder should be their destination. He was also able to uncover a name that may mean something: Cor Cordis. Lastly, he had a servant bring him an ancient box. Saying that this is an ancient Faerie artifact that has been in Wood-kin hands for generations, he felt that it should go to the new Faerie, the party. In the box, the party finds a regular sized brooch of ivory in the shape of a plume. It is when Werner touches it that it reveals its magic. A gift from Hysor to the first paladin, over 5000 years ago, it has great powers of good.

At last, the time to flee the city came, and the party with the remains of the Wood-kin populace depart the city. Soon after they split apart and Vermillion takes his leave to be with his people. Shortly after, the party has again a strange encounter with a man apparently of their world. This is a priest of Arawn by the name of Ardrum, and typical of Arawn, they party finds him nearly dead. When revived, he has apparently been sent to help by Arawn. However, fate is fickle and the next day proves disastrous for him and for several other party members. An attack by a party of Renders and Monsterheads proves to be the end of Searched, Burzmali, and Ardrum. The rest barely make it away alive.

The next day, the company has a strange encounter. The true Faerie of Kronosti reveal themselves to the party in the form of 3 lithe men that in the realm would be named elves. These three, Golorin Amberwave, Colonel Silverthorn, and Pern were aloof and revealed very little of themselves. But they were quite curious about the party and made little cover of their direct questions about the party and their intentions. They were part of a larger company of elves sent to investigate this area. But things went awry and the company was scattered. Golorin and the others they were able to meet up with followed the party but met the same or similar foes and destruction in Grimlin Deep. Until only the last 3 remained and elected to join with the party for safety purposes. The party reluctantly agreed to their company being more than slightly disconcerted at their closed lips.

As the new part pushed further north towards their goal, the attacks continued. Each time preceded by the rolling in of ominous mist, the part even forewarned were hard set to defend themselves. The strange forces allayed against the party were even able to cause the very plants to rise up against the party. A series of giant creeper vines, innocent at first, proved not to be and were the ultimate downfall of their stalwart Giant companion Galeheart. The party was quite upset for Galeheart had been a stabilizing influence full of cheer despite the growing evil all around them. Still, the mission must continue. Further on, the party discovered an old burrow, abandoned by its creator, some sort of giant animal, long ago. A safe hole at last, this would prove to be a retreat point for many weeks to come.

Safe it may seem to be, but even the spirits of the fog were able to find them. Giant skeletons come, and the battle is fierce at their defensive position, and one of the elves falls: Colonel Silverthorn. Literally, he plummets to his death from the tall branches of the trees. The party elects to remain at the burrow to recover, and the next day, a lone elf is found to be scoping them out. Another straggler from the company, this is Hawkeye, a crack archer. Even the other elves seem distant from this kinsman. Soon, the party sets out again, but meet more of the Renders and Monsterheaded spirits who have set up a trap for them in an abandoned Woodkin outpost. Again, the party suffers a loss and their new companion Hawkeye is ripped to shreds even as the rest barely escape. Again, they retreat to the burrow to recover.

Unmolested, they meet yet another straggler elf, this one a mage warrior by the name of Fenix. Again, they set out again for the north and this time it is even the natural perils of the forest which drive them back to the burrow, in the form of giant bees and centipedes. Frustrated, the party seeks out alternate means of reaching the mountain. For at their current rate of travel, it could be years. At first it seems that their plan would consist of summoning a hoard of riding elementals of the element of air to fly them above the forest. Upon further consideration and their present relationship with the forces of air, that idea was later vetoed. Using scrying devices, the party makes some interesting discoveries. They manage to scry the center of the Moringrave Swamp while inadvertently looking for the center of the old civilization that the stories speak of. They see a small island with a rising archway of lichened green glowing softly, but they get the greatest sense of peril from it. All around is a familiar fog, and it dawns on the party that the source of their grief lies there in the swamp. A brave Smythe gets the idea to teleport near there. Protecting himself with his magics, he risks his life only to find himself appear in a sunken chamber filled with water. Nearly drowning, he makes it back to the burrow.

Further discussing their goals, they decide that they'll put off risking the heart of the swamp until they pursue other avenues. The peril they felt was no small thing. Knowing that most of the talk they had heard from the giants and Wood-kin centered upon Mount Thunder, the party tries to scry that and even succeeds. It is immense, and stretches out in all directions. Again, Smythe becomes brave and teleports himself there. But he sees what the party couldn't through the magic mirror. The swamp comes right to the base of the mountain, and there he sees a seething mass of creatures. Armies of renders and monsterheads arrayed in siege. Carefully, he sees the main entrance to the mountain, but not what defends it. The size of the army and force of the swamp is staggering. Enough to swallow the entire forces of the empire of Deir es Mal in a single day. Quickly, Smythe figures that the party must get past them stealthily into the mountain and turns his attention towards it. The face of the mountain is a near vertical plane to him stretching in all directions. He flies up and up looking for some sort of cave or entrance. He finds niches and outcroppings, but nothing significant. Bold, he tries to walk through the earth itself to enter the mountain, but finds it more than uncomfortable and barely makes it out alive: the stone was trying to consume him. Smythe returns, frustrated again.

Still, the party knows that there is something in that mountain, and their goal is very likely there as well. Knowing that there must be something, and knowing that they must go, they throw caution to the wind and do a blind teleport to "The largest cavern in the heart of Mt Thunder." And they succeed!

In darkness in an immense cavern, the party picks a random direction to continue their journey. They encounter a few strange creatures, including a wave of darkness running like water across the stone and soon come upon the ruins of an ancient city. Broken rubble of ancient origin lie well preserved in the cavern. The party finds pieces of an immense sunstone column that once rose up from the center of the city. The city is large, and the party finds that squatters remain: stone giants. They have a run in with a scouting party, which they defeat, and a giant naga, and they wisely avoid a giant rust monster. Camping in a relatively intact building, the party finds a trap door. Below, they find a long abandoned cellar, unvisited for eons, and there they find a secret door leading to a rough wrought tunnel cut into the stone leading deep into the city. At the end, they see 3 ancient bodies of the miners who created it. Interested in what these ancient miners were digging towards, they use magic to extend the tunnel. Not too far, they find themselves entering an ancient tomb.

Iron golems guard the tomb, but prove to be no match for the party. Not questioning whether they would enter or not, the party breaks the seals and enters. As soon as they do, a voice speaks to them in an unknown language. It does not repeat, but the source of the voice is obvious: in the tomb is a bier with an ancient mummified body upon it, and upon the body is a glorious two bladed axe, gleaming after all these centuries. The voice came from that. Other treasures are present but none to equal the axe. The party debates whether they should take it, and though Werner reaches for it, a sixth sense or perhaps the brooch, warns him not to. Just when the party almost decides to leave it behind, Golorin reaches out and takes it and becomes a changed elf. He becomes a bastion of Justice, for this is the Axe of Lero I, first ruler of Kronosti, granted to him by Vodethyn. The axe is intelligent and accepts Golorin for the time being as its wielder to bring Justice to the world after its eons of sleep. The axe communicates that only the rightful ruler and wielder of the Axe may enter Cor Cordis, the Center. And the party learns that they must travel through these cities to reach that place: Tomara (this city), Ponleon, Rikmara, Clago, Capena, and finally Daemanus Castle.

Reemerging upon the surface, the party must learn how to reach Ponleon. Setting out, they think they hear strange sounds in the distance, getting louder. Not sure what it is, they press on through the city, hoping to find a road leading out. Not surprisingly, they encounter another patrol of Stone Giants, but just as they are about to attack, the sounds get louder, and a long giant runner comes and draws the scouting party away. The company, intrigued, follows, and soon the sounds begin to clarify into the sounds of battle. Then, the encounter the edges of a fog and know that the swamp forces have breached the mountain. Even more alarmed, the party rushes forward to maybe give aid. But they encounter the battle forces. The stone giant army is facing a seething mass of Fog Giants and Monsterheads. It is a tough battle, and they know the Renders can't be far behind. But then the ranks part as a most horrific monster breaks through the lines, making a beeline for the party. A massively sized, scaly biped with two horns, a lashing tail, and a reflective carapace charges the party with immense speed. It is the legendary Tarrasque.

The party nearly runs, but with the speed the creature is exhibiting, they can only turn and fight. The battle is legendary, but through clever use of Reverse Gravity (aided by sleeping rules gnomes), the party actually defeats the Tarrasque. And amazingly, the Stone Giants appear to have pushed off the first thrust of the swamp forces. A reluctant alliance has formed with the party and Stone Giants and they are brought to the king, a truly massive giant. They can't speak much, but the giant appears grateful to the party and gives them a small rock coin as a token. Of course, this token is bigger than Ulrich's head, but the party takes it and finally learns the direction of Ponleon and sets out.

For many days they travel the darkness of the immense cavern. Then, they meet an undead giant with a message scrawled into its chest, inviting them to follow. The party ignores it, but further on, only encounter another with yet another invitation. Curious now, the party elects to follow. The undead giant leads them further into darkness, but not in the direction they were going. Soon, more giants appear out of the darkness and ring around the party. An escort. Not sure if they are guests or prisoners, but confident of escape, the party continues on. At last, they come upon the edge of another immense city, but this one a mixture of ruins and repair as well, but also has an extended sense of decay upon it. The party balks when they see the walls and gates of it manned with giant undead of the most powerful kind. They know there is a great power here that they have no hope of facing. A whole city of undead? Two of the party, Fenix included, decide to approach and speak to some sort of representative about terms of entry. Especially when they spot the dead bodies of elves from their company hanging from the walls. When they meet the giant vampires, Fenix loses it and starts insulting and attacking. Though the vampires appear to want to crush them, they appear to have other orders. The invitation to speak under truce is extended by their Master, and the two return (just barely) to report. The company has much debate about what to do, but finally with great trepidation enter.

They pass through the city streets, teeming with hidden undead and power and see that this city was at one time a center of great learning. Obvious universities and libraries can be seen, and it is to the largest of these that they are guided. Inside are many fearsome guards, undead of the most powerful sort including death knights. But not just regular ones. Giant ones. How could the party face these in battle and hope to win? Then, they come to the large auditorium of the university and are led inside, and there on the stage is the master of the city.

A lich. But not Giant lich as they would have expected. This one was elf size. One elf in particular. General Oakthorn, leader of the expedition. He has been consumed by this ancient power and his body inhabited by it. His eye sockets empty and burning with evil, but his knowledge now in the possession of this master. The Master reveals to the party that he has been watching them for some time and applauds their performance thus far. He intends to offer them no harm and instead only wants a bargain from them. He will even offer them information in exchange for their promises. The party has no intention of making any deals with him, but let him talk as much as he wants hoping he'll reveal things anyway that will help them. He really doesn't appear to be their enemy, and dangles a most juicy carrot in front of them: the location of a ring of wishes.

Despite that enticement, the party still doesn't want to deal. What he wants is quite simple on the surface. He has long been vying against a certain foe by the name of Lother: a titan. He states that Lother stands between the party and their goals. He merely wants the party's promise that they will not hesitate to destroy him as destroy him they must. He wants this enemy gone. In return, he promises the location of the ring and more information about what they'll find in Cor Cordis. The party, hard as it is, refuses a last time and turns to leave. But there is clearly a conflict with the elves. Their leader has fallen to this master and his secrets are in the hands of the enemy. For a bit it looks like they will commit suicide and attack this master. But somehow, the party stops them and they leave the city frustrated and only a bit wiser.

Traveling a day away, the party camps and discusses their next move. They could be wandering around in the darkness for weeks, and meanwhile the forces of the swamp could be advancing deeper in, perhaps cutting them off again. Again, throwing caution to the wind, the party does some risky teleporting, this time to the "Treasure room". And they are successful! This time, they are in a small room, but they are not alone. Strange creatures that can somehow warp space harass the party and prove to be quite difficult to defeat. But the party once again is victorious and recover lost treasures of ancient origin. However, the escaping thieves succeed in robbing Jorgie and make away with several items. Pursuit is fruitless. They take the time to identify and find in particular a robe of the archmagi and the ring of wishes. Jorgie takes the risk with the robe and find it is Good aligned. Electing to take the hard road, he keeps the robe, taking penalties to his learning for a while. Also in the hoard is a priestly scroll with a powerful resurrection spell upon it. During the fight they also learn that Golorin’s Axe of Lero is able to decapitate victims in a single stroke.

After some recovery, the party continues on, leaving this lair as soon as they can, knowing that the strange thieves will return soon. The find themselves in another city, this one with an intact but still nonfunctional pillar of sunstone in the center. The party speculates that at one time these pillars provided light to the dark interior to the mountain. They set out in a new direction, leaving the city behind. For several days they travel in the darkness of the massive cavern, until they spot or rather smell a horrible stench. The source is a fearsome creature, but the party easily avoids it. But further on, they party comes across a lone traveler tending a camp. Oddly, he is a halfbreed giant, party stone and part some other type of giant. He appears to be an outcast, living on the outskirts of the giant civilization. Through magic the party speaks with him some, and he tells them to be wary of the giant dragon that lives in these parts. He offers to lead them to the safety of the next city. They also learn that many cities lie upward, and that perhaps is where they need to continue.

A day of travel, and the party suddenly gets a strange idea. What if this new companion wasn’t what he seemed to be. Most were willing to trust them, but Ulrich casts True Seeing and sees that the man is really the dragon itself! A very, very large dragon, as big as the green one they saw flying over Grimlin Deep and hid from. But by now the dragon knows of their suspicion and simply lets fly with an attack. The battle is intense as it always is, but somehow the party manages to defeat the massive dragon with no losses! Exhilarated, the party once again tries a blind teleport and finds themselves successfully ensconced in the dragon’s hoard. But not safely, the hoard is well trapped with chains of exploding skulls. Still, it appeared worth the trip. The hoard was full of cash and a few useful items, including a wand of sleep and a shield for Dray. Even more important, the party found a new safe spot for what would be safer than the lair of a dragon.

Getting out proved to not be easy, as the way into the lair was as heavily trapped as the lair itself. The party blundered into fireball and lightning bolt traps, and false walls and dead ends and false floors that led to pools of lava. It was nearly as deadly as the dragon itself, but the party made it out. Knowing now that the way they might need to go is up, they remember the intact pillar of sunstone in the previous city. They wend their way back, only to find that the city is blanketed in fog. The swamp forces have gotten there ahead of them. In the wan light of the swamp fog, they can see the sunstone pillar, and a feature that they missed before, a spiral ramp carved into its side. But the pillar is guarded now, and forces of Fog Giants and Renders wander the city searching. The party makes their stealthy way to the pillar, hoping to avoid a fight when they spot the fearsome Tarrasque! It is again alive and fully powerful again. It is wandering, searching, sniffing. Perhaps looking for any signs of the party. Knowing that they wouldn’t win a second time with the additional power of the giants, the party makes a flying break for the pillar, and avoid a confrontation except for a few giants on the outskirts of the city.

Ascending for hours and nearly a day, carefully flying around broken and cracked areas where the ramp had fallen in decay, they at least reach an arching bridge leading to a massive cave in the wall of the cavern. But as they cross, they are attacked by flying boulders. It is guarded! They rush to battle with the guards, a company of mountain giants. The battle is fierce as always, and through proper use of Reverse Gravity, Ulrich wreaks havoc, but Sir Werner misjudges the area, and falls into it himself and is crushed by the giants. The party wins, and elects to retreat back to the dragon lair. The party decides to make use of the resurrection scroll found with the ring of wishes, and Werner is restored. Once again, they teleport back to their last entry point and continue down the tunnel. They hit another patrol of giants, and this time poor Fenix is crushed. With no scroll of resurrection, and no one willing to use their wishes just yet, the party retreats back to the hoard to decide how to better proceed. Suddenly, screaming comes from one of the side tunnels from the lair and a regular sized dwarf comes charging at the party, frothing at the mouth.

The party has a hard time subduing him without killing him, but eventually he calms down after they trap him in a pit for a few hours. His name is Gotrek and he is a dwarf from the distant plane of Ter. How he got here, he isn’t sure, since he tends to lose his mind when he gets into battle. With a new companion, the party elects to again proceed down the tunnel. This time invisibly and with stealth, they proceed through the tunnel unmolested until they reach the entrance to a huge cavern. But this entrance isn’t open, there is a manned wall and garrison of mountain giants here guarding against encroachment in the very direction the party is coming from. Flying up some, the party can see beyond the wall the size of the garrison. And beyond it they can see a lighted road leading off into the darkness. They appear to be heading towards more organized civilization, but certainly these people are hostile towards them. They try stealth to get past the wall, but magics surprise them and the party faces battle once again. Unexpectedly, the source of the magic is clear as a leader leaves the garrison to join the battle: a giant drow wizard.

The party fights valiantly, succeeding in defeating a total of 19 of the foes, but the wizard proves to be too much and the party must retreat and regroup. They find a side tunnel and hide in an excavated hole, carefully camouflaged. Once recovered, the party again moves against the wall, but this time manages to quietly fly over it without disturbing the alarm magics. Continuing into the cavern, they follow the lamplights lining the road towards a great city, lighted and in quite good repair. But this city is populated by mountain giants, and doesn’t look like their destination. They surmise that this might be Clago, and they should be getting closer. Bypassing it, they proceed down the road through further tunnels. The patrols they pass soon change composition to include hideously misshapen giants with clammy grey skin. And one of these spots the party. They must defeat it, and they do. They proceed hurriedly away, and even manage to avoid a trap with a messenger. But they might not have. An eye opens on the body of the messenger, spying the party and sending what it sees to some unknown agency. The party again tries to put some distance from it and them, worried about more giant drow wizards.

They come to a river and avoid the heavily guarded bridge by flying over the river downstream, and they soon spy another large city, lighted and obviously occupied. Stealthily they approach. They see guards and patrols of misshapen grey giants and hale mountain giants. Unable to stop themselves, and thinking they are safe, they fly invisibly above the city to scope it out. They soon find the center of the city, and the leader is there. Yes, it is the titan Lother, but he is not alone. He has a huge misshapen giant at his side wearing an iron crown, and another giant drow wizard on his other side. The party can see that he has set himself up as a god to the giants, and a temple to him can be seen nearby. He commands them easily and strictly. Lother however, easily spots the flying party, and calls them down. He doesn’t appear threatening at first to the party, and even listens to their talk a bit. But he scoffs at them and commands the wizard and misshapen king to squash the party for their crimes of killing giants. The party engages them and draws Lother into the fight. But the power that Lother presents is unimaginable, and the battle quickly goes against the party. In short order, Gotrek, Werner, and even Golorin are slain by Lother easily. Golorin even is crushed in Lother’s bare fists. The remaining members of the party barely escape, teleporting once again back to the dragon lair.

Disheartened, and losing all the front line fighters, the Harmonious Masters are unsure how to proceed. They know that Lother must be defeated if nothing more than for simple revenge. They must also recover the lost items from their fallen comrades, most importantly the ivory plume of Hysor that Werner wore. Additionally, Jorgie discovered that Lother wore something magical around his neck under his tunic. That was probably something important. Smythe trains for the 12^th circle while the party decides what to do. Again, they are disturbed by the sounds of approach from the very same side tunnel that Gotrek came out of. It is three more dwarves, Thraxx, Ungrumm, and Gorestagg. These are champions of the Aspects Surgyth, Dunay, and Duath respectively, and former companions of Gotrek. They were coming on a twofold mission: to find Gotrek, and the pursue the grand visions that each of their Aspects granted them concerning great evil. The willingly join up with the party’s cause after they learn of Gotrek’s fate.

Shortly after, the party hears the sounds of battle, and a sudden mist rolls into the lair. They swamp forces have found them! Several Giant Renders charge into the lair, and the party is forced to fight a few before teleporting out. Their safe retreat spot has been compromised. They can only go forward now. They appear not far from Capena, Lother’s home city, and plan again how they will defeat him. Again, they approach stealthily, but this time there appears to be an event transpiring in the city. Most of the guards are not paying attention, and the party is able to get far into the city. They come to the edge of a great arena, and there most of the giant population is watching the spectacle of Lother single handedly defeating stone giants and captured giant Renders, showing his power and battle prowess.

Hoping that they might be able to catch Lother weakened from a previous battle, the party quickly plans to charge in and challenge Lother. And this they do. They also set up illusions and diversionary spells into the crowd of mountain and misshapen giants to keep them from surging forward to help. Lother greets them happily in battle, knowing that he will defeat them easily again. Also, the drow wizard and misshapen giant king also join in. But this time, the party manages to have the upper hand. Though not at first. Several times it looks like they will be trounced again. Through a lucky twist of fate, Ulrich succeeds in using a disintegrate spell to obliterate Lother, and again in a lucky stroke, not the giant key that was around his neck. This they recover. Some of the party thinks they hear the distant laughter of the undead master. They also manage to defeat the drow wizard, and the king flees. The party’s diversions are also successful and the hoards of misshapen giants begin to fight the mountain giants. The party retreats down a tunnel out of the arena and head to Lother’s temple. Again, with stealth they make their way to the altar to find the lost items of their former companions along with a few other choice items. They snatch them up, and Ungrumm, not heeding the party’s warning, grabs Golorin’s Axe of Lero and similarly undergoes a disturbing change of personality.

The party makes a dash for the sewers under the city, and manage to evade pursuit. There they hide and recover from the battle for a while, and then slowly creep out the next day. They travel past the city. On the far wall they find a massive set of doors, and the remnants of a garrison. But the chaos from the city has reached even here, and they are able to approach the doors and use the key to pass them. With the doors closed behind them, the party is safe, for nothing can pass them. Behind is a simple lava tube tunnel leading up. They begin their march, and after a week of ascent, come to a large cavern opening, the floor covered in a mist. This mist is clearly not the same as the swamp mist. Well, think the dwarves, let’s go. And they step into the cavern and promptly disappear. It is only the quick thinking of the wizards which save their lives as they plummet through the clouds (not mist) into the bottomless pit they conceal.

It is here also that a crisis comes to the party. Gotrek the berserker had been carrying a box upon him. This box was only recently recovered from Lother’s altar. The box was locked, and no way could be found to open it until one of the party members pulls out a key that had gotten long ago in the dim mists of the past. Amazingly, this key opened up the box to reveal a wand of flesh. Yes, as gross as it seems, this is a powerful item of elemental flesh magic. Vile power that it represents, Smythe urges the party to hurl it into the bottomless pit. But some agree, and some don’t. And even in the end, Smythe can’t do it. Ultimately, however, he denies it and it remains in Jorgie’s care. Identification spells reveal many of its powers, but not all of them to the party’s amazement.

The question of crossing the cavern must be answered now. Flying wizards do scouting and are unable to discover an end to it, nor a bottom. Without any other options, they elect to use Smythe’s golden orb to create a giant roc, and haste it enough that it can fly far, far faster and farther than normal. They then hope that the end will be reached before the magic dissipates. Upon its back, they proceed at ungodly speeds in a random direction. And as fate would have it, nearly as the magic failed, the party swooped below the mist and saw a pillar of rock ahead. They land on it and search it. It is very small, but they find a curious pile of stones at one end. Taking it as a hunch, they recover and then fly off in that direction. Soon later, they find another pillar and another pile of stones. Know history reveals that Lother placed these stones there at some time in the past. Taking this is a map, the party traces a route deep into the large cavern.

At last, they come across a castle floating on the clouds, but domed to prevent aerial attack. They are spotted by the inhabitants and waved over. It is a titan. It is Lother. The party almost spooks, but then decide to trust him. Upon a closer look, he has a kindlier aspect than Lother, and welcomes the party. Turns out he is Lother’s twin brother Landry. He leads them into a well tended society of Titans living and guarding the center of Kronosti, Cor Cordis. They offer the party rest and relaxation and listen to their tales. When they hear the party’s tale, they go to deliberate if aid and access to Cor Cordis can be permitted. The party spends the time learning and training. Some are very tempted to stay with the titans to learn their lore. Ultimately, the titans agree to let the party enter, but only because of the presence of the Axe of Lero and the fact that it has accepted them as wielders. They reveal that they have never entered Cor Cordis in all the eons since it was sealed. But they have guarded steadfastly. Deep in the castle is the portal that leads to it, sealed and guarded. The titans can not tell the party what they might find there, except that it was the center of learning and the heart of everything. Also, that guardians were left inside just as the castle was built to protect the outside.

Prepared as well as possible, the party is led down to the portal, a simple circular pedestal on the ground easily large enough for the party and many more. A simple pillar in front of it, giant sized, holds a depression, and from around Landry’s neck, he pulls out a glowing crystal and simply inserts it there to activate the portal. The party disappears.

They appear on a similar pedestal with a similar pillar and depression amidst a lush jungle, lit by bright daylight. Yes, the first daylight that they have encountered since entering the mountain. The first daylight ever for the tunnel bound dwarves. They look upwards to the ceiling of the immense cavern they are in and see stripes of sunstone as spokes in the arch of the dome, functional still after all these eons. The air is moist, and in the distance they hear the sounds of a waterfall. But there are no animal sounds. There is an immense sense of power here, and the size of the plants here are magnitudes larger than any they had seen in Grimlin Deep. They are very certainly near the heart of power.

But crashing through the growth towards the party are the guardians. Golems made of diamond, as large as titans. The party nearly breaks to flee. They notice that one of the golems has a dark crystal in its chest identical to the one that Landry had: the only way out. They must fight. They quickly learn that almost all magic is useless against them, and Ulrich nearly destroys himself with a reflected disintegration ray. Somehow, the party manages to defeat all nine of the guardians, but in the process, Pern, the last of the elves, is killed. But now the party is rich beyond imagination, for the golems are truly made of diamond.

Still, the quest remains and the party begins to make their way through the thick brush. Not far, they come across an ancient temple. There is nothing to be found inside but ancient frescoes depicting the Three Gods. Scenes show the drawing of each of the nine Aspects, in their birth order. Also, a scene shows the Three standing in a triad creating the world. Oddly, under the close scrutinizing eye of Smythe, the temple was once man sized and was then altered to accommodate larger people, such as giants.

The party finds that they must travel the hard way as flight no longer works here, as neither does teleport. They press on for some time until the vegetation breaks to reveal a huge pool of lava, bubbling still. The sense of power that has steadily been growing appears to come from there. They circle around the shore until they come upon another pillar with an indentation. Taking the crystal from the golem, it is inserted and a stone walkway, preserved from the lava’s heat, rises. The party waits until it is cool, and they proceed across.

Finally, they come upon it. A small island in the center of the lava pool. The sense of power has grown to crisis proportions, and a sense of reverence and awe comes over the party. In the center of the island is a beautiful tree with silvery bark and silver-green foliage. It is of a species that no one can recognize. And surprisingly, it is of normal proportions. There is a single brilliant blue blossom upon it. At a distance of around 20 feet, they can smell the sweet aroma of the blossom. The shade of blue of the flower is one that no one has ever seen before. Knowing that this is probably it, Ulrich goes up and carefully picks the flower. The flower instantly crystallizes, but doesn’t become brittle or fragile. Still the aroma remains. Now, they notice that around the base of the tree are the husks and remains of countless items, including what may be rods, wands, staves, books, devices, caskets, weapons. All destroyed.

Sitting down to wonder what to do with the flower, the party decides it might be time to start using their wishes from the ring. Two of the wishes are used to attempt to restore some of these destroyed items, and a number of them are indeed restored. Some of these items include a crystal staff, a crystal ball, an ivory chain, and other things. Smythe uses a wish to learn the powers of the blossom and what must be done to rid the Multiverse of the Daemoi. The answers are simple: the blossom holds the essence of Kronosti’s planar power, and the holder and all within the aura of its aroma are protected by a penumbra of planar power. Since the Daemoi are unable to affect the planes, they will be protected from the Daemoi’s power. To rid the multiverse, one need only to recover the Circlet of Images and then hand it to an Aspect at the Center of the World in Bala.

Dray and Jorgie use their wishes for more personal reasons. Dray wishes to make two spells, fly and Master of Arms permanent and undispellable. Jorgie follows his idea and does the same for two defensive magics. Only time will tell if these will have side effects. The last wish Ulrich saves in the hopes of using it to recover Stormcloak so that he may face the Daemoi in the last battles.

Armed with items and information, it appears that the time to depart for home has come. Unfortunately, in the downtime on the island, it is revealed to the dwarves that Ulrich and the others are wanted criminals in the empire. Suddenly, Ungrumm and the Axe of Lero exert their influence and demand that they surrender to his custody to be brought to justice. The party is suddenly faced with a very sharp axe and a very determined dwarf. There is a fight, and very nearly is Ulrich decapitated, but somehow, Ungrumm is disarmed and the axe is left on the stone causeway. The party carries an unconscious Ungrumm away. When he recovers, he struggles to regain the axe, but the party drags him on. They reach the pillar that raised the causeway and unthinkingly activate it. They realize a moment later that the axe was just lowered into the lava. Suddenly, Ungrumm recovers. The axe has been destroyed.

They return to the teleport pad and activate it with all the diamond. They meet with the Titans for a while, and conceive of ways of carrying as much diamond as they can with them. After filling in the Titans, the party simply teleports to the mushroom ring. A sense of caution wisely makes them teleport a distance away from it. For waiting for them are a number of very fierce giant undead, sent by the master to prevent them from escaping. Included in this party are Beholders with their anti magic ray eyes intact. The party knows they will have no chance against this and bravely make a mad dash for the ring in the hopes that the Child will rescue them in time. And this they do. They enter the ring one by one and when the last one enters, the party disappears.